Ever confused gross revenue with your paycheck? Financial literacy expert Bill Haase joins us to unravel this and other financial intricacies that business owners, especially those in the travel industry, face. Learn why niching down and consistent branding can be game-changers for attracting the right clients. We also uncover the necessity of seeking external help to effectively juggle the many roles an entrepreneur must play.
Money talks can be as awkward as discussing sex, but they're essential for business success. Bill and I tackle the often-ignored subject of financial literacy and how your view of money impacts your business and personal life. Hear personal anecdotes about teaching financial lessons to children, and why early education in money management is crucial. Discover the pitfalls of misguided financial advice and learn to view money as a tool rather than an end goal.
Networking isn't just a buzzword—it's a vital component of business growth and success. This episode emphasizes the power of connecting with new people to unlock opportunities for collaboration. Bill shares invaluable advice about the common mistake of not paying oneself adequately and the misconception that business profits will only come at sale time. From professional financial advisors to strategic planning, tune in for practical tips to enhance your financial strategies and business growth. Don't miss this insightful conversation that promises to transform the way you think about money and business.
Ever confused gross revenue with your paycheck? Financial literacy expert Bill Haase joins us to unravel this and other financial intricacies that business owners, especially those in the travel industry, face. Learn why niching down and consistent branding can be game-changers for attracting the right clients. We also uncover the necessity of seeking external help to effectively juggle the many roles an entrepreneur must play.
Money talks can be as awkward as discussing sex, but they're essential for business success. Bill and I tackle the often-ignored subject of financial literacy and how your view of money impacts your business and personal life. Hear personal anecdotes about teaching financial lessons to children, and why early education in money management is crucial. Discover the pitfalls of misguided financial advice and learn to view money as a tool rather than an end goal.
Networking isn't just a buzzword—it's a vital component of business growth and success. This episode emphasizes the power of connecting with new people to unlock opportunities for collaboration. Bill shares invaluable advice about the common mistake of not paying oneself adequately and the misconception that business profits will only come at sale time. From professional financial advisors to strategic planning, tune in for practical tips to enhance your financial strategies and business growth. Don't miss this insightful conversation that promises to transform the way you think about money and business.
We all think that we know everything we need to know about money and how to deal with it and how to handle it and how to do all the things that we do with that good old dollar in our pocket. In reality, what we've found is, as we look around and as we all grow up and learn, that there's a lot more to how to handle money properly than maybe what we've been taught, because probably chances are, we haven't been taught anything about that. Here's the problem as business owners. There's another whole side to money that we have to understand. Things like that commission check is not your paycheck, that's the gross revenue to your business. All those kind of things are out there, and today we are so lucky to have Bill Hasse with us. He teaches people all about financial security and being able to be innovative and understand the strategies that you need to have for finance, from innovation to success. It is just amazing. So let's see what Bill Hossie has to say. Welcome to the Travel Masters podcast. We're here to help travel advisors and travel agency owners get what they really want from their business.
Speaker 1:
I'm Morris Sims and I'm going to be your host for our podcast. I'm an ex-chemical engineer turned life insurance agent, I got to tell you selling life insurance was a lot more fun for me than being an engineer. After a few years, they asked me to teach other people how to do what I was doing and well, long story short, we wound up in New York City for 20 years. That was quite a change for a young Alabama boy. I retired after 20 years as the vice president and chief learning officer, where my team and I trained over 12,000 agents and their managers to be independent business owners and sales professionals. Now I'm not one to stop working. So I started my own business and I was blessed to find a sweet spot with travel professionals that I was able to help. Now I've got several travel agency consulting clients and I'm the co-founder of the Travel Masters Learning Community, where we provide opportunities for travel professionals to become more effective, efficient and to get what they want from their business.
Speaker 1:
On this podcast, I'm going to be interviewing guests that I believe are going to have a message that can be of help to you, our travel professional community, and I'll do some solo episodes as well with some other stuff that I really think can help you and your business. So, with all that said, hey, let's get this party started with today's episode. What do you say? Bill Hussey is our guest today on the Business of Sales and Bill does some really great stuff. I mean, he runs, he's got a radio show. He teaches people about financial literacy and man innovative strategies, financial literacy from concept to success. That's Bill's world and we're just so excited about having him on the show today. Bill, thanks for being here.
Speaker 2:
Hey, appreciate you having me, morris, thank you.
Speaker 1:
Tell us a little bit about. I mean, you've experienced and you've worked in all these different areas of financial services and finance. Every time you get into there, one of the things that I find that we used to always talk about and I find that in all the different areas and all the different industries that our listeners work in, it always comes back down to finding somebody to talk to that might have a need for the work that we do, that might have a need for our products and services. And I'm always asked well, how do I find my next prospect? Morris, that's the biggie Bill. What can you tell us about that?
Speaker 2:
That is funny. Yeah, how do you find your clients out there? And you know, nobody likes to be sold, Everybody likes to buy, and what works with one person doesn't work with the next person. It's a big challenge and if you're an entrepreneur or a small business owner working on your own solopreneur, you're wearing a lot of hats, so it's hard to piece it all together. We were never taught how to be business owners from the aspect of wearing every hat you can imagine. You know, and when you're talking about sales, you're talking about branding and marketing and sales all going together and making sure that that message is clear across those three paths and consistent. You know finding out, you know issues and concerns that people have that maybe your product or service offers a solution to. It's challenging and sometimes we also try to do it on too big a scale.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
Right, we go after everybody who can fog a mirror. Go after everybody who can fog a mirror and you know that'll never work. It just doesn't. People can read it.
Speaker 1:
I have a friend, bill, he's a great guy, and he says hey, listen, you can't go after everybody. You can't fish for all the fish in the lake at the same time. Gentlemen and ladies, the riches are in the niches.
Speaker 2:
And that's what Tom continues to say, and it's very true. And the idea isn't that you just stick to one niche your whole life. The idea is to get to one niche, conquer it and then move on to another and grow in that fashion. And sometimes that's also the for business, small business owner start in your hometown, work out from your hometown to the surrounding towns to then to the county, then to the state and so on. Um, you know, I've made the mistake of trying, you know, trying to build a global business overnight. And uh, uh, you know everybody told me I was crazy, but I really honestly had everything lined up, except for the $2.7 million it was going to take to put it all together.
Speaker 1:
Minor, minor details, right One of them, little bitty things that you got to have.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, it's, it's, it's and it's. It's also based. It's based on the fact that, look, we just don't know everything. Yeah, so there's nothing wrong with getting help from people outside of of your abilities. Outside of you know what you like to focus on as a business owner and and that's challenging because we like to think we want to keep it close to hand we're taught, you know, don't tell anybody what you're doing. Everybody's going to steal your ideas. It's okay to let people know what's going on because they're there. You ask anybody in life what they ultimately love doing and whatever job they're in, what they ultimately will come down to is I love helping people.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, and so there's nothing wrong for asking for help, because people love to help you. Yeah, a great sales tactic Can you help me Totally?
Speaker 1:
One of my early managers was teaching us an approach that we could use and you know the line was would you help me if you could? And I morphed that into something else and he jumped my throat. He whoa. I thought I was going to die. He just kept beating me up all day long.
Speaker 1:
He says would you help me if you could? That's what you're supposed to say, morris, that's it Get together, we'll do that. Would you help me if you could? And he was absolutely right because of just what you said people want to help, and if you just will genuinely ask for help, people will help you.
Speaker 2:
Well, and you make a very, very good point, morris. It is keep it simple and short. Can you help me? Yeah, don't. Don't elaborate on what you want that person to help you with. Let them get the feeling of, ooh, this guy's looking to me for some help. Let them feel that elation that I can help this person and this person thinks that I can help them, and then kind of get into it a little bit. But don't throw up all the words that you can possibly think of about the help that you need, because you're going to lose that person, because that person is going to sit there and say, ah, this guy wants help, but he's not listening.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, totally, totally.
Speaker 2:
And you know, and if you give that signal to somebody, you're not going to get help.
Speaker 1:
And usually you want to provide value first. You want to give something first and then, after you've given them some added value, then you can say you know, I'm looking for people just like you. Would you help me if you could? And bye.
Speaker 2:
Gerard, yeah, it's a, and one of the toughest lines right is we're taught. You and I are both from the finance world and we were taught at some point in our careers that you want to get referrals. Yeah, so you want to. You know their comfort zone and introduce you to people, because they don't necessarily totally understand everything you do.
Speaker 1:
That's right.
Speaker 2:
That's right, and it's true of any industry and any business. It's you know your world. The people you're talking with don't. So when you're asking for help, it needs to be a broader subject. It can't be. I need help in locating specific people in need of financial advice that are just lost, you know, because do you know anybody like that? Well, and the person is going to say offhand, I can't really think of anybody, and the reality is it's everybody they know Exactly.
Speaker 1:
You know right now, bill. I just can't thank anybody. That really fits that, oh geez.
Speaker 2:
Come on yeah yeah, Everybody I know is perfectly happy, perfectly wealthy and everybody's living great and got the perfect retirement plan in place. It is funny.
Speaker 1:
In all the different niches that I work in now, it usually comes back down to I'm looking for people just like you families couple of three kids all wanting to go to Disney World, or families with two or three kids that want to plan for the future. Whatever niche we're talking to, a lot of it comes back down to just exactly that Give them an idea and then ask them for their help.
Speaker 2:
Well, you know, one question I used to like to ask and say look, do you feel our conversation we've had, you know, has been beneficial to you? Sure, you know, and I mean, what person isn't going to say yes, especially in front of your face? Yep, and you know, do you know others that might benefit the same way? Because I know how difficult this subject is, and so you know, if you feel I've been beneficial to you, do you feel I could be beneficial to those around you? Make you look good.
Speaker 1:
And then you know I'm going to approach them in exactly the same professional way that I approached you, and I promise you I'll never embarrass you. Exactly the same professional way that I approached you and I promise you I'll never embarrass you. And you know it works. It has worked for decades.
Speaker 2:
Bill, it's harder now.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
You know we have so much more information available, but the really funny part is, as you mentioned, I'm into financial literacy and teaching that, and the reason being is almost no one knows anything about money.
Speaker 1:
That's right.
Speaker 2:
And there's a reason why I used to meet in front of groups and speak in front of groups and say first thing I'd say is there's two things I know spouses never talk about. It's money and sex. I'm here to help you with one of those. It would break the room up a little bit, right, and maybe this conversation about investing in insurance and things like that portfolios it wouldn't be so boring or challenging to get through. But the reality is is people don't like to have conversations about things they don't know about.
Speaker 1:
Right right.
Speaker 2:
And you know, because nobody wants to be the kid raising the hand in class. Oh, look at dummy over there, he's got a question. Um, you know, we, we were raised with that mentality and the reality is is, um, you know, things like learning about money can, can really provide you with a much fuller life, greater health, greater relationships. Um, just understanding basic things. And we have this information at our fingertips all over the internet. It's everywhere. We don't take advantage of any of it. You can go out there and get in any taxcom situation that will say we'll help you budget. Do you know anybody who wants to know exactly where they spend all their money? I don't. I don't even want to know where I spend my money.
Speaker 1:
I was going to say, and that person is me, yeah absolutely Right.
Speaker 2:
We don't. But the reality is is if we start to understand that money is a tool and not a goal, we're going to live a better life. I promise you that.
Speaker 1:
Oh, isn't that the?
Speaker 2:
truth.
Speaker 1:
I just hope, bill, that I've taught my kids a little bit of that. You know, I mean in my day, back in the olden days, credit cards were well sure you just max them out, just keep on going, because you'll pay it off eventually, right?
Speaker 2:
In 54 years, you'll have it done. Yeah, exactly. Or how about Morris, running into that guy that says I've been on this program? I don't want to name names, but we'll just say I was on this program and I go great, how long have you been on? 11 years, I go. Well, isn't that a four-year program? So are you really where you want to be?
Speaker 2:
You know, and I've run into that a number of times and look, like I said with spouses, don't talk about money. They don't teach your kids about it. I'm as guilty. I've been in finance over 37 years. I'm as guilty as anybody.
Speaker 2:
You know, my daughter called a few months ago. She's in the dealership she's going to buy a car. And she's like, calls me up, says dad, I don't want to lecture about whether this is a good time to buy a car or anything. Right, you know she goes. I just want to know if this is a good deal. And I'm like, oh I, this is a teaching moment I got to teach her because she's a single woman who's in her mid twenties, walks into a dealership. You don't think those guys are licking their chops? Sure, you know they're going to take full advantage of this situation. So, so maybe take a little time to learn about it before you go at it.
Speaker 2:
Same thing with my son a couple of years ago got married. Three weeks after he got married calls me up and says dad, the condo I've been renting for years is now being sold. I have the first chance to buy it, but I don't even know who to call. And I'm like first chance to buy it, but I don't even know who to call. And I'm like, oh, I didn't teach you that stuff either, you know. So we just we can't teach our kids everything you know, but we can, you know, start as early as possible to try and teach them a little bit about the value of money and how it is.
Speaker 2:
Again, it's a tool, it's not a goal. It's not how much can I make this year, because then that turns into how much can I spend? And you know I can't tell you how many people I advise that were in their career paths and were moving up in their careers and getting more and more income. And I would always say you know you don't need to live up to your income, you know you can start using some of that for your future needs. And lo and behold, they show up with a shiny new car and a new boat and, you know, maybe moving into a bigger house or you know, and it's like, did you put anything away for the kids' college? I haven't gotten to that yet, you know.
Speaker 1:
I worked my way through college back in the 70s because you could do that back then and tuition was 365 a quarter. Uh, it ain't that cheap. It ain't that cheap.
Speaker 2:
No more bill, but uh yeah, we could go down a long conversation about college and values and whether or not you should be going and why you go, and all that fun stuff. Um, that's a real pet peeve of mine as well.
Speaker 1:
Oh, I agree with you.
Speaker 2:
But you know the bottom line we don't talk about and we don't go out and learn about the things we don't know about. We just kind of stick to what we believe and we kind of gravitate towards anything that falls in line with what we believe.
Speaker 1:
Yeah. And what our best friend told us, or our neighbor next door, or my wife's husband's or a wife's friend's husband, whatever. You get this information from all kinds of crazy places.
Speaker 2:
Well, be careful. The craziest places are generally your closest friends and family.
Speaker 1:
Amen.
Speaker 2:
And Lord knows that they have great intent, but that doesn't mean they have a clue about what you're trying to do, even though they'll tell you exactly how to do what you should be doing. To do what you're trying to do and you look at them and say but you're still in the first rung of a sales team. You've never even managed a team. You've been in it for 35 years and now you're telling me how to build a global business. I don't get it. Where'd you acquire all this knowledge from all of a sudden?
Speaker 1:
Yeah, exactly. Exactly Bill when we started this conversation, you and I agreed that we would talk about how to find clients and stuff, but I've got a better question for you, I think For our audience out there business owners that are trying to run their business. What are a couple of the practical financial concepts that they need to make sure they're aware of and not just accepting whatever their best friend said they should do with their business and the money that they have in their business?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, Great question. What's really important to understand is your own business finances, and so the one thing business owners typically don't do. Again, we're talking about money and people just don't know about it, so don't talk about it. But it is so incredibly important to understand the flow of your money and what's going on with the money within the business and what's going on with the money within the business, and you know it helps to have somebody who's good at a good CPA, somebody like that, to help point those things out to you and help you to understand them. Very important to not sit there and say, oh, I get it, I get it, I get it, and then a month or two later you're back to I don't get it, you know, because you just want to please the person who's trying to help you understand. You really need to dig down and take the time to get it and understand it, because it is so very, very vitally important to the success and growth of any business.
Speaker 2:
And it's the one thing I know business owners don't do.
Speaker 1:
Doesn't matter.
Speaker 2:
Any profession, any profession, you know. Here's the thing I have a friend who's a neighbor. His mother passed away. He took over the business that she started and he said I spend. I said how much do you charge to go out on a call for your business? And he goes oh, $70. I said great, how much does it cost you to send that person out? And he looked at me like a deer staring into headlights. He had no clues and I said well, how do you know if it's not costing you more than that? And he goes it doesn't matter, we make it up in the call. And I just looked at him and I said it does matter. It matters where everything is, where your money's being spent, you know, and how it's being spent. So that's a very important thing for business owners that I think the majority of business owners I've interviewed and talked to fail at miserably.
Speaker 2:
And it holds them back.
Speaker 1:
Oh, totally, and you're absolutely right, having a real professional CPA, not Bo down the street that happens to do taxes in March and April every year for the folks in the neighborhood. You've got to have a real live CPA, somebody with the credentials and the knowledge and the professionalism to do it. You need to have a contact with a good attorney, you need to have contact with a good banker and you need to have contact with a good financial services person. You don't have to buy anything, I agree, and they need to be taught.
Speaker 2:
They all need to talk to each other too. You know you have to be in sync, Cause here's the thing If you're a business owner and you're not getting involved in the financial side and understanding your management sheets, finance sheets and whatnot, you, you, the likelihood of you getting taken advantage of, meaning somebody stealing money from you, is very, very high. Yeah, very high and it's generally internally, and it's almost always internally.
Speaker 1:
And chances are the business owners that I know, including myself. Boy, it's real easy to spend money when it's coming out of that business account and if I don't watch myself, I'll spend money out of there for for the business, for the business. But I'll spend money on stuff for the business that you know. Six months from now I'm going back and looking. I've never used that piece of software that I paid five hundred dollars for. Why did I spend that money?
Speaker 2:
you know exactly and and you'll, you'll also sit there.
Speaker 2:
A business owner typically doesn't take enough money out for themselves yeah yeah, you know, uh to to, because you have a life too as a business owner and you have to support a family and and you have to do so in the future. Instead of pouring money back into the business all the time, you need to understand how to draw business out, money out for yourself. Um, big mistake a lot of business owners make and then they feel, feel that, well, you know, all my money is going to come at the end when I sell it. Yeah, well, 70% of businesses that go on the market don't ever get sold. Yeah, so you better have another plan, because I tell you, what you really need to have a backup plan.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, I mean, that's another whole hour's worth of conversation we can have with exit strategies for sure, and it's just it's incredible. But, bill, the one thing that I find that is so important and it was very important with our agents when I taught them and very important to all the business owners I work with today, especially when you're starting out, is understanding that that commission check or that check that comes from your client, that's not your paycheck, that's gross revenue to your business?
Speaker 2:
No, it's not. You know, that's a great point. Great point, yeah. And it's buying power, it's borrowing power. It needs to be used in several different ways, which is why I say money is a tool, not a goal.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, yeah, Absolutely.
Speaker 2:
I'm going to steal that one Bill by the way, by all means go right ahead. It's not an original Bill Hasse quote, it's one I've been using a lot lately because I think it's very important. I think once people understand that, uh, you would be amazed at how much of their world opens up.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:
It. It just just the, just your, your mentality, your mindset, your thought process, and that's part of an entrepreneur's mindset. You have to have. You know how, you know, knowing the tools you have available to you and not just goals. Because, you know, sometimes you reach a goal and you think I'm good, I made my goal. It's like, well, you know, okay, was it a goal or was it just a destination? And you know, again, those are two different things we could have another hour-long conversation about. And you know, again, those are two different things we could have another hour-long conversation about.
Speaker 1:
Oh yeah, yeah, it's kind of like the manager that I had at one point in time, who would say you know, I'd say something like, gee, I'd like to have a new car. And he'd say well, you know, that's only two more sales. Gee, you know, he's right, that's only two more sales. Okay, but it's two more sales every month for the length of the lease of the car.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, right, and I actually had a manager one time tell me in sales and he said why don't you? Is there a certain car or a house you want or something like that? Just put a picture of it on the wall at your desk, you know, so that you can look at it, so that you can work towards that every day. And I looked at him. I said, okay, so if I make this big sale tomorrow, I could buy that car. Now, what? Now? What do I do? Now I don't have another goal, I don't have another picture.
Speaker 2:
You know up there that another want and the reality is is you just took that goal of getting a new car and all the money you made and you put it into that car and you still have no money. But you got this fancy car Exactly, you know that's great, but a year or two later that car isn't as fancy or nice as you liked it when you first saw it. That's right and you know, and all the fun goes out of that. But you're still without money because you're still paying for it.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, mine was a brand new 1985 Oldsmobile Delta 88. It was a land tank, it was a land yacht. Oh, it was.
Speaker 2:
It was. It was. It had the Landau roof. I remember those Bill, I didn't need that car Bill.
Speaker 1:
I didn't need that car. Yeah, I didn't need that car at all, but it was only going to be two extra sales a month and I bought into it Anyhow. Hey, one more thing before we wrap up here. My friend, we did start off talking about how you find clients. You got a couple of practical ideas about prospecting and marketing that you could share with us as we wrap up here today.
Speaker 2:
You know, you really do need to find your ideal market, your ideal target. You need to focus on specific targets and markets and not just someone who fogs a mirror, as we said earlier. And not just someone who fogs a mirror, as we said earlier. You need to get your pattern down, get very good at it and then grow from there and learn from that. That's really, I think, the most important pragmatic thing I think folks don't focus enough on. Look, the other thing we never do as solopreneurs, entrepreneurs is we don't write up business plans. Business plans are not written in stone. They're like life Life happens, we shift, we move on the fly. I spent 20 years in the trading pits. We used to say make the trade, manage the risk. And the point was make a decision, move forward, manage what decision you made and make adjustments as you go along, but don't get frozen in not making a decision because you're afraid.
Speaker 1:
Amen.
Speaker 2:
You're not sure what the consequences are going to be. Life is a lot more fun moving forward than it is staying stagnant.
Speaker 1:
One of my favorite quotes is Dwight Eisenhower. He said plans are useless, absolutely useless, but the planning process is essential. And this is the guy that planned D-Day and what he was saying was, whatever you plan for, something's going to be different, Something's going to change. But if you go through the process of planning, then you know how to tweak, how to adjust, how to make that halftime adjustment and go out there and play another half of football. It's amazing. I love that quote. Plans are useless, but the planning process is.
Speaker 2:
I always love the quote by Mike Tyson everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, exactly, exactly.
Speaker 2:
You know, it says it all right there.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, totally, hey, bill, how can our friends find you how can they find your show and interact with you? My friend, my show is called Innovative Strategies for you. It is located on the numbers 216 and then the letters TheNet T-H-E-N-E-T dot com. On every Friday morning from 1030 to 1130 Central Time, and all we talk about is entrepreneurial skills and financial literacy how to build a business from concept to success, and I just bring on different guests such as yourself, and we have these types of conversations to help business owners better understand every possible aspect you can think of in building and growing a business and becoming successful.
Speaker 1:
Outstanding. All right, my friend, thank you so much for being here and everybody else out there. Y'all go find somebody new to meet, find somebody new to talk to about your business and what you do, because that's going to be the only way you'll find folks that will do business with you, don't?
Speaker 2:
hide you so important, yeah, so important. The more people you meet, the better opportunities you're going to find.
Speaker 1:
No reason to hide yourself or your business under a bushel basket. So get out there and meet some folks and have a great time, and I'll see you again next time. Have a great week. I'm Morris Sims.