1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,840 Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of Vision Pros. 2 00:00:05,840 --> 00:00:12,520 Today's very special guest is Joey D'Onofrio and he's the founder and CEO of Virtual Concierge 3 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:14,120 Services. 4 00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:17,120 And what better way to hear about Joey than from himself. 5 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:23,960 So Joey, please introduce yourself and tell us who you are and why you founded Virtual 6 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:26,040 Concierge Services. 7 00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:27,040 Thank you, Barbara. 8 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:28,920 I really appreciate that introduction. 9 00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:30,760 So who am I? 10 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:35,200 I played college sports, college baseball. 11 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:39,600 And I always tell people that that kind of shaped me as a business person because I learned 12 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:46,280 more about leadership, teamwork through playing baseball than I did through getting a college 13 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:48,560 education. 14 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:54,920 I guess I was kind of always entrepreneurial in that regard, you know, trying to play professional 15 00:00:54,920 --> 00:01:02,920 baseball, playing in college, getting a business degree, being very interested in entrepreneurship. 16 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:06,960 That was like the new buzzword when I was in school. 17 00:01:06,960 --> 00:01:14,360 And so some of my best times in the classroom or the best events that I ever attended were 18 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:18,280 entrepreneurship events where business owners would come in and talk about how they grew 19 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:20,260 their businesses. 20 00:01:20,260 --> 00:01:26,240 And so I guess right after I graduated college, I wanted to grow a business. 21 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:31,680 I wanted to go into that realm through the stories that I heard. 22 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:33,680 And that's exactly what I did. 23 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:36,940 And I started and grew a family business. 24 00:01:36,940 --> 00:01:44,040 We did property inspections, grew that from, you know, one to two people to we had over 25 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:52,440 30 employees under a million dollars in revenue to multiple million dollars in revenue. 26 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:58,280 And then in the process of that, I got started another business in the merchant processing 27 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:04,920 world where we took it from nothing and we utilized the home service space and provided 28 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:10,000 credit card services for the home service space and payment services for the home service 29 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:16,000 space and we grew that to a seven figure level in a two year period, which is incredible 30 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:17,320 if you really think about it. 31 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:23,200 So using that leverage that I had with the home service space, growing that to a seven 32 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:24,800 figure level. 33 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:28,720 And then I got out of it through a sale. 34 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:33,640 So the partners that I had started with bought me out, got out of the merchant processing 35 00:02:33,640 --> 00:02:40,800 space, still in the inspection space and looking to get out of that through a seven figure 36 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:43,800 exit, which is kind of cool. 37 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:49,400 And now I have a passion as I was figuring out, OK, now that I'm I sold a business, I'm 38 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:52,160 in the process of selling another business. 39 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:57,400 What other ways can I help small business grow? 40 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:00,760 And I did some brainstorming, you know, like we sell. 41 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:02,360 Well, how can I help them? 42 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:05,480 Well, most people aren't educated on virtual assistance. 43 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:08,040 They think of them as assistance. 44 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:12,040 They don't realize that they can be full time employees. 45 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:17,600 And I want to come in and not just give you an employee, because what good is that if 46 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:21,520 you don't know how to manage them, if if you don't know what your needs are, if you don't 47 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:26,760 know what areas your, you know, your strengths or your weaknesses are for the business to 48 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:27,840 grow. 49 00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:33,320 So we kind of come in as a consultant and not only do we help you place a virtual assistant, 50 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:36,200 but we help you with your systems and processes. 51 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:40,040 Hey, we're maybe where can you utilize somebody? 52 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:46,040 I think the the biggest problem and struggle for entrepreneurs is they think they have 53 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:47,680 to do everything on their own. 54 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:51,000 They don't know how to delegate. 55 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:55,480 They got into business because they're passionate about a service or a product that they're 56 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:59,400 providing and they don't necessarily know how to run a business. 57 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:01,280 Yeah, they're very innovative. 58 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:07,360 They know this product, but they don't know how to hire, how to manage employees. 59 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:11,880 And so we kind of try to take that headache away from people through virtual concierge 60 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:12,880 services. 61 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:15,560 And so that's a little bit about me. 62 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:22,560 So it's interesting because you made some big pivots and have some familiarity in some 63 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:25,600 of those industries because of my own pivots in life. 64 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:32,080 I'm curious, how did you figure out that being the virtual concierge was what you really 65 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:34,720 wanted to do next in terms of your vision? 66 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:43,480 Well, I think, you know, as I get older, you know, what I discovered is fulfillment comes 67 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:44,920 through helping others. 68 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:46,240 I truly believe that. 69 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:54,160 And so I see a lot of business owners struggle with growth, especially going to conferences. 70 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:55,520 I was a part of a podcast. 71 00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:57,460 You're talking with business owners. 72 00:04:57,460 --> 00:05:05,120 They are their biggest enemy to growth a lot of the times because their mindset just isn't 73 00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:06,920 there. 74 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:10,360 And I have a passion for business. 75 00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:12,100 I love it. 76 00:05:12,100 --> 00:05:13,600 And I've done it pretty successfully. 77 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:17,680 And a lot of businesses never make the seven figure level. 78 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:20,040 And it's all in your mindset. 79 00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:24,780 I am a firm believer that to get to seven figures, it's a mindset shift. 80 00:05:24,780 --> 00:05:29,740 And so once you have that mindset shift, it becomes fairly easy, in my opinion. 81 00:05:29,740 --> 00:05:34,040 But most entrepreneurs never make that transition. 82 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:38,360 I was talking to a woman just the other day and she's like, I don't even know what a virtual 83 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:40,440 assistant would do for my business. 84 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:41,780 I do everything. 85 00:05:41,780 --> 00:05:43,560 And I'm like, that's your problem. 86 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:46,040 You're doing everything. 87 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:50,280 And you doing everything is not the best use of your time. 88 00:05:50,280 --> 00:05:52,880 It's not the best use for your business. 89 00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:53,880 You're starving. 90 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:59,800 You're stunting your business growth because you think you have to do everything. 91 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:02,800 And she's not alone. 92 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:05,680 That's so many entrepreneurs that think, oh, I have to do everything. 93 00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:07,400 And they don't know how to delegate. 94 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:11,040 What do you see are some of the biggest challenges you see leaders face? 95 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:12,640 And you're absolutely right. 96 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:15,520 The coach and me is like mindset across the board. 97 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:17,040 They cannot get out of their own way. 98 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:21,560 But what are some of the other big challenges that you see leaders face as you are working 99 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:26,680 with them or even trying to help them understand what you and others who provide services to 100 00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:29,880 business, smaller businesses can do? 101 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:31,920 Hiring. 102 00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:33,840 Most business owners don't know how to hire. 103 00:06:33,840 --> 00:06:36,600 They don't know how to interview. 104 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:37,960 They don't know what questions to ask. 105 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:40,440 It's amazing because now we're in virtual concierge. 106 00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:45,920 All of our business owners interview their own VAs and they get to select which one is 107 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:46,920 best for their business. 108 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:51,960 And so seeing this process, you're like, wow, they don't even know what to do. 109 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:54,760 And so part of our process is guiding them on here. 110 00:06:54,760 --> 00:07:00,240 Here's some questions maybe you should ask them because they don't even know how to hire. 111 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:01,840 They don't know how to manage people. 112 00:07:01,840 --> 00:07:04,080 They don't know how to KPIs. 113 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:08,440 They don't know key performance indicators, how important those are to your business. 114 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:12,960 They think, oh, I fill in for the seat and I have them doing this work, but how do I 115 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:18,320 measure their performance to make sure that they're helping me grow? 116 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:19,320 And that's the key thing. 117 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:25,440 You shouldn't hire somebody unless there's a clear objective for growth or they're doing 118 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:30,260 something they're giving you back some time so you can then work on the more important 119 00:07:30,260 --> 00:07:32,200 things in your business. 120 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:33,820 That's why you hire. 121 00:07:33,820 --> 00:07:37,320 You shouldn't just hire to, oh, well, this is what my coach said. 122 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:38,800 I need to hire somebody. 123 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:41,440 Well, why are you hiring that person? 124 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:46,880 There better be a business reason why you need to bring somebody on. 125 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:50,320 And that's a lot of the things that people that business owners struggle with. 126 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:53,120 You know, oh, I think this is just the next step for my business. 127 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:57,760 They don't have clear understanding of this stuff. 128 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:04,040 And so that's what we try to help them discover through what we do and provide virtual assistance 129 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:06,520 to the businesses that we help. 130 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:07,760 Thank you for being here today. 131 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:10,240 I'm really happy that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live. 132 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:15,040 I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions as these episodes continue to move forward. 133 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:16,680 This is going to get more and more fun. 134 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:18,760 We'll have more and more engagement as well. 135 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:21,040 We'll invite people to participate in the show. 136 00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:23,320 And thank you for giving us your time and attention. 137 00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:37,680 Have an excellent time building out your vision and becoming a Vision Pro yourself.