In this episode of "Tell Us a Story," we sit down with Tammy Johnston, the Hold Your Hand and Kick Your Ass Business Coach and founder of KSA Business (https://ksabusiness.ca/). With over 20 years of experience working with small businesses, Tammy has helped countless new entrepreneurs survive the treacherous first two years of their journey and go on to thrive. Tammy shares her practical, real-world advice on how to build a business that lasts, and what it takes to overcome the mental and financial challenges that often trip up new business owners. Learn from one of the best in the business how to turn your dream into a sustainable, profitable reality.
Key Topics:
- Surviving the First Two Years: The key strategies new business owners need to thrive beyond the initial hurdles.
- Mindset & Habits: How to deal with the “Itty Bitty Shitty Committee” in your head and build habits for long-term success.
- Financial Literacy: Understanding your numbers and what they are telling you about your business.
- Marketing & Systems: Building a solid foundation for your business through effective marketing strategies and systems.
- Advisory Teams: Why having the right team around you is essential for your business’s growth and success.
Guest Bio:
Tammy Johnston is the founder of KSA Business and is known as the Hold Your Hand and Kick Your Ass Business Coach. With over two decades of experience helping small businesses and entrepreneurs, Tammy specializes in guiding new business owners from the idea stage to thriving within their first two years. She offers practical, battle-tested advice that helps her clients build successful, sustainable businesses. Tammy has spoken on hundreds of podcasts, stages, and media outlets, sharing her knowledge on mindset, financial literacy, marketing, and more.
Links:
Hashtags:
#Entrepreneurship #SmallBusinessCoach #BusinessMindset #StartUpSuccess #TellUsAStoryPodcast #TammyJohnston #BusinessAdvice #KSAstrategies
Reasons to Reach Out to Tammy:
- Introduction to Tammy Johnston and KSA Business.
- The critical steps to surviving the first two years in business.
- Dealing with the Itty Bitty Shitty Committee: Building the right mindset for success.
- Understanding your financials and how they guide your business decisions.
- Building systems and strategies that support long-term growth.
- The role of advisory teams and why they’re key to success.
Social Media:
- Instagram: Share Tammy’s top tips for new entrepreneurs and tag her with the hashtag #HoldYourHandAndKickYourAss.
Tune in to hear Tammy Johnston offer her decades of wisdom on how to build a business that not only survives but thrives!
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Welcome to 'Tell Us a Story,' the podcast by Belmont City Press where business owners, entrepreneurs, and sales professionals share their journeys, insights, and strategies for success.
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- On this episode of "Tell us a story." - What I say, keep your job. Let's build things as you're going and then transition. They tell people about me, they send me referrals. So it's like, yeah, you're preaching to the prior 100% agreement. - How many of your clients actually start out as nine to five hours and then transition into entrepreneurship? - You're going to learn how to set realistic and achievable. They typically don't have a problem selling like the old saying they could sell ice to an Eskimo. So many people are trying to jump over the Grand Canyon and that's not possible. Let's start putting things together. Oh my God, the amount of time, money, grief, stress, terror that it would have saved me. - Welcome to "Tell us a story." The podcast by Belmont City Press, where entrepreneurs and sales professionals share their journeys, insights and strategies for success. In each episode, our guests reveal how they've overcome challenges, establish their brands and leverage their stories to promote their businesses so you can too. I'm Red Hilton, your host for this episode. Today I'm joined by Tammy Johnston, who is the owner of KSA Business, which can be found at ksabusiness.ca. So Tammy, tell us a story. - So at KSA Business, we help brand new and want to be entrepreneurs, build a business that survives the first two years and then goes on to thrive. Our ideal client is someone who technically knows their product or service and is looking to build a successful, sustainable business around their product or service. So they ultimately build a business that supports them financially and serves their purpose. You can discover more information about us at our website, ksabusiness.ca. And we can easily be reached through our connect button on our website. Reach out so that you can build a business that beats the odds. - Fabulous, 'cause most businesses just don't make it, Tammy, you know that better than anybody. So thank you for sharing that. If you could also share with us your story, how did you get to where you are with KSA Business? - So it's actually quite interesting. My background is financial services that I've been doing for over 32 years now. And I was working and going through different companies and learning different skills. And then we got to this magic turning point. And I had finally had to bite the bullets and go into sales, start my own business. Like people have been telling me for years, but I always had so many excuses and stories going on in my head so that I wouldn't. But I finally started my business and I started working with a lot of self-employed, small business owners and like, and as I was helping them go through their personal finances, one of the things I discovered over and over and over and over again is they desperately needed help with the business aspects. Like they knew their product or service, but they didn't understand the financials or putting together systems or marketing or who they should actually be getting their advice from and all the things that go along with it. And I'm going, well, this is my background, this is my passion, this is my skillset. And I have a greedy, motivated self-interest to see them succeed in business because, well, broke people can't afford investments or insurance, which is the stuff that made me money. So I started helping them with their business and as they were getting results and really liking, they started telling their colleagues and other business owners and stuff. And it very quickly, I had to start moving it from strictly one-on-one to teaching groups because I just didn't have the time and it worked so much better. So I started doing my small business classes in that. And then in 2019, I actually split my business into two. So I still have my original business where I do the personal financial planning, but basically that's just looking after my clients, I'm not really looking to grow it. And then I have KSA business where I focus on teaching the new and wanna be entrepreneurs, how to actually do it so that they can survive and then thrive. - That's fabulous. And so needed, it's amazing how many businesses don't fail, don't survive, don't thrive. Talk to us about the new and wanna be entrepreneurs. - Well, most of the business coaches that I've come across and I've been doing this for quite a while and I've worked with business coaches stuff, but they want the people that have already succeeded and they want to go to the next level, they wanna up level or they're very specialized. And very few people either know how to properly help the new ones or they just don't feel strong enough doing it. And those are the ones that need the help. Like the failure rate within the first two years is close to 90%. And that is just such a massive loss and waste for everyone, not just the entrepreneur that fails, but their family, their community, their customers, their future and potential customers that will never have to have the opportunity to work with them. Like just everybody loses when they fail. - Absolutely. - If I can teach them the basics and one of the reasons why I focus on the new ones is I'm going, when I started my business, it wasn't planned. It was something that I was kind of avoiding. And then in a magic moment, I pulled the trigger. And I go, if I could go back and talk to me one year beforehand, okay, you're finally going to do this. Let's start putting things together. Oh my God, the amount of time, money, grief, stress, terror that it would have saved me. And I'm going, that's where they need the help. And that's where I love working. And that's my mission. Like my mission is to build better entrepreneurs, to build a better world. - Yeah, and it's built on the backs of, you know, those small mom and pop stores, absolutely. Can you sort of walk us through what is a common misconception that either people think about what it is you do, or what people have about what you're doing for them? - Well, there's a few misconceptions. The biggest one is people don't understand what all is needed when they're starting a business. They go, okay, yes, I need marketing. And that's typically where they start it and stop it. Yes, marketing is absolutely vital, but there's different ways of doing it, different ways that are going to work for you. You can throw thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars into marketing and not get any results because you just don't know what you're doing. They don't understand the systems. Like I said, they have no idea. They get focused on one thing. I need to have a perfect logo and then have a website made for me and they think that's all that they need to do. And then they wonder why it's not working. - Hmm, absolutely. Can you talk to me about being an ologist? You have a very unique way of talking people through different jobs and tasks and hats that you wear. - So when I'm explaining to people what I do, I say, I'm not an ologist. I'm like a really, really good family doctor. What do I mean when I say I'm not an ologist? So so many of the business coaches, like everybody you were supposed to niche down, you're supposed to niche down. I work, I am a Facebook messaging coach or I'm a storytelling coach or I'll teach like very, very specific, which are wonderful. But that's like, okay, if I'm not feeling well, I could go to the gynecologist and then I go to cardiologist and then I could go to the oncologist and never have it figured out because I'm going too special. Where if I just go on to my family doctor and going, okay, let's figure this stuff out. Let's get the basics and going, everybody needs a good family doctor. And then if you do need an ologist, trust me, we can find them. But if you just start chasing ologists, you're not going to get your problems fixed and you're just going to be wasting a lot of money, not because there's anything wrong with the coach that you went to or their program. But if it wasn't the right thing for you at the right time, it's not good. - Yeah, absolutely getting back to basics. You know, I just thought of something, what is your maybe most favorite thing to walk through new and wanna be entrepreneurs? What is it you really enjoy doing the most? - Oh, see, that's a hard one because I just, I love working with my entrepreneurs and they're all different and they have, that's one of the things that I love about it because I'm going, it's always challenging and it's hard to get bored. So that's why I love about it. But the things, like they come with this idea and they're excited and they're also terrified because they know that it's a great big, huge thing that they're undertaking, but they don't understand why it's going to be all this stuff. And then working with them and showing them, like you said, all the basic pieces, it doesn't matter what your product or services or where you are, business is business is business. And then how do we put it all together? So they'll, okay, now we can go forward, it doesn't mean you're not going to have problems. But number one, you know you're going to have problems. You have better idea of what they're going to be. You have coping mechanisms and ways of working through those and moving forward. It just, people have so much more earned confidence. And that's probably the number one thing that I love. Fabulous. So talk me through working with you. Sort of give me a day in the life. You're meeting with a new or want to be entrepreneur. You know, walk me through what it is that they will do when working with you. - So I have people, I always start them with my small business class. It's an intensive weekend. Like, it's like you're basically being hit with the fire hose. Like there's just so much information, but we put it together so it's nice and simple and get you the 10,000 foot view so that you can see everything. And then once we finish class, I take them through a minimum year of group coaching where we continue to work on what we already learned in class. But most importantly, get you the accountability and the support to implement and actually make the changes. And the reason why you do it that way is 'cause I first started out just doing small business class and one of the things that I found, and I found this for me personally, like how many times have you gone and you've taken this amazing course and you're going, oh my God, this was wonderful. I learned so much, it was fabulous. I can't wait to get back and start implementing it. And then what happens? As soon as we get home, well, the cat just threw up on the carpet. The dog needs out. I have 60 messages that I need to repur. I can't even make it through my inbox. Okay, I've got this stack of papers, gotta do this client, so I gotta do that. Well, by the way, I gotta go get groceries and the kid needs to be signed up for soccer and then what change is-- - And then that's called life takes over. - Yeah, nothing happens. - Nothing changes. - And you're both like your bookshelves like six months later going, oh, you see the binder? You go, oh, yeah, that was wonderful. I remember all those changes could be. And then it was a waste of everybody's time and effort where I'm going, so yes, we do the small business class to launch them, but the mastermind, like I said, getting people into the regular weekly habit and this is what we're doing and you get that support and encouragement and it seems to be slower, but it actually ends up faster because like I said, you're actually doing things. You're implementing it. It wasn't just a wonderful, fun weekend that's not going to make any changes in your life. - It may seem longer, but it's a direct line as opposed to that long winding road where maybe you get where you're supposed to or you're not and maybe that's why there's almost a 90% - Everybody's looking for a magic bullet and those don't exist. - Yeah, all success takes time and consistent effort. - I think the word there is consistent, my friend. Can you tell me what the number one thing people say about you and your reviews? - Oh, that's actually, that's a really good one. So if I had to probably put it down to kind of one phrase is that I'm very blunt and practical and if you want to get results, I'm the person to work with because I hold your hand and I kick your ass. That's my job. - I mean, that sounds entertaining and fun. - It is, my clients are the ones that made me the hold your hand and kick your ass business coach. And I'm going, yeah, that is, I'm perfectly okay with that moniker. - Well, I think if you find your people, I mean, if you work in a certain way and you know that you're leading them to where they want to be, you're not going to do that with someone who's kicking and screaming. - No, and I tell people sales is all about sorting. You need to find somebody could have the right details. But if you're not going to connect with them, if you're not going like, you don't have that emotional trust because it's just a lot of fit, then you need to find somebody that you fit with. And I am not for everybody, nobody is for everybody. And I'm just going, okay, if I scare you, then go find somebody gentler. If you want somebody who's going to be practical and make you laugh and call you on your bullshit, while I'm loving and supporting you, I'm your person. And if I'm not, please go find somebody that is a fit for you. - Find less, find less if that's what they want. Absolutely. - Find less. - So you find different. Or find, yeah, find different, you know, you can hear. So it's ksabusiness.ca. So that means that you are in Canada. Is that correct, my friend? - Yes, I am a pasty white Canadian chick. I mean, I'm not too far off from there. - But do you serve clients anywhere? - Yes, actually, I have served clients in Europe, in Australia, Canada, the States, and all sorts of different places. Because I do do my classes live, and I am like California time, most of my clients, because it is easier, are on the west coast of North America. But I have had clients in Australia that deal with the time change. - Funny. So talk to me about ksabusiness.ca. What are people gonna find at your website? What's the information that you have there for them? - So you're gonna find how I work, and get an idea of my personality. You're going to see, like, my podcast appearances. I'm very, very active on podcasts. So I post those up when those get shared with me. And you get to see my offerings. So how do I do things? So small business class, mastermind, my retreats, all of that will be found under offerings there. - And you have a class that's coming up as of when, and what are people going to learn? Walk us through that. - So my next small business class is September 13th, 14th and 15th, 2024. And it's Friday night, Saturday and Sunday. So if people have the regular nine to five job, it's not going to interfere with that. And what they're going to learn in small business class, so we start off with the mindset, because changing thinking from being an employee to being an entrepreneur, that is the very first thing. You're going to learn about your mission, vision and values. You're going to learn how to set realistic and achievable goals. We're going to teach you all the basics of marketing. We're going to go over advisory team. Who do you need to have on your team? And how do you use them and why? Because most people get their business advice from their broke-ass friends and family who have never even set foot in the arena. - Correct. - Wondering why they're getting bad advice. - Correct. Yes. - We go over the basics of business financials. We go over systems because if you do not have systems in your business, you have a job that owns you. And we go over like cashflow profit and the difference and how it all tied like the complete overview of a business. - Fabulous. What's your number one marketing tip you find you're giving to people or that you can give to our listeners? - Number one marketing tip? - Yeah. - Don't try to do everything. Pick a couple of areas, I'd say typically three at most, three marketing streams and do them consistently because it takes time. I always tell my clients drip until they get wet or tell you to buzz off because I have had clients. My personal record from having somebody meet me at an event I was speaking slash teaching at to becoming a client was 14 years and I've had everything in between. So it's like, you never know, play the long game, show up consistently in a few places. So people get to know you get to build up that trust. So many people are going like it's a shotgun and it's spray and pray and I'll hit it once. And if I don't get a hundred new leads out of it, well, then it didn't work. - No, most people didn't even see you because you were a flash in the pan. - Well, I always call that sort of that one-to-one mentality. They only want to connect with people who they're going to get business from. And I always say that everyone you meet should be either a client or a megaphone for your business. And just because they're not a client or don't need you now doesn't mean down the line they won't. So that's where that-- - And who do they know? 'Cause I've gotten amazing referrals on both sides from people that aren't my clients. - Client or a megaphone. - Yeah, but they tell people about me, they send me referrals. So it's like, yeah, you're preaching to the prior 100% agreement. - 100%, 100%. So you mentioned nine-to-fivers. How many of your clients start out? Like, let's talk to some people who may say, "Hey, I have a real job, but I'd like to." How many of your clients actually start out as nine-to-fivers and then transition into entrepreneurship? - Probably about 50% and like I said, 'cause those are the ones that I want to get. And I've had people that, okay, and a lot of the time they're wanting to switch 'cause they have a passion, but also because they hate where they are for whatever reason. Sometimes it's politics or got a new boss or whatever it is. And I'm going, I don't want you quitting that job. Because as soon as like you said, you jump into the deep end, it can be terrifying. And we all have financial commitments and having that extra financial stress is not good for you on any level because clients and customers, number one, can smell desperation and they're going to avoid you like the plague. But I say, keep your job, let's build things as you're going and then transition you because, and use that hatred of your job as motivation to do the stuff that you need to do so that you can get out as safely as possible. - And so that you can be as successful as possible? - Well, yes, absolutely. Like I'm going, one of the many reasons I focus on the newbies and the wannabes are going, if I could go back and talk to me one year and go, okay, this is what you're going to do. Like you said, it would have saved me so much stress and grief. And the thing is, I went into my business in a much better position in terms of knowledge and experience and all this than the vast majority of people, but it was stressful. It was very stressful and I'm going, it wasn't like anybody who has a dream or like you said, they're getting the sniff of the pink slip and they're praying that they're going, hey, let's get you transitioned properly. - Yeah, I would suspect that you sort of had your ducks in a row transitioning from a nine to five to entrepreneurship and you even acknowledged that it was... - I would have definitely had my ducks in a lot more and I would have duct taped their feet down to the ground because if you notice ducks, if they line up and only last for about like a microsecond and then they scatter like squirrels at a rave. - I haven't been to a lot of raves, but I've been to even fewer raves with squirrels, to be honest with you. What do you think the number one failure point is for entrepreneurs that you see? Maybe not your clients per se, but what you're trying to protect them from. - See, that's a hard one to say one thing because I've seen that there's a few things that are definitely stronger with certain... So for example, I say, give me a few then. - What I have found through, like you said, decades of experience is most people that start businesses are what I call the bunny rabbit types. They're typically very good at the idea. They typically don't have a problem selling like the old saying they could sell ice to an Eskimo, like they're very outgoing, like I said, they don't have a problem making the sales, they could sell the idea where they have their problems is actually going back to the office of the store and getting the work done and making sure the bills are paid, not because they don't have money, but because they don't even know where the bill was. And like their back end is the big problem. So they need help with that. And then I find 30 to 40% or more the owl type, which is more me. And don't ask us to come up with the idea but like we are back at you, give us a job, we are gonna knock your socks off. It is going to be done perfectly above and beyond. We know where everything is, our bills are all of this stuff, but where we have the problem is, okay, you want me to actually go outside and talk to a live human being and tell them how I can potentially help them? Well, then you better be ready for them to have our heart attack. So where they need more of the help is the marketing and different things. So those would be the two things that I'd find. So my back end people need help getting out of their comfort zone and going out and talking to people and stuff. And then my natural marketers, okay, how do we put together your systems? How do we make sure that all the promises that you made can be delivered upon in all of these things? So those would be the two main ones. - I getcha, I getcha. Tammy, what is your Monty? As you know, Monty is our mascot here at Bellmont City Press and he's our little owl. He mentioned owl, I was like, hey girl. And he's sort of like that beacon of all things, inspirational or a lesson or some sort of mantra that you sort of carry with you that our listeners might be able to learn from you today. So my Monty is the word kaizen, K-A-I-Z-E-N. It's a Japanese word, roughly translated means constant and never ending improvement. And I try to live my life by that. I teach that that is by Monty because so many people are trying to jump over the Grand Canyon and that's not possible. Like it just does not happen. But you can start up at the top of one rim and waddle your butt all the way down to the Colorado River and waddle it up the other side and do it safely. And it's gonna be slow, but you can actually do it. Where, if you're focusing on, okay, what step can I do today? What tiny little thing can I improve? 'Cause if you improve your business, 1% every day, that's it, not even compound. It will have done 100% improvement in less than a year. Where if you try, okay, how can I do 100% improvement and I'll just go, okay, I want it by the end of the year, but you're not focusing on what are the actions that I'm doing day in and day out. Nothing's going to change. - Do you think that's sort of a result of social media culture? That people want that instinct? - Before that, 'cause I would say, before TV culture, things would be a little bit different. But even with TV, 'cause it's always shown the instant result. We don't want to have to, like, we just finished watching the Olympics. They had the closing ceremonies on Sunday and everybody wants to be at the Olympics, but I have Olympic athletes for clients. They started training when they were three years old and they are putting in hours and hours and hours every day. Like you got the high school students and they're going to the gym and they're training for hours before they go to school and then they go to school and they're training for hours afterwards and they're not going out and doing, 'cause they're making those sacrifices for years and years and years. - That's what people know. - But TV shows and social media, it's like magic pill, magic pill. And then they're wondering, well I took the magic pill and I didn't get the results 'cause the magic pill is bullshit. - Yeah, I would say that. - All right, are you ready for our rapid fire session? I'm going to ask you to choose between two and we'll see how this goes. Sometimes there's only one right answer though, Tammy. I'm just letting you know. You're ready? French fries or onion rings? - Both. - Well, yeah, that is the right answer I suppose. But if you had to choose, where do you lean? - French fries 'cause onion rings, it depends. They can be really good and I've had some its but French fries are usually more consistent. - Consistency, I get that. All right, I understand that. Would you rather go on a road trip or a cruise? - Road trip 'cause I'm in control of freak. - Okay, well, I'm not saying that's a bad thing. I'm just saying. Hat or sunglasses? - Sunglasses, I hate hats. - Oh really? I love hats. I would be lucky, I don't have one on now. - I know that people that love hats, I know people that look really good in hats. I'm not one of them. - I think everyone can, you just gotta find the right hat, Tammy. - Okay, well, I'm not willing to put that effort in. - That's fine, okay. Let's see, do you like hot coffee or ice coffee? - I don't like coffee at all. - Okay, I don't drink coffee either. So that's good to know. Let's see, do you prefer puzzles or crosswords? Like a puzzle like the little pieces, thousand pieces or would you rather be fine? - If I had to pick, I'd probably go with the puzzles. - Really, like hundred pieces or thousand or I don't even know what they do. - Yeah, typically I'll go for the 500. I don't have the patience of the time for a thousand. - I don't have, I can't do any of them. Do you remember the 3D puzzles? Like you would make like, you know, the Kremlin or like, you know, the Statue of Liberty or something? - I gave one to my mom for Christmas every year 'cause it's been a running joke. My mom gets a puzzle for me for Christmas every year. So she's gotten like almost 50 of them. And I got her a 3D one. She cursed me out for the longest time. Give instructions to never do that again. - There were clear instructions in the next Christmas, I understand. All right, I was gonna say, did she do it? But now we all have our answer, the burning question. All right, our guest to guest question. As you know, the guest on the show before you left behind a question for you to answer on your show. Are you ready for your guest to guest question? - I am ready. - All right, did you do a pivot in your career? And what was the breaking point that led you to that decision and how has the outcome been for you? - So the pivot in my career was actually getting fired from a job I absolutely hated. And in that moment, deciding to start my business. And what brought me to that was I'd had people telling me for years that I needed to start my own business, that I needed to go into sales. And I'd be really, really good at it and that. But I had the Idi Bitty Shitty Committee in my head going, you're too young, you're female. You got this and all that. And you need to stay in the nice, safe, secure job. And I was already actually interviewing for other jobs. So if it had been another week later, I would have been on to another job, a better title, better pay on all of that. But in the moment of being fired, I finally decided, you know what, I never have to work for another creepy and competent old man again and decided to go into sales. And like I said, the first two years were very challenging because I also added the fun bit of shortly after I started my business, I got pregnant and had to build a baby and a business together. And my hat's off to any woman who repeats the pregnancy process. I don't understand it. There's so many reasons why I have one child. - One and a done, not a bad policy. - And then kept going, like I would take my daughter to appointments with me and all this stuff. And it's worked out really well. So I've been running my business for close to 23 years. It has given me the control over my time and what I am doing. It has led me to meet absolutely amazing people and I can put my passion and my energy into who I want to work with. And I have the control over how much I wanna make and how I want to do it. And it's just, I love it. The only thing I would do differently is talk to me a year before and start lining things up beforehand rather than, okay, great. I started my business, no, what do I do? Okay, I'm gonna do this. I just, yeah, I would have eased into it for a year before so that when that moment came, I'm ready to launch. I'm ready to go rather than, okay, now I'm starting. - Right, instead of ripping off the bandaid, you would just sort of lowered yourself down. Yeah, I gotcha. KSAbusiness.ca, do I wanna know what the acronym for KSA is? - KSA stands for kick some ass. - Yep, that's what I figured. - All right. - So KSAbusiness.ca, and you have an upcoming course that is mid-September. And tell us again, how often do you have those courses? 'Cause I know it's several times a year. - I do them nine times a year, so I typically do them every month, but I don't teach in the summer 'cause there's no point and I don't do December. But I typically try to have them once a month because I do all of my stuff live. It's not video recorded and then you can access it anytime 'cause I found that when you can access it every time, most people will always put it off. Where if it's live, number one, it's a set time on your schedule, so you need to show up. But also number two, you can ask questions and we can interact and you get a very different feeling than if you're just doing video. - Okay, and we're gonna put a link in the show notes to your website 'cause if someone doesn't can't make it for the September, theoretically you'll have an October, you'll have a November and then we'll see you again next year in January. - In January, yeah. - Okay, excellent. All right, so let me ask you this for your parting thoughts for our listeners, Tammy. If I gave you 60 seconds to tell us a story, what would the world learn from you? - I would say that almost anybody can start and run a successful business. It's not whether you can, it's whether are you willing to make the changes that you need to make and are you willing to do the work? That's the big thing and you can ease into it slowly. Like I said, I love people that are looking to transition but you need to be committed to do the work and learning how to run a business, not just your product or service where that's where most people put all their focus and attention and yes, you do need to be good at that. But if that's the only thing you're focusing on, you're not going to have a business. You're gonna have a very expensive hobby that becomes bankrupt. So, amen. And you can't do it on your own, like you have to surround yourself with people, like you need to be learning about business, like finding a good business coach that's right for you and right for your stage is one of the best things that you could do, but you also need to be making friends with other entrepreneurs and small business owners. Like one of the biggest changes I had when I started my business is all of my circle, when I started, we're all employees. Now, my social circle is all entrepreneurs because when I started my business, I could no longer have conversations with my employee friends that they'd look at me like I was speaking Klingon. So I need to find some other aliens that I could speak Klingon with and not feel weird. But we don't want you feeling weird, Tammy. Absolutely not. All right, my friend, I appreciate your time. It's extremely valuable. And I hope I honored that here today. Oh, this was wonderful. I hope your listeners found some value in our chat. Thank you, Tammy. To our listeners, if you have a story to share, visit TellUsAStorypodcast.com. If you're an aspiring author, a seasoned business owner, or looking to elevate your personal brand, visit belemonsetipress.com for expert advice on writing your own success story. Trust the next chapter because you are the author. Now, tell us a story. 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