Leading your Own Business: Transitioning From an Employee to Self-Employed

Ben Gaskill describes himself as a lifelong salesperson. He talks about his aha moment when he realized that he could become his own boss.

In this episode of The Communicative Leader, Ben shares leadership lessons that he has learned along the way, and those he wish he had learned sooner. 

Until next time, communicate with intention and lead with purpose.

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Transcript

Dr. Leah OH: 0:00

Today we talk with Ben Gaskill. He's a co owner of Everest ice and water systems. It's a company that's helped plenty of people step into the world of ice and water vending. So of course, we talk about things like side hustle. But we've really talked about the importance of leading and how to make that transition from being an employee to being self employed. And then another thing I really appreciate is the emphasis Ben puts on asking questions. Hello, and welcome to the communicative leader hosted by me, Dr. Leah Omilion-Hodges. My friends call me Dr. OH. I'm a Professor of Communication and a leadership communication expert, and the communicative leader, we're working to make your work life what you want it to be. So, before we dive into the ins and outs of your advice for running a business, can you tell us a little bit about yourself, maybe what brought you to this career and your desire to help others be successful in their own businesses as well?

Ben Gaskill: 1:03

Well, I am a lifelong salesperson, done that most of my career, and up until about 15 or so years ago, I made a lot of other people money. And I didn't really realize I was an entrepreneur, until I found a couple of people, I think that's the way it works. A lot of times in life, you find somebody that kind of makes a light bulb go off. And, you know, I said, you know, I really shouldn't be working for myself, I need to find a way to do it. And the people that that I kind of learned from were serial entrepreneurs, they've been entrepreneurs, their entire life really hadn't worked for anybody else, it was a bit of a leap for me, but But once I started learning about entrepreneurship, what it takes to run your own business, you know, kind of the ins and outs, I really started looking for a way that I could both make money and help people to have the lightbulb moment that I had had to help others understand that being your own boss is possible. It's not only possible, it's a it's a it's you know, preferable and that anybody can do

Dr. Leah OH: 2:30

it, well, then I appreciate that, especially the connection. Because we know so much of life is about relationships, and I love that you are looking to share that aha moment with others. So one thing I've been thinking about in preparing for our interview, and this this line of work that you're working in, is, you know, we see a lot of these get rich fast schemes all over, especially on social media. So can you give us some insight on how to spot that kind of what that may be looks like so we don't fall prey to it.

Ben Gaskill: 3:05

The title, I think that if something is get rich, Quick, get rich, fast, get rich without effort. That's how you spot it, there is no, get rich quick, you know that somebody is going to hand you those kinds of blueprints. Now there are, there are ways that you can find a career or a job that can give you money. Or you can make money, and you can do it. Maybe in a better way. It may be faster, but it's never going to be quick. It's never going to be without effort, it's never going to be without investing something and whether that's time, effort, money, there has to be an investment of some kind. So if somebody's telling you, hey, just do this, and you're gonna get get rich. I think you can, you should hopefully spot that a mile away. Do your due diligence, you know, take a look at at what they're telling you to do and use common sense, but I think it's like it's right there in the title. Right? Yes.

Dr. Leah OH: 4:21

Yep. You know, like telling the students do your homework,

Ben Gaskill: 4:26

right? In anything and everything that you do.

Dr. Leah OH: 4:30

So we know that in particular, you're in the ice and water vending arena. And I've also heard that and social media, especially talk for example. They don't show the realities of running a vending machine business. So what can you tell us kind of this behind the scenes? What do we need to be mindful of before we consider something like this? Yeah,

Ben Gaskill: 4:56

so you know, everybody really is loved. Getting for for passive income and vending is as as passive as I think you can, with. One of the problems that you that you kind of see with tick tock or with social media in general is they're trying to give you a soundbite. They're trying to repeat to kind of boil it down to something that short attention span, you're flipping through social media that she'll see that they'll get. And it's really them. Not not looking out for your best interests, but looking out for their channels, best interests. And so they'll boil it down to a point where there was nothing really good advice, information, or good snapshot of what it really takes to run a vending machine business. And when they say that vending machine and worry and ice vending, vending is a very, relatively easy business to be in. One of the things that people didn't like about vending was you had to stop carrying on product you're running around all over town with with flats of of soda and cases of chips restocking your vending machines, vending machine creates its own product, it makes it on demand patient, so it makes the ownership experience a lot easier. But that doesn't mean that it's that it's, you know, get rich quick, or that there's no effort involved. And so what's unique about specifically and I've never been in kind of any other kind of vending, so after related to what we do, what's unique about about ice vending is a lot of work is kind of done in the beginning. And this is the part that I think Tik Tok probably doesn't tell you about it, while the work is done in the beginning, it's finding the right location. And this is just like any other business, if you're starting a bakery, or or, you know, a garage, you're gonna want to have the right location for your business. And so that takes time. It I've seen people that will get a location in, in 30 seconds, and I've seen it take, you know, 60 days of nonstop work but but it can be done. It's it's with enough effort, you'll find the right spot and and, you know, the right spot will check certain boxes, certain common sense boxes, where people are traffic, ease and accessibility. So things like that. So these, when we're talking about kind of things have been boiled down on social media tick tock telling you about go find your right location, you're going to need to check and make sure that you're obeying the laws of the area in which you're, you're installing the equipment, the nice thing with vending is there are very few of them. In some, in some locations, almost none. But you need to do due diligence and make sure that you're abiding by all of the local rules, regulations, whatever they may be, you're going to want to scout a location to make sure that you can actually install the machine without a lot of expense, you're gonna want to get to know the piece of equipment that you buy, you know, our vending machine, as far as ice vending goes, very, very simple. Our machine we've engineered out most of the parts that go wrong and other in some of our competitors of equipment. You know, typical ice vending machine has somewhere between 10 and 15 moving parts, we've reduced ours down on one for ice dispensing. So it's very, very simple. But there's still maintenance that needs to be done, there's still, you know, changing filters or making sure that you have good incoming water and clean electricity to operate a piece of equipment on all of this stuff, a company that's reputable and company like Everest, we can walk you through and help you with. And that's what we're here for, frankly, is to we've helped 1000s of people get into business to own their own business and you know, get kind of on the path to financial freedom. But when you're watching a tick tock video that lasts, you know what, a minute, minute and a half. They're not touching on any of that because they're just trying to get the click and get gets you to watch their video, they're not really giving you any in depth. So get you know, company like us, give us a call. There's people that are that are there to help you. You can ask questions. We don't do any high pressure sales pitch frankly, there's no reason to. So we're here to help and any good company should be. But just to try to understand all of all of the kind of moving parts that are required to open any business, whether it's attending or other.

Dr. Leah OH: 10:03

Yeah, yeah. And I liked that when you were talking, I was thinking about how everyone's life would look different if we only showed the highlight reels. And that's what is done. Things like social media. So being mindful that that is not the process that is editing, that shows what happens when everything has gone, right. That process isn't so seamless. All of

Ben Gaskill: 10:32

your friends lives look absolutely perfect. Because on on Facebook and Instagram, because they're only showing you the the vacations and family time and all that they're showing you the highlights. You're absolutely right, exactly.

Dr. Leah OH: 10:49

So another thing that I was wondering in in preparing for our chat on is this something that you recommend for full time income, or is it better as a means to implement other sources?

Ben Gaskill: 11:04

Well, as far as, as the as the product that we sell, the, the business that we're in is manufacturing, ice, vending machines, ice and water vending machines, we have customers that have made this their sole income, we have customers that have done this as a way to supplement their income. So I recommend it for either, but you know, this, just like any other kind of vending, I don't think you're going to buy one machine, put one machine in one location, and have financial independence. Right? It's it takes growing your business, just like anything else. And it doesn't really matter what what industry you're in. But you can certainly do this as a full time job. You know, that's the beauty really of, of an Everest ice and water vending machine is that you can run multiple machines, as a single operator, you don't have to take on employees. And that's one of the, you know, if you asked any business owner, what's the one thing that is the hardest to manage? It's other people. Right? It's its employees. And so being able to kind of run your own business, but run it with multiple locations, and really kind of own an area is much easier to do. And ice vending with with Everest equipment than it than it would be to do it. You know, with just about any other industry you might look at. So you can do either if you're just looking to supplement income, make a couple extra dollars. You know, we have people that do this to they want to take their family on that trip to Europe. And this is how they see they can do it, they have people that do this because they want that new car or they want a bigger house or, or they just want to hedge their their retirement COMM And so people do it for a lot of different reasons. And I would say that's the majority of them. You know, we certainly have quite a few that do it as a full time job. But but certainly more that just do it as as additional income.

Dr. Leah OH: 13:21

Yeah, we're seeing that kind of process in or the effort in and the outcome being related there. So what are some things and I imagine in your role, you interact with a lot of individuals who are trying to get their businesses off the ground, whether it's just passive income, or like you said that financial freedom? What are some of the most common mistakes that you see people make, in this initial area?

Ben Gaskill: 13:47

Common mistakes, I think we've covered some of them not really understanding at all, you know, the, some people would like to believe that, that, that any business that they're getting into is, you know, set it and forget it, you know, put a machine out there, it'll do its thing, we don't have to do anything with it. And I'm going to make some some revenue. And, you know, we get people that call our service department and are completely surprised that they have to, to change water filters, for example, on their own machine. Right. You know, there is a little bit of work that has to be done. And, and I think that's probably a common mistake. A common mistake is is that I see is is people that are placing a machine on a location that they probably shouldn't just because you own a piece of property on County Road 30 doesn't necessarily make that a great ice vending location, although a lot of owners that have machines that are in locations like that, you know, it's just using some due diligence, I think. So, so you know, There's, we do as much as we can to eliminate those mistakes. We have blogs and videos and resources, you know, YouTube channel, we have all sorts of things that we can help people to not make the common and basic mistakes that people can make getting into not only ice vending, but any business. You know, we want to help them avoid that. We want people to be as successful as possible as they can in this industry. And we have somebody that from the minute that you make the decision to make the purchase until the machine is delivered, and you need to talk with somebody to get some questions answered. There's somebody here to help you we literally can hold your hand through the whole process, trying to try and you know, reduce or eliminate we can basic mistakes.

Dr. Leah OH: 15:53

Yes, yeah. So like you said, doing the homework, the due diligence, and I think to not being afraid to ask questions. I think too often people are afraid to look uninformed, or embarrassed. But when we don't ask those questions, we can end out up, you know, ruining a vending machine, because we didn't realize we had to change a water filter.

Ben Gaskill: 16:17

Luckily, that won't ruin it. But but it doesn't. It'll stop making ice after a while. So yeah. Yeah. So there's there's basic, I mean, we've had we've had customers that have hooked our machine up to a water that that is, would not be considered drinkable. And you imagine

Dr. Leah OH: 16:39

that's a no, no, yeah.

Ben Gaskill: 16:43

Our machine as filtration, that'll make it cleaner. It'll make it nicer. But you do have a certain level of quality of product of water that you have to supply in order to get a good product.

Dr. Leah OH: 16:54

Yeah. Yeah. So my next question, then, and this is when kind of maybe asking you to draw from your years in sales before transitioning into being your own business owner? Can you kind of talk to us about how running your own vending business, for example, is different than that traditional office setting?

Ben Gaskill: 17:17

Well, I think the the main thing, and what really intrigues a lot of people and gets people to look at something like aI spending is that you get to be your own boss. You know, the decisions you make are yours. The victories that you get are yours, the mistakes that you make are yours, the learnings that you find along the way, the growth is yours. It's not, it's not somebody else's doing for someone else you're doing for you. And it's a huge difference and motivation, and why are you getting up? And why are you going to work if it's for you, and not somebody else? And so if there's there's large differences, you know, in venting, you know, your, your podcast is communicative leader, well, you're the leader. Right, so, so you're, you get to be your own leader. And that's, that's empowering. You know, if there's not, there's people that go their entire lives that don't ever own their own business. And there's people that go their own lives. And, and that's all they do. And, and we offer a way that you can, you can do either, or if you'd just like to stick your toe in, you can do that, or if you'd like it to be, you can do that. But and I might be rambling on to answer your question. But I think a lot of people post pandemic saw a huge change. And they thought, things that were happening that were beyond their control, they're seeing either themselves or people that they know being laid off from jobs that they've been at for 20 plus years, they're seeing their pay, get reduced, their hours get reduced, you know, the money that they may have invested, you know, kind of going, going away, all of those things kind of beyond their control. And, and people when they own their business want control, I want to be able to control their destiny, their future and not leave it up to somebody else. And so, kind of post pandemic, owning your own business became very, very popular because of those reasons. And, and our product and our type of company, ice vending became very, very popular because it's one of the easier things I mean, imagine if you wanted to go start a restaurant, you really got to learn to cook first. You know, and then you're going to do 90 hours. So it's a very, very easy way A are one of the easier ways that you can start your own business become your own boss, and and kind of shape your own future.

Dr. Leah OH: 20:13

Excellent. And so my next question is a follow up to that. And I'm wondering what the similarities you are you see between kind of that traditional business setting, either as an employee or if you are a manager, and running your own business. So what are some things if we do make that transition, that we're going to recognize, as you know, something that we've already done something that we know how to do and that we're familiar with?

Ben Gaskill: 20:42

Well, you know, I think that's a broad question, because it really depends on where you're starting as an employee. But, you know, running your own business requires some basic things, it requires organization and requires communication, it requires you to have an understanding, or an ability to learn about things that you've never done before. It requires, you know, basic bookkeeping it requires. You know, it's, it's, so I don't know what parallels I would draw from just being an employee, because it really is the difference. That's one of the reasons why people get into it. But one of the main reasons is that you're no longer an employee, or if you're an employee, you are your own employee. So, you know, I think that this kind of thing looks when I say, just kind of thing, getting into Iran, starting your own business, running your own business, working for yourself, looks a lot more daunting than it is, you know, there's just a couple of things, you know, setting up an LLC, and, you know, getting somebody that's going to do your, your taxes, if you get a little bit bigger, you know, things like that are pretty basic things that need to need to be done. But it's not as hard as you believe it is. And a lot of people just don't even know it's a possibility. That's, that's really the thing that I enjoy the most is, is taking somebody who is an employee that you know, and has a job might be a good job, they may even like the job, but having them them helping them to be their own boss and start working for themselves.

Dr. Leah OH: 22:26

And like you said, if it is as supplement, even that ability to grow, as a leader to feel more empowered to have the agency and control on that aspect of your life, imagine will start to feed into other areas as well.

Ben Gaskill: 22:43

Oh, absolutely. Yeah, I've actually seen that. That happened. I saw that happen in my own life. Once I once I understood that, that I could be my own boss, you know, many, many years ago. Certainly. That's 100%. Accurate. Yeah. Great.

Dr. Leah OH: 23:03

So I have two final questions for you. And they're related. And I'm the communicative leader, I like to leave our listeners with leadership or leadership communication tips. And I'm thinking really pragmatic, what they can do or think of now, it can be a challenge. But our first tip or suggestion, what do you have for the folks who are in formal leadership positions or managers, directors, supervisors?

Ben Gaskill: 23:32

Leadership tips, so I think it's right in your title. Right. Communication. And, and I think a lot of people think about communication, as a leader is telling people what to do. That that's the communication that a leader does. And I don't think that's the case. I think that that a real leader listens, at least as much, if not more than they tell. And they talk and they speak. I think that a leader empowers the people that work for them. I think that a real leader will is somebody who can be a good judge of talent. We try and run our business with a simple philosophy of the right, but in the right seat. So do they get it? Do they want it? And can they do it? And as a leader, when you're looking at people, sometimes you might have somebody in the right, that's that you have you have the right seat created. You might have the wrong person. And sometimes you have the right person, but they're just in the wrong seat. The claim. So those three simple things? Did they get it? Do they want it? And can they do it or, excuse me, are very attributes for being able to evaluate the talent that you have the people that you're leading, and making sure that they're getting the most out of their careers. They're getting the most fulfillment, the most productivity, and at the same time you as, as the leader, as the company is getting the thing that your employees happy, and like what they do, but they're also productive.

Dr. Leah OH: 25:38

Yeah, yeah, I appreciate all of the insight. And I'm always struck by how often the most thoughtful advice, and the most impactful advice is the simplest advice, like you said, it's these three simple things. And I think once we kind of stripped away all of the extra, we recognize those simple things are the foundation, we need to be successful.

Ben Gaskill: 26:02

Yeah, I don't know that there's a whole lot of new business advice or techniques out there, I think that there's been some pretty straightforward leadership techniques that have been around for a very long time. And a lot of people have repackaged them and a whole lot of different ways to make them more palatable, or make more sense or be easier to understand. But at the end of the day, you know, it's listening to your team. It's empowering them if if you've hired them, and then the right person in the right seat, allowing them to do their job. And sometimes that's difficult, I even struggle with that. Because as a, as a business owner with almost 65 employees, it's, it's, it's tough when you when you look at all of it and say, you know, I really, I can do that, I think I can do that great. But I have to trust in the people that we've hired in that we've trained to do it, themselves. And so that that's a challenge, I think,

Dr. Leah OH: 27:09

Oh, that is a challenge. And, and I think, too, when you identify those things you recognize, here's an area for me to work on. And that's even something powerful to share in connecting with employees, when they're, you know, talking about their areas of growth, you come to not in that way. So, Ben, my last question. So we talked about tips for our former leaders out there. What other kind of leadership or communication tips do you have for employees of all ranks?

Ben Gaskill: 27:43

I think a lot of it is is employees, some employees are afraid to ask for help. Because they might think that that is perceived as weakness, it's perceived as not understanding direction not being able to follow direction, and that they're afraid that the people in leadership positions will look at them and think, Well, why couldn't they figure this out? Or why couldn't they have done this on their own. And I think real leaders understand that if somebody's asking for help or clarity, that that's something that should be applauded. That's something that should be encouraged, I think that employees need to understand that they're part of a team. You know, if if they work in a company, they're part of a team, and as long as the person in the leadership role has communicated effectively, the direction of the company and everybody is rowing in the same direction, then asking for help, be it from a team member for a supervisor should be a sign of, of humility, of sign of willingness to grow. And, and, and, and something that should be encouraged if you're working in a place where it's not. I was just having a conversation with, with the people that pick your supervisors, or maybe look somewhere else, because that, you know, it's it's super important that everybody understand that you can't be an expert in everything, that there are people that are working at your company that are that can probably help you everybody wants the job to get done, effectively and fast and efficiently. And guessing, because you're afraid to ask for help, doesn't do anybody any favors, ultimately, it will be a detriment to you as an employee, because the job won't be done correctly, or it won't be done faster efficiently. When if you would, and I guarantee you the the supervisor that you may have been afraid to ask is going to say, why didn't you ask for help?

Dr. Leah OH: 29:49

Exactly. That's what I was thinking like. That's the number one question that would that is likely to come up that. Thank you, Ben. I really enjoyed this conversation and Thinking about, really what goes into running a business and how to be mindful of all these different influence attempts that we see on social media and make sure that we are as informed as a consumer and possibly a business owner as we as we can be.

Ben Gaskill: 30:18

Absolutely. And if you're looking to start a business, on your own and become an entrepreneur, or even if you're just looking to start a new company, in a new position working for somebody else, ask as many questions as you need to ask until you feel comfortable. And the company that is going to help you using our company as an example. We're absolutely happy to help and answering those questions. And if you're going to go work for a new job or a new leader, even if it's just within the same company, ask questions about expectations, and the reality of the day to day so that there's no misunderstandings, and you'll be much more successful because of it.

Dr. Leah OH: 31:13

Thanks. I think my dad always told us if you don't as K you don't GE T couple of that, right. It's such a dad thing. A couple that with the idea of ask as many questions until you have the information you're comfortable with in think thank you, but I think that's really helpful and recognizing when do I stop? When I have the amount of information I need to feel comfortable? Yeah, absolutely. Excellent. Well, thank you again, Ben. I really appreciate your time and your expertise. Not

Ben Gaskill: 31:47

a problem. It's been a pleasure speaking with you. I appreciate you trying to help leaders of today be be better leaders and and leaders of tomorrow to to kind of step up and take ownership. So I applaud what you're doing and I appreciate you having me on.

Dr. Leah OH: 32:08

All right, my friends. That wraps up our conversation today. Until next time, you indicate with intention and lead with purpose. I'm looking forward to chatting with you again soon. I'm the communicative leader.