73. From Comfort Zones to Business Zones: A Story of Transformation

Episode 73: Richard Di Biase and David Moskowitz are in beautiful Orlando, Florida, taking the Making Waves Mindset Show international!

Richard and David start with some playful banter about their setup and the importance of comfort, then dive into a mouth-watering recount of a visit to Cryderman Family BBQ in Cocoa, Florida. But this episode is more than just food and fun—they reunited in person after months of remote podcasting, and it’s all about the incredible journey of mindset transformation. Get ready to challenge your thinking and break away from the 9 to 5 as they bring you an exciting, laughter-filled reunion episode of the Making Waves Mindset Show. 

Ever wondered how some businesses thrive while others struggle? They shed light on the secrets to navigating the business world, highlighting Restoration 1's expertise in property restoration and the importance of networking within a supportive community. Listen as they explore the challenges of staffing and municipal regulations, yet remain committed to delivering top-notch services. And if you’re ready to break free from negativity, this episode is a must-listen. We discuss how surrounding yourself with positive, forward-thinking individuals can elevate your mindset, using analogies and personal stories to illustrate the liberating power of mentorship and personal growth.

Thinking about starting a business? Discover the immense value of transferable skills and continuous education. They celebrate the power of franchises to streamline the business ownership journey and emphasize the importance of specific education and a positive mindset. Leaders, take note—listening to your employees and fostering a respectful workplace culture is key to success. The practical tips and personal anecdotes shared by Richard and David, drive home the importance of genuine human interaction and recognition.

Join them for an episode packed with humor, inspiration, and actionable advice to propel you on your entrepreneurial path.

Chapters

• 0:25 Making Waves Mindset Show
• 14:10 Navigating Challenges in Starting Business
• 24:49 Breaking Free From Negative Influences
• 30:47 Building Transferable Skills for Business Success
• 40:22 Effective Leadership

Transcript

Speaker 1: 2:10

We're good, yeah, we're ready to go. You feel good, I feel good, yeah, we're ready to go. Good, I feel good, we're live. Everyone, okay. The making waves mindset show Jeez Right, how long did it take us?

Speaker 1: 2:20

It took a minute. It took us a little bit. It could be the Southern air, but that's for later. Yeah, or the, the feast of meat. That was yeah.

Speaker 1: 2:32

So I don't know how to pronounce that company. It's C-R-Y-D-E-R-M-A-N-S. Is it Kreiderman's? Do I need to look back at the photos? No, that's how you spell it C-R-Y. So it's Kre, d-e-r-m-a-n-s. Okay, so how would you pronounce that? Is it Kreiderman's? We were talking about this earlier. Is it pronunciation or pronunciation? That's true, I don't know, depends on where you're from. Pronunciation I would pronounce something yeah, yeah, crider-mans, crider-mans, anyway. Shout out to Crider-mans. Shout out if you find yourself.

Speaker 1: 3:08

There is a barbecue place that we killed it with. We killed it in the meat department. Oh yeah, we killed it. We killed it in the meat department. Oh yeah, I went up to the counter and I'm looking at the menu. The woman behind the counter was awesome. She was like this is what we have. Here's our menu. I'm going to go through it for you. Awesome, awesome menu. They have so many options. And she's looking at it and I'm like, yeah, I, I'm like I'm gonna order the platter, the meal for four, the family meal, okay, all right. So they checked with me three times, are you sure? Yeah, are you sure? Sir, it's for four people? It's for a family? Yeah, yeah, the four people. I have three, yeah, and the other person is it's going to be with me too.

Speaker 1: 3:57

But if you find yourself in Florida and you want amazing authentic Texas barbecue, we'll call it Prideman's. We'll call it Prideman's. It's the place to go. It's in McCoy, would you say. Yeah, mccoy Beach, mccoy Beach, it's phenomenal. Out of this world. Now, I've been to Texas Coabiche. Out of this world. I've been to Texas. Actually, no, it'd be Rockledge, is it really? Yeah, because it's just down the street from here. Yeah, it was literally a five-minute drive, okay, so just search that name somewhere down here and you'll figure it out. Definitely, rockledge, florida. Yeah, place for barbecue, barbecue spot, it's real. We're on the opposite. We're on the Atlantic Coast. Yes, the Atlantic Coast, the Atlantic Coast, yeah, well, if you can't figure it out by our intro, I am in Florida. Yeah, this is great. We have Dave side by side.

Speaker 1: 4:47

We've been apart for what feels like an eternity, but it's been. I know it's been eight months, I think. Of all our episodes we've only filmed, I would say, less than a quarter in total. Almost all of them have been remote, especially like our last episode with Celia. That was me with Celia and then you remote down here. But it's good to be back 100%. I'm enjoying this. I felt lonely, not being a part of the Toronto crew, but now we're made in America. We're down here, got the American flag on my shirt.

Speaker 1: 5:25

So, dave, it's the Made in the Wave Mindset Show. This is where you come to challenge your mindset, to have resiliency, to break the 9 to 5, and to become your own boss. It's not for everyone, but you know what you have to have a little bit of craziness, a little bit of stubbornness and perseverance very much so, and you'll get there. Yeah, yeah, I think I think the mindset of you know. Let me continue with my intro. We gotta just sort of jump right into stuff. But with my intro I was going to say we got to just sort of jump right into stuff.

Speaker 1: 5:54

But follow us. Follow us, subscribe to our show, watch us on YouTube, any of the other channels. I'm out of the loop with our shtick. What if people don't want to follow and they don't like our show, and I think it's? You know, if you don't follow us, I'm going to come us and then come find me.

Speaker 1: 6:17

But follow us, share. If you don't like this episode, share with someone anyways, because someone might like it. Someone wants to hear this information, especially for some good information that we have coming your way in this episode. Yes, all of our 72 other episodes. Share them, share them, share them, listen to them. You'll find an episode.

Speaker 1: 6:31

I guarantee you, whether you're a woman, whether you're a man, in entrepreneur either, entrepreneurship there is no gender, it's. Entrepreneurship is a mindset. Yes, so whether you are just getting into business, whether you've been in business for a while, there's an episode out there that you're going to want to listen to. We have a great selection of episodes, so go listen to them. Share them with people that you know. Share them with people who are frustrated in business, in companies that they're working for. Share them with people who are in like mindset to me and richard, when we were frustrated with where we were 100 and uh, get them to listen to this stuff. Uh, as one person said, those two dudes, right, um, yes, two dudes, yeah. What's? Yeah, those two dudes, yeah, what's nice about our digital library if it's your first time tuning in?

Speaker 1: 7:21

There are guests who have decades of experience over Dave and I, but there are guests who are also well in the early stages of entrepreneurship. They're beginning to break free from the nine to five and so 72 plus episodes. There's a lot of people in there, real people, authentic people. Dave and I know we've been introduced to and the quality of their stories, what you want to hear, you know you don't want to hear the paid for individuals on the larger platforms.

Speaker 1: 7:49

And what's awesome is you can go back to episode, not episode one, as we always say. You can go to to episode, not episode one, as we always say. You can go to episode 26, and it's still relevant to this day. To a degree there's a little bit of some date and storyline, but not really. If you want to dive back, there are amazing people on there. Go to episode one, though, as bad as it sounds, in quality it's. The topics that we were talking about were great. It gives you good understanding of who we are as people and it gives a good dive in the sound audio sucks it's.

Speaker 1: 8:21

We've come a long way from it and we've improved, but, just like everything right, we grew, you grew, and that's the mindset you need to have. You got to make waves and you got to break the standard norm that you've been exposed to. So here we are, amazing. So so I'm down here, you're down here. I've I've had some southern hospitality 100.

Speaker 1: 8:42

In many ways, we had, uh, we had some good sun out here. First week I've been down, I've been down here for a bit now. Uh, the first week I've been down here, I got hit with the tail end of a hurricane, that's right, and I felt the tremendous rain. Oh, yes, like when I say raindrops, I'm talking about you're taking a bucket of water and each drop in the bucket of water on your head. It's incredible. But it doesn't rain all day. It doesn't it like sporadic. It comes in like just waves, yes, right, for an hour making waves.

Speaker 1: 9:14

See the fun, um, and then it just goes away. But the humidity, oh my gosh, I love it. It's, it's unbelievable, I love it. Hits you like a frying pan in the face. Yeah, uh, you go from constant cold inside. They love their air conditioning here in florida, um, and then you go outside and it's just, you're hit with this immediately and if you put sunglasses on, they're all fog. Oh yeah, your phone's all fog, um, but it is. It is beautiful, it is beautiful. It's nice to be by the ocean, to get the air off the ocean. Palm trees are my favorite. Oh, yes, they're everywhere. See, palm trees is awesome.

Speaker 1: 9:52

Yeah, um, and it's, it's a different culture. It is very much. It is a different culture. It's not as fast-paced as toronto, correct, and it's interesting because you wouldn't consider toronto like, if you're from toronto, you don't really consider it fast-paced. You're not like you're born into new york of canada but you don't really feel like that. But when you come to a place like florida and then you're exposed to the people who work here, who live here, who go to do business here, you're like, yeah, we're fast, we're fast, we're fast.

Speaker 1: 10:26

In Toronto, florida, since we've operated I would call it like the Wild West, dave, we're still in a very prehistoric way of doing things. At times we don't have the toronto or that new york refinement, that california refinement on quality of services, right, but if you're a business-minded person, it's the opportunity for you to come, because that's what the state needs. We need strong entrepreneurs, we need people who want to bring that threshold from here that people have experienced for decades and go up here. It's not a knock on Florida. It's just one of many places around the world where there's opportunity. If you know where it is, start knocking and that's your difference. So, yeah, it is a slower pace, but if you go places like Miami, I think you're going to find that you know there's talk of it being the next financial hub outside of new york. Yeah, just because there's been so much money and wealth and people. So we're starting to see that change and shift and people's expectations. Yeah, because they've come from other places, like canada, from europe or other parts of the us and they're like but I'm used to this standard of trauma, fast pace, right as a comparison. So here they are.

Speaker 1: 11:32

Yeah, when, where is it? Yeah, I took a drive. Actually, one of the days in between I went down to South Miami, south Beach. Yes, I got to see that. It was really interesting. But then I also drove through downtown Miami to see their financial area, the condos, the office towers, and it's really a metropolitan city in that sense. It's got a lot going for it. They're doing a lot of construction, I noticed, which is a good sign, yes, uh, for the economic development, right, right, yeah, so that's a good sign. Um, I also took a drive through orlando as well, which is another big city too, which is really supported. It's interesting, it's, it's really encompassing of Disney.

Speaker 1: 12:15

Yeah, it's interesting to see that Entertainment hospitality hub, yeah, which was really cool to see, yeah, and then outside of that it's not as tall, no, no, and I think a lot of it. I almost wonder if it has to do with the hurricanes and the weather systems here, because they don't build multi-level story buildings so high because of where you are. You don't see the skyscrapers in new york because there ain't no tornadoes and hurricanes coming through. You know so. But it's the hospitality hub, right, and this is where people come, the largest. You know d Dave and I were talking yesterday. I ran out. Orlando is the number one move-to destination in all of the United States. It's the number one world travel destination, and when you have the entertainment attractions, such as Disney restaurants to shopping, to entertainment experiences outside of the theme parks, because you need to bring people here and if that stuff's down and the infrastructure's not there, people aren't coming to Orlando, but it's a massive pull. There's opportunity here, like you would believe, and it continues to grow.

Speaker 1: 13:27

Let's dive into Restoration One, I think, and it continues to grow, yeah, yeah, let's dive into restoration one. Yeah, I think that's a great story because I think I think we touched on it a bit about setting it up and everything. But I was spent some time with her yesterday. I got to see the, the, the, the equipment, the. What's the C word? Oh, you know what's the c word? Oh, you know what's the c word? Jay, couldn't do this, that thing over there. The consumables consumables, that's it. I keep on forgetting. It's not a word, it's a, obviously a english word, I know, yes, it's not a word I use in business for me, right, but yeah, consumables, uh, which was impressive. Yes, you have a, an amazing company. Yeah, um, but let's, let's talk about it. Let's talk about, uh, we're going to do the elevator pitch. Yeah, go ahead.

Speaker 1: 14:10

So restoration one is your property restoration experts. Okay, and we specialize in water, fire, mold, but we also do things like biohazard. You know, god forbid, there's no death or a murder or something like that. We're coming in between the biohazard, the blood, the human pathogens that need to be removed to get a property back to normal. And then there's your storm and hurricane damage. That's another big part of the business. And then other things you could do hoarding and carpet cleaning but that's not something I'm focused on right now. And so, being here doing that, we do residential commercial work. We focus to help get business and homeowners back to normal, because it's a very stressful process.

Speaker 1: 14:49

And you find out a storm has ripped off your roof, flooded your home, or you get back after work and you're air conditioning in it. As Dave said, they're used here. People love it because you need it to prevent mold that comes in the home from the humidity, and so these things will leak and they cause floods. So people come back from work and they're like oh my gosh, what happened? I had water on the floor, in the drywall, in the ceiling, everywhere. It needs to be remediated very quickly with less than 48 hours, otherwise that turns into mold under the right conditions. So we're your property restoration expert 24 hours. We're the 911 when it comes to your building. So it's a nice change. We're the 911 your building cool, you know. So it's a nice change with a 911 for properties.

Speaker 1: 15:37

Yeah, yeah, tell me about some of the positives that you've noticed doing business here in florida. Um, not compared to anything else, this is your first business down here, um, but what have been some of the positive things about business, the business community in florida? I will honestly say everyone here. Of course you got to be in the right circles, you've got to find the right thing. So I'm very well connected to the Chamber of Commerce we're part of, if anybody knows, bni. That's the largest worldwide referral network. So it's another great way to meet other business owners and give referrals. There's also local community groups.

Speaker 1: 16:07

Once you kind of find those key groups, you realize the business community here is warm, welcoming and supportive. And to find those kind of sheep's what they say, a wolf in sheep's clothing that analogy you don't have, that you have real trusted partners that want to see you succeed because it's their name and reputation going. Hey, I know Richard DiBiase. He does this, his company provides these services. They're going to help you get back to normal. This is a time of chaos. Your family, your business is suffering. Call them White Glove Service will get you there. So the business community has been warm, it's been welcoming and the doors, the opportunities to be a part of their other local events or their other referral partners to go. Hey, you should probably talk to Stone, so they would be a great lead for referrals or for other business that comes your way.

Speaker 1: 16:57

And you know, this is my first major business. However, we did have a property investment company in Canada. That's still ongoing, but this is just a different level. We're now it's like boots on the ground. It's staffing, it's paying, it's policies, it's you're running the ship and you want to avoid the iceberg, right, so it's, it's, it's been wonderful, but that's what you got to deal with.

Speaker 1: 17:21

Yeah, what are the kind of the top three things that you've either stressed about or that have been just a pain in your business here, one pain that can start with staffing? That's a struggle in every industry. Dave's very well connected to the business community. I'm very well connected to the business community and before getting into here, staffing was always something. Even in our previous line of work, staffing was always a concern, and so staffing here and trying to find people who want to grow in this business is a challenge.

Speaker 1: 17:55

It's very difficult, it's very hot, it's not easy. You're removing mold or water damage in homes that don't have air conditioning or they're following a mold protocol. Wearing your PPE, which is your personal protective equipment, you come out wetter than the humidity when you walk out the door. You know so. When people realize this is the work I have to do, they just shy away. Right, it's a lot to take in. You got to find that right person who's been bred for that. This is nothing, you know. Heavy labor it's heavy. It's heavy labor on on the first part. But as you finish off the jobs and you get into the more cleaning and the sterilizing and the polishing of stuff these are fancy terms. It's much more easy and as you get a deep breath you're like, ah, we're at the final leg. Now. It's the last third of the work that we have to do.

Speaker 1: 18:40

So, number one, I would say staffing. That's the biggest concern, that's the biggest headache. Number two every municipality here does something different, interesting, and I've shared this with people. I'm gonna use toronto just because, what the hell, I don't care, we're gonna use toronto. Toronto is the center of the universe. It's in the middle. Around it you have all these other cities who want to pretend they're toronto and there's very clear divisional lines about municipal boundaries. There are regions. The regions play into some of those municipalities so they sometimes dabble with their own rules. But it's very, in my opinion, clear and cut black and white. Here in the US you have counties that are in charge of cities, but cities that are within counties, and cities aren't exactly those perfect shaped squares like Toronto's in the middle, peel region's, this weird shape York region's this next shape, germany. Everything mixes.

Speaker 1: 19:33

So we could be driving through an area of Orlando. You could be leaving downtown Orlando, and not only and I'm going to use policing because that's an easy analogy. You're now in the municipality of Orlando with, you know, orlando police, then you're the Edgewater police, then you got Belle Isle police, but you're the Edgewater police, then you got bell aisle police, but it's also orange County sheriffs. There are so many chefs in the kitchen. It's about licensing the business. They call them tax receipts here, very confusing to me. We'd call them business licenses, business permits in the U? S, not California, but Florida tax receipts. That's what they call it. Excuse me, let's get you get another free pass and that challenge of going.

Speaker 1: 20:13

One municipality expects you to have your business like this, but another municipality will do something different because it's in the county. We're not talking like Hillbilly County out here. Right, it's a major city in the county. You said the authority over the municipalities at times times. So understanding where you are and where the business is set up, I think, is truly a very interesting journey and it took me a while to figure out.

Speaker 1: 20:35

Okay, well, we're running through so many different cities. What do I need to be here? Does this tax receipt, this tax business permit, cover all these areas? Do I have everything I need to be here? Do they approve me doing these types of services? Do I need to let them know I'm doing something different because I'm in a different municipality? Or do you go under the guise of my head office is here for my main service area? It's covering those and it was a service call that took me out to help somebody in a different area. So this is something you have to be aware of. It's confusing and you have to have the conversation with the staff on how to explain that. Right, you know, because it's a journey. It's a tough journey.

Speaker 1: 21:11

And the last thing money. Capital is huge. Any business. You need to have lots of liquidity when you open your door and you want to keep as much of it as you can.

Speaker 1: 21:23

One of the struggles as a Canadian doing business investing in the US is our conversion rate sucks. The dollar is terrible. It has been since like 2012. And for every almost 30 cents you bring down here Dave sorry, every 30 cents on the dollar you bring down here you're losing 38 cents give or take. That's more than 25%, more than a quarter on every dollar, and it's pretty substantial. So when the money gets down here, you want to keep it, you want to use it as a float, but it gets impacted because you're starting a business.

Speaker 1: 21:56

It's a startup cost. You have enough Can you cover consumables, equipment, fuel, employees. But more importantly, as a Canadian, it's not like you can get your tax ID number. You can't just get a credit card to start your business. So you have all this extra overhead just to float and get by. But what if there's no work that comes in? It's not a hurricane season. What are you going to do? You got to bootstrap, you got to be strategic and you really need to think how can I get by and be as conservative as possible to run this business? So those top three things, from staffing to municipal boundaries and oddities. They call it the code here versus bylaw. These codes are unique and the finances is trying to manage that as an international investor in the United States.

Speaker 1: 22:43

So, all those things being issues, what was your mindset in getting through it? Like, how did you finally make that decision that, all right, we're just going to suck up that 38%? Yeah, you don't have a choice. So, literally, like, what was? Tell us what was the mindset? You've made the decision to open. Listen, life is short and this is why we wanted to come down here and get this business going. We've already seen enough of the North. It's time for something exciting down South. So you have to swallow your pride. You have to understand that, yes, you're going to lose almost 38 cents 28 cents depending on when that was on every dollar you bring down. But just know, that's a one time penalty, it's a one time fee, it's a one time thing. Once that money actually makes it through, it's now going to be worth more because it's US currency, and so you just have to suck it up.

Speaker 1: 23:33

And that's where I talked about at the beginning the resiliency, a little bit of stubborn, a little bit of crazy and a little bit of perseverance, because you have to have that, and Dave and I often have long phone calls about the struggles, the good, the bad, the ugly, and, honestly, if you're a very soft person, this would be a lot to take in. But if you have those kind of three things I've outlined as your bullet points, you go. There's no. There's no going back, it's all moving forward. And so you're going to push forward. Right, so you're going to let those people who you know oh, you're going to the us, you're doing this, I don't care what you think, you're going to do your own thing. So, having that mindset and understanding to get to the top of the mountain there's still little peaks and valleys and every peak and valley is going to be a challenge. So you'll make it to the top. But once you get to the top of that mountain, you know there's another mountain taller, on the other side of the train. So, uh, just understanding that when you think, wow, today was a great week, nothing, you know that phone call is coming in from someone You're like shit, now I've got another street bump, what the hell? So you just got to go baby steps, break down your tasks, block your time and just it's a lot of self-talk. Yeah, having the right people in your network who support you, elevating yourself with those around you, who are winners, get away from. Okay.

Speaker 1: 24:49

We were talking about someone we mutually know earlier and used a great phrase, uh, and it was something along the lines of they were keeping themselves down or surrounding by somebody. Do you recall what that was? Um, they well, we were just talking. We were I can't remember exactly what we were saying, but we were talking about just they're surrounding themselves with negative attitudes, yes, and they're. They're allowing themselves to Weigh down. It was like an eight hole. It was something to that extent, cause they want, they want someone who's down in the hole, yes, wants you to come down with them. Yes, to comfort, yeah, and they can. They can some commensurate with. That's what it was. So they, yes, they, they, they want other people to be sad with them, yes, and so you have to understand that you can't be with those people.

Speaker 1: 25:37

It's time to sometimes cut family. I hate to say it. It's happened. Friends gone. You got to focus on yourself. You come first. If your glass isn't full, yeah, you can't spill that love and share that with anybody else. So the selfishness you got to have it. Who cares what people think. Let them call you the names in the back end doesn't matter, I don't care. Yeah, you need to be selfish. You got to make sure your cup and glass is full before you're able to to spill it over to anyone else. So it's elevating your mindset, elevating all your qualities to some other people who are ahead of you in the business space that will continue to pull you to the next level and pull you up to the top, because that's what you need. Otherwise, you're with those other people because mesmerizing. There you go At a lower level Pronunciation or whatever Dave said. I think. There you go At a lower level Pronunciation, pronunciation or whatever Dave said. I think People who have done it before us, who we seek advice from, are like window wipers.

Speaker 1: 26:40

Yes, they're giving you that clear vision. Yes, through the dirty window. Yes, otherwise they come across, they wipe off that dirt from your face and they say, no, no, you come over here. Yes, the problem with people who are still stuck in other positions, like this friend that we mutually have, they're in this hamster wheel of emotions, yes, where they keep on remembering. Here's the reasons I was doing what I was doing in the past. Yes, and I was doing it because I'm a good person or I'm doing it because I wanted to be in that, but I was either forced to leave or I chose to leave. And I chose to leave because of all the negative stuff that's around me. But they just can't get themselves out of that world because they're in that hamster wheel of emotion. Yes, but having people around you and getting rid of those other people, well then you can get out of that hamster wheel a lot easier.

Speaker 1: 27:31

Yes, it's true, the other day I made a post and I found one of my last photos in uniform and I threw it on LinkedIn and it was a very short paragraph and it basically explained like best decision ever was resigning from policing and just the ability to openly state that publicly shocks people. But before that post, meeting people go hey, like, were you always in the restoration space? Were you always in business? Yeah, you know, at the end of my career we were doing investments, we were lending money, we were buying properties, fixing, flipping rent to owns, buying. We were doing all those things. But it was the ability to go. I did that and I moved on and they're shocked, they're like but you just left this comfortable nine to five. I'm like I did, and I could comfortably come out saying it's the best decision I made. You can do it too.

Speaker 1: 28:17

It's about changing what's up here and having that support network. Yeah, you know, it might not be your spouse, so you gotta have that. Sit down and listen. Are you ready? I'm lucky where I did have that person who's like sure, yeah, we're doing this, we're getting the hell out of dodge, we're leaving this, this chapter. But people get stuck in this thing and it's just like you need to disconnect and that was my advice to this mutual friend, and you did the same disconnect from those magnets, yeah, and just be free. Break out of the fish tank. You got to break free of the fish tank. There's more in the ocean. Get out of your fish tank and get to the ocean, you know.

Speaker 1: 28:51

So, actually, one of my favorite things to do now is to watch people's emotions on their faces when they say to me personally, because I'm in the health and wellness field now, yeah. So for them to say to me, oh, how long have you been in this field? Yeah, and I said, oh, about three years now, yeah, and they're like what? Yeah, what do you mean? Yeah, like what do you mean? Yeah, why haven't you been here your whole career? Or why you know, and I also I own a uh, um, a chiropractic, physio and massage, yeah.

Speaker 1: 29:18

So the first question they say, oh, are you a chiropractor? No, no. Are you a physiotherapist? No. Are you a massage therapist? No, well then, I'm the brain stuff, but because I'm doing business behind it, yes, and that and that, that is also no. Are you a massage therapist? No, well then you won't be that good, I'm the brain stuff, but because I'm doing business behind it, yes.

Speaker 1: 29:37

And that is also abnormal too, and that's what I've really noticed a lot that in business, majority of the people that are running businesses own businesses in businesses are there because it's their trade or it's their profession and they've created a business around it, or it's something they've been doing for so long that they similar to like Jeff Bezos of the world, right, jeff Bezos was a bookstore in his garage yes, right, 93. And then created the business of it, right, so it is an avenue. But then there's other people in this world, like Elon Musk, who's he was never an astronaut, he was never a car manufacturer, he didn't work on the line at Ford, he didn't know how to build cars, right. So there's that other avenue of business which I'm not saying. Elon Musk is the world of world for business. But there's the other ability to get into business and then run successful businesses and you don't have to be the person who's cooking the eggs behind the counter. Well, he knows how to cook the eggs behind the counter. Luke, spacex, tesla. The eggs behind the counter. Well, he knows how to cook the eggs by x, luke, spacex, yeah, tefla, it's. He's not doing all of them individually every day, but he's carved that that you know system out for himself that works.

Speaker 1: 30:47

And I think, going back just a smidgen, if you're in that struggle, you have those transferable skills, like dave does. Well, I don't need to be a doctor. I'm performing this business function because I have those transferable skills, elon. I don't need to be a doctor. I'm performing this business function because I have those transferable skills, elon. I don't need to design the car. I have the idea. I'll find the people and then take those transferable skills. Now I'm launching rockets and I and I tell davis, said man, you have a cigar one night. I was hoping you could. You'll see the rockets launching almost once a week from the driveway of our house.

Speaker 1: 31:15

It it's crazy, but that's where you need to understand. To get there, you can do it, but you need to find those transferable skills. That's the biggest thing. Make it easy. There's no special recipe. There's no jambalaya. You have the skills and you just need to know where to apply them, because they're transferable. You don't need to go get more education, just be yourself, find the right people and continue to grow with the right people. That's where the Orlando business community has been phenomenal.

Speaker 1: 31:44

I'll just touch on one thing you said, which I don't know if people are understanding your angle. You said don't get more education, go ahead Formal education that you're referring to, but not education on the businesses. Yes, getting more education is so important, which is true, so just take a step back. I went back and received an international certification on a type of mold remediation or a mold remediation uh, and I'm also in a mentorship group. So there's ongoing education.

Speaker 1: 32:14

I'm not saying that. I'm just saying you don't need a degree in basket weaving. You have these skills that can get you started and if there's a specialty within your business realm that you feel is going to be a tremendous asset to help you do the things you love to do in your business, then do it. So the reason I did those things is I'm in property restoration. When your resort, your hotel, your office, your commercial, your home floods and then there's mold damage, well, how are we taking this out? I know how to take it out, I have the training on how to take it out, but there's a formality for it that gives me certification. So why wouldn't I take it? Because now I can brag about it.

Speaker 1: 32:52

But not just that education. You need specific education. It's very specific. You also need business education 100%, and that's the one thing I've noticed a lot of people don't have. They start a business and then they go seek out the information after starting a business, so now they're already behind the eight ball.

Speaker 1: 33:19

One of the things that I've learned about franchising is that franchises actually give you a good starting platform to start businesses. And now I see, now that I've been in the franchise world, for there'll be almost two years. Um, well, it was two years in february that we purchased the business, yeah, but um, actual operations will october of this year will be two years. That's incredible. Been in business and the one thing I've really learned about buying a franchise. It gives you that fast on-ramp into processes, gives you that fast on-ramp into business and it really throws you forward.

Speaker 1: 33:47

If I would have had to try to implement Dave's Stretch Lab from day one and create all the processes and create all the branding, create all the designs, I probably wouldn't be in this seat that I'm in right now unless I had some immediate successes right off the bat. But knowing the stuff that I know now from the franchise that they've taught us, plus then taking an interest and then educating myself further, not just leaving it as the basis really diving into the material and diving into the world of business and then seeking out mentorship yes, and asking those questions, really getting into it yeah, I really catapulted myself into business knowledge. Yeah, that I didn't have earlier. And the nice part dave has a great analogy a franchise is like that lego block, that lego set right. It doesn't mean opening the business is any easier. No, you still. There's like literally a whole other business that needs to be created in order for you to run with a lego set. Yeah. But the lego set takes away things like well, what color should the walls be right? What vehicle wrap is going to look like? Yes, that's been done. Yeah, I don't want to do that. Stuff I don't want to get into. I need to buy exactly. Yeah, so it takes way like what consumables? Consumables these very easy things. Can you define what consumables are for the audience? The consumables are products that you consume, that you go through physically, like a pair of latex gloves and, for stretch, that toilet paper. I will start using that in a bit. These are consumables. That's on point. That stuff's provided.

Speaker 1: 35:25

It was a great model for us, but we had some great conversations about other things we both are looking at separately. It's now probably not in the franchise space, but that's okay because this has been great. Here we are Very proud of the accomplishments we made. As our team grows. We're actively hiring. There is so much amazingness and it's your mindset. If you come to work with the negativity, uh, I'm not in it. I thought it was absentee owner. You know you need to be a part of it, but you got to build the team if you want to take yourself away and that's the excitement is I get to help people. I get to employ people. I get to see that what we're doing is putting food on their table and they're getting the value going. I'm receiving training, education in a very different way that I don't think many people have experienced, because you and I bring some Canadian love and people love that.

Speaker 1: 36:13

I think the one thing I've really loved about doing business for the last couple of years is growing people. Yes, I love growing people. I really actually enjoy seeing somebody from the day I hire them to then that they evolve in education, they evolve as a person themselves, they gain confidence and then they move on to either something else or stay with you. Yeah, that part of me brings me so much happiness to see people grow and the amount of people that I've seen grow within our companies unbelievable really, and within short periods of time to like a year, wow. Two years, wow. It's incredible just to see their growth, yeah, in as a person and then in business as well. It's incredible to see see their growth as a person and then in business as well. It's incredible to see and I love meeting new people, getting their conversations, understanding who they are as people communicate and speak to people on a different level yes, in business now, oh, yes, then most of my business, I would say like associates, yes, yes, depending on where you come from and how, and the types of teams you've led and the types of stuff you've done before.

Speaker 1: 37:34

I am blessed to have been in a career 100 where I continuously spoke to people on various levels throughout their personal lives either in crises, yes, or in everyday lives, yes, and I communicated them on. In enforcement, yes, and arrests, yes. In people who are threatened to kill themselves, oh yes. And I have brought a lot of that communication strategy into business. And to see people communicate with me on a different level, oh yes. You know I don't want to. I'm not going to sit here and say we have the best business in the world, but stretch lab, we haven't spent a dollar on hiring. Isn't that incredible? We've not spent one dollar.

Speaker 1: 38:12

It's all been organic culture, building culture within our studios, word of mouth, people inviting their friends to come work here, and that's the culture you need to create. You know, I think a lot of business owners go oh, I got to pay for ads, I got to go find a headhunter recruiter. When you build a culture where the employees feel valued, they see a future for growth. They then talk about that with other people and you go hey, so-and-so, do you know any? I got somebody. They already want to apply. Now you go, I can already validate this employee because they're an A plus employee. Now they have friends who want to work for us. So you know it's going to be quality individuals coming to business and that's what's amazing.

Speaker 1: 38:52

That has been the lead from the top. From the top, yeah, that's been so good. You know, I, I love, I'm loving doing that and I I feel that that's a bit of a niche. Yeah, is to create the culture and create the, the workplace that people just want to be at 100, and it's a lot goes to say for the team that we have. Yes, because then I've set the culture. Yes, they then follow that culture and it flows all the way down to the bottom.

Speaker 1: 39:16

Yes, but it's interesting because I, I don't feel that it's a hard thing to start. It's a hard thing to keep. You constantly have to spend time and energy and cultivate the good culture, yes, and you have to be in tune with it. Yes, so you need to understand that there's ebb and flows. Yes, you have to understand that sometimes people are going to be miserable. Yes, sometimes people are going to be unhappy, and as long as you keep your ear to the ground, thumb on the pulse about it and make sure that your management are doing that as well. Then the culture remains 100%.

Speaker 1: 39:51

But it doesn't cost too much to do it. You don't have to get a $5 hot and ready and just throw the pizza up there. Guys, great work. Haven't you seen those memes? I got to laugh. The Instagram there's like a comedic guy who talks about corporate culture and they're like well, I think they're amazing. You guys have done so well. The company is you know $10 billion and they just throw a $5 pizza Celebrate the party. His memes are epic, because I've come from that world and that's where they would treat winners and people.

Speaker 1: 40:22

It's like you can't. What A couple things I've noticed. You can't buy happiness. Doesn't matter how much you pay people, they'll never be happy. And you can't just say, oh, I'll just give you more money. So, in the same line, right? You can't just say, oh, just go do this for me because I'll pay you an extra dollar. You might have a couple people who are doing it, but all in all, the culture won't last 100. You have to really treat people proper and you need to take the time and listen to people. But it doesn't cost a lot and this is what I this.

Speaker 1: 40:54

What killed me is because I I look at this and I say there's so many companies that I work for that I probably would have stayed forever at a lower salary as long as they, if they would have just treated me properly, yeah, like a human. Yeah, they would have just listened to me. Yeah, they would have had conversations with me. It's a 15, politically bureaucratic. And if they would have treated me well, I would have stayed 100%. Me well, I would have stayed 100. You said something. You know the value of the person, uh, and I was kind of, I was really intrigued on that moment, because I ran into an individual at a networking meetup in my space and he starts telling me over the course of a few weeks that he's never listened to by his current boss, if you want to say that of of a company owner, and he holds a very strategic leadership position and I'm like well, so what do you mean by he?

Speaker 1: 41:44

Doesn't, you know, listen to you or there's no time for like what do you mean? Oh, something will happen. I've tried to do everything I can as the executive or leadership position and I would try to connect. Doesn't answer phone calls, doesn't return emails. If I get a hold of him, hey you, you got two minutes, I don't have two minutes.

Speaker 1: 41:57

And you quickly see this pattern of here's an employee trying to save or do something incredible for your business and you, as the owner, don't even want to have any email or whoever that person is in charge of, the owner or manager. They're being left out and they're trying to do something good for you, so their thoughts are being left unrecognized or unvalidated for what they're doing and they just want to let you know. And I and I said this person said listen, you work for me. There's a lot of time of the day because I could be driving to and from the office, right heck, I could be taking a poop and I will take five minutes to talk to you if that's what we have to do. Because if you're telling me this guy can't talk to you for weeks and you're here solving problems, there's a huge cultural and then massive disconnect and it's become so bad from learning during this discussion that it's just a weird environment.

Speaker 1: 42:47

There's all types of employees who they're just lashing out in different ways, all because the owner doesn't want to give five minutes to their key leadership people to iron out certain things that they need the green light on, because that's what our policies and procedures or the processes are. And that's the biggest thing is listening to your employees answer the call it take. They're doing the bulk of the work to make your business succeed, because you have to focus on running the business, not being in the business. They're the key people. They want to do this work, but they just want to get that. I'm not saying they need to have the pat on the back or work, billy, but it's the fact that they're being listened to. !

Speaker 1: 43:28

And this is something I shared earlier today in one of my networking events was I had a customer. She was talking about a lot of things and I'm listening. I'm not trying to prepare an answer for what she's saying, but listening and I discovered something she had said which then resulted in A it could help my business and more work, but B I could loop in other key people in my networking community that I know would do an amazing job to get what she was looking for. Because I listened, I took that moment to what's the pain point that the employee or the manager or the customer is suffering from. That's what you got to do? Just listen.

Speaker 1: 44:03

Someone said to me a long time ago, like I'm older so when I say a long time ago, 25, I'm talking I'm talking about at least two decades ago they said to me this phrase and it's always stuck to me to this day those who don't hear will feel Correct. The bosses who aren't listening and hearing their people will feel the results of that. It's such a true statement. I use it all the time to people. You really need to listen and hear people. Yes, if you're not listening and hearing them, you're going to miss something and you'll feel the results of it later. Oh, 100%, you can only yell so much to somebody. Stop at that, stop sign, stop at that, stop sign, stop at that, stop sign. And they don't. They're going to feel it. It's so important. So a lot to unpack in this episode.

Speaker 1: 44:58

Dave, where can our listeners find you? Florida, I'm trying to get my over our place, you know. You know, yeah, I am teaching me. I am on instagram, david a moskowitz. I'm also on linkedin. I'm in our businesses, not day, but I'm at our businesses when I'm in Toronto.

Speaker 1: 45:18

Yes, I either come over to Mobility House, stretch Lab, what I tell everyone. If you know me and you're a friend of mine don't ever be in pain. Don't ever be in pain. Come to Stretch Lab, unpain yourself. Come to Mobility House and fix your body. Yeah, I love that you can find yours truly on Instagram and LinkedIn. If you're on LinkedIn, I really want to boost those connections with people. So reach out at RichardDubias. You can see this beautiful face. You're lucky. You got a beard today because I was going to get rid of it. I need a haircut. I was going to go for the Dave look, but this is a new day. That's another podcast. That's another podcast. That's a new day. David B Moskowitz Love to talk about that. Anyways, everyone, you got to dream bigger. You have to make waves and you need to take action and life. Until next time, sweet 26 great nuts.