WEBVTT - Evaluating Your Tech Stack

0:00:02.120 --> 0:00:04.720
<v Speaker 1>I'm gonna look at black Tech three money. We are

0:00:05.160 --> 0:00:06.280
<v Speaker 1>headed to the end.

0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:08.880
<v Speaker 2>Of the year, and I got a special episode for you.

0:00:08.720 --> 0:00:09.600
<v Speaker 1>In that regard.

0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:14.200
<v Speaker 2>So when I'm making content, I'm thinking about what are

0:00:14.880 --> 0:00:17.120
<v Speaker 2>the question? So I don't make content in a vacuum.

0:00:17.200 --> 0:00:19.520
<v Speaker 2>Let me start there. I don't make content in a vacuum.

0:00:19.560 --> 0:00:21.680
<v Speaker 2>And what I mean by that is, I don't just

0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:25.479
<v Speaker 2>sit around thinking about what should I talk about or

0:00:25.720 --> 0:00:28.120
<v Speaker 2>you know, what should I make a podcast about? Or

0:00:28.160 --> 0:00:30.640
<v Speaker 2>what should I make a video about or etc. I'm

0:00:30.680 --> 0:00:34.760
<v Speaker 2>typically in the mind of what question am I being

0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:39.239
<v Speaker 2>asked most frequently? Or what is an interesting question I've

0:00:39.240 --> 0:00:42.920
<v Speaker 2>been asked recently, or what are things that I'm currently

0:00:43.120 --> 0:00:47.839
<v Speaker 2>engaged with doing like what activities are currently dominating my

0:00:47.960 --> 0:00:51.040
<v Speaker 2>to do list? And about this time of year every

0:00:51.120 --> 0:00:54.960
<v Speaker 2>year since I've been running a business and growing a business,

0:00:54.960 --> 0:00:57.000
<v Speaker 2>I should say, not just running a business, but as

0:00:57.040 --> 0:01:01.080
<v Speaker 2>the businesses have been growing, I'm thinking, you know, as

0:01:01.120 --> 0:01:04.640
<v Speaker 2>I get through, like midway through the fourth quarter, I

0:01:04.720 --> 0:01:09.000
<v Speaker 2>start to evaluate the systems that I'm using, the technology

0:01:09.040 --> 0:01:11.880
<v Speaker 2>that I'm using to run my business. And so what

0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:16.039
<v Speaker 2>I want to talk about today is an exercise that

0:01:16.080 --> 0:01:20.440
<v Speaker 2>I'm going through and that is you know, in December November,

0:01:20.560 --> 0:01:24.200
<v Speaker 2>I'm thinking about what is the what are the things

0:01:24.240 --> 0:01:28.640
<v Speaker 2>that I'm using to run my business.

0:01:27.560 --> 0:01:28.560
<v Speaker 1>And could they.

0:01:28.440 --> 0:01:32.560
<v Speaker 2>Be either switched out to something that is actually appropriate

0:01:32.800 --> 0:01:37.000
<v Speaker 2>for our work, because I'm sure I like some points

0:01:37.000 --> 0:01:40.440
<v Speaker 2>in the year, like whatever you're using in whatever category,

0:01:41.000 --> 0:01:43.320
<v Speaker 2>you know, you may find something like, dang, I wish

0:01:43.720 --> 0:01:46.080
<v Speaker 2>this app did this, or I wish it was more

0:01:46.120 --> 0:01:48.600
<v Speaker 2>easy or more efficient to do this in this app,

0:01:48.720 --> 0:01:51.120
<v Speaker 2>or I wish I had something that was less expensive,

0:01:51.240 --> 0:01:53.720
<v Speaker 2>or I wish I had something that was more robust,

0:01:54.040 --> 0:01:56.880
<v Speaker 2>or something that better fit and better suited your needs.

0:01:57.200 --> 0:01:59.000
<v Speaker 2>And so what I want to talk about today is

0:01:59.080 --> 0:02:03.120
<v Speaker 2>ten categories and concepts for you to consider as you

0:02:03.480 --> 0:02:06.360
<v Speaker 2>evaluate your tech stack at the end of the year,

0:02:06.400 --> 0:02:10.240
<v Speaker 2>because the end of the year is probably the best

0:02:10.280 --> 0:02:14.919
<v Speaker 2>time for you to make a switch. Start so January one,

0:02:14.960 --> 0:02:18.959
<v Speaker 2>you're all new. It is very difficult for me, particularly

0:02:19.000 --> 0:02:22.440
<v Speaker 2>because at least one of my businesses have a customer

0:02:22.480 --> 0:02:25.200
<v Speaker 2>facing side and we hold a lot of customer data.

0:02:25.360 --> 0:02:28.200
<v Speaker 2>So for us to make a switch on our pos

0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:32.080
<v Speaker 2>midyear is a feat and it's not something that's pleasant

0:02:32.120 --> 0:02:34.959
<v Speaker 2>to do at any point, So why make it harder

0:02:34.960 --> 0:02:38.359
<v Speaker 2>on yourself by doing it in the middle of the year.

0:02:38.440 --> 0:02:40.000
<v Speaker 1>So it's best.

0:02:39.760 --> 0:02:43.880
<v Speaker 2>To make a clean break December thirty first to January first,

0:02:44.080 --> 0:02:47.240
<v Speaker 2>so that your staff can get time to prepare with it.

0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:51.280
<v Speaker 2>Your customers or members or users or clients, they have

0:02:51.320 --> 0:02:55.360
<v Speaker 2>an opportunity to recognize that there's a new day. And

0:02:55.400 --> 0:02:57.360
<v Speaker 2>so some of the things I'm going to talk about

0:02:57.400 --> 0:03:00.680
<v Speaker 2>today are things that I use particularly, But I'm not

0:03:00.720 --> 0:03:03.080
<v Speaker 2>going to give you like a bunch of app recommendations

0:03:03.080 --> 0:03:05.240
<v Speaker 2>because it's like super simple to just go to Google

0:03:05.280 --> 0:03:08.360
<v Speaker 2>and say what is the best software for X. So

0:03:08.440 --> 0:03:11.480
<v Speaker 2>what I want to give you are like categories of

0:03:11.880 --> 0:03:15.400
<v Speaker 2>things in your texta that you should be thinking about

0:03:16.080 --> 0:03:19.960
<v Speaker 2>evaluating as you cross from twenty twenty three to twenty

0:03:20.000 --> 0:03:22.760
<v Speaker 2>twenty four. And this is something that will be applicable

0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:26.480
<v Speaker 2>for the foreseeable future. So every year, you know this

0:03:26.560 --> 0:03:30.440
<v Speaker 2>is an episode that would be relevant to this time

0:03:30.520 --> 0:03:33.079
<v Speaker 2>of year. When you can make a clean break from

0:03:33.120 --> 0:03:35.720
<v Speaker 2>what you were doing to what you could be doing,

0:03:35.800 --> 0:03:40.360
<v Speaker 2>that is a better situation for your growth. Here's what's

0:03:40.400 --> 0:03:43.440
<v Speaker 2>important about that is I won't get number one. I

0:03:43.440 --> 0:03:45.960
<v Speaker 2>won't get into a bunch of features of why I

0:03:46.440 --> 0:03:49.520
<v Speaker 2>a bunch of reasons on why I graduated or transitioned,

0:03:51.000 --> 0:03:54.720
<v Speaker 2>as the reasons I graduated from one app to the

0:03:54.760 --> 0:03:58.400
<v Speaker 2>next might not still be applicable today. Like sometimes some

0:03:58.440 --> 0:04:00.560
<v Speaker 2>of the apps that I used to use and switched

0:04:00.600 --> 0:04:03.920
<v Speaker 2>off of because they didn't have X and Y feature,

0:04:04.320 --> 0:04:06.640
<v Speaker 2>they might have those features today. So that's why I'm

0:04:06.640 --> 0:04:07.760
<v Speaker 2>not going to spend like a lot of time like

0:04:07.840 --> 0:04:11.360
<v Speaker 2>giving you actual app recommendations. I may mention some, but

0:04:11.400 --> 0:04:12.839
<v Speaker 2>I'm not going to give you. This is not an

0:04:12.840 --> 0:04:16.520
<v Speaker 2>app recommendation episode. This is about the categories. And further,

0:04:17.040 --> 0:04:21.120
<v Speaker 2>some of the software I used or used simply just

0:04:21.279 --> 0:04:25.479
<v Speaker 2>didn't meet the needs of my growing business, or I

0:04:25.520 --> 0:04:29.479
<v Speaker 2>could foresee that they wouldn't meet the needs ultimately going

0:04:29.480 --> 0:04:32.080
<v Speaker 2>into the next period of growth, whether that be the

0:04:32.120 --> 0:04:35.039
<v Speaker 2>next year or next whatever period however you want to

0:04:35.080 --> 0:04:38.360
<v Speaker 2>determine that. But I could see growth on the horizon.

0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:41.359
<v Speaker 2>So it's appropriate for me at this stage at the

0:04:41.440 --> 0:04:43.120
<v Speaker 2>end of the year, if I'm deciding to make a

0:04:43.160 --> 0:04:47.039
<v Speaker 2>clean break on January one, it's appropriate for me to

0:04:47.080 --> 0:04:51.160
<v Speaker 2>evaluate the forthcoming needs so I can meet the demands

0:04:51.640 --> 0:04:55.160
<v Speaker 2>that my business is going to have before they become problematic.

0:04:55.480 --> 0:04:57.960
<v Speaker 2>So this is again, this is an appropriate time for

0:04:58.000 --> 0:05:01.360
<v Speaker 2>you to be thinking about what app what software, what

0:05:01.440 --> 0:05:06.520
<v Speaker 2>technology am I using currently that may not be best suited

0:05:06.520 --> 0:05:09.479
<v Speaker 2>for me going into this next period. So the first

0:05:09.520 --> 0:05:11.799
<v Speaker 2>one I'm going to bring up is like your accounting

0:05:11.880 --> 0:05:15.599
<v Speaker 2>software I used to use, And I don't want to

0:05:15.640 --> 0:05:19.080
<v Speaker 2>like disparage. I'm not disparaging any software. But at the

0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:22.120
<v Speaker 2>time I was using particular software that I might mention

0:05:22.200 --> 0:05:24.960
<v Speaker 2>that I'm not using anymore. It just didn't meet the

0:05:25.000 --> 0:05:27.560
<v Speaker 2>needs I have at the time. And I started it,

0:05:27.839 --> 0:05:31.080
<v Speaker 2>I evaluated it and in methanies, but as my business grew,

0:05:31.160 --> 0:05:33.279
<v Speaker 2>it's no longer methany So I will.

0:05:33.120 --> 0:05:35.600
<v Speaker 1>Start with talking about fresh Books. Fresh Books was.

0:05:35.600 --> 0:05:38.240
<v Speaker 2>Something that it was an accounting software, and it is

0:05:38.240 --> 0:05:42.520
<v Speaker 2>accounting software that I used to use for Creatio, particularly

0:05:42.520 --> 0:05:44.840
<v Speaker 2>my marketing technology production company.

0:05:44.800 --> 0:05:47.080
<v Speaker 1>And so we used to use fresh Books.

0:05:46.760 --> 0:05:50.960
<v Speaker 2>For invoicing, for sending estimates and receiving money and et cetera.

0:05:51.080 --> 0:05:54.719
<v Speaker 2>But as we started to grow and needed more like

0:05:54.839 --> 0:06:00.560
<v Speaker 2>reporting and more balance sheet, more p and L rope bustness,

0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:06.480
<v Speaker 2>we realized that fresh Books wasn't necessarily suited to do

0:06:06.560 --> 0:06:08.320
<v Speaker 2>a lot of that work. Now again, I want to

0:06:08.400 --> 0:06:10.720
<v Speaker 2>emphasize this, which is why I didn't really want to

0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:14.880
<v Speaker 2>talk about particular apps. Some of the stuff that I

0:06:15.040 --> 0:06:18.480
<v Speaker 2>left for jumping the ship from fresh Books to quick Books.

0:06:19.640 --> 0:06:22.200
<v Speaker 2>Fresh Books could very well have that today at the

0:06:22.279 --> 0:06:24.919
<v Speaker 2>level that I could use it today, but at the

0:06:24.960 --> 0:06:29.000
<v Speaker 2>time when I transitioned, it didn't. And again, so it's

0:06:29.040 --> 0:06:31.919
<v Speaker 2>like no shade on Freshbooks. So if you are looking

0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:35.520
<v Speaker 2>for an accounting software accounting platform to use, I highly

0:06:35.560 --> 0:06:38.400
<v Speaker 2>recommend you at least take a look at fresh Books

0:06:38.440 --> 0:06:41.240
<v Speaker 2>and see if it meets your needs. And so I

0:06:41.400 --> 0:06:44.840
<v Speaker 2>graduated because there were certain things I saw on the

0:06:44.880 --> 0:06:51.919
<v Speaker 2>horizon which would determine I needed more reporting, more again,

0:06:52.000 --> 0:06:56.160
<v Speaker 2>more balance sheet information and feature sets, more P and

0:06:56.320 --> 0:07:00.000
<v Speaker 2>L stuff, more contractor and client you know, break down

0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:02.440
<v Speaker 2>if I wanted to filter down to who I paid,

0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:04.800
<v Speaker 2>why I paid them, which account I paid them, from

0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:08.360
<v Speaker 2>all these different things to the level I needed one

0:07:08.360 --> 0:07:10.520
<v Speaker 2>piece of software didn't have it anymore, and it was

0:07:10.560 --> 0:07:11.840
<v Speaker 2>time to make a clean break.

0:07:12.080 --> 0:07:13.480
<v Speaker 1>And it was easiest to do that.

0:07:13.800 --> 0:07:18.120
<v Speaker 2>From December thirty first to January first, the next one up,

0:07:18.360 --> 0:07:20.880
<v Speaker 2>I would talk about project management.

0:07:20.480 --> 0:07:22.560
<v Speaker 1>Software we used to use.

0:07:22.840 --> 0:07:25.600
<v Speaker 2>Again, no shade on them. In a beautiful company, we

0:07:25.720 --> 0:07:28.440
<v Speaker 2>used to use base Camp from thirty seven Signals. I'm

0:07:28.440 --> 0:07:30.480
<v Speaker 2>not even sure if they're still called thirty seven Signals,

0:07:30.480 --> 0:07:34.200
<v Speaker 2>but we used to use base Camp to manage our

0:07:34.280 --> 0:07:39.120
<v Speaker 2>projects in my company. And so now today we use Asana.

0:07:39.720 --> 0:07:44.440
<v Speaker 2>And the one of the things that was problematic when

0:07:44.480 --> 0:07:45.680
<v Speaker 2>we were growing.

0:07:46.800 --> 0:07:47.120
<v Speaker 1>Is there.

0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:51.040
<v Speaker 2>And there's actually a principle at thirty seven Signals. There's

0:07:51.080 --> 0:07:52.720
<v Speaker 2>a book that they wrote.

0:07:52.720 --> 0:07:55.600
<v Speaker 1>Sometimes let me find the name of the book, because

0:07:55.760 --> 0:07:59.000
<v Speaker 1>it was it was rework. So they wrote this book

0:07:59.040 --> 0:08:01.000
<v Speaker 1>called Rework.

0:08:00.680 --> 0:08:03.320
<v Speaker 2>Back in twenty ten, and I'm going to paraphrase one

0:08:03.320 --> 0:08:05.520
<v Speaker 2>of the principles in and so one of the principles

0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:08.560
<v Speaker 2>was like they built what they built and if it

0:08:08.600 --> 0:08:10.520
<v Speaker 2>works for you, it works for you. Like they didn't.

0:08:10.640 --> 0:08:13.320
<v Speaker 2>They didn't lean into like a lot of customer feedback

0:08:13.360 --> 0:08:16.720
<v Speaker 2>and client feedback to building what they were going to

0:08:16.760 --> 0:08:19.000
<v Speaker 2>put out in the world. They built a lot of

0:08:19.000 --> 0:08:22.480
<v Speaker 2>their software for them to use and then they distributed

0:08:22.520 --> 0:08:26.160
<v Speaker 2>it via the internet. So software, so if it worked

0:08:26.160 --> 0:08:29.480
<v Speaker 2>for you, also that's it. That was awesome, and so

0:08:29.520 --> 0:08:31.920
<v Speaker 2>you could buy it, you could subscribe to it. But

0:08:31.960 --> 0:08:34.680
<v Speaker 2>they didn't like lean on a lot of feedback and

0:08:34.760 --> 0:08:37.560
<v Speaker 2>add a lot of features based on the demand of people.

0:08:37.720 --> 0:08:41.120
<v Speaker 2>Their position was, if what we offer works for you,

0:08:41.800 --> 0:08:45.880
<v Speaker 2>it works for you amazing. If it doesn't, we're not

0:08:45.920 --> 0:08:50.080
<v Speaker 2>for you. And there's an admirable part of that that

0:08:50.200 --> 0:08:52.760
<v Speaker 2>I believe, and there's also parts that just doesn't work

0:08:52.760 --> 0:08:56.959
<v Speaker 2>for me. So we decided to make the jump to Asama,

0:08:57.280 --> 0:08:59.680
<v Speaker 2>which had more features, and I had just a little

0:08:59.679 --> 0:09:02.720
<v Speaker 2>bit more experience because other businesses that I'm into we

0:09:02.880 --> 0:09:05.520
<v Speaker 2>used the Sauna, so I had like a preview of

0:09:05.559 --> 0:09:08.680
<v Speaker 2>the behind the scenes, and I recognized that this would

0:09:08.679 --> 0:09:11.840
<v Speaker 2>also work for Creatio, which is again my marketing technology

0:09:11.840 --> 0:09:15.679
<v Speaker 2>production agency, and so I highly recommend that you if

0:09:15.679 --> 0:09:19.520
<v Speaker 2>you don't have a project management system, you definitely need

0:09:19.559 --> 0:09:22.480
<v Speaker 2>to get one, probably in almost any business you're in.

0:09:23.760 --> 0:09:27.600
<v Speaker 2>Like at toll House, we use Trello because Asauna is

0:09:27.920 --> 0:09:32.280
<v Speaker 2>way too robust for is way too complex, too many

0:09:32.320 --> 0:09:35.200
<v Speaker 2>features for what we need for a toe House, which

0:09:35.240 --> 0:09:39.560
<v Speaker 2>is a private member social club. So Asauna works for

0:09:39.679 --> 0:09:44.200
<v Speaker 2>my marketing technology production agency, is not a fit for

0:09:44.360 --> 0:09:49.040
<v Speaker 2>my hospitality and food and beverage operation. So that's what

0:09:49.080 --> 0:09:51.400
<v Speaker 2>we use over there, and that's Trello because it just

0:09:51.440 --> 0:09:54.760
<v Speaker 2>allows us to simply go in and make edits to boards,

0:09:55.400 --> 0:09:58.080
<v Speaker 2>switch things from more on board to the next depending

0:09:58.120 --> 0:10:01.080
<v Speaker 2>on which status it's in status it is in, and

0:10:01.840 --> 0:10:05.280
<v Speaker 2>that's what we do. So if you don't have a

0:10:05.320 --> 0:10:10.319
<v Speaker 2>project management system at whatever stage you're at, even if

0:10:10.320 --> 0:10:13.760
<v Speaker 2>it's just an idea, it helps you get some organization

0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:16.720
<v Speaker 2>around your thoughts and if you're actively managing your business,

0:10:17.000 --> 0:10:21.640
<v Speaker 2>it helps keep people accountable to where they have responsibility

0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:24.400
<v Speaker 2>and so you can have insight because if you're asking

0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:28.280
<v Speaker 2>everybody or anybody every day what they're working on, where

0:10:28.280 --> 0:10:30.839
<v Speaker 2>they're at in the process and etc. You shouldn't have

0:10:30.880 --> 0:10:32.520
<v Speaker 2>to do that. You should be able to just log

0:10:32.559 --> 0:10:36.400
<v Speaker 2>into a dashboard and see where so and so is

0:10:36.480 --> 0:10:40.800
<v Speaker 2>on this particular task, where the project stands in etc.

0:10:41.240 --> 0:10:42.960
<v Speaker 2>So you should just be able to have a dashboard

0:10:43.000 --> 0:10:45.200
<v Speaker 2>so you can have a high level view of where

0:10:45.280 --> 0:10:47.960
<v Speaker 2>your business is, what are the ongoing projects in, what

0:10:48.120 --> 0:10:52.600
<v Speaker 2>state are they in. So project management software we started

0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:55.400
<v Speaker 2>with Basekent. We're now using Asanna in one of my businesses.

0:10:55.400 --> 0:11:00.160
<v Speaker 2>In another business we use Trello. It works for using

0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:02.600
<v Speaker 2>up is a sales software. So what do you like

0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:05.960
<v Speaker 2>pos like? You know, like, what are you using to

0:11:06.200 --> 0:11:10.160
<v Speaker 2>actually make transactions and so some of these, like with Creatio,

0:11:10.520 --> 0:11:14.000
<v Speaker 2>we're making the transactions by invoicing, so quick Books allows

0:11:14.080 --> 0:11:16.880
<v Speaker 2>us to do that. So not only are we getting

0:11:17.000 --> 0:11:20.000
<v Speaker 2>the accounting features, but we also can you know, use

0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:23.040
<v Speaker 2>the sales features to where I can send you an estimate,

0:11:23.400 --> 0:11:26.640
<v Speaker 2>you can accept that estimate, it automatically converse it over

0:11:26.640 --> 0:11:29.000
<v Speaker 2>to an invoice, you can pay against it right inside

0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:32.120
<v Speaker 2>the same application. It's automatically dumped into the reports and

0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:34.560
<v Speaker 2>et cetera. So I don't have to do anything on

0:11:34.679 --> 0:11:37.080
<v Speaker 2>the toll house side, which is again you know, hand

0:11:37.080 --> 0:11:41.960
<v Speaker 2>in hand combat it's a hospitality, food beverage. We use

0:11:42.160 --> 0:11:45.959
<v Speaker 2>Square and so in side Square we have our customer accounts.

0:11:46.520 --> 0:11:48.120
<v Speaker 2>You can build house accounts in there.

0:11:47.960 --> 0:11:48.720
<v Speaker 1>So you could.

0:11:48.840 --> 0:11:52.880
<v Speaker 2>We don't, but you could allow people to aggregate their

0:11:53.040 --> 0:11:56.440
<v Speaker 2>transactions over a month and just automatically build against their

0:11:56.480 --> 0:11:57.400
<v Speaker 2>credit card which.

0:11:57.240 --> 0:12:00.240
<v Speaker 1>Is on file at the end of the month. We

0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:00.840
<v Speaker 1>don't do that.

0:12:00.920 --> 0:12:03.360
<v Speaker 2>So whenever you come in, you just provide your member

0:12:03.400 --> 0:12:05.800
<v Speaker 2>I D and we just ran the transaction when you're

0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:09.080
<v Speaker 2>done for the day. So but Square is what we

0:12:09.280 --> 0:12:09.920
<v Speaker 2>use so far.

0:12:10.040 --> 0:12:13.000
<v Speaker 1>Now, I had a lot of consternation with some of.

0:12:12.960 --> 0:12:16.240
<v Speaker 2>The issue some of the features or lack of features

0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:18.920
<v Speaker 2>that Square had. But one of the things that I

0:12:18.960 --> 0:12:23.280
<v Speaker 2>have to consider are the issues that I have with

0:12:23.440 --> 0:12:28.480
<v Speaker 2>Square such that it makes sense to transition to another one,

0:12:28.559 --> 0:12:31.280
<v Speaker 2>Because I mentioned, we have a lot of customer accounts

0:12:31.320 --> 0:12:35.319
<v Speaker 2>on here and so there's a very high barrier to

0:12:35.720 --> 0:12:38.760
<v Speaker 2>making that transition. Then it would be if I just

0:12:38.840 --> 0:12:43.680
<v Speaker 2>had a shop that has one transaction and I never

0:12:43.720 --> 0:12:46.600
<v Speaker 2>really see you again, or I don't hold any of

0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:51.000
<v Speaker 2>your customer data. But for me, I invested a lot

0:12:51.000 --> 0:12:54.640
<v Speaker 2>of money in terminals handheld, you know, mobile sales devices,

0:12:55.880 --> 0:12:58.840
<v Speaker 2>and so I need to calculate and I have, you know,

0:12:58.880 --> 0:13:02.600
<v Speaker 2>a bunch of customer I have to calculate, is making

0:13:02.640 --> 0:13:07.000
<v Speaker 2>that change a reasonable ROI? Am I going to realize

0:13:07.000 --> 0:13:10.480
<v Speaker 2>a reasonable ROI in a certain amount of time that

0:13:10.559 --> 0:13:13.000
<v Speaker 2>makes it makes sense for me to change from one

0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:17.160
<v Speaker 2>POS to another POS. Again, it's not just switching up

0:13:17.160 --> 0:13:19.679
<v Speaker 2>the software, but now I also have to buy new

0:13:19.760 --> 0:13:22.600
<v Speaker 2>terminals to be able to go swipe credit cards. So

0:13:22.640 --> 0:13:25.280
<v Speaker 2>those are things that you have to consider and consider

0:13:25.320 --> 0:13:28.440
<v Speaker 2>them diligently. Do your research before you pick one, because

0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:32.080
<v Speaker 2>once you pick one, it is very difficult and costly

0:13:32.160 --> 0:13:35.640
<v Speaker 2>to get out of one, especially if you are building

0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:38.319
<v Speaker 2>relationships with your customers and your clients, if you're just

0:13:38.400 --> 0:13:41.600
<v Speaker 2>doing like one time swipe and keep it moving, it's

0:13:41.640 --> 0:13:45.080
<v Speaker 2>a lot easier for you to make that change. So

0:13:45.160 --> 0:13:47.600
<v Speaker 2>one of the concepts I want you to consider is,

0:13:47.880 --> 0:13:50.720
<v Speaker 2>you know, you really want to build, as you're thinking

0:13:50.760 --> 0:13:54.760
<v Speaker 2>about your systems, a single source of truth. So whether

0:13:54.800 --> 0:13:58.880
<v Speaker 2>that is what it is is a dashboard effectively, so

0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:01.720
<v Speaker 2>a dashboard that you can log in at any time,

0:14:02.320 --> 0:14:05.200
<v Speaker 2>whether it be an app or whether it be you know,

0:14:05.240 --> 0:14:08.360
<v Speaker 2>something you built yourself, like an Excel spreadsheet that has

0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:12.440
<v Speaker 2>things automatically dumping into it in the appropriate spots. No

0:14:12.480 --> 0:14:16.599
<v Speaker 2>matter what your industry, you want something that's either prepackaged

0:14:16.720 --> 0:14:19.920
<v Speaker 2>or something that you built that allows you to have

0:14:19.960 --> 0:14:22.760
<v Speaker 2>a single source of truth. And what I mean by

0:14:22.760 --> 0:14:27.920
<v Speaker 2>that is sometimes like when you're using different pieces of software,

0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:31.520
<v Speaker 2>you know, you might have one customer reference in two

0:14:31.520 --> 0:14:34.840
<v Speaker 2>to three places across different pieces of software, and sometimes

0:14:34.840 --> 0:14:37.400
<v Speaker 2>things will get out of sync and not everything has

0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:39.680
<v Speaker 2>an API to where they can all loop in talk

0:14:39.720 --> 0:14:41.840
<v Speaker 2>to each other. And so what you want to make

0:14:41.880 --> 0:14:46.120
<v Speaker 2>sure of is is my sales reflected appropriately in this

0:14:46.240 --> 0:14:48.960
<v Speaker 2>app versus this app versus this app and one way

0:14:49.080 --> 0:14:52.960
<v Speaker 2>to determine that is by having a single source of

0:14:53.080 --> 0:14:56.520
<v Speaker 2>truth to where I only look at my sales information

0:14:56.960 --> 0:14:59.640
<v Speaker 2>in this application because I know if I look at

0:14:59.640 --> 0:15:03.160
<v Speaker 2>it over there, it might not account for certain variables,

0:15:03.840 --> 0:15:06.880
<v Speaker 2>and I only use that particular app over there for

0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:10.160
<v Speaker 2>such and such thing like For instance, we've been looking

0:15:10.240 --> 0:15:14.720
<v Speaker 2>at seven shifts, which is an app just for scheduling

0:15:15.480 --> 0:15:19.320
<v Speaker 2>our team, So when we're scheduled making next week's schedule

0:15:19.360 --> 0:15:21.280
<v Speaker 2>for when people are going to work at toll house,

0:15:21.840 --> 0:15:26.040
<v Speaker 2>seven shifts is a remarkable scheduling app. And they also

0:15:26.200 --> 0:15:29.800
<v Speaker 2>do payroll. They also do tip pooling. They also do

0:15:30.000 --> 0:15:32.280
<v Speaker 2>also do also do they do a bunch of things.

0:15:32.960 --> 0:15:35.280
<v Speaker 2>We didn't want to use them for all those other things,

0:15:35.400 --> 0:15:38.480
<v Speaker 2>but no matter what, no matter that, we decided to

0:15:38.600 --> 0:15:41.480
<v Speaker 2>use them for those other things once we integrated.

0:15:40.960 --> 0:15:42.480
<v Speaker 1>It with Square.

0:15:42.800 --> 0:15:46.840
<v Speaker 2>It's pulling all this other information, but it doesn't account

0:15:46.880 --> 0:15:50.920
<v Speaker 2>for all the other variables Square is accounting for. So

0:15:51.160 --> 0:15:54.600
<v Speaker 2>I have to be determined and disciplined and only paying

0:15:54.640 --> 0:15:59.160
<v Speaker 2>attention in seven shifts to the scheduling information because I

0:15:59.680 --> 0:16:03.600
<v Speaker 2>know the labor information and the sales information that it's

0:16:03.760 --> 0:16:08.240
<v Speaker 2>automatically pulling. No choice of mind. But just because they're integrated,

0:16:08.680 --> 0:16:11.320
<v Speaker 2>the information that is pulling from over there is not

0:16:11.400 --> 0:16:12.200
<v Speaker 2>going to be accurate.

0:16:12.240 --> 0:16:13.160
<v Speaker 1>It might be close, it.

0:16:13.200 --> 0:16:17.200
<v Speaker 2>Might be correct at some point or another, but my

0:16:17.400 --> 0:16:21.280
<v Speaker 2>single source of truth regarding sales is in Square and

0:16:21.320 --> 0:16:24.280
<v Speaker 2>that's the only place I'm gonna look for an accurate

0:16:24.400 --> 0:16:29.360
<v Speaker 2>accounting of our sales information. So I said all that

0:16:29.440 --> 0:16:33.000
<v Speaker 2>to say, what you want is to build a dashboard

0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:37.440
<v Speaker 2>or find some software that you trust that is hopefully

0:16:37.840 --> 0:16:41.440
<v Speaker 2>uh industry specific to whatever it is you're building. And

0:16:42.000 --> 0:16:44.600
<v Speaker 2>most industries have these. Whether you're in trucking, or you're

0:16:44.600 --> 0:16:46.600
<v Speaker 2>in marijuana, or you're in you know.

0:16:46.640 --> 0:16:47.880
<v Speaker 1>Food and beverage or whatever.

0:16:47.920 --> 0:16:54.480
<v Speaker 2>Most industries have dedicated and software built for that particular

0:16:54.800 --> 0:16:58.920
<v Speaker 2>industry and the nuances that relate to that industry. So

0:16:58.960 --> 0:17:01.160
<v Speaker 2>you want to find one that is most appropriate to

0:17:01.280 --> 0:17:06.400
<v Speaker 2>your industry as you can, and then utilize just that

0:17:06.880 --> 0:17:11.440
<v Speaker 2>for the truth about what's happening in your business. The

0:17:11.520 --> 0:17:15.760
<v Speaker 2>next one up, I want to give you another concept,

0:17:15.760 --> 0:17:17.680
<v Speaker 2>and that was you know, these are why these are

0:17:17.760 --> 0:17:20.399
<v Speaker 2>worthy investments because sometimes, you know, even in the beginning

0:17:20.400 --> 0:17:27.080
<v Speaker 2>of my businesses, I was notorious and serious about hacking

0:17:27.119 --> 0:17:32.800
<v Speaker 2>together my own stuff and at some point you have

0:17:32.880 --> 0:17:38.000
<v Speaker 2>to invest in actual technologies that help you do these

0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:41.199
<v Speaker 2>things better and help you see around the corners that

0:17:41.240 --> 0:17:44.760
<v Speaker 2>you might not even recognize. So, especially when you're venturing

0:17:44.800 --> 0:17:48.840
<v Speaker 2>into a new industry, these apps and these softwares, these

0:17:48.880 --> 0:17:54.240
<v Speaker 2>applications might have you do things inside them that you

0:17:54.280 --> 0:17:59.400
<v Speaker 2>didn't even consider were important to do regarding that industry.

0:17:59.520 --> 0:18:02.680
<v Speaker 2>And so again, just to give you an example, let's

0:18:02.760 --> 0:18:06.800
<v Speaker 2>let's pull Creatio. So CREATI against a full service marketing

0:18:06.840 --> 0:18:11.359
<v Speaker 2>technology production agency, and so I didn't know how to

0:18:11.440 --> 0:18:15.600
<v Speaker 2>do forecasting. But if you use a particular app based

0:18:15.640 --> 0:18:19.040
<v Speaker 2>on your sales, you know, and if you're using it,

0:18:19.160 --> 0:18:21.879
<v Speaker 2>especially over time, it starts to learn, Hey, you know,

0:18:22.520 --> 0:18:25.440
<v Speaker 2>in the end of the third quarter beginning of the

0:18:25.480 --> 0:18:28.399
<v Speaker 2>fourth quarter, your sales spike, and you should expect to

0:18:28.440 --> 0:18:31.840
<v Speaker 2>be at these particular numbers, you know, based on your

0:18:31.880 --> 0:18:36.080
<v Speaker 2>growth over time, and so then you can plan accordingly.

0:18:36.160 --> 0:18:37.960
<v Speaker 2>You might need to staff up, you might need to

0:18:38.000 --> 0:18:40.840
<v Speaker 2>staff down, you might need to invest in new equipment,

0:18:40.880 --> 0:18:43.159
<v Speaker 2>you might need to you know, start to talk to

0:18:43.240 --> 0:18:46.760
<v Speaker 2>different types of clients and customers. And so those are

0:18:46.840 --> 0:18:50.520
<v Speaker 2>insights that I would not have been able without the

0:18:50.560 --> 0:18:54.600
<v Speaker 2>assistance of other technologies to be able to put together

0:18:54.680 --> 0:18:57.360
<v Speaker 2>on my own. I may have known in my mind

0:18:58.320 --> 0:19:01.879
<v Speaker 2>that we grow, we spike in business around certain times

0:19:01.880 --> 0:19:05.359
<v Speaker 2>of the year, but to actually have insights into what

0:19:05.480 --> 0:19:08.040
<v Speaker 2>is going on to in my business.

0:19:08.640 --> 0:19:12.840
<v Speaker 1>Is very, very helpful. So these are worthy investments to make.

0:19:12.880 --> 0:19:13.160
<v Speaker 1>And so.

0:19:14.600 --> 0:19:17.639
<v Speaker 2>My point there is there does come a stage in

0:19:17.680 --> 0:19:20.880
<v Speaker 2>your business to where you cannot just continue to do

0:19:20.960 --> 0:19:25.040
<v Speaker 2>things alone. And here is a great segue into this

0:19:25.119 --> 0:19:28.840
<v Speaker 2>next one. And so I do not allow anybody on

0:19:28.960 --> 0:19:35.000
<v Speaker 2>my staffs, any of my staffs to create individual documents

0:19:35.040 --> 0:19:38.320
<v Speaker 2>and to email them to people. For instance, you cannot

0:19:38.359 --> 0:19:41.439
<v Speaker 2>on my team create a word document and email it

0:19:41.480 --> 0:19:44.720
<v Speaker 2>to me. If you are creating anything in the toe

0:19:44.800 --> 0:19:48.360
<v Speaker 2>house team creative team, even is better be on a

0:19:48.720 --> 0:19:53.680
<v Speaker 2>Google doc or Google Drive, because I don't want multiple

0:19:53.760 --> 0:19:57.320
<v Speaker 2>versions of a document out there in the wild. Because

0:19:57.359 --> 0:20:00.440
<v Speaker 2>what happens is is I'm going to create a word document.

0:20:00.720 --> 0:20:02.239
<v Speaker 2>You know, I have to pick on Microsoft, but I'm

0:20:02.240 --> 0:20:04.320
<v Speaker 2>going to create a word document and I'm going to

0:20:04.359 --> 0:20:08.480
<v Speaker 2>email you that document as an attachment, and you might

0:20:08.560 --> 0:20:11.040
<v Speaker 2>make changes to it. I might make changes to it

0:20:11.119 --> 0:20:13.280
<v Speaker 2>after I emailed it to you. And now guess what,

0:20:13.359 --> 0:20:16.199
<v Speaker 2>there's two versions of that document, and potentially three versions

0:20:16.200 --> 0:20:18.120
<v Speaker 2>of that document because you might have made a change.

0:20:18.440 --> 0:20:20.360
<v Speaker 2>I might have made a change, and now we got

0:20:20.400 --> 0:20:25.080
<v Speaker 2>to reconcile the changes. And so I don't allow people

0:20:25.119 --> 0:20:27.919
<v Speaker 2>to do that in my team. So if you're working

0:20:27.960 --> 0:20:30.359
<v Speaker 2>with documents, or if you're working with spreadsheets, or if

0:20:30.359 --> 0:20:34.280
<v Speaker 2>you're working with presentations, on my teams, we use Google Drive.

0:20:34.440 --> 0:20:39.080
<v Speaker 2>So I'm using Google Pages to create these things. I'm

0:20:39.160 --> 0:20:43.320
<v Speaker 2>using Google Sheets to make these things. I'm using all

0:20:43.359 --> 0:20:50.240
<v Speaker 2>of Google's Google's offering of different applications to create our stuff.

0:20:50.520 --> 0:20:52.560
<v Speaker 2>So that way, if you want to make a change,

0:20:52.880 --> 0:20:55.800
<v Speaker 2>I can see you making a change on this one

0:20:56.160 --> 0:21:00.239
<v Speaker 2>single document, and I can see the whole history of

0:21:00.359 --> 0:21:02.560
<v Speaker 2>changes that have been made, and I can go backward

0:21:02.600 --> 0:21:04.439
<v Speaker 2>in time. If I want to change back to a

0:21:04.480 --> 0:21:07.200
<v Speaker 2>previous version of this thing, I can see the last

0:21:07.200 --> 0:21:10.000
<v Speaker 2>time you logged in to look at it. If I'm

0:21:10.040 --> 0:21:13.639
<v Speaker 2>just emailing you attachments, you lose that ability to be

0:21:13.800 --> 0:21:16.359
<v Speaker 2>able to make sure that you have one document that

0:21:16.480 --> 0:21:20.439
<v Speaker 2>is accurate. And so whether you decide to use Google

0:21:20.520 --> 0:21:24.160
<v Speaker 2>Drive or you decide to use Microsoft Office and send

0:21:24.280 --> 0:21:27.760
<v Speaker 2>links to documents and etc. Instead of attachments to documents,

0:21:28.119 --> 0:21:30.560
<v Speaker 2>these are things that are much more suited to making

0:21:30.600 --> 0:21:34.119
<v Speaker 2>sure you stay streamlined. I will say, though, and this

0:21:34.240 --> 0:21:37.560
<v Speaker 2>is again, I did not mean to say anything negative

0:21:37.560 --> 0:21:40.760
<v Speaker 2>about Microsoft. Is Microsoft's fantastic company, and I will give

0:21:40.760 --> 0:21:42.720
<v Speaker 2>them a little bit of kudos in just this way.

0:21:42.920 --> 0:21:44.640
<v Speaker 1>I believe the Outlook app for.

0:21:44.640 --> 0:21:48.440
<v Speaker 2>iPhone is hands down the best email client there is

0:21:48.480 --> 0:21:50.680
<v Speaker 2>for business. So if you are looking for if you're

0:21:51.160 --> 0:21:52.920
<v Speaker 2>looking for something better, even if you like the one

0:21:52.960 --> 0:21:57.240
<v Speaker 2>you got, the Outlook app for iPhone, if you're in business,

0:21:57.480 --> 0:22:02.840
<v Speaker 2>hands down the best email client. The next one is

0:22:03.119 --> 0:22:07.159
<v Speaker 2>social media management. And so I used to number one,

0:22:07.200 --> 0:22:08.000
<v Speaker 2>I'm sitting in front of.

0:22:07.920 --> 0:22:09.280
<v Speaker 1>My desktop all day long.

0:22:09.520 --> 0:22:11.879
<v Speaker 2>My laptop is, but I'm sitting in front of a

0:22:11.920 --> 0:22:15.760
<v Speaker 2>computer all day law. I'm not always in my phone,

0:22:15.760 --> 0:22:18.760
<v Speaker 2>it's always with me, but I'm managing several businesses, so

0:22:18.800 --> 0:22:24.160
<v Speaker 2>it's often a lot easier to do tasks via my laptop.

0:22:25.160 --> 0:22:30.560
<v Speaker 2>And so I used to publish, you know, posts to

0:22:30.800 --> 0:22:34.600
<v Speaker 2>our many our various social media accounts directly on the

0:22:34.640 --> 0:22:37.160
<v Speaker 2>desktop clients, whether it was Facebook or whether it was Twitter.

0:22:37.320 --> 0:22:41.720
<v Speaker 2>Twitter used to have a nice Mac compatible desktop client.

0:22:41.720 --> 0:22:43.960
<v Speaker 2>They don't anymore. X X doesn't have one.

0:22:44.000 --> 0:22:44.440
<v Speaker 1>Anymore.

0:22:45.320 --> 0:22:51.680
<v Speaker 2>So now we use buffer for particularly our LinkedIn content

0:22:52.600 --> 0:22:57.399
<v Speaker 2>and that's LinkedIn. Yeah so cause Facebook launched Facebook Business Suite,

0:22:57.960 --> 0:23:02.800
<v Speaker 2>which allows us to do it right inside the Business Suite,

0:23:02.840 --> 0:23:05.440
<v Speaker 2>and so I don't have to go to an external

0:23:05.520 --> 0:23:11.760
<v Speaker 2>third party source to schedule social media content. Facebook offers

0:23:11.800 --> 0:23:15.000
<v Speaker 2>that they didn't used to. They didn't always offer this.

0:23:15.119 --> 0:23:18.520
<v Speaker 2>We used to do everything via Buffer or Who's Sweet.

0:23:19.119 --> 0:23:20.800
<v Speaker 2>Now we just use Buffer. And the reason we use

0:23:20.840 --> 0:23:23.760
<v Speaker 2>Buffer versus who Sweet is Buffer was just less expensive

0:23:23.800 --> 0:23:27.200
<v Speaker 2>and for the types of features that we needed Buffer

0:23:27.280 --> 0:23:30.520
<v Speaker 2>suffice who Sweet is a fantastic app also, but it

0:23:30.560 --> 0:23:33.640
<v Speaker 2>was just more expensive for the team that we had.

0:23:34.240 --> 0:23:38.359
<v Speaker 2>But you should have something that allows you to plan

0:23:38.480 --> 0:23:41.159
<v Speaker 2>out all of your social media content. You should not,

0:23:41.760 --> 0:23:45.520
<v Speaker 2>as a business owner, be sitting on your phone, Hey,

0:23:45.560 --> 0:23:47.320
<v Speaker 2>I gotta get a post up before the end of

0:23:47.359 --> 0:23:50.000
<v Speaker 2>the day, like you should really legit, be spending a

0:23:50.080 --> 0:23:53.520
<v Speaker 2>Sunday night or a Sunday afternoon or a Saturday night

0:23:53.760 --> 0:23:58.200
<v Speaker 2>scheduling out into the next week so that it's just automatic,

0:23:58.480 --> 0:24:02.159
<v Speaker 2>happening automatically, Because unless you have something that you just

0:24:02.320 --> 0:24:04.560
<v Speaker 2>really want to post because it's something cool that happens

0:24:04.560 --> 0:24:07.600
<v Speaker 2>in the moment you really want to think more strategically

0:24:07.680 --> 0:24:10.800
<v Speaker 2>about your social media content, and the way to do

0:24:10.840 --> 0:24:13.639
<v Speaker 2>that is to sit down and actually plan it. And

0:24:13.720 --> 0:24:17.960
<v Speaker 2>so planning it in software that allows it to be

0:24:18.040 --> 0:24:22.119
<v Speaker 2>automatically posted without you having to come back and post

0:24:22.160 --> 0:24:26.720
<v Speaker 2>it manually is very very good and efficient use of

0:24:26.760 --> 0:24:29.600
<v Speaker 2>your time and dollars. And so again, Buffer is one

0:24:29.640 --> 0:24:31.520
<v Speaker 2>that allows you to do this. You can set on

0:24:31.560 --> 0:24:33.479
<v Speaker 2>Buffer not to sell I'm not trying to sell it,

0:24:33.800 --> 0:24:36.520
<v Speaker 2>but I love that I can set the times of

0:24:36.640 --> 0:24:41.040
<v Speaker 2>day that our posts typically work on, and it'll even

0:24:41.080 --> 0:24:44.480
<v Speaker 2>give you insights on when posts. It recommends that you

0:24:44.640 --> 0:24:47.960
<v Speaker 2>schedule posts for and you can schedule out as far

0:24:48.040 --> 0:24:50.520
<v Speaker 2>into the future as you like. And so and you

0:24:50.520 --> 0:24:53.080
<v Speaker 2>can have multiple social media accounts in it, so I

0:24:53.119 --> 0:24:55.800
<v Speaker 2>can see everything right there on one dashboard, whether it

0:24:55.880 --> 0:24:59.800
<v Speaker 2>be Facebook and Instagram, Pinterest, even LinkedIn all of these,

0:25:00.000 --> 0:25:02.240
<v Speaker 2>I can see YouTube, I can see them all on

0:25:02.240 --> 0:25:05.120
<v Speaker 2>one dashboard, and I can see the calendar of content

0:25:05.160 --> 0:25:08.359
<v Speaker 2>that is set to publish out in the future. One

0:25:08.440 --> 0:25:10.840
<v Speaker 2>more I would give you maybe two more. I'll give

0:25:10.880 --> 0:25:13.240
<v Speaker 2>you another. One that you really need to think about

0:25:13.520 --> 0:25:17.760
<v Speaker 2>as we cross over into a new year is purchasing

0:25:18.400 --> 0:25:21.479
<v Speaker 2>and keeping track of your purchasing. I used to up

0:25:21.560 --> 0:25:24.520
<v Speaker 2>until maybe even just a couple of months ago, all

0:25:24.560 --> 0:25:28.360
<v Speaker 2>of our purchases on Amazon would be like on an

0:25:28.359 --> 0:25:32.919
<v Speaker 2>individual Amazon account. Now I was using a business card,

0:25:33.720 --> 0:25:38.520
<v Speaker 2>my credit card, but I was not using Amazon Business

0:25:38.640 --> 0:25:43.239
<v Speaker 2>the business suite, which allowed me to create delegations, It

0:25:43.280 --> 0:25:46.240
<v Speaker 2>allowed me to create departments, it allowed me to create

0:25:46.320 --> 0:25:49.159
<v Speaker 2>cost centers. And so for this one, it makes the

0:25:49.200 --> 0:25:52.000
<v Speaker 2>most sense to talk about toll House. And so when

0:25:52.000 --> 0:25:55.840
<v Speaker 2>we were building Tollhouse, I was using my Amazon account with.

0:25:55.920 --> 0:25:58.200
<v Speaker 1>The credit card, the appropriate credit cards, so that's the.

0:25:58.160 --> 0:26:01.240
<v Speaker 2>Right thing to do. But I was using a regular

0:26:01.280 --> 0:26:04.800
<v Speaker 2>Amazon account to buy things that toll House needed. Whether

0:26:04.840 --> 0:26:07.760
<v Speaker 2>those were cogs, those were calls of this old whether

0:26:07.800 --> 0:26:11.200
<v Speaker 2>they were like things that we were reselling, or ingredients

0:26:11.240 --> 0:26:13.679
<v Speaker 2>or whatever that we needed to make the things. I

0:26:13.800 --> 0:26:15.919
<v Speaker 2>was using the regular Amazon account. But now with an

0:26:15.920 --> 0:26:21.199
<v Speaker 2>Amazon Business account and all other accounts that you can imagine,

0:26:21.320 --> 0:26:24.720
<v Speaker 2>it allows me to actually do run the reports that

0:26:24.760 --> 0:26:28.760
<v Speaker 2>I need come tax time and business evaluation time, and

0:26:28.800 --> 0:26:32.440
<v Speaker 2>so I can see if we bought a particular thing

0:26:32.720 --> 0:26:37.400
<v Speaker 2>from Amazon for this particular department or space or location

0:26:37.600 --> 0:26:41.360
<v Speaker 2>inside a Toehouse. Toll House has five bars, five lounges,

0:26:41.400 --> 0:26:44.720
<v Speaker 2>a coffee house, a cigar lounge, a jazz club, a

0:26:44.760 --> 0:26:48.919
<v Speaker 2>coworking space, all inside of one footprints twenty five thousand

0:26:48.960 --> 0:26:51.800
<v Speaker 2>square feet, and so each of those locations, each of

0:26:51.840 --> 0:26:56.240
<v Speaker 2>those bars are run like a different revenue center. And

0:26:56.320 --> 0:27:01.000
<v Speaker 2>so previously I would not be able to buy some

0:27:01.119 --> 0:27:05.560
<v Speaker 2>equipment on Amazon and dedicate it to a particular revenue center.

0:27:06.200 --> 0:27:11.000
<v Speaker 2>Now on Amazon, because I'm using the Amazon Suite, I

0:27:11.040 --> 0:27:15.119
<v Speaker 2>can say, Okay, I'm buying this particular thing using the

0:27:15.160 --> 0:27:17.119
<v Speaker 2>same credit card, and I can put multiple ones on

0:27:17.160 --> 0:27:18.679
<v Speaker 2>there for my team to even if they have to

0:27:18.680 --> 0:27:21.440
<v Speaker 2>make purchases. I'm using this and about I'm going to

0:27:21.520 --> 0:27:26.199
<v Speaker 2>attribute this cost to a particular place inside tohouse. So

0:27:26.280 --> 0:27:28.359
<v Speaker 2>at the end of the year or whenever you want,

0:27:28.640 --> 0:27:31.000
<v Speaker 2>I can go look and see how much money I

0:27:31.040 --> 0:27:35.919
<v Speaker 2>spent in this particular department based on the things that

0:27:35.960 --> 0:27:39.160
<v Speaker 2>I'm buying. You can't do that with just a regular

0:27:39.400 --> 0:27:43.360
<v Speaker 2>Amazon account, and so that's just Amazon. So if you're

0:27:43.400 --> 0:27:47.119
<v Speaker 2>buying things from other outlets and other retailers, look and

0:27:47.160 --> 0:27:49.920
<v Speaker 2>see if they have business accounts that you can set up.

0:27:50.480 --> 0:27:53.200
<v Speaker 2>Often they will want documentation like you know, they want

0:27:53.240 --> 0:27:58.000
<v Speaker 2>to see your corporate structure, those documents from the state

0:27:58.080 --> 0:28:00.399
<v Speaker 2>that you're in. They may want to see your EI

0:28:00.520 --> 0:28:02.720
<v Speaker 2>in documents. They want to see some sort of letterhead

0:28:02.760 --> 0:28:06.439
<v Speaker 2>that says you are authorized to make transactions on behalf

0:28:06.480 --> 0:28:09.200
<v Speaker 2>of this company. But the reason why you want to

0:28:09.240 --> 0:28:11.760
<v Speaker 2>do that is not only for the reporting, but often

0:28:12.160 --> 0:28:15.280
<v Speaker 2>they will have B to B discounts because they want

0:28:15.280 --> 0:28:19.320
<v Speaker 2>to do business with businesses, and so there's there are

0:28:19.320 --> 0:28:22.160
<v Speaker 2>many websites that will allow you to get ten percent off,

0:28:22.200 --> 0:28:25.199
<v Speaker 2>fifteen percent off just because you're a business. And so

0:28:25.280 --> 0:28:27.919
<v Speaker 2>that's something that you think about how you're purchasing, not

0:28:28.160 --> 0:28:32.440
<v Speaker 2>just be purchasing properly using a company card, but also

0:28:32.560 --> 0:28:36.280
<v Speaker 2>what type of account you're using on many of these websites,

0:28:36.560 --> 0:28:39.760
<v Speaker 2>you don't want to just use these as individual personal accounts.

0:28:40.000 --> 0:28:44.000
<v Speaker 2>See if they have professional business accounts that you can

0:28:44.040 --> 0:28:47.680
<v Speaker 2>set up once you get your corporation documentation in order.

0:28:48.000 --> 0:28:51.840
<v Speaker 2>Last one I'll give you is help desk software. So

0:28:52.000 --> 0:28:56.560
<v Speaker 2>we currently at toe house, if you ever email the

0:28:56.600 --> 0:29:02.200
<v Speaker 2>front of house, it automatically goes into our help desk software.

0:29:02.600 --> 0:29:04.880
<v Speaker 2>I believe today we use fresh Desk, So if you

0:29:05.000 --> 0:29:08.520
<v Speaker 2>email a specific email address that we created for a

0:29:08.560 --> 0:29:13.080
<v Speaker 2>toe house, a ticket is automatically created. And the reason

0:29:13.600 --> 0:29:16.760
<v Speaker 2>for the reason why this is important is because in

0:29:16.800 --> 0:29:20.920
<v Speaker 2>the earlier days, months ago, not too long ago, because

0:29:21.000 --> 0:29:23.400
<v Speaker 2>I remember the pain and heartache of this, we would

0:29:23.440 --> 0:29:26.520
<v Speaker 2>get all these emails inbound from either members or people

0:29:26.520 --> 0:29:28.560
<v Speaker 2>who wanted to be members, or people who have a

0:29:28.640 --> 0:29:32.560
<v Speaker 2>members and we were always chasing down. There were several

0:29:32.560 --> 0:29:35.080
<v Speaker 2>of us that managed the front of house email address,

0:29:35.480 --> 0:29:38.959
<v Speaker 2>and so we would get these emails and we would

0:29:39.000 --> 0:29:42.920
<v Speaker 2>believe that somebody responded to it, but we didn't know

0:29:43.320 --> 0:29:46.600
<v Speaker 2>if somebody responded to it, and so and we didn't

0:29:46.640 --> 0:29:48.480
<v Speaker 2>know how long it took, or we didn't know what

0:29:48.520 --> 0:29:50.960
<v Speaker 2>they said, and so you would all I would always

0:29:51.040 --> 0:29:54.640
<v Speaker 2>have the director that if anybody emails somebody BCC me,

0:29:54.720 --> 0:29:56.800
<v Speaker 2>I want to see all the emails that goes out.

0:29:57.000 --> 0:29:59.880
<v Speaker 2>And so that is not like a full proof system.

0:30:00.480 --> 0:30:03.640
<v Speaker 2>And so a fool proof system is to actually use software.

0:30:03.680 --> 0:30:06.760
<v Speaker 2>And so sometimes they would becc meet, sometimes they will

0:30:06.800 --> 0:30:10.320
<v Speaker 2>forget to sometimes it got lost in the shuffle, whatever happened.

0:30:10.640 --> 0:30:15.360
<v Speaker 2>But now using the help desk software, we can all

0:30:15.480 --> 0:30:19.840
<v Speaker 2>see when somebody emails this particular email address that we

0:30:19.880 --> 0:30:24.520
<v Speaker 2>created our front of house email address. It's automatically a ticket,

0:30:24.600 --> 0:30:26.480
<v Speaker 2>so we know that the ticket is still open and

0:30:26.560 --> 0:30:29.760
<v Speaker 2>hasn't been responded to, or if it's pending we're waiting

0:30:29.800 --> 0:30:32.760
<v Speaker 2>for a response from the member or the client, or

0:30:32.800 --> 0:30:35.040
<v Speaker 2>if it's been closed. Hey, this thing has been handled,

0:30:35.320 --> 0:30:38.320
<v Speaker 2>and I can go see the whole chain, the whole

0:30:38.520 --> 0:30:41.800
<v Speaker 2>thread of conversation that went back and forth, which also

0:30:41.840 --> 0:30:46.320
<v Speaker 2>allows me to ensure that we're responding appropriately in the tone,

0:30:46.560 --> 0:30:50.560
<v Speaker 2>in the carefulness, in the level of care and respect

0:30:50.600 --> 0:30:53.400
<v Speaker 2>that we have for our members. I can see it.

0:30:54.080 --> 0:30:57.640
<v Speaker 2>So if we're just diving into emails with no salutation,

0:30:58.200 --> 0:31:00.160
<v Speaker 2>we don't do that at toll house. And if I

0:31:00.240 --> 0:31:04.040
<v Speaker 2>see that, I can chime in directly to the person

0:31:04.080 --> 0:31:07.080
<v Speaker 2>who respond to and say, hey, when we respond to emails,

0:31:07.120 --> 0:31:09.680
<v Speaker 2>this is how they should look. You should give a greeting,

0:31:10.400 --> 0:31:13.400
<v Speaker 2>give a salutation, say their name, all of these different things.

0:31:13.400 --> 0:31:16.040
<v Speaker 2>So it allows me to create processes and operations.

0:31:16.240 --> 0:31:17.280
<v Speaker 1>And I leave you with.

0:31:17.320 --> 0:31:23.440
<v Speaker 2>This particular thing. This whole episode is about a business

0:31:23.440 --> 0:31:27.600
<v Speaker 2>principle that I thoroughly believe in because I found it

0:31:27.640 --> 0:31:31.440
<v Speaker 2>to be true and every the successful business owners founders

0:31:32.360 --> 0:31:35.920
<v Speaker 2>at whatever level they are at all adhere to it,

0:31:35.960 --> 0:31:41.320
<v Speaker 2>whether they cognitatively do it or not. Is I believe

0:31:42.080 --> 0:31:47.720
<v Speaker 2>you can run a business without processes and operations, but

0:31:47.840 --> 0:31:52.240
<v Speaker 2>you cannot grow on without processes in operations. So this

0:31:52.520 --> 0:31:56.400
<v Speaker 2>entire episode is for people who want to grow. If

0:31:56.440 --> 0:32:00.400
<v Speaker 2>you are happy in your corner of the universe doing

0:32:00.440 --> 0:32:03.640
<v Speaker 2>your thing in the lifestyle company that you know, it

0:32:03.720 --> 0:32:07.400
<v Speaker 2>pays your particular home bills, you might employ you and

0:32:07.640 --> 0:32:08.720
<v Speaker 2>your kid.

0:32:09.280 --> 0:32:09.960
<v Speaker 1>But if you are.

0:32:09.840 --> 0:32:15.360
<v Speaker 2>Trying to grow, processes and operations and all the ways

0:32:15.400 --> 0:32:18.400
<v Speaker 2>that you run your business cannot be in your mind.

0:32:18.760 --> 0:32:23.080
<v Speaker 2>They need to be written down somewhere, particularly like something

0:32:23.120 --> 0:32:26.200
<v Speaker 2>that just shareable. And so it is important that you

0:32:26.240 --> 0:32:30.360
<v Speaker 2>get your business out of your head into a system.

0:32:30.600 --> 0:32:33.440
<v Speaker 2>And so I hope you get something out of this episode.

0:32:33.600 --> 0:32:35.480
<v Speaker 2>I spend a lot of time on this one because

0:32:35.520 --> 0:32:37.600
<v Speaker 2>I actually have to do a whole bunch of note

0:32:37.640 --> 0:32:40.320
<v Speaker 2>taking in bullet points because I live this every day.

0:32:40.360 --> 0:32:42.640
<v Speaker 2>And so I hope that you got something out of it.

0:32:42.680 --> 0:32:45.160
<v Speaker 2>If you did hit me in my DM on Instagram,

0:32:45.240 --> 0:32:47.640
<v Speaker 2>I'm at will Lucas. You don't even have to actually

0:32:47.720 --> 0:32:49.440
<v Speaker 2>even DM me. I might even just make a post

0:32:49.480 --> 0:32:51.000
<v Speaker 2>so you can just put it right in the comments

0:32:51.000 --> 0:32:52.680
<v Speaker 2>on the post, but I do hope you got something

0:32:52.680 --> 0:32:55.560
<v Speaker 2>out of it. If you know somebody who would have

0:32:55.560 --> 0:32:58.360
<v Speaker 2>benefit from this episode, also please share this with them.

0:32:58.560 --> 0:33:00.760
<v Speaker 1>So black tech, green money. I'm well, Lucas