He Lost It All… Then Built It Back Through Relationships | Shawn Finnegan

[00:00.174] - [Jet Bunditwong]
Welcome to The Personal Side of Business.

[00:17.218] - [Jet Bunditwong]
Hi and welcome to The Personal Side of Business where every business has a story. I'm your host, Jet Bunditwong. Today my guest is Shawn Finnegan. He is a true entrepreneur, multiple businesses. He's a co-founder of TaxHive, helping small businesses save money with tax strategies. And he's also the creator of the X Room, bringing communities of entrepreneurs together to go beyond just business. Welcome to the podcast, Thank you so much. Yeah, you're welcome. Thank you for being here. So I want to know your story. How did we get up to this point?

[00:46.584] - [Shawn Finnegan]
Yeah, I started my first business 2009. It came from a father who was a bookstore manager. So I didn't come from any money. I decided that year, 2009, which was a recession, to start my own business, I wish I wouldn't have. Hindsight was like 2020. But I went through this optimistic time where I was going to do a live event, which is basically live events business.

And so I know I needed to raise money. I didn't have money in my account. I come from a father who was a bookstore manager. So I raised money for the first time in my life. And I met with about 70 investors. And I raised $1.5 million from 23 investors. So it was my first business I launched. And that was right in 2008, 2009.

[01:29.838] - [Jet Bunditwong]
which was a rough time. What did you learn from that rough time? It's, you know, and I ask this because there's some people that I've met that open businesses are in COVID that are better for it. What was it that you felt like made you stronger because of that time that you started business?

[01:32.075] - [Shawn Finnegan]
No.

[01:49.294] - [Shawn Finnegan]
So I launched the business and we're partners, TaxHive's partners with Kevin O'Leary, the Shark Tank guy. And one of his quotes is, in business, poo poo happens. And for me, poo poo happened over the next 12 months where I made about every mistake you can possibly make. Sales marketing, you name it. And I started hemorrhaging and blowing through the 1.5. And then I had all this pressure, you know, because I got down to our

From 1.5, I had about $2,500 in the bank over 12 months. I made, like my first event I did was a live event with David Bach. I paid him 70 grand. All my direct mail got hit by a hurricane. So I had 30 people in the room, 500 chairs. And here I am, this high-flying CEO with a big ego standing up there as a promoter. And I see him coming out of the corner of my eye just like, this is, so that event itself probably lost me 200 grand.

Right, so I made these multiple mistakes and finally the rock bottom was at 2,500 bucks and my payroll was due on Friday. This was a Thursday night because I had payroll due the next day and payroll was 3,500 and I didn't have 1,000 bucks on the world. So I didn't sleep that night because now it's like what about the people I had faith and confidence in me in the office and that were relying on me to put food on their table and what about my friends and family? It's like all those pounds per square inch pressure. My family.

the embarrassment of your neighbors, your family, and then what about 23 people that gave me their hard earned cash? So I had all of this going through my mind. It was a really miserable time in my life and I felt just horrible. So I didn't have a thousand bucks in the world. I'm praying for a miracle. Miracle doesn't come the next morning. I go to lunch just trying to figure out if I turned over every rock and where can I find another thousand bucks? And I get a call from my controller and she'd say, hey Shawn, I found three grand of petty cash in the safe. What do want me to do with it?

And I was like, well, I want you to hang on to that money. And I drove my car back, picked up the cash, went to the bank and that's cleared. Obviously, cash is king. It cleared instantly. And I was able to make payroll and I cut physical checks for every member of my team. I went back to the office and I sat there in my office that day and I made a list on my board of all of the mistakes and the failures I'd made over the last 12 months. And I started rank ordering them. And the number one by far was I just stopped building relationships and business over the last 12 months.

[04:13.814] - [Shawn Finnegan]
And I probably had multiple opportunities to do affiliate deals, partnerships, everything else, but maybe out of pride ego, I was the high flying CEO that I just like, no, I got all this figured out that I didn't do that. And I was like, why didn't I do that? had, I used to be a good relationship builder and I just stopped. And that was my biggest mistake. And so I reached out to my network.

And I had two guys that I ultimately partnered with. And then I saw how businesses actually built. They brought in their relationships. And they were like, this guy over here has an incredible call center. Let's work with him. Let's work with him. And all of a sudden, this empire starts building around me. And I was able to go on a run after that, where I was able to pay back the 1.5 plus interest to all of the investors. And I took the business back. But it was only because of that. So a lot of people know me as a network community builder. And it's like, I vowed that day, literally on that Friday, that I was going to start

building relationships and haven't stopped since 2010.

[05:08.556] - [Jet Bunditwong]
Yeah, I mean, it's almost like you had a traumatic moment and you're like, I'm gonna rescue other people from this. You don't wanna go. I have a question for you. as you're telling the story, I'm trying to put myself in your position on that Monday and just like, it must have been like this, come to Jesus moment that you're like, this is where.

[05:16.268] - [Shawn Finnegan]
You don't want to go through that. Yeah, yeah

[05:34.166] - [Jet Bunditwong]
I have to really switch everything out and become a different person too. Even though you might have learned that you have to build those relationships and be able to strengthen them over time, not forget about them, you probably were like, where have I been? What were some of the changes that you made that you saw that you needed to change for yourself?

[05:48.782] - [Shawn Finnegan]
100 %

[05:53.518] - [Shawn Finnegan]
Yeah, so 100 % right. knew that in order for me to do that, things had to change, not as in a week or two weeks because I had payroll due the next Friday. was like, how do I, you know, so this pain. So the problem is I had a failing business, but the pain was so much deeper that that created change in me. Right. The pain was like, I don't want to go back to that pain of even last Thursday night. I want to do something now so I don't have to face that myself again and for other people as well.

But what I did is I said, well, I'm going to come up with my system on how to do this. How do I actually get these relationships in here? And I started doing practices that really transformed my whole business and everything else. Number one, I started reaching out to contacts and I ask people all the time, how many people are in that phone that are seeds planted using your own contacts? How do you do that? Started creating a community myself, started focusing on getting referrals. And that's what brought in millions of dollars.

from those three things.

[06:51.826] - [Jet Bunditwong]
And you know, I thought about this on a drive over here and was like thinking about that happens. think when people forget about their community network and relationships because they're so into that moment of running a business, right? You're stressed out. Yes. Every day. You're just like, I it's about the bottom line. Dollars. How do I do that? And you're like, well, those people are the ones that help you make that money. Yes. You got to forget about that. Right. Yeah. And I I've had this I've, you know, had people

[07:17.464] - [Shawn Finnegan]
percent.

[07:21.406] - [Jet Bunditwong]
come to me, I've been really strongly networking for about seven years and when I meet people they're like.

what is to pay off for this? And I'm just going, you don't think about that. You spend your first 12 months, 16 months putting your nose down and meeting people and trying to help them so that one day they're like, I love this guy or this woman. I want to help them. I want to give back to them. The reciprocity, I think, is really important in that situation. What are some of your techniques, I think, for networking and building relationships?

[07:53.708] - [Shawn Finnegan]
Yeah, so in so I do a lot of live events. I probably do. I attend or promote my own every single week. So I think there's best practices and there's bad practices in a live event, for instance. So I sat by a live event several months ago just to see how people showed up in the room. And what I found is they came in a block of ice and they entered the room as a block of ice and they left the event as a block of ice. They never actually broke ice.

And most of the people came in looking at their phone like this, because that's comfortable for them. So for me, it's like how you show up is everything. So I set a true intention. You can set up micro intentions every hour if you want. But my intention, whenever I go into a live event, I set it before. I take a pause moment and I think about what do I want to feel on the other side of this room, this door. And I set a strong intention and then I go into that room and I make the person who's my best self an engagement and

meeting people and relationship building, I make them in charge of that hour. And I go right to the center of the room. I don't go hide in the corner. I go right up to a promoter like you, Jett. I'd be like, hey, great to meet you. And I'm standing in the center of the room, both feet fully planted. And then for me, it's the follow through is where it is, right? Riches are made in the follow through. So I always try to leave there with three to five, six, seven appointments that are actually set in stone. And I set them in person. I don't wait.

So I'm like, so my pitch is, Jet, based on what you're doing and what I'm doing, I'd love to follow up on a conversation. Let's grab lunch on Tuesday. How's your schedule? And then I send you an invite immediately because it's awkward when you get home. He's like, Jet, hey, I saw you at that thing. And you're like, what thing was that? You're like, OK, I it's So I leave there. I have five or six appointments. I've done so much business because of that.

[09:37.858] - [Jet Bunditwong]
things yes

[09:44.664] - [Jet Bunditwong]
Wow, do you, okay, have this one, it's sort of a rule that I walk into, right? When I meet someone, I try to get two pieces of personal information from them and share one thing. It's something I came up with just so that I can work on it. And you know, because people, they start shaking your hands and going through the business, it's really about business. For me, I wanna know that I can...

work with someone, right? Refer them good business, I trust them. I think I've had people in my life that have given me their cards and I learn they're actually not good people that they, you know, I don't know, they start drama with other people, it's not easy to work with. So I think that's just a rule for me. there any things, any red flags or green flags that you like that you're like, this is a really good person to be, or you're like, this is not really the person.

[10:35.448] - [Shawn Finnegan]
What did you say you get two pieces of information?

[10:37.344] - [Jet Bunditwong]
Yeah, I try to get two pieces of personal information and share one about me.

[10:42.402] - [Shawn Finnegan]
That's excellent. I think that's very good. I'll copy that model. Yeah. Yeah, I'm a big believer in seek to first understand and then to be understood. nice. Right. Yeah. I read this article years ago from Forbes magazine and it tracked who was the most popular person at the party. And they found that it was two people at the party that are the most they actually did a full on research project. These two people they've identified everyone in the room identified these two were the best, you know, networkers of the best people on.

They asked both of them, what did you do? And they just said, I just asked people about themselves and got to know people. Yeah. And I think that's a really smart advice you have is first seek to understand, then it'd be understood. Right. And as you're seeking to understand, if you feel like there's not a fit or if there's something that is out of alignment, then don't do the follow up. You don't want to do the follow up with a hundred people in the room. That's a mistake. There's people I think it's a definition of transactional is if you're trying to push every single person, if it's not a fit.

then there's nothing to be done there as far as a follow up. But that's why I try to be very careful. of a room of 100, I only come away with four or five where I know there's alignment with where they are and with where I am. That's the ones I focus on.

[11:50.654] - [Jet Bunditwong]
Yeah, that's awesome. Now tell me more about the X room. So I've I've only seen online videos I want to I want to get a feel what happens. Yeah

[12:00.942] - [Shawn Finnegan]
So I, out of the gates years ago, I started attending everyone else's events and there were certain things I loved about them and certain things I didn't. I didn't live the events where people just speak the whole time and you can't talk to your neighbor. I just couldn't stand that for instance. There was all these things. So I started making a list. I hate these things. I love these things. And then I finally just said, Hey, I'm going to build a community around all the things I love. And it started resonating. I just did it for myself thinking this would be great for it to be a part of this community.

So it was about three and half years ago I did my first X-ROM. I had 25 people come in and it was just a lunch. So I was like, hey, I'm gonna make this thing rare. I'm not gonna do it every day. Imagine if you're trying to build a community, hey, we're meeting every day or every week or every night. So I just said every quarter I'm gonna do my meeting. And I came up with the X because the X represents a point where there's an intersection of two entrepreneurs.

And from that intersection, it creates a multiple. And that's the whole purpose of the X room. So you bring people together. I've scaled my businesses because of relationships. I feel like it's the greatest way to scale. So I started that one three and half, four years ago. And now I've done 15 of those over the every quarter. It went from 25 people. I did my one about a month ago and it was 350 people. That's how big the community has grown. So I've done 15 of them over three and a half years. Crazy.

[13:28.142] - [Jet Bunditwong]
Do you switch it up a little bit more for each one with a certain purpose or is this like, let's just bring people together and then we just talk?

[13:36.706] - [Shawn Finnegan]
So what I found is at first I just, hey, you go into an open room, guys like you are really good. You could excel. But there's certain people in that room, they don't excel and they need some. And I think it's human nature to say that's a familiar face. I'm gonna stay with this person the whole time. So they miss out. And so I started doing that initially. Now I've transitioned to say, it's breakouts. I want you to go find five faces you don't recognize.

and I wait till they're in that group of five and then magic happens. They get to do intros. Hey, what's a pain they're going through? And then I try to have them do another round where they actually get referrals in the group. So I've had some little five people come out with like a hundred referrals. Wow. A hundred referrals and a group like that could represent some significant revenue. So because I'd curate now, it's, it's a

I go interview someone they didn't know where they can get there. They can't. I do multiple waves of it. Yeah. And people are coming away with the most incredible thing. So since I started this thing, there's not a week that goes by that says, hey, dude, I like I had I I invited about a year ago my friend, Colin House. And I asked him, hey, can I tell the story? He said, yeah. So a year ago, he thinks the definition of hell and like purgatory is going into a room with strangers. You know what I mean? That's the last thing he wants. He's like so. But I invited him.

He's like, OK, I'm coming to this thing. He sits down. I'm like, OK, now is the time to get up. And you've got to go find it. Like, the mission is now. And he's like, he didn't want to. But he's like, I'm going to do it. And his group of five, he meets a guy. And Colin has this construction company that's surface materials on the exterior buildings. He meets a guy. And he's like, loved his product. They took multiple meetings. That guy has now given him $10 million to fund his business.

over the last 12 months. Dude, was like, I was like, Colin, I told you and but I didn't even know that story until three weeks ago. And he's like, hey, let me tell you the end of the story. This he told me that whole thing, but 10 million dollars because he showed up. Yeah. And he got out of his comfort zone. If he didn't show up, obviously going to miss the goals you don't take.

[15:31.31] - [Jet Bunditwong]
Were you

[15:49.774] - [Jet Bunditwong]
And here's my thought, right? I wholeheartedly agree with you. Sometimes just showing up, there were events, networking events that I've, it like seven o'clock on a Thursday, I like, don't wanna show up to, I showed up and I go, I met three amazing people that I'm now still friends with. And you look back, so every time I think don't show up, I always think of those moments and go, I gotta go back, I gotta go back. But now, I always think,

I've seen those people that come into the room and they're probably introverts, right? I always feel like when I can spot that, I wanna be there to be like, I'll be your raft. Just come over, I'll get you know, right? Because I think that's the hardest part because that one event, the first event they go to, they feel alone. They're just like, I don't wanna ever wanna go again because nothing happened for a bit, right? Because we were all like clicky, hanging out. So it's to bring that.

I feel like when I've seen the X room, that's what it feels like. Everyone's on the same purpose, like we're just here. doesn't matter, you're new, come in.

[16:55.458] - [Shawn Finnegan]
Go-giver mentality. It's so funny you say that at every time I literally what you just said about Before I go into an event, you know, like when you don't feel like it and you end up going you meet incredible people I've told that I've told that personal experience of me many times because there's there was even an event I did like like five miles from here

I was promoting the event, I didn't feel like going. I was like, it's an hour drive, just like, there's other guys can handle it. And I ended up going and I met one of my best friends to this day and we've actually done millions in business together. And I think about that all the time. I'm like, what if I just didn't show up? What if I just like, I'm gonna watch a Netflix and I'm in a good show right now. I'm just gonna let someone else do that. No, that's exactly, and ever since then I've told you this, I've said the same thing as.

I'm going to do it. That feeling where I don't want to go? Yeah. I'm going to go because I know I want to meet someone there that's going to really change the course.

[17:47.732] - [Jet Bunditwong]
I a five minute meditation of memories of times where I didn't want to go and it ended up and it worked out and that's usually what motivates me to go, you know, and I, I think I was looked back, you know, if I had gotten to networking three years prior to where it it would have changed my life in such a huge way that, cause I, I see it, right? There's moments, I don't know if this makes sense, but there's this moment where,

I think you start to build enough of a relationship reputation that you get referrals out and you start to get comfortable.

And I would go, if I would have just done that three years ago, but, and then you get to this point where you know things, so you're trying to meet these like moments together, like I have enough knowledge in the industry, I've met enough people, I'm getting lazy, what do do? So when you're younger, you're like excited, you just go in. So I always wish that I would have done it a lot sooner and then had more time for those relationships because some of those people have left those industries. And I was like, I'll call him up one day. like, hey, what's going on? They're like, I'm left, I've left the state.

I'm not in there anymore. I'm not doing anything. it's, you know, sometimes it's time. we think that those people are gonna be doing those industries forever or they're gonna be networking and sometimes they get sick, they leave the state, they wanna get into something else and you're just like, man, I kinda needed you back whenever, you know. What do you think the X-room is gonna become? What do you foresee like in five years?

[19:19.052] - [Shawn Finnegan]
Yeah, so I've now because, you know, I think that resonates with a lot of people. A of people understand, hey, the X room is free, but in a bubble, it doesn't make money. So I don't charge for it. But I've created multiple seven figure kind of deals from it. Right. So although it's free because of these connections, great sales have been made. Great funding has been done. Everything else. And I think people understand that whenever I speak to people, I'm like, hey, how many of you have made money on a referral?

and every hand any business owners had a referral. We love them. And so they understand inherently. I have to even if I'm an introvert, I need to get out of my own way and I need to sit in this room. So I've started expanding it so far. So now I've done St. George. I've done Boise. Last week I did Arizona in the month of May. It took me probably three or four years to see 500 people, maybe three years.

And in the month of May here in a couple of months, I'm going to see 500 people in that month. Wow. So just kind of and everywhere I go, I love testing out the theory, just talking about the X and the connection. And I'm going to I'm now going to do one in San Diego with you. That's going to Yeah. So I have good friends there and you're one of them. And so we'll do we'll do an event there. Yes. It resonates with.

[20:28.993] - [Jet Bunditwong]
Yeah.

[20:35.81] - [Jet Bunditwong]
Yeah, I it. bringing all my networking peeps. They're gonna come out for it. Now, just shifting a little bit, I kind of want to talk to you about TaxHive, what you do for small businesses, right? Can you explain? It doesn't feel like it's just doing taxes. I feel like you're trying to educate the business owner and have a team behind it to help you have a strategy along the way.

[20:59.49] - [Shawn Finnegan]
So we partnered with Kevin O'Leary five and a half years ago from Shark Tank. He became a partner of TaxHive and he's always been preaching this to small business owners. Because if you're a bigger business, you can go to the big four accounting firms. They're like, welcome you with open arms. like, millions of dollars are going to come in for a tax firm. You're more than welcome. But if you're Main Street mom and pop and you run a small business and you walk into one of those places, you'd be treated like garbage and they'd like send you packing. So we wanted to solve the problem for that person.

that runs a small business. That's 75 % of Americans that have a business are in the small business. And there's no place for them to go. So TaxSive does three things. They do tax planning, tax filing, and bookkeeping. And we specialize in the planning piece, because none of those small business owners actually plan. what I've found is I've met with so many small business owners. I'm like, they do a lot of their own taxes. They have their cousin that does it. And I'm like, well, how many deductions are you taking? They're taking just a couple.

[21:46.638] - [Jet Bunditwong]
100.

[21:58.528] - [Shawn Finnegan]
And I'm like, well, why aren't you taking more when you can qualify for more? And the answer is one of two things. I don't know how. No one sits you down when you become a business owner says, hey, fortunately, there's a whole treasure chest of deductions right there you can take. So they don't know. So they're W2 where you could take only a couple. So they end up taking a couple. And they can actually take a lot more. And then two is they're fearful. What if I take deductions? Am I going to get on a list? Am I going to get red flagged?

And so fear and knowledge are the two biggest reasons why business owners just don't do it. They're afraid.

[22:29.742] - [Jet Bunditwong]
Yeah, I mean from what I've seen from you, what TaxHive does is there's so much, so many resources inside of it that I feel like business owners will become smarter about their tax side of their businesses after a while.

[22:45.262] - [Shawn Finnegan]
Yeah, so I have a buddy his name is Scott. He's in construction. He came into my office about a year and a half ago and he looked like he'd been hit by a truck and I was like, dude, what's up? And he's like, oh, I just got hit with my tax bill. And I was like, well, what is it? And he said it was 350 G's. had a great he had he didn't make money, didn't make money. And all of a sudden he made a lot of money and he wasn't prepared. He left himself exposed. And now the tax bill is due and he has to pay 350, which he doesn't have. So he was in the process of liquidating.

Properties trucks of his in construction. It was a painful painful moment. He became a tax high client We're gonna save him 300 grand Wow, because he just we just started stacking up deductions. He could qualify for so much Depreciation and we started doing the Augusta rule for him all that now we're saving him now He's not like feeling like he got hit by a truck at tax time

[23:35.054] - [Jet Bunditwong]
Yeah, and for someone like that, what were they doing prior? Like, you know, saying like, were they just, you think business, small business owners just, like you said, just eating it up every single year, just like, yeah, whatever, this is, it is what it is. I'm not gonna, there's no strategy. I'm just gonna try to hide from it and keep.

[23:54.094] - [Shawn Finnegan]
That's right. So I ask small business owners what your business biggest expenses and they always say people cost product cost, you know shipping cost all that none of them ever say taxes So they don't think about it. They want us they want to put in the back of their brain when you fear something You don't want it to be next to you if you fear sharks or spiders You want them to be as far from you as you possibly can so that's how they do They're so fearful of taxes that they put it out

I don't even want to think about it until tax time. And then they're just praying for a miracle and it just doesn't happen. So then they have not paying just way too much.

[24:33.152] - [Jet Bunditwong]
And you know, from your advice, your experience so far in your entrepreneur journey, what do you think makes a good entrepreneur or business person?

[24:45.518] - [Shawn Finnegan]
That's a great question. What I found is generally I'm talking to people who are starting or beginning and what I found is the start that stops them. As in many of these guys in business, they're like waiting for things to happen and they just don't execute. When you become a true entrepreneur, a true business person is when you can execute with a plan.

So many of these up and comers that want it, like I mentor a group of young entrepreneurs that are college entrepreneurs. All of them are brilliant, but very few of them have actually created a dollar. They're terrified, they're waiting for the perfect right moment to launch this thing, as opposed to go knock 10 doors. Go sell your product to 10 people and see how goes.

[25:37.262] - [Jet Bunditwong]
You know, I always have this, so I came up with this sort of triangle that I've told to people that I think entrepreneurs working with, you know, I don't know, I was, counted, I think over 700 small businesses over a course of business advising and all the stuff I've done, that there's this triangle. There's this triangle, it's the head, the heart, and then the business. And the head is this thought process, you you come up with these ideas, you're like, I wanna do this, I wanna do this, I do this, and then there's this heart.

that works 16, 20 hours a day and then there's this business component to go, is this gonna match everything? And two of those things always.

start to work together and one is always a little bit far out and you're trying to reach that one and I always think as people try to get that third one, they lose sight of the two that they were, one of the two that they were strongest and then they chase after it and they lose that, right? They're like, I haven't thought about planning my business, anything well, because now I'm chasing things that are making sense, I'm making money or they're like, I've just gotten lazy, I don't wanna work and I think when you start to hit on those

three and I've met these few people that are just like the reason why they've done it is one, they started to outsource, right? They get people in the right place where they needed to and they go, I can't do that. I'm not good at bookkeeping. I'm not good at hiring people. I don't want to do that. And then.

they start to realize that you don't have to work 20 hours a day, seven days a week in order to make that business run. You just have to work smarter and make things function the way they need to do. And then they start to get mentored, learn, read books, right? And I think when those three things come together, it's such a...

[27:18.338] - [Jet Bunditwong]
I've met these people and it's such a beautiful moment. just like, I have my weekends back, right? I can be my family. I can go and vacation. I can do things. I'm not stressed out. Because I've seen those people that you said and your friend comes in and you're like, my God, what happened to you? You look like you haven't slept in two days. they're just like, same thing, right? Money, something's happened. They've lost employees. So I feel like when a...

an entrepreneur or business person starts to realize that there's weaknesses and strengths in what they are and they start to build on the strengths and go, these weaknesses, gonna, right now I can't handle them, I'll get better at them. I think that's when they start to get better, you know? Yeah.

[28:00.142] - [Shawn Finnegan]
My favorite book one of my favorite business books is called a book called who not how and it's from Dan Sullivan and ultimately he talks about how business owners ask themselves a wrong question which is how do I do this and how do I do that and how do I do that and maybe they're good at producing something over here and they think well I'm good at this I can also go figure that out and I can figure that out and what happens is you become a bottleneck as opposed to asking who

[28:25.284] - [Jet Bunditwong]
Yeah

[28:26.134] - [Shawn Finnegan]
Like I have this great service, can do that for me here that can be a good partner to what I'm doing? And it's the good to great, but who is the right question?

[28:37.262] - [Jet Bunditwong]
Yeah, then you know the question becomes, I always get this, I don't have money to hire, right? And I think that's where we start to try come up with some sort of plan and figure out and go, well in 2026, it becomes more feasible. You can start to now outsource it in different parts of the world and hire at a lower level in order for them to maybe one day, you're like, I can hire someone full time, I can do this, right, part time. And then I think with AI has,

probably allowed business owners to be able to break that learning curve. My guess is probably 25 % now. You'd be like, I don't understand this document. I might not need a lawyer, because I can just let them read it. It's allowed us to be better business owners. But I think that.

that is important what you're saying with the who because there's sometimes those crucial people that come into your business life and go, hey, you were doing this all wrong. Even though I'm gonna cost you this much, I'm gonna make you money as well while you're doing this. I think one of the toughest things is to change the mindset, right? Where a lot of, think what you...

[29:42.838] - [Shawn Finnegan]
Amen to that.

[29:51.316] - [Jet Bunditwong]
you put out there with what you're the work you're doing is trying to allow people to see things differently and I wholeheartedly appreciate everything you're doing. I am excited for you to be in San Diego. I let's do it. It's big thing.

[30:04.354] - [Shawn Finnegan]
Tony Robbins said.

He was meeting with these business owners and they, he asked them what's held them back and it was like all money and all this stuff. And ultimately he said, it's not the lack of resources, it's the lack of resourcefulness. Because we've all created something with very little resources, I have. And if your conviction's high enough, you can go do it. But you have to be very resourceful. If you don't have it, then what are you gonna do? You gonna sit back and wait?

[30:34.102] - [Jet Bunditwong]
Right? Yeah. And I think people don't dig into their brains enough to be like, no, no, I know this. can do this. can do this. Because you're just like sitting at home, go, it's going to come to me. It's going to. Someone's going to walk in the door, start buying things from whatever I'm selling.

[30:48.27] - [Shawn Finnegan]
I have a good friend, name is Bronson Gomez, and he's a real estate agent. Real estate agents, for the most part, the last several years, they were like, the interest rates are too high. I'm going to wait until the interest rates go down. He just said, well, I better create my own traffic. So he does a supercar event where he brings a bunch of supercar owners, and he goes and tours his listings. He does it every quarter. And he sells millions of dollars in real estate. He's had the best three years of his career.

because he's created his own luck. He's created resourceful.

[31:21.442] - [Jet Bunditwong]
Yeah, one of the things that I have told people, right, like I think.

As consumers, the average consumer, see things as we don't have enough money for that, so we're not gonna buy it, so that's not our interest. And I always tell them, there's always an audience for that, right? You just gotta find your people and we go, I'm gonna take this to them and figure it out and that's exactly what your friend did, right? Especially in San Diego, I work with a lot of small businesses that see that and they go, that's gonna be too much. I'm like, there's someone buying $12,000 shoes right now.

You and them are gonna connect, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, John. I feel like I can talk about this all day. Yeah So where can people find you if they want to connect with you? I think I'm

[32:01.134] - [Shawn Finnegan]
more.

[32:11.0] - [Shawn Finnegan]
pretty much the only Finnegan Shawn out there. So you can find me anywhere on social media and LinkedIn, all that stuff. So Finnegan Shawn is where I am. And I'm always looking to increase my network. So that's what this thing's all about. So I'd love to engage with people.

[32:25.582] - [Jet Bunditwong]
Guys, reach out to Shawn. Love to connect with him and look forward to connecting later. Shawn, thank you so much for being on the podcast. Thank you.