Marketing Genius: Building a Community- Driven Business

summary

In this episode, John Keefer shares his community-driven approach to marketing, reputation management, and handling business challenges in the junk removal industry. Discover practical strategies for building trust, maintaining a five-star reputation, and growing a business with integrity. In this episode, John shares his journey through business challenges, the importance of resilience, and balancing family life with entrepreneurship. He discusses pivoting during tough times, the value of community and collaboration, and the mindset needed to succeed.


 keywords

community marketing, reputation management, junk removal, customer service, business growth, reviews, leadership, integrity business challenges, resilience, entrepreneurship, family, pivot, community, collaboration, mindset, small business, leadership


 key  topics

Community-driven marketing strategies
Reputation management and reviews
Handling business challenges and mistakes
Building trust through service and integrity
Growth strategies for junk removal businesses Business resilience and pivoting strategies
Balancing family life with entrepreneurship
The importance of community and collaboration
Lessons learned from business challenges
Mindset and character in business success


 guest  name

John Keefer John


 takeaways

You only fail if you quit.
Pivoting is essential during challenges.
Balancing family and business requires intentionality.
Community and collaboration can help grow your business.
Persistence is key, like a river cutting through rock.


Titles

Building a Community-Driven Business in Junk Removal
How Reputation Management Boosts Your Business


 sound bites

"Taking ownership is key to reputation"
"Own your mistakes and learn from them"
"You only fail if you quit."


Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Guest Introduction
00:23 John Keefer's Background and Business Overview
01:14 Community Involvement and Giving Back
02:11 Benefits of Community-Driven Marketing
03:13 Partnerships with Nonprofits and Chamber of Commerce
04:40 Holiday Giving Events and Community Impact
05:46 Building Reputation Through Service and Relationships
07:41 Reputation Management and Reviews: Strategies and Tools
09:07 Using Nice Job and Jobber for Reviews and Communication
12:17 The Importance of Personal Touch in Customer Service
13:08 Maintaining a 5-Star Rating and Handling Negative Feedback
14:10 Training and Leading a Team to Uphold Values
16:23 Leveraging Technology for Business Growth
18:50 The Role of Reviews in Business Success
20:13 Extreme Ownership and Customer Expectations
22:09 Handling Mistakes and Business Challenges
26:20 Pricing, Estimates, and Customer Relationships
30:07 The Value of Going Above and Beyond
34:17 Dealing with Unexpected Challenges and Liability
43:25 Learning from Mistakes and Building Resilience
45:52 The Reality of Business Success and Failures
46:14 Overcoming Challenges and Staying Authentic
47:21 The Industry's Hidden Challenges and Realities
48:09 Closing Remarks and Final Thoughts
47:56 Business challenges with vehicle repairs and pivoting
48:39 Dealing with rental issues and adapting in business
49:33 Buying second truck and managing repair costs
50:03 Selling the second truck and financial lessons
50:56 Running a business and family life balance
51:25 The importance of character and perseverance
52:23 Learning from failures and the first five years
53:32 Handling market changes and lead sources
55:02 Dealing with financial stress and employee loss
57:00 The mindset of not quitting during tough times
59:25 Adapting to unforeseen challenges like COVID
01:00:36 Encouragement for business owners in difficulty
01:01:05 The importance of empathy and understanding in leadership
01:02:26 The value of learning and education in business
01:03:26 Asking for help and community support
01:04:00 Customer service and collaboration over competition
01:05:37 Referral networks and industry integrity
01:06:28 Honesty and transparency with clients
01:07:35 Balancing personal life and business decisions
01:09:55 Deciding to have wife stay home and financial planning
01:11:11 The challenges of homeschooling and family life
01:12:10 Managing business stress and family priorities
01:14:10 The reality of running a successful business
01:15:50 The importance of emotional regulation and empathy
01:17:22 Choosing your heart and making tough decisions
01:18:49 The ongoing nature of challenges in business
01:20:44 The value of persistence and character
01:22:25 Understanding others' perspectives in business and family
01:24:45 Supporting your family and managing emotions
01:26:29 The reality of self-employment and continuous effort
01:28:11 The illusion of ease in business challenges
01:29:29 The importance of persistence and resilience
01:30:17 Final thoughts and encouragement for entrepreneurs

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Transcript

Branden Sewell (00:00.91)
Hi, my name's Branden Sewell. I'm the owner of Seal Pro Painting and the host of the Off the Ladder Podcast. And we exist to help home service business owners learn so that they can lead well and ultimately live life off of the ladder. Today we've got a return guest, John Keefer with Keefer's Junk Removal. He's in my local market and he's a good friend of mine. Welcome to the show, John.

Keefer's Junk Removal (00:23.602)
Thanks for having me, man. It's good to be back.

Branden Sewell (00:26.156)
Yeah, absolutely. if you could just for those who may not know who you are or might have not listened to the past episode, could you just really quick for the audience, tell them a little bit more about you and what you do?

Keefer's Junk Removal (00:38.32)
Yeah, man. So, as you said, I am the owner of Keefer's Junk Removal. We have been in business right over three and a half years now. I wanna say I was about a year and a half when I was on last time. And, you know, business is awesome, man. You know, you get to do a lot of different things for yourself. You know, you get to make your own schedule, do your own thing, but it has its ups and downs as well.

you know, we'll do anything from a single item pickup to a full property clean out, shed demolitions, hot tub removals, boats, cars, RVs, you name it, we can probably do it. And if we can't, we have a network of people that we refer out as well. You know.

Branden Sewell (01:14.242)
Yeah. you know, w one of the l things that we talked about in the last episode was just the your approach to marketing. And, you know, as somebody who is in the community that you work in and live in, I just wanna tell you that I I I get inspired by ha your approach to business and just how involved you are in the community and how you give back and

And all of those things. And I think that's really powerful. And I know we touched on that in the last interview. What I want to do is, you know, like you said, you've been in business well then in that last interview, you were in business for what, a little over a year. now you're a little over three, you said. so I just wanna for the audience share with them how has what are some of the benefits that you've seen from your community driven approach to marketing.

you know, that boots on the ground, involved, hands on, getting into the community. how has that benefited you and how d how has it helped your business grow and scale and just exist in the community that we serve?

Keefer's Junk Removal (02:26.672)
You know, we get told a lot by a lot of other business owners that the only way to get in front of people is to pay for ads and spend a bunch of money on Google and Facebook and, you know, all these different things. But we when we started our business, you know, we wanted to take a different approach where

If it's not for the people in our community that pay for our services, we wouldn't be in business. You know, so in order to take care of those people, we do what we can to get back. So we have been a partner with a local nonprofit called the Waterway Warriors, where you've actually joined us on some of their cleanups, which we appreciate. and their big thing is really just trying to keep as much trash and eliminate any plastics, bottles.

Branden Sewell (03:06.264)
Mm-hmm.

Keefer's Junk Removal (03:13.966)
any kind of trash from entering the our local river, which is the Indian River Lagoon. And since then we have also accepted a seat on their board of directors to help make an even larger impact on what we can do to help our community. With that, we've also now become one of the ambassadors with our local chamber of commerce. So we are doing more with the with the Titusville Chamber. And you know, we kind of touched last time too where we also do a Christmas event every year.

Branden Sewell (03:43.586)
Right.

Keefer's Junk Removal (03:43.999)
And being in junk removal, we're in the perfect position where we can keep as much out of the landfill as possible and find ways to get creative to give back. And in doing so, we do a Christmas event every year where donations that we collect through jobs, through people in the community, through drop-off locations, and we literally host an entire event with some of our favorite local vendors that all we ask of them is to offer a discount on their services, a raffle basket.

Branden Sewell (03:53.294)
Mm-hmm.

Keefer's Junk Removal (04:13.016)
something to give back for a free event. And people show up and we just give them decorations. We give them trees, you know, because then it's not only keeping it out of the landfill, but then we're also able to holidays are tough. You know, the economy is not great right now. Everybody's struggling. Holidays are usually the hardest time of year and everybody dreads going to the holidays because half the time we can't afford it. So if we can do anything that we can to really give back

Branden Sewell (04:26.865)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (04:37.197)
Mm-hmm.

Keefer's Junk Removal (04:40.888)
That is how you build your reputation in a community that anybody and their mother can do junk removal if you get a truck and trailer. So they think.

Branden Sewell (04:49.976)
Yeah.

Yeah. You know, what I love about that is, you know, so many people talk about you know, making a difference or being a business that gives back. and what I love is that like for you, it's not like theory, it's not something that you just talk about for like you know, the hype. It it's you're actually doing those things to give back, which I really appreciate.

And like I said, it inspires me as a business owner. You know, you talked about me getting involved in Waterway Warriors. I was like, you know, I here I am, I'm watching you and what you're doing. And, you know, I was like, Man, that's what it means to say that like you care about your community, but then to put it into action, right? We it's easy for us to sit on the sidelines and you know, for the past

As long as I've lived on the Space Coast, you know, the our our waterways have been a huge topic of complaints of water quality, the river quality going down, algae blooms, fish kills, you know, all kinds of stuff. And I think it's really easy to sit on the sidelines and just complain, but it's another to like actually get in, get your hands dirty and do something about it. And so I love that you're just a practitioner in that sense. Like you

you know, the the holiday thing, like we were a part of that with you a couple of years ago and you know, to see that you're just you're doing what you can with the resources that you have to make a difference. And I love that. So it's inspiring. Just wanna encourage you that, you know, it's seen and I think that you you are, you're making a difference. And it's exciting to think like you're you're three years in. So man, what is the next

Keefer's Junk Removal (06:28.69)
Thank you. Okay.

Branden Sewell (06:43.746)
five, ten years look like for you as a business owner and the impact that you'll be able to make. It's really exciting to think about and encouraging to see your journey. So I'm I'm excited for you. And it it's it's just it's a joy to like be able to call you a friend and to see that that difference that you're making and you're inspiring other business owners, man. So that's really cool. yeah, for sure. So let's kind of shift on to this too. Like with

Keefer's Junk Removal (07:06.524)
Thank you, man. Likewise.

Branden Sewell (07:13.74)
With growing your business, one of the things that we had talked about in the past was you know, reputation management and getting more reviews. I think that there is like there is an approach on digital advertising, if you will. where like so for example, on Google, I don't do paid ads or PPC for Google.

but two things that I am a really big advocate for, and one more than other, the main thing is like your GMB, like keeping it updated, making sure you're constantly getting new reviews, making sure that you're showing up like in the top three for the map pack or, you know, local listings. and and really just setting yourself as like the leader in that.

area for your industry. Now the other thing that I'm not as big of a fan, but I do do is is Google LSA. and the only reason I like that over PPC is just because it's like you set the budget and you get the leads that you pay for. and you can get credits back for bad leads. So I do like that because I feel like there's a little bit more control. but the one that I think is a big focus for you is

Is your GMB and getting those reviews. So I I had told you about Knight's job, which is the reputation management software that we use that automates the process for getting reviews. And as I have shared my own personal story, when I first started using it, I had been in business in this area in Titusville. We had moved our location for from Orlando to Titusville.

And we had been in Titusville for three years and had only gotten 10 reviews. And I was using another reputation management software at that time. I attended a a conference, a virtual conference where Nice Job had like a breakout room. I met with them and they sold me on joining. I joined and literally with like in a year, I think I went from 10 reviews to like over 60. And then the next year,

Branden Sewell (09:36.98)
It just it just kept s you know exploding to where now we're about to hit two hundred reviews on our Google business profile. And so anyway, you started using it when? Like within the year?

Keefer's Junk Removal (09:52.42)
Yeah, we're I think we're right around that year mark here soon.

Branden Sewell (09:56.278)
Yeah. So if you could just for the listeners, maybe share what your experience has been with well, two things. Kind of talk about Jobber and nice job and how you use that integration and send out the review requests and maybe where you started with reviews before using it and where you are now and how having those reviews like affects your business.

Keefer's Junk Removal (10:20.722)
You know, one thing about our business is we I try to keep it personal.

You know, and they say don't mix business and personal and everything like that. But realistically, if you want to run a business with a good reputation, it's gonna become personal because you wanna take care of clients as if they're they're not just a client, a dollar sign. They're they're family, they're friends, they're they could end up becoming one of your best friends. You know, I mean, now look at you and I and we just do business together, but we also do work for you, you know, a couple times a month. So

When I first when we started our our our Google page and everything like that, you know, we kept it personal in the sense where, you know, you first start a business, you're getting one client a day, two clients a day, you know, stuff like that. So it's easy for me to, you know, hey, thank you so much for choosing Key for Junk Removal. Thank you for trusting us with your business. If you were happy with the service we provided, would you mind leaving us a review? And then we would text them the link. That's great.

it keeps it personal, but now when we're doing sometimes five to seven jobs a day, on top of maintaining our Facebook content and Google My Business page and, you know, all the other things now and our admin stuff that we take care of, you know, it makes it a little bit harder to personalize each and every single one of those texts. Otherwise I'm gonna be up all hours of the night, which normally I am anyways.

but you know, with Nice Job, it has really made it to where, you know, as a business owner, you have to learn the art of delegation. And in doing so, Nice Job has made it to where now every time we close out one of our invoices through Jobber, it automatically send a text to the client, like while I'm still standing in front of them of, you know, hey, if you were happy with Keyford's junk removal, would you mind leaving a survey? The nice thing about it.

Branden Sewell (11:57.873)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (12:15.726)
Mm-hmm.

Keefer's Junk Removal (12:17.658)
Is once it sends that review, I want to say it sends two more updates over the span of like two weeks. But it it's not, you know, hey, you didn't leave us a review. Why not leave us a review now? It's hey, here's just an update, you know, and that has made it to where we know that we do such an impact to our clients that there are times that we're getting five to ten reviews a week.

Branden Sewell (12:30.263)
Mm-hmm.

Keefer's Junk Removal (12:43.534)
You know, so we went from I want to say we were just over a hundred reviews when we started using Nice Job. And I just checked this morning, we're at 244 five star reviews. You know, and you get a lot of people that are like, man, you know, we're we're doing great. We're at 4.7 stars and this and that. And it's like, that's great, don't get me wrong, but I I want to strive to be better than that.

Branden Sewell (12:43.811)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (12:54.786)
Right.

Keefer's Junk Removal (13:08.516)
You know, and that's why we tell a lot of our clients, if I'm not a hundred percent sure that you're gonna be a hundred and ten percent happy with the job by the time we're done, I'm probably not gonna take the job, you know, because our reputation is everything to me. It's it's something that I've poured literal blood, sweat, and tears into building this business that I only want to offer five-star service. And if we can't do that.

Branden Sewell (13:09.038)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (13:21.569)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (13:30.008)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (13:34.605)
Yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (13:37.309)
Then I'm clearly doing something wrong because a lot of business owners are like, it's impossible to maintain a five star rating. Figure it out. I mean, there's clearly ways to do it. And, you know, in the the art of trying to stay humble with it is do better. You know, if if

Branden Sewell (13:43.382)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (13:53.836)
Mm-hmm.

Keefer's Junk Removal (13:55.757)
your guys are not treating clients the way that you would, then you need to pivot and make sure that your guys are treating your clients the way that you would. And I think that's become one of the hardest things for us is I would love to get off the truck.

Branden Sewell (14:04.6)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (14:10.221)
Mm-hmm.

Keefer's Junk Removal (14:10.256)
But in three and a half years, I have not found anybody that I've brought onto our team yet. And it's it's a constant training session on how to treat people and how I what the expectations are of running this business. But nobody is going to run your business the way that you do. And at the same time, my wife tells me all the time you cannot expect yourself out of everybody else. And that's a hard thing to swallow. When I walk up to a client's house, and the first thing out of my mouth when they open their door is, wow, you have

Branden Sewell (14:26.562)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (14:32.931)
Yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (14:40.18)
Such a lovely home. You know, it's something as simple as just building that relationship with the client that helps you maintain that five star rating. It's not just doing the job collecting a check or cash or whatever, and then okay, we'll see you on the next one. You know, it's keeping it personable, making them feel like their hard earned money that they decided to choose you as the contractor is going to be money well spent. Now, in the front of Jobber.

Branden Sewell (14:48.643)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (14:53.57)
Mm-hmm.

Keefer's Junk Removal (15:07.494)
We, when we first started, we were using QuickBooks to run everything. QuickBooks is great, but realistically it's entry level. You can run your business with QuickBooks, but you're missing out on a lot. So with Jobber, we're able to send invoices, send quotes, send on the Waitex. it sends them automated updates about their appointment. We can send a booking confirmation that has

date, time, client's name, price, all these different things that we get compliments all the time. And they're like, wow, you guys are so communic communicative. Absolutely. I mean, I try my hardest not to give people a time window and we try to space our schedule so that this way, if I tell you I'm gonna be there at 1230, I'm gonna be there about 1255 or excuse me, 1225. You know, so it

Branden Sewell (15:45.261)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (15:57.452)
Mm-hmm.

Keefer's Junk Removal (16:01.874)
Using Jobber, using Nice Job, learning how to delegate our time and energy towards the tools that are going to help us continue to grow, but keep things personal with our clients has made such an impact that, you know, I appreciate you as well because you're the one that turned us onto Jobber and Nice Job and you know, it's really made a difference for us in general.

Branden Sewell (16:23.788)
Yeah. You know, it's funny, like as somebody, like you said, you guys service our business you know, multiple times a month now, doing like junk pickups for us. Cause when we finish a job, we usually have a ton of paper, plastic, you know, tape, buckets, just a bunch of stuff. And obviously we don't leave that at our client's house. We take it with us and we bring it back to our shop, but then we've gotta get rid of it. So you've been doing those pickup scruffs for a while now and

You know, when you started using Jobber, man, I can tell you like even like as a busy business owner, getting those updates, like, hey, reminder, you have an appointment with kefir's junk removal. I'm like, yeah, I gotta be at the shop, you know. or you know, the other thing too is payments. Like, you know, I've there's been a couple times where I you know, I'm just like, I'm busy. I'm you come

Keefer's Junk Removal (17:07.922)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (17:22.348)
You do the pickup, but I'm still running and doing my business and all that. And I just don't even think to make that payment on the spot. and then it but I get those automated reminders of like, hey, you've got an invoice with and so I think from the standpoint of like people have busy lives, you don't want to be chasing people down for money, like, you know, trying to pick up checks or go meet them to process their cards or whatever.

and I think it probably like I'm just assuming for you, it probably gives you the ability like keep moving and then just know like Jobber's gonna help you to get those payments. And my personal experience is I don't have a problem getting paid. Like Jobber actually tells you on your dashboard like what your typical timing is for getting paid on an invoice.

And ours never has gone past a day. Like so usually if we invoice a customer, they're either going to pay it the same day or the next day. so that's just nice because we don't have to chase down money, which is a good thing. yeah, so I mean I think that's that's really good. when you talk about five star reviews, I want to touch on this too, because I just had this conversation with somebody. the way that I think about

keeping a five-star reputation is just taking extreme ownership. Like my favorite leadership book that I've ever written was writ read was written by two Navy SEALs, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. And the whole principle of that book is that, you know, leaders take extreme ownership. If there's a problem, if something comes up in your team or in your business, it's not

it you don't shift blame or try to, you know, point your finger at somebody. You just you take ownership of that and you say, okay, well, I missed it there. so like for example, you could have a a customer who's like, well, I thought that you said you were gonna do this in your scope of work. And then you either at that point can argue with the customer and then potential and not do that work that they thought was going to be done.

Branden Sewell (19:46.378)
And get a negative review because of it, you know, because in that customer's eyes, you told them something, proposed value that you were going to give, and then you didn't give it. the way that I try to approach those situations is I try to think from the customer standpoint, you know, what did I do as the owner of this business to not communicate properly or to create a proper expectation? And then I'll also feel it out. I might be like,

You know, I might initially say to them, like, hey, you know, I'm sorry that that was a a miscommunication, but no, that wasn't included. And then if they push back, I'm like, okay, they're gonna stay consistent on this. Like, now what's the next step? well, hey, I I'm not gonna charge you full price. Could we just do it at costs? And if they still push back and they say something like, Well, I don't wanna pay for it, like you I I assume that this was included, then I have to

Keefer's Junk Removal (20:26.0)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (20:43.084)
like dig down in myself and say, okay, where did I miss it? How did I, what in my presentation or what I said or what I proposed to them make them think that this was like an included service. I can't I can't control the way that my customer perceives things, right? But what I can do is take ownership for my own action. And so in those situations, I'm trying to like get to a resolution

That the customer is going to feel comfortable with. And sometimes that means that I take a loss, but where I win is that I maintain my reputation. And so I didn't go to college for a really long time. I dropped out after a semester, but I remember I took a class on marketing, and one of the things that they talk about is opportunity cost. and it's like by virtue of doing one thing, you're gonna possibly lose in another area. And so you have to like take that to

take that into consideration in business. It's like, okay, well, is me being right in this situation with this customer and maintaining that it wasn't included and hey, I'm not budging on this, is that worth the potential negative review or negative consequences that are going to come from it? and for me, it's just not. My reputation and trying to turn that into a positive is what I

I try to do and how I approach those situations. And again, like it it's and that doesn't always mean that you're wrong as the business owner. But I shared this with another person. I was like in marriage. Like think about if like you're in your marriage, how healthy would your marriage be if like both of you and your spouse just argued that until like you both thought you're right, right? And you just argued to the death. Like you're just like, no, I'm right. No, like

How do we have successful and happy and healthy marriages? There's compromise, right? Like there's sometimes where we think we're right and we have to like bite our tongue or we have to swallow our pride and just say, like, hey, like me being right is not worth our relationship, right? Me being right is not worth going to bed, you know, angry with you, right? it's not worth saying it's not worth not.

Branden Sewell (23:08.14)
you know, making up or saying sorry or whatever. Does that make sense? Like

Keefer's Junk Removal (23:11.802)
Absolutely. I mean, that's what a lot of people don't realize too, is like you said, running a business is almost like maintaining your marriage. You know, it that compromise, you know, my wife and I love that woman to death. I literally couldn't do what I do without her and her help. You know, it's

I am very hard headed when it comes to, you know, if I feel strongly about a situation, it you know, in in a lot of situations, I feel like I have to be right. And she's taught me that it it's not about being right. Like in marriage, you're not supposed to view your partner, you like you can view them as your sounding board. You can view them as someone to take advice from, but they're not the enemy. And I think a lot of people forget that because, you know, I feel like as human beings,

Branden Sewell (23:56.696)
Mm-hmm.

Keefer's Junk Removal (24:01.67)
We have that internal like fight or flight. And for a lot of people, it's fight. But why do you want to fight with the one person who's wholeheartedly in your corner? And in the same regard, you know, I'm always going to fight for my business. But I I see a lot of business owners, especially in the junk removal industry, that, you know, a client wants to add a rug. And they're like, well, yeah, that'll be an extra $25.

Branden Sewell (24:13.516)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (24:30.862)
All right, right.

Keefer's Junk Removal (24:31.91)
Take take the rug. Like it it's something that like absolutely you should not work for free. You know, that's that's the big thing. And I think so many people get caught up on the

Branden Sewell (24:38.381)
Yeah, yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (24:44.388)
I want to go above and beyond, but I can't work for free. Like we have one client in particular that's been a client since we first got started and we appreciate her. But unfortunately, like any business owner, when you first get started, you're still trying to figure out your pricing. It's never gonna be perfect right off the bat.

Branden Sewell (25:03.52)
Mm-hmm. Right.

Keefer's Junk Removal (25:04.748)
So unfortunately, she is hooked on our pricing from when we first got started. And so we've done slow little increases for certain size jobs and everything like that. But like you said, it's about compromise. And so I tell her, you know, hey.

Branden Sewell (25:11.427)
Yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (25:22.532)
If you can wait until we're in the area and I can throw it in with a load that I already have, we can maintain that pricing. But if I have to plan a separate trip to come out, it's gonna be our minimum or it's gonna be XYZ. She's totally fine with that because then she still maintains that pricing. But you know, if you're like, hey, I need you to clean out my entire house for $75, you know, the

Branden Sewell (25:36.888)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (25:42.456)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (25:49.603)
Yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (25:49.649)
We don't I mean, I I kinda hate to use this term, but we don't believe in, you know, crackhead pricing. You know, we we run a business. We have costs, we have overhead. But when it comes to, you know, the 80-year-old woman that can't carry a dining room chair down to the dumpster, yeah, I've got some room. Let me throw it in there for you. And that is what kind of gives like on most of our reviews is wow, these guys really do go above and beyond.

Branden Sewell (25:56.329)
Yeah yeah.

Branden Sewell (26:01.781)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (26:10.306)
Yeah. Yeah.

Branden Sewell (26:19.555)
Yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (26:20.366)
It's it's not that hard, but everybody like I feel like people are more worried about the dollar signs than the reputation. And the dollar signs come because of your reputation. A lot of times it gets twisted, and that's where you see. I mean, listen, Facebook, Instagram, Google, next door.

Branden Sewell (26:28.372)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Branden Sewell (26:33.964)
Yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (26:43.57)
Those platforms have become so huge and such a large sounding board for when people get pissed off. And I've seen some of the reviews and some of the ways that people talk about contractors. I don't ever want to make it on that list. But that's where, you know, going above and beyond and doing it's almost like doing what's right. You know, you know that lady's not going to be able to carry that chair down.

Branden Sewell (26:50.924)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (26:59.326)
Yeah, right.

Branden Sewell (27:06.582)
Yeah, for sure.

Keefer's Junk Removal (27:10.626)
So why are you gonna be like, well, ma'am, yeah, we can do that, but that's gonna be an extra fifty dollars. I could also spend two extra minutes and break the legs off that chair and it's almost like it's not even in the trailer, you know.

Branden Sewell (27:16.012)
No.

Branden Sewell (27:22.102)
Yeah. Yeah. No, it's good. I mean, it it's just like different you know, perspectives, I guess, from business owners, but I share a very similar perspective as you. And I I even tell my guys, like, I have four crews now and eleven employees, and I I tell I'm like, Look, if you're on a job, like do not call me if a customer says they want to add a door on. Just do the door. It's gonna take you

Keefer's Junk Removal (27:50.151)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (27:51.224)
25, 30 minutes, you know, to to paint one side of a door. Like, please, like, don't like I don't I'm gonna have to stop what I'm doing, look at it, send them a bid, see if they approve the price, get it sent back. I'm like, just do it. Like

Keefer's Junk Removal (28:10.234)
It's gonna take you longer than the thirty minutes for them to just paint the door.

Branden Sewell (28:13.638)
Right, right. I even like I had a s I I like I try to tell my guys, it is okay for you to just be genuinely good people working for me. Like I'll I'll never forget I had this this job we were doing in Port St. John and it was an exterior repaint and we were in the middle of that job and the neighbor next door was a older woman who was she was single, I think she was widowed.

and she was trying to move heavy furniture out of her house. And so my guys ended up going over there and helping her move stuff out of her house. on the clock, right? So some some people like might get bothered by that. Me, I was so I I didn't find out about it until the end of the job. cause like, you know, scheduling wise, I was like, Hey guys, where are we at? I you know, I thought we'd be done with this job.

and they were like, Yeah, sorry, like, you know, we're finishing up today. We the during the job, we ended up helping the neighbor. It took some time to help her move some furniture and things like that. and I was like, that's awesome. Like, so my customer is really happy with their job. The neighbor was happy that we helped them, but this is where it came full circle. A a little over a year later, after completing that neighbor's house.

That lady needed her home painted and she called us and she said, Hey, when you guys were painting my neighbor's house, your crew came over and helped me move furniture and I really appreciated that. I need to get my house painted. Can you guys give me a quote? And we ended up getting the job. But I mean, it's just like it not everything has to have a dollar sign on it, you know? and I often like to like think

Keefer's Junk Removal (29:47.559)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (30:07.774)
How would I wanna be treated? Like if I was, you know, if I had you, John, at my house doing, you know, a junk removal and you know, you're like doing this large load and I was like, Hey, here's this bucket of trash, like, can you throw that in there? And you're like, Yeah, it's gonna be an extra seventy five bucks, I'd be like, geez, like so you know, like there is a corner right there f that would fit per like, okay, like

Keefer's Junk Removal (30:28.935)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (30:35.104)
Now I now I'm not saying like there's a line to that, right? There's like, well, if I was like, hey, can you take my boat with you? Like like okay. And if I expected that as a freebie, like, that would be a little bit crazy. But I and I so I understand that there's a you know, a a boundary to that, but when it's something small, it's like don't the way that I think about it is I'm like don't be petty, like or you know, just greedy, like just

you know, those little things I think come back to you. And you you may not see the return in that moment. but the return is me being really happy with your service and then telling all of my neighbors, like, hey, this guy's great. He's he runs a really great business. He has integrity honest, shows up, does a great job, and he really takes care of his customers. and then I want to refer you to like everybody.

so I I you know, I just I think you'd in that moment all you think about is like that dollar sign, but you don't think about like what the effects are that you can't see, if that makes sense. So

Keefer's Junk Removal (31:45.811)
So I I wanna touch on this real quick. So like you had said about, you know, everyone makes it about the dollar sign, right? So one thing that we do differently than a lot of in in a sense more or less the larger corporations is we do everything based on a free on-site estimate. And we do the entire county of Brevard, we do Volusia County, and we even do parts of Orange County.

Branden Sewell (32:02.286)
Mm-hmm.

Keefer's Junk Removal (32:09.884)
But what a lot of people have told me is they're like, Yeah, this junk removal came out to give me a quote and they charged me seventy five dollars and their price was so high I couldn't afford it, but I still had to pay the seventy five dollars. Okay. Yes, fuel is expensive. We have overhead, we have cost, everything like that. Estimates has always been one of those things where

Branden Sewell (32:21.589)
Mm, yeah.

Branden Sewell (32:27.128)
Yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (32:30.926)
The way that I view it is if you cannot afford the fuel to go give an in-person interaction with somebody, you shouldn't be in business anyways. If that twenty, thirty dollars in fuel is gonna make or break your business. That that's not right in my opinion. So I want to say it was Tuesday, we had a lady reach out to us and she's got a sub-zero fridge and a sub-zero freezer in her house. There are these massive like built-in fridge, freezer.

Branden Sewell (32:43.576)
Yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (33:00.674)
units and you know I told the lady I was like listen our big thing is about transparency I want to come out and look at it I want to see how they're put in because you know a lot of people are afraid to admit if they've never done a certain type of job but you have to get to that point where you do it for the first time so you can learn. And a lot of times that comes at a discounted rate to the client

Branden Sewell (33:02.136)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (33:18.087)
Mm-hmm.

Keefer's Junk Removal (33:27.568)
being on YouTube trying to figure out how to do it, you know. And so I went over there to the lady's house and I was there for 45 minutes trying to figure out if we could even do the job, if we had the right tools, if it was something that we could even physically do to get out. And mind you, I mean, this is a one point two million dollar house. Like they

Branden Sewell (33:46.414)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (33:51.884)
Right.

Keefer's Junk Removal (33:54.045)
probably wouldn't have had a problem paying me for my time, but it's not about that. Because I even told the lady I was like, listen, I would love to attempt to do this job, but I will tell you right now, if we cannot successfully complete it, I am not sending you an invoice. Because now, like they say in business, knowledge is power and realistically in the real world as well.

Branden Sewell (34:00.504)
Mm-hmm.

Keefer's Junk Removal (34:17.826)
So by me going over there and spending 45 minutes, not only have I built a relationship with that client before we've even agreed to a job, but they see it as wow, this guy took time out of his day to make sure that I don't get taken advantage of. And that's one of our biggest things is I don't ever want a client to feel like the money that they're spending, they got taken advantage of at the end of the job. So after the 45 minutes, I'm just like, man, I'm really just not a hundred percent confident that I'll be able to get this out.

Branden Sewell (34:39.416)
Right.

Keefer's Junk Removal (34:48.74)
What a lot of us business owners do is sometimes we have to call on people that have experience in that field more than we do. So I reached out to my buddy Michael, who used to be a delivery guy for an appliance company, and I said, Michael, listen, here's what I got going on. I don't know if I can get them get the units out because once the units were put in, the homeowners did a second layer of tile flooring, which has now made it to where your gap where you can remove a fridge is now even smaller.

Branden Sewell (35:14.702)
Branden Sewell (35:18.679)
Yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (35:18.884)
You know, so I was like, Michael, listen, man, I will pay you regardless. Can you meet me at this client's house on Friday to see if we can even get these out? And he's like, Yeah, dude, absolutely. You know, now if we can't get it out, technically I'm gonna take a loss because I have to pay him. But at the same time, you're never gonna know unless you try. But at the same time, I'm super paranoid about liability.

Branden Sewell (35:23.565)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (35:35.875)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (35:40.844)
Yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (35:43.739)
You know, if it's going to damage their floor, damage their walls, you know, someone once told me, Well, what's the issue? You have liability insurance. That's fantastic. Doesn't mean I want to use it. You know, but that's the thing, man. It's you have used this saying a lot, and it's something I've always held on to is putting people before profit. And by me spending 45 minutes and building that relationship.

Branden Sewell (35:44.736)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (35:56.085)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (36:06.787)
Mm-hmm.

Keefer's Junk Removal (36:11.654)
They already told me. They're like, even if we can't get these out, you're gonna be our junk guy. That's perfect. I really appreciate that. That's amazing. So if I would have charged them for XYZ, what is the fifty dollars gonna do? To me, the relationship is worth more than that fifty dollars would have ever been.

Branden Sewell (36:16.941)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (36:29.398)
Yeah. I I don't remember exactly what I think it was a story about Costco and then another similar business model. But anyway, I heard a heard a story recently where it was kind of talking about that whole principle of like, you know, never putting profit before people. always put people first. And it talked about these two organizations. I do remember that one was Costco.

And like Costco ended up, you know, thriving and growing and really succeeding and and all that. But one of the major reasons why, was because of Costco's stance on like serving people. and it was like

It it there was the emphasis that like if we take care of people, then like everything else follows suit and like takes care of itself, right? And that's how I'm like I sink or swim, that is going to be the foundation that I stand on as a business owner. So if I can't I s I always

You know, I'll tell my guys, I'll tell anybody. Like, I don't want I want to be successful. Heck, I want to make more money. I'd love to like I'd make I I'd love to make a lot more and be able to take home a bigger personal income and and all of that from my business. But I always say I don't want to do it at the expense of like some really core things. And one of those things is people. Like I don't wanna feel like I have to

treat people in a bad way, step on people or or anything like that to where I get to like this point of success and I look back and I feel like man I had to like step on people or treat people wrong or do things dishonestly or whatever in order to get here. I'd rather fail than get to that successful point in my life and feel like I had to treat people

Branden Sewell (38:40.052)
unfairly or do things in a in a way that I wouldn't be proud of. And what I what I really just believe like deep inside my my heart is that if I just keep that as the foundation of how I do business, then even though I yes, I'm still gonna face challenges, there's still gonna be hard times, I just feel like I'm gonna be successful and my business will continue to grow and thrive.

Keefer's Junk Removal (38:46.66)
Absolutely.

Branden Sewell (39:08.442)
and and I think that it will be because we did take care of people and put people first. So you know, it like my business is still in process, you know, we're still we still face challenges, but that'll always be like how I try to position myself. so that kind of leads me to the next thing to talk about. you know, before the the show we talked about

being authentic in business challenges. And, you know, for me, I've been in business going on ten years. Aug this August, we will officially be in our tenth year of business. And you know, I face so many challenges in that and I'm still facing challenges to this day. It's funny you mentioned liability insurance and I for the first time

in ten years I'm am in a situation where I may have to use my liability insurance. And, you know, that's one of those things where it's like, you know, you're you have to take extreme ownership of the situation. you have to face, you know, the fact that there was a mistake that was made and then, you know, just own it. And so it really sucks. I'm like looking at the situation, I'm like, and it's like, it's so it sucks so bad. But

In short, what happened, I'll I'll share this story and then we can kinda like just jump in and talk about different challenges. But since you brought up the liability, it made me think about this. so we started an exterior painting job recently, and we were already like delayed by rain. It kept raining us out, the job was taking longer than we had anticipated, and we were just trying to get it done. And so we were

We were almost there. Like we were almost done with this job. And my lead guy for this job ended up he was going out of town over the weekend and wasn't going to be back until Monday or Tuesday. and he was the lead on the job. Well, the guy who worked with my lead, he decided that he wanted to be helpful and try and get this job done.

Branden Sewell (41:23.854)
so we could get on to the next one. And he decided to spray the soffits, the fascia, the gutters, and everything on this home. Now, with painting, like you can't just spray the soffits and the fascia and the gutters. You have to shield because what'll happen is as you're spraying on that paint, even though you don't really like see it, like as you're spraying that that spray is going up.

Keefer's Junk Removal (41:48.89)
Over smoke.

Branden Sewell (41:52.192)
And then the wind carries it and it settles, right? And so anyway, the next or that that day, Chris gets onto the job and he's like, my goodness, like what have you done? My this one employee was trying to be helpful, but he just he blew it big time. And he oversprayed this roof. And it wasn't just a little bit, it was

Pretty bad. And I like I said, I've been in business for going on 10 years and I've never had this happen. And I was just like, my, and I went to the job and I'm looking at it. And we've been trying to get it off. We've had a little bit of success, but we're like, we're kinda we we found a way to get it off. But the way to get it off is going to take us so long that we're just like the cost that I'm going to incur for labor to have a guy out there or

a couple guys out there working on it to get it clean, is almost like it's like what makes more sense. Like to be wasting time having my guys out there trying to clean it or just use our insurance and replace the shingles that need to be replaced. but what adds insult to injury is it's a brand new roof, dude. Like literally the roof got put on and then we started painting. And so,

Keefer's Junk Removal (43:03.354)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (43:20.844)
But you know, it it's funny 'cause it's like

In that moment, it's super frustrating, right? I'm like, I can't believe this is happening. but as a business owner, like part of our growth, I think, is facing those challenges and then seeing how we handle them. And so in this moment, like my guys are even like, we're not replacing this roof. I'm like, look, if we like if that's what it takes to make the situation right, that's what we're gonna do. And it sucks. Like

Keefer's Junk Removal (43:40.775)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (43:55.224)
Dude, I don't want to replace somebody's roof. Like, dude, like what a kick in the nuts, you know? but but at the same time, like I have to understand, like I ha as a business owner, I have to take full responsibility and ownership of that situation, even though it sucks. And I think what sets like great business owners apart from, you know, those who are not so great is the ability to like.

own those mess ups to take responsibility and to take ownership. And so, you know, I could make excuses, I could like, you know, I could even approach it from this standpoint of like, you know, maybe we clean it. Cause I even told my guys, I said, look, e if we clean this and we think it's okay, but the customer comes back and says like, hey, that's not good enough, like I can't argue with them. Like, you know,

Keefer's Junk Removal (44:52.146)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (44:53.81)
At that point, it's like, hey, the customer's right no matter what. So if he says, that'll suffice and he's happy, like, thank the Lord for mercy, you know. but if he comes back and says, Hey, look, it's a brand new roof. I appreciate that you guys tried to clean it, but it needs to look like a brand new roof. You know, I'm gonna have to bite the bullet. But anyway, so you know, it's like, the reason why I share that is

Keefer's Junk Removal (44:58.086)
Yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (45:14.032)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (45:23.402)
I I think we like i especially in a social media world where, you know, business owners are out there, they're looking at business content and they're like, Man, look at all these guys' wins and man, these guys this guy's doing so great, and he doesn't have any problems and he's just stacking up the dough and got tons of profit and he's living life big. It's like no, like people are not as quick to share their their failures and their mistakes. So anyway,

Keefer's Junk Removal (45:41.539)
Ha ha ha.

Branden Sewell (45:52.148)
As we were talking about before the show, you know, obviously I know some of the challenges that you face over the last year. you know, in whatever way you want to, what are some of those challenges and how have you overcome them? what are you doing? Maybe encourage some people who might be facing challenges in their business and kind of encourage them to keep pushing on.

Keefer's Junk Removal (46:14.022)
Man, I I love this question because I I've got stories. you know, the the hardest thing and it may seem so small, but the one of the hardest things I've learned with junk removal is the amount of YouTubers that are

Branden Sewell (46:18.796)
Yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (46:30.916)
I made a million dollars doing junk removal and you know, I I made two thousand dollars today and everyone's like, Wow, you took home two thousand dollars. No, there are some days that depending on how you built your scale for profit and everything like that, you may only take home eight hundred dollars because the job took longer or one of your guys gets sick and he has to go home or

You know, you get a flat tire at the landfill that's non-repairable. So that's gonna cost me, you know, two hundred and thirty dollars. And but you've got all these guys that talk about, like you said, they talk about all the wins, but they never want to talk about the losses because that affects the image of how great the industry is. Listen, junk removal is amazing. It has provided so far an incredible life for myself and my family. We've been able to do so much for so many people, but

Branden Sewell (47:01.901)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (47:12.78)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (47:18.542)
Mm-hmm.

Keefer's Junk Removal (47:21.968)
There are a lot of things as a business owner that people don't want to talk about because it's not it's not cool. It's not gonna look like you're this successful guy because so many people out in the world are are caught up on on their image, right? We talk about reputation, but then there's also your image, right? And so we had bought

Branden Sewell (47:38.702)
Yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (47:43.087)
A 2024 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD. It was a gas truck. And we're like, perfect. We got something pretty much brand new. We're gonna be able to tackle all these jobs. What's the worst that can happen? Right? That's the the worst thing you can ever say. And in the span of two and a half years of owning this truck, the AC compressor went out at 34,000 miles. The

Branden Sewell (47:56.085)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (48:09.74)
transmission had to be fully rebuilt within around fifty thousand miles. Then after they rebuilt the transmission, then they ended up having to put a whole new transmission in it. And you know, everyone's like, well, it's under warranty. That's fine. Yeah, I'm not necessarily coming out of pocket per se for the repairs, but I use that vehicle every single day to run my business. Well, then it's all right, cool. I'll I'll just go get a rental.

Branden Sewell (48:14.958)
Mm.

Branden Sewell (48:21.858)
Mm.

Branden Sewell (48:35.405)
Yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (48:39.334)
we don't have any rentals local. Okay, so what are my options? you gotta go an hour south to get a a rental for a vehicle compatible for what you had so you can keep running your business. Okay, we'll make it happen. well, we don't have one available for four or five days. That's not gonna work. I've got jobs for the next four or five days, you know. So we were the biggest thing in business is you have to learn how to pivot.

Branden Sewell (48:41.774)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (48:49.933)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (48:54.787)
Mm.

Right.

Keefer's Junk Removal (49:04.51)
And I think a lot of people haven't learned that art. And it's something that we're constantly working on. But, you know, so we we went and rented a U-Haul truck and we're paying mileage and everything like that. And we're taking less of a profit, but excuse me, still making sure that our clients are taken care of. And so we finally got rid of that truck. But before we did, we're like, you know what? We're in an okay spot.

Branden Sewell (49:04.716)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (49:10.722)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (49:24.694)
Mm-hmm.

Keefer's Junk Removal (49:33.967)
Let's go buy a second vehicle off of marketplace. Again, worst thing you can do. And so we go and buy this truck for like eight grand, and we're like, perfect. We've got a strong running truck, needs, you know, a couple little things, whatever. And we're like, at least this truck can kind of float us through all the problems that we're having with the Chevy, and then we can get rid of that truck. Well, then we end up having to dump about 10 grand into the second truck.

Branden Sewell (49:39.882)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (49:58.784)
Mm-hmm.

Keefer's Junk Removal (50:03.694)
You know, and that's what a lot of people don't realize is like you said, they see the the jobs that you do and they may have had you quote one of those jobs. So they know in a sense the kind of money that you're making making on some of these jobs. And you know, thankfully, we just sold that second truck yesterday.

Branden Sewell (50:04.109)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (50:18.134)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (50:25.614)
And we with what we paid for it plus repairs, we were like eighteen thousand dollars into a truck that there were times on some of these repairs, you know, we didn't have that money necessarily allocated to cover those repairs. So then we're using the company credit card. And okay, we gotta make sure that that's paid off within the next month so we don't get hit with, you know, 20 something percent interest. And

Branden Sewell (50:25.62)
nice.

Branden Sewell (50:47.426)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (50:55.907)
Yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (50:56.278)
Running a business is just constantly learning how to properly and legally move money around. You know, and that's I would I will never say that I regret r getting into business because the life that it has built for my wife and kids is I get to come home and see it every day. You know, I see how happy they are, but they also I also get to see the fact that, you know, dad was up at five o'clock in the morning and getting home at seven thirty at night.

Branden Sewell (51:03.106)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (51:16.931)
Yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (51:25.958)
But the first thing I do is say hi and give a hug and kiss to my wife and kids. You know, I wouldn't change it. But running a business is not easy. It's not for the weak. It's not for, you know, I'm just looking for a little side hustle. If you're doing it as a side hustle, great, man, go make that extra cash. Good for you. We're not the same. And that's not to, you know, hoo-poo on anybody for trying to do a side hustle, but

Branden Sewell (51:26.69)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (51:30.54)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (51:46.871)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (51:52.792)
Mm-hmm.

Keefer's Junk Removal (51:53.489)
That's where we're same thing with in the painting industry. You know, I'm I'm not going to attempt to compete with the fifty dollar guy because then it just becomes a race to the bottom. And I don't I don't want to be viewed as the cheap guy. I want to be viewed as the guy that you feel confident in paying my price because I'm worth it. My work ethic is worth it, and the quality of service that we deliver is. But running a business is hard. It's expensive. It's

Branden Sewell (52:05.143)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (52:18.925)
Yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (52:23.438)
There's still things that I'm learning and I fully understand now why they say that the first five years is where they you're gonna learn if you're gonna make it or not. You know. And we're three and a half years in and there's days I'm sitting there scratching my head, I'm just like, I don't know how we're gonna do it. You know.

Branden Sewell (52:32.184)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (52:37.358)
You know, and I here's the thing. I don't think that businesses fail in that first three like well, yeah. I think they say the first three to five years, like 90% of all businesses fail or something like that. I don't think that it's that they they fail in a sense that like they had no option but to close or whatever. I think sometimes it's like

It's the owner's capacity to handle this stress and the ability to, like you said, pivot and adapt in the moment to what whatever that challenge is that they're facing. Like, and this is why I say that. I'll put this into perspective. So in 2022, I mean, you know some of my story, but in 2022, I had

Thirteen employees. I had I mean multiple trucks financed. So all of my all of my fleets, all all of my vehicles that I had, none of them were paid for. They were all financed. So I you know, I here I'm sitting with like five hundred to six hundred plus dollar payments on all of these work vehicles.

And I had like, so when we sell a job, we take a deposit. and we had like, I don't know, probably anywhere between 250 to $300,000 worth of work that was scheduled on our books. So we had already received deposits and had that work scheduled on the books. So everything's going good. Like in the beginning of 2022, business is booming, we're growing like 50%.

everything's on the up and up. I'm like on cloud nine. I'm like, I've arrived. I'm doing everything right. I've figured it out. Like I've got a sales rep. I'm not doing any of the sales. I got a production manager. I'm not doing any of the production management. I've got all my crews. I'm literally just like managing everything. I have a full-time admin who's answering phones, scheduling estimates, scheduling jobs, doing all the back-end work. I'm literally like feeling like I'm on top of the world.

Branden Sewell (55:02.912)
And we're on pace to do over a million in revenue. And I was like, this, I f I figured it out. And then May of 2022, the revenue just tanked. Couldn't explain it to you a hundred percent. Couldn't tell you exactly why. we were using, I know at the time, which we don't do this anymore, at the time we were using thumbtack, was our our main resource for leads.

And so I'm using Thumbtack and I'm bringing in all those leads. I'm spending a lot of money for those leads, but you know, it's it's working. but then like the leads were getting bad. It was there wasn't as many. I don't know if that was just like a change on thumbtack's part. I know they did change like how you bought leads back then. it went from like you set a budget and you get X amount of leads based on what your budget was, to like they changed it to like a pay to play kind of thing. It was like,

The more you are willing to spend per lead. So, like if you're willing to spend $500 on a lead, but another company was only willing to spend $300 on that lead, whoever was willing to pay more for the lead would get the lead. So our cost per acquisition just skyrocketed. So then business, like I like I said, tanked. And like we had cash reserves at the time and

You know, I had the ability to like weather a bad month, right? had a had that bad month and I was like, you know, that that sucked. That was a tough month, but you know, it was just kind of a fluke. We'll we'll rebound, we'll bounce back. Well, then it was another bad month. And then I was like, Man, this is getting really bad. Now I'm getting scared. I'm like, dude, I'm barely able to make payroll this week. Well, then it was like another bad month. Now I didn't make payroll. Now I was like telling guys like, hey.

Keefer's Junk Removal (56:34.427)
Right.

Branden Sewell (57:00.884)
You've got to finish this job today so we can get paid, so we can so I can pay you. Well there, my guys back then, they're like, well, we're not coming to work then. I was like, dude, like just go to work and finish the job, we'll get paid and I'll pay you. Like it's as easy as that. No, pay us and then we'll go. I'm like, I can't pay you until the job gets done. So nobody prepares you for like those situations in business, right? But what ended up happening ultimately

is I lost all of my employees. So all thirteen employees I lost. It was down to just me, right? If you know anything about me, I'm I can paint, but I can't do everything that my guys who like that's what they do like for their trade, right? and so and I definitely couldn't do all the work that we had on our schedule by ourselves. So anyway, like in that moment, like I felt like

so much pressure, so much weight. and like those are the things like not everybody talks about, right? Not everybody talks about like those moments where I felt like like I was at risk of these vehicles you know, defaulting and like being repossessed. And so I was trying to sell them as quick as I could. trying to like take out loans to pay off negative equity and just doing whatever I could to survive. But

What I did in that season is I told myself, I was like, look, I only fail if I quit. Like, yes, this sucks. This is so hard. but what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna go to bed every night and I'm gonna wake up in the morning and just get to I'm just gonna live out the day, right? D stack some wins and try to get my head back on the pillow, like without dying somehow.

And and just wake up the next day and just try to stack wins again. And that was it. I was like, you know, if I just it it took time, like, right? But it was just like, hey, I only fail when I quit, right? So I think that's what you're gonna face challenges as a business owner. It's like inevitable. And sometimes you have you don't have control of what's about to come your way. Like who could have planned COVID, right?

Keefer's Junk Removal (59:25.298)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (59:25.442)
Like how many businesses failed during COVID? Because they just like, you know, maybe it was a lack of resources or maybe it was like just a lack of ability to adapt and pivot or whatever. But there's gonna be things that come your way that you can't even plan or prepare for. And it's like, well, you're gonna find out what you're made of. you know, so like I like I was in business during COVID. I I literally

Thought that was gonna be another time I went out of business, but I didn't. so anyway, I I wanna be respectful of your time, John. I just realized it's almost nine, but yeah, I just business challenges, man. You have anything else you wanna add to that?

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:00:09.348)
So I do wanna add this and and I said this to you the other day. I actually texted it to you. And but I wanna say this more to the listeners, to the business owners that are just really going through it. You know, one thing that we have really tried to hold on to is you stress a lot for someone who always figures it out. And I think as business owners, we really forget that, okay, in the moment, whatever you're going through, like I'll

This is the worst thing, and I don't know how I'm gonna overcome this. But then somehow you overcome it and you get through the job and you get through the tough client and you get through the problematic issue, but then there's gonna be another one, and you're gonna get through that one. But like you said, if you just, you know, throw your hands up and that's it, I'm done. I quit. I can't do this anymore. You're never gonna overcome it. And, you know, we have had situations where we're just like.

Branden Sewell (01:00:49.966)
Mm-hmm.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:01:05.84)
I I can't do this anymore, you know. And listen, we're we're in Florida. We have the Florida heat, you know, and there's days I I think I text my wife at least once a day, it is so freaking hot outside. But, you know, somebody's gotta do it. And the nasty jobs that we do with bed bugs and fleas and f literal feces, like, you know, and my wife's like, There's no way I could do that. That's horrible. And

Branden Sewell (01:01:07.778)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (01:01:11.15)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (01:01:19.086)
Right.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:01:35.868)
But if I don't do it, someone else is going to. You know? So it's sometimes you gotta lace up those bootstraps and pull your big boy pants up and you you gotta do it. You know? But you always have to remember that for someone who stresses a lot, which I stress a lot, you're always gonna figure it out. You just can't give up. You just gotta keep going and you gotta do it.

Branden Sewell (01:01:44.714)
Yeah. Yeah.

Branden Sewell (01:01:53.123)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (01:01:56.396)
Yeah. Yeah. Doing I mean, at the end of the day, like that I think that's what makes successful people, right? It's the people who, even in the midst of adversity, challenges and things like that, they just have something inside of them that says, like, hey, I'm just not gonna quit. I'm not gonna give up. I'll figure this out. And and I think that's where like, you know, the businesses that are around for thirty plus years, you know, and or more.

those are the businesses that stand out because they're the ones that when the challenges come, you know, they just they figure it out. You know, they adapt, they pivot, they overcome. And so I think that's just a huge part of it. And I think, you know, I I will say this. One of the reasons why I say learn, like that's one of our missions is to help business owners learn, is because I think equipping you cannot you don't have to like

Everything doesn't have to be reactionary, right? You don't have to figure out everything in the moment. You can learn a lot in leadership and business. And then when those challenges come, you're more equipped to handle them. Like it it's a lot easier if you've educated yourself on a bunch of different stuff. And then when you hit that moment, you're like, okay, well, at least I know like what to do, right? So I think that's like

That's really important as business owners. We need to constantly be educating ourselves and trying to learn. Yeah, yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:03:26.224)
And don't be afraid to ask for help either. You know, too many people are scared to ask for help because they think it's a it's a sign of weakness or failure or dude, the I can't tell you the amount of junk removal companies just in our area that bid some of the same jobs that I have to bid where we're going in a sense up against each other.

Branden Sewell (01:03:46.254)
Uh-huh.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:03:47.303)
You know, if your mission at the end of the day is just making sure that the client is taken care of, that is all I care about. Do I want to win the job and get the money and and stack the dough, like you said? You know, absolutely. Every business owner wants to do that. But how are you going to take care of the client if you cannot physically complete the job, but you also don't want to be the guy that leaves the job unfinished?

Branden Sewell (01:04:00.846)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (01:04:07.662)
Uh-huh.

Branden Sewell (01:04:11.884)
Yeah. Yeah, that's really good. I mean, I'm about to do an episode here in the near future with a guy in our in my industry who's local. and the whole topic of the interview is gonna be about collaboration over competition. And because we both so like I live here in Titusville, he lives down in Palm Bay area.

And we refer one another work all the time. you know, sometimes like if I can't get to a job within somebody's time frame, I'm like, well, would I rather g like this customer potentially get ripped off by somebody else? Or would I give rather give them a referral to somebody that I know who's in my industry, who I know has integrity, who does honest work and quality work.

I'd rather have that customer taken care of and be taken care of by a professional company, even if they're my competition, than to have them screwed over, you know? because that paints a bad picture for our industry as a whole. So yeah, I I that's something that I believe firmly in. Like I can't tell you there's guys that I've helped start their business here locally in Titusville. And like this week, I had a customer call in, hey, I need this job done in the next two weeks.

I was like, there's not a chance. I'm booked out until the end of August. I said, but here's this guy, call him. He can probably get to you. He's a former employee of mine. I helped him start his business. He'll do a great job. Give him a call. So, you know, yeah, it's just there's enough work to go around for everybody. And yes, we want to like be competitive, but at the end of the day, I think you just gotta realize like, don't let your ego and your pride.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:05:51.322)
Right.

Branden Sewell (01:06:06.88)
like get in the way of a customer being taken care of. Like I'm not going to try to like sell the customer on something that I can't do. Like what if I was to tell that customer, like, yeah, I'll get it done in two weeks and then try to find a crazy way to get it done and then not be able to get it done, well, what help has that been? So

Anyway, hey look, I'm not in a hurry. I've got a few more minutes. I don't know if you do. I know we were gonna talk about the whole stay at home mom thing. Do you have a few minutes or do you need to to run?

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:06:40.764)
For you, man, I got all the time in the world.

Branden Sewell (01:06:42.574)
I appreciate that. Let's because this is a new season I'm in, let's just take like five minutes to talk about this. So, my one of the things that I had mentioned to you is like every business owner is in like a different season of life. When my wa my wife and I found out we were having our third child, we we knew we were gonna have to address this whole like two kids in daycare.

How expensive that was going to be, the time she was going to be at work and all that. and we recently decided to have her just stay home. She was supposed to go back to work in early June. and now she's a stay at home mom. so anyway, I know that's like, can you talk about maybe share your perspective as a business owner on the unique challenges of being a business owner, right? Like,

I love how Dave Ramsey says entrepreneurs are crazy people, you know, like we literally go out and kill and drag home what we're gonna eat every day. you know, as like a a little metaphor there. but just talk about that. Talk about maybe the challenges but also the benefits of that.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:07:54.661)
You know, anybody who knows my wife or has had the I'm not gonna say the opportunity, the privilege to meet my wife, knows how incredible of a woman she is. And, you know, everyone wants to give me all the credit for running my business and and how six successful we've become and but they don't see the fact that my wife is in the background literally

While I'm keeping the business afloat, she's keeping me afloat. And, you know, she pours into me as much, if not more, as I pour into my business. And, you know, when we were both working for the local Walmart distribution center when I started my business. And, you know, when I first brought to her, I was like, Hey, I I think I want to start a junk removal business. And she's like,

Branden Sewell (01:08:25.996)
Yeah, right, yeah.

Branden Sewell (01:08:33.102)
Mm-hmm.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:08:48.048)
What? Like you you're just gonna pick up trash all day? And I was like, Yeah, I I have no idea, you know. And she's like, Okay, let let's do it, you know? And I would make comments about, you know, you know, one day I can go full time and and and this will be our our sole source of income. And she's like, Pump the brakes, like you're you're two months in, like, let's let's just be rational here. And my wife's very rational thinker about everything.

Which keeps me grounded because I like to go way outside the box. But, you know, we were both working full time. you know, we we had babysitters for the kids and everything like that. And the business in a sense started to take off a little bit more than it had. And we kind of got to the point and we're like, it's getting really expensive.

to to keep paying for babysitters and and you know, thankfully like she has an incredible family. I have an incredible family. Like everyone's always willing to pitch in and help. But like the reality is it's that it's just more and more money going out than it in a sense it's worth for her to keep working.

Branden Sewell (01:09:45.518)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (01:09:55.277)
Mm-hmm.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:09:55.427)
And you know, so we made the it wasn't an easy decision, you know. We made the tough decision for her to stay home while I worked my full time job and ran the business. And I was working seven days a week for for seven months straight. And there were times that we're looking and we're not getting any calls. And literally the the first week that I went full time with the business, the phone didn't ring once.

Branden Sewell (01:10:04.93)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (01:10:12.503)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (01:10:24.95)
Right, yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:10:25.198)
And I'm you know, my wife is she's like, Did we make the wrong decision? you know, she's like, I believe in you, but w what's happening? And I was like, Yeah, I couldn't tell you, I'm just as scared, you know. And so but seeing the the love and affection that she has as a mother for our children is dude, I couldn't have picked a better woman to to build a life with. And

Branden Sewell (01:10:33.902)
Right.

Branden Sewell (01:10:43.822)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (01:10:49.603)
Yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:10:50.41)
I truly do not believe that my business would be as successful as it is without her. And, you know, so she became a stay-at-home mom and she had gotten her AA degree in teaching and education. And, you know, she comes to me and she's like, I think I want to homeschool. And I'm like,

Branden Sewell (01:10:56.556)
yeah.

Branden Sewell (01:11:06.434)
Mm-hmm.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:11:11.258)
You know, unfortunately I fell under the stigma of, gosh, you know, the the weird homeschool kids, you know. But honestly it was because I was uneducated, you know, and I'm not afraid to admit that because the more people that I get a chance to educate on the fact that like, you know, homeschool kids honestly have just as much opportunity as kids in public school. You know, my kids go to co ops and meet other kids in the community and they've formed best friends and you know

Branden Sewell (01:11:17.038)
Right, yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:11:39.685)
I was like, well, what about high school? Like, do they get a prom? Yeah, they can attend prom at the local high school, you know? And her being a stay-at-home mom has been one of the best but hardest things I've ever had to do besides running a business. Because now it's not like we had a slow month, you know, I can pay myself a little bit less and we can rely on her income. Like, there is no other income.

Branden Sewell (01:11:53.995)
Uh-huh.

Branden Sewell (01:12:08.494)
Right, dude, yeah, for sure.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:12:10.276)
Like if I'm not out there making it, nobody's gonna save you. You know, and that's the thing is like we we do our very hardest to not live off of credit cards. And if we can't afford it, we don't buy it. You know, and that's that's been one of our biggest saving graces is you know, can't afford it, don't buy it. But man, it is you know, we've had a couple months this year already that we just hit our minimum for the month. We didn't make any money.

Branden Sewell (01:12:16.823)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (01:12:25.538)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (01:12:31.491)
Yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:12:40.498)
And that's, you know, but we've put in kind of fail-safes that, okay, we hit our minimum, things are tight, bills are paid. But one thing that we have always maintained is that we never let it show to the kids. And when I walk in the door, I don't care if I got my rear end kicked seven ways to Sunday that day.

Branden Sewell (01:12:40.813)
Yeah, yeah.

Branden Sewell (01:13:00.739)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (01:13:08.417)
Uh-huh.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:13:09.06)
I'm I'm not a perfect parent. I lose my temper. I, you know, I get frustrated and I get overstimulated. And sometimes, listen, at at 31 years old, I can't process and regulate my emotions. You know? So it's hard to tell my seven-year-old and my five-year-old, hey, don't do that. You need to regulate your emotions. Well, Dad, you're literally yelling at me right now. You know? And but I know for a fact that I can be gone twelve to

Branden Sewell (01:13:20.741)
Right.

Branden Sewell (01:13:29.486)
Right. That's so funny.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:13:39.013)
We've had 17 hour days that no matter what is happening in my workday, my kids are loved, my kids are happy, my kids are getting the best education possible because of my wife. Dude, I wouldn't change anything about it. It's hard.

Branden Sewell (01:13:42.048)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (01:13:58.018)
Yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:13:58.565)
It's really hard sometimes. I don't I don't want to sugarcoat it and make it like, if you can make your bills, let your wife be a stay-at-home mom. Like that was a really hard decision that we had to sit there and and figure out. And, you know, the amount of times that I'll come home and I'll look at her and I'm just like, what am I doing wrong? Like I nothing's working, no marketing, no networking events, no, you know, and a lot of people believe that knocking on doors is the way to go.

Branden Sewell (01:14:10.467)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (01:14:20.894)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (01:14:26.798)
Mm-hmm.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:14:27.118)
I I physically can't bring myself to go knock on somebody's door and say, hey, I know you've got a really busy day, but let me tell you why you should spend your money with me. You know, and because for me, like I get people that tell me all the time, they're like, you need to go knock on doors. And I go, let me, let me tell you why. I'm not gonna do that. The amount of times that I call my wife throughout the day.

Branden Sewell (01:14:37.588)
No right.

Branden Sewell (01:14:44.956)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (01:14:49.134)
Mm-hmm.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:14:52.698)
And I hear the kids screaming in the background and I and I she's telling me she's doing laundry. And, you know, imagine when an Amazon driver, you know, we all have Amazon that comes to our house. They come and knock on your door, or you get a door knocker, and they're like, hey, we're we're doing roofs in the area. Well, that's cool. My wife is in the middle of doing laundry, doing the dishes, you know, the kids are screaming and fighting. The last thing she wants to do is hear why you're here to sell her a thermos.

Branden Sewell (01:15:21.198)
Mm-hmm.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:15:23.446)
So, you know, like we talk about, you you I put myself in other people's shoes of yes, if I knocked on doors, I would probably have a lot more business. But I also feel like it would negatively impact my business a little bit because of social media and the amount of people that say, Did you know that this guy was knocking on doors and wasting people's time? And listen, it's proven it works for certain businesses.

Branden Sewell (01:15:25.048)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (01:15:48.814)
Mm-hmm.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:15:50.874)
I see what my wife goes through and I can't do that to him.

Branden Sewell (01:15:53.836)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I there's a few things you talked about and I just wanna hit on these. the the reality is like in you know, so maybe if you're listening to this, you're in you know, a listener, and maybe you're in a season of having decide like, Hey, do I go full time with my business? Does my spouse stay home with the kids, or do I pay for daycare?

One of the things that I heard just all throughout your conversation, John, was you have to choose your heart. Right? It's like both both things are gonna be challenging in different ways. But what I had in in this season where Sammy and I were trying to decide like, okay, is she gonna stay home or not? I was talking to someone who I really respect about it and his wife, you know, stayed home.

with their kids. Now his kids are like grown and moving out of the house and and all that. So, but I asked him, I said, you know, what what advice or wisdom do you have? He goes, dude, it's gonna be hard either way. He's like, but you'll never regret your wife being the one who raises your kids and spends time with your kids and and and instills your values. And he's like, and you'll figure it out financially. Like you just will. It's not gonna be easy. He's like

But you will figure it out. and so that you know, that was encouraging to me. I was like, you know what? Yeah, we just need to do this, like make the decision and we'll figure it out. And that doesn't mean that it's, you know, easy. But and and you know, we didn't take like a just like we used wisdom. Like I I think I told you before the show. I we sat down for like four hours and we went went over like

a few months of bank statements line by line looking at finances, seeing where we could cut spending and like evaluating whether certain expenses were needed or not. And then we also evaluated like, hey, if you stay home, how much money are you gonna s are we gonna save? We're not gonna be paying $1,900 a month for daycare. we're not gonna be paying nine thousand dollars a year for travel expenses, gas that you're spending getting to work, tolls, maintenance on your vehicle.

Branden Sewell (01:18:20.424)
all of these different things. And so we once we calculated it all, we were like, wow, like we would actually save a pretty good amount of money to where like what I'm making now and bringing home through the business will basically suffice. Right. now w we have we've had to change a lot of things. Like I used to eat out a lot because of like my wife was working full time. I was having to like go get the kids and like it was just a timing thing.

of not really having as much time. So it was like choosing like family time over cooking every meal or something. Now like Sammy cooks every meal. I come home to eat lunch. you know so it yeah, there's just a lot of money saved there. But anyway, you figure it out and you make a way for it to work. So if you're listening to this and you're contemplating it, I just want to encourage you, make the jump, you'll figure it out.

And then just two things that I other notes I wrote down while you're talking, and then we'll kind of bring this to a close. You had mentioned like, you know, yes, business is stressful for us, right? We get home, our kids, we don't want them to be like the recipient of that. So we do. We have to like try to like regulate our emotions and regulate what we're going through. and

In the same I love that you mention like seeing like from your child's perspective that you know we can't sit there and say, hey, regulate your emotions. And we know how challenging it is for us as adults sometimes, right? and I like I was just talking to my wife about this a couple of days ago. because you know, we're we're trying to understand how when I discipline

Our son, who is six, he's very quick to like fall in line and listen. And it's it's like manageable, right? Like, yeah, he might like pout or whatever, but it's manageable. Like I can get through to him. her, she like feels like she has no control of him sometimes. Like he he'll like lose it and like do stuff that she's just like, I don't even know how to control him. Like he's did he did this and he did that. And I don't know. And I said,

Branden Sewell (01:20:44.32)
You know, babe, sometimes you have to focus less on the you being right about the correction and try to see something from his perspective. right. And so, like when I got home, I got down on his level, I looked him in his little face, and it was actually a situation with him and his sister. He his sister did something to him. She got corrected, but then because he was upset, he tried to hit his little sister, but then

Emmett got in trouble and he felt like he was getting in trouble for something that Everly did. And then he was saying, he was like, I'm the big brother. I'm always getting in trouble. Nobody else gets in trouble. It's always my fault. And like I just got down on his level and I said, Buddy, it's tough being the oldest, isn't it? And he said, Yeah. And I said, You feel like it's always your fault. Like you you're you're held to like a higher responsibility because like you're older.

And you understand. He's like, Yeah. And like, so I just in that moment I tried to understand, like, where is my son coming from? Where is he at mentally right now? And how is he processing this situation? And the way that he was processing it was that he was getting in trouble for something his sister did because he was the big brother. So anyway, it's just I I love that you brought that up because I think it's like it's empathy, right? It it's like trying to put ourselves in.

somebody else's shoes or perspective. And I think we can use that as business owners too to understand where our customers are coming from, where our employees are coming from, our spouses to see their perspectives. And that really changes things. And then door knocking. go ahead.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:22:25.796)
And see I But see, I wanna add too, like my wife and I, we're actually opposite of you and Sammy is my wife helps keep me grounded because you know, there are times that we'll talk about something and I'll go to discipline the kids and she's like, hold on, you know. And I'm just, you know

typical male behavior, I'm instinctually like, W are you calling me a bad parent? Like, you know? And she's like, No, that's not the case at all. But remember, I'm home with them all day. I see what works and what doesn't and

Branden Sewell (01:22:58.797)
Yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:23:02.672)
That's been a really hard adjustment for me from doing the now stay at home mom and everything like that. Because I'm like, Well, we're equal, we're partners. Why? You know, I I tend to get very defensive and that's a downfall of mine. But I'm not afraid to admit that. But, you know, so I take it as like, well, we're both parents, like we're on the same page, right? And she's like, No, absolutely. But you're wrong. Like we need to we need to pivot that. And, you know, my daughter.

Branden Sewell (01:23:27.946)
Nah. Yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:23:32.665)
She's she's gonna be eight and she is so not even in a bad way, but she's so emotional and empathetic and she doesn't wanna do anything wrong. And like the thing that it has been an adjustment for me is with how emotional she is. She feels things so deeply that I mean, Brandon, you run a business just like I do.

Branden Sewell (01:23:48.758)
Mm-hmm.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:23:54.981)
There are days that the business has taken literally everything out of my tank. I have nothing left. But you're also a parent just as much as you are a business owner. But being a parent is always going to come first. So even if your tank is on empty, figure it out. Because, you know, you I would rather, and this is something that I'm really working on, is

Branden Sewell (01:24:00.654)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (01:24:08.93)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (01:24:13.089)
Yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:24:19.588)
Trying to put myself in the shoes of a seven-year-old and a five-year-old, of for me, I'm just like, guys, it's not a big deal. What are you freaking out about? But then for them, it's literally the end of the world because this is the hardest thing that they're going through right now. And, you know, so for my daughter, you know, my wife has has told me, she's like, listen, she just wants to be heard.

Branden Sewell (01:24:25.784)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (01:24:30.702)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (01:24:36.952)
Yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:24:45.282)
So instead of talking over her and you know, doing this, that, and the other, just listen and validate her feelings and acknowledge the fact like, hey, I know you're having a full-blown meltdown right now, but I also really see that you're trying to get yourself under control and I really appreciate that.

Branden Sewell (01:24:45.474)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (01:24:52.194)
Yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:25:04.966)
But I'm also the entire time trying not to freak out because I'm trying to regulate my emotions. You know, and my my son, he's he's in the sour patch stage. He's the sweetest kid that you could ever imagine. But man, he loves to push that boundary, you know. But it's like you said, with our clients, you know, it's the same as being a parent. And sometimes you have to parent your clients, which is the weirdest thing to do.

Branden Sewell (01:25:09.07)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (01:25:18.382)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (01:25:21.812)
Yeah, yeah.

Branden Sewell (01:25:34.657)
Right.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:25:34.777)
You know, but they might have stuff going on that has put them in a bad mood. And unfortunately, you just happen to be the one that's on the receiving end of it. And if you take everything personally, then you're gonna become argumentative and you're not gonna get anywhere. And you know, you get into a disagreement with somebody and a lot of times if you know you kind of just see red, everything becomes a blur and

Branden Sewell (01:25:45.58)
Yeah.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:26:00.526)
You you're not paying attention to what you're saying and you can't do that. It's it's really not that serious. Like if someone is stealing money or or hurting you or something like that, like yeah, absolutely, like you have every right to to want to engage. But running a business is not about engaging and being being right, like you said, you know. But at the same time, we appreciate when our clients understand that that time old saying of the customer is always right.

Branden Sewell (01:26:14.978)
Mm-hmm.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:26:29.938)
It's not always the case, but that's been pushed to everybody that that's the case. You know, it it's it's really about compromise, whether it's with your wife, with your husband, with your kids, with just running the business, like you have to be able to balance it because nobody is gonna be there to save you at the end of the day.

Branden Sewell (01:26:32.718)
Yeah, yeah.

Branden Sewell (01:26:41.859)
Mm-hmm.

Branden Sewell (01:26:49.59)
Yeah. Yeah, it's it's it's very true. yeah, I think that's a good note to end on. So, man, John, I really appreciate you. I appreciate the value that you bring to my audience. and the value that you bring to our community with your business. And I just wanna encourage you to keep doing what you're doing as somebody who is on the outside, you know, looking in and sees what you do every day.

man, I can tell you that you're doing well. And I know that doesn't mean that there's not challenges or hard times. but I just I know that if you just keep going and keep doing what you're doing and you know, running your business with the character that you have, you know, you'll continue to do well. And again, that doesn't mean there's not going to be challenges. You know, there's there's many more ahead, right? I was talking to my CPA.

and and they've been in business or she's been a business owner for like over 20 years or something. And she asked a question recently of like, hey, I can't remember exactly what it was. what I think it was like, what did you think you wouldn't be dealing with now that you still are or something like that? And I I think I said something like, Does it ever get easy? It's like, you know, I'm about to be 10 years in. I'm like, when does it like

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:28:07.982)
Ha ha ha.

Branden Sewell (01:28:11.692)
When do the challenges stop and then it's just easy, like being a business owner? And she's like, it's an illusion. She's like, it never gets easy. It's it the challenges just change. Like you you win in certain areas and you overcome certain challenges and then there's a new challenge ahead. And it's like they it doesn't end, it just changes, right? So the thing that you were worried about five years ago isn't gonna be the same thing that you're worried about, you know, five years from now. So hope that's encouraging to you. But

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:28:41.082)
I I had a buddy the other day tell me I'll say this and then you know, I I I gotta start my day. But you know, I had a buddy of mine say the other day, he actually made a TikTok and he goes, you know, people always tell me, they're like, Man, it's it's so nice to see that you run a successful business and you know, he goes, No, I appreciate that. He's like, But I'm not

Branden Sewell (01:28:41.353)
Branden Sewell (01:28:45.516)
Yeah, go ahead.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:29:01.422)
I'm not a successful business. I'm self employed. He goes, if if I was a successful business owner, I wouldn't be picking up a dumpster at 10 o'clock at night. You know? And it kind of just got me thinking that, like, wow, you know, yes, we portray ourselves as sir successful business owners, but you know, the whole thing with you running off the ladder is, you know, when you're still on the truck, like, yeah, even when you're off the truck, it it doesn't stop. The stress doesn't stop, like, you know.

Branden Sewell (01:29:11.052)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (01:29:28.098)
Right.

Keefer's Junk Removal (01:29:29.562)
It's great to be successful and feel successful and everything like that. But at the end of the day, we're self employed. Like, you know, it it we have to make it happen one way or the other. Whether I'm starting my day at four thirty in the morning to cram as much in in one day and still get home by seven thirty at night. You gotta make it happen.

Branden Sewell (01:29:35.736)
Yeah.

Branden Sewell (01:29:48.162)
Yep. Yeah, that's right. well, here's a quote I'll end with. You sent this to me the other day, and I think you were gonna bring it up earlier, but you didn't. you sent me this. It says, A river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence. So I think that's a good way to end this episode. stay persistent, guys. thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode. I hope you found it helpful. Hopefully you got some takeaways that are gonna help you with your business.

and help you to continue moving forward and thriving. If you did find it helpful, share it with somebody. and if you listen to it regularly, please rate and review the show on any major podcast platform. If you're listening or watching on YouTube, please like this video, share it, comment, give some feedback. If you need resources for your business, like the ones that you know John and I talked about today.

I have some resources in the show notes. I have affiliate links. Obviously, if you use those, I do get credit, which helps to support me, support this podcast and what I do here. thank you guys so much for tuning in to today's episode of the Off the Ladder Podcast, and I'll see you next time.