Freedom or Flexibility - What's more important?

Business Brain Episode 599 for Casual Friday, November 15th National Direct to Consumer Day 2024 Greetings folks and welcome to Business Brain the show where we take some ideas, we analyze them and use them to tune our business brains and each and every time we get together so we can all keep living those charmed lives. Speaking of charmed lives, we've got two sponsors this week that have all kinds of great things to help us in our businesses. Notion.com businessbrain is where you can go to try out notion AI for free today. And then legalzoom.com where you use promo code bbshow gets you 10% off of any non subscription business formation product. So we'll talk more in depth about those in a little bit and make sure you listen to the ad reads. I have chat GPT right those scripts for me and I tell it to make me say crazy things. So let's listen to see what we'll get to find out together what it makes me say. Here in Durham, New Hampshire I'm Dave Hamilton.

And in Northern California I'm Shannon Jean. Happy Friday.

Happy Friday my friend.

Happy, happy. I, I really enjoyed learning about Global in the last episode we had and Erica Beth Levin and hearing her story, I, I love it, man. The, at the, the conversion from the idea to a business and to you know, because so many people get stuck there. So listening to how she took this concept of wanting her kids to have a better experience with their food and everything, that's powerful man.

It's huge. And, and I know we tried to find different ways of saying that and having Erica say it in the last episode but the, the thing is the conversion from idea to starting your business is actually a very simple and easy step. You just take the step. It doesn't mean your business is going to succeed. Doesn't mean like you're not making any money, you haven't even made a product yet. But taking that step of just saying I am now doing this, not I'm going to do this but find some action, a simple action that can be the first thing. Like I registered my domain today. I know what I'm going to call the company. I registered the domain. Now I'm going to maybe you know, call LegalZoom our sponsor, right? Or you know, whatever, get an LLC form, start planning the list like for her planning the list of what's going to be the first four, you know, foods that we flavors and then, and then figuring out, oh, I don't know what the next step is because I'VE never done this before. Talking to someone else. That's going to be part of your board of advisors. That's another step. We've just articulated four steps, I think and you can take all of them in a morning. Like, like, seriously, it's just not a big deal. And it's not a big. Yet it's a huge deal because it frees you from.

Yes.

Sidelines to being in the game.

Yeah. And the way that Erica, you know, look, going back to. She said something that was very important. She's like, oh, I, I've started other businesses, I've started three other companies. Or you know, I've, I've understand the process, I understand the system. And I would say that one of the keys to success with Global is the fact that she got in the game before she's, she's in it. She understands.

She knows what that means. Yes.

And, and it's that she didn't sit on the sidelines and, and think about all this great things you could achieve and do. And you know, I always tell people, don't think about home runs. You know, use a baseball analogy. Don't think about grand slams. Just get up to bat and strike.

Out and swing the freaking ball. That's it. Yeah.

If you, if you've ever watched the movie Moneyball, which is based on. True story. The.

I think it was the Red Sox. Wasn't it based on the Red Sox.

The Oakland A.

Actually the Red Sox used the system. System. That's right.

Which was actually based on a. Based on another guy's book. And it was the, the most important thing about any player was how many times they got on base. That was it. Nothing else. Nothing else. And they based the entire concept on you should recruit that guy. Even though he's a lousy. Can't catch his RBIs may not be that great, but he got on base more than X number of players. And that's how the Oakland A's, they created. And don't quote me on this because I'm not a stats guy.

Yeah, sure.

But the movie, anyway, they had the longest winning streak in baseball history or something like that.

Certainly worked. Even if it was exaggerated for the movie. Of course.

Of course.

Of course.

So the key though is you sticking with that analogy is you just have to get in there and it start and you don't know where it's going to lead. You don't. I always tell people and people that I work with, like you don't know yet what your business is going to be. Don't spend all this time creating this perfect, rigid business plan when you're not even sure what business you're going to be in yet. So start. Learn the system, learn the processes. How do you get a resale permit? How do you, I mean, basic stuff. How did your business license work? How do taxes work? All these things. Do it in the beginning when you're small so you can learn and then grow later.

And then grow. That's it. Yeah, you can make a lot of mistakes when you're small. The IRS often even is. Is, you know, if you make a mistake with your taxes and your, your business made $10,000 and, you know, you might owe an extra 500 bucks. The penalties and interest, they're not going to let you go on the penalties and interest, but the penalties. And because it's on $500, when it's on $500,000, it's a bit different. It's a larger number. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's how that works now. It really. I was talking to somebody earlier today about learning a musical instrument. And I was talking about the difference between learning my first instrument and my second instrument. Oh, and this. And it's the same conversation. Yes. I knew starting guitar was, I mean, technically my third instrument, but I started piano and drums at close enough to the same time that I didn't have. I didn't have any fundamental knowledge of what it meant to learn an instrument. That helped me with the second one. But. But with guitar, I absolutely did. I had been playing for decades playing drums and piano poorly, and I still play guitar poorly. But starting with guitar, it was like, oh, yeah, okay. Like, I'm terrible at this. I know some very, like, specific truths. One is the things that my hands won't do today if I just push until I am at the end of my rope and then put it down tomorrow, I will be better at those things like sleeping and the processing. That happens. It will just happen.

You gotta put in the reps. You.

Gotta put in the reps. And then. Right. And there's the short term benefits of the reps and then there's the long term benefits of. Okay, put in a month's worth of practice into this one song. And guess what? At the end, you're probably going to be able to play something that sounds like that song, but it's not going to sound like that song on day one.

No.

And don't get frustrated. It's just how this works. But when you're doing, don't wait when you're doing your first instrument. You don't know that. And you stumble and you're like, oh, this sucks. I'm never going to do it again. It's like, well, maybe. Don't, don't do that.

Don't, don't wait and don't give up.

That's it. Don't wait and don't give up. That. That goes on a T shirt right there.

I'm going to. I'm adding it to the list right now.

Yep, I like that. Don't wait and don't give up. That is the. That's the, that's the magic right there. All right, folks, let's talk about protecting our businesses. And I'm not talking about buying a magic shield or hiring a troll to guard the front door. I'm talking about setting it up right from the start. Ever hear the saying, protect your assets? Well, keeping your business assets business and your personal assets personal. This is what our sponsor, LegalZoom is all about. LegalZoom has everything you need to launch, run and protect your business in one place. From forming your LLC to getting tax guidance. They've got it covered and they make it so easy, you won't even break a sweat. Forget wasting hours on paperwork@legalzoom.com, it's just a few clicks and you're done. And with over 20 years of experience helping millions of businesses get started, Legal Zoom is the trusted way to launch and protect what you've built. So skip the headaches and keep your assets where they belong. Launch, run and protect your business. To make it Official today@legalzoom.com and use promo code BB show to get 10% off any legal Zoom business formation product, excluding subscriptions and renewals. And this expires at the end of the year December 31, 2024. So get everything you need, from setup to success@legalzoom.com and use our promo code bbshow. Legalzoom.com and use promo code bbshow. And as a disclaimer, LegalZoom provides access to independent attorneys and self service tools. LegalZoom is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Except we're authorized through its subsidiary law firm, LZ Legal Services LLC. So go check it out. And our thanks to LegalZoom for sponsoring this episode. All right, while you're here, let me tell you about my secret weapon, our sponsor notion. I use it with one of my other businesses and candidly, it feels like having a Swiss army knife for my brain. Imagine one app that organizes your tasks, tracks your Habits, lets you collaborate, and even knows where you left that genius idea from three months ago. I know. And here's where things get wild. The new Notion AI is a single AI tool that does it all. Search across Notion and other apps, generate Docs in your own style, analyze PDFs and images, and chat with you about anything. It's like having a superpowered assistant who never forgets a detail, never misfiles a note, and somehow knows exactly what I need right when I need it. Notion AI connects to knowledge sources like GPT4 and Claude. So it's not your run of the mill chat bot. It actually gets your work. It's even set up to search across Slack discussions, Google Docs sheets, making it a perfect one stop hub. And guess what? It's seamless, flexible and respects your privacy. Over half of Fortune 500 companies use Notion, cutting down on emails, saving time and canceling unnecessary meetings. Oh, that sounds like a great idea. So try Notion for free when you go to notion.com businessbrain that's all lowercase letters. Notion.com businessbrain to try the powerful, easy to use Notion AI today. And when you use our link, you're supporting our show notion.com businessbrain and our thanks to Notion for sponsoring this episode. Shannon Last week we promised that we would talk this week and it is this week. That's how that works. It's official about freedom versus flexibility. I was having a conversation with somebody this week and it was, you know, one of the other parts of my life is that I'm a musician and we played a show on a Sunday night and the keyboard player was saying, well, I'm definitely taking tomorrow off. And he kind of looked at me. He's a programmer, we get along really well. We nerd out about things. It's, you know, he has. His job is not just the theater. He does it for the same reasons that I do. I mean, he, he's committed to it, he's dedicated. When he commits to a project, he's on board, but it's not his primary source. Yeah, exactly. Right. And so, you know, he said to me, he kind of looked at me when he said that. He's like, and that is the difference between you and me, he says, because I get to do that and I don't have to worry about what's going to happen tomorrow when I choose to take tomorrow off.

I'm not sure that's true. But anyway, well, it was, it was.

It was, you know, he, what he was trying to say and he. And I, I understood what he meant was, yeah, he had no overarching responsibility to the business. It was like, if I'm not there, other people will just handle, take care of it, and I'll show up on Tuesday and everything's going to be fine. Whereas for me, if I'm not there, things will move. But it doesn't necessarily mean I show up on Tuesday with nothing overflowing, that, you know, things might not happen the same way.

Yeah, I, I get that. And I think that.

I think it's a mindset thing. Is. Is it is any more. More than it is a. Like a, A tangible reality. Yeah.

Yeah. I, I always tell business owners. I don't. The. The system you're creating, it's not going to buy you freedom.

No.

It will buy you massive flexibility.

Yes.

In the sense that you are in charge of your time and you get to decide how you allocate it and whether you've got a team of people around you or your solopreneur on your own. That flexibility, I, I would argue is more valuable than freedom. I, I don't. I mean, you know, with our businesses, it doesn't matter what time of day it is. If something goes wrong, you know, unless there's someone else in charge of it, I've got to fix it.

Right. Unless I've put someone else in charge that, that I, a, can trust 100% with that particular. Whatever that problem is, and B, they don't feel the need to call me and tell me what's going on. Because if you call me and tell me what's going on, I don't know. I'm in. Like, that's it. You're in.

Me too.

I remember.

Just release it.

I remember the first time I took an actual vacation after we had started Backbeat was about eight years in. I had traveled, but I had never taken a vacation where I, like, did not check in with work every day or every other day. Okay.

Yeah.

And my wife asked me, she said, do you think it. I mean, it was a. Do you think. But it was. I think, you know, yet you.

One of. One of those.

It was one of those questions. Correct. But it was. Do you think that you could take a vacation where you really, like, actually got a break from work? And. And it was like, yeah, you know, I think that would be good for me and it would be good for the staff. And we did a cruise, which back then there was no WI FI on ships. Like, being in touch was the phone on the ship, and that cost a bunch and was a real pain in the neck to do anything with. But there was a way to reach us and for us to, you know, get contact out if necessary. So I remember saying, yeah, I can. I think that would. And I think that would be good for me and good for the team and having conversations with the team ahead of time. One of the conversations I remember having was, okay, look, here's the thing. If there's an emergency, I am reachable, and here's how you can do that. I will make sure to provide you with, you know, the information with the. Once we get the phone of the ship that we're on, I'll get you all of that. But I have a request. I'm on this trip and if you, you need to make a judgment call about whether or not to call me about this, because you can send me an email and I will get that email when I'm off the ship on the shuttle bus back to the airport in Florida, wherever we are. Yeah, I'll find out that day. Now, the maximum amount of time that would transpire between me, you know, between you finding out whatever the problem is and me getting back is seven days. But chances are it's not going to happen. The moment I, like, turn off my phone, it's going to happen four days. In three days, in something like that. I need you to ask yourself, is involving Dave going to significantly impact our chances of success with this? In terms of long term success, I don't care about a couple of days, but is the business going to absolutely crater if we don't call Dave today versus waiting three days for him to get involved? Because either way, I got to deal with this problem. But one version of this story ruins the remainder of my vacation and the other lets me enjoy it in, you know, blissful ignorance.

Sure.

And, and it was a really interesting conversation to have because it was true about that scenario. But it also wound up opening things up for everything beyond that because it was like, I like it. You know, do you, do we really need. What kind of emergency is this?

Yes, yes.

And we. It changed our company culture that day.

That's cool.

In terms of like, oh my God, it's a problem. We got to get on this right away. Well, but do we, though?

No.

Like, yeah, you know, sometimes I like it sometimes. Yes, absolutely. But rarely.

Right. And I do think that, I think the flexibility is more valuable because you're, like I said, you're in control your time, but you can manage and you can like time shift. I've, I've time Shifted my whole life. Like, oh, my kids have, have this thing in the afternoon. So I'm heading out at 2 o'. Clock. I'm gonna hang out with them until 5 and we're doing this. We're gonna come home and have dinner. And then once they get to doing their homework or whatever, I'm gonna come back to. I'm gonna go back to work.

Yeah.

And I used to physically drive back to the office before, you know, it was connecting everything on a laptop and all that. So I just go, okay. I would always pick, you know, one or two nights a week that I would go back to the office because I could be super productive.

Yes.

And what I want to make my own choices. I don't want anyone to control my time. It's just been a super motivator my whole life. I work very hard and I work all the time. I don't mind that because I get to work on things that interest me.

Right.

And I know I'm building for myself. So if I don't, if I don't finish or if I take a break or if I slack off, which I've done all of those things, maybe even today, it's, it's nobody's fault but mine. I am ultimate, ultimately accountable. And I think that embracing that super accountability is, it's, it's a hack for achieving way more in your life because there is no other reason not to succeed but your own actions.

That's it, right? Yes.

Yeah.

It's interesting. I'll use the same programmer, keyboard player friend as an example. On Friday, I am doing some time shifting to make room for a rehearsal for an upcoming. We're doing a Beatles tribute show over Thanksgiving. And I believe of the people involved, everyone else is full time at the theater except for him and me. And I was like, Friday afternoon is the time that rehearsal is going to work. And he is always able to make those work because he can timeshift his employee. Like he can go work that night or, you know, he can, he can do the same time shifting. And I think that time shifting thing with a lot of jobs, not every job, but with a lot of employees, that's possible. Certainly the people that work for me can time shift. He gets.

And it's valuable. So that is an employer.

Absolutely.

It is currency. It is on your list of benefits 100% often more valuable even than what you're paying people is to recognize that, yeah, that, hey, I don't want you to miss your kids play or baseball game or whatever. But I, we're all adults.

I think what I'm saying here is that I used to see that ability to timeshift as something that was only in the realm of the entrepreneur, the business owner, and that has changed. That's not there. But your comment about ultimate accountability and that you're building for yourself, that is the thing that we get to trade is like, I have, as do you, I have unlimited upside in my annual salary. I have unlimited downside as well. Of course, of course. But that is not true of most employees. Even salespeople who work on commission. There's always going to be a cap man, whether, whether it's baked, whether it's written in your contract or not, it will be. Ye, yeah, that's right.

Yeah. And we talked about this before about exponential opportunities, right?

We did.

We talked about, I think a week or two ago.

Yeah.

And that's very similar is that you're putting, doing all these things, you're in the game like we talked about earlier. You're learning every day. You're building, you're, you know, you're taking advantage of opportunities. You're trying to add value to people's lives. And the products you sell, services, whatever it is and that, it's, it's almost like I, I liken it to like a knob, right. If I want to crank it up, okay, man, I'm, I'm gonna do it. But like, I have certain other things, like November through January, I want to hunt every Wednesday. That's just my, that's what I love to do.

That's why we do this show on Tuesdays. That's why we record on Tuesdays.

We used to do it on Wednesdays. And they're like, wait, let's, hey, Dave, do you mind? So, no, yeah, yeah. No, of course not. Because we have ultimate flexibility. Yes. And, and so I like that knob. I, I, it's usually cranked to 11 for me, but oftentimes I want to crank it back to zero. Now, when I'm hunting, am I still thinking about business? Of course. But I like it. I'm, I, I enjoy this or I wouldn't do this show. Right. So, so yeah, I, I, I love the flexibility. It, you know, how do you use that flexibility in your business? Do you share it with your employees and your team or do you hold a little tighter reined? You know, I'd love to feedback businessbrain show. Come share your stories or follow. You know, tell us up on X. Dave Hamilton at Shannon Gene. We love to hear from you.

Absolutely. Like he said, at Shannon Jeanavelton Feedback at BusinessBrain show. Let us know how you manage all that. Have a great weekend and keep living that charmed life. I'll see you next week.