WEBVTT

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and the hustlers that are making a difference

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in our industry. Today's guest is a special guest,

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Erica Crouppen from Crouppen's Poopin' Scoopin'.

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And this is the second show that we've had the

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opportunity to record with her. So Erica. Welcome

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back to the Lawn Hustle. Thank you for having

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me back. It's been too long. Yes, ma 'am. Well,

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two weeks ago, you and I were at a event with

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Naylor Taliaferro and the LCR media. We attended

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the LCR summit. I want to ask you, what was your

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biggest takeaway? from the LCR Summit Oh Man

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I'll tell you what this was my second time attending

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Unfortunately, I missed the first one and I'm

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very sad that I missed that But coming back this

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second time and seeing a lot of familiar faces

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and to see how folks have grown their business

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and to be able to see how Naylor and the team,

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they were able to bring new information to when

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they spoke. There was a lot. I mean, I have a

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notebook full, literally full of things. One

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of my biggest takeaways was from Paul Jameson

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with the content creation. It was getting really

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clear with my messaging to who I was speaking

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to, who my ideal client was. And for me, I've

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been kind of confused on my social media, for

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my personal and then also for my business because

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I have my pooper scooper business, which is local.

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Then I also have the podcast and I have the social

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media and I have brands that I work with and

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it got very muddy and I felt like I was very

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confused. I came back and I said, OK, we're going

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to clean up this business page. Who is that ideal

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client? that ICP ideal customer profile. Who

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am I trying to speak to? And all of the content

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that I'm going to be creating on Crouppen's poop

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and scooping page is going to speak specifically

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to that customer. That's what I came back and

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did. I started cleaning it up. Well, let me make

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a book recommendation since you mentioned Paul

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Jamieson's greenhouse and It's called Dotcom

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by Brunson Russell. It's a great book and he

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brings out some of the things that Paul brought

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out in his presentation in his book and I started

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reading it and I Got excited about my business.

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I've been in almost 17 years now in the green

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industry and I am on the tail end of my business.

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I actually have a company that wants to buy me

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out. So my wife is a school teacher. She has

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one more year until she could retire. And so

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I'm starting to think about the dead exit game,

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but I'm excited about knowing who I want to work

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for, finding out where they are. and where I

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should target those prospective clients. So Paul's

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presentation was great, and I also really enjoyed

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Eric Triplett's presentation. Just amazing stuff

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on knowing your customer, knowing their personality,

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knowing how they're going to relate to you and

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to your business. One of my biggest takeaways

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though was Nadler when he taught about the four

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seasons. That just really hit home how that we,

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in the spring, we plant. In the spring, we are

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preparing for the summer rush. In the summer,

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you know, we're going through our business and

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right up into the fall of the year when you transition

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into the winter, and you go to rest just like

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the soil does. And then you get it ready for

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the next spring. So I thought that was my first

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time to ever be able to attend the LCR Summit.

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And I look forward to next year's already. I

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plan on going. That's how much of an impact it

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made on me that I'm already planning on going

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again. So our guest today, She turns poop into

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profit, and she is building a seven -figure business.

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Sometimes the best business model is the simplest

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idea. I would have never thought to start a poop

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and scooping business, but it's someone that

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looked beyond the norm and saw an opportunity.

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So can you explain to us how you started thinking

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about this business and what inspired you to

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just jump in? You know, I really wish I had some

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type of deep, really some deep thought out plan.

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It was, it was I. I guess I hated my job where

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I was working. It's not that it was a bad job.

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It was security. I worked at U of M Hospital

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as a pharmacy technician. I basically got the

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job handed to me because my aunts worked there

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and I didn't deserve that job. I didn't deserve

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to actually still be there because my attendance

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was so terrible. But I had people that saw things

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in me that I didn't quite see in myself. And

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this is a common theme throughout my life. A

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lot of people, when they talk about me, Erika's

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very confident. I walk with confidence. I talk

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with confidence. Erika's a confident person.

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I am actually not a confident person. I'm just

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really good at showing up confidently when I

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need to. But behind closed doors, it's something

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that I have an inner critic that's always telling

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me, you're not good enough. You're not doing

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good enough. You have to keep pushing forward.

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And that's good, right? Because you want to achieve

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goals, I want to achieve things, but sometimes

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it's very painful because I can't just relax.

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So back then, even though I knew it was a nice

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cozy job, I just knew that there was something

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else out there for me and I just knew there was

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something better. I decided I wanted to go to

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school because I wanted to get out of the pharmacy.

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and I was telling one of the pharmacists I was

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working with that I was gonna go to school. I'm

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like, I'm gonna go to school for pharmacy. And

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I remember him looking back at me and he's like,

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Erika, you're just like fun and cute. Like you

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should just do something like that. Like pharmacy

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is really hard, like really hard. You have to

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study a lot and that's just really not for you.

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And I remember thinking, yeah, maybe I just,

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I'm not smart enough to do something like this.

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And that kind of got my head turning, and it

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kind of got me into a bad head space. And I went

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to school, though. I said, OK, I'm not going

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to do pharmacy. I'm going to become a physical

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therapist assistant. And I can tell you what,

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I had to take every class twice. Every single

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class. I struggled. I had to have my husband

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edit my papers for me, because I had to take

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classes to even get me up to college level, because

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that's how illiterate I was. I couldn't even

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put together a full paragraph. I did so poorly

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in high school, I shouldn't have even graduated.

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But once again, I don't know what it was. The

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teacher liked me. She saw something in me that

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I didn't see in myself and she ended up passing

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me. That's the only reason why I even graduated

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high school is because of that teacher. So when

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I didn't, you know, fast forward when I didn't

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get into the physical assistant program because

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there was only a certain amount of spaces, I

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was like, oh no, my husband put so much time

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and energy into me. Like I'm a failure. I can't

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even get into the school. He's going to be so

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upset with me. And I remember just calling him.

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I said, hey, I just, I got to tell you, I didn't

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get into the program and I just went silent.

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And he went silent too. And I hate that. I can't

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stand silence. And I was like, well, what do

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you think? And he's like, well, what do you think?

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I was like, can I be super transparent with you?

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I'm relieved. I struggled. I struggled. But that's

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the one thing about me is it doesn't matter how

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hard it is. I'm still going to try to figure

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it out. Like, yes, I didn't complete. I didn't

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pass the class that I needed to. I got to see.

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That's failing, technically. So I drove from

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U of M hospital after working a midnight shift.

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We worked tens. And I would drive all the way

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to Flint, Michigan, to take a class that I needed

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to take to apply for this program. And then from

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there, I would drive home, rinse and repeat.

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And I did that for a full semester. And this

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was during the Flint water crisis time. I didn't

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get into the program. He says, good, because

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I need you home. It's chaos here. We had little

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kids at home at the time. And at that time, a

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friend of mine was like, hey, you want to go

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to a premiere designs jewelry show? I said, I

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don't even have money to do that. I had to borrow

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50 bucks to go to this show just to have something.

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And I bought this necklace that was way overpriced.

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But I met this woman, Melissa. She's like you're

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super bubbly. I think you would do really good

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with this. I said a girl I got a lot going on

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right now. I can't Well, I didn't get in the

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program. I had some time that freed up. I learned

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how to do sales It was direct marketing sales

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Which led me to doing camera stuff because I

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did a lot of online sales and jewelry shows and

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I got in front of people I learned how to structure

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scripts. I learned how to read people Which all

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led me to standing in my kitchen when I was looking

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at my husband. I was watching my dog go to the

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bathroom outside and My husband's last name is

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Crouppen So that's where Crouppen's pooping scooping

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comes from because it was something him and his

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brothers joked around about ever since they were

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kids and I always liked my husband I had a crush

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on him since I was like five years old and I

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was just I'm committed You know I'm saying like

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I told you I commit So we had to go through some

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stuff and we ended up coming back together. I

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asked him that day, I said, hey, can I start

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that poop scooping business that you talked about?

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And he was like, yeah, sure. I'm like, can I

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use the name? He says, yeah, sure. And the next

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day I filed for the DBA. I didn't have a business

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plan. I didn't know what I was going to do. I

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just knew that I was capable enough to scoop

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dog poop and I could put all the rest of the

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pieces together. So that's what I've spent the

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last seven years is just building this puzzle

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of what, what the business is going to look like

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and what Erica's life moving forward is going

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to be. So when you started, did you start full

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time or did you start as a side hustle? Oh, it

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was a side hustle. Yeah. Cause I was still working

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at U of M. I was, I might, I don't know if I

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was working there full time or part time. I,

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because I disliked it so much I bounced between

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like full -time and part -time and full -time

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and midnights and days and I would like convince

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my husband of why I didn't why we could afford

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to not have me work there full -time which really

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wasn't a good idea but my sanity just wasn't

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just I needed to not be there um But there was

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a point where I was working full -time at the

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hospital and then I was doing my business part

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-time and then a switch happened to where I went

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part -time and then the business started to grow

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and grow and grow and finally it got to a point

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where I could not do both of them anymore and

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I told my husband I said we're I'm very very

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close to having to quit at the hospital and I

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was like I need to make sure that I replace my

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hospital income Which was $30 ,000 I needed to

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put money away for retirement Which that is like

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it was 500 and some change per month and I needed

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to be able to provide health care once that happened

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It was my first full year in business. So it

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ended up being like maybe 16 18 months. I hit

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six figures I Waltz into that office and I said

00:14:10.669 --> 00:14:14.070
I gotta talk to you Trish And she's like, are

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you quitting today? And I said, no, I'm going

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to give you my two months. So I gave them a two

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month notice that I was out of there. And that

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was right before the pandemic. So walk us through

00:14:25.429 --> 00:14:30.029
your business model. Is it subscription based,

00:14:30.490 --> 00:14:35.730
weekly route? Is it a per visit pricing? What

00:14:35.730 --> 00:14:40.190
is your business model as far as client services?

00:14:41.070 --> 00:14:43.730
I will say it has changed over the years, but

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this is what I find is working the best now.

00:14:47.110 --> 00:14:50.509
It's a subscription model. That means a customer

00:14:50.509 --> 00:14:52.870
signs up with us for reoccurring service. It

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could either be once a week, twice a week, or

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every other week. They pay their fee, which is

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on the first of the month. We charge them at

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9 p .m. with their credit card on file through

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Jobber. And that prepays for the entire month.

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And then we show up based upon the frequency

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that they want us. That is the bread and butter

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of our company. We do offer one -off services.

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So if a person's like, hey, we just want you

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to come and do a one -off clean, because for

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whatever reason, we do those as well. But our

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main goal is to always try to convert those one

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-offs into reoccurring. And this was a... a word

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switch or maybe a word track that I learned at

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LCR Summit, instead of thinking of your customers,

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right? Customers are one -off. Our clients are

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long -term because that's where we're building

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relationships with these folks. And so that's

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my mindset is my clients are one -offs, but we

00:15:52.850 --> 00:15:56.210
want them. No, customers are one -off. I want

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to build a relationship. I want to continue for

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the seven years that they're going to keep us.

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So from a logistic standpoint, what does a normal

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day look like for Erica Crippen? How many yards

00:16:11.559 --> 00:16:14.379
do you service? How many customers do you serve?

00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:18.399
Okay. So I'm not in the field anymore because

00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:22.600
I have two full -time staff members. So my day

00:16:22.600 --> 00:16:27.980
looks a little different. Do you want me to say

00:16:27.980 --> 00:16:30.360
like what a day would look like if I was in the

00:16:30.360 --> 00:16:34.019
field? Sure. Okay, so if I was in the field at

00:16:34.019 --> 00:16:36.399
like 730 a .m. I would look at my route make

00:16:36.399 --> 00:16:39.620
sure that it was in the correct order Make sure

00:16:39.620 --> 00:16:42.220
I set myself up for success. Make sure my lunch

00:16:42.220 --> 00:16:44.419
is packed. I have all my hydrating stuff I have

00:16:44.419 --> 00:16:47.139
all my snacky snacks and all my tools my truck

00:16:47.139 --> 00:16:49.750
is stacked the way that it needs to and then

00:16:49.750 --> 00:16:52.889
by 8 a .m. I'm on the road. I want to be to my

00:16:52.889 --> 00:16:57.169
first house no later than 8 10 or 8 15. So if

00:16:57.169 --> 00:16:59.409
I'm starting out far away, I'm going to leave

00:16:59.409 --> 00:17:01.909
my house earlier to make sure I'm at that first

00:17:01.909 --> 00:17:05.970
property. Send the client an on -the -way text

00:17:05.970 --> 00:17:08.130
message. Hey, this is Erica on the way to scoop.

00:17:08.509 --> 00:17:11.549
I scoop the yard. I sanitize my supplies. I send

00:17:11.549 --> 00:17:14.609
them a text message. Hey, this is Erica. You've

00:17:14.609 --> 00:17:16.410
been scooped. Your gate is closed and secured.

00:17:16.470 --> 00:17:19.420
Have a wonderful day. I rinse and repeat that

00:17:19.420 --> 00:17:23.420
between 23 and 28 times a day and we end the

00:17:23.420 --> 00:17:27.759
day by like 435. That's if I was in the field.

00:17:28.140 --> 00:17:31.319
Now because I'm in the office, very similar,

00:17:31.339 --> 00:17:33.440
I wake up in the morning, I talk to my staff,

00:17:33.680 --> 00:17:36.359
send them a message, check my schedule to see

00:17:36.359 --> 00:17:39.200
what I have on the schedule, and then my virtual

00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:41.740
assistant Nina, she says what are your top three

00:17:41.740 --> 00:17:45.240
priorities for today? And one of them needs to

00:17:45.240 --> 00:17:48.660
be Bible reading because I have to put the Lord

00:17:48.660 --> 00:17:51.079
first because the Lord is the only reason why

00:17:51.079 --> 00:17:54.099
I survived last year with this business. I feel

00:17:54.099 --> 00:17:56.000
like if I wouldn't have leaned into Him, you

00:17:56.000 --> 00:17:57.599
and I wouldn't be having this conversation right

00:17:57.599 --> 00:18:01.000
now because I wouldn't be in business. So the

00:18:01.000 --> 00:18:03.460
Lord is one of my top threes, and then I want

00:18:03.460 --> 00:18:05.799
to have one that's family, and then as for the

00:18:05.799 --> 00:18:08.839
business, one thing. What am I working on that

00:18:08.839 --> 00:18:11.420
one thing that day that's going to push me forward?

00:18:11.769 --> 00:18:13.950
Because if not, I'll have like 15 or 20 things

00:18:13.950 --> 00:18:16.210
that I'm trying to work on. And by the end of

00:18:16.210 --> 00:18:19.410
the day, I'm like, you did nothing. You did nothing

00:18:19.410 --> 00:18:25.210
today. Well, how do you get customers? What marketing

00:18:25.210 --> 00:18:30.710
channels work best for you? OK, Google. OK, if

00:18:30.710 --> 00:18:32.990
you got money, like if you have money to put

00:18:32.990 --> 00:18:36.950
into ads, which I put in about this year, I put

00:18:36.950 --> 00:18:40.839
in about. Probably $18 ,000 so far this year

00:18:40.839 --> 00:18:44.200
in the ads bring rush was like 13 ,000 and some

00:18:44.200 --> 00:18:47.640
change Your Google Google is gonna be your most

00:18:47.640 --> 00:18:50.259
verified customers. These are the ones that are

00:18:50.259 --> 00:18:52.799
intentionally looking for you They went in there

00:18:52.799 --> 00:18:54.359
and typed in pooper scooper. So they're gonna

00:18:54.359 --> 00:18:56.559
be easier to convert They are more expensive

00:18:56.559 --> 00:18:59.460
because they're more qualified. I was told max

00:18:59.460 --> 00:19:02.259
out your Google Like that's your that's the main

00:19:02.259 --> 00:19:05.000
one max that out as much as you possibly can

00:19:05.319 --> 00:19:09.140
Then Facebook is my second. I do paid and I do

00:19:09.140 --> 00:19:13.019
organic content. So I do paid ads. Those are

00:19:13.019 --> 00:19:16.099
hyper targeted in the background. I have an actual

00:19:16.099 --> 00:19:18.720
company that takes care of that for me now. And

00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:21.920
then I create organic content, which is my videos

00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:26.519
and the pictures and stuff that I post. If you

00:19:26.519 --> 00:19:29.539
pay attention to my stuff now, it's getting super

00:19:29.539 --> 00:19:32.400
focused. Like I'm calling out, hey, Westland

00:19:32.400 --> 00:19:35.519
dog owners. Hey, Canton dog owners. Cause I'm

00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:37.279
trying to talk to those people right away in

00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:41.079
that hook. Is that because you've decided that

00:19:41.079 --> 00:19:44.759
they are your ideal customer? Well, I already

00:19:44.759 --> 00:19:47.680
knew who my ideal customer was. My thing is,

00:19:47.680 --> 00:19:50.079
is I get bored, right? So I'm like looking at

00:19:50.079 --> 00:19:51.720
my page. I'm like, I'm super bored. So I want

00:19:51.720 --> 00:19:55.019
to start sharing different stuff. It's just what's

00:19:55.019 --> 00:19:58.680
unfortunate about it is, is I like variety, but

00:19:58.680 --> 00:20:02.599
variety is confusing. Okay. If I need for my

00:20:02.599 --> 00:20:05.839
ideal customer to see my page and know that I'm

00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:08.680
speaking to them, it has to be so consistent

00:20:08.680 --> 00:20:10.960
and I have to show up the same. And I know this

00:20:10.960 --> 00:20:13.920
with my branding because I do this time and time

00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:16.859
again, but I let my social media almost become

00:20:16.859 --> 00:20:19.700
a reflection of how I was feeling, what was going

00:20:19.700 --> 00:20:23.079
on in my brain. And it was like, what's going

00:20:23.079 --> 00:20:28.759
on over here? So when has been your best performing?

00:20:29.530 --> 00:20:39.490
Best performing marketing strategy. Well this

00:20:39.490 --> 00:20:42.250
year I doubled my business. So it was putting

00:20:42.250 --> 00:20:45.549
money into paid ads and hiring a company to do

00:20:45.549 --> 00:20:50.809
it. I am not a Google SEO person. I'm not a Facebook

00:20:50.809 --> 00:20:54.210
SEO person. So taking the time and trusting a

00:20:54.210 --> 00:20:56.509
company, finding a company that I want to use.

00:20:56.880 --> 00:20:59.619
and just letting them do their thing so then

00:20:59.619 --> 00:21:05.960
I could on my end shine where I shine. A lot

00:21:05.960 --> 00:21:10.779
of our listeners run lawn care companies. Do

00:21:10.779 --> 00:21:15.140
you get referrals from your local lawn care companies?

00:21:16.740 --> 00:21:20.680
Yes, but there has been an issue with this only

00:21:20.680 --> 00:21:24.210
because You guys have your routes, right? You

00:21:24.210 --> 00:21:26.549
service your houses on Mondays or Tuesdays. We

00:21:26.549 --> 00:21:30.269
do as well. So I was finding conflicting schedules.

00:21:30.430 --> 00:21:31.910
Like the one guy was like, hey, I want you to

00:21:31.910 --> 00:21:34.049
come scoop before we get there to mow. I'm like,

00:21:34.049 --> 00:21:37.089
I don't service that person until Friday. But

00:21:37.089 --> 00:21:38.930
as we're starting to grow, we're going to start

00:21:38.930 --> 00:21:42.829
getting more flexibility because I live in Westland

00:21:42.829 --> 00:21:46.170
and I, like a couple of my other staff members

00:21:46.170 --> 00:21:49.089
live in specific cities that are close. We're

00:21:49.089 --> 00:21:52.269
going to start being able to offer any day scooping

00:21:52.269 --> 00:21:54.849
like Monday through Friday in the specific city.

00:21:54.869 --> 00:21:57.410
So now there's gonna be more flexibility. So

00:21:57.410 --> 00:22:05.069
I will be able to work with landscapers. The

00:22:05.069 --> 00:22:09.009
other issue that I'm running into is I know a

00:22:09.009 --> 00:22:10.529
lot of people are leveling up their business

00:22:10.529 --> 00:22:13.609
and I know a lot of lawn guys and landscapers

00:22:13.609 --> 00:22:16.069
are wanting to become more professional but I'm

00:22:16.069 --> 00:22:18.890
really running into a lot of them not having

00:22:18.890 --> 00:22:24.009
a CRM. Not having things organized and I can't

00:22:24.009 --> 00:22:27.069
handle that because of how I run my business

00:22:27.069 --> 00:22:30.109
in order for me to partner up with somebody I

00:22:30.109 --> 00:22:33.549
need for them to be in aligned with not necessarily

00:22:33.549 --> 00:22:35.930
using Jabber but they have to they have to have

00:22:35.930 --> 00:22:38.869
some type of organization because I can't have

00:22:38.869 --> 00:22:41.970
the miscommunication happen because if I refer

00:22:41.970 --> 00:22:44.329
one of my customers to them and then they're

00:22:44.329 --> 00:22:46.950
just not showing up because it rained and you

00:22:46.950 --> 00:22:49.440
didn't say anything to the customer They're used

00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:51.960
to me saying, hey, it's raining today. This is

00:22:51.960 --> 00:22:53.900
what to expect. We're going to scoop you tomorrow

00:22:53.900 --> 00:22:58.180
or we're going to scoop you on Thursday. I have

00:22:58.180 --> 00:23:00.259
found a couple of companies that are in a line

00:23:00.259 --> 00:23:02.799
and I'm super excited to work with them next

00:23:02.799 --> 00:23:06.380
year. We're going to take a short break and listen

00:23:06.380 --> 00:23:10.519
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00:23:40.089 --> 00:23:48.240
we run the office. So let's talk money That's

00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:51.779
what we're all trying to make Absolutely, what's

00:23:51.779 --> 00:23:56.480
the revenue or the profit potential for a business

00:23:56.480 --> 00:24:02.440
like yours? There's a lot of profit potential

00:24:02.440 --> 00:24:04.980
I guess if we're gonna start with a solo scooper

00:24:04.980 --> 00:24:07.240
a solo scooper can make like a hundred and twenty

00:24:07.240 --> 00:24:09.240
hundred and thirty thousand dollars a year Maybe

00:24:09.240 --> 00:24:11.279
a little bit more depending on you know your

00:24:11.279 --> 00:24:14.039
prices and where you're working If you're a solo

00:24:14.039 --> 00:24:16.579
scooper, you're working a lot. You're working

00:24:16.579 --> 00:24:18.799
a lot all the time, but your profits are gonna

00:24:18.799 --> 00:24:21.480
be so much higher because you're not having to

00:24:21.480 --> 00:24:24.200
pay for all that overhead. I mean, we're talking,

00:24:24.519 --> 00:24:29.000
it's probably over 50%, maybe even over 70 %

00:24:29.000 --> 00:24:31.559
with profit margins. It's been a long time since

00:24:31.559 --> 00:24:36.640
I've been a solo scooper. Go ahead. I would think

00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:40.460
that the profit margin has to be pretty high

00:24:40.460 --> 00:24:46.390
because your expenses are relatively lower than

00:24:46.390 --> 00:24:50.890
a lawn care business because I dropped almost

00:24:50.890 --> 00:24:55.970
70 grand on three new mowers. So we don't have

00:24:55.970 --> 00:24:59.390
that. It's mainly your vehicle, depending on

00:24:59.390 --> 00:25:03.009
how you're going to buy it. If you're going to

00:25:03.009 --> 00:25:06.289
lease it or get a payment on it, that's overhead.

00:25:06.769 --> 00:25:08.809
You do have to have some type of insurance, which

00:25:08.809 --> 00:25:10.829
is typically pretty low. So you have to have

00:25:12.019 --> 00:25:14.160
vehicle insurance, and then some type of general

00:25:14.160 --> 00:25:17.480
liability insurance. If you have a CRM that's

00:25:17.480 --> 00:25:19.319
going to help manage all of your customers to

00:25:19.319 --> 00:25:22.200
track all that data, that's a little bit pricey.

00:25:22.539 --> 00:25:25.900
Your gas is going to be one of your higher expenses

00:25:25.900 --> 00:25:28.720
because of travel, and then your payroll, whatever

00:25:28.720 --> 00:25:30.460
you're paying, you know, whatever you're paying

00:25:30.460 --> 00:25:33.680
yourself. Your supplies are super low because

00:25:33.680 --> 00:25:36.119
you have a bucket, a rake, and trash bag, and

00:25:36.119 --> 00:25:41.019
a sanitizer. company, you know, your uniform,

00:25:41.259 --> 00:25:43.980
which can be relatively low. If you can't afford

00:25:43.980 --> 00:25:46.579
branded stuff right away, you can just go buy

00:25:46.579 --> 00:25:49.500
like a shirt that's in your brand color from

00:25:49.500 --> 00:25:54.440
Walmart or Amazon these days. So yeah, it's pretty,

00:25:54.579 --> 00:25:58.319
it's very low. I, on the other hand, like I'm

00:25:58.319 --> 00:26:00.579
not cheap. I knew that I wanted to grow this

00:26:00.579 --> 00:26:02.940
business. So the moment that I could, I hired

00:26:02.940 --> 00:26:06.519
somebody, I invested in the jobber. I started

00:26:06.519 --> 00:26:10.240
working on my branding. I got a better accountant

00:26:10.240 --> 00:26:12.819
because the one prior I knew wasn't saving me

00:26:12.819 --> 00:26:14.900
enough money and wasn't educating me enough.

00:26:15.480 --> 00:26:18.079
And so every single year I just keep leveling

00:26:18.079 --> 00:26:22.240
up. And last year and towards the end of the

00:26:22.240 --> 00:26:24.980
year prior, I did a complete rebrand, right?

00:26:24.980 --> 00:26:30.210
So I reinvested probably. Ten to twelve thousand

00:26:30.210 --> 00:26:33.230
dollars into the rebrand and what group and scoop

00:26:33.230 --> 00:26:36.829
and scoop and looks like today So when I talk

00:26:36.829 --> 00:26:40.150
about profit margins, it's kind of I've reinvested

00:26:40.150 --> 00:26:42.750
every dollar that I possibly can back into the

00:26:42.750 --> 00:26:46.130
business but I'm able to do that because I One

00:26:46.130 --> 00:26:47.990
I have my social media company that generates

00:26:47.990 --> 00:26:50.589
income and then also I have my husband He has

00:26:50.589 --> 00:26:53.529
a full -time job. So it's not like I'm running

00:26:53.529 --> 00:26:57.109
a household To where everybody is relying on

00:26:57.109 --> 00:27:00.789
me So when it comes to like the profit margins

00:27:00.789 --> 00:27:03.549
and like how much money I have left over I will

00:27:03.549 --> 00:27:06.069
reinvest every dollar I don't care because I

00:27:06.069 --> 00:27:07.630
want to see this business grow to where it needs

00:27:07.630 --> 00:27:12.049
to be and invest in yourself Yeah, by going to

00:27:12.049 --> 00:27:16.930
the LCR Summit or equip expo or an another event

00:27:16.930 --> 00:27:22.769
that someone's putting on Buying books reading

00:27:22.769 --> 00:27:26.849
investing in education for yourself all of those

00:27:26.849 --> 00:27:32.680
things matter And since I met you the first time,

00:27:34.079 --> 00:27:37.480
I was driving down the road and I look up and

00:27:37.480 --> 00:27:40.279
there's a poop and scooping truck right in front

00:27:40.279 --> 00:27:43.059
of me at the red light. I've seen two different

00:27:43.059 --> 00:27:47.859
companies in my city, which is 17 ,000 people.

00:27:48.980 --> 00:27:54.579
But what about in your area? Is your field, is

00:27:54.579 --> 00:27:57.039
it growing? Are you gaining more competitors?

00:27:58.960 --> 00:28:03.519
You know, anyone can buy a mower and a trailer

00:28:03.519 --> 00:28:07.619
and call themselves a lawn care company, but

00:28:07.619 --> 00:28:11.019
there's a lot more to it than just buying a mower

00:28:11.019 --> 00:28:15.700
and a trailer. So what about your competitors?

00:28:16.140 --> 00:28:19.099
Are you seeing more companies come up in your

00:28:19.099 --> 00:28:24.220
area? And does your line of work, do they have

00:28:24.220 --> 00:28:26.740
the check in the truck or the Dan in the van?

00:28:27.480 --> 00:28:31.599
Yeah, we call it a bucket Bob or scoop it Steve

00:28:31.599 --> 00:28:37.400
Yeah, yeah, we see it a lot a lot of times We'll

00:28:37.400 --> 00:28:39.380
get the bucket Bob and the scoop it Steve will

00:28:39.380 --> 00:28:42.160
pop up around spring rush Because that's when

00:28:42.160 --> 00:28:45.500
the snow melts and people are going crazy that's

00:28:45.500 --> 00:28:48.319
when people are actively looking for pooper scoopers

00:28:48.319 --> 00:28:51.579
or posting in all of the groups and That's why

00:28:51.579 --> 00:28:53.980
I spend because that's only six weeks. That's

00:28:53.980 --> 00:28:56.769
six weeks of like go time And I spend the rest

00:28:56.769 --> 00:28:59.849
of the year planting seeds with either advertisement

00:28:59.849 --> 00:29:03.230
or the organic content that I'm putting on social

00:29:03.230 --> 00:29:06.430
media, building the relationships. Yes, there's

00:29:06.430 --> 00:29:08.730
a lot more companies because success leaves clues,

00:29:08.750 --> 00:29:11.849
right? I've been very vocal about the success

00:29:11.849 --> 00:29:14.369
that I've had. We also had the poop scoop millionaire

00:29:14.369 --> 00:29:18.420
over on the school platform. He's teaching. him

00:29:18.420 --> 00:29:20.220
and like a whole group of people are teaching

00:29:20.220 --> 00:29:22.920
other people how to start pooper scooper businesses.

00:29:23.319 --> 00:29:26.519
So yes, a lot more competition is coming into

00:29:26.519 --> 00:29:31.039
the game. But what people are failing to understand

00:29:31.039 --> 00:29:34.170
is this is not a get rich quick. It doesn't matter

00:29:34.170 --> 00:29:36.369
how much content I put out there and I show the

00:29:36.369 --> 00:29:38.230
good the bad and the ugly people only want to

00:29:38.230 --> 00:29:41.589
focus on the fact that I was able to make six

00:29:41.589 --> 00:29:44.549
figures and it's like yeah, but like there's

00:29:44.549 --> 00:29:47.430
so much more that goes into it So then they leverage

00:29:47.430 --> 00:29:50.150
themselves they get all this overhead and then

00:29:50.150 --> 00:29:52.009
they go into the summer months Which that's the

00:29:52.009 --> 00:29:54.150
slowest time and they're freaking out because

00:29:54.150 --> 00:29:56.210
they have all these business bills, but they're

00:29:56.210 --> 00:29:59.140
not getting customers It's like you got to understand

00:29:59.140 --> 00:30:01.880
the seasonality and you have to be in it like

00:30:01.880 --> 00:30:04.519
you have to be so focused and understand that

00:30:04.519 --> 00:30:08.680
you're playing the long game here and I Hear

00:30:08.680 --> 00:30:11.200
other I hear other business owners get a little

00:30:11.200 --> 00:30:12.599
nervous because they're like now we're getting

00:30:12.599 --> 00:30:16.019
more competitors It's it's is it market becoming

00:30:16.019 --> 00:30:19.299
too saturated. It's like come on man. We have

00:30:19.299 --> 00:30:22.650
what five scoopers in the area That's saturated.

00:30:22.950 --> 00:30:25.089
How many landscapers do we have? How many snow

00:30:25.089 --> 00:30:27.190
guys do we have? Window washers, garage guys.

00:30:27.529 --> 00:30:30.730
If we really look at all the other businesses,

00:30:31.869 --> 00:30:35.529
their industries compared to ours, it's not nearly

00:30:35.529 --> 00:30:37.670
as saturated. Yeah, we have to learn how to sell

00:30:37.670 --> 00:30:39.390
a little bit more. We have to learn how to close.

00:30:39.650 --> 00:30:41.990
We have to actually put in more effort because

00:30:41.990 --> 00:30:45.609
there's another company. But that's fun. That's

00:30:45.609 --> 00:30:49.019
the part of business that I think a lot of owner

00:30:49.019 --> 00:30:52.680
operators get caught up in because it's easy

00:30:52.680 --> 00:30:54.579
once you get the customers and you're in the

00:30:54.579 --> 00:30:56.519
field and you have your head down. But when you

00:30:56.519 --> 00:30:58.059
have to get out of the field and you have to

00:30:58.059 --> 00:31:00.500
learn KPIs, you have to learn how to market,

00:31:00.579 --> 00:31:02.460
you have to understand what your cack is and

00:31:02.460 --> 00:31:06.200
your churn. That's when people start to like

00:31:06.200 --> 00:31:08.619
glitch out and they're like, wait, what? It's

00:31:08.619 --> 00:31:14.559
more than just scooping dog poop. We in lawn

00:31:14.559 --> 00:31:17.930
care, we make most of our money. in the spring.

00:31:18.930 --> 00:31:23.150
And then we make quite a bit of money in the

00:31:23.150 --> 00:31:27.430
fall of the year. It's that summer, the hot days

00:31:27.430 --> 00:31:33.430
of summer, when it's 105 degrees and the humidity

00:31:33.430 --> 00:31:36.930
is 70 percent. And I have found a lot of guys

00:31:36.930 --> 00:31:40.390
when they get into lawn care, when they're slinging

00:31:40.390 --> 00:31:44.710
mulch, when they're busy, but when it gets hot,

00:31:45.309 --> 00:31:47.769
I'll get phone calls. My phone blows up in the

00:31:47.769 --> 00:31:51.509
summer because of people just quit showing up

00:31:51.509 --> 00:31:56.490
and don't even call or contact the homeowner.

00:31:56.910 --> 00:32:00.509
They just quit showing up. And then I like to

00:32:00.509 --> 00:32:03.329
call them, you know, like we've said before,

00:32:03.450 --> 00:32:05.950
the chuck in the truck or the, it's the guys

00:32:05.950 --> 00:32:09.569
that get laid off from the factory. And then

00:32:09.569 --> 00:32:12.519
when it gets hot and they realize, There's more

00:32:12.519 --> 00:32:16.019
to running a lawn care business than just making

00:32:16.019 --> 00:32:20.160
all that quick cash in the spring. You got to

00:32:20.160 --> 00:32:24.160
get through those dog days of summer and get

00:32:24.160 --> 00:32:27.160
back into the fall of the year where you're making

00:32:27.160 --> 00:32:32.819
more money. But I just find it interesting that

00:32:32.819 --> 00:32:37.859
your field and my field, though they're different,

00:32:38.000 --> 00:32:42.220
there's a lot of similarities. to our industries

00:32:42.220 --> 00:32:48.900
and your clients, gaining new customers, working

00:32:48.900 --> 00:32:53.039
hard to make that customer into a client that

00:32:53.039 --> 00:32:57.940
gives you recurring revenue, knowing your numbers,

00:32:58.240 --> 00:33:02.519
knowing what you need to bring in to turn that

00:33:02.519 --> 00:33:07.019
profit and to have a lot of guys that can have

00:33:07.019 --> 00:33:10.039
great... top dollar revenue and have terrible

00:33:10.039 --> 00:33:13.339
bottom dollar revenue because they blow the money

00:33:13.339 --> 00:33:16.539
as soon as it comes in. I would guess there's

00:33:16.539 --> 00:33:20.579
probably a high percentage of lawn care companies

00:33:20.579 --> 00:33:26.839
in my area that never save a winter fund. And

00:33:26.839 --> 00:33:29.880
then if we don't get snow, they're selling their

00:33:29.880 --> 00:33:33.019
mowers every year during the winter. And then

00:33:33.019 --> 00:33:35.279
they got to come up with enough money to buy

00:33:35.279 --> 00:33:39.569
a mower for the spring rush. It's because that

00:33:39.569 --> 00:33:42.490
top dollar revenue might be great that bottom

00:33:42.490 --> 00:33:45.049
dollar revenue is horrible because they just

00:33:45.049 --> 00:33:48.869
blow their money and spend and don't budget and

00:33:48.869 --> 00:33:52.430
Have no clue how to run and operate a business

00:33:52.430 --> 00:33:56.269
You know, it's and I I feel this because my husband

00:33:56.269 --> 00:33:58.509
he's seasonal too. So my husband does tree work

00:33:58.509 --> 00:34:02.609
he works for a company and every winter we It's

00:34:02.609 --> 00:34:04.549
always do we got enough money saved up how much

00:34:04.549 --> 00:34:06.369
money we have saved up because even though my

00:34:06.369 --> 00:34:08.070
business stays consistent through the winter

00:34:08.070 --> 00:34:11.329
We always had so much debt. There was always

00:34:11.329 --> 00:34:13.929
something there was always so much payment or

00:34:13.929 --> 00:34:16.269
something over us and you have to accommodate

00:34:16.269 --> 00:34:18.809
for that and kind of like what nailer was talking

00:34:18.809 --> 00:34:21.769
about not kind of actually what nailer was talking

00:34:21.769 --> 00:34:25.769
about is If when you go into the winter, it's

00:34:25.769 --> 00:34:28.690
the time for rest we hit Josh and I could never

00:34:28.690 --> 00:34:31.230
rest peacefully in the winter because we were

00:34:31.230 --> 00:34:34.010
always so worried about money. Like, are we going

00:34:34.010 --> 00:34:37.130
to be able to make it to spring and have enough

00:34:37.130 --> 00:34:40.389
money? And last year was really, really it was

00:34:40.389 --> 00:34:44.909
really tight for us. We we we barely made it.

00:34:44.909 --> 00:34:47.489
We barely made it last year. Luckily, we were

00:34:47.489 --> 00:34:50.070
able to figure it out and pull all of our resources

00:34:50.070 --> 00:34:52.210
together to be able to get through to spring.

00:34:52.449 --> 00:34:56.010
I had my spring rush, my business we brought

00:34:56.010 --> 00:35:00.139
in. It was like 30 something thousand dollars,

00:35:00.440 --> 00:35:04.099
maybe 38. I'd have to fact check that. In March,

00:35:04.340 --> 00:35:06.380
right? So the business, boom, spring rush blew

00:35:06.380 --> 00:35:08.920
up. My husband gets back to work and we just

00:35:08.920 --> 00:35:10.280
kind of looked at each other. We're like, we're

00:35:10.280 --> 00:35:11.940
not going to go through another winter like this.

00:35:11.960 --> 00:35:15.300
So what are we going to do? Him and I went crazy.

00:35:15.300 --> 00:35:17.579
We're sharing a car right now a personal vehicle.

00:35:17.579 --> 00:35:19.780
I still have my company fleet. That's on the

00:35:19.780 --> 00:35:22.599
fleet That's working. But as for a personal we

00:35:22.599 --> 00:35:25.280
eliminated a hundred and thirteen thousand dollars

00:35:25.280 --> 00:35:29.219
worth of debt this year We made sure that we

00:35:29.219 --> 00:35:31.320
have we have eighteen thousand dollars put away

00:35:31.320 --> 00:35:33.380
for winter because that's gonna cover our winter

00:35:33.380 --> 00:35:37.940
bills This will be the first winter that we will

00:35:37.940 --> 00:35:42.599
be able to rest Congratulations. That is awesome

00:35:43.880 --> 00:35:49.059
We are on the debt -free journey ourselves. We've

00:35:49.059 --> 00:35:54.139
paid off about $17 ,000 in stupid credit card

00:35:54.139 --> 00:36:01.239
debt. And we paid off the fan two years early.

00:36:02.300 --> 00:36:05.679
Our house is on track to be paid off in two years.

00:36:06.099 --> 00:36:09.940
That'd be about eight years sooner than it's

00:36:09.940 --> 00:36:14.929
supposed to be paid off. And so we're on that

00:36:14.929 --> 00:36:18.010
journey and I have gotten to the point now where

00:36:18.010 --> 00:36:20.570
I don't want to buy anything unless I can pay

00:36:20.570 --> 00:36:26.210
cash for it. And I don't want to buy anything

00:36:26.210 --> 00:36:31.829
unless it is an absolute necessity that I buy

00:36:31.829 --> 00:36:37.159
it for my business. I'm using trimmers and blowers

00:36:37.159 --> 00:36:40.539
longer than I used to. I used to, about every

00:36:40.539 --> 00:36:43.820
other year, I'd run out and buy a whole new fleet

00:36:43.820 --> 00:36:46.539
of blowers and new trimmers. I thought, well,

00:36:46.539 --> 00:36:50.159
that's crazy because they still work. They're

00:36:50.159 --> 00:36:54.099
not as shiny. But that shine doesn't make me

00:36:54.099 --> 00:36:57.719
money. It's that trimmer that's working. And

00:36:57.719 --> 00:37:01.099
I know... That equipment, I know when it's been

00:37:01.099 --> 00:37:04.679
serviced, I know all about it. So it just works

00:37:04.679 --> 00:37:08.619
for us. So we tightened up the screws. And I

00:37:08.619 --> 00:37:13.179
can tell you this, last year, my business had

00:37:13.179 --> 00:37:20.039
almost a 30 % profit margin. That was a lot of

00:37:20.039 --> 00:37:22.340
hard work. It was a lot of sacrifice. It was

00:37:22.340 --> 00:37:27.019
a lot of dedication. But the 30 % of what come

00:37:27.019 --> 00:37:31.179
in, stayed in the business and A lot of guys

00:37:31.179 --> 00:37:34.579
are lucky if they get a 10 % profit margin It's

00:37:34.579 --> 00:37:36.599
true. I mean I've been there last year I was

00:37:36.599 --> 00:37:39.159
in that we were in the red last year with the

00:37:39.159 --> 00:37:41.099
accidents that we had because I had two company

00:37:41.099 --> 00:37:44.039
vehicle accidents that happened and Both those

00:37:44.039 --> 00:37:46.360
vehicles were fully wrapped that was during the

00:37:46.360 --> 00:37:49.400
whole process of the rebranding and then my husband

00:37:49.400 --> 00:37:51.679
He started his tree service and he financed some

00:37:51.679 --> 00:37:54.489
stuff And so we're like looking at like the end

00:37:54.489 --> 00:37:56.789
of the year and it's like we made no money last

00:37:56.789 --> 00:37:58.670
year. Like I don't I don't I don't even know

00:37:58.670 --> 00:38:00.150
how we're living right now, but we're living.

00:38:00.849 --> 00:38:04.309
The Lord blessed us to keep on going. But I think

00:38:04.309 --> 00:38:06.809
you have to go through years like that. Josh

00:38:06.809 --> 00:38:09.789
and I were talking about it. And when he started

00:38:09.789 --> 00:38:12.670
his tree service last year, I could have easily

00:38:12.670 --> 00:38:17.019
been one of those wives that would say no. Absolutely

00:38:17.019 --> 00:38:20.500
not. It's not happening. You're not cut out for

00:38:20.500 --> 00:38:25.380
business. I don't want to go through this. But

00:38:25.380 --> 00:38:28.400
I looked at my husband. I was like, he needs

00:38:28.400 --> 00:38:30.719
to go through this. He needs to go through this.

00:38:30.760 --> 00:38:33.300
So I was like, yep, I'm right there with you.

00:38:33.539 --> 00:38:36.599
We'll figure this out. Some great decisions weren't

00:38:36.599 --> 00:38:39.500
made because money was spent very, very quickly.

00:38:39.739 --> 00:38:43.199
Loans were taken out. And then when he realized...

00:38:44.130 --> 00:38:46.530
He's a really good climber, right? He does it

00:38:46.530 --> 00:38:48.869
really it makes really good bunny as a climber

00:38:48.869 --> 00:38:51.829
But when it comes to having to go out the stress

00:38:51.829 --> 00:38:54.449
You know the stress of having to go find jobs

00:38:54.449 --> 00:38:57.750
to cover that stuff My husband is a nine on the

00:38:57.750 --> 00:39:02.070
Enneagram. My husband does not like stress. My

00:39:02.070 --> 00:39:05.190
husband likes everything to be Great. He just

00:39:05.190 --> 00:39:07.210
wants everything to be chill his homeostasis

00:39:07.210 --> 00:39:09.849
and me on the other hand like I'm a three I'm

00:39:09.849 --> 00:39:12.510
like, give me all the stress. I got this. Let's

00:39:12.510 --> 00:39:17.769
go But seeing him being so sick to his stomach

00:39:17.769 --> 00:39:19.849
trying to figure out what he was going to do

00:39:19.849 --> 00:39:24.170
I was like just go back to work It's okay. You

00:39:24.170 --> 00:39:26.590
can do both You're gonna have to do both because

00:39:26.590 --> 00:39:29.250
we have to figure this out But watching him struggle

00:39:29.250 --> 00:39:32.869
and do both all through the year I finally looked

00:39:32.869 --> 00:39:35.670
at him and I said you're just working to work

00:39:35.670 --> 00:39:37.889
at this point. You're getting off at your day

00:39:37.889 --> 00:39:40.989
job You're coming home. You're chasing estimates

00:39:42.489 --> 00:39:45.050
And then you're just paying your business bills.

00:39:45.110 --> 00:39:48.070
There's no money. There's no profit. And so he

00:39:48.070 --> 00:39:51.610
sat on that for a couple weeks and we talked.

00:39:51.650 --> 00:39:53.630
I said, why don't we just sell everything, Josh?

00:39:53.929 --> 00:39:55.829
We'll get rid of all the debt. Like, I mean,

00:39:55.829 --> 00:39:59.510
let's get rid of everything. And he sat on that

00:39:59.510 --> 00:40:00.630
for a little bit and he was like, all right,

00:40:00.650 --> 00:40:03.789
let's make it happen. So we got rid of all the

00:40:03.789 --> 00:40:07.219
business stuff. We sold off his beautiful truck.

00:40:07.219 --> 00:40:09.260
My husband had a beautiful truck. That's why

00:40:09.260 --> 00:40:12.840
we're driving around in a vehicle together. I'm

00:40:12.840 --> 00:40:14.920
dropping him off at work right now. But it's

00:40:14.920 --> 00:40:17.599
like we leaned into each other and we just decided

00:40:17.599 --> 00:40:19.739
on a goal that we wanted to become debt free.

00:40:20.079 --> 00:40:22.679
It's not going to be glamorous. It's going to

00:40:22.679 --> 00:40:26.320
take a lot of sacrifices, but we have each other

00:40:26.320 --> 00:40:28.019
and we're just going to move forward and we're

00:40:28.019 --> 00:40:31.159
going to build the life that we want to build

00:40:31.159 --> 00:40:35.969
and eventually get to our lake house. Because

00:40:35.969 --> 00:40:38.050
like what are we doing this for? What is this

00:40:38.050 --> 00:40:40.289
life for? Why are we building our businesses?

00:40:40.869 --> 00:40:42.949
And so we had to really sit down and figure out

00:40:42.949 --> 00:40:45.269
like what do we want in the grand scheme of things?

00:40:45.349 --> 00:40:47.730
My husband wants a boat. He wants a lake house.

00:40:47.750 --> 00:40:49.630
He wants his hair flowing in the wind while he's

00:40:49.630 --> 00:40:53.570
driving the boat. Okay, cool. That's great. But

00:40:53.570 --> 00:40:55.869
it's like you need time. You need time to be

00:40:55.869 --> 00:40:58.090
able to do that stuff and you need money to be

00:40:58.090 --> 00:41:00.429
able to do that stuff. And we get so in the rat

00:41:00.429 --> 00:41:03.739
race of We gotta have these vehicles, we have

00:41:03.739 --> 00:41:06.860
to have the new things we have to purchase. For

00:41:06.860 --> 00:41:09.360
me, I was like, I would go get Botox like every

00:41:09.360 --> 00:41:11.039
three months because I didn't want my face to

00:41:11.039 --> 00:41:15.260
move because I'm aging. It's like $500, $600,

00:41:15.760 --> 00:41:17.960
the new clothes, the Gucci belt, the new this,

00:41:18.039 --> 00:41:21.500
and it's why? If you just really slow down and

00:41:21.500 --> 00:41:25.119
look at what's important to you, all of that

00:41:25.119 --> 00:41:28.179
stuff is so unnecessary. And I dropped my husband

00:41:28.179 --> 00:41:30.690
off at work this morning. And we had the dog

00:41:30.690 --> 00:41:34.309
with us. And I thought to myself, I said, I feel

00:41:34.309 --> 00:41:37.150
like I've arrived. I have a husband that loves

00:41:37.150 --> 00:41:40.989
me. My dog's enjoying this dog ride. The sun's

00:41:40.989 --> 00:41:43.309
beautiful. We got to have great conversation

00:41:43.309 --> 00:41:45.610
to and from work. Before this, my husband and

00:41:45.610 --> 00:41:47.329
I really weren't spending a lot of time together

00:41:47.329 --> 00:41:49.610
because I was so busy working and he was so busy

00:41:49.610 --> 00:41:53.809
working. Now we get dedicated time to and from

00:41:53.809 --> 00:41:56.409
work. No phones because I'm driving. I can't

00:41:56.409 --> 00:41:58.559
have my phone in my hand. to be able to talk

00:41:58.559 --> 00:42:01.219
and connect and it's been one of the biggest

00:42:01.219 --> 00:42:04.780
blessings and so I'm happy that he went through

00:42:04.780 --> 00:42:06.980
that last year and we went through that together

00:42:06.980 --> 00:42:10.079
because it brought us closer and it was a huge

00:42:10.079 --> 00:42:14.440
eye -opening experience and I'm just so excited

00:42:14.440 --> 00:42:16.579
to see what the future lies for the both of us.

00:42:17.940 --> 00:42:22.079
Well I think sometimes in your industry and in

00:42:22.079 --> 00:42:26.730
my industry we can get so busy trying to build

00:42:26.730 --> 00:42:32.929
a business that we fail to build a life. And

00:42:32.929 --> 00:42:37.769
it brings so much stress, pressure. It affects

00:42:37.769 --> 00:42:44.449
our mental state of mind. It brings confusion.

00:42:45.110 --> 00:42:47.670
And then when someone really don't know where

00:42:47.670 --> 00:42:53.670
they stand, it becomes easy to snap at your spouse.

00:42:54.079 --> 00:42:58.320
or snap at your kids, and that creates home life

00:42:58.320 --> 00:43:02.300
stress and pressure. So now not only do you have

00:43:02.300 --> 00:43:06.480
the business stress, you have the home life stress.

00:43:07.480 --> 00:43:11.139
And if we don't learn how to handle it and funnel

00:43:11.139 --> 00:43:15.920
that stress in the right direction, it will destroy

00:43:15.920 --> 00:43:20.980
us mentally. It will destroy us, our mental state

00:43:20.980 --> 00:43:25.769
of mind. And it's so important. I started leaving

00:43:25.769 --> 00:43:32.530
my shop when I return after the last job for

00:43:32.530 --> 00:43:36.190
the day. And I back the trailer into the shop,

00:43:37.030 --> 00:43:40.829
disconnect, and I drive home. I'll sit in the

00:43:40.829 --> 00:43:44.130
parking lot of the shop for about 10 or 15 minutes,

00:43:44.769 --> 00:43:48.090
just reflecting over the day how things went.

00:43:48.630 --> 00:43:50.349
What could I have done different? What could

00:43:50.349 --> 00:43:53.449
I have done better? What can I do tomorrow to

00:43:53.449 --> 00:43:57.690
make me better than I was today? And I try to,

00:43:57.809 --> 00:44:00.010
when I pull out of the parking lot, I leave all

00:44:00.010 --> 00:44:02.210
the stress there. I don't want to bring none

00:44:02.210 --> 00:44:07.269
of that home. Because my wife and my kids, even

00:44:07.269 --> 00:44:10.769
though they're adults now, they don't deserve

00:44:10.769 --> 00:44:14.590
me to come home and just unload a bunch of stress

00:44:14.590 --> 00:44:19.679
and pressure on them. So it's stressful. running

00:44:19.679 --> 00:44:23.400
a business. It's stressful trying to be successful

00:44:23.400 --> 00:44:28.159
and one thing I've learned and I can't be a good

00:44:28.159 --> 00:44:32.820
business owner and be a lousy husband because

00:44:32.820 --> 00:44:35.800
the business is going to affect the home life.

00:44:36.159 --> 00:44:38.699
The home life is going to affect the business.

00:44:39.300 --> 00:44:44.639
I got to be who I am in both places and learn

00:44:44.639 --> 00:44:47.920
how to funnel that stress and that pressure.

00:44:48.329 --> 00:44:52.550
and be able to recognize when it's coming on,

00:44:53.250 --> 00:44:57.809
when I'm feeling that stress. Yeah, and what

00:44:57.809 --> 00:45:02.690
I kind of realized is my husband goes to work

00:45:02.690 --> 00:45:05.730
and he comes home, right? So he gets home at

00:45:05.730 --> 00:45:09.329
what, like five? By that time, the days beat

00:45:09.329 --> 00:45:13.030
me up. I've dealt with customers. My husband's

00:45:13.030 --> 00:45:17.050
not seeing, he's not, he is not getting the best

00:45:17.050 --> 00:45:20.349
version of Erica. he's not getting the version

00:45:20.349 --> 00:45:23.469
that other people see online or meetings that

00:45:23.469 --> 00:45:26.190
I have at a lunch date or a conversation I have

00:45:26.190 --> 00:45:28.409
with somebody in the morning because in the morning

00:45:28.409 --> 00:45:30.889
time before I was driving him to and from work

00:45:30.889 --> 00:45:34.710
we were just doing our own thing and so he was

00:45:34.710 --> 00:45:37.429
getting like only the little pieces of Erica

00:45:37.429 --> 00:45:41.530
for so long and when I finally realized that

00:45:41.530 --> 00:45:43.650
I was like I need to make some changes like I

00:45:43.650 --> 00:45:45.250
need to make a ton of changes because it's not

00:45:45.250 --> 00:45:48.389
it's not fair It truly isn't, but luckily I have

00:45:48.389 --> 00:45:51.610
a patient husband. He's dedicated, he's committed.

00:45:54.690 --> 00:45:57.110
And at LCR Summit, I was chatting with Charles

00:45:57.110 --> 00:46:00.550
Nelson, because we went to Zombie Taco and we

00:46:00.550 --> 00:46:03.730
had some tacos, and he was showing me some stuff

00:46:03.730 --> 00:46:06.190
with the business when it comes to numbers and

00:46:06.190 --> 00:46:09.389
tracking your numbers. And I just kind of asked

00:46:09.389 --> 00:46:11.369
him some questions about his home life, and he's

00:46:11.369 --> 00:46:14.110
got little kids. And he told me that when he

00:46:14.110 --> 00:46:17.500
comes home, He takes his phone and his Apple

00:46:17.500 --> 00:46:21.199
watch and he leaves it in the garage. So when

00:46:21.199 --> 00:46:23.820
he comes into the house, he's hanging out with

00:46:23.820 --> 00:46:26.360
his family. And I specifically remember I said,

00:46:26.619 --> 00:46:29.760
well, what do you, what do you do? What do you,

00:46:29.840 --> 00:46:32.679
no phone? Like, what do you do? He's like, spend

00:46:32.679 --> 00:46:36.820
time with my family. I said, and do what? Puzzles.

00:46:37.500 --> 00:46:41.300
He says he does puzzles. If I were to come home

00:46:41.300 --> 00:46:43.400
and tell my husband and be like, baby, guess

00:46:43.400 --> 00:46:47.710
what? We're about to do a puzzle. His heart would

00:46:47.710 --> 00:46:51.769
combust with joy. He loves puzzles. And I would

00:46:51.769 --> 00:46:53.849
never even thought to do that. But it's something

00:46:53.849 --> 00:46:57.210
so simple of budgeting my time, prioritizing.

00:46:58.329 --> 00:47:00.769
And that was another takeaway that I brought

00:47:00.769 --> 00:47:04.769
away with LCR Summit, is budgeting my time, getting

00:47:04.769 --> 00:47:07.369
focused, so then that way I can spend that quality

00:47:07.369 --> 00:47:09.809
of time with my husband. Because at the end of

00:47:09.809 --> 00:47:14.619
the day, looking around, it's like, What is it

00:47:14.619 --> 00:47:16.719
I already I already have the good stuff at home

00:47:16.719 --> 00:47:18.639
the good stuff is literally right in front of

00:47:18.639 --> 00:47:22.340
my face Money would be cool, but it doesn't matter

00:47:22.340 --> 00:47:24.579
how much money I have if I have a broken marriage,

00:47:24.599 --> 00:47:31.380
right? That is so true and so good my wife and

00:47:31.380 --> 00:47:37.480
I have been married for 36 years And it's not

00:47:37.480 --> 00:47:41.780
always been easy, you know, there's been times

00:47:41.780 --> 00:47:44.860
that I have failed as a husband. And I'm just

00:47:44.860 --> 00:47:48.699
being real with our listeners. Because I think

00:47:48.699 --> 00:47:51.860
before you can become better, you have to be

00:47:51.860 --> 00:47:55.440
honest. And there's been times that I have failed.

00:47:56.099 --> 00:48:00.139
I have made mistakes. I haven't been what I should

00:48:00.139 --> 00:48:05.500
be. And there are times when I have strayed away

00:48:05.500 --> 00:48:10.340
from my relationship with God. And I found that

00:48:10.340 --> 00:48:13.300
in those times, that's when I took things out

00:48:13.300 --> 00:48:18.300
on my wife more, because things just weren't

00:48:18.300 --> 00:48:27.360
right with me. So when I had to revisit a prayer

00:48:27.360 --> 00:48:33.699
chamber and recommit myself to God, to my relationship

00:48:33.699 --> 00:48:38.619
with Him, then I found I could recommit my relationship

00:48:38.619 --> 00:48:44.440
with my wife and work on things. You see, when

00:48:44.440 --> 00:48:49.820
we were dating all those years ago, we talked

00:48:49.820 --> 00:48:52.099
about getting married and we said there's one

00:48:52.099 --> 00:48:57.039
word that we'll never use in our marriage and

00:48:57.039 --> 00:49:02.420
that word's divorce. Too many people walk out

00:49:02.420 --> 00:49:07.289
way too soon, way too early. And it's easy to

00:49:07.289 --> 00:49:10.409
get out. But we determine we're never going to

00:49:10.409 --> 00:49:13.570
use divorce. If we get in an argument, we're

00:49:13.570 --> 00:49:15.889
not going to throw up. Won't you just get out?

00:49:16.969 --> 00:49:19.349
Because what if I said that to her and she said,

00:49:19.590 --> 00:49:26.630
OK? And she walked out. She's gone. So we have

00:49:26.630 --> 00:49:29.949
built and worked on our relationship. And I feel

00:49:29.949 --> 00:49:33.949
like we have a good marriage. We have great kids

00:49:33.949 --> 00:49:41.269
that are productive citizens. Our son has cerebral

00:49:41.269 --> 00:49:45.989
palsy. And my wife was only six months pregnant

00:49:45.989 --> 00:49:49.070
when she had him. And they said he would never

00:49:49.070 --> 00:49:53.949
live. But he weighed a pound and 13 ounces when

00:49:53.949 --> 00:49:58.650
he was born. He had no fingers, no toes. We watched

00:49:58.650 --> 00:50:02.579
those develop in the incubator. He was eight

00:50:02.579 --> 00:50:09.519
weeks in the neonatal intensive care. And so

00:50:09.519 --> 00:50:11.880
we've been through our hard times, we've been

00:50:11.880 --> 00:50:15.860
through our struggles, but we're still here and

00:50:15.860 --> 00:50:21.340
we're still together. And whatever I can do to

00:50:21.340 --> 00:50:24.380
make life better for her, I want to do that.

00:50:24.719 --> 00:50:26.980
And she's the same way. She would tell you the

00:50:26.980 --> 00:50:29.340
exact same thing. Whatever I can do to make life

00:50:29.340 --> 00:50:32.760
better for him, that's what I want to do. And

00:50:32.760 --> 00:50:35.340
that's something you got to learn. Something

00:50:35.340 --> 00:50:38.519
you got to determine that you're going to do

00:50:38.519 --> 00:50:43.980
it. It's a servant's heart right there. Because

00:50:43.980 --> 00:50:45.840
it's so easy to be like, well, what are you doing

00:50:45.840 --> 00:50:49.500
for me? How is this going to benefit me? And

00:50:49.500 --> 00:50:52.469
I remember... Quite a few times it was it was

00:50:52.469 --> 00:50:54.610
it wasn't really anything to do with Josh It

00:50:54.610 --> 00:50:57.269
was just I was unhappy with how the business

00:50:57.269 --> 00:50:59.789
was going I was unhappy with something that was

00:50:59.789 --> 00:51:02.269
going on with me and he specifically would be

00:51:02.269 --> 00:51:06.409
like I'm not the enemy Erica Like I'm not against

00:51:06.409 --> 00:51:08.969
you. You're not against me and it took me a while

00:51:08.969 --> 00:51:11.929
to really mature that we're doing this together

00:51:12.190 --> 00:51:15.230
Yes, he's not a perfect person. I'm not a perfect

00:51:15.230 --> 00:51:17.650
person either but we're going through life together

00:51:17.650 --> 00:51:20.269
and there's something that's so comforting that

00:51:20.269 --> 00:51:25.530
it's like we're doing life together Well, I had

00:51:25.530 --> 00:51:29.670
to determine I had to determine to learn how

00:51:29.670 --> 00:51:35.150
to shut off business and Turn on family time

00:51:35.150 --> 00:51:38.050
Have those date nights. I think someone even

00:51:38.050 --> 00:51:41.289
mentioned that at the LCR summit, you know a

00:51:41.289 --> 00:51:44.309
date night Nailer, he says a regular date night

00:51:44.309 --> 00:51:46.789
and then second date night to Costco. If you

00:51:46.789 --> 00:51:52.710
know, you know. You don't have to go out, you

00:51:52.710 --> 00:51:57.849
know, something expensive every time. Just spend

00:51:57.849 --> 00:52:00.710
some time together. Go to Walmart if you want

00:52:00.710 --> 00:52:05.809
to and shop and hold hands. It's perfect day.

00:52:06.650 --> 00:52:10.840
We went to the movies on Halloween and I snuck

00:52:10.840 --> 00:52:13.059
in snacks because I'm gluten -free and dairy

00:52:13.059 --> 00:52:14.599
-free and they don't have anything. So we went

00:52:14.599 --> 00:52:17.940
to Meyer and I got potato chips, raspberries,

00:52:18.059 --> 00:52:19.840
and some gluten -free, dairy -free chocolate

00:52:19.840 --> 00:52:22.199
chips. And I snuck those into my bag. And we

00:52:22.199 --> 00:52:24.800
watched a movie on Halloween and we held hands

00:52:24.800 --> 00:52:28.000
like we were little teenagers. That's awesome.

00:52:28.639 --> 00:52:29.960
It was great. That's such a good time. And it

00:52:29.960 --> 00:52:32.980
wasn't anything crazy expensive either. I love

00:52:32.980 --> 00:52:38.900
that. Well, you are an inspiration to me and

00:52:38.900 --> 00:52:42.199
to... people that watch your content, listen

00:52:42.199 --> 00:52:46.219
to your podcast. And I encourage everyone to

00:52:46.219 --> 00:52:49.219
subscribe to her podcast, listen to her podcast,

00:52:49.960 --> 00:52:55.079
watch her videos on Instagram or Facebook, and

00:52:55.079 --> 00:52:57.820
follow her journey because she's going places

00:52:57.820 --> 00:53:01.179
and she's doing it the right way. So I really

00:53:01.179 --> 00:53:05.239
appreciate you coming on the show. And I know

00:53:05.239 --> 00:53:10.820
we didn't get into a whole lot of business talk,

00:53:11.320 --> 00:53:15.480
well, we did, but we didn't. But I think sometimes

00:53:15.480 --> 00:53:19.619
this talk that we've had most recently about

00:53:19.619 --> 00:53:23.360
family, about time, about going through the struggles,

00:53:24.039 --> 00:53:27.659
I think sometimes that is ignored in our industry,

00:53:28.179 --> 00:53:31.980
and it's kind of pushed to the back burner. And

00:53:31.980 --> 00:53:36.460
yes, I want to be successful in business, but

00:53:36.460 --> 00:53:39.719
more important, I want to be successful in my

00:53:39.719 --> 00:53:45.239
family. I've got a brother who has went through

00:53:45.239 --> 00:53:49.860
a divorce and he has met someone and they are

00:53:49.860 --> 00:53:52.599
married and they have beautiful kids and things

00:53:52.599 --> 00:53:55.760
are good for him now, but it wasn't always good

00:53:55.760 --> 00:54:01.599
for him. He had to go through some hard things

00:54:01.599 --> 00:54:04.460
to get to the point where he needed to be, to

00:54:04.460 --> 00:54:08.079
where he focused on himself. and tried to change.

00:54:09.000 --> 00:54:12.480
And I could talk about this kind of stuff all

00:54:12.480 --> 00:54:15.539
night long. I love this kind of talk. Me too,

00:54:16.019 --> 00:54:18.679
mainly because that's the hard work. That's the

00:54:18.679 --> 00:54:20.559
inner work to look at and be like, okay, what

00:54:20.559 --> 00:54:24.179
am I, what could I be doing better? Putting down

00:54:24.179 --> 00:54:26.920
the alcohol, putting down the drugs, putting

00:54:26.920 --> 00:54:30.400
down the wandering eye, getting rid of those

00:54:30.400 --> 00:54:33.739
friends that are challenging your relationships

00:54:33.739 --> 00:54:36.969
or your morals. All of it. I've had to do it

00:54:36.969 --> 00:54:42.429
all. I had to completely shake up my entire world

00:54:42.429 --> 00:54:48.610
to get where I am today. At first, I was like,

00:54:48.610 --> 00:54:51.170
this is crazy. What do you mean I'm not gonna

00:54:51.170 --> 00:54:53.210
drink alcohol when I go out on a Saturday night?

00:54:54.469 --> 00:54:56.230
What do you do on a Saturday night if you don't

00:54:56.230 --> 00:55:02.670
drink alcohol? Where do you go? It was a lot,

00:55:02.690 --> 00:55:06.909
so it's like... Can I ask you how long have you

00:55:06.909 --> 00:55:11.809
been sober now? March will be three years. Congratulations.

00:55:11.849 --> 00:55:16.349
That is incredible. And fun fact, Josh is one

00:55:16.349 --> 00:55:19.730
year sober from alcohol as well. When we came

00:55:19.730 --> 00:55:22.670
home from LCR Summit last year, we had a great

00:55:22.670 --> 00:55:24.409
time. He didn't drink because when he's with

00:55:24.409 --> 00:55:26.510
me, he doesn't drink because it's like I'm not

00:55:26.510 --> 00:55:28.429
going to drink. So why is he? And then I'm not

00:55:28.429 --> 00:55:29.989
really I don't put myself around people that

00:55:29.989 --> 00:55:31.889
are drinking. So I will like but I'm not going

00:55:31.889 --> 00:55:34.750
to hang out. It's not really my vibe anymore.

00:55:35.219 --> 00:55:39.119
We get back from LCR Summit last year. I go out

00:55:39.119 --> 00:55:41.000
in the garage and he has a beer in his hand.

00:55:41.480 --> 00:55:43.420
I said, what are you doing? He's like, I'm just

00:55:43.420 --> 00:55:47.039
unwinding. I was like, from what? He's like,

00:55:47.079 --> 00:55:49.559
I don't know, just from the week. And so I just

00:55:49.559 --> 00:55:51.360
walked away and I just kind of like shook my

00:55:51.360 --> 00:55:53.480
head and I was kind of just, I was a little disappointed.

00:55:53.820 --> 00:55:56.019
I was a little disappointed but I'm like this

00:55:56.019 --> 00:55:58.559
I can't I'm not gonna yell I'm not gonna go and

00:55:58.559 --> 00:56:01.699
throw out the beer hide it like I can't be controlling

00:56:01.699 --> 00:56:03.699
even though that's what I wanted to do I wanted

00:56:03.699 --> 00:56:06.000
to burn the whole house down I don't know I was

00:56:06.000 --> 00:56:09.400
like enraged but he said he felt convicted in

00:56:09.400 --> 00:56:11.960
that moment and he finished out that beer that

00:56:11.960 --> 00:56:15.559
was it he hasn't picked one up since and had

00:56:15.559 --> 00:56:20.739
you went to the extreme it would have created

00:56:20.739 --> 00:56:24.030
tension between the two of you and probably created

00:56:24.030 --> 00:56:28.469
some more issue. So that's just awesome. I'm

00:56:28.469 --> 00:56:31.869
just so happy that things are going well for

00:56:31.869 --> 00:56:34.489
you. Things are going well for your husband,

00:56:34.909 --> 00:56:39.389
your family. And I'm just grateful that you came

00:56:39.389 --> 00:56:42.449
on the show and that we got to talk and kind

00:56:42.449 --> 00:56:46.150
of open up our hearts and share who we are with

00:56:46.150 --> 00:56:51.739
our listeners and just understand. If you're

00:56:51.739 --> 00:56:55.940
listening to this show, I'm a real person, I

00:56:55.940 --> 00:57:00.719
have real struggles, I have real problems. But

00:57:00.719 --> 00:57:04.960
in order to find success, you got to determine

00:57:04.960 --> 00:57:07.659
every time I get knocked down, I'm gonna get

00:57:07.659 --> 00:57:11.980
back up and I'm gonna keep fighting. Erica's

00:57:11.980 --> 00:57:14.639
a real person, she has real situations, real

00:57:14.639 --> 00:57:18.179
problems, real struggles. But she gets through

00:57:18.179 --> 00:57:21.260
it because she's determined. She has set a goal.

00:57:22.900 --> 00:57:25.840
She knows where she wants to go. She knows what's

00:57:25.840 --> 00:57:29.300
best for her. And she's going to get there. I

00:57:29.300 --> 00:57:32.699
promise you that because I see it in her, the

00:57:32.699 --> 00:57:37.320
determination to be successful. And I think sometimes

00:57:37.320 --> 00:57:42.780
we determine success by money and that's not

00:57:42.780 --> 00:57:48.710
necessarily the case. It's really not. Success

00:57:48.710 --> 00:57:52.190
is, have I been loyal and faithful to my family?

00:57:53.809 --> 00:57:56.949
Have I been loyal and faithful to my wife? Have

00:57:56.949 --> 00:58:00.829
I been loyal and faithful to my children? Have

00:58:00.829 --> 00:58:05.170
I been loyal and faithful to my clients? Because

00:58:05.170 --> 00:58:11.050
they're a part of who I am. And I want to build

00:58:11.050 --> 00:58:15.139
those relationships. to where I can find success

00:58:15.139 --> 00:58:21.739
and enjoy life and have a happy retirement. But

00:58:21.739 --> 00:58:24.980
I just want to continue to work on myself so

00:58:24.980 --> 00:58:29.199
I can be better tomorrow than I am today. And

00:58:29.199 --> 00:58:33.599
I thank you, Erica. I think this has been awesome.

00:58:34.980 --> 00:58:38.659
Thanks for showing us that there's money in every

00:58:38.659 --> 00:58:42.760
corner of the service industry. even the messy

00:58:42.760 --> 00:58:49.300
ones. And where can people follow you, get in

00:58:49.300 --> 00:58:53.599
touch with you, if they need your services? Well,

00:58:53.599 --> 00:58:56.099
if you're looking for my pooper scooper services,

00:58:56.440 --> 00:59:00.599
you can look me up on Facebook at cruppenspoopenscoopin

00:59:00.599 --> 00:59:03.980
.com, or you can go to my website, which is www

00:59:03.980 --> 00:59:07.829
.poopenscoopin .com. And if you want to follow

00:59:07.829 --> 00:59:10.289
up with me on social media, I have the scoop

00:59:10.289 --> 00:59:12.769
podcast and then I also have groupings poop and

00:59:12.769 --> 00:59:17.510
scooping on YouTube. Well, I encourage you to

00:59:17.510 --> 00:59:23.110
follow her journey and watch her succeed because

00:59:23.110 --> 00:59:27.590
it's going to happen. I just really, really feel

00:59:27.590 --> 00:59:32.670
that deep down in my heart right now that it's

00:59:32.670 --> 00:59:35.010
going to happen. She is going to, she's going

00:59:35.010 --> 00:59:39.500
to get there. I love watching her content, even

00:59:39.500 --> 00:59:42.159
though she said she's not really a person of

00:59:42.159 --> 00:59:46.260
confidence, but she's confident in front of people

00:59:46.260 --> 00:59:50.739
at the right time. And I'm kind of the same way.

00:59:50.820 --> 00:59:55.599
I don't want to be in front of people or the

00:59:55.599 --> 01:00:00.340
show. Just let me set up the lights. Let me do

01:00:00.340 --> 01:00:04.519
something behind the scenes. It's been great

01:00:04.519 --> 01:00:08.179
talking with you. I appreciate you and I wish

01:00:08.179 --> 01:00:12.960
you nothing but success and We'll have you on

01:00:12.960 --> 01:00:16.460
for a third time Absolutely. Thank you so much.

01:00:16.460 --> 01:00:19.719
This is wonderful. Well, I appreciate you listening

01:00:19.719 --> 01:00:24.400
to the podcast and Until we talk again. Remember

01:00:24.400 --> 01:00:27.519
the grass is greener where you water it