Are you ready to swap the stability of a 9-5 job for the uncertainty and excitement of self-employment? Wondering if you have what it takes to be your own boss? Brace yourself for an eye-opening discussion as we share our personal journey from the cubicle to the entrepreneurial world, and how it wasn't as smooth-sailing as it seems. Discover the trials and triumphs of setting up a startup, from deciphering tax jargon to maintaining a flexible work schedule and the crucial skill of money generation. Rest assured, while the road to self-employment is littered with obstacles, it is a journey of growth where you learn to embrace discomfort.
As we step into the world of self-employment, we face not only monetary challenges but also emotional battles. Listen to us as we recount how we overcame doubts, societal pressures, and the constant need to prove ourselves to our loved ones. We debunk the myth of the glamorous entrepreneurial life and stress the importance of having a supportive network of mentors and partners. We'll delve into the rise of the entrepreneurial spirit in today's society and the resources that are at your disposal. Remember, with the right mindset, self-belief, and a healthy circle of encouragement, you too, can step away from conventional employment and carve your unique path in the entrepreneurial world.
Feel free to watch this as a video podcast on YouTube: https://youtu.be/anBzu6jr54c
Are you ready to swap the stability of a 9-5 job for the uncertainty and excitement of self-employment? Wondering if you have what it takes to be your own boss? Brace yourself for an eye-opening discussion as we share our personal journey from the cubicle to the entrepreneurial world, and how it wasn't as smooth-sailing as it seems. Discover the trials and triumphs of setting up a startup, from deciphering tax jargon to maintaining a flexible work schedule and the crucial skill of money generation. Rest assured, while the road to self-employment is littered with obstacles, it is a journey of growth where you learn to embrace discomfort.
As we step into the world of self-employment, we face not only monetary challenges but also emotional battles. Listen to us as we recount how we overcame doubts, societal pressures, and the constant need to prove ourselves to our loved ones. We debunk the myth of the glamorous entrepreneurial life and stress the importance of having a supportive network of mentors and partners. We'll delve into the rise of the entrepreneurial spirit in today's society and the resources that are at your disposal. Remember, with the right mindset, self-belief, and a healthy circle of encouragement, you too, can step away from conventional employment and carve your unique path in the entrepreneurial world.
Feel free to watch this as a video podcast on YouTube: https://youtu.be/anBzu6jr54c
Speaker 1:
So yeah, from employed to self-employed, we've both been self-employed now for a little bit of time, but I've been self-employed, I would say, less than you.
Speaker 2:
Right.
Speaker 1:
I've been officially self-employed since January of this year. When was your like first self-employment? I know you've jumped back and forth in between, like employment and self-employment. But what was your first? But like, let's say, after 18 years old?
Speaker 2:
After, after 18. I think it was God. The years are gonna get me 2019. November of 2019, maybe 2018. I think it was 2018.
Speaker 1:
Okay, but about six years ago was your first self-employment. What was that?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, so that was Lupe Watches, so that was a company that I had bought when I had left Chipotle, so it was a small e-commerce store and I bought it and then that was my first, I guess, like three months' stint into self-employment.
Speaker 1:
Gotcha, and then you went to True Green after that, correct.
Speaker 2:
Yes, that was a sales rep.
Speaker 1:
Technically self-employment, in a way, I mean it's under a company, but you create your own income, in a sense.
Speaker 2:
Kind of it did have a good base. But yeah, the commission part very similar to self-employment, like if you aren't going out and getting deals, you really don't make much money.
Speaker 1:
I feel like really any commission job you should treat as self-employment, yeah, almost Like promote yourself, you yeah.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, like you are running that business function almost You're responsible for going and getting the sales. You just don't have the responsibility of creating the product or service. Yeah, bookkeeping and marketing and all of that stuff Cool.
Speaker 1:
Well, my first experience, I guess technically was like my first little lawn care business. I just don't count that. How's that? That was 2019. Wow, right around the same time. Hey, look at that the parallels 2019, started that little business, did that, but I just don't call it self-employment because I didn't treat it as like its own thing, like it wasn't Just a side hustle.
Speaker 1:
Exactly. I think side hustles and self-employment are totally different. They are, they're 100% different. Like employment, you're still employed, so you don't have that self-employment mindset. Like my first real transition into self-employment was leaving the fire department and then those couple different jobs and then going into the handyman business. Like the handyman business was the first real self-employment still is my self-employment to this day and I left the fire department and I went and did car sales for a very brief time and then I did marketing for a brief time for about a year or so. But to me I see it going from like the fire department to the handyman. That to me is like the biggest-.
Speaker 2:
That was the big jump.
Speaker 1:
The biggest leap right. Like, yes, I went from the fire department and kind of went into car sales and went into marketing. But really my mindset was like I'm no longer a firefighter because after I left the marketing job I was basically like I'm done with firefighting 100%.
Speaker 1:
Like I know, I'm not going back because when I left the fire department the first time, or the only time, there was still something in the back of my head that was like I can go back to that. You know what I mean? I could go back and do that again, but after I did car sales and after I did marketing, I was like I'm not gonna go back to that, I'm gonna do my own thing.
Speaker 2:
And so for me, that's when that switch kicked in of like- what made you make that decision of okay, I'm not going back to be a firefighter?
Speaker 1:
A collective. Just all of my experiences over all of the different things I had done right. So like having the marketing, having the sales, having the kind of construction background from flipping the homes, all of those things together was like I feel like I'm really good on my own. Like I feel like for me I'm safe I don't have to have a safe job to make chance safe. Like I can make my own living, I can make my own self-worth right and I think that's really the biggest key is like you have to really be okay with yourself a hundred percent to be self-employed right, cause it's all riding on you. And in the fire department I don't feel like I had that mindset yet.
Speaker 1:
And so when I went and tried those other couple of things and I started building my own I would say self-worth, my own independence, it was kind of like okay, I think I can just go do my own thing. I feel like when I left the fire department, if I would have had the knowledge of the sales and marketing, like right then and there, I would have gone straight from that into the handyman business. But, specifically speaking, leaving from the marketing business and going to me starting my handyman business was kind of the the biggest point of okay, you're no longer going to get a check from anybody else.
Speaker 2:
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:
You have to create your own income. You have to create your own schedule. You have to wake up in the morning. Your boss doesn't have a call and say, hey, are you up? You know, and those are the hardest things in self-employment. For that first little bit right Is like yeah, create creating your own schedule, building your own company, building your own income doing all of that is obviously the hardest.
Speaker 2:
Yeah.
Speaker 1:
But what's funny is like you realize that that that isn't even anything, like that's just the beginning. Then you have to go through sales cycles and then you have to go through taxes and then you have to go through hiring people like then it. It honestly doesn't get easier.
Speaker 2:
I mean oh no.
Speaker 1:
It definitely doesn't get easier. You just get more comfortable with the uncomfortable things. Yeah, honestly, is all it is Like it definitely, if anything, it gets harder Much much harder.
Speaker 2:
It gets harder.
Speaker 1:
It doesn't get easier, but you're so used to it at that point that it's like it's just another day.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, it's so used to the constant change and and relying on on yourself. And yeah that it it puts you in a different state of mind.
Speaker 1:
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:
I feel like what you were saying. You didn't go into self-employment after the firefighter because you still weren't fully comfortable with jumping in and being your own boss yeah, confident that you can take things to the next level. But there's something that when you're self-employed and you're growing a company and you're hiring people, you're providing a service. You are going through all these challenges. Yeah, you learned very quickly that there's nobody above me, that I can just throw this problem to if I can't figure it out.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
And so you learn to at least in my case love that situation. Yeah, You're just constantly having problems and you're like, okay, I can't just throw this to somebody, so I'm going to solve it.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
And I'm not going to let it get to me. I just know I have to take action and I'm going to do this versus, you know, out of job. Whether we like to admit it or not, there's always that safety net of not only income and comfort, but the comfort. Hey, if I can't solve this problem, if I don't know how we're going to hit budget, well, that's my director's problem.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, and then they send it up to the owners and the investors, and right. But when it's your thing, there's nobody you can throw that baton up to.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, it's you. Yeah, and the thing that I can say makes self-employment easier is you know more partners, you know things like that. So it doesn't all rely on you, yeah, but at the end of the day, it's still your thing. Like, no matter the stake in the company. If you only own 10% of the company, it's still your thing.
Speaker 2:
Yeah.
Speaker 1:
You just have more people to help you with it.
Speaker 2:
Right.
Speaker 1:
And that's better, but you're still. If you're self-employment, that means you're the top dog. That means you're up there making all of the decisions. You can't 100% rely on other people. You can have other people help you, which is what we love about business, right? Yeah, we get to help other companies, but, at the end of the day, if they're not committed to being self-employed and committing to growing their business, we can't do shit for you. Yeah. Honestly I mean we cannot help you if you don't want to grow yourself.
Speaker 2:
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:
And for me that was when you came into the picture of you know Smart, fixed Handingman. I can honestly say, looking back, it definitely made things easier, but at the same time it made things harder, because when you came in, we grew, when we brought on more jobs and I had to build more of a professional look for the company and I had to start holding myself in a different manner, like it wasn't just me going out and you know, knocking on people's doors and getting things.
Speaker 1:
It was you know 10, 15 Google reviews that are saying, hey, you're a reliable company. You have a website that shows that you're a reliable company, so I have to back that now. Right, yeah, it makes it easier in the aspect of I don't have to worry about work coming in all the time, like we have reliable lead flow coming in, but it still doesn't like take away all of the fear of self-employment, like you can't totally get rid of that.
Speaker 2:
Like.
Speaker 1:
I feel like it's always going to be there. You just have to get comfortable with it.
Speaker 2:
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:
And for most people, that's why they don't make the leap. I feel like.
Speaker 1:
Like we're so used to. I mean, I was watching the TikTok the other day, actually, and it was about how schools almost like program us into becoming an employee. Like school doesn't teach you how to build a business right At all. It teaches you that, like when you need to raise yeah, when you need to use the restroom raise your hand, ask for permission, go out and like it literally starts putting you in the mindset of there's someone going to be above me the rest of my life.
Speaker 2:
Yeah.
Speaker 1:
And not saying don't go to school. It's just it's Stay in school kids yeah, just you know, have have the mindset that you can be at the top, you can make your own decisions. You, and for so many, that's a fear for people because we're we're taught from a very young age Like that's. That's not the way most people do it. Yeah people work for the bigger guy. How did you?
Speaker 2:
overcome that. So you're totally right.
Speaker 2:
Yeah throughout school. There's always somebody that is leading us, telling us when school starts, when we change classes, what subject to learn, and there's always somebody there. If we can't solve a problem or we have trouble with our grades, then we go to somebody. Yeah, self employment, own your own business. It's totally different. Yeah, how did you make that mental jump to be able to think of yourself not as somebody who would constantly be under somebody else, but somebody who could solve those novel problems by themselves and rely on themself, versus relying on somebody constantly in front of them?
Speaker 1:
I think making making that jump was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life, and I say that very, very dramatically too, as in the fact of it genuinely was like so many people talk about how it's amazing to have your own business and the greatest thing is to be self employed.
Speaker 2:
Yeah.
Speaker 1:
And it's like dude for months. I would literally lay in bed and like there were points where I just broke down and cried because I was like what if I don't have work next week? Yeah, what if I make no money next month?
Speaker 1:
and we can't afford our home, you know, like things like that. Luckily, at the time, haley had a really good job still does and so it wasn't that difficult, but for me still, it was like, you know, we might not get by if I don't bring it in. And so the mentality shift that I had to make was genuinely just being totally OK with in my mind for me personally, with everyone being upset with me and nobody being proud of me. Yeah, to me, as long as I knew I was proud of myself and I wasn't looking for other people to be proud of me, I could make my own stuff work, yeah, yeah, whereas I did the firefighting, I think for longer than I wanted to, because I wanted to make my dad proud you know, and I did these other things because I wanted to make my friends proud of me.
Speaker 2:
Yeah.
Speaker 1:
And that switch to self employment is like I don't give a shit about what anybody else thinks about me, I'm going to do me yeah. And I don't know how to describe like how I made that shift. It was just it kind of just clicked. It was one day I was like stop moping around the house and just get up and take charge. Yeah, I don't really know.
Speaker 2:
I feel like that's that is, one of the biggest hurdles for a lot of people is, and honestly, also one of the you know, the misconceptions about being self employed, like I feel like, especially in today's generation, we have Innamored entrepreneurs business owners we've put them in the limelight.
Speaker 2:
You know like these are the people of the current generation. However, looking at them also, we don't realize that, especially at the beginning, there is a lot of pushback from friends, family, loved ones and even yourself, because you're jumping out on a limb, you're not doing something that is safe or secure, you could lose everything, and Also there's part of us all. I feel like that whenever we see somebody doing something that we wish we could do by ourselves, we kinda get jealous. It's almost like a no-present and then we look down at exactly, we resent them and for me personally, I experienced that quite a lot.
Speaker 2:
I had friends who, whenever I really got into business and started to be successful, that they would stay friends with me. But then they would constantly say stuff or like, why are you working so hard? Or stop doing this. You can always go back to college. Like, oh, what about? Heck? Software engineers make so much money and it is really hard stepping out into self-employment by yourself and the people around you are not always that supportive. Until you hit it big. Then you'll have supportive people, but even then you'll still have the haters, the doubters, who will try and pull you down because they have that resentment towards you, because you were able to do something that they weren't confident enough in themselves to take that step out and do.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, I think I'm literally just now realizing what the switch was, and it was more specifically at BBM. You yourself and Robert were really big influences to me.
Speaker 2:
Really.
Speaker 1:
Neither one of y'all are 50, 60, 70 years old, only company y'all are relatively young, and it was a solid company.
Speaker 1:
I mean, it really really was. And so I feel like the more and more I talked with you I talked with Robert some, but I talked with you more on the operations side of things and I feel like realizing like, hey, if this dude my age can do it, why can't I go do it? And I think for me that was the switch, because I've never had friends in my life that went out and did that stuff. Like even with my dad. He made his own company but he still had his safety net. And I say all the time, and I've literally said it to my dad's face, I'm like, I feel like if maybe you would have left the fire department, it could have grown to a whole other level right, because all of your attention would be focused on it. Also, my dad's made an incredible life for himself, his family and everything. So I honestly don't think he should have changed the thing. But there is that kind of thought of like what if he would have?
Speaker 1:
made that little leap right, and I really think that's when it kicked in, was when I started talking with you more and was like this dude's owns a part of a freaking company.
Speaker 1:
He's the top dog at this marketing firm. Why can't I go be a top dog? And the cool thing was is it didn't take me a lot of influence to kick that. I just needed one or two people to show me that it's possible. And I think that's why I'm so passionate about Bizwip and why you're so passionate about it is because it's like all you need is a little bit of motivation.
Speaker 1:
I feel like it's something else. Like we just had that conversation with the handy woman last week and it was like I feel like all she needs is a little edge, like a little push right To get over that hard spot. We're gonna give you a little bit help, and maybe you're not comfortable with sales, maybe you're not comfortable with the marketing side. Whatever it is, we're here. We'll have a meeting every single week, like we're here to help, and that is not beneficial in the way of oh, they're there to help. It's beneficial in the way of well, if they've done it, I should be able to do it too, and then being your partner just makes it that much easier right.
Speaker 1:
But for me it was specifically when and I think I've said it four times now, so I'll only use one of them when I edit it but it was specifically when talking with you and Robert and realizing I should be able to do this myself. If they can do it themselves, why can't I? And that's that's when I kind of kicked it into high gear and was like let's go, let's go do this.
Speaker 2:
That's awesome Because I feel like that's that's something so common with a lot of people. What was it? I think it was the 1950s or early 1900s. There was a common belief that nobody could run faster than a four minute mile. Have you heard? Heard about that? 100%. And now we have dozens of people who have ran, and consistently run, a sub four minute mile.
Speaker 1:
My dad was one of them. Did he really 356.?
Speaker 2:
Wow, that's incredible. I'm still in the six minutes but, maybe one day. Yeah maybe one day Right, but in it all it's not like people randomly just like, popped up and started to do it.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
It was one person. One person ran a sub four minute mile, and then another person did it, and then now, like your dad, has done it too.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, so so many people have done it. Yeah.
Speaker 2:
And you know, sports psychologists say that really it wasn't a body limiting factor. We could have ran a sub four minute mile in the early 1900s and the 1800s, not say, nobody did it, just wasn't recorded. But then, once we saw somebody else achieve it, we're like, oh shoot, this is possible. And with business that's so common. I feel like a lot of people look up to business owners and they think to themselves like I don't know how they do it, I could never do this.
Speaker 2:
It's impossible to run a company at you know, in my mid 20s. I have to be at least 50 years old and have an MBA and have a billion dollars in the bank account before I can start up something. But no, you don't. There are dozens, hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands probably of young business owners who are business owners without any business experience, who have started something up and they've made it work. Yeah, it might have been a more treacherous route because they had some learning to do, but they were able to do it. There's not a huge difference between a regular person and a business owner?
Speaker 1:
There really isn't. There's two different mindsets. Yes, you know, you've got the, and there's nothing wrong with wanting to be an employee the rest of your life and having nothing wrong at all. And by any means we wouldn't have businesses if there weren't those people.
Speaker 1:
It's literally just two different mindsets. So if you have the mindset that, gosh, your boss is amazing and I can never do what he does, like I'm just so thankful for him, like, then maybe that's your role. Like you're an awesome employee, you're great at what you do. But if every time you look at your boss and you're like God, I wish I could do that.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, like maybe you should explore that you know, what I mean and I feel like a lot of people don't, because it's not normalized. It's not normalized and so many things today, way outside of business too is when we normalize things as a collective society in general is like it's all of a sudden, it's okay. You know what I mean, like it doesn't matter what the topic was, like the second, we all start normalizing something. It's like the form in a mile.
Speaker 2:
Yep.
Speaker 1:
The second, people started doing it.
Speaker 2:
It's really not that big of a deal anymore.
Speaker 1:
But I feel like our generation is starting to normalize that entrepreneurship and it's almost like some people look at it in a downfall of like nobody wants to work anymore for their bosses or whatever, and like in some cases, yes, you know, there's there's lazy people, but there's lazy people in every generation, oh yeah, but in ours specifically, it's more of it's the fact that we have so many tools to our advantage now.
Speaker 2:
We do that. The internet has just exploded. The opportunity landscape.
Speaker 1:
Why can't you create your own business, like you literally have, especially with AI coming out and all of that, like you have so many tools to your advantage, so many different businesses out there that are willing to help you, and so like, yeah, I feel like if, if you've had that thought of hey, maybe I should go do my own thing, just go do it.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, one thing that I found particularly helpful is when determining, because you're absolutely right, there's nothing wrong with being an employee for certain people Like that is the best option for them, like that is what makes them happiest, and by all means they should focus on that. Vice versa, there are some people who should go and try to start their own thing, and what was really helpful for me was I forget who said it, but the vision of your life is kind of like your North Star. So they were talking about I think it was like Elon Musk and it was hey, if you want to help expand space exploration and help get us to a multi-splanetary species, then you can either A start up your own space company or, b you can go work for a company with an amazing vision that aligns with yours and you can make an impact there.
Speaker 2:
So it's not so much like you have to start your own company to fulfill your vision, but if there's not a company that aligns with your vision in your geographic area or wherever you want to be, then that's when you should start looking to take a step and to create that vision for you, because if we're not doing what we believe that our purpose on this earth is to do, you know whatever space exploration or helping people fix up their homes and you know a lot of people have struggles with that, myself included. I know how to use a hammer and a screwdriver, and that's about it.
Speaker 2:
Don't ask me about my TV and so, like, your vision is helping people do those things in their home and helping to simplify their life. So, finding that vision, what is your vision, mission, purpose in life? And then just seeing, is there anybody I can partner with locally, or you know where I am to fulfill that vision? If not, what would it look like to start my own thing and to try to do this myself?
Speaker 1:
Yeah, and if you want to do it yourself, then the one thing that I've got to say, and we'll end on, is the fact that, like, if you want to do it yourself, there's tons of people out there that can help you.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, you don't have to rely on your family, you don't have to rely on your friends?
Speaker 1:
I didn't by any means. I think I had Haley and you yeah, and that's all it took. And now the smart fixes where it's at today, and now you and I creating the biz whip and it's just, it's. It's been a hell of a ride.
