You Don't Know Until You Know

Several years ago, I was listening to an Adam Carolla podcast when a caller asked an interesting question. This was shortly after Adam had released his second documentary film. To paraphrase, the caller asked, "How did you know how to make a documentary?" Adam's response was simple, but profound. "I didn't know how to make a documentary until I made a documentary. Then I knew how to make a documentary."

In other words, we don't know how to do something until we do it. There's rarely a playbook for us to reference. Instead, we must simply act. One foot in front of the other, step by step. We don't know what we don't know.....until we know it.

I bring up this topic today because of our big announcement last night. After several months of development, we're introducing our first canned beverage at Northern Vessel. It's a variation of our signature Oat Milk Cold Brew Latte. This has been one of TJ's visions for many years now, and it's surreal to see it materialize in front of our eyes.

Truth is, none of us know how to make a canned beverage. TJ knows how to make an amazing cold brew latte in the shop (which he's perfected over the last 4+ years), but creating a canned version is an entirely different animal. We don't know what we don't know.....until we know. After many meetings with food scientists, flavor chemists, and canning experts, we've finally finished the first iteration of our inaugural product. In the words of Adam Carolla, we didn't know how to make a canned beverage until we made a canned beverage. Now we know how to make a canned beverage.

This is one of my favorite things about TJ. He's as equally fearless as he is humble. He has no idea what he's doing, the humility to know he has no idea what he's doing, and the courage to figure it out. I wish I could can this energy (see what I did there?) and pass it around to all the people I know. It's ok to not know how to do something, but that shouldn't stop us from trying. I had no idea how to make a podcast.....until I had a podcast. I had no idea how to coach people.....until I started coaching people. I had no idea how to start a company.....until I started a company. One foot in front of the other, step by step. First we do it poorly, then we do it average, then we do it good, then we do it great. There are no shortcuts. We don’t know until we know.

Today's challenge: Find something you don't know how to do, then do it.

My Small Business Doesn’t Deserve Your Business

As anticipated, I’ve taken a fair amount of heat for my posts about small businesses (HERE and HERE). Perhaps they missed the preface where I clarified that I, myself, am a small business owner. My family’s survival rests solely on the fate of my small businesses. So when someone calls me a “big box retail shill”, it’s a bit confusing. Oh well, it comes with the territory.

The narrative that keeps getting pushed is this idea that small businesses deserve for you, me, and other people to patronize their companies simply because they are a local small business. Every week, another local small business sadly closes its doors. With it comes a myriad of social media posts, lamenting how nobody supports small businesses. I couldn’t disagree more, as I interact with successful small businesses every day. Businesses that have served the community well for years or even decades. If people don’t support small businesses, why have these businesses found so much success and longevity?

Small businesses, you don’t deserve anyone’s business. My small business doesn’t deserve anyone’s business. Each day, we small businesses must earn the right to serve people well, then re-earn the right to do it again. The formula is fairly simple. We need to offer a good product, at a good value, and do it with a good attitude.

If you don’t sell a good product, there’s no point for people to patronize your business. The product has to be needed or wanted, and have some level of uniqueness compared to other options. It doesn’t have to be a life-changing product, but it has to be quality. If I open a fax machine store in 2023, I don’t think I’d be in business long. The product matters.

If you have a good product, but it’s priced at a level where it costs more than the value it adds, it’s a hard sell. The pricing structure has to make sense. If you’re selling a cup of coffee for $15, not many people will find value for the price. Us business owners must find a way to offer our good products at a price that provides margin between cost and value. In that margin comes the opportunity to make people’s lives better.

If you have a good product and it offers a good value, but you don’t sell it with a good attitude, people will simply choose to shop elsewhere. On many occasions, I’ve purchased a great product at a great price, but was treated with indifference (or even annoyance). Personally, I’d rather buy a lesser product or get a lesser value than be treated like garbage. I could list off a dozen businesses in my town that don’t treat people well (and thus have lost my business). How we sell our products/services matters.

If we do all three of those things, we’ll likely thrive. If we don’t, we’ll possibly be the next story about how a small business closed its doors. It’s a hard endeavor, but worth it.

How Do We Define Value?

In yesterday’s post, I made the argument we shouldn’t “support” small businesses, as that connotation “smells of pity, condescension, obligation, and guilt.” As expected, I quickly received a lot of feedback on this post. One such piece of feedback was from my friend Mike (yes, this Mike). Mike let me know he partially agreed and partially disagreed with my post.

There are probably four posts worth of nuance Mike brought to the table, but the one I want to discuss today is the idea of value. In my post, I stated that businesses “don’t deserve our support, but do deserve the opportunity to serve us well and provide us with value.” Mike explained that he strongly values relationships, and would happily pay more for a product bought locally because the relationship he gets to create in the process is valuable to him. I couldn’t agree more!

Let’s say we can purchase a product for $50 on Amazon and $55 from a local small business. The small business is charging 10% more for the same product, so does that mean there’s less value in buying it locally? From a mathematical perspective, yes. The product is providing the same impact in our life, but costs us 10% more. By definition, that’s less value. However, this is where I think we need to take a moment to ask ourselves what the definition of value is. From a utilitarian perspective, the Amazon purchase would have more value. But this is Meaning Over Money, so you know we can’t just look at everything through the lens of money. Mike would testify, and I would wholeheartedly affirm him, that there’s much more value on the table than dollars and cents. In his example, the relationship he gets to build and maintain with the small business is also a value-add to his life.

There are a number of other things we could attribute value to:

• Buying within close proximity to your home.

• The interactions with staff and/or other customers.

• Seeing the product first-hand before buying.

• Getting questions answered by an engaged and knowledgeable employee.

• Knowing your patronage is investing in the local labor market.

• The list goes on and on.

I think Mike touched on a really good point. I don’t think his perspective is contradictory to my post, but largely complementary. This is also the opportunity for small businesses to shine. They need to add more value than they charge, but there are a number of different ways they get to create value than simply price. BUT, and it’s a big but, they do need to add value. This is the heart of my message. Small businesses (including mine) don’t deserve our support. They deserve the opportunity to serve us well and add value. If they succeed, they will earn the right to do it again….and again. And as Mike beautifully points us, that relationship piece is so, so valuable. I for one would gladly pay more in exchange for that meaningful relationship.

Don't "Support" Small Businesses

Before I begin, I’d like to remind you I’m deeply invested and exceptionally fond of small businesses. My family’s livelihood is tied to my small business, I’m a part owner of a few other small businesses, and many of my clients are small businesses. So when you read my next sentence, I want you to know I say it with the utmost respect in mind.

I don’t believe we should “support” small businesses. The idea of supporting small businesses is talked about a LOT! “We should support X small business.” “Y small business needs our support.” “Z small business wouldn’t have closed had we supported it.” To me, the idea of “support” smells of pity, condescension, obligation, and guilt. There mere idea that a small business can’t survive unless we “support'“ it really turns me off. It lacks dignity, respect, and the merit of existence.

Small businesses don’t deserve our support. What small businesses deserve is the opportunity to serve us well and provide us with value. We shouldn’t go to a small business just because they are a small business. We should give them a shot because they are a business, and let them earn (and re-earn) the right to serve us again.

Instead of giving money to them out of a sense of obligation because they are the little guy, we should direct our business to companies that demonstrate excellence. And many of them are small businesses! There’s so much dignity in that, as opposed to the idea of “supporting” them.

Here’s my simplified way of thinking about it:

1. Find a business that offers something you may need/want.

2. Allow them the opportunity to serve you.

3. If they crush it, allow them the opportunity to serve you again. Repeat.

4. If they don’t deliver or add value, move on and give a different business the opportunity to serve you. Repeat.

5. Tell others about your experiences.

There are so many different angles to unpack on this topic (which we will), but I wanted to let this idea sit with you today. I hope it lets you think about small businesses through a slightly different lens. Agree? Disagree? I would love to hear your thoughts on this one.

The Chicken and Egg of Hospitality

Yesterday, I woke up to the pleasant surprise of my friend TJ having an op-ep published in the Des Moines Register. In it, he makes a case for genuine, servant-hearted hospitality. Not service, but hospitality. This is a topic that’s near and dear to TJ’s heart. I know this because I talk to him maybe 4-6 times per week and it comes up in approximately 100% of our conversations. It’s at the core of everything he does as a business owner (and as a person, frankly).

On the heels of this article being published, I quickly jumped into the social media comments…..that’s where all the good stuff happens, right?!?! I didn’t find as much ridiculous nonsense as I had expected, but this little gem jumped off the screen:

“Maybe if they paid better with benefits and customers weren’t dicks people would want to go back to ‘Hospitality’”

At my core, I understand where this person is coming from. I’ve personally witnessed disgusting behavior from retail management and customers alike. It feels ugly out there. Stores are short-staffed and their teams are underpaid, under-trained, under-appreciated, and under-cared for. It can be a recipe for disaster.

On the flip side, however, this idea feels a bit like a chicken-and-egg scenario. Does hospitality need to be earned, as this commenter is implying? If management only paid better and customers only acted better, then maybe retail employees would be willing to show hospitality. Really? I don’t think hospitality is something to be earned. I think it’s something that should be offered from the base level of human dignity and respect. It comes from a place of gratitude, humility, and a desire to meet another’s needs.

Here’s where the chicken-and-egg situation comes into play. The businesses in my world that show the most hospitality are often the ones that experience the most success, treat their staff with respect, pay fairly (or even generously), and have far fewer unhappy or abusive customers. Is genuine hospitality shown in these businesses because these things happened, or did these things happen because hospitality was shown? Do businesses treat people well because they are successful, or are they successful because they treat people well? Chicken, or egg?

It’s a question worth thinking about. I know where I stand, but I’ll let you decide for yourself.

To Be Or Not To Be (Your Own Boss)

Yesterday, an interesting and unexpected topic came up in my high school money class. A few students mentioned wanting to someday start their own businesses. This is when another student made a few counter-cultural comments. She expressed her confusion about why so many people want to run their own businesses, citing their typical lack of enjoyment and lack of skillsets in the area of actually running the business. Many students were quick to defend the be-your-own-boss concept, citing freedom and control as primary reasons.

This is the moment the questioning student called foul, fairly pointing out that the whole “freedom” argument seems to be one of the few reasons people use to justify their decision to be their own boss. She smells what I oftentimes smell. Today’s culture says being your own boss is THE definition of success. There’s even a mantra that says “stop making other people rich” by quitting your job and becoming your own boss. I think this trend is far overblown….and quite toxic. It causes people to feel guilty about pursuing traditional employment. Today’s narrative is that working a traditional job is enslaving one’s self and limits your ability to have financial success. Both of these are brutal lies. Some of the happiest and most successful people I know have traditional jobs.

I believe this is one of the many reasons most small businesses fail. So many people start their own businesses out of a sense of need. They think that’s what they are supposed to do. Being your own boss is HARD….and we can be the worst bosses in the world. In my years coaching businesses, there’s a general truth that I can almost count on. Business owners are brilliant at their craft, but far from it on the business side of things. Many business owners wish they could offload the whole “run the business” piece of their life and focus on what they do best. That seems an awful lot like what people do in their traditional jobs.

I love small business. It’s rewarding, it’s hard, and it’s exciting. I can’t imagine doing anything else at this point in my life. However, at the same time, I recognize it’s not for everyone. I wish we, as a culture, would stop elevating it as the be-all-end-all for everyone. It’s not. For many, their traditional job will be their very best life…..and they shouldn’t feel one ounce of shame for that. Embrace it, enjoy it, and do your good work!

* We published a podcast episode about this topic almost two years ago. It’s titled 016 - The Toxic Notion Everyone Should Aspire to Be Their Own Boss. You can find it on APPLE, SPOTIFY, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Upending Our Lives

In a light-hearted text exchange with a friend, he suggested I write a blog post about “not stressing out while trying to upend our lives.” I think that comment may have been rhetorical, but you get a post anyway! When we take the road less traveled, abandon comfort, and risk all that we perceive as normal, stress is sure to follow. I can’t even explain the amount of stress I’ve experienced since leaving my prior career. The bills will be paid this month, but what about next month? What about the month after that? I have a bunch of client contracts expiring soon……will they keep me around or move on? Will Northern Vessel continue to perform at a high level? When will the next paid speaking gig come? Will anyone want to sponsor our podcast? Yeah, this stuff is EXTREMELY stressful.

With all that being said, I’ll take this stress every single day of the week over a different kind of stress. Many of you know exactly what I’m talking about. The stress of waking up every day with a feeling of dread or mere tolerance for what you’re about to do. The stress of knowing your job security and compensation is in the hands of a collection of people that could simply cut you at a moment’s notice. The stress of doing tasks you simply don’t believe in or see value in. The stress of wanting something different, but being too scared or overwhelmed to go after it. That’s the kind of stress that will eat one’s soul.

I’ll take my stress any day of the week. It can be daunting, overwhelming, and crushing at times……but it’s tied to meaning, purpose, and impact. We absolutely upended our lives when we made our shift nearly four years ago. Neither Sarah nor I would claim it was easy…..but we’ll both testify to our graves that it was worth it. A whole lot of stress, combined with a whole lot of meaning!

Try, Try, Try Again

One of the primary drivers of my partnering with Northern Vessel and becoming a part owner was the business plan to launch of weekly bottle subscription service. Through our proprietary app, people could subscribe to a recurring monthly membership that would provide them with one 64-ounce bottle of our signature cold brew latte each week. I knew this idea was gold, and I was willing to invest my time and money into it.

Three months into the program, it completely failed. Not only was it not a wild success, but it wasn’t even a little bit successful. It bombed, to be frank. I still believe in the idea as much as I did back when we were formulating the business plan, but our execution didn’t give our customers what they wanted, how they wanted it. In our model, people were committing to their bottle every week, on a specific day. There was no way for them to skip when traveling out of town, nor was there a way for them to buy additional bottles when they wanted extra. Requiring pick-up on a certain day also caused inconveniences for people’s schedules and logistics. Lastly, the price tag of $120/month was simply too high for most people. They were getting a fantastic deal for what they were getting, but $120 is still $120. In other words, there were a lot of reasons for people to say “no”…….and that’s exactly what they did.

Every ounce of us wanted to hold onto the idea and try to jam a square peg in a round hole, partly out of conviction and partly out of pride. But we need to listen to the customer. They don’t want that program. They spoke with their actions……or lack thereof. This week we introduced a new program. Instead of people committing to a large sum of money for a certain amount of product, they are committing $10/month to become a club member……which has many benefits to choose from (one of which is an attractive discount on our 64-ounce bottles of cold brew latte). That’s the beauty of this new model. People can use the membership in a way that best suits their lifestyle, schedule, and interests.

Here’s the kicker. This program will allow us to accomplish the same goal as the original model, but better. It’s easy to play Monday morning quarterback and say we should have done it this way from the start, but that would be unfair. We didn’t know what we didn’t know. We learned a lot through this experience (er, failure). It has allowed us to put together an even better program that meets people’s desires. Will this new program succeed? I don’t know, but there’s only one way to find out!

That’s the importance of trying, trying, and trying again. If we admit failure, be willing to humble ourselves, learn from our mistakes, and try something new, we’ll ultimately end up in a far better place!

This Is Pointless

I recently became a partner in a start-up coffee company, Northern Vessel. Today marks the one-month anniversary of our brick-and-mortar opening. By any metric or measurement, the most appropriate way to describe the results of the last month is, well, meteoric. It’s been far greater than we could have ever imagined, and for that we’re grateful.

I’ve had lots of people ask me why Northern Vessel has experienced so much success, so quickly. My answer is always the same: failure and persistence. While Northern Vessel is a start-up, this is actually the fourth iteration of the company. We call it NV 4.0. The concept was birthed five years ago when our founder, TJ Rude, lived in Los Angeles and fell in love with their unique coffee culture. Soon after that, NV 1.0 was born. It was a coffee cart that served up their signature Cold Brew Lattes at grad parties, weddings, and other events worth celebrating. I was first introduced to NV at a grad party for one of my youth group kids and was immediately fascinated.

During COVID, as all events were shut down, NV started a delivery service (NV 2.0), where TJ would hand-deliver larger batches of drinks right to people’s doors (which is the first time I met TJ…..at my front door with a big bottle of Cold Brew Latte in his hands). It was during this stretch of time that Alex Prins, our creative and branding guru, entered the mix. TJ and Alex made a fantastic team and they had pretty big dreams about what NV could someday become. As COVID waned, they reopened their cart outside a restaurant…..then eventually took occupancy in that restaurant space (NV 3.0). Then suddenly, it all just ended. Due to a combination of factors, TJ pulled the plug and NV ceased to exist in any material form. Though I still wasn’t involved at that point, my heart broke for them….especially TJ. This was his baby and his dream. You can listen to a great podcast episode where TJ tells his story HERE.

Fast forward a year, from an outside perspective NV is an overnight success. When I think about NV, I think about this image:

From @visualizevalue on IG. Go follow them!

What people don’t see today is the blood, sweat, and tears TJ put in for nearly a half-decade. Or the awesome work Alex put in for the last 2+ years. They didn’t see the brutal grind, long hours, low pay, and less-than-glamorous lifestyle these two guys lived. I coached both of these guys for a season and I can attest nobody would have been jealous of their budgets or bank accounts. They were a couple of guys with a big dream, filled to the brim with passion, and talent coming out their ears.

I think the world is a better place because of what they built. Had TJ and Alex just walked away, thousands of people wouldn’t have the opportunity to enjoy it today. We all reach a point on our journey where it just feels pointless. We aren’t seeing the fruit, we encounter obstacle after obstacle, and it would just be easier to quit. It makes me wonder how many books, songs, businesses, ministries, and movies end up in a grave because their creators thought it was pointless and simply walked away. What if they were just one year, one month, or one week away from it all finally clicking?

What if it’s not pointless? What if it’s actually what you’re meant to do?

Here's to the Next 49 Years

As I was scrolling through Facebook yesterday, I received a notification about memories “on this day.” These memories are usually populated by pictures of my kids, looking cute……or videos of my kids, doing something that will surely draw blood. Yesterday’s was different. It was the picture of 801 Grand, the signature building in the Des Moines skyline. It was a picture I took, exactly one year ago, as I walked out of that building for the very last time after a pretty amazing 15-year career. I remember that moment like it was yesterday. So many emotions running through my mind. I had just said my very last goodbye. It was Kristin, a very dear friend who I’d worked closely with for the better part of a decade. As I said that goodbye, I nearly lost it. It took every ounce of me to get into that elevator and make it out of the building in once piece. I spent the next 3 days in an absolute daze. It felt disorienting, scary, nostalgic, and exciting……and maybe a little bit of oh-crap-what-did-I-just-do. Wow, one year flew by fast!!!

These last 365 days have been wild, not to mention the COVID-19 quarantine life that’s shaken up everything we consider normal. As I reflect on this last year of entrepreneurship, I thought it would be worthwhile to jot down some of the lessons I’ve learned through the journey. And if I wasn’t self-conscious enough about my shortcomings, I’ll just go ahead and broadcast them to the world! So here we go:

• The minute we think we have everything figured out is the moment we’ve lost the game. Life changes so fast, and the world of business ownership simply magnifies that. By the time I hit the one-year mark in my career journey, I thought I would be engaging in speaking engagements on a weekly basis. Instead, I haven’t spent time in a group larger than ten in two-and-a-half months and I suddenly find myself pulling all-nighters in front of a camera recording our new financial video course for young adults (www.meaningover.money). Didn’t see that one coming!

• It’s so easy to undervalue our own work. Call it imposter syndrome, call it lack of confidence, call it whatever you want. We simply do a terrible job adequately valuing ourselves when we’re forced to put a price on our work. I was sitting around the table with a group of peers and I made a random comment about the value of my work being worth way more than I charge. A woman interrupted me and asked “how much is your work worth, then?” I said “probably double”…….to which she responded “then you should be charging double!” I laughed off this feedback, but the group continued to badger me about it. Fast forward 24 hours, I was meeting with a potential client and I quoted them a price that was nearly double what I had been previously charging. They called it “a bargain”. Wow, talk about eating a slice of humble pie! Today, my coaching rates are nearly triple what some of my earliest clients paid. I wish I would have learned this lesson earlier, but some of those earlier clients are pretty glad I didn’t!

• Speaking of people badgering me, here’s the next lesson I learned: I can’t do it alone! Business ownership, especially as a solopreneur, can be super lonely. Here’s the good news…..nobody said we have to do it alone! Luckily I had the self-awareness early on to know there’s no way I could do this by myself. So I found awesome people and surrounded myself with them. I hired my good friend Ryan to help me with creative and design elements…….things I hate doing, and frankly suck at. I hired an accountant to help me navigate bookkeeping and taxes. I hired a business coach (BizLab) who could help me unlock my potential in ways I never knew were possible. That was a game-changer! Last but not least, I rented co-work office space at Blue Bean where I was able to find a community of bright, driven, encouraging peers. These people have changed my life! They started as acquaintances, which turned into collaborators, which morphed into family. These people make me better and I’m so grateful to have a work family…..even if their work is totally different than my work. We don’t have to do it alone, and I’m grateful for that!

• Entrepreneurship is exciting…..and scary! Will we have enough money to pay the bills this month? Will people really trust me? With a million different options, which path should I focus on? Should I stick with coaching, maybe lean into speaking, or finally start that podcast, maybe write something that exposes the core of me, or accept a crazy, or accept an out-of-the-blue offer to create a bangin’ video course from a young, hungry filmmaker? We live in a culture, in a time, where there are no boundaries and no limits. Wow, that’s exciting…..and scary! I wake up every day excited to find out what life will throw at me!

• Speaking of scary, here’s my last lesson: financial insecurity while following your dreams is 100,000% better than living with financial security doing something that doesn’t inspire you. The difference between like and love isn’t incremental. It’s the difference between climbing a flight of stairs and climbing Everest. Comfort is overrated. I deeply desire to be uncomfortable, and this season has given me a triple helping of discomfort. But I can say with absolute certainty that I’d never in a million years exchange this life for financial security. My gut told me this was true, but the last 365 days has proven it over, and over, and over. When we create impact on others, pursue work that matters, and redefine the role money plays in our life, it unlocks a truly meaningful life. And once you taste it, nothing can ever again satisfy that thirst.

As I was contemplating my career change just over a year ago, I made a comment to a trusted friend: “I only have 50 good working years left in me.” He thought it was a joke, but it wasn’t. I truly believe if we’re doing exactly what we’re supposed to do, there’s nothing that can stop us from wanting to do it, including some arbitrary retirement age placed upon us by society. I love spending time with my family, and doing cool hobbies, and traveling, and watching sports, and eating amazing food, and experiencing all the amazing culture this planet has to offer……but I also love my work! If that’s true, then a life without life-giving, passion-filled work would likely feel empty. So as I look back and celebrate this last year, I’m grateful, humbled, and inspired by everything that’s happened……..here’s to the next 49 years!