Call Paul

Season 2 - Call Paul - Trailer

Music Intro: Gentle Sun

Paul: Hi - My name is Paul Jarvis. I've run my own small company for 21 years and I’ve written books on how bigger isn’t always better in business. And I host this podcast, Call Paul. In this season we’re doing something new--we’re running small business spotlights, which are audio diaries from small businesses that we want to help support. In between we’ll be calling up some smart folks I know to chat about the human side of business -- something I think a lot about. I also think a lot about rats -- to be clear, this podcast isn’t about rats. But I really want to talk about them for a minute.

I’ve always loved rats. Pet rats, rat tattoos, I even had a bright pink rat logo for one of my companies. But, how does that relate to this podcast that you’re listening to right now? Well, most people don’t like rats, but the ones that do, like me, are pretty passionate about them. And I’ve felt that in order for your business to succeed and to support you, you’ve got to find your “rat people”. Because not everyone will care about the work you do.

But those people who appreciate, find value in, and feel a connection to your work—those are your most important people, your rat people. Not literally, the people who like rats (unless you’re me), but the people who should get your attention because they’re the ones you’re serving with the work you’re doing. And that’s what business is, right? Serving others.

Chad Jones: From a place of leadership, you have to start with service. And in order to be the best service provider, you actually have to serve the customer, and you need to understand the customer to serve the customer.

Paul: This show is an invitation to listeners who are starting or sustaining businesses, looking to learn from others who are making things work. And while there are lots of ways to run a company, there are definitely themes that kept coming up…like how to put integrity and transparency front and centre:

Connie Matisse: It was so interesting when we had that idea to start posting our financials like that. I thought it seemed like a good idea and everyone was just like, no, absolutely not, you cannot do that. No, that's murder/suicide, that's a terrible idea. And nobody had a good reason at all, like nobody had a single reason. And I was like, literally no one can tell me why people aren't doing this.

Paul: Another theme that kept coming up was that persistence is half the battle

Ani Sanyal: We went through a very kind of iterative, step-by-step process. I mean, my brother woke up at 7:00 AM for 16 weeks in a row to make it to the Farmers Market, rain, hail or shine in Jersey City. And you go from having five sales a day to 15 sales a day, and you figure out, what did that? What was the reason? Was it the oat milk variation that we introduced? Was it the weather? Was it the fact that we changed our sign?

Paul: And most importantly, Being True to yourself

Austin Kleon: So for me, it's about keeping the name clean in a sense. Trying to have that long-term approach to think that the name will mean something over time. Reputation is a big thing. You know, just to not be seduced by the short-term gain. To play a long game, to assume that you'll be around for a while.

Paul: If all of that sounds like you -- you want to create sustainable things you’d like to see in the world -- well then the guests you’ll hear from might just be your people. Welcome. I’m Paul Jarvis, and this is Call Paul, a Mailchimp Original podcast. Subscribe and listen wherever you get your podcasts.