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Episode 70: Building a Business Where Predictability = Efficiency = Profit with Josh Dunwoody
164 Plays5 years ago
Strategic planning and putting systems together isn’t the most exciting part of running a business for most of us. But these components are essential to building a thriving and profitable business. It’s got to be done, and when it’s done right, the rewards are huge, in time and emotional energy saved and in wealth built. What’s not exciting about that?
Our guest, Josh Dunwoody is an amazing person, and—fun fact—we’ve been each other’s clients. We helped him think through a plan to start his business, and he has helped us tremendously in ours. So this is a fun interview on so many levels. He’s talking with us about the direct through lines for building the right systems and processes directly to a business that is as profitable as it can be.
Josh is the owner and founder of Tactical Advantage Business Solutions. His work is focused on helping business owners and leaders create clarity from the chaos that often comes with owning and operating a business. His experience in strategic planning, holistic business development, and process development are derived from his work with organizations of all kinds and sizes. He holds a master’s degree in organizational leadership and when he is not working with business leaders, you might find him serving in the Iowa Army National Guard. Josh is also very active in his church, as a husband and dad, and with the Altoona Chamber of Commerce.
What You Will Learn in This Episode:
- What it takes to move from a self-employed mindset to a business owner mindset
- How to pay attention to what will make your business sellable when the time comes
- How to kill the chaos in your business
- How to make strategic planning sexy again
- Why you have not set up systems and processes in your business and how to change that
- Building scalable structures into your business from day one
- How to flex systems and processes as needs and situations change
- Building a business with a franchise mindset
“It’s heartbreaking when a person has invested decades and then can’t sell the business, because they didn’t invest in the processes, product, and potential for profit needed to show a business is worth buying.” – Josh DunwoodyCLICK TO TWEET“When a business owner feels they are always just putting out
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Transcript
Introduction to the Uncommon Life Project
00:00:02
Speaker
Everyone dreams about living an uncommon life, but how we define that dream is very different for each of us. And for most, it's a lifelong pursuit. Welcome to the Uncommon Life Project podcast. We're going to introduce you to people who are living that life or enjoying the journey to get there. We're going to also give you some tools, tricks, and tips for starting or accelerating your own efforts to live an uncommon life.
00:00:27
Speaker
a life worth celebrating and savoring. Please welcome your hosts, Brian Dewhurst and Philip Ramsey.
Reflecting on 2020's Lessons and Resilience
00:00:35
Speaker
Hello and welcome everybody to another episode of
00:00:39
Speaker
Uncommon Life Project. I'm your host, Phillip Ramsey. And I'm Brian Dewhurst. Thanks for tuning in. We've got an awesome guest for you, as we always do. But first, one, what do you want to say to the people, our followers, our listeners? The year is when you're listening, this should be over or close to it. Goodbye, 2020. Deuces. Ready for a new year. Absolutely. Also, though, I have been talking to a lot of people when they really boil it down.
00:01:05
Speaker
It was a tough year, but they're thankful they got through it and I feel like they've produced endurance and character that they wouldn't have had, that only trials can produce. And so I think this is something that, one, life is full of ups and downs. It's how you handle yourself when it's down that really shows your true character.
Meet Josh Dunwoody and His Diverse Background
00:01:27
Speaker
so i'm really excited to get into today's guest and he's really one of my favorite people so let's go to the bio and then let's just edify him all day long we've got cool the one and only josh done with you ladies and gentlemen josh is the owner and founder of tactical advantage business solutions his work is focused on helping business owners and leaders create clarity from the chaos that often comes with owning and operating a business
00:01:50
Speaker
His experience in strategic planning, holistic business development, and process development are derived from his work in organizations, many different kinds and sizes. He also holds a master's degree in organizational leadership. And when he is not working with business leaders, you might find him serving in the Iowa Army National Guard. Thank you for your service. And where he is company commander for the Alpha Company. The first 168 infantry battalion. You can tell that I was not in the military.
00:02:18
Speaker
Josh is also very active in his church and as a husband and as a dad and also on the Altoona area Chamber of Commerce. So he is a busy bee. Thanks for being on the show. Josh Dunwoody, everybody. All right. Thanks for having me, guys. Appreciate the opportunity to be here. Absolutely. You know, it's funny when we talk about leadership, that is like a trigger word for me that I get all hyped up on.
Leadership Development: Influences and Experiences
00:02:41
Speaker
Where do you think that started in your life where you're like, hey, actually God's given me this gift of leadership. That's where I want to start.
00:02:48
Speaker
Yeah, that's an interesting question. It's funny because my wife just brought this up a couple of weeks ago. It really I think the passion was really something that it took me a while to really come to grips with or to own. I mean, I remember all the way back in school where teachers would say things and hey, you're a leader and I just didn't like it, didn't want to care about that. I was busy playing sports and doing stuff like that.
00:03:12
Speaker
And I do remember, you know, a time late in high school, I'm like, yeah, you know what? I can, I can kind of see this, you know, I want to own this. And then God just put some great people into my life, you know, in different chapters of my life who were passionate about the same thing and, and came alongside me and helped develop that, not only develop my leadership, but develop my passion for it. Um, and then hopefully at this point in my life, I'm starting to, uh, to return that and pay for it.
Decisiveness in Leadership: Owning and Learning
00:03:35
Speaker
Yeah. What do you think the best quality for a leader to have is?
00:03:39
Speaker
Best quality for a leader to have. You know that, I would probably answer that differently at different times in my life. Right now, I would probably say decisiveness. Right. The ability to make a decision and own the consequences. Learn and move on. Good or bad? Owning. Absolutely. Yep. Assess and then move on. I mean, do we really need any more? That's why I love this guy. So. Keep it short and sweet. Okay.
00:04:01
Speaker
Thanks for being
Enhancing Business Processes with Josh's Expertise
00:04:02
Speaker
on the show. I really want to jump into how you do things at Tactical Advantage Business Solutions, how it started, all that stuff. But I just want to caveat this upfront. Brian and I have benefited from your work there, and you've helped us in our business create processes, job descriptions, things that you normally don't think of as a business when you first start it. But once you get them in place, how easily and more smoothly it runs. So one, thanks for helping us.
00:04:29
Speaker
And then two, I want you to get into every business out there because it's needed. And you don't even know what you don't know until somebody like you comes in, starts doing some evaluation and seeing like, well, why don't you have this in place? Well, I didn't know I needed it. So. And especially I think, I always think about Robert Kiyosaki's cashflow quadrant.
00:04:47
Speaker
Right. And just the four boxes of, you know, you're employed, self-employed, business owner, investor. And I think so many people are in that self-employed, trapped box and they want to get to business owner.
Common Pitfalls in Small Business Scalability
00:05:00
Speaker
And without like what you're doing in the thought process, you're taking people through. It's very difficult to cross over that bridge.
00:05:08
Speaker
Yeah, and that's a great way to I mean that's a great way to couch this because you see this a lot with with business owners who invest you know sometimes decades of their life building this business and They don't realize till the very end that that what they essentially have is a is a job I mean sure they're the boss, but they're also maybe the only employee or one or one or two and they go to sell it and there's just nothing to buy and
00:05:29
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because they haven't paid attention to how you build this as a business, the processes and the product and the potential for profit that a business owner would want to buy. And it's heartbreaking, right? Because they realize it too late and that was kind of there. I mean, you guys probably see it where that was part of their investment strategy. And all of a sudden there's nothing there.
00:05:46
Speaker
Yes, totally. And just knowing that that is such a scary thing or exciting thing to get people in the business of like, I want to really flex my giftings or I want to pour into me as a best asset, but then not understanding what they could do during the business to make it more sellable on the way out for the exit strategy.
Efficiency and Profitability through Process Development
00:06:07
Speaker
Man, it's something that I wish we would have done a little bit sooner, but I'm glad we're here.
00:06:12
Speaker
You know, we're here now. Well, and really that's I mean, I think about about that as the icing on the cake. I mean, the stuff that that I try to work with businesses, it improves your efficiency and frankly, your profitability now. Right. That's why I jokingly term it killing the chaos. But a lot of the stuff that business owners struggle with and that they just feels frenetic and they're always putting out fires is because they're not capturing the systems and the repeatable tasks they could be doing.
00:06:36
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so they can minimize their energy and investment in those and maximize a more creative task in actually developing their business. Right. Okay. I want to just take a
Passion for Systems and Strategic Planning
00:06:44
Speaker
step back. So tell us what tabs is and tell us, give us a little commercial so people and listeners can hear this. Yeah. So what I, what I try to do, what I'm passionate about doing is working with business owners to help them develop systems, structures, strategic planning and things like that for their business. I think,
00:07:03
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It was it came out of a of my experience
Overcoming Resistance to Organizational Systems
00:07:06
Speaker
working in lots of different organizations. And I saw it in small businesses and large organizations where you see that people without paying attention to this is the chaos. But it's also people. People don't like this. They don't think about it. You mentioned just a second ago. We didn't think about it. That's that's almost everybody I talked to. And there's lots of reasons that people don't do that. It's not fun.
00:07:25
Speaker
It's not sexy. It's not whatever. I mean, we all like to spend our time talking about sales and marketing and idea innovation and all these things that are fun. I mean, think about every third workshop seminar you go to is on how you leverage social media for your business these days, right? What you don't hear is, hey, have you checked your, you know, your organizational structure lately? What's your strategic planning process? And it's not that fun to talk about.
00:07:47
Speaker
But I started to see in my own experience, I would work in these businesses and I would look around and think, man, we waste a lot of time because we have four different processes to try and get the same result. And everybody does it their own way. Stop talking about me, Josh. Well, I mean, we've had these conversations, right? And these people would I worked in this one organization. I mean, it's a 10, 12 million dollar company. They were making good money. They had good market share and absolutely no idea how to run an efficient, effective
00:08:16
Speaker
business. I thought, man, if they just employed a few of these principles, they would crush it. Right. And that was that was the last place I worked before I started this.
Assisting and Holding Business Owners Accountable
00:08:25
Speaker
And and really, that was kind of the tipping point. It wasn't just that one. There's a couple others that I saw. But man, if I could help business owners see that.
00:08:32
Speaker
help them help themselves and just come alongside for a while. They would be a massive benefit for everybody. Right. I have a question for you because I've noticed this as my family expands and we just bought a dog and now I'm like training a dog. But I think like 90% of the chaos just comes from organization and having like a system. Like everything comes back to organization or communication, like 95% of it.
00:08:56
Speaker
Do you think you got that from the military background or was it even before that with like your parents and your childhood? Because it's not something that they teach you in school I think necessarily how to be organized or how to develop these systems like For you. Where did that come from? That's a good good question. I haven't thought a lot about that. I would say that it was
00:09:20
Speaker
That perspective, I mean, we all have our own perspective, right? We all have our unique giftings and those things play themselves out in different ways. I think that was there. I would absolutely say that the military has refined and, you know, I think there's a lot of cross pollination between my military work and my business work. And I lean into that. You know, I think there's a lot, a lot of benefit. You know, the military is one of the most structured and organized institutions in the world. So I think, you know, I leverage that.
00:09:46
Speaker
But I think, you know, I think it was me taking a long time to realize what I had to offer. And that was the touch point. And, you know, shout out to you guys, frankly, when I was kind of at that career crossroads saying, what do I do? And you, I mean, this, you know, you guys suggested this path.
00:10:03
Speaker
It was me looking back at my career to that point and saying, what is the common thread that winds between all the different experiences I've had? I started to realize that this was it, bringing clarity and organization, developing policies and systems that helped organizations run at maximum efficiency and maximum profitability.
00:10:23
Speaker
You know, I don't know if there's a time that the light bulb went off, but I think it was like a lot of people, a development and an evolution over time. Yeah, right. I think this would be a good time just to plug about what Brian and I do, because I feel a lot of times our listeners like, well, why don't you talk about what we do? What we do to sit down with people like Josh and his wife and try to create a customized plan with their unique giftings and how they can
00:10:43
Speaker
invest in those type of giftings. And so when Josh is talking about that, I'll never forget that meeting of just talking through of like, finally, we've we're at the point where I think we need to talk to advisors and then also like how excited they got after we got done talking to them, seeing that they had control of the future. It wasn't us trying to take your money and put it in some account that you guys couldn't access until you retired.
00:11:08
Speaker
is actually the opposite of how can we give you access to your own money to then pursue your dreams and giftings now so you can love your life tomorrow.
00:11:17
Speaker
Well, and that's what I love about what you guys do. You know, I think you almost look at financial advising backwards where, you know, what do you want to do? And then how do we build a plan to make that happen now, as opposed to, like you said, you know, kind of building this pot of gold into the rainbow. Right. And and that's, you know, going walking down that uncommon path that you guys has brought us here today. So I think when you sell for tomorrow, 10, 20, 30 years takes care of itself. You know, yeah.
00:11:40
Speaker
Right, right. Okay, here's what I want to go back to what you do, because how do you get into businesses when they don't even know they have a problem? I mean, I kid you not, and I'm not just trying to bolster you because I love you. I got kind of a man crush on you. Using your top five.
00:11:57
Speaker
Right, for sure. These people don't even know. I think that you can help any business that you go in because all these people do, and I would say we are totally victim of this, is we are working in the business. We take maybe 10, let's say an hour, hour and a half every week to try to work on the business, but have somebody like you come in and like only like see the business from a high level perspective
00:12:21
Speaker
is so valuable. That's why I think that you really do you could help any business out there because
Adopting a Franchise Mindset for Scalability
00:12:27
Speaker
you're taking an objective approach hearing about systems and strategies and in your brain and how you're wired you're like oh I do this this this and that and this different why don't we just do that and it's like amazing and beneficial to all businesses. So how do you do that because a lot of businesses just don't even know they suck at it or they don't even know they have a problem. So how do you get into those businesses?
00:12:49
Speaker
Yeah, that's a great question. I think if I had 100% answer, I'd be a lot happier. So let me back up a second. I think there's lots of reasons that people don't do this, right, in my conversations. I mean, some people, like you said, some people just don't know it. And then I'm in the same boat as every other business owner where you have to define the problem before you can say, hey, I've got a solution for that. And it's really the business of solutions for people's problems.
00:13:14
Speaker
There's a whole other group of people that a lot of people just don't like it. I mean, you think about it, you know, people are, you know, maybe they started a coffee shop because they're super passionate about coffee and they could tell you by tasting of it from Guatemala or Costa Rica or whatever.
00:13:28
Speaker
and they know exactly what decibel to turn the music to, to have a great car. They know all these things. Shout out to Scott Larson. Sounds like he's one of those people. Yeah, he is. But when it comes to how do I sustainably bring this to market for the next 10 years, their eyes glaze over. That's just not how they're wired. So I feel like I have a lot to offer in that perspective where, hey, let me come alongside you maybe for a short period of time, maybe it's a longer period of time, and let's make sure that this is a viable,
00:13:56
Speaker
market offering for years and years to come because what you bring is unique. People want it. Let's figure out how to do that. And I think some people, frankly, just don't have the time. I mean, you mentioned it earlier, small business owners, especially, which is kind of my passion, are just incredibly busy people. Yeah. And they might recognize the value. They might care about it. And at the end of the day, they've been putting out fires, you know, trying to pay employees, deal with customers. There's just no time left for it. Yeah.
00:14:21
Speaker
So I think my ability to come alongside them again for whatever part of the journey makes sense for them to either, you know, put them on a path or, you know, a lot of times it's just the accountability. Hey, I'm going to be here next month. Here's our two or three action steps. I'm going to ask about this. Let's make sure, like you said, I mean, you guys are better than most. If you're devoting an hour and a half a week to business development, that's better than a lot of business owners are able to do. Yeah. The other thing I think I'd say is like, you know, and if you know us, Philip and I are very different.
00:14:48
Speaker
which is a good thing but we have each other a lot of times to bounce things off of and a lot of business owners are out there on an island you know their spouse isn't a part of the business or doesn't want to be they don't want to hear about it when they come home and so I think too sometimes you know we've talked about this a lot but you're almost like a counselor too of like I just want someone else's perspective on what I'm dealing with we get that a lot as well but
00:15:12
Speaker
I think I think you know like we had a business coach at one point and it's great to talk about the high level but then you know you got to get into the game and win the X's and O's every day you know and I felt like that was kind of the part we were missing in our business that you've helped you know shore up is the X's and O's because we got to run those plays every day.
00:15:31
Speaker
Exactly. And that's probably why I call the business tactical advantage, partly because I felt like this kind of industry, this coach consultant industry was a lot about developing these 30, 40 page high level strategic plan. I drop it on your desk. I asked for a giant check and I walk away.
00:15:46
Speaker
And you don't do anything with it. It sits on the shelf until the next time you say, man, we need to hire and it's just this vicious cycle. Right. Well, what does that mean? Like, what do I need to do tomorrow? Yeah, you need the strategic, the overarching strategic plan, of course. But what do I need to do tomorrow to make sure that I'm hitting my quarterly checkpoints, my annual checkpoints? And we're ultimately on path with where we want to go with this thing. Yeah. And I feel like you're exactly right. Too few people are giving that in a real tangible and an executable way. Yeah. So I want to go to the application and I have way more questions. Of course I do.
00:16:16
Speaker
So give us like a high level of what you're seeing now in the small to medium sized business that you have seen a lot of. It's kind of a rapid like you're seeing it multiple times. I would say well maybe I'll maybe I'll divide those two. I think in small businesses I see a lot of small businesses that run like small businesses.
00:16:37
Speaker
So I think a lot of small business owners, because of the virtue of usually the first couple years of starting a business, they make the mistake of operating their business like a small business. So they don't take time to think through, how do I build a scalable structure from day one that as we have the capability to grow, we can grow steadily, sustainably, and in a way that makes logical sense. So they end up in year five.
00:17:00
Speaker
saying, okay, we've actually got something here, now you've got to do this massive. Retrofit almost. Retrofit, it's a great word for it, of, okay, we're a real business now, what does that mean? And so you're starting over in the middle. And it's easy to do, right? I mean, you start your business, it's you and an idea, and you wear all the hats, and then maybe you and a friend, and you do all these things. Five years later, you look up, and what did we just create? Exactly, and now what do we do with this thing? Right.
00:17:31
Speaker
But, you know, to go back to your small medium, I think, again, it comes back to a lot of paying attention to really capturing the best and most efficient ways to deliver whatever your product or service is. And that changes over time, right? This isn't like a one and done. This should be one of my favorite ways to do it is with process mapping.
00:17:51
Speaker
So how do you identify your core functionality of your business, whatever it is that brings your product or service to market? And how do we assess from time to time, are we delivering this in the best way possible based on, you know, changing market conditions, changing customers, whatever? How do we do that in the most profitable way over time?
00:18:09
Speaker
I want to go back to your coffee example.
Competing as a Small Business against Chains
00:18:11
Speaker
I was in a coffee shop recently and I'm going to leave names out, but a coffee shop that we like knowing like really, you know, mom and pop deal. And we just, you know, as business owners, like, Hey, they know that we own our business and say, Hey, how are things going? And he's just like, yeah, it's been really hard, but you know, we're staying open, staying positive and.
00:18:32
Speaker
But he's like, we got six coffee shops coming in within a five mile square radius and like two Starbucks, like one on one side, one on the other side, they're coming in. And it's just like, man, if that isn't like, if you you've got to have your ducks in a row in that type of, you know, you mentioned coffee and it's just like,
00:18:51
Speaker
It's it seems like there's one on every corner, but it's got to be a dogfight type business. You know, like, how do we process this and how do we combat? How do we have a competitive advantage against two Starbucks and two other mom and pop shops? You know, so can you talk to our listeners about how you're helping maybe business owners think about that type of stuff or just keep things running efficiently?
00:19:13
Speaker
Yeah, and I think your example of Starbucks is really poignant because the reason Starbucks are coming on both sides is because they figured this out decades ago. It's a franchise, right? So they figured out the secret sauce. This is how you deliver this product with maximum profitability in a way that customers like. We solve a problem that customers have and they do it all over the place.
00:19:32
Speaker
And I think that, and we've talked about this before, that franchise mindset, whether or not you really want to franchise your business is irrelevant. But in order to build it in a way that, hey, if I wanted to do another one of these, I could because I figured out the best way to do what I do in every area of my business. Because you're right. I mean, what I'm all about at the end of the day is, you know, predictability equals efficiency equals profit.
00:19:55
Speaker
Right. So if you're not able to run a maximum efficiency, you're just you're not going to make it, particularly right now, where the the economic environment for small businesses has arguably never been more challenging, at least not in recent memory. Right. And that's where, you know, if you haven't if you didn't have that figured out, you know, in a sense, pre covid, you're struggling. Yeah, right.
00:20:14
Speaker
That's a great point. It's kind of that E-Myth book. It's just like, try to figure out early on how to franchise your model so you won't just create a job for you. Exactly. Imprisoned, doing the same thing, baking cakes. If you've ever watched that movie, The Founder, I mean, it's a good one. Like what he did and what he saw, it really puts, I think, the power of the systems in place for what McDonald's and Ray Krog was able to accomplish.
00:20:42
Speaker
I want to take a tangent though. I love talking to Josh because you love business and there's a lot of people out there that just like business and they're looking for businesses you know and they maybe don't like where you have the idea or you know I want to start something else but they do want to buy a franchise or they do want to buy a business and we're getting a lot of these
00:21:02
Speaker
conversations, people want to buy a business or how do I sell my business? And then what do I do with the money after I sell it? What are you seeing? What are you interested in in terms of, you know, business purchases, business acquisitions amidst kind of this time when there's a lot of people, you know, living in fear and I don't know what the future is going to hold and is this our new normal? You know, what are you kind of seeing or thinking out there?
00:21:27
Speaker
Well, I mean, I think I can speak from personal experience here a little bit. I mean, my wife and I are actively right now looking at purchasing a business. And it seems like a counterintuitive move and kind of what in the world are you doing that for? But there again, I'll plug you guys. We've talked about this at length. And even with my, I would say, confidence in what I bring to the table, I also recognize there's things I don't bring to the table. Or I'm not as confident, which is why I reached out to you guys and say, hey, am I crazy? Does this make sense? Do the numbers add up? And we've had a lot of conversation about that.
00:21:58
Speaker
I think there's opportunity in these times. And if you're able to and if you're willing to take the risk, I think there's a lot of opportunity to stay in that. And I think what I'm hearing is it's actually, it's not as bad.
00:22:14
Speaker
as you would think it would be. People are buying businesses right now and some small business owners are thriving. Yeah. I mean, I don't know if that's consistent with what you're seeing or if that answers your question. Yeah. And I think, I mean, for me, it's deeper. I think, you know, I heard of statistics, I'll caveat this. I don't know 100 percent how accurate this is. But in generality, I think it's probably pretty fair. Like in 1900, it was like 80 to 90 percent of the country was self-employed.
00:22:36
Speaker
And now we're like eight to 10% self-employed or business owners. I think you're gonna see that flip back with Uber and kind of all of these work from homes. We have a lot of contractors that work for us instead of hiring them as employees.
00:22:55
Speaker
And I think just that our generation, the 25 to 45 is kind of like, yeah, I've worked for five companies. I think I just do this on my own and make what I was making. And at least I have control of my lifestyle. And so I think, and my gifting and I'm passionate and I can't stop thinking about this stuff, you know, that sort of thing. So I think we're seeing kind of that revival and resurgence demographically.
00:23:20
Speaker
And I think people are feeling this sense of uneasiness, of like, maybe I'm not as safe as I thought. And if you really think of it, I love this when we ask this question to new prospect clients is like, how much money do you think you've made your company in the lifetime that you've worked there? And their numbers start clicking along and like,
00:23:37
Speaker
Oh boy. It's a company that is using you for their benefit, which is not bad, by the way, and some people are wired that way. But if you can start building processes for your own and own your own company, you could see how not only are you going to be more excited about it, but you're also going to have a little bit more control than you do now.
00:23:56
Speaker
And so that's what I love about, especially you and now your wife are starting to look at other businesses. I love that you're using both you guys as giftings because your job is tabs and that's what you're good at. And I love that model. And then now this next one is potentially something that your wife can step into and start running and using her giftings. And together you guys can use both of your giftings for the greater good of the family.
00:24:21
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. And that's what I love about it because people are like, do you work with business owners or individuals? Well, individuals own businesses. So we're kind of both, I guess. But not a lot of advisors do help business owners actually show how their business is going to help them or hurt them in retirement. And it's a big component. A lot of people are just asking about, okay, well, your 401k is going to do this or that. Like, what about the exit of your business?
00:24:47
Speaker
Well, 401ks are so, so impersonal. They sure are. I don't control that. I just, I give you my money and I give you the good things with it and you hope that the market does good things with it and we hope that something happens at the end. See, it's 60. Yeah, exactly. And at least I think, again, what I liked about what you guys do is, is you are able to say, hey, you could harness the power of this now and also bring back some of that control. Still planning for the future, not just, it's not just a wild tangent. If it's a bad idea, you can tell us.
00:25:15
Speaker
if you do this now, you can still get to where you want to go and have control of how you get there. Right. OK, I want to go a little bit more in the personal side because you do have another job. I do the military and it is not a small job. So how is that affected or helped or hindered or your current position with tabs owning and running a business now with that? How is that challenged or helped?
00:25:41
Speaker
I would say both. It's obviously very challenging to balance them and do them both well. I would say I think they've been mutually reinforcing. I think they each make me better at the other. But there's seasonality to it. And I have to own control of my business like everybody else. So I mean, for example, right now, I'm on some temporary orders full time with my military work. And so I'm doing that 40 hours, 50 hours a week.
00:26:10
Speaker
And I have to shift my business into kind of a different model for a short period of time, where I'm still managing clients, but in a different way, and then be able to flex back with that. So it's challenging, but it's kind of like what we talked about, that because I own the business, I'm able to do that and make both of those things, which I'm passionate about both of them.
00:26:32
Speaker
I'm proud of the work that I do in each, and I wanted to create a life that would allow me to do both. And this has given me the ability to do that, like many small business owners.
00:26:41
Speaker
Right. So the first couple years of tabs hasn't been easy. Nope. Cause no businesses, but would you trade it? Would you go back to like paycheck and the, the seemingly, you know, like sensible, I got a job, I have benefits, like this is the safe thing to do. I'm curious.
00:27:02
Speaker
That's a great question. In full disclosure, there are trade-offs, like everything else in life. I mean, the predictable paycheck is pretty nice. That's why so many people are tied to it, and I completely understand that. I will answer it like this and tell you, I don't regret it.
00:27:20
Speaker
I would not have grown as much as I have in the past couple of years had I taken the opportunity that I had at the time to just go with another job. I would be living a much different life with a different perspective.
00:27:35
Speaker
And I don't think I would have wanted that result. Definitely an adventure. It was not easy. There's no shortcut to starting a business. You guys are well aware of that. I'm sure this audience is acutely aware of that as well. But it's really hard to learn the lessons. I think you opened up with this. Without the adversity, you just don't get the opportunity for development and growth.
00:27:58
Speaker
And to be able to learn those lessons vividly and firsthand is it's it's irreplaceable. It's it's hard to replicate outside of just taking the journey. Priceless. What do you think your family has one sacrificed and then two learned from your journey of this uncommon path?
00:28:15
Speaker
I think the sacrifice is the predictability and security. I mean, particularly during that first year where, you know, the idea was sound. I got great feedback from the market that people wanted this, but at the end of the day,
00:28:29
Speaker
nobody knows who your brand is. It's really hard. And I made mistakes too, like everybody else. I bumped up against, I'll bring this product offering. Well, nobody's really resonating with this. So it takes a while to kind of bang around the market. I had dozens of conversations. I've drank coffee in almost every coffee house in the Metro. I met awesome people and kind of gotten that feedback. So there's no shortcut to that.
00:28:53
Speaker
And it was hard. It's just very difficult to have that level and predictability. So I think the sacrifice is real. I know that. But I think there again, in the greater context of our life, it was the journey. It was the adventure. My wife was on board from day one, said, yeah, we need to do this. This is what you're wired to do. I'm in. We were all in. And so I think that was incredible. I've heard it on your podcast before. I mean, without that, you know, kind of
00:29:20
Speaker
support without that support without her being all in. I wouldn't even considered it. And I'm glad I wouldn't have because it's had I had I gone against her and had that experience, it would have been. Don't do it. I think there's so much to what we do is just helping couples stay shoulder to shoulder as opposed to pointing fingers. So important. And stepping into some of these decisions, you know, as an us in this decision is just so important. And I had another question. I totally forgot. Oh, I got it.
00:29:50
Speaker
Let me say one more thing on that. I will say it reinforced. I mean, my wife is a rock star and she's always been up for the journey, always up for the adventure. And so, you know, I think it's easy to get just focused on your business. Your business is a part of who you are. It gets woven into the greater tapestry of your life and how you're defining your life and the stories you get to tell your kids and the things you tried. And so it fit perfectly
00:30:14
Speaker
uh in our adventure good bad and indifferent and I mean man she's always been up to the adventure and it's just made our our life and our our marriage together just so much more fun so anyway yeah so I think you have an interesting perspective you know you obviously
00:30:30
Speaker
Have a strong faith and I think you know going into the military has got to challenge your faith I've spoken to other military guys about this you're away from your wife. You got orders. You got to do this stuff You're around people that maybe don't share the same values
00:30:45
Speaker
And then you kind of started a business, you know, largely in the midst of COVID. Can you just talk about how your faith has been strengthened through kind of the military and starting tabs and, and what that's done and conversely, you know, maybe where you would have been had you not had those.
Faith's Role in Business and Life Decisions
00:31:03
Speaker
Yeah, that's I tell you what I would not Be the person that I am spiritually without these experiences because I mean The dependence that you have to have on on God and understanding his will for your life and the path that he's charting I mean, there's so many times when you wake up and you're like, what did I do, right? I
00:31:25
Speaker
What was this decision? You know, I think understanding that my wife was on board, but more importantly, even than that was knowing that this was God's call, because it's I tell you what, it's not going to make sense every morning and it's not going to make you're going to think that you have just blown up your entire life.
00:31:41
Speaker
The ability to have confidence in the fact that God, I didn't join the military until I was in my, I was, I was in basic training. I was 29, which is a whole nother story, but started way late. It was something God laid on my heart from a super young age. I thought the dream was dead and it came up late.
00:31:58
Speaker
And yeah, hard decisions. I had my third kid six months before I left for basic training. I mean, we had, that's a whole nother story about some deep conversations about the life that we were going to create and what God wanted to do. So each of these major touch points has forced me to dive deep and say, hey, you know, God, what do you want me to do? I do not, I don't want to blow up my family. I don't want to blow up my life, but there's been some all in moments that have been
00:32:23
Speaker
just fundamentally develop or developmental for me and my spiritual maturity. Absolutely. That's awesome. Thanks for showing good. Okay. So this is why, uh, first I want to, I'm sure our listeners like, how do I get ahold of this guy? Uh, so how, how can they read more about you, get more on your train? Like, how do they get ahold of you? Absolutely.
Connecting with Josh Dunwoody Online
00:32:44
Speaker
Probably the best, the easiest place is my website, uh, www.thetacticaladv.com.
00:32:50
Speaker
That'll take you to my Facebook page. It'll take you to Instagram. I've got some videos up on a YouTube channel. I've got content there. There's a lot more about my perspective on business, what I do, and how you can get a hold of me. Nice. Also, I want to say this because after COVID,
00:33:06
Speaker
people are looking at their business in a very different way. And what you're doing is basically being the COO for companies without that price tag. And I'd say fraction of hiring a COO. And I'd almost say a better COO because you're coming in from a high level, you're giving them options and giving them a clear path of objective things they need to do differently. And then you come back in and just make sure everything's running smoothly.
00:33:34
Speaker
So they're getting all the benefits of a COO, but then they're taking ownership of that COO position, but they don't necessarily have to create the plan. That's why I think it's great. Yeah, and I want to touch on two things you said there. Number one, you're absolutely right. And that was my passion to do this because I felt like the small business community was largely left out of this. They need the same organizational development concepts that, you know, the principal needs. But the principal can afford to have probably a whole department of people that do what I do constantly for that organization. Small business owners can't do that.
00:34:04
Speaker
So, how do I bring that, how do I concentrate these large organizational development principles in a way that works for small businesses that make sense and that they can afford? So, that's exactly what I tried to do. Oh, you said something else there that was really good that I can't remember. It was probably amazing. It probably was. It was probably the best thing I was going to say the whole podcast and I forgot.
00:34:26
Speaker
Anyway, yeah, that's I just think it's so nice because also they have to take responsibility. Oh, that was it. OK, that was it. Thank you. We're on the same wavelength. No, I just wanted to say that one of the hardest things about doing you guys have got to see this to one of the hardest things about working kind of in this space is when you can see what they need to do, it will make their lives and their business exponentially better.
00:34:49
Speaker
and they don't do it. Like there's no magic pill at the end of the day. Um, my role is to lay out a clear plan, clear action steps and show them how exactly they, this will help them what they need to do. But man, you've got to want to put in the work. Um, at the end of the day, it's still not my business, you know, and that's hard. I know my, you know, I had a client a while back that I would, I gave her my best stuff every single time. And every week I came back, did you get that done? Ah, no, I didn't even touch it. I don't know where that's at. Right.
00:35:17
Speaker
It's nothing more frustrating. There's not even value in it. Then I start to feel guilty. Like, why aren't we even meeting? There's no value in this if you don't want to do this. So super critical for business owners, even if they engage, and they should, we all should, I should, a coach or a consultant, but man, you've got to be willing to take what they say and run with it. So good. Man, thank you for your time. It has been a pleasure and honestly, and I made this sincerely, hire tabs.
00:35:45
Speaker
because I think there's so much more potential that you can get out of the rat race of your day to day. Definitely. The things that you need to do and hire somebody to that, that is honestly, that's their gifting. I've been thinking about this a lot because we work with obviously a lot of business owners and smaller business owners.
00:36:03
Speaker
And it's like, if you can have one business and you can systematize it like the first McDonald's, and if you just did that, you would have something to sell. And if you own the building, you have two assets. But if you could then just replicate it 10 times, not the next Starbucks or McDonald's, but just five to 10 of them.
00:36:25
Speaker
I mean you're multi multi-millionaire if you could just figure that out and I think we've all been in those businesses and you're just like this should be a franchise like this is the only one this is amazing like we could put these in 10 cities you know tomorrow I think we've all had those experiences when you experience a really good business you're just like oh wow that felt good I want to go back there
00:36:47
Speaker
And I think that you're really helping business owners trying to create that and lock that down and, you know, mint that. And so I think you get a sense of Josh's character and perspective and heart, you know, through this podcast. And you've definitely enriched our lives in our business. So so thank you. And thank you for your service. You know, the military and all you do for our country, too. So.
00:37:08
Speaker
Well, I appreciate the opportunity to be on here today, guys. And likewise, I would say what you guys do has benefited me. So it's been a joy to work with you. I'm glad our paths have crossed on our own business journeys. Good deal. Well, you've been listening to the Uncommon Life Project. I've been your host, Philip Ramsey. And I am Brian Dewhurst. Until next time, go be uncommon. Thanks.
00:37:26
Speaker
That's all for this episode of The Uncommon Life Project, brought to you by Uncommon Wealth Partners. Be sure to visit uncommonwealth.com to learn more about our services. Don't miss an episode as we introduce you to inspiring people who are actively pursuing an uncommon life.