Tom goes this one alone, with no adult supervision, but he gives a comparison of two different stores in Cheyenne. Both are national chains, and one used to have lights-out customer service, and the other used to have terrible service. But he's noticed that with a change of management in both stores, they've flipped. It caused him to take a harder look at how he provides customer service in his own business, and his insights can help you improve your own customer service, which will in turn improve your customer retention and referrals.

Tom gives away one of his biggest trade secrets -- his Circle of Success. This is his blueprint for how to provide the absolute highest level of customer service, and he follows it on every job he does. The Circle of Success can be customized to any business, and it should be, so that you can build a process to ensure you deliver great customer service and make your customers think of you the next time they need your services.

Brian drops in for another Life of Brian episode, and as usual, they jump all over the place. They talk about hiring one old guy vs. two young guys and about loyalty and being there for your people. It's the usual Tom and Brian unsupervised conversation, so it's unpredictable but chock-full of good business ideas.

Ty took his hats to a bronc riding event and set up a booth over the weekend, and in this episode, Tom and Ty talk about how it turned out to be a great business move. Ty went with the Minimum Viable Product, rather than waiting until he had everything he would need to do a full-blown hat store at the event, and he realized that MVP approach was probably a better strategy, anyway.

Tom pulled in Don Blakesley, owner of Executive Builders, to talk about the business side of the construction game. It turns out there are a lot of similarities in all service-based businesses, and the basics hold true across the board.

Tom took his work truck on a two-hour round trip to get some hay for his wife's horses, and he used the SOPs he built after talking about them on this podcast to make sure the truck was in good working order. It turns out the truck was low on oil, and had he not checked it, the results could have been bad for the truck, which then would make things bad for business. So he had a real-life reminder of why it's important to make rules for your business, then follow those rules. Tom and Ty talk about that experience, and Tom gives some good tips on how to make those SOPs for checking your equipment easier with help from AI programs.

Tom talks about treating your employees right -- and that starts with paying them the way they should be paid. The amount you pay them is important, but more important than that is that you set them up the correct way. Don't pay a regular employee as a contract employee. Not only does it hurt the employee, it also can come back on you in a big way if you get caught, because there are rules about this. Know those rules, and treat your employees well.

Tom and Ty discuss how "busy" doesn't necessarily mean "profitable," and how you can make some adjustments to make sure you are profitable, even if you aren't as busy.

Tom, Brian and Ty are breaking one of their cardinal rules for this episode -- they're delving into a political topic. But they're doing it because the issue in question doesn't make a lot of business sense. They come from different viewpoints and walks of life, but they agree that America in general and Wyoming in particular should not be for sale.

If you want to share your own views on this issue with Wyoming's Congressional delegation, here are the phone numbers in D.C. for our senators and representative:

Senator John Barrasso 202-224-6441

Senator Cynthia Lummis 202-224-3424

Representative Harriet Hageman 202-225-2311

Tom and Ty talk about a billboard that doesn't get the point across, and how you can't afford to make that mistake in your business.