Business Coaching

[charlietuna]

The truth of the matter is i couldn't find anyone that was interested in providing the services we specialized in ? You talk about metering to other contractors-- i was told " no way, we screw up even an e-mon install" or "there's no call for that stuff".... And "Infrared Scanning" -- they looked at it - but didn't want to even consider investing a JW's time for a couple of weeks to learn the basics or send him to school. I even offered them a deal on the camera equipment to pay it off while handling my accounts--not interested. As a matter of fact, the contractor i selected to take over my accounts(at no cost) lost most of them within a year. He told me i had my customers spoiled!!! I had people who wanted to buy my equipment and start infrared scanning--which i refused since it would be wrong for the infrared industry to turn unqualified operator loose! I had seen too much of this since entering the infrared industry in 1989. I still get calls concerning infrared pricing from past customers--the pricing is crazy compared to ours and we did a complete job! Many of these infrared companies don't even know what to look for in these buildings!!! I am happily retired-no bills-good health-termendous retirement package - a secure investment program my accountant got me started in years ago -- something MIKE HOLT used to harp on during his classes-- on being "DEBT FREE" and like his electrical instructions--Mike was also correct on this ! I am considering some volunteer work maybe for "habitat for humanity" -- just don't want to get tied down with anything that interfears with my fishing!

 

[emahler]

why do you think this occurred?

 

[khixxx]

I am considering some volunteer work maybe for "habitat for humanity" -- just don't want to get tied down with anything that interfears with my fishing!

pickens plan

 

[brian john]

I really don't see any item listed that isn't basic common sense

I sat through some of these and thought the same thing, what a waste of time I would have done better to take an electrical related course.

THOUGH I did take Dale Carnegie sales course and I felt I learned some valuable lessons.

 

[Greg Swartz]

I sat through some of these and thought the same thing, what a waste of time I would have done better to take an electrical related course.

THOUGH I did take Dale Carnegie sales course and I felt I learned some valuable lessons.

Well, I hope you do well in your business... if you are in business.
Yes, the things they teach you are common sense. In fact, 90% of what they have taught, I have already learned.

They are re-inforcing these items, breaking things down, and "forcing" us to write these things down, and implement them.

I will take more electrical courses in due time... but I am seriously committed on growing my business.
We've grown 800% in just under 2 years, and I do not want to stop! (yet...)

 

[Greg Swartz]

The founder of Action is Bradley Sugars. He has many books in the "Instant" series. http://www.bradsugars.com/ is his web site. If you get involved with them ask if they will be offering the game "Leverage" at any time. Very interesting board game developed by Sugars dealing with business strategies.

In the introduction of his book "Instant Systems" is a quote: "I define a business as a commercial, profitable enterprise that works without you."

We have another business meeting scheduled in mid-February, and the intent is to play that game with 20 other business owners. One in the group had already participated, and once he heard "leverage," he said "I'm in!"

I look forward to it.

I have a few of the "instant" books. Just have not read them yet.
Gotta write out my mission statement, and vision statement, then deliver this to all the guys... and get them onboard. Gotta get them to see where I want the company to go. My head foreman is definately on board.

Then, I gotta deliver this out to my "close" contractors, to let them know where I want to take the business. I am not joking about being an EC anymore. We grew 800% in less than 2 years, some of it should not have happened... but it did.

Now, I got to get people on board, and we'll all start to grow... grow personally... grow professionally... grow technically... and grow in many other ways. (hopefully not horizontally! :grin

 

[tedge]

Are these ActionCOACH people mainly general business motivation? Or do they actually look at the nuts and bolts of your personal business situation and teach to what would be your best time spent?

 

[BryanMD]

Anyone else ol enough to remember Tom Peters?
Has it been long enough now that he can be re-visite?

In Search of Excellence Still worth the read.


here is a short interview article on the re-release of his book:
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/53/peters.html

And an excerpt:
"Meanwhile, Daniel had this other little dip-s hit project that he wanted to mount. He was looking for someone to look at the organization side -- the structure-and-people side. And there I was...

Interestingly, there had been only four people in my organizational-behavior doctoral class at Stanford. And even more interestingly, all four of us were ex-engineers who on some vague level had the notion that numbers and statistics weren't enough. We suspected that they didn't tell the whole story about how companies really worked -- or maybe even worse, that they obscured the real story behind what it took to compete and win in the then-evolving world of business."

 

[Greg Swartz]

Are these ActionCOACH people mainly general business motivation? Or do they actually look at the nuts and bolts of your personal business situation and teach to what would be your best time spent?

Believe it or not, there's only a small amount of motivation...
They are all into the nuts and bolts of your business: P&L, Cash flow, increasing leads, closure rates, profits, and building a better business.

Then they sit you down and go over with you how to accomplish these things... for real... it's not one of those altrustic things. They have good methodoligies, and it all makes sense.

That's where the motivation comes... for me. Because I can see it. I can see my growth from where I have came, and where I can take things.

 

[emahler]

Believe it or not, there's only a small amount of motivation...
They are all into the nuts and bolts of your business: P&L, Cash flow, increasing leads, closure rates, profits, and building a better business.

Then they sit you down and go over with you how to accomplish these things... for real... it's not one of those altrustic things. They have good methodoligies, and it all makes sense.

That's where the motivation comes... for me. Because I can see it. I can see my growth from where I have came, and where I can take things.

don't discount the importance of accountability....most small contractors are not really accountable to anyone...there is no need to run regular financials, or set forth a written plan, or stick to the budget, or anything else....because they really don't have to answer to anyone...

but have someone like greg's business coach, who wants a P&L every month, and a budget, and a balance sheet...and it kind of forces you to do it...you are now accountable to someone...

 

[brian john]

Well, I hope you do well in your business... if you are in business.
Yes, the things they teach you are common sense. In fact, 90% of what they have taught, I have already learned.

They are re-inforcing these items, breaking things down, and "forcing" us to write these things down, and implement them.

I will take more electrical courses in due time... but I am seriously committed on growing my business.
We've grown 800% in just under 2 years, and I do not want to stop! (yet...)

24 years in business, 20 employees, and I am happy, I like what I do and have always been able to feed my family, so I guess I have been successful

 

[emahler]

brian, what about the fact that you have a successful business partnership? you have someone to bounce ideas off...

for a guy who doesn't have a partner, a business coach could take that place...

in the latest issue of Professional Remodeler (www.proremodeler.com) which isn't online yet, there is a short Q&A about business coaches...

so in essence, both you and your partner have your own business coaches in eachother...and in exchange, you each give up 1/2 of your business....

for a guy like Greg, he gives up much less of his business for that business coach...

neither way is wrong...

 

[satcom]

don't discount the importance of accountability....most small contractors are not really accountable to anyone...there is no need to run regular financials, or set forth a written plan, or stick to the budget, or anything else....because they really don't have to answer to anyone...

but have someone like greg's business coach, who wants a P&L every month, and a budget, and a balance sheet...and it kind of forces you to do it...you are now accountable to someone...

You got it, I can think of many contractors, and not just EC's that have what they think is a business, because they have a lot of employees and have been at it for years, and they will call me, usually after they see a good CPA that really knows the contracting business, and most of the time when we sit down and talk, they are missing all the financials, the sad part is, some of them missed the planning, thru their prime years of operating, loosing out on the possibility of building real assets, and growing the business to weather all storms. You can even find fome guys with 8 or more employees, taking home less then $5K a month, sad as that may sound, it is true.

 

[hardworkingstiff]

I have no dillusions about me having a business. I don't. I'm and EC, but it's just me and temp help. I'm an electrician for hire. I like it that way because I'm picky and most people can't stand to work for me. I also think I'm a little mentally handicapped.

 

[satcom]

I have no dillusions about me having a business. I don't. I'm and EC, but it's just me and temp help. I'm an electrician for hire. I like it that way because I'm picky and most people can't stand to work for me. I also think I'm a little mentally handicapped.

That's great, having a one man operation, and being picky is fine, I think the main subject is for those that really want to grow a business.

 

[hardworkingstiff]

That's great, having a one man operation, and being picky is fine, I think the main subject is for those that really want to grow a business.

You are correct.

I've recommended a business coach to a friend of mine (but alas, he would not listen). You must know where you want to go in order to develop a road map to get there. When growing a business, staying focused and remembering to have a life are probably two of the hardest things to do.

 

[charlietuna]

Why do i think this occurred?
The electrical industry has many specialty catigories, as an example "gas stations" -- i had a EC buddy who did mainly gas stations and he was good at it. His warehouse had more explosionproof fittings and equipment than all the supply houses put together !! His men were rough and ready to tackle the rough underground requirements of their specialty! He did about 60% of the stations in town !
Ask myself "Could i wire a gas station?" - YES - Would i make any money bidding against his operation?- NO! Could my men do this work? - YES - Would they be happy doing this work? - NO !

The contractors i felt comfortable turning my customers over to, were not interested in training their men in the infrared field ? To me it was a "NO BRAINER" ! I offered to train one of their key men on scans in my customer's buildings, and pay their salary during this training. This training would occur at different times and usually run about three days in a row. When i felt the guy had enough knowledge, the contractor would be required to send his employee to school to be certified in infrared scanning, which costs about $4,000. -his salary-air fare-tuition. I would sell him the equipment and provide him the customer base which he would make good money on every scan and have the equipment payed off within two years.............

Why? I asked myself? I think it's like the "GAS STATION" work, they were all busy in their own field and not interested in something NEW ! Today i still get calls from my customers explaining they are paying almost twice the costs to have their buildings scanned, and i have reveiwed other companies proposals and reports-- they are laughable. Even the customer knows they are not being provided good service and at near double the cost??? Infrared technologies actually pays for itself if properly used and applied and followed up on the customer's end ! Where improper scanning and reports reverse this process! Understand, the building's insurer gives them a credit for having their buildings scanned, and our costs were around 60 percent of the credit. So it was an automatic service.

We found our customer's wanting us to repair or replace equipment found faulty during the scans about 90 percent of the time. We used this work as fill-in work between scans and much of it required overtime shutdowns. We would then re-scan important items after the repair, and when we were in the neighborhood after completing another scan. For their records we would provide them "Before and After" prints of the problem.

So you see, this "Infrared Scanning" is just another nitch like the "GAS STATION WORK" !

 

[Greg Swartz]

don't discount the importance of accountability....most small contractors are not really accountable to anyone...there is no need to run regular financials, or set forth a written plan, or stick to the budget, or anything else....because they really don't have to answer to anyone...

but have someone like greg's business coach, who wants a P&L every month, and a budget, and a balance sheet...and it kind of forces you to do it...you are now accountable to someone...

Accountability... that is the word for the week. We talk about it all the time. So I asked my coach... "How are you going to hold me accountable? I mean, it's not like you can tell me to work longer... already at 80+ hours a week. Can't tell me to go out in the field... that's detrimental..."

So, she said: "You get to choose the rewards and punishements... You follow through on these items... you and your wife get a night out... on the company. You don't... you do the laundry for a week... or, you give $50 to a charity..."

It was the laundry that motivated me! :grin:

 

[emahler]

Why do i think this occurred?
The electrical industry has many specialty catigories, as an example "gas stations" -- i had a EC buddy who did mainly gas stations and he was good at it. His warehouse had more explosionproof fittings and equipment than all the supply houses put together !! His men were rough and ready to tackle the rough underground requirements of their specialty! He did about 60% of the stations in town !
Ask myself "Could i wire a gas station?" - YES - Would i make any money bidding against his operation?- NO! Could my men do this work? - YES - Would they be happy doing this work? - NO !

The contractors i felt comfortable turning my customers over to, were not interested in training their men in the infrared field ? To me it was a "NO BRAINER" ! I offered to train one of their key men on scans in my customer's buildings, and pay their salary during this training. This training would occur at different times and usually run about three days in a row. When i felt the guy had enough knowledge, the contractor would be required to send his employee to school to be certified in infrared scanning, which costs about $4,000. -his salary-air fare-tuition. I would sell him the equipment and provide him the customer base which he would make good money on every scan and have the equipment payed off within two years.............

Why? I asked myself? I think it's like the "GAS STATION" work, they were all busy in their own field and not interested in something NEW ! Today i still get calls from my customers explaining they are paying almost twice the costs to have their buildings scanned, and i have reveiwed other companies proposals and reports-- they are laughable. Even the customer knows they are not being provided good service and at near double the cost??? Infrared technologies actually pays for itself if properly used and applied and followed up on the customer's end ! Where improper scanning and reports reverse this process! Understand, the building's insurer gives them a credit for having their buildings scanned, and our costs were around 60 percent of the credit. So it was an automatic service.

We found our customer's wanting us to repair or replace equipment found faulty during the scans about 90 percent of the time. We used this work as fill-in work between scans and much of it required overtime shutdowns. We would then re-scan important items after the repair, and when we were in the neighborhood after completing another scan. For their records we would provide them "Before and After" prints of the problem.

So you see, this "Infrared Scanning" is just another nitch like the "GAS STATION WORK" !

why do you think that the pricing between you and what your old customers are paying now varied so much?

i fully understand niches, but infrared is a complimentary service...it adds to an EC's arsenal...could the companies you tried to sell to, make money at your rates with your customers?

 

[Greg Swartz]

brian, what about the fact that you have a successful business partnership? you have someone to bounce ideas off...

for a guy who doesn't have a partner, a business coach could take that place...

in the latest issue of Professional Remodeler (www.proremodeler.com) which isn't online yet, there is a short Q&A about business coaches...

so in essence, both you and your partner have your own business coaches in eachother...and in exchange, you each give up 1/2 of your business....

for a guy like Greg, he gives up much less of his business for that business coach...

neither way is wrong...

I don't mind paying a coach to help me build my business. And since I am the sole owner, I take all the credit... if it goes bad... or if it goes well. Having someone help me work out the kinks of my system is of great benefit. Especially if my business grows by magnitudes, like we are planning.

You got it, I can think of many contractors, and not just EC's that have what they think is a business, because they have a lot of employees and have been at it for years, and they will call me, usually after they see a good CPA that really knows the contracting business, and most of the time when we sit down and talk, they are missing all the financials, the sad part is, some of them missed the planning, thru their prime years of operating, loosing out on the possibility of building real assets, and growing the business to weather all storms. You can even find fome guys with 8 or more employees, taking home less then $5K a month, sad as that may sound, it is true.

Unfortunately, I am in that category: 8 employees. I have 3 getting paid over $40 / hr... I on the otherhand, take home $796 every week. That is one of the big changes we want to make. I would be happy bringing home more. But I am constantly re-investing in the business. The coach's idea here is to change the way we do things.
Increase leads by 15%, increase prices by 15%, increase profit by 15%, and we will probably double our overall profit by next year.
One of the things we implemented was the thread about the sliding scale material markup... which I learned a lot about the difference between markup and margin... one of the other things the coach talks about.

I have no dillusions about me having a business. I don't. I'm and EC, but it's just me and temp help...

I started with just me... and then a helper... then 3... then I fired them all and started over...

... I like it that way because I'm picky and most people can't stand to work for me...

...because I am very picky too. I used to have on my resume: Never failed an inspection.
Well, in the first year in business, I failed 3 inspections... I freaked out!
Your employees will almost never have the same desire for perfection than you. That is why they are employees. The ones that do will be great employees... then they will be your competition.
I will be hiring a new employee tomorrow. One of his parting words on his second inverview was : "I don't plan on being here forever. I have aspirations of my own. I want to be in your shoes one day."
That was the best selling point I have heard.

...
I also think I'm a little mentally handicapped.

I'm not sure if that's due to being an electrician or a business owner! :grin:
But, to take a pun off your forum name: hardworkingstiff... I don't want to become one! :grin:

You are correct.

I've recommended a business coach to a friend of mine (but alas, he would not listen). You must know where you want to go in order to develop a road map to get there. When growing a business, staying focused and remembering to have a life are probably two of the hardest things to do.

One of the things my business coach has helped me do is identify where I want to go. I have expanded this far without any goals...