How To Become Unemployable Franchise Fridays with Jeff Dudan #180

Hey, everybody. Jeff Duden here. And welcome back to Franchise Fridays. Here's a factoid worth paying attention to. According to the US Census Bureau, over 5.5 million new business applications were filed in the last 12 months. That is not just economic activity. It is a signal, and a strong signal that more people than ever are betting on themselves. They're walking away from jobs, bosses and all the burnout and choosing freedom, ownership and control for their lives instead. I've been there. I built my first business while still in college. Then I scaled at VantaClean to over 240 locations. And today I lead one of the fastest growing franchise platforms in North America called Homefront Brands. And along the way, I've realized something powerful. I became unemployable. Not because I couldn't work for somebody else, because great leaders have to learn how to follow first, but because I. I refused to give up the autonomy that I had earned. I wanted choice in my life, the freedom to do what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it, and with anybody whom I choose to do it with. I stopped chasing titles and I started building a legacy and a life for me and the people that I cared the most about. So today, we're going to break down what it really means to be unemployable and how you can build the mindset, the skill set and the path to get there, too. And if you're serious about creating a future of freedom and ownership, click the link below to grab a free copy of my book, Discernment the Business Athletes Regimen for a Great Life through Better Decisions. And check out what we're building at Homefront Brands by going to homefrontbrands.com now, let's get you unemployable in the very best way possible. Let's get into it. Unemployable is not an insult. It's a badge of honor. It means you're no longer willing to let someone else decide your value, what your time is worth, and what the limitations are in your life for what you can create, what you can consume, and what you can experience. And today, I want you to walk through the five mindsets that define what it means to be truly unemployable that others have learned and have leveraged. Number one, think like an owner, not like an employee. Employees wait and owners take action. They take massive action, they take bold action and they figure things out. When you start thinking like an owner, you stop asking for permission and you start finding opportunities which are everywhere. You stop worrying about job titles and you start thinking about outcomes. Outcomes for you, outcomes for your customers, outcomes for your people. Outcomes, outcomes for your business. That's the real difference. Owners focused on creating value, not just executing tasks or getting to the end of the day or clocking in or punching out or doing whatever it is. It's the time constraints disappear when you're an owner and you're excited about what you're building and excited about who you're building it for and the problems that you're solving. That's the mindset I developed Scaling Advantaclean and now building Homefront brands. Solving problems, leading people, building systems. That's what owners love to do. Because the world belongs to the curious and the people that are willing to solve the biggest problems for the most people. Number two, build high value transferable skills. It's about capabilities. Like you get the opportunity as a business owner to focus on whatever you want to do, figure out what you like doing the best you and delegate the rest to other people. It's about building a team. And inside of that team it's about you doing the highest value things as possible. You've heard me say it before. Some people get paid by the hour, some people get paid commission. But owners get paid by the conversation. Putting yourself out there with potential employees, customers, vendors, suppliers, all investors, perhaps you know, articulating what you're about, what problem you're solving and what the future looks like for anybody who gets involved with you is your job. And that is a highly, highly important skill for a business owner. The only way to stay ahead is to develop these skills. And no matter what industry you're in, it doesn't matter. There are skills that the owners need to have. Second, you got to learn how to sell, learn how to lead, learn how to build, learn how to communicate clearly and consistently and learn in all of these things how to scale a business. Put a team together, make it efficient, make it effective. The person who knows about turn one location into 10 will always be free. And being unemployable means you've got a skill set that's too valuable to be priced by anybody's standards or by the hour or any other measure. Number three, you've got to have a mindset of owning your future. Nobody's coming to save you. But I didn't know this. And this is the key about people. When you become an entrepreneur, you change the circles that you operate in. You're going to find that there's groups, lots of groups, mastermind groups, Vistage groups, YPO groups, strategic Coach groups. There's all kinds of groups out there where there's people just like you that are up to something and going somewhere. So while nobody's coming to save you in your business, and ultimately when somebody needs to do something or something goes wrong, you've got that somebody shirt on, it is you. There are other people that you will find that you will put in your circle, that you will get in the room with, that you will incorporate into your life, that that will be a support group of people that are thinking just like you. And the sooner you take ownership of your time, your finances, your outcomes, the sooner you step into real freedom and what that real freedom feels like. That means building income streams, multiple income streams, making money while you sleep, finding scalable models, applying what you've learned in one model to another model. That means getting off the dependency track, having other people make decisions about what happens to you and what your capacity is, or what your capabilities are, or what your future is. For me and thousands of others, that's the path that we've chosen. And for many of us, that path has been inside of franchising. And we don't choose it because it's easy. I tell people this is not the easiest thing you're going to do. Building a business, becoming self employed, becoming unemployable, it is not the easiest thing you can do, but that's because it works. And when you do it right, it's a model that builds wealth, builds community, creates experience, and provides long term value again for you and anybody that you choose to include inside of that universe. Number four, get uncomfortable. You gotta embrace the uncomfortable, the discomfort of growth and change. Because here's the truth. Businesses are not static. They will always be changing. And it will always be hard. And there will always be a challenge. But guess what? You get resilient to it. Once you learn that nothing you're going to do is fatal, then it becomes more logical. And when things go wrong, which they do multiple times every day because anything left to itself always goes from bad to worse, you will fail. You will fail at things you might question yourself. You will be tempted to go back to the safe route. But if you can create a mindset where you can exist inside of this discomfort, if you can keep showing up, you'll find the rewards on the other side unlike anything a salary or a job or, you know, living inside of somebody else's dream can give you. Because you are living life on your own terms, defined only by you and limited only by what you can dream. What you can create and what you can sell to people to help you build it. And that, my friends, is where building your personal legacy can begin. And last number five, you've got to bet on yourself, okay? Put your chips on the table, write a check, give up something that's safe, like security inside of a salary or something like that. Look, when you put something on the plate, something has to come off the plate. And you know you're not, you're never going to be able to get something of greater value without giving up something that's eating your time. I talk to owners now, you know, and about adding and subtracting. You know, for me at my life here, with all of the businesses and all the opportunities that I have going on, my success is more determined by the things that I take away and stop doing to create enough space and mind share for the things that are truly important. Focusing your time, energy, intention on the biggest opportunities, that is what business owners learn to do over time. Because once you get successful at something, people are constantly throwing things at you to do. So systems, they're designed to serve themselves, not designed to serve you. The traditional career ladder, corporate policies, illusion of job security, it's all about keeping that machine running. And you're a cog in that machine. But wouldn't you like to be building the machine that you can drive yourself? Being unemployable means you've made a conscious decision to bet on your own vision, your own work ethic, your own results. And you're not waiting for permission for anybody else in the world to create the future that you deserve. You're building something that can never be taken away from you. Because once you have these skills, these abilities and this mindset, you can do anything at any time. And if you get knocked back, you just come back stronger. You've already made that decision. So ask yourself, are you or are you not today thinking like an owner? Are you developing the high value skills that it's going to take to, to put you in a position to define your own future? Are you taking full ownership of your time and of your outcomes? Are you letting other people dictate those for you? Are you willing to trade a little bit of comfort and a little bit of security for the opportunity to be free in your life and to make decisions of your own choosing and be anywhere you want to be at any time, doing anything you want to do with anybody that you want to do it? And are you ready to build something that will last long beyond you and create a legacy that started you stood on nothing and you created something and you were the one in your family that changed the slope of the line, the trajectory for all the people that come behind it. Just if it's even the example that you set to change the thinking of your children, your nieces, your nephews, or anybody else that happens to be in your orbit, you can be the one. So if that's you, welcome to the movement. The first step starts today. You might just be unemployable. Thank you so much for joining me on Franchise Fridays. I'm fired up about this because this hits home for me and if it hit home for you, hit that like button. Share this with somebody stuck in a 9 to 5 that they hate and subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next. Big episode every Tuesday. Great guest, incredible wisdom, fantastic insights. And then Franchise Friday specifically for people that are looking to be their own boss. Drop in every Friday. Big things are on the way. And if you're ready to start exploring franchise ownership, clear click the link in the description, grab your free copy of my book Discernment and let's build something together that lasts. And if you want to become truly unemployable, owning your time, your income and your future, there's no better place. To start by taking a quick look at homefront brands@homefrontbrands.com and until next time, I'm Jeff Duden. Stay sharp, stay focused. My gosh, do something. Take an action and stay on the home front. Thanks for listening.