It's Not About The Money

Retrospective on the Many Hats of an Entrepreneur interviews
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Tyler started another business
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[00:00:05] Tyler: So I'm learning something about myself, Steve, which I never thought would be true, not in a million years. Well, first of all, I never thought I'd do any kind of entrepreneurial thing. And then I started coaching practice and suddenly I'm starting a second thing. I don't know if I, uh,

[00:00:22] Steve: Uh

[00:00:25] Tyler: life.

I don't think so. Like this idea, I just get excited about these ideas. Uh, what actually. Kick this one off is my business partner. He's a great friend of mine. We used to be roommates, uh, years ago. He called me just to commiserate about work, about his day job or something. And he made kind of an offhanded comment.

Like, I just want to build something with people I like. And of course I was like, how serious are you about that statement? Because I have just the thing. Do you like me? Do you like me enough to build something? Anyway, that's what, that's it. It [00:01:00] literally just started just like that. It was crazy. So

[00:01:03] Steve: I, I, I like that approach. That's how this podcast came to be.

[00:01:08] Tyler: it is

[00:01:09] Steve: so, uh, yeah, just want to build something with people you like. That's great. So was it your idea or his, the actual thing?

[00:01:17] Tyler: uh, so the thing is a local email newsletter. So it's very, very simple, very basic business model. Yeah. Gain email subscribers of people who live in our town, sell ads, you know, summarize what's happening in the town, let people know what's going on in the weekend, the news, all the, all the things like that.

That was a terrible elevator pitch, but this is brand new. So I haven't had time to refine that yet, but basically our, you know, everything that's happening in our town delivered to you for free. That's the, that's the basic premise. Uh, it's not an original idea. I heard about it, uh, back in 2017 and I kind of wanted to do it back then.

I even bought a domain. But then it didn't, you know, didn't go anywhere. And so it's kind of been percolating ever since then. And it just seems [00:02:00] like, I don't know. I don't know what attracts me to it so much. It's very scalable. It's very outsourceable. A lot of, you know, the operations side of things. Uh, but mostly I love the idea.

Uh, it's not the kind of newsletter where you're going to get hundreds of thousands of subscribers and sell ads to AI tools for like thousands of dollars per issue or anything like that. It's not really like a million dollar business, I don't think. But I think it. Does have the potential to have tens of thousands of subscribers based on the size of the city where I live.

Uh, and you know, maybe six figures or even multiple six figures if we do a really good job. I mean, so, so like kind of a lifestyle business, I guess, but, uh, so that's not necessarily, this isn't like my get rich quick or like retirement plan necessarily, but it's, you know, The side benefit of networking with all the business people in the town and getting to know the community better.

And that's been super fun and that's already happening and it's just a blast. So

[00:02:58] Steve: Nice.

[00:02:59] Tyler: yeah,[00:03:00]

[00:03:00] Steve: Yeah. That, that part of it, I can relate to because I'm doing some of that here where I live, the networking aspects of it. I am

[00:03:07] Tyler: I've been so. Well, maybe you should, I don't know.

[00:03:10] Steve: yeah,

[00:03:11] Tyler: been jealous of you because you're always meeting all these cool, like all the guests that we just, uh, or many, if not most, not all. Cause there were a few that weren't, that you didn't meet through your networking, but like most of them you did, like you're meeting really awesome people, really competent people, really smart people.

And, uh, you know, so I guess this is a little bit of my version of that unintentionally, but it's definitely a cool side benefit.

[00:03:36] Steve: Very cool. I'm excited for you.

Hello there, dear listener. I am Steve.

[00:03:47] Tyler: And I'm Tyler and welcome to another episode of It's Not About The Money. The podcast where we help you gain the clarity you need to run a successful small business.

[00:03:56] Steve: Tyler has a financial coaching practice, I run a tax [00:04:00] business, and we are both small business owners like you. This podcast is our exploration of entrepreneurship, one episode at a time. And we're back here, just the two of us.

Retrospective of the Many Hats of an Entrepreneur series
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[00:04:11] Tyler: So speaking of all those people we talked to, uh, we, we did some, we did it. We interviewed people on our podcast, Steve.

[00:04:19] Steve: We did. That was a lovely little series. The Many Hats of an Entrepreneur.

[00:04:24] Tyler: Yes, it was. I, I have to say, I wasn't really sure what to expect either on the logistical level of like how to do podcast interviews with other people or like what would come of it or what I would learn, but it turns out I learned a ton

[00:04:39] Steve: Mm hmm.

The process of like the, the actual interviewing is very different from just you and me talking. so I, I learned a lot from that. And of, and of course the actual topics that we discussed were eyeopening and fascinating. Uh,[00:05:00]

[00:05:00] Tyler: of us talking, what are some of the differences that you noticed?

[00:05:05] Steve: personally, I find it easier to interrupt you or just kind of like jump in than, than a guest where we're like trying to. showcase them. And so I don't want to like, just jump in and walk all over what they were saying, where, uh, when it's just you and me talking, like, I, I'm less shy about that, I guess.

[00:05:27] Tyler: As it should be, I suppose.

[00:05:29] Steve: Uh huh.

[00:05:30] Tyler: And hopefully less nervous. I don't know. I got nervous actually a little bit,

[00:05:33] Steve: I did. Yeah, I did too.

[00:05:34] Tyler: like, you know, Oh, um, we interviewed a lot of successful people who are further along in their journeys than we are, which is a really cool opportunity. Yeah.

[00:05:44] Steve: Yeah. And it's cool to be in, The same space with folks like that, where they're, they're further along and you can kind of have something to look forward to and they can share their wisdom and experience with you.

[00:05:58] Tyler: Yeah. And everyone was [00:06:00] so generous that way, actually,

[00:06:02] Steve: yeah.

[00:06:03] Tyler: like very generous to come on the podcast, very generous to share their stories, their expertise. And they were just like, so fun to talk to. It's so easy to talk to.

[00:06:12] Steve: Uh huh. And I hope for the listeners, it has also been valuable just to kind of cover those, those broad topics that, you may or may not know a lot of detail about, and just from me having met these folks and kind of been exposed to their businesses and the kinds of things that they talk about, the things they do, I've learned a lot from that.

And then being able to bring them on here and talk specifically about asking them questions for the kinds of folks that are in our audience.

[00:06:42] Tyler: yeah, yeah. And I'm just looking through the list here of, of all the people that we interviewed and seriously, I learned a lot from all of them. I mean, we did nine interviews. All from different. You know, areas of [00:07:00] business.

Steve's takeaways
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[00:07:00] Tyler: I'm curious for you, Steve, were there any lessons learned from this interview series that impacted you in such a way that you actually changed the way you were doing something with your business or impacted your strategy somehow, or the way you're thinking about how you put your business?

[00:07:16] Steve: I think the biggest one for me was our conversation with Erica Goode

[00:07:21] Tyler: hmm.

[00:07:22] Steve: just the way that she has built her business to be, uh, restricted in the number of hours she has to spend on it every week. And it's still bringing in plenty of revenue. Like I would be overjoyed if I could get to that level of revenue, uh, at all, especially if it was only 15 hours a week.

[00:07:42] Tyler: Yeah, no kidding. She's living the dream.

[00:07:45] Steve: yeah, exactly. And, and that's, her business is kind of in the same field that I aspire to be in as well, the sort of the fractional CFO space where right now I do tax work and it's a little more. technical [00:08:00] and hands on,

[00:08:01] Tyler: Mm hmm.

[00:08:01] Steve: uh, but advisory, you can be, uh, you can scale that a little, a little better, I think.

Anyway, so, but the, the thing that I really got from her is being intentional about setting the boundaries of, I, I'm allowing work to take up this much time in my life, this much space, this much mental energy, and no more. If, if I want to do something, it's got to fit inside that box. And so, uh, I'll find ways to be more efficient, more intentional about what I let in and how I do it.

So that the thing can grow in the way that I want it to.

[00:08:45] Tyler: Yeah. Yeah. And I also love her story of how it grew so slowly, but that was a good thing for her.

[00:08:54] Steve: Right. I find that very encouraging as well. That, that I, to sort of [00:09:00] counteract all of the noise of like, grow now, grow quickly, grow big, um, it doesn't have to be that way. It can, if you want, that's fine too, but that's, that's not really, that wouldn't work for me right now. And I don't think that's what I want anyway.

I would like to grow slowly, gradually, kind of discover what it is. exactly that I want to specialize in, find the right clients, uh, you know, that can take time and that's fine.

[00:09:26] Tyler: And, uh, side note, it's a great reason to choose the kind of business if you're someone like us who has a day job that they like and pays the bills and is a great career, but they also have kind of want to scratch this itch of starting something of their own,

[00:09:45] Steve: Yeah.

[00:09:45] Tyler: Uh, I think, I think our particular circumstances are pretty fertile soil for that kind of business to grow in because it can be slow and it should be slow.

And then, you know, you kind of just cross bridges as you get to them when it comes to making choices about if you [00:10:00] need to change any of that.

[00:10:02] Steve: Yeah. Uh, I was talking to some other folks, uh, recently here locally over coffee a few weeks ago, uh, and I said something like this, that I sort of want the business to grow slowly and intentionally. And they. Uh, you know, they have bigger businesses than I do and they have employees and so they're much further along on the journey, but they kind of agreed with that sentiment of like wishing that they had, uh, taken like one, one big thing at a time instead of trying to tackle all of it.

At once. Uh, so that's kind of an advantage of going slowly is you can like, focus on this aspect of the business, get that tuned to where you want it to be, and then move on to the next thing. You don't have to sort of fight all of the fires at once when you're growing quickly.

[00:10:54] Tyler: Yeah.

Tyler's takeaways
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[00:10:57] Steve: So what about you? Was there one that, [00:11:00] uh, stood out or particularly changed the way you, you think about running your business? Yeah.

[00:11:06] Tyler: I think there were a few. The one that comes to mind right now was our conversation with Juliana about marketing and how, you know, what is marketing. I, uh, being uneducated, uneducated on that topic, uh, found myself confusing the term with advertising, like buying ads or SEO or whatever tactic you may do to drive traffic to your website or find clients, get leads, whatever, and she helped me understand that actually, uh, there's like a, a layer on top of all that, which is strategy, right?

Who are your customers? Who are you trying to reach? And then once you understand that and you, and you come to understand over time, what your offer actually is and who you are actually trying to serve, then you can develop, a multifaceted strategy that may or may not include things like having a podcast, buying Facebook ads, [00:12:00] you know, engaging in SEO, like what you choose to do to generate business for yourself is totally going to depend on what you're trying to accomplish. And for me, that kind of took some of the pressure off. Cause I've tried a lot of those things. I've tried SEO and we're here doing a podcast. You know, I've dabbled in purchasing ads, uh, which basically led to feeling like I wasted a lot of money

[00:12:25] Steve: Mm hmm.

[00:12:26] Tyler: with not much to show for it, except for learning, which is valuable, of course, but you know, um, What I really wanted was a million dollars or whatever.

But anyway, so anyway, that, that really helped me. And, um, I was very encouraged by her comment that sometimes it takes a couple, two to three years. I think she mentioned kind of offhand. It could take two to three years to really find out what you're trying to do as a business. And I think that's fascinating.

And that made me feel so much better. Like you could iterate. It. Throw stuff at the wall, see what sticks. It's like testing, right? It's a [00:13:00] scientific process. You have a hypothesis, you take some actions, you measure what worked, what didn't work, what are you going to, what variable are you going to change on the next test and keep going?

So anyway, that was very reassuring to me and it helped me calm down about marketing and find, finding out, and even like, who's my niche? Who am I trying to serve? What am I trying to do here? I've got time.

[00:13:22] Steve: Yeah. Yeah. I had forgotten about that. I, I liked that part of the conversation as well. Like it's okay if it takes, yeah, you know, we're, we're only, well, I think we're both, what, like two years into this

[00:13:34] Tyler: Almost. I think you're a little ahead of me.

[00:13:36] Steve: Okay. So, you know, we still got time.

[00:13:40] Tyler: I will say I've gone back and re listened to each of these interviews that we did more than once. All of them.

[00:13:48] Steve: hmm.

[00:13:49] Tyler: Uh, actually, I've got a question for James. The last one that we did about websites. I was listening to it a second time and he mentioned on Webflow, which is what I use for, to build my [00:14:00] website and host my website, uh, a feature that I've been trying to figure out for like ever for years and I don't know how to do it.

And he's just like, Oh yeah. It was like, uh, filtering content in your CMS. Cause like in WordPress, that's so easy. You just create a tag, you tag the content. You know, each item in your CMS with a tag, it's like in WordPress. I don't, or sorry, in Webflow. I, that's not like built in and

[00:14:22] Steve: Oh

[00:14:24] Tyler: I haven't been able to figure it out.

So I need to like write him an email or something like, Hey, um, you know, when you casually mentioned being able to do this in Webflow, like I couldn't even find it on Reddit, so can you please, anyway,

[00:14:40] Steve: I'm sure he knows how to do it now.

[00:14:42] Tyler: I have some ideas about how it can be accomplished, but I'm curious. Anyway, point is I've listened to these all multiple times and, uh, you know, really tried to apply the best of learnings to what I'm doing with my own business.

And I think, so if nothing else, this has been a very valuable exercise for me.

[00:14:58] Steve: Yeah, for [00:15:00] sure. It's a lot of great nuggets of wisdom in here.

[00:15:04] Tyler: And it's also just so cool. You kind of alluded to this earlier, but just to associate with other people who are. Doing business, you know, all my life I've basically been an employee, which is great. And I love it, but this is a different feeling and it's kind of fun. It's like a different kind of association almost.

I'm not sure how to describe it, but people with the different focuses.

[00:15:27] Steve: Yeah. And you, uh, what's, what's that old, uh, Quote, you become like the people that you hang out with.

[00:15:35] Tyler: Oh

[00:15:36] Steve: You, you turn out like your friends, something like that. Anyway,

[00:15:40] Tyler: You're the sum of the people, the five people you spend the most time with or something. Yeah. Something we know the gist of what you're trying to say. Yeah.

[00:15:46] Steve: Yeah. So being able to like kind of expand our, uh, circle of associates to include. Business owners has been really fun and very interesting. [00:16:00] They're always fascinating people,

[00:16:02] Tyler: That is true. Yeah.

[00:16:04] Steve: just interesting stories and interesting businesses and how they got to where they are, where they want to go. I love it.

Future episodes: just Tyler and Steve
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[00:16:12] Tyler: So, uh, moving forward, we're taking a break probably from interviewing people though, I think, right?

[00:16:18] Steve: Yeah. And so it'll go back to just you and me for a while at least.

[00:16:24] Tyler: That'll be nice. I've got some serious, uh, questions for you. Like, uh, you hinted the other day that you've been keeping, you've continued to keep a spreadsheet about McDonald's. I just, I have to know what that is all about. And yeah, very curious about that. Curious to hear more about how, how, how's business, you know, what fun projects are you working on at home around the house, you know, whatever, all the good stuff.

[00:16:48] Steve: I'm looking forward to doing book club episodes and Talking about software that we like, you know, all of these all of these things.

[00:17:00] Tyler: It's been too long since we have sung the praises of our Todoist and our YNAB and our whatever else we use.

Steve: yep, exactly.