Stop Collecting Customers Like They Are Pokemon

We talk with Mosongo Moukwa about rebuilding from survival to intention and why clarity matters more than confidence for sustainable success. We unpack practical frameworks for founders who look fine on paper but feel quietly exhausted and misaligned. 
• arriving in North America during a recession with little money and limited English 
• building progress through small daily habits and the help of mentors 
• moving from corporate leadership to entrepreneurship and hitting rock bottom early 
• choosing clarity over ego by listening to customers and redefining success 
• asking whether the business supports you or consumes you 
• revisiting purpose then redesigning the business model then sustaining performance 
• using the 80/20 principle to focus on revenue drivers and drop what drains you 
• evaluating customers and suppliers for fit not just revenue 
• testing pricing increases and challenging limiting beliefs 
• improving messaging and nurturing leads without spamming 
• bundling upsells and getting paid up front to protect cash flow 
• delegating building systems and using AI to reclaim time 
• reflecting on mental health physical health relationships community and spirituality 
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Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mosongomoukwa

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Complimentary Edwards Consulting Session: https://calendly.com/jordan-edwardsconsulting/30min 

Transcript

Recording Started

SPEAKER_00 0:59

Hey, what's going on, guys? I got a special guest here today. We have Dr. Mosango Mukwa. He's a former Fortune 500 executive turn leadership coach who's helping high performers build sustainable success without burnout. His journey started arriving in North America with little English, limited money, and no clear path. He's rised all the way into senior corporate leadership, and now he works with business owners to regain clarity, sharpen decision making, and build systems that actually support their life. So let's dive in to how to go from overwhelmed to unstoppable. Musango, we're gonna hop in. I'm excited to have you here. Yeah, thank you. Thank you, Jonan. Yeah, happy to be on your show. I'm excited to have you. Because in our prep call, you got me thinking about a lot of things and a lot of challenges that I've never faced, but some of our other guests have, but you did it in a very unique way. Because you really faced struggle. You arrived in a new country, you struggled financially, you were learning English literally one word at a time, guys. Everyone listening right now, I want you to realize that Mostago came to a country and was learning English one word at a time. So when we talk about you helping leaders go from overwhelmed to unstoppable, what did the transformation look like for you in your own life when you were just getting started? Yes, Jordan.

SPEAKER_01 2:25

That's uh yeah, thank you. Thank you there for that question. I mean, today, uh I mean, my life today is deeply uh fulfilling. Yeah, but but and I had the privilege uh actually now I'm working with uh outstanding, outstanding uh small business owners and leaders uh to help them uh grow their impact uh and and the revenue. Uh so uh and uh my insight I've been featured in Forbes, USA Today, the Chicago uh Tribune, and I've been blessed with uh with uh with uh three children uh you know and six grandchildren. So my wife and I, we we have been blessed uh to have uh to have that gang. But but you're right, it was not always this way. Uh because before all the titles, before any companies, before speaking stages, I was this kid born in the Congo who came to North America, to Windsor, Ontario, uh, with a dream of very little money. I have only a few a few thousand dollars there, and very little English. So uh money was tight. So when I got there, that was in the middle of uh that the recession in both Canada and United States, and you could not find any job.

SPEAKER_00 3:36

So year was this?

SPEAKER_01 3:39

Uh that was 1982. Oh wow. So 1982, yeah, yeah, that's that's a while ago. So that's uh that was a very bad recession. And and uh I went to the uh I had my permanent residency, yeah. So I I came to uh to Canada as a permanent resident, and and somehow I landed in Windsor, Ontario. And and I went to the unemployment office, you know, trying to file for an employment. Actually, there was one Canadian, uh English Canadian there who uh helping me along the process. But I could not get anything because I've not lived in the country, so I've not contributed. So I could not get that. Uh finding job was was just terrible. Even as a dishwasher in the restaurant, I mean things uh think yeah, things, things were that bad. So uh and then and then money was just running out. I was really wondering how I was going, how I was going to survive, you know. I uh at some point I began even to see how many meals should I have, you know, and uh I reduced it to one, you know, and then uh I was staying in this uh small uh small uh room there, you know, near the university, because the students they were all uh left for the summer session, so sort of lots of room there, very cheap, and so on. And the money was just running out, and I was just wondering, uh man, what what what what what what's going on here? At some point, I even I was even wondering why did I come here, you know? But but then what I did have was hope, actually. Hope and a strong desire to build a life that meant something. So so over time, my angle my English started improving. I remember I met this fellow from Tanzania, and then he empathized with me because he told me that he was in the same situation, and he told me what helped him is that he will take the English dictionary and he'll pick one word there per day, and then every day he will try to use it, which I began to do, which I began to do.

SPEAKER_00 5:36

But this is absolut this is awesome because I was sitting here thinking about it, and I've never faced adversity like that. I'd imagine most of the audience hasn't really faced adversity like that. But for you to sit there and find the little bits of progress, so even when we're facing adversity or even when we're having a hard time, we just have to find those little bits of progress to get us closer down the road.

SPEAKER_01 5:58

Oh yeah, oh yeah, absolutely. I had some some people who uh who landed their hand along the way. There was uh this uh this uh professor on campus, uh English professor. She really, she really probably felt sorry for me. So she had me come into her office every week and beginning to start writing short paragraphs in English composition. And she will correct it and then teach me. She even gave me one of their English books, which I have somewhere here in my house here as a souvenir. Each time I look at it, I remember those days. So things were very hard, huh? Because even though I'd uh I'd graduated uh from uh one of the best schools in in Europe in engineering, yeah, actually with distinction. So when you come here, people begin to doubt your uh your education, your degree, as though, wow, I mean, who are you? Which school? We never heard of these schools, huh? So uh so so so it was difficult that way. So then I was wondering, man, how life could be here, you know, looking for this. And then this uh this fellow told me, said, Have you ever thought of going back to school? And then I said, Man, I mean, uh going back to school here is extremely expensive. I mean, you know, I came here as an engineer. I was hoping to find a job as an engineer. He said, No, no, no, no, no, no. Here in Canada as well as in the US, if you go to graduate school in science and engineering, actually they will pay you. Those professors, they have research grants and whatnot, whatnot. And then you realize that uh, you know, financially it's not a lot of money, but it's going to help you there.

SPEAKER_00 7:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:31

So uh so then uh then uh then I applied, and I was lucky that uh there was uh one professor there in the French department who also did his PhD in the same school in Europe where I graduated. So it was very familiar. He was very familiar with uh the program because over there engineering is five years, not four years, like in the US. So it's uh the curriculum is very strong. So it was programmed, so he vouched for me there. But then uh, but then uh the uh the dean there was a bit hesitant uh to have me because as a graduate student, you're supposed to be a teaching assistant, so he was not too sure this fellow doesn't speak English. How are we going to manage here? But somehow uh he bet on me. He he still gave me the job as a teaching assistant, which I'm very uh grateful. Yeah, so along the way I had all those people, you know, gave me hands there and there and there.

SPEAKER_00 8:28

So uh helping you out. And you don't realize it's only when we look backwards that we realize the fate of luck that occurred there. Yeah, yeah. And sometimes it's like if you put yourself in those situations enough times, someone's gonna get luck. Like you're gonna get someone that's gonna recognize you or connect with you or relate with you and willing to take that leap on you because here's the truth going out through life, it's not fun on your own. You gotta have others around you, you gotta have support systems, and it's good to have people that that believe in you and give people a chance.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

Yes, yeah, and absolutely. And I and I in a way I feel uh I'm very grateful to tell you the truth. Uh, and uh don't take uh life for granted uh having gone through all of that. And then so uh I enrolled in graduate school and then I earned my master's, I earned my PhD, and then I went to Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, near Chicago, to do uh some research there, and then from there, then I moved to corporate world.

SPEAKER_00 9:26

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

And then and then there I progressed uh into uh senior leadership roles in Fortune 500 companies, and uh that journey took me around the world because uh as a senior leader I was managing those uh global uh organizations, uh so that took me into various businesses, it took me into boardroom. Uh I like to say it took me in seasons of success. So uh so that's really what it was there. I mean, uh each time I wanted to leave, uh the you know the carrot became bigger. Oh, we will uh send you to Austria. Oh, don't worry, we will uh be flying your wife and your children business class to come and uh uh visit you there regularly and so on. So so from the outside, uh Jordan, it looked like everything was working. Yeah, but uh but uh before uh you see before I find this work uh that I'm doing today, I was chasing a very different kind of success.

SPEAKER_00 10:22

So what do you think the definition of success there was for you?

SPEAKER_01 10:26

Yeah, definitely success, uh, which is actually is uh is uh is you have to you have to look at what is fulfilling you. Like in my case, for years I was pulled between corporate life and entrepreneurship, chasing security, but quietly craving meaning, you know. I I I could have stayed comfortable, safe, but building someone else's dream. And something inside me knew that uh that design no longer fit who I was becoming.

SPEAKER_00 10:53

Really?

SPEAKER_01 10:54

And uh yes, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_00 10:56

At what age did you did you decide to to make the change?

SPEAKER_01 11:00

Well, so slowly then that feeling became almost impossible to uh to to ignore, huh? Because I realized something. I realized that uh I was not building a life by design, I was living one by default, and then and and then the more success, yes.

SPEAKER_00 11:18

Or even an interesting one that I was actually talking to my wife about, it's not really life by design, but it's more life by kind of the opportunities that come your way, meaning that you're not planning for it yourself, but someone else is planning you in the places they want to put you.

SPEAKER_01 11:34

Yes, yeah. That's what I said. I was living one by default, uh almost. And then the more successful I became, the more misaligned I felt, actually.

SPEAKER_00 11:42

And what was it? What was that definition of success? Was it money, houses, car? Like, what was it back in the day? Like when you're going through corporate, what's your definition of success then?

SPEAKER_01 11:52

No, I was different. No, that then was really uh, you know, uh, let me make an impact. Let me make an impact in the organization, help the organization grow, develop new leaders. So that was something that uh was really uh uh driving me there. Uh so uh I you know I said, hey, now I've reached the uh the you know the uh the the peak of uh of of my career, you know, what is next, you know. So you get the point where you are you're asking yourself here. And then uh when uh one of the uh uh one of our division got sell sold to private equity uh investors, that's the time I decided, less man, let me let me let me go and do and do my thing here. So that's really what I think.

SPEAKER_00 12:33

Oh, this is a good opportunity by ways.

SPEAKER_01 12:36

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 12:37

So I stepped, yes. And how long were you in the corporate world for?

SPEAKER_01 12:41

Oh, I was in the corporate world uh maybe about so 1990, almost 20 years, huh? Almost 20 years.

SPEAKER_00 12:48

The the reason I'm asking that is because I find it very fascinating when people make these leaps of faith and leaps of bounds at different times, right? So everyone leaves jobs or everyone leaves things. Some people never get a job, some people leave the job after five years, some people leave after 20 years. What was really that you saw the opportunity, you're like, did you feel fear? Did you feel excited? How'd you feel about going into it? What were you gonna do?

SPEAKER_01 13:16

No, no, it was it was uh it was you know, I mean, when you step away and you choose to build something on your own, you know, to to move from that security to uh ownership, from that structure to design, it's exciting, exciting, I tell you. You know, it's really exciting. So I jumped in into entrepreneurship with no roadmap, huh? No, you didn't have anything.

SPEAKER_00 13:38

You you weren't practicing, you didn't have anything on the side, nothing was in the works.

SPEAKER_01 13:42

No, no, nothing in the works. I jumped in there because I say, man, let's let me try my own. And then uh, and then it felt exciting until it did not, because then uh my early attempts were just a disaster, you know. I burned through savings, I began to doubt uh myself. You know, I I really hit rock bottom emotionally and financially.

SPEAKER_00 14:04

And then uh there's something to it when you're there and you're like, I'm not getting paid unless this thing goes through. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 14:13

And the beginning it's not it's not it's not oh it's not the easy, yeah. And then you sit there, uh, you know, and then in that silence, uh the that place where your pride has nothing left to hide, you finally admit it, you know, something has to change.

SPEAKER_00 14:29

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 14:29

And and and I remember uh Nelson Mandela's word, uh he said, courage is not the absence of fear, but really the triumph over it. So I realized that I needed to move, uh, even though the ground under me was was shaky, you know. So I realized then, and uh I probably see it clearly now, is just that courage alone is not enough. Because uh if if you don't know what you are building, if you don't know where you are going, you are just another braver man at running but in the wrong direction. So you have to know what you are building and where you are going. So in so instead of chasing confidence, I started now chasing clarity. So I I put my ego to the side, I reached out to the people who were ahead of me, I listened to customers, really listened to understand the value and whatnot, and also understanding what was draining it, uh and then uh trying to reflect on what kind of business really would support my life instead of uh consuming it. And that's where something really began to shift. Because in reality, I did not lose motivation, but what uh what I did not have was direction. So so the moment I reconnected to why I was building, who I was serving, and what kind of business was meant to support, then things become clear. So I stopped reacting. Now I'm beginning to choose.

SPEAKER_00 15:59

And uh becomes now it becomes an intentional game where you're actually gonna be able to do that.

SPEAKER_01 16:03

Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. Yes, absolutely. So then the wins come slowly at first, the first client, the first uh profitable month, and then you realize, oh, I don't have to worry about paying the mortgage anymore, you know. So so then now you you begin to rebuild, you know, differently with the clarity, as you said, with value, with intention, with purpose, and and and that's why uh that's why that is really uh matter, uh because uh because I've I've lived with the uh I've lived with their uh you know I've lived what many small business owners are living actually right now. So so I know what uh sustainable growth actually requires. So uh so so I realized that uh it you know it's you know I was not the only one leaving this struggle because there are so many uh so many leaders out there that were succeeding on paper, uh, but they're quietly exhausted, they're not too sure, just just like I was.

SPEAKER_00 17:15

I completely hear you. And when when I think about this, it I think about it, and for just for the audience to realize, and this is because we both do coaching, it's kind of like uh there's a similar mindset. And essentially what it is, is like when you're going through life, you're in this Amazon rainforest. So you can imagine the trees are too high, you can't look around, like there's too much going on, and you just keep going in the direction you're going. That's us working and taking action each and every day. When you're in a coaching call or you're planning, you literally lift your head up and you start to look around. And you go, do I even like the place I'm going? One place is going to the beach, one's going to the mountain. I don't know which one I want to go to, but I know I want to go to this place. And once you figure that out, then you might have to realign the direction you're going, but without taking a moment to stand up and look around, like Masango's saying, you're just gonna keep going down and down and down the strain where you don't know where you're really going.

SPEAKER_01 18:11

Yes, yes, yes, yeah. Because you are growing, you're you see one opportunity, another one. It's like uh you have this house where you say, people say, Oh, add another room, you add another room. Then, oh, we need to put an extension here, you put another extension, and then you stand there in the middle, you say, This is not what I wanted to design. You know, it doesn't feel like me. So, so that's really uh so that's really what it is here. So, so then uh, you know, from those struggles, so I have those lessons, and I knew I could not keep that those lessons to myself. So uh helping others really was not uh a career decision. I felt like it was a responsibility that comes from uh from my own lived experience. Because once uh once you walk from fear to clarity, once you have uh rebuilt from survival to intention, then you feel called to help uh others, you know, cross the same bridge as you did. Uh now they could cross it faster, they could do it with less pain, and with far more uh purpose. So so so that's why I do what I do actually today.

SPEAKER_00 19:16

And for you, do you do you feel like your definition of success has changed?

SPEAKER_01 19:22

Yeah, the definition of success evolved, actually. It evolves, huh? And and and and and our intention over time also could evolve. So that's just uh the evolution that that that that that that really happens. But but but that's why I always say you need to come back to your purpose, who you are, yes.

SPEAKER_00 19:42

Yeah, so if the audience is listening right now and they're sitting there going, I love this, like I love the success, I love the intention, I love the purpose. What are some questions they can start asking themselves to kind of reevaluate some of this stuff if they're thinking about this stuff?

SPEAKER_01 19:59

Yeah, the question is how is this business supporting me? So so so so that's really the question. I think uh many small businesses they don't always ask that question, huh? Because they will say, Wow, the company is growing, but how all of that is supporting you, you, you, madam the entrepreneur, you uh you uh Mr. Entrepreneur with the with your family. How does that business supporting you, or is it consuming you instead? You know, so so these are so so so this is a question that uh I'm encouraging people to uh to ask themselves. Because once you do that, then you realize that uh that house you are building there with so many rooms and uh and uh clutter and so on, and you stand there you're wanting whatever I build, when you have that clarity, then say, Man, now I can design a different kind of a house now, you know, and then uh and then something that could really support what I intended to do. Yeah, because uh because some people start the business because they wanted maybe to help their community. But you see, Jordan, what happens is that uh over the years, what happens is that because of those challenges, the cash flow, people leaving, you know, and whatnot, what not, so you have those pressure on you, so people forget actually why they were in that business in the first place because they are you know they have that the weight of those challenges and so on. But the reality is that uh that purpose, that uh that fire there, it it's it's not gone. It's just buried there and under the weight of those challenges. So you need really to uncover it again. And once you do that, then you get re-energized, you know. You begin to see creative, you beginning to see your creativity flourish. You are no longer just a businessman, now you are a creator, you know. You're going to build something in there, you know. So so that's really what it is.

SPEAKER_00 21:51

There's also a level of confidence that comes from that. Yes, knowing that you can support yourself, knowing that you can create things, knowing that you have value. Because if you have value in one place, you'll have value in another one, and you can definitely support people and give them different perspectives and mindsets and frameworks that allow them to be break through from that struggling. So, what are some of the breakthroughs of struggling that you see a lot of business owners have? And then what are some of the frameworks we could use to kind of break through them? Just because I I really want to just have the audience get get the most value they can.

SPEAKER_01 22:26

Yes. Yeah, so so so so so what uh so so from my uh from over the years uh that journey uh became a framework, so which is what uh what I use today. So what I'm saying is that uh number one, you need to you need to revisit your purpose, who you are, why you're doing it, and so on. Number two, you need then to redesign your business, uh your business model so that you can focus on the key driver of uh of of your business, uh and and and so so so that's what you have to to do and then the life that the business was meant to support and then the third element is obviously you need to sustain that performance uh you so so so that's what you do so now the purpose we just we just uh spoke spoke about it uh so so so that's extremely important you need to to take time uh to to do that uh and then uh now to the drive of the business actually one has to remember the Pareto principle the 8020 principle that says that 80 percent of the outcomes come from actually 20 percent of the of the of the of the input so 80% of the effect comes from that so in the business uh context that means that uh 80% of your revenue actually comes from 20% of what you do every day in your business so that 80 80 8 20 there there are actually uh a number of drivers that really do this you have leads you have uh retention you have uh frequency of sales you have uh what you're charging yeah so price uh per sale you have uh you have cost so and so on and so on so there are a number of those elements there so it turned out that uh and uh your listener they can they can do this exercise once you put them leads retention and so on and then you compute and you look at your revenue if you improve even by one percent each one of those drivers it has tremendous impact on your revenue and it even has a greater impact on your profitability so even just even just one one percent that's it's the idea of compounding that another word is the cast though if you have if you have uh one one one small wave and then you have another wave then you have another wave once those waves they are now aligned then you have a tide so so so so that's really so that's really the idea there so so so you have that that compounding that compounding uh effect yeah so so what does that mean yes absolutely and and uh jordan sorry you said earlier there uh talking about uh one one one client and so on so that means that uh that 20 percent you have to look at uh who are who are your your suppliers not supp not all suppliers are created equal who are your customers not all customers are created equal some of them they will be asking for samples all the time all the time but they never buy anything so should you spend that much energy on them so those are the things that you need uh to ask yourself suppliers who are those suppliers actually you should be really partnering and working with and then and then uh trying to leave others to the side so those are the questions that you can uh begin now to to to to to to to look at and then you begin now to discover that oh man there is an opportunity here for me yeah absolutely and I think it becomes really important when you start to evaluate is this person actually helping me or are they are are they a good client are they a bad client is it someone I should have is it someone I shouldn't have and whenever we're going through this you have to know all your numbers and then you have to know your tolerance so if you sit there and you're going through your clients and you're like well this person is just just difficult to work with and they pay me the least this might not be a good fit yes if someone pays you the most but they don't align with your values might not be a fit.

SPEAKER_00 26:32

If someone pays you the most and they align with your values perfect fit. And the reason I'm saying this is for all of us to reevaluate in our lives and take a moment to go which part of this is actually moving me closer to what I want like because when you're not around the right people you're gonna get annoyed. When the right people aren't in your circle you're gonna get frustrated when all of your frustrations come from one potential client of yours it's better to just hey it's not a fit we should part ways like and just move on because you start to realize like it's not always the money either it's starting to be the emotional drain on us. Yes yes absolutely stress of like I don't even like this opportunity because I'm so stressed from this and by adjusting just one of these little iterations can completely change the trajectory of how you see your business and how you feel about it.

SPEAKER_01 27:26

Yes yes yes no there are there are so many opportunities like uh obviously if you tell people cost they say ah yeah cost they can see that immediately but another one is uh price if you tell many of the small business owners that hey have you ever thought of increasing the price they're going to say no no no no let's not uh increase nobody's going to accept that and so on now i when I was uh you know in the chemical business we were afraid to increase price to our customers yeah because the the idea was ah they will never accept it and so on and then when I looked at the uh the uh the the chart I realized actually that 80% of our sales came only from a handful of uh of of customers and then we we increased the price we did not make big noise and so on we increased it a little bit no reaction they accepted our increase in price no big deal but because those people they represented a bulk of our revenue that had outsized impact on our revenue of course yeah of course uh in the process we lost some uh which is okay but if you look at the overall revenue we came out actually much much much higher than we were before and if you want to compute you'll see that those people that you lost you did not lose much and perhaps those were not the customer you wanted to have anyway you know so so that's another way of thinking and the other crazy thing is that you don't have to maintain as many customers which allow you to give much better yes yes service and show up for these other people yes yes that's why everyone thinks that every customer is created equal and that's not true at all.

SPEAKER_00 29:00

But there's some customers that are much better there's some customers that are much worse. Yes and then you start to realize that there's different areas of where where this all makes sense. Yes and I just think it's an evaluation process that there's very few of us that are willing to go I don't know I was actually talking to a founder on Monday and he was telling me how his business got sold. So a company bought his business next thing that business did like the private equity firm that bought them did they just like 3x the price and they're like there's no way anyone's gonna take this they're still selling they sold just as they literally just every time you double or triple or quadruple the price you only have to sell one third of the people triple the price and you'll make the same revenue. So if you sell half the people you'll make half the money like you'll make more money than you did before.

SPEAKER_01 29:52

So it's just a lot of these we have a lot of these belief structures in ourselves that really limit us and don't allow us to really step into the authentic version of who we want to be yes yeah and and you're nearly down there Jordan those limiting beliefs because for you to be able to to look at those to review who are my key suppliers for me who are who are those key customers can I increase price and so on you really need to confront your own limiting beliefs you know so some people say well I'm too small I can never get that contract no no no no there have been many small business owners that will got huge contracts because you can always partner also with with others you know to uh to to do that you know and uh people say oh man no I I cannot grow so so we're putting ourselves a number of those blocks into our mind yeah so uh yeah and and and you're bringing up a really good point because it's it's on the flip side right so like I can't get that contract the big guy is this is just another deal to them they don't care yes they don't care this is my livelihood if I get this like yes I kind of want someone that's a little like invested I want someone who really cares instead of the big guy who's like just another one check off the box like we're just gonna send our people there we deal with this all the time like it there's pros and cons to both of them and you just have to see the pros to your side and start to ask yourself these better questions instead of placing ourselves in a box. Yes yes yes absolutely so so that's so so those are the those limiting beliefs to do but the other one also that uh that the small business uh ought to look at is really trying to understand the conversation that is taking place in the head of their prospect or their customer because because first of all as you are when you look at many of the websites out there you can't but think what is the offer there you you you you would wonder so but so the idea is that you need really to pull in the prospect into the opportunity so in terms of uh looking at the messaging that is coming out of out of uh out of your website uh so so so that so that's uh one element there that uh that could help you increase increase your your leads and then now that you have those customers there uh those we did not opt in what should you do with them uh in most cases would let them go no no no don't let them go bring them back as though you're putting them back into the funnel by continuing to engage them over time and so on not to spam their email uh box but just uh sending them things that could be of value to them and so on and then you may realize oh two more people now opt in into my program and then you continue to nurture then you continue to nurture them and so on and this is something that could also bring tremendous uh tremendous uh revenue for uh for the small uh for the smaller business owners absolutely and the other thing that a lot of people don't even realize is inside of that singular customer that they already have they're the easiest ones to to get more from like if you have if someone's your customer and they want you to buy more or do more or do an upgrade or do something different you can always have that conversation with them and how can we up level because everyone's interested in getting better service we all want better service we all want great service and it's like what do we need to do to up level who we are so that's yeah I mean that's that's kind of how you have to think about it. No you you're absolutely right actually I sometimes tell small business owners that we could uh we could get lots of inspiration from uh from some of the big guys you know when you go uh when you go at McDonald's and uh you order burger they will say sir do you want an apple pie? And then uh you say ah yeah yeah sure no why no problem yeah many small business owners don't always do that you know and uh you you go to a movie you know you buy a soda and then you want to buy a popcorn different separately uh the pharaoh told you sir if you buy the soda and the popcorn actually uh you know this is the price maybe just a dollar less you know and you think oh this is a big deal yeah yeah give me give me what together you know so those are all things that uh small business owners also can can can do and try yeah we we we small business owners they seem to be afraid of uh experimenting yeah you know you would the there's so much we can learn from uh from the big guys and they do it all the time you know that's why you see prices changing you go to the store different price you go to the store you know a different price another week and so on you're wondering what what's going on they are experimenting to see where is really the customer here you know what what where is he what's the other big thing for small business or whatever the one last thing I would say also is it's it's good to get paid up front it definitely helps because it helps with your cash flow it helps you manage it helps you keep things in order a lot of them are aren't getting paid until the completion of the job yes yes which that can be there's so much work that's being done and then it's a loss of revenue and it's a big challenge and it's like how do we think about this in an easy way to get us to the space that we need to so we can share that one because I've seen that with a lot of business owners where I'm like yes yes yes no you're you're absolutely right commitment from them that they're gonna do the work and then pay them like you know yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah you know that that happens and uh usually uh you they say we'll pay in 30 days they don't pay you in 30 days they pay you maybe uh after 60 days and then all of a sudden your cash flow is not uh is out of work but there are a few things that uh people they can do there is this uh one coffee shop here they said well rather than you coming there every day buying a cup of coffee you're regular sir if you pay uh this amount uh so much here uh you you you you can uh you can you can have uh you know uh as many coffee cups as you want for for a week you know and then all of a sudden you have paid them already up front and you come you show them you get your cup of coffee you know so they got their money up front and they uh they ensure by you you're coming there just just you know getting your cup of coffee and so I mean I did that I did that with the car wash I go to is it's like thirty dollars a car wash or something like that 25 or 30 bucks and then they were like if you buy 10 of the car washes yes then it's only twenty two dollars because you save like eight bucks on every single car wash so you save like eighty bucks and I'm like and then they throw in another two and I'm like okay so now I just paid them yes like 220 bucks or 250 bucks yeah for 12 car washes now I know my car washes and I'm gonna go there and read and and they they got their money up front and they even try to upsell you also they try even to sell you additional additional things.

SPEAKER_00 36:53

Yeah that that's that's how it is it's just and and then it's just a free experience when you redeem them yeah it adds up but after a while you're just like oh dude I really like this person because now it's not the because what ends up happening when that relationship occurs it's not transactional anymore.

SPEAKER_01 37:08

Yes yes it's more of a real relationship and that's why I like if you do a subscription coffee like cool you get three coffees at this size once a week each week and it's less than if you bought them individually like I don't know yes you can play around with it so many different ways it's important for us to realize that yeah yeah there are many things they can do uh cross sell they can do down sell they could uh do bundle uh they they could do uh they could do uh many of those uh they just have they just have to be creative uh but but for that then that means that you have to look at your 8020 so that that 80 there you have to look at within that 80 what is draining you so that you can drop it and reclaim your time uh and then and that that's what I'm talking so that's why the third element of uh of my framework is uh that uh sustaining that performance that means that you have to find developing leadership capabilities perhaps in your teams uh you cannot uh do everything you need to delegate put systems in place that's going to make you and uh your and your team more more productive all of that will help you reclaim your time because then now you can think of new ideas you can look at the business differently and so on uh rather than just being in the business continually every day it give you the sense that yeah I'm I'm building this business but actually uh at some point working harder is actually costing you much much more yeah and it's how do how do I get that space back how do I get that placement how do I do that and yes you just start outsourcing things and even at this point right now there's a lot of low cost things that you can do with AI and other ways you can make it work and it allows you to move the needle.

SPEAKER_00 38:51

So for you for you Masango I have five pillars of Edwards consulting it's mental health physical health community service philanthropy spirituality and relationships I'm gonna ask you on a one to ten where you're at today and how you feel about it.

SPEAKER_01 39:06

So on a one to ten for mental health how do you feel today no mental health I think uh I I think I would say is it's probably nine nine or ten I feel I think how is that possible tell me about it why well I I I feel good because uh because um I'm uh because my mental health I think is connected also to my physical health i i think i think that's really the the reason because i've been uh exercising training uh for for hiking and so on i've been doing that for almost a year now and and so uh so i feel uh physically i feel good in my body i know my body is good and uh my last uh my last physical uh you know the doctor was actually amazed with the numbers so uh so and i think that also helped me mentally mentally in terms of uh focusing on things that i need to do uh because now uh when i sit i have uh high high energy particularly in the morning hours that that that's why i feel mentally uh sharp i uh i i remember i remember quickly many many things than i did two years ago so uh so uh so so that's what i'm saying so i so i don't know on your scale the word that will fall but uh no no no i love i love that and and you mentioned that you've been physically hiking or practice hiking for about a year why are you doing that well that was something i was really actually doing for myself there was an opportunity i always wanted to visit peru machu picchu and uh but i was not thinking of doing any hiking and so on there although i've been always been walking and uh hiking in the local woods here but then that opportunity came and they say oh we go you know we have this opportunity a group of people will be hiking taking the Inca trail all the way to the top of Machu Picchu I said oh man I always wanted to visit that place I think this will be a great opportunity but then we had a program for us to to to train uh we uh we have an app here that tells us what we what kind of exercise we need to do every day and so on which is okay because I was doing it so as I was uh taking my uh my my my daily daily walks actually a year ago one of my neighbors uh told me say musongo I see you walking here every morning uh is it okay if I join you I say sure come on up so uh so he came he's uh he has joined me uh he's not as uh as a consistent as I am but uh but uh but but but it's been it's been good it's been good that's incredible because the reason I asked that is because I told you in the pre-call that I did the Inca Trail and we got to see Machu Picchu and it's amazing but for everyone listening I want you guys to realize that when you have a bigger vision something exciting something pulling you instead of you having to push yourself to walk like I guarantee you if the neighbor was like hey I'm coming on the Inca Trail too he would he would take it a little more seriously because it's yeah yeah he he did he did ask me he did ask me if it could join I told him oh it's it's a bit late now we are already signed up and so on but but then he's uh he is participating but he's not as consistent as I am for whatever reason okay but my point being here is that when we have a big vision for ourselves it's something that inspires us something that wants us to get out of our comfort zone because if you guys don't know what the Inca Trail is it's four days from Cusco to Machu Picchu most people will take an hour and a half train ride but get a little photo shoot no four days woods no shower just there just getting gritty it's cool it's the elevation gets up it's 20 I think it's 42 kilometers or 26 kilometers or something but it's an absolutely incredible hike like it is one of the top moments in my life like it was a very very cool thing for you so I find that absolutely amazing community service and philanthropy tell me about that how have you how do you think about that how do you involve with that is that something that's relevant to you like community service is is is probably low I would say uh I've not been uh plugged in here I just had uh recently an opportunity uh to help uh students in our University of uh North Carolina UNC Chapel Hill here their MBA program so which which is which is okay I I enjoy doing that you know talking to students about what my you know my trajectory and what I do but uh community service per se no that one I've not uh I've not uh I've not uh done that uh the way I'm the way I understand it actually yeah is is there something that you'd want to like what is something that you're passionate about well uh something I'll be passionate about is like uh for example uh when they have a food drive you know to volunteer there uh helping people and so on so that's something uh that's something I I know I know I would enjoy yeah but uh but I've not uh I've not uh I've not the prioritization of it yeah no and Mosango I appreciate you being honest here because yeah I honestly struggle with this pillar and in all honesty with it being five pillars there's no way to be exceptional at all of them so it's something that we're always constantly working on.

SPEAKER_00 44:15

But the reason I ask and I'm just sharing this for the audience to realize the reason I asked Mosango what he cares about is he said the food drive. Why do you guys think that is because in the beginning of his story he said how he got to Canada and he's like I literally had to cut meals down from three meals to one meal. So I had to make sure that it was okay because he was just figuring it out. Now the thing is with a lot of this we just have to prioritize it and volunteer it and you'll get so much back from it. So I think that's awesome. I think that's absolutely and you don't have to be the one that's like I created this you can go off on your journey and go help. And now what about relationships? How do you feel about your relationships? This can be relationships with yourself, with your your partner family however you want to interpret it.

SPEAKER_01 44:59

Yeah, relationship with the with with the family, I think certainly with my my children and grandchildren, I think uh I think that's very good. I think that is that is very good.

SPEAKER_00 45:09

How do you how do you make it very good?

SPEAKER_01 45:12

Well uh I uh for example with uh my grandchildren I spend uh lots of time even uh helping them with their homework and so on so they always look forward uh when I uh when I visit them or when they when they come to my house they always bring those uh indoor games and we play you know so uh so they were here just uh last weekend and uh they were telling me oh we we brought uh you know when when we go to your house we'll play Uno I say no when I go to visit you guys in Virginia Beach I will do it there no no no we brought the game we brought the game I said ah okay so uh so uh so I I I I I I take uh I take a great deal of uh enjoyment uh doing that uh you know I would like to spend more time with uh some of the friends uh you know that we we we are we are we are talking and uh getting together but not as much as it was uh a few a few years ago I was actually uh thinking about it uh uh last week I said man I should uh try to throw a party here at my house here bring bring all those guys uh uh again here so uh yeah I love that because the more because that's the other thing wasango wasn't sitting there going I have these friends and they haven't reached out to me and like we're just not gonna hang out no it's like I'm gonna throw a party and it's like what you're gonna throw a party it's like yeah come down whatever it is because if you want to create something or even this is an interesting one that I did there was a place that I had I live in Tampa and there was a place in town that had like half price entrees or something and it was like a higher end place and it had like this weird timing that it worked out and I was just like hey I got a table for 15 like whoever wants to come can come like if you don't want to come don't come if you do yes and it was just everyone seemed to really enjoy it because it's a hey bring this person bring this person that sounds good and sometimes you go to dinners and you're like this is so stressful but you're like no it's like not that many people and it's just a good time and it's just the person who's that's that's actually yeah that's actually a great idea you know to have a table of 15 people here and then uh yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah the person who gives the effort is gonna be the one who gets the reward yeah so yes yeah yeah you're absolutely right you're absolutely right and if you plan it just plan it like a week or two in advance where people have a little bit of time and they won't they won't let you down.

SPEAKER_00 47:33

And then spirituality how do you feel on a zero to ten for that that can be whatever you want to interpret it as yeah spirituality I uh I've not uh you know uh you know I was I was born and raised as a Catholic I've not been uh regular in going to church you know it's been uh it's been very sporadic so but then uh but then uh I pray a lot I pray I pray uh before uh before I go to bed and sometimes uh during the day just uh being grateful you know to uh uh to to to God and uh and uh and and uh and and and and other things that that that one could be better it's difficult uh to uh so uh so I just want to give you a preference here and just give you a phrase what is the success of spirituality you know what I mean because most of us if we deem it through the Catholic lens it's like hey I gotta go to church I gotta contribute I gotta do these things but it's not that yeah yeah but if your version of it is hey I pray I'm grateful each morning and I show up and I know that we're all interconnected and there's something bigger here yeah then you're super spiritual and you're super successful.

SPEAKER_01 48:51

I just feel like that because I I could tell that you had your younger frame and then you had the older frame where you're like I kind of interpreted it this way and I don't think yeah no no you're you're you're you're absolutely right you're absolutely right uh yeah you know that it's uh it's it's it's uh it's it's your own definition so uh so so so so in that case for me that that that's what it is just you know praying there you know in the evening uh just just being grateful about uh about the things uh that that has happened to to me and whatnot you know thanking uh thanking uh God for uh having guided me and you know brought all those people uh you know uh along my journey so that's something uh I always uh try to uh uh to remember and then uh and then thank for that yeah yeah absolutely I love that so musanga we're coming to the end yes where where can people learn more about you where can they hear more about you and connect with you yeah the easiest way is uh connect with me on LinkedIn also no more I think there is only one person with that name I'll put the link in the show notes for sure so so so let's connect there and let's uh get to know each other and continue the conversation I'd love to uh to hear from uh from you guys huh awesome and do mesh do mention that uh you came through uh Jordan's uh show absolutely thank you missanga and thank you john it's been it's been great having a conversation with you here