Introduction
Whether in your business or personal life, success comes down to three key actions:
- Do The Right Things
- Do Them In The Right Order
- Do Them Over & Over, Consistently
I know this is pretty basic, but you would be amazed at the number of small business owners that can't follow this simple formula.
1. Do The Right Things
This first key seems obvious. But, the truth is, most small business owners don't actually know what the right things are they should be doing. Well, here's a simple 6-step process I use with all of my appraisal business coaching clients:
- Mindset & Vision - The first thing a small business owner-founder needs to do is start thinking like an entrepreneurial CEO. They'll never focus on the key strategic work needed to grow and scale a business if they don't. Then, they need to determine and articulate what their vision is for their company and future. Finally, in order to inspire their team and other stakeholders in the business, they need to write out their BHAG -- a Big Hairy Audacious Goal.
- Strategic Planning - Okay, so now you have a vision. But, if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail! I help my coaching clients with larger businesses go through a 2-day annual strategic planning process with their leadership or management teams. At the end of this they have a concise 2-page strategic plan they can share with everyone involved with their organization. Part of that is their plan for the next quarter. We then help them review their quarterly plans each quarter and reforecast those and plan for the upcoming quarter. Key to making this all work are the weekly Leadership Team meetings which helps keep everyone accountable on what they should be doing to achieve the company's annual goals.
- Professional Management - There is a science to successfully growing and operating a business. The Founder2X Coaching Program helps appraisal business founders implement a proven professional management system including the following components:
- Goals
- Vision
- To-Do's
- Systems
- Meetings
- Org Chart
- Scorecards
- Issues Solving
- Systems & Automation - As James Clear says: "You don't rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems." One of the biggest keys to business success is to architect scalable systems and automate as many recurring processes in your business as possible.
- Business Growth - Here we focus in on (1) new client acquisition and retention and (2) effective recruitment and onboarding of top A-player talent. Growing and diversifying your client base and building a strong team of employees, contractors, and vendors is how you grow your company from 6 to 7 figures and beyond. Every company should have always-on marketing and automated recruiting and onboarding processes.
- Exit Plan & Value Drivers - Most small business aren't valuable or sellable. The main reason is they are owner-dependent businesses. We help small business owners start the exit planning process by getting their businesses valued professionally. We then teach them about the main drivers of a business's enterprise value and start working on them one at a time until the business value is large enough to help meet the owner's financial exit goals.
2. Do Them In The Right Order
It's really important to work on the steps in the right order. For instance, if you get a bunch of new clients without the employees to serve the increased demand, you risk either not delivering on time, or not delivering a quality product, or both. Either way, you're going to lose hard-won clients and you will likely tarnish your business brand and reputation.
Likewise, if you hire a bunch of employees or contractors without a professional management system and efficient business systems and automation in place, you're liable to frustrate your new employees. If they feel your company is not professionally managed and is without good business systems in place to help them do their jobs efficiently, they will likely leave you. Losing key employees is one of the most costly expenses any company can incur!
Again, the key is to know what to do and in what order. A good business coach and mentor who has gone through this before can help you a lot to get these two keys right.
3. Do Them Over & Over, Consistently
I always say that the key to success in sales is in the "Follow up, follow up, follow up." The same is true here. The key to success in business, once you know what to do and in what order, is simply to do the right things over and over and over again, consistently!
Success doesn't happen overnight. It usually results from doing some very basic steps or actions repeatedly and consistently over time. What usually happens is a compound effect with geometric growth happening after a few years.
Again, having regular meetings with your business coach as an accountability partner goes a long way to ensuring you are taking the right steps and repeating them consistently, over and over, until success finally occurs.
Conclusion
The formula is a simple one:
- Do The Right Things
- Do Them In The Right Order
- Do Them Over & Over, Consistently
Most small business owners don't know what to do to strategically grow and scale their businesses.
They spend way too much time on technical education or down in the weeds acting as the top salesperson and/or producer in their firms.
With the right help, they can elevate themselves to the 10,000-foot level, looking down on their businesses with a new strategic, CEO-type perspective.
It is only then that they can really start working "on" their businesses, focusing on the strategic items that so need their attention.
A good business coach can help you do the right things, in the right order, over & over, consistently.
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If you're an appraisal business owner and like these newsletters, please share these with other appraisers or business owners you know.
Also, please consider working with me as your appraisal business coach. I scaled my CRE appraisal business from 6 to 7 figures and sold it successfully for 7 figures, all cash. I can help you do the same if that might be of interest to you.
I can help you and your peers two ways:
1. Founder2X Newsletter - Go to www.CalvinCummings.com, click on Newsletter at the top, and Subscribe to Founder2X Newsletter. Every Saturday morning I share what I did to grow, scale, systemize, and ultimately sell my commercial real estate appraisal business successfully.
2. Founder2X Coaching - While you're there, go to the Coaching page and Book a Free Consult Call with me to see if our Founder2X Coaching Program is a good fit for you and your appraisal business.
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