Meet Kevin Harper

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kevin Harper. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kevin below.

Hi Kevin, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

When I was younger, I had the opportunity to help my father build custom homes. He was a general contractor, and we would do a variety of different jobs with him. He had us help haul 2x4s or cinder blocks for retaining walls, among other tasks. I remember one summer we were expanding our driveway, and we had to dig into a hill with shovels and pickaxes next to our house. It turned out the previous builders had made a pile of landscaping rocks (big boulders) and buried them there. Every day, my dad would send me and my brothers out to dig out these big rocks to make way for the extended driveway. Just like any 12-year-old, I hated it and complained any chance I got.

One of those hot summer days, we were taking a break, drinking some lemonade, when my dad looked up and said, “One day, you boys will be grateful you’re capable and have the opportunity to work hard.” I asked him what he meant by that, and he said, “Be grateful you have a home you can work on. Be grateful you have a body capable of doing this work. Be grateful you have brothers to work alongside.” That lesson has stuck with me and has been a big part of my work ethic. When you focus on the reasons to be grateful the opportunities or for the ability to work hard, it will change the way you view what you are doing.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

Hi everyone, my name is Kevin Harper. I’ve been fortunate enough to start my own telecommunications business. 7 years ago I started working in the space, I always loved helping business owners find the right solution but didn’t like being limited to one option. My wife and I decided I should branch off so I can provide multiple solutions for companies. That’s exactly what we did, I am now partnered with almost 100 different business phone providers which allows me to provide the best solutions. What I love most about what I do is easing the burden that so many companies face with poor communication tools. Watching someone transition from a phone provider they’ve been struggling with to one that truly fits their needs is always amazing.

The car analogy has always worked well with business communications—your phone system is where the rubber meets the road. If you have bad tires, the rest of the vehicle can’t perform as it should. These days, phone providers don’t just offer phone service; they provide texting, integrations, automation, and more. There is so much our phone systems can do now. Dial Cloud focuses on creating the best experience for your customers by giving you the tools to communicate the way your customers do.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

For me it was taking something that I was already doing and just doing it for myself. You could attribute this to having the courage to take that step. There are so many people that already have the skills they need to start their own business but just need to take that first step.

Patience is another big one, allowing yourself time to be successful is huge. In todays world we expect things to be a instant hit. Majority of business owners I talk to don’t have stories like that. It took time and resilience for them to get to where they currently are. I personally still feel like I’m in this stage of being patient.

Hard work, there is no substitute for it. To build off of hard work I would say focused work. Hard work, is important but you need to have the ability to focus that hard work on action items that will move business forward. Don’t trick yourself/lie to yourself and create tasks that don’t actually further your business. Do the work that you don’t want to do that is actually going to further your business.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

Being overwhelmed used to be a morning tradition for me. It still is sometimes, but not as often. What I’ve found that works for me is staying organized. Here is the process that works for me: the night before, I write down a task list in my work journal. This is where I list all my tasks for the next day (even if it’s a repeated, daily task). I then number them from most important to least. After that, I work these tasks into whatever my schedule looks like for the next day.

Usually, we feel overwhelmed before we even start. As simple as it sounds, just starting what needs to be done has always been the biggest thing that helps me not feel overwhelmed. Try making the first thing on your schedule something you do every day that leaves you with a sense of accomplishment. It’s important to get that hit of dopamine first thing in the morning to get you going. Discipline fuels motivation.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mydialcloud.com/

Image Credits

Kevin Harper