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- [00:04]
Anne McGinty
Welcome to How I Built My Small business. I'm Anne McGinty, host of the show. While full length guest episodes are on hold for the holidays, I've prepared a collection of short, impactful episodes to keep you inspired until season two. Let's dive in.
- [00:26]
Alex
You know your perspective, so as you're learning, then listen to somebody else's perspective, even if you don't necessarily agree. And as you do that, you will continue to broaden your perspective and creativity and innovation start to come more naturally once you learn it, then you can move forward with that new growth and evolution.
- [00:53]
Chris
There's so many really cool, weird businesses out there. Any idea you can really turn into a cool business if you think about it. If you push so hard for profits that you break the system, how do you find that balance between being successful but also leading to the better outcome of the people around you and the community? There's plenty of money in that. Try and look at a problem that I think that you can make work better for you while helping people solve something that they need. And also make it so everybody in your organization is empowered to succeed, not because of their own success, but the whole business.
- [01:28]
David
Where's the hole in the market? So we identified, hey, doing a pop up hotel service is something that is really necessary in the event industry. There's all these people with so much money and so much land and aren't able to utilize their properties because they're not close to hotels. And that's really where the idea for Shelter company came from.
- [01:52]
Chris
One of our brokers had a deal where they imported dead mice from Ukraine and other countries, you know, in the Soviet bloc because there's so many mice there that they'd import them here for snakes to eat, right?
- [02:03]
Alex
Oh my God.
- [02:04]
Chris
Not a business you think about, but a multimillion dollar business, right?
- [02:08]
Emily
Do something you really understand and a product that you believe in that doesn't exist out there and if it's an extension of who you are and yourself, you're going to have success in some way and learn a lot from it versus trying to push a product or service that you just think might make you a ton of money. You can just make a much better product when you either are the end user or you really understand the end user. If Alex and I didn't surf and were 10 times smarter than we are, we would have developed a worse wetsuit.
- [02:41]
David
Work with as many different people as you can and just get experience. There's really no way to learn the business without being in the trenches.
- [02:51]
Frank
Work your ass off. Take advantage of the opportunity if you have it, and do not allow apathy to creep in for very long.
- [02:59]
Alex
Most people that we met thought that we were absolutely nuts. They were like, you're going to do what? You're going to start a Christmas light hanging business. I think most people felt like there wasn't any possibility that we would be able to make a substantial livable salary doing that.
- [03:18]
Frank
I think I fell into the trap a couple of times of seeing what I wanted to see. Confirmation bias where you think you've got this great idea and this person is acting in support of the idea and so you become blind to warning signs. Along the way, I have moved forward with things that in hindsight I was given plenty of opportunities to see warning signs that I just either ignored or didn't see.
- [03:44]
Alex
I think it's really important to set a precedent with clients that you respect their time and if you make an appointment, either show up on time or early, treat your clients how you would want to be treated if it were the other way around. Try to establish some sort of a connection with them. Building relationships is the core component of being good at sales.
- [04:05]
Grace
Boundaries is something that's incredibly important as an entrepreneur. And I think you have better workflow too when you also give yourself kind of a set time that you're available and at your best.
- [04:16]
Hannah
I think in order for success you just really need to dive in and be all in and learn and grow and also fail. And you keep pushing your way through and you make it happen. It doesn't happen by itself. You have to be dedicated and you have to be willing to take time. It took eight years for me to buy this business, but if you have the characteristics and the drive within you and you keep talking about it and acting upon it and focusing on it, you can make it happen.
- [04:49]
Anne McGinty
Thanks for listening to this bite sized episode of How I Built My Small Business. If you enjoyed it, share it with someone who might find it helpful. And don't forget to subscribe so you're ready when season two drops. As always, have a great day.