Optimizing Business Operations through Technology: Insights from Peter Banigo
Peter has dedicated recent years to optimizing business operations through technology, a focus he considers his zone of genius. His journey into entrepreneurship began after a significant challenge prompted him to shut down previous ventures and start anew. Throughout this episode, we delve into Peter's experiences, exploring the pivotal role that technology plays in enhancing business efficiency and effectiveness. He shares invaluable insights on how to automate repetitive tasks, thereby freeing up resources for innovation and growth. Join us as we navigate the lessons learned from his entrepreneurial path, the importance of continuous learning, and the impact of mentorship in shaping one’s career trajectory.
Peter's entrepreneurial journey, marked by both challenges and triumphs, is a testament to resilience and adaptability. Having initiated several ventures over the past decade, he has now honed his focus on empowering businesses through technological optimization. During our conversation, he recounts the pivotal moment that led him to pivot from previous business endeavors to concentrate on his podcast, 'Tech Your Business'. This transition was sparked by a desire to challenge himself personally and professionally, especially as he navigated the complexities of being an introverted entrepreneur in a field that necessitates constant interaction with clients and stakeholders. Through candid reflections, Peter emphasizes the importance of seeking feedback and iterating on ideas as crucial components of success, a philosophy he attributes to a profound piece of advice he encountered early in his career.
Takeaways:
- Peter has dedicated his recent years to optimizing business operations through technology.
- The importance of overcoming challenges is emphasized through Peter's entrepreneurial journey.
- A strong focus on reading and learning from books is highlighted as essential for success.
- Automation of repetitive tasks can significantly enhance business efficiency and productivity.
Links referenced in this episode:
Transcript
After launching several businesses over the past decade, Peter has devoted recent years to what he views as his zone of genius, assisting businesses in optimizing their operations and increasing venues through technology via his tech your business podcasts and other offerings.
Speaker A:This is after going through a challenge that led him to shut down everything and start fresh.
Speaker A:We welcome Peter to the podcast.
Speaker A:Peter to the podcast.
Speaker A:Well, Peter, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker A:How you doing, my friend?
Speaker B:I'm fine, thank you.
Speaker B:Just coming to the end of my day today.
Speaker A:Oh, that's right.
Speaker A:You were at different times than my day is just starting.
Speaker B:So it's always fascinating, honestly, especially when you start to know people from Australia, places like that.
Speaker A:Sure, yeah, I can imagine.
Speaker A:So I love to ask my guest this question, what's the best piece of advice you ever received?
Speaker B:I think the best piece of advice I ever received was actually from a book.
Speaker B:It was a book I read at the beginning of my career, and it was a book by Michael Masterson.
Speaker B:The advice is the name of the book.
Speaker B:Ready Fire Aid.
Speaker B:Oh, okay.
Speaker A:I've heard that book.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, that's.
Speaker B:That's like the best.
Speaker B:I think that's what actually got me started back then because I used to be this really academic, analytical and what if, what if.
Speaker B:What if I'm procrastinating person and then I read book and I'm like, just do things and get the feedback and then adjust.
Speaker B:And that's how.
Speaker B:That's how it has been very decade now.
Speaker A:Can't argue with.
Speaker A:Can't argue with success, can you?
Speaker A:I'm curious on your journey.
Speaker A:I'm sure there are people who have come into your life at different points in times that have been a mentor for you or just maybe inspiration.
Speaker A:Who are some of the people, if you want to kind of give them a shout out of those people who kind of meant so much to you in your journey?
Speaker B:I think the first one.
Speaker B:The first one passed on like four years ago.
Speaker B:So that's my aunt.
Speaker B:She was.
Speaker B:Yeah, she was really, really inspiring.
Speaker B:Really, Really.
Speaker B:I think she was one person that I usually love keeping to myself.
Speaker B:So she was one person that always wanted to reach out and I was doing things like that.
Speaker B:And she was really inspiring to her career, Jo her.
Speaker B:The way she handled challenges and everything.
Speaker B:So that's one person.
Speaker B:Second person was.
Speaker B:Was a friend.
Speaker B: one of my businesses back in: Speaker B:And I think one thing I really learned about him was tenacity was how you frame challenges.
Speaker B: Like that was: Speaker B:I remember when things he had a much bigger business than mine back then.
Speaker B:And then something goes wrong, and this thing is like something that probably have me shutting out for, like, three days.
Speaker B:And it's like, oh, okay, it's a challenge.
Speaker B:What can we do about it?
Speaker B:And I'm like, are you okay?
Speaker B:So, funny enough, I picked that up from him, and I think it helps because when you look at challenges, what I learned from him.
Speaker B:When you look at challenges with that fear and this thing, you tend to make mistakes.
Speaker B:But when you look at them like, okay, this is just another thing that I'm going to solve, you already have it in your mind that you have a solution, even though you can't see the solution.
Speaker B:So approaching it from that angle, almost always you sort it out.
Speaker B:So those two people.
Speaker A:Yeah, that makes sense.
Speaker B:Very lovely.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's really neat.
Speaker A:I like that.
Speaker A:Tell us a bit about your entrepreneurial journey.
Speaker A:What initially inspired you to start multiple businesses?
Speaker B:That question.
Speaker B:You know, funny enough, I asked myself that question, like, 10 years into the whole thing because I had no idea what I was doing, how I started.
Speaker B:I was supposed to be a doctor at first.
Speaker B:When I was like, in high school, they said, okay, you're going to be a doctor.
Speaker B:Your grades are high and all that.
Speaker B:And then my sister went to school.
Speaker B:I came back from school and she's like, doctors don't have the social life and this and that.
Speaker B:And I'm like, I want to have a social life.
Speaker B:So I'm like, what's the next thing I could do?
Speaker B:She I.
Speaker B:The next thing was engineering.
Speaker B:Being an engineer, I've always been that taking.
Speaker B:If you look at my table here, I have a phone I've taken apart, I have a router I've taken apart.
Speaker B:I don't know when I'm going to fix them, but that's how I am.
Speaker B:I always take things out, take things apart.
Speaker B:Back in the day, I was like, okay, engineering might be something I would like to do.
Speaker B:So I finally took engineering in school, but four years into the course I was doing my.
Speaker B:There's this.
Speaker B:You take six months out of your course, working in a company that's in your field.
Speaker B:And then that six months.
Speaker B:I think the six months made me realize that I didn't want to work as an engineer because first of all, it was a very boring.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:I did gas engineering.
Speaker B:So we were doing process designs.
Speaker B:Just sitting on the desk and looking at designs and thinking of when things would blow up or when they won't blow up.
Speaker B:And it's actually very boring.
Speaker B: e internship, um, that was in: Speaker B:Woke up one morning, went to work, and like, half of the team got fired.
Speaker B:They didn't know it was going to happen.
Speaker B:They were really good at their jobs, really smart.
Speaker B:And I'm like, um, I want.
Speaker B:No, no, no.
Speaker B:I don't want this to be me.
Speaker B:So I think that was the point when I looked back.
Speaker B:That was the point where I decided I don't want my destiny to be held by anybody else.
Speaker B:And I was thinking, okay, what's the next thing I could do?
Speaker B:Start a business.
Speaker B:Funny enough, that same year was the year I registered my first business.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:And I, I just realized all this recently.
Speaker B:I didn't know what was happening.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:So going from there, I started the first business.
Speaker B:Fortunately, the first business worked.
Speaker B:And then probably that confidence, I always say, is the confidence that, oh, yeah, it worked.
Speaker B:Started the second thing.
Speaker B:Second thing worked, and I just found myself starting things.
Speaker B:That's how I got there.
Speaker A:Wow, that's amazing.
Speaker A:So what are some of the key challenges and successes you experienced early on in your ventures as you think about going back?
Speaker A:You know, what were some of the things that you, you, you faced that kind of surprised you as challenges, and how did you overcome those in your early, your early ventures?
Speaker B:Yeah, I think, I think challenge, challenge wise.
Speaker B:The first thing was that I came from a family where nobody had done business before.
Speaker B:Everybody was a career person.
Speaker B:My mom, my dad, my uncles, my aunts, everybody I knew.
Speaker B:I didn't know any business person that had, like, a successful business.
Speaker B:So first of all, the challenge of everybody wondering if I was going crazy.
Speaker B:I just finished five years of engineering and I'm going to.
Speaker B:And I don't want to apply for any job.
Speaker B:I just want to go and try my luck on this thing that I'm not too sure that was the first thing.
Speaker B:Second thing was I didn't really have anybody I could ask questions.
Speaker B:I didn't really have anybody I could roll that could be a role model or anything.
Speaker B:So I was just practically winging it.
Speaker B:And that's why I see when I see the first business work, I was actually fortunate because my role models were all in books.
Speaker B:I used to read a lot of books.
Speaker B:I love biographies.
Speaker B:I still love biographies now.
Speaker B:So I think that's where I got.
Speaker B:Read a lot of books.
Speaker B:And so that, that's how I overcame those.
Speaker B:Challenge.
Speaker B:That challenge of not having any role models, not having anyone to Ask questions about entrepreneurship and things like that.
Speaker B:Books.
Speaker A:That's good.
Speaker A:I love that.
Speaker A:A lot of times I talk to entrepreneurs and they say what really separates them from other people is their rabid reading of books and research and how the more books they read, the more they increased knowledge and understanding and took chances.
Speaker A:And so, you know, you saying that kind of verifies a lot of other people who have also done this, have expressed about their journey.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:And I think that's one thing I tell people that books are a shortcut.
Speaker B:If you don't really have money to travel, read books about different places.
Speaker B:You're going to transport yourself in your mind to those places.
Speaker B:If you don't have money to maybe hire a mentor, a coach or something, read books.
Speaker B:They are really cheap books, condensing hundreds of years of knowledge, tens of years of knowledge in like a hundred or two hundred pages.
Speaker B:Read those books, you're going to learn so much.
Speaker B:That's what I always tell people.
Speaker B:And I see so many books behind you.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, I do.
Speaker A:I have a ton of books behind me.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And they're all kind of different books.
Speaker A:They're not just like thing.
Speaker A:It's like some of them are business, some of them are leadership, some of them are theology.
Speaker A:I try to make sure you have a wide range of information in your head.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Very important.
Speaker A:So tell us about your current focus zone of genius.
Speaker A:What does it mean to you and how do you identify those areas of expertise?
Speaker B:So I think when I was talking about starting different businesses, a lot of the time I didn't know what I was going into.
Speaker B:The first one was a hosting company.
Speaker B:It was because the hosting company I was using was not good, so I started my own.
Speaker B:So that was the first one.
Speaker B:The second one went the other way around.
Speaker B:I went to my friend's ipa.
Speaker B:My friend was managing.
Speaker B:They had a grill that was unused there and I was like, who's managing it?
Speaker B:He says, nobody.
Speaker B:And I'm like, can I manage it?
Speaker B:Remember, I was running a tech business.
Speaker B:And then he says, yes.
Speaker B:And the next day I start up a grill.
Speaker B:So I'm doing web hosting and I'm grilling chicken.
Speaker B:And then that's this.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:The third business was sms.
Speaker B:It was linked to the hosting.
Speaker B:The fourth one was I did that with my friend in Wolverhampton.
Speaker B:That was food too.
Speaker B:So they were just all over the place.
Speaker B:Most of the time it was like, oh, I like this thing and I jump into it.
Speaker B:I like this thing and I jump into it.
Speaker B:So at the point I had different Things that were not related to each other and not feeding each other.
Speaker B:Then I looked back at everything and I'm like, what is that thing that I really love?
Speaker B: And I realized back, back in: Speaker B:My mom got, my mom and dad got their phones.
Speaker B:I think I was with their phones more than they were because I used to go into going to all the nooks and crannies and all the settings, figure out how they worked.
Speaker B:Then I got my own phone.
Speaker B:Then I think later the Internet came.
Speaker B:I think the Internet came not too long after phones.
Speaker B:So I used to go out to a cyber cafe to browse.
Speaker B:I used to spend all weekend there.
Speaker B:I love computers and all that.
Speaker B: and she got me a computer in: Speaker B:Six, as you remember, a white Acer computer like that.
Speaker B:So when she got me that, I used to spend, I, I hardly used to sleep.
Speaker B:So I look back and I'm like, I look back at everything.
Speaker B:I'm like, okay, I can't.
Speaker B:I, I.
Speaker B:Computers are what I'll wake up to work with.
Speaker B:And if you don't pay me, I'll, I'll, I'll do stuff on my computer.
Speaker B:Looking at all the businesses I did, like the food business, procurements, whatever, I always found a way to use tech, to use the Internet, to use different types of technology to have an advantage over other people.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:I think that's my thing, tech, computers, using tech.
Speaker B:So I decided to just focus on that.
Speaker B:And I think that's like the best decision I made.
Speaker B:Because grilling chicken is crazy.
Speaker A:But it's very tasty.
Speaker B:Oh yeah, it is.
Speaker B:I think I just focus on buying it now.
Speaker A:So how did you, what inspired you to start your podcast?
Speaker A:Tech your business.
Speaker B:So tech, your business was.
Speaker B:I started at a point, at a time when I wanted to challenge myself.
Speaker B:So I think I mentioned earlier I like to into myself so I can, I'm what they call I, I, I'm in the extro introvert box.
Speaker B:So I usually just lock myself in the house or want to talk to anybody or stuff like that.
Speaker B:At that point, I was overweight.
Speaker B:I was really overweight.
Speaker B:I saw some pictures recently.
Speaker B:I'm like, oh, I don't know this man.
Speaker B:So those two things, those two things because the overweight.
Speaker B:I hadn't done any sports in like the first 30 years of my life, so I wasn't interested in sports or anything.
Speaker B: lenging myself, that was like: Speaker B:So that's.
Speaker B:First of all, I started a fitness journey.
Speaker B:I think I lost like £50 or more if I remember, in like a year.
Speaker B: And I've stayed that since: Speaker B:That's some two years, two years ago.
Speaker B:So I created new habits around fitness.
Speaker B:Then for the introvert part, I realized my business wasn't like the other businesses I had.
Speaker B:The other businesses I had were things where I could spin off a product, put ads on the products.
Speaker B:People buy the product, they will never ever talk to me.
Speaker B:They will never even know I was the one selling it.
Speaker B:And then I come into this business where I need to talk to each and every person and I'm like, my God, this, this is draining.
Speaker B:This is annoying.
Speaker B:So I'm like, so during the, during the pandemic, I, I started listening to podcasts and I realized we had a business blog for the business back then.
Speaker B:And then I realized, oh, I don't really read blogs track, I just came them, but podcast, I put them in and 90 minutes I'm listening to a podcast through and I'm like, okay, I think it's a better format to share this information.
Speaker B:I want to share to people on what we do and all that.
Speaker B:I think those were the being uncomfortable number one and it being a better format to share our information, those two things.
Speaker A:So everybody approaches podcasting differently.
Speaker A:Do you do your show solo?
Speaker A:Do you have guests on?
Speaker A:Is it kind of a mixture of the two?
Speaker B:Oh, yes, it was.
Speaker B:The first ten episodes were solo.
Speaker B:Then I realized it takes so long to prepare.
Speaker B:Like I was going, I wasn't going to have a business if I was going to do, if I was going to do solo podcast, I was just going to be only a podcaster.
Speaker B:And I'm like, okay, no, I should have guests on so the guest episodes are easier.
Speaker B:So I try to do both solo and guest, but most times I get really busy and we are not able to adequately prepare for this because I really want quality when it's solo.
Speaker B:I really want it to quality so I don't come out and see rubbish.
Speaker B:And it's there forever.
Speaker B:So, so it's, it's.
Speaker B:It started as solo, it went into a mix.
Speaker B:Now it's just guess.
Speaker B:I think it will be guessed till the end of the year.
Speaker B:Maybe next year or second half, we might think of doing solo again.
Speaker B:So what about you?
Speaker B:How's your podcast journey?
Speaker A:Well, you know the funny thing about podcasting is the first year you want just kind of bury all the first year podcast because it's like this really raw and so you.
Speaker A:You think about making those subscriber only.
Speaker A:So if you really want to listen to it, you got to go pay for something that's that bad.
Speaker A:But I always kind of started out with guests because I knew that I didn't want to be a talking head on my podcast.
Speaker A:So all of mine always had guests.
Speaker A:But I've learned to hone the what kind of guests come on and really want to get people on who share things I don't may have expertise in, but it will.
Speaker A:It would benefit the audience's knowledge base.
Speaker A:So it's kind of like you do that with books.
Speaker A:I do it with topics on my podcast.
Speaker A:It's like, if you don't have time to read a book, let me give you 30 minutes of some content that you may not know, but so you can go to work and impress your friends.
Speaker A:It's kind of how I designed it.
Speaker B:That sounds good.
Speaker A:As you think about your podcast, especially the guest you've had on your podcast, is there a guest or a memorable moment from your podcast that kind of stands out for you?
Speaker B:I think the most memorable moment from the podcast was when I got 100 episodes because I had no idea.
Speaker B:I had no idea.
Speaker B:Like, the first 10 episodes were so hard.
Speaker B:Like, first they were so hard.
Speaker B:And I'm like, what am I doing?
Speaker B:Like, this is not my business.
Speaker B:Why am I.
Speaker B:Why am I recording?
Speaker B:Why am I producing?
Speaker B:Why am I publishing?
Speaker B:And the first time we heard, then the guests came on, it was a bit easier, but it was too hard and expensive because I had to pay the producer for the videos and things like that.
Speaker B:And I'm like, I'm spending money and it's not coming back in.
Speaker B:And then I think that was last year.
Speaker B:I looked at the spreadsheet where I have it, and I'm like, wait, we almost had 100 episodes.
Speaker B:I was actually really emotional about that because, you know, it's.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's a lot of things about life.
Speaker B:A lot of times you.
Speaker B:I never started a podcast saying, I want to get to 100 episodes.
Speaker B:I was just like, okay, let me just publish.
Speaker B:Let me publish.
Speaker B:Let me publish.
Speaker B:And one thing I forgot to mention too, it was the toast.
Speaker B:I'm a toastmaster.
Speaker B:So it was like a toastmaster project, my level four project that actually got me to kickstart the podcast because I actually had the idea and I was procrastinating.
Speaker B:I didn't want to record myself.
Speaker B:I didn't want to be on video.
Speaker B:So I actually used that project to kickstart it.
Speaker B:So the project was like doing.
Speaker B:I think the first five episodes.
Speaker B:I did that.
Speaker B:Then, okay, let me do one episode.
Speaker B:Let me do one episode.
Speaker B:Whoa.
Speaker B:So I think that's one thing, too.
Speaker B:About most things, you really have to look at the inputs, focus on doing what?
Speaker B:The part you said you're going to do, which is one episode a week.
Speaker B:One episode a week.
Speaker B:Rather than waking up and saying how to do 100 podcasts, which is the output.
Speaker B:You can't control whether you do 100 podcasts or not.
Speaker B:I think I'm at about 138 or thereabout now.
Speaker B:So I think it's the inputs.
Speaker B:Just doing that thing you said you're going to do.
Speaker B:Consistently.
Speaker B:Consistently.
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker B:And I think that that's what made that the most memorable moment, because it just.
Speaker B:It just validated everything.
Speaker B:Everything in the past two, three years that I had thought about my fitness journey.
Speaker B:It was consistency, doing those things.
Speaker B:The podcast, it was consistency.
Speaker B:Every single thing.
Speaker B:It has just been that.
Speaker A:Yeah, when I got 300, I was pretty impressed.
Speaker A:Like, I.
Speaker A:I got three episodes.
Speaker A:Yeah, I'm closing on 400 now.
Speaker A:So we're.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:How long has this podcast been?
Speaker A: Since: Speaker A:Let's see.
Speaker A:It's been on for four years, so.
Speaker B:Wow, that's a lot of work.
Speaker A:Yeah, it is.
Speaker B:Trust me, that's a lot of work.
Speaker A:You know, I love technology.
Speaker A:My undergrad degrees in computer science.
Speaker A:Now, I'm older than you, so for me, when I did computer science in my degree, there were no laptops yet.
Speaker A:There were no.
Speaker A:We only did everything on mainframe.
Speaker B:COBOL and Fortran.
Speaker A:Cobalt and Fortran.
Speaker A:Yeah, all that.
Speaker A:So my.
Speaker A:My computer experience, we had no Internet, so none of that was part of my education.
Speaker A:But I do think technology has an important role to play in our world today.
Speaker A:Part of your job, part of the thing you talk about is tech, your business.
Speaker A:What are some common things you can help businesses do who want to add technology to their business model?
Speaker B:Some common things, there's actually a lot businesses can do with technology.
Speaker B:Like, for instance, first of all, automation.
Speaker B:Everything.
Speaker B:Everything you do in your business that you repeat can be automated.
Speaker B:And I think I learned that every.
Speaker B:Every day in my own business.
Speaker B:Like, I have a really small team, but you'll be surprised what gets done every day, because simple things like, okay, when I sign the podcast, it was a manual.
Speaker B:Let me just use that as an example.
Speaker B:Of what's possible with technology.
Speaker B:When I signed the podcast, it was a normal.
Speaker B:I get the guests, they sign up on the calendar, whatever, then I copy their info into the mail, mailing, whatever.
Speaker B:Then from there create folders for them where you have their photos, their files and everything.
Speaker B:You won't believe that I use the.
Speaker B:All those things, have a way to connect to them.
Speaker B:They call that APIs.
Speaker B:I don't design talking stuff in case of the.
Speaker B:For the audience who's not really into that.
Speaker B:So all those software used have ways to connect to them.
Speaker B:So I use those in connecting the calendar software, the mailing software, the folder software, the YouTube and everything.
Speaker B:So now when a guest signs up immediately, they just get signed up on the mailing list.
Speaker B:Folders get created for them.
Speaker B:A first draft of their whatever gets put in that folder.
Speaker B:Then whenever the editing is done and the video is uploaded into that folder, it just goes up into YouTube.
Speaker B:I don't need to touch anything.
Speaker B:So it's just like, that's one thing that's possible.
Speaker B:So you can.
Speaker B:You can see the amount of time saved, the amount of thinking saved and everything.
Speaker B:So for businesses, almost everything, accounting, everything you have to do, anything you have to copy and paste can be automated.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So things like that.
Speaker A:So let's go back to one of your first business.
Speaker A:How do you automate grilling chicken?
Speaker A:Because I'm stuck on that grilling chicken thing.
Speaker B:You're making me hungry now.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:So I think I have a good example for that.
Speaker B:I started two businesses grilling.
Speaker B:So the first one.
Speaker B:Oh, I made a big mistake there.
Speaker B:Which would illustrate the reason we need automation and technology.
Speaker B:So the first one was grill barbecue.
Speaker B:So the business model for that was starting grills connected to nightclubs and hotels.
Speaker B:You know, nightclubs and hotels sell their things really expensive.
Speaker B:So I just went in and collected the expensive money.
Speaker B:So, but.
Speaker B:But then I don't really have much business knowledge or anything.
Speaker B:So what I did was that every time I start, I just send a grilling person there, serving person there, and then they do whatever they're doing, they give me their records.
Speaker B:The end of the day, we had issues everywhere.
Speaker B:The taste in this outlet wasn't the same as the taste in this outlet, stuff like that.
Speaker B:The second business I did was when I learned styling about this whole automation as processes and code thing.
Speaker B:The second outlet, what we did from the start, I don't know how to cook really.
Speaker B:I just have.
Speaker B:I don't know how to cook.
Speaker B:I just know people that know how to cook or new People that knew how to cook.
Speaker B:So what we did was especially for the recipes, you know, the first one had tastes different everywhere.
Speaker B:So what we did, we had a Google Sheets.
Speaker B: That was back in: Speaker B:We had a lady who gave us the initial recipe.
Speaker B:We got her recipe bit like this, put in Google sheets, put the conversion.
Speaker B:So like if it's a teaspoon, how does it convert into a bucket or a 50 kilo or whatever.
Speaker B:Put all that.
Speaker B:So now what happens is that when our stock is low, I want to buy it.
Speaker B:We were able to buy exactly what was needed when we had a new chef.
Speaker B:They only needed to go into that Google whatever.
Speaker B:The recipe.
Speaker B:The recipe, that's the word they go in putting the exact amount, put in the spend the exact time of for each step.
Speaker B:And our food was same everywhere.
Speaker B:That's the first part.
Speaker B:The second part was the money.
Speaker B:In the first, this thing, when we made sales, the person collected the cash and then declared whatever they liked to me in the morning.
Speaker B:Whatever they liked in the morning.
Speaker B: I went for my masters back in: Speaker B:They just shut everything off.
Speaker B:So for the second business, steal the Google sheets.
Speaker B:And we had a decent POS system.
Speaker B:When you make sales, you put in the sale immediately in the system.
Speaker B:Wherever I am, I see what was sold.
Speaker B:And so it just takes off that, declaring whatever you like.
Speaker B:So that, that was a lesson I learned.
Speaker B:Everything needs to be recorded, everything needs to be streamlined.
Speaker B:Everything needs to follow a process and needs to document it.
Speaker B:Document it.
Speaker B:Really important because that documentation thing, you might have an expert who is good at cooking, but they might forget their recipe.
Speaker B:They might just decide to wing it sometimes.
Speaker B:And then you start having customers complain about different things.
Speaker B:So if they follow a document or a process, you have consistency.
Speaker B:You add the same thing over and over.
Speaker B:So those are things I learned from the press business.
Speaker A:That makes sense.
Speaker A:And also by automating it, you also know when you buy something, you sell something, it keeps track of inventory.
Speaker A:Do you need to order more things and all those kinds?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So it makes a lot of sense.
Speaker A:So besides your podcast, what other products and services do you offer support businesses with their technological growth?
Speaker B:Okay, so we have a couple of products.
Speaker B:We have instant setters.
Speaker B:So instance Setters is like it's in testing now.
Speaker B:So instance setup does instancesetters.com so it's just basically for businesses that have inbound.
Speaker B:Maybe they have adverts running and they have people calling to buy from them but they can't really hire someone full time.
Speaker B:Or maybe they, maybe they are seasonal businesses.
Speaker B:They hired someone but it's Christmas or Halloween or whatever and they have much more orders than they usually have.
Speaker B:So it just basically you put in your business details, you put in your prices, you everything.
Speaker B:It generates an AI assistant for you.
Speaker B:You paste that, the number or the code on your website.
Speaker B:When people call if they can't reach a real person, AI answers it.
Speaker B:That's it, that's a business setters.
Speaker B:Then we have IXPR.
Speaker B:IXPRify.
Speaker B:So so in my business is I'm registered in the UK.
Speaker B:When you're filing your accounts in the UK you need to convert whatever came out from your QuickBooks or whatever into IXPRL for it to be accepted by the HMRC.
Speaker B:And the software available for that is.
Speaker B:It's crazy.
Speaker B:So we are building, we're almost done.
Speaker B:We should be done before the first half of the year.
Speaker B:It's just basically you get your reports from whatever software you use, you upload it on ixbrlify and then it pops out your finished this thing for you to file.
Speaker B:So that's, that's another product we have I think.
Speaker B:And apart from that, we consult for businesses generally whatever you want to do, what you have, what you're doing, how can you do it better or how can you do it differently?
Speaker B:So stuff like that.
Speaker A:That's amazing.
Speaker A:So I'd love to ask my guest this other question.
Speaker A:This has been a phenomenal conversation.
Speaker A:So as you think about impact you're making on the world, what do you want your legacy to be?
Speaker B:I've actually thought of this legacy before.
Speaker B:But one thing I realized is that when we die five years later, 50 years later, almost nobody remembers you, no matter how honestly, no matter how much you work hard at building a legacy.
Speaker B:So I think my philosophy around it has been while I'm alive, while I live, I try to make the lives of everybody around me, everybody I can touch a lot better.
Speaker B:So I've had, I've had assistants that work with me.
Speaker B:I've had interns that work with me.
Speaker B: 're surprised that from maybe: Speaker B:Because I don't really hold back.
Speaker B:I want to.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:One question I have when I'm hiring someone is what are you good at?
Speaker B:What do you want to learn?
Speaker B:Even if it's not related to what we're doing.
Speaker B:And then I'm very good at putting fire on people's butts.
Speaker B:So thankful.
Speaker B:So I'm like, what have you done this week about that?
Speaker B:What have you done this week about that?
Speaker B:And over time, they just.
Speaker B:Because a lot of times we have goals, we have this thing, but we go into work and we forget those goals, that purpose we are born with.
Speaker B:So I think that's one thing.
Speaker B:I've tried to adopt people I work with, with friends, with family, everyone around me.
Speaker B:There's a way I can make your life better.
Speaker B:I try to make it better.
Speaker B:Even though I don't get anything from you, I'm not expecting anything from you.
Speaker B:But I think it makes me feel good seeing so many people who can randomly say, oh, five years ago, 10 years ago, I met Peter and he made.
Speaker B:He told me this thing.
Speaker B:He did this thing for me.
Speaker B:He gave me this piece of advice and made my life better.
Speaker B:So I think I just want to build a legacy while I'm alive.
Speaker B:I don't know what happened 50, 100, 500 years from now.
Speaker B:I won't bother about that.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:But while I'm alive, make the biggest difference to people who are alive, too.
Speaker A:See, I thought you were going to say that your chicken recipe survived your.
Speaker A:Your past.
Speaker A:So, Peter, where can people find you and connect with you on social media?
Speaker B:Okay, social media.
Speaker B:You can connect with me on Facebook, on LinkedIn, on Twitter, @PeterBanigo.
Speaker B:My website, too is PeterBanigo.com so, yeah, I think that's.
Speaker B:Those are the best.
Speaker B:Or you can go on the podcast, take your business podcast.com I'm always there every week talking for like 30 minutes.
Speaker B:So that, that's.
Speaker B:That's the most updated social media I have.
Speaker B:The rest I keep posting on social media.
Speaker B:I'm seeing an introvert there.
Speaker A:Well, Peter, thanks so much for taking the time and, and just having an engaging conversation with me on my podcast.
Speaker A:Blessings on what you do and, and may you continue to.
Speaker A:To be a blessing in the world around you.
Speaker B:Amen.
Speaker B:And thank you so much.
