IF 94 - Scaling Smart: Redefining Success Beyond Growth Metrics

Kenny challenges the belief that scaling up always means achieving more in terms of units, clients, employees, and revenue. He questions this notion by sharing personal experiences and examples from other investors, emphasizing that real success should be measured by freedom, peace, and presence rather than mere numerical growth. Doesn't burnout and frustration come with rapid scaling, and advocates for a more value-driven approach to growth? Discover the importance and defining what scaling and success truly are for every dad and leader of the household. 

We also unpack a few updates on personal life, including the anticipation of his third child and upcoming business endeavors, and highlights the importance of being an intentional and present father.

If finding some passive streams of income to help offset the pressures of your active role in business, let's schedule a call with me to hear how you can learn more about real estate investing!

00:00 Introduction: Rethinking Scaling
00:39 Personal Experience with Scaling
02:00 The Value of Simplifying
02:23 Real-Life Examples of Scaling Smart
02:52 Redefining Success
03:10 Guest Insights and Reflections
04:48 Podcast Updates and Personal News
06:43 Opportunities and Closing Thoughts

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Transcript

Speaker 2: 0:00

What if scaling up is actually holding you back? Bigger doesn't always mean better. Sometimes it means burnout. Let's talk about how Scaling Smart keeps your priorities straight.

Speaker: 0:10

Hey everyone. Welcome back to the Invested Fathers Podcast, where we talk about reclaiming your time, protecting your wealth, and being the intentional present dad, your family needs. Today I wanna challenge a belief that I think is baked into the mindset of most entrepreneurs and investors, and it's this idea that scaling always means more, more units, more properties, more employees, more crews, bigger teams, more revenue. But here's the question I wanna ask. What a scaling could actually mean less? Let me tell you where this is coming from a while back, I was looking at our portfolio and thinking through the next moves. There was an opportunity to go bigger, more properties, more crews, and even a bigger operational footprint. On paper, it looked like the right move. That's what winning is supposed to look like, right? Um, it was actually 2023 for me. I thought buying 10 houses in 12 months. That all needed help was the logical next step to where I was at at the time. Um, unfortunately in hindsight, uh, I didn't think that that move would, hurt me in regards to frustrations and time, uh, constraints and. Losing money actually'cause things took so long. So, um, profits were decreased and honestly I was just burned out of flipping homes. I was like, what? This isn't what I signed up for. Um, and pivoted to capital raising for because of that. here's, here's the thing. Is it, is my goal to manage, you know, 2000 units? Is it to impress other people with the growth metrics or is it to buy back more of my time? To be present with my wife, my kids, to travel without stress, to lead a company that reflects my values, not just my ambition. That's what it hit me. Scaling isn't just about a numbers game. It's a value game. And sometimes real growth, real scaling looks like simplifying. So maybe you sell off some of your lower performing assets. Maybe you go from 10 members to five who are deeply aligned. Maybe you cut the noise so you can focus on deals that give you margin financially and mentally. So I've seen this play out with other investors too. One friend of mine, um, he downsized his portfolio by 30% and he saw his profits go up. Why fewer headaches, fewer fires, more intentionality in the deals he said yes to, but even more than numbers. Um, he was there for his daughter's soccer games. He was, wasn't glued to his phone during dinner. He wasn't, um, measuring success by how much he was juggling. He started measuring success by how available he was to the people who matter most. So here's my encouragement to you. Don't just ask, how can I grow bigger? Ask how can I grow freer? Because if your version of scaling is costing you your peace, your presence, your purpose, then maybe it's time to redefine what scaling really means. Um, this has hit me pretty recently. I had a guest on the show last, uh, week, von Bethel, and he gave a. Uh, great testimony of how he scaled his health, fitness business. Um, and it almost cost him his marriage. Um, and maybe even like his life, he was just burned out. Serious burnout happened and, um, he spoke into this directly, which actually was what triggered the idea of this, this episode. and I can speak from experience and I think anyone who has grown a business has, has reached this point. Or is going to reach this point and or how, you know, is in the middle of it right now where that idea of scaling that pressure to get more, is a lie, is a distraction from the pursuit of freedom. and yes, there's a lot of successful people I know who have, um, grown a business who are very wealthy, have done a lot of big things and maybe can tell you. Boy, there was a couple years that, um, were really hard. Um, and, and that's kinda the whole challenge of the episode, I would say is the cost of, um, of growing, uh, costing you values that you didn't realize that you would, um, have to sacrifice. Um, do we wanna be successful? Yes. So the whole, the whole goal here is to challenge your. Metric of success. Um, so it's been a great week guys. Thank you for, um, for being with me during this challenge. Wanted to give you guys now, uh, some personal updates on, uh, what's going on at work, what's going on in family, um, and then sign out. So we, uh, we're doing a little more on social media, trying to bring you guys with me on some of these renovations and flip projects. I'm in the middle of right now. Um. It's been kind of fun to share, uh, more visuals and more videos, walkthroughs of what I'm doing. So if you haven't, if checked any of those videos out yet, check, check out Kenny Will Johnson on Instagram. Um, and I haven't posted all of them on LinkedIn yet, but, um, something fun that you guys can follow along with me on trying to make it sort of HGTV esque. Um, we are 28 weeks along now in the, uh, the pregnancy front for baby number three. So, uh, we are very thick in the thick of things. Um, but life is great. Uh, lots to be thankful for. Um, let's see, business wise, I'll be talking with a. Business owner who I think will give a lot of good insights into this topic of scaling. Um, his name is Peter Schatz went to college with Peter, uh, about 15 years ago or so, and it's been neat to see his growth from real estate investing, uh, mortgage, mortgage broker, um, flipping homes to now he is running a dumpster business. And he's got his hands on a lot of things and, um, really, really interested to hear his, his insights on, um, what he's learned, what he's going through, and, um, what it's like to have a family and to sort of make those decisions of defining success in that way, um, with family and business and all that good stuff. So, tune in for that episode And guys, um, for those that are out there, seriously analyzing, you know, what that success does look like. Um, one of my, my purposes of having this podcast is to be able to bring investors into, um, my real estate deals to become passive investors and to find another stream of income to help give them that time at home and keep the success of being an intentional dad. Showing up for your family, being present with, uh, your wife and your friends, and your community and your church, while these investments are working for you. And I know there's a lot of people struggling out there with where to invest, who to invest with. you're getting messages all over the place with this. So, I'm here to help be a resource for you in that way. Um, I love real estate. I. And I'm on some really good real estate, teams and lead, my own real estate ventures here locally in South Carolina. something I, I'm pretty passionate about. I someone who was working long, long hours, really didn't have a clear direction of what, uh, success looked like. To me, success looked like a hundred thousand dollars a year. Which I'm almost embarrassed to say because nowhere in that definition does there include anyone with family or time spent away from family or with family. So, um, that was obviously kinda my younger years. But all to say is if you're looking for some opportunities, some investment opportunities, um, some support, encouragement, please reach out. There's a schedule a call link in every episode and you can reach out on LinkedIn, whatever, uh, is easy for you guys. So, um, we have some live opportunities currently. Would love to introduce those deals to you Um, and just get you on our email list to, be aware of what's going on in my world. Alright, invested fathers, invest wisely.