Read The Transcript

Connect with Jay
https://jscottconsultingservices.com/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/business-minds-coffee-chat/id1539014324
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdfk7jDEt9erLpG1lmjSVuw
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jay-scherr-b27b0a22/

Connect with Russ
https://russjohns.com/
https://thepiratesyndicate.com/
https://nextstepnext.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nextstepnext/

Audio digitally transcribed by Descript

Introduction: [00:00:00] Welcome to the #PirateBroadcast™, where we interview #interestingpeople doing #interestingthings. Where you can expand your connections, your community, #kindnessiscool and #smilesarefree. Let’s get this party started.

Russ Johns: [00:00:10] And it's a #PirateBroadcast™ kind of day. And we have pirate Jay in the house. Good morning, Jay.

Jay Scherr: [00:00:17] How you doing? Good morning, Russ. I'm fantastic. It is great to see you and hello all of those that are watching and listening and to the pirate nation out there, it's good to see ya.

Russ Johns: [00:00:29] We connected a while ago and you were on the #PirateBroadcast™ earlier.  For some of the individuals that may not know you and may not recognize the greatness that exists in the show today, share a little bit about what you're focusing in on and who you help cause you help small business owners all over and give us a roadmap on what that looks like.

Jay Scherr: [00:00:51] Yeah, absolutely, be happy to. So my primary business is a business coaching and consulting business called Jay Scherr Business Consulting and as you mentioned, I do work with small businesses and many small service-based businesses and really helping them to build a solid foundation so they can grow their business efficiently, effectively and see better results because really what it's about is creating better outcomes and better legacies. And the reason that I focus on small businesses and many service-based businesses is I found throughout the years in my corporate career, which was 32 years long, worked with a lot of different small businesses. During those years, I found that the service-based businesses, that owners are so incredibly talented with their trade. So they're very good with their hands or whatever skill it is that they employ in their business. Yet  working on the business side of it, that piece of it tends to suffer as that business grows. So I found that I had a skill set for being able to take my experience and helping those businesses create that solid foundation, give them the tools and the resources to grow their business the right way. And they started to see much better results. It just it's a ripple effect. So not only does it help the owner's family, but employees, and it just keeps going from there. So that's where I spend a significant amount of my time. And then also we share our passion for what we're doing right now and that is in the podcasting space. And so I also have a podcast called Business Minds Coffee Chat, where I just interview remarkable business leaders and influencers who are... they're game changers, and they're making a positive impact in the world. And just being able to share those insights and some great information that can help a business owner be able to see change in their business. And so that's where I spend a significant amount of my time.

Russ Johns: [00:03:12] And you have to love the idea that these conversations that we have with business owners and people that are producing content and just putting themselves out there, there's a real affinity for just helping each other out and adding value. We were talking before the show about adding value and that's really what's at the core, that's what it's really about, I think in terms of supporting business owners and supporting everything around us. I think it's really important for people to understand.

Jay Scherr: [00:03:45] Yeah, no, I completely agree. I look back on the podcast side when I first started that it was actually a pivot from something else that I was doing, where I would bring different business leaders together. We would meet at various locations and really just mastermind. Sit together as a group, talk about challenges they're facing and their personal lives, their business lives, and the group would come together, share ideas, share best practices. And every leader that was around that table would walk away with something, something tangible that they could apply some sort of value add. And really it wasn't me. It was the group and bringing those ideas together that made the biggest difference. And then when the pandemic hit and we could no longer meet in person, I said there has to be a way that I can continue to facilitate something that's going to bring added value. And that's really where the podcast started. And then it's just, as I'm sure you've seen over the years, it tends to take on a life of its own. And I'm fortunate from that standpoint. And I love the ability to be able to share that information and look, if it helps one person, fantastic. That's really what it's about is getting the information out there, providing something that's tangible and actionable that could potentially make a change in someone's world.

Russ Johns: [00:05:24] And the interesting thing about it, Jay, is that there are so many people that we don't know that might be listening, that are receiving value from the conversations that you're having on the podcast. I was listening to your interview with I think it's Steven Coon.

Jay Scherr: [00:05:42] Yes. Thank you for listening.

Russ Johns: [00:05:44] Yeah. Fascinating story. And we go back and I wanted to touch base on something you mentioned earlier and talking about Steven, is legacy. We all have a legacy to leave. And the thing that is unique in our situation right now is that because we're digitally recording all of these events and activities, that this information will live on long, long after we're gone. And hopefully this information will find a home and produce value in somebody else's life. So talk a little bit about what your legacy, what you think about when you think about that as it relates to your business and helping other business owners create a legacy.

Jay Scherr: [00:06:27] Yeah. Good question. And thank you for that.  When I think about it, I want to tell you a quick story and this is really the why behind my business and why legacy is important. So many years ago, I, when I was growing up, I was fascinated with business as a young child I was fascinated with business and around the dinner table my parents would talk about local businesses. What was going on, who was successful, what business wasn't doing well, and  it was near and dear to my heart. And I went to work for my uncle's business and he owned a refrigeration company. And then he evolved into refrigeration as well as restaurant equipment. And my uncle who's no longer living, but he was just an incredible trades person. He knew the mechanics, right? He grew up tinkering with cars and  figuring things out, could take things apart, put them back together again. So he had that type of mechanical mind. So he starts this small business, and as the business starts to grow like many other businesses, we were focused on doing the work, but we're not necessarily focused on the running the business part. And so I'm working for him and I could see that he was working incredible hours. He would go to work early. He was always up at 3:30, four o'clock in the morning. And my family was a very tight knit family and we would get together for these family dinners and my uncle wouldn't show up until seven o'clock at night. So he's working the entire day. He would come home and he was covered in grease and covered in the grime of the day. What changed in his business was when they brought someone in, they brought a business coach in who understood the business side, didn't necessarily know refrigeration and restaurant equipment, but knew how to put a structure in place in the business and the key areas to focus on. And when that happened, I could see a change, not only in my uncle, but in the business itself. And that is the turning point where I saw that, knowing that one person can make a difference like that and can change the trajectory of a business, which ultimately changed the legacy that individual leaves. That is magnificent. And that resonated with me. And that stayed with me through my formative years. It stayed with me after college and in my corporate career. And I just kept going back to that small business owner. And when you can change a life like that, and when you can create a better outcome and when you can allow a business owner and their team to be able to not only enjoy what they're doing, but to be able to go home at the end of the day and know that they succeeded, that they're making serious progress and that they're creating a better life for their family.  That's an awesome feeling. And it's an awesome responsibility, quite frankly, as well. That's what matters to me. And that's what I keep seeing every time I work with a new client or have a conversation with a potential client.

Russ Johns: [00:10:18] It's interesting that seed was planted in your family very young and it carried a thread throughout your life. And now you're fulfilling that ambition to help other business owners in their legacy.

Jay Scherr: [00:10:33] Yeah. I really appreciate the fact that I had the opportunity to not only have those experiences, but that I was able to see it firsthand and not just hear about it, but have the experiential knowledge and Russ, every time I have the opportunity to have a conversation with a business owner, I just enjoy the engagement. I enjoy the opportunity to learn more about what they're experiencing, right? Not only the challenges that they face, but also the excitement of creating a business of hopefully being able to grow a business. And it's just, it gives me so much energy and so much pride to be able to have these kinds of conversations and know that you're helping them be able to create something extraordinary.

Russ Johns: [00:11:32] It's a wonderful feeling when you can add value and know that what you're sharing is going to help someone move their business forward. It's really amazing. We got Elize in the house. Good morning, Russ and Jay. She's I think I want to say she's from South Africa. So Russ over from Oregon. Russ Hedge is here and look who joined us, Jay. Rob Thomas, Jay Scherr is awesome.  Love you, man. Wendy Weiner says, good morning pirates. Welcome to the pirate ship, Jay, you have a fantastic voice. Reassuring, confident, passionate about the value you bring. Good to have you on board the rocky waters of business today. Prevent entrepreneurial seasickness of transition, post pandemic.

Jay Scherr: [00:12:22] Very nice. Thank you so much, Wendy and Wendy, I know in listening toRuss' show that you are an active listener and participant, so thank you for always being in there and for chiming in, and it's great to see the engagement here. I love that. And thank you all.

Russ Johns: [00:12:41] It's fascinating. Cause we all have people like that. You network you're in business. The mastermind concept, I've been in masterminds for years that I truly believe in and support them. And one of the things that they bring to the table, Jay, that I wanted to have you expand on is the idea that we can't always see what others see. And what I mean by that is you might have an experience that you could look at my business and say, Russ, if you just did this and this, you could move, you could scale, you can move, you could make life so much easier. And those are kinds of experiences that we can actually share with other people in a mastermind group or a networking group or  some sort of a collection of individuals. And just like the #PirateBroadcast, the community is so involved and engaged that there's a lot of people that call me on the side and we have conversations offline and it's really supportive to have that infrastructure as a business owner because we're all trying to figure this out and it's just a journey. You just have to figure out, okay here's something that needs to be fixed or here's something that needs to be figured out. I don't have the answer, but I know somebody that might have an answer. So knowing people that know people is a good thing. So how does that impact your business? Specifically when you go out and you're helping business owners, is it like getting them the help they need or is it advising them on things that they may not see in their own business? What is it, the secret sauce that you add to the value of that business? Talk a little bit about, expand on that.

Jay Scherr: [00:14:18] Sure. So it's a combination of what you just mentioned and then taking it to another level. So I look at a lot of the work that I do is advisory based where a client or company may contact me and they're just stuck in their business. They keep hitting against a certain ceiling and they're not quite sure what they can do to navigate around that. So that could be one component where I may take a look at their business, ask them obviously a number of questions to learn as much about the business as I can and about how they manage and really dig deep on those challenges that they're facing. And here's the thing, and this is something that  as you were asking the question, a word that immediately came up in my mind was perspective, right? We all, every one of us, we all have blind spots. And if you don't believe me, then take a look at the optic nerve and you're going to find that there's actually a hole in that optic nerve that creates a blind spot. And this is true. This is science-based. We all have it. And what happens is our brain fills in that hole. So we don't even know we have it, but we all have blind spots and those blind spots carry over into our lives, both personally and professionally. And because we're so  in the work that we do every day, that it's very difficult sometimes to pull that lens back and be able to get greater perspectives so we can see all of the different moving parts. So where you mentioned that, perhaps I could take a look at your business and say, hey Russ, I see this is a challenge. Maybe try this, try that. If I'm able to do that, it's only because not only do I have experience in a lot of different areas, but I can look at things from a different perspective, right? So that piece of it is very important. And that's one of the quickest ways that you can make change in a business is to have another set of eyes. Take a look at your business and whether it's me or someone else, but have someone else, have an advisory board, almost like a board of directors or a personal board of directors to help you look at not only your goals, which your mission is how you operate, right? How you show up in the market, how you show up for your customers, how do you treat your customers? How do you walk them through the customer experience? All of those areas that can have an immediate impact on your bottom line, as well as your top line. Those are great areas to look at. And, if you ask better questions, you'll get better results and knowing the kinds of questions to ask is incredibly important. I'm working with customers in a lot of different ways, but that mastermind component  is important. So there are times when, if I'm working with a business and if they're not part of some sort of business group organization, I will certainly introduce them to, whether it's a national group, whether it's a local group, because everyone can benefit from being surrounded by others who have gone through a similar experience, who have been there. Who've done that, who are where you want to be and you can feed off of that. There's so much energy there, and there's so much valuable information. As an example, Rob Thomas, who popped on here a moment ago, hopefully he's still listening. Rob has a great group of business professionals who come together and it's not just talking about their business, it's solving problems, it's solving business challenges and when you can get different perspectives, when you can get different viewpoints, then that really allows you to challenge your own beliefs and grow beyond where you are today.

Russ Johns: [00:18:37] One of the catch-22s that I always I always see myself jumping into at times, is this. I think it's really cool. I think I'm solving a problem cause it's solving a problem for me. And I get so involved in the creative process and the construction of this solution, that there been many times in my career that I've forgotten to ask if anybody else's interested in it. It's like you've got to sell it. It's yeah, that's nice Russ. That's a nice little thing he created. I'm not willing to pay for it, but, thanks for creating it, but... perspective, and sometimes working in your business is not the same as working on your business, and so having a new perspective and a fresh look, have a fresh set of eyes looking at it is absolutely critical. I want to give a shout out to Luke Papineau. Luke, love you, man. Luke is out of Seattle. He does some great things in technology, Luke and I have been connected, here's the sidebar story is Luke... I was in IT. I was in IT since 1992 or something like that. Technology. Luke was the first individual that sold the company that I was working for and doing work for some of the hardware that I used to build out networks. And we became friends, so over the years we've done business back and forth and just had a great friendship. And the reason I bring this up is because much like Rob Thomas, it's a relationship. It's an introduction to the conversation. And it's really important for us to hold onto these connections and collaborate because you don't know when somebody needs your business. You don't know when somebody needs your help, but you go out there. I was just having this conversation with Howard Kaufman yesterday. Great point about recognizing blind spots and the importance of an advisory board. I'm thinking through some of the challenges in my business right now, and I was bouncing them off Howard. And then I had an ask. Somebody needs some help in another area of business.  If you have an IT person, a contract individual in Phoenix, I need to talk to you. So if you're listening, I need an IT person in Phoenix. So the point I'm making, long story short, is relationships and helping people and adding value is the thread of this conversation. And you do it so well. Rob Thomas does it well. Luke does it well. Howard does it well. Wendy is an excellent... Russ, everybody in here, the common thread is everybody's adding value.

Jay Scherr: [00:21:14] That's such a massive point. And it's something that Russ, I wish that I had known earlier on in my career. I just didn't understand the value of my network. And so for years, when I was in my corporate role, I had lots of businesses that I did work with. I had helped a lot of businesses, but what I didn't do is I didn't spend time cultivating that network. And you've heard it before that your network is your net worth. And so once I realized that I'm missing an opportunity here, there's a way that I can serve at an even higher level and provide much more value than what I was doing right through building the network through cultivating. Those relationships and helping to connect other people together because that's where the power is. And once I understand that, my life changed and then I really went all in and became incredibly active and so many different business organizations and service organizations to just look for ways to bring something to the table, to be able to help someone. And it makes all the difference in the world. So here's the one piece of advice that I would share with anyone and this is just through my own experience, that is to start as early as possible to recognize the importance and the value of building a strong network. And be conscientious about it, right? Look for ways to serve first. Look for ways to provide something to someone else before you're asking for something in return. I believe in the law of reciprocity, but I believe that we should give and give, before we ask. And when we do that, magic starts to happen. And there's been so many opportunities that have presented themselves because of that approach and looking at things through the eyes of service first. So in the words of Harvey Mackay, dig your well before you're thirsty.

Russ Johns: [00:23:52] Amen to that one. Amen to that one. I just want to make sure that... Michael Baker says, clarification and definiteness of purpose. He's in from Florida. Also follows up with strategy. And Luke says, thanks for the shout out Russ. You make business and friendships easy, by the way, I can connect you with IT people in Phoenix. Oh, beautiful. See what I'm talking about?

Jay Scherr: [00:24:19] Yes.

Russ Johns: [00:24:19] All you gotta do is ask. Sometimes we fail to ask, Jay, and we fail to recognize it. It's like I could do this on my own.  I got this covered. I don't need any help. It's much easier to ask.

That

Jay Scherr: [00:24:31] is so, so true. And I'm watching, the folks that are part of the#PirateBroadcast™ here who are sharing, who are listening  and they're taking the information and they want to be able to share their insights, share their voice and I think that is outstanding. There's nothing better than that. And it's funny as you were talking about, on the creativity side, right? You creating things, but not knowing or not asking whether this is something viable for the market. That's goes back to asking for feedback and feedback is huge. So whether it's podcast content, whether it's how am I doing, whether it's a business that provides a service, just constantly asking for feedback, how can I get better? What can we do to create an even better experience for you? Because if we're not constantly looking at raising the bar or getting feedback from our customers and our clients, we're missing an opportunity and we're not collecting information that's going to allow us to improve and allow us to grow. And if we're not growing, someone else is, so we need to stay on top of that and be as close to our customers and our network as we can possibly be.

Russ Johns: [00:25:56] Absolutely. And you could just integrate mental steps every day, progress over perfection. Just make something happen every day that moves you toward a direction that your intention and your goals,  however you want to frame it, you just need to make incremental steps every single day. To improve those things in your life that are gonna help support that mission and your legacy. So I just really love the fact that the community is here. Shout out to Russ and the pirates who lean in for me and deliver without hesitation. We are better for you. Wendy, thank you so much. Michael Baker insight. And these are the people that actually show up. And I know there's people out there, Jay, that they're silent followers. They come in and they might see it somewhere else. And I noticed in the numbers,  it grows and things like that. So before we wrap it up, Jay, and if you're not connected to Jay, where do you like to be connected?  All these will be in the show notes at RussJohns.com, however, give your self a shout out on where you want people to connect with you, Jay.

Jay Scherr: [00:27:03] Thank you for that. I appreciate it. The best place to go is really my website. That would be JayScherrBusinessConsulting.com. And once you're there, you'll see all the social channels that I'm on. You'll have access to the podcast. If anyone would like to have a one-to-one conversation, you can schedule that there. I would love to meet you. I would love to have a conversation with you to learn more about you and learn more about your business and what your goals are and what you're looking to accomplish in this world. And beyond that just check us out right here. This is what this is all about. This is making connections and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be here. I love this, and I love the work that you're doing and your ability to have these kinds of conversations and pull the right information out of your guests. That's a gift. And  I would encourage anyone to try podcasting. I think there's a lot of value in it, but if you've not done it before and you're sitting by the sidelines and you're thinking that it is as easy as flipping on a mic and a camera and talking from a technical standpoint, perhaps it's simple, but once you turn that mic on, being able to have a conversation, being an incredible host, the way that you are being able to have these have the dialogue. That's a gift and you've got it. And thank you.

Russ Johns: [00:28:36] You make it easy, Jay, appreciate you. And for everyone listening in, it's true. #kindnessiscool, #smilesarefree and I want you to #enjoyyourday. Jay, as always thank you so much. Appreciate and applaud your work. You're always welcome back on the #PirateBroadcast.

Jay Scherr: [00:28:57] Thank you so much. Have a wonderful day, everyone.

Russ Johns: [00:29:00] Have a fantastic Friday and a wonderful weekend. See ya. Bye.

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