In my last Freedom Report, I humbled myself with the reality of my situation. I'm striving for this New Freedom Vision, but two glaring blind spots were holding me back. Another month has gone by. How is it going? Short answer. Not good! I am going to share my update exactly as it happened and end with a clip from Coach Josh at the end of October with an encouraging word that helps me and will hopefully encourage you. We all need encouragement. I'm not above that because I happen to have a podcast and talk about cleaning. This scaling and building a team thing is new for me. I am bringing you my monthly results exactly as they've occurred to build you up and hopefully teach you something. Here's an outline of my month.

​I joined the Indian Valley Chamber of Commerce 2 years ago when I was told I would be the only cleaner in a chamber with 300 members. I am so glad that I joined and decided to engage with the goal of helping to grow the chamber. This is an important "Best Of" episode to prepare you for the next episode. 

Today is November 22nd, 2021. It's an emotional day for me. One year ago, my father went home to be with Jesus. I was the one that held his hand, prayed into his ear, and told him it was okay to go home to be with his wife as he took his last breath. It was the most bittersweet moment in my life. On one hand, I lost the man who raised me. Yes, he was my grandfather, but he was so much more. I am Kenneth Joseph Carfagno III. I was named after him. Ken Senior otherwise affectionately known to me as "Pop-Pop" was only 40 when I was born. My dad was 18 and still figuring out how to adult in the world, so my Pop-Pop took me under his wing. He is the one that raised me up and encouraged me to achieve. He is the one that showed up at my sports events. My dad did too of course, but not as often as my Pop-Pop. He is the one that was tough and demanded excellence out of me. He is the one that taught me life skills around the house. He is the one that showed me how to love by staying happily married from age 20 to his death at 84. He is the one that believed in me and challenged me to be better. He is the one that I loved more than any man on this planet. He is the man that I called father. One year ago, Kenneth Joseph Carfagno, Sr left this earth and thus left a huge void in my heart.

I attended a recent Indian Valley Chamber of Commerce event called Reinvent. Four CEO's were in panel format in a local theatre to discuss their leadership models through and after the pandemic. I was so impressed with each speaker. Jenny Fujita of Fujita & Miura Public Relations, Inc shared mostly on the modern home-based workforce and proper well-being of the individual. Mark Bergey of Bergey's Auto spoke on personal and leadership development during a supply chain shortage. Mark is a self-admitted podcast junkie, so I immediately connected with his message. I loved his passion for growing as a leader and the man runs a company with close to 1,500 employees! Craig Edsill of the Clemens Food Group has over 4,000 employees in multiple states. He taught me a wonderful crisis and leadership model they used during the pandemic - Discuss, Decide, Support. It's so simple. Take the time with your team to brainstorm, mastermind, and debate in the discuss phase. Make a decision as the leader and do not go back to the discuss phase. Go forward. Have everyone put aside their personal differences and support the decision to make it happen. I loved this! Finally, Dave Freeman of QNB Bank shared the status of available money in the banking system for lending. They are seeing a major decline in the need for money due to the stimulus cash in 2020/2021. This has hurt banks, but he was confident of the return to normal. Every speaker talked about being flexible in your leadership style as nothing is business as usual anymore.

I have mentioned my dear friend and cleaning customer Dennis Gehman of Gehman Design Remodeling many times on this show. That's because he is such a blessing to me.  I thoroughly enjoy our breakfast conversations as we both leave sharper and more ready for our day when we do. We had the opportunity to meet for breakfast earlier this week for the first time in a few months, so we had a lot to catch up on. We usually pray to start our meal and toward the end for the Lord's favor on our lives and businesses. 

I have been journaling for most of my adult life. This "journaling" has constituted many forms over the years. In high school, I took course notes and sketched in my art pads. As an engineering student in college, I transcribed complicated math formulas and mechanical processes along with pictures. I didn't have a laptop, so all of my notes were written and they were vital when it was time to take my exams. I started writing more about my life, family, and personal goals after college when I was an engineer and ran an Amway business side hustle. I attended conferences and took tons of notes on business hacks, tips, and strategies. I read my bible as a new Christian and wrote down lessons I was being taught. As a new husband and father, I would write my personal feelings and convictions about these new experiences. All in all, I have over 100 notebooks in shapes and sized packed away in boxes up in my attick. They are the written "diary" of my life. 

Denai Wolfe is the first ever three-peat expert guest in the Smart Cleaning Tribe.  She came on this May to talk about basic accounting and teach our members how vital it is to read basic accounting sheets. I'll bring more of this expert call to you down the road. This 18-minute clip reveals an excellent mindset on money and why we ever opened a cleaning business. Plus, Denai shares a few great examples of what knowing your numbers can do for your bottom line.

"The real reason you started your business was to make money. Admit this to yourself." - Denai Wolfe

J. Paul Getty was the wealthiest person in the world for 3 decades from the 1950's to the 1970's! His list of accomplishments are mind-blowing. At the end of his life, it's estimated that his net worth would be worth $27 billion is today's dollars.  He was very wealthy. I heard this quote when I was a new business owner in the Amway business in 2002 and it has stuck with me for 20 years. 

“I'd rather have 1% of the effort of 100 men than 100% of my own effort.” - J. Paul Getty

My friend Charlie Schofield from BQ Basement Systems was sharing a 30-second commercial and introduction at a recent MCBA local networking group meeting. He said something so simple that I wrote it down and knew it would be a podcast!
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"It's rained a lot lately. Have you had anyone come and check out your home for potential water getting into your basement. Water can crack the foundation and that is a nasty problem to fix."

This original episode featured a blast from the past. I've been sharing coaching updates with Coach Josh all summer. This episode features a clip from a call with Coach Herb from 2008 when he told me that I couldn't afford employees. What's different about my company now, 13 years later as I scale? If you listen to my last coaching update, the answer is nothing. I still can't afford employees. My income has dropped from $70,000 per year solo to $50,000 per year with employees. It's true that this business has MAJOR upgrades and systems to have the foundation to house a $300k-$500k business. However, the same basic problem exists. I need 10 more offices to support all of the new investments I've made into my company. It's obvious. I wanted to grow. I need to grow. This episode is a reminder to me and anybody out there that we all need to work hard at keeping the pipeline full.