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Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. My name is Darrell Darnell, I have over 40 TV & movie themed knick knacks in my studio- 9 of which are from Fringe and 7 of which are from Doctor Who, and I believe that if you aren’t learning, you aren’t living. In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share lessons I’ve learned after having gone through the most explosive growth in my entrepreneurial career.
What is it that you want to do, but it’s impossible?
Today’s Fun Fact:
Are you enjoying the Rio Olympics? I am. I love getting to watch competitors from all over the world compete in events that we only get to see every 4 years. It’s something that I look forward to each time it comes around. To help put you in the Olympic spirit, here are some fun facts about the Rio Olympic Games.
- The 2016 Olympics will cost roughly $11.5 billion.
- More than 3.6 billion people are expected to watch the olympics worldwide.
- The 2016 Olympic games will include 306 events.
- While it’s summer here in the northern hemisphere, it’s winter in the southern hemisphere. The Rio games marks the first time the Summer Games have been hosted in a country during the winter season.
- After a 112 year absence, golf will return as an Olympic sport at Rio.
What I Learned Yesterday
Well, I did it! At 12:03am yesterday morning, I wrapped up the final edit of a slew of new clients that have either moved their podcast production over to Pro Podcast Solutions or have used Pro Podcast Solutions to help them launch. The total number is 7 to be exact. I’m not sure what you think of that number but for me, as I sit here today, that’s a big number.
To put it in perspective, a year ago I was nearly driven to insanity trying to simultaneously do 2 of those at a time. I look at these two tasks as nearly identical. In each scenario we need to onboard a new client into our system. We need to create a template, figure out which effects and tools are needed to give them the best sound, and work their podcast into our workflow. New clients and podcast launches take more time to do and are much more unpredictable as it’s a new experience each time. What’s more, with a podcast launch, there may be up to 5 episodes that need to be edited within a very small window so that the podcast can launch with multiple episodes.
Another factor to consider is that some clients also want us to transcribe their episode or write up show notes for their episode. These tasks not only add time to the process of preparing their episode, they also mean that the project will need to be handed off to an additional team member or two before it’s completed. This also creates another level of communication and coordination that need to be seamless in order for us to be efficient.
It seems totally unreal to say this, but Pro Podcast Solutions has grown nearly 5 times the size that it was a year ago at this time.
After I sent the email notification at 12:03am letting my client know that their episode was ready, I put my computer to sleep, got up from my chair, turned off the light in my studio, and went to my bedroom to tell my wife the good news. A deep feeling of relief and gratitude swept over me. As you probably know, I’ve had several seasons of extreme growth and workload as my company has grown over the last 3+ years. But I don’t know that any of them stressed me out or stretched me as much as this one did. Last week was especially challenging as I worked nearly 15 hours a day 6 days straight. Of course, a normal day for me is still 10-12 hours, but bumping that up to 15 each day was taxing. It felt good to have it behind me and it felt even better to have each client taken care of.
Yesterday when I arrived at church, I found the pastor making coffee as he does every Sunday. He asked about my week and I shared many of these same thoughts with him. He spoke words of encouragement to me as he knows what it’s like to be an entrepreneur. Before becoming a pastor, he owned his own fencing company for several years. So he understands the pressures, highs, and lows of owning your own business. He reminded me of some of the challenges that I’ve faced and overcome along the way and told me how proud he was of the work I’ve done.
He also reminded me of a story that I had totally forgotten about. About 7 years ago we took a trip to east Texas with some other men from our church. We spent some time at lake Palestine and one day as we were out in the boat enjoying the sunshine, I had my head in a book doing research on podcasting. I was learning how to improve my craft and driven to stand out among the crowd of podcasters. Little did I know then that my drive for improving my podcast would lead me to this path of helping other podcasters and be able to do it full time.
He also reminded me that I once lost a client that represented between 60 and 70 percent of my business. But instead of being broken by that moment, I was able to overcome it. You probably remember that story. If not, you can check out episode 281 to hear about it. Of course, I had’t forgotten about that, but it was great to be reminded of it and to receive encouragement.
Here’s What I’ve Learned:
How did I get from a spot where adding 2 clients was all that I could handle to getting to a point where that number was 7? Well, a lot of things happened. First, I had a plan. That plan was simple: grow my company to the best of my ability by taking the best step forward I can each day. That’s it. That means that I didn’t start out with a detailed plan of how I would onboard new audio editors. It didn’t even include a detailed plan for how I would onboard new clients. It meant that I would work each day and do my best to grow the business. I would do that by doing the best work I can, improve my skills each day, and serve my clients.
Eventually that meant that I need to add another editor. When that time came, I figured out how I would do that. Then I needed another editor. When that day came, I figured it out. Eventually we added more editors and a project manager, podcast launch specialist, show notes writer, and transcriptionist. Those roles were no where on my radar when I started my company. But as I served my clients, they told me that they needed those services. So then I went and found people to help fill those roles.
As the business grew, we reached a point where we needed better communication and project management tools. So when the day came when I determined that the best step forward would be to add those things, I did. Had I done that research before I ever started, I wouldn’t have fully understood what my needs were. I might have spent all that time researching and learning something that didn’t even help me when the time came to actually need it.
Don’t get me wrong though. I don’t just wait until we need something before I take action to fix that need. I do my best to understand where the company will be in 30-60 days and plan accordingly. Before I ever headed out the door to podcast movement, I made structural changes that increased our efficiencies in communication and workflow so that we could add 7 new clients and not crumble. Sure, it was still stressful for me, but we did it. Without the changes we made prior to Podcast Movement, I don’t know how we would have been able to handle the new workload at all.
So let me end by tying this back into the Rio Olympics. Shortly before I began composing this episode, I watched US women’s swimmer, Katie Ledecky win the women’s 400m freestyle. It was inspiring to say the least. Going into the race, Katie already held the world record in the event with a time of 3:58.37. When the signal sounded to start the race, Katie got off to an instant lead and never looked back. She finished the race in 3:56.46, beating her previous record by nearly 2 seconds. She beat the second place swimmer by nearly 5 full seconds.
How did Katie become the world record holder in the first place? Well, first she had to get into the pool. Next she had to work on her craft. After that she had to do her best, trying each day to better her skills. She was undoubtedly pushed to her breaking point, only to realize that she could still do more. Eventually, after hundreds and hundreds of hours in the pool, she beat the world record. She wasn’t content though. She kept sharpening her skills, taking the best step she could each day to make her a better swimmer. That perseverance paid off and she blew past a score that once stood as the limit of her capability. The boundary of what she was once capable of now sits in the shadow of her abilities today.
So I ask you again. What is it that you want to do, but it’s impossible? What if it’s not impossible? What are you doing today to achieve your dreams and goals? What is the best thing you can do right now to get you closer to that goal? Don’t give up. Don’t settle for where you are today. The road to success will be tough. It will try to break you. But you can persevere. You can use those tough times to make you stronger and more equipped for the future. All things are possible.
I’m Darrell Darnell, and this has been Stuff I Learned Yesterday.
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