Special Guest Expert - Mike Jesowshek: Video automatically transcribed by Sonix

Special Guest Expert - Mike Jesowshek: this mp4 video file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Announcer:
Welcome to The MIND BODY BUSINESS Show. The three keys to your success is just moments away. Here's your host, Brian Kelly.

Brian Kelly:
Welcome to The MIND BODY BUSINESS Show, everybody, how are you doing this evening? We have a fantastic, fantastic guest for you tonight. I cannot wait to introduce you to him. You are going to love him, I already do, we will bring him on in just a moment. Just so you know what The MIND BODY BUSINESS Show is all about, real briefly. It's about the three patterns of success that I recognized while following only successful people over the past decade or so. And those were in those three areas in mind, that's for powerful mindset, for an absolute rock solid, positive, flexible mindset. And there are tools and techniques that you can use to do this at a subconscious level and therefore reprogram your brain for, for progress, for peak performance,and then there's body. Body,what is that all about? Well, it's exactly what it means, It's taking care of your body,and that means working out. Yes, I said that four letter word is a lot more than four, but you get it exercising, moving the body and what you put into your body, what you ingest, nutrition, what you eat and what you drink. And to be clear, guys, you don't have to be a bodybuilder, you don't have to be an Adonis to become successful,ladies, you do not have to be a supermodel,you just need to move to exercise on a regular basis,and that gets the endorphins flowing. There's many studies that's been done about all of this. And it is known known fact that when you take care of your body, your mind operates at a higher level and vice versa,when you put good things into your mind and create an unstoppable mindset, then your body in turn operates at a higher level,so the mind and body are a team. And what I like to say, more importantly, the mind and body are your team. And if any member of a team is not operating at their peak level, what happens to the team as a whole? You guessed it, it suffers, and so when you, when you master mindset and taking care of yourself from a physical standpoint, you're you're two thirds of the way to reaching what I call a peak level of performance since the name of the company Reach Your Peak. And the third being business.Now, business is multi faceted, It includes things like sales, marketing, team building, systematizing, leadership skills,the list goes on and on. And look, I get it,we are all just one human being individually, but recognize that if you don't have all of these skill sets, could you possibly find someone who might have that skill set that you just can't seem to grasp? Absolutely, so delegation and leadership, that was one of those skill sets mentioned. That's actually paramount to learn that skill so you can scale your business and we can go deep into that. So tonight we are going to cover several topics in these areas, and it's pretty organic discussion that we're going to have with our buddy Mike Jesowshek, I think I got it right,and we're going to have a great discussion tonight. And just wanted to say that when you have all three mind, body and business, when you've mastered all three, then you're operating at a peak level of performance. And that's where I found that most successful people have done,so that's all you have to do, do is master those three areas. I know, that's all I have to do, Brian, start with one. And if you haven't mastered mindset,that's where I would start personally,It is the foundation for all success, for all failure. Wherever you are today is 100 percent due to your own mindset. And I, it took me too many years to learn that, figure it out and then realize I could fix it and then did,and so I implore you to do the same. So another thing I noticed about very successful people is they are, for the most part, very avid readers,and for that, I like to segway over into a little section that I appropriately named Bookmarks.

Announcer:
(Informational screen) Bookmarks. Born to read. Bookmarks. Ready, steady, read. Bookmarks brought to you by ReachYourPeakLibrary.com.

Brian Kelly:
Yes, there you see it: ReachYourPeakLibrary.com. And so real quick, take out some paper and a pen and take notes vs. going to another tab on your browser or pulling up your phone and looking at resources that you're given during this show because the magic happens in the room, and if you're off reading and scrolling and looking at other things, you're not in the room, so to speak,because I would really hate for you to miss a single word, golden nugget from Mike Jesowshek, who's coming on very soon right after this,this little segment, I promise. So real quick,one of the things like I mentioned that very successful people do is they read and they read a lot, and it's not just any books, It's more about reading the right books that's important. And so I decided after voraciously reading over the past several years, because I was not a voracious reader from the very beginning. I learned another pattern of success and followed it and began reading like voraciously, very crazily in a good way, and what I started doing was compiling an actual library of the books I have read, not just every book that I've read, but only those books that had some positive impact on me. Most of these had profound impact on me, whether it be from business or from personal or from mindset, all related toward growing forward and becoming more and more successful. And so I wanted to put together this resource with you in mind, and that's what I did. This is for you,this is not for me, I've already read these books and I need to add to this list because I see I'm way behind. The thing is, is you don't have to guess anymore, you can go to our site instantly and say, well, at least one successful person has already vetted these books, so I don't have to guess, you just pick one. And that's all you do. Pick one, find one that really talks to you,the first one that does pick it, grab it, read it, and then move on to the next and keep going and read, read, read. And with that, we want to talk about experts in the field of entrepreneurship in business. And you know, a time that means it is it is time to bring on our special guest expert. So let's do that right now, shall we?

Announcer:
It's time for the guest expert spotlight. Savvy, Skillfu, Professional, Adep, Traine, Bigleague, Qualified.

Brian Kelly:
And there he is, ladies and gentlemen, the one the only, Mike Jesowshek. I did it. I got it! I had a little struggle there, but I got through it. From now on, it's gonna be just Mike. How you doing, Mike?

Mike Jesowshek:
Good. Thanks for having me. I'm super excited.

Brian Kelly:
Oh, man. I'm so, so grateful that you're here. Mike's coming to us all the way from Wisconsin, and I am currently live out of the Los Angeles area, Southern California, close to L.A. And so it's wonderful that we get to do this with this technology that we have today, It's amazing. I love technology, but I want to do is bring you on officially, formally in just a moment, Mike,but right before I do, I want to remind our our guests, everyone watching live that stick on to the end. Why would you want to stick on to the end? because I'll tell you why, because I'm going to show you a way you can win a five night stay at a five star luxury resort in Mexico, compliments of our sponsors PowerTexting.com that's Jason and Rhonda,phenomenal people, appreciate them,and one more shout out for another sponsor of ours, It's Mel and Kate Cutler who are the founders of Vocal Eze, I'll put that up there on the camera. Vocal Eze that is an amazing line of supplements to help you with your voice, I use these every single show and there's also lip eze,that is a lip balm,and I use that every single day,and there is also an amazing throat drops with different flavors, and I really I literally, I guess I don't know how else to say it, but I have one of those in my mouth earlier today right before the show to lubricate my throat. So if you're a speaker, if you're a podcaster, or if you do sales on the phone, any of those things, if you're a singer, Vocal Eze, goodness sakes, I cannot imagine life without it. I have a great story about it, I'll tell it another day,It saved my speaking day one day and I had an all day gig to do and my throat was shot until I used Vocal Eze spray,just want to get that quick shout out. Now to the man of the hour, Mike. Mike is the founder of JETRO, a digital modern day accounting firm, Mike has spent the majority of his career as an entrepreneur. He was CFO and co-founded several companies and has experience in all business stages,that's why I love having him here. He set out on a mission to help businesses that have seen and live the same experiences he did in business. This is how JETRO was built, and that's all caps J-E-T-R-0, he has been in the shoes of many small business owners out there and his angle is to help them in one area that most business owners are not familiar with, Oh, I can relate to this one,and that is counting and taxes. Yes, it's awesome to have help in those areas. Mike earned his bachelor's degree in Business Administration and master's degree in Accounting,he is a licensed CPA,and when Mike is not in the office, you can find him spending time with family and friends and of course, golfing. Of course,yes,he is also an avid sports fan,and you can often find him rooting for his Brewers, Badgers, Bucs and Vikings. Man, there's like a there's something going on here, like a pattern there, right there. All right,with that, I like to welcome officially to the show Mike Jesowshek, how are you doing, Mike?

Mike Jesowshek:
I'm doing great, Brian, how are you?

Brian Kelly:
I'm doing fantastic, hey, Don Hope Eric is on,thank you for coming on,for those of you watching live listening, go ahead,give us some like, some loves. Ask a question, if you like, of Mike as we go through the show,and if it's appropriate, we will ask it live right here, we'll give you a shout out,all that good stuff. So great intro, I can't wait to learn more about JETRO. Mike,and one of the things I love to do in the beginning of every show is so now we know about what you do,and now it's what I like to do is dig in a little bit more and find out why you do what you do. And to be more specific is, you know, when we get up in the morning, I know me personally, If you're anything like me, first, get up kind of groggy, you know, kind of come in to swing the feet over the edge of the bed, sit up, OK, come into life, and then, then the conscious part of our world comes into being and we start going, OK,now it's time to the day now that drive, that motivation, whatever it is you have that keeps you going every day,that's when it starts to ramp up. And for you. Mike, what is that? What is that thing or things that motivate you? Each and every day to get up and crush it in your business?

Mike Jesowshek:
Yeah. You know, I think that's a good question,one thing,being a business owner, a lot of times it is hard to see that motivation because things are tough,you have high highs and low lows. But what we're doing and kind of what what our firm is meant to do is we see entrepreneurs every day and I'm working with entrepreneurs every day and they put their heart into everything that they do. And I kind of know that's being an entrepreneur myself is that I put my heart into my business,and so being able to kind of be that backbone for someone that cares so passionately about something they do is really kind of our motivation to know, hey, we're helping these people succeed in something that they care so dramatically about. And so, you know, helping us motivate just people say, what are we doing for businesses every day? We're helping them succeed, and they care so much about that one thing. Another thing at our firm is that we understand and kind of realize that talking to business owners at paying tax is a real problem. Paying too much tax is a real problem, and every business owner we talked to, especially those smaller business owners, think I'm not big enough for tax savings and I'm not big enough for tax strategies because I'm not making a million dollars a year, I'm not an apple, and the fact is, that's simply not true. And so when we wake up every morning, we know that we're providing content, we're helping business owners realize that there are tax saving strategies out there, no matter what their size, as long as they're making a profit,there's tax savings that can be done. So it's just a combination of that,being an entrepreneur ourselves,we know the passion that goes into running a business and helping those business owners do better in their business is just motivation itself.

Brian Kelly:
It's fantastic, you are you are blessed, you and everyone in your crew is blessed that you are working with entrepreneurs every single day. I love entrepreneurs because of like you said, they have so much passion. They put everything they have into what they do. And the other thing is they're so positive minded because if they weren't, there's no way they would be successful. And so I'm a little,you are very blessed,you are very blessed to be able to work with that. And so I had a question,you talked about entrepreneurs, you used that word in there and the description of who you work with,so that just for viewers are clear, who would you say is your ideal client like your avatar, or is it a range of clients? because as we were talking a little bit off camera right before the show, you know, services come around and they look very appealing to many,oftentimes they only cater to those that are really higher in the success realm and not those that are just starting out and leaving those who are starting out kind of in the dust. It's ok, It's ok that businesses do what they do, is just weird,where do you fit in when it comes to that?

Mike Jesowshek:
Yes. I mean, we cater towards your typical small business, so that can be anywhere from zero, you know, a startup business all the way up to, say, 5 million in sales,that's usually kind of our sweet spot and always kind depends on what industry you're in and how that sales number means. Our biggest clients, about 120 million dollars a year,but that's kind of an anomaly, most of my clients fall on that 0 to 5 million range. So being a digital firm, so we're kind of that modern accountant, not the accountant on the corner street or on Main Street in a small town,we're much more modern and digital and so many of our clients are I would say younger generation or at least people that really adapt to technology and kind of look at that as when they see their accountant, their, their old school accountant,that's more of a pain to them because they have to travel to the office and set up appointments that way. So most of our clients are in that modern thinking as well, that they are intrigued by the innovative way that accounting firms are kind of changing now, and so that's why I say normally they're kind of tech savvy as well.

Brian Kelly:
I love that personally and I'm not part of the younger crowd. I'm very tech savvy, though,I'm kind of an outlined in that way, but I love that because I'm so all for a virtual quote unquote business, even though I just mean that by people can work with you from anywhere. You're not a you know, you do exist, you're not just vapor,you are a real business,and I love that I drive just a few miles to see an accountant, and I'd rather not have to even go that far. I mean, that would be phenomenal, I'm all into the digital age, let's do it that way,let's automate this, let me send you an e-mail instead of sit there and watch you scratch with a pen and paper and, you know, look down your nose and say you didn't make very much last year or whatever the case may be. Know, I'd say, you bet,you know, just all that all that fun stuff. I love the digital approach of surely and I know personally quite a few that are very similar to me even in age that would be open to having a solution like yours available to them, and I'll be honest,most that I talked to, we never in entrepreneur circles,the last thing we talk about is accounting that taxes, which probably means none of us either know enough about them or either that we don't want to talk about them or we just are not taking care of that area of our business, which is probably more often the reason because now it becomes a little bit embarrassing if you want to bring it up and say, well, I'm not really doing anything there, I'm just, i'm using- Quick, I'm doing something that whatever online text program there is out there now, which I don't even know,but there are some out there. So good, good to know, thank you for clarifying that.So small businesses all the way to 5 million, even if you're a startup,so now everyone watching and listening knows that Mike is probably a fit for you right from the get go. And so let's dig a little deeper into what makes Mike thick, what his life is like. I like to dig into the more personal things because it's really cool for me and others to understand that you're a human being like everyone else, no matter how successful,we all have, you know, we put our pants on one leg at a time and everything that goes with it. It's just good to know what you're like as a person and what your company culture is like,so you look like a pretty fit guy. We were talking about mind, body, business in the beginning,and so the body part of it. How important is physical fitness to you when it comes to business and then to your personal life? Is there any difference or is it that the same, What is that?

Mike Jesowshek:
Yeah. You know, it's funny that you mentioned that because one kind of niche that we focus in is fitness studios and in the fitness space,and we kind of just fell into that space just because we started with a client that was fitness studio and then just started kind of growing in that space, so it's kind of funny. We work a lot in fitness,and again, the people that work in fitness, the passion that they have for what they do, getting people fit is absolutely incredible. But more on a personal note there's a couple kind of, I would say, routines that I take, so every morning I try to get a workout in. There's just something about starting my day if I don't do that workout, feel like my day is just off to a rough start and that workout can be something as small as running a quick mile or something, as long as I'm doing something before I'm kind of going into the office or or doing anything else, I just feel like my days off to a much better start. And there's one other thing that I often tell in the interviews is that I do something odd, I drink a lot of water throughout the day, and so by drinking a lot of water i go to the bathroom a lot,and I make kind of this test myself is that every time I have to go to the bathroom, I had to do some type of workout so it could be pushups, sit ups, planks, It's just something that kind of breaks up my day a little bit. So I'm you know,by drinking a lot of water It's something that can get me away from sitting down,It also clears my mind, it only takes 30 seconds, 45 seconds, It clears my mind a little bit because I'm focusing on exercise for even a little bit of time and focused, you know, taking my time away from, you know, actually always engaged in client work and things like that. So those are kind of two main things that always trigger you workout in the morning and then a bathroom workout.

Brian Kelly:
Yeah,oftentimes if, if the workout isn't done in the morning, oftentimes it becomes something that never does get done,(smile). I've noticed personally, too, and I was curious. That's a great I love your your strategy there where every time you have to go the restroom, you actually do some kind of exercise. Now, it's curious, does that have to happen before you actually get to the bathroom or does it happen right after?

Mike Jesowshek:
I normally make it something before I go to the bathroom? I'm afraid that after I'm just going to go back back to my office, it's usually something that for sometimes it's really quick, I wait long enough. But yeah, I guess it's just something small, sit ups, pushups, jumping jacks, something like that, just something to get my blood flowing a little bit during the day.

Brian Kelly:
Cool, cool, yeah, I just want to put a little humor in there because for me, you know, a high pressure situation is to be taken care of pretty done quick. I don't know how many reps I could get in, i mean push ups, you know, being at the advanced ripe old age of 55, but it's awesome, It's awesome, that's just fun, fun to chat with you and learn how you operate. That's a I honestly and all in all honesty and seriousness, that's a great, great strategy, and for everyone listening, try that out. I mean, I'm thinking about that myself, you know I can easily drop and do 20, 30 pushups before it becomes, you know, red light time and got to go,but I think that's a great strategy, so thank you for sharing that. And notice he said the word routine, everyone listening,this is becoming another common theme, It is a common theme, It's just every successful person has routines that they follow,It doesn't mean you have to follow Mike's routine, doesn't mean you have to follow my routine, It just means you need to come up with a routine so that things get done that normally wouldn't, just like we're talking,if you didn't work out in the beginning, in Mike's case, the odds of him getting it in during the rest of the day diminish,and it made the odds are less that he'll get it done at all. And so when you have a routine and you stick to it, that that instills discipline, which is very paramount for any successful business. All right off my soapbox, but that was good, good leading for all that,thank you, Mike. Now, when it comes to business, I know everything is super easy ,nothing, you know, everything goes as planned every time when you really reach success, it's just a walk in the park,right. You know, we're talking about mindset,and one of the things all humans have in common is this thing called fear. And, you know, it can be one of those things that keeps you from moving forward, It can just be absolutely paralyzing or it can be something that you've mastered and can handle. We all feel it, It's just how you actually react to it, manage it. So for you, Mike, if you wouldn't mind sharing with everyone, what would you say is your greatest fear? And then how do you manage that fear when it comes up?

Mike Jesowshek:
Yeah, that's a really good question. I think, you know, as a business owner, everyone every business owners fear is it's going to collapse someday or they're never big enough because it can still collapse. And I would say that's one of my fears,and I kind of go, you drill down a little bit deeper into that idea and say, you know, my fear is I don't ever want to work for somebody else. So needing to go back and work for someone else other than myself, that's a fear of mine,and that's probably similar to a business collapsing because that would be the reason to go work for someone else, but, you know, fear is something that can be very dangerous, especially in entrepreneurs, and something I'm passionate about, is helping entrepreneurs through that fear and really trying to alleviate some of that stress or anxiety that's cause behind those fears. You know, one thing as far as that fear of going to work for someone else or business failing,one thing I've always told myself is that ethical businesses will not fall apart. So as long as you're in business and you're planning to have ethical business practices and you're passionate, you have to be an entrepreneur. And I think that there's a lot of people who start businesses that might not be entrepreneurs, when you're passionate and you have that drive,you will succeed and it will not just fall apart. Where you find these businesses that just kind of blow up and go away, It's a lot of times unethical practices or things that they're shady things that are going on and that makes the businesses disappear. Now, you know, a business can get smaller.you might have massive success and then slim down and then have massive success, but nothing just falls apart and goes away unless you have unethical behavior. Such one thing I've always told myself is that we run an ethical practice and that business is never just gonna fall apart. You know, and one thing that I've always took a step back to is, is you have to understand where your successes are. There's that there's that thought process or some people say that you can never have enough money or you can never make enough money or you can never succeed enough, and, you know, when you're a business owner, that does happen. You know, you might say, I want to be this revenue mark and you get to that revenue mark and you like,well, that wasn't great, I want to be double that,and you're always constantly going to have that, have that reaction,but the biggest thing is that when you get faced with something where you have this fear, where you have this worry about whatever it might be, stress, anxiety, sit back and look back at those successes. Look at that time you said, I want to be that revenue mark and then you got to that revenue mark and you weren't happy enough, but when you have massive fear on your shoulders, that's a good way to look back and look at the successes you've had. So that's really kind of how I kind of manage that, that idea of fear.

Brian Kelly:
Great advice and great strategy for managing your fear as well, and, you know, I used to be in the fitness industry myself,just recently, I transition about three or four months ago. And I used to say that clients like, you know, maybe let's just use an example, an easy one, an exercise we call, we call for 10 reps of push, you know, 10 push ups and a client only did four and gets up. And guess what, he or she does,they start kicking themselves in the butt, you know, figuratively saying, my, I failed. And I said, well, did you put everything you had into it? I mean, everything I'm watching is like, well, I can see you did, but I want to hear from you as the guy who did. OK, well, instead of kicking yourself in the butt for the reps you didn't do, give yourself a pat on the back for those you did do, look back and say you were successful just because you didn't reach a 10, don't worry, that will happen. Same kind of,same kind of approach, so that really resonated with what you were seeing there, Mike. And then. So, look, everyone, I'm writing notes, so I hope you are, too. I'm the host of the show and I'm very busy over here, pressing knobs and tweaking things and having a great time. I'm also taking notes because I value everything Michael is saying right now. I love the word dangerous, fear can be dangerous,that is so true, It literally could incapacitate you from moving forward in your business. Fear for making that decision to say yes when you know it's the right decision. You know, when you might have you know, you might be strained financially and you're not sure if you can even afford it,but you just let that excuse and that fear stop you from even looking into, Could there be a way? I overcame that one years ago and it's just been a godsend because I just say yes, and then okay, let's figure it out,if it can't be done, it can't be done,but it's funny,every time something works out when you just jump past it. I don't ever want to go to work for someone else,yeah, that's a big fear,and I love the phrase you said ethical businesses will not fall apart. And it made me think, you know, given what arena you're in,who better to know this? Right,I mean, you see their numbers and you can probably ascertain if they're going, doing things ethically or not based on things, but that. So I love that because, you know, just by you saying that enforces even deeper for those that may think there's something that they're doing that may not be completely on the up and up. Hopefully what you said just kind of pushed them over the edge to say then go the other way and act out a full integrity and ethics. And so I appreciate you saying that phrase, I wrote that one down in quotes, that's a, that's a quote from Mike, that's yours. So great,so you talk about success and you have to understand what your successes are,that's another great one. Well, let's flip that a little bit,so entrepreneurs, we have, we have many successes,we probably have 10 times as many failures to get to those successes. So if you could think of one or two that stick out in your mind and you know, you can reframe that to something other than failure if you want. But what have been some of your failures that you've gone through in your walk, your entrepreneurial walk, walk? And then more importantly, beyond that, what have you learned from them to react and change and improve?

Mike Jesowshek:
Yeah,so we started this kind of modern accounting firm and this was about seven years ago. That firm originated, and it was kind of a new idea back then,not too many people were really jumping on that modern, innovative kind of digital accounting firm. And so at a time, I said we need a project management system to be able handle with employees scattered around the country and clients scattered around the country. We really need a project management system that can manage and handle, you know, the digital type of atmosphere, and I looked around and just could not find something that was built for accountants,that was a project manager system. So i said if we can't find it, let's build it because there's going to be accountants after us that are going to need the same exact thing. And so at that time, we started building out a project management software, and it took about three years to build it. So three years into accounting firm, three years in we finally had this project management software built up, and by that time there was five competitors on the market that was project manager system specific to accountants, and they were all extremely well funded. So us being bootstrapped didn't have much of an option to really take it to market too hard,so we ended up kind of cutting that project. And, you know, I look at that as a failure,but again, it's kind of cliche to say this, but business owners learn from their failures. There's one thing that I've learned from from the software piece, and it's to always have a Minimum Viable Product. So we built all this project management system that was perfect,it was ready to hit the ground and could bring in clients and bring in tons of clients, but it was three years later, and so what we should have done is launched early but had a minimal viable product. So maybe it just had tax management or maybe just did recurring tax and then we bring it to market, see what the interest is out there, get users inside of it, and then we build on the discussions, the comments, the calendars, the files, and you kind of build around that. But that is one area that we if we could go back and do the whole software thing again, we would do that kind of minimal viable product idea. And again, it's just getting as as basic of an item that you can out onto the market to see if there's interest there and then build it up there from there.So, you know, that's kind of our software failure there that we had and the other thing is just testing it first. So when you are building a software, testing the market with it, that see what the attention is out there in, you know, sort of the contrary to that, we've also kind of built out training programs and now these these these initial training for people, how to do their bookkeeping, things like that, where they can do it themselves. And so we built it to put all this work into your building up videos and recording and put them into a training site. And we just gave up too early,so we launched a product,no one came running to us. We did'nt market it, we didn't do anything, so why would anyone come running to us? And we gave up too early. So it's, you know, the lessons mainly learned on both of those two items is have a minimal viable product and make a strong push for it. So don't just put something out there and assume someone's come to the door, make a strong push for your MVP or Minimum Viable Product and see who comes in the door, and then you can really create. Once you have users using it, you can expand that thing quicker and even better make a better product, because it's not just you that's creating this product, now you have all these other users that are also contributing to that idea.

Brian Kelly:
My goodness, I have writer's cramp,that was unbelievable, Mike, in such a wonderful way. My gosh, so many nuggets. I hope everyone else was writing frantically, I could not write fast enough, I probably can't even read what I wrote. The thing I love, there's so many but make a strong push, that is one thing I see time and time again. And you're not alone in this at all, Mike, I'm sure you know that where you build a product, you spend all this time, energy, finances, everything, time of your employees, of your help putting it together, and then wait for people to come to you when really that's the time to now turn up the heat even higher, and market the bugbears out of it, because really no one's gonna know it exists unless you tell them it does. And I'm not,this is not a judgment of any kind, Mike, because I'm in that position right now, I was just telling my wife, literally. I'm in the process of building a info product, a training product, and it's gonna be very large, it's gonna be huge in in in results and in volume of work it takes to put it together, and I was just telling her, I said, yeah, but once I'm done, that doesn't mean it's over,that means it's just beginning,now the push begins. You just said the right word, the push, and the other thing might help people with a strategy here. If you do something like that, like Mike has done with his company, they built software and then three years later, they had competition. Well, you know that that's something you can't ever foresee, there's no way you're going to know that's gonna happen. So I wouldn't actually call it a failure or just maybe an adjustment or a learning to say, let's do it modularity in the future,prioritize what we need the most, finish those out and use them and then maybe release them to the market, maybe just keep them in-house and use them for our own business, because that's why you started to begin with. But, you know, one of the things I did, especially for like a training, I did this also my fitness business is I brought together and I handpicked a beta test group and I brought people in and I charged them zero dollars to use my system, in return, they were going to give me and they did and are giving me feedback on how to improve the product to the point where they would want to buy it at whatever price point I let them decide it's worth. So I put all of those factors in their camp and let them the market,either market like you so aptly said, Mike, is let the market, you know, do some market testing and this was my way of testing. It didn't cost anything for them,it cost me in time. But it also I gained so much in knowledge in how to improve. And then it was ready to launch in this. Think about this. At that same time, I've got built and testimonials ready to go before we even launch, I also have an affiliate team because I give them an affiliate link so they can go promoter and earn a thank you and financial thank you for promoting it. So all these things to help a startup product because it is a daunting task just to build it like you are saying and then to get it then when it's done, it's like you can't take a breath. Now it's time to step on that pedaling go,and that's the thing you guys learn. And I love that you brought that up, It's because I see this so much, you know, so many my friends, I'll build something up,it didn't work. What do you mean what happened? Why? Well, didn't know about it. Why didn't they buy it? Did you market it? Well, I posted on Facebook and said, okay, what else? What's it? Okay.

Mike Jesowshek:
So. Yeah, yeah. And that's one thing is that you had you put so much time and effort into building this one thing and you're so passionate about it. And then you just you spend so much time, you just think you're done. And just like you said, that's not time. It's not time to take a breath. It's time to step on it and get past the gas pedal. And so just you know, that's that's one thing that we've always learned is that when we're building something, it's it's easy to just say, oh, that didn't work. Let's move on to something else.

Brian Kelly:
Very easy,and that's that's what happens. That's typically what happens for those that don't make it past the finish line, If you if you had not you but everyone watching in general had any idea the amount of time and effort that goes into a product after it's finished, completed and ready for the market, what it takes to put on, say, a webinar we're talking a good webinar will take if you're familiar with PowerPoint or keynote, a really well thought out high high closing webinar will be a minimum of 300 slides. I mean, that's a lot of time and effort and work and then rehearsal of that and then so many things. So yeah, you're not even you're you're like maybe one third of the way there when you've completed your product and now it's time to really go after it. I think that's very valuable for people to know, Mike, and I appreciate you bringing that up because I will just do nothing but help them. It will either help them decide that, well, that seems like too much and it's more than I wanted to bite off. So I'm not going to do it. Good. Let's save you time to move into something you are more passionate about that you will see to the finish line or it will be okay,I'm glad, I know that, now I'm prepared to know that when I'm done, I'm not done,that's pretty cool. When I'm done. I'm not done like that. All right. We've got to have fun. We've got to have fun. So you're a very uplifting, positive guy from the moment we started talking this evening right before the show. I could see it all over yo, you have this this era of positivity about you, of energy, of of wanting to help people, that is so apparent to me, just talking to you before the show. That's one of the things that drives you, and so I'm curious if your mentality bleeds over into your organization, your employee base, that's all over in disparate geographic regions. And so what kind of culture have you nurtured in your organization? And then how did you establish it and actually inject it into your organization so that everyone bought in?

Mike Jesowshek:
Yeah. You know, one thing about our culture is that we we do it as a team, traditional accounting, when people think of the traditional accounting firm, there's these levels you put in three years,you're an associate, you put in three years, you're a senior to a manager to just these levels where you just basically put time in and you're going to advance. And, you know, when we started out, when we said we want to do things differently, we're not going to be your average accounting firm. And so when it comes to culture, we want to do more of a team approach,everyone's equal. Now, some might have more that the responsibilities might be more important because they're working on higher level stuff,but we don't have seniors and managers and partners and everyone's on a level playing field. It's just the type of work that they're doing changes,and so, you know, as mentioned with our with our team, we're all virtual,we're all remote. And so that culture,some people say, how do you have a culture when you're when you're working remotely,and it's because we had this mindset that even though we are working remotely, we're on a team together. We're communicating with each other often,and we look at as a level playing field where we're all in this together,we're all in this to succeed together, we're all in this the hard times,we're all going to go through that together. And so it's just more of that collaboration, a team effort that we that we do in one way that we've been able to do that is that we give or I give my employees full control. So they have full access and control to manage a client,I don't hide clients from them or say, oh, you can't talk to that client before talking to me. Our employees have full access to our clients,they can reach out to them,they they drive much of the communication with them in that i just given them confidence that they're able to communicate not just with the person above them or their manager. They're able to communicate direct with the client,and they love that,they feel like they have so much more control and it feel like they're actually playing such a bigger role in our organization. You know how successful we can be. Another thing is, is we encourage employees to bring ideas, we're open to change, We're kind of hope to change and look to always change,and so instead of what you change, I say bring ideas, I'm not the smartest man in the room. So bringing ideas on how we can do things better and let's talk about it as a team, you know, I might have built out a process or something that we do in our firm, and I know there's a better way to do it. I just don't know it myself personally, and so that's where I rely on my team to bring those ideas to the table, what should we be dooing differently? How can we be more productive? And again, doing that as a team. So it's not just me saying this is how our firm is going to operate,it's our team deciding how our firm is going to operate. And, you know, again, it's just kind of reiterating that idea that by giving employees control, letting them bring ideas to the table, you know, it helps our employees know that they're we're all in this together. We can all succeed together, If we have a rough time, we're all going to get through it together, and so it's just kind of that team type atmosphere almost like as we're one big family.

Brian Kelly:
I think that's that's genius, because I'm, I'm just begun hearing about this approach. In fact, I started doing it myself with apprentices that I have and I've learned so much as a result of it. It works, It just works when you give them more control or more responsibility, more would like to call ownership of what they're doing,you know, they get, what you're doing is you're taking away micromanagement and you're infusing, you know, go get them. You're telling them you want them to be creative and and not just figure it out on their own, but to be someone that contributes. Right. And when they feel they're contributing, they feel they are more valuable to the team, to the company, and they feel better about themselves,and that's a phenomenal approach. I know a multimillionaire friend of mine who said he does just that and he takes it a step further, or maybe not. Maybe you do this as well, but he will give them everything they need, not just to get the job done and excel, but also train them to the point where if they ever wanted to, they could easily leave his company and start their own life. Wow. That is phenomenal,that's right. and that's what I've been doing with my apprentices,but my apprentices have a very finite time with me, I already know that,so I want them to excel when they're done. And that was a great lesson to hear him say that. So that,yeah, with all employees as well, do the same thing. And he said the only bummer was, yeah, you got to train the next person coming into that. Well there's are solutions to that as well. So I really relate to what you're saying, Mike, because the results are, they're the key to it. they are they are the the evidence, right, and that is they're happy. They are more productive for your company, and you are more happy. Right, because you're not thinking about what is Joe and Melissa and Fred and Mary, what are they all doing? Well, because you let them and set them free, You don't have to really concern yourself. All you need to concern yourself is with the result they're getting and make sure they're going about it in an integrity based. And, you know, along with your culture values system, your mission, your purpose of your company is that it's freeing for everybody.

Mike Jesowshek:
Yeah, absolutely.

Brian Kelly:
And a successful business model, because you you as a team get things done faster with more passion, with more gusto. And the quality of the end product is always much higher, I've seen it, I know you've seen it. So I just hope more people integrate this because I've been in micromanaging situations where I was not the one doing the micromanaging and I didn't like it.

Mike Jesowshek:
Yeah, is not the best place to be in.

Brian Kelly:
adjustment, mightIs it's the worst, It's like I don't,first of all, I don't like being told what to do. Second, then to make it worse,don't tell me when to do it. Third, don't tell me especially how to do it. Well, then you want a robot. I'm not the right person for you,you need anyone else? So I love, yours is complete opposite of that, given the freedom, the rain to basically you give them full control in your words. That's awesome. So how important is it to you and your company to have good employees? Now we're talking about the people that work with you. now how do you know if you have a good employee? How important is that to your success versus maybe one that didn't work out so great? How how important is it to have good employees? Any business such as yours?

Mike Jesowshek:
Yeah, I mean, it's everything,and we look back at that idea used to micromanaging, with micromanaging, I think sometimes you can get away with having some employees and on a real good fit because you can force them and do them in these things. And, you know, it's it's kind of like here's here's what we're doing. But when you have this atmosphere where it's collaboration, it's team, it's giving clients employees control, you need to have employees that are a good fit and employees that are good. And so in our business, that's everything. We've had situations where we've had great employee, great people, great accountants in our firm,it's just they didn't kind of fit that idea of being virtual, being modern, being innovative, being in control themselves. And it's not a good fit for the firm, it's really disruptive to our organization when we have someone that is not a good fit. And so it's nothing saying that they're not a good Accountants or they're not good at doing their job,it's a combination of being a good employee, good at what you do, but also a good fit for your for your organization, and so that's what we found a lot in our space is that we're interviewing. Yes,we care about, you know, where your skill set comes from, but it goes more beyond that and say, OK, how are you going to look in this team? How are you going to communicate with other team members and how are you going to be able to adapt that from working from home, you know, is one example, is working from home is a lot different from working in an office. And if you worked in an office for 40 years, working from home might be a hard sound great, but a weekend, you're not going to like it,and we've found people that have had situations like that. So it's in a review process,it's drilling down early in saying, OK, let's get the skills part once we know you're a skilled person. Let's find that culture,let's make sure that you have the same belief systems that we do, the same passion that we do, and then you're going to be an awesome employee.

Brian Kelly:
That is so wise words of wisdom, because many companies will put all of their eggs in the skill set basket and say, you know, if you don't meet these skills, then we're not going to hire you,or conversely, if you do, you're in, I don't have to have you come in and talk to you, because I see on your resume it says you have everything we need. And that is a huge mistake, and I know this personally because, you know, that's what I do. I hire less on skillset and more on everything you just said. How are you going to fit into this? Into my culture of my company? How are you going to communicate with my team that's already in place? And how open are you going to be to and how, you know, how are you going to be about taking control? Because not everybody likes to take control. Some just want to be told what to do and when to do it. They they are out there, many of them. And so if they don't fit the model of, you know, actually being creative and being able to think on their own two feet, then they're not a fit for me. They must have an entrepreneurial spirit, at least at a minimum. In that creativity sense, and they must also be positive. Like most entrepreneurs are and I'll never forget, I did bring on one apprentice who had just a tiny shred of skill in video editing. I needed someone in video editing. I said, you know what, I need so many things. I don't care if you do video editing. I have so many things to do. I want you to see know when you come on board. I'm going to lay them out in front of you. You pick what you want to do because they only to get done. And then you picked video editing and she turned out to be one of the greatest video editors I've ever seen. And she didn't have that much experience. So the experience meant really little. It was about her her ability to adapt, to learn, her willingness to learn. And she excelled because of the culture, you know, the team atmosphere we had and everything you just said. So. Man, you where we like separated at birth. There's something I've noticed some interesting commonalities here.

Mike Jesowshek:
And that's one aspect, too, is when we hire someone, we require them to shoot a video and include that with their cover letter. And it's because that idea is that that's something that we do with clients. We're on video. We're shooting videos for clients. And so that's something that we do in our firm. There was a ton of resumes that came through that looked like great skillful person with a great background history, but they never submitted a video. And so that was that first. Okay. Maybe you're good at what you do, but you're not a good fit for our culture.

Brian Kelly:
That's genius. Submit a video. I love that. I'm going to incorporate that from now on. I mean, you could save my gosh, what a time saver. I mean, yeah, my first in my first touch is a zoom call so I can see them. But if they've already sent me a video and said, oh, my gosh. We're not gonna go forward. I'm not going to spend an hour on the phone with you or you have a pretty good idea. All right. This might be a fit. I got more questions for you. That's genius. It's a big time saver. I love that. A great filtration device.

Mike Jesowshek:
Yeah.

Brian Kelly:
So you've been an entrepreneur a long time and I imagine. Well, you said it. You said one of your biggest fears was to go back and work for somebody else.What what would you say as an entrepreneur? What would you say has been your absolute favorite part of being an entrepreneur? For those out there, that may not be won right now, but just what is your favorite part of being an entrepreneur?

Yeah, for me, it all comes down to control and you know, me having the ability to determine my destiny. When you're working for a company, there's only so far up that you can go. And you don't have control for a lot of that stuff. You don't have control over who your manager is, who you know. A lot of that progression, your career you don't have control over. And so as an entrepreneur, you determine where you go. you determine what you do, you determine what your business is, how fast are going to succeed or how slow you're going to go if you want. It just stays small and and make a good income. You have the potential. So it's it's it's a lot of in your control part of that that I've loved as being an entrepreneur. And I say flexibility as part of that, too. But at times I say flexibility or or not, because sometimes depending on how you know what type of work you're doing. That flexibility is you're always working. So you think you're you go home at night and you're sitting on your couch with your laptop or something like that. So that there is a lot of times, too. That flexibility is you're always working. But that, I think, ties well into that. Determine your own destiny. I'm fine. Spending a couple hours at night doing more work because I know where it's going to take me versus spend a couple hours at night watching TV or something like that. That's not going to make hockey succeed any quicker.

Brian Kelly:
True. True. And it is important those watching to have a downtime of some kind at some point. You know what? A burnout. I just want to make sure we slip that in, because I'm very much like you, Mike, in that in fact, for me. I love what I do so much. I don't even call it work. And I'll be down till I'll look up and go, oh, my gosh, it's already 1:00 in the morning. I better get my butt to bed because tomorrow will be long if I don't get there quick. And so you use the word control. And just to clarify, everyone out there, I'm sure they get it. But it's not to be control. Lean is to be in control of his own destiny. Yeah, I use the word a term for what you are describing. I would call it liberation. You're free to do what you want when you want how you want to do it doesn't mean you're going to be successful is no guarantee. But you're free to choose to make the choices that will either make you successful or not and you get to learn along the way. And I say you get to not have to because it's a privilege. I love what I get to do every single day, every single night. I just I love it. I love it. It's a it's a privilege to do this. Goodness sakes, we are five minutes to the end of the show already. Is just not good. So there's one question I'd like to end the show with. With each of the guests I've had come on the show prior to you, Mike. And the thing is, it's a it's a very unique question and it's it's very profound. And I love to ask this question to close the show because of that reason. It's very unique. But before we do that, I promised everyone before this or at the very beginning of the show that I would show them a way they could win a five nice day at a five star luxury resort in Mexico. And so I'm going to segway into that right now. Just flashed up on the screen for those of you watching. This is the time, the only time you get our permission to pull out your phone, take your gaze off of well, you stuff to look. You still have to look to look at it, but you can type in this phone number (661) 535-1624 into your phone, your cell phone. Make sure it's a mobile phone and text toward PEAK - P-E-A-K - type that in a little message feel down there at the bottom. Some need to be told exactly how to do this. That's OK. And then press that little blue triangle or whatever color is that sends the message off. I'm sure if you've texted in the past, you know how to do this. So ones in the to field where you would normally type in the name of the person you're going to text instead type in (661) 535- 1624. And then in the message area type in the word PEAK - P-E-A-K - send it off. We pick one winner every single show again sponsored by PowerTexting.com and we tonight have a co-sponsor of one more time vocal Eze , is the name VocalEze.com. You see it's E-Z-E. VocalEze.com throat spray lip balm. It's called Lip Eze and there's Vocal Eze throat drops. I use every single one of these, especially on show night. And any of you that are speakers, salespeople on the phone using your voice a lot. These are a godsend. I kid you not. All right. Back to the man of the hour. And this is this is that question that is so profound. And, you know, if you happen to be sweating bullets right now, I wonder what the heck is this because of the big buildup? Mike, don't worry about it, because here's the thing. There is no such thing as a wrong answer to this question. It doesn't exist. There is no no wrong answer. In fact, the exact opposite is true. The only correct answer is yours, Mike, because it is very unique to you. So with all that that build up and we do have one more give away right after this. So stick with us. Don't forget. Stick with us. One more giveaway. And that is. Are you ready for this question, Mike? With all that build, let's do it. All right. All right. You asked for it. It's good. And whatever amount of time you need to take to answer it is perfectly fine because it's so unique to you. Or it may come to you instantly. Either way, it's perfect. All right. Here we go.

Brian Kelly:
You sure you're ready?

Mike Jesowshek:
I'm ready.

Brian Kelly:
All right. Mike Jesowshek. How do you define success?

Mike Jesowshek:
Well, that's a good question. You know, success. Not when I look at it. When I sit back and I'm Seventy years old, I say, did I have a successful life? It's going to come down to did I have the ability to do things when I wanted to. So when I was when I was when I was in my working life, if I want to take my family on a vacation, could I take my family on a vacation? Was I kind of strapped always to this idea of work? And that's you know, we talk about some of our fears, and that's also one of my fears. I'm always afraid to be always strapped to work. Everyone knows that person that you call them. They can never do anything weekday weekend because they have to work the next day or they work in then. And so success comes in a lot of different ways. There's people that can have no career and very little money that can be very successful. And it's just depending on what their mindset is to create that success. And so I think that as each individual, we always we always have that mindset of what success is. And as you mentioned, it's different for everybody else. It's different for everybody. My mindset and my my reasons for success, I always say, is an early retirement or none as soon early retirement. But the ability to stop if I wanted to and to lower hours. And so I've always set a goal is when I'm 45 years old, I want to have the ability to be able to retire if I want to. And that means that if I need to get up and stop working for the rest of my life, I could do that. Now, I don't see myself doing that or wanting to do that. I think I'm always going to want to have that passion and something that drive to do something. But at least you have that that option to do that. And so that's what success is to me. I can be 45 years old and have the ability to retire if I wanted to or at least limit my hours and work as much or as little as I want to because I have built something allows that that would be successful to me.

Brian Kelly:
Fantastic. And I didn't mention this earlier, but no, two of my past guests have answered this question exactly the same way. And it's still happening. You are no different and I love it. I imagine someday I will hear one of the hey, I've heard this one before finally. And I'm glad they're not the same, though, to be honest, they're all unique. And I like basically to paraphrase one of the things you said was our mindset defined success. And that's so true because it is so unique to each one of us. And the ability to stop when I want to. I mean, yeah, that's a great definition of success. And you know why it's so great? Because it's your definition and that's what it means to you. It's also a really great one to hang anyone else's hat on. I like it. So you don't have to have just one reason for success. But, you know, that's awesome. That's amazing. Amazing response. And the thing I noticed also is it's never, ever like money centric. Meaning? Well, I well, I define success when I make my first 10 million or something to that effect. It's never that it's usually what will making whatever amount of money helped to get me to. What what liberation point does it bring me to? Right. How did what does it enable me and my family to do together? That's what it really means. Instead of being money centric, those that just start out, that's where they're thinking money, money, money. And then those are a little bit more mature or even far more mature. Like you. There's like, no, it's not about money. It's about, you know, money is part of it. No, don't get me wrong. But it's not the definition of success, which I love to hear this. And, you know, and the other part about you saying, I don't think I'll ever stop. That's that's an entrepreneur to the core. The blood of an entrepreneur flows forever until the last beat of our heart, because we just want to continue to do what we do and serve people passionately to help others. So I know that's the way you operate. Mike, I appreciate you. Before we let you go, one more thing. You had something to unveil to our audience. And so what I wanted to do is just switch it over to you and bring up your slide at the same time and you can describe what it is, the one hour consultation we're talking about. Just to be a quick reminder, go ahead and take it away.

Brian Kelly:
Yeah. So, you know, anyone that comes to us that wants to have their taxes looked at. See if there's potential for tax savings. Tax strategies wants to have their bookkeeping looked at to see if they're doing it correctly or whoever that is doing it correctly. Feel free to go to our website, go to the contact form, books a time with me. We'll jump on. We'll do a tax review to see what tax savings potential there is for you. And I'm sure there will be a lot in look at your bookkeeping as well. And also, if anyone does mention the show and becomes a client of ours, will also give you your first month free.

Brian Kelly:
Fantastic, i was scribbling notes. And so to add to that a little bit. Their website is JetroTax.com. So it's J-E-T-R-O-TAX.COM. And what would be the best way for them to literally reach out and touch you? Would it be to the contact menu item we see on the screen?

Mike Jesowshek:
Yep. They go directly to the website and press the contact button, submit their information, though no mobile to contact me there or hit me like a social media platform as well. I'm all over LinkedIn and Facebook, Twitter, Instagram almost as well.

Brian Kelly:
Fantastic. Yes, they know how to spell your name and can do that. I commend them.

Mike Jesowshek:
if you search JETRO. really, you should find some somewhere that comes around me as well.

Brian Kelly:
All right. Fantastic. So, you know, you're at the right place on their website. If that's the way you choose, if you see a form like this on as you see this on the video playing live at this moment or recorded when you watch it later. My goodness. Mike, I cannot say how much I appreciate you coming on the show. What value? Goodness sakes. I I literally I have very few spots on my people where I can write anything else. And that's a good sign. You had so many wonderful points. For those of you that watched and listened, I would recommend going back and doing it one more time, because I'm sure there are things that were said the first time that you weren't picking up. This is true of reading a book more than once. You always pick up more things a second time. And the reason I say that is because the value is immense. From what Mike did tonight, it's immense. Not always at this level on the show from past guests. They're all great. This one was definitely a immense. There are other immense ones as well. But I think you Mike, you crushed it tonight for for my audience. For our audience, for anyone watching this as it's been spread worldwide, wide, far and wide. Podcasts everywhere, video all over the place. It's a it's just being spilled everywhere so people can get your message and learn how to operate a business successfully. But definitely reach out to Mike for those you are already starting a business or if your startup anywhere up to even exceeding five mil a year for their services. Thank you for doing that for even the little man, Mike. I appreciate that as well on behalf of everyone else. So any last parting words of advice or wisdom from you, Mike? Before we call it a night?

Mike Jesowshek:
No, Brian, you know that the one thing I would say when it comes to taxes for a small business is look at taxes as tax. Look at tax planning when you think about taxes , so just preparing and file your tax return. Think about tax planning, things you can do throughout the year and then when you when you file your taxes. That's just an information return outlining the strategies that you put in throughout the year.

Brian Kelly:
Very good. Oh, my goodness. That's a great tip. Great way to end it. Thank you, Mike. Thank you, everyone, for watching and listening live. I appreciate you and those of you are watching and listening recorded. Appreciate you as well. That's it for this episode of The MIND BODY BUSINESS Show. We'll see you again next week.For now, this is Brian Kelly on behalf of Mike the Man, Jesowshek. And we will see you again next time. Be blessed. So for now, thanks.

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