Get Off The Feast And Famine Pendulum! With Dan Bennett

Episode Summary

Dan Bennett Podcast Interview

[00:00:00] Kris Ward: Hey, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Win The Hour, Win The Day, and I am your host, Kris Ward. And today we have a return visit. I’m super excited ’cause we’re gonna talk about something a little bit different when we welcome Dan Bennett back to the show, even though he is a fantastic video production expert on so many levels.

We’ll weave that in a little bit. But we’re gonna talk about something that most people don’t talk about, and it’s so incredibly important. It’s when you do amazing work like Dan does and the work does have a lot of moving parts, and you get trapped in the deliverables of that. And so then you’re just always trying to catch up, and the feast and famine of your income, and just, ah, the stress of it all, and how exhausting it can be as you build your business and try to make it grow.

And Dan has just been so raw and real about that. I just thought it would be really great to have a conversation, so welcome to the show, Dan. 

[00:00:53] Dan Bennett: Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, looking forward to it. By this time I’d call us friends, so it’s nice to have a conversation with someone who knows so much [00:01:00] about what we’ve been doing over the last few years.

[00:01:02] Kris Ward: I’m done now. I got- I’m Dan’s friend. I’m, I have all my needs met. Okay. That is a big compliment. I appreciate that coming from you, Dan, because you are somebody that anyone that I have talked to that knows you, you are incredibly concise and sincere in the words that you use. And as I said to you once, you use words as if they cost money.

You are very selective about the words you use. So when I got praise from you ’cause through our work together, I took that, I j- I just so appreciate it. I really took it to heart because you are so particular about what you say. So let’s start with the before and after. You’d been doing this a very long time, and yet you’re still running yourself ragged.

Is that correct? 

[00:01:42] Dan Bennett: Yeah. Yeah, you mentioned the feast and famine. I’m a metaphor and analogy person so you’ll hear and see plenty of those as I speak. But, like- Yeah, I always called it the pendulum effect, and it’s like you’re riding this giant pendulum. And you get some sales, and you’re like, “All right.

We gotta swing back the other way so we can [00:02:00] start, implementing and fulfilling.” And then while you’re over there doing the work it’s “Oh, the work’s almost done, but there’s no new sales. Let’s swing back the other way.” 

[00:02:08] Kris Ward: Yeah. 

[00:02:08] Dan Bennett: And it was very, all throughout early in my entrepreneurial career, it’s very palpable.

I could feel those shifts happening, and th- they’re not fun. In a good way I’m triggered by this conversation ’cause it reminds me of kinda where I can come from and what it takes to actually get off that pendulum. 

[00:02:24] Kris Ward: Yeah, and you can’t enjoy ’cause… you can’t even enjoy it when you’ve got good sales or a good month, ’cause a good month is only a good month if it’s a month.

But if you have really great sales this month, and then because of that pendulum it’s three more months before you get some more revenue in, then that sales of o- one good month is now not good, right? Yeah. So you can’t even enjoy life, really. 

[00:02:46] Dan Bennett: Yeah. I imagine, that the pendulum’s beautiful, so it’d be nice to get off it and just sit back- and admire it instead of riding on it month to month. So yeah it’s absolutely the journey I’ve taken. And when we first met I was definitely [00:03:00] riding it and contemplating jumping off it altogether. Yeah. Threatening- I- … to get a real job at some point. 

[00:03:05] Kris Ward: I know. I have worked with a number of people that were like, “Okay.

I’ve been doing this, whatever, 10, 14, 16 years, and I’m just telling you, Kris, I don’t even know if… I don’t even know. I’m just gonna quit and go back to a job,” right? So you were a little tired when we started, and in case somebody doesn’t know you well you are incredibly smart.

You, for… I would even say better than most, you are a systems guy. You knew you needed systems. You understood that. I didn’t have to convince you. There was many strengths that you had that often don’t come with one of my clients, and yet you were still struggling because, you were just working too many hours.

And the systems were there, but they weren’t highly efficient, and they could get a little clunky, or they get over-systematized. Or during with the pendulum swing when one month is not as busy as the other, then you run around, make a bunch of systems, but then you’re not using them. So tell me am I correct on that and you relate to my story there?

[00:03:59] Dan Bennett: Yeah, [00:04:00] on all levels, and I’m sure there’s a lot of other people nodding along “Oh, and I appreciate the kind words ’cause I, I am that way. It comes from my work naturally being production-oriented. Yeah. So I’ve always been forced to have to do the right parts in the right order to get something done.

But still, like you said, that do- doesn’t mean that the business was all tied in nice little bows like that. And so a mix of that and then me always being a poster child for help. I remember the first time that I finished a series of sessions with a therapist, and he was like, “Man, you’re like a poster child for therapy.

You took all the tools that we talked about- Yeah … you implemented them, you got results,” and that’s not the normal. And I’m like, “You’re the pro and I’m paying you like- 

[00:04:37] Kris Ward: Yeah … 

[00:04:37] Dan Bennett: I’m just gonna do what you say, and if it works, I’ll keep doing it. If it doesn’t, I’ll let you know.” And that’s been my kind of personality from very early on.

So a mix of those two things, already knowing what a system is even if I didn’t have them, and trusting, your process and saying, “Hey, you know what you’re doing. I hired you for that reason. I’m going to listen.” And then the part I’ll say which has always been, like, a a [00:05:00] shining, light in your work is instantaneously I was able to understand how you were going to help me without having to over-commit myself or, sign onto something blind or whatever.

And so it was a really cool transition to be able to talk to you on the podcast, get to know better, ask some really tough questions, meet a couple times and then be like, “Okay, I think this could really help me.” So not only did that let me see into your world a little bit, and one of those little shiny spots was that you you have educational materials, but you don’t say, “Here, watch 100 videos.”

You say- Yeah … “Oh, this is what you need. Go watch these two modules. It’ll answer that question for you.” So it felt very much like college mixed with choose your own adventure. Instead of having to take all of the- Yeah … classes, you could take what you wanted. And being able to see that and then be welcomed in a way where- Vice versa, you getting to know me before we worked together let you see into what I was good at, what I was bad at, and what I needed help with.

I really look back fondly at that process because y- we both know, everyone listening knows there’s a whole [00:06:00] bunch of people out there “You want more leads? Buy my thing.” Yeah. 

[00:06:02] Kris Ward: Da. Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:06:03] Dan Bennett: And it’s you get so inundated with that you can feel the difference when someone’s “Oh, no, I know what I’m doing.

I’ve built something. I’m going to get to know you, and if it’s a good fit, let’s do work.”

[00:06:12] Kris Ward: Yeah, and you bring up a couple really good points. What we do is highly customized. At the same time, as I always tell you, you’re special but you’re not unique. So there would be many points across that journey where I’d say, “Oh, this is exactly…

This is where you’re at.” And I would have, in the academy five 10-minute videos that are just conceptual so that then when we are talking I’m not having to go back and explain that. You’re gonna get more out of our conversation. So there are tools in that customized process that, again, systemized that help you a lot.

Yeah. And it’s really it’s really interesting to me too that so many people get tied up in the idea of, okay how much is this course gonna w- this course gonna cost? It’s not… We don’t have a course. That’s the thing. The customized work, how much is it gonna cost? How much time is it gonna take?

And you just constantly get time back, right? Yeah. And people say to me I [00:07:00] think it was you also that said one time, “You know what, Kris? You really, if I didn’t know it, you’re offering a big promise.” Because so many people I’ll say “You can get 25 hours back in a week.” But the thing is, it’s not that what I do is such magical stuff.

It’s that you’re working so many hours it’s really not hard to cut you down 25 ’cause that’s two evenings and a Sunday that you come in to get prepared for Monday. So you can validate that too that you were working all those hours, and we got all those hours back, and it… and you yourself said “That’s a mighty promise, and if I hadn’t gone through it, I wouldn’t have believed you.”

[00:07:35] Dan Bennett: Yeah, 100%, yeah. ‘Cause again, there’s promises everywhere and- Yeah … I could throw a rock and pick one and be disappointed by it. It’s not hard. It’s a huge thing to have someone understand what you’re trying to accomplish, and enough flexibility in your approach to make it, at least slightly customized to what they’re going through.

But you’ve seen, as we’ve been talking already, I’m nodding my head. I’ve already said a couple times, I’m sure anyone listening or watching is probably nodding too. It’s because of [00:08:00] so many of those things not being unique, just being our own version of the same thing. And I think that’s super powerful.

Also, you make it so convenient to absorb the information on a asynchronous basis that if you are committed as, someone on my side of the equation, but you stick to the program and you do check in, when you can or are supposed to, and you do absorb the education where you need to, it helps- 

[00:08:25] Kris Ward: Yeah

[00:08:25] Dan Bennett: during that super busy I haven’t figured this out time to still work with you- Yeah … and start chipping away and getting that time back. And then the bonuses I’ve probably stolen two or three of your approaches in format as we’ve moved forward and grown our team. Yeah. Of “You know what?

It seems Kris said this, so maybe I could do something similar.” And it’s cool to see someone who’s got their stuff dialed, especially when they’re teaching you how to do something similar. So all the way down to, super toolkits being alive and always updating them on the fly, and it doesn’t have to be this thing you carved out of granite.

We’ve taken that [00:09:00] into other areas of our business that have nothing to do with SOPs and such. And then also we’re currently working on making our editor onboarding for our employees a little bit more robust. So they have a little academy, and that way we can say, “Just go watch that video- about that topic. It’ll teach you everything you know,” so we don’t have to keep repeating ourselves. 

[00:09:20] Kris Ward: Yeah. 

[00:09:20] Dan Bennett: So that’s another thing that we borrowed, from your approach and we’re using too. 

[00:09:24] Kris Ward: I take that as a big compliment, ’cause I know when I’ve had some really great mentors that I think not just if you can take what they’re teaching you, but also how they’re doing it.

If you c- you… And when people say, “Oh, even my onboarding process, oh, I’m gonna borrow from that,” I’m like, “Oh that’s to me is pure flattery.” And I, again, from someone like you, and I think why it’s so important to have a conversation with someone like you is y- you are so articulate. You are ver- you had a lot of systems in place.

But it’s really being a, somebody that’s a really good runner. It’s like I’m running, but if my shoe’s untied, I trip and fall and get up and run again. And and y- and you spoke of the pendulum in such a [00:10:00] beautiful illustration, ’cause you’re right. You get caught up in the deliverables, and even when you see it happening, you can’t get your way out because you’re like, “I g- I got it.”

You’re on it. “I got these new clients. I gotta make them happy.” But I would also argue probably took you years even before you cau- like in the beginning, you don’t even catch on. You’re just happy you got the business, and then you don’t realize, oh no, when that’s all gone and it’s time for them to move on, you feel like you just got dumped because there’s no new relationship to replace that.

And then you do catch on that, oh, I get caught up in the deliverables, so that means next month’s gonna be dry. But then you see it coming and you can’t, s- like a slow car wreck, you can’t make it stop, right? So now with those basic things in play, and they’re just simple setups. None of it is highly academic or complicated.

It’s all simple on top of simple. Now tell us what your, your life looks like. You’ve got evenings, you’ve got weekends. You’re alwa- every time I turn around, you’re diving deeper into things that you deliver at a higher quality. Your brand has grown and [00:11:00] really had a beautiful facelift.

You just do so much, and you’re doing so well, I think, in how you communicate on LinkedIn, things like that. 

[00:11:08] Dan Bennett: Yeah. We’ve had a lot of exciting stuff happen, especially over the last year and a half or so. So I’ll start with our head of operations is someone that we found through you.

And that was the final revelation of two things. One, everyone’s always “Oh, get a VA or get help or get, a part-time person or whatever.” And it’s yeah, those sentences always start with just. Just get a person. 

[00:11:33] Kris Ward: Yeah. 

[00:11:34] Dan Bennett: And so you’re Googling, you’re watching videos, you’re trying your own stuff, whatever.

To anyone watching or listening, just hire a professional who can help you do it, please. 

[00:11:42] Kris Ward: Yeah. 

[00:11:42] Dan Bennett: The other thing is that it’s not just help when you find a really good fit. So I actually just finished my one-year review with Kish, our operations manager, and t- she’s making the most she’s ever made in her career.

Yeah. I’m thrilled to have her onboard. [00:12:00] We’re talking about a small stake in the company as it continues to grow. We’ve been at about 2.5X year over year for the last three- Yeah … two and a half calendar years. She’s been heavily involved in helping us maintain and implement those systems as well as create brand new ones.

And I w- I was– we were talking off record there’s also this kind of throughput that you can’t predict, but if you’re ready for it, you can take advantage of it. So in this case, we hire editors. Part of, one of our products is editing for people on a subscription basis. And so there’s a lot of clients, there’s a lot of work coming in each week, and we need a, pool of editors to do that work.

And we’ve found some great ones along the way. Of course, there’s some that don’t fit and dah dah. So you hire, you fire, you hire, you fire. You’re trying to find the right people or whatever. And we actually got to a point before recently hiring our senior editor who is just incredible and has absolutely taken that whole department on his shoulders and started running, which is crazy for me.

It’s the first time experiencing that. We found him at a time where we [00:13:00] had, thought we found someone that wasn’t working out, and Kish just DM’d me, was like, “You ready to run the, job hunt again?” I’m like, “Yep.” And because we had already done it- Yeah … I could just say yes. And then these 12 things happen.

Yeah. And then people start coming into our form from the job posting and dah. And even though I rolled my eyes and I’m like, “Oh, hiring is painful and I don’t like it,” I thought back to before we had those systems in place and oh, just putting tweets out and DMs to people who might know someone and getting- Yeah

on a job board- yeah … and being terrified of what that’s gonna produce is all gone now because we have a system. We run the same system all the time. And at this point in time, it not only led to a senior editor hire, we’ve got a couple extra editors who submitted for the role but didn’t get it, but were interested in sticking around in a freelance capacity, and they’re doing work for us on a weekly basis.

None of that would exist- eh, I didn’t back up a little bit. Have someone who could help me build those systems back up a little bit, work with you and understand how to build those systems back up a little bit, have a desire to work with someone to help me, so- Yeah … if you reverse engineer it back it comes from a [00:14:00] desire to grow this business and then looking for help.

[00:14:03] Kris Ward: You bring up a couple really good points and one is, so when we found your VA for you, yeah, you’re right, it’s not just because we have a 12-point hiring process, we got a 80% retention rate, we’ve been doing this for years. And you c- you can go out and hire a video editor ’cause that’s very niche and very specific, and you’re looking for a particular thing, right?

I get that. But when you’re hiring admin and stuff, it’s a whole nother thing on its own, and that’s really like me trying to do video editing in between the work I do. So many people will say, “Oh, I’ll just go out and hire someone, and I’m a marketing specialist. I’ll just, on the side when I’m not busy running around, I’ll just hire someone.”

Okay, that’s fine. Go ahead. And I’ll just do marketing for one of your clients- Yeah. … in between my work, right? It’s a whole thing on its own. Yeah. And then you have someone m- in combination of the how carefully we handpicked her for your business and your personality and the personality of your business, and then she went into our leadership program, and then we [00:15:00] set you up effectively so that she doesn’t burn out and she loves the job.

And that’s why so many of the people that come to us, they have burned through four or five VAs before they met us. It’s because finding a good one is one thing, that’s a s- thing on its own. Then keeping them is another. But now- Yeah … what happens, and it’s not the VA’s fault, it’s that you burn and churn them and they just burn out, right?

Because y- you’re just a hot mess and you’re all over the place. And that’s where you get people like Keech- Keech saying, “Oh my gosh it feels like it’s her business.” And she, I’ve had so many of them in our leadership program say, “Oh my gosh, I hope this job lasts forever. I feel like I’m part of the company, like I feel like this is my company.”

Because it’s not delegating. Delegating is a lateral move. The work still comes to you. It’s, they got independence. You lean on them. It’s like you got peers. It’s a whole different thing. 

[00:15:48] Dan Bennett: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, all I can say is yes to that because it is a completely different thing. And also if this distinction helps the conversation along or not, that’s up to you, but like- [00:16:00] Having not utilized but spoken to several founders who run VA agencies.

[00:16:06] Kris Ward: Yeah. 

[00:16:07] Dan Bennett: I never went that direction because I just, it never felt like it would be a good fit for me.

[00:16:13] Kris Ward: Yeah … 

[00:16:14] Dan Bennett: i’m not speaking down on all of them. Some of these people are great people, but I was always like there’s that, and there’s this hang up here. And if this milestone isn’t reached, something weird happens, and you’re taking a percentage.

What are you actually interested in?” All those things. Eliminating that mindset and just knowing someone’s helping you find someone and then train them is incredible. And, is that the linchpin of you helping people find help? I don’t know, but for me it was. It was like- 

[00:16:39] Kris Ward: Yeah … 

[00:16:39] Dan Bennett: there’s no f- you couldn’t fake caring about me because you just either care about me or you don’t.

[00:16:45] Kris Ward: Yeah. 

[00:16:45] Dan Bennett: And it was nice to go through a process where I could tell that you were in it because you’re like, “Man, we gotta find someone for you,” because that’s part of what we were doing. And then up to you if you keep this or not, ’cause I’m not sure if we’re supposed to talk about it. But the fact [00:17:00] that I actually met Kish when we were technically done working with each other.

Yeah. We were still having conversations. I was on the podcast- Yeah … a second time, which was so much fun. But you came across someone and were like, “Hey, I know we’re not officially engaged,” ’cause, we had- Yeah … completed our work, but this person might be worth talking to. I, no one does that.

I know you know this already, but no one does that, Kris, no one. And we over-deliver like that in our business, so I viewed it as high respect. ‘Cause like I would do that for someone. I wouldn’t gate keep. I’d be like, “I know we’re done, but this editor’s great and you need an editor.” So yeah, I still think about that all the time because- 

[00:17:34] Kris Ward: That’s funny.

Yeah, like- I don’t even remember that. I do now that you’re bringing it up, but that’s how I operate, so to me it’s not a big deal. And I think to your point, it’s a good one. With agencies, they’re… what I say, I’m not putting them down, it’s just a dif- different model. It’s billable hours. And so they also, they’re assigning you hours.

They get a clawback on that. And they’re, they do have to sign a non-disclosure agreement, the VAs. So you might think that they’re making five, six bucks an hour, and they might be making two. Whereas our setup, you pay them [00:18:00] directly, and then you’re paying me for the coaching we do. And then when you move on, I have no ownership over that.

You don’t lose the VA like you do with the agency. And I think what happened is the VA we had found for you was working out well and all things were good. A number of things had happened in her life where she just wasn’t able to work in that situation. She had a family crisis, and that’s fine. And we had just finished our work together, you’re right.

And so there’s just no way in my mind that I’m like, “No, we’re not done,” even though, okay, fine, we’re technically done. Your last payment was last month. And you’re like, “No, we’re set up. It’s okay. Great.” No we have to finish this. Because I also know the joy of loving your work and falling back in love with your business and having your life.

And to me, it’s more than the client, more than what we’re giving. It’s the time that you’re present with your family. It’s the relaxed look you have. It’s not rubbing your head and thinking, “Do I choose between my work and m- my dream and my family,” right? Business is supposed to support your life, not consume it.

It’s supposed to be fun. [00:19:00] That’s the, that’s the flag I put in my h- like mountain. That’s where I stand on that one. So you’re right, I didn’t even remember that. But I did think, “Oh yeah, I think she’s a good fit for you. I don’t feel we’re done,” even though the circumstances were out of my control. Stuff happens.

But yeah, it all worked out. And she’s fantastic, right? 

[00:19:18] Dan Bennett: Yeah. Yeah. It’s incredible. And this is good timing we’re having this conversation. So in about two weeks, I think just under two weeks we’re going on a family vacation where I’m completely off grid for two weeks. Yeah. And I’m not squatting a single part of it.

Yeah … last year we went for about seven or eight days, and there was, I took my laptop and had to still do a little bit, yeah. And this year it’s it’s crazy that all I’m taking’s a phone. Yeah. And that is a big part of building team, having someone having your back while you’re doing that.

And then of course implementing the systems we built together and then modeling all of our new systems after that. The other thing too is so much comes into play when you reverse engineer this stuff. Like paying for this, vacation [00:20:00] that I just mentioned came from the profit from my business.

So not my money- Yeah … but the little bit that was after everything’s paid, including me- Yeah … this is profit. And to peel off some of that to pay for a vacation was like, “This is why you’re in business.” This is like- Yeah … supposed to be that end goal. Not always a laptop on a beach, but it’s something where you can breathe.

[00:20:19] Kris Ward: Yeah. 

[00:20:20] Dan Bennett: And then the other part Kish playing such an instrumental role in our hiring systems and practices, implementation, finding someone who’s full-time and crushing it now. All those things are little pieces of this very small puzzle that’s, Dan will be gone for 12 to 14 days. 

[00:20:34] Kris Ward: Yeah. 

[00:20:34] Dan Bennett: And I couldn’t have imagined that two years ago at all.

No. 

[00:20:38] Kris Ward: But now here- I don’t think two years ago you could have been gone for 12 or 14 hours 

[00:20:41] Dan Bennett: I- probably not. No. At least not without going crazy in my own head. But- ‘

[00:20:45] Kris Ward: Cause you would take a day off and you’d be a hot mess when you came back. And even that day off you were checking emails and stuff. And you were just like, “I burnt out last week and so I took…

I stayed with the family on Sunday, but I’m paying for it today.” You were talking hours was an issue. 

[00:20:58] Dan Bennett: Yeah, absolutely. And [00:21:00] now company-wide no one works on Sunday- Yeah … including me, which is nice ’cause then it’s a guarantee. Yeah. And it’s in all of our contracts. Yeah. None of our clients ask for anything on that day.

And then the entire team takes off full weekends, and I’m usually just chilling on Saturdays. Yeah. I might- Yeah … answer something or send a message, but I’m almost to weekends off. Of course, if a fire pops up we put it out. But that’s all stuff that I hope my brain never attempts to take for granted.

Because it all comes- Yeah … from being stuck on that pendulum- especially I’ve been very fortunate to have an incredible network very successful people around me who for some reason like me and have always wanted to help in some form or fashion, yourself included. And, you’re riding that pendulum at breakneck speed, terrified to either let go or, be thrown off it.

And you can look out sometimes and see other people that are further ahead or are more dialed in- Yeah … or are taking vacation, and it’s “Okay, so I know it’s possible.” Yeah. “I can see it. I know the people who currently do it. [00:22:00] I have to get there.” And of course, we’re picking, time off as the representation, but it’s anything.

It’s that, like you said, from 60 to 40 hours a week. Yeah. To just leave your area or desk or come home a little earlier. 

[00:22:13] Kris Ward: Have some point of some day where the brain shuts off. 

[00:22:16] Dan Bennett: Yeah. Yeah, it’s so nice. And now I find myself with founder time which is what I’ve always wanted in building the company. And my brain goes to either system building or system refinement.

Like the things that only I can make final decisions on, stuff like that. And that’s become way more fun than it used to be, because it used to be you’ve got six things, you’ve got four hours. Good luck, buddy. Yeah. Now it’s you have four things, you have two days. Just do them in the order of importance.

And it’s really weird. Not in a bad way, but it’s weird- Yeah … because most days, like I got to… Today was a little bit different. We launched a product, so I was, DM-ing people and stuff leading up to our conversation. But the morning before that hour of that launch I was puttering around, had [00:23:00] some oatmeal, took my time.

Yeah. Answered a couple emails, had our little morning scrum. It, and it felt like- A day at the office instead of everything’s on fire 

[00:23:10] Kris Ward: Adrenaline all the time. 

[00:23:11] Dan Bennett: Yeah. 

[00:23:11] Kris Ward: And I, I think that’s the thing where I say to people, they all think once I get past this next thing,” right? And if, or if something happens, whatever.

The, i- it’s really like having a car that only drives in good weather. If the car only works when everything else is totally set up, then it doesn’t work, right? And y- you bring up some really good points, too, where the word system I always thought can sound kinda heavy, but you had a lot of systems.

You’re a smart guy, and you had so many moving pieces. So the setups and the tweaking that we did and the super toolkits, they were all, if nothing else, it was me simplifying them, and that’s so much easier to digest and to maintain and keep up. And that’s the thing. And then to your point, when all those things are set up in a very simple fashion, then you have built a lot of different things in the last 12 months, and you’re allowed [00:24:00] to and have the ability to move on to the next thing and the next thing and the next thing instead of, like you said, trying to be creative in between four calls and, four Zoom calls- Yeah

and a bunch of things you gotta get back, and then you have to come up with this great idea, whatever, on the drive home tonight or before your meeting tomorrow morning. W- you can’t implement stuff that, when you’re playing catch-up, right? So that’s the difference, too, is not only just you enjoying it and then working less hours, your growth and the output of you building things and working on the business is significantly bigger and different than it was, when we first met.

[00:24:33] Dan Bennett: A- absolutely. And there’s so many components of that, right? Even headspace. I’m sure you’ve heard, I’m sure anyone watching and listening has heard something that sounds profound, and it’s probably true ’cause the person sharing it has a lot of experience and all these things. And you understand it as a concept, but you’re like, “I have no idea how I would do that.”

[00:24:53] Kris Ward: Yeah. 

[00:24:54] Dan Bennett: If I have an hour to do a thing and I’m on that pendulum, and that hour is [00:25:00] to try to come up with, a little bit of a tweak to your current marketing output to see if s- you can get different results- That hour’s gonna be 20 minutes of me trying to shut down the chaos and ease into- Yeah

this thing and switch my mindset. And then interruptions somewhere in between, I’m sure, and then getting to the end of the hour having done 25 minutes worth of decent thinking and been like that was a waste.” Where now my brain is not in that mode. Yeah. So I know I got an hour chunk coming up, and I can kind of prep for it.

I might, take a shower and use one of my smelly little tablet things and have- Yeah … a little mini spa or what. Like- 

[00:25:37] Kris Ward: Yeah … 

[00:25:37] Dan Bennett: treat myself for a half an hour of let’s prep for this, let’s get in a good spot, and then actually enter into that work and do an hour of solid visualization and thinking and note-taking or whatever the case may be, and exit out of it a little softer as well.

It’s the same hour, but it’s so different. It’s so different, and you can’t really get there unless you’re willing to do the thing that was [00:26:00] always very hard for me to visualize until I started working with you, and that is build the system for the problem that doesn’t exist yet. 

[00:26:09] Kris Ward: Yeah. 

[00:26:10] Dan Bennett: And I know it’s a lot of work, but if you don’t do that, you’ll be reacting to the future instead of ready for it.

And one of the ways that you empowered me and/us to do that was like, “Listen, man. The SOP the super toolkit does not need to be finished. It just needs- Yeah … to be started. And if there’s two steps in it on day one, cool. And then the next time you go through that thing, be like, ‘Oh yeah, we better write steps three, four, and five.'”

We still to this day do that. We still- Yeah … are like, all right, we’re starting to do cold outreach. We got these kind of five components of how we find people, how we enrich the data, how we reach out, how we follow up. Okay, cool. Piece by piece, writing the steps, and you just watch it build, bloat, and then get carved down to only what’s necessary, and then boom, it’s there.

But if you try and build that after- 10 or 20 reps of whatever you’re building a system around. It’s so [00:27:00] hard. It is so stinking hard because there’s not a set of instructions that are saying, “Do step one, step two,” so you have to build those instructions as you- 

[00:27:07] Kris Ward: Yeah, build it as you’re doing it. Otherwise, going off memory, it’s just time-consuming.

You come in on Sunday. I always give the example of I went to Home Depot and they asked me, I had to get a door for inside my house, and they said is it a right swing door or left swing door?” I’m like, “I don’t know.” Yeah. They’re like do you use your right hand or your left hand?” “I don’t know.”

And it’s like you make steps all the time for work that you do, and these stupid SOPs, right? And they’re missing steps or incomplete. So when you… Our super toolkits are live, dynamic, breathing documents. Very simplified, but highly impactful, and they’re never done ’cause you’re always going to be evolving, and then you just add a step.

And e- you could add a step today, and 2:00 this afternoon somebody can be using the SOP- that super toolkit, and it’s current ’cause they’re all- all they know is that they have to use the super toolkit. So you don’t have to say, “Remember we changed that,” or, “We don’t have that supplier.” There’s no… ‘Cause business does not run on memory, right?

So that’s the beauty and the [00:28:00] power of it all. And I think, again, why I thought it was so powerful to have you here is because by most people’s standards, you did all these things very well. You had systems, you had processes. But so many of us, you could fee- or at least I used to be able to feel the blood rushing through my veins ’cause I was- trying to work so hard and so fast, right? And you just, i- even though it looks like on paper you had all the right ingredients I guess it’s if you’re a world famous chef, it makes such a difference between which tomatoes you use in spaghetti sauce, and there’s tomatoes you use and don’t.

So it was slight adjustments. You were further ahead than most by a long shot, and yet you were still running the grind, you were fatigued, you were tired. Yeah. And, and it was affecting your income. And you, you did. You turned it around so well and now it’s just constant j- you just keep reaching a higher and higher level of effectiveness, of a stronger brand, stronger community the freedom just to increase your bandwidth.

[00:28:57] Dan Bennett: Yeah. It is absolutely crazy. And [00:29:00] rewinding to when, at the beginning of our conversation we were hinting towards- how comfortable you made the process of choosing to work with you or not being part of the reason I chose to work with you is so different than a lot of people.

It allows for so many things to come into play. And one of those is a lot of times, and I’m victim of this too, so I’m looking in the mirror. You look at something, you look at the cost da, and then you’re like, “Okay, how am I gonna make my X dollars back?” And you always look at what it costs to do a thing and like- Yeah

how am I gonna get that money back? Yeah, I’ll go buy a loaf of bread and some bologna and mustard and I’m like not really too concerned about how I’m gonna get this food back after I eat it. Yeah. So like- Yeah … why do we approach things that way? And you made it really easy to have my brain with me during the process to where I could think beyond that and think more along the lines of what can this allow to happen?

[00:29:49] Kris Ward: Yeah. 

[00:29:49] Dan Bennett: And that is such a huge part of it. Did working with you make a fairy show up and put money in my bank? No. Did working with you open up the [00:30:00] availability, the structure, and my brain not being so overwhelmed so I could make those decisions as we move forward? Yeah. 1000%. And we’ve been about two, 2.5X year over the last three years.

For 2025, I I… I’ll back up a little bit. I moved to Texas a little over four years ago. Before that, my partner, who’s a chef, and I both struggled in Michigan to make ends meet. And we’re super talented people, so it was always frustrating. We should be doing better than this. Moved down to Texas and both of us have been able to flourish since we’ve been here.

Now, I’m not saying Texas is perfect, but- 

[00:30:31] Kris Ward: Yeah, it’s good for 

[00:30:31] Dan Bennett: you … a lot more opportunity. Yeah, and it’s worked out for us pretty well. I paid more in taxes for 2025 than I had ever made- … myself as an individual before we moved. 

[00:30:43] Kris Ward: Right. 

[00:30:44] Dan Bennett: Like my check to the government- 

[00:30:46] Kris Ward: Yeah … 

[00:30:46] Dan Bennett: was bigger than any salary I had cleared myself.

And that’s even during my times where I worked with large corporate and government contracting- Yeah … where the checks were big sometimes. Of course, you still pay a lot of taxes and stuff. But it was crazy to not only have that money sitting there [00:31:00] ready to go to the government, but also to watch that money go and think I just paid more in taxes than I’ve ever made before moving here.”

That’s so crazy. And that, anyone who knows me already knows this, but that’s not to brag or be like, “Look at me or whatever that-” earth-shattering information in my life, in my world Yeah And there’s no way to get to that point if you can’t break through that first level. And again, I’ll just say one more time, a big part of that breakthrough is learning how to make systems that help you right now but are also geared toward the future.

Because the growth we’ve had has fallen right into those systems we already had. Of course, we had to tweak them, adjust- 

[00:31:39] Kris Ward: Yeah, it’s miter it … 

[00:31:39] Dan Bennett: hire fire, all the things. But it’s such a big part of being able to actually realize that growth that you’ve been saying you’ve wanted for years. ‘Cause then when it shows up, I’m in a different forest with no map.

Yeah I’m learning new things every week. It’s this is different territory. I’m running a team, all these things. But it, to go such a long time saying, “You know [00:32:00] what I would really like is even if I could just get to level two. Just c- leave level one and get to level two.” Then you hit two and then level three and you’re like, “Oh, okay, this is what I asked for.”

Good thing these systems are in place ’cause I’m in- Yeah … new territory. But- ‘

[00:32:12] Kris Ward: Cause it grows with you … whatever. It does It’s, it grows with you. Yeah, that’s the beauty of it. It’s not okay, once we have this, it’s not okay, chaos to calm and then back to chaos. It’s okay, here’s the infrastructure. Like a good foundation on a house.

You wanna build another floor? That’s okay, we can do it. With the infrastructure the base can take it. So- Yeah … Dan, you’ve been so generous with your information and your time. It’s been fantastic for us to hear from someone that’s got the insight, the experience, and just the history in their business that you have.

And I think the biggest thing anyone could give you is their time. That’s the biggest gift, so I appreciate yours. And please, everyone, share this with a business buddy. This is stuff that no one talks about and no one really wants to, tell you about their struggle. They’ll say, “Oh, five years ago I was struggling with burnout, now today I do this.”

But they don’t tell you what happened from there to here. So Dan, you’ve been [00:33:00] incredibly gen- really generous about that. And I cannot say enough, Dan is excellent what he does, so please check him out on LinkedIn. Dan, where can people find more of your brilliance? Because you are doing exceptional work. 

[00:33:13] Dan Bennett: I appreciate it.

Yeah, anywhere Hot Sauce Video. So our LinkedIn is @HotSauceVideo. DanHasLink.com is a URL I bought a long time ago that hopefully is easy to remember if you’re audio only. DanHasLink.com. It’s got all of our little buttons to find us- Okay … anywhere. And definitely a- appreciate the kind words. And I will say part of what’s fun about this is I would just randomly thank you or have a conversation in DMs or whatever, and you’d be like, “Wow can I share that?”

Or, “Could you put that in a testimony?” Or whatever. I’m like, “Oh, yeah.” So none of it was, like, preparing to say something kind to you or about you. It was just our general interactions- Yeah … because you’ve been, part of a pivotal time in my business. So it just came naturally. And I’m like, “Oh yeah, let’s talk about it,” or, “I’ll make a video or whatever,” because they were very organic things I was saying- [00:34:00] that I guess I didn’t realize carried as much weight as they did until you were like, “That’s such a kind thing to say.” I was like, “Oh. W- yeah, I mean it, but also, yeah, that’s kinda cool.” You’ve been a constant in one form or another over the last few years, and definitely appreciate it. 

[00:34:13] Kris Ward: Thank you, Dan. I really appreciate you. So everyone else, I’ll… It is just to hear and lap all Dan’s kind words up, ’cause h- his words are powerful. And we’ll see you all in the next episode.