Latest / The Life-First Solopreneur / 109. Parent’s Attic to $20 Million Business - Lessons On How He Did It with Johnathan Price

Transcript

109. Parent’s Attic to $20 Million Business - Lessons On How He Did It with Johnathan Price · The Life-First Solopreneur

• 0:00
  Carly Ries: This was, I believe, the longest interview we've had to date, and I asked our guest if we could record a part 2 multiple times because I still didn't think it was enough time. I could listen to him talk for hours, and I don't say that often. We were so excited to have Jonathan or JP Price come on to share his journey and discuss his background, mindset, and growth tactics. Listeners, let me tell you, you are in for a treat. JP went from living in his parents' attic to building a $20,000,000 business that started as a hobby, but it wasn't always smooth sailing.
• 0:33
  If you wanna hear about his ups, downs, and lessons learned, then be sure to tune into this episode. I think you'll love it. You're listening to the aspiring solopreneur, the podcast for those just taking the bold step or even just thinking about taking that step into the world of solo entrepreneurship. My name is Carly Rees, and my co host Joe Rando and I are your guides to navigating this crazy, but awesome journey as a company of 1. We take pride in being part of Lifestar, a digital hub dedicated to all aspects of solopreneurship that has empowered and educated countless solopreneurs looking to build a business that resonates with their life's ambitions.
• 1:13
  We help people work to live, not live to work. And if you're looking for a get rich quick scheme, this is not the show for you. So if you're eager to gain valuable insights from industry experts on running a business the right way the first time around, or want to learn from the missteps of solopreneurs who've paved the way before you, then stick around. We've got your back because flying solo in business doesn't mean you're alone. Okay.
• 1:36
  So before we jump into this episode, I just have to share this new free offer we have called the SoloSuite Starter. Being a solopreneur is awesome, but it's not easy. It's hard to get noticed, and most business advice is for bigger companies, and you're all alone until now. LifeStarr's SoloSuite gives you free education, community, and tools to build a thriving one person business. So if you're lacking direction, having a hard time generating leads, having trouble keeping up with everything you have to do, or even if you're just lonely running a company of 1.
• 2:08
  Be sure to check out SoloSuite Starter at LifeStarr.com and click on products and pricing at the top menu. It's the first one in the drop down. Again, it's totally free, so check it out at LifeStarr.com Click on products and pricing, and it's the first one in the menu. Hope to see you there.
• 2:26
  JP, welcome to the show.
• 2:27
  Johnathan Price: Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
• 2:30
  Carly Ries: This will be great. And I told you this offline, but, just a little, behind the scenes for our listeners, we usually do a lot of research prep work prior to our interviews just because we wanna make sure we're having getting good questions. Your story is so fascinating to me that I have done very little prep work for this interview because I have been so intrigued at how you've built this business for yourself. So I mean, what you say is you went from working out of your parents' attic if I'm not mistaken to over 20,000,000 in sales in the car audio industry.
• 3:05
  And that to me is just such a huge leap. So I wanna start from the beginning. What were you doing when you were in your parents' attic, and what was that what was your journey to get to where you are now?
• 3:16
  Joe Rando: But wait. Can we find out what you were doing before you were in your parents attic? Because I would be interested to know that, so we might as well go chronologically.
• 3:25
  Johnathan Price: Yeah. So, I was working at an airport for about 10 years, catered to, like, private aircraft. So anything to do with them, fueling them, cleaning the toilets, washing them, like and also inside the building, I was doing anything, vacuuming the floors. I did whatever, but I loved it because I love aviation. So, anyway, I did that for all that time.
• 3:51
  And then I started getting, I've always been into car audio, but not on the sales side of it. So, I was just kind of dabbling in it alongside me working at the airport. And but it wasn't for business or anything. It was just because I enjoyed having a cool system in my vehicle. So anyway, that was kind of how, like or what I was doing for 10 years up until, like, I kind of made the switch to doing my own thing, which if you want me to go through that story of how that happened, I could do that.
• 4:22
  Joe Rando: Yes.
• 4:23
  Johnathan Price: So I was working at the airport for 10 years. And I would say at year 8 to 9, I started, like, dabbling more and more into the core audio scene. And I had started going to had, like, a very large system in a Chevrolet Tahoe.
• 4:39
  And I would go to these shows. And, every time I would go to a show, people would ask me, like, where do you get your equipment from? And I'm like, oh, I just I was kind of sponsored by a few different companies at the town. So I'd say, oh, you go to this company or this company's website to purchase the southern line. Okay.
• 4:56
  So the more I went to the shows, the more people asked that when they would hear my vehicle because it was a very impressive, system for them to hear. It would just blow their minds. So it'd make them get excited about car audio and want to get a system of their own. So, anyway, it kept happening over and over. And then finally, one day, I went to this show and somebody asked me, and it was like the light bulb went off in my head.
• 5:18
  I'm like, I could be selling these people this stuff if I could just figure out how. Before that, I didn't know anything really about sales or or owning a business. When I was when I was working at the airport, I also I mean, I kind of had a little bit of business, like, some side businesses on the side where I would cut grass, like, because I lived in Mississippi. So I had, like, a little lawn care service. But, so I had about 10 yards that I cut after hours of not working at the airport.
• 5:49
  And I also, waited tables at a restaurant, and then I also, detailed cars and airplanes on the side. So at one time, I had 4 different jobs, and I was all I knew at that time was I wanted to make a lot of money to because because that is coined as successful these days. So I'm like, I need to figure out how to make a lot of money. But at that time, I did. The only way that I knew to make money was basically trading hours of my life for dollars.
• 6:15
  And so I was trading all the hours I had, I mean, I was working 50 to 60 hours at the airport. And on top of that, I was cutting grass, detailing cars and airplanes and waiting tables on top of 60 hours a week at the airport. So that would tell you that I didn't have any time to do anything else other than work. but, anyway, after I did that for many years, I had started going to some car shows with this system. And that's kind of how the idea started when, the people were asking me how or where they could get this equipment from. So after that came the big question of how do I become a dealer for this stuff and how do I, like, at first, I didn't even wanna promote it. This is kind of how, obviously, my mindset now is totally different. But I thought if you were a salesman of anything, you had this negative stigma about you.
• 7:14
  I thought people hated you. so I'm like, I'm not telling anybody I'm selling anything because I don't want them to think I'm a salesman, like some, scammy salesman or something. So that was my mindset at the time. But anyway, I I contacted the companies that I was running their equipment in my vehicle. Say, we'll just use Sundown Audio as a brand that I was running at the time, and I still sell their brand.
• 7:40
  But anyway, so I reached out to them, like, hey. I'd like to become a dealer for your product. What does that look like? And, like, well, you have to have a business license. You have to have, it's a $5,000 buy in.
• 7:50
  You need to have a location to store it. Like, all these criteria that you had to meet to be a dealer for it. I'm like, okay. So, I started working on that and got the criteria and I placed my first order. And, but I wouldn't tell anybody I was selling this stuff like on my social media or anything.
• 8:07
  And this time where I was going to all these shows and everything, I was making videos and uploading them to YouTube and well, really just YouTube at that time, started growing a little bit of a Facebook following, but as that kind of progressed over time, it went into all the other social media platforms, Snapchat, Instagram, like all the different ones. So anyway, well, that's how it started. And when I was just going to the shows, videoing people's reactions in my vehicle, I was growing this organic following. People were following me just because they liked what they saw on the thing and I wasn't selling anything. So they're like, oh, this guy's just like me.
• 8:44
  He's just having a good time. Like, I'll subscribe to him. So my subscriber rate was going up pretty good. I think. I mean, I've had 30,000 subscribers when I decided to do like the little business thing, like to start trying to sell stuff.
• 8:59
  But again, I didn't wanna tell anybody. Even though I had like, I don't know, a couple of 1,000 followers on Facebook and 40,000 followers on YouTube, I didn't wanna tell anybody because the whole salesman thing. I didn't want people to think I was a salesman. So anyway, I would just be going through the comments on YouTube or on Facebook, and I would see where people were asking, where do you, like, where did you get your stuff? Or do you know anybody that could get this?
• 9:25
  And I would message them. Like, I would inbox. They're like, hey. I sell that. Like, I can get you that if you need to.
• 9:31
  So all the dealings that I was doing with peel people at the time was just direct, like, through Messenger because I didn't want anybody to know in the public that I was selling anything. So if you're gonna ask me the question that what would you have changed about what you did what you did, you probably already know the answer now because you definitely need to tell everybody, like, you offered this product. You have yours. You have a core or whatever business needed to be telling people that. And when I first started, I didn't wanna tell anybody.
• 10:01
  I was embarrassed about it. So that's what I would have changed.
• 10:05
  Joe Rando: So what changed? What made you start becoming a salesperson?
• 10:09
  Johnathan Price: Yeah. So, I just started, basically, posting about it more publicly and making sales posts or whatever. Even though I was doing that, it was still very, very slow. Like, even with me being more public or more open about it. And so when I placed the first order to get the product, this is how I started out in my parents' attic. when I got the products in, I just started putting them up in my parents' attic. So that's where I was storing all my inventory at. And now, well, you can't really see my warehouse by how you but now I have a 30,000 square foot warehouse here in Vegas filled up with product. So that's how kind of it transitioned in a really quick sense of the, I guess, story, in the last 8 years. But anyway.
• 10:52
  So when I would get an order, I would go up after work. like, at the airport, I would go up there and get whatever product was. I'd print a label for it and, like, then I would take it to FedEx or UPS. I can't remember who I was shipping with at the time, but, you know, I'd take it up there and ship the product. So that's kind of how the infancy of, Downhill started.
• 11:17
  Carly Ries: Okay. So what's crazy to me is that you didn't have any experience. And I'm just so interested in your mindset because if somebody would have told me you need inventory, you need a warehouse, you need to learn operations, like, there was just a lot you needed to learn. I feel like a lot of aspiring solopreneurs would run the opposite direction, and you were, like, challenge accepted. Let's do this.
• 11:40
  So what was that mindset? How did you get into that mindset? And was it just that you were so passionate about this business that you were, like, I'll figure it out? Like, I wanna hear this.
• 11:53
  Johnathan Price: There was definitely some, doubt there in first getting started because the easiest thing and this is what I did for a little while, was, the and luckily, these companies allowed me to do this to kind of get the wheels, I guess, get some traction or whatever on, like, what I was doing. But, you probably heard of a lot of people drop shipping products. So, they would allow me to so I started out doing it this way where I wouldn't have to, like, store a bunch of product.
• 12:28
  Because obviously, I didn't have room for it. I was just in my parents' attic. So that was, and stuff, car audio, like, subwoofers, amplifiers. These things take up a ton of space. Like, this is big boxes of product.
• 12:42
  It's not like people selling, I don't know, phone cases or something that's very small. It's like, these things are huge. Like, 21 by 21 by 21 boxes. And there's anyway, much of space it takes up. So I placed an order with them, but I told them, like, I don't really know what I'm going to be selling a lot of.
• 13:01
  I don't know, and I don't have a lot of rig to the store stuff, but, I mean, I would like to order some stuff. Can you work with me on drop shipping? And they were like, yeah. We can, do that for you to help you out. So at first, when I would be getting these sales, I would I was just the middleman in drop shipping it.
• 13:17
  So I would get the order, and then I would take the order and I would send it to the company, and then they would ship it directly to the customer. So I did that for a little while and started getting kind of a grasp on what I needed to be selling, because you always have your hotter movers. And, obviously, you wanna stock those things, but you don't wanna stock stuff that you never get a sale for. It just doesn't make sense. You're wasting space.
• 13:41
  So anyway, I kept that going for a little while and, had, started ordering more products that were also from I started branching out into other brands. So I started adding a brand here and there to increase my offering. So that was and then I would have to buy their product too and start stocking a little bit of that. So I quickly outgrew my parents' attic, obviously. And then, I went and got, I think, a 10 by 15 storage unit or something like that when I was still living with my parents.
• 14:15
  So I got that and was putting some product in there. And I had met my girlfriend and now my wife, she, I had met her and I had planned on moving. She was from Vegas, and I had planned on moving to Vegas because, like, she had a daughter and I didn't really have anything tying me to Mississippi. But, I mean, my family lives there, but I didn't have a prior relationship or a kid or anything like that. So the thing that made the most sense would be for me to move to Vegas.
• 14:41
  So I'd already started planning that. And in the meantime, you know, life's always throwing you curve balls in, like so, obviously, I was still working full time at the airport. And that was my, like, bread and wait. Meat potatoes bread and butter or bread and butter, in my income. So I had, like, you know, you want that comfortable source of income while you're trying to figure out what you're doing on the side.
• 15:06
  I ended up getting let go from my job that I had there for 10 years. And so I'm like, oh, jeez. What do I do now? Like, because I didn't have really any money. I think at the time I just had saved up, like, $5,000 and I had taken that money and invested it into other people's products and was trying to get that going.
• 15:26
  But all of my money was tied up in these products that I was bringing to my parents' house and try and in the storage unit. So I didn't have any really cash flow other than a little bit that I was making off of YouTube. It wasn't, if I had to guess, it was maybe $200 a week or something. So it wasn't anything crazy, but it was something that I, it kind of, it definitely helped when you lose your source of main income. Like, you're like, okay.
• 15:51
  Well, this is definitely gonna help. So, anyway, I'd already planned on moving to Las Vegas, and then I get fired and it, just totally disrupts my plan that I had because my plan was to work the rest of the year. After the 1st of the year, I'd use all my vacation to move all my stuff to Vegas, and then I would quit and start my life in Vegas. So, my boss had gotten wind of that and, I guess he didn't like the plan, so he ended up letting me go for that. But anyway, so which I was devastated at first, but obviously looking back at it now, it ended up being a blessing in disguise.
• 16:28
  It didn't become apparent to me that it was a blessing in disguise until probably a year or 2 later because I went, so I took everything that I had to move out to Vegas. And when I moved to Vegas, since I had been working at an airport for 10 years, we're catering to these private airplanes. I'm like, oh, I'll go to all the these places are called FBOs. The places that private planes go into, they're known as fixed based operations. So FBOs.
• 16:57
  So I'm like, I'll just go to all the FBOs in the Vegas area and apply there, and I'll get a job doing what I was doing. They don't need to train me or anything. I've been doing this for 10 years. So I was pretty cocky in knowing I would get hired because I'm, like, who would be a better fit? I already know everything.
• 17:15
  So, anyway, I went to Platt everywhere, and I moved out to Vegas, after I moved out to Vegas. And I had moved my product out there, and it was in my, well, girlfriend at the time. I was just calling my wife. It was in my wife's, carport, And that was all the inventory that I had. It, it wasn't a much, as much as obviously I have now, but anyway, that's where all the stuff was stored and it was really, really slow. I may have been getting a sale every 2 weeks, like for something. And this could be a $50 speaker or, like, it it it wasn't enough to be sustainable. So it will I went into my mindset in that time was I started feeling really, kinda like a bum, like a loser because I was living with my, my girlfriend at the time and I wasn't making any money, you know, guys are, pressured into well, not pressured, but it's known that guys are supposed to be the providers, the rock of the family. Like, you you're supposed to be this role. And I'm sitting there.
• 18:24
  She's leaving to go to work every morning. I'm sitting here in the house. She's paying for I'm not providing anything. So it started, messing with me mentally and emotionally because I just felt worthless. I just, I wasn't providing anything.
• 18:39
  And I'm like, what is my purpose, here on this earth? like, I'm not providing anything. So, and I kept thinking these people were gonna call me eventually. Like somebody at one of these airports is gonna call me because I'm the perfect fit. A week went by, weeks went by, months went by.
• 18:59
  Nobody ever called me, and I'm like, what is wrong with me? Like, am I not as good as I thought I was? am I not as good as I thought I was going to be or or whatever? Because nobody's called me, and I would call them back. And there there would always be some excuse on why they didn't need me, and it just didn't make sense to me.
• 19:18
  And, obviously, the longer I'm sitting here at her house, not making any income is not good on me mentally or physically or anything like that. So, anyway, one day somebody ordered something from me and I decided to make, I either took a picture or made a video of it, like, signing their invoice. Like, thank you, Jonathan. And I I really appreciate your business. And I took a picture of or I think it was a video.
• 19:46
  I took a video of me doing their order, basically, like, personally thanking them for their business and then, packing their stuff up. And I posted it, and somebody commented on there, like, you sell car audio. I'm like, yeah, I sell car audio. They're like, oh, I had no idea. Oh, I need this.
• 20:02
  And I'm like, oh, cool. I have that. I can do that. So it started out, like, with that post. So I'm like, oh, let me try that again.
• 20:11
  So that person, I signed theirs. I made a video of it, and I posted it. And I just kept doing that over and over, and it just every time I did that, it was basically casting a stone into the ocean and making these little waves. And that is how and I still do it to this day while I just got finished signing them. Even now us doing, we have over I think we just went through a 130,000 customers.
• 20:36
  I'm still if I'm in town, I still handwrite personal thank yous on people's invoices that people keep them. Like, there's people with 20 of them posted on their wall. They'll send me pictures of them. Like, man, I've been buying from you for all these years, and this is the reason why I still go with you is I mean, you're a great guy, but you still care about your customers. You personally thank me every time I place an order with you.
• 20:57
  So anyway, that's kinda how the ball got started in, gaining a decent amount of traction on getting people's attention.
• 21:06
  Carly Ries: JP, you say I mean, this story is just so fascinating to you because right now what what people may not realize listening is you have over 700,000 followers on social media now. You are an influencer, my friend, whether or not you like that title or not. So how do you go from writing these personal thank you notes? I mean, you just said did you say a 130,000, yeah, customers? How do you go from writing thank you notes to being this car audio sensation at this point.
• 21:39
  Like, everybody knows who you are. That's a big leap. did you do promotions or was it all organic?
• 21:48
  Johnathan Price: And that's the biggest thing. Most of our stuff that we've done has been organic. okay. I was just checking real quick.
• 21:56
  We have a 134,218 customers and 201,000 orders we just passed through. So that's the stats currently on the business of, like, what we've grown. So those 201,000 orders, I've probably signed 75% of those. Like, that's a lot but anyway, so when you find something that works or you think it works, like I thought that works. I'm like, oh, you just try it again.
• 22:26
  Let's see. Did it do you get the same result or do you need to change something? So I just noticed I kept getting about the same result, which was getting people's attention. So, and the same thing with the followers, it started out really small, but I just stayed true to what I was doing and what I started the, the pages, or the, whichever social media platform it was, I just kept doing the same thing, but every now and then I would like put some sort of sale thing in there to get people's attention on, like, hey, I also sell stuff. But I'd gotten to where, obviously, down for sales revenue was far surpassing anything else that I was doing social media naturally putting all of my efforts into growing down for sound and getting more business, getting more sales and everything like that.
• 23:18
  And I'm like, oh, well, I know if I made posts about like, signing these people's invoices or these products that it would get people's attention and they would buy something. So I started doing that too much, and it turned into like, my channel turned into more of just product promotions and talking about sales and everything like that, which turned a lot of people off. So my subscriber rate started going down. My view rate started going down. So I had to and I still haven't fully, recovered from doing that, but it was so that was a learning lesson for me.
• 23:56
  Like, okay, wait, what people started following my page for was car show content, like, going to these car shows and seeing cool vehicles or or whatever it was. So that's what people were there and subscribing to me primarily for. They weren't there to be sold. So when I started getting more or too heavy on the sales side, it started turning people off and, like, people started unsubscribing and even new subscribers, the rate started going down and everything like that. So that was a very valuable lesson that I learned in that.
• 24:30
  If you have something that you've grown organically, be careful with sprinkling in sales stuff because you can easily turn people off. Most people wanna be supportive of you, but they don't want you cramming sales stuff down their throat all the time. Because anytime you go on social media now, you're already bomb bombarded with a 1,000 ads a day anyway. So people will just click off of the stuff and they'll their mind will change to, like, get this dude away from me. Because all he always trying to do is sell me stuff.
• 24:58
  So anyway, that's, that was a very valuable lesson that I learned, later on in my career. But when I was first getting started, I just kept doing the same thing. I wasn't promoting sales that much. So my growth of, my audience continued to grow at a pretty rapid rate.
• 25:16
  Joe Rando: It's so funny. You started out being afraid of selling, and then you wound up going too far into it. And now you're coming back into the sweet spot, which is, you know, some people say, what, 4 to 1? So, you know, 4 pieces of valuable or interesting or, you know, non salesy content and then one ask. I don't know.
• 25:34
  I think people have different formulas,
• 25:36
  Johnathan Price: It is different for everybody as well. Like, you what you just have to test it and see what what works for you and and your, niche that you're in. Because it could be different for everybody. But it's all about testing and seeing what works, for you. So
• 25:53
  Carly Ries: Well, so for your structure, do you have like, do you post, like, every Tuesday, Thursday, every like, do you have a set schedule now or is it, like, when an idea comes to you post it and that and has that ebbed and flowed over times?
• 26:08
  Johnathan Price: I don't have any set scheduling for well, now I've I've hired a vigor videographer that shoots my videos for me. Like, I take you with me to shows and stuff like that. And he shoots all the stuff and edits it and uploads it. So, we don't have certain times, but I think we're estimating 4 videos a week for our YouTube channel. So we'd like but that's just on YouTube, and we're we're also, like, on Instagram and TikTok and Facebook and all this.
• 26:37
  So, I post there's no scheduled programming for these other ones, or I guess any of them, but we try to stay as active as possible because I think, like, if you're out of sight and you're out of mind type of thing. But, I more so manage my personal page and my the life of price page on Instagram, where, most of that stuff is just, like, my daily whatever. You might see me getting in an ice bath. You might see me playing my dog. You might see me walking through the warehouse. it's just my life and me sharing it. I've always been really transparent about my journey. So and that's motivated and inspired a ton of people, but it is also brought out some haters, like, because they, they think you're bragging about whatever. But I'm like, I posted the same thing when I made, my first $50 sale. Like, and every time since then, it just grew over time.
• 27:37
  So don't say it's all about the money or anything like that because I've been sharing my story but I didn't have anything or or get any sales. I was trying to figure out how I would do this. So, but the I would say the majority of people find it motivating and inspiring. Like, usually at the end of the month or whatever, I'll post, like, if we're up or down or whatever. Like, last month, I had a goal for $2,000,000 and we did, 2,000,000 and, like, 30,000 or something like that.
• 28:09
  So I'm super excited, with my great team and all of my awesome supporters and customers. I was able to reach my goal of doing $2,000,000 in sales last month. And, 99% of people, that's awesome, man. Super inspirational. And then you always have somebody that's like, oh, you're just bragging, man. this is bad to flex on people like that. I'm like, I'm just sharing my journey, man. If if you don't like this, just block me. It's not the place for you. I'll just share my journey.
• 28:38
  Joe Rando: You could give away $100 bills, and you'd find haters.
• 28:43
  Johnathan Price: I could Cure for cancer, and people would say I only did it for the money.
• 28:50
  Carly Ries: It's so wild. But I will say, one of the things I really like about you, and I know this is our first time meeting, is you are just your authentic self. And I feel like that is another reason, another, way they've gone to the success you have is just you're just you. So it's funny that we're talking about these haters because I have known you what now for 28 minutes, and I'm like, man, I feel like I've known him forever because you're just so genuine. So I think that's a big thing for solopreneurs too.
• 29:19
  It's just to stay true to who you are. Right. And speaking of solopreneurs, so I'm curious at one point you realized you couldn't do this alone. You had to bring back up in.
• 29:30
  Did you figure that out in advance of when you needed it, or was it like you're working around the clock and now you're screwed and need a team?
• 29:40
  Johnathan Price: Yeah. That was one one of the most, costly lessons for me in my career of being a business owner was like so when I moved out here, I didn't have anything or anybody. Like, I didn't know anybody out here besides my wife, or she was my girlfriend at the time. So I didn't know anybody. I was just moving out to this place that I'd never been before or over anything like that.
• 30:04
  So, I mean, I've been here, but not never lived here or known anybody. So, that really that also was good in a way because it it really puts your back against the wall on figuring things out and trying to, like you're like, I don't have I can't run back to my parents or I can't call somebody I know to come help me with something. Like, you just have to figure it out. So, when I, like, it was a really slow start in in getting that going, and it required all of my time. And and one of my, like, I mean, I was easily working 100 hour work weeks when, so when I was shipping everything out of my, my girlfriend's, house, and then it grew to like, okay, it's getting busier and busier, but I still had plenty of family time at that time because I was, I don't know, I had 5 or 10 orders a week, so that didn't consume a lot of time.
• 30:55
  But as it continued to grow and I got more product in, I'm like, okay, I need to start looking for a place to store all this stuff. So I went and got, I think it was like 2 10 by 20 storage units, like, right down the road from, her house. I'm like, okay. Whenever I get some orders, I'll go down there and grab them and bring them back here, pack them, and drop them off to ship them. Again, each step and stage along the way is, like, me figuring these things out on because anytime prior to that, you just don't know.
• 31:24
  And then you're like, okay. Let me try this way and see how that goes. So whereas now, I would never do it that way. I know it was a, necessary step in the way into what I've grown to today. But anyway, so I had 2 10 by 20 storage units, and I was doing it that way for a little while, but I was I found myself running back and forth, back and forth.
• 31:45
  Even though it was just a mile away, it was time consuming to go back and forth. So I'm like, okay. I need to really find, like, a little place to actually have a a warehouse or a business. And I was talking to some of the company owners that I was selling their product for, and I'm like, oh, I'm thinking about, I don't know, a 1000 square feet or something like that. That would be a lot more than the storage unit.
• 32:06
  Say, give me a little office. They're like, man, I've, I've seen how fast you're growing and, and you're I would definitely buy more than you think you need. You're gonna outgrow it fast. And I'm like, oh, these, these guys, like, you know, they're, they're just trying to hype me up or whatever. So prior to that, before I moved and before I got fired, there was a guy that I was selling his products for.
• 32:30
  And, he I was actually trying to get a sponsorship from him, and he told me he he was a mentor of mine for a long time. Then I'm still I'm still selling his products, and we're still friends, but we're more of I don't know. We we almost know everything each other knows, so it's not so much that he can help me with anymore. We still bounce ideas back and forth. But, anyway, he I was trying to get a sponsorship from him, and I didn't really even know him at the time.
• 32:55
  And, they told me to call him, and I called him. And I'm like, this guy is I thought he was the owner of this huge company. I didn't know back then that his company was just getting started, but it looked like this huge company online. So, calling him, and he's like he basically said, man, if you, I would be happy to give you some sort of 10 or 20% off sponsorship deal or whatever, but you really need to, like, do your own thing, like do some of your own products or at least get into the sales thing because you probably don't know this, but I've been watching you for the past 6 or 8 years and you outwork anybody I know. And if you work half as hard for yourself that you do as you do for other people, you'll be ultra successful.
• 33:39
  And I'm like, again, this guy is just trying to hype me up. he's trying to sell me, like, whatever. So I'm like, I have these red flag detectors. I'm like, no. Get away from me.
• 33:48
  Like, why me? You know? So anyway, and and the but it planted that seed in my head of, like, maybe he's onto something. Maybe I I can turn this into something or do something. So, had talked to him as well when I was looking at getting a warehouse.
• 34:03
  He's like, oh, yeah. You you definitely need more than a 1000 square feet. You need, like, at least get 2 or 3 times that much. And I started looking at some different places, and I'm like, man, it's basically a dollar a square foot here in Vegas. And I'm like, I'm paying probably a $100 a month for these storage units.
• 34:22
  And then it's gonna go to but I think it ended up in 25 or 27 100 square feet or something like that. So it was almost $3,000 a month, and I'm like, I can't afford this. I don't have any money. The money that I did have was tied up in inventory. So I hate using the saying being inventory rich, but cash poor because I wasn't rich by any means.
• 34:44
  But all of the money that I did have was tied up in inventory. So cash wise, like, I may have had $500 in my account, but I may have had $30,000 in product. But when you're trying to get into a, a rent warehouse and you'd only have $500 that they don't care. Like, they're like, you don't have the money for the because, you know, they're gonna make you, pay for 3 months in advance or or whatever. So I'm like, okay.
• 35:11
  Well, the only thing that I can do is the product that I'm selling, like, I won't reorder so much. So I would sell some stuff and instead of reordering more stock, I would just, like, bring my cash up. So anyway, I did that for a little while, and I finally was able to get enough to get into the first warehouse. And that, lasted for, I don't know, a year and a half, something like that. And in that time, I was working by myself.
• 35:40
  I was a solopreneur. I was just doing anything to do with the business I was in charge of. And, the more the business grew, the more space it took up in the, not only in the warehouse, but also space of me. It took up, it was taking up a lot of my time where I was working from 5 o'clock in the morning to 9 o'clock at night, and I was going back home and I'd go to sleep.
• 36:10
  I want people, I want my wife to be proud of me. I want my parents to be proud of me. So I have to make this thing successful. And, I kept that going and ended up outgrowing that space and moved into my second warehouse, which was, 75 100 square feet. So, which that in itself was a a whole task in itself because
• 36:32
  Joe Rando: Now are you still solo at this point?
• 36:34
  Johnathan Price: Yes. So still solo at this point. Yeah. but I'm starting to, I'm obviously feeling like, okay.
• 36:43
  I need to get some help, but trusting people to do the stuff that you need them to do and everything like that. I had, like, a a big problem with that. Like, my initial thought was, like, oh, I can do everything myself. I won't make any mistakes. I can, make a few $1,000,000 or a $1,000,000, and I can retire, and I'll be done with this thing.
• 37:02
  Like, that's what I thought was the the dream goal or whatever. Because I was programmed this from social media over the years. Like, oh, you can be, like, you can retire when you're young and, like and with a $1,000,000 or whatever. And you like, I thought it was, like, oh, this is a ton of money. Like, because I'd never seen it before.
• 37:21
  So anyway, I'm just sacrificing everything to keep growing the company. And as I moved to the second warehouse, which it took forever to, get into this was a pretty cool story, because it was another learning lesson for me. So I'll share it with you really quick. So I found this place and, I called the realtor. I'm like, hey.
• 37:45
  I'd like to check this place out. He's like, okay. So I go and I'm, like, going there, like, oh, man. This is definitely the next step. I it just felt right.
• 37:52
  It looked right. I'm like, yes, I would love for this to be it. But on the inside, like, can I afford this? What what is what does this look like? And, I had a lot of doubt in me that I could actually afford this place because it was 75 100 square feet.
• 38:07
  So, I'm like, okay. I'll let you know. And a couple days go by, and I'm calling, like, hey. Can I look at that place again? I probably did that 5 or 6 times, like, going back and looking at it, walking through it, touching it, feeling it, smelling it, like, trying to make sure this was, like, the next step that I wanted to do.
• 38:23
  And I'm like, okay. A 100%. This is what I wanna do. And I'm like, how much is it? And he said, it was $8,000 a month.
• 38:30
  I'm like, oh, man. Like, this is, like, crazy because you're going from $3,000 a month again to $8,000 a month. So it was a big step up in, price for your rent. So I'm like, okay. Well, this definitely the next step I need to do so.
• 38:45
  Let me know what I need to do. And he said, oh, just get your accountant to send me over your, financials and everything. We'll look at them, and then we'll get the ball rolling. I'm like, okay. Cool.
• 38:53
  So, in this time, like, again, like, this is when my dad always told me to save for a rainy day. You never know when the rainy day is going to come. And so, when I noticed the hardship that I went through in getting it to the 1st place when I really wanted to get into it, but I couldn't because I didn't have any cash. Like, it was all tied up in product. So I'm like, okay, like, as over the year or whatever, and I was selling stuff, stuff, I'm like, okay.
• 39:18
  I was putting a little bit away, putting a little bit away, like, just in a rainy day fund, basically. So anyway, we send over the financials to the guy. And before I send him that, he was if I text him, he would text me back within 10 minutes. So I called him. He would call me back within 10 minutes.
• 39:34
  He was just just on it. And I'm like, oh, this guy's good. So, anyway, I send it over. He's like, hey. I got it.
• 39:40
  I'll get with my team, and I think it was on a Thursday. He's like, I'll get back with you to, tomorrow and, we'll get the ball run. Like, okay, cool. Friday comes, no call, no text.
• 39:51
  I'm like, oh, okay. Well, maybe go over the weekend or whatever. Monday comes, no call, no text. Like, that's weird. Tuesday, I'll give him another day.
• 40:00
  Tuesday, I text him, like, hey, just making sure, like, everything's good. No call, no text. Totally ghosted me. Like, I called this guy and text him every day for, like, a couple of weeks. I'm like, did he die? what happened to this dude? I was genuinely curious if something happened to it because, again, he was responded to me instantly for weeks, and then he just fell off the face of the earth. So, anyway, I went back to the since I couldn't get a response, I went back to the, building, and I noticed that he was, like like, working for a company. Like, it's a huge realty company here in, Vegas called CBRE Realty. And, I'm like, well, I'll just Google the main number and I'll call the main place on.
• 40:44
  So I call and the lady's like, can I help you? And I said, yeah, But even a funnier thing is I remember this dude's name, like yesterday. his name is Jake Higgins. But it's just stuck in my head because it was such an event for me for this to happen. So, anyway, I'm like, hey.
• 41:05
  I've been dealing with, Jay Higgins, but, I sent him over the stuff he asked for, and I just can't get a response from his. Is he okay? like, does he still work there? And she's like, yeah, I saw him this morning. And I'm like, can you see what's going on?
• 41:17
  So anyway, she puts me on hold. She comes back and she's like, sorry to tell you this. And he definitely should have responded to you, but, they came to the conclusion that you just can't afford this place. And I'm like, man, like, what a punch in the gut, you know, like I had all this great feeling about this being the next step. And, I'm well, surely, there's gotta be something that you can do or something.
• 41:43
  Can you ask them if there's any way that you can, get the get me into this place or whatever? So she said, give me a minute. She put me on hold. It would seem like an eternity. It may have been, like, a minute, but it seemed like an hour went by.
• 41:55
  And I was sitting there waiting. She comes back and she's like, the only thing that they could come up with and like, we've never done this before, but since you're not qualified for this space is, you'd have to pay a year's rent in advance and, like, a year's rent in advance. So she said, yes. So it'd be, I don't know, $96,000 or something like that. I'm like, oh my gosh. so I said, can you give me a minute? She said, yeah. And so she thought I was gonna say, no, that's crazy or whatever. So I go and I log into my bank account. I have, like, $96,500 in there.
• 42:28
  And I'm like, so I get back on the phone. I'm like, are you still there? She said, yeah. I'm like, would you like that in cash or a check? Dead silence, like dead silence on the other end of the phone.
• 42:41
  And I'm like, hello? And she said, yeah, I'm here. I'm like, did you hear where you cash her a check? And she said, yeah, I just can't believe I heard that I'm I've been working here for 20 something years that I've never seen this type of a deal come across. And I never thought the person would say, yes, I'll do that.
• 42:59
  So I went down to the bank, and I'm like, well, tell me when I can come there and get the keys. And she was like, oh, if you wanna come by at lunch, I'm like, okay. I'll see you. So I went to the bank and, my I'm I'm like, hey, I would like to get a cashier's check for 98 thou or $96,000 or whatever it was. And the bank is like, are you getting scammed?
• 43:15
  Like, because I'm pointing out everything that I have, like, to down to $500 And so they're like, are you sure you wanna do this? Like, is somebody trying to scam you? Is so like, they thought somebody was trying to take advantage of me or when I'm like, no, it's for my business. I need to get into this other place. They're like, okay.
• 43:30
  As long as you're a 100% sure. I'm like, well, I'm not a 100% sure, but I'm pretty confident this is the direction I need to go. So, anyway, I get the check, and I go down there to their main, facility, which is right by the, the Vegas strip and, like, go into the bottom and, like, push, like, their, they tell me that their thing is on the top floor of this building or whatever. So I go in there. It's like a movie.
• 43:54
  And this is why I can remember it like it was yesterday because I go through there and, like like, I dress normal. I wear a down for sale t shirt and some Walmart shorts. Like, I'm just this regular dude. I'm not, like, over the top or anything. So I walk in there, and I'm like, hey.
• 44:10
  I'm here to talk with I can't remember what her name was, but and she's like, yeah. That's me. And I'm like, oh, Jonathan, and I'm here to give you the check. She's like, oh, come in here. And I go into this conference room and, like, open the door.
• 44:20
  There's a conference table, and there was probably 50 chairs in there. And it's she's like, oh, come down here. It's just me and her at the end. Like, but the room is huge and it has, like, this panoramic view of the Las Vegas strip. I'm like, why does this seem like a movie to me?
• 44:34
  It's like this this crazy event. So anyway, I go over there. She's like, sign here and here, and I gave her the check, and she's like, I still can't believe this is happening. Like, this is so crazy. I was like, yeah.
• 44:45
  Me too. But I got work to do. So, like, can we sign this stuff? But it like, so I signed it, got the keys and I was gone. So if I wouldn't, like, like, if I wouldn't have always lived behind my means or learned from that first lesson, I would, I wouldn't have had that money, and I wouldn't have been able to make that next step.
• 45:00
  So it was, it was a pivotal moment for me to get into that next building. And fast forward really quick into moving into the warehouse I'm in now, it's 30,000 square feet. So obviously, I've been practicing the same thing, keep putting money away, keep putting money away. And, I found this place, and I'm like, I already know they're gonna hit me with something. So I'm like, I'm ready.
• 45:23
  And the total, like, a total game changer happened. So they got my financials. They went through my payment history with the other people and everything like that. And, they're like, if you sign a it was either 4 or 5 year lease. We'll give you one free month of rent per year.
• 45:43
  We'll give you 3 months on the front side to move in, and, you only have to pay a month of rent in advance. And I'm like, what? what did you just say? Did this really just happen? Like, because, the prior two times, I got basically hit over the head on my rent situation.
• 46:00
  But this time, they're basically, like, please come. Like, we we would love to have you as a tenant. So it was a really cool experience into this warehouse to get all those things on the the freebie side. Sorry. I went off on a tangent there.
• 46:13
  I know we were talking about, like, cellophaneur and everything and how we balance that, but the what I'd learned from, like, getting into the 2nd place, after I got into that, I knew I had to work, like, more than I ever had to be able to afford this place. So I was working again 5 AM to 9 PM every day. There was days. So, we have split custody of our daughter, Alyssa. So I would go home.
• 46:42
  There would be she would be at our house for, say, 4 days. And sometimes, I would not see her for the entire time that she was there because when I woke up in the morning, she was asleep. When I came home in the afternoon at night, she was asleep. And I'm like, I don't need to wake her up. She has to go to school or whatever.
• 46:58
  So anyway, I just kept doing this. And, over the time of that happening, obviously, I'm not being present in my relationship either with my, girlfriend. And that turns that's not good. Like you, I'm not present with, my daughter. I'm not present with my, girlfriend at the time.
• 47:17
  So it's a losing combination, but I was so I had so much tunnel vision on, like, I have to be successful. I wanna be able to provide these people or these people like my daughter with like a life I've never had my girlfriend with a life she's never had. Like, I wanna, like, get all these things, but I didn't know until, like, a very long time later that they're, like, people have different love languages. Don't know if you've read that book, but there's, 6 or 7 different love languages. Hers and my daughter's is quality time.
• 47:50
  But I thought because I was bringing her flowers every now and then or bringing Alyssa a toy or something like that, that I was buying their love and and getting a pass. And I wasn't. Like, it wasn't good. So anyway, I come home. I think I had 1 or 2 helpers.
• 48:10
  They weren't full time, but I was starting trying to figure that out. But I wasn't in any hurry to do so because I'm still, like, I need to run this thing. I need to do everything myself. Until I went home one night and, I was eating the fast food. Like, I was eating junk.
• 48:27
  I wasn't working out. Like, I'm sure almost every entrepreneur goes through this stage of, like, you kind of losing yourself in your journey to like what you think is successful maybe or or what you need to be to be successful. So that was me. I was, like, gaining a lot of weight. Like, I just had lost myself, like, with my girlfriend, my health, everything like that.
• 48:55
  So, anyway, I come home. I have, I don't know, a Big Mac and drink and some fries or whatever. I was sitting there at the, island eating the food, right before I was gonna go to bed. And, Jess comes downstairs, and she's like, can we have a talk? And I'm like, sure. about what? And, she was like, what are we doing this for? And I'm like, what do you mean? Like, what are we doing this for? She's like, me and you, I don't ever see you.
• 49:25
  Like, we never go anywhere. We never do anything. And it, like, it hit me, like, a ton of breaks. Like, it it makes me, like, really emotional because I remember it being such a like, your initial thing is you wanna be defensive because you're like, I'm trying to provide for everybody. I want you to have this and this and this.
• 49:46
  And, like, that's when I figured out, like, they don't care about the things. Like, they want the time. And so that's when, like, I'm like, okay. Like, I don't need to be defensive. I need to be understanding of this.
• 50:02
  And, if I'm going to, become better from this, like, I need to digest it and make a change. So that I I told her that night that I would make a concerted effort into being a better, like, boyfriend to her and, stepdad in the future to Alyssa and everything like that. So I'm like, I can't promise that it'll happen immediately, but, I'll definitely, like, do my best to start getting more help and everything. So, I did. I started getting more help and, I set a date. I started taking Alyssa to school on Wednesdays and Thursdays that every morning, on Wednesdays Thursdays, my office now knows that that's mine and Alyssa's breakfast date mornings. I've taken her to school. So we've been doing that for the past 5 or 6 years. so I committed that time to her and also, I'm like, okay. I'm not working till 9 o'clock at night anymore. I started bringing the times back home. Like I would first started getting off at 8, and then I then I started getting off at 7, and then I started getting off at 6. Now, like, I look at the watch at, like, 4, and I'm like, I need to get out of here. Like so, anyway, I just constantly was bringing back the times on so I could have more time with them at home. So it took basically almost losing them to because she was pretty much over it.
• 51:31
  She never saw me anyway. Alyssa never saw me. And so she was pretty much over it. luckily, she was willing to have the talk with me and, I made the change then, and the rest is kinda history. But if I wouldn't have or if I would've just been defensive, who knows where I would be?
• 51:49
  Like, it could have cost me a lot because they're everything to me. Yeah. And I didn't know at that point how much they were to me. But obviously now I do. And anyway, it was a very valuable lesson for me.
• 52:02
  Carly Ries: It's crazy how success changes over time. At first, it's all monetary, and then it's like, oh, no. Success is having the balance of a successful career and and family time and and workout time and and everything. That's amazing that you came to that conclusion. Oh my gosh, Joe.
• 52:20
  I don't know about you. seriously we need to do a part 2 of this.
• 52:24
  Joe Rando: Because We could. Yeah.
• 52:25
  Carly Ries: I could listen to you talk forever.
• 52:29
  Johnathan Price: I appreciate it. But, yeah, if you wanna do a part 2, I mean, that's fine. We can get back together. I know it can be, this my story is everybody keeps saying I need to write a book because it's so many, I don't know, juicy parts that can be expanded on, like, just lessons that I learned. Each one could probably be an hour. So trying to do a podcast, it's hard to fit it all in in a cliff note type of thing. Because I feel like I'm not being of service like I could be of, like, helping people if I leave out so much of because you're like, oh, yeah. I went from my parents' attic to doing almost $20,000,000 a year in sales. Like, if you just told somebody that, they're like, that's cool, but I need some meat and potatoes to get along with it. You know?
• 53:16
  So, anyway.
• 53:18
  Joe Rando: Well, Jonathan, we've got a bunch of really awesome ghostwriters, solopreneur ghostwriters in the solopreneur community. So if you decide you wanna do that book, you gotta definitely check it out.
• 53:29
  Johnathan Price: Very good.
• 53:29
  Carly Ries: And I'm serious. I wanna do a part 2, at some point because I feel like there are so many questions that I still have that I wanna ask you. But Okay. There would be a potato side. This has just been such an inspirational episode.
• 53:40
  I just so appreciate your vulnerability and and sharing your story because I think I mean, a lot of people look at you and be like, oh, well, that I mean, I can relate to this guy. This is kinda what I strive for. They can learn from your successes. They can learn from your failures of working around the clock. And I just I really appreciate you, and I just want you to know that because you're just so genuine.
• 54:02
  And I think our listeners will really, really benefit from this conversation.
• 54:07
  Johnathan Price: That's awesome. Yeah.
• 54:08
  Joe Rando: Agreed, Thank you.
• 54:09
  Johnathan Price: The kind words and yeah. It's just just me and sharing the story is exactly how it's happened. Like, I don't want sugarcoat it or anything. And every time I tell the story about almost losing my wife and daughter, it makes me really emotional. And, like, sometimes I cry about it because it was such I don't know, an emotional time for me when I went through that because I knew that I almost lost them.
• 54:34
  And I'm like, that's what I was working so hard for, was to provide something to them. And then, you work all that time to only lose them in the process, like, that would have been devastating. So, anyway
• 54:47
  Joe Rando: There have been some movies.
• 54:50
  Yeah. There have been some movies on this topic.
• 54:53
  Carly Ries: So you now have a different definition about success, and we we ask our all of our guests this question. What is your favorite quote about success?
• 55:02
  Johnathan Price: It's definitely, delaying gratification. I say I tell people to live, 2 to 3 years behind their financial wins, because I've seen so many people I guess, the more successful you get, the more you see what people have went through, and you get in a different circle of people where before you could be hanging out with people that are making $50,000 a year. Nothing wrong with that. But when you start hanging out with people that are making 1,000,000 and 1,000,000 of dollars a year and, like, you see how they're operating and stuff like that, whether it's good or bad. So that's what I've found, what hurts most people is they celebrate too quickly.
• 55:45
  So my coined saying that I kinda live by is, live 2 to 3 years behind your financial wins because you never know what can happen and that could that can set you back, like majorly. So that's, what's helped me a ton in getting to where I am is like living, below my means for 2 to 3 years, and then then level up. So, people will see, like, what I'm doing these days. And I'm like, I could have done this 2 or 3 years ago, but, like, I've sacrificed the past 2 or 3 years, and now you're just now seeing this. So, I always make sure we take care of our team, that everybody else is good.
• 56:24
  And, then I kinda come last, but it's always worked out. So I'm cool with that.
• 56:30
  Carly Ries: And shout out to your dad for that initial advice for putting money away.
• 56:34
  Johnathan Price: Absolutely. And the work ethic that he gave me. I can't take that away. Like, he always instilled a unwavering work ethic into me. And where I'm not the smartest person by any means, and I don't wanna be.
• 56:45
  I always wanna be learning. they never gave me any money or anything for my business or anything like that, but what they did give me was that unwavering work ethic that is more valuable to me than any amount of money that I could ever have.
• 57:01
  Joe Rando: That's clear.
• 57:02
  Carly Ries: That's a good place to end the show. If people want to learn more about you, where can they find you?
• 57:07
  Johnathan Price: Yeah. It's Jonathan Price on Facebook. Just how it's spelled. And I also have the Life of Price on Facebook and Instagram. And then on TikTok, it's the life of price.
• 57:20
  Snapchat is jpd4s because somebody took the life of price for some reason. So but, anyway, yeah, several different ones. But if you go to, I think, my Instagram, the life of price, it'll have a link tree there with all the different things there, including the store or whatever. So that's it.
• 57:36
  Carly Ries: Perfect. Well, all of that will be in the show notes. We will definitely drive people your way, and we will be in touch with you for putting a part 2 on the calendar because this has been wonderful. Thank you so so much for coming on the show.
• 57:48
  Johnathan Price: Awesome. It's my pleasure.
• 57:50
  Joe Rando: Thanks, JP.
• 57:51
  Carly Ries: And listeners, thank you for tuning in. As always, we love providing this content for you. And if you want us to continue doing so, please give us that 5 star review, subscribe, all the things you know what to do. We would love to see you back here next time. And until then, have a great week, and we'll all see you for the next episode of the aspiring solopreneur.
• 58:11
  You may be going solo in business, but that doesn't mean you're alone. In fact, millions of people are in your shoes, running a one person business and figuring it out as they go. So why not connect with them and learn from each other's successes and failures? At Lifestarr, we're creating a one person business community where you can go to meet and get advice from other solopreneurs. Be sure to join in on the conversations at community.lifestarr.com.