Most People Don’t Have the Stomach for This

This week, in episode 232, Paul Downs tells Shawn Busse and Jay Goltz why he isn’t sleeping and why he has stopped paying himself. After having his best year ever in 2024, Paul has seen his inquiries fall precipitously. His backlog of work is dwindling, and he’s concluded he needs to take some painful steps. “I'm coming to the realization,” he tells us, “that I need to do something that involves reducing staff.” Paul’s not sure why his business is off, but he suspects it may have something to do with the chaos in Washington. He also tells us that the big marketing initiative he undertook a couple of years ago, when he decided to try to reach a slightly different target market, has yet to pay off the way he’d hoped. But he hasn’t given up on it. Plus: We also address an increasingly common issue for business owners: What do you do when employees come to work high?

Om Podcasten

The 21 Hats Podcast presents an authentic weekly conversation with small business owners who are remarkably willing to share what’s working for them and what isn’t. Unlike many business podcasts, which tend to talk to highly successful entrepreneurs whose struggles are in the past, the 21 Hats Podcast features a rotating cast of business owners who are still very much in the trenches fighting the good fight. Every week, our regulars gather to talk about the kinds of important issues many owners won’t even discuss behind closed doors: whether their businesses are as profitable as they should be, whether they are willing to give up some control to an investor in order to grow faster, why they had to lay off employees, how they wound up with way too much inventory, why they don’t have a succession plan, and even why they are concerned about their own mental health. Visit 21hats.com to hear all of our podcast episodes, read episode transcripts, and learn more. The show is produced by Jess Thoubboron, founder of Blank Word.