Speaker 1: Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I am
Speaker 1: that and today we are telling you why starting a
Speaker 1: business is easier than you think. That is right, man.
Speaker 1: This episode we're talking about starting your very own small business,
Speaker 1: and by the end of this episode, you are going
Speaker 1: to be convinced that this is in fact something that
Speaker 1: you can do. It is way easier than you think.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of folks who started small businesses over
Speaker 1: the past couple of years. But if that wasn't you,
Speaker 1: if you didn't fall into that camp, we think that
Speaker 1: it's something that you're going to consider by the end
Speaker 1: of this episode, and they will be convinced because we
Speaker 1: are podcast hypnotists and we can actually, by the sound
Speaker 1: of our voices, make you think something that you don't
Speaker 1: currently think. Do you believe in hYP hypnotists? So my
Speaker 1: grandpa actually hypnotized me when I was because she was
Speaker 1: a psychologist. He did what he did, Yeah, except for
Speaker 1: it didn't really work. Like I felt like I was.
Speaker 1: My eyes were kind of I kept like looking up
Speaker 1: as he is this is this what supposedly happening? Because
Speaker 1: I feel like I was supposed to be clucking like
Speaker 1: a chicken or something like that and it felt like
Speaker 1: it had no effect on me. But but I think
Speaker 1: actually some people are more susuffable to hypnotism than we've read.
Speaker 1: We've talked about that, we read about that how there's
Speaker 1: some scammers and it would get folks on the line
Speaker 1: and kind of get them into this trains and before
Speaker 1: they knew it, they were you know, emptying out the
Speaker 1: contents of their their bank account, giving the you know,
Speaker 1: sharing their bank account numbers, all that kind of information.
Speaker 1: I find it incredibly fascinating. An actually my mind, my
Speaker 1: brain is like Fort Knox, It's impenetrable, so strong, there's
Speaker 1: no way that was gonna happen. But no, we are
Speaker 1: going to talk about small businesses this episode real quick though,
Speaker 1: a quick follow up. So last week we talked about
Speaker 1: how low flow shower heads they obviously save you money,
Speaker 1: they save you water, but how I had taken my
Speaker 1: restrictor off of my shower head, and I'm thinking that
Speaker 1: it's going to allow me to maybe spend just as
Speaker 1: much money, but how they more enjoyable experience just a
Speaker 1: shorter shower. And but listener arseny I reached out and
Speaker 1: he was like, hey, guys, why don't you a solution
Speaker 1: scientific method guys like check it out and measure your progress,
Speaker 1: like like put a plug in the bathtub and then
Speaker 1: see how much water is standing in the bathtub after
Speaker 1: you're done with your shower, both with and without the
Speaker 1: flow restrict which I loved that little bit of advice.
Speaker 1: Definitely going to try that out. It's a sure fireway
Speaker 1: to figure out how much water are you're actually using
Speaker 1: unless you have a sense a shower like mine, which
Speaker 1: has no tub, it's one just one of those walking showers,
Speaker 1: I mean, same with mine. That I mean it's it's
Speaker 1: in the shower where it's not a tub without a stopper.
Speaker 1: But I'm gonna lay down like a piece of like
Speaker 1: seran wrap or like a zip blog bag just to
Speaker 1: actually stop the water up. Okay, alright, good luck with that.
Speaker 1: I might instead do some sort of test where I
Speaker 1: hold up a gallon jug and I see how much
Speaker 1: water gets filled up after a minute of using the
Speaker 1: flow restricter and then a minute of not using it,
Speaker 1: just kind of see the difference just so I don't
Speaker 1: and then do some math flood my bathroom. Okay, there
Speaker 1: go and yeah, I'm seeing you. That's a that's just
Speaker 1: a great suggestion doing some testing to see whether we're
Speaker 1: actually able to save money or whether we're just spending
Speaker 1: more in water. We're wasting water because of our desire
Speaker 1: to have a nicer shower, which you know, what it
Speaker 1: might be worth the trade off, Matt, it might be
Speaker 1: worth it, But I think it's a good idea to
Speaker 1: at least run the numbers and to say, oh, wait,
Speaker 1: now I know I can either take an eight minute
Speaker 1: shower without the restrictor or ten minute shower with it,
Speaker 1: and then make a decision based on that knowledge, as
Speaker 1: opposed to just winging it, which is what you and
Speaker 1: I were doing, which, honestly, it points to the fact
Speaker 1: that maybe we're not interested in the truth. Maybe in
Speaker 1: our case, we have both decided, oh it's it's totally
Speaker 1: gonna be worth it in order to have a slightly
Speaker 1: more luxurious shower experience. But I'm willing to commit and
Speaker 1: see how much it's actually costing me. Yeah, this might
Speaker 1: be a saga that but let's introduced the beer that
Speaker 1: we're enjoying this episode. It is let's get some f
Speaker 1: and French toast and that's a movie out and let's
Speaker 1: see if you remember we will tell you what movie
Speaker 1: this is from at the end of the episode. But
Speaker 1: this is a beer. This is an Imperial Stout with
Speaker 1: French toast, maple syrup, cinnamon, and this is by Bramari
Speaker 1: Brewing Company. We will share our thoughts on this one
Speaker 1: at the end of the episode. And it makes me
Speaker 1: wonder bad. I think that movie is probably twenty years
Speaker 1: old now, so if somebody right off the bat, I'm impressed.
Speaker 1: But yeah, let's get to it. Let's get the topic
Speaker 1: of hand. We are talking about why starting a business
Speaker 1: is easier than you think, and Matt, there are I
Speaker 1: think a lot of things that we build up in
Speaker 1: our mind to be it's really difficult, even though in
Speaker 1: reality doing that thing isn't all that tough. And I
Speaker 1: know for myself it makes it easier to sit on
Speaker 1: the couch. If I'm like, but that thing is really hard,
Speaker 1: I don't want I don't want to give it a try.
Speaker 1: It's just not possible. It's obviously really difficult, and I
Speaker 1: don't have the time if it's that hard to do it,
Speaker 1: So I'm just gonna sit here and do nothing. And
Speaker 1: I think I probably used that excuse a lot when
Speaker 1: it comes to learning how to cook, and it's something
Speaker 1: I need to get better in every field. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: need to participate in the kitchen more in our house,
Speaker 1: be more helpful, and cook more meals for our family.
Speaker 1: And so it's something I'm kind of starting to come
Speaker 1: around on. But I think I'm not alone in that.
Speaker 1: I think there's a lot of folks who have said,
Speaker 1: you know what, cooking dinner is really difficult. I'm just
Speaker 1: gonna order out more. We're gonna get take out, We're
Speaker 1: gonna order pizza and pop that pre made lasagna into
Speaker 1: the oven. Exactly what is it like an hour later?
Speaker 1: That's yeah, that's just sto first cheesy goodness. That's right.
Speaker 1: But when it comes down to it, so many wonderful
Speaker 1: meals can be created in just a few steps with
Speaker 1: just a few ingredients. You don't you don't have to
Speaker 1: go over the top of it, And something like having
Speaker 1: a recipe can make can make it so much easier
Speaker 1: to actually then follow through and do it, and and
Speaker 1: just a little bit bit of meal planning. So yeah,
Speaker 1: when we're talking about starting a business, it certainly sounds
Speaker 1: on its face like it's gonna be really really hard.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be a slog and so I might as not, well,
Speaker 1: try same thing with cooking, but we think that both
Speaker 1: are actually easier than you think. Although we're not gonna
Speaker 1: talk about cooking anymore in today, well I will say
Speaker 1: it does remind me in middle school it was like
Speaker 1: home met class and you do some cooking, and I
Speaker 1: remember making biscuits in class and a thought, what is
Speaker 1: this alchemy that we are participating because we just combined
Speaker 1: these three it's like three or four ingredients to make biscuits,
Speaker 1: and I swear that they were like the best biscuits
Speaker 1: I had ever had in my entire life. But if
Speaker 1: it does feel like that where you think, oh no,
Speaker 1: it's a it's an impossibility to make biscuits, that you
Speaker 1: have to be a magician to do that, but in
Speaker 1: fact it is a lot easier than you think. I
Speaker 1: totally agree that you have to take like a baby
Speaker 1: home for the weekend too. Oh you know, I don't
Speaker 1: know if we ever did that. I don't remember doing that.
Speaker 1: I remember selling a football. That was one of the things,
Speaker 1: like we all got to pick a kit different colors.
Speaker 1: But enough of my home met escapades. We're talking about
Speaker 1: starting businesses, and we have seen an uptick in folks
Speaker 1: who are interested in starting businesses over the past couple
Speaker 1: of years. It certainly seems to be appetizing to a
Speaker 1: wider range of folks, and I think the reason for
Speaker 1: this is that it can be hard to know just
Speaker 1: how to go about the process properly. The reason for this,
Speaker 1: I think is because entrepreneurship it just seems to be
Speaker 1: this career path that is rarely taught these days. Of course,
Speaker 1: you can go and you can go get your m
Speaker 1: b A. But I'm just talking about this more like
Speaker 1: the encouragement, more of the mindset that it takes the
Speaker 1: belief that if you can creatively solve a problem that
Speaker 1: brings value to the lives of individuals, then they will
Speaker 1: reward you with another type of value, that being money.
Speaker 1: So simply put, I mean that is all a businesses.
Speaker 1: But because a few schools or teaching kids how to
Speaker 1: do that, well, I think we see a lot of
Speaker 1: businesses fail. The stats they bear that out. Roughly twenty
Speaker 1: of businesses fail within the first year, and just about
Speaker 1: half of them go bust within the first five years.
Speaker 1: So how is it that you can start a business
Speaker 1: without failing in short order? That's a really good question.
Speaker 1: We're gonna try to offer a wide variety of thoughts
Speaker 1: during this episode and just to help make sure that
Speaker 1: your business doesn't end up in this category of grim statistics.
Speaker 1: And some people, honestly, some of the most successful business
Speaker 1: owners have had one or two or three small businesses
Speaker 1: fail before where they struck gold. And so even that
Speaker 1: should not be a turn off from I don't think
Speaker 1: starting a small business because sometimes that first uh, misadventure
Speaker 1: actually leads you to success in the end and ownership
Speaker 1: of your own business and and and making more money
Speaker 1: and creating more value out in the world than you're
Speaker 1: able to otherwise. And when you when you look at
Speaker 1: the graph of new business applications that the Census Bureau
Speaker 1: puts out, it's startling. Because small business formation was up
Speaker 1: and was an even better year for small business formation,
Speaker 1: we're already seeing an even larger uptake this year. It
Speaker 1: looks like so COVID has clearly created both the need
Speaker 1: and the desire to start your own thing. Plus stats
Speaker 1: show that only of traditional workers are engaged in their
Speaker 1: current roles at their current job say they are actively disengaged,
Speaker 1: which is just such a fast I don't even know
Speaker 1: what that means, except for I hate everything and I
Speaker 1: spend half of my time in the bath room. Like
Speaker 1: I'm not I'm not sure. It's just it just an
Speaker 1: attempt to avoid work. I think that's probably correct, right.
Speaker 1: So if you consider yourself in the ladder camp, that
Speaker 1: actively disengaged portion of the work population, you're just not
Speaker 1: into your work at all. You're starting your own business
Speaker 1: could be the perfect solution. If you hate your job,
Speaker 1: why in the world would you not consider this? And
Speaker 1: even if you like your job, you probably want to
Speaker 1: consider it too. And something that starting a business it
Speaker 1: doesn't have to involve finding millions of customers to serve
Speaker 1: seth Godin He talks about building a minimum viable audience.
Speaker 1: Sometimes your business can be supported just by a couple
Speaker 1: hundred folks, or maybe even fear folks. Maybe it doesn't
Speaker 1: even take hundreds of people. Maybe your business can succeed
Speaker 1: on a hundred great customers, or like ten really good customers.
Speaker 1: But this is important to mention though, because in the
Speaker 1: same way that we attempt to demystify personal finances, we
Speaker 1: want you to understand that the same is true when
Speaker 1: it comes to starting your own business. It doesn't have
Speaker 1: to be this overly complicated path that you have to take.
Speaker 1: It doesn't have to require magic, or it doesn't require
Speaker 1: a special type of person. Uh, it is available to all.
Speaker 1: You don't need to have a pitch deck. You don't
Speaker 1: need to have the ability to go on Shark Tank
Speaker 1: to convince investors to back your idea. You simply need
Speaker 1: the right product in front of the right audience. I
Speaker 1: think Shark Tank has both good and bad effects, right
Speaker 1: because the Shark Tank effectively agree it's cool because you
Speaker 1: get to see people who have succeeded, who have come
Speaker 1: with a cool idea, and they are at the point
Speaker 1: in their business building where they need the help of
Speaker 1: some capital, capital investment. They have chosen yeah, types of
Speaker 1: businesses that involve backing, but yes, that's that's something that
Speaker 1: they can just you know, shoestring together. So on the
Speaker 1: on the positive side, I think it helps a lot
Speaker 1: of people see like, oh, the cool things that can
Speaker 1: be done by a couple of smart entrepreneurs working their
Speaker 1: butts off. But on the flip side, there are so
Speaker 1: many much easier to start small businesses that never require
Speaker 1: some sort of massive influx of capital, and those businesses
Speaker 1: never get shown the people who have for their entire
Speaker 1: lives a small business of where they're completely just a
Speaker 1: solo preneurs, they work alone, where they have a really
Speaker 1: small team and they never have to and they never
Speaker 1: feel the pressure nor the desire to grow into some
Speaker 1: sort of behemoth monster. Um that that is the downside,
Speaker 1: maybe a shark tank where people don't get that. Totally agree. Well,
Speaker 1: let's talk about the the personal benefits first, Matt, of
Speaker 1: starting a small business, because maybe it's smart to take
Speaker 1: a minute to convince you why you should at least
Speaker 1: consider starting your own business, because the benefits are so wonderful. Matt.
Speaker 1: You want to start maybe talking about what maybe one
Speaker 1: of your favorite things about us being business owners and
Speaker 1: not having the answer to any other boss besides ourselves. Well,
Speaker 1: I mean obviously the flexibility, right, Like we were just
Speaker 1: talking about the summer beach trip that we are planning
Speaker 1: for coming up here in a couple of weeks. But
Speaker 1: this is one of the main key things that that
Speaker 1: makes working for yourself incredibly legit, Like forget working from home.
Speaker 1: You can do whatever it is that you want. Uh,
Speaker 1: of course, you still gotta get your work done. You
Speaker 1: still got to pay the bills. But you know, if
Speaker 1: if you want some long, slow breakfast with your family,
Speaker 1: like that is something that you can do. Nobody's checking
Speaker 1: into it to see that you're at your desk or
Speaker 1: on your putter by nine am. Or maybe you're looking
Speaker 1: to take some three day weekends. You don't have to
Speaker 1: necessarily ask permission or make sure that your shift is
Speaker 1: going to be covered by someone else. If you and
Speaker 1: your own business, I think this is a top not
Speaker 1: reason to to go start your own thing. Yeah, it
Speaker 1: makes me think. A while back, we were talking about
Speaker 1: tattle tattleware, which employers were checking in via the camera
Speaker 1: on computers from their employees of their employees working from home,
Speaker 1: and they were taking screenshots, are taking pictures to evidence
Speaker 1: to see whether those employees were actively working, were actively
Speaker 1: engaged on the job. They weren't taking their word for it,
Speaker 1: and they weren't necessarily judging by the results. They were
Speaker 1: judging based on stupid tattleware. And if that's the kind
Speaker 1: of thing, whether or not you were sitting in front
Speaker 1: of your computer when it took the picture, yes, not sleeping, right,
Speaker 1: And so that's the kind of thing where if that
Speaker 1: doesn't make you want to get out of your job.
Speaker 1: I don't know what does. Because if I was working
Speaker 1: for an employer who felt the need to check in
Speaker 1: ont me like that, that they didn't trust me enough
Speaker 1: and trust the results that I was producing enough, but
Speaker 1: they had to actually, you know, checking on physically what
Speaker 1: I'm up to every minute of the day, that would
Speaker 1: be frustrating enough for me to say I'm out. But yeah,
Speaker 1: So flexibility is one key thing one key personal benefit
Speaker 1: of starting your own business. Another the other just like
Speaker 1: major biggest thing is personal fulfillment. One of the main
Speaker 1: reasons folks start their own business is because they see
Speaker 1: a gap in the market that they can fill, which
Speaker 1: is great. That's a perfect reason to start a business.
Speaker 1: Or maybe I think another reason to talk about tattle
Speaker 1: where is is the bureaucracy. Maybe that they feel at
Speaker 1: their place of work where it's just a fun Yeah,
Speaker 1: it sucks, not fun, and they're not able to have
Speaker 1: the impact that they know they can have because of
Speaker 1: the layers they have to go through to try to
Speaker 1: get anything done. And so yeah, both of those things
Speaker 1: are great reasons to piece out and starts your own thing.
Speaker 1: Both were true of me, Matt when it came to
Speaker 1: starting how the Money. Sure, there are loads of personal
Speaker 1: finance podcasts out there, but it's still like, it still
Speaker 1: felt like it was important to add our voices into
Speaker 1: the mix. And then I also kind of got tired
Speaker 1: of seeing my creative ideas stymied in an atmosphere that
Speaker 1: just didn't value them very much. And it's not like
Speaker 1: I wasn't valued. I felt very valued, but it was
Speaker 1: like all these creative ways that I wanted to see
Speaker 1: improvements happen, those are kind of brushed aside. And I
Speaker 1: wanted more creative influence over the finished product. And so
Speaker 1: it seemed like the only way to do that, The
Speaker 1: only way to have total control was to be my
Speaker 1: own boss, was to start my own thing. And so
Speaker 1: that's part of why we're here today doing what we do.
Speaker 1: Is is both of those reasons were equally important, I
Speaker 1: think in leading us to this point. And I mean,
Speaker 1: on the one hand, you could probably argue that maybe
Speaker 1: you truly did feel that you weren't being valued enough,
Speaker 1: otherwise you would have gotten paid more. So there's a
Speaker 1: there's a legit art argument there, But aside from that,
Speaker 1: it's the ability to decide what it is that you
Speaker 1: want to work on. It's not necessarily the extent to
Speaker 1: what you're being valued, but just the ability for you
Speaker 1: to work on whatever it is that you want to
Speaker 1: work on. Like to me, like, that's kind of the
Speaker 1: key to the personal fulfillment is like, yes, this is
Speaker 1: a personal finance show that that you you know that
Speaker 1: you were working on, but now you're able to do
Speaker 1: it in a way that on paper seems very very similar,
Speaker 1: but in reality is a whole lot different. So I agree, Yeah,
Speaker 1: deciding what it is that you want to work on
Speaker 1: is a huge benefit. But simultaneously, we've got to mention
Speaker 1: that starting your own business that it may not be
Speaker 1: for everyone. I think it takes a certain mindset shift,
Speaker 1: It takes, it takes a disposition towards independence in order
Speaker 1: to succeed. We've got friends who were very successful and
Speaker 1: we're really good at what they did, but that doesn't
Speaker 1: always translate into doing the same excellent work when you're
Speaker 1: out on your own. I think some folks just need
Speaker 1: that structure that often comes with a business that's already established,
Speaker 1: with maybe a little bit of that bureaucracy, a little
Speaker 1: bit of that corporate culture, in order to actually do
Speaker 1: their best work. I think it's easy to overly romanticize
Speaker 1: owning your own business, but let's let's be honest, it
Speaker 1: may not be for everyone. That being said, given that
Speaker 1: most folks who listen to how the money that they're
Speaker 1: looking to proactively make changes in their lives, I think
Speaker 1: there's a good chance that you have what it takes
Speaker 1: to successfully start your a business, and that is why
Speaker 1: we're talking about this today. Yeah, I think you're right, man.
Speaker 1: I think it definitely takes a certain mindset and and
Speaker 1: you have to have I think you have to feel
Speaker 1: some of that discontent, not just that office based level
Speaker 1: discontent where where like the look and just to bust
Speaker 1: up some computers. Yeah, yeah, we're the word. You do
Speaker 1: feel that, maybe maybe you feel that rage inside, but
Speaker 1: but I think it's a different kind of discontent that
Speaker 1: makes for a great small business owner, where you're like, man,
Speaker 1: the business is fine, the I love the people, whatever
Speaker 1: it is, but there is just something that's missing, and
Speaker 1: I on my own could do a better job. Like
Speaker 1: I I'm stymy creatively. And if you're feeling some of
Speaker 1: those things, I think then I think it makes you
Speaker 1: the perfect candidate to consider leaving and starting your own thing.
Speaker 1: But we've actually got to talk about that because you
Speaker 1: probably don't want to just like quit tomorrow and start
Speaker 1: right and we need to talk about some of the
Speaker 1: financial necessities and the financial benefits that come along with
Speaker 1: starting your own business. We'll talk more about that right
Speaker 1: after this. We're talking about why starting a small business
Speaker 1: is easier than you think, Joel. This is how the money,
Speaker 1: of course, So we're gonna talk about the financial benefits
Speaker 1: of starting your own business. And I think the biggest
Speaker 1: thing is that when you lose one client or just
Speaker 1: one customer, you haven't lost all your income, right you
Speaker 1: don't have all your eggs one basket. But if you
Speaker 1: lose your job, you're going from one d to zero
Speaker 1: pretty quickly over night. So I believe that there is
Speaker 1: actually a significantly higher level of financial stability when you
Speaker 1: own and when you run your own small business. I
Speaker 1: think there's a lot of folks who felt that being
Speaker 1: a W two employee, that that was the best position
Speaker 1: to be in. It felt secure and warm and cozy.
Speaker 1: But I think a lot of folks are realizing, especially
Speaker 1: after the past two years, that I don't think that
Speaker 1: there's anything further from the truth. You can get fired,
Speaker 1: you can get let go. When you own your own business,
Speaker 1: you can't get fired. You're not gonna get like like,
Speaker 1: oh you can. You're not gonna get downsized when you
Speaker 1: work for yourself, which means it's not an all or
Speaker 1: nothing venture. Like like I previously mentioned those statistics about
Speaker 1: businesses failing, I will say they're they're sobering. There's a
Speaker 1: lot of businesses that do fail. But it is important
Speaker 1: to remember that's staying at your current job. It's not
Speaker 1: nearly as safe of a proposition as you think it
Speaker 1: might be. Yeah, that's really important to mention, Matt. I
Speaker 1: think I was one of those people who were starting
Speaker 1: your own businesses is highly risky. That's how I thought
Speaker 1: of it. And working for having that nine having that
Speaker 1: W two income, that's a cake. That's not like stability,
Speaker 1: that sounds stable and foundations. I've completely revolutionized the way
Speaker 1: I think about that, and I think that's actually that's
Speaker 1: the opposite view of what I have now. And it
Speaker 1: was interesting, like you and I are kind of opposite
Speaker 1: in that way because like I feel like very early
Speaker 1: on I kind of you know, hud my own shingle
Speaker 1: and didn't work for myself for a while. But then
Speaker 1: after I don't know, eight nine, ten years, I started
Speaker 1: thinking maybe maybe I just moved back to corporate America.
Speaker 1: But for me, it was the thought of what life
Speaker 1: would look like having to go in to an office
Speaker 1: every day having that flexibility, not just the flexibility, but again,
Speaker 1: it kind of comes down to autonomy. It's not like
Speaker 1: when I think when when we talk about flexibility, people think, oh,
Speaker 1: I work from home, I've got flexibility, I've got control
Speaker 1: over my own hours. But it's more than that. It's
Speaker 1: it's the type of work you're doing. It's what it
Speaker 1: is that you're doing. It's it's how you have to
Speaker 1: interact with your coworkers, or your customers, or or just
Speaker 1: whoever it is that you're serving within your line of work.
Speaker 1: There's something additional that that's more like soul crushing for
Speaker 1: me when I start to think through what life would
Speaker 1: look like if I was not living life on my
Speaker 1: own terms. Yeah, well, I think it's important to mention
Speaker 1: that as a small business owner, oftentimes you can be
Speaker 1: a jack of all trades and you might have to
Speaker 1: do things that you don't want to do, but you
Speaker 1: actually find more joy in doing those things because it's
Speaker 1: your business and because you're doing if you respects your
Speaker 1: bottom line. And also, and we'll get to this in
Speaker 1: a little bit, there are software, there are other places
Speaker 1: you can turn for some of that help to do
Speaker 1: maybe some of those tasks that you don't like. It's
Speaker 1: not like it was back like back in nineteen sixty.
Speaker 1: I think like one like a quarter of all people
Speaker 1: work from themselves, like back the fifties and sixties. But
Speaker 1: the world's change a whole lot since the fifties and sixties.
Speaker 1: There's a tremendous amount of technologies. Yes, yeah, absolutely, there's
Speaker 1: a tremendous amount of of tech and software and just
Speaker 1: different things out there that allow us to truly focus
Speaker 1: on what it is that we want to focus on. Well,
Speaker 1: let's keep talking about financial benefits, because yeah, one of
Speaker 1: those things that you mentioned, it's not zero to one.
Speaker 1: You lose one client, you don't lose it all. You
Speaker 1: can keep pushing through and find more, find more clients,
Speaker 1: find more customers. Well, there are also tax benefits when
Speaker 1: you own your own business. And you know this is
Speaker 1: something where Matt and I were not tax experts, but
Speaker 1: we will recommend that you go back and listen to
Speaker 1: episode seven with small business tax experts Shannon Weinstein. But
Speaker 1: there are so many deductions that you can take as
Speaker 1: a small business startup, and of course you're going to
Speaker 1: follow the law, the guidance of the I R. S. Course,
Speaker 1: but I won't only to say that if you can
Speaker 1: even think of an expense related to your business, then
Speaker 1: there's a good chance that it's tax deductible. So that's true.
Speaker 1: Car expenses related to the business, right, the cost of
Speaker 1: hosting and other software, even the cost of meals that
Speaker 1: you can only deduct what the cost there. You know
Speaker 1: you'll pay the FICA and peril taxes of course, but
Speaker 1: then there are other ways that you can break out
Speaker 1: your income that actually minimize some of that. So it's
Speaker 1: worth looking into all of the tax details the tax
Speaker 1: benefits you can derive from starting a small business. But
Speaker 1: I think sometimes that is the reason they say er
Speaker 1: say no, I'm I'm cool, I'm gonna stay where I'm at.
Speaker 1: It's better from a tax standpoint. But that's actually not
Speaker 1: the case, and small business owners can there's a lot
Speaker 1: of flexibility inside of the tax code for small business
Speaker 1: owners to do better. Ultimately, when it comes to their
Speaker 1: tax burden than W two employees. That's rights. Let's let's
Speaker 1: mention too, how small business retirement plans are going to
Speaker 1: be better than the ones that you often get from
Speaker 1: an employer. Of course, if you're self employed, you're not
Speaker 1: gonna have a retirement plan that comes with a match
Speaker 1: where it feels like you're getting free money. But when
Speaker 1: you set up your own retirement plan, they are going
Speaker 1: to come with higher limits. And so while it might
Speaker 1: definitely seem like a downside that you're not getting those
Speaker 1: employer contributions to a four one K, you ultimately have
Speaker 1: the ability to saw away a lot more money in
Speaker 1: vehicles like the Solo four one K. That's what we
Speaker 1: joel what you and I what we've got set up
Speaker 1: here at how the Money or accept IRA, which is
Speaker 1: a simplified employee pension. But if you have a really
Speaker 1: successful business, this means that you have the potential to
Speaker 1: stash up to sixty one dollars this year into attack
Speaker 1: sheltered account, which ultimately is only going to speed you
Speaker 1: along to different goals of financial freedom or financial independence.
Speaker 1: The downside is that it's all down to you, but
Speaker 1: the upside is that there is the ability to save
Speaker 1: a ton more over the years. Yeah, and it makes
Speaker 1: me think too, Matt. Another financial benefit is is you
Speaker 1: can make a lot more money. That the upside is
Speaker 1: basically unlimited. So when you talk about how much money
Speaker 1: you can stash away, well, if you get that cost
Speaker 1: of living raise with your current employer, and then and
Speaker 1: you're still contributing up to the match, well, the the
Speaker 1: extra amount you're gonna abill see in your retirement account
Speaker 1: that year, um, and your in your traditional job, it's
Speaker 1: just a little bit more, right, is it. It's a
Speaker 1: tiny bit extra, which is which is great. Like that
Speaker 1: there's a little bit, a little bit, just just go,
Speaker 1: nothing wrong with it. And I was in that position
Speaker 1: for a lot of years where it's like every every
Speaker 1: year you're you're puting a little bit more aside your
Speaker 1: employers helping you out a little bit too. But yeah,
Speaker 1: even for right now, in this inflationary environment, our listeners
Speaker 1: might be able to negotiate something like a ten percent raise.
Speaker 1: And that's not even the average, I'd be above average,
Speaker 1: but you might be able to negotiate that. That would
Speaker 1: likely be a pretty massive win in your book, to
Speaker 1: negotiate a ten percent raise overnight. But you might even
Speaker 1: be able to get let's say raise by switching jobs.
Speaker 1: That would be killer too, right, that's a lot more money,
Speaker 1: but it's much much harder to pull off something like
Speaker 1: a fifty two increasing your income. Here's the thing you
Speaker 1: can do that though, when starting your own small business.
Speaker 1: This guy is kind of the limit. And it's not
Speaker 1: likely that your new business is going to become this
Speaker 1: highly valued publicly traded company where you become this CEO
Speaker 1: who's well known and your compensation package reaches the stratus here,
Speaker 1: that's not what we're talking about. But here's the thing.
Speaker 1: You're you're also not going to be limited by the
Speaker 1: industry average salary of someone who's in a similar role.
Speaker 1: This is your business. And like a bunch of HR
Speaker 1: talk right right, yeah, exactly, Yeah, it's like, well, the
Speaker 1: industry average says that we can only give you a
Speaker 1: three point two percent raise because you're near the cap already.
Speaker 1: And those are the kind of conversations you don't have
Speaker 1: to have because it really is and eat what you
Speaker 1: kill environment when you run your own small business. And
Speaker 1: this guy is a limit because you can work longer
Speaker 1: hours if you want to, because you can find more
Speaker 1: lucrative clients because you can pivot on a time when
Speaker 1: you are running your own business, and at your current employer,
Speaker 1: there are just a lot more limitations, that's right. So
Speaker 1: you've got almost unlimited potential a limited upside when it
Speaker 1: comes to investing within your retirement accounts. Also when it
Speaker 1: comes to what you're earning every single year. But dude,
Speaker 1: it's it's worth mentioning that if you are starting your
Speaker 1: own business, that you're not guaranteed to make a ton
Speaker 1: more um and in fact, like I mean, you might
Speaker 1: even earn less, especially when you're just getting started. And
Speaker 1: this is going to fall outside of the realm of
Speaker 1: a financial benefit. But you know, can you adjust your
Speaker 1: lifestyle to a smaller income if it means that you're
Speaker 1: going to be enjoying your work a lot more. This
Speaker 1: comes back to the personal fulfillment uh side of things.
Speaker 1: The ability to spend the most precious, the most valuable
Speaker 1: resource that you have, your time, and to spend your
Speaker 1: days doing work that you're excited about. Man, that's some
Speaker 1: fuel that could really get you through not only like
Speaker 1: a few hard days at work, but like years and
Speaker 1: even decades of hard work. Is that the Nietzche quote
Speaker 1: where he says that a man who has a y
Speaker 1: can endure anyhow or something along trying I think I'm
Speaker 1: watching it. But basically, if you know what your goal is,
Speaker 1: you know what it is that you're striving after, you
Speaker 1: know how it is that this work is feeling this
Speaker 1: deeper desire within you, then those longer hours and the
Speaker 1: harder work isn't going to get between you and your happiness. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I like that mat to balance You're thrown in there
Speaker 1: because it's certainly possible to earn a whole lot more
Speaker 1: than you're currently making in your day job by starting
Speaker 1: your own business, but it's also not guaranteed, and there
Speaker 1: it often takes a lot of hard work and diligence
Speaker 1: and time in order to get to that place. But
Speaker 1: and I think another thing on the finance side of
Speaker 1: starting a small business, it's really the important to mention
Speaker 1: is that for the most part, it's cheap to start
Speaker 1: your own small business. And you know, one of the
Speaker 1: popular missings starting your own airline right or in a
Speaker 1: new car company like I'm gonna I'm gonna start the
Speaker 1: next Rivian or Tesla, and it's like, well, that's probably
Speaker 1: not gonna go over very well and more new restaurant
Speaker 1: that's true. Like, yeah, I feel like those, like the
Speaker 1: different restaurants stats that are out there probably skew the
Speaker 1: small business failures. Uh two more failures the nut because
Speaker 1: restaurants are notorious for failing quickly and they're just it's
Speaker 1: a labor of love oftentimes for many people. But it's
Speaker 1: hard to make a sustainable restaurant that sticks around for
Speaker 1: a long period of time. But just when it comes
Speaker 1: to misconceptions about starting a business that you that you
Speaker 1: have to have some some big chunk of change to
Speaker 1: get things off the gre and you have to have
Speaker 1: tens of thousands of dollars like seed money. Back to
Speaker 1: that Shark tank. Yeah, mentality, that's just not true, especially
Speaker 1: these days, right because stats show that six of new
Speaker 1: businesses that get started need less than five thousand dollars
Speaker 1: to get off the ground. Not a big deal. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's approachable. It's real multainable for lots of folks, and
Speaker 1: with a little creativity, you can even barter for some
Speaker 1: of the things that you need. You know, we'd encourage
Speaker 1: you to go back and listen to episode to forty
Speaker 1: seven where we talked with Alan Donnigan about starting a
Speaker 1: business for zero dollars, and he had some great tips
Speaker 1: like pre selling your product in order to help fund
Speaker 1: your business. You don't necessarily have to have the working product,
Speaker 1: uh from the get go in order to start making sales.
Speaker 1: I thought that was brilliant, and he gave other great
Speaker 1: tips like bartering, how you can uh in exchange for
Speaker 1: maybe some of your wisdom or coaching abilities, maybe barter
Speaker 1: for for some office space. You know, it might seem
Speaker 1: impossible to start a business without a giant nest egg,
Speaker 1: but that's just a mental roadblock because contrary to popular belief,
Speaker 1: you don't have to go into debt in order to
Speaker 1: start a small business, and you don't have to have
Speaker 1: just tons of cash in the bank for most of
Speaker 1: the kinds of businesses we're talking about totally Yeah. You
Speaker 1: also you don't have to go big or go home
Speaker 1: that you know that. Again, this is kind of going
Speaker 1: back to that mindset of of creating something that's viable
Speaker 1: to a small audience. But there's sometimes this belief that
Speaker 1: you need just this massive team of folks around you
Speaker 1: in order to get started, or that a business has
Speaker 1: to have like a quote unquote growth minded mindset or
Speaker 1: whatever in order to succeed. Like you, you don't want
Speaker 1: to start a business that doesn't experience any growth, of course,
Speaker 1: but it's also important to realize that you don't have
Speaker 1: to create a business that has just this incredible moonshop potential.
Speaker 1: You can be the proud owner of just a simple
Speaker 1: micro business. Uh, those are are really flourishing right now. Yeah,
Speaker 1: micro businesses are. I think we should talk about that
Speaker 1: because that is one of those terms that most people
Speaker 1: don't hear, and it's it's a solution really to this
Speaker 1: small business thing because usually when you give the term
Speaker 1: small business, we're lumping all these different kinds of businesses together,
Speaker 1: basically from one employee to five, and that's a big
Speaker 1: gap in in the kinds of businesses that are getting started.
Speaker 1: So when we talk about micro businesses, those are those
Speaker 1: are typically businesses that have no more than five employees
Speaker 1: include the owner. So hey, guess what, how the money
Speaker 1: is a micro business? You know, we're not even a
Speaker 1: small business like we should be micro. I feel like
Speaker 1: if we were a brewery, we'd also be a micro course.
Speaker 1: Who would be exactly because they make the best beers typically,
Speaker 1: But Matt, it kind of makes me think of my
Speaker 1: neighbor who is a baker. She's she's a micro baker. Yes,
Speaker 1: you can put micro in front of any word, so
Speaker 1: micro Okay, time out. Micro machines. Did you ever play
Speaker 1: with those as a kid. I did, but I'm trying
Speaker 1: to remember the teeny They're like like miniature teeny tiny
Speaker 1: little cars and you can collect them, and I think
Speaker 1: they rolled. I don't think that anything special. My two
Speaker 1: year olds playing with my old hot wheels these days,
Speaker 1: so I see, But I don't think I had any
Speaker 1: micro machines left over at least, but I know I
Speaker 1: played with them. I don't think I know I played
Speaker 1: with them, but I think I just always went over
Speaker 1: to my friend's house and played with his hot wheels,
Speaker 1: his micro machines. I was always into like constructs and
Speaker 1: connects and all of the different things where you build stuff.
Speaker 1: Engineering mindset. Perhaps geared to start my own business, but
Speaker 1: I think so. But okay, micro baker. Does she make
Speaker 1: tiny little cookies? No, no, normal sized bread cookies and
Speaker 1: they're actually delicious. But it's cool because this is kind
Speaker 1: of something that she could if she wanted to, She
Speaker 1: could scale it into something bigger. Take out a giant loan,
Speaker 1: yeah yeah, get a get an actual physical bakery space
Speaker 1: in some sort of cool part of town. But having
Speaker 1: macro baker, Yeah, But she's got this great tiny business
Speaker 1: and it works for her lifestyle and it works for
Speaker 1: kind of what she's offering. So I think it's important
Speaker 1: to note that having a successful small business or micro business,
Speaker 1: it doesn't mean you don't have to rent some sort
Speaker 1: of office building, you don't have to manage a slew
Speaker 1: of employees. And by some estimates, I think micro businesses
Speaker 1: are something like nine overall of small businesses. So most
Speaker 1: small businesses in our country are incredibly tiny, Like they're
Speaker 1: not getting huge, and they don't have a desire to
Speaker 1: get huge. And I think that's okay, Like, you don't
Speaker 1: have to get massive in order to be successful. You
Speaker 1: can choose to grow if that's a part of your
Speaker 1: model and if that's something that you want to do,
Speaker 1: if you want to do more managing versus say the
Speaker 1: actual baking. But I doubt I think I'm guessing the
Speaker 1: reason she likes to bake is because she enjoys actually baking, right,
Speaker 1: She's experienced some of that magic of mixing ingredients together
Speaker 1: and making people really happy with the smells and the
Speaker 1: flavors that I wonder if purpose gates are better than
Speaker 1: your middle school home biscuits, I'm pretty sure nobody could
Speaker 1: top the first time that's a six sixth rader gets
Speaker 1: to taste something that they've made for the first time.
Speaker 1: It truly is an impressionable moment. But I'm guessing she
Speaker 1: probably is really good, much better than me. But something
Speaker 1: that a question that's worth asking to I wanted to
Speaker 1: bring up is make sure that you're asking yourself what
Speaker 1: makes a good business idea. It's really important to have
Speaker 1: that answer before you launch a website, a product, or
Speaker 1: a service. Starting with a business that has a crappy
Speaker 1: idea is going to be pretty dumb. It helps to
Speaker 1: know what's going on in the market before you make
Speaker 1: a split second decision to start, say, selling your homemade
Speaker 1: knit witter caps door to door in Florida right now
Speaker 1: in the month of May. The demand is probably incredibly low.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be that that that market is going to
Speaker 1: be essentially non existent, and so knowing how much potential
Speaker 1: your idea has after you launch it, it's going to
Speaker 1: be crucial information you need to gather before you go
Speaker 1: and get the ball rolling, and certainly before you take
Speaker 1: larger steps in procuring a loan or something like that,
Speaker 1: things that most people think are necessary steps in order
Speaker 1: to run a legitimate business. Yeah, knowing the market potential
Speaker 1: of your business and how you can meet the market
Speaker 1: need is a really important factor in this equation. So
Speaker 1: it's also important to yeah, look for opportunities in the market.
Speaker 1: Businesses that solve people's problems will almost always succeed. It
Speaker 1: makes me think of Scott's Cheap Flights. Matt he he
Speaker 1: didn't start out necessarily with this idea to have a
Speaker 1: thriving small business, and he started out as a micro business.
Speaker 1: He didn't think he was going to employ sixty plus folks,
Speaker 1: you know, sending out flight deals regularly. What started out
Speaker 1: as just kind of an interest, it developed into an
Speaker 1: opportunity that was right for the picking because his coworkers
Speaker 1: were like, hey, Ca, you start sending me deals. I
Speaker 1: even pay for him if you find me a great
Speaker 1: flight deal, like you found the Milan And so, Yeah,
Speaker 1: going back to the winter cap example, maybe you live
Speaker 1: in Minnesota and you've been knitting hats for your friends,
Speaker 1: and better, better spots uh knitting exactly. They rave about them,
Speaker 1: and then their friends start reaching out to you to
Speaker 1: see if you'll make one for them. Well, that sounds
Speaker 1: like the start of a business to me, because people
Speaker 1: are already knocking on your door asking for more of
Speaker 1: what you're already creating. That sounds like the idea of
Speaker 1: taking just like a hobby and maybe like turning the
Speaker 1: knob a couple of dials and now you've got a
Speaker 1: full fledged small business that is bringing in income. Totally. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that there there's a legitimate opportunity there. And essentially what
Speaker 1: we're talking about here is getting inspiration from what you're
Speaker 1: currently interested in doing. And you know, it does not
Speaker 1: have to be related to what, say you got your
Speaker 1: degree in. Uh, you don't necessarily need prior experience working
Speaker 1: for a company in that same space. Those things don't hurt,
Speaker 1: but it might be even more helpful to look at
Speaker 1: your interests as opposed to your experiences. And you know,
Speaker 1: I say all this while simultaneously saying that I'm not
Speaker 1: saying that you should just follow your path and uh,
Speaker 1: don't just focus on stuff that you have funding, but
Speaker 1: we want you to just think instead about the things
Speaker 1: that you care about. We want you to dig a
Speaker 1: level deeper than just focusing on something that you enjoy doing.
Speaker 1: And there's a lot of talk around the term passion,
Speaker 1: like follow your passion, but it is not necessarily a
Speaker 1: well that you can continually draw from. And simultaneously, we
Speaker 1: think that passion can always be developed. It's something that
Speaker 1: you can learn, is something that you can realize not
Speaker 1: only about yourself, but about the world around you. The
Speaker 1: things that we love in our twenties, like, they may
Speaker 1: not necessarily be what we love in our thirties or
Speaker 1: in our forties. We humans, like we tend to live
Speaker 1: a few different lives in the course of our decades
Speaker 1: here on earth, and so we want you to kind
Speaker 1: of pay attention, like we're we're trying to marry some
Speaker 1: of these deeper desires and motives that you might have
Speaker 1: and find a way to kind of link some of
Speaker 1: those desires to what it is that you can do
Speaker 1: as a career, you know, to the things that you
Speaker 1: can make a business out of. There's almost like this
Speaker 1: middle ground that people call their passion. It's like a
Speaker 1: little bit more than an interest, but is not necessarily
Speaker 1: tied to sort of the things that matter the most
Speaker 1: to them. So I say that because I want you
Speaker 1: to do more than just the trope follow your passions. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: for sure. I think when you boil it down, Matt,
Speaker 1: you want to marry an interest with an opportunity in
Speaker 1: a market. If you have all three of those things combine,
Speaker 1: it kind of makes for a potentially great business. And
Speaker 1: that's the kind of thing that a whole lot of
Speaker 1: our listeners can find. And it doesn't have to be
Speaker 1: that old trope of follow your passion. You can follow
Speaker 1: that interest, opportunity and market all those three things together.
Speaker 1: If you have them, you've got a recipe for success,
Speaker 1: and then simultaneously figure out what it is about that
Speaker 1: that resonates with you at a very deep level. That
Speaker 1: will always be true, Yes, and and and even if
Speaker 1: you do something that you love and enjoy, it doesn't
Speaker 1: mean that every single part, every single facet of that
Speaker 1: job that you're going to absolutely be thrilled with every
Speaker 1: single day of the week or or of the year.
Speaker 1: And the same is true of what we do. We
Speaker 1: love what we do. It doesn't mean that every day
Speaker 1: is easy or that there are no headaches involved, that
Speaker 1: every day we feel deeply connected to our mission. I
Speaker 1: think overall we do and we get to talk about
Speaker 1: it a whole lot, and it is very fulfilling. But
Speaker 1: it doesn't mean that every single day, every single minute,
Speaker 1: has elements of that. Sure, yeah, I love it. I
Speaker 1: feel like with what we do here at the show,
Speaker 1: like the core level of what it is that we
Speaker 1: talked about here, Like, yes, we talk about craft beer
Speaker 1: a lot of episodes, Yes we talk about finances and
Speaker 1: the news, but at a very deep core level, what
Speaker 1: we're talking about doing here is helping people, and that,
Speaker 1: like that is a core mission. I think that you
Speaker 1: can take to almost almost any profession, almost any product
Speaker 1: out there. Does this help the individual? That is what
Speaker 1: we're trying to do here through the application of your
Speaker 1: personal finances. But we we I feel like we've made
Speaker 1: a really good case for starting your own business. We've
Speaker 1: got several practical takeaways steps that we think you should
Speaker 1: take to help you to launch a successful business, and
Speaker 1: so we'll get to those right after the break. All right,
Speaker 1: let's keep going, Let's keep talking about small business creation.
Speaker 1: We really do think that it is a reality, a
Speaker 1: possibility for a whole lot more people than maybe currently
Speaker 1: think it's possible, and it's good to see. Actually, this
Speaker 1: transformation in the economy towards more micro business is happening
Speaker 1: right as we speak, and we think more how the
Speaker 1: money listeners can and should get involved in that. Well,
Speaker 1: maybe one of the easiest ways to get started is
Speaker 1: to do it with a side hustle, right to to
Speaker 1: to start your small business, really small, and to do
Speaker 1: it just on the side while you have a day job.
Speaker 1: Because it's important to note that this can be a
Speaker 1: really gradual process. You don't even have to quit your
Speaker 1: day job in order to get started. Side hustling is
Speaker 1: is just a great way to kind of get the
Speaker 1: ball rolling and money from your main gig cannot only
Speaker 1: pay your bills, but it can also help you fund
Speaker 1: the business you're trying to get off the ground if
Speaker 1: it requires some seed funds. And it's important to mention
Speaker 1: that you know, side hustle is different from gig work
Speaker 1: in our minds. Gig work is a way to trade
Speaker 1: some of your time for money. Right, you can drive
Speaker 1: uber you can make some cash on the side, but
Speaker 1: specifically via an app access that access that intermediary. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and and maybe it could be that through an app
Speaker 1: you you're able to start your own small business if
Speaker 1: you through fiber or through Etsy or something like that,
Speaker 1: get your business off the ground. But that's slightly different
Speaker 1: than gig work in my mind. And and so yeah,
Speaker 1: the side hustle, it's important to note it might not
Speaker 1: even make you money out of the gate. What you're
Speaker 1: doing is you're kind of testing to see whether this
Speaker 1: business is viable, whether you can turn it into something great. Basically,
Speaker 1: you want to know whether it has the potential to
Speaker 1: turn into something that you can pursue full time. And
Speaker 1: that's why, Yeah, side hustling something is kind of the
Speaker 1: perfect way to give it a to give it a chance,
Speaker 1: and to see what happens. Yeah, but simultaneously, you want
Speaker 1: to be careful that you're not to behold into a
Speaker 1: specific platform where you have virtually no sway like it
Speaker 1: makes me think of Airbnb and how certain cities of
Speaker 1: banned short term occupancy rentals, or it makes me think
Speaker 1: about how people have built their businesses solely around Instagram
Speaker 1: or some of the other social media platforms. Essentially, you're
Speaker 1: renting digital space from another company who can change the
Speaker 1: rules of the game or the algorithm at any time.
Speaker 1: And so this is not a good plan if you
Speaker 1: are solely dependent on a specific company for the success
Speaker 1: of your business. We like that there are different businesses
Speaker 1: and different providers who we can partner with, but it
Speaker 1: puts you in a really weak position if they have
Speaker 1: the upper hand, if they have all the say uh,
Speaker 1: and you don't have uh, you know, a seat at
Speaker 1: the table at all. Yeah. It makes me think of Etsy,
Speaker 1: who recently said they were going to raise the fees
Speaker 1: of what they charge sellers on the site. And there
Speaker 1: are people who have made their living through by selling
Speaker 1: things on Etsy and they just got a notice that, hey,
Speaker 1: guess what what you make is going to be cut
Speaker 1: in a meaningful way in short in short order. And
Speaker 1: so those are the kind of things where Etsy is great.
Speaker 1: It's a great platform to find customers and to reach
Speaker 1: people with your product, but it doesn't mean that that
Speaker 1: is the only avenue you should use, because if you're
Speaker 1: literally dependent on one website or one social media algorithm,
Speaker 1: it can give you a whole lot, and then it
Speaker 1: can take away uh just as much very quickly. And
Speaker 1: Matt Let's mention another another tip that we have for
Speaker 1: getting started with a small business. It's it's getting outside help.
Speaker 1: It's so crucial when it comes to getting started. And
Speaker 1: one thing we would suggest is consider getting a mentor, because, yeah,
Speaker 1: going this alone it can make your journey into small
Speaker 1: business ownership more difficult. It's always helpful to have someone
Speaker 1: who can encourage you, who also has more knowledge than
Speaker 1: you when it comes to being a successful business owner.
Speaker 1: And SCORE is an excellent place to turn. It stands
Speaker 1: for Service Core of Retired Executives and there are more
Speaker 1: than two hundred and fifty local chapters across the nation.
Speaker 1: And mentorship is a free service that they offer, So yeah,
Speaker 1: we suggest turning their. Score offers other free resources too,
Speaker 1: But this is an organization that lots of helpful smallusiness
Speaker 1: owners are gonna want to consider taking advantage of The
Speaker 1: website is score dot org. Will link to it in
Speaker 1: our show notes. But yeah, having that help from someone
Speaker 1: who's been down the road aways. Let's say, like Matt
Speaker 1: equated to marriage trouble. Right if you're having difficulty with
Speaker 1: your partner right now, talking to someone who knows, whether
Speaker 1: it's a couple in your neighborhood or at your church
Speaker 1: who's been married twenty years longer than you, how helpful.
Speaker 1: Can that be in navigating those waters or going to
Speaker 1: see you know, a license therapist like those those are
Speaker 1: great routes to take. I think the same thing can
Speaker 1: be true if you're daunted by the idea of starting
Speaker 1: your small business. You you have a passion, you want
Speaker 1: to do it, but you're like, I don't even know
Speaker 1: how to get the ball rolling and I don't even
Speaker 1: know whether to know if my idea has legs. Well,
Speaker 1: I think talking to a mentor finding someone at score
Speaker 1: can be like the best way to get started. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and generally speaking, I'll say too as far as ways
Speaker 1: that uh, starting a small business has become less daunting
Speaker 1: than ever is just the general advancement of technology. Just
Speaker 1: think about all the businesses that exist now that couldn't
Speaker 1: have existed just even twenty years ago. One of my
Speaker 1: favorite podcasters was just saying the other day that he
Speaker 1: hasn't had a real job that wasn't Internet based, Like,
Speaker 1: just the Internet alone has allowed for so many industries
Speaker 1: to exist, And I don't think he's alone that that
Speaker 1: experience is becoming more and more common. It is so
Speaker 1: much easier to to find your niche than ever before.
Speaker 1: Whether you're talking about reselling thrift store goods within your
Speaker 1: vintage eBay store, or writing a blog or writing a
Speaker 1: sub stack that helps people. The barriers to getting that
Speaker 1: business started have been almost completely removed. Not that it's
Speaker 1: a complete walk in the park, because starting a small
Speaker 1: business it's not as easy as social media and you know,
Speaker 1: the hashtags make it seem, but technology has has made
Speaker 1: it far less difficult to do the things that we
Speaker 1: want to do. Yeah. Man, I'm always amazed at the
Speaker 1: ways my friends make money on the Internet. I feel
Speaker 1: like every every couple of weeks, I'm finding out a
Speaker 1: different way that someone makes money and I'm just like,
Speaker 1: I didn't know that was possible. Inspiration, It is like congratulations,
Speaker 1: And it just makes me think that there are so
Speaker 1: many opportunities out there for people who desperately want to
Speaker 1: get out of the five um by side us link
Speaker 1: to start to get started, to get the ball rolling
Speaker 1: and find your Internet niche and pursue it with reckless
Speaker 1: abandoned because that could easily turn out to be a
Speaker 1: lucrative day job. And uh yeah, when you're talking about
Speaker 1: technology advancements, Matt, those have clearly help facilitate the creation
Speaker 1: of new businesses. Let's talk about maybe some specific ones
Speaker 1: that are changing the game. And even just something as
Speaker 1: simple as website creation has gotten a million times easier
Speaker 1: in the last ten years, like Wicks, Squarespace, and WordPress
Speaker 1: have made that a whole lot easier and cheaper in
Speaker 1: recent years. And then when you're talking about something like accounting,
Speaker 1: well that's got a lot easier thanks to software improvements
Speaker 1: to like quick Books and zero are two that we
Speaker 1: would mention and mentioned And in zero is x c R.
Speaker 1: Oh by the way, like like xerox, but zero right away. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you don't have to be an accountant or have an
Speaker 1: accountant on board in order to run your books. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you Matt handle a lot of that stuff on
Speaker 1: our behalf. We don't use one of those software programs.
Speaker 1: But I'm also a total nerd. You are a complete nerd,
Speaker 1: and most people would and easy I can myself, and
Speaker 1: most people should chill out a little bit and just
Speaker 1: get the software to do it on their behalf. Um,
Speaker 1: there's like a great uh site and platform called Gusto
Speaker 1: that makes it easier to manage the benefits for employees.
Speaker 1: If you get to that point. There's calendarly for scheduling
Speaker 1: stuff easily, something as simple as newsletters to stay in
Speaker 1: touch with customers. That's never been easier thanks to mail
Speaker 1: Champ and be Hive and companies like that Asano and
Speaker 1: trell Oh to help you manage projects. And then you know,
Speaker 1: we talked about contributing to your retirement accounts earlier, that's
Speaker 1: never been easier than ever before either like Fidelity, Schwab, Bangard,
Speaker 1: they're all there to help you do that as well.
Speaker 1: Like in all these ways, you don't have to have
Speaker 1: a guy or a girl like somebody who you go
Speaker 1: to and have relationship. These are simple platforms where you
Speaker 1: can log in literally right now as you're listening to this,
Speaker 1: or create an account and get started. And it does
Speaker 1: not have to be this overly time consuming thing or
Speaker 1: this this thing that requires this massive team of folks
Speaker 1: who actually are sitting there in the office with you.
Speaker 1: Right it's like having five or six folks, but not
Speaker 1: actually haven't been paying those five or six folks. It's
Speaker 1: so much cheaper, and they're running the ship on some
Speaker 1: of these more technical things on your behalf. There's just
Speaker 1: so much technology that's in your corner now to help
Speaker 1: you kick butt at whatever it is that you want
Speaker 1: to do, spend less time on the stuff that's maybe
Speaker 1: boring or that you feel like you know nothing or
Speaker 1: little to nothing about, and being able to focus more
Speaker 1: on the stuff that you're actually passionate about. And not
Speaker 1: only is there a lot of technology, but there are
Speaker 1: specific banks out there who are on our side as well.
Speaker 1: Like it makes me think back to when we first
Speaker 1: started had money, there were only a couple of free
Speaker 1: online checking account options available to us, one of which
Speaker 1: we we still use today, and I've got to say
Speaker 1: they leave a lot to be desired. Not only is
Speaker 1: the unit user interface pretty terrible, but we're not earning
Speaker 1: any interest. Can you believe that this is something where
Speaker 1: we've gotten used to the days when we thought that
Speaker 1: being able to avoid paying any fees that that was
Speaker 1: what said a great online business checking account apart from
Speaker 1: the others. But now banks are paying around one and
Speaker 1: a half percent, and that's amazing. So we would recommend
Speaker 1: the checkouts and folks like Blue Vine or Novo, even
Speaker 1: American Express. These are all different options available to us
Speaker 1: that literally weren't even available a few years ago. Uh.
Speaker 1: The small business space is constantly evolving and the same
Speaker 1: is true when it comes to the financial services that
Speaker 1: are being offered to small businesses as well. Yeah, how
Speaker 1: in the world did bank accounts go from being worse
Speaker 1: on the small business side to better? Like literally you
Speaker 1: used to have to pay so like show up and
Speaker 1: now they're paying you to show. It's impressive. It's incredible
Speaker 1: that some of these offerings have gotten just superior to
Speaker 1: everyday consumer checking and saving these accounts business side, right,
Speaker 1: that's so legit, that's impressive in today's today's given today
Speaker 1: Uh huh. Well, I just want to mention to one
Speaker 1: thing that you don't need is fancy business cards. I
Speaker 1: think sometimes that's I think that people want most of
Speaker 1: all is to go get like a dope low go
Speaker 1: and they wanted on something physical that they can hand
Speaker 1: out to people. And that's fine, Like you can do
Speaker 1: that if you want to get the desire, especially in
Speaker 1: the digital age that we live, and sometimes folks want
Speaker 1: to have something that feels tangible exactly, but it's mostly
Speaker 1: unnecessary depending on what business you're in. And then and
Speaker 1: then even when we're talking about some sort of fancy website,
Speaker 1: sometimes that's what you want, is you're you're like, I
Speaker 1: want this slick, delightful website that's gonna cost me maybe
Speaker 1: thousands of dollars to create from scratch. But we would say, like,
Speaker 1: at least not in the beginning when we're talking about
Speaker 1: how much money you have to put down to start
Speaker 1: a small business. We want you to wait for some
Speaker 1: of those newer, shinier objects until you've gotten some of
Speaker 1: those base fundamentals down, until you've kind of worked out
Speaker 1: the fact that you have a formula that can lead
Speaker 1: to profit. And if that's the case, if you get
Speaker 1: to that point, then you can kind of start to
Speaker 1: dial in some of those specifics. But there's no reason
Speaker 1: to start spending money on some of these ancillary items
Speaker 1: until you've kind of figured that out. That's right and short.
Speaker 1: What we're saying here is that starting your own small
Speaker 1: business is way easier than you think it's going to be,
Speaker 1: while simultaneously it could be much more laborious than you're expecting.
Speaker 1: There's this old saying that entrepreneurs are willing to work
Speaker 1: eighty hours a week in order to avoid working forty.
Speaker 1: That definitely has some truth to it. Especially in the
Speaker 1: beginning getting your idea off the ground, it might require
Speaker 1: some long nights, uh, some weekends working. This isn't gonna
Speaker 1: be for everyone. And some folks do have a natural
Speaker 1: propensity for doing their own thing. Uh. Some personalities are
Speaker 1: just more suited to the higher risk, the higher reward
Speaker 1: life of business ownership. But keep that in mind. Not
Speaker 1: only is it a higher reward from the standpoint of
Speaker 1: the money that you could potentially make, but also just
Speaker 1: the personal fulfillments and the joy that you would get
Speaker 1: from doing work that aligns uh, and that you're able
Speaker 1: to link to some of the core things that you
Speaker 1: care about. Yeah, Matt, it's so encouraging. I would say
Speaker 1: to see a small business renaissance of sorts like small
Speaker 1: business formation had kind of plateaued to a certain extent,
Speaker 1: and the pandemic gave it this nut, and so many
Speaker 1: folks are deciding to push themselves towards work that they
Speaker 1: have more control over, working for themselves. And we think
Speaker 1: that starting a small business or a micro business is
Speaker 1: a great idea for lots of people. Like you said,
Speaker 1: it's not necessarily for everyone, but more people should at
Speaker 1: least consider it. And you know, one of the things
Speaker 1: that we love is that small businesses actually lead to
Speaker 1: a more resilient economy overall, because new businesses lead to
Speaker 1: more job growth, they create more a more dynamic and
Speaker 1: responsive economy, because we we all know this from doing
Speaker 1: business with some of the biggest companies. The larger they get,
Speaker 1: the less nimble they become, the less responsive they are
Speaker 1: to their customers needs. Most of the time, you know
Speaker 1: your small business can adapt to the changing work environment
Speaker 1: a whole lot faster than the big the big guys can.
Speaker 1: It's like turning a speedboat versus turning a giant cruise ship.
Speaker 1: You you obviously you don't have to and you likely
Speaker 1: shouldn't quit your day job tomorrow unless you're already weigh
Speaker 1: down this path. But hopefully you'll start legitimately considering the
Speaker 1: idea of starting your own small business. You'll start to
Speaker 1: maybe u daydream about the things that you could create.
Speaker 1: You'll start to pursue some of those interests, maybe with
Speaker 1: a little more vigor, realizing that it could lead to
Speaker 1: something successful in the long term. And hopefully just this
Speaker 1: episode helps you realize that it's it's not as difficult
Speaker 1: as maybe it might seem on its face. There's a
Speaker 1: good chance that it's easier than you think. It's going
Speaker 1: to be, but sometimes you just gotta get started in
Speaker 1: order to realize that that's right. All right, let's go
Speaker 1: ahead and get back to the beer that we enjoyed
Speaker 1: this episode, and this one is I'll say it's a
Speaker 1: Leslie Man quote another hint, but it's let's get some
Speaker 1: effing French toast, uh, and you pronounce it French toast.
Speaker 1: But like I said, this was an Imperial style with
Speaker 1: French toast, maple syrup, cinnamon actually, and with lactose in vanilla.
Speaker 1: What were your thoughts on this one? This is actually
Speaker 1: not too terribly dissimilar from the beer from Bramari that
Speaker 1: we had last Wednesday. No, it's not. Was that one
Speaker 1: bumble stick it was like a cinnamon cinnamon brown ale,
Speaker 1: and this is like that. It's like a cinnamon style.
Speaker 1: This one is definitely packing more of a punch. It's bigger,
Speaker 1: it's beastlier because it's this giant stout. And while the
Speaker 1: cinnamon stands out in this one, it's not kind of
Speaker 1: the main note. It's just kind of one in the
Speaker 1: symphony of notes. Yeah, that's a great way of putting it.
Speaker 1: It's it's less of a cinnamon solo more of a
Speaker 1: choir that the cinnamon happens to be a part of exactly.
Speaker 1: And so this I really like this one because I
Speaker 1: like French toast, and so like every every time my
Speaker 1: kids stay the night at my parents house, my dad
Speaker 1: always makes French toast one and it's it's uh all,
Speaker 1: French toast is delicious. It's something I don't I don't
Speaker 1: cook enough, but he doesn't at home, but doesn't do
Speaker 1: it for you, doesn't the kids get to enjoy it,
Speaker 1: but you're stuck at home. Just what it tells me
Speaker 1: all about it the next day or whatever, and then
Speaker 1: I just salivate in jealousy. That's so funny. I wonder
Speaker 1: if that's just one of those meals that so as
Speaker 1: a father, that is a go to breakfast that when
Speaker 1: I'm in charge, that I like to go to. It's
Speaker 1: something that Kate, So Kate handles almost all of the cooking,
Speaker 1: but it's like, you know, I like to get in
Speaker 1: the kitchen a little bit too. It's funny because we're
Speaker 1: talking about cooking at the beginning of this episode, but
Speaker 1: French toast is something that whenever I make, it's a
Speaker 1: special kind of occasion. It's like one of those dad
Speaker 1: things where you get to kind of step in a
Speaker 1: little bit, do something a little extra special. I just
Speaker 1: don't think Kate enjoys French toast. I love it. What's
Speaker 1: not to love about beautifully brown French toast. That's this
Speaker 1: like egg, kind of fluffy, yokie syrup on it, some
Speaker 1: maple syrup on top. I love French toast, um, So
Speaker 1: it shouldn't be any surprise that I love this beer.
Speaker 1: Certainly had a higher degree of sweetness than the brown ale,
Speaker 1: a lot more of those Saturday morning breakfast flavors going
Speaker 1: on in this beer. But I'm glad that you were
Speaker 1: able to pick this one up, that we enjoyed it today.
Speaker 1: It makes me wish I had a cup of coffee
Speaker 1: right next to it while I'm drinking this. Oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: being perfect pairing. Really, you want a cup of coffee
Speaker 1: with your actual French toast. You don't want to have
Speaker 1: coffee next to this beer and a cold liquid at
Speaker 1: the same time. By the way, the movie quote this
Speaker 1: is from fourty year Old Virgin, which is one of
Speaker 1: those classics with Steve Carrell. They don't make comedies like
Speaker 1: they used to. There was like a Golden era of Yeah,
Speaker 1: some of those Turn of the Center three comedies that
Speaker 1: were amazing, but if you haven't watched that one, it
Speaker 1: might be worth checking out in addition to this beer,
Speaker 1: Yeah exactly, all right, that's gonna do it for this episode.
Speaker 1: Best of lux. Starting your small business and let us
Speaker 1: know how it goes for real, let us know. We'd
Speaker 1: love to hear from you. Yes, if you've created something
Speaker 1: from scratch that's amazing and wowing your community, or you've
Speaker 1: created some sort of internet business that is incredible and
Speaker 1: has led you away from your day job, like, drop
Speaker 1: us a line How the Money Pod at gmail dot com.
Speaker 1: We would love to kind of hear what you've been
Speaker 1: up to, how you made it happen, and yeah, your successes,
Speaker 1: those are fun to hear from or posted in our
Speaker 1: Facebook group. Just go to Facebook dot com type and
Speaker 1: how the Money. You'll find our group and there's a
Speaker 1: bunch of people there that love to hear great ideas
Speaker 1: so they can replicate in their own lives. That's right,
Speaker 1: And if you have not yet sign up for our newsletter,
Speaker 1: head to How the Money dot com forward slash newsletter.
Speaker 1: You can sign up there or just scroll down to
Speaker 1: the bottom of the homepage. You'll see the sign up there.
Speaker 1: You will receive some encouraging financial goodness every Tuesday morning.
Speaker 1: But Joel, that's gonna be at this episode, Buddy, until
Speaker 1: next time. Best Friends Out, Best Friends Out,