what lessons have you learned throughout your
journey as an entrepreneur, maybe early stages
or maybe now, or maybe some of the lessons that
helped you save some years of your life or maybe
some time of your life because of the right people
that came in or the things that you learned.
I'd love to hear about those. Sure. So number
one. I would say the most impactful is, like
I said to you before, you miss 100 % of the shots
you don't take. And so I really led by realizing
you have to take a chance and execute. So had
I not taken that bold leap into entrepreneurship
and starting my company, I would have missed
out on the great opportunities that have come
into my life. The businesses that I've had to
support. the people that that have been with
me on my team along the way that that enriched
my life and and the people that people that have
left because i believe sometimes a lot of cases
the people that brought you to where you were
today may not be the people that need to bring
you to that will bring you to where you will
be tomorrow which is unfortunate but sometimes
the universe tells us that we need to make those
tough choices. And I've done that. And sometimes
I've taken some time. I've recognized also that
the biggest thing I would always default to this,
how am I going to get things done? But now I
really embraced who is going to do this for me,
on behalf of me. And so you put that trust in.
in a team member or or find somebody else in
the greater community of the world that can support
you get to where you need to be because you have
to lead by example and set the vision but if
you're doing it all by yourself and if you're
that man or woman trapped on an island you can't
execute at that level trying to do it all yourself
or be the savior trying to save people you've
got to give people a chance to grow and execute
yes Thank you for sharing that. So if I were
to take you back in the early stages of entrepreneurship,
what would you say that how was that like? And
then fast forward a little bit when you hired
your first person, what was that like? So first
thing was. trying to do everything on your on
your own and working late hours and realizing
hey this is exhausting but you're trying to save
money by not investing in hiring somebody but
that's exactly the reason why you need to make
a change and invest in a person so it gives you
the time to execute and think so when i first
made that strategic hire it allowed me to to
have more freedom and time to do what I need
to do, which was meet the customers and grow.
So as much as I want to hold back on investing
and having somebody for revenue needs, because
we're afraid of making that leap, taking that
leap of faith, it was exactly the reason why
I needed to do that. And it gave me more freedom,
but it also allowed our business to grow at a
tremendous rate. It's been an incredible rate.
So in terms of time or in terms of revenue, did
you have a term in mind? Hey, if I reach X amount
of revenue, then I can hire someone or if I get
this much time back. And what did you delegate
to other people? Well, initially. Initially,
in the early parts of my entrepreneurial journey,
I was doing everything, even doing phone calls
and invoicing. First thing I did was in technical,
I hired a technician, a computer technician at
the time. But the other thing I leveraged after
speaking with a wise entrepreneur, he said, Brett,
you don't always need to hire somebody full time.
So I found fractional people that could support
me. So I leveraged the use of a VA at the time.
And initially it was 20 hours a month. And that
took such a load off my mind that I could focus
on doing things I like to do. And face it, I
don't love doing admin work. So I gave the benefit
of somebody else having the joy of doing that
admin work that they thrive and excel at and
they get excited. So it was liberating. And how
long did that take you to get to that point where
you were like, okay, I need to hire an admin
person? How far along were you in your journey?
I was about a year when I recognized that. I
could have done it. I could have gave myself
permission to do that much sooner. But like I've
said before, this is all about mindset and beliefs
and overcoming limiting beliefs. So it took a
while for me to process. And even when we fast
forward to 12 years later, 10 years later, I
was still processing that. And I really, really
recognized then that I hadn't gone far enough.
And I've taken it to a whole new level since.
since those early days of what i believed was
possible yeah and i want to add on to what you
just just just said i think when you hired the
va i i can almost guarantee that there probably
new challenges also arrived from hiring a person
training and and expectations aspirations of
how the work needs to be done and all those things
and a lot of things set in but those are just
small challenges that that can be overcome. But
for you, I'm guessing it was the time that you
got back that you could focus on other things.
Well, absolutely. I really buy into that concept
of buying back your time. In fact, I took that
to a whole new level about 18 months ago. Not
only in my business, I made the decision that
it was time to invest in having a person come
in and help with our house. So we hired a lady
that was looking for an opportunity that was
supporting a number of other professionals in
our community. And she now comes in once or twice
a week and buys back the time for my wife and
I and my family so that we can focus on taking
care of the needs of our family. I have... I'm
a busy house. We have four children at home and
we're a hockey family and a scouting family.
So it's go, go, go. So when you have that, when
you give yourself the permission to bless somebody
with the opportunity to support you, that blessing
comes back to you. So there's nothing better
than coming back to your house Tuesday late in
the afternoon to see that your house is all cleaned
and the clothes are folded. You have four children.
and two adults and and it just it it brings order
when you when you allow to give people opportunities
to do what they love yes that's awesome so bang
back of of time i'm i'm a big fan of alex hermosi
on that i mean i think he's broken down those
aspects pretty good he was like if if it takes
me two hours a week to go buy groceries, come
back and at least 30, 40 minutes a day to cook
something and then more on cleanup after that.
And if I take that three hours or on an average
probably would be close to six hours a week if
I can take that and just use it to productively
do something that'll make me money, I'll get
Uber Eats all day. Absolutely. I live by that.
We order from the local grocery stores and have
it delivered. So that time that I buy back from
that, I'll spend that extra hour making phone
calls. Yes. And I can guarantee you, well, I
know this, my hour is worth more than... than
paying a $10 delivery fee. Correct. In one hour,
I've secured business deals beyond that, securing
MRR to help businesses manage their cyber risk.
They're just waiting for me to have that conversation.
But if I'm majoring in the minors, and doing
things i shouldn't be doing or that i can pay
somebody else the privilege to do that then it
gives me that opportunity to buy back my time
yes yeah and and i want to there's two sides
to that equation though right the one side is
that you buy back your time and you do something
productive with the time but if you're not doing
something productive that is actually going to
make you money or make you grow or something
in that direction that's going to help you maybe
two, three, four, five, 10 years down the road,
that time is then wasted. Then it's not a positive
equation. So you have to replace it with something
higher in value. I think even $2 higher value
is a worth of exchange because you still get
$2 back in an hour. Absolutely. But it could
be something as simple. I'm a lifelong learner.
So if it means for that one hour that I go out,
which I often love to do if I'll take that hour
and go for a walk and listen to a podcast or
an audible, not only am I working on my physical
health, I'm working on my professional goals
by feeding my mind and giving myself the oxygen
I need. Yes. You know, someone mentioned to me
yesterday, it was one of my friends, When you're
doing all these things, it's hard to see the
changes and the effect it's going to have. Yeah.
Right? And he said something very sweet. He said,
you can't watch a tree grow. No. You cannot watch
a tree grow. You have to just experience it over
time, the effects of what you do today. and the
fruit is going to bear tomorrow well exactly
and my my transformation uh is very much an example
that i i've released 120 pounds in the last 18
months and when i first started on my journey
it was just a pound two pounds but now i'm a
totally different person with a whole new belief
system and when people see me they say i wish
i could have do what you've done well Anybody
can do it. It just starts with taking that first
step and having the discipline and commitment
to keep going, even when it's hard, because when
you do hard things, everything becomes easy.
Yes, it is. It is. It is. Or you or you realize
that you need to get stronger to do it. Right.
Right. Either way you learn when you do hard
things, you learn either you're too weak to do
it. So you get stronger or or. or you were able
to do hard things easier or surround yourself
with accountability partners which i which i
did in which i i i did again because um i've
had i shared a tremendous success about my transformation
but i also shared an accountability group where
i realized for the last two months i've been
at the same place and i shared an accountability
post and i was very honest and vulnerable But
I did it not only for myself, but to inspire
others with my honesty. I have learned that it's
okay to fail or have a temporary setback. But
when you get knocked down, you get back up again.
So I was knocked down. I wasn't moving like where
I want to be. But I decided, and I have this
sheet of 100 days of accountability, but I tied
it with my accountability group. No longer am
I going to grab the chocolate chips. or take
a little spoon of peanut butter, I'm sticking
to my meal plan 100 % because I'm worth it. Yeah.
Your body is worth it. You're worth it. Yeah.
Yeah. That's awesome. Thank you for sharing that.
I want to end on one more aspect. From what you
have learned, if someone's starting out today
as an entrepreneur, Let's say someone's starting
out in cybersecurity as you are. What tips would
you give them? Okay. Number one, we all have
imposter syndrome. Okay. So recognize it and
be okay with that. But also recognize that we
are living in the best time. So the best thing
any business can do, even my business, is continuously
feed your mind. and get into a group of like
-minded peers. I'm in a group in cybersecurity
with 800 other professionals. So I have a whole
network behind me that I can call on that supports
me. Invest in your team. Invest in your process.
Have a good, solid foundation for your bookkeeping.
Really, the best thing also is continuously checking
in with your clients and coach your team. Whatever
you've learned, and I'm in a coaching environment,
I take that what I learn and I empower my team
by sharing what I've learned. So share that knowledge
and share the best version of yourself, but also
just recognize that you're not perfect, but if
you don't start. You're going to stay at the
same place. So we are living in the best time.
So this is the time to embrace whatever goal
you have. Take that step and go for it. But count
on your network. Rely on your network. Your network
is your biggest asset. And we're a people of
connection. So we need to be talking to each
other, lifting each other up and asking for support
and giving support. Thank you for being here
today. I'm really happy that you tuned in to
Vision Pros Live. I'm looking forward to seeing
your reactions as these episodes continue to
move forward. This is going to get more and more
fun. We'll have more and more engagement as well.
We'll invite people to participate in the show.
And thank you for giving us your time and attention.
Have an excellent time building out your vision
and becoming a vision pro yourself.