WEBVTT - The $100k Mistake That I'll Never Make Again 0:00:04.200 --> 0:00:06.960 Hi, I'm Britney Saunders, and welcome to Big Business, the 0:00:07.040 --> 0:00:09.720 place where business is far from boring, and today I'm 0:00:09.760 --> 0:00:13.480 recording on gaddigul Land. Now I somehow manage to build 0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:16.400 an empire from the garage underneath my house, and I'm 0:00:16.400 --> 0:00:18.079 here to share it all with you, from the winds, 0:00:18.280 --> 0:00:21.799 the huge mistakes, the challenging times and funny moments in between. 0:00:22.280 --> 0:00:24.120 And that's a good little segue. 0:00:23.760 --> 0:00:26.119 Into this episode because I am definitely talking about the 0:00:26.160 --> 0:00:29.360 mistakes today. So whether you're in business already wanting to 0:00:29.360 --> 0:00:31.680 start one, or you're not even in business at all 0:00:31.800 --> 0:00:34.239 and you're just looking for some inspiration, or you want 0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:36.080 to hear a funny story or the tea. 0:00:36.280 --> 0:00:37.479 This is the podcast for you. 0:00:37.800 --> 0:00:40.760 Coming up on today's episode, I'm going to be sharing 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:44.160 with you a list of fuck ups I have made 0:00:44.280 --> 0:00:45.559 in my business journey. 0:00:46.040 --> 0:00:47.960 It's as simple as that. So let's just get straight 0:00:48.000 --> 0:00:48.480 into it. 0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:53.960 Now. I want to start out this episode with a 0:00:54.000 --> 0:00:57.200 little bit of an acknowledgment or a disclaimer. I do 0:00:57.320 --> 0:01:00.560 not regret any of the following things that I'm going 0:01:00.560 --> 0:01:03.920 to be sharing with you. This is quite literally how 0:01:04.000 --> 0:01:08.000 you learn in business by making mistakes. You mess something up, 0:01:08.240 --> 0:01:10.520 you get yourself in a bit of shit, you're in trouble, 0:01:10.920 --> 0:01:12.760 you come out on the other side, and you learn 0:01:12.800 --> 0:01:16.200 better for next time. That is quite literally how business works. 0:01:16.680 --> 0:01:20.000 We must make mistakes in business in order to grow. 0:01:20.760 --> 0:01:23.880 That's my little acknowledgment. Let's get into it. The first 0:01:23.920 --> 0:01:26.760 mistake I have made, not so much in my business, 0:01:26.840 --> 0:01:30.160 but in my career, was when I was an influencer. 0:01:30.200 --> 0:01:31.880 For those of you that don't know, I'm sure a lot. 0:01:31.800 --> 0:01:34.600 Of you do by now, but before I was a 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:38.600 business owner, I was an influencer. I became a full 0:01:38.600 --> 0:01:41.200 time influencer when I was twenty one, so I was 0:01:41.319 --> 0:01:44.720 really young and silly, and I all of a sudden 0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:48.919 started earning a lot of money, like a lot of money, 0:01:49.400 --> 0:01:52.240 and I thought, wow, this is amazing. You know, I've 0:01:52.280 --> 0:01:56.400 gone from dreaming of earning one thousand dollars a week. 0:01:56.440 --> 0:01:57.920 That used to be a goal of mine when I 0:01:57.960 --> 0:02:01.320 was working full time in my life eighteen's and twenty 0:02:01.360 --> 0:02:04.000 years old, my goal was fifty two grand a year, 0:02:04.040 --> 0:02:06.800 one thousand dollars a week. And then when I became 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:10.560 an influencer, I was earning, you know, at the start, 0:02:11.280 --> 0:02:13.520 not much at all. Because I had to start at 0:02:13.560 --> 0:02:15.080 the bottom and work my way up. But once I 0:02:15.080 --> 0:02:17.160 got to the point where I was able to make 0:02:17.160 --> 0:02:19.240 it my full time career, I was making just enough 0:02:19.240 --> 0:02:22.000 to live. And then over those few years of me 0:02:22.080 --> 0:02:25.000 becoming a more popular influencer, I started earning one hundred 0:02:25.040 --> 0:02:27.120 thousand dollars a year, one hundred and twenty thousand, one 0:02:27.160 --> 0:02:29.560 hundred and fifty thousand, two hundred and something thousand dollars 0:02:29.600 --> 0:02:32.120 a year, and I think at my peak I would 0:02:32.120 --> 0:02:34.760 have been earning yeah, maybe two to three hundred thousand 0:02:34.760 --> 0:02:37.600 dollars a year as an influencer, which is insane. I know, 0:02:37.720 --> 0:02:40.560 trust me. And I was in my early twenties, so 0:02:40.720 --> 0:02:44.960 my life had essentially completely changed. I was still the 0:02:45.040 --> 0:02:47.560 same old me that I am today, and I was 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:51.240 the same back then. But I didn't know anything about money, 0:02:51.600 --> 0:02:54.280 and because I was earning all this money, I thought 0:02:54.400 --> 0:02:57.240 this is great and I would just spend it lucky. 0:02:57.360 --> 0:02:59.480 I also was saving, like I don't know what it was, 0:02:59.520 --> 0:03:02.360 but I I was saving in this time. But I 0:03:02.400 --> 0:03:05.880 didn't know how to be self employed. I didn't know 0:03:06.080 --> 0:03:09.720 how it worked. I was so used to working my 0:03:09.840 --> 0:03:11.960 Monday to Friday full time job. And getting my pay 0:03:12.000 --> 0:03:14.560 slip every week and seeing the tax being taken out, 0:03:15.120 --> 0:03:16.920 and then all of a sudden, I'm working for myself. 0:03:16.960 --> 0:03:19.680 At twenty one years old, I didn't know how tax worked. 0:03:19.760 --> 0:03:24.080 I also didn't have like a supportive family network, like 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:25.079 no one ever taught me. 0:03:25.080 --> 0:03:27.920 About money or how to save or tax or anything 0:03:27.919 --> 0:03:28.160 like that. 0:03:28.200 --> 0:03:31.240 So when I became a full time YouTuber, like I 0:03:31.280 --> 0:03:33.720 had no one in my life that was going to say, hey, 0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:36.040 like this is great that you're becoming self employed, but 0:03:36.080 --> 0:03:37.080 here's what you need to do. 0:03:38.000 --> 0:03:40.040 I didn't have an accountant. I didn't know that I 0:03:40.080 --> 0:03:41.480 needed an accountant. And I think a lot of. 0:03:41.480 --> 0:03:44.160 People that do go into business will experience this, like 0:03:44.200 --> 0:03:46.040 they just don't know what to do. They don't have 0:03:46.080 --> 0:03:49.000 an accountant, Like no one's around, like dad's not in 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:53.200 the picture. Mum isn't educated, you know, so no offense, 0:03:54.440 --> 0:03:55.240 but she wouldn't know. 0:03:55.240 --> 0:03:56.680 Like she'd never been self employed either. 0:03:57.880 --> 0:04:01.720 So for around two two years, when I was an 0:04:01.720 --> 0:04:04.680 influencer and earning all this money, I just simply didn't 0:04:04.720 --> 0:04:07.400 pay tax because when you own your own business or 0:04:07.400 --> 0:04:09.760 you're working for yourself, because I essentially was my own 0:04:09.800 --> 0:04:13.560 business as an influencer, Like, I didn't know how I 0:04:13.600 --> 0:04:14.480 was meant to pay. 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:16.520 Tax, Like how do you do that? Like what do 0:04:16.560 --> 0:04:17.320 you genuinely do? 0:04:17.360 --> 0:04:19.960 Because when you're getting paid as a self employed person 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:23.120 and you've got payments coming in I was working with brands, 0:04:23.200 --> 0:04:25.160 the money just goes into your account and that's it. 0:04:25.800 --> 0:04:28.520 Then you have to work out how you're going to 0:04:28.560 --> 0:04:30.360 pay tax on that. But you don't pay tax every 0:04:30.360 --> 0:04:33.039 week the way that employees do. You have to collect 0:04:33.080 --> 0:04:36.320 that all together and then have an accountant process. 0:04:35.920 --> 0:04:37.640 It for you, like for the end of financial year. 0:04:37.680 --> 0:04:39.200 And I just I didn't know that. 0:04:39.279 --> 0:04:41.480 And I was living in Sydney and living my best 0:04:41.520 --> 0:04:45.040 life and traveling around the world. And I ended up 0:04:45.200 --> 0:04:47.680 getting an accountant because I thought, shit, like it got 0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:49.680 to two years of I hadn't done my tax for 0:04:49.680 --> 0:04:52.279 two years, I'm gonna need to get an accountant. So 0:04:52.320 --> 0:04:54.760 I finally got one, and I was like, you need 0:04:54.760 --> 0:04:56.359 to help me out because I haven't paid tax for 0:04:56.360 --> 0:04:59.040 two years. Mind you, I hadn't been chased up by 0:04:59.040 --> 0:05:01.840 the ATO or anything by this point. You eventually will, 0:05:01.839 --> 0:05:04.400 of course, And I was so embarrassed too. I think 0:05:04.440 --> 0:05:05.640 that's why I kept putting it off. 0:05:05.680 --> 0:05:06.320 As well, Like. 0:05:06.279 --> 0:05:08.680 It was this weird feeling of I haven't paid my tax. 0:05:08.720 --> 0:05:10.560 I'm too embarrassed to go to account and then tell them. 0:05:10.600 --> 0:05:12.640 But I eventually got one and I said, look, help 0:05:12.720 --> 0:05:14.880 me out. I haven't paid my tax for two years. 0:05:14.920 --> 0:05:16.800 And I know a lot of small business owners would 0:05:16.800 --> 0:05:18.600 do this, like just say they've been running their small 0:05:18.640 --> 0:05:20.880 business for two years, they're probably not paying tax because 0:05:20.880 --> 0:05:24.680 they don't know how. And I then had this accountant 0:05:25.480 --> 0:05:28.799 work out the last two financial years for me, and 0:05:28.839 --> 0:05:31.520 then I got a call from the ATO and I 0:05:31.640 --> 0:05:35.720 owed one hundred thousand dollars. And I'm in my early 0:05:35.760 --> 0:05:38.320 twenties and I owe one hundred thousand dollars, which in 0:05:38.360 --> 0:05:40.840 saying that, I know that's a crazy amount, but if 0:05:40.920 --> 0:05:44.240 you're owing that amount, you're earning quite a decent amount. 0:05:44.400 --> 0:05:46.400 So it was like two years built up one hundred grand. 0:05:47.120 --> 0:05:49.720 So then I went on a payment plan and it 0:05:49.760 --> 0:05:51.240 was like a certain amount every month that I was 0:05:51.279 --> 0:05:53.160 paying or whatever. And I did have a lot of 0:05:53.160 --> 0:05:55.160 money in savings by this point as well, So I 0:05:55.160 --> 0:05:57.440 remember I started on the payment plan and then I 0:05:57.480 --> 0:05:59.600 just ended up paying like big, bigger chunks than I 0:05:59.640 --> 0:06:02.359 was supper too, because when you're in debt to the 0:06:02.400 --> 0:06:06.200 tax man, the interest that you get charged is like 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:09.000 twelve point five percent or something. So I owed one 0:06:09.040 --> 0:06:11.680 hundred grand and was paying twelve point five percent interest. 0:06:12.200 --> 0:06:14.600 So I paid it a lot quicker than I was 0:06:14.640 --> 0:06:17.120 supposed to. And that was a great lesson for me 0:06:17.440 --> 0:06:20.839 in my early twenties is you need to understand your finances. 0:06:21.240 --> 0:06:22.960 So that was a great lesson for me in my 0:06:23.040 --> 0:06:25.680 early twenties and something that I will never forget. I 0:06:25.680 --> 0:06:28.120 remember I felt sick over it, like owing that amount 0:06:28.160 --> 0:06:29.760 of money and just having to pay it down. But 0:06:29.800 --> 0:06:31.880 it was a great lesson for me to be more 0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:34.279 smart with my money and have my finances in order. 0:06:34.320 --> 0:06:36.680 And this was before fate that I learned this lesson. 0:06:40.920 --> 0:06:45.040 The next mistake, I had a massive blunder with money 0:06:45.279 --> 0:06:47.560 that ended up costing me seven or eight thousand dollars. 0:06:47.720 --> 0:06:51.480 When you are importing any goods into Australia that you 0:06:51.560 --> 0:06:54.520 have made overseas and you're importing them in, you will 0:06:54.520 --> 0:06:57.840 get charge import tax when it arrives at the port. 0:06:58.440 --> 0:07:00.920 The Australian government will want you to pay to bring 0:07:00.960 --> 0:07:02.520 that into the country because you're going to be making 0:07:02.520 --> 0:07:03.080 money off it. 0:07:03.080 --> 0:07:05.920 It's really great. I love paying import tax. 0:07:06.680 --> 0:07:10.480 And this was this was years ago, this might have 0:07:10.560 --> 0:07:14.320 been two thousand and nineteen. Maybe we had launched our 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:19.640 swimwear range, which is called Staple Swim and our swimwear 0:07:19.760 --> 0:07:23.760 is made in Bali, and so I did all the importing. 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:25.600 And again this was my first time kind of doing 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:27.480 something like this, like importing from Bali. 0:07:27.600 --> 0:07:29.280 So I think I went through DHL. 0:07:29.960 --> 0:07:32.400 And when you're importing stuff, like you have to fill 0:07:32.440 --> 0:07:35.600 out a lot of documentation and I was just feeling 0:07:35.600 --> 0:07:37.360 it out myself, like no clue if I'm doing it 0:07:37.440 --> 0:07:41.240 right or not. And then in on the form when 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:43.960 you're importing stuff, you have to declare the value of 0:07:44.000 --> 0:07:46.800 those goods, and so I thought, all right, and this 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:51.360 was like a quite a decent size collection. I was like, 0:07:51.360 --> 0:07:53.280 all right, the value of goods. So then I looked 0:07:53.280 --> 0:07:55.880 at like all the stock, and then looked at what 0:07:55.920 --> 0:07:58.520 it would be if I sold it all, like the 0:07:58.560 --> 0:08:01.800 retail value, And in that little box I put the 0:08:01.840 --> 0:08:05.600 retail value if we were to sell, like I don't 0:08:05.640 --> 0:08:08.880 know why I didn't think twice, because again this was 0:08:08.960 --> 0:08:11.160 the first time doing this, so I don't know how 0:08:11.240 --> 0:08:13.520 much money this was so long ago. But maybe if 0:08:13.560 --> 0:08:15.400 we'd sold it all, like, we would have made fifty 0:08:15.440 --> 0:08:17.880 thousand dollars, let's say, so I put fifty thousand or 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:20.960 sixty thousand dollars on that declaration to say that's the value. 0:08:21.360 --> 0:08:23.440 The lesson in this is you just. 0:08:23.400 --> 0:08:25.800 Need to put the value of what it cost you 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:30.360 to make the cost of the goods, not the retail price. 0:08:30.400 --> 0:08:31.600 But I had no idea. 0:08:32.200 --> 0:08:34.160 So then I filled that out, and then I got 0:08:34.160 --> 0:08:36.960 a call off the people at the port or whatever, 0:08:37.000 --> 0:08:40.000 like where you pay the tax to and it was 0:08:40.040 --> 0:08:42.840 like seven thousand and something dollars for the import tax. 0:08:43.320 --> 0:08:44.960 And because at the time when i'd filled this out, 0:08:44.960 --> 0:08:46.319 I didn't know that I was feeling it out wrong, 0:08:46.400 --> 0:08:48.440 and it was my first time importing from BALI, I 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:52.040 was like, shit, that's expensive, Like man, like, that's fucking 0:08:52.160 --> 0:08:54.320 a lot of money. But I thought, oh, well, like 0:08:54.360 --> 0:08:56.280 this must be the price that I have to pay. 0:08:56.720 --> 0:08:59.600 So I went right ahead and paid that seven thousand 0:08:59.600 --> 0:09:02.280 and something because your products won't get released to you 0:09:02.400 --> 0:09:04.480 unless you pay it, and I was really desperate because 0:09:04.480 --> 0:09:06.880 I really want to launch that collection. I didn't learn 0:09:06.960 --> 0:09:10.280 until maybe months later that I put the wrong value 0:09:10.280 --> 0:09:12.160 in that I should have just put what it cost 0:09:12.240 --> 0:09:14.160 me instead, which would have it still would have been 0:09:14.200 --> 0:09:16.880 thousands of dollars, but it wouldn't have been seven thousand dollars. 0:09:17.640 --> 0:09:19.600 Looking back now, like I feel like I almost could 0:09:19.600 --> 0:09:21.200 have gone back to them and said, hey, like I 0:09:21.240 --> 0:09:23.280 put the wrong value, but I don't know. I just 0:09:23.280 --> 0:09:25.360 took it as a lesson at that time, a very 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:28.000 expensive one at that and I learned for next time. 0:09:28.640 --> 0:09:31.280 The next mistake that I made and have made many 0:09:31.360 --> 0:09:33.720 times over the years and especially in the early days 0:09:33.760 --> 0:09:36.760 of Fate, was not setting my pieces at a cost 0:09:36.840 --> 0:09:39.360 that I was happy with and that would keep my 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:42.839 business going in fear of people saying it's too expensive. 0:09:43.600 --> 0:09:44.080 I wasn't. 0:09:44.320 --> 0:09:46.200 I mean, I'm still not good with numbers, Like, don't 0:09:46.240 --> 0:09:49.080 come to me for financial advice. Ask aj he does 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:50.760 all of our numbers. Like, I'm not good with that. 0:09:51.200 --> 0:09:53.840 But I remember in those early days of Fate, I 0:09:53.880 --> 0:09:57.440 had no idea that I should be pricing my styles 0:09:58.000 --> 0:10:01.400 at a calculated number. In I would say, well, if 0:10:01.400 --> 0:10:05.040 this hoodie costs US thirty dollars to make, I'll sell 0:10:05.080 --> 0:10:08.880 it for fifty because that's more than what I've paid. 0:10:10.120 --> 0:10:12.720 And like if you're making something for thirty dollars and 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:15.080 selling it for fifty. Like in my mind, I was like, yeah, 0:10:15.080 --> 0:10:16.760 because it's more than what I paid for it. Like 0:10:16.760 --> 0:10:21.400 that was my mentality. It was never calculated mathematically, and 0:10:21.520 --> 0:10:23.920 I did that for honestly, like the first three years 0:10:23.920 --> 0:10:26.640 of Fate, I would say where I wasn't thinking about 0:10:26.640 --> 0:10:28.280 the prices. I was just going, yeah, I cant fifty 0:10:28.320 --> 0:10:30.480 dollars or I go or maybe forty five because I 0:10:30.480 --> 0:10:32.800 don't want people to say it's too expensive. As long 0:10:32.800 --> 0:10:34.440 as it was higher than what it was costing me, 0:10:34.760 --> 0:10:37.200 I was happy with that. And again, like I was 0:10:37.240 --> 0:10:39.679 just none the wiser and didn't know that you can't 0:10:39.720 --> 0:10:42.240 just make up a price out of thin air. And 0:10:42.280 --> 0:10:46.160 I also did majorly have that fear of my customers 0:10:46.200 --> 0:10:48.800 in those early days saying this is too expensive, and 0:10:48.840 --> 0:10:51.040 like you get that guilt of like, oh, I really 0:10:51.080 --> 0:10:53.200 should sell that for eighty five dollars, but then what 0:10:53.240 --> 0:10:55.440 if people say it's too expensive? But you really have 0:10:55.480 --> 0:10:58.200 to let go of that mentality as a business owner 0:10:58.240 --> 0:11:00.000 and set your prices at what you know the peace 0:11:00.200 --> 0:11:02.640 is a worth and also what's going to keep your 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:05.400 business moving forward. And that's something over the years that 0:11:05.440 --> 0:11:08.679 I've become a lot more comfortable with. I even remember 0:11:08.840 --> 0:11:12.720 the first time we ever made items over one hundred 0:11:12.800 --> 0:11:16.080 dollars because I always wanted to keep everything like sixty 0:11:16.120 --> 0:11:20.640 dollars seventy dollars, and we've slowly allowed ourselves to, I guess, 0:11:20.679 --> 0:11:23.280 make styles that need to be more expensive, For example, 0:11:23.400 --> 0:11:26.600 coats and blazers that are more tailored. They cost us 0:11:26.640 --> 0:11:28.120 a whole lot more to make, so we have to 0:11:28.160 --> 0:11:30.520 sell them at a higher price. And I still remember 0:11:30.559 --> 0:11:33.199 being so scared, like, no one's going to want to 0:11:33.200 --> 0:11:35.680 buy from me if something's like one hundred and nine dollars, 0:11:35.800 --> 0:11:37.520 you know, But you've got to like let go of 0:11:37.559 --> 0:11:41.400 that mentality and understand you need to price your genes 0:11:41.440 --> 0:11:44.199 at one hundred and ten dollars because that's the price 0:11:44.280 --> 0:11:47.040 they need to be to reflect their quality, but also 0:11:47.360 --> 0:11:50.120 because you need to keep your business moving forward. It's 0:11:50.160 --> 0:11:51.480 not about like what you want to sell it for, 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:53.559 It's about what the business needs you to sell it for. 0:11:53.920 --> 0:11:56.800 So that was another great lesson for me. The next one, 0:11:57.040 --> 0:12:00.560 and I've spoken about this before on the pod mistake, 0:12:00.600 --> 0:12:02.760 I guess that I made a lot in those early 0:12:02.840 --> 0:12:04.800 years of fate is not knowing when to speak up 0:12:04.840 --> 0:12:07.880 and have tough conversations with staff. I feel like I've 0:12:07.920 --> 0:12:10.400 done a whole episode on this about being way too nice. 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:11.600 I feel like it was one of my very first 0:12:11.640 --> 0:12:14.520 episodes of this pod. But I really want to stress 0:12:14.920 --> 0:12:18.200 to all of you business owners out there, hard conversations 0:12:18.360 --> 0:12:22.400 easy life. Easy conversations, hard life. I've said that before 0:12:22.480 --> 0:12:26.040 in the pod, and over the years, I have definitely 0:12:26.160 --> 0:12:29.960 learned that you just need to have those uncomfortable conversations 0:12:30.000 --> 0:12:34.280 in order to just keep everything flowing. In those early days, 0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:37.880 I was way too scared. I didn't want to upset people. 0:12:38.440 --> 0:12:42.080 I had friendships with staff members, which I've spoken about 0:12:42.120 --> 0:12:44.840 as well already on the pod. Being too personal with 0:12:44.920 --> 0:12:48.200 staff it can just create a world of problems for 0:12:48.240 --> 0:12:50.120 you in the future. So if I could do my 0:12:50.200 --> 0:12:53.280 time over again, I would have more confidence in myself 0:12:53.320 --> 0:12:56.439 to have tough conversations with people. And by tough, I 0:12:56.440 --> 0:12:59.240 don't mean you're being nasty or whatever, but just having 0:12:59.280 --> 0:13:02.200 those uncomfort conversations or pulling someone up on something if 0:13:02.240 --> 0:13:04.760 you've noticed something, Whereas back in the day, I would 0:13:04.800 --> 0:13:06.560 just brush it to the side and hope that it 0:13:06.559 --> 0:13:07.240 would go away. 0:13:07.559 --> 0:13:08.880 But yeah, that was another thing that I did. 0:13:08.920 --> 0:13:10.679 It was way too nice in those early days and 0:13:10.760 --> 0:13:18.880 avoided tough conversations and I've definitely learned differently now. Another 0:13:19.120 --> 0:13:21.199 huge mistake that I made that I know a lot 0:13:21.200 --> 0:13:24.480 of business owners will is by signing. 0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:25.959 Up to marketing agencies. 0:13:26.440 --> 0:13:29.560 I spoke about this in my episode with my good 0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:31.600 friend Anita if you want to go and have listened 0:13:31.600 --> 0:13:33.920 to that one if you haven't already. And I also 0:13:34.080 --> 0:13:37.199 spoke about the exact same topic with Mlusen from Napoleon 0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:39.360 as well, So there's two episodes out there already if 0:13:39.400 --> 0:13:41.520 you want to hear more about it in detail. But 0:13:42.200 --> 0:13:44.920 I put trust in companies that I had no idea 0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:49.080 about to run our Facebook ads, and the thing with 0:13:49.120 --> 0:13:51.320 these agencies, and look, I'm sure there are some good 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:51.880 ones out there. 0:13:51.920 --> 0:13:54.840 I'm not shaming all agencies. I think that's important to mention. 0:13:55.559 --> 0:13:58.720 But I signed up and you get yourself locked into 0:13:58.760 --> 0:14:01.000 a contract and you have to pay them. I think 0:14:01.160 --> 0:14:02.920 the one that I was in, it was eight thousand 0:14:02.920 --> 0:14:07.160 dollars a month just to be in their agency and 0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:09.640 to have them run your ads, and then you're spending 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:11.559 your ad money on top of that. So we were 0:14:11.559 --> 0:14:13.960 doing what to maybe two thousand dollars a day on ads, 0:14:14.520 --> 0:14:18.000 plus eight grand a month to them just to run them. 0:14:18.480 --> 0:14:21.880 And I wasted so much money with them running our ads. 0:14:22.280 --> 0:14:24.640 I had no idea how well the ads were performing 0:14:24.680 --> 0:14:27.400 because I didn't understand how to run ads. I had 0:14:27.400 --> 0:14:30.000 no idea if they were making money. I had no 0:14:30.160 --> 0:14:32.960 fucking clue. And it's just the biggest waste of money ever. 0:14:33.200 --> 0:14:36.120 And I got out of that, and they were really 0:14:36.200 --> 0:14:38.320 upset about it, and like really tried to win us 0:14:38.360 --> 0:14:40.080 over and I'm like, no, Like, I don't want to 0:14:40.080 --> 0:14:42.840 give you my money anymore. And I then took the 0:14:42.920 --> 0:14:46.840 time and learned how to do our Facebook ads myself, 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:49.680 and now that is my job. Like I run our 0:14:49.720 --> 0:14:52.800 Facebook ads every single day, and now that I know 0:14:52.920 --> 0:14:55.200 how to do it, it can be really tricky to learn. 0:14:55.480 --> 0:14:57.360 Now that I know what I'm doing, I'm like, how 0:14:57.360 --> 0:14:59.320 the fuck were they charging me eight thousand dollars to 0:14:59.360 --> 0:15:03.440 run my ads? Because I do it now? And so yeah, huge. 0:15:03.480 --> 0:15:05.480 I know some people are with agencies and they are 0:15:05.520 --> 0:15:06.920 amazing and it works for them. And if you can 0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:08.680 find an agency that's going to run your ads for 0:15:08.760 --> 0:15:11.440 you and you're going to see, you know, a good 0:15:11.720 --> 0:15:13.920 return on ad spend by all means, go for it. 0:15:14.200 --> 0:15:16.960 But that was a huge mistake on my part. I never, ever, 0:15:17.120 --> 0:15:20.000 ever should have partnered with them. I wish I had 0:15:20.000 --> 0:15:21.880 just learned it myself from the start. But again, like 0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:23.600 I said at the start of this episode, you got 0:15:23.600 --> 0:15:25.120 to do these things to learn for next time, and 0:15:25.160 --> 0:15:27.280 now I know I'm never paying another market date marketing 0:15:27.320 --> 0:15:29.840 agency ever. Again, sorry to all of the marketing agency 0:15:29.880 --> 0:15:34.000 owners out there. Another mistake is just not having a 0:15:34.040 --> 0:15:37.480 thorough enough hiring process and hiring people after just chatting 0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:40.320 with them once. This is a big one and something 0:15:40.400 --> 0:15:43.160 that we all learn as business owners. I have always 0:15:43.240 --> 0:15:46.360 said that hiring and staffing in general is the hardest 0:15:46.360 --> 0:15:49.040 part of business. That's the hardest part of business for 0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:51.480 me and I'm sure for a lot of others. And 0:15:51.640 --> 0:15:53.920 in those early days, as I mentioned in my main 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:57.480 episode about hiring, I would hire people after talking with 0:15:57.520 --> 0:16:00.560 them once and it's just resulted in getting not the 0:16:00.600 --> 0:16:04.640 best people on your team. Now we have a thorough 0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:07.680 hiring process, which I have an entire episode out on 0:16:07.760 --> 0:16:09.920 as well. If you want to hear, like every single 0:16:09.960 --> 0:16:12.200 step of our hiring process is a whole episode out 0:16:12.240 --> 0:16:14.960 there on it, and it's just been a game changer 0:16:14.960 --> 0:16:16.200 for us because now. 0:16:16.760 --> 0:16:19.000 We're only getting the best of the best. But you 0:16:19.080 --> 0:16:19.760 live and you learn. 0:16:20.200 --> 0:16:22.920 I've got two more mistakes I'm going to share with you, 0:16:23.000 --> 0:16:25.560 and trust me, there's about fifty more that I could share, 0:16:25.600 --> 0:16:28.520 but I can't sit here all day. The next mistake 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:31.640 that I have made, and you know what I continue 0:16:31.680 --> 0:16:34.640 to make this is doubting myself. This is something that 0:16:34.720 --> 0:16:37.360 all of us experience in our life in general. If 0:16:37.360 --> 0:16:39.240 you want to throw yourself into owning a business, you'll 0:16:39.240 --> 0:16:41.880 get a whole new level of doubting yourself because you're 0:16:41.880 --> 0:16:45.080 making crazy decisions that scare the shit out of you, 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:49.160 and you'll just constantly doubt yourself. I've doubted myself a 0:16:49.160 --> 0:16:52.360 lot in my business journey, even though it obviously will 0:16:52.440 --> 0:16:54.640 come across like I'm super confident and I am now, 0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:57.640 But in those earlier, earlier years, I would always. 0:16:57.400 --> 0:16:58.880 Doubt myself and go, oh, I don't know. 0:16:59.560 --> 0:17:02.120 And I just think it's really important to back yourself, 0:17:02.320 --> 0:17:06.000 especially in your business journey where you are making bold moves, 0:17:06.400 --> 0:17:09.000 because that's the way that you're going to continue to 0:17:09.040 --> 0:17:12.040 grow is by just believing in yourself and being confident 0:17:12.600 --> 0:17:16.439 and if anything, doubting yourself will only limit yourself and 0:17:16.480 --> 0:17:20.440 your growth. And the last mistake that I have made 0:17:20.920 --> 0:17:22.960 in my business journey, and it's been a great lesson 0:17:22.960 --> 0:17:25.200 for me, it's not so much a mistake, but it's 0:17:25.280 --> 0:17:28.560 playing it too safe when I should have pushed the limits, 0:17:29.320 --> 0:17:33.480 not realizing that I had to spend more money to 0:17:33.560 --> 0:17:37.600 continue growing and to make more money. You get to 0:17:37.640 --> 0:17:40.840 a point in business where you're at a good point, 0:17:40.960 --> 0:17:44.040 let's say, like your sales are great and you're really happy, 0:17:44.040 --> 0:17:46.800 and you could stay there, or you can take it 0:17:46.800 --> 0:17:48.959 to the next level if you want to keep growing. 0:17:49.040 --> 0:17:50.840 But the way that you have to do that is 0:17:50.880 --> 0:17:53.760 by not being safe, and you need to throw more 0:17:53.800 --> 0:17:57.040 money into your business in order to grow. For example, 0:17:57.320 --> 0:18:01.040 we had to up our stock levels. While there, I 0:18:01.080 --> 0:18:03.199 was playing it really safe with our stock orders and 0:18:03.240 --> 0:18:06.080 we were selling out all the time. I mean, we 0:18:06.119 --> 0:18:07.679 still do sell out, which is a great thing. You 0:18:07.720 --> 0:18:10.639 want to sell out of your products. But if you 0:18:10.680 --> 0:18:12.280 want to take it to the next level and like 0:18:12.680 --> 0:18:15.239 increase the revenue of your business and keep growing and 0:18:15.240 --> 0:18:17.359 be able to hire more people, you need to spend 0:18:17.440 --> 0:18:19.960 more money on your business to make more money. And 0:18:20.040 --> 0:18:23.200 I think, if anything, I've held myself back a little 0:18:23.320 --> 0:18:25.600