Passion and Fear

I met with a fortune 500 finacial planner / insurance company today that my rich brother set up for me. I am just a small fish, so sitting in this conference room surrounded by suits made me uncomfortable. They started giving me the company pitch about retirement planning and disability insurance, etc. and my eyes started to glaze over at how it all seemed so rehearsed and lifeless. Then they asked me about what I do....everything changed.

I love what I do and I am not afraid of talking about it to anyone. I started to explain what I do and why it is different than most comapnies that they hear advertising. We started talking about what experiences they had with cleaners and how they were being ripped off by no-talent hacks. I talked about all the little tricks many of these companies are pulling and the many excuses that they offer when they fail to deliver on their claims. It really turned into a sales meeting instead of their insurance meeting.

It went this way for almost 2 hours until we lost the meeting room to another group. In the end, I scheduled house cleanings for 8 of the 9 suits in the room and they sent my information out to their network of clients....2 of which (a chain of daycare centers and a dry cleaner) called me before I even got home. It reminded me of my stand-up comedy days on the East coast back in the late 80's, and I owned this room from the start.

What I have always found is the secret to selling is passion. People gravitate to it naturally and it becomes infectious. If you show passion for your cleaning, your customer will as well and they will get just as excited as you do in the end. It may be your best tool for your business and one that you should never lose. Maybe that means you need a new tool or a new method to get you excited when things start to go flat for if you start to become lifeless, you are finished.

The topic also included the word "fear" didn't it? Well, that also happend in this meeting. I have been a small fish in this industry and still keep a day job, so I have approached the businss thing from a safe vantage point. During this meeting, I was on fire. I was selling myself, my service, and my new use for my ozone cleaning method (yes, still waiting) and then it happened....I got scared.

I have never been scared before in my life, but suddenly, it hit me. Things are starting to ramp up faster than I expected business-wise and I was not ready for it. My recent contacts have lead me to some very high quality network groups that make up a great number of both businesses and high-end residentials. I have a tiger by the tail right now and it is making it impossible to stay below the radar any longer. My slow and steady is becoming more of a big-bang right now and it is actually daunting. I left that meeting supercharged, but was shaking a little on the drive home when the adrenaline effects passed.

I'm curious now. How many of you still have the passion and how many the fear? Until today, I didn't realize how much of both I really had.

You should always experience both. I got some fear today, we picked up a chain store with 25 location that are cleaned every month like clock work. Night time stuff, not sure how I'm gonna get it done but you can bet I will. Yes I'm terrified, but it feeds my passion.

Congrats Rob, ll give ya some advice I got early on, simple words, "don't wait until you can handle the work, be prepared to handle it before you can't." Basically stay a year ahead of your capacity.

Great job for both of you guys. There is always room for more work. It will work itself out. Exciting times. It is always a great feeling selling yourself and getting the work.

Ryan, your established and at it full time. You have an understanding of how everyday life goes for growing a business.

Rob, this just blasted you off. Hopefully getting to your goal ( I think ) of getting towards full time business owner/operator.

Thanks guys, good advice Ryan.

I think I am about to push my chips into the center...the next 2 months will decide the fate.

Your a basketball player, high percentage shots baby!

Congrats on that big contract Ryan you are on a roll. I pretty sure your dominating personality is the entrepreneur even though your one hell of a technician as well

Rob, I mean Bob, Milspec whatever your name is. You were on fire in that meeting. If you have your reserves in the bank just take the plunge. The only thing holding you back is that full time job.

Wow guys, I used to be very ambitious getting customers, as time goes by, it kind of died down, I cut down a LOT on my advertisements and even though I know how you feel Rob and Ryan, I can honestly say I'm not fond of that feeling, nonetheless I'm excited for you guys, I guess I'm getting older :-)

dp1 wrote:Wow guys, I used to be very ambitious getting customers, as time goes by, it kind of died down, I cut down a LOT on my advertisements and even though I know how you feel Rob and Ryan, I can honestly say I'm not fond of that feeling, nonetheless I'm excited for you guys, I guess I'm getting older :-)

Its the edge of the feeling DP, its as close to a pre game experience as I can get. The adrenalin rush, and confidence of wanting to overcome an obstacle. I was told by my last employer that my "Zeal" was a bad attribute. The day they fired me my "Zeal" exploded into action. I wonder what they think of my "Zeal" now.  

I've been having some of that same fear lately . Ace services is a young company thanks Ryan for that advice about planning. We have been growing like crazy this month at the rate we're going we'll make more this month than first quarter last year. Just being able to handle and keep up with the growth is the problem. Just trying not to let our standards drop.