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Speaker 1: Ruby.

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Speaker 2: The views, information, and opinions expressed during this podcast are

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Speaker 2: solely those of the individuals involved and do not represent

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Speaker 2: those of Into It QuickBooks or any of its cornerstone

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Speaker 2: brands or employees. This podcast does not constitute financial, legal,

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Speaker 2: or other professional advice or services. No assurance is given

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Speaker 2: that the information is comprehensive, accurate, or free of errors,

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Speaker 2: and the information presented is for information purposes only. Into

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Speaker 2: It QuickBooks does not have any responsibility for updating or

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Speaker 2: revising any information presented. Listeners should verify statements before relying

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Speaker 2: on them.

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Speaker 3: Hey everyone, and welcome to another episode of Mind the

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Speaker 3: Business Small business success stories of podcasts brought to you

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Speaker 3: by Into It QuickBooks and Ruby Studio from iHeartMedia. I'm

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Speaker 3: Austin Hankwitz, host of The Rich Habits podcast and co

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Speaker 3: founder of Witz Ventures. I also make TikTok videos about

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Speaker 3: personal finance and investing.

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Speaker 2: And I'm Jennise Torres, author of Financially Lind, the Modern

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Speaker 2: latinas guy to level up your dinetto and become financially

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Speaker 2: Poverosa and host of joccierro Dineto.

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Speaker 3: And We've got a fun one to cap off our

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Speaker 3: season with Today we'll be talking about the behind the

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Speaker 3: scenes of starting your business, all the blood, sweat and

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Speaker 3: tears that go into achieving your dreams.

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Speaker 2: I love it. Side note, how is it the end

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Speaker 2: of the season already? I feel like we just did

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Speaker 2: episode one yesterday.

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Speaker 3: Janie's time flies when you're having fun and talking shop

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Speaker 3: with fellow entrepreneurs.

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Speaker 1: It really does.

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Speaker 2: So we'll get to our guests in a minute here,

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Speaker 2: but first let's talk about starting a business that in

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Speaker 2: itself is something that many people find interesting. So if

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Speaker 2: you're taking this entrepreneurial journey and you're not monetizing your journey,

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Speaker 2: then you're leaving money on the table. People love seeing

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Speaker 2: the behind the scenes stuff. Maybe they want to learn

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Speaker 2: how to start their own business, or maybe they just

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Speaker 2: want to meet the person that they're going to be

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Speaker 2: buying from, or both. You can do a lot by

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Speaker 2: just turning your camera on and showcasing your day to day,

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Speaker 2: or starting a blog or anything that you can do.

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Speaker 3: Denise, I just read a QuickBooks blog that features a

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Speaker 3: list of small business ideas to get started, and there's

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Speaker 3: over sixty different types, from dog sitting to a mechanic

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Speaker 3: to even being a vlogger. Go to QuickBooks dot intoit

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Speaker 3: dot com and type sixty small business ideas for solopreneurs

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Speaker 3: into the search bar and see if there's anything that

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Speaker 3: resonates with you or inspires you to try something in

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Speaker 3: a similar field.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so definitely go check that out. And there's plenty

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Speaker 2: more on that blog that can help and educate you too.

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Speaker 2: It's pretty useful stuff because remember QuickBooks is on our

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Speaker 2: side as entrepreneurs. The Intuit platform untangles so much of

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Speaker 2: the day to day paperwork and really allows us to

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Speaker 2: focus on those crazy behind the scenes things, tackling the challenges,

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Speaker 2: keeping the lights on, and even showcasing your work to

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Speaker 2: tell your story and ramp up your marketing. So you know, Austin,

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Speaker 2: I feel like every time I look at these types

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Speaker 2: of lists, it cracks me up because I definitely didn't

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Speaker 2: come from a oh, I want to start a business,

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Speaker 2: so let me go and look at what kind of

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Speaker 2: business I want to start. It definitely happened accidentally because

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Speaker 2: I was doing exactly what we just mentioned, which is

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Speaker 2: just sharing the behind the scenes journey. So my whole

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Speaker 2: shtick as a personal finance educator started because I was

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Speaker 2: just sharing my real life how I'm using my side

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Speaker 2: hustle income in this case as a blogger, to pay

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Speaker 2: off my student loan debt. Like that was the goal. Initially,

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Speaker 2: I just wanted to become debt free. You know, I'd

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Speaker 2: been bitten by the personal finance bug, and I said,

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Speaker 2: I'm just going to share what I'm doing and loan

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Speaker 2: and behold sharing turned into people asking me, oh, can

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Speaker 2: I pay you to teach me this? And I started

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Speaker 2: a business. So it's just crazy, like the power of

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Speaker 2: showing up, sharing behind the scenes and just seeing what

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Speaker 2: it turns into one.

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Speaker 3: Hundred percent, and it was a similar situation for myself. Well,

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Speaker 3: everyone was lip syncing and dancing on TikTok. During March

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Speaker 3: of twenty twenty. I decided that I was just going

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Speaker 3: to be that weird guy that posted videos about paying

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Speaker 3: off his student loans, trying to grow his credit score,

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Speaker 3: investing to his retirement accounts for the first time, not

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Speaker 3: from a perspective of you know, I'm some expert and

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Speaker 3: you need to see what I'm doing and follow my advice.

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Speaker 3: It wasn't that. It was more of a listen. We

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Speaker 3: all just graduated college. I was told that I'm supposed

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Speaker 3: to not have student loan debt, have a good credit score,

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Speaker 3: and have decent you know, money in my retirement account.

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Speaker 3: I have no idea how to achieve those things. I'm

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Speaker 3: just going to document the journey of trying to do

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Speaker 3: that in a way that is sustainable and turns out

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Speaker 3: to your point, people care about it, and they're willing to,

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Speaker 3: you know, pay you for that advice and that sort

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Speaker 3: of handholding. And it's really cool. So today's guest is

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Speaker 3: super interesting. He started out as a firefighter, and when

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Speaker 3: he finally became one, he tried to make himself a

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Speaker 3: plaque to commemorate it. There was a lot of trial

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Speaker 3: and error with the wood burning, but he finally created

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Speaker 3: this chemical substance that allowed him to engrave the wood effectively.

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Speaker 2: And the recipe for that substance stayed in his mind

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Speaker 2: even as he started his career as a firefighter. He

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Speaker 2: often wondered if people would want to buy that product,

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Speaker 2: but the idea of starting a business around it still

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Speaker 2: seemed far fetched. Until one day he was calculating how

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Speaker 2: much he'd make if he worked over time all year

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Speaker 2: as a firefighter, and he realized his ceiling was too

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Speaker 2: low for what he wanted out of life, and so

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Speaker 2: he created Scorch Marker and built a business around diy

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Speaker 2: word burning materials. It started out as a side project,

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Speaker 2: but eventually grew enough to where he could leave the

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Speaker 2: firehouse and focus on Scorch Marker full time. And it

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Speaker 2: wasn't just the Scorch Marker brand he created. He also

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Speaker 2: built a brand around himself, launching Vanitor his social media

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Speaker 2: presence with videos and tutorials teaching other entrepreneurs how to

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Speaker 2: launch and sell their own products, from putting out fires

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Speaker 2: to well putting out fires, because that's a lot of

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Speaker 2: what being an entrepreneur is. Anyway, let's welcome Evan van Awkin.

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Speaker 1: I'm going to steal that genise. That was really good.

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Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank you for thank for having me. I

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Speaker 1: appreciate it.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely, really excited to hear man. So, something that's really

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Speaker 3: cool about your journey is that you've got the Scorch

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Speaker 3: Marker brand, which is just a great product, great story

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Speaker 3: all around. But then you've also got your own personal brand,

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Speaker 3: which basically puts your behind the scenes in front of

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Speaker 3: the scenes so everyone can see what's going on. Everything

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Speaker 3: you've built, all the lessons, the ups and downs that

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Speaker 3: come with entrepreneurship. When you started figuring out how to

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Speaker 3: take this entrepreneurial leap, Why did you decide to document

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Speaker 3: the journey?

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Speaker 1: Oh man, that is a good question. And I met

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Speaker 1: you right around that time. By the way, whushas around

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty, when TikTok started to blow up, We're all

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Speaker 1: sitting at home. I remember I was sitting on a

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Speaker 1: fire line. I was refilling helicopters, still working at the

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Speaker 1: fire department, and I decided to take a video of

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Speaker 1: well what we were doing. And I just spent some

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Speaker 1: time editing it, you know, in between helicopter refills and

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Speaker 1: things like that. And I posted it and it got

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Speaker 1: a bunch of attention, and I was like, whoa, Like,

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Speaker 1: there's attension out here. This is crazy. But I don't

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Speaker 1: want to keep talking about firefighting stuff. I'm on my

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Speaker 1: way out. I want to build this business. I'm planning

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Speaker 1: on e quitting in a few months. So I started

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Speaker 1: to talk about what I was learning on the business side,

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Speaker 1: and people actually cared. They cared about LLC formations and

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Speaker 1: you know, how I do my bookkeeping and how I

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Speaker 1: do purchase orders and how I ship orders. And it

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Speaker 1: blew my mind and so I was really excited to

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Speaker 1: just share what I was learning. Plus low key, one

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Speaker 1: of my secrets in paramedic, school, fire academies all that

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Speaker 1: stuff is if I lead the study groups like I

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Speaker 1: will learn the material. So if I can regurgitate it

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Speaker 1: on social media, it'll force me to learn it and

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Speaker 1: cement these lessons. So I was like, oh, this is

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Speaker 1: a win win, let's do it, and I just jumped

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Speaker 1: all that's incredible.

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Speaker 3: Would you encourage other people to document their own journeys?

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Speaker 1: I would, but with a caveat. I think that it's

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Speaker 1: very difficult to do two things. I think the more

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Speaker 1: things that you do, the less good you are at

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Speaker 1: those things. It spreads your attention, honestly, it spreads your

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Speaker 1: bandwidthout and stretches you thin. And so if you document

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Speaker 1: the journey within the confines of what your audience is

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Speaker 1: interested in, to give you an example, if I had

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Speaker 1: been documenting like building a crafting company, how I was

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Speaker 1: coming up with new products and you know, making the

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Speaker 1: labels and doing product development and just stayed in that lane,

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Speaker 1: I think it's totally cool, But I wanted to talk

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Speaker 1: about much more than that, and that's when I kind

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Speaker 1: of split things out a little bit. So if you

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Speaker 1: have a business or like a product or an invention, like, yeah,

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Speaker 1: show us the behind the scenes and make founder led

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Speaker 1: content and you know, spill the tea. But I would

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Speaker 1: stay within the confines of like what your audience is

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Speaker 1: looking for, because doing both it's still hard. It's it's

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Speaker 1: so much work. I've built a second business for myself

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Speaker 1: in a sense, and oh I think about it all

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Speaker 1: the time, and I've had to do this in the past.

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Speaker 1: Is just say no to all so many different things

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Speaker 1: just so I can focus. Because whatever you focus on increases,

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Speaker 1: and I wanted that to be scorch marker.

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Speaker 3: So yes and no. Amazing.

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Speaker 2: This is a perfect segue because I'd love to talk

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Speaker 2: more about that balance that you were talking about when

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Speaker 2: it comes to running the business and then also building

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Speaker 2: your personal brand. So can you take us behind the

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Speaker 2: scenes about Vanitor, Like what did that process look like

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Speaker 2: of you building that personal brand while also building your

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Speaker 2: product based business, Like did you reach points of burnout?

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Speaker 2: Did you question your sanity?

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Speaker 1: One hundred percent?

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Speaker 2: I did.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, there were many nights, many nights that I absolutely

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Speaker 1: was questioning my sanity and amongst all the other things

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Speaker 1: that we have to deal with so and put it

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Speaker 1: this way, I had the e commerce company, my crafting company,

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Speaker 1: where we sell our products on Amazon and into retailers

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Speaker 1: and you know, on our website, and then I'm documenting

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Speaker 1: this process on my personal brand. And so in the beginning,

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Speaker 1: to answer your question, it just started with pure excitement.

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Speaker 1: I literally just wanted to tell people what I was learning.

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Speaker 1: I was so excited about it. I was taking courses

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Speaker 1: and reading books and novels and just going through the

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Speaker 1: gamut of business education. But it has spread me thin.

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Speaker 1: So to answer the second part of your question, Jenny's

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Speaker 1: shiny objects syndrome is an affliction I suffer from. And

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Speaker 1: in the beginning, you know, I was going to zero

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Speaker 1: to one. I was like, Oh, I know how to

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Speaker 1: do this, Let me do it again, Let me do

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Speaker 1: it again, let me do it again. And it kept

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Speaker 1: distracting me, and it kept pulling my attention. And it

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Speaker 1: wasn't until I just killed all those other ideas put

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Speaker 1: them on the shelf that I had the time and

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Speaker 1: attention to focus. And so these are the two that

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Speaker 1: I've chosen to just continue on with.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that speaks to a struggle that a

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Speaker 2: lot of entrepreneurs make because once you strike the iron,

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Speaker 2: you know, and you find something that wins, I think

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Speaker 2: there's a lot of pressure to keep doing that, and

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Speaker 2: then that can dilute the efforts that you've already put

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Speaker 2: around what you've established.

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Speaker 3: So, Evan, were you always someone who had a side hustle,

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Speaker 3: a side business aside something yes.

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Speaker 1: From lemonade stands to you know, little choch keys and

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Speaker 1: fixing go pets, building mining rigs, like all of it.

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Speaker 1: I always wanted more.

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Speaker 3: And what was the first action step you took to

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Speaker 3: start inching toward, you know, escaping the matrix?

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Speaker 1: Quote unquote hmm. That's a good question. So that feeling

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Speaker 1: was always in the back of my mind, knowing that

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Speaker 1: I had a hard ceiling on how much money I

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Speaker 1: could make, and I was like, no matter how good

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Speaker 1: of a job I do, no matter what happens, I

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Speaker 1: can only go this far. That didn't so well with me,

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Speaker 1: But you know, that state in the back of my mind.

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Speaker 1: I just kept pushing it off, you know, stomping it down,

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Speaker 1: until I called my wife one day at the fire

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Speaker 1: station and I said, hey, sweetheart, I know I've been

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Speaker 1: at work for the last four days straight. But the

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Speaker 1: chief called, We've got a bunch of guys out, and

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Speaker 1: I'm forced I have to work again. And then my

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Speaker 1: shift starts in another day, so I'm going to be

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Speaker 1: gone for another six days. And then she said, that's okay,

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Speaker 1: we can survive without you, and I was rough. She

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Speaker 1: didn't know it at the time. She was just telling

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Speaker 1: the truth. You know, my family had learned to live

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Speaker 1: their life without me be present. So I lit a

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Speaker 1: fire and I was like, Okay, I got to make

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Speaker 1: something happen. What needs to be true in order for

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Speaker 1: me to quit this career and go all in. And

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Speaker 1: I sat down at the table and I opened up

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Speaker 1: my notebook and I started crunching some numbers. How much

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Speaker 1: am I earning per paycheck, what's going into my pension?

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Speaker 1: How much do I need for health insurance? And that's

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Speaker 1: when I decided to just make the jump. I was like,

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Speaker 1: I can always come back. Let me just try it.

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Speaker 1: I've got to do it.

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Speaker 3: I love that. That's so exciting. Tell me more about

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Speaker 3: how QuickBooks helped you learn to navigate this sort of

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Speaker 3: self employment.

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Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I've been using it since the beginning. I

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Speaker 1: really have. One of the first things I did was

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Speaker 1: connect to all of my bank accounts and credit cards

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Speaker 1: to QuickBooks so I could see where my money was

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Speaker 1: going and how it was coming in. It's not been easy,

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Speaker 1: but it has definitely given me the ability to learn

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Speaker 1: the financial lessons we need to learn as we keep

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Speaker 1: getting to the next level. And you've been through it too,

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Speaker 1: you know. In the beginning, you just know what you

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Speaker 1: know and like you get and then eventually you hit

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Speaker 1: a blocker and you're like, oh, I don't know how

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Speaker 1: to read financial statements. Oh my gosh. I need to

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Speaker 1: get clear on how this profit and loss actually works

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Speaker 1: and what it means. You need to learn how to

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Speaker 1: go through it and understand it. Then next for me

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Speaker 1: was balance sheet. Ooh okay, I need to really understand this.

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Speaker 1: Then it got to a point too where I was overspending.

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Speaker 1: You know, I was spending based on my sales, not

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Speaker 1: based on my cash flow and net profit. So I

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Speaker 1: got out over my skis and I'm like, why are

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Speaker 1: the credit card bills higher than the checking account? Like

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Speaker 1: this doesn't make sense, What's going on? So that I

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Speaker 1: had to learn how to manage my money properly and

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Speaker 1: set budgets and now use the profit first banking system

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Speaker 1: and QuickBooks has enabled me to look at all of

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Speaker 1: that data so that I can figure out what the

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Speaker 1: problem was and learn the next lesson.

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Speaker 3: You actually taught me about the profit first banking system

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Speaker 3: many years ago. Do you want to take a moment

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Speaker 3: to explain that to the audience and how you use

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Speaker 3: quick books to implement that sort of system yourself?

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Speaker 1: Oh, one hundred percent. I have to protect the business

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Speaker 1: from myself. That's what that system does. Keeps me from

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Speaker 1: being irresponsible with my money. So of money comes into

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Speaker 1: the account, it gets automatically split up into like five

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Speaker 1: or six different checking accounts within my banking system. Some

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Speaker 1: get set aside for taxes, some get set aside for profit,

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Speaker 1: A big chunk get set aside for operating expenses. Then

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Speaker 1: we have stuff for like inventory, financing, sales, tax et cetera.

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Speaker 1: And by doing it this way, it's kind of like

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Speaker 1: a digital envelope method. I can only spend what's in

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Speaker 1: the account on that specific thing. And it forced me

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Speaker 1: to make sure the irs was still happy with me,

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Speaker 1: and I had enough money to buy inventory and I

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Speaker 1: didn't overspend, And so all that's broken down in quick Books.

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Speaker 1: It monitors all that data, everything's reconciled, and I can

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Speaker 1: easily see where all the money is out all the time,

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Speaker 1: and it really does it is very helpful. I'm like, oh,

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Speaker 1: I can only spend this much. It's been great. Our

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Speaker 1: cashule has gone up ever since.

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Speaker 3: That's incredible.

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Speaker 1: I almost went bankrupt Austin, Like, I literally almost had

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Speaker 1: to fold the business until I implemented this system. It

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Speaker 1: was so valuable. I love that.

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Speaker 3: Evan.

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Speaker 2: You've talked about how being a firefighter was kind of

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Speaker 2: like a boot camp, right. I gave you life skills

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Speaker 2: that have helped you be able to now tackle the

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Speaker 2: new challenges that come with entrepreneurship. So can you tell

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Speaker 2: me about some key skills that you developed as a

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Speaker 2: firefighter that now you apply as a business owner.

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Speaker 1: I don't know if you know this, Genie, but I

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Speaker 1: tried to start a business multiple times before I had

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Speaker 1: worked at the fire department, and I failed every single

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Speaker 1: time because I didn't have the discipline. I didn't understand it.

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Speaker 1: I didn't have that skill and getting the job of

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Speaker 1: becoming a firefighter, that process of the applications and the

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Speaker 1: testing and the fitness regimens and all the things shapes

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Speaker 1: you into the person that they ultimately want. And so

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Speaker 1: when you get hired, they put you through this big, long,

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Speaker 1: eighteen week academy and they just grind you into the dirt.

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Speaker 1: And that's where I learned discipline. I learned how to

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Speaker 1: show up. I learned where my limits were, both physically

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Speaker 1: and mentally. And that has, oh my gosh, been so helpful.

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Speaker 1: Yeah no. And the second thing too is when and

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Speaker 1: we got a nine to one call, like we couldn't

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Speaker 1: go home until the problem was solved, we had to

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Speaker 1: fix it. We went home when the job was done.

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Speaker 1: And so it realigned my thinking into problem solution mode. Okay,

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Speaker 1: here's the problem, here's some potential solutions. Let's execute as

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Speaker 1: a team, let's get it done. And so the combination

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Speaker 1: of discipline and problem solving, we're huge. It also give

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Speaker 1: me some perspective too, it can always get worse.

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Speaker 2: Mm hm, fantastic. And I think the cool thing too

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Speaker 2: that I appreciate about entrepreneurs and how they show up

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Speaker 2: online is showing the building in process. Right, So like

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Speaker 2: you were showcasing your transition out of becoming a firefighter

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Speaker 2: to being this personal brand business owner. Can you talk

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Speaker 2: to me about how you illustrated that behind the scenes

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Speaker 2: as you're like showcasing and building this brand one hundred percent.

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Speaker 1: So I'm like, Okay, I'm going to document this process.

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Speaker 1: My grandkids, their kids, their kids are going to watch

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Speaker 1: this maybe one day, just to see where it all

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Speaker 1: came from and how it began. You know, how real

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Speaker 1: and raw can I get? Because if I can shine

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Speaker 1: a light on some of this this pain, some of

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Speaker 1: the darkness, some of the challenges and problems, I know

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Speaker 1: it's going to help somebody. And so I really wanted

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Speaker 1: to lead with ruth realness and authenticity, and so that's

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Speaker 1: one of the things that I think has been really

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Speaker 1: really important, but it's also just been huge.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I think you've tapped into something that

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Speaker 2: builds human connection, which is this idea of being able

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Speaker 2: to relate right when you feel like someone else can

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Speaker 2: understand the pain that you're growing through, in this case,

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Speaker 2: the pain of building a business without having gone to

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Speaker 2: a business school or knowing what the heck you're doing

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Speaker 2: or what's the difference between an LLC and an es corp. Right, Like, Yeah,

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Speaker 2: it's great to be able to find folks that you

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Speaker 2: can relate to and then for you as the person

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Speaker 2: building the personal brand. I think that inherently breeds trust, right,

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Speaker 2: and so when we think about what makes people buy,

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Speaker 2: what makes people invest in a business, it's because there's

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Speaker 2: some level of trust that's been built. So I think

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Speaker 2: you're following the winning blueprint.

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Speaker 1: It's also a lot more sustainable to tell me about that.

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Speaker 1: I just have to show people what I'm doing. You know,

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Speaker 1: I don't have to pretend. I don't have to make

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Speaker 1: things look nice. It's just like, it is what it is.

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Speaker 1: If you don't like it, okay, that's fine. I'm not

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Speaker 1: for everybody, but for the ones that are like, oh

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Speaker 1: my gosh, like that shipping setup that is exactly what

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Speaker 1: I do. You know, there's boxes everywhere like yes, yes,

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Speaker 1: real life. Yeah. Keeping it real and showing real life

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Speaker 1: is I think more important. We're in like a trust

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Speaker 1: recession right now. I don't trust people on the Internet,

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Speaker 1: and it's just really hard to build that up. So

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Speaker 1: I'm like, I want to I want to contribute to

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Speaker 1: the good side, like Austin my man, let's go.

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Speaker 3: Well, speaking of contributing to the good side, I mean,

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Speaker 3: you've got millions of followers, A lot of people definitely

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Speaker 3: trust you, they follow you, they're excited about you. So

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Speaker 3: tell me about when vanderder went from a personal brand.

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Speaker 3: Document the journey to an actual business itself.

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Speaker 1: It started pretty quick, you know, with getting monetized from

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Speaker 1: views on social media. That was the first big step,

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Speaker 1: and then companies started to reach out and ask if

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Speaker 1: they could make sponsored content. But I'm gonna be completely

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Speaker 1: honest with you here, I have recently shut down almost

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Speaker 1: all money making revenue streams from my personal brand. I

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Speaker 1: tried coaching. I had built courses and communities. I had

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Speaker 1: done group coaching and individual and all this different stuff,

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Speaker 1: and it was taking so much time and energy away

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Speaker 1: from me, and it didn't give me an opportunity to

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Speaker 1: build the business. So over the last couple of years,

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Speaker 1: I've decided I'm just going to keep giving everything away

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Speaker 1: for free and focus on just a couple different ways

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Speaker 1: of earning. So I put out free courses, I've got

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Speaker 1: a free community, I answer all the messages. I just

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Speaker 1: put everything out there, give it all away for free,

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Speaker 1: like anything I have. Take it it's yours because I

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Speaker 1: want to build that trust and I want to make

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Speaker 1: a difference. And I didn't have someone like me when

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Speaker 1: I was building my business in the beginning. Consequently, what

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Speaker 1: has happened is, instead of monetizing my audience and charging

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Speaker 1: them money, I've just grew even faster. I built up

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Speaker 1: even more of an audience, and now I'm able to

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Speaker 1: work very closely with brands and help them make better content.

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Speaker 1: And so instead of monetizing my customers, I work with

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Speaker 1: larger companies who need my skill set, the skill stack

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Speaker 1: of understanding the business, understanding the language, content creation, you know,

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Speaker 1: the negotiations, advertising, you know, all the content, all of

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Speaker 1: those things.

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Speaker 2: You know.

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Speaker 1: I've created this unique little niche for myself, and so

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Speaker 1: now I work with these brands and I make them

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Speaker 1: a bunch of videos. They run them as ads, and

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Speaker 1: I'm able to help them get more sales and just

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Speaker 1: keep giving everything away for free. So the business it's

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Speaker 1: evolved in many different ways. But I like doing what

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Speaker 1: I'm doing now. I think it's fun because it keeps

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Speaker 1: me in the creative side.

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Speaker 3: No, I think that's great and evolving. I mean that

435
00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:06,840
Speaker 3: is what it means to own a business. You have

436
00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:09,800
Speaker 3: to figure out what's working, what's not working, then continue

437
00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:12,679
Speaker 3: to iterate and figure out how you can now to

438
00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:15,600
Speaker 3: your point have enough time to actually build Scorch Marker

439
00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:18,200
Speaker 3: will also you know, building your personal brand and balancing

440
00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:21,200
Speaker 3: the two of those. So tell me now, I'm curious

441
00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:25,960
Speaker 3: how much of your time is spent on Scorch Marker

442
00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:29,280
Speaker 3: and building it to an eight figure business versus Vanitor

443
00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:33,399
Speaker 3: and like maintaining your existing I mean, you mentioned fifty

444
00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:35,360
Speaker 3: to one hundred pieces of content per week just kind

445
00:21:35,359 --> 00:21:36,760
Speaker 3: of putting it out there so people can see it

446
00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:39,280
Speaker 3: in real time. So like, what's the time split on that?

447
00:21:39,359 --> 00:21:41,600
Speaker 3: Is it maybe twenty five percent Vanitor in seventy five

448
00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:44,119
Speaker 3: percent Scorch Marker or maybe something like how are you

449
00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:46,359
Speaker 3: sort of approaching it from a time perspective.

450
00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:49,399
Speaker 1: That's pretty close. I would say twenty percent personal brand

451
00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:54,120
Speaker 1: eighty percent Scorch. And the more I build in Scorch,

452
00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:56,479
Speaker 1: the more problems I solve, the further I go, the

453
00:21:56,480 --> 00:22:01,120
Speaker 1: more content I have for my personal brand.

454
00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:06,680
Speaker 2: Evan, when you look back now at Scorch Marker and Vaniter,

455
00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:10,919
Speaker 2: how are those endeavors similar and how are they different?

456
00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:16,600
Speaker 1: It's totally different audience for one, but they're similar in that,

457
00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:20,760
Speaker 1: like they're both businesses and I'm documenting both of them,

458
00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:23,840
Speaker 1: just doing it in kind of different ways. Like our

459
00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:27,159
Speaker 1: customers for Scorch Marker are ladies in the Midwest that

460
00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:30,879
Speaker 1: are typically over sixty years old, and so they don't

461
00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:35,080
Speaker 1: care about the manufacturing equipment and how I invoice, Like

462
00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:38,600
Speaker 1: they just don't care, but I care and I'm super

463
00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:41,560
Speaker 1: excited about it. And business owners are my people. So

464
00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:44,480
Speaker 1: by documenting that stuff on the personal brand side, like,

465
00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:47,960
Speaker 1: it's a completely different set of questions, completely different demographic

466
00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:50,879
Speaker 1: and it's able to fill my cup in by having

467
00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:54,439
Speaker 1: my foot in you know, kind of both areas, but

468
00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:57,040
Speaker 1: they're more similar than you would think in terms of

469
00:22:57,080 --> 00:23:01,240
Speaker 1: like delivery and management and systems. Sure, it's really interesting.

470
00:23:01,520 --> 00:23:05,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm curious because you do have such different target

471
00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:09,520
Speaker 2: audiences with each one. What are some unique challenges that

472
00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:13,040
Speaker 2: you have run into running a DIY craft business and

473
00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:15,680
Speaker 2: a personal brand that's built around entrepreneurship.

474
00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:19,760
Speaker 1: So I'm really good at operations and execution and product development.

475
00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:24,000
Speaker 1: I can make content when I'm not. I'm not a crafter.

476
00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:27,639
Speaker 1: I don't spend my time doing needlework and coming up

477
00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:29,879
Speaker 1: with cool projects and going to Dollar Tree and shopping

478
00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:31,560
Speaker 1: at their stores. I just I just don't do it.

479
00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:34,720
Speaker 1: It's not me, And so that was the biggest hurdle

480
00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:36,239
Speaker 1: to overcome. It's like, how am I going to make

481
00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:39,280
Speaker 1: videos that relate to these ladies? How can I make

482
00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:42,199
Speaker 1: a video that they would actually care about? So that's

483
00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:44,159
Speaker 1: when I was like, oh, I'll just become a student,

484
00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:47,080
Speaker 1: you know, I'll take the student approach and just wear

485
00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:48,919
Speaker 1: it on my sleeve that I have no idea what

486
00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:51,000
Speaker 1: I'm doing and I'm going to figure this out as

487
00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:54,840
Speaker 1: I go and take their input and learn from them.

488
00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:55,479
Speaker 2: M hm.

489
00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:58,439
Speaker 1: So I just had to like knock myself down and

490
00:23:58,480 --> 00:23:59,600
Speaker 1: just be like, I don't know what I'm doing, but

491
00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:02,480
Speaker 1: we're going to try it. Yeah, and it's worked out.

492
00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:05,880
Speaker 2: And as far as the back end, how much overlap

493
00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:09,680
Speaker 2: do the two businesses have when it comes to systems, processes,

494
00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:12,760
Speaker 2: the way you guys are tracking your inventory and accounting

495
00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:13,439
Speaker 2: and all that stuff.

496
00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:17,400
Speaker 1: Yeah, as far as the content side, it's very very similar.

497
00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:20,240
Speaker 1: But the most similar the thing that I use exactly

498
00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:23,479
Speaker 1: the same for all of it is QuickBooks. I know,

499
00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:27,000
Speaker 1: I swear, it's just the accounting is just standard. Yeah,

500
00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:32,480
Speaker 1: the same thing, the same management, the same processes. It

501
00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:35,040
Speaker 1: is just almost an exact replica.

502
00:24:35,119 --> 00:24:38,600
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think being able to understand those revenue streams

503
00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:41,959
Speaker 2: from those different businesses really helps you focus in on

504
00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:45,639
Speaker 2: double down on understand you know where your best return

505
00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:48,280
Speaker 2: on investment is coming from. So the fact that you've

506
00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:52,320
Speaker 2: been able to retrofit QuickBooks into two completely different businesses,

507
00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:54,760
Speaker 2: I think it just speaks to the versatility of the system.

508
00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:59,000
Speaker 1: I was just in there today, So yeah, it's just

509
00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:03,440
Speaker 1: very highly used system that we have in place here

510
00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:06,359
Speaker 1: just because of all the beautiful data I'm able to

511
00:25:06,359 --> 00:25:09,840
Speaker 1: look at. So, Evan, what is next for Vanitor and

512
00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:13,080
Speaker 1: Scorch Marker. Let's start with Scorch. There's a few constraints

513
00:25:13,119 --> 00:25:15,080
Speaker 1: I'm trying to solve right now. One of them is

514
00:25:15,119 --> 00:25:19,439
Speaker 1: average order value and the second is retention. Those are

515
00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:21,840
Speaker 1: our current constraints to get to the next level. I

516
00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:23,240
Speaker 1: have some ideas on how we're going to do it,

517
00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:26,359
Speaker 1: and that's my focus this year. Increasing average order value,

518
00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:30,720
Speaker 1: conversion rate, and retention. That's what we need to solve

519
00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:32,560
Speaker 1: in order to get to the next level. To make

520
00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:34,320
Speaker 1: that jump from two to three million a year all

521
00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:36,480
Speaker 1: the way up to ten. There'll be a few more

522
00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:41,120
Speaker 1: in the in between. It's a tough gap to cross,

523
00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:43,639
Speaker 1: but I'm really looking forward to who I'm going to

524
00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:45,840
Speaker 1: become in the process of learning those skills. So that

525
00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:47,520
Speaker 1: is very exciting. So that's where we're at. On the

526
00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:50,760
Speaker 1: scorch marker side, also doing more of what works and

527
00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:53,159
Speaker 1: adding live streaming to the mix. I think it's going

528
00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:55,119
Speaker 1: to play a big factor in the future. Now on

529
00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:57,920
Speaker 1: the personal brand side is my south strange, but I'm

530
00:25:57,960 --> 00:26:01,600
Speaker 1: doing less and less and less, but we're growing more

531
00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:05,159
Speaker 1: than we've ever grown in the past. So give you

532
00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:07,920
Speaker 1: an example, like I'm just because now I'm just giving

533
00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:10,440
Speaker 1: everything away for free and just putting every thought and

534
00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:14,880
Speaker 1: idea and lesson and you know, hardship out there. It's

535
00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:18,480
Speaker 1: simplified things. And so as I'm going through this process

536
00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:20,879
Speaker 1: of building this company to an eight figure brand, I'm like,

537
00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:26,600
Speaker 1: oh cool, that sucked, let's talk about it. And so

538
00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:28,719
Speaker 1: that's the future. I'm going to keep documenting, I'm going

539
00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:31,840
Speaker 1: to keep creating, I'm going to keep giving, and in

540
00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:34,280
Speaker 1: the future we'll have more clarity on what we're going

541
00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:35,920
Speaker 1: to do with it. But for now, it's just it's

542
00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:40,120
Speaker 1: a creative outlet for me. It's self sustaining and it's

543
00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:42,200
Speaker 1: helping me get in extra reps, which I need.

544
00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:45,240
Speaker 3: That's amazing. I want to go back to Scorch Marker

545
00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:48,080
Speaker 3: for a second. You mentioned average order value and retention,

546
00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:50,239
Speaker 3: and it kind of goes back to what you were

547
00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:53,320
Speaker 3: talking about before with like the shiny ball syndrome where

548
00:26:53,359 --> 00:26:55,600
Speaker 3: you're really good at taking things from zero to one. Right.

549
00:26:56,400 --> 00:26:58,240
Speaker 3: I'm sure in your brain you're like, Okay, what's the

550
00:26:58,280 --> 00:27:00,960
Speaker 3: next product I can invent to take me from two

551
00:27:01,040 --> 00:27:03,359
Speaker 3: or three million a year to ten million plus a year? Right?

552
00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:06,080
Speaker 3: What new products do I need to create and sell

553
00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:10,840
Speaker 3: to really make that jump? When an actuality, forget about that.

554
00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:13,359
Speaker 3: Let's double down to what's working and make it just

555
00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:17,679
Speaker 3: that much more profitable, and like compound the existing growth

556
00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:20,000
Speaker 3: and you know, everything that we've created so far over

557
00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:22,880
Speaker 3: the last call it half decade plus now, but focus

558
00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:25,679
Speaker 3: on that retention, focus on that average order value and

559
00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:27,840
Speaker 3: everything to ensure that it's trending in the right direction

560
00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:30,879
Speaker 3: versus just now putting new ideas and new products in

561
00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:31,280
Speaker 3: the mix.

562
00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:34,240
Speaker 1: I want to talk about that because it's it's a

563
00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:36,760
Speaker 1: big thing that every single company has to solve at

564
00:27:36,800 --> 00:27:40,320
Speaker 1: one point or another. Average order value being the average

565
00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:42,240
Speaker 1: amount that someone spends when they come to your website

566
00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:44,840
Speaker 1: how much money is your customer going to spend when

567
00:27:44,840 --> 00:27:47,840
Speaker 1: they buy from you? And then retention being how often

568
00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:49,359
Speaker 1: are they going to come back and buy from you?

569
00:27:50,280 --> 00:27:52,919
Speaker 1: So to unpack that a little bit, for the average

570
00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:56,280
Speaker 1: order value, add costs are expensive. It costs a lot

571
00:27:56,280 --> 00:27:57,960
Speaker 1: of money to buy a customer, whether it's for a

572
00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:01,000
Speaker 1: digital product or a physical product. And in our industry,

573
00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:02,920
Speaker 1: we can expect ad costs to go up to about

574
00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:05,639
Speaker 1: fifty dollars per customer. And so if we're going to

575
00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:07,840
Speaker 1: have to spend fifty dollars to get a customer, we

576
00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:10,000
Speaker 1: need at least two times that plus our cost of

577
00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:13,600
Speaker 1: goods in order to make enough profit to continue to

578
00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:15,959
Speaker 1: put back into the machine. So that means I need

579
00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:17,479
Speaker 1: to get my average order value up to like one

580
00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:20,479
Speaker 1: hundred and twenty dollars. So then you're like, well, how

581
00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:22,679
Speaker 1: do I do that? How do I get customers to

582
00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:26,120
Speaker 1: spend more money? So what we have been experimenting with

583
00:28:26,320 --> 00:28:29,240
Speaker 1: is bundling and putting things together into do it yourself

584
00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:32,679
Speaker 1: kits basically like make this project or get all the

585
00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:35,000
Speaker 1: things you need to make your own project. And so

586
00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:38,440
Speaker 1: now the juice to start following. Okay, what other ancillary

587
00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:41,479
Speaker 1: items are going to help make them more successful at

588
00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:44,200
Speaker 1: what they want to accomplish. We started with just a marker,

589
00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:45,920
Speaker 1: and now we have a paint and we have a

590
00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:47,560
Speaker 1: wood finishing oil, and we have a sandy kit, and

591
00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:49,200
Speaker 1: we have a heat gun, and we have paint brushes,

592
00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:51,360
Speaker 1: and we have a pre treatment, and we have all

593
00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:54,800
Speaker 1: these other things, including stencils and wood itself that help

594
00:28:55,040 --> 00:28:58,400
Speaker 1: make that whole experience special and just like one stop.

595
00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:00,840
Speaker 1: And so I'm paying attention to what my customers are

596
00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:02,600
Speaker 1: asking me on social media, and I'm listening to the

597
00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:05,600
Speaker 1: emails and the customer service feedback, and I'm like, oh,

598
00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:07,880
Speaker 1: why they keep asking me where to get good wood?

599
00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:11,360
Speaker 1: You can't get it at the craft stores. Okay, I'm

600
00:29:11,400 --> 00:29:12,800
Speaker 1: going to source it, I'm going to develop it, I'm

601
00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:14,480
Speaker 1: gonna find it, and we're going to bundle it together.

602
00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:17,400
Speaker 1: So incrementally, our average order value has continued to increase,

603
00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:19,800
Speaker 1: and we just need to stay on the path keep

604
00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:23,600
Speaker 1: it going up. But then if you just buy a

605
00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:25,800
Speaker 1: customer one time and then never come back, that's a

606
00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:28,600
Speaker 1: lot of wasted money. I need them to come back

607
00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:30,760
Speaker 1: and buy again from me. How do I do that.

608
00:29:31,080 --> 00:29:33,920
Speaker 1: I've got to make an awesome product that they use

609
00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:37,280
Speaker 1: up and want to refill. So that's what we spent

610
00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:39,880
Speaker 1: all of last year doing making our products better. And

611
00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:43,080
Speaker 1: I'll be honest with you, Austin, our products weren't good

612
00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:45,400
Speaker 1: enough for a really long time. We just muscled through

613
00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:49,600
Speaker 1: it with good marketing, and so I had to completely

614
00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:54,040
Speaker 1: redesign everything from the ground up. The current variation of

615
00:29:54,040 --> 00:29:56,560
Speaker 1: our Scorch marker and Scorge paint took two hundred and

616
00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:59,120
Speaker 1: fifty two attempts, cost me over a half a million

617
00:29:59,160 --> 00:30:01,480
Speaker 1: dollars five years. There's nine chemists. I'm like, it was

618
00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:04,920
Speaker 1: no joke, but we finally cracked it and people are

619
00:30:04,960 --> 00:30:08,480
Speaker 1: now starting to tell their friends about it and refer

620
00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:10,800
Speaker 1: us to other people and come back and buy again.

621
00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:13,880
Speaker 1: And so those are the two focuses this year. That's

622
00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:15,400
Speaker 1: why I brought them up. We need them to come

623
00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:17,040
Speaker 1: back and buy again because we don't have to spend

624
00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:18,880
Speaker 1: the money to acquire that customer if they come back

625
00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:21,080
Speaker 1: and repeat purchase from us. And then we also need

626
00:30:21,120 --> 00:30:23,240
Speaker 1: to increase the value we provide on the front end

627
00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:25,240
Speaker 1: so the customers feel comfortable spending more money.

628
00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:30,320
Speaker 3: That is incredible insight. And the funny part is I

629
00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:32,560
Speaker 3: knew you were going to say bundle, because you already

630
00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:35,200
Speaker 3: made a whole deep dive YouTube video about this on

631
00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:39,200
Speaker 3: Vanitor's YouTube channel that I watched, and it's it's just awesome.

632
00:30:39,240 --> 00:30:41,120
Speaker 3: It goes to show how good of a job you've

633
00:30:41,120 --> 00:30:45,160
Speaker 3: done of thanks solving business problems while also sharing what

634
00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:48,040
Speaker 3: you've learned in real time with millions of people on

635
00:30:48,080 --> 00:30:49,800
Speaker 3: the internet. And I very much commend you on that.

636
00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:51,320
Speaker 3: You're doing an incredible job, my friend.

637
00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:53,760
Speaker 1: I appreciate you saying that, Austin, and it makes me

638
00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:55,880
Speaker 1: feel so good that you watch that video. That is

639
00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:56,960
Speaker 1: so cool. What an honor.

640
00:30:57,880 --> 00:30:59,840
Speaker 2: Evan. We want to thank you so much for being here,

641
00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:02,440
Speaker 2: sharing all of this wisdom that you've acquired along the way,

642
00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:05,480
Speaker 2: and most importantly for sharing that wisdom right because you

643
00:31:05,480 --> 00:31:09,680
Speaker 2: could easily just be hoarding all this information building your empire,

644
00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:12,000
Speaker 2: but you've actually decided to take us along the way.

645
00:31:12,040 --> 00:31:14,680
Speaker 2: And I think that speaks to the kind of entrepreneur

646
00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:17,600
Speaker 2: that I love to support and that others do as well,

647
00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:20,200
Speaker 2: which is one who is, you know, not just talking

648
00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:22,040
Speaker 2: to talk, but walking the walk. So thank you so

649
00:31:22,120 --> 00:31:22,720
Speaker 2: much for being here.

650
00:31:23,200 --> 00:31:25,080
Speaker 1: I appreciate you saying that, Jenise. Thanks for having me.

651
00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:26,840
Speaker 1: You guys are really good at what you do.

652
00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:29,800
Speaker 3: What a team. Thank you, my gosh, thank you so

653
00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:30,680
Speaker 3: much for joining us.

654
00:31:31,440 --> 00:31:32,360
Speaker 1: Thank you so much.

655
00:31:43,360 --> 00:31:45,840
Speaker 3: There is nothing cooler than getting a little behind the

656
00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:49,880
Speaker 3: scenes sneak peek into how fellow entrepreneurs are building their businesses.

657
00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:50,880
Speaker 3: Janies mm hmm.

658
00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:54,440
Speaker 2: Yeah. You know, it's funny because obviously Evan and I

659
00:31:54,600 --> 00:31:57,200
Speaker 2: and you we all run completely different businesses, but there's

660
00:31:57,200 --> 00:31:59,680
Speaker 2: so much to relate on about the behind the scenes

661
00:31:59,720 --> 00:32:03,520
Speaker 2: and like how chaotic things can be, but also how

662
00:32:03,560 --> 00:32:06,920
Speaker 2: gratifying it is when things do work out right, and

663
00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:10,840
Speaker 2: it's those moments of figuring it out of seeing those

664
00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:14,880
Speaker 2: successes that really does keep things going well.

665
00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:17,120
Speaker 3: I think what's so powerful is and this is something

666
00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:19,200
Speaker 3: the three of us all have in common here. You know,

667
00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:24,920
Speaker 3: we're so excited and curious about our respective domains. But

668
00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:28,120
Speaker 3: what's so cool about it is we are so excited

669
00:32:28,120 --> 00:32:30,239
Speaker 3: about these things that we took to the internet to

670
00:32:30,240 --> 00:32:32,320
Speaker 3: tell the world about it, and what we've learned and

671
00:32:32,360 --> 00:32:35,360
Speaker 3: the mistakes we've made, and just being able to have

672
00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:38,680
Speaker 3: the opportunity to say, listen, you know exactly what he said.

673
00:32:38,880 --> 00:32:40,880
Speaker 3: I'm not a crafty person, so I'm going to be

674
00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:42,680
Speaker 3: the student. I'm just going to start making crafts and

675
00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:45,320
Speaker 3: wait for these incredible women from the Midwest to correct

676
00:32:45,360 --> 00:32:46,760
Speaker 3: me on how to do it right, and then go

677
00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:48,520
Speaker 3: back and forth with them and make a better product

678
00:32:48,560 --> 00:32:51,400
Speaker 3: for them. It's just being able to document the journey,

679
00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:54,520
Speaker 3: document the process, and share what we learn in real time,

680
00:32:54,600 --> 00:32:57,040
Speaker 3: the ups and downs, you know. I think this podcast

681
00:32:57,080 --> 00:32:58,360
Speaker 3: is a great example of that as well.

682
00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:01,080
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, one of the sens that I loved

683
00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:05,360
Speaker 2: that Evan shared was around solving a deeper problem for

684
00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:08,560
Speaker 2: your audience or for your community, and then that being

685
00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:10,680
Speaker 2: a way to make more money. Right. So he was

686
00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:13,080
Speaker 2: talking about how he's looked at bundles and then just

687
00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:16,640
Speaker 2: adding different things that he can put into these diy

688
00:33:16,720 --> 00:33:19,760
Speaker 2: kits that now solve multiple problems. And it's funny because

689
00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:22,880
Speaker 2: I've been going through that same process with my own programming.

690
00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:25,280
Speaker 2: I have a bunch of digital courses, and I've been

691
00:33:25,320 --> 00:33:27,960
Speaker 2: looking at how can I charge more for essentially the

692
00:33:28,040 --> 00:33:31,880
Speaker 2: same product, but adding maybe some done for you help,

693
00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:35,920
Speaker 2: or adding an additional AI resource that helped totally you know,

694
00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:38,520
Speaker 2: do something else. And I've been able to like five

695
00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:42,920
Speaker 2: x my product price because of just like getting creative

696
00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:45,600
Speaker 2: about how you package and market something. So I think

697
00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:48,280
Speaker 2: that's a super important lesson for entrepreneurs. You don't necessarily

698
00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:50,760
Speaker 2: have to build something new, just make the thing that

699
00:33:50,760 --> 00:33:51,960
Speaker 2: you're already doing even better.

700
00:33:53,640 --> 00:33:56,840
Speaker 3: And my big takeaway from this conversation and it's a

701
00:33:56,880 --> 00:33:59,520
Speaker 3: personal something I'm trying to work on myself here as

702
00:33:59,560 --> 00:34:01,320
Speaker 3: I you know, I'm twenty nine at the moment, but

703
00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:03,560
Speaker 3: I turned thirty here in twenty twenty six, and I'm

704
00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:06,040
Speaker 3: very excited about that. And so I keep asking myself,

705
00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:08,279
Speaker 3: what does thirty year old Austin do right? What kind

706
00:34:08,280 --> 00:34:10,560
Speaker 3: of an entrepreneur is he? And Evan kept talking about

707
00:34:10,560 --> 00:34:13,680
Speaker 3: how what is the eight figure entrepreneur Evan do right?

708
00:34:13,719 --> 00:34:16,280
Speaker 3: What are the skills he's learned, What are the ways

709
00:34:16,280 --> 00:34:18,720
Speaker 3: of leadership and marketing and different things that he's working

710
00:34:18,760 --> 00:34:21,160
Speaker 3: on and getting better at every single day. He mentioned

711
00:34:21,160 --> 00:34:23,759
Speaker 3: he can't wait to meet that version of himself. And

712
00:34:23,960 --> 00:34:26,279
Speaker 3: I kind of have that same mentality right now, and

713
00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:27,920
Speaker 3: I'm sure a lot of listeners have this as well,

714
00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:29,879
Speaker 3: which is like, you know, it's not just what you're

715
00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:33,080
Speaker 3: building right now, but what are the traits and characteristics

716
00:34:33,160 --> 00:34:36,680
Speaker 3: and habits that you're implementing on a daily basis that

717
00:34:36,719 --> 00:34:38,319
Speaker 3: you know you're going to have to do if you

718
00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:40,160
Speaker 3: want to get to that next level as an entrepreneur.

719
00:34:40,480 --> 00:34:42,520
Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, I can't think of a better way

720
00:34:42,560 --> 00:34:43,800
Speaker 2: to close out the season.

721
00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:47,439
Speaker 3: I can't either Denise what a perfect guest for this show.

722
00:34:47,480 --> 00:34:50,120
Speaker 3: I mean, he's basically doing a behind the business but

723
00:34:50,239 --> 00:34:52,080
Speaker 3: for his own business.

724
00:34:51,719 --> 00:34:54,600
Speaker 2: And he's doing it in the right way, amassing a following,

725
00:34:54,719 --> 00:34:56,920
Speaker 2: sharing his knowledge in a way that helps others and

726
00:34:57,080 --> 00:35:00,400
Speaker 2: also uplifts himself. He's taking his behind the scene and

727
00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:02,919
Speaker 2: monetizing it and it's working in a huge way.

728
00:35:03,640 --> 00:35:06,239
Speaker 3: I just love it. I can't believe we had them on.

729
00:35:06,280 --> 00:35:08,759
Speaker 3: I'm so excited about this. And speaking of things we love,

730
00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:10,959
Speaker 3: let's get this audience to work.

731
00:35:11,080 --> 00:35:11,279
Speaker 2: Love.

732
00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:11,879
Speaker 3: Putting them to.

733
00:35:11,840 --> 00:35:15,440
Speaker 2: Work sounds great, Austin. Okay, So for this week's homework,

734
00:35:15,600 --> 00:35:17,680
Speaker 2: try to go online and check out at least three

735
00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:21,680
Speaker 2: different entrepreneurs showcasing their journeys like evan Is, pay attention

736
00:35:21,719 --> 00:35:24,600
Speaker 2: to what challenges they've overcome and try to learn from

737
00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:29,200
Speaker 2: their mistakes and accomplishments, and note how they present their channels, blogs, etc.

738
00:35:29,800 --> 00:35:33,160
Speaker 2: What works for you and what doesn't. Emily what you

739
00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:34,760
Speaker 2: like when telling your own story.

740
00:35:35,280 --> 00:35:38,799
Speaker 3: Also, evaluate the social media presence of your business. How

741
00:35:38,880 --> 00:35:41,359
Speaker 3: much of the content is showing behind the scenes, can

742
00:35:41,400 --> 00:35:44,560
Speaker 3: you add more and what would be an appropriate way

743
00:35:44,600 --> 00:35:49,560
Speaker 3: to showcase that, maybe creating additional channel, a blog, a newsletter,

744
00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:52,080
Speaker 3: something of that nature. Look at your daily schedule. Is

745
00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:54,280
Speaker 3: there something you can lean on quick books to automate

746
00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:56,760
Speaker 3: or help with that will free up time to showcase

747
00:35:56,840 --> 00:35:59,640
Speaker 3: your behind the scenes work for marketing purposes. If there is,

748
00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:01,600
Speaker 3: you'll find it and execute.

749
00:36:02,080 --> 00:36:04,920
Speaker 2: Take the craziest day you've had as a small business owner,

750
00:36:05,280 --> 00:36:07,200
Speaker 2: you know, the one I'm talking about, the one where

751
00:36:07,200 --> 00:36:10,120
Speaker 2: everything goes wrong, the one that you talk about at parties.

752
00:36:10,520 --> 00:36:13,040
Speaker 2: Turn that story into a blog post or a vlog

753
00:36:13,120 --> 00:36:15,760
Speaker 2: video or even an instant story and see what happens.

754
00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:19,840
Speaker 3: Janias, it looks like that was season four.

755
00:36:20,200 --> 00:36:22,360
Speaker 2: I can't believe it, but you know, it's been a

756
00:36:22,400 --> 00:36:23,919
Speaker 2: pleasure as always.

757
00:36:23,600 --> 00:36:28,480
Speaker 3: Austin, Absolutely, I'd so much fun talking with countless small business.

758
00:36:28,239 --> 00:36:31,239
Speaker 2: Owners, and to all of those who are listening, thank

759
00:36:31,239 --> 00:36:33,719
Speaker 2: you so much for joining us. Feel free to check

760
00:36:33,760 --> 00:36:36,800
Speaker 2: out any episodes you may have missed or want to revisit,

761
00:36:37,200 --> 00:36:40,520
Speaker 2: and good luck on all your entrepreneurial journeys. We'll see

762
00:36:40,600 --> 00:36:41,680
Speaker 2: what the future holds.

763
00:36:42,239 --> 00:36:46,160
Speaker 3: We sure will. Everybody take care, goodbye and good luck

764
00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:46,880
Speaker 3: to all of you.

765
00:36:49,400 --> 00:36:51,719
Speaker 2: That's it for today's episode. You can find me on

766
00:36:51,760 --> 00:36:54,400
Speaker 2: social media at jocierro dinetto podcast.

767
00:36:54,440 --> 00:36:57,120
Speaker 3: And you can find me at Austin Hankwitz. You can

768
00:36:57,160 --> 00:37:00,480
Speaker 3: follow Into It quick Books on all social media at books.

769
00:37:00,680 --> 00:37:03,120
Speaker 3: To get the tools you need to start, run and

770
00:37:03,200 --> 00:37:07,840
Speaker 3: grow your business, head to QuickBooks dot com slash mtv today.

771
00:37:08,280 --> 00:37:10,480
Speaker 2: Don't forget to follow this show wherever you listen to

772
00:37:10,520 --> 00:37:13,239
Speaker 2: podcasts so you can stay up to date on future episodes.

773
00:37:13,840 --> 00:37:15,560
Speaker 3: We also want to hear from you, so be sure

774
00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:18,160
Speaker 3: to leave us a rating and a review. See you

775
00:37:18,239 --> 00:37:26,560
Speaker 3: next time. This podcast is a production of iHeartRadio's Ruby

776
00:37:26,640 --> 00:37:29,920
Speaker 3: Studio and Into It QuickBooks. Our executive producers are James

777
00:37:29,920 --> 00:37:33,440
Speaker 3: Foster and Ryan Martz. Our supervising producer is Meredith Barnes

778
00:37:33,760 --> 00:37:36,680
Speaker 2: Our writer is Eric Leja, and our mixing engineer is

779
00:37:36,800 --> 00:37:37,400
Speaker 2: Eric Siler