Entrepreneurs on fire is an award-winning podcast where John Lee Dumas interviews inspirational entrepreneurs in order to help other entrepreneurs find success. John Lee Dumas, otherwise known as “JLD” has a goal to share stories and strategies that help fire up entrepreneurs to create the life they have always dreamed of.
JLD wants people to spend more time doing what they enjoy rather than spending significant amounts of time in their life doing things they don’t enjoy. JLD recently featured Ben White from White Cloud Concierge on his podcast in October 2022 and they found a commonality between themselves about how much they value time. In this episode of Entrepreneurs on Fire, Ben White shares about his businesses, some tips for success and the importance of time.
Ben White owns two businesses, White Cloud Adventures as a paragliding teacher and a Salt Lake City based concierge service called White Cloud Concierge. Some of the services offered at White Cloud Concierge include landscaping, ski tuning, house cleaning and car detailing.
As a paragliding teacher, advertising is straight-forward and it is easy to get the word out, but for the concierge service it is a bit more tricky. In order for Ben to get the word out about White Cloud Concierge, he has had to be a bit more innovative and experimental. Not many people are googling “concierge services in Salt lake City”, so in order to advertise for White Cloud Concierge’s services Ben uses a variety of different channels.
Some of the ways Ben advertises White Cloud Concierge is through instagram stories and his natural ability to connect with people and build relationships. On his own personal instagram he creates polls asking who wants a ski tune or who needs a house cleaning. This has resulted with a lot of responses through a personalized experience through DM’s creating leads that often turn into customers. Besides using instagram, Ben is an efficient problem solver and very approachable which makes it easy for him to network. Through Ben’s glowing personality and efficiency, customers are naturally drawn to him when he puts the word out about White Cloud Concierge.
Since Ben is such a “people person” and he dislikes when his friends have to leave early from ski trips, he started brainstorming ideas. Ben started to think about how people could save time for themselves and have more time with friends and family or to recreate in nature. Once he reflected on the value of time and the efficiency of a concierge service at a hotel, Ben thought of starting a concierge business. He wanted to save time for his friends and bring the idea of a personal assistant into a single home and eventually Ben created his business, White Cloud Concierge.
When it comes time to play outside and hang out with friends and family, Ben doesn’t mess around. Time is the most valuable aspect of his life and he wants to bring more time to everyone to enjoy their lives to the fullest.
“We never get time back. It’s our most valuable resource.”
Regarding time and success, Ben also believes it’s important to know when is the right time to stop working for a certain customer. If someone is not aligning with your business values and you don’t enjoy working with them, it is not worth your time and energy. Ben goes above and beyond for his customers, but what’s even more important is his time and energy for himself.
In this podcast, Ben compares how much time we make on average working and how much time we value for ourselves. He calculates that investing in a service that averages a similar amount hourly as your income is incredibly worth the time for yourself.
“You can get another dollar tomorrow, but you won’t have today ever again”.
If you have to cut your day skiing short due to chores or having to meet a contractor, it can be disappointing to end a fun activity early. The importance of time in life and doing what you enjoy the most is what we are here for.
As an entrepreneur, outdoor explorer or someone who is burnt out from overworking, take a pause and look at what you value most in life. Reflect on how you can utilize time more for yourself and think of the way Ben White values time for himself and his customers.
If you are interested in learning more about Ben White make sure to follow him on instagram @benwhiteskis for some epic skiing and paragliding footage in the Wasatch mountains of Salt Lake City. If you want to learn more about his businesses check out White Cloud Adventures and White Cloud Concierge. Lastly, If you’re an entrepreneur who wants to learn more tips for success, make sure to check out more of JLD’s Entrepreneurs on Fire podcast episodes.
