FCB #011: The Power of 3: 3X Your Business, 3X Its Value, & 3X Your Life

If you're a time-strapped business owner, you're probably trying to grow your business and improve its enterprise value so you can have a better life for you and your family.

Throughout human history, the number 3 has always had a unique significance. It's even been called the "Magic Number." The ancient Greek philosopher, Pythagoras, postulated that the meaning behind numbers was deeply significant. In his eyes, the number 3 was considered the perfect number:

• The number of harmony, wisdom, and understanding.

• The number of time – past, present, future.

• The number of the divine.

This week I'm shedding light on 3 things you can do in 3 areas each to: (1) triple the size of your business, (2) 3X your business enterprise value, and (3) improve your life.

So, let's begin!

Triple the Size of Your Business

Marketing:

Establishing and increasing awareness of your business brand, generating leads and driving sales, and building and maintaining customer relationships are 3 keys to effectively market your business and services.

• B2B marketers rely on LinkedIn as their top social media channel for reaching key decision-makers and professional buyers.
• Launched in 2003, and acquired by Microsoft in 2016, LinkedIn has grown to now be the largest professional social network with over 930 million users.
• You and your company need to be active on LinkedIn and leveraging it to the maximum extent possible. Check out the following article for 8 ways to leverage LinkedIn for marketing success: https://kinsta.com/blog/linkedin-marketing/.

Sales:

Three key goals of your sales efforts include increasing revenue and achieving sales targets, acquiring and retaining customers, and maximizing profitability and customer lifetime value (CLV). In order achieve these goals, work on the following:

• Streamline your sales funnel and remove any unnecessary steps or complexities that may hinder your sales conversions. Make sure your sales funnel is well defined and clearly communicates your buyer's journey, ensuring a smooth transition from lead generation to closing the sale.
• Implement sales technology. If you don't use one already, invest in a customer relationship management (CRM) software that can help track your customer interactions, manage leads, and automate sales processes. Many CRMs have sales analytics and reporting tools to help you gain insights into your sales performance, identify trends, and help you make data-driven decisions. I like Zoho CRM coupled with Zoho Analytics as part of the Zoho One all-in-one business operating system.
• Invest in sales training and development. Three of the best sales training programs we're aware of include: (1) Sandler Training (Enterprise Selling Training Course), (2) RAIN Group (Foundations of Consultative Selling), and (3) Dale Carnegie Sales Training (Winning with Relationship Selling).

Recruiting:

Attracting and retaining top talent is one of the most important things you can do to grow and scale your company. Check out the following resources, pick one in each list, and start implementing come Monday.

• Best Books - (1) Hire Train Retain by Michael Matalone, (2) Topgrading by Bradford D. Smart, Ph.D., and (3) Who: The A Method for Hiring by Geoff Smart and Randy Street.
• Best Professional Recruiting Firms - (1) XP3 Talent, (2) Robert Half, and (3) Randstad. If you talk with Mike Matalone at XP3 Talent, tell him Calvin referred you!
• Best SaaS Software - (1) Zoho Recruit (all-in-one talent acquisition solution), (2) Criteria Corp (leading provider of professionally-developed pre-employment tests), and (3) Accurate Information Services (AIS, background screening service).

3X Your Business Enterprise Value

People

Buyers are looking for a business, not a job. They don't want to buy a company and immediately have to start running it. For a business to be sustainable, it must have the right people in place, in the right seats, so the buyer doesn't have to invest time and money into hiring and training employees to run their new business.

• Organizational Strategy - Get your Hiring Plan and Org Chart (Roles & Responsibilities Chart) in place.
• Hire Your Tactical Team - Document all of the tactical work you do as the business owner and hire technicians and professionals to replace yourself in these business development, fulfillment, and administrative functions.
• Hire Your Management Team - Continue this process and build out a solid management team: (1) marketing & sales, (2) fulfillment & operations, and (3) finance & administraton. Now, you're finally a true CEO and your company is both valuable AND sellable! Congratulations!

Process

Processes are essential to a business and building profits. A great product can't save a company that doesn't have effective business systems in place. Three key systems every company should have include:

• Employee Handbook - This key document houses your HR policies, should be reviewed by an HR attorney in your state, and kept up to date annually.
• Operating Manuals - All of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) you use to run your company, by department and/or role.
• Project Management - A software database to help you manage and analyze all of the significant strategic and tactical projects in your business.

Patrons

A sustainable business is nimble and can pivot when necessary. A varied and diverse client base makes this possible. Focus on improving these 3 key areas:

• Client Concentration - No one client should represent more than 10% of total revenue.
• Industry Concentration - Make sure all your eggs are not in one industry basket, especially industries that are cyclical or negatively impacted by interest rate fluctuations and recessions.
• Repeat Clients - You want to strive for repeat clients and recurring monthly revenues, ideally through long-term contracts or automatic renewable subscriptions.

Improve Your Life in 3 Areas

Physical Health & Fitness

• Go For a Walk Every Day - This is probably the easiest and one of the most enjoyable and stress reducing things you can do to improve your health. Forget those stupid number of steps. Just get walking!
• Limit Sugar and Processed Carbohydrates - Sugar and highly-refined, highly-processed carbohydrates increase insulin resistance and are what make us fat. Do your body a favor and limit your sugar intake and start eating more whole, unprocessed foods. Watch what you eat.
• Meditation - 3 minutes of meditation each morning and night can dramatically improve your blood pressure and reduce chronic stress. Give it a try!

Time Management & Productivity

These are three things I use to help me manage my time and improve my personal and professional productivity.

• TickTick - One of the best personal time management softwares available.
• Eisenhower Matrix - One of the best paradigms available for deciding what to do and, more importantly, what you should not be doing!
• Pomodoro Method - Allows you to focus on one thing at a time and not get distracted.

Personal Growth & Learning

• iPad & Kindle - Reply in the Comments if you'd like a copy of "Calvin's Suggested Reading List." I have most of these on my iPad via Kindle and try to read regularly. If it works for Warren Buffet, it's good enough for me!
• ChatGPT & YouTube - Most of what I learn these days comes from searches on ChatGPT and YouTube. Give them a try. You'll be amazed!
• LinkedIn & Twitter - My two favorites these days since I'm currently building a new online content creator business leveraging both LinkedIn and Twitter. It is absolutely amazing how many useful tips, tricks, and hacks are freely available on these two social media platforms.

Final Thoughts

I hope you enjoyed this week's edition. In it you learned 3 things in 3 areas each to:

1. Triple the Size of Your Business,
2. 3X Your Business Enterprise Value, and
3. Improve Your Life in 3 Areas.

So, that was 3 x 3 x 3 = 27 tips and tricks you can choose from to start improving your business and your life come Monday.

Choose 3 that you can start to implement come Monday and this next week.

Now, finish your favorite cup of Joe and go out and have yourself a wonderful weekend!

P.S. Don't forget to go for a walk!

Whenever you're ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1.  Founder Coaching Program- If you’re looking for individual business coaching, I’d recommend my 1:1 Founder Coaching Program: ten 60- to 90-minute Zoom meetings to be used within 6 months of starting with me.
2.  Strategic Planning Facilitation- If you’re looking for group coaching, I’d suggest you first bring me in to facilitate a 2-plus-day Strategic Planning Retreat, with post-retreat help for you and your Leadership Team to implement our proven Founder Operating System (FOS) into your business.
3.  Weekly Founder Coffee BreakNewsletter - If you or your people want to learn how to optimize your business, consider subscribing to my weekly LinkedIn newsletter. I share practical guidance to help you improve and grow your business. => Join 380+ readers here: https://lnkd.in/eBqvHDtY.