My Dad ran a Business ... My Dad ran a Company

"My Dad ran a Business... and My Dad ran a Company"

My Job Here is Done™ Transcript (for general use only – machine-generated and it may not be accurate.)

NOTE: This transcript and the audio portion of this episode may contain colorful language that may not be appropriate for all audiences.

Language Disclaimer (00:00) This episode contains colorful language which may not be appropriate in all situations. Turn it down a bit.

Kelli (00:08) My dad worked for himself for most of his life. He had a landscaping company and he did okay with that

Dave (00:12) When he wasn't busy be leading the company's growth and strategy, what did he do for fun?

Kelli (00:18) Fun? Well, if you call working your ass off 18 hours a day, seven days a week fun, then I guess not much.

Dave (00:25) Ohhh ... Your dad had a landscaping "BUSINESS" he ran?

Kelli (00:29) Yeah, that's what I said.

Dave (00:30) No, you said landscaping company.

Kelli (00:32) Tomato, Tomahto -  company business. Same thing.

Dave (00:36) au contraire mon ami

Kelli (00:38) You practiced that just for the podcast, didn't you?

Dave (00:42) I can do it in pig Latin. Want to hear it?

Kelli (00:45) No. Neither does anybody else.

Dave (00:48) Au contraire, there is a huge difference between a business and a company, and we think you're about to have an AHA moment.

Kelli (00:57) (speaking My Job Here Is Done in Pig Latin) Mya Objay Erehay Isyay Onday!  [Laughing]

INTRO (01:08) Hi, I'm Dave, and I've been starting and running businesses all my life. And I'm Kelli, working for the man like a dog for decades. And you are YOU! The driven career professional, clawing your way up the ladder of success - Maybe running your own business. The next 20 minutes or so is just for you. Welcome to My Job Here is Done.

Kelli (01:33) Thanks for joining us today, I'm ElliKay

Dave (01:40)  And I'm AveDay

Kelli and that's enough of that.

Dave Welcome to the podcast. Before we get started, just a quick reminder that you can learn more about the podcast, listen to all of the previous episodes that do not have any Pig Latin in them, read our bonus blog material, and interact with us at our website, MyJobHereIsDone.com and on social media at myjobpodcast. This is the one about a real confusion between what defines a business and what defines a company and what it's like to choose each as a career or a way to make income. Now, you may say tomato, tomahto. But we think before you do, we should pick this apart together today because there are a few pearls of wisdom we can get from talking about this.

Kelli (02:23) Dave says my Dad's landscaping venture was a business, not a company and he's right. But to understand the difference, we need to start way back as far as I can remember when my Dad started his company. Sorry, business.

Dave (02:38) So tell me a little bit about your Dad and what do you remember about his business?

Kelli (02:42) I'm not sure when my Dad started his business. For as long as I can remember, that's what his job was.

Dave (02:47) But it was really when you were young?

Kelli (02:49) Yeah, I was just a little kid. My first memory was my Dad had a landscaping business. I do know he worked for his grandfather in a nursery that he owned, his business, and I think that's where my Dad's love for the outdoors and landscaping started.

Dave (03:04) So there was some sort of a connection within the family. Okay. Well, what was it like for your Dad to own his business based on your perspective growing up?

Kelli (03:13) So my perspective, I was a little kid. First of all, he didn't have any other employees, so he did everything himself. And as a kid, I remember him working tirelessly, doing the physical labor of landscaping. He'd leave for work at sun-up and come home at sun-down, six or seven days a week. And because his work depended on the weather, if the weather was cooperating, he'd work very long days. If the weather was not cooperating, he'd have to work weekends as well to catch up.

Dave (03:44) Yeah, that's tough when you're not in control of the situation, like when the weather pushes you all around like that.

Kelli (03:49) Oh, yeah. There's no planning. I mean, you could try your best, but that's it. He was working most of the time, but when he was home, he was so exhausted that he was absent as well. It was a huge strain on the family. But in hindsight, he was doing everything he could to make a living and support the family.

Dave (04:04) Yeah. And back in those days, there was a work ethic that in a lot of cases we don't see anymore.

Kelli (04:10) Exactly. And because he was a one-person business, after a long day of physical labor, he would close himself inside his office, which was my mother's walk-in closet in the bedroom where he shoved a desk in there, and he would do the billing and other paperwork. He'd close the door, and everybody knew, don't go near the bedroom or even the back of the house.

Dave (04:32) Right. And I bet you there were other challenges that you could find as well.

Kelli (04:35) Oh, yeah. Not only did his ability to work depend on the weather, but it's also seasonal. In the winter, he would have to do snow removal or paint the inside of customer houses. Another stressor, as it was unpredictable. I remember winters were very lean money-wise.

Dave (04:51) Would you say that your Dad was a true entrepreneur, like, in the classic sense of the word, or was he looking for something else by going off on his own?

Kelli (05:01) So I definitely would not have considered him to be an entrepreneur. However, all this happened when I was really young, and as I grew up and turned into a teenager, I never thought to ask him about his career journey.

Dave (05:13) Did he eventually quit the landscaping business? I guess he did, right?

Kelli (05:16) He did. And I think this is a common theme. He quit because it was too much of a strain on him physically. As he got older, it was harder for him to do, and it was a strain on the family.

Dave (05:26) Right.

Kelli (05:26) So he got a job working for a large company locally with a reliable paycheck, holidays off, health insurance, all of that kind of stuff.

Dave (05:34) Oh, yeah. And there's a lesson in there. There's a lesson in there?

Kelli (05:37) Yes. I think the lesson is if you're going to start a business carefully choose what you'd like to do, considering the effect it has on you personally and your ability to sustain it moving forward. Like if it's a physical type of business, and the effect it has on your family.

Dave (05:52) Good points. Interesting story. A classic example of what we're going to define as a business.

Kelli (05:57) Dave, your Dad also was in business. What did he do? Was he an entrepreneur?

Dave (06:01) Yeah, I would think that I would characterize my father as actually being an entrepreneur. He started his business with a partner and they grew the business into a company. Keep listening. The difference between a business and a company will become apparent soon.

Kelli (06:19) That's interesting. So he immersed himself into the company.

Dave (06:23) Besides immersing himself in the company, he also volunteered a lot in the community. He was really active on the Board of Education I remember in our town and between work and extra activities, he was never around. I do remember one time in the kind of kitchen office because, like, your dad had an office in the closet, My dad had his office on a drafting table. And I remember coming into the kitchen one time and he had his head in his hands and he was, bent over toiling over something. And I remember walking up to him and saying, hey, Dad, what's wrong? And he paused and he looked over at me and he said, I just want you to remember something, David. If business were easy, everybody would have one. And that has stuck with me all my life. I must have been eight.

Kelli (07:19) It made an impression on you.

Dave (07:20) If business were easy, everybody would have one. And how true is that today?

Kelli (07:26) How did your dad owning his own company affect you? Was he home more or what?

Dave (07:31) No. He and I also didn't have a really good relationship, and I really don't know why to this day, but I think that's kind of common. I was a handful. And I'll admit it. I know you can't tell just by listening to us on the podcast, but I didn't want to conform to the rules and what I learned later in life, neither did he. And I began to appreciate that not early on in my life, but recently in my life.

Kelli (07:56) Like my Dad, who was running a business, your Dad was also very distracted and busy and didn't have a lot of time for anything else.

Dave (08:04) No. And things seem to be going along pretty well until one day I remember my mother coming to me and saying, we're going to move to another state. And she had, like this fake smile on her face because dad got a new job. And again, at the time, I was too young to understand what happened. Literally. It was not until I was in my 30s that I had enough business experience and the failures to go along with it.

Kelli (08:31) Right.

Dave (08:32) To understand what happened that made us move and what it took for him to get a job elsewhere.

Kelli (08:39) What happened?

Dave (08:40) He brought in a third partner into his company, and he found himself being outvoted too often. Two partners, that was fine. The third was the one that broke the camel's back. It was his company. He started it. But now he didn't have the full say any longer. And I can only imagine how that just tore him up inside being in business myself a number of times when I could not make what I thought was the right decision. I remember that feeling, and I can only appreciate what he went through now today.

Kelli (09:18) What happened?

Dave (09:18) Well, I think he finally gave up. And I imagine he just simply said, fuck it. This is too much trouble. And it's easier for me to sell the company and go to work for somebody else again and not have to put up with all of this. And that is a really important part of our upcoming definition on a company. He was able to sell his company his portion, and thank goodness because that money helped set us up for some pretty tough times coming ahead when we moved. Yeah, well, it's tough for kids and it was tough on me. I think I was around ten years old, so I was beginning to see how things affected people. And I know I didn't want to lose my friend Anthony. Right. I didn't want to start all over again. But I remember that he became very depressed. He eventually quit his job, and unfortunately, he passed away shortly thereafter.

Kelli (10:08) Yeah. After all that, you still followed in his entrepreneurial footsteps.

Dave (10:12) Yeah. You would think, oh, boy, that would scare somebody away. But he was more like me than I ever knew. I think for some people there is really an entrepreneurial gene that can't be suppressed. I think he had it and I know I have it. And as you listen to this, does that resonate with you or does it sound like somebody you know?

Kelli (10:33) And I think it's a formula. I think a personality may have something to do with it as well. And that's why it kind of follows a family line.

Dave (10:41) Yeah, that could be.

Kelli (10:42) Okay. Let's talk about the ways people can make an income and reveal what we believe is the difference between having a business or owning a company. First, let's define what it means to work and make income in various ways to make a living.

Dave (10:55) You can go find a job. Wow, that's obvious. Working for someone else's business or company every day of your entire life.

Kelli (11:04) You'll make a decent living. You can save for retirement, live a classic life, just as the majority of people do all over the world. This provides security but is likely a slow financial crawl.

Dave (11:16) Yes, it is the classic version of an intrapreneur one who works every day climbing the corporate ladder of success one rung at a time. Right. But as an entrepreneur, if you stop working for any reason whatsoever, the paycheck stops cold, your income is gone.

Kelli (11:37) Right? Let's recap. So far, working for someone else or working for yourself and your business has two very similar hard stops. If you stop working, your income stops. Your success or failure stops with you.

Dave (11:52) So you're working for yourself and you've started a business. Is that as far as you'd like to take it? Or there are some next steps and that's turning the business into a company. Now before we go on, the concept here is partially based on author Robert Kiyosaki's book, Rich Dad's Cash Flow Quadrant. In the book, Robert talks about four ways to have money work for you. It's the Quadrant, as he calls it. We'll leave a link to the book in the show notes for you. We've both read Robert's Rich Dad Poor Dad series of books over the years, and we kind of like them. We recommend them to anybody who is venturing into entrepreneurship.

Kelli (12:29) They're great.

Dave (12:30) Our definitions, however, are different and we think a bit more basic. What's the difference in business versus company?

Kelli (12:38) Here's the answer. You created a company out of your business when you yes, you, the owner can literally vanish off the face of the Earth for six months and return to a still thriving and growing company.

Dave (12:52) That's it. That's the whole difference. A business requires you to be there every day for its survival and for you to have an income. A company is a self-sustaining ecosystem of employees, customers, management, and processes that provide you with an income even when you're not there every day.

Kelli (13:14) Pro Tip: You can't start a company. You have to start a business first and turn it into a company.

Dave (13:20) Right? And here are a few ideas on how to help make that happen. We believe the number one way to transform from a business to a company is by getting your employees to perform like they're already in a well-run company from day one.

Kelli (13:35) Make your first employee a part of the business by offering him or her a piece of the action.

Dave (13:40) You should consider setting up something like a real ESOP program< employee stock option program, on day number one. I would not wait on this. Put your new business cap table together and leave room for employees from the very first day. This is really safe, actually very easy to do, and incentivizing. It's like treating the business as a company from day one.

Kelli (14:03) What a great idea. And we have a link in the show notes.

Dave (14:06) We think the next best way to set up a successful path to allow a business to turn into a company is establishing your mission statement, your value statement, and your goals for the first year. On day number one.

Kelli (14:20) Your mission statement should clearly define your brand's purpose. We like short and clear mission statements. We like Caterpillars and this is how it goes: To enable economic growth through infrastructure and energy development and to provide solutions that support communities and protect the planet.

Dave (14:39) So it's all-encompassing. You can see how a mission statement just takes everything into consideration on what you're trying to do with the business moving forward.

Kelli (14:48) Yeah, and it's short and sweet.

Dave (14:49) Mission statements set the foundation for everyone's thinking, dreaming, and innovating.

Kelli (14:55) Next, show your values early, right?

Dave (14:58) In all of my years of creating value statements, I could never come up with one as elegant as my friend Dev Chanchani did at his company. And I'll go through them really quick because it's really quick. These are the company values: Number one, Helpful - We work together to provide world-class services by taking the time to impart our expertise to our clients and each other. We solve problems and seize opportunities as a team. We listen to our clients to help them achieve their goals. Number two, Responsible - We do the right thing by honoring our commitments and follow through. We admit and own up to our own mistakes and learn from them. We earn our client's trust by working with integrity in all that we do. And finally, Entrepreneurial - We think like owners by being resourceful and determined to achieve superior results. Our innovation is fueled by client interaction. We invest wisely to maintain our company's strength and future. That's it. That's the value statement. And the value statement sets the foundation for your culture and ethics. It's a day, one tool.

Kelli (16:13) Finally, set your goals for everyone to see: 1 million in one year, steady profitability with twice the innovation, Mars by 2025.

Dave (16:24) You know, I actually think we're going to do it.

Speaker 4 (16:27) Yeah, I think so.

Dave (16:32) If you thought a couple of years ago, you go Mars. Are you kidding me? No, I think we actually see Mars by 2025.

Kelli (16:40) Right?

Dave (16:40) Goals set the foundation for the pace of work, types of effort, and the resources required, while clearly showing everyone what the win looks like.

Kelli (16:51) Are we saying that everyone who starts a business needs to try to make it into a company? No, not at all.

Dave (16:57) We just want to illustrate that there are differences you need to appreciate in each way. You can achieve income by understanding the differences. You can make better choices. And you also know what the hard stops and blockers are to achieve career success along the way.

Kelli (17:13) Many people are happy employees working for the man like a dog for decades and I say that in a happy and fulfilled way. That's the path I took for most of my life, and I'm glad I did. It didn't mean I compromised myself or denied myself better career options. It simply means that I made the most of that. And today I'm using those experiences in my new ventures, like this podcast.

Dave (17:37) Can you build a great business and be wildly successful?

Kelli (17:40) You bet.

Dave (17:41) Yeah, that's how the majority of businesses around the world operate. They are led by and depend on their founder and owners, and these smart people work very, very hard and make huge contributions to new products, improving services and enabling employee career success. If that's your gig, forge on. You can own one local successful jewelry store business just like Kelli’s friend Cheryl has for the last 20 years. And doing so be happy as a clam in butter sauce.

Kelli (18:09) Clams in butter sauce. Really?

Dave (18:11) Yeah.

Kelli (18:12) Well, I guess as long as you're not allergic to shellfish.

Dave (18:15) I'm not selfish.

Kelli (18:17) So don't be afraid of starting a business or you can aspire to turn your business into a company with 20 jewelry stores, enabling great managers to run each of them while franchising your secret sauce to others.

Dave (18:30) (speaking Thanks for listening in Pig Latin) AnksThay Orfay isteninglay! [laughs]

Kelli (18:36) If you like our podcast, please tell a friend about us. Just one friend or colleague you think would enjoy the content and stories we share. You can listen to My Job Here Is Done anywhere and everywhere podcasts are available and check out our website for the latest info on the show and how you can work with us at myjobhereisdone.com.

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