Building A Business That Runs Without You

A holiday is supposed to be a break, but for most business owners it turns into a mirror. George just got back from a birthday family trip to Singapore and Bintan Island, and the trip delivered two things at once: one of the best family holidays he has ever had and a blunt look at how much the business still depends on him.

We talk about the practical travel side too: why Singapore is such an easy destination with kids, what Sentosa is like, and why Club Med Bintan feels almost dangerous in the best way when the buffet is elite and the spending stops the moment you arrive. But the real story is what happens when you try to step away and you still get pulled into payroll, payments, urgent decisions, and problems your team is hesitant to solve without you.

From there we get into the CEO shift every founder eventually needs to make: building systems and processes that work without your constant approvals, setting guardrails so your GM and team can make calls with confidence, and accepting that people need room to make mistakes if you want them to grow. We also explore the phone relationship so many owners have, how time zones can either save your sanity or ruin dinner, and why a tiny customer service system like a Qantas birthday note can create massive loyalty.

If you want your next trip to feel like a real break, this one will give you the framework to start fixing it now. Subscribe for more, share this with a business owner who needs it, and leave a review with the one system you’re going to build first.

Transcript

Welcome Back And Birthday Trip

George 0:00

Welcome back to another episode of Million Dollar Days. What a time to be alive. Well, welcome back to you. Thank you very much. Refreshed, recharged, ready to go. You disappeared. I did for a whole week. Went underground.

Robby 0:17

Birthday trip.

George 0:18

Yeah, that's it. Birthday trip celebratory. Birthday trip.

Robby 0:23

Welcome back. Thank you. Thank you. It was a good trip. The office was uh was very quiet.

George 0:28

I make a lot of noise. Yeah. Yes.

Robby 0:32

Um, yeah, how's your trip? Honestly, I was speaking with first of all, where'd you go?

George 0:39

We went to Singapore and went to an island called Bintan Island, which is in Indonesia. It's about an hour ferry ride from Singapore. And we stayed at Club Med, uh Bintan Island, and then in Singapore we stayed in Senthosa Island. And yeah, it was a really good trip. I was speaking with my wife about it pretty much when we left. I reckon it was the best family holiday I've been on. My kids are at that age where they don't need that full-time supervision. And not that they don't need it, we're with them the whole time, but they're older, they can do their own thing, they're self-sufficient. You kind of leave them for it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And and it also gave an opportunity for me and my wife to enjoy our company together

Singapore And Bintan Holiday Highlights

George 1:18

and just hanging out and just doing our own thing. So it's good. Yeah, it was a lot of fun.

Robby 1:23

Uh, why Singapore?

George 1:25

Well, it was kind of a last-minute thing, actually. I wasn't we we actually booked to go to Greece, and what happened was with all the war and shit going on, our flights got changed and cancelled, and then we just canned the whole thing. And my brother's going and getting married next year in Greece, so we thought, well, look, let's just shift the holiday to next year, and then we'll go and do the holiday, the wedding, and it should be a pretty fun time. And then we were just gonna scan it, it actually worked out in the end, yeah. So we're gonna we're gonna scrap the whole thing and just not go at all, just go do something maybe local, when I say local, Australia-wide, somewhere like that, and then checked out Singapore. The flights look pretty good. Um, we've been to Bintan Island before for a training, and I mentioned it, and it was uh I knew it would be a good family type resort. Oh, so Nicole had never been there. She's never been, no, never been. Last time I went was when I went with you. That was 23, I believe.

Robby 2:14

You didn't go back?

George 2:15

No, I haven't been back. Never been back. I think I mentioned it. I might have mentioned it to go there, but I've never been back.

Robby 2:21

Yeah, okay.

George 2:22

Yeah, so we went there, she had a ball, food was amazing, so good. Best buffet food. The food, yeah, best buffet food I've ever had in my life.

Robby 2:29

Is it um Club Med is I I reckon it's a great experience. If you've never done it before, it's a great experience. Yeah, because it's one of those places where you literally can't, unless you're gonna buy merch, yeah, you literally can't spend more money.

George 2:45

We didn't spend like other than the initial what you pay for. Yeah, yeah.

Robby 2:48

Like you pay to stay there and there's no money spent by everything else, it's all food full inclusive.

George 2:53

Yeah, all food include as much as you can eat. Like we were full. I've I haven't eaten that much in a long time. It's great. You know what I mean? Yeah, so good. Like the counting the macros out the window. Like I just ate, I gave myself that that week. I'm gonna eat whatever's happening. We had dessert almost after every meal. Yeah, that that's right.

Robby 3:10

The dessert, like dessert after breakfast, and you're full.

George 3:13

Like you were so full after the food, and you're like, no, no, that's I need ice cream. It is ridiculously good. It is so good. Like, I'm not under talking it. And look, it's actually gonna ruin everything. Like taps, taps for every drink you want. You know what I mean? Yeah. Um, it's great. So good, so good. Kids had a ball, we did lots of activities, a lot of things we couldn't do last time. Did some snorkeling, played a lot of sports at their recreation center, uh, did a few activities here and there with the kids that they were holding and hosting, and they had they have a theme every night, they have like a party each night, and um, they do different things each night. So it was really good. Really involved with the the people that actually run the resort, they're really involved with everything you're doing. Uh, and we had a really good time and then stayed there three nights. I think three to four nights is enough at that place. I think if you had awesome weather the whole time, you could stay longer, but it does, it is a humid place. It's very humid there in Singapore and and on Bintan Island in Indonesia. Uh, and you do cop a lot of rain. I think that's sort of goes with the with the territory. Um, and then from there went to Singapore and stayed on Santoza Island, did all the tourist stuff. Universal Studio wasn't as good as the one I went to in America. Actually, a little bit disappointed. Hey, you'd done some travelling, huh? Yeah, yeah, this yeah, it's been full on. Yeah, full on. Yeah, absolutely. I haven't honestly haven't been the one to do it for the longest time.

SPEAKER_00 4:28

Yeah.

George 4:29

So, um, but I'll we'll get into that. So, yeah, that's that was good to do that. Uh, did uh an adventure park, which is like a water park, went to Gardens by the Bay, uh, stayed at the Shangri-La Hotel, which is a very kid-friendly hotel. What do you think of Gardens by the Bay? It's a bit boring. Yeah, did they have an uh exhibit on? They had like a Jurassic Park theme in the main dome.

Robby 4:52

No, when it was Avatar.

George 4:53

Oh, was it? Yeah, so it was a Jurassic Jurassic Park theme. Look, it was it's okay to see. I mean, we paid 150 bucks for the four of us. Yeah, that's Singapore dollars, so it's about 12% more expensive with Australian dollar, and then tax on top of that. So it was about 180

Club Med All Inclusive And Costs

George 5:10

bucks to get in for the like the flower dome and and the um I think it's called the air dome or something like that. What is what does Club Med cost? Club Med for about three, four nights was about five grand. So it was a bit expensive. So it's about a thousand bucks a night. Yeah, just over. Yeah. But that's all food included, all drinks included. Like you could drink yourself stupid. Yeah, but that's four people. That's for four people, correct. That's not bad. Yeah, that's right. When you take it into consideration what you were going to spend on food anyway. So, for example, I was spending if I had lunch and dinner at Shangri La Hotel, I was spending 150 bucks for each buffet meal that we had at the Shangri-La. So that's 300 bucks a day just in the food. That's not bad too. Um, Singapore dollars too. So it was probably about 180 bucks per for the four of us.

Robby 5:57

Yeah, I guess your kids wouldn't eat much, huh?

George 5:59

No, they don't eat that much. Yeah, they do get kids' rates, but it's still it, yeah. I'm sure once you add it all up and the fact that it's the best food, you can have as many drinks. We didn't really drink, like we had a few drinks here and there, maybe a couple beers, and that was about it, really. Um, so yeah, it was it was really enjoyable hot holiday. Went very quick. I couldn't believe got there and back, um, and just got back on Monday and like I never left. But um, yeah, very, very in and out holiday, but it's still good. Still had a lot of fun.

Robby 6:27

Yeah, that's sick. That's sick. Um good on you. Good on you for for taking the time out of your busy

When The Business Still Needs You

Robby 6:36

schedule.

George 6:36

Busy, yes. And that kind of annoyed me. Well, you know, I don't know if you've noticed I've whenever I send you an email at the bottom it says CEO. Have you ever noticed that?

Robby 6:50

Yes.

George 6:50

I wasn't a CEO while was I? The business wasn't operating without me. So there was a level of annoyance, which is good. I'm glad I was copying that because it made me realize that I needed to do more to be the true CEO of my business. There's a couple things that was happening. So a lot of decisions were being made without me, which is great. And I give the team the authority. Like I give my GM and said, Hey, you know, you're in charge, make the calls that you need to make. So a lot of the stuff was happening. But then there were times where he would call me up and say, What do I do here? What needs to happen here? What needs to happen here? So it was good to see that for me being out of the picture for a week, what it entailed with everyone on site, with the company on site, with a team, hey, what do you want to do here? What do you want to do here? So I was still getting emails, I was still getting phone calls. I expected that nonetheless. So it wasn't like I was going on holiday and said I could say, Hey, I'm gonna leave my laptop at home, I'm gonna leave my work phone at the office, I'm gone for seven days, no one called me, no one touched me. That's it.

Robby 7:46

That's that, dude. My there's a level of excitement associated to that. Yeah, like that sounds yeah. How good that just sounds like you know what, just for a moment, like just to see, like, did I have I built something here that can actually do that?

George 8:05

And that's the function of a business, isn't it? Like that's what you want to get your business to. You want to get it to a position where it doesn't need you to function. Make yourself redundant. And yeah, make yourself redundant. So it was great to be in that position where I got to see, okay, these guys still need my help here. They still need my help with payroll, they still need my help with payments of some subbies or an issue that they can't figure out by themselves, and they're either too scared to make the call because it's going to cost money, or they don't want to make a mistake, or whatever it might be. So it was great to highlight to myself some holes in my bucket and go, all right, this is where we need to focus on. This is what we need to do. And there was other stuff coming up as well. I have, I've got some um, I'm in the process of suing someone as well. So I'm getting those emails, which are always fun. And it's like I've got to go through that process and have those conversations with solicitors and all that sort of jazz. And I'm like, you know, if I had 200 clients right now, would this one client be an issue? Or would this one thing that I'm going through right now be an issue? It wouldn't be. I'd be like, hey, here's 300 grand. Don't talk to me. Sort it out. Do what you need to do. There's money. And if you run out, call, just let me know. There's more money, sort it out. You know, so it also highlighted to me that I didn't have, it's not like there's never, it's not a money issue, it's a you don't have enough clients issue. But then you just get other problems, bigger problems that you need to sort out as well. So the holiday was great in that aspect for me to see some holes in the in the business that I do need to tighten up because they're fine when I'm here. You know, I'll get the phone call. Hey, this has happened. Like, for example, today I've had an event. We've hired, we've booked out a venue for an event. And today the person called me up saying, Hey, sorry, we can't hold your event anymore. I'm like, what the fuck? Like, we've booked this, we've told people where they've got to go, what they've got to do. And now it's like we've got to go find a new venue. Now, if I was away, I'd be getting phone calls, I'd be getting everything, and so on and so forth. Is the process there for the team to know what to do if I'm not here? And it wouldn't be. They'd be on the phone with me saying, Hey, this venue was cancelled. And I'm like, fuck, all right, let me walk away from my holiday by the pool, let me go into the hotel room and let me work for an hour so I can help the team sort out a venue. So it it showed some inefficiencies that I've got to work on.

Robby 10:22

Do you think it was the stepping away, or was it the like was it the fact that you went away or was it the clarity of mind you got from going away?

George 10:34

Probably a bit of both. A bit of both. Yeah, I think so. A bit of both. It was it was me stepping away. Maybe the team like shit, you know, George is away now, what do we do? But also, I think, okay, I've got to look at the good, like, because it there's elements of where it becomes annoying and stressful because you're you're not there and you know if you were there, you'd just fix it in 15 minutes, but now you have to step away from your holiday and you have to take the phone call, you have to send that email, like you have to do those things. So there's um, yeah, there is that level of annoyance, but it also was the level I try to look at it from a level of clarity and go, okay, well, I need to sort this out. I need to make sure that if I want to have that true CEO role in my business, I need to have someone here doing these things for me. I can't always be, no, no, no, I have to check that before it gets done. I have to tick this box before it gets done. You have to run that through me before that gets done. And it's good because now I've I've got other ventures and other things that I'm looking at expanding the business in other areas. And I'm like, well, the only way I could possibly go and expand the business in this area is if my I am a true CEO here. So I did have a quick conversation this morning actually with my GM and we're talking about it. And I said, listen, this is what I'm thinking, this is what I'm gonna do. If that comes to fruition and we go down this path, you're gonna need to step up and really run a lot of the operations. I'm gonna have to teach you how to do the payroll, I'm gonna have to teach you how to do payments, I'm gonna have to, you're gonna have permission to bank accounts, the whole range of things, but you're gonna need to be able to make calls on things without me here. And there's risk and there's reward. So I'll I'll I'll I'll have a level of buy-in from him as well when that time comes, too.

Robby 12:11

Yeah, I I think that's um that's exciting. Yeah, it is, it is because it's kind of like the the oh, okay, like this is what we need to work towards now. You know what I mean? And I feel like sometimes you can get that thing of like I don't even know what I'm working towards anymore. I feel like I'm just fucking running on treadmill. Yeah, do you know what I mean? And then you kind of get clarity on what the thing is, and now you're like, all right, cool. I kind of know what that next benchmark is.

George 12:35

And a lot of people don't know that though. It's like they're just running on the treadmill, like they don't know what the next thing is. They don't know, or should I get off the treadmill and go on the road machine? Like they just don't get it. No clarity. Yeah, and I think it's it's sometimes you do need to be uncomfortable to get that clarity and and take that time to step back from everything that's going on and say, well, what do we need to look at here? What needs to change?

Robby 12:57

Pain creates

Systems For Three Weeks Away

Robby 12:58

more change than than uh pleasure ever will, yeah.

George 13:00

Yeah, you're so true, so true. Yeah, 100%, dude. In all aspects of your life, man. All aspects of your life, dude.

Robby 13:06

You will do more to not lose 10k than you will to make 10k. Yeah, hands down, facts. Every time. Facts. Uh well, do you feel okay, so and you go back a few days back, a few days ago?

George 13:18

Yeah.

Robby 13:20

And do you feel refreshed?

George 13:24

Not really.

Robby 13:25

Yeah, I feel like that. When I went to um you know, Thailand and Vietnam earlier in the year, I didn't feel I came back and it was like it was so busy the whole time that when I came back, I just like hit the ground running again. Didn't feel like I stopped. You know what I mean? I was just like, okay, like I'm back straight back into. I was on stage the next morning. Like I landed at 3 a.m. and I was on stage at 11.

George 13:51

That's what I mean. I feel like I I I literally feel like the holiday didn't happen when I got to work on Monday. It's like, no, back into it. Straight away, we're gonna do this, this, this, and this. And it's like I'd never left in the first place. So yeah, I didn't feel refreshed when I got back. Do you wish you created more space? More space with what? Oh, between the time I got back to back to work?

Robby 14:08

No, no, like just the the direct, you know, even now that you leave the environment, work still comes with you. The laptop's still there, the phone, the emails. Do you wish you created more space in regards to that? I don't think I could have. In this your emails would be here when you got back.

George 14:31

Oh, of course they would. Yeah, yeah, they would. It's like, would I I don't know if I I think it would be easier for me not to create, like if I just ignored everything for the week, then Monday would have been like, fuck, don't talk to me at all. Yeah. And I'd be up, I'd be here till like from six to ten. Do you know what I mean? And uh like me working whilst I was away and doing bits and pieces whilst I was away helped me not have that when I got to work on Monday. And I kind of sacrificed that so that I knew Monday when I got back to work, it was all good, like everything's under control.

Robby 15:04

Do you get um for me? I get a a sense of I don't want to call it peace, but I'm gonna call it peace because I don't know what other word to use. Um like comfort almost when I feel like okay, cool. Like I know my emails are sorted, like I kind of know the days under control, everyone's got their work, everyone knows what they're doing. I feel I tend to feel better.

George 15:30

Yeah, absolutely.

Robby 15:31

Than if I was like no phone. I think like if I'd had no phone for a few days in the middle of the week, I would feel anxious.

George 15:38

Yeah, I I think we've been groomed like that now as well, with everything that's going on in our busy days. That if we don't have this thing next to us, and you've said it before, and I feel the exact same way. I've got a bad association with this thing, you know what I mean? I've got a bad relationship with my phone. I don't like it when it rings. I don't think, oh ring, oh, it could be another job. Hello? It's not at all. You know what I mean? And it's like who the I look at I'm like, who the fuck is bothering me right now? Yeah. You know, messages, phone calls, like that's why I turn the only thing that goes off on my phone is like calls and texts. No alerts anywhere else because I just have a negative association with it um these days. So, yes, I um I do feel the same way. Look, one thing I did like, I think um when you travel, if you are in a position to be able to leverage this and do it, when if you can travel business class, I think that's a huge advantage. Not just for the flex, not just to say, Oh, look at me, I'm going business class, I make so much money. From the perspective of our flight from Melbourne to Singapore was delayed by probably two and a half hours. In those four hours that I was in the business lounge, I got a ton of work done. I actually did so much. Like kids in life were just over in the corner, they were eating food, they were on their phones, whatever they were doing. They were entertained. And I just sat there for four whole hours and just punched out a whole bunch of work. And that was great. Get on the plane when you're in a business seat, pull up the laptop if you want again, you can punch out some more work. So you can actually do the work, and I find that quite refreshing because I feel like I'm actually getting ahead when I'm doing that. Now, um, full disclosure, I flew economy there and back. I couldn't get the upgrade only because uh we booked, it was sort of a last minute thing, we just couldn't get the seats. But if it was available to me, like I bid for the upgrade, if it went there, I would have paid for it or used points or whatever it was going to be. Uh, and I think it's well worth it. And yeah, that few hours before, I think was really good and really powerful. But if I had it on the way there and on the way back, I would have utilized that too. Just been fresh when I arrived at the destination or come back home and had the ability to do work. I I find the

Phone Anxiety And Time Zone Work

George 17:42

weekend when I'm away is good because no one's calling me, no one's bothering me. The sites are generally closed, the team's not in the office, clients aren't pestering you, so it's generally a good time on the weekend. Um, but then during the week, it's like that's when the phone blows up, that's when the emails are coming through, that's when all the things that need your urgent action whilst you're away, you know, that's when it happens.

Robby 18:02

Yeah, but so you know, I went to Europe three years ago now. So that long. Yeah, time flies. Um, but when I was in Europe, Europe's eight hours behind. So I would get up at like 4 a.m. and it would be midday in Melbourne. And I would work for like four or five hours, and then I could like Melbourne kind of shut us off. Yeah, and then I had the rest of the day, and I was like, all right, I can do whatever the fuck I want here. And don't get me wrong, like you get to fucking 10 p.m. and you're cooked, but I had like you know, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. of complete do whatever the fuck you want. And I like that. It was like cool, I've sorted out my Melbourne life, it's all switched off. Um, I could, you know, free for all now. Uh the states was different because when we did in the States, you'd wake up and Melbourne was switched off. It was middle of the night in Melbourne, and then you had like eight, ten hours, and then Melbourne's waking up the next day, and it's your afternoon, and then you're out to dinner and your phone's blowing up, and you're like, all right.

George 19:09

Yeah, and that's it. We experienced I experienced the exact same thing when we went and saw went to um the States, saw Himose and GC. Same thing, like, and it was at the time where we had just a couple of jobs that were big jobs and were nearing completion, and just the phone wouldn't stop. Trades and clients and everyone, and it's like, fuck, just leave me alone. But again, it's you're a huge cog in the business that needs to turn in order for it to function. And I get it, like you'd have to say 90% of the small business owners out there are like that. I think that's a fair assumption. I think there's a lot of people relating to that. Yeah, I don't think there's that many business owners out there today who are just yeah, no, no, I don't do shit. It's I'm CEO, I walk in the morning and make sure everything's okay, and then I go and have coffees all day.

Robby 19:58

Yeah, I would say most people are flat chat. Yeah, but it's part of like I feel like it's a you go from your phone not ringing to saying like fuck and just you know what I mean, like anyone just call me. Like there's I got nothing, no action to all of a sudden your phone doesn't stop ringing, so you think fuck and just stop ringing. And then I think like the next level is your phone stops ringing.

George 20:24

Yeah, yeah, exactly. It's like doesn't ring, it rings a lot, and it doesn't ring.

Robby 20:27

And then it's like there's three people that call me, yeah, and they'd have access to everything.

George 20:31

Maybe I'll like maybe I'll like my phone again then. Might go get a Samsung or something.

Robby 20:35

Oh yeah, change uh upgrade. What happened?

George 20:38

I don't know, mix it up, be that excited. Um okay, you're at Singapore. Yeah, I think it was a great it's clean, easy to get around, people are nice. I I I think it's a good holiday destination. There's plenty to do. Yeah, I would go back.

Robby 20:55

I'd go back. I felt like when I went to Singapore, I felt like it was very uh what's the rule of word I'm looking for here? You know when like people are very sheep? Oh yeah, very law abiding very or we're like that here. Yeah, I think I think they're worse. Oh really? Yeah, I went just after COVID. Everyone was wearing masks. Yeah. Everyone. It was like a lot of people do it. Wearing masks. Yeah, whilst I was there.

George 21:28

Yeah, people behind service counters and stuff like that.

Robby 21:31

Yeah, I just you can't man and maybe that was just my maybe it was the timing I went, I don't know. And I just felt like, oh like I don't know what the word is, man. I can't think of the word right now.

George 21:44

Do you see uh if you see a mask? Not free free thinking. If you see a person wearing a mask now, do you look at them and think you're fucking weird?

Robby 21:51

No, I just think you must be sick.

George 21:54

I really I think people are weird now. If I saw just a person And walking down the street wearing a mask now. I think they got you good, huh? I got you good.

Robby 22:07

Why are you judging? I judge, that's what I do. They got you good.

George 22:11

They got you good. Um, yeah, but I I think if I go back to Singapore, I'd like to go for the F1. I think that'd be cool. And go and and um experience that. But yeah, I mean, like, I'm not planning to go there next year or anything like that. But I also did say I think it would be a cool holiday destination to go with friends and family. Um say to Bintan Island, I think that would be quite enjoyable with a good.

Robby 22:33

You know what? Like I'm I might go. Uh it's a cool place. Yeah, I I think everyone should experience Club Med. I think Club Med is and they're all over the world.

George 22:43

Yeah, so you don't and I think they're very similar where it's yeah, I'm pretty sure.

Robby 22:46

You know, when even when you look at it from a uh and I'll get into this with the whole Singapore thing, but like first time I went to Club Med, I remember looking at it thinking, because everyone's happy. The workers, there's no one upset. Yeah, no one's stressed, no one, yeah, and they're all just like, yeah, like it's just like they're partying and shit, but that was part of their job. They they don't sit there like I clock off at five.

George 23:09

Yeah, they live there, yeah. Yeah, I was speaking to this girl that she she was she lived in Western Australia, but she was South African, and she's like, Oh, I I worked at the Japan Club Med for a year, and she goes, Now I've just come down here and I've got a nine-month contract, and I'm just gonna chill out here for the next nine months.

Robby 23:25

Yeah, and I'm pretty sure they get paid bugger all, yeah, but but they don't have to spend any money.

George 23:30

I don't, yeah, accommodation included or the accommodation. But a business model, yeah. That's right.

Robby 23:34

It's like come work here, we're gonna pay you fuck all. Yeah, but you can just like live and hang out and make it a happy place. Yeah.

unknown 23:41

That's right.

Robby 23:42

And we'll cover all your expenses. And it's kind of like that's a very interesting because then for them, like as a to hire someone, it's not a big expense. They've already got the infrastructure. Yeah, they give you a room. That's it. Wild.

George 23:55

Yeah. And everyone's not like an eight-hour day either, mind you. Like for them, they work around the clock. They're living there, yeah. Yeah, you this is your life. Yeah, that's it. It is, it's just just because they they do their whatever their role is for the day. Let's just say they're looking after the beach equipment. Yeah, so they'll hang out down there, and but then at night time when dinner comes, come hang out, yeah. They hang out around, they sit with you when you're eating, they do live shows where they all come sit with you when they're eating. Yeah, they do shows when you're um they'll have a stage, you'll be on because they do shows, so they'll actually they perform. That's the word I was looking for. They've do performances, but they're all doing the choreography, they're dancing, they're dressing up, like they're it's very cool, very cool. Yeah, yeah. I mean, you don't you've I've never seen it anywhere else ever before.

Robby 24:36

Yeah, I think it's a um it's a cool experience to go see because then you see it and it's just it's different. It's so fucking different to anything I've ever seen ever. Do you know what I mean? The the way we live in Australia is so different to how they live there.

George 24:55

Yeah. And yeah, and it made me wonder would a Club Med work in Australia?

Robby 25:01

I think it would.

George 25:02

You reckon?

Robby 25:03

You know, live on some, I don't know. I'm pretty sure there was one.

George 25:06

Oh, really? There you go.

Robby 25:08

And it closed down. Yeah, there you go.

George 25:10

There you go. So it didn't work. Yeah. Um like the model and how they operate. Like, you know how there's all these like there'd be workplace laws and shit like that about how many hours someone can work and how much the minimum wage is. And I don't think that whole life incumbents of them being in the club med, the model, would necessarily work in Australia.

Robby 25:33

Oh, you reckon like uh Australian law would be perhaps it might be a bit of a hindrance on it. That is that if that's the reason that it I'm pretty sure it was at the Witch.

George 25:42

I was just trying to think logically. Yeah, no idea. No idea. I think it would have to be in a location like that, though.

Robby 25:50

Yeah, it was like I'm pretty sure it was like a coastal. Maybe Hamilton Island? No, it wasn't that yeah, Cranberne. It could have been in Cranberry, just wouldn't work. Hey man, Cranberne's alright. Cranberne's fire. That's what it is. You reckon? It's what is it from the city? No, Cranberne? Yeah, is it that much? When now have you given a oh no, no, no, sorry.

George 26:13

I was also thinking Caroline Springs. Um Cranberry K. Yeah, Cranberne probably would be. Yeah, yeah. Fire is. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Robby 26:18

It's like 60Ks.

George 26:19

Yeah.

Robby 26:20

Um, anywho, if you're from Cranberne, I'm sorry.

George 26:22

Well you haven't drived so much. Welcome to the show. Uh hope you got your passports there.

Robby 26:26

No, but you know what? It's very um developed out there. And hopefully they'll get a club end.

George 26:31

Quite for quite a long time now. It's not like a new suburb that's popped up.

Robby 26:34

It's new to me. I'd never gone down there. Never spent any time down there until like the last five years. There you go. Yeah. So it's new to me. Um But yeah, I think it's a really I'm almost want to look up the prices right now and just see like, can I make a booking? Um yeah, it's good. That's good. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Uh so you'd go back. Yeah, I would. Um would you go to a different club, Med?

George 27:04

I think now that I've had the experience there, yes. Yeah, I would. I'd be inclined to go there knowing the experience that I was gonna get. So if we so we were talking about maybe next year.

Robby 27:16

Yeah, probably next year. Did you get one?

George 27:18

I didn't get one. My wife got one, she said it was fantastic.

Robby 27:20

Oh, I thought it was a great one.

George 27:22

Yeah, yeah. I didn't end up getting one, I just timing-wise didn't work out. You can always make time, but yeah, I didn't didn't end up getting one. No, no, I was I actually I would have. I just think at the time things were going on and we didn't end up doing it, but yeah, she did, and she said it was one of the best ones she's ever had. Right? But I'll like we're thinking about going to Japan and as another family trip, and we said, well, we should check out the Club Med there.

Robby 27:44

Yeah, but uh yeah, you'd want to go see Japan.

George 27:48

That's the intent, yeah. Not just stay on the resort, yeah, absolutely.

Robby 27:53

Yeah, Japan's a sick, or supposedly. Well, that's right. I don't know a single person that's gone to Japan and said it was not good.

George 27:58

Yeah, I've seen so much. I don't know what it that's obviously in my algorithm because we were planning to go there. We actually thought that was actually the option. We were actually looking at going to Japan instead of Singapore, and then last minute we go, no, let's do because it was because it was all last minute, we thought Singapore would be easier, and it was. And yeah, we unplugged it's closer, everyone speaks the language. Apparently, Japan, no one speaks English. You gotta have Google Translate open pretty much everywhere you go. But everything I've seen there is phenomenal. Like that, dude.

Robby 28:24

Every country I've ever been to, like they usually have some level of accommodation for English, yeah, except China. Oh, cool. China do not give a fuck that you speak Chinese.

George 28:34

They'd be upset. They'd be upset.

Robby 28:36

They are offended that you don't speak Chinese. They're like, you're speaking this inferior language to me. Like, what do you I just I'd never seen in my whole life, yeah. And I was so like, like you guys don't even your menus, like you know how you most places you go and they got like an English menu or something, no, they don't give a fuck. They yeah, they've got zero interest in the fact that you don't speak. Just point and just hope it's good. I love that one. Um thank you. Yeah, it's sheshare.

George 29:06

Is it sheshare?

Robby 29:07

I'm pretty sure. Shish yeah. I've seen Russia. Hey, I learned Chinese in grade five. Did you? Oh, then you probably know more than I do. Absolutely. Um okay, anything else from your trip? Anything interesting happened?

Singapore Observations And Service Friction

Robby 29:20

Did you notice anything in Singapore? So this is what I do when I when you're gonna see, and this is why I was talking about the club men thing, is it like I looked at it as a like the business model and I was like, this is interesting. Like you guys have employees that are like completely happy and willing. Yeah, do you know what I mean? It's like in Australia, if you ask someone to do something at 7:30 at night, it's like, hey, what are you doing? You're gonna get in trouble. So I I saw it from that side, but was there anything you saw in Singapore? Like, do you do that when you go, or do you completely switch off? I don't know. Uh, but do you like look at the construction and be like, ah, these guys like use those sorts of cranes here? Like, we don't have that in Australia. Or we don't, or what the fuck have they got that thing up there for?

George 29:58

Yeah, I was looking at a few things like that for sure.

Robby 30:00

Or even maybe not construction related.

George 30:03

Yeah, I looked at a few things like that. Cable carts in Singapore. I don't know if you noticed that. They had quite a few of those, and there's a massive one that goes from like one end of the island to the other. Um cable carts. Yeah, you know, like the capsules and it's on a cart, it's on a cable, and it literally you get in the capsule and then it takes you from space to space or place to place. They had that, which I thought was um interesting to transport people across from one end to the other. Is it quick? There's uh no, I don't think so. It's very slow. I think it would be it's more of a it's almost like a tourist attraction, I reckon, like something to do. Um yeah, I did see a few construction sites. That's just then the builder of me just notices that stuff whenever they're they're going up and the cranes and whatnot. Uh, I didn't go into the city, CBD, but it looked like it it would be all right. There'd be stuff to do there, and it looked like like plenty of activity. There was a lot of people around. I didn't really notice people, it was no, it was very clean, didn't notice anyone homeless or any bums around or anything like that. Um getting a getting an Uber, or they called it I had a grab, that's what the app was called. So it was very easy to do and get around everywhere. Is it hot? Yeah, it was very hot there. Oh, it's humid, high humidity. It was about 30 degrees each day, but very high humidity.

Robby 31:10

Coming back to Melbourne on this free.

George 31:11

Oh, it was fresh. It was fresh when we got out of the airport. Yeah, yeah. That is, I was wearing shorts as well. Yeah. Um, but that's okay. I'm used to it now. Uh there was one little thing which annoyed me. So we lined up, we're at Adventure Cove, which is the water park, and we're lining up for food. And it wasn't a huge line. I'm like, oh, this, you know, 10 minutes, we'll be, we'll be done. We waited in line for probably, I reckon, 35 to 40 minutes for food. And I was just looking at that and go, this could be like, what are they doing? This could be so much more efficient. Like, just have an assembly line. Like you guys are taking an order, then you're taking the ticket, and then everyone has to line up to get the next thing and just say, look, what do you want? Rice and chicken? Cool. Get the rice, get the chicken. Here you go, go pay. And they could have just simplified that process. Like, that was annoying me. I was like, I just want to go in there and say, hey, you're doing this all wrong.

Robby 31:57

Yeah, move out of the way. I know.

George 31:59

Let me serve some food. Um, what was what was the um did you like the food in Sigma? Oh, so good. Yeah. Oh, just food everywhere there is good. I don't know if I love Asian food. Yeah, I think it's my favorite cuisine.

Robby 32:13

That's Asian is not a cuisine.

George 32:15

Whatever it is. I like rice and shit.

Robby 32:18

I like rice and noodles. That's it. Um what is it? What is it then? I guess like Asian fusion. They're all different. Yeah, okay.

George 32:27

Well, yeah, they're all different. Oh, they are different, yes. Yeah, like Japanese, um, Vietnamese food. Yeah, like Japanese and Vietnamese are very different. I know, but I like that's that type of food. I would categorize that. Vietnamese is sick. Yeah, so good.

Robby 32:40

Vietnamese is like very Asian. I'm hungry, I'm gonna go now. Japanese is different. Um I went when I went to Singapore, everyone, you know, you hear everyone say, like, you gotta get the chili crab. Yeah, you gotta get the chili crab, you gotta get the chili crab. They're like, you gotta go to the markets and get the chili crab. So I went to the markets, and I think the the crab was expensive. I can't remember what it was. It was expensive. I remember thinking, like, oh, that's not cheap. Anyway, so I was like, Yeah, yeah, cool, get one. And then they get one, and then they bring you a crab, like just a crab in a shell. Yeah, and they're like, Yeah, you gotta like break a shell and pull this whole thing apart and you know, scoop the meat out. And I'm like, what the fuck? I don't know. I've paid I think I paid like 90 bucks. I can pay 90 bucks to do this fucking nonsense. Yeah, like this is wild. Feed me, feed me, yeah. Pull the meat out and put it in a plate and make it look nice and give me a fork or some job sticks. That's very disappointing.

George 33:35

Did it taste nice though?

Robby 33:38

For what you could get out of it, sure. It was like one of those things where like, yeah, it tastes nice until you fucking bite the shell that's in your mouth.

George 33:46

Cut your mouth and yeah, do you know what I mean?

Robby 33:48

And then it's like, well, this is annoying. Yeah, because now I've got to take little bits and it takes me ages to get a bite. And you know, I don't want to work for this. If I want to work for this, I'd be a chef. Isn't that isn't that how it works? Um anything weird you saw over there?

George 34:07

No, uh not really. Nothing that jumped out at me.

Robby 34:11

What uh

Delegation Guardrails And Team Learning

Robby 34:12

what's something you would like to have as a business owner? Yeah, like as business owners, I feel like, and we're talking about this in the past, but you never really get to kind of completely unplug. What is something you would like to be able to do on your next trip? Let's say when you book Japan, what's something that you'd like to be able to do that you weren't able to do on this current trip? No, I'm not I'm not talking about tourist thing, I'm talking about like from a business element. Like as a business owner, George the business owner, George Passis, the director of Pascal and the director of Builder Elite, what's the thing that he wants to do that he couldn't do on this trip that you're now gonna put something because it sounds like you you've had I'm not gonna say epiphany, but you've had like an enlightening moment.

George 34:55

Yeah, and don't get me wrong, when we went to the States, the same thing was happening.

Robby 34:58

Yeah, oh dude, I'm living this is my story of my life.

George 35:01

Yeah, but like when but even you saw it firsthand as well. Like I was on the phone when we got back to the hotel room after we did whatever we were doing, I was on the phone, I was on the computer, and like it was annoying. So the business owner in me now would be like, okay, if this is gonna happen again, because look, next year, my as I said, my brother's getting married overseas. So I'm gonna have to spend three weeks away at least. So, in order for me to spend three weeks away next year, it can't be like the one week I just had. It has to be different. Like the things have to be in place. It means having all the systems and processes in place so that the problems don't are not problems, like they can be managed and handled by the team without them needing to call me and say, George, I need you to process this invoice. George, I need you to, what should I do in this application or how should I do this or how should I do that? So that's my goal for the next trip. By this time next year, I want to be in a position where it's like, all right, cool, sort it out. You don't need me there. You know what to do, you've been here long enough, you know how to handle yourself, go for it. You have my authority to do that. Because if I am in the same position as I am now and I'm doing the same sort of shit and all that sort of stuff, I'll be a bit annoyed. I'd be a bit upset. You know, because I'm trying to, I I'm practicing what I preach at the end of the day, and I've it's uncomfortable. Don't get me wrong, it's not like, oh, this is gonna be easy. I'll just tell everyone to do everything and not worry about it. There's still gonna be a level of me going, fuck, let me do it. I'm quicker, I'm better. It's easier if I just do it. You just sit there and watch.

Robby 36:28

I feel like I've become very good at not doing that.

George 36:32

Yeah, I think it's you've got to practice it. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Robby 36:35

Because I'm very good at now, like I don't I won't fix the mistake. I'll be like, hey, fix it. Or like I'll do it in front of someone, I'll be like, hey, you need to fix this, and then the other person will be like, Do you want me to fix it? It's like, no, no, let them. Not because I can do it, you can they need to learn. Yeah, let them. This is their experience. Stop fucking up their experience. Yeah, yeah. This is to all the bosses. You're fucking up your employees' experiences. The same way you made mistakes, that person needs to make mistakes, dude. Yeah, yeah. I mean, they're not gonna they whilst you can teach them as much as you can so they don't make all the mistakes you make, that would be silly, but there's gonna be some element of mistake they're gonna make as part of their learning experience, and that's okay.

George 37:13

That's it, it is.

Robby 37:14

You need to you need to cop that on the chin.

George 37:18

Yeah, you do. It's gonna happen. Like you're gonna have losses in business. It's gonna be times where you're gonna have uh hits where you take a step backwards to take three steps forward.

Robby 37:26

Yeah, but that's that's part of the part of the journey. You said in your as a builder, in your building contract, you should have enough uh profit in the job to be able to make a fuck up and say, cool, we fucked that up. You know, get someone out there, get it fixed, and we gotta pay for it. That's part of the game. It is. Business is the same. Yeah, you should have enough profit in your business where you say, Okay, cool. Yeah, and don't get me wrong, it doesn't mean just fucking give everyone a bank card and say, guys, go hard, have parameters, have guidelines, have safety, you know, guardrails and blah blah blah. Correct. Um but it's like it's the same sort of concept, right? It's like, okay, how do I how do I give you enough so you can drive, but not so much that you drive into all drive us into a wall. That's right. Do you know what I mean? Like, how do I give you enough so that you can go and learn and make the mistakes and I'll have a buffer? Like, I might have you might have a kitty litter or a thing where you're like, cool man, like I've allowed $15,000 for fuck ups on this job. And you don't tell them, but it's like I've allowed for that, you guys have fucking nailed this. That 15k falls straight to the bottom line. Do you know what I mean? And then that becomes a safety barrier for the next one and the next one. So it's like you gotta build that into your business, which is a fucking job.

George 38:47

Oh, yeah. It's a job, very much so.

Robby 38:49

Because then as you build that, then you work out oh, there's this, and there's that, right?

George 38:53

And that's up here, yeah. Yeah, and I've got no doubt about that. That when I get to the position where I'm like, okay, you guys are all doing this, I'll experience a new bunch of problems. The problem could be I'm bored. Like it could who knows? The problem could be of like, I'm not doing enough. I need to go and get more business to come in so I can have something to do, or start a new business, or pick up a hobby. I don't know. Like, there's gonna be other things that come up.

Robby 39:17

Wouldn't that be a great problem though?

George 39:19

Yeah, absolutely. But you know, a problem nonetheless.

Robby 39:23

Yeah, and your problems to you are real. Yeah, they're real problems. You're like, fuck, gotta do this now.

Comfort Zone Lessons On Vacation

George 39:29

I'll tell you one thing I um I liked as well about the holiday, a little bit unrelated. So, well, definitely not related to business. No, it can be related to business, however you spin it. So we went to Universal Studios, and there were some rides there. And my son and daughter, they were both like nervous to go on roller coasters and stuff. Oh no, I wouldn't, I don't want to do that. I don't want I'm scared, you know. I don't like the dropping part, I don't like the unknown, I don't like the scary stuff. And I'm like, no, no, just do it. All right, I'm scared too. I don't want to do this, but I know you'll have fun, like you'll never regret going on it right once you've done it. You'll never be like, Oh, I wish I never did that.

Robby 40:09

I did. I've done that thing on Lunar Park, and I got off and I was like, fuck, I wish I never fought. Oh, that spinning thing, that was the lowest. I fucking wish I never went on that thing.

George 40:18

The lowest thing I could have told you that guys, that was the worst. And everyone was giving it to me saying, Oh, you're not going on your I go, I'm not a dumb shit. Like, that is the worst ride. Dude, I've felt like what was it called? Uh, whatever it is, just for context. Imagine a Ferris wheel, but it just spins really quickly. And it goes up and down. Yeah, and you go up and down. So you're in like a cart. Yeah, you're in like a cart and then it's spinning. And I'm just like, I guarantee that's not gonna make me, it's not exciting. That will just make me feel sick. It will give me a headache.

Robby 40:47

That's with you.

George 40:48

And I'm gonna just I'm gonna be so bad. Like, there's no enjoyment out of that. I'm gonna be worse off when I step out. That's why I didn't do it. But anyway, that's funny. That's funny. Yeah, that was the worst. You had a video meeting. There's a couple of rides, and I convinced them to go on. And I said to him, Okay, I need you to understand something. This is worse in your imagination than it is in reality. Okay, you are making it worse in your mind than what it actually is doing the ride. And there was a couple of instances where this happened. There was one where we had a it was a little roller coaster. Like it was, it wasn't a scary one by any stretch of the word. It had a couple of drops and dips and stuff like that, but I went on it. And I like I was convinced trying to convince my kids like, come on with me. Let's go. We'll go together. You went on by yourself? I went on by myself to prove a point. I was I sat next to these two people from Japan. I'm the man exactly. It was two kids from Japan, two people from Japan sat next to them, like, hello? You didn't know I bowed. No, I didn't. No, just very racist, I think, or respectful, whichever way you want to look at it.

Robby 41:48

Yeah.

George 41:48

But you were gonna go to their country. That's 100%. I needed to learn the culture. So I went um on there and it was fine. Like it wasn't scary. And I sat off the ride and said, Okay, you know that ride we went on before? That was scarier than what I just went on now. And I was like, Oh, you know, maybe I should go. I said, No, we missed out now. And then he's like, I regret not going on there. I go, good. Okay, I'm glad you regret not going on that. And then the next day we went to the adventure park and they had a water slide. And you got in the tube and you went down this water slide, and it was the same thing. I was trying to convince it. I said, Hey, get on the slide. You're coming with me. And he's like, No, no, it's scary. I'm like, you are getting on this. I grabbed him and I said, You're gonna get it. And I go, Do you know what's gonna happen? We're gonna do it once, and you go, let's do it again, let's do it again, let's do it again. And that's what's gonna happen. Anyway, he went on it, and like the whole time we're because you had to go up these stairs to get up to the top, and I'm holding this big tube, and we're gonna get up there. We get in there, and he's like, and then he goes, Oh, I'm so nervous, I'm so nervous. And then we get into there. All right, and we go down the thing, okay. Okay, you're nervous? It's like, no. I go, no, this is too scary. Let me call the guy so we can go back up. You know, let's not finish the rest of the ride halfway down the slide.

Robby 42:51

It's a water slide, yeah.

George 42:52

It was a water slide, and you sit on a you so you sat on a tube or on a donut or something like that, and then you went down the water slide and it goes down and dips down and all.

Robby 42:58

You're worried about getting stuck. No, no, it's fine.

George 43:00

Fast not that fat.

Robby 43:02

I got fucked out, dude. I um you know, you know, like I get the thing of like doing the thing that frightens you. Yeah, I just think when it comes to that stuff, I'm like, there is zero benefit to this with the water slide? All rides, like I just don't. I'm like, like, unless I'm trying to impress someone, yeah, like I have no reason to do this.

George 43:22

Yeah, I thought they were fun. The ones we went, like, don't get me wrong, I'm not the type of guy that goes on roller coasters that go upside down and left and right and go 200 Ks an hour. But in the same token, I'll ride a jet ski at 100 and 20 K's an hour. And it's like Yeah, but that's different. It is different, yeah. It is different. But I said that to my son. So I was like, hey, you know, riding a jet ski is probably more exhilarating than what this roller coaster is going to be or this water slide's gonna be. And truth be told, we went down the slide and he's like, Oh, it actually wasn't that was fun. Let's go do the other one. I said, Okay, good, let's go. But I had to convince him I and I wanted to push him to get out of his comfort zone. And my my wife's like, No, no, leave him here, leave them there. You know, she's trying to protect them as a mum does. I'm like, no. No, that you can protect them. That's your job. My job is to push them harder and further and everything that I can do. And there's lessons in that in business too. There's going to be times where you're going to win a job or bid for a project and go, oh, that's that's bigger than I've ever done before. That's I've never done a job of that size. I couldn't deliver a project at that size. I couldn't deal with that sort of uh um pressure. But when you get into it, you're like, oh, okay, this actually isn't any different. It's just bigger numbers. The whole process is still exactly the same, just bigger numbers that I've got to deal with, or whatever it might be. So I I think within the right frame, like as you said, if you're if you don't see the benefit of going upside down or you don't find it fun, then yeah, absolutely. Don't go on the roller coaster. But if you're doing it because you're scared or because you're, you know, you're making it out to be something it's not, then maybe you should push yourself a little bit more to go and do stuff like that.

Robby 44:52

Stepani comes in.

George 44:54

I think a little bit, yeah. And that's what I was trying to encourage them to do. And as I said, and I use that now as a lesson. If he's ever nervous about something else in the future or my daughter, I'm like, remember when you went on that ride and you were scared, but you went on it and then it was actually fun? This is the same situation now. Okay, you're nervous about something that is that you don't need to be nervous about. Like when my kids went to camp for the first time with school, they were nervous about being away from home for the first, you know, first time or a couple of days. And like you go on it, you have the experience, and then when you come back, you're like, oh my god, that was so much fun. Like you see, you made it worse in your mind than what it was in reality. So powerful lesson, I think, for them, and I'm glad I got the opportunity to teach them that.

Robby 45:34

Do you feel like um do you feel like that comes naturally to you?

George 45:38

Oh no, absolutely not. I was that kid. No, no, no, no. The you're not that kid anymore. No, but I was when I was young. I I was the kid that never went on any rides.

Robby 45:49

The sharing the lesson element. Um now?

George 45:55

Like in my life now, yeah. I think so. I've got to be. Yeah, I don't want my kids, I want I want my kids to obviously be a better version of me. So I want to teach them those lessons for sure. So I think I am that person now for sure.

Robby 46:07

You feel like um you don't there is no resistance in like I need to show them this.

George 46:17

Yeah, no resistance in it.

Robby 46:19

Yeah, okay.

George 46:19

Yeah. Now but I you know, and um I guess I'm in that coaching space too with um with work, so there's an element of me practicing what I preach and teaching that to others and telling them to do the same thing as well. So yeah, I I get less resistance from that now for sure. I like it too. Fulfills you, I think so. And especially when they did it, yeah, you know, and I I that's I got a bit of fulfillment from them. Like, good, all right, good, you're learning this lesson.

Robby 46:50

Um, yeah, well, if you if you you get you can get that level of fulfillment from helping like a random. I can't imagine how much you'd get it from helping your kid. Yeah, exactly. Do you know what I mean? Um you do you do seem like you are a little refreshed.

George 47:06

Oh, I yeah, there's got to be an element of it. I did, I did come back and I was like, all right, I said it was a great holiday. I did have fun there. So I there's no element of me regretting going because I had shit going on at work. I just had to reframe it. And sometimes you need to do that. You got to reframe your problem. Okay, you could be completely consumed by it. I could have sat there and gone, fuck, you know what? I'm gonna yeah, I'm gonna spend the rest of the day in the hotel room. Don't talk to me. I just need to do all this work. Don't worry, and then tomorrow I'm gonna do the same thing. But you guys go have fun. I could have done that. But I wanted to reframe the problem and say, oh, good, I get to have these problems. This is an opportunity for me for me now to go, all right. The next holiday I go on, this, this, and this can't happen. This, this, and this needs to happen so that I can go away and have full confidence in the company. The company has systems, the team will follow the systems and go away and do it.

Robby 48:01

You know, when I was um I was in Europe and I'd been there for like, I don't know, seven weeks or something. And I was by myself for a bit in Prague for like five days, and one day I just worked for 12 hours. And let me tell you, it's probably my best day in Prague. Yeah, I swear to you, like it was probably my most endure, dude. I got so much done. I had no, I had a room to myself, no one bugging me. I had two screens and I just sat and fucking worked, dude. And I felt at the end of it, I felt I went, I'll never forget. I went and got a Philly cheesesteak from the shop around on the corner, dude. It was fuck I felt like I earned it. I was like, dude, like that was so fucking I hadn't had that level of productivity in so fucking long, and it was like it's a great feeling. Oh, like it's it sounds stupid, but like no, I completely relate.

George 48:59

Yeah, I completely relate.

Robby 49:00

It was like I felt so satisfied, and I was like, Yeah, it's like fucking hell, that's give me another hit of that shit. I can't explain it. Um, okay, last question. What's the one thing? You know when you go to different cultures and then you kind of look and you're like, you know what, we do this

Sales Mindset And A Small Surprise

Robby 49:24

better in Australia. What's the one thing we're like fucking this is way better in Australia?

George 49:28

I think we do sales better. Sales? Yeah, so there was funny. It was we had this buffet, all right, uh uh when I was in Singapore. And the first night I got there, they're like, oh, you know, you get you get your buffet, it's $150 for two adults, two kids. And like, oh, we've got a special tonight, you know, we'll we'll do it for $150 for two adults, two kids. I'm like, yeah, okay, cool, let's let's go. And it's like the next night we went there, and there was a guy just standing sort of outside our not our hotel room, but in the lobby as we walk past. And he goes, Oh, excuse me, sir, you know, he goes, Can I, can I you're gonna have buffet today? So, yeah, absolutely. He goes, Oh, well, we've got a special tonight. I'm like, okay, let me hear. He's like, Oh, it's $150 for two adults of two kids. I'm like, that sounds very similar to the special you had yesterday, and the one that's probably gonna be there tomorrow, too. And he's like, Oh, oh, no, no, no, because this is you know just for the resort for today, and it's like okay. And there's I felt like there was just no effort. It was just, you know, this is the copy and paste special, and I'm feel like I'm giving you a deal and all that sort of stuff. So um, yeah, I don't feel like the sale aspect of it was there. I think it was more just this is the process and let's go. I'll tell you one thing I did like actually. I was on the way home on the Qantas flight. This actually made me think about a conversation we had a few weeks ago about exceptional customer service and how to do a little bit more that doesn't really cost you much, or might cost you a bit, but to do that little bit extra. And I was on the flight home from Singapore, and I was sleeping. Um there was a couple of hours there that I slept on the plane. And when I woke up, I had my tray down, but when I woke up, there was a hat and a little box and I think a little bottle of wine or something like that, and then a note and said, Hi, Mr. Passes, we didn't want to wake you. Happy birthday for tomorrow. Hope you enjoy your day. And I was like, What the hell? Like, how good's that? The fact that it wasn't the gift, the gifts were crap, it was just a quantas or whatever. Yeah, but the fact that I got that little letter that said, We just wanted to wish you a happy birthday, all the best for your day tomorrow, and you know, have a great day. I'm like, Well done. Well done. Kudos to you for actually going that extra mile, searching in the itinerary, or you had a something, yeah. That said, oh, it's this person's birthday today, tomorrow, whenever it was. You give them a little gift and away they go. I thought that was really cool that they did that.

Robby 51:47

Yeah, and that that cost that is purely fucking perfect example of something that is you know 99% thought creativity in a system. Yes, not dependent on you know your employee to fucking, yeah, you better you didn't know this was his birthday. Like it's like they created the system, they probably get a notification when you book, you know, within 24 hours of your birthday or something. I don't know, something something like that. And the team managing the plane gets notified, and yeah, they make sure they do something that costs them probably nothing. Yeah, really? What does it cost them? What do they give you? A bottle?

George 52:27

Yeah, it's like a little bottle of drink, a hat, and a key ring, a quantus creature.

Robby 52:30

Yeah, okay. Well, it costs them 30 bucks, 50 bucks, who cares? Whatever. And it's like, but you only get that because you're a member. Potentially, yeah.

George 52:37

100%. Yeah, that's oh no, no, absolutely.

Robby 52:40

Yes, yes. But so cost them that to make you give you this feeling of being part of something bigger.

George 52:49

That's right. And it's like it does nothing but leave a great taste in your mouth. I would go and book with them again. And truth be told, most times I've flown overseas, it's been with Qantas. It's generally the one airline that I'll go, okay. Well, let's look at Qantas and see what they've got going on. Um, that was really good. Uh, other than that, what else did they do better than here? Or worse?

Robby 53:11

Singapore.

George 53:12

Yeah.

Robby 53:12

What is Australia? What did you miss? Did you miss anything? It was long enough. What was the thing where you're like, fuck man, I can't wait to get home and do this?

George 53:22

Nothing. No, I can't say there was anything that I was like dying to get home and do. Singapore is very much like Australia. Yeah, there was a lot of similarities for sure. For sure. I mean, as I said, uh, I never felt unsafe whenever we walked anywhere or did anything. Do you feel unsafe so? I mean, the perception probably shows that. You know, you if you ever listen to the news or see anything on social media that there's always violence and stabbings and shit like that. So not that I feel I've never once thought about it when I walked out of Alba Park and walked down the street.

Robby 53:53

Someone said, dude, yeah, someone gave me a wild stat the other day. It was something stupid. I'm gonna fuck it up. But it was something along the lines of in Victoria a car gets stolen every 52 minutes or something. And I'm like, there's no fucking way that you're gonna sell 24 cars a day. Surely not. Who knows? Who knows, man? Um yeah, maybe. Or it's like insurance jobs and fucking do you know what I mean? And they're just classify like you know, when you talk about a car getting stolen, I'm picturing like someone breaking into your car or breaking into your house and taking the car.

SPEAKER_00 54:26

Yeah.

Robby 54:27

Um anyway, I don't feel unsafe.

George 54:31

No, me either. I don't, but I I think there's there is that perception out there still though, that it is, that the crime rate is high and that things are happening. But yeah, other than that, I I didn't notice too many things that were different or worse or better. But overall, very good holiday.

Work Life Priority And Turning 42

George 54:50

And I reckon I reckon people should do that, not I reckon people should go on holidays, not just in summer, when you get your three weeks off or your four weeks off. I think you should break up the year and actually go and do something and have that little getaway that you're looking forward to throughout the year. I think that's important. I'm not I'm not about work-life balance either. And I never have been, even before I was aware of it specifically, but I think it's work-life priority. I think there's times where you have to work really hard and sacrifice and do things that you've got to do. And I think there's a time where you've got to step back and go, no, no, I've got to, I have to um enjoy myself, I have to reap what I sow. So I think there's a level of uh of people needing to do that as well. And that's what I did when I was away. Like I could have very, as I said, I could have very easily sat in my room for eight to ten hours and done work, but I said, no, no, I'm going to prioritize my time with my wife and kids and enjoy this time away with them as opposed to being at a computer. Because as you said, the emails will be there on Monday. I promise you, they will all be there on Monday. And if I waited till Monday to action them, probably would have been fine. Would have been a very busy day. I'll probably still be working now, but would have been totally fine.

Robby 56:06

Your emails will still be there. You told me that. You die tomorrow, the emails, your inbox will be full.

George 56:14

Full tomorrow. Yeah.

Robby 56:15

You know, you die today, your inbox will be full tomorrow.

George 56:17

Yeah.

Robby 56:19

That's uh that's very true. Very true. All right, on that note, so you recommend the trip trip to Singapore.

George 56:26

Yeah. I think it's a good family destination to go if you've got kids, or if you just want to go with your partner, go do that too. Worth seeing. When to Japan. Realistically, I think it would be the second quarter of maybe no, maybe first quarter of next year, potentially.

Robby 56:46

Apparently, it's a really good time to go. Uh I think around March, April. Yeah. They said something about seasons. Something about flowers. Okay, cool. Something about blossoms, blooming. Maybe those pink flowers. Flowers blooming, blossom, blooming. Yeah, whatever it is. Pink flowers. Something along those lines. If you've been to Japan, you know exactly what I'm talking about. And you're probably shouting at the car now. You're like you're fucking idiot. It's this. Um, all right, that's it. That's it. Anything else you'd like to add, Mr. Passis? Nothing for today.

George 57:21

I think we've spoken about it all, and I reckon people have got a lot out of it. As always, because this is a podcast for your enjoyment. We do this to help you guys navigate your way through business and life. And I hope you get something out of it. Even if it's one little thing, even if it's that little kick in the ass and go, you know what? I want to go on holidays and not have to worry about emails or phone calls or issues. And maybe you need to look internally to see what you need to do.

Robby 57:46

I've got one last thing I'd like to add. How does it feel to be 42?

George 57:53

I feel like I'm getting greyer. In your beard and stuff, yeah, yeah. And I feel I think my wife for the first time, she actually goes, Fuck, your hair's grey. I don't think it is. I don't think it is. I think I've still got a bit of a bit of brown there. But she's like, Oh, you're getting older. Happens. Happens. I don't actually feel different physically, mentally. I still feel exactly the same. But yeah, another year, another, another year, another 365 days around the sun. I want as many birthdays as I can possibly get. So I don't get depressed when I have a birthday at all. You know, if anything, like I went home the other night when I had the birthday, and um, you know, my wife got some balloons. It's more for the kids. My birthday is more of a celebration for the kids than myself, you know, so they can see us celebrating. So I always wanted to be happy. I never get depressed. You know, I've got family members that are depressed and upset when it's their birthday.

Robby 58:45

So you got another year. They're wasting their life. Yeah, that's what it is. It's like fuck another year past.

George 58:52

You're upset once a year, guaranteed every year. Yeah, Douid. It's a lot of days that you're being sad on.

Robby 58:58

All right. On that note, here's to the uh to the next 42.

George 59:04

That's right. Thank you very much, guys. Thanks for joining us, and we will listening. We will see you next week.

Robby 59:10

All right, bye, everybody.

George 59:11

See ya.