The Business Guide

The First Step: Overcoming The Fear of Getting Started

• Jonathan Wagoner • Season 1 • Episode 1

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Ever wondered what it takes to leave a stable corporate job and venture into the unpredictable world of entrepreneurship? Join me, Jonathan Wagoner, as I kick off "The Business Guide" podcast with a personal story of transitioning from a steady paycheck to creating my own successful businesses. This episode is all about taking that crucial first step into the entrepreneurial journey, dealing with doubts and challenges, and the raw, unpolished reality of business ownership. You'll hear firsthand accounts of my experiences and gain insights that will prepare you to tackle your own entrepreneurial dreams.

Facing fears is an essential part of growth and success in any business, and in this episode, I open up about the multifaceted fears that entrepreneurs deal with daily. From hiring new employees to taking on large projects, I'll share my personal anecdotes and strategies for overcoming these roadblocks. Discover how conquering my own apprehensions, including starting this very podcast, has been pivotal for progress. The goal is to inspire you to face your fears, make necessary changes, and experience a mindset shift that can propel your business towards success. Get ready for an honest and motivational conversation about the true essence of entrepreneurship and how you can achieve both personal and professional growth.

Jonathan:

Hey everyone, it's Jonathan Wagoner and I am your host of the Business Guide. I want to thank you for joining us on our very first episode. I am happy that you are here if you're tuning in and I'm happy you're checking out our podcast. The title of this episode is the First Step Overcoming the Fears of getting started, and when I crafted this episode it really resonated with me of when I started my business and some of the unknowns I didn't know what to expect Definitely resonated with me. So an appropriate title for this show and I'm looking forward to introducing myself so you can get to know me and what to expect on this podcast.

Jonathan:

So first I want to start with an introduction. As mentioned, my name is Jonathan Wagner. I am a business owner in beautiful Southern Cali. Excuse me, I apologize if my words get a little mangled, as I'm not used to just kind of talking alone. So I want to try to not edit this. I want this as raw as possible so you can really get an unedited version of these podcasts. So if I stumble, forgive me. So back to my introduction. I've been a business owner in beautiful Southern California for a little over 13 years, started in 2012. My business first started, I had a carpet cleaning business which later merged into a water damage restoration business. Throughout my time being a business owner, I have also had my hands in different business partnerships and do have another business marketing company that specializes in helping entrepreneurs out. So that is a little bit about me and my business and I want to jump into why I've started this podcast Now.

Jonathan:

I know that it was a little premature. I had to mention that. You're going to hear me mess up. I want this podcast to be raw. I don't want it to have a ton of edits. I want you to get what is on my mind, what I've been through, and I just really want you to feel the realness in this podcast.

Jonathan:

I think, as business owners, as we're maybe thinking about marketing our business or thinking about going into the customer's house or whatever it may be, we've got some unknowns and when maybe a fancy marketing company comes up to us or we reach out to them to maybe do some advertising to our business, we feel maybe a little bit intimidated and they've just really got that sale down. When we're walking in and dealing with our very first client, or maybe we're adding an additional service on to our business and we're business and we're not. You know, we're not quite sure how that's going to go. Sometimes the way that you well, not sometimes, but the way you present yourself really speaks volumes to that customer or to that vendor that you're looking to build that partnership for or with. So, on this podcast, I want, I really want this to be unedited. I want you to see how sincere I am of just getting out quality information for you. It doesn't need to be packaged pretty. I've realized that things that are packaged pretty once you unwrap them aren't always the best. And this may be packaged okay, but hopefully it gives you the quality information you need to grow your business, and that's really why I've started this podcast.

Jonathan:

Throughout my time in business, there have been people that I have relied on. I have gone to and confided different things and I never felt like I really got a straightforward answer or something that really helped me and helped me grow. Now, on the flip side, I have definitely consulted with a lot of people and there has been takeaways that have helped my business as well. So, yeah, with this podcast, I just I really find it important to get you quality information and answer questions. I'm going to have other business owners on here. I'm going to have questions that I'd like you to email in if you're an avid listener and you find this interesting. So, yeah, I would really like to get questions answered. If I can add any clarity to maybe something you're going through maybe I've been through it because I'll tell you what I've been through a lot in business. There's been so many ups and downs and I just you know if I can help you get through those downs and you know you have an up because of it, then this podcast was successful. So that's really why this podcast is here. This is gonna be a two-lane, is going to be a two-way road. I need feedback from you and I'm here to craft these episodes to what you need.

Jonathan:

So, coming into the first topic that I want to talk about and again, I'm not a fancy person. I don't have a teleprompter to read off of. I've got my laptop, I've got a microphone and I've got a camera and I normally don't film myself talking. So this is a little new to me. So, number one, the first thing I want to talk about, is the significance of the first step. Excuse me of the first step. Excuse me of the first step. I want to discuss the importance of taking that initial leap into being a small business owner or maybe somebody getting into entrepreneurship.

Jonathan:

When I first started my business, you know there were so many doubts in my mind. I worked at a large corporation and I'm just going to say it I used to work at Walgreens. I like to hide that and yeah, I don't know why I hide it, but yeah, I used to work at Walgreens. So I was a manager at Walgreens. I was tired of the corporate structure that they had. I was tired of you know. We knew a busy season was coming up, so we hired a workforce and then the next quarter it was no longer the busy season and we were letting go of that workforce. So there were some things that just didn't vibe for me and I wanted out of there. My job, I was very good at it. I was going to be a company guy. I was excited and they announced that they were going to do some management kind of shakeup. And the way that they were going to be a company guy. I was excited and they announced that they were going to do some management kind of shakeup and the way that they were going to document and get rid of these managers.

Jonathan:

I really found a problem in that, and so one night I was in charge of the overnight crew that was, ironically, cleaning and waxing the floors. And I say ironically, because a couple years passed from there, I started getting into that. So, ironically, I was in the overnight. I was there that night and in a stockroom excuse me, I was in a stockroom and just tired of my job and I really remember this particular night because it was the night Osama bin Laden was killed by the United States. So I was reading the news and I was just tired and I took a piece of paper down and started to write out what I wanted to do with myself and what I could do to get out of Walgreens.

Jonathan:

Now, at the time I had really inspired to be a police officer. Walgreens was going to be a stepping stone for me. I wanted a solid job and if I had gotten picked up to be a police officer, great. If not, I was going to just continue course with Walgreens and, like I said, be a company man. This was a big change to me. I didn't know what I was going to do. I just thought you know what I'm going to start a business. It's something that I could provide a stable living for myself. I could provide a stable living for myself, I could show maturity for my police officer application and I wouldn't have to worry about maybe my job being in jeopardy if I did something small wrong.

Jonathan:

So I took this piece of paper out and started to write down things that I was good at Right out of high school. I had cleaned carpets and then, unfortunately, the recession hit. That slowed down. I went and helped my mom at her small business for a couple months and then let me back up a little bit. Right before that, I actually went to another job and cleaned carpets as well, and they did a little bit of water damage restoration. So I actually worked for two carpet cleaning companies and then one that kind of sidelined and did some restoration work. And then the recession happened and it slowed down and then I went and worked for my mom and they ultimately got my job at Walgreens. So I started writing these things down and one thing I was really good at was selling carpet cleaning services. I was a good seller and I knew that I could sell essentially carpet cleanings and that night I crafted how I would go about buying a van where I would find my carpet cleaning products and really created the framework for my business plan that night in that stock room.

Jonathan:

The coming weeks I really honed in my business plan. I started to piece together my suppliers and figure out what I was going to do. I started to jot down my different marketing techniques that I was going to try and, yeah, it just kind of came to a standstill. I was nervous. I was nervous to take that initial leap into the entrepreneurship. Walking away from a guaranteed paycheck was nerve-wracking. I remember having a first set of postcards that I had put together and I hadn't quite bought my carpet cleaning equipment just yet. But I started to put together some marketing material and I remember getting these mailers ready and my then girlfriend, now wife, had said I don't understand your thinking right now, as I was at home in my living room on my living room floor putting together this marketing material. I'm not quite understanding your thinking right now of you know going to leave this guaranteed paycheck and go out to something that you don't know. And I really felt that you know at that time I was extremely nervous.

Jonathan:

Now it has really shown to me that we as entrepreneurs are just a different breed of people. We are separate from those that you know clock in and out every single day. We want to challenge what we're capable of, we want to challenge the world of unknowns and so, yeah, I definitely hesitated to start my business at that time and I had one weekend off and I knew I had to do something to shake myself up, to get myself started into business. And so what I did is I went out that weekend and I bought my carpet cleaning van. I knew that I could not afford my. I couldn't afford a van payment with my other car payment that I had working at Walgreens, and so that really pushed me into you need to do what you want to do now and the coming weeks from there. I went ahead and got my machine that goes in that van and then the time had come. I put my two-week notice in.

Jonathan:

Now what's funny is I talk about hesitation. I didn't give just a two-week, I gave a three-week notice, just that little extra in my mind, like let me get another week out of this before I start my business. So I was definitely hesitant in business, but I have to say giving that three-week notice was one of the best decisions of my life. I could not imagine still punching that clock at Walgreens I mean, there's great people that work there but it just definitely wasn't for me and I wanted to do something more. So when you're getting into business, if you're listening to this podcast and you're thinking about getting into business, I understand that initial leap that you're scared of. If you're confident you can run a business and you're confident you can succeed leap, do it, and do it now. It's going to be one of the best decisions you do or make and for any small business owners that are already out there and are running on their day-to-day, congratulations. You got over one of the biggest hurdles and I hope that that was one of your best decisions that you made in your life was stepping away from the norm and putting yourself into the driver's seat.

Jonathan:

My next topic that I've got on here and again, I don't know how to transition these things. I don't want to edit it or anything there, so sorry if the first transitions are kind of rough. So my next transition is identifying fear and I want to talk about, you know, common fears that you might be going through or I went through getting our business going, I mean, when I didn't want to put my two-week notice in. I really I mean, I guess I really was fearful of certain things and as a business owner or small business owner, we're always in that fearful zone. I mean, every single month I'm fearful. I mean I've definitely overcome a lot and do have a good understanding of business and I do have some thriving businesses, so I mean I'm thankful for that. But there's always something deep down inside of well, what if the phone isn't going to ring? Or what if something happens and this customer doesn't like my service? And maybe they go online and they say something negative about my business or my employees do something inappropriate and it hurts my business?

Jonathan:

Think that there are so many different fears in business that you're going to deal with that you definitely have to be able to identify exactly what you're afraid of when you're dealing with an issue so you can work on overcoming that fear. Because there have been plenty of times that I've been in business, where or throughout my time in business, that I've been fearful of something fearful of the employee that I really need to hire but what if my phone stops ringing and I don't have work for that employee or fearful that maybe I took on a bigger project than I thought I could handle, than I thought I could handle. You know, identifying that fear and identifying those things are ultimately gonna hold you back in business. If you don't identify what the problem is, if you're afraid of maybe hiring that employee, well, why are you afraid?

Jonathan:

I've got many friends in business now that I have been thankful to meet throughout the years in business and there are a couple of people that resonate with me of this workup. They were working independently with themselves for quite some time. They knew that they needed to add employees onto their business, that they could no longer handle the workflow that they had and they were starting to maybe get burnt out. But this fear that they had of hiring that person and again, like I mentioned, maybe the phone stops ringing, maybe something happens and you don't have work, but ultimately it's stunting your growth by not having that employee. So being able to overcome those obstacles it is huge in being successful in business, but it all starts with you figuring out and you identifying your pain points.

Jonathan:

Again, sorry, I'm reading my notes. I think I've jumped over a little bit, but once you identify the fear, you need to move on to understand that fear is something that is temporary but fast forward years later if you don't do it. I mean if you regret what you don't do. I mean regret is more powerful than fear, at least for me. And I don't know. I'm reading my notes in here and it's saying that I should mention kind of fearful of doing this podcast and it's just something that I I I want to get out there but I don't want to regret not doing it and I mean I'll give you a little, uh, give you a little backstory.

Jonathan:

Um, about four years ago I wanted to start a podcast. I have met so many different business owners throughout my time in business and I've really been able to help people. I've been able to help people with simple advice that I've already been through. I never read a book on how to start a business. I didn't go to college and major in anything business. I was a regular Joe Schmo working a job that was tired of it and I knew that I could do better and wanted to get out on my own and do it. And sorry, I don't know, now we're in the moment of awkward pause, I don't know, I don't want to edit this out, but yeah, I mean I've had this podcast studio ready for about four months. Yeah, I mean, I've had this podcast studio ready for about four months.

Jonathan:

I thought of the idea about four years ago and put it off. I let my business I mean my business is a successful business, it needs me, and so there's my excuse. I've got a business. I mean, I've got plenty of time to get in front of a camera and a microphone and sing away. So it took me four years to finally get a little studio and put this studio together, ordered the equipment, excited, wanting to share just this knowledge with you. And, trust me, I don't know everything and I won't ever claim to know everything. And if you know how to do something better, please tell me. But my message to you is we all go through the same thing, just different times, throughout our business career.

Jonathan:

And if I can forewarn somebody about something that maybe they're going to go through or something that they're struggling with, that's the whole purpose of this podcast. So, talking about overcoming fear, this is it that standing in front or sitting in front of a camera talking to you, looking up, talking into the mic, it's kind of fearful. I haven't done it before. I can watch YouTube videos. I can watch Instagram videos, but doing it on my own is a little hard for the business. I do record videos and it's a little easier, but they're very short videos. It's not a long-tailed video like this.

Jonathan:

There's a ton of edits and with this podcast it is really meant to be unedited. I want the raw version of it. So I'm going to try to keep that mindful and I hope that I'm not rambling on too much. But I hope that through the time that you listen to this, you see this podcast evolve, because my hope with this podcast is quick, 10 to 20-minute episodes, something that you can throw on in the car, and we have crafted for something you might be dealing with. Maybe it's something financial, maybe it's something marketing-wise, maybe it's employee, and then I'm also going to have guests on here. So I am going to keep these short, I'm going to keep them sweet and I hope that you join me to watch this podcast evolve into me being a little bit more comfortable in front of the camera.

Jonathan:

So back to my point, the points that I was trying to make. We need to identify the fear, we need to understand the fear and we need to overcome the fear. Right now I'm overcoming the fear of creating these podcasts by getting in front of this microphone and this camera and talking to you. That is me overcoming this fear and I hope out of that we continue to have really cool episodes and you tune in and listen to these. So that is overcoming the fear.

Jonathan:

After we overcome the fear, we have this mind shift change and I saw that when I started my business. I was able to overcome my fear of getting started and I got started. I stopped talking about it and I did it. I went and signed that van, I put that two-week notice in and now I was on my own and I needed to get the phones to ring. And really, what I noticed when I was no longer an employee and now I'm a business owner, and what I'm about to say is, if you're an inspiring business owner, you might not feel this way, but us business owners right now we definitely have this, where we've got this mind shift, change of look. I'm not going and clocking in anymore and I'm not punching the clock waiting to get out at my 40 hours at the end of the week. Being a business owner is hard. Sometimes we're working 50 hours a week, 60 hours a week. I mean we're sometimes the lowest paid employee if you add it up hourly. I mean we deal with our customers all day. Maybe we do some marketing at night and we hit the QuickBooks on the weekends. So you really have to have this mind shift change. And for some business owners that I've seen pop up and start their business and unfortunately be unsuccessful, it's clear to me that they never had that mind shift change and that's OK. They weren't meant to be a business owner and they are thriving somewhere else. But for us business owners, we understand that maybe we need to burn that midnight oil and when you're able to overcome your fears, identifying them, and your mind starts changing of look, I'm fearful of this, but I'm going to do it anyways and I'm going to be successful at it, that is what helps your business grow and helps you thrive as a person. You need to keep in mind that throughout business, you're going to set different goals, you're going to have fears and you're going to have failures, but you need to set realistic expectations for yourself. I'm going to give you an example.

Jonathan:

When I had my business, like I said, I started carpet cleaning. A couple of years in, we merged over to a water damage full service restoration company and things were on the up and up. Everything was great and I knew that I wanted to go bigger. I didn't want to just service my one county or my county and then another county. I really wanted to expand. So, a couple hundred miles away, I opened another location and I poured money into it. I poured, wanted to expand. So a couple hundred miles away, I opened another location and I poured money into it. I poured resources into it and everything was on the up and up, but I could see that things weren't going my way. Again, this is my business name, this is my child, my baby. I've poured myself into this.

Jonathan:

There has definitely been blood, sweat and tears, for sure in this business and the management didn't resonate with me at that location and that was a failure on my behalf. There were certain things that I didn't do, so I ultimately, about a year and a half in, closed to that location and I was bummed out. I was disappointed, I was disappointed in myself and it took me probably about a year and a half to. I wouldn't say get back up, but understand that it's okay to fail, but I have to set realistic expectations for myself, hiring a bunch of random people great people, by the way but they didn't know anything about me or my business. Now, they understood the actual business of water damage restoration, but they didn't know what I stood for and the business stood for. We didn't. I didn't get them that message. Therefore, every employee that was there never got to really resonate with my message into my business. So I didn't fail, but I didn't set myself a realistic expectation, a realistic expectation.

Jonathan:

And now doing certain things and going into a different business excuse me, going into a different business or business partnership I have to set a realistic expectation for myself. And what is my gauge of success? Just like on this podcast, what is my gauge of success? If I've got, you know, 100 listeners or 10 listeners, it doesn't matter to me. It matters that there are people out there that are consuming this information. They find it helpful, it resonates with them and it helps them grow their business.

Jonathan:

This is something that I'm truly passionate about. I like talking about this and I like sharing it. Most of my lunch meetings with my different business owner friends are normally talking about how they can grow their business and then maybe questions they're dealing with and I can get those answered. So that's what this is for. So setting realistic expectations is key. It is a key measure to your success. Don't bite off more than you can chew and slowly grow up to that. Now, if you're really good at what you do and you happen to grow and you know blow the lid off, then that's great. But set realistic expectations as you grow. I'm moving on to my next point. As I can tell you, I again don't know how to do this, but I want to encourage you to take action in your business. If there's maybe something you're fearful of that you know, you want to maybe expand your service area or expand your services, or maybe you're thinking about getting into business start taking action. But before you take action, identify what is making you fearful. Understand it and overcome it and take action on it, because it's going to be one of the best things you did For me.

Jonathan:

I was comfortable. I dumped a ton of money into carpet cleaning and I was really good at it. I had a really good reputation. My customers loved me. I had a great product, a great service. But for me, as I started hiring a person or two, I knew that I wanted. One of my goals was to have long-term employees with me and I knew that I could not attract and retain quality people at the wages I was going to be able to pay out of carpet cleaning, and so I knew that I needed to add on a service, and one of those services that I was fearful of adding on I mean it was going to be more expenses for me. It was a very cutthroat industry. It's something I added on. I took action. I overcame that fear and I took action and now fast forward. That business is no longer carpet cleaning whatsoever and just does premier restoration work. So you never know what maybe that service or that business that you're going to start. What is limiting you from getting started? So take action on it. Take action.

Jonathan:

If you're seeing this video, it's up on YouTube. I have not explored how to really upload this. I do kind of understand how to get these podcasts up, so I don't know if you can leave a comment on the actual podcast feed, but if you see this and there's a thread that you can leave a comment, I would really appreciate some feedback on this podcast. I would really appreciate you leaving some questions, if you have any questions, what you're dealing with in business, some things that maybe keep you up at night. I really want to get to quality answers for you, and if I don't have the answer for you, I'll tell you I don't have the answer for you. I'll tell you I don't have the answer for you, but I'm going to have guests on here as well and maybe they have the answer for you as well. So please leave me a comment, wherever it may be, and ask away, ask your questions. I want to close up, guys.

Jonathan:

I want you to remember that in business, it's okay to be. Remember that in business, it's okay to be scared, it's okay to have fears, but it's not okay to not do what you want to do and it's not okay then be regretful. I don't want to sit there and regret anything. We've got one life to live and I want to enjoy my life.

Jonathan:

The business, while it's definitely one of those things that I want to pull my hair out sometimes I am up late at night or there's an issue I've got to work through this business has been one of the best decisions of my life getting into business and then becoming an entrepreneur, the financial freedom that I'm able to have, the time that I have with my family.

Jonathan:

The things that I get to do that I would have never been able to do working at Walgreens have all been such a blessing for me, and I just want to encourage you, if you are an inspiring entrepreneur, to get going. Get going into business if that's truly what you want to do, and to every business owner out there, I want you to succeed in what you do. I'm sure you completely understand what I mean by it keeps you up at night. There are certain things that keep you up at night or things you've got to do, so let's work together on this, let's get through these issues, let's get through questions, let's grow our businesses together and let's grow our lives together. Guys, thank you so much for joining me on this very first episode. The Business Guide Again mentioned. My name is Jonathan Wagner and I really look forward to having you on our next episodes, and I really look forward to having you on our next episodes and I really look forward to sharing all of this information with you. All right, have a good one and thank you.

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