Todd Krause on Building Better Businesses

Wendy & Rich 0:01
Coming to you from the Freedom Federal Credit Union Studios, Hartford County Living presents, Conversations with Rich Bennett. 

How do you feel to come here? You're happy to show up. [ Laughter ] I never, never, never, never, never, never, never. You're happy to come here today, but just for a few seconds. I don't want to be happy. No, no, no, no, no, no. Truth is...

Rich Bennett 0:27
...what does it take to grow a business without losing your sanity in the process? A lot of business owners start out with a dream of freedom. Only to find themselves trapped inside the very business they built. Working long hours, putting out fires, and wondering why growth feels so hard. But what if the problem isn't the business itself? What if it's the systems, leadership, and culture behind it? Today's guests have spent his career figuring that out. Ty Krauss A is a CPA, MBA, entrepreneur, and business growth strategies who has helped organizations ranging from startups to multi-billion dollar companies navigate growth successfully. As the owner of the cleaning authority in Fischer's, he more than doubled revenue while creating an award-winning workplace culture and a high-performance team. Today, through Silver Sun Consulting, he helps whom-service business owners build stronger leaders, better systems, and businesses that can scale without chaos, burnout, or becoming completely dependent on the owner. So if you've ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, or wondered how to take your business to the next level without sacrificing your life in the process, this conversation's for you. How's it going, Ty? 

Todd Krause 1:56
It's going great. How are you, Rich? 

Rich Bennett 1:59
I'm hanging in there just, you know, enjoying the weather. No rain finally. So I'm happy for that. But you could tell that summer's coming because it's starting to get hotter. But, 

Todd Krause 2:12
oh, yes, and humid. 

Rich Bennett 2:14
Oh, yeah, and here in Maryland it's the humidity to get you. It'll be right on the page. It's, oh, it's nuts. All right, so Ty, I want to jump right into this. When you look back at your career, was there a moment when you realized that growing a business and leading a business are actually two completely different things? 

Todd Krause 2:45
I don't think it was a single aha moment as much as a realization that happened over time. 

Rich Bennett 2:54
Okay. 

Todd Krause 2:56
Because there were always things that I was doing for a long time, sometimes it works well with the culture of the organization I was with, other times it was the ads with the culture of the organization. But I always focused on the people around me, the people who worked for me. 

I found myself oftentimes protecting them in organizations that had somewhat toxic cultures. 

Rich Bennett 3:25
Oh, yeah. 

Todd Krause 3:26
But in return, what was happening is, there was an amazing amount of left loyalty, and the quality of the work they produced was just so much higher than somebody who's coming in and going, oh, I'm living for Friday in the paint-chak. 

And then more recently, people kept asking, why does what you do as simple as it is work so well? 

Rich Bennett 3:53
Right. 

Todd Krause 3:54
It didn't take me some time to finally put it into words and be able to articulate it. 

Rich Bennett 4:01
Was there actually, or better yet, what was the lesson that actually changed your perspective the most? 

Todd Krause 4:11
Well, 

March 6, 2020, my position with Ultrodomus ended at 11.30 in the morning. And then as I'm looking around for what I would do next, I discover this cleaning company, which was a good size, produced good income, provided it would be more than enough to provide for me and my family. So I showed the information to my wife and after 30 plus years in financial services, as I'm showing her this information, her reaction is a cleaning company. Really, a cleaning company. Well, with that glowing endorsement of my suggestion, I want to haven't bought it. 

but then but then later as she's making the daily deposits, now she's like, uh, cleaning comp. 

Rich Bennett 5:10
Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah. And that was in March of 2020 

Todd Krause 5:16
that I lost my job and then I've literally ten days, two weeks later, I spotted this business for sale on a business broker website. We finally- 

Rich Bennett 5:28
Wow. 

Todd Krause 5:29
Wind up and closed the transaction that September. It was a little delayed because of COVID. 

Rich Bennett 5:34
Right. 

Todd Krause 5:36
But what happened is I came in and I found a toxic culture, so I changed the culture and we changed how we relate to the people who work here. I had said, this is all the background is leading up to actually answering your question. I finally said to managers after being here a little while, stop. Please just stop. Stop saying no, stop saying don't stop threatening consequences. That's what the world does. Almost every sign around us is telling us what not to do, where not to go, and what happens if we do. I said, just tell them what we need from them. Tell them what our customers ask us to do for them. And show them what the rewards are delivering that. 

So we went to the typical skeptical period where the staff was all going, well, do they really mean it? Is this for real? But OMG, when those first couple of teams got bonuses, suddenly everybody wanted to be on board with it. And the culture changed in six weeks. 

Rich Bennett 6:47
Wow. 

Todd Krause 6:48
They stopped having those meetings years ago in the morning where the managers would lecture the teams about everything they did wrong, and the things they broke, and what they forgot to do yesterday. And what they better do better today. And the teams just started coming in, they're laughing, they're smiling, they pick up their equipment, their supplies, their papers, and they're off for the day. The culture just flipped. 

Rich Bennett 7:14
They were having fun. 

Todd Krause 7:16
They were having fun, they were appreciated, they're feeling respected. 

Rich Bennett 7:20
Yeah. 

Todd Krause 7:23
And then in January of 22. Because I bought a franchise. 

Rich Bennett 7:29
Right. 

Todd Krause 7:29
A franchise or a calls me and says, we need you to fly out to San Diego to accept in the world. I said, well, what award? I didn't apply for anything. And they said, oh, we took of that for you. 

Rich Bennett 7:45
Okay. 

Todd Krause 7:46
So I flew out to San Diego to accept an award in front of this enormous audience from the International Franchise Association. 

Rich Bennett 7:56
Oh wow. 

Todd Krause 7:57
So let's put that into perspective. Somebody like myself as a franchisee does not the member. The franchisee or the 

Rich Bennett 8:04
Right. 

Todd Krause 8:05
parent companies are the members. And this is a global organization from standing on stage in front of the largest have ever been in front of accepting the award. And I'm still saying, well, well, they did it. Well, managers did it. And I staffed it. They're the ones who did all the hard work. The heavy lift it. And people go, no, no, no, it's you. I'm going, no, no, it's not. They did it. 

So a couple of years later, I won it at the franchise level, franchisee of the year. Because of how we had grown and how things had changed and how it, i had improved and been so amazing. They're standing up on stage going, well, it's them, the managers, they did all the work. But people kept saying, Todd, they wouldn't have known how to do it if he didn't show them what to do. 

Rich Bennett 9:03
And 

Todd Krause 9:05
finally, I said, oh, you might have a point there. 

Rich Bennett 9:09
Right. Yeah. 

Todd Krause 9:12
So that's that's what I'm realizing that it made a difference in that having this different perspective. 

Rich Bennett 9:20
Yeah. 

Todd Krause 9:22
Was what brought the results. And that's that's what I'm saying is going, okay, okay. So what am I doing? That's different. 

Rich Bennett 9:31
Right. 

Todd Krause 9:33
And it's looking at the individual and the people as a complete person and treating them with dignity and respect, making them feel seen and heard. All of these things that in many organizations don't happen, some organizations go as far as you're supposed to leave your personal life at the door when you come to work and just bring your professional life through the door. 

Rich Bennett 10:01
Right. 

Todd Krause 10:03
You don't get that option when you hire person, you get the entire package. boy. They come with family. They come with friends. They have 

Rich Bennett 10:12
It's good 

Todd Krause 10:13
personal problems. They're car brakes down. They get sick at times. They can you imagine this? They want things called holidays and vacation. 

But when you give them space to solve their problems. in return what you get is they bring their heart to 

Rich Bennett 10:31
Yeah. 

Todd Krause 10:32
work and they care about the work they do. So here's where it gets really interesting and there's real math behind it that organizational leaders and business leaders will care about. For the most part, we are already using this tools and technology that exists. And if there's some a better tool we're moving to that tool and we're grabbing it. So there's a lot of competition in that aspect. But what you wrap around at this culture is this untapped area of potential. 

Rich Bennett 11:10
The 

Todd Krause 11:12
difference between somebody who just gets to work done and somebody who cares is an amazing difference and the gap is huge. 

So we to put some numbers behind it. 

People who scrub toilets for a living don't make a lot of money each week. And in the area we live in here in the NAMPLESS, 5 to 700, maybe $800 a week is a typical paycheck before taxes and other things. So when they have the potential of getting an additional 10 to $25 per house they cleaned as a bonus. Based on the feedback from that person who owns that house and you think about that they are in 2025 houses every week. So even if three or four of them say, "Wow, what a great job." That's an extra $100, maybe $150 

Rich Bennett 12:19
Yeah. 

Todd Krause 12:19
on their paycheck. And that's life changing money for people in that situation. 

Rich Bennett 12:24
Oh, absolutely. 

Todd Krause 12:28
So what we could say when the customers through our app tell us you did a good job, $10 more on your paycheck next week. When they leave a positive Google review, $15 more on your paycheck next week, it's tangible, it's immediate, it's an amount that's known. 

So organizational leaders, business leaders say to me, "Oh, that sounds so expensive, and I go, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. It's actually not. 

Look at five things out of that. You get employees stay longer. 

Rich Bennett 13:08
Right. 

Todd Krause 13:10
You have more seasoned knowledgeable experience people on staff and let's turn over. They start telling family and friends about what a great place it is, and these people start coming to you asking to work there. Your cost to find new employees drops. We don't advertise it all for new employees. They walk through our door and ask to work here. We have a wait list. 

Rich Bennett 13:33
Wow. 

Todd Krause 13:35
They take their heart with them, and they care about their work. Now the customers are raving about it. And the customers stay longer. So when you're adding new customers, you're not replacing, it really is a creative. It's adding on top. 

Rich Bennett 13:50
Right. 

Todd Krause 13:50
Customers are telling friends and family and neighbors what a great job you do. And they're signing up. And then number five is huge. Google reviews with pictures and people raving about the bit. It's like gold. It helps make the next perspective customers say, "I read your reviews and why were they great?" Let's talk about starting service. 

Rich Bennett 14:20
That's 

Todd Krause 14:20
what 

Rich Bennett 14:21
we do. 

Todd Krause 14:22
We do over four million dollars a year in revenue here. 

Rich Bennett 14:26
Just your franchise. 

Todd Krause 14:27
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 14:28
Wow. 

Todd Krause 14:29
And our operating expenses have dropped more than 8 percent since I took over. So listen up business owners. That's over 320,000 dollars a year in additional profit every year. If you don't know what to do with 320,000 dollars, I'll be very happy to help you figure that out. And I'm pretty sure you would too, right, Rich? 

Rich Bennett 14:56
Oh, absolutely. I know a lot I can do with that. 

Todd Krause 15:00
So the real myth is that your revenue is climbing faster because your customer attention is higher. Your operating expenses drop because your turnover is lower, your hiring costs are lower, your training costs are lower, and let's not forget. New employees make all those beginner mistakes that have to be fixed 

Rich Bennett 15:21
Yeah. 

Todd Krause 15:21
and that cost money and that takes time too. 

Rich Bennett 15:25
I, first of all, the part, the family part. I agree with that 100 percent. I'll never forget when I first got into the IT field. The first company I worked for was Family Focused. I mean, they cared about you. My friend, when they even did events, picnics or whatever, company picnics, they wanted you to bring your family. Not just your spouse, the kids and everybody. I mean, and it made people happy. You know, it was exciting to go to work, even though I was driving all over God's country, but I didn't mind it. You know, I loved it. And I think, I think you're right, that's something that's missing from a lot of businesses. I do think and I've seen this in the past. It curped me up from wrong here. But too many businesses, well, I guess it would be the business owners, are trying to run their businesses if they're in the military. 

But yeah. 

Todd Krause 16:28
And they're not getting the full capability that these people working for them have. So, this, what are my keynote speeches? I teach this lead framework. yeah. And it is directed for the business owners and the senior manager. So, I have a tendency to micromanage everything. 

Rich Bennett 16:51
Oh, 

Todd Krause 16:51
You think everything has to, all decisions have to run through them. They have to approve everything. So, it's, it's simply let go, empower, align and develop. So, you have to let go of task and give them to other people. So, you're not the bottleneck. 

Rich Bennett 17:11
Yeah. 

Todd Krause 17:12
Because if you're the bottleneck, then you're a self-limitor on how large the business can be and how effective it is. When you let go and give it to other people, it gives them something to rise to a challenge and actually take care of. 

Rich Bennett 17:29
Mm-hmm. 

Todd Krause 17:30
Well, then when you let go, you have to empower them. You have to give them the real ability to perform that task. Or the authority that they need, the tools that they need. So, after we let go and we empower, then we want to make sure everybody's rowing the boat. 

Rich Bennett 17:46
Yeah. 

Todd Krause 17:47
In the same direction. So, we don't have chaos. Well, that's where aligning with the goals of the organization is critical. 

Rich Bennett 17:56
Yeah. 

Todd Krause 17:56
And then lastly, it's just develop. People need help and they need guidance to get to that next level. And that's not sitting in a conference from watching training videos. 

Rich Bennett 18:09
No. 

Todd Krause 18:10
That's those conversations that happen as you're walking down the hallway and you're explaining your thought process and how you made a decision and why you made the decision that you did. Those conversations in the offices and by the coffee maker and the water cooler, where you're going through everything is that you're watching and you're listening to inside the business and how you make decisions. 

It's how you show up every single day. Those are the things that these people learn from and take their cues from. Much more so than sending them off to human resources and the training room for a couple of days. 

Rich Bennett 18:57
I 

never mind, that's a pet peeve of mine. I've never. Because some people just cannot go back to high school. Some people cannot focus on a certain thing when they're training. But if they're doing it next to you, it makes a big difference. That's why a lot of your trade schools are so successful, I believe. 

Todd Krause 19:20
Well, it fits down to that people learn in different ways. 

Rich Bennett 19:25
Yeah, exactly. 

Todd Krause 19:26
Some people are visual learners, they need to see it. Other people are auditory learners and they need to hear it. 

Rich Bennett 19:34
Yeah. 

Todd Krause 19:34
And then we have those people who need to touch it and feel it and that's how they learn it. 

Rich Bennett 19:39
So let me get this straight. You still have the clean and authority, right? 

Todd Krause 19:43
I do. 

Rich Bennett 19:44
OK. So when did you decide to start the consulting business? What, Silver Sun, right? 

Todd Krause 19:53
Silver Sun. 

Rich Bennett 19:54
All right, when did you decide to start that and start helping other businesses? 

Todd Krause 19:59
between three and four years ago, I 

Rich Bennett 20:01
Oh, 

Todd Krause 20:02
started launching it. 

Rich Bennett 20:03
OK, 

Todd Krause 20:04
it's been a, I'll be honest. It's been a learning process to figure out how to make this type of business grow and how to 

Rich Bennett 20:12
get 

Todd Krause 20:12
the word out that it exists to people. 

Rich Bennett 20:15
But you know what Todd? The thing is learning never stops with any type of business. 

Todd Krause 20:20
No, it doesn't. I'm learning all about how to make consulting, which has two sides to it. I teach this from the stage, public speaking, and I do it and implement it with and alongside of leaders 

in either one-on-one or small group type 

Rich Bennett 20:45
Right. 

Todd Krause 20:45
settings. 

I use the word "consulting" only because I haven't thought of a better word. I don't really view myself as a consultant. 

Rich Bennett 20:54
A 

Todd Krause 20:55
I 

Rich Bennett 20:55
coach. 

Todd Krause 20:55
go in and I actually help them implement 

Rich Bennett 20:57
it. So you're more or less like a coach or a mentor 

Todd Krause 21:01
then. There's definitely a lot of that involved. 

Rich Bennett 21:03
Yeah. Yeah. All right. So with the clean and authority, especially as successful as your franchise is, do corporate or other franchises ask you to come and help them out as well because following your business model? 

Todd Krause 21:21
Actually they have. 

Rich Bennett 21:22
Okay. 

Todd Krause 21:23
So a number of other franchisees have come to visit. They've sent their managers to visit. 

Rich Bennett 21:30
Okay. 

Todd Krause 21:31
And we always grab the opportunity when we get it to go 

Rich Bennett 21:34
Oh yeah. 

Todd Krause 21:34
visit them. 

Rich Bennett 21:37
Wow. 

Todd Krause 21:37
It's it's it's as valuable to learn what not to do as it is to learn what to do. 

Rich Bennett 21:44
My 

Todd Krause 21:46
managers have come back from other offices that from the outside look well run. And they have said, Oh, we do not want to do what they're doing. 

Rich Bennett 21:57
There's 

Todd Krause 22:00
been times they've come back and said, Oh, we've got it. We've got a whole list of great ideas. 

Rich Bennett 22:07
Yes. 

One of the things I love going or I used to love doing. I haven't been out enough to do it now, but walking into business just to see the mistakes and even the good things because yeah, you could learn from it. And if they want to listen, then you could teach them some things. And actually, I want to get into that a minute because a lot of people start businesses because they're great at a trade or a profession. 

What are some of the biggest mistakes that owners make when they first step into leadership with that? 

Todd Krause 22:45
Well, let's let's tackle that one in two parts. 

Rich Bennett 22:49
Okay. 

Todd Krause 22:49
It happens even before you decide to become a business owner. Most of us have worked somewhere or multiple somewhere. Before we've decided to be a business owner, one of the biggest transitions in somebody's life is to go from doer to manager. 

That is huge because we stop being the one who controls the end product directly and we now have to achieve a result through other people. Much of what we learn right there is transferable into business ownership, business ownership itself layers on some additional things. 

Rich Bennett 23:39
Right. 

Todd Krause 23:41
Unless you want to be a solo premier and be a doer the rest of your life, you have to get things done through other people. 

Rich Bennett 23:50
Right. 

Todd Krause 23:52
That's the only way to grow. Otherwise, the size of your desk limits the size of your business. 

Rich Bennett 23:59
Oh, I like that. 

Todd Krause 24:04
But when we can motivate other people, then suddenly the world opens up. The possibilities are so much larger. How do we get things done through the people? It's back to that lead framework. You literally have to let go of things. You've got to pick them up off at your desk and give them to somebody else. You've got to it's important. We as leaders have to empower those people that we give these tests to to get them done. We have to show them what direction to move in order to help the organization grow. And we have to develop them. When we do those things, the organization grows and then suddenly people show us the full range of their capabilities. 

Rich Bennett 24:57
Right. 

Todd Krause 24:57
They bring us their ideas. 

That's the thing that I've learned was when people start bringing their own ideas and bringing their own solutions, oftentimes they are better than what I would have thought of. 

Rich Bennett 25:13
Right. 

Todd Krause 25:15
That the real magic is the Randy Thomas R. said that in his book, The Monk and the Rittle, is getting other people to do things better than you could do them yourself. 

That's the real magic. 

Rich Bennett 25:32
Yeah. Wow. You know, because you mentioned solar preneurs too, do you help solarpreneurs as well? Because I do, I knew there's a lot of solarpreneurs out there. But I've also seen a lot of solarpreneurs that I don't know if this is going to make sense you or not, but they're not good leaders to themselves. 

Todd Krause 25:57
They often are not well organized. 

Rich Bennett 26:00
Yeah. 

Todd Krause 26:01
The problems that solarpreneurs face is always the challenge of finding that next customer, that next client. That's a universal challenge. 

Rich Bennett 26:12
Yeah. 

Todd Krause 26:12
Whether you're large or small, and many organizations do a poor job of that. They do a, they do a poor job of servicing the customers. 

Rich Bennett 26:24
Hmm, 

Todd Krause 26:25
one of the biggest breakdowns is communication. Prime example, our work happens most frequently and as most frustrating as involving contractors. We hire them to do a job. We think they're gonna start Monday morning and they don't up. Why? Because they were still finishing something from the prior week and in their mind I'm getting to you. I'm gonna get to 

Rich Bennett 26:54
you. Right. 

Todd Krause 26:56
It's less concerning whether they show up Monday morning. It's more concerning. I planned for you. I made sure that we moved everything out of your way. We put parts 

Rich Bennett 27:07
Hmm. 

Todd Krause 27:07
of our life on hold so you could do the work we ask you to do but you never communicated with us. Nobody ever said, "I'm backed up." Uh, we really need to push it to Monday after noon or Tuesday morning but we haven't forgotten about you. 

Rich Bennett 27:25
Yeah. 

Todd Krause 27:27
Communication... 

is key. Why do the text messages and things flying around aren't enough to give us the communication that we want as the customers of businesses? 

Rich Bennett 27:45
Do you think with the creation of eight, not the creation has been around forever but with AI getting bigger and bigger? And now you're seeing these text bots. Do you think that's a mistake some businesses are making is using those text bots to communicate with clients? 

Todd Krause 28:09
It depends, in my view, it depends on how you're communicating. 

Rich Bennett 28:13
Right. 

Todd Krause 28:16
I've had anti-tech or anti-AI 

Rich Bennett 28:19
the... Neither 

Todd Krause 28:19
in 

Rich Bennett 28:20
am I. 

Todd Krause 28:20
Or is there really are very wonderful tools? But they don't replace relationships. 

Rich Bennett 28:28
We've 

Todd Krause 28:28
gotten to the point where... 

so it's cliche now but there's so much truth to it. We've never been more connected to each other in our history and at the same time disconnected. 

Rich Bennett 28:41
Yeah. 

Todd Krause 28:42
Have you tried calling a business and actually talking to a real person? 

Rich Bennett 28:47
Yeah. 

Todd Krause 28:52
Getting a reminder that the team is on the way or the team will be there tomorrow or we're one stop away from delivering what you ordered. I don't think anybody minds that. It's 

Rich Bennett 29:08
Right. 

Todd Krause 29:08
one that can't talk to a real person and that chatbot wants us to pick from one of three buckets. So does our problem fit in bucket, one, two or three? 

Rich Bennett 29:20
Right. 

Todd Krause 29:21
And when you say, well, it doesn't really fit in any of those buckets but they still have a problem. And the chatbot 

Rich Bennett 29:27
Yeah. 

Todd Krause 29:27
won't let you talk to anybody. 

Rich Bennett 29:30
Oh yeah. That's nerve-wracking. And what makes it even worse. Because, how many times have you gone to a business's website and you know it's got the chatbot so you can talk there but you're not getting your answer but you can't find a freaking phone number to call. 

Todd Krause 29:49
So people inside of businesses do that with their emails. They just sign off that up on John. 

Rich Bennett 29:57
Yes. 

Todd Krause 29:57
And then looking at the email I said, well John, I have a question. How do I call you? 

Rich Bennett 30:03
We ran into it before this recording. You couldn't 

Todd Krause 30:07
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 30:07
find the link. Thank God, I have always have both of my phone numbers in the emails. Those of you listening, yes. Ty had to call me because he didn't get the, well, this program sends out a couple of different emails. And I don't think, no, I don't think the original has the regular link to it. 

Todd Krause 30:28
No, it does not. I 

Rich Bennett 30:30
Thank 

Todd Krause 30:30
looked at 

Rich Bennett 30:30
God, 

Todd Krause 30:30
the 

Rich Bennett 30:30
Ty. 

Todd Krause 30:31
original one. 

Rich Bennett 30:32
Yeah. 

Todd Krause 30:33
I assume when I clicked the except on the calendar link that it had all the required information in it. 

Rich Bennett 30:39
Yeah. 

Todd Krause 30:39
But what did I do? Five minutes before we were scheduled to start? I opened up that calendar link and when where is it? 

Rich Bennett 30:48
But you had the phone number. But 

Todd Krause 30:49
it had the phone number, yes. 

Rich Bennett 30:51
God. Thank God. Yeah, because I mean I, that is true. I can't tell you how many emails I get a day from businesses. And there's not even a phone number to it. 

Todd Krause 31:02
No. 

Rich Bennett 31:04
And 

Todd Krause 31:05
so often the email only partially answers our question. And we're saying, well, that's nice. I'm glad I know that, but 

you didn't completely answer my question. 

Rich Bennett 31:17
yeah, You're listening to the conversations with Rich Bennett. We'll be right back. Just take a little break here. I need to tell you about a company that was ranked the top rated service center the Carfax. there are full service automotive repair shop, and it's actually where I take my cars. I'm talking about American auto repair sales and service right there in drop it down. They're reliable, 

Inc. I. n. c. dot com again American auto repair I. n. c. dot com or give them a call and set up your appointment at 410679-9500 again. It's 410679-9500. They have over 30 years of experience and are absolutely the best car service around. I want to talk about Silver Sun because I think the consulting I do believe that there are a ton of businesses out there that need your services. I love feel good stories. But I know with I've never done this before, but I would like for you to do it, if possible, because I think it's important. Can you go over some of the case studies. 

Todd Krause 33:03
Yes. 

Let me give you several quick ones, 

Rich Bennett 33:10
okay. 

Todd Krause 33:10
Winter Garden Florida client came to us $600, 000 a year in revenue between 140 and 150 recurring cleaning clients. 

Wasn't growing. Hadn't raised prices in six years and wasn't able to pay himself. 

Rich Bennett 33:33
Oh god. 

Todd Krause 33:34
There's some little strange year that you're earning $600, 000 a year in revenue and you're not taking home a paycheck or 

Rich Bennett 33:41
Yeah. 

Todd Krause 33:41
very very little for a paycheck. 

So the entry point when with clients is usually fixing something specific in their business. But at the same time on teaching them the whole cultural side of things and the power of getting the culture right. 

Because most businesses don't come and say we have a culture problem. They say we're not finding clients. We're not finding staff. We're having operational problems. So we looked at his pricing. If he just brought his prices up to market he would have been able to pay himself $140, 000 a year. 

Rich Bennett 34:27
He was that far off. 

Todd Krause 34:29
He was that far off. And then secondly, looked at his operational processes just by standardizing and teaching everybody on the staff to repeat the same thing over and over again and delivering a standardized experience, which maintains a certain level of quality. 

Rich Bennett 34:50
Mm-hmm. 

Todd Krause 34:51
Across teams would have delivered $40 to $50, 000 more in profits. So if he was missing out on $180, 000 a year in profits. He didn't have any marketing to speak of who more or less waited for people to come to him. 

Rich Bennett 35:12
Oh, no, no, no, no. 

Todd Krause 35:15
Marketing you you have to 

Rich Bennett 35:17
Yeah. 

Todd Krause 35:17
reach out. You have to let people know you're obsessed. Okay, case number two. Massachusetts based commercial cleaning company has having real operational inconsistencies. Their days consisted of firefighting and apologizing to their clients for mistakes made the night before and in getting them fixed. Rather than growing the business, rather than it humming along, they didn't have standardization, they didn't have quality control, didn't really know what was happening until the clients complained about it. Well, you didn't clean the bathrooms, you didn't refill the soap dispensers, the toilet papers out, this area is still sticky in the break room. That area is not cleaned in the corners over in the hallways. 

Rich Bennett 36:13
And they were still a business. 

Todd Krause 36:15
They were still in business. 

Rich Bennett 36:18
Wow, 

Todd Krause 36:18
So standardized their processes and implemented inspections, so quality, real quality control and 

Rich Bennett 36:27
right. 

Todd Krause 36:28
real performance metrics. It resulted in. In the end, the owner decided to sell, and he was actually in a position to be able to sell the business. It had value 

Rich Bennett 36:42
Okay. 

Todd Krause 36:42
because now it had fixed the internal problems that 

Rich Bennett 36:46
we're 

Todd Krause 36:47
going on there. In a third case, and this is not typical. These, these people who think this way are a little bit more unusual or not enormous. Minneapolis St. Paul Bay's commercial cleaning. Business came to us and said, I want to do it right. 

Help me set everything up in advance of my launch. Help me get everything from start to finish. Wow, what's this amazing? This is like a blank chalkboard and we get, we get to create everything for him and with him because he wants to do it right and he wants to avoid the mistakes that many other 

Rich Bennett 37:37
made. Right. 

Todd Krause 37:37
businesses 

He wants to shorten as much as possible that learning curve. 

Rich Bennett 37:45
Oh, 

oh wait, you don't, wait a minute. You don't want to shorten the learning curve, do you? 

Todd Krause 37:54
Well, if he avoids learning through mistakes. 

Rich Bennett 38:00
You're not learning. 

Todd Krause 38:02
Well, he's learning through our helping him set it 

Rich Bennett 38:05
Well, 

Todd Krause 38:05
up. 

Rich Bennett 38:05
yeah. 

Todd Krause 38:06
Instructure it. Maybe there's a better way to say that. 

Rich Bennett 38:10
I was gonna say because you gotta learn by your mistakes. 

Todd Krause 38:13
Oh, yeah, he'll make mistakes but- 

Rich Bennett 38:15
Right. 

Todd Krause 38:17
He can also avoid some of the obvious ones. 

Rich Bennett 38:20
Okay, okay, gotcha. Okay. 

Todd Krause 38:22
It's just, well, why is it important to have a standardized process? What does that do? Well, now everybody's trained to do the same thing and you can send any team to any customer and give them the same experience. Your level of quality and the way you do things is what you become known for. It becomes your brand. 

Rich Bennett 38:45
Okay. 

Wow. 

Todd Krause 38:48
And 

my entry point to the home service business was through the cleaning side of it. But what I teach applies broadly to many organizations and many 

Rich Bennett 39:02
businesses. So 

Todd Krause 39:03
you had to pick an entry point 

Rich Bennett 39:05
yeah, 

Todd Krause 39:05
for the business, my business. 

Rich Bennett 39:08
So you are the John Taffer of home service businesses 

Todd Krause 39:14
that you 

Rich Bennett 39:16
know who John Taffer is, right? 

Todd Krause 39:18
I'm not very familiar with 

Rich Bennett 39:19
Bar 

Todd Krause 39:19
him. 

Rich Bennett 39:21
rescue, have you ever seen 

Todd Krause 39:23
this show? No, I 

Rich Bennett 39:24
no 

Todd Krause 39:24
have 

Rich Bennett 39:24
I, he goes into these bars, these restaurants or whatever that are failing and basically goes back in and gets them back up and run into where they're making a profit. 

Todd Krause 39:37
There 

Rich Bennett 39:37
a 

Todd Krause 39:38
was 

Rich Bennett 39:38
tie I'm giving you homework, you got to watch bar rescue. 

Todd Krause 39:41
There was just show that did that with restaurants. 

Rich Bennett 39:43
Yes, yeah, um, restaurant and pasta. Well, I think it was. 

Todd Krause 39:48
I think you might be right on the name 

Rich Bennett 39:50
Yeah, 

Todd Krause 39:50
there. 

Rich Bennett 39:50
that was with Robert Irvine, I believe. 

Todd Krause 39:53
Correct. 

Rich Bennett 39:54
Yeah, which is awesome chef, awesome chef. Yeah, well, it's similar to that. Uh, he gets behind the science of it and, you know, everything. Um, a couple of things I want to ask you, which I think is very important. 

Is there one challenge that almost every business owner brings to the table? 

Todd Krause 40:25
It's, universally, it's trusting people. 

Rich Bennett 40:29
Mm hmm, 

Todd Krause 40:32
there's reasons why it's difficult for leaders and business owners to trust. It's their business. 

Rich Bennett 40:40
Yeah, 

Todd Krause 40:41
their name is on the door. 

When you trust other people, you're letting go of things and 

we often, we got where we are in the world. Because we solved problems because we fixed things because we made things happen. When you take one step back and do that through somebody else, that is not an easy thing to do for many people to let go in that way and to trust them. 

Rich Bennett 41:18
Hmm, 

Todd Krause 41:19
once you have this level of trust, then letting go, empowering, aligning and developing become much, much easier. 

Rich Bennett 41:28
Yeah, 

Todd Krause 41:31
we feel responsible for it. So it's often hard to let go of things that we feel responsible 

Rich Bennett 41:38
for. I think that's why a lot of business owners have a hard time while you'll see like a rotation of managers because they just, they don't want to let go. And you, you'll bring in managers that have a different outlook on things. 

Todd Krause 41:53
Correct? 

Rich Bennett 41:53
Or, or clash heads and you definitely don't, don't need that. I'm sorry, go ahead, you were here, you see something 

Todd Krause 42:00
Todd? Well, the other thing I was going to add to that is, it's easy to develop this mindset where we think that if it's not done my way, it's not right. 

Rich Bennett 42:11
Right. 

Todd Krause 42:13
What we need to use is a more objective way of measuring it. Think of it as, you have this yardstick and you're saying, was the result a good result for the organization and for the business or was it not a good result? 

Rich Bennett 42:28
Yeah. 

Todd Krause 42:29
Rather than saying, all it wasn't my way. 

Rich Bennett 42:31
Yeah. 

Oh, now I got frank Sinatra in my head, thanks a lot Todd. 

Todd Krause 42:37
Oh, oh no. 

Rich Bennett 42:39
All right, so when a client actually comes to you and they're feeling overwhelmed and stuck, where do you actually usually start with them? 

Todd Krause 42:49
My preference is to start right off front with where are they positioned in the market? 

Rich Bennett 42:55
[BLANK_AUDIO] 

Todd Krause 42:55
And what do they look like to the world? 

I will start other places if they've got some fire burning and some part of their business. For example, that Massachusetts commercial cleaning company, which knew they had a huge operational problem that needed immediate fixing. 

But if I start off front and I start with, what is their market position, how are they priced, what is their value statement to the world? We can get some immediate wins for them with a flow of new business coming in while we work on the things that are not as visible to the world. How do they do what they do? What is the culture that they have and how is it working? You can think of it as falling on one of three pillars. There's the whole acquisition engine where we acquire new business and we acquire the people to service that business. Then there's the service engine with how we do what we do. 

Rich Bennett 44:09
Right. 

Todd Krause 44:09
And finally, the retention. What do we do to retain the customers? What do we do to retain the people who service 

Rich Bennett 44:20
Okay. This is a, well, I'm not going to make this a, yeah, I'll make it a two-par question. 

Todd Krause 44:27
them? 

Rich Bennett 44:28
So, what's one thing that every entrepreneur should stop doing tomorrow and what's one thing every entrepreneur should start doing tomorrow? 

Todd Krause 44:43
Well, most of us should stop saying no to the people that we hire. 

We should stop lecturing them. We have a tendency to talk to them in almost a lecturing sort of way. Do this, this way following ways. And by the way, I want these results 

and start listening to their ideas. They start seeing the real potential that's there. 

Rich Bennett 45:14
Right. 

Stop talking to them and speak with them. Have the conversation. 

Todd Krause 45:21
That is one of the most powerful things. I call that the unfair advantage. It's simply tapping into what these people are capable of and giving them the reason to want to bring that to work because your competitor down the streets not doing that. 

Rich Bennett 45:39
Right. 

Todd Krause 45:41
You and your competitor are similar tools, similar AI, but now you can layer on this whole advantage of really building the culture that unleashes the growth in the business. 

Rich Bennett 45:57
Mm-hmm. And now for business owners, that one employee that they will not speak with, have a conversation with, maybe the employee that leaves and goes to that other business and helps them succeed even more. And then you end up shutting your doors. You never know. The conversations are important, which that's one of the things I, again, I'm going back to that one business I worked with that was, you know, progressed on family. I think once a week the managers would call us in, one by one, and just sit there and have a conversation. You know, ask us what we like what we don't like and just certain things. And it made a big difference and they would take these ideas and help grow. And it was one of the largest top rated IT companies that work for at the time. 

Todd Krause 46:51
That's absolutely true. I was one of those employees who was actually actively recruited twice in my life because the new employer wanted my inside knowledge and my experience from the other businesses. But to your second point there, there are so many businesses out there where employees will never leave because treated well, they're 

Rich Bennett 47:18
they're 

Todd Krause 47:19
respected. They love the relationships they have with the people they work with and the people they work for. These businesses are not paying highest wage in the marketplace. They don't have the top benefits. What they have is they have a culture that retains people and keeps them for years and years 

Rich Bennett 47:39
and years. Yeah. Yep. So when people work with you or even learn from you, well, they're going to learn from you if they work with you of course, what's the last impact that you hope they experience? 

Todd Krause 47:56
I'm hoping that they remember the whole connection, the people side of it. 

I keep coming back to that because it's the one thing that is so overlooked in the world around us. And it's the one thing that most of us are craving throughout the day. 

Rich Bennett 48:20
Yeah. 

Todd Krause 48:21
That sense of connection, that sense of belonging, being seen, being heard. And it's so motivating when you have the feeling of being seen and being heard. 

Rich Bennett 48:34
So, do you think Silver Sun Consulting me and up becoming a franchise? 

Todd Krause 48:41
One can hope. Right now we're working on just growing what we've got. 

Rich Bennett 48:48
Well, I mean you're an expert in the field so you never know. And let's face it, th are people out there that need work like what you're providing as well. 

Todd Krause 48:59
Oh, absolutely. 

Rich Bennett 49:01
Speaking of which, what is the website and how can people find you? 

Todd Krause 49:05
www. SilverSunConsulting.com. By the way, Sun is S-U-N. If you go to the About page it has my bio, it has my email address, it also has a phone number. That phone number is going to ring right here. I do answer my phone and I really enjoy helping people and making a difference in their lives. So, please do give me a 

Rich Bennett 49:33
call. How did you come up with the name Silver Sun Consulting? I love it. I love the logo too. 

Todd Krause 49:40
Back in early 2016, I was in the process of entering the real estate business. 

Rich Bennett 49:48
Oh. 

Todd Krause 49:49
And we needed a name for the business. My son throughout the name Silver Sun. I love the name. So, we grabbed it, created a logo, and every company I formed in some has Silver Sun as part of its name. 

Rich Bennett 50:08
I love that. I did the same with my business. My business is Dan Ben. So, my son, well, I was going to say my first born. He was the first born, but my only son, his name is Danny. So, I took Danny, Bennett. 

Todd Krause 50:25
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 50:26
Shorten it to just Dan Ben. I didn't know there was a street name that a few towns over, still have not stolen that. I mean, still have not gotten. Nobody's brought me that road sign yet. Maybe one of these days. Hopefully not my son. 

Todd Krause 50:48
perhaps the city would be kind enough to give you 

Rich Bennett 50:52
Well, 

Todd Krause 50:52
one of the older ones when they upgrade to a newer version. 

Rich Bennett 50:56
Oh, 

Todd Krause 50:57
thought. 

Rich Bennett 50:57
I never 

Todd Krause 50:57
Yeah, what about that? 

Rich Bennett 50:59
I'll have to try that. So, Todd, is there anything you would like to add before I get to my last question? 

Todd Krause 51:05
Well, just remembered when you are in charge of a business, when you build the people, they build your business. That's the thing that people should take away. 

Rich Bennett 51:22
I think they build you too. You line yourself with good people, they, when I say they build you, it's helping as an owner to help it build my character. Well, you probably mean yourself is just you, you, you as a person overall. I think it's all building you as well. 

Todd Krause 51:44
It's been pretty amazing and my managers have been. They've become more than just managers 

Rich Bennett 51:51
to me. 

Todd Krause 51:52
when we, when they say to me, we're family now, oh my God, 

Rich Bennett 51:57
Yeah. And 

Todd Krause 51:57
it just warms the heart. And it just tells me, I've made a lasting impact on them and they are appreciating it. 

Rich Bennett 52:07
Yeah, yeah, that, it's, i is, it's a great feeling. All right. So, Todd, I need you to pick a number between one and five. 

Todd Krause 52:16
Oh, my gosh, to pick a number of things for. 

Rich Bennett 52:20
Four? Well, you're picking the last question, not me, so this is how I do it. 

Todd Krause 52:24
O. 

Rich Bennett 52:25
Now, I need you to pick a number between 61 and 80. 

Todd Krause 52:29
61 and 80? How about 

Rich Bennett 52:33
75? 75. Ha, ha. 

Todd Krause 52:37
Uh oh. 

Rich Bennett 52:38
All right, nobody's 

Todd Krause 52:39
Tell 

Rich Bennett 52:39
ever. 

Todd Krause 52:39
me I might have wanted to pick another number. 

Rich Bennett 52:42
Nobody's ever picked this question before. All right, I've gotta ask first. Do you have a dog or anything? 

Todd Krause 52:49
My wife does. 

Rich Bennett 52:50
Okay. 

Todd Krause 52:53
It's just, just when I married my wife, she said, I, I'm, I'm remarried because my previous wife passed away in 2021, but I'm remarried now. And when I met this lady, she said, I'm a package deal. I come with my mother and my dogs. 

Rich Bennett 53:11
Oh, oh, double package. 

Todd Krause 53:15
And, um, so here we are, we're married and my wife lives with us and so do the dogs. 

Rich Bennett 53:23
How many dogs? 

Todd Krause 53:25
Three. 

Rich Bennett 53:25
Three. Okay. Well, now you're gonna understand why I'm laughing because again, I've never, usually the questions aligned with what we've been talking about. I don't think this one does. If you... 

Todd Krause 53:40
What is this supposed to be a human interest? 

Rich Bennett 53:43
Yeah. If you can have a conversation with your pet, what would you ask them? 

Todd Krause 53:52
Oh my gosh, it did that all day long every day. We have this Japanese specs that was we found at a local rescue, rare breed and a mansion finding the breed too at a local rescue. 

Rich Bennett 54:07
Wow! 

Todd Krause 54:08
Love, well, I fell in love with her on head to have her, but she's, she's high strong. As a breed, very high strong and very barky, but incredibly affectionate. 

Rich Bennett 54:19
Hm, 

Todd Krause 54:19
so I always find I self trying to talk to the dog and say, Dog's name is Sophie. Sophie, people would love you so much more if you would just bark a lot less. 

Rich Bennett 54:35
Hehe. 

Hey, Todd, here's what scares me now about this question. And if you just answered it like that. don't we all talk to the animals? We're still 

Todd Krause 54:48
Oh, 

Rich Bennett 54:49
at our end of the earth and that conversation is with them. And anybody that says they don't is lying. 

Todd Krause 54:55
All right, great. Every pet owner I've ever met talks to their pets. 

Rich Bennett 54:58
Oh, you wouldn't even have to be a pet owner. I don't have any pets anymore, but I'm talking to the damn birds and ducks that come into the yard the time. I didn't look I even need the two ducks that come into yard meant till the end mark. 

Todd Krause 55:15
Oh 

Rich Bennett 55:16
god, on that note Todd, I want to thank you. So so much man. It's been an honor and got look, if you ever make it 

Todd Krause 55:26
Oh, you 

Rich Bennett 55:26
to 

Todd Krause 55:26
have I 

Rich Bennett 55:27
Maryland, look me. 

Todd Krause 55:27
have been to Maryland multiple times. Yes, I've been to Columbia. 

Rich Bennett 55:31
Oh, now far from me. 

Todd Krause 55:33
Okay. 

Rich Bennett 55:34
So when you came to Columbia, did anybody there introduce you to good street steamed crabs? 

Todd Krause 55:42
No, they didn't. 

Rich Bennett 55:43
Oh, we're 

Todd Krause 55:45
going to have to come and visit you and have something. 

Rich Bennett 55:48
Yeah, I'll give some some Maryland steam crabs, some snakehead fish, some raw oysters. 

Todd Krause 55:55
I'm 

Rich Bennett 55:56
sure you would see foods about. 

Todd Krause 55:58
It's a deal. 

Rich Bennett 55:59
You got it. Todd, thanks a lot. Take care. 

Todd Krause 56:02
Thank you. 

Rich Bennett 56:03
i love the way this conversation came full circle because coming into this, i thought we were going to spend most of our time talking about business growth systems and strategy and we did. 

Success is inbuilt by treating employees like numbers. It's built by helping people feel seen, heard, respected and trusted. When you build your people, they build your business. I also love Todd's lead framework. Let go, empower, align and develop. That's something I think every business owner listening can start thinking about today. Ask yourself. Am I holding my business back because I won't let go. Sometimes the biggest opportunity isn't working harder. It's helping the people around you become better. If you're a business owner who's feeling stuck, overwhelmed or wondering why growth has stalled, Todd may be exactly the person you need to talk to. To learn more about Todd and Silver Sun Consulting, visit SilverSun Consulting.com. And I'll have the link in the share notes. You'll find information about his consulting services, speak and engagements and how he helps business owners, build companies that grow without sacrificing their people or themselves. Todd. Thank you so much for coming on the show. I appreciate your honesty, your passion for leadership. And most importantly, you're reminded that every successful business starts with valuing the people behind it. And everyone listening. Remember this. The strongest businesses aren't built on profits alone. They're built on relationships, trust, and the people who choose every day to help bring your vision of life. Until next time, I'm rich Bennett. Thanks for listening. And remember, every great conversation starts with someone willing to listen and someone willing to share. Now it's your turn. Join the conversation by sharing this episode. Leave in a comment or reaching out to me directly. Take care, be kind to one another and I'll talk with you again soon.