What do you wish you knew before you started a business? What's your favorite way to market your business? Is there one business platform that has changed your life? When do you know if you've made it? What business book has had the most influence on you and your business? In this episode, a lightning round with Russ and Dana answering the same questions we ask of everyone, we're going to ask of each other so that you can get a little deeper insight into what we feel as business owners.
Follow the podcast at @itsjustbusinesspodcast on all the major podcasting platforms.
Connect with us:
To get in touch with us, email the podcast at itsjustbusinesspodcast@gmail.com.
Join us on Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn - we appreciate your support!
www.itsjustbusinesspodcast.com
You can find Dana @adashofboss, @dana.dowdell and @hrfanatic
Dana Dowdell – Boss Consulting – HR Consulting
Google - https://tinyurl.com/y4wxnavx
You can find Russ @reliable.remediation
Russ Harlow – Reliable Remediation – Disaster Restoration
Google: https://g.page/r/CXogeisZHEjMEBA
What do you wish you knew before you started a business? What's your favorite way to market your business? Is there one business platform that has changed your life? When do you know if you've made it? What business book has had the most influence on you and your business? In this episode, a lightning round with Russ and Dana answering the same questions we ask of everyone, we're going to ask of each other so that you can get a little deeper insight into what we feel as business owners.
Follow the podcast at @itsjustbusinesspodcast on all the major podcasting platforms.
Connect with us:
To get in touch with us, email the podcast at itsjustbusinesspodcast@gmail.com.
Join us on Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn - we appreciate your support!
www.itsjustbusinesspodcast.com
You can find Dana @adashofboss, @dana.dowdell and @hrfanatic
Dana Dowdell – Boss Consulting – HR Consulting
Google - https://tinyurl.com/y4wxnavx
You can find Russ @reliable.remediation
Russ Harlow – Reliable Remediation – Disaster Restoration
Google: https://g.page/r/CXogeisZHEjMEBA
Dana Dowdell 00:04
Hi Russ,
Russ Harlow 00:06
Dana, my dear friends.
Dana Dowdell 00:09
How are you? I'm well, good. So, Russ, and I thought it would be fun. We've been doing a lightning round with our guests recently. And we have been gathering a lot of really good information from the four to five questions that we ask of everyone at the end of an episode now. And what we realized is that we've never answered those questions ourselves. And so, you get, in this episode, a lightning round with Ross and I. So, the same questions we ask of everyone, we're going to ask of each other so that you can get a little deeper insight into what we feel as a business owner. In the same way that we ask our guests. So, we'll start with the first question. I'm going to put that on you rest. What's one thing that you wish you had known before starting a business?
Russ Harlow 01:12
I think the biggest one is like I knew it was going to be hard. Like, I did not expect it to be easy. I think the biggest thing is, I wish I had known just how hard it was going to be. You know, from the long days to the you are planning and trying to figure things out. I mean, things don't always just fall into place. You just wish the universe would just be like, give you a break? And just say here, you've been doing really good. How about something just go your freaking way today?
Dana Dowdell 01:50
Here's a prize for you, Russ.
Russ Harlow 01:52
Man, that would be awesome. But honestly, life's not like that. I don't I don't expect life to be like that. You know, it is a continual grind. And I think, you know, as I realized, you know how hard it is, I think there are other things I need to do to compensate for that, which, you know, to try to do things to help replenish myself, my soul filled the bucket as it were, to kind of recharge, regenerate energy, get new ideas, because when you're exhausted, and when you're dying in the you know, whatever it is, it's you just you don't have the creative juices flowing, you're just trying to survive. And when you're in survival mode. It's even harder. And I think that's, you know, I don't know what your experience has been. But I know for me that I just wish I knew how hard it was. I don't know if I could have prepared for it. But yeah, it's hard.
Dana Dowdell 02:53
Yeah, I think I think that's fair. I think for me, I wish that I had known how many different variations of my business would have existed over the last five years, or six years. And I mean, that in terms of like, I wish that I had known when I first came up with this idea that what my business would be six years from then would be very different. Because I think that I wouldn't have been so stressed about the time and energy and perfectionism that I was trying to apply when I was first doing my website or when I was first you know, making my business cards and my logo and all of that stuff, you know, you put so much put so much pressure on those moments and those things and had I known how different those things would look now I wish that I had not been so stressed about them, you know, or kept or allowed the stress of having those things complete. Keep me from pushing forward
Russ Harlow 04:16
I think another thing for me was when I went into business I went in as a franchise and I was hoping that that was going to give me it wasn't everything was the buck still stops with the business owner, but you have a whole business model form for you that here just run with it. It's not that you don't have to work on it and make it your own. But you know, left the franchise this year and you know, there's no safety net not that there was with them either. And I think that that was another thing that it's a newer challenge that I'm facing now and looking at it go Yeah, I am literally all things in this business. And it's all on me to succeed or not succeed. And that doesn't bother me, because thinking of the alternative and going back to work for someone else, I would rather feel the stress all day every day, you know, 24/7, than to have to think about dealing with a shitty manager, or, you know, somebody who just doesn't have to follow the orders of somebody who just can't do my job or sucks at my job. And that's promoted. Or, you know, just so going back is not an option. So, we drive on, you know, that which does not kill me makes me stronger. There. How about that?
Dana Dowdell 05:34
Okay, yeah. What about your favorite way to market your business?
Russ Harlow 05:40
You know, it's funny, I think. I, I enjoy the marketing process, I like talking about my business. I like creating, you know, doing creative for, you know, put it out in social media. When things get slow, I kind of default to that. But the fact is, it's not driving revenue. So, I have to, just because it's easy for me doesn't mean it's what I need to be doing. Sure. So, while it is my favorite thing to do, because it comes easy. It's not the thing I really need to do, which is the hard thing, which is, you know, building my referral network and creating relationships with people who can refer our business and our service. And that's a little bit harder. And I think that that's the one thing that I need to do better. And honestly, that is a driver, you know, BNI is business to networking, has been as much as 25% of my revenue some years. And that could be even more, or my revenue could be higher, because I have more relationships and more referral partners. And so, I think that's going to be my big focus moving forward, it's going to be my new favorite way to market my business. And not because it's easy.
Dana Dowdell 07:00
Sure. Yeah, I think mine is a combination. I can't say it's a particular, like platform or system or anything like that. I think I echo your sentiment around like the networking and building those strategic partnerships and relationships. I think for me, as well, it's saying yes to service, meaning. You know, we've done a good amount of free trainings, which has established our credibility, and has allowed us to get in front of people that we maybe wouldn't have been able to get in front of before. And so, I'm, I think those opportunities have been really helpful. And then, you know, when we, let's say, for the Chamber of Commerce, for example, you know, if we help to facilitate a free training that the Chamber of Commerce can provide to its members, not only does it get us in front of their members, but it also helps build brand recognition for us. And then when people go to the Chamber of Commerce looking for HR support, we then become the first person in their mind. So, the idea of using service to help build our brand has been really helpful. And then we can use those trainings that we develop, you know, in the future and make money off of them in a capacity. So
Russ Harlow 08:40
yeah, I think that that's a good, that's good advice for a lot of people. You know, one thing we did, when I first opened was tried to spend time with real estate brokerages, and you know, talking to realtors about, you know, myths about mold or dealing with mold during a real estate transaction are so that again, we were top of mind, and we were providing valuable information, that they can look better for their clients, they have somebody in their pocket that they can turn to have great answers. And that generates business for us, the pandemic, put that on hold for two years. And we just got back into the swing of things doing that again. And almost like I'm thinking of a lot of the five we did this past fall, every single one of them led to at least one phone call and some in some lead to business direct business. And so, it's a valuable, valuable thing to get out there as a subject matter expert, provide these things for free. And because they want somebody that they can trust and refer because when you make a referral, you're giving a little piece of yourself. And that's been a really great app. opportunity for us. So, whatever it is, we're whoever in your industry is your product, your service, there's a group out there that needs to know more about you and what you do. And the product and service that you offer and take some time, take an hour, you know, bring them lunch, whatever it takes to get in there and be the face and the name for you know, what your business so that you're top of mind for folks. I think that's great.
Dana Dowdell 10:30
Yeah. What about the one business platform that has changed your life?
Russ Harlow 10:39
You know, I don't know if I don't know. I think that. I mean, I was, we talked about in a previous, just the amount of video that we're trying to put out now. So, you know, YouTube and tick tock, I never thought I would have said that, when we did the that one episode about, you know, get your business on tick tock. And I was like, you know, I opened that app. And I was like, I don't feel like I should be here. And I was like, no, no, no, no, there's there is a place for you there. And we found it. And, you know, like I said, so I think that we're starting to embrace the idea of getting video out there and putting ourselves out there as an expert, and trying to give people information about mold, water damage, the types of things that they're running into. I that's been a big changer for us. I don't know if there's anything that has helped my business run more smoothly, other than, you know, some of the big ones like QuickBooks Online, and, you know, you know, Microsoft and Google Business suites and different things like that, that everybody has. What about you?
Dana Dowdell 11:53
So, I'm in a, I'm in this season of business, where I'm trying to find different platforms that are streamlining our workflow that are helping us take care of clients better. So, I can't say that I have like a new, you know, innovative one, a new CRM or anything like that, that's changed my life. But I would not be able to do business if it were not for the Google suite of products. So particularly Google Tasks. And I feel like Google, their platform, and their functionality just allows us to do business so much better, especially as we continue to do more remote work. And just being able to collaborate on documents together and share documents and build and grow my team. It's been hugely important to have that collaborative space.
Russ Harlow 12:49
Let me say something about the Google Suite, too. It's not so terribly expensive, right? It's really not. And then one of the biggest things that comes with it is that email address, it comes from, you know, boss, consulting, HR, or reliable remediation.com, or whatever it is, it's not reliable, remediation@gmail.com. It's, it's just, it's one little statement that you're professional, you spent the 16 bucks a month to get that email address, or whatever it is, you know what I mean? It's literally nothing. And it's, it shows the professionalism, I think that's a big one, I did think of another one, and that it helps us every day on every job. And if you're a contractor out there are working with anything that needs photo documentation, company cam, is a huge one. We can put all of our clients in there, the projects are go in there, you can upload photos, you can upload videos, they have a great platform that you can do before and after stuff side by side, very easy templates, you can use, you can share, like say that, say your customer is not there, you can just click on 1234 pictures of the 100 You took, send them a link, they can look at it, you can put notation on there, you could write on it, put arrows, hey, this is what's going on. This is what we're going to do. This is what's coming out. There's a report function. I mean, I use it for all my documentation. And my guys all have it on their phones. And you know, it all gets saved to the cloud. I don't have a billion pictures on my phone. So, from a business standpoint, that's a big one. Company cam.
Dana Dowdell 14:31
That's really cool.
Russ Harlow 14:33
It's great for contractors, it's really fantastic.
Dana Dowdell 14:35
I love just the innovation that exists in technology. In terms of like if there's a problem in your business, there's probably a software that can help you with that problem. So that's really cool. What about when did you feel like you had made it?
Russ Harlow 14:54
I don't feel like I've made it as some of that is, you know that the idea that I know we can be doing bigger and better things. I know that I am continually trying to improve myself and get to where I need to be. I'll be honest, I don't know if I'll ever feel like I've made it. That's, that might just be, I don't know, character flaw personality flaw. I don't know. Like, I don't, I don't know if I'll ever feel that way, like the satisfaction of oh, I'm finally there. Because it's just not my nature to kind of rest on my laurels. And so, I think that I don't know if I'll ever feel that. But that's just me, about you.
Dana Dowdell 15:42
I echo that. I mean, I think I try to stay really humble, you know, so I'll have people, I think people think I'm cooler than I actually am. And I say that to people, a lot of times they, you know, I have something that calls me a bad bitch. And I'm like, I really think that you like that you think I'm cooler, or more successful than I actually am. And so, I tried to stay really humble about what we have accomplished. And what we get to do. And I definitely have had a couple of like, pinch me moments. Over the last year, especially like, we just started working with a client, who I remember when I first started business, and it was just me, and I mailed them a letter to want to work with them. And now like five years later, we work together, they probably don't even remember that they probably got it in the mail and throw it right away but throw it away. And I think, you know, those pinch me moments happen. And I it's not like an ocean, I made it. It's more like, oh my god, I'm incredibly grateful for this opportunity or this moment, you know. I will say like, I don't know if I've said it before on this podcast, but like, when someone finds us on Google, I kind of like am holy shit. We're Google Global. Because one I you know, so many of our clients and relationships have been your, you know, years in the making. We're very much a relationship-based business. So, for someone to find us on Google, and be interested in even working with us is really cool. But I don't know that I'll ever feel like I made it either. Because I always think it can be taken away in in the drop of a hat. But that's my anxiety speaking.
Russ Harlow 17:34
No, it's fragile. And I think it's also recognition of just how much hard work it takes to get to where you are. And I think that that's fair. But again, if we're gonna agree on it, we're gonna support each other making that decision and saying, I don't know if I'm ever gonna make it or not that or I'm never gonna feel like I've made it. Right. And I think that's okay. It doesn't mean,
Dana Dowdell 18:01
I was gonna say, I think that happens the podcast, too, like you and I put so much love into this podcast and so much time into this podcast. And we've got to make some incredible connections. And I think for some of our listeners, like, they think we're this, these are cool. podcasters. But Ross and I have really high standards. And I don't think that either of us can sit here and say that, oh, yeah, we've you know, created an incredibly successful podcast. I think, for us, it's just about continuing to connect and highlight business owners and kind of that service over selling perspective, like, we want to meet business owners, because we get so much value from connecting with them. Not necessarily because we're trying to make money off of this podcast, you know, so it's, we could have a million listeners and probably still, like, still feel like we wouldn't have made it just because that's our personality.
Russ Harlow 18:54
Yeah, I'm so floored when we have a guest on and they're like, oh, yeah, I'm a huge fan. I've listened to everything or, you know, I listened every week or I was like, seriously. Like, I mean, I totally appreciate that. I love that people do that. It's just, I get so much out of it that I forget, right? That there are listeners out there. Not I know that we're doing it for people, but at the same time, every time I we interview someone, I'm trying to extract information from me, I'm trying to get better. I'm trying to learn from them. I'm trying to, you know, you know, be better. And hopefully that comes across that authenticity as well. And hopefully people we draw information out of our guests that can help our listeners grow and be better as well. But you're right. I still look at it as it's me and you having a conversation with somebody. We happen to hang the recording online and people listen, people don't whatever. And I yeah, I think I get Florida every time everybody says oh yeah, I'm a big fan. Seriously. I had a landscaper in North Carolina do that to me. He's like yeah, I listen all that time I'm like, holy cow. That's fantastic. Thank you. Oh, man. Yeah, making it what is making it look like I don't even know anymore?
Dana Dowdell 20:11
I know, I don't know, either. What about your favorite business book?
Russ Harlow 20:16
I think it's hard to kind of get down to just one. I think, since I've been in business, probably one of the most influential has probably been the Pumpkin Plan. Just because it really helps you dive into, you know, what, you know, your area of innovation and finding your ideal clients. You know, it connected me with my coach, business coach, Christine era, you know, connected the podcast with a lot of people. Definitely fantastic. from a leadership perspective and business perspective. Probably my favorite one was Extreme Ownership. By jakka, willing and leaf beiben Babban, Navy SEALs, and I listened to it multiple times, it's been really good. I've recommended to anybody who wants to kind of dive into it, the biggest lesson out of that, for me probably was just kind of taking ownership of everything that happens within your business. You know, if the team fails, it's your responsibility. It's not theirs, because you didn't communicate the task to them well enough or give them the tools, they needed to get the job done, right. And when the team succeeds, they get all the success, because they did a fantastic job. It's a really great book. There's a lot on my on that list, though. So, I don't know if I could just go down to just one. Well, I
Dana Dowdell 21:41
think that's a good point. We're constantly learning new philosophies around aspects of being a business owner. I definitely can echo profit first. And just how it's helped me manage my money. I am a big fan of Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People. That is an incredible book that has just kind of changed the way that I think about business relationships. I will say, The Four Agreements, this is more of like a personal book, but I think it also has a good influence on mindset. And then you are a badass by Jensen cero, particularly for women. Just a reminder of your capabilities and your capacity as a person.
Russ Harlow 22:40
I mean, I've done I've gotten into some of the marketing stuff to get different by Mike McCalla wits was one, because to stand out, you have to be different. So that's been a really great book. They asked the that they asked you to answer is about content marketing, and how to create great content. That's really given us some direction as we created a new web page for our new business name when we left the franchise, the E Myth revisited as a classic. And definitely people need to read, because you want to not be a practice, you don't want to be the business. Right? And that's kind of the E Myth kind of gets into that. And you know, what, I really enjoyed thinking Grow Rich, which was a recommendation from one of our guests. And it's a little bit older. I think it was written in the early to mid 1900s. So, some of the things you have to take with a grain of salt, but it brings its own woo, woo into it, and you don't expect it from a buckler. And at that time, really talks about mindset. And there was a 20-year study on some of the most successful, richest, you know, at that time, they were all men, right? It was Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie. I mean, just the Vanderbilt. I mean, how they got to where they are, they all had common qualities in that book. I'm going through a second time now because of the value that you know, I continue to get out of it. So that was by Kyle, Kyle. headin, who recommended that book. And there's a lot of great ones. I wonder if our listeners could maybe shoot us an email or, you know, to give us their recommendations for great business books.
Dana Dowdell 24:38
Yeah, that thinking Grow Rich is one I've heard of before just as being so impactful in business, so I think I need to add it to my list. Add it to my list. Well, this is insightful rest. Hopefully, our listeners gained something from this. It's always good to chat a little bit. get more in depth about business and experience in our own experience. And what we're doing so great.
Russ Harlow 25:08
Yeah, and I just want to be an encouragement, you know, to our listeners too, because it is hard. You know, okay, so we both own businesses, we have a podcast, but that doesn't mean we have our crap together. I mean, we try to we struggle on it every day, please know that you're not alone. Keep working at it, keep driving, keep getting better, you know, find other podcasts to listen to learn from anywhere and everything that you can listen to. And books anywhere you can learn how to be better at business to be better individual, whatever it takes. Be encouraged, because like I just said earlier, if that which does not kill you makes you stronger. Right. And so here we go. And here we grow. We just hit a download milestone as well. So, thanks for listening. We appreciate all of you. Remember, you can find us at it's just business podcasts on all the places we would love if you left us a review. We would love it even more if it was a great one. But we don't mind constructive criticism either. Because we know it's not personal It's Just Business.