SPEAKER_03 0:01

Holy smokes, episode four, going down. Jake Meisner, the striped daddy, you're back. And I am with Catherine. Hello, I am Catherine. Nice to meet you all. Um so I guess the wife has just taken the lead on this pod.

SPEAKER_04 0:24

I like it when you say the wife.

SPEAKER_03 0:28

My beautiful sweet, sweet love.

SPEAKER_04 0:31

My beautiful wife who has a name, and her name is Catherine. So Catherine will be leading this episode today. Today is a special episode because it's Jake and I's 10-year anniversary of both of our of being in both of our respective industries. This is the 10th year that Jake has opened his business. And this is my 10th and last year, which is kind of strange.

SPEAKER_03 0:57

I ran the biz through college. So we're in 2016 when I was still in college, and we're in 2026. From a tax standpoint and being a big boy once you graduate from college, taxable year started in 2018. But yes.

SPEAKER_04 1:16

But you're still building clientele in 2016.

SPEAKER_03 1:19

Absolutely. But I from a realistic standpoint on paper, I'm at eight. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:26

So I'm at eight. You're at ten.

SPEAKER_04 1:28

No, we're both at ten. It counts before that.

SPEAKER_03 1:31

Okay. Cool.

SPEAKER_04 1:32

When the concept was started, that's when it starts.

SPEAKER_03 1:35

Okay, got it.

SPEAKER_04 1:37

Um, so today we're going to be talking about the business and what we've both learned in the past ten years in our industry.

SPEAKER_01 1:48

Sounds great.

SPEAKER_04 1:49

Jake can kind of speak to the specifics about owning a business. Obviously, I am working for a business. So my situation is a little bit different. I'm not in the day-to-day running of the business, um but kind of just handling the specific office that I was in. Um, so let's take it away.

SPEAKER_03 2:11

I I'm on your podcast, so you you you go ahead and you lead this.

SPEAKER_04 2:16

So if you had any advice for somebody who is wanting to start a business or has started a business and they're wanting to see their business scale, what would be based on what you've learned over these past 10 years and in the two-year gap before you officially became uh an LLC Michigan business? What would you tell them?

SPEAKER_03 2:41

Don't do it. No, I'm just kidding. No, you gotta have thick skin. You have to be willing to uh go the extra mile a lot of times without recognition. So I don't care if you're you start a cleaning company, a janitorial style, and uh you're cleaning toilets, you better be cleaning those toilets like they've never been cleaned before. You better be willing to grind and put in hours not only in that business but outside that business. Like like your life depends on it.

SPEAKER_04 3:20

I think also to what you would also say would be if it's not your passion, don't start a business. 100%. Unless you're looking to be like an angel investor, which is fine. You don't you're not involved in the day-to-day operations. But from what you've told me, the the skin that you have to have to be able to start your own business to know that, like, yeah, the first couple years you're gonna be grinding, you're not gonna be making a lot of money, you may not even break even at that point. Yeah, you might be losing money because you're building and you're building and you're building, and if it's something that you aren't passionate about, don't do it.

SPEAKER_03 3:59

And also to talking about what you said you might be losing money, there is nothing wrong with showing red on your tax returns. Now, where it becomes a problem is after four years. If you have not showed profit after four years, the IRS is going to look at you as a hobby. Now, this is a great question for a CPA. I don't know the exact specifics of that. But following those four years of negative growth in your business, I believe you would have to shut down that LLC or that S Corp or that partnership, whatever tax structure you have, and you would have to rebrand and restart again. So Mike's cleaning service would then might it might be MM's cleaning service on that.

SPEAKER_04 4:55

I don't know that that's true because my dad, my dad reported a loss every year on his tax.

SPEAKER_03 5:01

Okay, but you gotta understand this was this was a long time ago. Yeah, things have changed. And when you brought that to my attention, I was like, um, I don't know how he was able to like be licensed and continue his business.

SPEAKER_04 5:16

Yeah, so backstory my dad um he owned and still owns a small um it was a machining company, but now he like buys vehicles that are either a salvage title or a clean title from auctions, fixes them up and then resells them to whomever.

SPEAKER_03 5:34

Obviously, too. I mean, you don't really care that we're talking about it because you haven't talked to the guy in 10 years. Right. So um okay, so we were tracking back to that. You better be so Dana White and a couple other people they talk about, and I'm sure you guys have seen this motivational type crap on Instagram, but it's true. You know, Dana White says, Oh, you know, I someone says, I I think I'd like to work for myself. Uh, I think it'd be great to uh set my own schedule. There's no schedule, Dana White says. There's no Christmas.

SPEAKER_04 6:06

If any more of it, more work that you're doing, there's no birthdays, there's no holidays.

SPEAKER_03 6:12

If you actually want to make something of your business, there's gonna be tough days where you have to decide. Am I putting family first? Am I putting my friends first? Am I putting my business first? And I still have those days. Yesterday, it was Saturday. Did I want to go out solo when I have six guys under me and no one wanted to work? Did I want to go out?

SPEAKER_04 6:38

No. No, but the buck's.

SPEAKER_03 6:40

But you fucking do it because it's your name on the company.

SPEAKER_00 6:44

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 6:45

And I and I'm not shitting on my team members. It was the weekend. I want them to be with their family.

SPEAKER_04 6:52

They probably already had plans.

SPEAKER_03 6:53

They had plans, probably. It is my job as the owner of the company to figure it out.

SPEAKER_04 7:01

But also, too, I think, you know, that's not to say that like we didn't have plans, but like being married to a business owner that is so different from my dad's business because my dad never really was concerned with being profitable, he just was kind of doing it to get by. And so that's what's different about you, is like I saw my parents have a business, not exactly a profitable business, but I and my dad was never like that. My dad never had to decide between family time and work. He just when he wanted to have family time, he just didn't work, which you know that's what he decided, and that's fine.

SPEAKER_03 7:41

Um but also you can have family time and work, you can send out team members, you delegate, but sometimes it doesn't work that way.

SPEAKER_00 7:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:51

Something happens where there's an emergency for someone who, again, was supposed to maybe cover something, that's okay.

SPEAKER_04 7:58

And I think being married to a business owner who actually wants to create a business for longevity, you just kind of have to realize that and be like, yeah, it's annoying that I've had to deal with stinky and work for five days for the whole week while you were working late or whatever, and now I have to do it on a Saturday. Yeah, that's annoying, but like, what's the alternative? Is that you don't work, people get mad, and then you're gonna do it.

SPEAKER_03 8:24

Yeah, so like, do we drop off Zeke to Gramps and G, and then you hang out in the truck with me while I'm grinding? Like it just is what it is.

SPEAKER_04 8:34

And also, like, there will be a time when it's winter, there's no snow, and you'll be at home, and you'll be, you know, be able to help a lot more. So if you're married to a business owner, what I would just say is that, or you're you find somebody that you're dating and it's a business owner, or your wife is, you know, having to deal with all of this. I would just say that there is a time where you can reap the benefits of it. And I think that's kind of what I have to constantly remind myself of is that the benefits are coming, it'll slow down, you know, it's spring growth, then it's which is nothing that we haven't dealt with before. It just now that we have a kid, it just seems a little bit different.

SPEAKER_03 9:19

Yeah, and all especially the men that listen to this who are owner operators or have a team under you, and there's still days where you gotta grind versus spending time with family or those weekend plans got changed, you get it. You know that feeling of, oh my gosh, I gotta tell my wife that.

SPEAKER_04 9:46

Or if you're out with your partner on date night and you pick up the phone because you don't know who it's gonna be.

SPEAKER_03 9:53

Yeah, like you're talking about like a random call that might come in.

SPEAKER_04 9:57

Not a necessarily a random call, but like we typically try to set a boundary within our relationship and our home life that after 7 p.m., that's kind of like a big deal in the 13 hours. Yeah, before that, I would say that was kind of like something that we both had to learn was like I wasn't cool with that now that we have a kid, but then like now we have a boundary. It's okay, if it's after seven, then it'll be dealt with the next business day. And I think that's a perfectly healthy boundary to have.

SPEAKER_03 10:35

Absolutely. Um getting back to what I was saying though, you guys, I know that feeling, and I know you know that feeling of having to go to your partner and say, hey, um things are looking a little different for Saturday. Catherine is now getting that muscle where she knows I'm not gonna ask Jake when he gets home. Like what time you're gonna be home? Because I get home when I get home, the work is going to get accomplished, and hopefully I'm home or I'm home sooner than you expect.

SPEAKER_04 11:10

I used to do that, and I feel like it created so much disappointment in myself.

SPEAKER_03 11:15

And added stress to me because I'm going, oh my gosh, I said three o'clock, and it's three thirty and I'm at my last one. Yeah, crap. She's gonna be so mad at me.

SPEAKER_04 11:23

And that's not to say that I can't come to Jake and be like, hey, I have an appointment at five o'clock. I need you to be on time today and be home by 4 30 so that I can leave and you can watch Zeke.

SPEAKER_00 11:34

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 11:35

Um, so that's not to say that we don't have that. It's just in the beginning, it created a lot of disappointment for myself, where I would be like, you'd say, Oh yeah, like today might be a shorter day, and then you had an employee pull his back out, and then you're down one team member. So of course that extends your day to whenever it ends up ending. So, like you said, it's a muscle that you kind of have to just learn.

SPEAKER_03 12:04

Yeah, you're constantly working out that muscle, it's being stretched, it's being constricted, yeah, but like it's getting stronger through every rep that you go through.

SPEAKER_04 12:13

And that's not to say it's not hard because, like, of course, it's difficult when you know it's the summer, it's the five or six months of really beautiful weather that we get every year. So, of course, you want to maximize on it. So there are days when it's harder where you're like, oh man, like I really wish that we could take Zeke to the zoo or we could go dinner, have dinner outside, but by the time he gets home, it's seven o'clock, Zeke has to start his bath at 7:30, he's down by eight. So, like, that just limits our entire day.

SPEAKER_00 12:44

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 12:44

So, again, just something that you have to learn. So, um if anybody is in that situation, I sympathize with you, I get it. Maybe we should create a support group for wives and girlfriends and uh people who are small business owners.

SPEAKER_03 13:01

And that's what's really cool.

SPEAKER_04 13:02

So that we could encourage each other.

SPEAKER_03 13:03

That's what's really cool about um, you know, Brian's Law Maintenance, Brian Fullerton. He's created a um like a uh gosh, what's the word I'm looking for? I'm brain dead over here. Like a like a trade show type thing where like I think they every year in Florida, it's called Together in the Trades, and you bring your wife or you bring your partner, your girlfriend, your fiance, whatever it is, and they get to see similar stories. They get to experience maybe wives that are involved in the business, wives that are completely out of touch, some wives that work corporate America, doctors, you name it. It's really cool what they've done because they're bringing together all different demographics, and you can all come together on a, you know, a different page, basically, and look at things.

SPEAKER_04 13:56

Going back to business and how we've, you know, we're talking about how you've had been 10 years in business. What would you say that some of your growing pains have been for people who either, like I said, are just starting out or are trying to figure out their business, trying to figure out what the next couple couple years a couple years of their life is gonna look like. What would you say are some of the growing pains, not only in your industry, but like what you've experienced personally?

SPEAKER_00 14:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:30

So obviously, number one that's gonna be for everyone is labor. Finding reliable help, finding people who, you know, because no one is gonna give everything that you have, and that you have to learn to accept that. So I think it's a double kind of a double standard. You have to be willing and understanding and take a step back and go, okay, yep. So this person is great. I really like working with them. There's some things that we can work on and improve on as a team, but also that person's 100% is not going to be my 100%. And I have to be okay with that. Um, so I would say that's number one. And then I would say, don't be afraid to we've we've talked about it a lot, but connect with others. Don't be there is no stupid question. If you cannot find online or in chat groups the specific question that you need answered, reach out to a mentor. Reach out to someone bigger, smarter, and better than you.

SPEAKER_04 15:38

Was that something that you found as a growing pain? Was that you needed or advice you would give to somebody to have a mentor?

SPEAKER_03 15:44

100%. Because I wanted, I was in growth, growth, growth, growth, growth. And I was so used to relying on myself that I would figure it out. Yeah, I'll eventually figure it out. Well, what a waste of time. I could have just immediately asked someone way more knowledgeable and with way more experience, how would you have handled the situation? So I wasted three, four years of trying to be, you know, I'm the tough guy and I'm gonna figure it out versus just coming to someone with, hey, I got this really stressful situation.

SPEAKER_00 16:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:16

What would you have done in this situation? Oh my gosh, really, that's what you would have done. Okay, got it.

SPEAKER_04 16:23

So before we move on to the next topic, do you have any other growing pains that you would say that you have experienced? Because I have a few that I've seen from you.

SPEAKER_01 16:32

Oh, go for it.

SPEAKER_04 16:33

So for the first one, along with like labor, I would say you we always talk about this and we've really talked about this in the past week. Um, get used to having a bigger payroll every week.

SPEAKER_03 16:49

Yeah, yeah, you got big boy problems now. Yeah. And when you're spending four to six thousand dollars a week, I I would love to have a mortgage payment for that. You know what I mean? Yeah, like I would love to trade off what we pay in payroll. Could you imagine if that was a house payment, the type of house we would have?

SPEAKER_04 17:07

Well, I also, you know, too, on that note, um when we're doing payroll, like, and when I met Jake, he had one other person that he was working with. Now he has what six guys under you, you were saying in the beginning?

SPEAKER_03 17:25

Yes, we got Cam, Jordan, Alex, like Nico, who started on Monday, he's ready for school.

SPEAKER_00 17:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:37

And then we've got Brett who subs out, and Dom.

SPEAKER_00 17:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:40

So we've got six on staff, yeah, and then one subject.

SPEAKER_04 17:46

So I think that like when I met Jake, he had one other person. So just to give you an idea, that was two and a half years ago. So in the two and a half years, Jake has grown from having one person that I don't even think you worked with necessarily every single day.

SPEAKER_03 18:02

I mean it would probably be between 30 and 40 hours. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 18:06

And now you're having people who are working with you five days a week working overtime some days because there's just so much work to be done.

SPEAKER_00 18:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 18:15

And if that doesn't speak to like how much your business has scaled in the past two and a half years, I mean, you also went from one truck to now you have two plus the I Suzu, and then we're potentially you have one estimate vehicle now with my lease that we're we're gonna use until October.

SPEAKER_03 18:37

And then come October we'll have a fourth.

SPEAKER_04 18:39

And we'll get another truck. So it, you know, a lot has changed in the past two and a half years as far as the growth of the business, which I think Yeah, the business really hasn't projected.

SPEAKER_03 18:51

I feel like I was coasting and I was happy, and don't get me wrong, I had a lot of money saved up. Yes, I was very comfortable, but I wasn't challenging myself enough.

SPEAKER_04 19:00

I think now you're very much in the like pay-to-play mentality.

SPEAKER_03 19:03

A hundred percent.

SPEAKER_04 19:04

Yeah. So that's just a couple things that I've seen since we've met, and I feel like another thing that you can speak to within your 10-year stretch of this business is how you've had to instead of become the owner, you've had to become the boss, you've had to become the leader. And I feel like a lot of that has been growing pains for you as far as okay, you're not just working with one guy who's maybe like a buddy, and you don't really have to like correct him. Now you have enough people under your belt to where you're correcting behavior, you know, you're managing boundaries within what they're allowed to do within the city.

SPEAKER_03 19:45

And then with leadership, you're then also instilling leadership in the others who need to lead and those who are listening to leaders.

SPEAKER_04 19:53

So, what would you say about having to take off your owner hat and become boss leader hat?

SPEAKER_03 20:01

It's a lot of fun. Um Well, it's not fun every day, but yeah, not every day, but like I'm so obsessed with human psychology and understanding how people operate, and it it's just looked at as another challenge. Like, I'm not gonna talk to employee X how I talk to employee Y.

SPEAKER_00 20:21

Right.

SPEAKER_03 20:21

But also I'm not gonna I'm not going to show any favoritism to anyone. I am not going to ask anyone to do anything I wouldn't do. So when I'm out there in the thick of it, and like I'm leading these guys and they see me dripping in sweat, doing this or that, like working on a Saturday. Yeah. I I would do the exact same thing, bro. So like I'm not telling you anything that I wouldn't do. So that's been fun as a leader to show that like I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty, I'm not afraid to just put everything I have into this because, like you've said before, this is my baby. And hopefully inspiring guys that are on my team to go the extra mile. Like Blake, he went the extra mile on Friday. He not only handled down like this revamp, but then Jordan had another assignment at a different site, and not only did he double check everything, but then I didn't even ask him to. I think they had communicated between the two of them. Now, these are grown-ass men, so don't get me wrong. Like, this isn't rocket science what they're doing, but they took it upon themselves. Like Jordan was like, Hey, I need to fine-tune this little area. I was a moron and totally forgot to ask you for this, Blake. Are you able to either drop that off or whatever? And Blake's like, Bro, I got you. Like, oh, and like that cohesiveness and that comfortability where they're communicating amongst each other and I'm not involved.

SPEAKER_04 21:50

That's something that you've been trying to build for a long time, I feel like.

SPEAKER_03 21:53

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 21:54

Between your team.

SPEAKER_03 21:55

Yes, a hundred percent. And like that's where too, me asking questions to To my own team members is a lot of fun because they might see something or do something differently than me. And it might even be better than me. Don't get me wrong, I might be the leader or the boss, and I might have the most experience. They might know something that I don't.

SPEAKER_04 22:16

And to speak on that, I experienced this last this past week. So long story short, I'm gonna be, you know, stopping work at my corporate job at the end of July. And they are implementing a new manager to be put in place. And of course, this manager is already on the team. And I she called me and she said, What's what's your advice? Like what would you tell me? And I said, I think the most important part about being a manager and specifically a good manager or leader, boss, whatever you want to call it, is always be open to new ideas. Like you just said, some people that come in that are newer have fresher ideas than you. And even if you don't agree, just listen. Because that's all anybody wants to do in life is just to be heard.

SPEAKER_03 23:07

I think you're spot on because there's there's a lot of fun in leadership, but there's also just a just something about showing new methods and teaching. I get why teachers teach. You know what I mean? Like they learn there's such a satisfaction in directing and showing someone to think outside the box.

SPEAKER_04 23:33

And then watching people do what you can do slowly wording.

SPEAKER_03 23:37

Just seeing growth, and it was a video that just hit me in the feels on Facebook of Troy Clogg. I mean a guy who does, I don't know, 15 to 20 million uh in Michigan, snow removal landscaping, whatever. Um, but he doesn't take himself too seriously. He said, you know, it's don't get me wrong, we have a lot of employees, but the number one coolest thing for me is seeing people become leaders and seeing people grow. And I was like, wait, I think that's I think that's it for me.

SPEAKER_00 24:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:10

I think seeing people take on new roles, new responsibility, and it's not to like, hey, prove yourself, it's to let's see what you got.

SPEAKER_04 24:21

Well, and it's something that they can take with them anywhere they go. Those qualities that they learn from being able to adapt to new new things that people are teaching them. That's an invaluable thing that you can take on anyway.

SPEAKER_03 24:33

Exactly. And that's why it's such a great interview question. Tell me about a situation that was extremely difficult for you and how did you handle it?

SPEAKER_04 24:42

Oh God, don't tell me about the tell me about a time.

SPEAKER_03 24:45

But no, but think about like it's it sounds so silly as an interview question, but it's like, let's see how this person handled the situation.

SPEAKER_04 24:54

Yeah, it's a very telling question.

SPEAKER_03 24:56

Well, I had this horrible boss, and we just would always butt head, so I quit.

SPEAKER_00 25:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:00

Oh, okay. Yeah, got it. Well, actually, I um I had a boss that used to I used to work for, and he was just kind of he was mean. He was mean to me. And so we just had a conversation and I let him know, hey, it it seems like you're upset with me. Did I do something to upset you? Come to find out this guy was close to nearing filing bankruptcy, he was going through a divorce, whatever it is, and he was unfortunately he took a step back and went, you know what? I am being really rude and abrasive. I'm really sorry.

SPEAKER_00 25:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:34

And we worked great together another two years or whatever it is. It's like I want to hear that story.

SPEAKER_04 25:40

Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think a lot of that is just how I've seen your growth. It's been really special to watch how like my experience as a manager can kind of help you in dealing with your employees or contractors that you're working with or whatever the case may be to kind of help you be like, hey, you're looking at this from a friendship hat or a bro hat. You're not looking at this from JLC boss leader role. And so it's been, I think, helpful for you. I mean, maybe not.

SPEAKER_00 26:20

It's been so helpful.

SPEAKER_04 26:22

But to be able to have somebody who like can think of it in a way of like, hey, somebody's telling you that like you should do this, just make sure they're not trying to take advantage of you because they look at you as a money bag or something where they can just milk it for all it's that's obviously and I think that's the distinction of like any wife or girlfriend of somebody who owns a business, you can kind of see that kind of stuff, yeah. To where you're so in it every day, you're like, Oh yeah, well, that is a good idea, and it's like, well, what's the intent behind the idea? Are they actually trying to help you improve or are they just trying to get you to spend more money?

SPEAKER_03 27:01

Did you hear this? It was a long time ago. This was on a Rogan podcast, and I don't know if it was I don't think it was Joe Rogan, but he was telling this story about how there was this businessman on a golf course, and they had their wives, I believe, and the guy was considering doing business with him. Oh, I remember the story and at the end of the golf round, the wife said, You're not doing business with him. And she said, or he said, Why do you say that? And she goes, He cheats. And he said, What do you mean he cheats? She said, I saw him kick his ball out of whatever, you know, if it was a rough area or whatever. Um and he acted like it was nothing. And she said, and I saw him do it. I didn't say anything, but I wanted to see how he conducted himself the rest of the 18 holes. And she said, You're not doing business with him. And and the meeting was great, they had so much fun. They but nope, deal didn't go through.

SPEAKER_04 28:06

No matter what, if it's business, if it's relationships, patterns like that of people who do that, those don't go away. And I think that that's what it's really nice about having an outside perspective is that I don't know this industry at all. And I don't claim to, but to be able to see things that you're like, wait a minute. I mean, we're not trying to build or I'm not trying to help you build a business that we're just gonna have for 10 to 15 years and then be done. We're trying to build a business that lasts, we're trying to build a legacy for our son, something that he could potentially have if he wants it.

SPEAKER_03 28:50

And but everything's always sellable. Oh, of course.

SPEAKER_04 28:55

But at the same time, you know, and this kind of goes into our next topic, which is Jake has been in business for 10 years, like we said in the beginning. And for some reason in the past week, week and a half, we've gotten so many comments about good luck with your business.

SPEAKER_03 29:13

Oh, in our neighborhood.

SPEAKER_04 29:14

Yeah, so like when we're out on a walk or whatever, and Jake typically is still wearing his work outfit because he's been getting home a little bit later than normal. So we're pretty much immediately either having dinner and then um excuse me, taking Zeke out for a walk. And so people will find out that he's got a lawn care business, and it's like, good luck with your business. It's like, what is the stigma of a lawn care or a landscaping business to where people are thinking it's like this hobby job and like you're still 15 years old trying to make $35 a lawn with your neighbors? Like it's not what it is.

SPEAKER_03 29:51

No, it's cute because you know, because in your back pocket, you go, you want to compare tax returns? Yeah, because I know I make a lot more money than you do. Yeah. But you don't it it's what yeah, it's one of those things where it bothers you. Um, but you I have thick skin now, right?

SPEAKER_04 30:07

We talked about being in the just changing the mindset of how people think about it because like walk by our house anytime, and you've got your nice truck, you've got your trailer that's here sometimes, you've got the I Suzuzu that's here sometimes, and another truck, and then my car in the driveway. So d do you really think this is just some little small cute business? Like, come on.

SPEAKER_03 30:28

Yeah, I but I don't need to show it. I walk the walk, you know? And it yes, there there were times where it gets annoying, and like you and I commented on uh the Ted Dance and Lookalike, where it's just you know, you said good luck with your business. It's like, oh thanks. Yeah, most businesses like 80% of businesses fail by year 10, but okay. I think it's actually 60%. I think I looked that up.

SPEAKER_04 30:51

I I don't and I don't even think that people know when they say it how it sounds, but it's just so like Yeah, I think they're being heartfelt.

SPEAKER_03 31:00

Yeah, but the way it comes comes across on the receiving end, you're just kind of like it's ca sounds sarcastic. It does or it's just like good luck, buddy.

SPEAKER_04 31:09

Yeah, you know, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:10

And it's like, okay.

SPEAKER_04 31:12

And I think in most people that we've talked to in our subdivision who have either said it or people outside who have said it, it's like you said, like, do you want to compare tax returns? Like, do you do you wanna see like, you know? Um so I don't know. That's just kind of the stuff that like kind of bothers me because welcome.

SPEAKER_03 31:33

What is welcome to entrepreneurship.

SPEAKER_04 31:35

Yeah, I mean, it's just it's strange, and I feel like as a mother now, I have this like protective instinct. So immediately when I hear that kind of stuff, like my instinct kicks in and I'm like, What? I want to be like, Do you realize how that sounds right now? Like, we're walking with our eight-month-old son and our great Dane, and like, good luck with your business. How about if I meet you to move forty thousand dollars of money that I have my bank account, and then at the end of our meeting I say, yeah, good luck with your business. Yeah, bitch. You know, that's how it sounds bitch. Yeah, I mean, that's how it sounds. I don't like it.

SPEAKER_03 32:14

No, I get it, but like again, you're a product of your environment. Maybe these people just they've they grew up hearing good luck with this, good luck with that, you know, and we're just taking it as the annoyance side of it. Like it just it is what it is.

SPEAKER_04 32:31

So next thing I feel like down over there, okay?

SPEAKER_03 32:34

Take it easy, take a breath.

SPEAKER_04 32:35

Well, the next thing I want to talk about is like how the reputation of the business. So, for instance, this week, I I had quoted a guy, I think it was on Monday or Tuesday.

SPEAKER_03 32:50

This is military. Military guy? Nice.

SPEAKER_04 32:52

So I had quoted him on Monday or Tuesday. Um, he's gonna be selling his home, so he would only need us to handle it for like, I think like eight weeks until the end of July. At the time it was eight weeks. And so I gave him our pricing structure, we gave him a military discount because of course we appreciate anybody's service to the country and try to do anything that we can to help out.

SPEAKER_03 33:14

Um expecting that. I was on the phone with him, yeah, and he said that he was moving to San Antonio, and I said, Oh, fantastic, blah, blah, blah. And he said, Yeah, I'm moving there for work. Like, he's just he's playing it low-key.

SPEAKER_00 33:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 33:29

And I said, Oh, awesome. What do you do for work? This is just on the phone. I mean, I'm standing on a mower talking to this guy. Yeah. He goes, Oh, I'm I'm in the military and it's just part of their medical program or something like that. I said, Dude, can well, first off, thank you for your service. He didn't even want to talk about like he didn't even accept the thank you. Yeah. And I said, Um, I'll obviously make a note of that on your um proposal that you know, Catherine will know that you're part of the military and we'd like to offer you a military discount.

SPEAKER_04 33:54

Yeah. So anyway, so we're talking and I didn't hear from him. He he had responded and he said some excuse me, something along the lines of you know, reiterating to me that the house is for sale. And I said, Oh yeah, you know, Jake told me, I said, we understand that this is a temporary service until you know you sell the home and you've closed and you know you move out. And so I didn't hear from him for about a day or so, maybe it was around a day and a half. So he reached out again and I said, Hey, blah, blah, blah. Um I'm just following up on our quote. Um let me know what your thoughts are. And so he responds and he's like, I'm just waiting on a couple other quotes and I'll let you know.

SPEAKER_03 34:41

For lawn maintenance, it's not like we're redoing a patio. Right. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_04 34:45

Yeah. So anyway, I said, okay, great. Thanks for letting me know. Um, you know, basically something along the lines of I'll wait to hear from you. So then I get a follow-up text from him, and um, I forget how this came up, and he said, Yeah, I'm waiting on, I'm still waiting on my other quotes. I'm finding I'm trying to find the most reliable company.

SPEAKER_03 35:06

Shocking that he's still waiting. Yeah. Like ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Who called and then had a price within an hour?

SPEAKER_04 35:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 35:17

I can't was that us? Yeah. Oh, okay. Yeah, it was us. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 35:20

Anyway, immediately he gives me a little bit, which like my sales side manager side kicks in. Oh, you're looking for reliability. Awesome. I can speak to that. So I'm telling him, and I said, Well, I can assure you you're not gonna find anybody that's more communicative or reliable, quote-wise. And he explained, he said, and I said, if you would like, you can check out our Google reviews, those will speak for themselves to the reliability that we have. And so he goes, he said something like, Yeah, I've read the reviews, they're all fantastic. And he said, You guys were more middle of the road price-wise, but um, I feel the most comfortable with you guys, so let's run it.

SPEAKER_03 36:01

And I think if we're middle of the road and you already have the numbers in front of you, you've been talking to the office admin, you've talked to the owner of the company. Pull the trigger. Well, let's so clearly I don't think it's a middle of the road thing. I think I think we were high-end pricing-wise.

SPEAKER_04 36:23

Probably.

SPEAKER_03 36:23

And it became a price issue, which is fine. You spend your money however you want.

SPEAKER_04 36:29

It's only for like now seven weeks.

SPEAKER_03 36:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 36:32

But like and you're moving, so like I can understand where you're trying to save wherever you can, because you've probably got moving expenses, but at the same time, if you're looking for quality and if you're looking for somebody that's going to help your house sell by the way the lawn looks, you know where to go.

SPEAKER_03 36:48

Yeah. Like, just do it, sign up.

SPEAKER_04 36:51

So that whole conversation got me thinking when we're talking, when we're thinking about this next episode, of our reputation in the business. How if you look on our Google reviews, I don't know that you'd find a negative review.

SPEAKER_03 37:06

There's just one from uh Mr. John L um two years ago. I was doing a leaf cleanup for him. Leaf cleanup. And told him the price and everything. And then, like, after it gets done, he's like, You didn't take the stuff that's under the deck. I'm like, what are you talking about?

SPEAKER_04 37:26

Like under a wood deck?

SPEAKER_03 37:28

He wanted me to take this was this was never mentioned. He wanted me to somehow take the lattice wood. You know what lattice wood is, right?

SPEAKER_04 37:37

Yeah, that's what we had at our old house. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:39

He wanted that in his mind, he had had a conversation with me that I was gonna take the lattice wood off of his deck, go underneath, and get all the shit from years, decayed wood, old pavers. You I mean, you name it, everyone knows what's under a deck. Yeah, he wanted all that shit gone. I why this why this, yeah, why this year of all years he wanted it done? I don't know. But I was like, he was so he's bitching to me about it. And I was like, what do you bro? I'm I did a leaf cleanup. We'd never even discussed this.

SPEAKER_04 38:16

And typical leaf cleanups include the lawn leaves, not necessarily under your deck. Like, what do you think? If you have a crawl space, we're gonna go under your crawl space and clean up.

SPEAKER_03 38:25

And don't get me wrong, myself or the guys will do our best to get as much as we can from under that deck.

SPEAKER_00 38:30

Of course.

SPEAKER_03 38:31

But when you have lattice wood that's set up to not allow access, plus you have shit from years and years of buildup. So I just said, Yeah, John, I you you hit the X on the schedule for a leaf cleanup.

SPEAKER_00 38:44

Right.

SPEAKER_03 38:45

So I'm I'm happy to do that. I'll have to come back at a later date. Um, but I can't take different materials. Yeah. What am I gonna do? Go do siphon it all through at the yard? Exactly. Like, no, yeah, and so he was like, Oh, um, well, uh, and we haven't serviced his property like two or three years, and then I just at that point, like that was the straw that broke the camel's back for me because he had been kind of a difficult client to begin with. Plus, this was the weird dude. Do you remember I would tell you about that guy that would always be in the hot tub when Tommy and I and boys, he was enjoying himself. Um swim trunks on the side of the hot tub.

SPEAKER_04 39:32

Like he just wanted to let you know what the situation is.

SPEAKER_03 39:35

One of those days, I think he pulled Tommy for a quick little chat about something, and the bubbles turned off.

SPEAKER_04 39:42

Yikes.

SPEAKER_03 39:43

Let's just say I think that water was really cold, Tommy was telling me. But, anyways, so then that was for me. I was like, you know what? I'm done. I said, John, I got all the leaves taken care of. Don't worry about it. Um, I can come back at a later date, but obviously, and then of course she's like, Well, why it's gonna cost more? Yeah, it's it's a different scope of work. Do you do you think I work for free? Right. And I think at that point, um I had said, you know, we're all set. I think we greatly appreciate the business last three years, um, but I think we're gonna go in a different direction. And then that's when he left a uh one-star review and said, Um uh did not deliver services after a signed contract. Here, well, you keep talking to people, I'll pull it up on what he said and my response.

SPEAKER_04 40:29

So if you had advice for anybody who was trying to build business or does have a business, what would you tell them is the reason why you have all of these great reviews? I mean, granted, you just talked about a negative one that you've had, but what do you think sets you apart from other lawn care and landscaping companies to give you all of these fantastic reviews?

SPEAKER_01 40:56

Uh I definitely I'm not I don't like to sound self-conceited, but it's how I carry myself.

SPEAKER_03 41:04

I I try to be very communicative. I try to be communicative. Is that the right word? Communicative, yeah. Thank you. Um I wasn't gonna come. I just try I just do my best to go above and beyond. I just want the experience to be so great that not only do they feel compelled to leave a review and share their experience, but then they're gonna tell relatives, family friends like we had this guy, he came in, you know, he was a little bit pricey, it is what it is, or whatever, or he gave us a deal, and you gotta use him. He was awesome. Uh okay, let me find this review. It's loading finally. So did I answer your question?

SPEAKER_04 41:46

I mean, kind of. I feel like from my perspective, the way that you communicate with people, I think we all know we've talked about how we're more of a white glove service company. But I think the thing that sets you apart from other companies is your communication. For instance, rain delay, if you have one, weather delay, whatever the case may be. You're texting all of your clients and you're saying, Hey, if your service has not been completed by 6 p.m. today, you will be on our route for tomorrow. And I think that goes such a long way with people.

SPEAKER_01 42:28

So here it is, two years ago.

SPEAKER_03 42:30

Never delivered agreed service after a signed contract. So my response was, Thank you for leaving a review, John. Sadly, this review is not accurate after we discussed the projects you needed completed. You then requested additional items to be taken care of after the work had been started that wasn't previously discussed. There was no signed contract involved either. You simply signed a lawn care agreement form for lawn maintenance and requested a quote for spring cleanup. We are not a trash removal service and we could not haul away neglected debris, parentheses, stones, wood decking, fencing, and block, etc., that was placed under your deck, in parentheses, after giving you a price for spring leaf removal. Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 43:14

And also, like, who thinks that during a spring cleanup you're gonna take on the liability of removing lattice work that's underneath the deck to then reinstall it? Do you know how many things could go wrong? That lattice work could be in such shitty shape.

SPEAKER_03 43:28

And it's funny because now that we're talking about lattice, I can see one of our videos that we posted, and there's lattice wood. And we had done a cute little revamp for this house in downtown Royal Oak, and he wanted me it was a similar situation. It was so funny, guy. He was about the same uh age as John, and he said, You know, I got some bricks and stuff underneath here. Would you be able to remove those? And I said, Such and such, I'd be happy to. Two things one, this lattice wood could break, just so you just so you're aware. It's very flimsy. I will do my best not to break anything. And then if we do, this is a very common lattice wood design. I'd be happy to purchase any types of sheets of lattice wood that you need to then close it back up. But I said, as you can see, it's absolutely disgusting under there. We can get all of this out, but it's going to come at a cost. And he's like, Oh, that's yeah, just let me know the numbers. And like this budget was a little tight for this guy to begin with.

SPEAKER_00 44:29

Right.

SPEAKER_03 44:29

And uh, so I think I, you know, just said, yeah, 80 bucks or something like that. Because I knew I could get rid of the block for free at this one place. Um, but I'm sending a team member underneath this disgusting, spidery, gross, buggy area. Um, so that's you gotta set the expectation too from a communication standpoint. Hey, here's what could go wrong. And and that comes with experience. You know, after doing this for so long, I know that there's things that could be a potential breakdown or whatever. As long as you communicate those things effectively, yeah. And obviously the best case is to have it all in writing.

SPEAKER_00 45:09

Right.

SPEAKER_03 45:09

Because, you know, if you're dealing with people, people are busy, people have lives, they're gonna forget things you say in person.

SPEAKER_04 45:15

Unfortunately, I feel like even having it in writing doesn't really exempt you.

SPEAKER_01 45:19

Oh, you found that out today or last week.

SPEAKER_04 45:22

Well, having it in writing also, like, for instance, in title work, you have everybody that works with you sign a closing agreement, which is basically like we are humans, there is, you know, human error that can occur. And by signing this, you're agreeing that if there is an error, you agree to work with us to fix it, fix, fix such error. So a couple weeks ago, um, we had a payoff that was uh that was sent on one, and unknowingly, the lender had taken out the homeowner's insurance from the escrow account. So, of course, that caused the payoff to be short because the escrow was taken out. So obviously there's, you know, however less money in there, and you know, there's like an $800 difference. So you reach out to the customer, and of course, they're trying to ghost you because you're like, no, we need money from you because your your mortgage is not going to be paid off unless this gets paid. So then you kind of keep that in your back pocket, like, oh yeah, you've actually signed this thing that says that you have to work with us. And then it gets to a point to where they go, no contact, no contact, no contact, and then finally you say, If I don't get a response from you, I will be turning this over to my legal department. Oh, look, look who decides to call and want to sort out the issue. So I feel like even if you have it in writing sometimes, it's better, obviously, but it doesn't necessarily always help because I feel like people just don't read.

SPEAKER_01 46:52

They want to be spoon-fed, all the answers. They just want to be told everything. They're not willing to put in any type of work.

SPEAKER_04 46:58

So to close out the episode, I want you to tell me what you think the biggest thing that you have learned from owning a business for 10 years is.

SPEAKER_01 47:12

Put your faith in God.

SPEAKER_04 47:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 47:15

I feel like there's days where you're so stressed or you're worried, let it go. Say a quick prayer. It's it it always gets figured out. And whether that's God giving you the strength to have the thought of how to figure it out, or somehow God makes it happen. Whether that's through someone else coming to your aid, someone calling you.

SPEAKER_04 47:47

Well, and I think a prime example of that is this past week when we were doing payroll, and it was probably one of the biggest payrolls that we've had, right?

SPEAKER_01 47:56

Yeah. Ever.

SPEAKER_04 47:58

So we were doing payroll, and you know, Jake obviously was not concerned with payroll, but he was kind of like, all right, you know, it was the time of the month where the mortgage was coming out, where a lot of the bills were coming out, insurance.

SPEAKER_03 48:14

Huge credit card bill that came out first, then you have the mortgage, then you have the one truck that comes out.

SPEAKER_04 48:19

Correct. So all of these things were coming out. And of course, Jake would never tell me that he's worried about anything because he knows that that would worry me, but he told me this after the fact is that immediately the next morning he woke up and there was a pending transaction for a couple thousand dollars in work that was done from waiting forever facility that you were waiting on for weeks, finally came through. So if that doesn't speak to what you're saying as far as trust in God, because yeah, that was you know, probably one of the biggest ones, but look at that. Like it worked out by the next morning, and then you could breathe and you could say, Okay, yeah, but like I I've got this.

SPEAKER_03 49:02

I already knew what the payroll costs were gonna be, and it was just one of those, like, man, it's just it's like that thorn in the ass. You know, it's not gonna kill you, but you're just like, oh, that sucks.

SPEAKER_00 49:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 49:13

But it doesn't suck because one, the guys are getting paid. There's several guys that got overtime. Right. Like, I'm so happy that they're making gobs and gobs of money for the week. But it's just like it's gonna be fine. Why am I I don't even let the stress enter my mind because it's like was it this this is gonna make me a miserable husband, it's gonna make me a bad dad. Let it go. Yeah, let it go, stupid. Don't worry about it. It's fine. You got money in reserve, don't worry about it.

SPEAKER_04 49:44

So it's just a checking account. Yeah, it's just our money, but whatever. Yeah. Um, so the last thing that I want to I want to talk about, and this is kind of like a correlation to the reviews that you have for your business. Why don't you talk about your situation with Chevy?

SPEAKER_00 50:05

Mm-mm.

SPEAKER_04 50:07

And explain what that customer service was compared to the customer service you give.

SPEAKER_03 50:11

Yeah, it was just one of those things where we've got a truck, 2025, 3500, single cab. I love the truck, and so does Alex. Alex is traditionally in that with Cam. And it toes so well, but it's been consuming oil, hasn't been leaking oil. Big, big difference there. Consuming, to the point where I understand everyone, you know, and their mother wants to comment. I understand that a work truck that is towing day in and day out, maybe at a low idle because it's in a neighborhood, coasting, whatever the situation is. Not a fucking idiot, that it's gonna consume some oil. But when you're consuming four to five quarts in 2,000 miles, you got a major fucking problem with this truck. And so my wife, who handles all these little details, is communicating with a dealer, and they're like, Oh, well, you're gonna several dealers, several dealers, but you're gonna have to come in and do this and do that, and you're gonna have to pay for this. You're gonna no, you can do an oil pressure test for fucking free. I'm not paying for that. Also, you want to do you want to do an oil change and charge me for that? Okay, fine, here's $140, whatever. But the the barrier to entry to get Chevy and GM to do the fucking warranty work, it pisses me off. And I don't like to swear, but sometimes it just helps you get it out. So to the point where you know what I said, fuck this. I'm doing a video, and I'm not gonna get dick for views, but whatever, I'll do a video. Well, it got a hundred thousand views. Tons of comments. People are still to this day commenting on it.

SPEAKER_04 51:57

Well, oh, just to add to that before you finish, the conversation with the dealers was also, you know, okay, Jake is gonna need Jake is Oh, here we go.

SPEAKER_02 52:09

Here are the Beagles.

SPEAKER_03 52:10

Here are the Beagles.

SPEAKER_01 52:15

We're gonna move this inside real quick because we don't edit shit. We're raw.

SPEAKER_04 52:20

So the conversation with the dealer was also, okay, Jake is gonna need a rental truck. He's towing. He's towing, he needs it for work.

SPEAKER_03 52:30

And it's also in my purchase agreement. Like, you have to supply me with a vehicle.

SPEAKER_04 52:34

It says that they have to supply a comparable vehicle, or they pay we have a Chevy Equinox isn't gonna set at any daily rate going to be for you to get it from, like, let's say, another one.

SPEAKER_03 52:46

So you're handling all those details.

SPEAKER_04 52:48

So I'm explaining all of this stuff to them, and they said, Well, we don't have anything comparable to that as far as a rental vehicle. So what you'd be looking at is either a 1500 or an equinox. And I said, Okay, well, neither of those are gonna work for towing a trailer.

SPEAKER_03 53:02

And you said also this isn't my problem.

SPEAKER_04 53:03

Exactly. On the phone. So, like I said, how is this becoming my issue to now call other dealers to find out where there could be a uh, you know, 2500 or 3500 to where he can have that as a rental car? So, anyway, just wanted to give the backstory before Jake continues on with the story of why this was so frustrating and why this got to the point to where he felt like he needed to make a video to try to get the attention.

SPEAKER_02 53:31

And again, I absolutely love the truck. I think the truck is amazing. And everyone's like, Well, why do you like the truck if it has issues? Because every fucking new vehicle nowadays has a problem. You gotta figure out which bullets you want to dodge.

SPEAKER_03 53:49

And I wanted to dodge this issue with the Chevy.

SPEAKER_04 53:54

Other than that, no pun intended using the word dodge.

SPEAKER_03 53:56

Yeah, but other than that, Chevy has been a great truck the last 30 or 40 years. I have a Chevy, as has Ford. Ford has had a couple more complicated issues. Ram has had a couple more complicated issues, so I went with Chevy. So finally, I guess after a hundred thousand views, that's when Chevy reaches out to you directly. And on your third dealer call, who's actually one of the closest ones to the house, not only did the guy apologize that we were experiencing this, he also said, Hey, I don't think I'm gonna have anything in stock to get him on the road. Here's a suggestion. Here's what here's what I can give you right off the bat, Catherine. This is how we would handle it, blah, blah, blah. But I he's like, This is all I can do for now. And it already went miles ahead of everyone else because he he talked to you like a human being. You talked to him like a human being.

SPEAKER_04 54:55

He's also giving us suggestions because no other dealer had told us that, oh, it's gonna we're gonna have to get a rental car from an outside place, and Chevy only pays for X amount. Oh, and by the way, they only pay for the time that they're working on it. So let's say there's three a three to five day wait for a diagnosis. You're you're you yourself are paying for that three to five days. They are only paying for the days where they are actively working.

SPEAKER_03 55:22

And they might not even be able to work on it, but it needs to be on their lot to be worked on. Correct. Like you're telling me you can't just let me know, hey, I got an eight o'clock appointment tomorrow. I understand this procedures and everything, but it's just ass backwards thinking. Um, so then Catherine said, like, what do you want to do? And I said, Well, let's see what Chevy says.

SPEAKER_04 55:40

Because they DM at this point, Chevy hadn't even reached out yet.

SPEAKER_03 55:42

All right, fine, whatever. So Chevy then DM'd me. They said, obviously, this is not the experience we want for you. Please let us know what dealer you'd like to work with. We will handle all of the arrangements and everything like that. They said, her usual, you know, we cannot guarantee a loaner, but we will do everything in our power. And I Catherine let her know, and she said, Well, what do you want to do? And I said, We're going with that guy. I said, He already went ahead. I said, I can tell you we're buying every truck from him, whether it's used or new going forward. It's client interaction, it's everything. And when you act like some type of hot shot, or that you've, you know, you have, yeah, everyone's experiencing this. Or Chevy's not gonna do that. Which is so funny, too. They acted on the phone like they've never heard of this issue that I'm having. I mean, you guys can read the comments on the Facebook post. There's a lot of people who own Chevy's who are experiencing something extremely similar or have experienced it, and they said, give them hell. Blow up the engine, make it their problem, you know, whatever. But this is a very well-known issue. And for you to be on the phone with my wife who is handling all the details, acting like she's some dumb broad, they're like, oh, you know, yo, this is actually not very common, and uh, we're gonna need to do an oil consumption test, we're gonna have to do this and that, and uh it's gonna be pretty cool.

SPEAKER_04 57:04

Which is fine. Like, even if you want to do an oil consumption test, all good. Give me a loaner vehicle that's comparable to what I have.

SPEAKER_03 57:11

And second of all, and by the way, here's my credit card. Yeah, I'll also be needing a credit back for all the shit that you're doing that's warranty, but get it fucking done.

SPEAKER_04 57:19

And also, I feel like, too, uh, the problem is is that if I could give Chevy any feedback about this entire situation, it would be why are you selling vehicles to people and providing a warranty when you can't give them a loaner vehicle? Even if you say, okay, I want to have one 2500 or 3,500 within this general radius of dealerships. And I know they're all independently owned, so don't come at me telling me that. I know that. But at the same time, there should be at least one dealership within a 30-mile radius of us that would have a potential rental vehicle.

SPEAKER_02 58:00

Because you're a team. You're a team.

SPEAKER_04 58:01

Exactly. And I think that's the problem that irritated me so much. It's like, okay, if you want to have the car for the warranty work, that's fine. But the fact that you can't even provide a rental vehicle was also like just the nail in the coffin that really started to piss me off.

SPEAKER_03 58:18

They're not a billion-dollar corporation, you know. Right. They they don't have the extra funds.

SPEAKER_04 58:22

And again, why are you selling this vehicle if you can't guarantee a replacement for warranty work? That makes no sense.

SPEAKER_03 58:28

Yeah, why are you even building something that you're not a hundred percent?

SPEAKER_04 58:31

Like it works with anything. If you're an insured person and you have a house fire, this happened to my brother and my sister-in-law, and your house is 2,500 square feet, they're not gonna put you in a thousand square foot house. They're going to put you in a rental that's comparable to what you were living in.

SPEAKER_03 58:49

If you have a good agent or you have a good company that you're working with, which is sad in this day and age that your brother and sister-in-law or ourselves, we actually have to really read the fine print and make sure that I'm not gonna get fucked in the end.

SPEAKER_04 59:04

If it has to go to a legal standpoint, Pink ProGen.

SPEAKER_03 59:07

They, you know, it was a little bit of a battle with insurance. They finally got because they had a building fire. Thankfully it was not terrible, but a coffee maker started it, a coffee maker of all things, and they were fighting for a couple weeks. Do you think they've ever missed a payment on their insurance?

SPEAKER_04 59:24

And if they did, their policy would be canceled.

SPEAKER_03 59:27

So you're you're telling me the people who have paid into this fund built these companies with their money. And on time, you want to fuck them over. It's just, oh, it just really irritates me.

SPEAKER_04 59:40

So, all that to say with the Chevy situation, that's the difference I feel like, with a company who has great reviews. And don't get me wrong, I'm sure there's a lot of people that love Chevy's and have great experience with them. And maybe it's just because Jake bought a fleet vehicle, he bought a work truck and they can't accommodate, which you know is fine, but it doesn't matter. Don't offer warranty. It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter if it's a work truck can't help.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:03

It doesn't matter if it's a work truck trim line or whatever. Um back your product.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:08

Yeah. At the end of the day, that's that's the problem is, and you know, good for Chevy for reaching out personally and trying to correct the issue.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:16

GM even reached out to, just so you know.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:18

GM as well. But also it shouldn't have even gotten to the point where you had to make a video and and have that much chatter online before they finally say something.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:29

And of course, probably when this is fixed, they're probably gonna expect you to be like, hey, do you mind making a post that says that we took care of the issue?

SPEAKER_03 1:00:37

Yeah, write me a check.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:38

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:40

Money talks, baby.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:41

Give me a discount code and then maybe. So, all that to say, I think what you're trying to get at is one of the best things that you can do if you're trying to build a successful business is have great customer service. Go above and beyond. That's what sets you apart from others.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:57

Yeah. Way to lead. You just led this podcast, babe.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:03

I feel like I can get you best when you're not thinking about your responses, and I can kind of get you off the cuff.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:09

I love being off the cuff. I feel like that gets you to be a good Well, that's how we do these podcasts too, where I'm just like, hey, what do you want to talk about for this one? I was thinking this. And then you're like, yeah, that sounds good. That's how the first three have gone. Um, and then you said, Hey, I I got some ideas. I said, Okay, cool, run it.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:26

Yeah. So well, we were talking on our walk about how um I think you said like 30 to 40 percent of businesses fail in their first year, and then you said by year 10, I think.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:36

It's year five, year five, there's a very high failure rate. Yeah, and then it gets even higher um for a year 10.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:44

But also all of this to say, that's not to say that you can't start a business anytime you want. You can always start over whenever you want to, but I think we're just trying to speak to how you can try to. I mean, it's a big feat to have a business that's been going on for 10 years that's showing profit every single time. Yeah, be proud of yourself. That's a huge accomplishment.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:03

Be proud of yourself. I don't care if you're six months in, you're 20 years in, or you're halfway through that that really hard mark around year five, five to seven. Um, be extremely proud of yourself because you've made it this far. You're gonna have bigger headaches, but you've already mastered those small headaches. So you just take that mindset and apply it to these big boy headaches. And again, I'm not a I'm not saying I'm big time. I I am a very, very small fish in a very, very, very large pond. But take a moment to realize where you're at, be proud of yourself because there's a day where you dreamed of being where you are and reflecting on you got to that point. And guess what? Keep growing.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:49

And also have a great support system around you because I don't think that you would have been able to get as far as you have without your support system, without people in your life, your mentors, like we talked about in the last episode, everybody that you've had in your life that you can go to has gotten me to this point.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:08

Sure, I I I put in some sweat equity and stuff, but everything I have is not just a direct result of my own efforts. First, it's from God, two, it's my own effort, and three, it's all of those who supported me along the way. And also those people who didn't support me. I love it. Yeah, I love the hate. Watch where I am now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:29

Look at me now.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:30

Look, look who had the last laugh. Um, that that's I think that's the most rewarding. And you don't even need to point it out.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:36

It's just well, no, you would never be the type of person to say that you this is your 10 year, you know, 10 years in the business and you want to do an episode about it, but I know that you don't like giving yourself recognition. So I feel like we need to have, we would have needed to have a conversation about, oh my god, this is your 10th year. Like this is crazy.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:54

Yeah, it's wild. It's wild. Thanks, babe. Um I think we uh is the nickname officially Striped Mommy? Like who are you in the industry? What is who do you go by? What's your name? Who are you? Who are you?

SPEAKER_04 1:04:09

I don't know. Just the office admin.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:12

No, you're way more than that.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:14

Um I'm just Pam from the office and keeping it together.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:17

Yeah, literally. You're the glue that keeps this all together.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:23

I think I'm just the support for you that you need while your business grows. I think that's really where like my like where I thrive is like you're just telling me stuff. Like, I mean, whether it's calling to make you a doctor's appointment or whatever, like I handle all of your stuff so that you can do what you love. And I think that's really like what helps you is that you have need to be able to, it never feels like you're giving me like a bitch work to do. Like it's like you love I'm assisting you in every area of your life, and that's what I want to do. I want to be a support, that's why we're married, that's why we are doing this together.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:00

Yeah. So are do I just call you the the supporter?

SPEAKER_04 1:05:04

You can just call me the office admin.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:06

All right. Well, great podcast, babe. Thanks for all the great ideas.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:10

Thanks for leading it. I love you tons. You're just nodding when I say I love you. Oh my god. Are you still pissed off about this morning?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:19

Oh wow. All right, gotta go uh sharpen the axe, boys. Yeah. Get mom happy. All right, guys. Stripe daddy out. We'll see you on the next one.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:27

Love you guys.