Welcome And Why Legacy Matters

Rob 0:00

Welcome to the Van Rein Compliance Podcast with Rob and Dawn. We help growing teams, reduce risks, build trust, and stay audit ready without the overwhelm. You know, Dawn, we had a wonderful experience last week. We were excited to join NAEO, the National Amtelco Equipment Owners conference last week here in the great state of Texas in San Antonio at La Caterra. And something really hit us, didn't it?

Dawn 0:26

It did. It did. Yeah, Amtelco sell is celebrating their 50-year anniversary.

Rob 0:33

That gave us an idea, Dawn, , Dawn and I, about how do we how do we really focus on the family business and the importance of family business that are built to last? We have we have worked with MTelco for quite a long time. And , you know, our business is pushing on nine years, and we're like, wow, how does a company go for for 50 years? Wow. And it's very exciting. So today we kind of want to just unpack family business that are built to last and and what does that mean to you and your business? And obviously, what does that mean to our business?

Dawn 1:01

It's truly a legacy that u the Curtin family has built. And as we know them very well, we've known them for I think about nine years since we started in talking with them. Everyone that works there is so happy. And they've been there 25 plus years, everyone we work with. So, I mean, you know, a couple of the engineers since high school. They started , you know, interning there. It's remarkable. You you don't see that nowadays. You see more of people bouncing around to startup to startup or whatever. You don't see this culture of staying with a business and and being invested in the business, and then the business being invested in you as a person instead of you just being a number. And it was quite remarkable to to to witness this as it is every year with Mtelco, but also to because the the operators or the equipment owners, excuse me, are also legacy businesses. And so it was really, really cool. It gave it gave Rob and I a lot to reflect on because our business will be a legacy business for our son. And you know, and from that, and then hopefully his kids and his kids, you know. So it it was really, really a great time to reflect.

Rob 2:09

And I think I think it's important too, is the multi-generational business.

Speaker 1 2:13

Yes.

Rob 2:13

In the era of today, u build it quickly and sell it, build it quickly and sell it, build it quickly and sell it. M telco and our business, and everybody there at the conference, there was a well over 100 folks there at the conference. They're about how do I build it for the next generation? How do I build it for the next legacy? And that's what I encourage our listeners to do is like, you know what, build something that actually lasts. Build something that isn't just a quick turn and just to get it done and get it paycheck and move on. Build something that builds a legacy for you and your family because that not only builds a legacy for the name, but also that in turn builds wealth. And no, it's not about making a bunch of money, but it's about thinking about how all of those families that worked with Mtelco for 10 years, and even us, , Amtelco 50 years and us coming on 10 years, they've been able to pay their mortgages, right? Update, you know, their homes. I'm thinking of going on vacations, paying for college, all of that, all because of small business. And we we talked about this quite a bit last week is the the importance of small business in America. In America, small business is categorized as any business that is under 500 employees. And what's the percentage, Dawn? Remember the percentage of how many small businesses there are in America, under 500?

Dawn 3:28

Uh 60%, I think, right?

Rob 3:30

About 60, 65% of all businesses. So more than half of the businesses. These are the mom and pops. These are, you know, from compliance to electricians to plumbers to answering service to uh to MTelco to anything and anybody that is providing a service are under 500 or more employees. And it's just really, it's really exciting.

Dawn 3:51

Yep. It is.

Lessons From A 50-Year Company

Rob 3:52

And you know, everybody loves a small business until they realize what it really requires, right? It is hard. When you when you work in corporate America, you're given your little task, you do your little tasks. That's kind of what we talk about as being that cog, right? You're that cog in the wheel. And then when you own something and you're building something, everybody on the team owns it. Everybody, we all win and we all lose. That's what we tell our team. So it's like, okay, we've got to be dialed in. And so we got to make sure that we're there and that we're up showing there up front to our clients, and then we are here to make sure that we are delivering on what we're selling and and the compliance and security. And that's really why that's why we really started Van Ryan. For small small glimpse, it was legacy compliance for a bit. We thought about that because how to build a legacy, you know, for our family and all that. And it really means, you know, surviving recessions and technology shifts to AI, it's gonna take our jobs to bad hires or good hires and just showing right.

unknown 4:47

Yep.

Speaker 1 4:48

Yep.

Rob 4:48

So what do you, you know, as we're ever evolving, Dawn, what what were some of your takeaways from from last um week's NEO conference?

Dawn 4:55

Yeah, just again, uh just and impressed again with the legacy that um mtelco's built and that they're you know, they're employees that that work there. Um and it's not a job for them. It's it's what they do, it's it's part of their life. Mtelco is very, very good about involving everyone. We we are vendors, we contribute to to this this um conference. And and and so we walk walk alongside of them. And so we are partners of them. They're also customers. So we we yeah, we sponsor, you know, so so we we love to um, you know, uh uh contribute and to be part of it and to to what watch it watch it grow, watch the watch their clients grow and and just watch their the technology, the AI, their everything that's happening. And they still tr stay true to who they are. Yeah. I mean, they they've gotta they've gotta, you know, change with technology, yes, we all do, but they stay true to to who they are and in the way they treat um the users, those that that purchase the Mtelco system. Um, you know, they definitely um they like the system, you know, they they mtelco is very open to they have demos and sessions where let's talk about, you know, what's coming and and you know how we can solve some of these issues, or you know, if there is any of that type of thing. So just just watching it all all happen and and and and watching our customers and and again, these are, you know, brothers and sisters that are they've taken over their parents, you know, answer service. These are husbands and wives that have taken over from, you know, one of their parents and and this are grandparents. You know, there's quite a bit of owners that have purchased it. You know, they have a they have a they have a a stake in it, they've purchased it from their parents or or who whomever in their in their their business. It's not just always handed down. Uh, you know, they have uh some skin in it, and you know, um, so they've invested in it. And it's just it was just really, really great to to see that because Rob and I started this business for it to be a legacy business. And we didn't start it to create something great and then sell it off. Like you see a lot of these in the news. Oh, this couple invented this drink or this widget and then they sell it off. It's like, why? Yeah, what would it be hard?

Rob 7:16

You just told me there was one.

Dawn 7:17

Yeah, well, Poppy. There's a drink called Poppy. That's that prebiotic soda. This couple, and they made, I don't know, they sold it to Pepsi. So billions, I you know, probably in the B's. I don't know. But why? Why do that?

Rob 7:29

Maybe not the B's, but at least hundreds of millions.

Dawn 7:32

Yeah, I mean, and and it's like I, you know, we aren't we aren't in this. Rob and I aren't in this to start this and then sell it and start something else. And sure, you know, we always think of like a, you know, what what's the next division of Van Ryan? You know, the, you know, do we do we start some some division of, you know, I would love to start a coffee division, you know, it it's stuff like that. I mean, you know, and and but Van Ryan itself will always be, and our compliance division will always be. And so it it was really, it's just really great to sit down and talk, talk to to everyone and just really, really understand um, you know, where they came from and you know, where they're going and and that type of thing. So so it's really, really great. And telco throws a heck of a party. They they they love to to just you know, just just just give and give to their users and it was just great.

Rob 8:22

So you're correct, and I was wrong. It was over a billion. It was almost two billion, 1.95 billion in overall value for a pro. Is it a pro or pre prebiotic so yeah, yeah, yeah.

Dawn 8:36

It yeah.

Rob 8:37

Oh, that's funny.

Small Business Reality And Ownership

Dawn 8:38

Yeah, but some people are out to make money and to start all these fun things, and and that's fine. Yeah, we just we we aren't like that, and the folks that we were with last week aren't like that either.

Rob 8:51

And you look at you look at other brands, you know, everything from like the small restaurant brands where that became big, like the Jimmy Johns and the and what in the um um subways and Jersey Mics and all of those have been bought up by, yes, they started small, yes, they went international. They bought bought up by McDawnald's, but venture capitalists, they bought up with equity firms, and what happened? The quality goes down. Yep, the care goes down, the pay may go up, but nobody cares. There's no oversight. There's no, there's no that's not nobody cares because it's just a giant machine.

Dawn 9:26

And here, here is the the quintessential franchise, Chick-fil-A. Chick-fil-A stays true to their chicken. I mean, they started with burgers. I don't know if everyone knows the the the background of Chick-fil-A. But um, you know, Truett um started Chick-fil-A and he sticks to it's the same, it's the same thing. He doesn't change, he doesn't waver. We brought bought his books. Um, we went to visit the original one in Atlanta, and his book same. It's the same, it's the same the cloth. All the franchises are built the same. Everyone that works there built the same. It's all the same. And there's there's sure it'll bring out a new sandwich here and there, you know, but it's the same chicken, it's the same experience, and that's what we want. And that's what is so missing. I mean, you either have to go to Chick-fil-A or a Michelin Star restaurant to get that experience. Well, there's in and out. Well, in and out, sorry, in and out is another.

Rob 10:25

Most times.

Dawn 10:26

It is it is hard to find a truly a business and and and and who works for the business in in a s in the service industry that is consistent. Um, and so again, it's um it it's really sad. It's really sad to to watch folks that have built these great businesses in these great franchises, whatever. And and it just the service just goes down as because they sell or you know, and they go away from their original vision and and and direction. So, but yeah, Chick-fil-A, no, it still stays its course. And yes, in and out stays its course.

Rob 11:03

You just you get the burger and the fries. You get a little Bible verse on the on the fry tray, right? And the soda, like it's always there.

Dawn 11:10

Yep.

Rob 11:10

Here's a fun fact, because I do like to I do like to do a little uh little Gemini action while we're on the pod here. The original menu from the dwarf grill, which Dawn and Ethan and I have have dined. And I will say anybody that you just fly into uh Atlanta Airport, International Airport, we've all been through there. If you have a couple hours, just maybe three now with the TSA thing, just get a little Uber, you go like five minutes right next to the runway, boom, you're there. You get the original Chick-fil-A. You could have hamburgers, they had steaks, what was the other thing? Nuts? Like why not? Hot brown, which I think was just brown gravy in the 40s.

Speaker 3 11:47

Yeah.

Rob 11:48

Fried okra and pimento cheese. I mean, those are some of the highlights. Now, for the traditional purists like myself, the carrot raisin salad is still missing from the menu, but I digress.

Dawn 11:59

But you like the mac and cheese now. That's a bit pretty good. Yeah.

Rob 12:04

But it shows that you know the family business is not built for quarters, it's built for decades. That's that's the key piece. Yep. The other things we wanted to kind of dive into this week is just, yeah, there there are risks, right? All these small businesses, I guess even Poppy, I don't even know the whole history of it, but they sold. But it all started with they're all just bootstrapped. It's all cashed somewhere. Maybe it was a 401k, maybe it was a home sale, maybe it was money left from from an inheritance or life insurance policy, but you can make changes yourself, you know. And we always encourage folks that always asked on I, like, how do you how do you work together, be married, and do all this? And we're still married. We're coming on 26 years and we do this every day.

Dawn 12:47

Yeah.

Staying True As Tech Changes

Rob 12:48

And and I will like each other too. We do like each other most of the time. And most of the time, I'm pretty, I'm pretty okay. There are days that she's like, really? But um there are there are a lot of people who go, How do you, how do you do it? And you just you do it every day. Um, the the I'm gonna call it the BS line because we have some other BS marketing coming later, but the BS line that that corporations and people tell you is you can have your work-life balance. And that does not exist. I'll tell you that right now. None of that exists. Small business, even if you're corporations, it is how do you weave your life into your business? How do you, how do you, how do you like weave your life, your calendar, your family life, your kiddos, your family, and your business and your team. It's how it's interwoven. It is all interwoven. It's not one thing. If you wanted, if you want it something different, then you need to, as I say, ready?

Dawn 13:43

Change. Just change about prioritization. It's not about balancing. It's prioritization. So you have a family, you have small kids. That's your priority. Wherever you work, if you work for someone or you run your business, you're gonna, you're gonna build it around your time around your family. You're you're gonna do things. Now, sure, when you start and you're scrappy, you may be on a plane five days a week, back and forth, back and forth. Even a corporation, you may be doing some traveling, but certainly you can prioritize it. If, if whomever you work for or your own self, if you're not allowing yourself that or you're not getting it from an employer, then life is short. Um and and and you know, we've done the corporate. We've done the corporate where you're waiting to see if you're laid off. We've done that three, four times back and forth. You know, it it's exhausting. We've we've seen friends go through it. It's exhausting. Do what your, I mean, people say do what you love. It's like when it comes to business, you know, we all have skills. Do do what you're good at and what you, you know, find a place that you believe in. Find find a product or a service that you believe in, a company you believe in and work for them. And you'll work harder than you will just being, you know, making 10 times as much money for someone that you don't like and uh and a and a product you don't like. Really find find out, you know, do do some research on the company.

Speaker 1 15:04

Yeah.

Dawn 15:04

Um, and and and their beliefs and their morals and values. Some people don't care about that. I do. You know, we've worked for corporations that were that were pretty, pretty good. I mean, there were some that were kind of like, you know, yeah, I don't know, could it take it or leave it? But but really, you know, it's about prioritization. Um, and and all these folks, especially these ones, most of these call centers are 24-7. They're they're busy, they work. They work a lot. Um, I think when you get to this point where you're an owner and you, you've got to also delegate. So I want to kind of switch this as you you have to find good staff. AI can't do everything, folks. You need to, you know, share the space with AI and use it, use it as a resource. But you need to find good people that believe in what you do. You need to treat them well and and and provide them, you know, the good benefits to, you know, that they want to work for you. But this is 24-7. And and some of these owners, like they, they need to, they need to take, take a minute, take a step back. They don't need to be involved in every aspect. They need to find good people so they can delegate to. Rob and I have have started to do that with our team. It's certain things, obviously, it's it's easier to do than other things. But to grow the business, you you've got to kind of step, take a step away. And so a lot of these folks have learned that. There's still some that are still in it, probably too much. But but again, they have to prioritize that. That's their, that's how they do, that's how they do business. But if I if I was to make a recommendation, try to delegate what you can to to good people that want to work and want to that believe in in what you're doing. Um, so you can take a step back and really think about the business and really, really think about how we're gonna grow and and what additional things we're gonna bring on, services or products.

Work Life Balance Vs Priorities

Rob 16:47

So and it's not about growing like today or this quarter, which yes, we have to go quarters, you know, you start, you know, one quarter, second quarter, third quarter, fourth quarter, year, you know, two, three, five, ten years. But also what does it look like down 15 years from now? Like decision you make today, how's that gonna look what's that gonna look like in five years? It's like two years and 30 years and 40 years. And there will be hard times. That's just normal. You know, there's there's gonna be economic crisis, there's gonna be um, you know, environmental crisis, there's gonna be pandemics to wars to stock market fluctuations to everything. But one thing that we've seen is companies that continue to to go through there are bullish. You know, they are they are the buffalo, if you will. You've heard the analogy there's buffalo and cattle. When cattle come to a storm, they're gonna run, they're gonna go around the storm. They're gonna or or they're gonna retreat. Buffalo is always go through the storm. And you need to be that buffalo, right?

Speaker 1 17:41

Yeah.

Rob 17:41

I've heard that a few times. Just go through the pain and get through that because you're gonna come out of the better end. It's gonna be, it's gonna be a lot better. Yeah. Be able to be focused.

Dawn 17:50

Well, and there's there's what do they say that there's uh no reward without risk or risk without reward. I don't know, something like that. But but you have to take risk. I mean, small business, starting a business from with cash, that's how we did it. You take a risk. I mean, I was, you know, I looked at Rob with our son who was I was holding, so he was, you know, two years old or something. I, you know, I said, really? What what does this what does this mean? And then I just remember when he came home with the first check from a customer, and it was like golden. It was like, wow, this is this is great. But but it takes a while to get things started. It takes a while to, you know, we believe in what we're offering customers, but we have to get customers to to believe, you know, in what we're doing and how we can help them. And so it takes a little bit of time. So some people don't have the patience to do it. We we were really, we had to. I mean, it was it was kind of a we need to do this and make it happen because we we didn't want to go back to where we were because it was corporate world and it was a paycheck, but it was we're very unhappy. Very unhappy, working too much for the man, basically. Yeah, you know, the stock. So yeah, believe in yourself. You got to take a risk and it's gonna be hard, but you're gonna get a lot of reward for it. You're gonna have lots of rewards from it, and um, you're gonna go through seasons. Oh, we're up, we're down, we're up, we're down, you know. And uh, but again, like with Rob and I, we have each other. So we are very good at communicating to each other what's working, what's not, and um, in the team, we've got you know, our leadership team that helps us too with that. And and you just you have to have a good team of people, you know. As we go through audits with customers, you can tell what companies have a good team of people. They get through the audits, they're very on point, but you can tell some companies just don't, they just don't have it together. Maybe they just don't have a strong leadership team, they don't have a strong team to get them through it and they're gonna take a little bit longer. So, you know, again, you've gotta, you've gotta just really dig deep and figure out what you know how how to run your business smoothly and how to, you know, have good people, find the right people. So, and I know that can be a challenge too. I I I think that with especially with the answer service industry, that's always a challenge is the is the staffing.

Rob 20:05

So it's just having those having those you know good interviews up front and and making sure that you you don't let the crazies in. I'm the crazy one, so we own it, so yeah, it can't get rid of me. I guess you could, but you know, but you'd be bored.

Speaker 1 20:19

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Rob 20:21

And it's really being intentional in what you do and really thinking about, you know, where are we gonna go from here, right? You're not just building something for for this quick hit, this quick um, you know, sale. It's like, how are we gonna build something for a generation? How are we gonna build something for a decade? How are you gonna build something for the 25 or 50 years, right? And so that's where from a from a compliance perspective is how do you secure that data? How do you respond to that? Um, today it is you you will be dropped immediately of any incidents or breaches. If you don't have you know incident response plans, disaster recovery plans, penetration testing, and vulnerability scanning, which are all basics, those are ones that we we offer, then you're not gonna be able to do business in that middle tier market or even some of the small tier because your customers are not gonna take that risk. Um the risk is too great. We had just published multiple VRC alerts about CareCloud was an EHR that had gotten breached on the 16th. Took a little bit for them to notify that, but the SE SEC filings that came out, but uh that's one of it's that's another EMR that got hit. So it's continually going. And it does seem like it's never ending and it is never ending. There is a, you know, there is a cyber war that's always been there, but I've seen it it's been getting a lot more ramped up. So it's about how do you respond to that? Like you once you have an incident, what are you gonna do to that? How are you gonna respond? How are you gonna protect the business that you worked so hard and uh to build and to take care of?

Dawn 21:48

Yeah. And you know, people, you know, AI is gonna, you know, do it all and fix it all. And it's like AI is great, it's a great resource, and it it is going to it is gonna intertwine in all our businesses. To some degree. I mean, look at the internet. What what the internet do for all of us? I mean, we're all on it. We use it. Um, it's just you just have to figure out how you're gonna use it. Are you gonna replace folks with it? You know, if that's gonna happen. But and the big thing we're focused on right now is AI governance, is you gotta have guardrails for it. So, so it can be scary if you, you know, it's a new, it's new technology. It's fast paced, fast moving. It's changed just a second ago and it's gonna change the next second.

Speaker 1 22:28

Yeah.

Delegation And Hiring The Right Team

Dawn 22:29

But we have to move forward and we have to utilize technology and and we have to intertwine it into our businesses. You've got you've got to stay relevant. You've got to stay relevant. Um, you've got to offer um new things for your customers. And and you just have to stay up on it. And and like I said, that's what we saw with MTelco is they have, you know, their new Ellie, their AI, um, you know, and here's what we're gonna do, you know, here's a little bit of out. This is, you know, obviously it's gonna change, it's gonna evolve like everything. But here's here, and so it it's important to have the next steps and where where where we're going and what new features and that type of thing that customers can can offer to their customers based on, you know, telco's updates or even us with our, you know, our platform or VRC one, we're constantly evolving it, updating, you know, that type of thing. So it's it's really important to stay up with technology.

Rob 23:25

Yeah.

Dawn 23:26

In anything you do.

Rob 23:27

It is. And and you know, kind of kind of a couple items here as we're getting close to the end, is they're kind of like a top five that I've thought about Dawn. Is first of all, and you already said it, stay relevant or disappear. That's key. Think of Xerox. Remember, Xerox created the mouse. Where do they go? Nowhere. They took the check. What about Kodak? Yeah. Wait, no, it's Kodak. Yeah.

Dawn 23:50

Kodak. But then wasn't it Kodak like they they didn't go digital? The digital.

Rob 23:55

Oh, Kodak was digital.

Dawn 23:57

Was that the digital camera?

Rob 23:58

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, they didn't go digital. Or the classic is uh, you know, blockbuster.

unknown 24:04

Yeah.

Rob 24:05

Blockbuster is like nobody wants to see a DVD in the mail. They want to come and get candy and popcorn. Now, we all like candy and popcorn, but who's open and who's closed? Blockbuster is gone and Netflix is dominating, right?

Dawn 24:19

Yeah.

Rob 24:19

So invest those relationships, not transactions. That's one thing we've been very intentional with with Van Ryan, is we become very particular in who we do business with. When you start, you're scrappy. You get everybody and anybody. And I get it and understand it, but you also understand is the relationship work, right? You know, um, does it fit the Van Ryan culture? Does it fit how we do business? Our clients that fit well are ones that want to make a difference. They want to improve their business, they are fully invested. They're doing not only just basic, you know, they're going beyond the basics of HIPAA, of SOC, of NIST, of ISO, of high trust, and they're building that into their programs. And they're building that as a culture which is big. And they continue to build systems and not heroic heroics. There we go. Um in the beginning years, you're you just jump and jump and jump and fire to fire, and then you're like, you need some process. I know it always sounds very business-y, but you need some basic process, like basic intake, and how do you handle things? Operation. Oh, I know.

Dawn 25:20

I don't really like that word, but I I understand it more and more every year because it's just important. If you don't have processes and operations and policies and procedures in place, someone's gonna come in, they're not gonna know what to do.

Rob 25:34

Yep. And it's not just it's not just the checkbook or the oh, it is about checkbook is one thing, not the checklist. The checklist is basically about, you know, making sure are we actually staying on topic and on on within the process, right? Yeah. Um, it's okay to deviate a little bit, but that's how we keep things rolling. The other thing we think about is think of decades and not deals, right? There's gonna be slow seasons. That's life, right?

Dawn 25:57

Yeah.

Rob 25:58

There are gonna be seasons that we still have the COVID-15, you know. Maybe I lose a few, maybe I don't. Maybe we just keep it to the next one. There'll be seasons that there's great health and not so good health. There'll be seasons that are that that we, you know, make a lot of money and maybe we don't have to make a lot of money, or maybe there's seasons that are that are dull, that are down, and maybe there's deaths or something. But think about decades. What does it look like 10 years from now, 20 years from now? Because then that really gives you a perspective that whatever you're dealing with today, does it matter? Does it does it? And if it does, then you better jump on that and you fight for that, right? And kind of the fifth one is just protecting that culture at all times. You know, we have a very, very open culture here. We're very caring, I think at Van Ryan. We're loving of each other, you know, to the point where it's it is holy week here, not just here, the entire world, right? And we give Good Friday off. We pay for Good Friday um because it's important for our team to be with their families. We have other, you know, there's other team members that have um, you know, maybe they maybe in different countries that are going through maybe some unrest. And we worked with them because we can do that. And and the weird thing too is yes, we work at home, but when we're working at home, you got to work. This isn't just, you know, mailing it in. Even though we're remote, we're not all in the one little office, you still have to continue to drive and push forward because cultures that survives and everything else changes.

Dawn 27:18

The other thing too is you have to remember succession plan and plan. Yes. Because there are some customers that have a plan, sort of, for passing on the torch. Yeah. You know, but it needs to be, you know, written down. It needs to be documented, you know. Um estate planning, you know, that comes along. Ours is not only our personal, but it's also our business. We as a lot of a lot of these answer services, we have employees. If something happens to us, they need to know that they're still there or still be able to take care of their family.

Rob 27:51

Payroll's gotta go.

Risk Taking Through Hard Seasons

Dawn 27:52

So a big part of this is in talking about legacy business is you better have a plan. You better have what attorney to call if something happens. You better have a plan if you're all getting on a plane. Um, it always fun to talk about, but you built this legacy business and you wouldn't want it to go away if you don't, if you don't know who's gonna be in charge of it if something happens. So that's really important too. And I think a lot of these businesses we work with, they they have they know that because they are themselves the recipient of the legacy business. So that is really important. So if that's something that you haven't done, I I would challenge you to do that. We have disaster recovery planning for for HIPAA compliance customers and really for any customer that has data, you should have it. So, so that's that's a whole nother thing as well. But for your business, you built this business, you worked hard at this legacy business. You should have a plan. It should be in writing, it should be documented. And so that is very important. And that protects not only your culture, but it protects your legacy. I mean, that that, you know, definitely.

Rob 28:56

So yeah, you don't want to just disappear. You know, so for like all the listeners out there, um, first of all, I hope you like today. Uh I hope you a little bit more perspective. If so, like, subscribe, share. That's the only way we we get up the charts and get to more listeners, is by you. We don't spend money in marketing, we don't do any of that. Um, if we're not doing great work, then we don't deserve to be in the top five or ten, right? I just kind of a couple questions for you. Um, first of all, you know, people that are that are thinking about going to business, um, I'm gonna say go. Just do it. Just jump out of the plane, build the parachute of the way down. The ones that are building it now, um, think about this. Are you building something that lasts or building something that just pays? That's the thing, is you want to build something that lasts that can take the hits. Like we've talked about M telco for 50 years, that can take the the storms.

Dawn 29:41

Are you building a Matelco or are you building a poppy? I just, you know.

Rob 29:46

And it's easy to say, I want my $1.95 billion of a soda, right? But I don't know, they don't last a handful of years. Now, yes, you can live well on that money, but this is where it becomes more than the money. It becomes more, it becomes like how do you have those generational businesses, like those Chick-fil-A's? I think you the all those big brands like that, right?

Speaker 1 30:04

Yeah.

Rob 30:05

And if you're working in a family business, are you treating it like a gift or a burden? Family business can get m messy sometimes, meaning we got to go over here today, and tomorrow morning we're gonna go over there because markets shift and small business are extremely adaptable. And we're gonna pivot quick. The committee, the committee is one or two people and a dog, and that's it. We gotta roll. We gotta be quick, we gotta be nimble, but that's the fun of it. That's the exciting piece of it, you know, um, is being able to treat it like a gift because um you're not gonna be cared for in corporate in the corporate world, not just America, but anywhere. Corporate America does not care about you. They really care more about your 401k so they can make money on it. Small business cares about you. Those are the things that we're think about. And and we love this so much that we're obviously here to to talk more. Um, if anybody wants to just connect on on LinkedIn or send an email at hello at van RyanCompliance.com, we'll schedule something. We'll get together and we can just dive in deeper. Because, you know, like we've talked about M Telco 50 years doesn't just happen, it happens by intention. And yeah, and and Van Ryan coming on 10 years doesn't just happen, it happens by intention, making sure things are dialed in and done.

Dawn 31:14

Yeah, we love to hear your stories. Obviously, we know our customers' stories, but there's a lot of there's a lot of folks we met at NAO that uh actually heard some great stories of cus they're not even customers of ours, but you know, we've talked to them for maybe a couple of years, or maybe we just met you. Um, and and we saw a lot of you subscribe to our newsletter and thank you. We really appreciate it. We try to put out very, very important news on our newsletter, stuff that you can take in and that is educational and that type of thing. Um, but we heard some heard some really interesting stories of some some customers I folks I've never met and just learned some more about folks that we had talked to for years and learned more about them. So love the stories. Love love the stories about the legacy businesses. It resonates with Rob and I because that's what we're building. So we just we just love to love to hear stories. So yeah, if you if you just want to chat with us and tell us your story, that'd be that'd be great. Just connect with us. So that's it.

Rob 32:13

We can connect.

Dawn 32:14

Yep, yep.

Rob 32:14

All righty. I think that's the pod, Dawn. That's good. Thank you all for listening and being with us this week. And of course, love to hear stories. Bye bye.

Dawn 32:21

Take care, bye bye.