Tim Melanson: From Web Developer to Entrepreneur — Creative Crew Agency Co-Founder on Business Momentum, Knowing Your Why, Referrals & Running a Business with Your Spouse | Be Yourself Podcast
Be Yourself Podcast

TimMelanson

Co-Owner of Creative Crew Agency — on Building a Web Business Through Referrals, the 3-Month Momentum Rule, Asking WHY Before Every Website, and the Honest Truth About Running a Business with Your Spouse

58 minutes
Entrepreneurship · Business Momentum · Finding Your Why · Family Business · Web Development
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About This Episode

How Tim Melanson Turned a Coffee Chat Into a Thriving Web Business — and What He Learned About Momentum, Referrals, and Building a Life That Actually Works

Most businesses don't start with a grand plan. Tim Melanson's started with a coffee. He found a guy on Facebook who liked the same books, asked him out for coffee, and by the end of the conversation was building a podcast website. That one client referred the next, and eleven years later Creative Crew Agency is Tim's full-time work.

In this episode of the Be Yourself Podcast, Tim — web developer, musician, and co-owner of Creative Crew Agency — walks through the full arc: from a computer science degree and corporate layoffs, through a decade of sales and network marketing, to the moment he realized it was safer to have twelve clients than one employer. Along the way he built a business that runs on referrals, asks the right questions before writing a single line of code, and now operates alongside his life partner.

The conversation covers the real mechanics of business momentum, the discipline of not scaling your lifestyle too fast, the golden rule of not working with everyone, and why both your personal and practical WHYs have to exist at the same time for any business to survive the hard months.

01
From corporate layoffs to entrepreneurship — why Tim decided it was safer to work for himself
After watching his father get laid off the day before his 35th anniversary, surviving multiple rounds of IT-bubble cuts, Tim did the math: twelve clients losing one is very different from one employer letting you go. Self-employment felt like the more rational choice.
02
How one coffee chat and a podcast website launched a referral-based agency
Tim found a coach on Facebook, offered to build him a website, asked more questions than any tech person normally would, and left that conversation with a stream of referrals that built his entire client base. Eleven years of business grew from that one meeting.
03
The 3-month rule — how long it takes to build momentum and how long it takes to destroy it
Tim found that it takes about three months of consistent effort to build real business momentum, and it also takes three months of inactivity to destroy that same momentum. This rule has massive implications for how entrepreneurs manage their energy, seasons, and slow periods.
04
Asking WHY before building anything — the question that redefines the client relationship
Tim's first question on every sales call is why the client thinks they need a website. Sometimes the honest answer is that they're not ready. Sometimes it reveals that their idea isn't ironed out yet. Asking the right questions costs him clients in the short run — and builds better ones in the long run.
05
People have two WHYs — the one that drives the work and the one that makes you keep going
There's the why of what you do — what lights you up, your gift zone. And there's the bigger why of who you're doing it for, the lifestyle you're building, the family you're providing for. Both have to be present. Without both, the hard months will make you quit.
06
The pros and cons of running a business with a spouse — an honest conversation
Tim and his partner started as competitors with complementary skills, then began subcontracting each other, then eventually merged their work. The pros are real: shared goals, deep trust, working for the same family. The challenge is equally real: work never fully turns off, and boundaries have to be deliberately built.

About the Guest

Tim Melanson — Co-Owner of Creative Crew Agency, Web Developer & Musician

Tim Melanson holds a computer science degree and spent years as a software developer before the IT bubble burst changed the trajectory of his career. Watching round after round of corporate layoffs — including his own father being let go the day before his 35th work anniversary — Tim began to see self-employment not as a risk, but as the safer path. If you lose one of twelve clients, you still have eleven. If your employer lets you go, you have nothing.

He spent roughly a decade in sales and network marketing after leaving corporate life, and that experience gave him something most technical people lack: the ability to ask the right questions, listen deeply, and understand what a client is actually trying to accomplish. When he moved back to New Brunswick and sat down for coffee with a local entrepreneur he found on Facebook, that combination of technical skill and sales instinct turned one website project into a referral engine that has powered Creative Crew Agency for eleven years.

Tim is also a musician who picked up guitar in his final year of university, practiced five or more hours a day for a year, and was performing professionally within two years. He now hosts open mics and open jams, hosts the Work at Home Rockstar podcast, and runs the agency alongside his long-term partner.

What He Built
Creative Crew Agency — a web development agency built entirely on referrals, serving coaches, consultants, and entrepreneurs. Started from one coffee meeting in New Brunswick, grown over eleven years. Tim also hosts the Work at Home Rockstar podcast and runs open mics in his community.
The 3-Month Rule
it's about 3 months to build momentum in a business and it also takes 3 months to destroy that same momentum
On Referrals
if you just take care of even if you have a few customers in the beginning but you really give them something special you go an extra mile for them they become your Advocates
On Working with a Spouse
the pros are are huge because you really are both working on the same goal it's it's exciting to be working together for your family

Key Quotes

"

it's about 3 months to build momentum in a business and it also takes 3 months to destroy that same momentum

Tim Melanson
"

if you just take care of even if you have a few customers in the beginning but you really give them something special you go an extra mile for them they become your Advocates

Tim Melanson
"

we can't save everybody until we save ourselves first

Tim Melanson

Episode Chapters

0:00 Episode Teaser 0:55 Intro & How Are You 1:40 What Was Tim's Sport 2:55 Becoming a Musician 6:40 Transition from Web Developer to an Entrepreneur 10:35 Similarity Between Music and Computer Science 12:29 Layoffs in IT Bubble 15:58 Combination of Technical Skills and Marketing 19:35 Tim's Sales Process 20:56 Starting a Web Development Business 25:00 Asking WHY Do You Need a Website 27:57 People Have 2 WHY's 29:50 Building a Momentum in Business 31:39 Seasons in Business & 5th Quarter 33:40 Why We Can't Relax Too Early as Businesspeople 36:35 Golden Rule: Don't Work with Everybody 37:38 Pros and Cons of Doing Business with a Spouse 44:30 The Era of Small & Family Businesses 46:06 Business — Life Balance 47:25 Competence Curse 50:17 You Are Who You Hang Around With 55:43 Uplifting Word from Tim

Full Transcript

BTW: This episode of the Be Yourself Podcast is produced by Beverly Media. Also on the show:
Bradley Orford-Hall — From Investment Banking to Culture & Capital: xRave Ventures Founder on Finding Your Why, Money & Authentic Living →
0:00 Episode Teaser
Tim you know this 10,000 hours rule yeah so I I think that's what what really did it I keep on encouraging people now I I host open mics and open jams I encourage people just just the more you play the more you're around it the better and it's really not the same when you're sitting at home I've found it it's about 3 months to build momentum in a business and it also takes 3 months to destroy that same momentum if you just take care of even if you have a few customers in the beginning but you really give them something special you go an extra mile for them they become your Advocates we can't save everybody until we save ourselves first the pros are are huge because you really are both working on the same goal it's it's exciting to be working together for your family
0:55 Intro & How Are You
Sergey hello everybody Welcome to the be yourself podcast the podcast on expressing your true self today my guest is Tim Melanson who is a web developer a co-owner of creative crew agency and musician Tim welcome to the show
Tim thank you thank you for the invite I'm just going to try to be myself here you can see my actual background today
Sergey yes so yeah be yourself be yourself totally man so um first thing comes first how are you how things are in Canada this is where you're from
Tim yeah I I'm doing great things are are going pretty good here in Canada we're having uh a a some cold weather and some warmer weather than usual at the same time seems to be oscillating quite a bit so uh we're enjoying the warmer days but uh staying inside on the colder days
1:40 What Was Tim's Sport
Sergey what's your favorite sport man because Canada is all about hockey for the most part what what what about your
Tim good question so I did play hockey a lot I played hockey till uh actually think even into University I was playing hockey uh and then maybe a little bit of pickup later on uh but I played a lot of sports I was I was a sports guy like before I got into music it was it was Sports and I think probably my favorite sport to play was rugby believe it or not oh interesting but I also played I played football in high school as well and I I just I loved the camaraderie of football and rugby was like it was just the the benefit of being able being able to play like forward and and back at the same time so I thought that was kind of cool you play offense and defense sory at the same time um but yeah I I loved Sports and really it was when music kind of kicked off that I you know I replaced sports with music and when was that that was my last year of University so I guess I would have been 22 at the time
2:55 Becoming a Musician
Tim and uh I had some roommates that had moved there was a some friends of mine that I had started to meet and one of the guys was looking for a place to live he ended up moving in with me in my apartment and he was a musician in a band and so my apartment became like music Central for that for that year and uh and so I always like I I love singing like I I was always like I would I would get the cassettes back in the day of the CDs and uh and I'd open the liner notes and all lyrics would be there and I would just like learn the lyrics from the from the CDs and I just I love doing that and but uh but I never really got into music because I was just not patient enough I was out I was outside and when they all moved in with me it was just I was like this is my chance so I got my I got a guitar and I just kind of sat in the living room and just watched them play and just tried to do what they were doing
Sergey did you learn how to play guitar using this method
Tim yeah uh well in about a year and a half after I started after I started learning I guess I would have been yeah so I that that was a full year and then I moved to Ottawa and then about maybe a few months later I uh started going to open mics and there was a an agent there my my girlfriend at the time was a singer and so I was playing guitar she was singing and we ended up getting hired to do gigs so it was really quick maybe two years uh since I started but keep in mind I was playing guitar a good I estimated at at least five hours a day every day for an entire year because I would like I was taking a computer science degree at the time and so every time like whenever I would get kind of get stuck I would pick up the guitar and just do a little bit and then go okay put it back down and then and then start back on my computer science homework and then I kept on going back and then later on that night probably around 7 or 8 everybody would come over and so I'd be sitting in the living room with the guitar again playing along so it was a good at least five hours per day every day for a year I mean you get a lot of hours in that way right yeah you know this 10,000 hours rule yeah yeah so I I think that's what what really did it like I and I I keep on encouraging people now I I host open mics and open jams and I I encourage people just just the more you play the more you're around it the better and it's really not the same when you're sitting at home
6:40 Transition from Web Developer to an Entrepreneur
Sergey dude it it's so funny that we started right off the gate talking about music and people who were not attentive when I presented you might have might have thinking have having this thought that you're a musician but you are an entrepreneur an entrepreneur in your core and from what I learned from your background it's something that you always aspired to be can you tell let's let's take a step back and uh talk a little bit about how you got into entrepreneurship and most importantly what what prompted the transition from I assume that you were working for someone as a web developer so maybe you can tell us about the transition from a web developer uh to an entrepreneur
Tim yeah yeah so okay like the story is is is interesting I I think anyway because what happened is that when I was taking my computer science degree there's like a couple of like key moments I think that sort of like changed my mindset right and the first one I was still in University uh was taking a computer science degree I thought I was going to uh graduate I actually thought I was going to move to Silicon Valley at some point and cuz this was this was like uh late 90s right I graduated in 2000 so the bubble of it had not burst yet right it was just huge and uh so I thought I was going to be a you know a millionaire and and working for some big you know whatever at the time I think it probably would have been IBM as you know one of the big companies at the time right anyway uh but then so my dad worked for the same company all my early life and then uh the day before his 35th Anniversary working for that company he got laid off and my mom was pissed and like uh you know just the whole situation was like it was one of those in in hindsight at the time I didn't really see it but in hindsight it was one of those first kind of cracks in that plan of like working for a company for the rest of my life
10:35 Similarity Between Music and Computer Science
Sergey just just on this point how was uh that possible that you from artistic state of mind which was your uh you know 20s and whatever in University you shifted to more of a technical or do you don't don't do you do you find them maybe close in similar in some perspect relation
Tim well I I think they are I I think that uh there's a lot of math and music a lot of math music and math was one of my languages right I I understand math and not only that but computers I've always been interested in computers when I was 11 years old my parents bought uh I convinced my parents to buy a computer they were super expensive at the time I think it was like a 286 computer he it was it was old and uh I ended up like I just I I just broke that thing and then fixed it myself like it was just one of those things I just I was I was fascinated by these things
Sergey your story seemed a lot like Steve Jobs man he also used to re-engineer things
Tim maybe give me a few more years I guess but uh but even still like it was just it was one of those things I was always interested in computers computer science was a very very big uh path for a lot of people right so there were you know there's a lot of money to be made and so that was kind of the path I was on music was one of those things where it was a great hobby it was it was fun like I wasn't I I never thought at the time that I left uh University that I would end up being a musician like it was just never thought that that would happen but but I got hired for uh to be a software developer and then about uh so four months later uh after I got hired I got hired on a temporary contract and uh I was performing well according to my supervisors but they weren't able to offer me a full-time position for some reason
12:29 Layoffs in IT Bubble
Tim they said well uh but what you can do is you can apply to another department within within the company uh we'll do like a lateral move because there's other companies there are sorry there are other departments that are hiring so I said okay so I moved departments to another department and then the department I was in that I got hired got laid off that was the first bust of the bubble and they laid off thousands of people every month for a long time after that I was there for eight years of layoff and so that was really when I started going okay I don't want to leave this company right now because it is a paycheck and I don't know what I'm where I'm going to go next but I need to have some backup plans figured out yeah and that's where entrepreneurship started to come in because I did have a lot of friends I I had a good Social Circle and a few of them were actually already business owners and so I just sort of started to dabble I I think well some of the first businesses I had were selling uh wholesale products online you know and then I had u a couple network marketing experiences where uh I would you know be part of a a promoter group and those were were happening while I was working so eventually when I got laid off from that company I decided for two reasons actually one reason was that I thought to myself okay so if I get laid off from another company or get fired from another company that's my whole income's gone yeah whereas if I go out and I get some clients and I become self-employed well then now let's just say I get 12 clients well if I lose one I've just lost one out of 12 I've got 11 more clients that are still paying me income right so I thought it was safer at that point given what I'd been through to be working for myself than it would be to go get one client one one job right
Sergey it was it was common sense for you at that point but you also had a a examples in your uh Network which is super critical I believe
Tim yeah yeah I had examples of people that were already doing it right and actually the when I first but the first business that I started wasn't even a wasn't even my business I I actually started subcontracting for another guy who was doing physical tech support he was fixing computers going into offices and he was overloaded and he's like yeah I mean I would love for you to help me out with this so that's what I did I started helping him out with his business and started my own my own business out of that and yeah really it just kind of I just kept on trying new things my goal really uh I remember when I left the physical you know computer support thing the goal was I want to work for a laptop eventually I wanted to be completely free of having to go into anywhere and do anything right that was the dream and eventually I got there right
15:58 Combination of Technical Skills and Marketing
Sergey I read on your website that you actually spent 10 years doing uh sales and marketing so you so you elaborate you develop this Vision Beyond Beyond just technical solution getting going somewhere where you understood the cause for existence of a particular website or client so maybe you can tell me about this because I see that one of the uh mandatory questions you ask from your customers now as you're talking to them is why why is that important
Tim well so so after that uh the the the physical tech support business so right on the heels of that uh remember I mentioned that I had been dabbling in network marketing and multilevel marketing type stuff that was uh something that I'd been dabbling in when I still worked at the the company well it just through uh my network one of my friends got an offer to launch a new company into Canada that was that was uh it was a solid idea actually and uh and so we ended up me and a few of our other friends we we brought a new company into Canada and actually that went really really well uh we all did quite well with that company and uh through that experience it is completely different it's it's not Tech anymore now it's it's uh you know connecting with the desires of your client right it's it's it's communicating it's team building it's it's all the things that are soft skills that I I think what I remember because I like I I did a lot of training in that company like sales training teaching people how to communicate with others and I think a lot of that was because see with with my background and I mean I don't know if you guys know I'm sure a few people know The Tech Guy in their office they're typically not the best with people right it's just it just they're they're sort of separate parts of the brain and I you know even though I've always been a very outgoing type of person I still had that roughness about me that like brutal honesty about about me right and so I had to learn how to prospect how how to how to talk to people how to sell I had to learn that stuff because it wasn't necessarily natural to me and I think because I had to learn it and you know I I had to talk to people that were doing it and they would they would Mentor me on how to do these things it was fresh in my mind I think that the thing about it is that when you've been doing something for a long time you can't remember what it was like to not know how to do it
19:35 Tim's Sales Process
Tim most of my sales conversations are questions they're not making points nobody cares about those points all they want to know is that you care about what they're trying to accomplish everybody wants to feel heard right and so a lot of those things were were things that I had learned fairly recently and and was applying in my in my life and so when it came to teaching it to other people it was like oh I know where you're coming from here's what you got to do right and so uh a lot of that stuff and then and then the other big benefit to teaching other people is that you learn a lot more from teaching other people I think I think sometimes than you do from actually doing it right so it's like you you know you you you learn it you do it and then you teach someone else and all of a sudden it's really solidified and so that was about 10 years of of of my life from the like while I was still working all the way through uh until where I am right now
20:56 Starting a Web Development Business
Tim I remember my first I I had no intention of of doing the business that I'm doing right now that was not what I was trying to do what I did is I moved from Ottawa from uh where I was to New Brunswick which is where I was born and I want to be back home my son was five at the time I just wanted him to grow up uh around family and uh my his mom wanted to move back in this direction as well so I thought okay great so starting over again in a new city even though it was where I grew up it it was it was hard it was very very different and uh but what I was doing is I wanted to meet a new network I didn't want to go back to the friends that I had before I wanted to I wanted to sort of meet the the entrepreneurs the people that were getting things done in the in the city and so I ended up finding somebody in the city who I I found him on Facebook and it was because he liked a lot of the same books I liked like the John C Maxwell stuff the Rich Dad Poor Dad like I just looked for things that he liked and I ended up asking him if we wanted to go for coffee we go for coffee he says you know what what I really need remember I asked him a bunch questions and he says what I really need is I need somebody who can build me a website I want to start a podcast and uh I I need a podcast website and I'm like building a website I'm like okay that's that's easy but I mean sure you know let me do that for you and during that process I remember him telling me at the end of it like I asked him probably more questions than he would have been expecting normally a tech guy is like hey I want this you know I want this and then they just do it right whereas I I was more or less like testing him on what he was trying to accomplish and going well I think if you're going to try to do that I think that this is how it should be built and and I I gave him a lot of information and he says you know what Tim he's like if you want I think you've got a business here if you want to build a business with this because it's not often that I meet a tech guy a developer that actually understands the sales process and what I'm trying to accomplish here and I think there'd be a lot of people a lot of coaches a lot of people like me that would actually benefit from that so if you wouldn't mind I can I can start referring you I said sure you know I was struggling at the time anyway trying to build a new city right so he he started sending me people and that was you know about 11 years ago I guess now and and that's where it led it led through all those referrals to the point where this is what I do for work now
Sergey this is another lesson that keeps repeating itself that if you just take care of even if you have a few customers in the beginning but you really give them something special you go an extra mile for them they become your Advocates yeah and that's exactly what happened with my business as well
Tim yeah and that's exactly what happened with my business as well
25:00 Asking WHY Do You Need a Website
Sergey so now you're now you're uh having these sales calls and every single time they you achiev this wow effect by not merely asking technical questions is that fair to say
Tim yeah I think I think what what happens like uh because of the nature of the questions I'm asking it's more or less like if they have a business plan I'm probably asking what's already on their business plan you're like a business coach Consulting with a business plan or whatever yeah yeah like I've had actually ironically enough I've had quite a few people over the years that have ended up not hiring me because what they found out is that their their idea is not ironed out they're like I got I got you know I'm not ready for this yet you know let me go back to the drawing board and let me figure out what I'm doing right because you know if I'm going to ask them a bunch of like sort of you know how do you think you're going to make money how do you think this is going to be successful those types of questions you know you might end up finding out that oh I didn't really think through that yet uh you know and and a lot of what I'll recommend to people especially when I say why do you think you need a website sometimes the website isn't the first step I mean you're GNA have to invest some some money into that and if you don't if you don't know who your customer is if you don't know exactly what your product is yet if you're sort of just playing around then you're not ready you're going to wait a bunch of money you're better off to take a step back and maybe start to work through your warm Market first sort of try to figure out who needs you right you know I didn't start with a website I started with talking to people finding out what they need and providing them with a solution and once that solution was like a pattern you know once I was doing the same solution multiple times then I'm like okay now this is a product right
27:57 People Have 2 WHY's
Tim yeah I think there's two wise too there's there's the why you do what you do uh meaning like what you what your gift zone is or what it is that lights you up about what you do something that you want to share with the world right yeah I like technology I like and I I like to help people with their you know Solutions I like to solve problems I you know I like that but then there's also another bigger why like why are you going to work in the first place who are you working for like what are you trying to accomplish in terms of like is it a lifestyle are you trying to provide for your family like more practical why yeah like and both of those have to exist because really when it comes down to it uh running a business is hard it really is like it it's you are going to have some good months some bad months it's you're going to make some mistakes all these things are going to happen and if you don't have a solid why like a solid why am I in this why am I doing this then you're G to quit right and and that's not necessarily uh I don't think that's mean I I I think that there are certain people that are suited for the entrepreneur lifestyle and there are certain people that are suited for an employment lifestyle and we need both we need both we both right uh it's it's not either or yeah and and there's nothing wrong with either of those in fact both of them are hard just for different reasons right and if if you're not the one that's like I I guess I guess I guess um maybe another way to look at it is that if you don't show up to your job what happens you you get fired so you you know you have to show up if you don't show up for your business you don't get fired you're the boss yeah you you keep doing it now you don't get income right eventually
29:50 Building a Momentum in Business
Tim the way that momentum Works in business is that it takes a few months I I'm I've found it about three months to build momentum in a business and it also takes three months to destroy that same momentum so interesting so what I've found is that you might have this you know huge Spurt of excitement about what you're doing and you might spend three months just crushing it right yeah and now you've got a business things are going fantastic you've got money coming in everything's great but if you stop at that point it doesn't just disappear it's not the same thing as a job if you stop going into work they're going to fire you pretty quickly right like it's not going to take very long maybe a few days even if you just don't show up but if you don't show up in your business after the three months that you've built momentum it's going to take three months for that momentum to disappear so now what right yeah and then it might take God knows who to get back to this momentum it'll probably take another three months but now you've got nothing again
Sergey yeah but just like Seasons things come to us and they and and we lose them at some point so I think have you come to this conclusion that things cannot be going freakingly well all the time is that a part of your understanding of life now both professional and maybe personal
Tim yeah yeah in in every business there are there are ups and downs
31:39 Seasons in Business & 5th Quarter
Tim uh actually I found I found that it was weird I don't even know why but in the last couple years actually I think the seasons are changing somehow like I don't know I don't know what's going on but I I know that in the past I've found that the Summers were usually slower now the summers are not slower anymore but let's take a step back and just pretend like everything is the same as it always was well what happens is that you're you're right like over a year period if you just if you just do some some um statistics Gathering you'll find that there are certain parts of the Year where your business is thriving and then there are certain parts of the Year where things die down and you can kind of make some assumptions about that maybe Christmas time right maybe things might slow down a little bit because people are not are not uh are dealing with family stuff however other business might be thriving at that time like retail absolutely so like there's a balance going on but but depending on what your Niche is you know there's going to be sort of this right now does that mean that you stop during those those periods where it's slow maybe I don't know who knows sometimes you push harder because you know it's like uh you you can create a separation in those most moments exactly like Fifth Quarter
Sergey you have you heard about Fifth Quarter no that but that I I bet you I know what it means yeah like in Ukraine we have this thing because I have a lot of uh friends among it companies that do worldwide activities and there is a term Fifth Quarter because we know that in US and Canada you guys go uh shopping and having time with family so in December in particular people are buying ads of millions of dollars to to create this separation in so-called Fifth Quarter
Tim yep yeah exactly so depending on your but but now on the other hand it might be a good time to take a vacation as well because we do need us time right we do need me time yeah yeah because it might it might give you that energy to be able to hit the ground running when when things start to speed up again
33:40 Why We Can't Relax Too Early as Businesspeople
Tim that's why I think it's really important to when things are going really well and this is a mistake I've made for sure many times is that when things are going well you can't just go oh bunch of business is coming in I'm going to change my lifestyle to match this now this is my new this is my new bottom you cannot upscale the the lifestyle until it's really something that you can uh rely on because could be temporary right and and I mean if I were to do it again if I were to start over again I I would do a few things differently and one of those things is that I would live on the minimum for I probably would still be living on the minimum and everything extra would be going into some sort of holding company and I would be investing that into something right and then at at some point that would be so big that I wouldn't need to worry about anything anymore right uh I and what that would also have done is that on the times when I made a mistake or when I you know didn't save enough money for taxes or when something happened I would always have that to go back from right uh but many people we've sort of like been conditioned to just live at your means maybe not even above or below like Just at the needs right or the means sorry so so as you're income goes up you your expenses go up and that is a really normal way I think to to live but it's also a very uh risky way to live because now all of a sudden you get you get uh you get caught in in things
36:35 Golden Rule: Don't Work with Everybody
Tim this is also something when you're self-employed that comes up quite often when you're trying to sell to a customer you will take on customers that you should not be taking on because you need the money yeah whereas exactly if you act as though you have a ton of cash and things are going fantastic you might actually make a decision to not take that Customer because you might see some red flags there maybe this is not going to go as planned maybe this is not my ideal customer and you're going to waste a lot of time and money on that
Sergey dude this is like a golden golden rule to not uh work with all the customers and I've been there because of the financial crisis I had to agree and in long run these even in like midterm run all these these toxic customers they don't they're not worthy of of the of all the hustle that you have to go through so totally totally understand
37:38 Pros and Cons of Doing Business with a Spouse
Sergey I want to ask you about creative crew agency and working with your do you work with your wife is that
Tim so it's it's an interesting we're technically not married but uh but yeah we've been living together for 10 years okay your partner let's call her your partner and she what is the Dynamics of work
Sergey how how because I I've had some uh guests on my show who were also working with their um partner and it seems like it's such an organic natural um combo right
Tim first of all we didn't really start our businesses together um she had a business doing actually the same as me we had competing businesses when we met oh really wow yeah and uh you were Rivals yeah well I mean on the other hand like we have opposite skill sets so for example I'm more on the creative or sorry I'm more on the uh the technical side and on the sales side whereas she was more on the creative side so she was a designer first who built websites and I was a developer first who built websites so we had complimentary uh services and so we actually pretty quickly started working together and subcontracting each other in in our clients because it just it gave our our clients so much more right such a such a beautiful way to um get closer to each other just give each other customers give each other customers yeah yeah
Tim so first of all you said it is natural I think it is because I think if we look back in history most of human history I think was family business right yeah yeah you it just that was kind of the way things were it's just sort of like changed culturally can trust right they can trust members of their tribe and their family that's right yeah and I I think we've been we we got pulled away from that through probably the Industrial Age and all of a sudden everybody's you know dad was going to work you know whereas you know it was a family business before that right um so I think that's probably why it feels natural but it also is very challenging because we you know in my lifetime and probably my dad's lifetime you know you did go to work right you had separate businesses and so some of the challenges I think with working with your spouse is that it's tough to turn it off right like it's like work is all you're both working in the same business so before you know you might get home from work you might tell your spouse about your day and then it's done right I mean you're not asking your spouse oh by the way I need you to do it so and so tomorrow or I need you you know right before bed you know which I I make that mistake all the time uh you know so there there is some of that balance that kind of disappears when you're working with your spouse and so there are um one of you not both of you has to create some boundaries around that kind of stuff right uh there are there are some physical um limitations that you need number one you need to have an office I I think both of you do need to have a space where you're working that's separate from each other if you're trying to work with in the same office you might end up with some challenges there um but the pros are are huge because you really are both working on the same goal it's it's exciting to be working together for your family right I I I think it is I I love it and like you say about trust I mean you you're who are you gonna who are you supposed to trust more than your spouse right it's not a it's not the same as a normal partnership a partnership you know everybody's kind of like they're working together but they're they're for their own families now your family is your business
44:30 The Era of Small & Family Businesses
Tim I do think that there's going to be a lot more of that moving forward I think that there's going to be a big boom in either self-employment or small businesses and I know our it's possible our governments are trying to stop that but but because you know it seems as though these monopolies are growing as well at the same time but I think we're getting to a point where the average consumer even though we don't necessarily have those big choices yet I mean do I want to support a small business instead of a big company yes can I afford to sometimes no right uh but I do think that as more small businesses start to grow and as more more people start to do their own thing like we are inherently I think trusting the big companies less and less and less so if we have an option that's reasonable we are going to start to direct our money towards our smaller businesses and I I know in my life I've already started doing that I I started to support the smaller Farms rather than the grocery store I still have to go to the grocery store to buy a lot of things but when it comes to my fresh meat I'm going to go to the farm you know when it comes to some of my vegetables I'm got to go to the like where I can I'm supporting the smaller guys and I think I'm not alone in that I think that there's a lot of people that are doing something similar to that if they can afford that and here's the good news is that if you've got your own business if you've got a small business and you are also supporting other small businesses you you've got a good collaboration there now all of a sudden you know a bunch of small businesses can support each we're doing right now we're supporting each other as podcasters this is our um Network and our community
Sergey man this is so so so well said that uh people well first of all history repeats itself and I think that um little Mama's pizza or something could go get get back where it's use to be uh competing against Domino's Pizza and all these big chains I'm really loving it and I think I hope that we're contributing into this you know it's interesting someone asked me like why don't you set more ambitious and aggressive goals like why aren't you trying to become bigger faster you know and my response to this like I've been in a corporate world man and I've seen this and uh I intentionally sometimes I don't want to grow intentionally that fast you know sometimes I want to still stay a small business I don't know if it speaks to you
Tim yeah I know what you I know what you mean I like I and I'm sort of similar like I I did have some really really wild times at one point making some really really good money however it didn't really make me happy I my my lifestyle was out of whack I you know was stuck to phone all the time
46:06 Business — Life Balance
Tim so I think now what I've been focused more on is first focusing on the lifestyle that I want to live and then fitting the business into that and trying repeat this once again first think about the lifestyle you want to have the life that you want to have then try to fit in your business or your reward yeah now it's it's hard but it's like it's just baby steps it's just just one step at a time I mean at first it's not going to work super well but I guess if you don't know what you're trying to accomplish then how are you going to make the right decisions to get there you know it's it's like it's like setting up a I once heard about the mission statement the vision statement how important these things are and like it's like when you figure out what your mission statement is and what you want to accomplish in life like not just your business but in life what what lifestyle you want then the decisions that come your way you can just run it by that that that statement you can just say hey is this going to get me closer to what I said I want or is this going to push me further away from it if it's going to get you closer do it if it's G to push you further away maybe maybe pass on that
47:25 Competence Curse
Tim and really what I've learned in my life anyway is that I've always had lots of options I've always had lot lots of choices and you know I've had I've had a certain amount of success in just about everything I try not everything but a certain amount of success you know and and I think that that's just one of those things my mom always said you can do anything you want you put your mind to it okay so when I when I try something if I put my mind to it I'm going to get some certain level of success but that's the thing is that there's so many things you have to say no to some things because if you say if you say yes then you're saying no to everything else
Sergey I think there is I think there is a phenomenon called um the curse of competence have you heard of this it's exactly that the talented people are talented in all walks of life and it's precisely for these people and I'm like that too because it's more complicated to actually choose what you want to do
Tim absolutely yep uh but now but that's where you you have to take you I think you have to figure out what it is that you want and like picture it go okay this is the lifestyle that I want this is what would be ideal and I did that I I you know that's one of the things that I think was a benefit of doing something in multi-level marketing and network marketing I know there's a lot of bad things that happen in that industry but the good things that happen in that industry is that they really do teach you how to set goals and how to journal regularly and how to stay on track be accountable all those things are very very very important and you know if you can be careful about spending too much money right is really what it comes down to it uh I I think I I think that is a huge benefit to getting involved in one of those companies because it will teach you sales it will teach you uh accountability will teach you uh just self-employment just business ownership General basic stuff
50:17 You Are Who You Hang Around With
Sergey man that was so inspirational and what I want to end our conversation with I want to First you answered with a definitive yes to my question in the questionnaire that I sent you beforehand you said that you're a fulfilled and happy person so what makes you fulfilled and happy person and what can you um um recommend to to our listeners to become happy and fulfilled in their in their lives
Tim that's an excellent question and I don't know how deep to get on that because because I think a lot of it is sort of just innate I think I've always been a pretty happy kind of person and so yeah and I I think that my experiences my upbringing you know a lot of those things probably played into effect so I don't want to say that just be happy because I don't know it you know to me it's just it is what it is but I know to a lot of people that that doesn't really translate very well but on on the other hand one thing that does I think translate very well is you are who you hang around with and it tends to be that if you put yourself around people that drain you and you know this I mean I I guess maybe just just take a little inventory and when you walk away from a relationship from someone that you're talking to think about how you walking away from that if you're walking away like like this yeah well then that person's probably draining you however if you skip away from that conversation then that person probably gave you something they they they uplifted you right and uh this is probably the hardest part because chances are real good that there are some people in your life probably very very close yeah that are very difficult you can't just not hang around with your family or whatever it happens to be but it but what I would say this was the advice that was given to me is that you're not going to give a you're not going to call them up and say Hey listen dude uh you drain me you're you're a black hole vampire or what you know you say all these bad things to them we can't hang out anymore you're not you're not going to do that that's that's a terrible idea right but what you could do is the person that you skipped away from you could call them up and say hey what are you doing what are you doing tonight what are you doing you know can we can we hang out more you can direct your attention to what you want and naturally what you don't want will start to fall away
Sergey oh so good that is so good man but you will occasionally you'll stay still have to say no to some people
Tim yeah you you'll still have to say no however uh this is another one too which was really good advice is that when you say no uh a definite no is usually abrupt and doesn't work as well as you would like it to if you can give them a no but here's what I can do yeah that's a lot more useful they say hey uh you know can you help me with this or or or can you do this no but I can help you with this or I can send you this resource yeah or I can direct you to this person someone says I you know I need to borrow some money uh no but I can help you with with this or I can send you this resource yeah especially with with money hey um you know I need money for gas instead of sending the money uh no but I can give you some gas yeah let me let me let me run a jug out to you or something like it's just one of those things where where people will try to get your resources your time and all that stuff and it's not that they're being it's I don't think it's their fault it's it's the circumstance that they're in at this point and unfortunately we can't save everybody until we save ourselves first yes sir and and so it I if you can start to focus a little bit more on the relationships that that make you skip the the relationships that are exciting then what'll end up happening is that you'll start to build so much happiness and so much uh resources that now you actually have the time and the money to spend to help on other people you know at some point maybe it will be a point where you actually can lend that money to that person that you know doesn't really need it but you know what it makes you feel good and you've got it but if you're in a situation where you're struggling to pay your bills and you're not happy in your life then why how is it going to help you to go hang around with somebody that's going to drag you down even more yeah going going out to hang out with uh someone who's negative is almost similar to borrowing lending someone money that you don't have so we have to consider our energy being a currency as well in our life
55:43 Uplifting Word from Tim
Sergey Yeah Tim uh last word for for our audience
Tim geez uh what's the last word I think I think that right now we live in a spectacular time in history I know there's a lot of craziness going on there's a lot of bad things going on a lot of it right yeah however the way I am looking at it is that even ideologies even everything is is is living and if it's about to die it's going to try its hardest with its last breaths to fight and I think that's what we're seeing on a global scale we're seeing a lot of old outdated systems trying to fight their ways their way back in for that attention right and uh on the other hand if we continue to direct our attention towards that we're going to help it live however if we start to direct our attention like I said earlier on focusing on the things that we want on focusing on New on new new systems creating new communities creating new things now we're going to be directing the world in that direction of positivity and the good news is that it's out there we're all connected you're nowhere near me right now we're in two different countries across the world and we're getting an opportunity to talk to each other and to learn from each other yeah this is this is not happened anywhere before even before the lockdowns happened do you know how how much these companies put into these these remote tools during that lockdown that was a huge benefit to humanity now these tools are much more powerful we can we can run businesses with remote workforces right now yeah another thing too is that AI a lot of people are scared of ai ai is going to help small businesses drastically it's helping mine for sure to to be able to to be more efficient we now I think have the ability to compete with the big boys we have the ability to compete with these big monopolies and that hasn't happened before in in my knowledge you know over the last 00 years where we can really compete against these big companies and now is the time to do it so if you have uh free time instead of watching TV instead of watching the news news instead of giving your attention to those things Now's the Time to start giving your attention to things that can Empower you to reach the goals you want
Sergey super thank you my man that was Tim Melanson