Did I go or grow in 2013?

As the year 2013 comes to an end and the New Year, 2014, starts perhaps it’s a good time to reflect back on the year and ask myself a few questions. This could go on for quite a few paragraphs so I’m going to limit it to one question. That question is, “Did I go or did I grow?” I saw this dichotomy in a daily Bible reading I do each morning. It applies to our spiritual life but it can also apply to our daily business activities.

Each and every day our businesses have challenges we must face and problems we must solve. We have a tax audit, a key employee quits, an angry customer threatens to sue, the checking account is a little thin, a Technician has an a fender bender or some other issue. We sometimes think it’s only our business or our industry that has challenges but every business both big and small must deal with the circumstances they are dealt. The question I ask myself and I’m asking you is “How do we really deal with those challenges and circumstances?”

Do I just go through the motions, through the challenge, through the circumstance and move on to the next challenge, the next circumstance, the next crisis? If I just go through them I probably am not any better off when the next one appears before me. This does not mean I don’t solve the issue, correct the problem or meet the challenge. What I am asking is “have I become a better owner, a better boss, a better service provider for my customer? Has the problem taught me anything other than becoming more of an angry cynic? Has the circumstance made me bitter? Has the challenge created health issues? Has the crisis affected my mental state?” When we just go through the problems our health, our mental state, and our attitudes are definitely changed for the worse.

On the other hand, when we grow through a crisis, a problem, a challenge, or an issue we look at it with a different frame of mind and attitude. We can ask ourselves, “What can I learn from this? What can I do differently to avoid this from happening that makes real sense?” Look at the crisis or problem after the immediate rush necessary to handle the emergency and find a constructive way to avoid a repeat or very similar happening from causing the frustration and stress. The answer could be a new policy, training, passing some responsibility down the chain, replacing a problem employee or a myriad of other solutions. But you are not going to find solutions unless you take the time and effort to correct the situation so the issue won’t pop-up again. Time and again I hear owners whining about a problem, an employee, a situation but they do nothing to eliminate the issue and formulate a plan to keep the issue from reoccurring. Learn. grow, and change to make things work better within the business.

So make a New Year’s resolution to GROW not go and your life will be a lot less stressful and your business a place to feel good about!

Dan has been in the service industry for nearly 50 years. He has operated a large plumbing, heating and air conditioning service company and for the past 12 years has helped small companies in the service business to grow and prosper. Contact him at Dan@SayYesToSuccess.com.

Related Posts 

• The Walking Dead
• Are you Committed?
• Are You Half-Hearted Kamikaze?

Are you this Committed?

Here is a question you need to ask yourself as a business owner. Are you really committed to the success of your company? In other words, what are you willing to do to have success in your business? Now don't take my words the wrong way. I am only talking about legally, ethically, and morally. My experience is most owners are too busy with the day to day stuff, too tired, too uncommitted to challenge themselves and their team. Perhaps this will inspire you to challenge yourself and your team.

 The owners of Thornton & Grooms are committed to rapidly grow their maintenance agreement base to keep the Technicians busy and provide opportunities for future business. A maintenance agreement customer is much more likely to have work done by that company and have replacement work done by that company. They may not get further quotes or at least will get fewer competitive quotes. Thornton & Grooms long term goal is 20,000 agreements by 2021. That is a “big audacious goal” that will change the structure of Thornton & Grooms. It will reduce their marketing to non-customers. It will allow them to have at least a dozen Preventative Maintenance Technicians who can grow into full NATE certified Service Technicians. Since these agreements also include a plumbing maintenance inspection, they will also grow on the plumbing side of the business.

 


Matt, Mike, and Dave getting shaved!

So how did they go about being fully engaged and committed towards this goal? They challenged their Technicians on the HVAC and plumbing side of the business. If the Technicians could sell 240 maintenance agreements in 5 weeks, they would shave the heads of the owners, Matt, Mike, and Dave. With a full commitment by all employees, they sold 262 maintenance agreements in the five week period. So guess what happened last Friday morning. Yes the heads were shaved!

 It’s that time of year to plan ahead for 2013, to set “big audacious goals” that you are totally committed to and engaged in achieving. If you go to our website, www.SayYesToSuccess.com,

and click on “Free Stuff” there are forms there to help you put together your goals for 2013. Be fully committed and engaged in 2013! In fact start today and set goals for the remainder of 2012.

Change or be left behind, you have to decide.

Dan has been in the service industry for nearly 50 years. He has operated a large plumbing, heating and air conditioning service company and for the past 12 years has helped small companies in the service business to grow and prosper. Contact him at Dan@SayYesToSuccess.com.

Are You a Half-Hearted Kamikaze?

This term “Half-Hearted Kamikaze” comes from Tim Elmore a Christian Pastor and Speaker. I think it is relevant in today’s service business. First let’s look a definition of Kamikaze. As Tim Elmore puts it,” A Kamikaze is someone who (whether for good or evil) puts everything into one purpose.” Wikipedia defines the Kamikaze, literally: "God wind"; common translation: "Divine wind", were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy warships more effectively than was possible with conventional attacks. Numbers quoted vary, but at least 47 Allied vessels, from PT boats to escort carriers, were sunk by kamikaze attacks, and about 300 damaged. About 14% of kamikaze attacks managed to hit a ship.

So what is a Half-Hearted Kamikaze? My definition as relating to business is a service business owner who talks the story of improvement, change, and full commitment but does not consistently strive to achieve the goal of an extremely successful business with time for the owner to enjoy life.

So why are so many service business owners half-hearted? My observations of dozens and dozens of service businesses demonstrate several reasons.

1.   I often see is the owner has little or no experience to run a business. They are great technicians but have little skills to operate a business. They fail to hire the skills needed to operate profitably or to get the skills themselves. It could be as simple as working with an expert consultant to help him.
2.  Another reason is the owner just does not have the drive to take the business to success but is satisfied with a paycheck equal or less than they could make as a technician for a successful company. Perhaps their spouse works and provides the additional income and even benefits for the family.
3. Often an owner becomes distracted by the technical side of the business and shies away from the hard decisions, the “books”, margins, waste, and the changes needed to more the business to the next level. Not necessarily larger but more profitable.
4. Sometimes the distraction is something too big and too close to overcome easily. This could be a sick spouse, parent, child, or his own health. This is understandable and the owner needs to find an individual to operate the business while he gives his attention to the health need.
5. One last one I’m going to mention here is burnout. The business owner is just worn-out from the grind of business. If the business is barely making it, the stress and pressure is great. He needs time away and a regular plan to get some rest and relaxation. If he does not, the business withers away, or he relieves the stress with alcohol, gambling or other diversions to forget the stress and pressure.

The owner probably has little or no retirement fund when he retires. He may take cash under the table thus compromising his integrity. His business may be supported by his vendors who provide credit too easily. He owes more than the business is worth. He may have stress related illnesses such as heart trouble, high blood pressure, diabetes or another health issue. He retires to a life much less than a business owner deserves, if he is able to retire. Perhaps he works at a big box store like Walmart or Home Depot instead of enjoying retirement, hobbies, and the grandkids.

So what’s the answer? Either become fully engaged or work for someone who is and avoid the downside of being half-hearted. Don't be a Half-Hearted Kamikaze, make the decision today!

Dan has been in the service industry for nearly 50 years. He has operated a large plumbing, heating and air conditioning service company and for the past 12 years has helped small companies in the service business to grow and prosper. 
Contact him @ Dan@SayYesToSuccess.com.

Success comes in Cans

Does Success Comes in Cans?

I was at the local grocery store this week and low and behold what did I find, but Success in a Can. Well that’s not true. Actually I heard “Success comes in cans not cans” on “Dancing with the Stars” last night from Hines Ward, an NFL football great.

What Hines was saying is success comes from our attitude. He is not the first to say this nor is he the last. Many great motivational speakers have said it with different words and phrases but the point is the same. When we have a positive attitude, we are much more likely to be successful in our pursuits. What are some ways we can change our negative attitudes into positive ones that help us achieve our goals?

Ralph Waldo Emerson is quoted as saying, “We become what we think about all day long.” To me this means focusing on the goal I want to accomplish. I have done this by posting a picture of the goal or something that represents that goal in places I will see it throughout the day. It may be on my desk or on the mirror in the bathroom. I have written the goal down on a 3x5 card and keep it in a shirt pocket which required me to handle it several times a day. I have verbalized it to my wife and other key people in my life. I have tried to keep the goal front and center in my everyday life.

This is not a panacea for every goal or difficulty I have had in life but it has helped me complete many of my goals that I may have let slip by in life. Try it and see if it helps you. Let me know about your successes at Dan@SayYesToSuccess.com.

Wish it or Will it!

We are quickly moving into 2010. The start of a New Year is a time that many of us make New Year’s resolutions. We are going to lose weight, get into shape, be more disciplined in following our faith, or kick a bad habit. It’s a time to change our ways! It’s a time for new beginnings, a time for improving ourselves, a time to make the New Year even better than the last year. We takeoff with a wish to change and many of us don’t have the will to change and the result is we fail. By the time February comes, the new exercise equipment is gathering dust, the few pounds we lost in the first weeks of January are back as our spare tire, and we still have that bad habit!
The same happens as we start a New Year and make some vague plans to improve our business. We’re going to make a profit this year. We’re going to grow and add a couple of technicians this year. We’re going to get rid of that problem employee this year. We’re going to start saving for our retirement this year, and so on and so on…. Each of these may be the exact thing your business needs in 2010, but my guess is it is the exact thing your business needed at the beginning of 2009 and maybe several year beginning’s prior! How do we get out of this cycle of “Goal Failure”?
Perhaps these ideas will help change the yearly “goal failure” in your business and possibly your personal life. First, the goals need to be written, then they must be very specific, and they must have a time frame for completion. Now for the hard part of the first step, you need to share your goals with someone who will hold you accountable. This could be your spouse or a friend.
Second, post your goals where you will see them almost every day. To paraphrase Earl Nightingale, “You become what you think about all day long”. Seeing the goals continually will keep them on top of your mind and what you think about. Put them up on your wall, on a 3x5 card that you carry in your pocket, on your “Outlook” calendar every day of the year so they come up as you start up your computer.
Finally, I would recommend that you mark your “Outlook“ calendar for a review of your goals every 2 months. Things do change, and you may need to change a goal or two. Who knows, you may be so far ahead of your goal that you need to set a higher goal before the end of the year.
Need some forms for the New Year to help set goals for your business? You can go to our website, www.SayYesToSuccess.com, and go to the “Free Stuff” tab. Near the bottom of the page are several free forms to begin a Successful 2010. Remember “Say Yes To Success in 2010”!