If the anxiety never shuts off, this episode is for you. When you’re buried in jobs, chasing checks, and the phone goes quiet the moment you stop pushing, it’s not because you’re lazy or broken. It’s because the systems around your money are broken. On this episode of the Stop Working Broke Podcast, Chad Murray sits down with licensed financial professional Ronnie Slomkowski to talk about the financial stress most business owners live with every day but rarely fix.

Most service business owners know they should have a financial plan, but they keep putting it off. Money feels overwhelming, confusing, and easy to avoid until the stress becomes constant. In this conversation, Chad and Ronnie break down why avoiding finances quietly fuels anxiety, bad decisions, and burnout. They talk honestly about why selling your business is not a guaranteed retirement plan, why small consistent investing beats waiting for the perfect moment, and why building a business without a financial foundation often leads to working longer and harder with nothing to show for it.

Ronnie explains how real financial freedom is built by putting simple systems in place, not by becoming a market expert or gambling on someday. The discussion covers protection, debt strategy, investing, retirement planning, and the discipline required to stay steady when fear and market noise show up. Chad shares real-world lessons from selling his own service business and why clarity around money is often the missing piece behind constant pressure and poor decisions.

This episode isn’t about hype or motivation. It’s about creating stability so the anxiety stops running your business and your life. Freedom doesn’t start when you make more money. It starts when you stop avoiding the numbers and start building systems that work without constant panic.

Ronnie Slomkowski works with business owners and families to create complete financial plans focused on clarity, confidence, and long-term freedom. If you know you need to get your finances in order and you’re tired of ignoring it, you can contact Ronnie directly by email at ronnieslomkowsi@gmail.com or by phone at 678-689-4999.

The Stop Working Broke Podcast is hosted by Chad Murray, former $4M service business owner and founder of Stop Working Broke. The show is for business owners who are tired of grinding, stressed about money, and stuck in the same cycle year after year. The conversations are real, direct, and practical, focused on building better businesses without sacrificing your life.

Before you go, if this episode hit home and you’re tired of running your business under constant financial pressure, here’s how to take the next step.

👉 Book a call with me: https://profit.stopworkingbroke.com/widget/bookings/my-calendar-stop-working-broke

If you’ve got questions, want clarity, or need help figuring out your next move, that’s the place to start.

📩 Email:
chad@stopworkingbroke.com

🔗 Follow & Subscribe:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61583902921803

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stop_working_broke

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@STOPWORKINGBROKECOACH

And if this podcast helped you, do me a favor — subscribe, leave a review, and share it with another business owner who’s stuck in the same cash-flow stress loop.

This is the Stop Working Broke Podcast — where we help you build a business that actually works for your life.

I’ll see you next week.

If you wait until you NEED money… you’ll get the worst money.

In the first Stop Working Broke episode of 2026, Chad Murray sits down with his funding partner Mike Farrell (MJF Funding Solutions) to break down how business owners can access revolving 0% APR business credit lines and even $50K–$250K in startup capital (often 12–18 months at 0%) — without getting trapped in predatory loans or merchant cash advances.

They cover how business funding actually works, why banks reject most owners, how smart businesses use “other people’s money,” and how credit can often be improved faster than people think — so you can get positioned to scale, not scramble.

What you’ll learn:
-Why the worst time to get funding is when you “need it”
-How 0% business credit lines work (and why banks offer them)
-The “1% minimum payment” advantage on revolving credit
-How to avoid merchant cash advance traps
-Funding strategies for startups AND established businesses
-Credit repair paths that can make you fundable again

Next step: Apply first (soft pull). If you’re declined, Chad and Mike will help map the credit-fix path so you can get funded the right way.

👉 Click to Apply

Chapters:
00:00 – Why this episode matters
05:00 – What MJF Funding Solutions actually does
12:00 – The funding trap: “money when you need it”
20:00 – 0% credit lines for startups (pre-revenue)
30:00 – Using credit correctly to scale (not survive)
45:00 – How credit repair can work fast
55:00 – Fees, rewards, and why it’s real
1:05:00 – Final warning: banks lend when it’s sunny

Before you go, if this episode hit home and you’re tired of running your business under constant financial pressure, here’s how to take the next step.

👉 Book a call with me


If you’ve got questions, want clarity, or need help figuring out your next move, that’s the place to start.

📩 Email:
chad@stopworkingbroke.com

🔗 Follow & Subscribe:
Facebook
Instagram
YouTube

And if this podcast helped you, do me a favor — subscribe, leave a review, and share it with another business owner who’s stuck in the same cash-flow stress loop.

This is the Stop Working Broke Podcast — where we help you build a business that actually works for your life.

I’ll see you next week.

AI or die for Blue Collar Businesses - Where to start

If you’re a service business owner and you keep hearing “use AI”… but you’re not sure how it actually helps your day-to-day—this episode is for you.

In this conversation, Chad sits down with Dan Gentry (Impact AI / Third Power Performance) to break down practical ways AI can help you in two big areas:

✅ 1) Your business: save time, speed up follow-up, organize your operations, and stop dropping balls.
✅ 2) Your personal life: use the time AI gives you back to actually enjoy your life instead of just “doing more.”

We talk about real, simple use-cases like:

• Email overload: using AI to categorize messages and create drafts (without sending anything automatically)
• Chatbots + support: reduce repetitive questions and help leads get what they need faster
• Meeting notes → action: turning your recorded meetings into tasks, reminders, and follow-ups so your team actually executes
• AI agents: the “future assistant” that can run workflows in the background and keep your business moving
• Know your numbers: why data extraction + simple dashboards will separate winners from losers in the next 5 years

Chad also shares a wild example of using ChatGPT to help write a full book draft in just a few hours—in his voice—and why business owners who don’t adopt AI will get left behind just like the companies who ignored the internet in the late 90s.

🔥 Big takeaway

AI isn’t “magic.” It’s systems. And the businesses that build systems now will dominate later.

Work with Chad (Stop Working Broke)

Book a discovery call: https://profit.stopworkingbroke.com/widget/bookings/my-calendar-stop-working-broke

Email: stopworkingbroke@gmail.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@STOPWORKINGBROKECOACH
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stop_working_broke
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61583902921803

Connect with Dan Gentry

Website: Third Power Life Balance AI
(Also mentioned: his free AI learning community + QR code in the video)

Dan's Skool link to learn AI...https://www.skool.com/impact-ai

Chapters / Timestamps (optional)
00:00 Intro + why this podcast is taking off
03:00 Dan’s background + why AI is different
10:00 AI for business owners: email + support + chatbots
20:00 AI agents + workflow automation (meeting notes → tasks)
35:00 AI + your numbers + dashboards
45:00 Why AI adoption is the new “internet moment”
55:00 How to connect with Dan + next steps

#AIForBusiness #ServiceBusiness #HomeService #SmallBusinessGrowth #StopWorkingBroke #Automation #AIagents

In this episode of Stop Working Broke, Chad Murray breaks down the Million-Dollar Tasks you must master if you want to scale your service business, escape the technician trap, and finally build the freedom-focused company you dreamed of when you first started.

If you’re stuck, overwhelmed, or wondering how to grow beyond the rut you’re in… this is the roadmap.

Chad reveals the exact framework he used to grow a multi-million-dollar service company, and the same system he now coaches owners through every single week.

💰 What You’ll Learn in This Episode

✔️ How to stop being the technician and become the owner
✔️ How to design your future business as a machine that runs without you
✔️ The truth about replacing bad and average employees
✔️ Why most of the people who got you here won’t get you to $5M+
✔️ How to upgrade products, pricing, and services for immediate revenue lifts
✔️ Sales training that instantly increases your average ticket
✔️ How to fix production efficiency and cut full-day jobs into hours
✔️ Why leadership and management education is mandatory—not optional
✔️ How to systemize your business so growth becomes predictable
✔️ The marketing mindset that separates $1M operators from $10M owners
✔️ The power of client retention and why you're leaving money on the table
✔️ How to measure, protect, and financially fortify your company
✔️ Why your relationships and environment determine your ceiling
✔️ How to grow YOU—the owner—so the business can finally grow with you

Chad walks through his proven framework:

1. Design the Machine (vision, model, strategy, org chart)
2. Staff the Machine (replace, train, develop leaders, choose your circle)
3. Systematize the Machine (processes, SOPs, client experience, retention)
4. Fuel the Machine (marketing, sales)
5. Measure & Protect the Machine (books, accounting, KPIs, risk)
6. Grow the Owner (state, story, habits, who you spend time with)

If you apply this, you will double your business within 12 months.

🚀 Ready to Scale Faster With a Coach Who’s Done It?

👉Book a call with Chad Murray

Email:
📩 stopworkingbroke@gmail.com

📱 Follow Chad Murray (Stop Working Broke)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61583902921803

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stop_working_broke

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@STOPWORKINGBROKECOACH

Being the owner sounds glamorous—until you’re the one carrying payroll, problems, employees, customers, and big decisions with no peer bench.

In this episode of Stop Working Broke, host Chad Murray talks about the real kind of loneliness entrepreneurs face (not “I need friends” lonely), why it quietly wrecks your decision-making, and how isolation turns into overthinking, delay, and compounded problems.

You’ll learn:

• The most common signs you’re running your business alone (decision fatigue, cash-flow stress, confidence erosion, “success trap”)
• Why systems and hiring won’t solve the ownership pressure by themselves
• The real gap: proximity + accountability + truth
• Practical ways to stop being isolated: texting one owner today, joining groups and actually posting, getting involved in associations, and choosing coaching/mastermind environments that push you to implement

If you’re tired of carrying it all by yourself, this is your reminder: you’re not alone—and you shouldn’t be. Get connected, get involved, and get back to winning.

Connect with Chad / Work with Chad:
📅 Book a call: https://profit.stopworkingbroke.com/widget/bookings/my-calendar-stop-working-broke

📧 Email: stopworkingbroke@gmail.com

Follow on social:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61583902921803

Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/stop_working_broke

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@STOPWORKINGBROKECOACH

New episodes weekly. Subscribe and share this with an owner who’s been white-knuckling it.

Welcome to Stop Working Broke—the rebranded podcast from Outside the Business Box—hosted by Chad Murray. If you’re running job-to-job, chasing checks, and the phone gets quiet the minute you stop pushing, this show is for you.

Each episode is packed with real-world tips and straight advice to help service business owners fix the stuff that keeps them stuck: cash flow, marketing that actually works, better offers, follow-up systems, hiring, delegation, and operations—so you can build a business that runs without eating your life.

In this episode: Slow Season — “Good. Here’s how you buy your future.”

We break down why slow times really happen (hint: it’s often the lag from decisions made 60–120 days ago) and the non-negotiable tasks that get the phone ringing fast:

• Reactivate old demand (call/text old estimates + past customers)
• Follow-up that doesn’t quit (3 touches in 7 days)
• Referral systems that lift revenue 20–30%
• Call audits + turning the person answering the phone into a sales engine
• Stronger seasonal offers + conversions
• Reviews, Google Business Profile updates, and trust-building proof
• Partner and commercial outreach to stabilize revenue year-round
• Upsell/cross-sell systems on every job (show the full menu)

Work with Chad (Free Session + 45-Day Cash Flow Program)

If you want help implementing this fast, Chad offers a free 30–60 minute session where you’ll walk away with at least one move you can implement immediately—and if you decide to work together, he has a 45-day program built to get your business cash-flowing quickly.

Contact / Links

• Email: stopworkingbroke@gmail.com
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@STOPWORKINGBROKECOACH
• Calendar (Book a Call): Schedule Now

Short Bio

Chad Murray is a business coach for service business owners who are stuck in “Groundhog Day”—busy, stressed, and still broke. He helps owners install the right systems to improve cash flow, tighten operations, build consistent lead flow, and scale without the business owning their life.

If this episode helped you, follow the show and share it with another owner who needs to stop working broke.

Have a blast listening to my friend and mentor George Hedley of Hard Hat Biz.

You will not be disappointed!

NOTE: this was on another Podcast I started that I rolled into

Stop Working Broke.

In this brutally honest episode of Operation Entrepreneur Freedom, Chad Murray pulls back the curtain on the toughest season of his business life. After nearly three decades in business and coaching hundreds of entrepreneurs, Chad shares how ignoring his own advice almost bankrupted him — again.

He talks openly about shutting down an 18-year market, hiring a COO to dismantle his company, and the emotional toll of making hard but overdue decisions. He also reveals the painful impact of relationships, imposter syndrome, and anxiety — and how he's finding clarity through it all.

Plus, you’ll hear two powerful comeback stories from history — the collapse and rebirth of Henry Heinz’s empire and the unexpected resurrection of Polaroid.

Want to know how Chad built a $4M company and coached others to $12M?
Get his book Operation Entrepreneur Freedom for free:
👉 https://chadsacademy.com/mybook