When something in my business gets brutally hard, my first instinct is that I’ve done something wrong and perhaps this is just not meant to be… That I’ve missed a step, made a bad call, taken a wrong turn somewhere.
I’m starting to think I had it backwards.
Both men in this edition walked through something most owners are terrified of, and neither one calls it a disaster. They call it the making of them.
The two episodes below will change how you read the hardest stretch you’re in right now.
I sat across from James. He built Delmont Insurance Group from nothing, choosing systems, compliance and standards from day one while the rest of his industry chased quick commissions.
I asked him about something he’d written, that if something feels hard, you’re probably doing it right.
He told me the best moments in business come straight out of the hardest periods. The hard part isn’t the obstacle in the way. It’s the proof you’re on the way.
Then I sat across from Kane. By 33, he’d built one of Australia’s largest residential trade companies, $30.7 million, 133 staff. Then his plumbing arm started bleeding $80,000 a week.
I asked him what was going through his head in that moment.
He told me it was the best learning curve he’s ever had. He halved the company, saved it, and calls the near-collapse the thing that taught him the most.
Here’s what I’m sitting with.
The hard part is the point.
Neither of them flinched from the worst moment, because both have learned the hardest stretch is usually the one doing the real work. I see it in me too. The things that nearly broke me are the same things that built me.
So the homework I’m giving myself, and you, is small.
Think of the hardest thing you’re carrying in your business right now, the one you keep wishing would just ease up. Then ask what it might be building in you that easy never could.
If it’s hard, you might be exactly where you’re meant to be.
One plans for the worst. The other lived it. James first.
EPISODE 141: James Wilson
With James Wilson, Managing Director of Delmont Insurance Group, risk advisor
James built Delmont Insurance Group the hard way on purpose, systems, compliance and standards from day one, while the rest of the industry chased quick commissions. He’s a risk advisor, not just a broker, the person who asks the questions nobody else asks and tells business owners the uncomfortable truth. He reckons most owners think they’re covered right up until the worst possible moment proves they’re not.
What you’ll take away:
- Why he plans for the worst case on purpose, and how naming the thing that could go wrong actually takes its power away instead of feeding the fear
- The reframe that the high in business comes straight out of the hardest stretch, and why if it were too easy, you’d probably be bored
- The three things to check in your insurance this week, starting with the one most owners never do, understanding what you’re not covered for
One plans for the worst. The other lived it.
EPISODE 142: Kane Tyler Smith
With Kane Tyler Smith, founder of Smartfix and Hypotential.
Kane started with a single ute and $40,000 in his first year and built Smartfix into one of Australia’s largest residential multi-trade companies, $30.7 million and 133 staff by the age of 33. Then it nearly came apart, $80,000 a week bleeding out of plumbing, cash reserves gone. He halved the workforce, closed divisions and rebuilt a leaner, stronger business, and helped most of the people he let go find new jobs within the week.
What you’ll take away:
- What he actually did when his plumbing division was losing $80,000 a week, and why he calls almost losing everything the best lesson of his career
- The “slow down to speed up” rule he learned about hiring, and how rushing to fill roles with almost-anyone nearly cost him the business
- Why he refuses to “get negged out,” and how staying out of the doom spiral let him make the brutal calls that actually saved the company
P.S.
If your brand is in a hard stretch right now and you’re wondering whether that’s a sign to stop or a sign you’re close, talk to me.
I keep a handful of free Brand Discovery sessions aside each month, just for TRBLC listeners. One hour, with me. We look at where your brand is actually landing and what’s holding it back.
