The Quiet and Strong Podcast, Especially for Introverts
The Quiet and Strong Podcast, Especially for Introverts
Ep 243 - The Power of Reflection: Learning, Growth, and Success for Entrepreneurs with guest John Preston
Have you ever wondered what truly holds entrepreneurs back from reaching their next level of success? In this episode of The Quiet And Strong Podcast, host David Hall sits down with business coach and former journalist John Preston for a deep and honest conversation about the importance of reflection, continuous learning, and tackling the mental roadblocks that can paralyze even the most talented business owners.
John draws on his 22+ years of experience to break down why so many small businesses struggle—not because of poor products or lack of hard work, but from not understanding key principles of marketing, profit strategy, and overcoming fear and indecision. Listeners will get actionable insights on how to prioritize learning, conquer the inner critic, and build strategies to make lasting positive changes in both business and life.
If you want to break through stagnation, discover smarter ways to keep learning, and uncover what it really means to build a sustainable, impactful business, this episode is for you. Tune in for inspiration, practical tips, and John’s unique approach for making business knowledge accessible to everyone—no matter how busy you are.
Listen in, keep growing, and be strong.
John Preston is a Hall of Fame sales and business coach who transforms complex concepts into actionable insights for entrepreneurs and sales teams, drawing from his 22+ years as a television news reporter and producer. As the creator of JP Business Academy, he specializes in making business education accessible through live, engaging training sessions and online teaching. John combines business coaching with innovative content creation, including the "40 Flushes" series - business books designed for bite-sized learning.
Website: TheJPBusinessAcademy.com
John's Book: 40 Flushes
Free Course: ihateobjections.com
Socials: Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn |
- - -
Contact the Host of the Quiet and Strong Podcast:
David Hall
Author, Speaker, Educator, Podcaster
quietandstrong.com
Gobio.link/quietandstrong
david [at] quietandstrong.com
NOTE: This post may contain affiliate links. I may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you.
Take the FREE Personality Assessment: Typefinder Personality Assessment
Follow David on your favorite social platform:
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Youtube
Get David's book:
Minding Your Time: Time Management, Productivity, and Success, Especially for Introverts
John Preston [00:00:00]:
Every person on the planet lives his or her life right on the edge of being paralyzed by fear and indecision. It's just one of those things. We all have this inner voice that's just a jerk. It's just constantly telling us that we can't do that. You're not good at that. You suck. We all have it, and yet most of us think that we're the only one with it. You know, we tend to judge the success of other people against our internal struggles.
John Preston [00:00:37]:
We see their outward success and we don't realize that all of those same fears and insecurities we deal with, they're dealing with as well. And ironically, they're often looking at us thinking, man, I wish I could be like him. Because they're judging you and you're outward against their internal.
David Hall [00:01:08]:
Hello and welcome to episode 243 of the Kawaii and Strong podcast, especially for introverts. I'm your host David hall and the creator of QuietStrong.com it's a weekly podcast dedicated to understanding the strengths of the needs of introverts along with strategies for success. Introversion is not something to fix, but to be embraced normally. While our each episode on a Monday. Be sure to subscribe on your favorite platform, leave a review or a rating that would mean a lot to me and help others find the show. Tell a friend about the podcast, help get the word out there that introversion is a beautiful thing. John Preston is a Hall of Fame sales and business coach who transforms complex concepts into actionable insights for entrepreneurs and and sales teams. Drawing on over 22 years as a television news reporter and producer as the creator of JP Business Academy, he specializes in making business education accessible through live, engaging training sessions and online teaching.
David Hall [00:02:08]:
John combines business coaching with innovative content creation including the forty Flushes series business books designed for bite sized learning. All right, well, welcome to the Quiet and Strong podcast, John. John, it's so good to have you on today.
David Hall [00:02:24]:
Well, thank you David. I really appreciate it. I've been looking forward to this.
David Hall [00:02:27]:
Yeah, we're going to talk about the book that you recently put out there, but first just tell us a little bit about yourself and your journey to the work that you're doing now.
David Hall [00:02:35]:
Wow, that's quite the story. Yeah, I'll give you the short version. I actually went to school for physics and was going to be a physicist and decided my senior year that the life wasn't what I was looking for. It was too slow PA a lot of waiting for things to happen and so I I became a television news journalist, worked in TV news for 17 years. Thereabouts. Left that because it was time to start a family. I wanted to be back closer to home. So I took a job with a newspaper group as as first they're creating their websites and then later leading up circulation and after a few years fell victim to downsizing, went into business for myself, working with a company that produces magazines.
David Hall [00:03:22]:
I had never sold before that point. And so sales was something entirely new to me and dealing with small businesses was relatively new. I grew up in a small business home, my parents ran a travel agency, so I was familiar with small businesses, but I hadn't really worked with them. And while creating the magazine and then eventually teaching other people to build magazines and sell advertising and all of that, I just really started to gain an awareness of the struggles that small business owners faced. You know, in today's world, 22% of all small business owners fail every year. And the biggest reason they fail is not because they don't do good work or have a good product. They fail because they don't understand some core principles of business. A lot of them having to do with how to market.
David Hall [00:04:17]:
There's so many misunderstandings out there about advertising and marketing, along with other essential elements of running a business that if you don't understand those, your business isn't going to make it. You know, it's easy to believe that the best product always wins, but history has told us over and over again that that's not the case. The best marketers always win. And so I noticed also that most of the small business owners who were needing help the most, the ones who were, who were making really bad decisions within their company because they just didn't know any better, they were also the ones least likely to get help. They didn't. You know, you're a guy that does roofing for a living, owns a roofing company, gets up 7 o' clock every morning, crimes up on the roof and starts nailing in shingles. At the end of the day, he goes home and he's so exhausted he collapses on the couch and that's the end of the day. And he does it again the next day.
David Hall [00:05:17]:
There's no real opportunity there to learn anything. And so I was faced with the challenge of how can I find a way to create an avenue to get good business information and education to business owners that aren't going to seek it out. They often think that, you know, things have to be hard, things have to be difficult. And I was blessed with the ability to take some very complex ideas and, and make them simple to understand. And so all of that just sort of evolved into the book. I figured, you know, it's a bathroom reader, as, you know, 40 flushes to grow your business. And, And I figured if I, If I simplified these concepts and made them fun and created them in a way where you could just, you know, read 10, 15 minutes a day while you're doing your business and not doing your business, you would be able to. To learn enough to give you a fighting chance in today's world.
David Hall [00:06:20]:
And hopefully it'll work out that way.
David Hall [00:06:23]:
Yeah. So what was it, you know, you. You. You talked about your journey, but what was it that you. What was the catalyst where you said, yeah, I. I can go into business for myself?
David Hall [00:06:32]:
The seed was always there. The seed was always there. I often. I also know myself well enough. You know, this. This podcast appeals to me greatly because it's about introversion. And, And I've had to work very hard to. To be social.
David Hall [00:06:50]:
It's not something I would much prefer to. To be isolated and just alone in my own thoughts. And, And I realized early on that, that I needed to. To get out and do things more. And so I, as an, as an introvert, I found myself in most of the roles that I've had, getting comfortable, even though I had this little desire to do something more. I've had good jobs, I've worked with good people, and. And I just always held off because I was just comfortable where I was. And so eventually that desire just grew and grew and grew.
David Hall [00:07:36]:
And I realized, you know, I'm 58 years old, and my window for doing something that can really impact the world is shrinking. And so it just became a coin. I have a very supportive wife. I don't know that she fully, you know, wraps her mind around what all I'm building, but she supports me on it and, and stands there. And so we just decided that the time was right for me to do this. And, and, you know, it's. It scares the heck out of me. Obviously, I, I prefer the comfort of a.
David Hall [00:08:14]:
Of a regular paycheck coming in, but at the same time, with that comfort comes a lot of limitations in terms of the impact you could have on the world. And what I finally just realized was the things I was teaching people in a very small group of folks, that was helping them succeed and helping them grow and helping them achieve their dreams were all messages that a lot of people beyond that realm needed to hear. And so one of the things I always talk with people who sell advertising or just in business in general is always look for problems facing the customers in creating a product that solves that problem for them. And what I saw over and over again is I saw two big problems. Problem number one is small business owners who are working their butts off day in and day out and their business was failing because they didn't know some simple things. Because a lot of running a business is counterintuitive. What you think logically should be going on is not actually what's going on. The way you think your customers think about your business is not what they're really thinking.
David Hall [00:09:42]:
And so I recognize that that's a problem. That's a problem. The other thing I recognized were struggling salespeople. Small businesses and small business owners at their core have to be sales folks. And yet they get zero sales training. Even professional salespeople often don't get the training they need. They get the training on how to describe their product, but not really how to connect that product to problems that the customers are facing and not how to deal with the challenges those customers have with making buying decisions. And so that's why I set out Deal to create the JP Business Academy, which would provide very simple ways to understand these concepts.
David Hall [00:10:35]:
You know, the book is kind of the first wave of that because, you know, I do believe that most business owners, if they commit to spending 40 days with it in the bathroom for 10 minutes a day, will start to see their business different, differently and may and make different decisions that give them just a little bit better chance of survival on the sales side. I created the Sales side Success Academy or Society, which is a membership site where for $100 a month you can get all the education and support you need to be effective in sales. And for most business owners that's, you know, that's one sale you make, one sale you've covered. You know, one of the great things about sales training is you can quantify the results almost immediately. You know how many sales you were making before. You get a little bit of education, a little bit of training, a little bit of support, and suddenly you're making twice that. It's pretty easy to see the impact that had on you. Not all investments can show that kind of return that visibly.
David Hall [00:11:36]:
And so that's a great thing. It's taken me longer to get them all going than I thought because I am somewhat of, I want it to be just right so that that comes in and causes me to rethink. I actually started two different platforms for the membership program. The coaching program, and just. They weren't what I wanted. They weren't what. I mean, I'd spent a lot of money trying to get them just right, but they didn't offer my. My members some of the features that I felt like were necessary for them to really be successful.
David Hall [00:12:12]:
So I scrapped it, started over, because I want to make sure that what I'm doing as a business owner is. Is the right decisions and my mission is upheld, which is to help business owners be more successful.
David Hall [00:12:26]:
Yeah. So a couple different things. First, when we talked before, you talked a lot about introversion, and for you, it really gave you a gift of deep thinking. Tell us a little bit more about that.
David Hall [00:12:41]:
Yeah, I've always been a deep thinker. I did grow up in a household where creative thought was encouraged, debate was encouraged. My brother and I ended up both being competitive debaters and speakers. And. And so we would have, you know, I'd pick one side of an issue one day, he'd have. He'd pick the other one, and we would. We would argue it back and forth and debate it. And then, you know, a week later, we'd be on the different sides arguing the other points just as.
David Hall [00:13:10]:
As practice. So the deep thinking was there. And I just enjoy and relish in being lost in my own thoughts. And I think that's great. I think that's awesome. I think that is a strength that introverts have, is that ability to just kind of crawl into your own thoughts and sort them through and be constantly evolving the way you see the world and your beliefs. I think a lot of people get locked into the. A certain way of thinking, and they can't go beyond that.
David Hall [00:13:45]:
And introverts are able to penetrate that. So that is a huge, huge asset. The downside of that is you can get so comfortable with that that you don't create the outreach that's needed to actually provide the other things in your life, the other essentials that make for a happy, successful life. And I told you, I think I told you the story when we talked before of. I was incredibly shy when I was a kid. I mean, I played sports and everything, but I was always just kind of in the background. And. And my mom made me go out and compete in a speech tournament.
David Hall [00:14:31]:
She. She. She said that. That it was. It was something that whatever I decided to do in life, it would be a skill that would make. Whatever I was doing would make me better at it. And. And I hated it.
David Hall [00:14:45]:
I hated it at first because it was so far out of my comfort Zone, to be in front of other people and to be in that crowd and with everybody listening to what I was saying. I remember that first speech. I actually. And those of your listeners who are of a certain age, let's say, will remember and this will resonate with them. My first pros, I guess you would call it in competition, was Paul Harvey's the Rest of the Story and telling one of his. His stories. But I did realize as I looked around and put that experience in perspective, that my introversion could lead, could limit what I could do for the world if I didn't develop that skill. And so, and even to this day, I mean, I've done.
David Hall [00:15:40]:
I've spoken in front of, you know, auditoriums with 1500, 2000 people in them, and I can tell you I'm scared to death before I walk up on that stage. It's just. It's still not in my comfort zone. But what I learned to do, and this would be something that, that might work for a lot of your listeners. What I learned to do is almost throw a switch and become a different person for five minutes at a time. It's almost like acting. When you're an actor, you're often forced to play characters that are so far away from who you really are that you have to be able to throw that switch. And that's sort of the way that.
David Hall [00:16:28]:
That I am when I'm. When I'm in front of people or, or, or talking or, or anything is, is I'm playing the character of a guy who's good at doing that. And, and, and that. I don't know if that makes sense to anybody or not, but, but that's kind of the way I often feel. And, you know, this podcast is a good example. I mean, when we wrap up this podcast, I will be exhausted because of the energy level that, that I put into maintaining, you know, this, this character. And I will be. I'll go back in the office and, and I'll be done for the next few hours.
David Hall [00:17:05]:
I won't talk to a soul for the next few hours, and I'll just kind of bury myself in my thoughts and, and where I need to be. And I think that's kind of the key for an introvert. Maintain your introvert. Don't ever lose that ability to get inside yourself and wrestle with your thoughts and weigh this thought against that thought and decide where you know which one's right and all of that. Never lose that, because I think, you know, that creates this critical thinking skills, which I think are incredibly Rare in today's world. But also just think about the ability to throw that switch. And when you have to be somebody else, be. Be somebody else that can.
David Hall [00:17:46]:
Can fulfill those aspects that are needed to grow a business. I mean, the truth is, if you own a business and you're naturally introverted, there's still going to be times when you have to go talk to that customer, when you have to. Have to go have conversations that you don't want to have, and it's so easy to avoid them. And if you have to think of it, you know, for that three minutes while I'm walking out in the showroom to talk to that customer, I'm going to be a character and. And then be that and figure out that. What that looks like. And you'll find. You'll find it very comforting to know that you haven't lost yourself, but for those moments, you're able to step outside of that introversion and do the things that you want to do to make your business grow and to be successful.
David Hall [00:18:39]:
Yeah. And I love that because we have great strengths as introverts in thinking.
David Hall [00:18:44]:
Absolutely.
David Hall [00:18:45]:
And doing all kinds of incredible things with our mind. We just have to have some strategies to be able to get our thoughts out into the world and, you know, have our ideas heard and ha. You know, implement some things. And, you know, those strategies can look different for everybody. You know, you obviously just shared some. I know. For me, I've just learned that I have to prepare ahead of time for most things. You know, whether it be a speech or a podcast or even a conversation, I just need to prepare and then I can do well.
David Hall [00:19:20]:
But I'm not the best at winging it, and I. I've learned that about myself.
David Hall [00:19:25]:
Yeah. And know what your strengths and know what your weaknesses are, and, you know, that's. And find ways to mask those weaknesses when you have to.
David Hall [00:19:35]:
Yeah. And, you know, build a strategy. Like you said, you're going to take a break after this. I am, too. I'm enjoying our conversation, John. But I'll be ready to not do another podcast right after this.
David Hall [00:19:48]:
I absolutely understand that.
David Hall [00:19:50]:
Yeah. So let's get back to your book. And I've really been enjoying it. And again, I mean, I told you before we hit record, it's. I'm impressed with your creativity. And that comes from the mind of an introvert. Right.
David Hall [00:20:04]:
Well, I have to say my first question for you would be, have you learned anything?
David Hall [00:20:08]:
Yeah. Yeah, definitely.
David Hall [00:20:10]:
Okay, good, good.
David Hall [00:20:11]:
And just tell us about the concept. Like, why do you feel like it's good to break up your advice into flushes or small segments. Why, why, why do you want to put this information out there in bite sized chunks?
David Hall [00:20:26]:
Well, what I have learned over the years, it's is, I mean, it's amazing how fascinated I have become over, over psychology and how people think and how people make decisions and really what stops people from succeeding. You know, coming from a science background, I used to. If you had told me 10 years ago, I guess if you told me 14 years ago now, if you had told me that one day I would stand in front of a group of people and talk about the power of affirmations to reshape your life, I would have given it a total BS call. I would have absolutely just, just, I'd have laughed. Because the reality of it is, you know, from my, my science background, it didn't make sense to me that you would be able to say a few nice things to yourself and then suddenly the whole universe reshifts. Its, its order to make you successful. I mean, that just seemed, that just seemed mystical to me and I didn't believe it. As I got into more and more of the sales and more and more of the teaching, what I started to realize, and it was a major, major step for me, is that the reason those things work is they take you away from one of the very solid truths about people.
David Hall [00:22:00]:
Every person on the planet lives his or her life right on the edge of being paralyzed by fear and indecision. It's just one of those things. We all have this inner voice that's just a jerk. It's just constantly telling us that we can't do that. You're not good at that. You suck. We all have it and yet most of us think that we're the only one with it. You know, we tend to judge the success of other people against our internal struggles.
David Hall [00:22:36]:
We see their outward success and we don't realize that all of those same fears and insecurities we deal with, they're dealing with as well. And ironically, they're often looking at us thinking, man, I wish I could be like him. Because they're judging you and you're outward against their internal. And I say all of that to say, you ask about the book and how we got here. Unfortunately, if something feels like it's going to be hard to learn that inner voice inside our head start starts telling us, you're too stupid to learn that. Why are you going to waste your time taking that class? Why are you going to waste your time reading that book? You're never going to be able to do that. That's going to be so far over your head. And even though most of them aren't, most of the books out there that, that talk about, about, you know, improving your life and business and, and you know, learning how to be successful, they're very easy reads, but they're intimidating to somebody who's not in the habit of reading them.
David Hall [00:23:48]:
And I guarantee you, and it's a sad, sad, sad truth that probably 60 to 70% of all of the business and self improvement books that are purchased every year are never opened because people buy them with the best of intentions and, and they get home and their insecurities and that inner voice intimidates them and stops them from actually reading it. And so I didn't want that to happen with this book. I wanted this, this book to be so unassuming and unintimidating that when you bought it and you opened it up, you went ahead and read it without thinking about, you couldn't understand it and you overcome that inner voice. And so when you open up the book and the first thing you see is a cartoon, automatically all of those insecurities and fears about your ability to learn are gone. And it opens up the pathway for you to do that. I hope that this book is a gateway for people to read. And you know, hey, wait, I enjoyed that. And you know, not only did I like the cartoons, I like those articles as well.
David Hall [00:25:05]:
I understood them. They were very simple stories, very successful anecdotes. I wonder if this other book I bought six months ago is like that. And, and I hope that, that it does because I believe that learning is a lifelong process. When we were kids. I don't know exactly how old you are, David, but we're probably pretty close. When we were kids, there was this belief that after you got past the age of 25, you stopped learning and you know, your brain basically got hardened and set in its ways and your ability to learn new skills vanished. We now know that that's complete crap.
David Hall [00:25:43]:
That your ability to learn new skills gets better and better and better as you get better at learning new skills. And we now have people, you know, that are going for their doctorates in their 90s because they've kept their brain engaged and they've continued to learn. I, I have this theory and I can't support it. I have no this, it's pure theory. It's not worth the money to spend to research it because I feel like it would, it would prove me out. But I think it when you go to a senior center or something like that, you know, old folks home, whatever, whatever you know you want to call them nowadays, there is always two groups of people there. There are the groups of people who are just absolutely bitter with life, and there are the groups of people who are engaged in the activities at the center. And I think if you were to go back through their lives, there was a point, and it might.
David Hall [00:26:43]:
They might not even realize it, but there was a point when those that ended up being bitter decided consciously or unconsciously, to stop learning. And once they stopped pursuing knowledge and stopped trying to learn, the world kept moving on. And the distance between their skill set and their perception of the world and reality got greater and greater as every day passed. And so they reached that age where they're sitting there and they're so removed from what the world is now that they can't help but be bitter. On the other hand, the folks that never made that decision or maybe made it and realized later that they could reverse it, who are learning and continuing and developing new skills in their 80s and 90s, they're finding a joy that those other folks can't relate to. And that's really what. There's so many of those elements that go into what the first thing I try to get across to people is you can learn, you can get better. Anytime you find yourself saying, I'm not good at blank, follow that up with the word yet.
David Hall [00:28:02]:
I'm doing sales training. I hear people all the time. Well, I'm just not good at handling objections. Yet as soon as you add that word, that means that at some point, if you stick at it, you will be good at it. And that one word changes the way you view your skill set if you say it all the time. And now, now suddenly you're. You're committed to trying to get to that point where you no longer will say, you know one of my favorite quotes of all time, and. And I don't even know it's been attributed to 8,000 people.
David Hall [00:28:34]:
I'll take credit for it if nobody else wants to.
David Hall [00:28:36]:
Okay.
David Hall [00:28:37]:
Is whether you believe you can or you believe you can't. You're right. And it really is what it boils down to. So. So the book really, like I said, is all about people who. Who may have decided that they can't learn it anymore. Maybe they have decided that. That they just.
David Hall [00:28:57]:
That there's nothing, you know, that it. Learning's just too hard for them, you know, may this gives them an avenue to at least dip their toe in the water and see if they can still process new ideas and relate those new ideas to their business in their life.
David Hall [00:29:13]:
Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, as you're talking, I. Part of our biggest learning is having experience. So as we're growing and having experience, we're learning. But, you know, let's just take your example of the roofer who has a small business and, you know, is working very hard themselves. They're having experiences with customers and things like that, or trying to do marketing. They need to. To keep learning from other people like yourself that have learned some successful strategies and try and implement those, but they don't have a lot of time to learn.
David Hall [00:29:47]:
They. They. The first thing they have to do is prioritize it. You have to make a priority of learning. You know, one of the things. And, and I. I don't know, one of my favorite people to listen to. I listen to.
David Hall [00:30:01]:
I mean, if I'm in the car, there's an audiobook or a podcast play. I mean, you know, whatever. Whatever it is, there is something there. If I. If I'm. If I'm tilling the garden, I'm listening to an audiobook or a podcast. And one of the things that one of the guys I listen to a lot is guy named Myron golden, and he's a success coach and he gets into a lot of things. And one of the things that he preaches about regularly is the difference between successful people and people who struggle.
David Hall [00:30:35]:
And. And the difference is their commitment to education versus their commitment to entertainment. You know, an old saying, and once again, I wish I knew who said this is, you know, rich people have large libraries and small TVs. Poor people have small libraries and big TVs. And I really do think if you're going to get to where you dream of being in life, the first thing you need to evaluate is how much of your time is being spent on entertainment and how much of your time is being spent on education. And. And I think. I think most people would be absolutely amazed at how skewed those numbers are in their life.
David Hall [00:31:28]:
Yeah. So, John, how would you break down. Your book has lots of topics that are very relevant to the business owner.
David Hall [00:31:35]:
What.
David Hall [00:31:35]:
What topics does your book cover?
David Hall [00:31:38]:
Well, the first thing I cover is recognizing that there is a big difference between owning a business and owning a job. You know, that that's the first thing that comes in. And this comes back to. To the book E myth from a long time ago. And. And basically a lot of businesses start this way. Guy's really good at what he does. And one day he just decides he's tired of doing it for somebody else and starts his own business.
David Hall [00:32:07]:
And, and let's, let's just say he's a plumber, for example. And so as a plumber, he's very good at plumbing, he's very good at doing the work. And so he's got his business out there, and his business is growing. And every day he gets up and he goes and fix people's pipe every day, the exact same thing he was doing when he was working for somebody else. The only difference now is he's his own boss and the headaches that come with that and the possible opportunity for him to keep whatever, you know, was taken out by the middleman. So he may make a little bit more money doing it than he did when he was doing it for somebody else, because he, he's the owner, he's keeping it. But three or four years go by, and that's exactly still what he's doing. So that's not really owning a business.
David Hall [00:33:03]:
That's just owning your job and understanding that you're still working for someone else as a plumber, that someone else just happens to be you as well. And so really and truly, the first thing someone who starts their own business has to recognize is now you're wearing three hats. Obviously, when you open up your business, the very first hat you put on is the technician. Because you don't want. You don't have any plumbers working for you right now, so you have to do all the plumbing. But then as your business grows, you also need to wear the hat of a manager who is managing the resources and the people when it becomes time. But you also have the hat of the entrepreneur. The guy that's entire job is to grow the business.
David Hall [00:33:55]:
And what keeps businesses from ever breaking free is the business owner himself never stops being the technician. When you start out, you really have those three hats. The technician's the one you're wearing most often. A little bit of the manager's hat and a really little bit of the entrepreneur's hat. Because you don't really have, you know, you may not have the money to spend on advertising, you may not have the, you know, the vision and all that kind of stuff as quickly as possible. Your business needs to change to where you're wearing your entrepreneur hat as much as you possibly can. And, and, and what makes it, what makes it hard is those three hats have, have to have different mindsets. The mindset of the technician is, I just want to do the work I just want to do the work.
David Hall [00:34:54]:
I don't want to deal with that other crap. I just want to do the work. The mindset of the manager is I need to make sure we can pay the bills. I need to be as protective of the assets of this business as possible. And the mindset of the entrepreneur has to be what do I have to invest in, in time or money that will take my business from where it is now to where I want it to be and why I started it in the place first, the first place. And, and if you're not wearing that entrepreneur hat most of the time, your business stalls. And if anything happens with your flow of customers, you're out of business and you're back working for somebody else. And, and that's really, that's what I want.
David Hall [00:35:42]:
That that's the first flush right out of the box in the book is that the second thing that is, is really the area that most business owners are horrible at is understanding marketing and advertising. They will invest tens of thousands of dollars, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars to, to build their company and buy the equipment they need and, and the hire the people they need and all of this. And they will not have set aside anything to actually get customers. And you know, I worked with a business once that had a two and a half million dollar startup cost in buying equipment and the owner did not have $200 a month to spend on advertising. I mean, if you're not getting customers, every other expense you have is wasted. And so, so, and there's so many misconceptions. You know, if you were to go back a hundred years ago, let's go back to the year 1925 or even back further than that, 1825, 1725. However far back you wanted to go, your advertising marketing options were very Limited in 1925.
David Hall [00:37:04]:
If you wanted to advertise, your decision consisted of do I advertise in the local newspaper or not do advertising? Local newspaper. It was a binary decision, either yes or no. And you notice that the people that advertised in the, in the newspaper were your more successful businesses. But you could justify that in one of two ways. They were more successful, which meant they had the resources to advertise or they became successful because they advertised. And whichever way you rationalize that would make your decision for your own business. And, and so it was very simple. Fast forward to today and there literally are hundreds of thousands of tools out there for you to market and advertise yourself.
David Hall [00:37:54]:
And where most businesses get overwhelmed is trying to figure out which One of those is right for them. And our biggest fear as human beings is making a bad choice. And what will often happen in our lives is we will avoid making any choice for fear of making a bad choice when the reality is any choice is better than no choice. And so, and that applies to so many things. But people get so overwhelmed by all the choices, they don't want to pick wrong. So what do they do to protect themselves is they either don't do anything at all or, or they find the cheapest possible tool to use. And just like every other industry and field in the world, no one gets the best at the cheapest price, and no one expects the cheapest to be best. With advertising, just like cars or anything else, you get what you pay for.
David Hall [00:38:57]:
And so when you opt for something cheap, you end up getting something cheap. And that's why so many business owners don't think advertising works, because they don't understand it. And B, when they do buy it, they buy very poor products that don't work. And so, so much of the first few chapters of the book and throughout are kind of helping, really kind of filter some of that and understand, you know, how tools work. Because the basic concepts of what is required for you to grow your business haven't changed in thousands of years. If you go back to ancient Egypt and the guy selling bricks on the corner in ancient Egypt, his first task as a business owner is to convince people they need bricks. You have to convince people they need bricks, and you have to make sure that they know that you've got bricks for sale. That's the first thing.
David Hall [00:39:54]:
The second thing you have to do is convince folks that your brick, that they need to buy your bricks instead of the guy on the next block that has bricks. And then they have to know you're there. So those are the. That hasn't changed. That hasn't changed in 2000 years. What's changed is the tools we use to do that. And so the first thing the book really deals on is what are those basic things that you need to know in order to grow your business? And then the third tier that I talk about in the business is this, understanding how profit happens. Most business owners don't understand profit now.
David Hall [00:40:36]:
They know what it is. They know basically profit's what you take home at the end of the month after you pay the bills. But what they don't understand is profit isn't, isn't something that just happens. That profit is something that results from a strategy. And so understanding the method, the, the, the metrics that can result that you can influence that will have an immediate impact on your profit is essential because once you understand that, then you can develop the strategy to move that metric. And, and so many business. I can't tell you how many business owners I've met with that basically told me that they couldn't do anything else because they had all the customers they could possibly handle. I can't handle the customers I got now I'm just so busy.
David Hall [00:41:29]:
And I always ask them, are you, are you making the money you think you should make? And none of them ever are. And it is sad and kind of shocking how many businesses that will tell you that they are. Have all the customers they can handle, will close their doors three months later. And it's because most of their customers are not customers that generate profit. And so part of the book is dedicated to helping people understand that most people don't realize that more customers is not equal to better business. More profitable customers is equal to better business. And in most situations, if business owners don't track it, if they're not aware of it, 80% of their profits coming from just 20% of their customers, and that means that 80% of the work they're doing is not producing any profit. It's just producing more work.
David Hall [00:42:41]:
And so helping business owners learn to evaluate that is really key. And when you put those things together, even before we start to get into the systems and all of that kind of thing, if you just do a better job of understanding what needs to change in your business for. In order for your to increase your profit and then developing a strategy for changing that and then choosing the right marketing tools to implement that strategy. If you can do that, your business has a much, much higher of not only chance of surviving, but not only surviving, but, but really becoming the business that you wanted it to be when you launched it.
David Hall [00:43:33]:
Yeah. So, John, along those lines, how do you define success? You know, this is all about making your business successful. What does that mean to you? Being successful?
David Hall [00:43:43]:
What that means to me to. Being successful is first and foremost, I want to make sure my business is able to sustain the life that I want for, for me and my family. I mean, that's first and foremost. And, and it's a life that allows me to make sure my, my son runs track. I mean, my son plays soccer, my daughter runs track. And I want to make sure that I'm at every event they have. And, and I want to make sure that when it's time for me to retire, I doubt I will retire. But I have the resources to set my own terms for what that's going to look like.
David Hall [00:44:29]:
You know, I heard a quote just the other day. It's, and I remember who is, is you may not have come from a wealthy family, but you have a responsibility to leave one.
David Hall [00:44:40]:
Yeah.
David Hall [00:44:41]:
And, and, and that's, I really, I really do want. Because you know, some people confuse wanting to have a successful business with being all about money. And that's really not what it's all about. It's about being able to leave your mark on the world the way you want to leave your mark on the world and the impact you have. And the reality of today's world is you can do that much more effectively if you have a successful business as opposed to a struggling one. I mean when your business even if, and I was, I was talking to a guy not long ago and we were having conversation. He, he was, owned an appliance store and we're there having a conversation and he's working the, the front desk and so there's not a lot of customers coming in but when one comes in he has to stop and, and, and wait on them. And he's talking about how, you know, we're talking about advertising, marketing.
David Hall [00:45:45]:
And he's like very, very proud of the fact that he's never spent a dime on advertising. Very proud of it. And you know, depending on what his needs are, I have no problem with that. But I want him to be honest with himself. And so I just ask him simply, you know, when you started this business 30 years ago, was your plan in the year 2025 to still be working the counter? And obviously it wasn't. If you had asked him 30 years ago, his plan was to probably have a home in South Florida and cashing the checks from the multi location business he had back home. And yet some people lose sight of why they started their business. They lose sight of those dreams because fear keeps them from trying new things and branching out.
David Hall [00:46:43]:
And one of the first things that I always want to do is to encourage people to be honest with themselves and go from there because, and think about your own actions and your own habits and the way you do things. And I'm hoping while you were reading this book you kind of saw maybe some of the things you've done in the past that through new eyes. Because I think that's essential. There's no reason we don't live in a zero sum world and sometimes we think that way that basically if somebody else is successful, it came out of my pocket or If I'm successful, I'm taking it out of somebody else's pocket. Pocket. And that's not the world we live in. The more people that are successful, the more opportunity there is for success. And getting people to understand and realize that creates all kinds of new opportunities and new growth for individuals.
David Hall [00:47:50]:
And so one of the things I do this exercise with folks sometimes, and it's very interesting. I don't know. I don't know if you've ever read 4, 000 weeks by Andrew Berkman.
David Hall [00:48:00]:
No, I haven't.
David Hall [00:48:01]:
Okay, it is. It is. You know, there are some books out there that, that I say, just absolutely change the way I look at the world. And I would say. I would say that's one of them. And in it, 4, 000 weeks is the average life expectancy of a human being. That's how much time we got. And, and what it made me realize is that if I'm spending time doing something that is not moving me towards where I want to be, then why am I doing it? Then why am I doing it? You know, it's amazing.
David Hall [00:48:40]:
So what I do with a group sometimes is I will sit there and I will say, okay, I want. And I'll get up in front of a whiteboard and I'll say, start throwing me things that are on your bucket list. Let's start with things you would like to own. And they'll start listing, you know, new house, new car, all those kind of things. Now, now, now, let's list some places you would like to visit, places in the world you would like to see and travel to. And they'll throw a bunch of, you know, all these places out there. And then they'll say, now what about people you'd like to help? What about people you would like to help in this world? And they'll throw, you know, veterans, kitchen, kids, all this stuff up there on the board. And I'll say, well, what about experiences you would like to have? You know, skydiving, all that kind of stuff.
David Hall [00:49:23]:
And we get this giant board of all these bucket list items. And the first thing, then I'll look around the room and I'll say, okay, looks like the average age in here is about 45. So I will take an eraser and erase half the board and say, can't do all of them. We can't do all of them. And I'll say, and my point will be that every day that you're stuck in a rut and every day that you're not doing things that are taking you closer to what you want to do on this planet is one less thing that you'll get to do on that board. And it, and it's not all about money. Much of it's not. You know, who you can help is not about money.
David Hall [00:50:11]:
Building family relationships is not about money. But I can tell you, sitting on the couch playing a game on your iPad for two hours is not moving you any closer to accomplishing anything that you want to accomplish before you leave this planet.
David Hall [00:50:32]:
Yeah.
David Hall [00:50:33]:
And, and, and it's. And now there's nothing wrong with that if it is charging your battery. Some people say, well, it charges my batteries. And so put yourself to the test. If after you play for an hour, do you feel more energized and ready to go take on the world and do the other things or do you feel exhausted? And you know, that's the litmus test. And once you start living your life that way and recognizing that every minute can either move you closer to the. To the things you want to accomplish in life, or it can erase things that you will accomplish, it's one minute less time. You have to either accomplish the things you want or enjoy the things you accomplish once you get there.
David Hall [00:51:20]:
And you know, that's that change of perspective really frees you to start focusing on what you want to do in life.
David Hall [00:51:29]:
Yeah. And I think that's what it's all about is really making those priorities. But also keep learning like you're talking about.
David Hall [00:51:37]:
Absolutely.
David Hall [00:51:38]:
We can learn from each other. You have had some experiences that I can learn from. There's other people out there. And just keep learning. John, this has been a great conversation today. Where could people find out more about you and your. Your book and the great work that you're doing?
David Hall [00:51:54]:
Well, right now, to get the book, just go to 40flushes.com it's and it's a little landing page that'll take you to where you can buy the book. If, if you're struggling with sales, you can go to the Sales Success Society.com I'm actually offering a free course there that will, that I think it alone will change your sales career. It's on how to handle the objection. I need to think about it. Because if you've ever sold anything, you know, that's your biggest, biggest enemy. You've done this great presentation. You look up and, and you're. You're convinced they're ready to make a purchase.
David Hall [00:52:35]:
And then they say those words, I need to think about it. And if you don't take the right Action. At that point if you don't do something you, you the sale is done. So that course will help you deal with those situations. And to get to it, go to I hate objections.com okay. And yeah, I hate objections.com will get you to the free course. Hopefully you can take the free course and then sign up for the other. I am actually doing something kind of unique right now that I would encourage everybody to participate in.
David Hall [00:53:06]:
I committed to doing a sales tip of the day every morning at 8 o' clock across Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, tick tock and YouTube. That's a one minute tip for the day. And, and I really based that off of the. I'm a big believer in the compound effect that if you make a lot of little changes the results will be enormous. And so every day I'm suggesting one little change that you can make in the way you approach sales. Doing that for 365 consecutive days. So just go to any of those platforms and look up the JP Business Academy and, and join in that. And, and I think, you know, I think we can really change some lives.
David Hall [00:53:54]:
Sounds great. I will put all of that into the show notes and thanks again John.
David Hall [00:54:00]:
If you ever want to chat some more Dave, just give me a call.
David Hall [00:54:02]:
All right. Thank you so much for joining me. I appreciate you. I hope you take the time to explore explore other episodes and learn from other amazing guests. Remember, if you're interested in getting to know yourself better, there is now a free type finder personality assessment on the Quiet and Strong website. This free assessment will give you a brief report including the four letter Myers Briggs code. I'll add a link in the show notes and I'd love to connect with you. Reach out to daviduyanstrong.com or check out the quietandstrong.com website which includes blog posts and links to social media for quiet and strong and much more.
David Hall [00:54:40]:
Send me topics or guests you would like to see on the show. So many great things about being an introvert and so we need those to be understood. Get to know your introverted strengths and needs and be strong.