Million Dollar Days
Welcome to Million Dollar Days with Robby Choucair & George Passas. Your go-to podcast for a deep dive into the world of Life and Business Mastery.
Join hosts Robby Choucair and George Passas, a dynamic marketer and a seasoned Entrepreneur, as they navigate through an array of intriguing topics ranging from the everyday to the extraordinary.
Robby brings his marketing expertise to the table, offering insights into the latest strategies and trends. George, with his extensive experience in business, provides a grounded, practical perspective. Together, they explore everything from the feasibility of alien existence to effective goal setting, and even the nuances of religion.
Million Dollar Days is not just about business acumen; it's an exploration of life's many facets, wrapped up in conversations that are as enlightening as they are entertaining.
Tune in and be part of our journey, where every day is a million-dollar day, filled with learning, laughter, and the pursuit of mastery.
Million Dollar Days
Driving Success with Strategy and Empathy
Transitioning into a CEO role isn’t just about delegating tasks and calling the shots—it’s about making tough decisions, taking responsibility, and ensuring that the vision comes to life. In this episode, Robby shares his journey of stepping into the CEO role, the challenges of letting go of past responsibilities, and why small business owners often hold themselves back by staying too involved in day-to-day tasks. He discusses how hiring a General Manager has helped free up his time and why sometimes, you still have to get your hands dirty to push key projects forward.
We promise to enrich your understanding of SEO as we unravel its complexities, exploring how traditional payment methods like checks weirdly intertwine with modern digital strategies. While navigating the labyrinth of driving traffic to your site, we stress the importance of knowing the basics to ensure that traffic transforms into real success. Expect humorous and candid anecdotes as we question industry norms, drawing inspiration from Jordan Peterson's wisdom on challenging our assumptions and seeking personal clarity amidst the noise.
Whether you're scaling your business, looking for motivation, or wondering how small decisions can lead to big results, this episode is packed with valuable lessons. They emphasize the importance of taking action, staying consistent, and continuously pushing toward the next level. If you’re serious about growth, you don’t want to miss this one!
I had a sign the other day. Did you say sign? Yes, I had a sign. Would you like to know what it is? What did it say? Million dollar days Up on our wall in the studio, lit up in neon lights. How amazing. That's a big sign. It's a big sign and it looks fantastic with the black backdrop.
Robby:The only thing I was a little bit disappointed was when I came in this morning and asked you to change the color. You said it doesn't. So very disappointed. Might flip.
Robby:Are we pointing fingers? We have to. We wouldn't make a million dollar days if we didn't. It's not our fault. Whose fault is it? Oh, my wife bought this sign for me as a Christmas present, really big. Delivery came on Christmas day. I was like, oh wow, what's this? She goes Merry Christmas and then we've got a Million Dollar Days, neon sign, as we've always wanted, but it doesn't change colour. So I like it. I reckon it's sick. I reckon it's sick. We're that much more official now Got the merch, we've got the sign. Is it really a podcast if you don't have a neon sign up on the wall? Exactly right. So it's a year, but we're going to build up to this stuff. It's the journey. That's it.
Robby:How's your week been? The week that's just starting, because our episode is off on Mondays, george. Million dollar Mondays. Million dollar Mondays. No, but life is good, man. 2025 has been chaotic. Yeah, I feel like it's just blended from the hectic end to 24 and then it's just started again in 25. There's a lot happening, but, yeah, all in all going well, excellent. I found that I've been doing a lot more of the groundwork than ever before, why it's part of our. Some of our projects require me to get a bit more involved at the moment, so I am doing that and restructuring internally with the company as well. So that's been a transition period. So I've transitioned to CEO bitch. I was the company.
Robby:Yeah, bitch, comma, bitch, comma, bitch. I've transitioned to that role and I've put on a GM at the business, which has been great, but it's also meant that you've had to bring him up to speed to do the things I used to be doing. But it's also we've had a couple of projects that just need my attention to get them across the line. So sometimes in your business I find that you're going to need to not take a step back but get your hands dirty. Do you know what I mean? I don't think you can have that level of arrogance as a small business owner which the majority of everyone listening here would be, have that level of arrogance where you go.
Robby:No, that's not my job anymore. Do you agree with that Me? Yeah, I think sometimes you're going to have to check the ad. You're going to have to do the ad. You know what I mean? Or for me, my case, I'm going to have to call the contract. I'm going to have to order material. I'm going to have to write a purchase order or a contract or whatever it might be, or process an invoice, like my accounts girl. My PA, sorry, has been away for the last two weeks and that has meant a massive hole in our processing of accounts, so I've had to not only process invoices myself, had to hand pass others to the team and get them to come on board and do all that sort of stuff too. So it's a challenge. As a business, you have to get your hands dirty sometimes. You can't just always sit back and go no, no, I'm the CEO now. I only go for coffees and do high level shit. Yeah, but does that also mean that you're not busy enough? What do you mean, like?
Robby:in the sense of if you can do, you think, okay, do you think Elon Musk stops and does accounts if the account scales away? No, of course not. But you're talking about a different scale, Of course, yeah, but like I like to compare things in extremes, right, and it's like do you think someone at that level does that? But he's like fuck the accounts, I've got to do this CEO shit. I get that. The alternative is for me to have a big enough team to be able to do that. Yeah, and that's the problem with small business owners, and often they get in their own way too. That's why it's so hard for them to put on people. Oh, I can process this invoice. Why would I pay someone $80,000 a year to just do accounts? I'm going to do it. Why would I pay a GM $150,000, $200,000, $300,000 a year when I can just get in the business? So it's, yeah, getting out of your own way. I have been doing some CEO shit. We've been back three weeks now, okay. So what's, um, I guess, and even like, obviously it's still fresh, but what are some of the things that you want to start doing that you weren't doing previously, like now, with the extra time that you're getting? What are some of the things that you're going to focus on? Well, for me it, for me it's now.
Robby:We spoke about this the other day. You on Zip yeah, I'm not hitting the ceiling. No, not on the podcast, just outside of the podcast. And we do have conversations from time to time. I think we should record all the conversations. Oh, yeah, we need to go to jail. Yeah, not pass, go, do not collect $200.
Robby:Yeah, you hit the ceiling sometimes in your business. Yeah, you hit the ceiling sometimes in your business. It's like you get to that point and you go, it could be in revenue, it could be in delivered work, whatever it is. You just hit that ceiling and it's like that glass ceiling. It's there and you want to break through it. But you get to that point and then you might come down a bit and then you get to that point again. You have a really busy year. You get to that point, might go a little bit above it, but then you sort of just hover and continue along that norm and it becomes a new norm.
Robby:So for me, in that CEO role, I really want to break that ceiling and push through and go okay, well, how does this turn from an eight figure business. It's still eight figure, but highfigures. How do you go and turn over $20, $30, $40, $50 million a year? What does that look like? And it's not necessarily saying I want to build a $100 million company, but it's also saying, well, exactly, why not, why not? Why am I putting that limiting belief on me? Why am I saying, well, okay, you can still be a luxury home builder turning over $100 million or $50 million or whatever it might be. Why don't I just go in to start building two-rack mansions? Yeah, you can also look at it like what's the overall spend in this space, like what's our total market cap? That's right. You know what I mean. That's right. How many people are actually building at this level and how much dollars go into this every year? And I'm sure if you looked into it and got the data I don't know where you'd get it from, but if you got the data you'd probably find that it's a fucking, very large amount, without a doubt.
Robby:Go for a drive in some of those suburbs. Go to Sorrento, go to Turac, go to some of these affluent areas. They're not spending $2, $3 million on their home. They're not spending $2, $3 million on their home. They're spending $15, $20 million on a build and there's no expense spared. That's insanity. It is full on. I know someone that did that and they built a $20 million home Not with me, but we know them quite well. It's just next level. It's next level shit. Very exciting For myself, that's where I'm at at the moment.
Robby:What areas? Areas Very exciting, but so for myself, that's where I'm at at the moment. What areas Are they like? Those types of homes, Predominantly Turak, but you'd be going. Those sorts of areas, yeah, turak, I'd say down Sorrento. There's probably other areas, mansfield as well, like some rural, not rural sort of countryside areas too, where they'll buy land and they just want to build a mansion on it.
Robby:It really comes down to the individual. You know they don't look at going oh, I'm going to over-invest in this area. They're just like no, no, I'm going to spend this money because this is what I want to spend. Like, have you looked at I was looking at? The other day I was looking at homes in Noosa and it's like 15 mil, yeah, like a nice don't get me wrong like a very nice house to buy. Yeah, yeah, but like that's different from build cost. Even here it was like this. Is it like for 15 mil? Like this is all I'm getting.
Robby:Like, take this house and put it into a another suburb, in like anywhere, an outer suburb, and it might be 1.2, 1.3, maybe 1.5. It was a decent house. So you're paying for the location, yeah, but I was like man, that much. You know what I mean. You're paying 15 mil to live in this nice four-bedroom house, double-story. It's decent, it's got a pool, it's not like I wouldn't walk in there and think this is 15, this is. You get so much money like value for money, and I'm massive on that sort of stuff too.
Robby:I look at that and I'm like man, I'm not going to spend that sort of coin here when I can go and spend something else and gets better. Yeah, I was like man, like I've never been to new south, um, but I was quite taken aback. I was like this is and like one sold and I was like, first of all, this is insane. The price, the price level is insane. But secondly, who the fuck's buying this shit? Who came and sat there? Oh, yeah, this house, okay, yeah, it's not bad. Yeah, I'll spend 50 mil. It's like who are you man? What do you do? How do you get those people? Yeah, maybe he bought it just to knock it down and build whatever the hell he wants. That could be an option for him too. So, yeah, reaching out and approaching those people, getting in touch with those people.
Robby:Yesterday we spoke a little bit about oh no, on the weekend we spoke about SEO and what that looks like and starting to incorporate that into the business and how we can drive traffic and actually have strategic processes in place.
Robby:In the past, I've often relied and many business owners and many builders do this they rely on referrals and repeat work and all that sort of stuff, and I'm like, cool, turn the tap on and get me more referrals right now. You can't, okay, cool, turn it off or tighten it up because you've got too much work, stop the referrals from coming in. You can't no, control. It's not a metric that you can measure or control, whereas when you start doing things like your SEO, your branding, your marketing, your digital ads, they are all factors you can control and, yeah, it's just, it's harder. It is hard, it takes time to build a thing. It takes time. It takes time, but it's also, though, and money. Like a lot of people are fearful of spending the money. We looked at it like now I've picked up a bit of money on a particular project and I'm like, okay, I could very easily just pocket that, just put it in my pocket and go cool, I just made an extra.
George:X amount of dollars.
Robby:Or I can go and get taxed on it, okay, or I can go well, hang on, how about I take a portion of that money or all of that money and go here you go, robbie, go do this. Yeah, let's go down this strategy.
Robby:Exactly, and you said it the other day and I've said this to many people as well and the beauty about what we're going to do by going down this path because I'm going to do the SEO, we'll roll it out this month it's like I'll be then able to sit there and show the actual metrics and go here's day one and here's day 365. Yeah, and look at the inquiries. Look at the inquiries. Now. Who would like to know how much money I spent? I spent this much money Now. Who would like to know how many projects I spent, how many projects I won? Yeah, here Now, who would like to know my gross profit for each of those projects and then verse what I spent? Okay, and then just go. If each and every one of you, as a business owner, doesn't stand up right now and go to that back of the room and just go here, robbie, take all my fucking money. You're a dickhead, yeah, but it's sometimes you need. I think, sometimes people need that, but they again, they're fearful. Could I ask you a question? I'll ask you a question Would SEO not work? Would it not work? Yes, so if I invested what does that mean If I invested? So let's just say Like for your position. No, no, no, don't talk about me, let's just talk about some.
Robby:Guy. Comes up to the back of the room and he goes look, I want to buy 12 months. I want to commit to 12 months right now. It's going to cost me whatever. It's going to cost me 40 grand. Yeah, okay, here's 40 grand check. Yeah, it's a check, not eft. They're going to write a check for you. Have you ever received a check before? I mean, I'm going to write you one. I'm actually going to write you a check. Do you have a checkbook? Fuck, no, I'll go. You, I'm 40. Can you burn me a c CD of how to buy chats? Do you know the only reason? I'll tell you. I'll tell you this one time I got a fine from council and it was because there was some mud on the road from outside one of my construction sites. I'm like fuck these guys. Right, because you could pay via EFT, by credit card or by check. I'm like fuck these guys. So I wrote them a check and I posted it to them. So they would have to go to the bank. So someone, obviously like some fucking Gen Z, would open that up and go. Someone just sent us a piece of paper with numbers on it. What do I do? And then like there'd be a massive meltdown, I just imagine like a massive meltdown at the council. They're all like, what the fuck? A check I could check, what's this? What do we do with this? And then they have to go get it stamped and authorized and it probably cost them $10,000 to go get that check processed. Yeah, because they had no idea. They had no idea. So that made me happy. That's the only check I've written in my business in 10 years, the only check I've ever written, but I'll write you one. So he comes back, gives you a check and says, cool, let's commit to 12 months. Is there a risk that the SEO won't work for him? Okay, so I know what you're kind of. I kind of know what you're saying, but a lot. And for those of you that don't know what SEO is, search engine optimization the best way I've heard it explained to me was effectively driving. How you drive traffic to your website, yeah, how you get eyeballs and people onto your website, cool. So to answer your question, did the SEO work? Did your traffic go up? Yes, it will.
George:It always will.
Robby:Almost, unless as long as you're doing the SEO properly which, by the way, most people I've known of people not to have done it properly Okay, so that's a risk there there is a risk.
Robby:That's right. So there is a risk that if you do employ someone not yourself, but someone and say, here, do the SEO that they may not do it properly or as good as other companies. Yeah, you know what we do. I think we do really well. We educate. So I tell people what to look for. I say, hey, man, listen, like come here. I need you to understand this because two things One, you're going to see the value we're doing and two, you need to understand this as a business owner. Just have an overall understanding and know what to look for. Yeah, you what to look for. Yeah, you know what I mean. Even I say, just like you don't, do you know? I say you know your numbers right. Like you know, you do your business and you know you look at a P&L and a P&L, a profit and loss statement, and you understand it. Are you an accountant? No, do you do your SEO? I don't want you to come in and create your own ads or write a copy, but I need you to look at it and understand it. I need you to look at the numbers, look at the data, look at the dashboards and understand what is happening.
Robby:Overall, seo has one purpose? Yeah, it drives traffic. That's its goal. We are letting people find us. Does it guarantee you leads? No, because there's other factors. Does your website convert well? Are you foundation set right? Are you providing a good quality of service? Are people seeing you, finding you, inquiring, looking on your website and then speaking to someone and that person saying I wouldn't use it? Is there something that's deterring people away? Are they jumping on your website, finding you, and they're not in a position where they're ready to proceed? Are you ranking for the right keywords? Do you know what I mean? I've seen people where they're like oh, look, you know, I had someone doing SEO for me and we're ranking for where are we Albert Park Luxury builder, albert Park, okay. Where are we albert park luxury builder, albert park, okay. And then I'm like okay, there's no volume, like no one is searching luxury builder. So, yeah, when you search it, you're first, but no one's looking. So you're like a billboard in the desert, right, and we use that analogy at the events and it's like you need to be ranking for the right things. You, you need to.
Robby:Our process that we do is we call it there's. It's three steps foundations, traffic, convert right. It's like get your shit right website, nice and clean, testimonial, social proof have all that in place, then get traffic and then focus on the conversion, and conversion is two step. One we need to get them to convert from an online viewer to a lead, and then the next step is a lead to a paying customer. You know what I mean. And does it guarantee you're going to have success? No, but can you guarantee traffic 100% if you do it properly? There you go. Yeah, so it's also a no-brainer.
Robby:It also comes down to you being able to sell. True, and that's why people say to me if you can guarantee us a contract, and I'm like, I can't guarantee a contract, dude, I don't do your site inspections, I don't do like. You know what I mean? I'm not going out to the site. I can't sign the contract, I can't do any of that. Exactly right, I say this at my events. I said I guarantee the work. I guarantee that everything I'm teaching you works. Guarantee it 100%, but I can't guarantee it'll work for you. Why? Because I can't guarantee you're going to do the work. You need to put in the work. You need to understand how to sell, how to manage, how to X, y, z, but you have to put in effort. If you don't put in effort, then fuck it. Billboard in the desert You're just doing what everyone else is doing At every other moment.
Robby:Most people think they're a good salesperson yeah. Most people think, yeah, man, no, no, I'm, I'm. I'm very likable and you're like, that's great, like you seem like a nice guy, but when I don't know who youable, I'll trust him. Do you know what I mean? Other than that you're some bloke from the internet? Yeah, or some chick from the internet, yeah, and it's like how do I know I can take you to? And people don't factor that in. Likable isn't?
Robby:I'd rather not be liked and try to be trusted than liked. Do you know what I mean? I don't need you to like me, I just need you to understand that I'm the best person to fucking build your house, yeah. Do you know what I mean? I guess rapport is massive. Rapport is massive. I get it, that's not an issue with that. But yeah, being likable doesn't mean sales, doesn't mean you're going to sell because I've liked people I haven't done business with before. Yeah, you know, I've liked clients and I thought that. And they've literally told me man, we want to build with you. We like you so much. Blah blah, blah blah. Too expensive, but hang on, you like me, let's build.
George:George, do you want to use some numbers Please? So this is from motorintelligencecom. So they estimate that Australia's luxury residential real estate market is around $25 billion.
Robby:That's the real estate market is around 25 billion dollars.
George:That's the real estate market, so that's land, and, yes, luxury, luxury land.
George:So they're estimating sorry, like an annual that's yeah, so the and it says it's gonna grow to 33 billion by 2030. So that's what they're estimating. And if you look at the numbers for melbourne, melbourne has around where was this number again? So they say they call this ultra high net worth individuals or something like that. Yeah, so sydney's number one they have around 6,000, more than 6,000, and it's still growing. But Melbourne has the highest growth right now, even though they only have around 4,900 at the moment. But they're looking at the growth of around 34% in the next coming years.
Robby:Yeah, so it's still growing. Interesting stats, Like imagine now you know you've got that, You've spent what? Five minutes and you found that information, Okay. So it's like hey, Robbie, that's who you need to speak to. You know, Go target them, Find out where they float. Yeah, Iggy, Just get Iggy to do it. You know what I mean.
Robby:And so, understanding your demographic for sure, because if you, as you said, luxury home builder Albert Park, if there's no one wanting to build any luxury homes in the area, why do you want to be number one on Google for that? Yeah, it's one of the tricks slide, I don't know how do I say it. It's like a trick of the trade, yeah, when people think they're getting yeah, yeah, they're saying, oh, look, and you actually told me that you had someone come to you for that too. Yeah, it happened. I remember last year when there was a builder and he goes. He goes, oh, look, build. It's like oh, we do extension renovations.
Robby:You're like okay, so why are you trending for townhouse builder? Yeah, it always gives a shit. That's a wrong space, You're going to get the wrong phone calls, the wrong people coming to your door. So, yeah, look, I think that's one of the major things that I've learned over the years is in business, yeah, but in business you just, if you're going to do what everyone else is doing, you're going to get the same results as everyone else that's what it comes down to, and the ones that have that level of success are the ones that do things differently, and I'd like to think I'm in that different gene pool.
Robby:Do you know what I mean? Even doing this podcast? Yeah, this takes time out of our work week. Okay, my phone has rung three, four times already and it's what time are we recording this? It's quarter to eight, okay, and it's like okay, we're taking time out of our lives and our business to do this. Why? Well, this will create change. This will create opportunities for us. This showcases brand marketing, like a whole range of things, and we enjoy it.
Robby:So why wouldn't you want to do things differently? And I just see it every because we, you know, that's the one thing I've noticed the most since doing events is how much everyone's the same. Like they've got a lot. I'd say the vast majority of people in a room all think the same way. Do you think a lot of humans think the same way? Yeah, like in jail. Yes, absolutely, yeah, absolutely Okay.
Robby:What's the great Australian dream? A house. Yeah, why pick a friend? Buy a house, exactly, buy a house. So why does everyone think that it's fair? Huh, exactly, it's fair, huh, exactly. So that's what I mean, like the majority of people think, yeah, this is how I've got to build wealth. I've had this argument with people before, so many times before. So, oh, you're going to buy a house. A house is a lot. How much did your house pay you last month? It's a liability. How much did your house pay you last month in your bank account? And they're like, oh no, no, I get it. Yeah, I get it 100%.
Robby:And for many Australians, it is their only opportunity to generate wealth over the course of 20, 30 years, because they're banking on the appreciation of the property that they purchased. That's what they're banking on. Meanwhile, the bank makes stupid amounts of fucking money on every single loan that's taken out for a home. So they have a vested interest in pushing that down your throat. Everyone does the government, the banks, all that sort of stuff. It's a story that has been fed for generations and will probably continue to be, but it's actually not the best vehicle for you to start or for you to make genuine wealth in your life. For many reasons. It's like you're better off renting, investing in your business, investing in other opportunities, stock. You can still buy property, but not one that you're going to live in Buy it to develop, buy it to rent out, do whatever you're going to do, but people are always fed that one thing and are believed in that one thing.
Robby:And when you see someone do something different, they're the ones that generally get those extraordinary results. And they're the weird ones too. They're often seen as, oh, what a weirdo. Or why would he do that? Oh, he got lucky.
Robby:There's always an excuse behind that success for other people. They'll justify their shitty livelihood and actions that they haven't taken as to why he's been successful and I use this example again at other events that we do. You'll see a 25-year-old rock up in a Lambo at the service station whilst you're pumping gas in your car and you look at him and I say this to the room. I say what do you guys? When you see that kid get out of the car, that man, 25 years old, step out of his car, put fuel in his car, what's the first thing you think of? It's like drug dealer, mama's trough, spun baby, criminal, gangster, like a whole range of things come in place All negative connotations of this person's excuses for having a car like that, all negative connotations of this person's excuses for having a car like that and it's like it is so out of your comprehensive realm for him to have genuinely worked hard, taken risks, been successful and bought that car for himself that the only way you think he can get it is if he does something wrong. That's how people see things these days, so I think it's a huge advantage to if you're listening to this podcast and also just in your business. They just do things differently. Take some risks. Don't just go in and go.
Robby:Oh well and you mentioned this again the other day it's like are our, is it is my gross profit too low? Should it be higher? They're like are you going back to industry? Like what does industry norm? What's industry norm? Why do you need to be industry norm? Industry norm like this is a zinger for builders. It's like the industry norm is like 10, 15%. It's like why the fuck are you getting out of bed? For 10, 15%. You're taking on all this risk, all this stress, all these things for 10%, 15%. Go get a job, come work for me, you'll make more money. They don't get it. They're like oh no, it's because their fathers and their people and this person and other builders oh no, no, I don't want to rip anyone off or this is a lot of money. 15% on $3 million is a lot of money of money. 15% on $3 million is a lot of money. I was like, hang on, as a percentage it's still the same as whether it's a $100,000 contract or a $3,000 contract. It's not great business. So, yes, we follow the norm. We follow the norm.
Robby:I'll share a story. I watched a video the other day. Kerwin Ray, the rest of the piece he still putting out content. Are they really? Yeah, good, I had his. Yeah, their team are still doing it. That's great, keeping his legacy around. I think I had his email subscribed to him. I unsubscribed the other day. Yeah, I unsubscribed to a lot of emails, though Me.
George:I unsubscribed to everything, yeah.
Robby:I'm this guy. When there's no unsubscribe button, I reply yeah, unsubscribe. I did that the other day. I don't know if you know the answer to this. I said I've unsubscribed because it says if you want to unsubscribe to this, reply unsubscribe. So I did, I said unsubscribe and I've removed all my details. Can I like report them to the LAPD or something? La yeah, you've got to call the LAPD. Yeah, I thought so. Chris Tucker yeah, that's the only person I think of when I think LAPD From Russia. Yeah, anyway, so I watched a thing the other day of Kevin Rave sharing a story and he was talking about cooking a lamb roast and he's like like the mom was cooking the lamb roast and she got the lamb roast ready and she marinated everything and then she chopped the end off and then she put it in the oven.
Robby:And the daughter goes mom, why don't we chop the end off the lamb roast? And she goes um, I'm not sure that's, that's just how my mother taught me. And he's like well, can we find out? So he's like let's call our mother. And he's like called her. Hey, mom, um, my daughter's asking me. And she's like well, can we find out? So he's like let's call our mother and he's like called her hey, mom, um, my daughter's asking. And she's like oh, I don't know, that's how I did it, because that's how I only did that, because that's how my mother taught me. And it's like what can we call her and find out? So they call, like the great-grandmother, and she gets on the phone, it's like 90, and then she's like they're like uh, why don't we chop the end of the lamb roast? And then she's like oh, we used to chop the end of the lamb roast because back in the days the ovens were really small and didn't fit. And it's like they're still doing the same thing they learnt back then, just because no one questioned it. It was just like this is just how we cook a lamb roast. Yeah, you're going to chop the end off. No one ever thought why. You know what I mean. And they've continued on two generations Until the daughter did, until the daughter questioned it. Yeah, I'm just turning around and saying hey, I question too much, if anything. Do you know what I mean, can you? You think that's a bad thing? I don't think it's a bad thing. I think it allows you to think clearly. That's a bad thing. I think it allows you to think clearly. That's what I think. I think it allows you to process.
Robby:I recently finished reading this book, 12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson. That's a big book, it's a great book. It's a very tough read, yeah, very tough read. I found it easier to listen to First one, yeah, and at the end of the book he lists a bunch of questions that he asks himself and they're like really, really powerful questions that you need to like, like to answer these questions.
Robby:They'd be tough to like. One of them was what do I want for my life? What am I doing here? Like things like that Do you know what I mean? Like what's? Why am I here? And then it was like what do I want for my son? What do I want for my daughter? What do I want for my wife? What do I want for my mom? What do I want for you know what I mean? And like things around that. And it's's like it gives you a level of clarity that's like super, super, super powerful. But you have to be able to explain things.
Robby:If you can't, if you can't explain why you believe what you believe, you just inherited someone else's belief, not your belief. It's not your belief. You know what I mean, and I would say 98% of people don't choose their beliefs. Do you think you choose your beliefs? Oh, dude, hey, no, I don't. I think they've been put there, hey, by others for sure. Do you think, hey, iggy, do you think you get to choose what you believe? You don't get to choose what you believe. Yeah, you don't get to choose what you believe. Yeah, I think so. You don't get to choose what you believe. Yeah, you don't get to choose what you believe. Yeah, it's been.
Robby:I reckon it's the illusion that I have the decision that no, no, this is I'm choosing to believe this. But it's been ingrained in me from a young age. Yeah, but so do you think right now you can consciously choose what to believe? Can you consciously choose what to believe? It's not a decision. You're not saying can I consciously choose? I'm going to say no, because even if I choose to believe something else that has come from me, getting information from some like, do you know what I mean? That's it. That's come from somewhere else. To choose that alternative belief, even if I change the belief, but can you control that change is what I'm saying. I don't say why not, why couldn't you control the change. So, for example, why don't we use religion? I could choose. I could be an atheist and then choose to believe in a particular religion. Mm-hmm, is that that's choosing to have that belief, isn't it?
Robby:They did a survey and they asked people if they could, and this came from. Most people would say yes straight away to that. They'd probably say yes, yeah, they did a survey and like 80% of people said yes, yeah, percent of people said yes, yeah. And then he said so if someone had tied up your family and said I'm going to kill them, they're like a really bad person, like a terrorist or something right, and they said I'm going to kill them unless you believe I'm a good person.
Robby:Can you, in that moment, consciously choose to believe that they're a good person? Yeah, you can't. Yeah, you'll say anything. You'll say anything you want. You'll lie. You can choose to lie, but you cannot choose to believe that they're a good person. Yeah, you can't. Yeah, you'll say anything you want. You'll say anything you want. You'll lie. You can choose to lie, but you cannot choose to believe that person's a good person when they're sitting there threatening your family, like that and doing bad, because we, our beliefs come from experiences and what we see, and I mean not what you choose. So you actually can't choose what you believe. Yeah, you actually can't choose what you believe.
Robby:Yeah, it comes from your environment. You know, I was watching a video the other day and the guy goes you want to change your life? Like the biggest thing you can do, the number one thing change where you live. Like change your postcode, get up and move out of where you live. Like that will create the biggest change for you, unconsciously, out of everything you do, and I would say that's been a huge thing for me, massive thing for me. The biggest change for you, unconsciously, out of everything you do, and I would say that's been a huge thing for me, massive thing for me. Like moving out of where I grew up, yep, and I've even considered moving to, like, a different state, or even I would move to a different country.
Robby:Yeah, you said a little while ago you wanted to go to Dubai. Yeah, I would do it. Yeah, I'm trying to go to Dubai this year on a plan, just for a holiday, just to check it out. Yeah, there's never been. I went in 06 and it was pretty amazing back then and I think it's even more so now with all the stuff that they've built. I've also heard that some of the stuff has started to date.
George:Oh really, yeah, I've heard that as well, yeah, I could speak the language.
Robby:Marakaba, hey, markaba. Yeah, that means hello. I think that's the only word I know. Not bad, well done, I'll teach you more. Yes, um, but yeah, we don't get to choose what we believe. We don't get to choose that side of it. We have no control over it. Um, it's a very, very big thing on how you react to everything you know. The other day, oh, yeah, without a doubt.
Robby:Yesterday actually, I walked out to do you ever have a day where you don't leave the house? Oh, very no, not for many. I've got kids now, so, no, not for the last 10 years. I do. Yeah, like, for example, monday, I got up, worked all day, had a shower, went to bed and didn't open my front door. So you probably did what like 1,500 steps for the day. Yeah, I didn't train, I didn't go for a walk, I did not walk out the door. Yeah, I literally got up, started working, worked until I couldn't work anymore and had a chair. I went to bed and the only thing I did was eat. I cooked food, like on my balcony, um, so I got some fresh air.
Robby:But I say that because the next morning I walked out and I went to my car and there was a note on my car and I looked and it was like a long riddle. It was like a half a page, that much. Yes, I got a photo of it. Let me show you. It was a really long. That didn't need to be half a page, dude. It was like quite a detailed note here. Let me I just said that someone's gonna read it out. No, I'm not gonna read it out. Oh, do you want to read it out? I'm curious now, and so are all the guests and so are all the listeners. Like quite a long note. That's a long right, that's half, that's half. I believe that uh, a4. No, that's uh, like a b5 a5.
Robby:Anyway, it says hey, I accidentally tapped your car when reversing. I am so sorry. It was a tiny tap on the rear left bumper. I couldn't see any obvious scratches or anything, but I just thought I should let you know. If there is any issues, please text me on the mobile number. Put the mobile number down Again. So sorry, it was the smallest tap, so hopefully all good on your end. Thanks in advance for your understanding. And then they put their name and then they wrote who the apartment they were visiting in the building they live in. Like they wrote friend of unit, so on and so forth, yeah. So like they gave all the details, dude, and I just saw license number All the details, dude, and I just saw License number. I just looked and I was like I rate that highly. Yeah, I rate that highly. So I looked at that. I didn't even get angry, no, I just looked at it and I was like hmm, and then I went and looked at the car.
Robby:It was a slight scuff. I was like nothing. Did you respond to it? I don't know, oh, respond to them. I don't know. Oh, you should have, man, I thought about responding. I think you should Say hey, I just want to say thank you for leaving a note.
Robby:I was going to start off saying I am absolutely appalled. I cannot believe this. I'm absolutely in shock that there is still good humans in the world. You should do that Because they would freak. You should do that. That is going away we were just talking about right. That is going away from the norm Because I would dare say 80% of the people that did that would have just driven off.
Robby:I reckon it's higher. I should check if there's cameras in the what for? Just like, did they do it out of the goodness of their heart, or is it like a camera right there? And they're like, oh, I should do it a check, I'm screwed here, yeah. So yeah, I reckon 90% of the people would have just driven off, 90% because why You're going to have to pay $500 excess to get the car fixed. You know all those sorts of things. Yeah, or maybe they don't have insurance at all. So, like shit, I better get out of here. Yeah, and in saying that for context as well, like my car's brand new, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, exactly right. So you know what I would be.
Robby:If someone left a note like that and it was just a little scuff mark, I would do one of two things. I probably just leave it, just go, whatever. Like it's not end of the world. If it wasn't, it was a decent amount of damage that I had to get panels repainted different story. But if it was a little scuff mark like that, or if it was one I could buff out myself or just do it myself. Or if it was just a simple, I'm just going to buy a new plastic piece for my bumper bar, I'll just do that. You know, I wouldn't even go down the path of going to insurance, but the fact that they've left a letter and said that, sorry, because here's the other thing, this day you probably wouldn't have even noticed that scuff mark. Yeah, I reckon, until I go and wash the car, I probably wouldn't have noticed it. Yeah, I wouldn't have walked past and be like whoa, I had to look at it and be like because there's a scuff, yeah, yeah. So, again, doing something normal.
Robby:And man, do you believe in karma? I believe to some degree. Yeah, me too. Yeah, me too. I think, like doing good to good people, I think it will come back to you. But it's also that whole mindset of manifesting things. When you start to think good things, you'll start to see that's what it is. I believe that's how the karma works. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Robby:Then I'm going to do something bad, something bad is going to happen, or I good, something good's gonna happen because I believe that if you do something bad your, it affects your mindset, because if you accidentally do something bad, do you still have something bad happen to you? Oh no, exactly right, exactly right, yeah. But because if you're unaware that I did like you could go and do the nicest thing and be like, hey, I went and left this food for this person, I don't know person, ate it and got food poisoning and died and you have no idea, right, that's just an example. And then that person goes, dies, and then you're walking around like la la la, such a good human. And then everything good and you're like, oh, this happened because I fed that homeless guy and you have no idea that he's dead Because of your actions, because of your actions, right, but you're walking around in this positive state, whereas Absolutely 100% on board. So I think this lady that again, not business related she's still doing something out there. Oh, shoooms, yeah, how funny.
Robby:Yeah, the way you read that, it kind of sounded like it was a lady and, let's be honest, like a man's not going to hit your car. He knows how to drive. Yes, take it to the bank, put it on the reels. That was a little bit delayed by you. I was expecting you to laugh a little bit. I wasn't expecting that at all. I was thinking about if it's a lady. I was like I'm going to message her. How funny, how funny. So, yeah, the fact that they man or female have sent you a message, I just think their whole mindset around things is a little bit different. So good on them. Kudos for taking the accountability and responsibility to leave your message. Eric, I really like that, yeah. But the point I was trying to make from that whole story was I could have handled that, I could have erupted, yeah. Oh, fuck, man, can't even park my car here. Blah, blah, blah. You know, look at my luck. Even park my car here. Blah, blah, blah, you know, look at my luck. Been here for two weeks.
Robby:Yeah, already I've had someone back into me, yeah, and just gone and ruined my day about it. You know what I mean? Yeah, but I was just like, hmm, my old man often says that about me. As far as he goes, you've got a really cool head. He goes. When people do shit like that to me, he goes. I just erupt. That's what my old man's like Not as bad these days, but he's more of an old school wog where someone will say or do something and he'll be like go, fuck yourself.
Robby:We're not doing it like that, we're doing it like this Shout out to Steve, shout out to Steve, we've got to get. He's like you do go so good, so good Inside Jake. So it's like, whereas I'll look at that and go, okay, cool, let's assess the issue, assess the problem, assess this situation, let's do this, and I've learned that over the years or through experiences. Ultimately, that's where it's come from all the experience I've ever had and when you're cool, calm and collected in a stressful situation, you're going to make a better decision. And even my team members have said this too. It's like things that would destroy people because you get through it all right. And what's your advice for that? Like when it happens, like what's the thing Like? Do you have a shitty day? Let's just say I've had stuff like last week was, yeah, I feel like shit was blowing up. Last week I was I don't know if the word is stressed I was under the pump last week and then I was getting emails from some clients as well. I was like God, why are you being a dick? This is counterproductive to what we're trying to achieve here. But were they being a dick? Yeah, they were, no, no, they were. I think they were. No, they were. But it's fine, I know the person very well. Oh, yes, yes. So I know him very well and it's like you're being a dick for being a dick's sake. He's probably getting pressure from above as well. They're probably getting other pressures from other things financially, management, whatever it is.
Robby:So I understand that point of view too. I try and look at it from that perspective and then it's like, okay, cool, this is just something that has to get done. But in the same token, too, it was like they were putting timeframes on me to get certain things done. But I got it done, as I, literally on 3.30 on a Friday, I got an email if you don't have this by the close of business today. We're not paying you and I'm like fuck. So I had to stop what I was doing, and this process that I had to do normally takes me two, three hours. I did it in an hour. It's like we said when you have to do a task in a certain time, you do it in that time. So that was great to actually see that part of it too. But yeah, it was the mindset I had in that instance is like cool, just got to get it done.
Robby:Like me, sitting here stressing about it doesn't get it done quicker. Me here stressing about it and being upset doesn't make it less intense. Do you ever have days I can say I have these days sometimes. Like, sometimes shit just gets to the point where I'm like you know what? Like I'm just fuck this shit. Do you know what I mean? I mean like right now, what's the time? Like 3, 30, I'm just gonna call it right now because I'm just, otherwise I'm just gonna sit here unproductive. Yeah, if I can probably do more damage, then I'm gonna do you help then? Good, you know, because when you're in a stressed state as well, it's like all of a sudden, dude, had I walked out in a stressed state and seen that note on my car like of a sudden dude, had I walked out in a stressed state and seen that note on my car like I had the worst day and walked out, probably would have reacted to that. Yeah, it would be like, for fuck's sake, man, blah, blah, blah. But I'm just waking up. Yeah, what the fuck's this? Um, some hot chicks leaving your note. Yeah, I saw you in the saw you in the car. I just wanted to give you my number. Dude I was. I was like what the fuck's this? Am I parking in my car? I said, okay, I think I saw that. I was like, huh, well, there's money that way. Well, this is, yeah, I'm glad you asked. So that was a Friday night.
Robby:Friday afternoon at work, my wife messaged me. She says hey, we're going to go, I'm going to take the kids out. She goes oh, do you want to come to dinner? I'm just going to go take the kids to a restaurant. I'm like you know what? I've got to finish this. I can't, I can't come, you guys go, I'll see you at home.
Robby:What I did is I went and I finished the day at the office. I went next door and I had dinner by myself that half hour. I made a few what's the word? It was just so relaxing to be just having dinner on my own in that moment and just unwind. I just unwind, had my dinner. It was great dinner. I even got dessert. All right, I'm like fuck it, I'm just going to get so much food, I'm just going to eat. Real. It was great food, really nice. I even got dessert and I left that restaurant feeling fantastic, like how good is that? And then I went home and I was in a completely different mood. I wasn't shitty with the kids. I wasn't shitty with and they did nothing. I wasn't shitty with the wife. I was just in a much clearer, calmer mood, just having spent half an hour 40 minutes on my own by myself eating at a restaurant, and that was cool. So I did. I think just chilling out like that helped me in that instance.
Robby:Even just going for a walk again, doing stuff like that, going for a walk can be powerful. Exercising can be powerful during those times when you're a bit stressed. I've found myself. Personally, it's a good release for me, exercise of some sort. Personally, it's a good release for me, exercise of some sort. Um, I find that most times I can't just turn off because as in okay, fuck this, I'm out, I'm not doing any more work, because generally, the way out for me is to finish the work. Yeah, that's what I find sometimes, like I have to do the task and once it's done, I'm like, oh cool, oh cool, now I can relax. That's what I find with most of the things that I'm doing in my life, in my business. But yeah, I see that as I think you should do that, though I think if it gets to that point, you're like fuck this, I'm not productive, I'm out, I'm just going to go to the beach. Yeah, I'm just this Go get a job, let's go seek.
Robby:See what people are paying. How funny, yeah, yeah. So, ceo, ceo. Is there anything else you'd like to share from your experience to date? The three weeks in the CEO, three weeks in. Anything else you'd like to share from your experience to date? The three weeks in the CEO, three weeks in yeah, I think I've been a little bit more focused. We should get a mic on. Yeah, we're going to. I was going to say Tim today, but he's busy. I need to do work. Yes, actually, and this is a topic, we should do this as a topic for a podcast because I think it's important for everyone in business.
Robby:I've really focused a lot on culture this last three weeks. I feel like I've come back, just hit the ground running, and I feel that some of my employees are in holiday mode, still were in holiday mode a little bit for the first couple of weeks. So, like grabbing and slapping him around, like wake the fuck up, like we're working now, and I found that little things were irritating me with each of them, like all of them, they were just pissing me off, like don't, like, what the fuck are you doing? And I wanted to. I literally just wanted to slap him around, but that's the whole thing about being on like in a stressed state. I think that contributed to that too. Yeah, yeah, the fact that it's like this thing's annoying me and it shouldn't, yeah, and it's also because I was doing things I shouldn't be doing as the CEO. You know, I didn't even do these last year as the director away. I'm stepping in more, so I think that was kind of irritating me but also made me take another step back and go no, no, no, come on.
Robby:What's important? What's going on here? Is it a cultural thing, like if people are not performing or if they're not switched on, or if they're like what do we need? What do we need to get everyone on board? And then Alex Hormozy said a great thing the other day where he was like, if your employees are not doing things they should know, then they're not the right person at your business. And when I say things that you should know, like don't come to work drunk, don't watch Netflix for three hours on your lunch break, don't smoke inside the office, If you have to tell them these things, then you know that that's a sure tell sign that they are not the right employee.
Robby:Now, thankfully, none of my guys do that, or girls. None of them do that, but it did make me force me a little bit to think deeper and go well, what needs to happen now in order for us to be a coherent team? Because we've had internal structurally changes like different roles for different people and, yeah, for me, I've been thinking about culture and I reckon that's definitely a CEO type thing that you need to be thinking about now getting the most out of your team. And it comes back as well to what we said before with that three hour task that took me an hour. Sometimes you don't need to go out and employ more people. You just need to get 30% more out of the team that you have. So how do you do that? Because they, more often than not, can do more than what they're giving. But what's the driving factor with that? That goes hey, yeah, cool, I'm going to now go. I need you to do this by this time. Go. Is it a task-based reward? So you finish this task, you get to leave early on Friday or I'll give you Monday off. What needs to happen around that?
Robby:So the people like the other day, one of my employees came to me. He goes look, I want to leave at 4.15, a quarter past four work. He goes, but I'll be in the office at six. Pretty cool, nice work. I said you want to do that. That's totally fine, he goes.
Robby:I actually work better in the and I do this too. I actually work much better in the mornings too. Like, I often get into the office at six, between six and 6.30. If I'm really early, I'll be here 5.30, but between six and 6.30, I'm normally in the office and I find that that hour, hour and a half of work is some of my most solid work in the morning, do you?
Robby:So you obviously, based on that, you do time-based Time. So you obviously, based on that, you do time-based, time-based, what you just spoke about doing task-based, yes, yes, yes, yes, yeah, but you're focused on time-based because, oh, I have been for many years. Yeah, it's again my beliefs that have been put there. It's always been the norm, like I was at Multiplex. Like, no, no, you work from six to six. You know you work in 12 hour days. Don't fuck around. That's how we're going to get the absolute most out of you and out of everything. Um, but again, yesterday one of my employees said hey, I need my car's leaking or pissing out oil. I need to take it to the mechanic. Can I leave a bit of it? Yeah, go for it. I'm not noting that down in my diary and going cool two hours off his his personal leave or no, but it would make you happier if he said, hey, on this day I need to leave an hour early, so I'm going to come in an hour early. Well, we said that the other day as well.
Robby:I do look at people that care and have the effort too. And it's like, man, if you wanted to impress me, a simple way to impress any boss is be the first one in the office. Just give the boss or your employer reasons or just things to show him that you care. It may not be just coming in early or being the first one, but doing that little bit extra. And it's like what Terry Crew said every task he ever did as a job, he would imagine himself getting paid a million dollars, right, whether it was sweeping the floor, being a security guard, whatever it was, he would imagine how would I do this task? If I was getting paid $1 million? What would I do? And then those little simple changes compounded over time and ended up in, you know, for him particularly, but I think I believe it would happen for other people too in his success in his acting career and everything else he's doing.
Robby:I think we could do a full episode on this. Yeah, I think so too. I think so too, yeah, but so that's one thing I've been looking at as well, and again, it's only been three weeks, but the culture has been something I want to look at. I've been looking at as well, staff movements. So when I say that, it's like pretty much from the start of the year, I've said to everyone putting your annual leave, I need to know who's going away and when and how much and how long for. So you don't have a policy. Yeah, I do.
Robby:Over the break, so the summer break, I actually wrote a whole bunch of policies for the business and they were powerful and I've issued them not all of them, but some of them I've issued out to the team. Shout out to Lawpath, by the way. Yeah, very cool, they're so good. Oh, I'm going to have to. I can't believe you're here. I logged on and then it was like ask me for something? And I logged off. Yeah, really, really good. Great tool for you know, policies and any form of like basic contract, foundational stuff. Yeah, it just sets it off.
Robby:Is that an Australian company? I think so. Maybe we can get founders on a podcast. That'd be cool. That'd be very cool. So what were we saying? Yeah, so I've written a whole bunch of policies around that as well. But yeah, I've got everyone said look, tell me when you're away, because I need to structure all the work that we're doing and I need to make sure that we've got the team here. The other thing is I'll say is, for example, I've got two people going away over the winter break. They're going to go overseas, to Europe, as a lot of people do. So cool, no, worries, that's it. First in, first serve.
Robby:Now, if my supervisor comes in and says, hey, I want to go to Europe in July, I say, cool, you ain't going anywhere. The company cannot afford to give you your annual leave at this time, not from a financial point of view, but from a staffing point of view. I need people to run the jobs. If you leave, I need to either employ someone else or I need to do it myself, or the job's going to suffer. Whatever it is, it's at the point now where I go. No, it's limited to how many people can be away. This is what's happening during that time.
Robby:Understood, he's like, yep, cool, excellent. And then making a hard call too, because if they want to leave, they've got to leave. So, no, no, I'm going overseas, like fuck, yeah. If he said that, I'd say so, that's it, great, no worries, I can't guarantee you have a job when you get back, yeah, and then it's not annual leave, it's just leave. It's just leave. Yeah, exactly so. They're the three little things I'd love to do. This same episode in six months. Put it in your diary. Yeah, we should do that, and I think it'd be a really good thing to see.
Robby:Okay, well, what are the lessons learned? Is, now that you've stepped in the role of a CEO for the last six months, what are the lessons learned? Or maybe a year or six months and a year lessons from a CEO? That would be cool, because I'm challenging myself as well, like I really want to start handballing a lot of the things that I was doing to my GM and I really want to step back and go well, let's grow the business, let's make it a $30, $40, $50 million business, and what's that look like? Have you found anything that you were doing? Obviously to put someone into a jam. It's a fair cost to the business. Have you found anything that you were doing where you're like he's not doing this? This is below his pay grade. Do you know what I mean? Do you get what I'm saying? No, you don't know what I mean. Do you get what I'm saying? No, you don't get it. Yeah, for example, I'll give you like a silly example Part of your process might have been like I Do you empty the dishwasher?
Robby:So you, okay, it's funny you mention that I put that in the office policy. Yeah, okay, the first person in empties the dishwasher, whoever it is. If it's me, it's me. If it's not, I'm not that arrogant to go. That's a waste of my time. Yeah, but that's a horrible policy. Yeah, we're punishing the first person in. Yeah, but just, courtesy man, I make a coffee in the morning anyway. Yeah, but just, courtesy man, I make a coffee in the morning anyway. So I'm going to sit there whilst the kettle's boiling to have a coffee and then I'm just going to so the person doesn't have a coffee Because it's a community at the end of the day, too, like we all pull our weight. Yeah, and, mind you. 99% of the time it's me doing it.
Robby:But if I'm not the first, because there's times where I'll go straight to site, all right, and then if I get back at 9am into the office and the dishwasher is still loaded from the night before, I'm like what the that's just laziness. That's where I look at that, I think. But yeah, I don't know, it's up to you, but I think like you're. You talked about it's not about rule, it's not. Why Is that a bad task? Is that a task that you're going to be punished for? It's not a great task, yeah, but it's just what needs to be done.
Robby:It's like saying, oh, it's all interpretation. Oh, I don't like turning the light on. If I'm here three minutes after the next person, they're going to the dishwasher, whoever's. Yeah, be accountable. It's accountability too. What's to say? You hate turning on the lights. You reckon that's beneath you. So when you walk into the office, I'm not turning on the lights, someone else can do that. Work in the dark. Yeah, it's extreme. Yes, no, I don't think it's the same. But yeah, exactly, but it's a staff. It's interpretation. That's your interpretation of you're not liking to unload the dishwasher is a shitty task. Someone might be weird and hate touching light switches and having bright lights on in the morning first thing, so you'll work in the dark.
Robby:Um, I, I look at us. I look at the office as a as a look, this is our camp, all right, it's our community we've got to look after. We're going to maintain it the same way as if, if you're going to use the air fryer at lunchtime, like, put it away, don't leave it out there because I'm gonna use it later or I'm gonna use it tomorrow, so I'm just gonna leave it here. Like I agree with that, it's the same. It's the same concept. Like I want people. I don't agree because it is. It's a task that needs to be done in the, in the organization, like you guys here as a community need to look after. Yeah, but it contradicts, contradicts. What about rubbish? Hey, I've got, we got cleaners that come in every Friday. If your bin is over full, are you going to go? No, no, no, no.
Robby:It contradicts what you said. Like you said, you want to impress me, come in early. Yeah, if you come in early, you get into the dishwasher, absolutely yeah, it's two different. It's not You're looking at it as a punishment. It's the same way. You need to check your emails. The same way. You need to go and do it, then it's the same. It is a task that needs to be done in the business. This office needs the dishwasher to be emptied, otherwise you have to check your emails, no matter what time. You get it. Okay, but I'll walk in then and I'll be like oh fuck that I'm not doing it today, I'm just gonna let someone else. So if everyone had that attitude, the dishwasher would never be unloaded. No, no, I don't think that's supposed to be the attitude. I think you should have a dedicated person. I have a roster, so once every dedicated person who's a dedicated? So then you're punishing one person to unload the dishwasher for the rest of time. It's just what they do. Do you know? Know what I mean?
George:Just like Hang on.
Robby:I've got my Whoever's the last to leave, whoever's the last to leave, so I'll turn it off if I'm Most of the time. Again, let's be honest here 90% of the time I unload the dishwasher, I turn it on before I leave, yes, before I leave. That's 90% of the time, me, the fucking CEO of the company, doing it. And I'm asking you guys in the one time that I'm not the first fucking bloke in the office you need to unload the dishwasher. How's that a punishment? It's no be fucking accountable it's not contradicting.
Robby:It is how? Because? It's not a negative. Your association no one's, it's the. Yes, I get to unload the dishwasher today, yeah, but also no laborer walks on site and goes, yes, I get to carry fucking 15 bags of cement today, yeah, but it's your job, like it is part of the role.
Robby:So if you, said hey, you guys, I'll be really impressed if you were the first one on site, but also if you're the first one on site, you got to carry 15 bags of cement. You have to. It's not. You don't see the Not in this instance. No, no, have you been listening? He's been listening? Who not listening? Okay, it's not. It is something that needs to happen for the place to function. Yeah, I understand that. Okay, I just don't agree with but then you're going. Okay, one person should do it. They should be in charge of the dishwasher. So how is that a good thing? How is that fair? How is that Say? I gave it to my PA. I said to my PA right from now on, it is your responsibility to unload the dishwasher.
George:Yeah.
Robby:How is that? I see, I think that's unreasonable. I'm giving you're saying it's a shitty job and I'm giving this one person, everyone else that uses the dishwasher too. Yeah, everyone uses dishes. Okay, cool, you don't want to unload the dishwasher ever again. If you're the first one in but you don't like, like that's beneath me, I will never. That's a punishment because I'm coming in. I'm getting punished for that.
Robby:Great, do not use any of the fucking cutlery. Do not use any glasses, do not use anything. If you're using those utensils, I'm not your fucking mother. Yeah, all right, dude, you gotta look at it. The contradicting factor is the it's courtesy. No, no. But the contradicting factor is the fact that you like that they come early and then, and then it's like oh hey, if you come early, you gotta do this extra bit. Yes, yeah, that's contradicting. It's not contradicting, it's just doing what needs to be done. It's not you're, because you're looking at it. You must hate if I caning the dishwasher. No, I use minimal dishes personally, like I got. I'm just saying no, no.
Robby:At home, yeah, I use plastic cups for my coffee. I use paper cups. I just why would I sit there and wash a cup every fucking day? Yeah, contributing to a paper cup, that's fine, you're so positive. Plant-based cups, I'm a cycle, please. But yeah, I just see that as a contradicting Full on.
Robby:You use paper cups at home for my coffee. So if I come over and have a coffee at your house, oh no, so guest comes I'll be upset if you don't give me a paper cup now. But yeah, for my coffee. What's this porcelain? For my normal coffee. If I have two coffees a day, I'm like why would I make, why would I dirty two glasses every single day? It just doesn't make sense. Yeah, I get it. I mean, I understand the efficiencies. Yeah, it's just like I can.
Robby:And you hate dishes. 25 or 50 thing of paper cups cost $4. And it's like $4 and I don't have to do a dish all month. This is a no-brainer. Well, yeah, maybe it might actually be cheaper for you than running the dishwasher every single day, plus I'm tired, plus a little fucking capsule thing. It's more laziness more than efficiency. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Robby:Anyway, back to my thing, back to what I was saying. It's not with the dishwasher, put that aside. Is there any tasks that you do now where you're like I've got to like, now that you know, mike is stepping into this role. I'm gonna now give it to my. And then you're like, oh, hey, this probably shouldn't be mike, because now my cost x and it's like this I can get. Oh, yeah, for sure, for sure.
Robby:There'll be stuff like, uh, processing invoices, yeah, or writing silly like, but okay, even that, the getting the mail, the way I see it is, it's just, there's certain things in the business, yeah, there's certain things in the business that just need to be done for this office to function. Do you know what I mean? And I would have a level of expectation that if there's something, then I've just always hated people walk like the standard you walk past is the standard you accept, okay, and I hate that fact that they'll walk past that dishwasher and go, no, not me, not me, I wasn't first in, or I'm not this or I'm not that. Oh, I'm first in. I deserve not to do that because I'm the first one here. You understand it contradicts because you're like you're rewarding first, but you're like, you know it's not. But I don't see it as a punishment or I don't see it as a bad thing, it's just something that needs to be done. Yeah, regardless, why is it.
Robby:I think it's more unfair to say to my PA I say cool, you're the PA, you're the running the office, you unload it? I think no, because she's not the only one that uses dishes. It's a community thing. Like, everyone here is using all the utensils, using all the stuff, like, just unload it. It's not a big deal If you're first in. It's a courtesy thing as well. I'm going to do it. I'm first in. Relax, I'll do it. I'm first here. I will do it for the community. This is what needs to be done. That's what leaders do. They don't do things because that's what needs to be done, and I want a whole office full of leaders. It's like the bin. If the bin is overflowing, grab it, tie the bag up, throw it in the bin, replace the bag. It's not. Why are you waiting for me, or for you or for D or for whoever it is, to unload the rubbish bag? Because, oh well, I didn't fill this rubbish bag, I'm not taking it out. Yes, that's not the same.
George:I think it ties into it, it ties into it.
Robby:How, not? How does it not? That's no contradictory there. That's a task that needs to be done, so you're not saying hey, it's to be fair, whoever comes in first. If you come in first, that's a really good way to impress me. But also, if you come in first, you need to take out the bins. Then that's a really good way to impress me. But also, if you come in first, you need to take out the bins.
Robby:Then it would be contradicting, to take out all the bins If you came in first, because you, you're, it's, you're it's two sides of the same coin, like you're saying, hey, coming in first really impresses me, but also, if you come in first, take all the cement bags off the truck, so okay. But by doing that, you're saying okay, so we're saying you're coming in first and you're doing the hard task, yeah, yeah, which everyone else is avoiding. It's not everyone else is avoiding it Okay.
Robby:But it's still the why there's no incentive in me. I'm not going to come in first, I'm not, I don first. I get punished by carrying cement bags. Yeah, mindset, if I come in first, I get to carry cement bags, which makes me stronger every single day. Yeah, I think I come in and I have a better work ethic than everyone else. I come in and I lead by example.
George:I come in and guess what.
Robby:Do you think that's how most people think? No, why not? I am, why not? If you can program people's minds that's not programming I'll fucking program them. You watch, they watch. Sorry, crack on the whip. I disagree. We need a poll here. Who's right? Robbie, you're right, you need to put it. You need to click a button, put. I do think people should contribute 100%. Yeah, I just again. We walk past a bin and it's full and you just try and put stuff on top. I think you're a piece of shit. I think you're supposed to do like take that out. You know what I mean. Do that bit, da, da da.
Robby:The reason I say first thing in the morning is the dishes will be clean, obviously, because it's been on the night before. And it's like if it doesn't get done, then who does it like? Who decides to do it? Is it just the first person to go and put something in? Is that we say like if you're the first person to put a dirty dish in the dishwasher, you have to unload it? Like, is there a rule there? No, do you know what I mean?
Robby:And you say by putting I think it's unfair to put it on one person. So this is your job now, from now on. No, I don't think. I don't think that's unfair at all to have it on one person yeah, I don't think that's unfair at all To have it on one person yeah, I don't think that's unfair at all. It's like saying, well, I have to do this part and it's like, yeah, it's your fucking job, it's part of your thing. Like you know what I mean. Whatever it is, you're the office manager or you're in charge of this. So say I don't have an office manager yeah. Or say I don't have a PA, I don to do contract administration role and say, listen from now on, every day when you walk in, part of your job is to unload dishwashers. That's not part of my job description.
Robby:Yeah, because then I'm putting that negative thing on that one person. Like they wouldn't appreciate that they're the only one that ever has to. I'll do it because I don't give a fuck, because, again, it's what needs to be done. Yeah, it contradicts what you said. That's all I'm saying with coming in early. It's more of a courtesy thing from coming in early Like you're the first there. Just fucking do it Like why are you going to wait? See to me that's a laziness thing too. Yeah, I'm in first. I deserve not to do it. You're incentivizing and decentralizing the same fucking activity. That's what I'm trying to tell you.
Robby:It doesn't matter, it does matter. It's a task that needs to be done. Why are you putting a negative? Why is it negative to unload the dishwasher? It's not positive. But why is Okay? Why isn't it just a task? Why does it matter? Why isn't it like fucking opening, turning your computer on? Oh, I have to press a button, yeah, but you have to turn your computer on. But you have to unload the dishwasher because you've used the utensils. You've used the utensils, you've used everything. They're clean. The dishwasher has to be unloaded, not you have to unload it. There's a difference. Yes, Okay.
Robby:You have to turn your computer on. No one's going to turn your computer on. I could. I could make it part of my PAs. Okay, when you get in the morning, turn everyone's computer on. You could do that, I could do that. Yeah, I'm just saying, but why should she have to do it or why should they have to do it? I don't need to put it on that one person. But imagine you said if you're the first person in, go, turn on everyone's computer on. But hey guys, if you're the first person in, also, that's a good way to impress me. But if you're first in, go, take out the bins into the dishwasher and turn everyone's computer on and brush your fucking hair. All right, if you don't brush your hair, you they'll fire you straight away.
Robby:Do you see my point? I see what you're saying. We don't disagree. But do you see my point? I do see your point. I will empty the dishwasher, just for the record, 100%. You're thinking oh look, I'm going to make you sign the policy. You've never told me this. I haven't communicated it yet. There's a reason. I'm always 90% of the time I'm in Right.
Robby:Yeah because it was something I noticed and I'm like who the fuck is a dishwasher? That's why I brought it up there. It happens, yeah, actually it happens. I think it's still contradictory, but we used to do that, even at the old office as well, like if you were just, if the work was there, I'd just do it. It's just courtesy. And you to me, yes, yes, I know that I predict you to your employees yes, but even then, I never looked at it like that, ever. Yeah, because it was. I looked at it as a courtesy thing. If you're just there, if you're the first one in the fucking kitchen, then I'll change the rule. Okay, if you walk past the kitchen and you don't use it, then that's fine. Go to your desk, do what you want to do, but if you're the first person to do it.
Robby:Yeah, but it's a community thing. It's like the same If you're in a, in a fire sorry, in a campsite and you wake up first in the morning and the fire's out, I'm fucking up first, I'm going to do this, and it's like just fucking turn the fire. So, are you trying to tell me, though, that there isn't people when you're camping? That will wait for someone to get up, cause I don't want to start the fire. That will wait for someone. Laziness, yeah, but you're going to have this is what.
Robby:I'm. I'm trying to get you to avoid that aspect, to avoid what? Yeah, because then you're like you might. Let's just say, for example, you set the kitchen rule. This has gone so sideways. So sideways, let's just say you set up the kitchen rule and you're like, hey, first person in the kitchen, they sent you a dishwasher. And then you come in at 10 am because you're on site, and then you look and the dishwasher's empty and you're like, hey, how come no one's in the dishwasher? And they're like no one's going in the kitchen. Yeah, exactly, oi, you know what I mean. Unlikely though this is huh Unlikely. Everyone makes a coffee. I see what you're saying, but that to me is breeding laziness too. It doesn't. You're not breeding laziness, dude. If anything, if it's a one person's task, you want to get something done properly, don't give it to three people.
George:Yeah, give it to one. Yes, yes, yes.
Robby:Because then he's like hey, this is your job. Do you know what I mean? Oh, no, oh, I walked in. I thought someone was here.
George:You know it could probably even be a bigger issue if there was 100 employees here.
Robby:Yeah, which there isn't yet, yet Yet Million dollar day, but do you see, I see what you're saying and then, if it got to that scale, yes, I could put someone on and say this is your role from now on. Yeah, but for the time being, we're small enough of a community that it can be shared by everyone. I just don't want to put that one shitty task on one particular person.
Robby:You just said it wasn't a shitty task. I don't think it is no, but I can see how people would perceive it like that, but I don't think it is. It's just, I see everything the same way, taken out the trash plenty of times. I'm probably still the only one that does it, in the sense that if I'm in the kitchen and I see it's full, I'll take it out. I'm not going to wait for the cleaner to come on Friday. If there's fucking chicken and tuna and shit like that, I'll take it out.
Robby:No task is beneath me when it comes to anything here. I'll do whatever I need to do if I have to do it. But I also want people to have that same mind. If something needs to be done, it needs to be done. The standard you walk past is the standard you accept, and that's what I don't like People going. That's someone else's role. That's someone else, because it starts with the dishwasher and then it keeps going. Oh, I don't need to pick up the invoices from the printer. Oh, I don't need to fill the printer up with paper.
George:I've worked in places where they do it. Do you know?
Robby:what I mean. It just continues on from that. Okay, well, hang on, my PA does all. I say PA, your role is also you need to make sure the printers are loaded with paper all the time. I get eventually, from efficiency point of view, because you're very much geared like that, what's the most efficient way to do things? And yeah, it probably can be a point in time where it gets to that and we say, yeah, we have a person that does all these tasks so everyone else can keep working, making the business money. You're making the business money by helping them doing this. Yeah, but I want to try it.
Robby:Paper and a printer no, sorry, dishwasher, yeah. Paper and a printer Sorry, dishwasher. Yeah, paper and a printer. There's a hard and fast rule of paper and a printer. And if you finish the paper, you fucking fill it up. Yeah, okay, but it's a thing like that. There is no oh, but Like it's either yes or no. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, you have to fill it up because most of the time when it finishes, you probably haven't finished printing, you probably haven't, and if you have, you probably wouldn't know it's empty. Yeah, excellent, excellent, well, this has been an excellent debate, fair, good, yeah, good stuff.
Robby:We haven't asked people a very important question. What's that? Well, the question is have you subscribed to this podcast? A lot of you listen, but have you actually subscribed? We want to grow this thing so we can get more neon signs and put them up everywhere Bigger, the front of the office, everywhere. We want to get a colorful one and maybe we can upgrade it. But the only way we can do that is if you subscribe and tell everyone about it, so we can grow the channel, affect influence and maybe even employ someone to unload the dishwasher. Full-time role. Full-time role Applications within yeah, send them to the link just here. Excellent, uh, thank you very much guys. Appreciate you joining us today and cannot wait to have another chat soon. Bye, everybody.
