Your Number Two Is Already Gone

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3:00 in the afternoon, your operations manager, 9 years in, walks into your
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office and gives you two weeks. A competitor offered her more money, a
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truck, and a title with a date on it. She apologizes. She says it’s nothing
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personal. She says, “You’ve been a good boss.”
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Here is the part that should bother you. She did not decide this morning. She
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decided a long time ago the last time you were going to sit down and talk to
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her about her future and then you didn’t. Everything after that was just
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her waiting for a reason. In this episode, the person your business
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quietly runs on, how long they have already been gone, and what it costs you
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when they finally say it out loud. Welcome to From Burnout to Bot Out, the
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podcast for business owners who are tired of being the hardest working,
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lowest paid employee in their own company. I’m John, joined as always by
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Ryan, and together we’ve spent years inside owner businesses helping founders
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go from running on fumes to running a business that actually runs without
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them. Every episode, we break down the real problems nobody talks about. The
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burnout, the bottlenecks, the blind spots, and show you what it looks like
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to build a business that’s profitable, sellable, and doesn’t need you in the
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building every day to survive. Whether you’re grinding through a plateau,
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thinking about an exit, or just trying to take a vacation without your phone
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blowing up, you’re in the right place. Let’s get into it.
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Ouch. Yes, sir. That is truly a cold open.
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It’s freezing.
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All the time, all the money invested in the number
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two, then all of a sudden, bam out of nowhere or John, was it? Where
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their signs?
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Oh, of course, we’re going to talk all about that, right? Everybody’s got a
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number two. They would absolutely panic to lose. Um, let’s get into it. Give us
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a composite. Tell us why you say they’re already gone in certain circumstances.
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Sure. So, composite story. We’ll call her Val. Uh, shout out to Val.
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You know who you are. Val,
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right? Uh, this one is office manager, mechanical contractor, 9 million, 38 uh
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people. She’s 9 years, right? She came from scheduling to now dispatch, right?
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and and and and doing operations. So, she’s been climbing up the ladder, doing
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everything that you need. And the reason why an owner sleeps at night, right? The
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a really good number two, right? And the problem was is that in this case, the op
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the owner has stopped noticing her, right? And that’s a really strange
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sentence because she’s the reason that the owner has a life. right? That can
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take a a breath and say, “Ah, okay, Val’s got this. We’re good.” Right? Now,
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in this case, her last raise was 26 months ago, and in that, she got a 3%
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cost of living increase, cola, and there was no conversation about it.
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She just saw it in her paycheck. How how many times have we done stuff like that?
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And he didn’t refuse her a raise, right? They just never had the conversation at
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all. And that’s worse because she read it
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exactly right. I’m being ignored. I’m doing everything
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that I’m being asked to and I yet I’m being ignored and I’m not worth it.
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Right. And there’s no title change. There’s no path to equity. There’s no
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growth plan. And the thing is, John, she’s not angry.
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Your number two isn’t angry, right? Angry would have been a gift. angry
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would have been a conversation that would have happened after the emot after
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the emotions flow and said, “You know what? I hear you. Let’s do something
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about it.” No, what she did is that she just kindly went away. She stopped
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bringing up problems. She stopped pushing for the so to the scheduling
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software to make it more efficient, right? And she started taking her full
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lunch. And the owner read that as, “Well, things are finally starting to
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settle down now. She’s getting into her groove,
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but it really was the sound of somebody stopping to expect anything from the
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owner. And
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that’s the part that’s the quiet part that you have to watch out for.
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Mhm.
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Yeah. I think it’s easy to overlook those things, right? And just assume
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that they’re part of somebody their role. I think you know you got to stay
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really connected with your team um and understand what they need in their lives
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uh to to help them kind of grow and progress besides that taking their full
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lunch cuz that’s actually that’s you know some people do take their full
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lunch and and people should what are other signals signals they’ve checked
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out before they’ve they actually go in and quit
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I think you know some of the things that they were really passionate about that
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they brought up but haven’t been answered now finally go away.
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Right.
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Right.
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I think that because they’ve given up. Why have this argument over and over
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again when I’m trying to do you a favor? I’m trying to make things more efficient
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for you and yet you don’t want to have the conversation or it’s the same thing,
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right? Well, used to do it that way 10 years ago,
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but you know, that’s why we’re not revisiting this when technology has
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changed and why don’t we revisit that back? I think also it’s, you know,
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showing what seems to me us being as, wow, we’ve got a a person I don’t have
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to worry about anymore, so I can focus elsewhere becomes
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ignorance in terms of we’re ignoring them, right? Our number two. And so now
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we’re we’re naturally focused on other things, but number two feels like, well,
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I’m doing everything you want. Why am I not getting any attention, good
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or bad? Right? Or why is it that I’m getting a 3% increase when I’m doing
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three people’s jobs that you’ve asked me to do and I’m doing them well? Why why
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am I getting a 3% increase when inflation’s 7%.
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Right. Right. And so I think those are the things you have to start looking at
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is how are we treating our people that we’ve asked them to do these things for
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that we train them to do it our way versus what the market actually sees
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them right the market says I’ll give you a bump up and increase a truck and a
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clear path to to the next steps
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going forward when we place band-aids and and you know put thrown things at
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people and now they’re making less than somebody if they’re making less with us
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than if they went somewhere else, right? And and that’s the big thing too,
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John, is you know,
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how are we valuing our f folks or what typically happens too is we hire a new
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person because of market rate,
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but we’ve ignored the people that have been working there and they’re making
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less than a new person.
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Absolutely. And they have so much knowledge, so it’s institutional
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knowledge. Their efficiency is is through the roof as well and they
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totally get the business. So you can’t overlook your your good people. Um, and
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especially somebody so senior in the organization and like we got to say like
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our our number TWS like I hope they feel loved. You are loved. Um, they know who
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they are. They’re they’re listening. Um, so yeah, I mean like valuing um your
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team members is is super important because if you don’t like the cost of lo
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losing somebody like that is huge. Um, can can we like dig into that a little
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bit? Is there a way to put a number on it? What really happens when the number
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two leaves?
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Oh, sure. So, from a cost perspective, right? Uh, it’s just not their salary,
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it’s a huge multiple of it because, and we’ll get into this in Ryan’s funds fact
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here, but it’s definitely more than a year’s worth of comp. And if you were to
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replace that person with the skill set now, you you’re paying fair market value
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if you haven’t been, plus a recruiting fee, right? before they even step on the
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first day of work and they might know your systems in terms of your front end,
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your back end, those kind of things. However, they don’t know how to do it
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your way. So now they’re they’re stepping up into that role and having to
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learn on the job and it takes them months and months and months, especially
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the higher up the ladder they are, right? It’s just not about jumping in
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with both feet and being able to do it your way from day one. There’s a lot of
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a lot of things there, but she was invaluable, right? She knew every
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client. She knew all the workers. She knew when to schedule things and when
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not to schedule things, how operations worked, how marketing was working with
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with that. So, there’s going to be a ton of slippage there,
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right? No, we like Val. We don’t really care about you, Mr. Owner. Like, where
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did Val go? We want her to
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We’d rather work with her, right? Mhm.
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Plus, you know, she was a buffer probably in terms of from the owner to
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the the field staff. They might have had a great relationship with her. I want to
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go wherever she goes. I want to go with her right now. We could be at the threat
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of losing employees. And
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and we got client relationships, right? We got employees, we got
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workflows, right? She’s been asking for a scheduling system. So, she’s been
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doing a lot of workarounds, right? Not to mention, if we haven’t had those
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processes documented, they probably live in her head and out our institutional
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knowledge goes in that thing because I don’t know about you, John, but you
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know, I forgot how to be a bookkeeper. I forgot how to do these things in my role
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that I’m in now. And so, I if I were to jump back in, I I need to retrain
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myself. That takes a lot of time. Even when I I first started the process and
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built that process, things changed from now on and then, right?
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And so your P&L, there’s no line that says
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lost val cost, right? It it shows that we’ve lost money or we’ve we’ve had to
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appraise it with with salaries, but we don’t have that opportunity cost lost.
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we don’t have what the actual loss is because now we have three people doing
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her job, not just one. Or three people doing parts of her job, just not one.
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And I think that’s something that we need to think about too is when we’re
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looking at number TWS is that they’re allowing us to get off the treadmill.
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when they leave, we’ve got to jump back on now and we’ve got to figure things
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out. And now we’re the bottleneck for for progress while we’re trying to look
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to replace that person, which if we haven’t done a really good job training
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people, that person’s not from within. We actually we’ll probably have to go
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outside and pay all those fees. And if they are from within, right, there’s a
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lot of things that go on with that as well.
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Yeah, it’s huge. I mean, a lot of times that number number two is the complement
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to to the owner, right? Like the the owner’s got gaps and weak spots, right?
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Like uh and that the the number two, the person integrating their business, if
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they’re the visionary, this is the integrator we’re talking about. And
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they’ve got those skills that that the the owner not necessarily um is in their
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wheelhouse. So, you know, it’s it’s not just retraining and going learning those
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things again. Sometimes it’s tooling up in other areas. So, it it’s a real
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knockback for the business. So, yeah, got to look after your people here. I
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know we’re going to get into that. I know we’re going to get into the formula
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for for uh you know, long long-term creation of value for for our team
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members. But, uh let’s go to Ryan’s fun fact. Fun fact, study after study puts
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the cost of replacing a senior employee at roughly 1/ half to two times their
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annual salary once you count recruiting, loss productivity, and ramp time. For a
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key number two, it’s the high end. Wow.
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So, losing a person can cost you a year of their pay or more.
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Yeah, absolutely, John. Right. For all the the the things that we mentioned in
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the previous segment here, and it and it never shows up as a line item called we
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lost val, right? It shows up as missed deadlines, slipped clients, and an owner
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back in the weeds, right? Your P&L is very good at telling you what you spent
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and completely silent on what you actually lost.
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There we go. Time for a quick break. This time brought to you by Napco
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Painting Contractors out of Napco. Napa, California.
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Got the city named after them.
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And and they’re that good that a city should be named after them.
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Yes.
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And they’re a fitting sponsor for our attention episode because read their
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reviews. Their clients say things like, “We’ve used Napco for 20 years.” That
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kind of loyalty is the whole point tonight.
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20 years plus in Napa Valley. Residential, commercial, interior,
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exterior, a dedicated fine finish shop for cabinets, plus estate and facility
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maintenance, and they’re genuinely eco-friendly, green practices across the
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board. Clients who stay two decades is the business version of a number two who
13:31
never leaves. And nobody stays 20 years out of inertia. Not clients, not people.
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You earn that on purpose every year. Licensed, certified, and the
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Elevating spaces, keeping clients for 20 years. That’s the model. And by the way,
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folks, if your number two never leaves you, please go see a doctor.
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That’s That’s what we’re doing. We’re We’re constipating our number twos.
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That’s That’s what this episode is all about.
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That’s retention in a wrong way.
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So, let’s get back to it. Um, make the case in dollars. Why is keeping them
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almost always cheaper than ever having to replace them?
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Well, because retention is a rounding error, right? So, if we’re going to
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replace Val, it’s $140 to $190,000
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plus 6 to9 months of degraded output, the risk it doesn’t work, and then you
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have to run the whole play again if it doesn’t right. If we stick with her and
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we have a $20,000 conversation, that’s the whole bill.
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7 to nine times cheaper than what we actually know will work versus what
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we’re hoping to and maybe rolling the dice. Plus, you have recruiter fees.
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Plus, you have ramp up fees. Plus, you have personality conflicts. There’s a
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lot with the unknown. So, sometimes the devil you know is better than the devil
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you don’t know. But if this person number two has built their way up, is
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the right person in the right seat, is an exemplary employee that that is your
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cash, you know, your your core values, you want to keep them. Now, there’s
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another way around this is that you don’t want them to hold you over a
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bridge and, you know, and say, “Listen, um, you know, we don’t want to have a a
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a hostage situation where they’re holding us hostage, right?” Mhm.
15:41
So there there is a side of that that we have to be careful of. But there’s one
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question. What would you spend to avoid a six figure problem,
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right? That’s what’s losing them is about. That’s the answer to that
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question. So if you push back on it, that is a very
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fair thing. Well, you know, if I brought somebody in, it would be cheaper, might
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be better, that kind of stuff. Now we’re talking at the person exhibiting if they
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really belong in your company or not. But if this person really belongs in
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your company, it’s very easy. Look at what the fair
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what the fair market value is. Look at what other your what your competitor who
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would love to have this person give to that person to to essentially
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run their company the same way that they’re running yours,
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right? Compare it to what you’re offering them and make the offer ahead
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of time before they even have to go and and look around. Gotcha. Yeah, makes
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total sense. Um, let let’s dig in here further. Uh, let’s talk about the
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toolkit for how you keep people long-term beyond
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just handing out raises. Um, how do you bolt a key person to the business long
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term? Well, for a true number two, you need to pay
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well above what feels comfortable and still come out ahead of replacing them,
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right? Uh that discomfort really becomes the signal.
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And here’s the replacement math, right? You’re going to an unknown that might
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not fit your your mission, your values over the long run. Might be a quick fix.
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And imagine if you had to do it two years from now as well, going through
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the whole thing again, right? Or you can give Val
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20, $30,000, a path to success, a path to equity,
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right? Who’s helped build this this company for you,
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a a a car, whatever that might be, 401k, stock options,
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would you be better off for it than replacing that person
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two times in the next four years? Heck yeah.
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No brainer.
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That’s probably one of the best investments you’ll ever make. Period.
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You get peace of mind for an extra $30,000 and that person gets a path that
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hey, maybe one day the company runs without you and that person’s is the
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number one now.
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And now you’re just collecting a check on the beach drinking a Mai.
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Awesome. Love it. Um Yeah. And I mean that’s the vision for most uh business
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owners anyway, right? like that if you don’t create and enable a leadership
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team, you truly don’t have the business where you can step away from it. We’ve
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already talked about how the business is valued, whether somebody will come in
18:31
and purchase it. So, if you don’t put these steps in place and have that
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valuable integrator, number two, whatever we want to call them, um then
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really you’re holding yourself back. You’re missing out on the opportunity to
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be able to grow and and uh grow the business. How do you how do you layer
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this, Ryan? What comes first? Well, the first thing that comes first, and every
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great HR survey will tell you that money isn’t a factor, but it it is a factor,
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right? And take something out of Dave Ramsey’s book, is that he makes sure
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that he does a comp salary every single year, looks at it, and then makes sure
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that he pays his folks fairly. So, fair compet comp, that’s what you need. Pay
19:12
them at or above market depending on what their purpose is and how they’re
19:17
really driving certain things, right? Give them a bonus. You can give them a
19:23
stay bonus. Hey, thanks. Thanks for sticking around. You can or a retention
19:27
bonus, right? Or build them bonuses based upon how well the company does
19:32
based on things that they actually directly impact. Right? If that was the
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true number two in driving the P&L, then give her a bonus based upon what’s
19:41
falling down to the bottom line right before the accounting tricks of that
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happen, right? The true way of operating that company, right? Great salesperson
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should not only be compensated on a sales goal, but also on a gross
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profitability goal, right? Those are things that they can actually control
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and do. The better they do, the better the company does. And the third one is
20:04
out there. If you don’t want to give real equity to these folks, give them
20:09
phantom equity, which is essentially saying that I will give you ownership,
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quote unquote, okay? Make sure that it’s there. It’s not real ownership, but that
20:19
it is directly tied to the company’s value,
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right? And they can get that as form of a bonus yearly, which means that they
20:27
don’t necessarily get a piece of the pie at sale. or you can make it as part of
20:31
that as well is that you know build help me build my company up from five million
20:35
to $10 million valuation I’ll give you 10% of that along the way and at end
20:40
because you’re helping me build this right so there’s a lot of ways John that
20:44
you can you can make somebody happy to stay that’s worth having to keep around
20:49
and that’s another thing too right if they’re not worth it don’t worry about
20:53
it attrition’s going to happen to you have a plan for it make sure you have
20:57
next person up but if they’re worth that this is what you can do.
21:02
Awesome. Yeah. Really? I mean, you’re not just
21:06
buying their labor. You’re buying a reason for them them and you to still be
21:11
here in a number of years, right? So, those are those are different those are
21:16
different opportunities. Okay. Time for John’s two cents. Marketing tip of the
21:20
week. Market your team like you market to your customers. So um my two cents is
21:27
a twist on uh just generally marketing your business. You spend real effort on
21:31
your brand for customers. So spend that same effort on your own team and your
21:35
employer brand. Um your best people are constantly getting recruited. So um
21:40
polish yourself up. A polished competitor with a great careers page, a
21:44
clear story looks more exciting than the place that they’ve stopped being noticed
21:48
at. Um making sure that people see you. familiarity with your brand makes your
21:54
own shop feel like it’s uh uh not a challenging place to work.
21:59
So, you market the opportunity inward.
22:02
Yes, indeed. That’s exactly what we’re doing. We’re telling the story of where
22:05
the company is going, where they fit into your organization.
22:10
Recognition wins publicity. So make uh staying with their existing uh um place
22:17
employer feel like a choice that they have to keep making, not a rut that
22:21
they’re stuck in. So you know, retention really is just about internally uh
22:25
internally marketing. My one step this week is to sit down with your key people
22:30
and paint the three-year picture out loud where the company’s going and the
22:34
specific role they’re going to play in getting there. Um most of your people
22:38
will never have really heard you say it. Um, that conversation is free. It’s one
22:44
of the strongest retention tools that you have internally and also market that
22:48
out externally. Marketing tip of the week.
22:51
Good stuff, John.
22:53
All right.
22:54
And it’s nice that it fits right into this episode. It’s It’s like magic.
22:58
And that’s crazy how that happens all the time.
23:03
It’s almost as if we think about these things.
23:04
One more. Exactly. Right. We actually do think about some stuff.
23:10
Yeah.
23:11
All right. One more from Napco Painting Contractors in Napco, California. Just
23:17
kidding. It’s Napa.
23:19
And the the angle here is the the the fine finish shop because it’s a lesson
23:23
in keeping skill in house.
23:26
Right. One of their cabinet maker clients said it best in a review. 47
23:31
years building cabinets and he stopped doing his own finishing because Napco
23:35
was better. He said, “A bad finisher can destroy great cabinets.” Which is the
23:40
whole retention point in one sentence. A bad finisher destroys great cabinets. A
23:46
bad replacement destroys 8 years of client relationships. Same sentence,
23:52
bigger cabinet. That is right. Napco does residential, commercial, interior,
23:56
exterior cabinets, and fine finish estate maintenance. All eco-friendly. 20
24:00
plus years in Napco Valley. As a Canadian, I’ll note they do serious
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exterior work in wine country, which is a nicer climate to paint in than
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anywhere I’ve ever held a paintbrush. That is my one.
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That’s your one. Napco painting contractors. Napco painting.com
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70725545 4359. And again, that’s 707-2554359
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in Napa, California. Elevating spacing spaces and enriching lives just like our
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quality advertisement. That’s right. And if you would like to
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be a sponsor of our episode at zero cost, uh, just slip us a note and we’ll
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make you the next sponsor in our poorly framed sponsor ads.
24:52
Yes, we have to beg for it. All right. Ryan, uh, let let’s tie this to the
24:58
exit. So, what does an unretained, unlocked in number two do um to what the
25:05
business is worth? So, let me
25:10
say that a buyer loves a strong number two, right? And that
25:16
really frees up the fact that if I’ve got a good person I can rely on that
25:20
will stick around and help me continue to run this business. A buyer will will
25:26
pay a lot. Right now we’re not owner dependent anymore. Now it’s company
25:31
dependent. I’m my dependence has shifted. But I know that owner’s got a
25:36
six-month plan. Hand it over. I can rely on this person. Build them up. Let them
25:40
continue to do the operating. Pay them well. Stick around. Right.
25:46
The problem is and and I’ve seen this a couple times where owners have taken on
25:51
a new has bought a new company and the first things that happens within a month
25:56
is that key employees are leaving. Right? That’s their time to say, you
26:03
know what, I’ve been wanting a change for a while. I haven’t been treated
26:06
right by the old owner or this is my time to retire. I’ve got enough money.
26:10
Let’s make this change now. and the buyer is left holding the bag. Now,
26:15
whether this has been planned in advance or something to that effect or, you
26:20
know, the owner knew about it, just hang on. I’ll leave you there. And I’ve seen
26:24
it a couple times where key employees have left. I’ve also seen it a couple
26:28
times where key employees where the owners held off on raises so that their
26:33
IBIDA was higher. And so the new buyer now comes in three months later and now
26:38
has to give well-earned and overdue raises to keep the key employees there.
26:43
Right? So what kind of relationship one did the old owners have with these folks
26:48
and now the buyer is now by doing that having to build their own relationship
26:54
and sell tell them hey I want you around for a while. So it can it can go both
26:59
ways. But if we don’t have to deal with that, if a new buyer is comes in,
27:04
everyone loves them. It’s worth their weight in gold. That buyer is going to
27:09
pay a premium. They’re going to be able to, you know, from this main street
27:13
millionaire thing where people are buying uh mechanical contractors have no
27:18
idea what they’re doing. They’re just buying a business. Their reliance on key
27:23
employees is huge. And so the key employees can
27:28
really show the new buyer that it was worth
27:32
every penny and that they’re worth every penny as well and to make sure that you
27:36
know they can grow together in in terms of running that business, increasing
27:41
that business. And then maybe at one point they’re given a path to a phantom
27:45
equity um and those sorts of things. So takes away key flight risk. It takes
27:52
away the owner uh dependency. That’s really what a buyer is buying a
27:59
premium for.
28:01
Awesome. I think it’s pretty clear where the value of the business is tied to. Uh
28:05
a strong team like we’ve talked about it in multiple episodes before um buy box
28:11
etc. What what exactly what buyers are looking for and this is this is a key
28:15
piece of the puzzle. Um, if you have an unstable team, buyers will overlook um
28:20
your business. Um, okay. So, let’s let’s start to close up here. Uh, owner is
28:25
driving home realizing their number two has gone quiet. What is the one thing
28:28
they do this week? Sit down, have a conversation. This person has been
28:34
working with you for quite a long long time. Maybe they working their way from
28:38
the mail room to the boardroom. It’s time to have that conversation. It’s not
28:42
a renew a review. It it’s it’s not a project update. It’s you talking matter
28:50
of factly about what the future looks like. Build a future for that person.
28:55
They’ve been learning alongside of you.
28:57
Yes, they haven’t had your mentality. They haven’t had to have had the risk
29:02
that you that you have. But a good number two is worth their weight and
29:06
gold. Times two or three times recruiting fees, times learning curves,
29:11
times slippage, times employees leaving, right, from the relationship.
29:16
And if you’re afraid it’s going to open up a can of worms, the can’s already
29:20
been open, right? You need to go ahead and address
29:24
it. You just haven’t looked inside that can. Get there, hear what they’re they
29:30
want. Hear maybe you’re on the same page. Everything’s good. Copaacetic.
29:34
Fantastic. Give them a stay bonus. You know what? Thanks for the 9 years of
29:38
hard work. Sorry we couldn’t give you the the raise that you deserved 2 years
29:42
ago, but now we’re doing well again. Here’s some money. Really appreciate
29:46
you. Do it out of the do it out of the norm. You know, do it do it
29:51
spontaneously and and do the replacement math before
29:55
you do this conversation. Do the replacement math. How much will it cost
30:00
you? Not in what you’ll lose on the P&L, but what you will lose, what you will
30:06
have lost in the future from that. Especially if you have to replace this
30:10
person two, three times in the in the matter of a couple years. What customers
30:15
will leave with them? What relationships will leave with them? What work
30:20
workarounds have they have they doing because you didn’t listen to them
30:23
because they wanted new software that would make their lives easier, your
30:27
business more efficient and actually your bottom line bigger.
30:30
Amen, brother. And I and I think this stems from just looking after people,
30:34
right? Like this is where it’s got to come from. You know, we’ve got teams of
30:38
people. They’re all living their lives and you know they have expectations of
30:42
what they want, how they’re going to grow, are they getting married, do they
30:45
need to buy a house, all these sorts of things. And if you don’t sit down and
30:48
look at what your team members need, then really you’re not getting into the
30:52
value that your business is providing to them. So, I think you just got to go
30:55
back there and and check in on these things. I know we have these
30:58
conversations with our people. Um, I have a fabulous number, too. She’s an
31:02
amazing integrator. Nila, I’ll give you a shout out all day. Awesome. You know,
31:06
we’re we’re having these conversations and uh I hope this episode is just
31:11
checking some boxes there. Um, you know, for her. So, I I think it’s really
31:15
important to look after your people well and look at what they need in their
31:18
lives.
31:19
No, I agree. Yeah. And I’d like to shout out to my integrator as well, NA. Wait a
31:23
minute, John.
31:26
Whoa. Okay. Oh, yeah. I think all three of us are going to have a conversation
31:30
later on.
31:33
Just kidding. Brian, you know who you are. Uh, you know, but you have to have
31:37
that, right? That’s it’s it’s it’s a it’s crucial to that. But more
31:41
importantly, they need to know where they that they’re appreciated.
31:44
Not only just in words. It’s not like, oh, you know, when you go to dinner and
31:48
you’re like, you know what, you did such a great job serving us. The food was an
31:52
fantastic. By the way, that’s your tip.
31:55
Mhm.
31:55
Right. People can’t live off of gratitude. People don’t want to make $20
32:00
an hour going forward just because they like you. They have families. They have
32:04
dreams. They need a path. give them a path and let them continue to rise to
32:08
the occasion because in the at the end one, it makes your life easier. Two, it
32:13
probably makes your your company better, right? And three, it makes it far more
32:17
sellable. And and that’s another, you know, multiple or two uh that we’re
32:22
talking about to get away from that dependence. So, it it’s time, folks. If
32:28
you haven’t had that conversation in a while, it’s past.
32:31
Get on. Hopefully not too late,
32:35
right? Absolutely. Get on it. Okay, time for the takeaway, Ryan.
32:39
The person you can’t replace is usually the one you stop noticing. And by the
32:44
time they tell you, they already had decided that a long time ago. Make sure
32:49
you have the raise conversations. Make sure you have the path.
32:54
Don’t stay as you are because it expires over time. Recruiters are out there.
33:02
Your comp competition is noticing. They’re want to poach them. Losing them
33:07
just doesn’t cost salary. It’s a multiple of it. Not to mention the
33:14
knowledge that walks out the door, the clients, the employees that will follow.
33:19
Retention is a rounding error when you when you compare it to replacement. So,
33:26
make sure that you do your math. Look at the fair market value. Pay that.
33:34
Pay above it. Give them a path. Give them a date. Give them e phantom equity.
33:41
Give them real equity. Make sure that you take care of the people that are
33:46
taking care of your business. And when you do that, your business will
33:49
flourish. Love it. Great episode, Ryan. Super important. Yeah, I think we’re
33:54
going to dig deeper into other HR um uh things in future episodes. Uh I think
34:01
episode after next um is what we got planned out for some more HR um advice
34:06
and and recommendations. But yeah, great one.
34:10
Yeah, John. Uh yeah, we’re we just started uh scratching the the the tip of
34:16
the iceberg here. We’re going to be taking on a lot more topics uh in our
34:20
space and uh all the ones that are taboo and not.
34:24
So, I think that’s going to be great. So, that’s a tease for future episodes.
34:28
Um and you know, John, I do appreciate you. Our listeners appreciate you. So,
34:34
you know what? I’m going to double your salary because we appreciate you.
34:39
Thank you. Wow. That that is a I’m going to go buy myself nothing as a reward.
34:46
Well, John’s two cents became John’s 4 cents. So
34:49
that is Well, again, 1.4 US cents. So, what am I going to do with that?
34:58
Can’t even get a Timbit for three US cents. So,
35:01
yeah, love it. Time to go on a shopping spree.
35:05
All right, folks. Over and out. Thanks again.
35:09
That’s it for this episode of From Burnout to Bought Out. If something we
35:13
said today hit home, don’t just nod in agreement. Pick one thing. The number
35:17
you’ve been avoiding. The process that only lives in your head. The
35:21
conversation you’ve been putting off for 6 months. Do that one thing this week.
35:26
That’s how it starts. And if you’re not sure which one thing to pick, drop us a
35:30
line. We’ll happily point you in the right direction. New episodes drop every
35:34
week. Until next time, stop running the treadmill and start building something
35:38
you can actually sell.