Episode 4

Marketing vs Fulfillment

As a business owner we often get caught in the rollercoaster of market, market, market… fulfill, fulfill, fulfill… Marla Stone was faced with the challenge of customer demand vs staffing. We talk about Marketing vs Fulfillment this week on In The Bunker with Marla Stone. Marla and Joshua dive into this topic along with how clutter can disrupt our lives.

Our episode highlights:

  • Always be looking to hire! What is the criteria that they need to fit? Do they reflect your company values? Do they live out the company values?
  • Always be marketing!
  • Pick your clients, DON’T let them pick you!
  • Knowing when to “Off board” staff is key.

Bio: Marla Stone, MSW, is the owner of I-Deal-Lifestyle INC, which provides decluttering, design, corporate training, and lifestyle coaching services. She is a former social worker and psychotherapist turned professional lifestyle organizer who helps people live an ideal lifestyle by getting to the root of their mental, emotional, and environmental challenges.

Check out her new book The Clutter Remedy: A Guide To Getting Organized For Those Who Love Their Stuff. > https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/1130791302

Links:

  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/i-deal-lifestyle/
  • Website: https://www.i-deal-lifestyle.com
  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marlabstone
  • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/idealorganizer
  • Twitter: https://twitter.com/ideal_organizer


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Transcript
Joshua Maddux:

Every business owner has faced challenges and

Joshua Maddux:

we love to share those stories.

Joshua Maddux:

Today.

Joshua Maddux:

We have Marla stone in the bunker with us.

Joshua Maddux:

Marla faced the challenge of really having customer demand versus staffing issues.

Joshua Maddux:

As small business owners, we've all seen this.

Joshua Maddux:

It's the rollercoaster of market, your business and market market market.

Joshua Maddux:

And then you get a bunch of customers and it's fulfill.

Joshua Maddux:

And then as soon as the fulfillment is done, it's back to marketing.

Joshua Maddux:

However, despite the odds of running a business, Marla has really succeeded

Joshua Maddux:

in this over the past 11 years, she's had the experience and being able to

Joshua Maddux:

really help her customers and her clients declutter and organize to make sure that

Joshua Maddux:

everything in their home has its own home.

Joshua Maddux:

She's a published author and has helped over 2000 plus clients

Joshua Maddux:

organize their lives and homes.

Joshua Maddux:

There's so much to learn here and I'm super excited to jump in and have this.

Joshua Maddux:

Great to have you on the show.

Marla Stone:

Thank you.

Marla Stone:

Thank you for having me Joshua.

Joshua Maddux:

Awesome.

Joshua Maddux:

So let's get started and walk through your background.

Joshua Maddux:

Who are you?

Joshua Maddux:

How'd you get here?

Joshua Maddux:

What does it look like?

Marla Stone:

I'm a native California.

Marla Stone:

I live in orange county now.

Marla Stone:

I was a social worker, psycho therapist for 17 years, 10

Marla Stone:

years in private practice.

Marla Stone:

And my specialty was trauma, serious mental health challenges, schizophrenia,

Marla Stone:

bipolar disorder, panic disorder, PTSD.

Marla Stone:

And after 17 years of sitting and listening, I wanted to

Marla Stone:

still use my background, but I didn't want to sit anymore.

Marla Stone:

It was getting old.

Marla Stone:

And so I found professional organizing, which, there's a big mental health

Marla Stone:

component to people being chronically or perpetually disorganized.

Marla Stone:

And so I thought I can do Tupperware.

Marla Stone:

And I didn't really understand all the mental health challenges that

Marla Stone:

came with this industry, but it's been great because I get to use my

Marla Stone:

background and my psychiatric social work background and help still help people.

Marla Stone:

It's really like old-fashioned social work going into the home, getting Mary

Marla Stone:

or Bob out of bed, getting the wheels turning again so that they can keep up

Marla Stone:

their home and have a home that is clear.

Marla Stone:

And designed well and where they can enjoy, an aesthetically

Marla Stone:

pleasing, functional home.

Joshua Maddux:

Yeah.

Joshua Maddux:

There's so much with inside of that.

Joshua Maddux:

Like I know for me, like my own desk, if I've got stuff piled all

Joshua Maddux:

over my desk and I've got a bunch of email, I'm not as motivated.

Joshua Maddux:

But if I haven't got a clean desk and everything's in

Joshua Maddux:

its place, I'm more focused.

Joshua Maddux:

And just from a business aspect of having a file drawer to put your papers

Joshua Maddux:

away can allow you to be more focused.

Joshua Maddux:

Now that gets exponentially larger.

Joshua Maddux:

When you go from.

Joshua Maddux:

A little three-foot wide desk to your whole entire home.

Joshua Maddux:

And that's, I can totally see that with, stress and there's so much other stuff

Joshua Maddux:

that can cause and be a symptom of.

Marla Stone:

Yeah, it could be it's a lot of it's some

Marla Stone:

depression, motivation, anxiety.

Marla Stone:

I always say the outer is a reflection of the inner.

Marla Stone:

And the thing is that once a person starts.

Marla Stone:

Get uncomfortable with their environment.

Marla Stone:

It actually means they're actually getting a little better on the inside because.

Marla Stone:

Before when everything was cluttered and they were okay with it, there

Marla Stone:

was obviously some level of, mental health challenges or grief and loss.

Marla Stone:

It could be trauma, disappointment, whatever it is, where they,

Marla Stone:

Whatever's on the inside, just spewed into their environment.

Marla Stone:

But when they start to feel uncomfortable with that environment, it actually

Marla Stone:

means there's some clearing on the inside at some of the emotional clutter

Marla Stone:

has been clear so that they can, have the motivation to say, I don't want

Marla Stone:

to have this environment any longer.

Marla Stone:

And and it's not a need to get organized.

Marla Stone:

People think, oh, I need to get organized or I need to go to the market or I need.

Marla Stone:

I took the need out of getting organized because it muddles the thinking,

Marla Stone:

the clarity of your thinking about what to keep versus what to toss.

Marla Stone:

And so I tell people.

Marla Stone:

Not a need it.

Marla Stone:

You either want to do this or you don't want to do this.

Marla Stone:

You will do this.

Marla Stone:

You won't do this.

Marla Stone:

So I've brought will back into the language.

Marla Stone:

It's something that we have discarded from our language we use need, or have to,

Marla Stone:

or got to over almost an every sentence.

Marla Stone:

So we're needling ourselves to death to do the things that

Marla Stone:

we dream about that we want.

Marla Stone:

And then we end up not doing it because we get derailed.

Marla Stone:

I believe the subconscious process knows the true meaning of need, which

Marla Stone:

is necessity, which is air food, water, shelter, sleep elimination, and sunlight,

Marla Stone:

the seven things that keep us alive.

Joshua Maddux:

That's cool.

Joshua Maddux:

Yeah, it's really just, focusing on, I know for me, Focusing on

Joshua Maddux:

the aspect of, at the end of the day, creating a better life.

Joshua Maddux:

I'm really allowing people to do that.

Joshua Maddux:

Zach, I know before, before we hit record, we were talking a little bit

Joshua Maddux:

about, business challenges and the aspect of customer demand versus staffing and.

Joshua Maddux:

Obviously that's something that so many businesses face on a almost daily basis.

Joshua Maddux:

But I want to talk about that a little bit and break down some of that challenge

Joshua Maddux:

that you faced and what that looks like, overcoming that for your business.

Marla Stone:

I created, I really revolutionized the way organizing

Marla Stone:

as done, so we don't do piles.

Marla Stone:

It's a very systematic.

Marla Stone:

We line up Claire bins, we take everything out of the space.

Marla Stone:

We categorize into broad categories.

Marla Stone:

I have a criteria for how the client goes through their things, will you use it?

Marla Stone:

Does it serve a purpose?

Marla Stone:

Is it sentimental?

Marla Stone:

Do you love it?

Marla Stone:

Then once we know what they're going to keep, we fine tune.

Marla Stone:

So it's not a random process of just making things look

Marla Stone:

neat and tech and things away.

Marla Stone:

And, picking up after a person we're not, we're not Molly maid

Marla Stone:

and we're not personal assistance.

Marla Stone:

We are there to create a long term system.

Marla Stone:

And it's the training process of training.

Marla Stone:

The way we do it.

Marla Stone:

That's one issue challenged because people I found today people have listening skill

Marla Stone:

challenges, communication challenges.

Marla Stone:

So that's an issue.

Marla Stone:

And then yes.

Marla Stone:

I've paid marketers, I've done marketing.

Marla Stone:

I, I do a lot of social media marketing.

Marla Stone:

So the business comes in and these waves and then you're correct.

Marla Stone:

We're fulfilling.

Marla Stone:

So that's when I'm scheduling the organizers and then.

Marla Stone:

Making sure they're doing it with my clutter remedy strategies.

Marla Stone:

And so it is this back and forth process that I've been doing for well now it's

Marla Stone:

12 years and over 2,800 properties and I'm struggling still with that.

Joshua Maddux:

Got it.

Joshua Maddux:

Yeah.

Joshua Maddux:

Yeah.

Joshua Maddux:

And that's, I think, some of the challenges, I will say that,

Joshua Maddux:

me owning a digital agency, we face a little bit as well.

Joshua Maddux:

There are some industries and some businesses, the, if you own a

Joshua Maddux:

warehouse and you need someone to sweep the warehouse, the duration

Joshua Maddux:

of training on that is this is a broom and this is how it works.

Joshua Maddux:

Go sweep the whole warehouse and that training should last all of, 30 seconds

Joshua Maddux:

to, maybe two minutes, but training someone on a process that your business

Joshua Maddux:

does, that you have standards, you have, close to 3000 clients that you want to

Joshua Maddux:

make sure the project that you do next week matches the quality of the project

Joshua Maddux:

you did last month or last year, because you don't know if that person is a

Joshua Maddux:

referral or what, how they came to you.

Joshua Maddux:

And so if there were a referral and.

Joshua Maddux:

That new employee ends up providing a sub har service.

Joshua Maddux:

Now, all of a sudden it was a bad referral and it just, bad referral

Joshua Maddux:

ends up creating just a lot of other issues with in regards to customer

Joshua Maddux:

satisfaction and other aspects.

Joshua Maddux:

And so ensuring that, that training is done and that you're able to

Joshua Maddux:

have an onboarding process for that.

Joshua Maddux:

Do you, or have you created, or what does that look like maybe for the business

Joshua Maddux:

of an onboarding process or training?

Joshua Maddux:

What does that look like for your team?

Marla Stone:

I've been an independent contractor business.

Marla Stone:

Because I meet the ABC criteria for that.

Marla Stone:

These are seasoned organizers that, before they come on the

Marla Stone:

requirement, as they read the book, they now I have a manual basically.

Marla Stone:

And then really it's just an for me as a business owner and observation of is this

Marla Stone:

person actually following the strategy.

Marla Stone:

That are outlined in the book.

Marla Stone:

It's they hit the ground running training is, a sensitive subject when

Marla Stone:

you have independent contractors.

Marla Stone:

So I have guidelines and then it's just a matter of seeing if

Marla Stone:

they're following the guidelines.

Marla Stone:

And I've had situations where I saw an organizer put a

Marla Stone:

regular ladder on a staircase.

Marla Stone:

Not a staircase ladder, but, and she was like, yeah, I'm just going to get up here.

Marla Stone:

And I looked at the owner and I said, I can't tell them what to do.

Marla Stone:

And I said, but you can, so the owner's no, you are not doing.

Marla Stone:

But it was just bizarre stuff that people do.

Marla Stone:

And no matter I've realized, no matter how much information or training,

Marla Stone:

cause I've also had employees as a therapist, I employed social work

Marla Stone:

and marriage and family interns.

Marla Stone:

And I'll tell you, no matter how much training or how much is coming out

Marla Stone:

of your mouth to another human being, it doesn't mean it's going to happen.

Marla Stone:

Like I said, I've figured out the listening skills and

Marla Stone:

communication skills has dwindled.

Marla Stone:

I think a lot of it has to do with this language thing.

Marla Stone:

I figured out that we're needling ourselves to death to do things

Marla Stone:

instead of willing ourselves.

Marla Stone:

The other thing that came up in the language department and it's in the

Marla Stone:

book, I think that's why the book is in all the libraries in the U S and Canada

Marla Stone:

is this language thing that I figured.

Marla Stone:

That decreases motivation and productivity.

Marla Stone:

So the second thing besides need is people use a lot of indecisive

Marla Stone:

language, like I'll try, or I try to do.

Marla Stone:

Or maybe, or sorta that was the weirdest one.

Marla Stone:

I don't know where that came from.

Marla Stone:

It's sorta, what does that even mean?

Marla Stone:

And if, but could, should maybe possibly.

Marla Stone:

And so we've eliminated indecisive language from the process of getting

Marla Stone:

organized, because if a client says maybe I'll use the knitting again.

Marla Stone:

I don't know what to do with it.

Marla Stone:

I don't know where it goes.

Marla Stone:

I don't know.

Marla Stone:

There is no category called maybe we have a category called product.

Marla Stone:

And that puts things in perspective because I say, okay, knitting, you used

Marla Stone:

to knit when you had grandchildren.

Marla Stone:

Now you said that you haven't used the knitting for five years.

Marla Stone:

And you're telling me it's a potential project potentials even indecisive.

Marla Stone:

So I'll say, will you do this project within the next three to six months?

Marla Stone:

Or will it be two years from now?

Marla Stone:

Only because I want to know where to.

Marla Stone:

'cause what you use the most days closest to you and what

Marla Stone:

you use the least goes furthest.

Marla Stone:

I, in no way ever want to put my will or opinion on somebody's stuff,

Marla Stone:

it's not my business to tell somebody whether they can keep something or not.

Marla Stone:

That's totally up to them.

Marla Stone:

I just want to clarify when, how, where it will be used so that I make

Marla Stone:

sure it gets to the proper home.

Joshua Maddux:

Got it.

Joshua Maddux:

Yeah.

Joshua Maddux:

And as you're talking through that, I'm thinking I actually, my wife and

Joshua Maddux:

I moved into the house we're in now about a year, a little over a year ago.

Joshua Maddux:

And I recently my team and I, we had we had an office and when COVID hit

Joshua Maddux:

and then we moved that all closed down.

Joshua Maddux:

So I.

Joshua Maddux:

Six or seven boxes in my rafters of stuff from the office.

Joshua Maddux:

That was like eventually once we do that again, and now with everybody working

Joshua Maddux:

remote and home office, our teams pretty much not going back to that aspect.

Joshua Maddux:

And those boxes have been there for a year.

Joshua Maddux:

And I last weekend pulled them all down and started going through the mall and

Joshua Maddux:

it's okay, has it been used in a year?

Joshua Maddux:

Do I see myself using this in the next month or two?

Joshua Maddux:

And if the answer is no, then it either needs to get out of my house or.

Joshua Maddux:

Yeah, it doesn't need to, it doesn't need

Marla Stone:

to, you want it to, and there's so many good sales

Marla Stone:

groups now, Facebook marketplace.

Marla Stone:

Yup.

Marla Stone:

Next door.

Marla Stone:

And as you realize, you're not going to move back to an office.

Marla Stone:

There's somebody opening an office right now.

Marla Stone:

I guarantee you and they're going to want that stuff and they'll pay

Marla Stone:

actually they'll pay what you paid for it because everything's gone up so much.

Marla Stone:

Especially steel.

Marla Stone:

So if you have like steel desks or desks, various furniture has gone up, everything

Marla Stone:

has gone up, you will most likely re.

Marla Stone:

The money you paid for those things.

Marla Stone:

And, and then, it's been a write off for you, but then you'll have

Marla Stone:

a sale on your taxes and you'll have some income from that.

Marla Stone:

But guess what?

Marla Stone:

You're not storing it any more in your space.

Marla Stone:

Yeah.

Marla Stone:

That's the good thing is having space and not having stuff

Marla Stone:

stuck in places in your home.

Marla Stone:

It actually frees up your energy altogether, know, and

Marla Stone:

that's a funkshway principle

Joshua Maddux:

of.

Joshua Maddux:

There's also the aspect of, I've got a cabinet in my garage and being

Joshua Maddux:

able to open the cabinet and slide a box over to, easily move stuff

Joshua Maddux:

around rather than being like, cool.

Joshua Maddux:

There is no space on this shelf.

Joshua Maddux:

Those are the aspects of it's just so hard.

Joshua Maddux:

To get anything out of that shelf.

Joshua Maddux:

Forget it.

Joshua Maddux:

I'm not even going to use anything on there.

Joshua Maddux:

It's if I'm not going to use anything on there, then why do I have all

Joshua Maddux:

the stuff in the first place?

Joshua Maddux:

Yeah.

Marla Stone:

I say, what's that doing in your real estate?

Marla Stone:

Yeah.

Marla Stone:

And boxes.

Marla Stone:

If you mentioned boxes to me, I get this closed in feeling it's

Marla Stone:

really, so I always say, take everything out of boxes and bags.

Marla Stone:

If you've got stuff in bags or boxes, you don't even know what's in it anymore.

Marla Stone:

Take, go get some clear.

Marla Stone:

From target or Walmart or wherever you can get, you can find them online

Marla Stone:

and get everything by category really fine-tune category and find the

Marla Stone:

proper container for that category.

Marla Stone:

So that you can see it and you don't have to label.

Marla Stone:

I have not labeled in 12 years.

Marla Stone:

People are like, what?

Marla Stone:

You're the only organizer that doesn't label.

Marla Stone:

I said, because the label does not ensure that you're going

Marla Stone:

to put it back in that bin.

Marla Stone:

I guarantee you.

Marla Stone:

But when you see it's a category and you take something out of that

Marla Stone:

category, you're going to will yourself to put it back in there.

Marla Stone:

That's how your life is going to change.

Marla Stone:

Not by a label I go into Roger's where another organizers bin and

Marla Stone:

everything's labeled, but guess what?

Joshua Maddux:

Nothing's in the right spot.

Joshua Maddux:

Oh yeah.

Joshua Maddux:

That's the worst.

Joshua Maddux:

I was looking for a hard drive box and my brother wanted to borrow.

Joshua Maddux:

I had to take down that's part of what started the whole process

Joshua Maddux:

of going through all the boxes.

Joshua Maddux:

Cause I took the first one down that said that's where it was, but I'd

Joshua Maddux:

moved some stuff around in boxes and it was no longer in that box.

Joshua Maddux:

And I just didn't grab a Sharpie and relabel things and the clear tubs.

Joshua Maddux:

That's what we have on our shelving units now in the garage.

Joshua Maddux:

And we even did my wife found ones that have.

Joshua Maddux:

Purple lids or just gray lids and the purple lids.

Joshua Maddux:

One ones are more like decor stuff.

Joshua Maddux:

And so it's just by okay, it's a purple lid tub.

Joshua Maddux:

And it's that instantly goes from, it's not all 20 of them.

Joshua Maddux:

It's one of these three.

Joshua Maddux:

And so it's like rather than having to actually put labels on the side.

Joshua Maddux:

And I think that's all good stuff.

Joshua Maddux:

Yeah.

Joshua Maddux:

I want to wrap up our time a little bit.

Joshua Maddux:

And I want to talk about what are some of your big advice elements when

Joshua Maddux:

it comes to, now don't want to go specific on organizing, but when it

Joshua Maddux:

comes to more like customer demand and staffing issues, like what are

Joshua Maddux:

some of your advice elements on that?

Joshua Maddux:

When it comes to business owners.

Marla Stone:

So what I am always recruiting.

Marla Stone:

It's not a oh, I'm going to recruit.

Marla Stone:

This, this week it's a constant recruiting, always looking for

Marla Stone:

ideal organizers, ideal folks that, have compassion, good listening

Marla Stone:

skills, communication skills.

Marla Stone:

So that's a forever thing, I think in all businesses, because you don't

Marla Stone:

want to ever stop that process.

Marla Stone:

You always want.

Marla Stone:

To have, least 20, 30 people to call upon especially in a per diem type of business.

Marla Stone:

And the other thing is always market your marketing every day that's where

Marla Stone:

I've come to now to solve some of the challenges that I have, whereas before

Marla Stone:

it was marketing on demand, oh no more clients, the phone's not ringing.

Marla Stone:

So I'm going to go to town this weekend.

Marla Stone:

And instead of doing that and putting all that pressure on myself, in, in

Marla Stone:

three, four days, I realized now it's a constant thing to keep up that and

Marla Stone:

to find, to have a criteria for what you want in an ideal employee or

Marla Stone:

contractor, that's very important.

Marla Stone:

If you don't really have a criteria.

Marla Stone:

Of all these, at least 30 things you want in an ideal worker that,

Marla Stone:

then you're just shooting in the.

Marla Stone:

Yeah.

Marla Stone:

It was like, oh my gosh, there's a body.

Marla Stone:

I'm going to take it no matter what.

Marla Stone:

And there's been episodes where business was so busy that I was like, it was like

Marla Stone:

body snatching, but it's never ideal.

Marla Stone:

And and just really, you want to have the person working with

Marla Stone:

you to reflect your values and.

Marla Stone:

How you want the, the work performed and you want them to

Marla Stone:

emanate having an ideal lifestyle.

Marla Stone:

Now you want that person to be having an idea.

Marla Stone:

If they're not having an ideal lifestyle, then how is that

Marla Stone:

going to help, your clients?

Joshua Maddux:

That's really good.

Joshua Maddux:

Yeah.

Joshua Maddux:

I'm taking notes as you're chatting.

Joshua Maddux:

I think the.

Joshua Maddux:

Always be looking to hire aspect is so key because you don't know if you're a small

Joshua Maddux:

business and you have five employees.

Joshua Maddux:

You don't know if one of your employees is looking to leave.

Joshua Maddux:

Exactly next week.

Joshua Maddux:

My company, we had a situation where Monday morning had a

Joshua Maddux:

conversation with an employee.

Joshua Maddux:

We were making a 30 day, 60 day, 90 day plan for, Hey, here's some stuff that's

Joshua Maddux:

going to get done over the next 90 days.

Joshua Maddux:

And we were talking about what that was going to look like.

Joshua Maddux:

And then Thursday afternoon resignation letter.

Joshua Maddux:

Yeah.

Joshua Maddux:

And the employee had been with the company for almost a year.

Joshua Maddux:

And it was just no to hopefully didn't see that coming and go on

Marla Stone:

vacation.

Joshua Maddux:

I did.

Joshua Maddux:

I did not.

Marla Stone:

I used to be a thing where I would say, okay, I'm going on vacation

Marla Stone:

and somebody who worked for me six months or three years, for whatever reason, as

Marla Stone:

I'm either boarding the plane or getting off the plane, I'm getting a resignation

Marla Stone:

notice or that they're moving on.

Marla Stone:

And I don't know if it was like a trigger, but it was a thing

Joshua Maddux:

that's weird.

Joshua Maddux:

Yeah.

Joshua Maddux:

Yeah.

Joshua Maddux:

That's crazy.

Joshua Maddux:

Yeah.

Joshua Maddux:

I think the always be looking to hire and always be marketing are two

Joshua Maddux:

critical elements really that every business owner should think about.

Marla Stone:

They want to,

Joshua Maddux:

I think the always be marketing and always.

Joshua Maddux:

Always be looking for the next customer.

Joshua Maddux:

Literally our team was having this conversation internally,

Joshua Maddux:

actually the other day.

Joshua Maddux:

It's the idea of, when you're on an airplane and they explain the oxygen mask,

Joshua Maddux:

put it on yourself first, then help the person next to you, a child, whoever else.

Joshua Maddux:

Exactly.

Joshua Maddux:

And I feel.

Joshua Maddux:

As business owners, that child, or that person next to us as the client.

Joshua Maddux:

And we used the oxygen maps mask pop out of the ceiling.

Joshua Maddux:

And the first thing we do is stick it on them and go, okay,

Joshua Maddux:

I'm going to help you first.

Joshua Maddux:

And, but then as business owners, we end up missing out because we end up

Joshua Maddux:

starving ourselves of oxygen or starving ourselves of the next potential customer.

Joshua Maddux:

And so I think focusing on making sure.

Joshua Maddux:

That we have that oxygen mask on, or we are marketing ourselves and we'll

Joshua Maddux:

something possibly, I don't want to say fall through the cracks, but maybe

Joshua Maddux:

take a slight bit longer for a client.

Joshua Maddux:

Yes.

Joshua Maddux:

But the client for the most part is going to respect that.

Joshua Maddux:

And if they have a huge problem with you marketing your own business, You

Joshua Maddux:

probably shouldn't be working with them as a client in the first place.

Marla Stone:

Yes.

Marla Stone:

That's another great point that I've learned as a business owner that I

Marla Stone:

would like to share, pick your clients.

Marla Stone:

They don't pick you, you pick your clients and that's why I give a

Marla Stone:

free 30 minute phone consultation.

Marla Stone:

It's not too.

Marla Stone:

Waste my breath.

Marla Stone:

It's really to listen and see if this is a client that I want to engage with.

Marla Stone:

And the other piece of advice I can say is just as important as onboarding

Marla Stone:

people to work with your company off boarding, knowing when something is

Marla Stone:

not going to work out and not giving what I say like chances are too many.

Marla Stone:

Passes.

Marla Stone:

That's always, usually when somebody is doing something drastically wrong

Marla Stone:

fairly quickly into the time that they're working with you, that's a

Marla Stone:

sign that it's not going to get better.

Marla Stone:

Generally it will get worse.

Marla Stone:

So really self protection as a business owner is so important and not

Marla Stone:

putting yourself in situations that.

Marla Stone:

Or just going to cause you grief and pain, I think it's really important

Marla Stone:

to have boundaries and to have a criteria for who you work with

Marla Stone:

on both ends client and worker.

Joshua Maddux:

There's a phrase that I've heard in regards to

Joshua Maddux:

the sort of offboarding of staff.

Joshua Maddux:

And it's hire slow fire fast.

Joshua Maddux:

So the hire slow aspect is.

Joshua Maddux:

Go through two interviews.

Joshua Maddux:

Do you know, do have a process.

Joshua Maddux:

And I know for me when I've hired, when I've done interviews in person,

Joshua Maddux:

I'll always ask the, the prospect to bring their favorite candy bar.

Joshua Maddux:

It's something that is very minimal cost.

Joshua Maddux:

Typically you can buy a candy bar for under $2.

Joshua Maddux:

It's not a huge deal.

Joshua Maddux:

If it's their favorite one, then when you tell them they can use.

Joshua Maddux:

They are going to like that anyway.

Joshua Maddux:

And it also makes sure that the person goes out of their way to do it exact.

Joshua Maddux:

So it's a very low cost element.

Joshua Maddux:

And are they going to take it serious?

Joshua Maddux:

And really, those are, those types of elements, silly silly tests like that,

Joshua Maddux:

that seem insignificant, will really help to tell, a business owner about

Joshua Maddux:

the personality of that prospect.

Joshua Maddux:

And it's really something that I think what that sort of hire slow and it's

Joshua Maddux:

not hire slow as in take nine months to hire an employee it's hire slow.

Joshua Maddux:

As in making sure you vet them.

Marla Stone:

Yes, and that they follow through.

Marla Stone:

So that's simple request of the candy bar is a great idea.

Marla Stone:

I, and I'm going to borrow that.

Joshua Maddux:

Awesome.

Joshua Maddux:

Go for it.

Joshua Maddux:

It's been a really good conversation.

Joshua Maddux:

Appreciate the time today.

Joshua Maddux:

I know there's been a ton of value.

Joshua Maddux:

I've been taking notes as we've been going, through our conversation today.

Joshua Maddux:

Your bio, your website, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook.

Joshua Maddux:

All of that will be in the show notes.

Joshua Maddux:

In addition to you have a book what was the title of that?

Marla Stone:

Yes, it is called the clutter remedy a guide to getting

Marla Stone:

organized for those who love their stuff.

Marla Stone:

And it's an, all the libraries in the U S and Canada.

Marla Stone:

And you can get it on Amazon.

Marla Stone:

It's on audible.

Marla Stone:

It's on it's at Barnes and noble.

Marla Stone:

I'm actually back on my book tour.

Marla Stone:

Now my book tour started a month before COVID started.

Marla Stone:

So I was touched short.

Marla Stone:

And but I'm back at all, going from, a state to state at Barnes and noble

Marla Stone:

and doing book discussions and signing.

Marla Stone:

And so it's a great read.

Marla Stone:

It's really first about taking care of emotional clutter and

Marla Stone:

then the how to, how we do it.

Marla Stone:

It actually replaces my services and then there's a whole chapter on space

Marla Stone:

design and then seasonal organizing, and also any challenges, mental health,

Marla Stone:

grief, and loss anxiety that will prevent you from not only getting

Marla Stone:

organized, but remaining organized.

Marla Stone:

Long-term.

Joshua Maddux:

That's awesome.

Joshua Maddux:

Yeah, that's cool.

Joshua Maddux:

Yeah.

Joshua Maddux:

So that the Barnes noble link I'll have that in the show notes as well.

Joshua Maddux:

But as Marla said, it's also available in public libraries.

Joshua Maddux:

So if the financial cost of buying the book is something.

Joshua Maddux:

That's a struggle.

Joshua Maddux:

She's made sure it's in public libraries, so that's not a

Joshua Maddux:

hindrance, which is super awesome.

Joshua Maddux:

I, I wish more authors would do that cause it's, I think that's really cool.

Joshua Maddux:

So

Marla Stone:

yeah.

Marla Stone:

There's only certain books, the librarian system, the librarians in the system pick.

Marla Stone:

So it means that your book has some real depth and value to the public when

Marla Stone:

they choose a book to be in the library.

Joshua Maddux:

It's been super good having you on the show, like I said,

Joshua Maddux:

and for anyone who wants to connect with you, what's the number one spot for them

Joshua Maddux:

to reach out and connect with you on,

Marla Stone:

My website is www dot I hyphen deal, hyphen lifestyle.com

Marla Stone:

or www.i-deal-lifestyle.com.

Joshua Maddux:

Awesome.

Joshua Maddux:

So for those of you who want to reach out, there's a great spot

Joshua Maddux:

to do and that website link will be in the show notes as well.

Joshua Maddux:

Awesome.

Joshua Maddux:

Good to have you on the show.

Joshua Maddux:

Thanks

Marla Stone:

for your time.

Marla Stone:

Thank you, Joshua.

Marla Stone:

Take care.

Marla Stone:

Bye.

Joshua Maddux:

Thanks for listening to this episode of, in the bunker.

Joshua Maddux:

As always we can be found on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter

Joshua Maddux:

at, in the bunker podcast.

Joshua Maddux:

Be sure to share this episode and what you're going to apply from it.

Joshua Maddux:

And how that can affect your business, make sure to tag us in that post so

Joshua Maddux:

we can highlight your journey as well.

Joshua Maddux:

But before you go.

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About the Podcast

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In The Bunker
Exploring the biggest challenges in starting and running a business.

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About your host

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Joshua Maddux

Joshua Maddux is an entrepreneur who has helped numerous businesses grow and thrive.