A work worth doing…
What do we mean when we say... A work worth doing? Well, we’re about to get into it. Happy Monday everyone, Thomas here with Business on Purpose.
I was talking with Scott, the founder of Business on Purpose the other day, and we were talking about how my transition has been over the past year. To be honest, there have been days that have been great, days that have been easy and other days that have been a struggle.
In Young Life, it was such a great organization to work for. There were tough days and boring days, but at the end of it all was a mission I was so excited about. I knew the why behind it all and that made the tough days 100% worth it.
Back to my conversation with Scott. I was explaining that to him and the words that came out of my mouth kind of surprised me. I don’t know if that ever happens to you, but I can be an external processor, so sometimes I’ll say things and think... yeah that’s it!
Scott had just talked about how he wants this to be MORE than a job and one of the things he hopes never comes out of my mouth is this thought of…” Oh, it’s just a job.”
As we were talking I assured him, “No, that’s one of the things I as excited about with this... is working with business owners and key leaders feel like a Work worth doing.”
And that’s the phrase that stuck with me. “A work worth doing!”
I wonder how you would describe your day to day. Is it just a job? Is it a clock in clock out job with no real direction behind it other than bringing home a paycheck? Now, hear me say this... supporting your family and working hard to do so IS a work worth doing.
But you come in contact with too many people, are training and encouraging and overseeing too many people to just clock in and clock out without any real idea that it could be so much more than just a job.
What if your mission was to positively impact every single person that works with you. If every single team member were to come into work knowing they were valued and invested in. It would change your day to day.
You spend ⅔ of your waking hours at work...why not make it more than just a job... why not make it a “Work worth doing?”
So what is a work worth doing?
Well, it’s like one of our clients putting their employees through Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. Helping them get out of debt and get freed to make wise choices with their finances.
It’s like another one of our clients letting their kids come in during pandemic schooling and creating a learning space for any of the kids who need to do school from home.
It’s like another one of our clients using his success to pay for a nice lunch for local teachers so they can feel appreciated in the midst of one of the hardest years on record to try to educate our kids!
Maybe it’s as simple as recognizing great work when it’s seen, and like another of our clients, using their team meeting to formally recognize an employee of the week (recognized by customers) and rewarding that team member with a gift card.
These are business owners who invest IN their team members and don’t just show up expecting them to impact their bottom line. A work worth doing means taking hold of all that you have been entrusted with and making sure the mission is to maximize it in whatever way that looks like.
I know, if you’re anything like me, that makes the hard days of work worth it. Having a mission that’s bigger than yourself and a “work worth doing” gets me excited to engage with business owners and their team leaders every single day.
If you need some more ideas of how to do this with your team. Don’t hesitate to check out our website and podcast for more free tips.
Mybusinessonpurpose.com and the business on purpose podcast
Have a great week everyone!
What's Your Standard?
Happy Thanksgiving week everyone! Thomas Joyner here with BOP. I want to talk about culture a bit today. How do you protect it, nurture it, and build it on purpose?
I was sitting in on a coaching meeting the other day and a business owner was talking about experiencing an employee fly off the handle in a business meeting. There was someone they worked with in the room and the employee dropped an f-bomb towards the other guy in a heated discussion.
Nothing was said to address the behavior at the moment, but the question was posed to our team... what do we do about that?
We asked a few more clarifying questions, but at the end of the day, we knew this couldn’t be tolerated. You can’t live that emotionally and expect others to continue to do business with you. That’s what is so important about culture.
A great quote came to mind that a friend had shared with me months back and it’s this…” What you allow in your presence, IS your standard.”
I’ll say that again, what you allow in your presence is your standard.
It’s that important! In essence, by saying nothing when the employee dropped an f-bomb, you’re not explicitly cheering them on, but you are subtly giving your approval of their behavior. You’re saying “I watched this happen and that is fine by me” when you stay silent.
Now we went back to the businesses Vision story and looked at their culture section. We asked the question if this is the culture you wrote down...the one you want others to see and experience, can this behavior be tolerated?
The answer was a quick and decisive, NO!
Ok, so let’s put a plan in to talk about this with your employee. Now, this was the first time they had ever blown up like this. So, it was a great time for the owner to check in and see if there was something else going on at home or something going on that day. It’s a PERFECT time to nurture the culture of your business with a personal touch.
Your employees aren’t just soulless, emotionless chess pieces for you to move around, but are real people with real lives!
They’ve got to be cared for and known.
So, what the business owner did was set up a meeting and lean in. Not take their hands off. Not condemn the person, but condemn the action as a way to care about them AND the culture of the business. Casting vision for how he will see him in the future and pushing him to realize that potential!
Said another way, how you allow your employees to act, treat one another, treat other businesses IS your culture. It’s the little memories that other businesses point towards to decide who they want to work with. It’s what’s said about your business at a casual lunch that either propels someone to call you or sends them to the next person on their contact list.
It has to be fought for!
So, you have to ask yourself. What am I allowing to be said, acted on, or accomplished in my presence or business that is slowly becoming the standard. Culture isn’t created or destroyed all at once. It’s a series of tiny corrections along the way to arrive at a destination. Use your Vision...use your mission statement...use your core values to put up barriers to keep yourself on track towards your culture goal.
It NEVER just happens…
Hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving...as always if you want to see more of what we do, head on over to mybusinessonpurpose.com and check us out! Follow our podcast, too, for some free coaching.
Take care!
A Season of Expectation
Why do we limit our vision and excitement to just the holidays? Well, let’s talk about that...it’s Thomas Joyner with Business on Purpose I hope you’re having a great Thursday!
It is November 19th! Yep...you heard that right. November 19th! If your household is anything like mine, you’re fighting over 1 thing and 1 thing only currently...is it time to put up the Christmas Tree???
I’m dead serious. Every year, it never fails, we go back and forth about when we can start decorating for Christmas. Now, I’m a firm believer that no decorations can go up until after Thanksgiving. I know, I know...I’m a Scrooge at heart...jump in the comments and tell me how horrible I am.
But seriously, I put my foot down on decorating before thanksgiving. My wife has already told me her plans for decorating and where we’re going to put the tree, how excited she is about the stockings and what she gets to put in the stockings. When we’re going to hang the lights and are there any new decorations that we can grab on the cheap to make this Christmas the BEST EVER...well that is until Christmas 2021, at least.
I have to admit, though, her excitement is contagious. All the things she wants to do and the picture she paints is so vivid that it gets me excited, too!
It should be no different for the year 2021. Why do we limit our vision and our excitement and planning to holidays? It’s ridiculous! If excitement and energy are contagious around the Christmas season, don’t you think it would work the same way around the rest of the year?
Absolutely! And THAT is why we put together the financial barn.
So, what is the financial barn? Well, it’s a conversation between you and your spouse, or just you if you’re not married. It’s setting your sights on what you want to do with your finances in 2021. Now, we at BOP firmly believe we are stewards of the resources we’ve been blessed with, so this is not meant to be a shopping spree or a 2021 wish list. No, it’s a system built to look at all of the things you want to spend money on in the next year and then formulating the plan for how to reach that goal.
It starts with simply drawing a barn on a piece of paper and listing the things you spend money on in different rooms in the barn. Things like Living expenses, travel, hobbies, savings, retirement, kids college, charitable giving...subdivide it however you want! Here’s the beautiful thing. When you list out how much you will need to comfortably chase after those things, you set your sights on a goal and can put a plan in place for how to reach it.
So what are the things you get excited about? Is it taking a trip as a family? Is it maybe finally doing a home renovation or getting a car upgrade? Is it giving to a ministry above and beyond what you normally do and really making an impact with your finances? Is it setting aside a chunk for your kids college or maybe investing in something along the way? Whatever it is, write it down so you can know what your all in number needs to be.
Once you add up all the things you would need in 2021, you know what you need to earn to reach those goals…
Now I’ll break from here for a second to remind you that these goals need to be realistic. If your household income is currently $75k and you look at your all in number and it says you need 125k to reach it, you may need to trim some things...or trim a lot! But if your number is close, then it’s finding ways for your business to support you in the ways it needs to.
Here’s the best part about this. It puts a bullseye on the board, so if you do wildy better than you had hoped for financially, you can put a plan in place for what to do with it. It frees you to be wildly generous with your funds as you already hit the bullseye. It keeps you from hoarding your cash in a way that only benefits you as you see how incredibly blessed you have been.
That’s the reason behind all of this. Set up reasonable goals for each category and then allow that to push you to be generous in every area of your life.
At the end of all this, the message is clear. Life is not about stockpiling assets. It’s just not. There will always be another room to fill in our barn or another toy to buy. Life is found in stewarding the things you have and earn to make the lives of those around you that much better.
The FInancial Barn! Do it...do it with your spouse. Feel free to reach back out and tell us how that conversation goes! We’d love to hear about it.
As always, you can check out more about this at mybusinessonpurpose.com
Have a great week!
Chief Executive Officer or Chief Everything Officer? What kind of CEO are you?
I can’t get enough of sports. My wife rolls her eyes at me consistently as she wants to watch a new show together, but it’s playoffs for baseball, basketball, football...whatever! The scheduling of major sporting events is masterful as it’s nearly year round. I can’t help it...I LOVE IT!
As I’ve watched sports over the years, there’s one phrase that’s consistently spoken about young players. He’s just trying to do too much. I was watching a game with Young Quarterback, Daniel Jones of the New York Giants playing. Over and over he would make amazing plays, but then he would set his team back when he, “Tried to do too much.”
Announcers use this term so much, because for young athletes this paralyzes their teams. They realize that you can have all the talent in the world, and STILL not be able to do it all.
I don’t think it’s any different in the business world. In fact, it’s no different at all!
I was reading a great article the other day about how small business has changed over the past 25 years. It spoke of this evolution of the business owner and how they have moved from the CEO meaning the Chief Executive Officer...to CEO as Chief Everything Officer. It’s a subtle change, but one that dictates the entire existence of your business.
Just like in sports, young business owners are so particular that they have to have their hand in every piece of the business instead of training and trusting their employees to get the job done. Where does it lead? To underperformance every single time!
Why? Because you can’t do it all and scale your business. You have to trust people to do the job you hired them to do. And if you can’t, why pay them to do a job in the first place? It’s robbing you of profitability if you’re both trying to do the job.
So, where does this lead us?
If you look up the definition of executive in the dictionary it has two definitions I love…
You have to do both of these as the executive. You have to become the manager of the organization and put plans and actions into effect. You don’t have to do it all yourself, but you have to find a way to effectively train your team to do it the way you would do it, so you can free yourself up to do the things ONLY YOU can do.
It’s doable...in fact, we’re coaching businesses every day that are doing just this. Building the systems and processes in their business to free their employees up to do the job they were hired to do.
Then, and only then, can you go from the Chief Everything Officer who “tries to do too much,” to the CEO that your business needs.
Have a great week everyone!
What Are Soft Skills And Why Are They Important
Democratic cultures endure a multi-year barrage of political campaign noise that has left many citizens dazed and depleted and yet appreciative that options are available.
It would be a shame if the only product of the election cycle was a defined winner and loser (although we never want to take that for granted).
There are also valuable principles to learn from the political process that we should be investing into our business.
We can watch how citizens are impacted by political candidates and draw insight and empathy into what members of your business team might be seeing as they look at you and your own leadership.
That is the core of what political elections are about; leadership.
Political positions are less about task-completion and are far more about people-motivation.
What can we take away from the election cycle that will give us special insight into our business?
There are three lenses by which we view a politician; policy, politic, and personal.
Policy is the lense of the specific things they will hope to do. Understanding policy leads to agreement or disagreement with the method.
Politic is how they will communicate the things they will do. Watching politic helps us determine who we like or do not like.
Personal refers to the character base from which each person operates. Knowing the personal helps us determine who we trust and don’t trust.
Three lenses, the lens of agreement, the lens of likeability, and the lens of trust. I can assure that candidates are trained in great repetition on the first two lenses of policy and politic. It is not always as evident if they put as much training into the personal.
Those same three lenses are present and necessary in your business.
In business, instead of policy, politic, and personal, we will suggest three renamed lenses with similar function.
First, every business owner must view their business, their team, and themselves through the lens of business awareness.
Being business aware is knowing and investing into the systems, process, and purpose every business relies on as fuel to push towards the ultimate destination.
If you are a trustworthy person, a great presenter, but are clueless about your vision or your process, then the business will break down.
Second, every business owner must invest in social and emotional awareness (politic). Many would call these “soft skills”. It is the ability to present things in a way that will be most effectively digested for implementation.
If you are hyper aware of your vision and systems, and have great character but struggle to communicate, then your message will never be heard and your team will lack motivation.
Finally, every business owner must invest in their own (and their team’s) personal awareness. Spending time working towards personal discipline and health in your family, faith, finances, fitness, friends, and fun!
You may have a clear head on your vision, systems, and a world-class communicator...but if you lack character, everything else will eventually fall apart.
The hard work of a business owner is two-fold…
Balance is not the goal because balance is impossible. On the other hand, a consistent rhythm of investing in the three lenses of business is a worthy pursuit.
I remember my first Big Boy job... I was interning at my uncle’s Marketing Agency in Connecticut. I spent all this time studying marketing in college and I figured, “Ok, if this is what I’m going to do for the rest of my life, I might as well go test it out to make sure for a summer!”
So off I went on my 14-hour drive to see if I could cut it in the business world. Let me tell you right now... I was woefully unprepared!!!
I remember sitting in staff meetings with no note pad or way of remembering all the things I had to do for the week. Id scribble something on a post-it note here or there and then go back to try to figure out what I was doing. I’d forego recording future meetings and due dates on any type of calendar because it was “too restrictive” and thought I honestly had it.
And here’s the thing...I did have it... for a couple of weeks. But as the work started to pile up and the graveyard of dropped spinning plates started to pile up around me I realized my “system” or lack thereof wasn’t working. I needed something to keep me on track and as time started to slip away I realized I needed structure around me to help me thrive.
What I’ve realized in coaching 10-12 businesses is that I’m not the only one living this way. Most business owners simply respond to the threat in front of them all day every day. Their schedule is nothing more than going from one fire to the next until it’s time to go home for dinner at night.
But that’s NOT how you build a successful business. You might be able to make it work for a few weeks, months, maybe even a year! But what I’m seeing lived out in front of me is that business owners and key leaders who tell their week what it’s going to look like, are the ones who actually build something they’re proud of . The ones who sit down and plan it all out instead of getting distracted by the problems at hand.
Let me tell you about the BOP solution to this...we call it...drumroll please, the “Master weekly schedule!” Boom...now if that name doesn’t get you excited I don’t know what will! I’m kidding, but seriously it is what you need. All of you. Why? Because it keeps you on track to accomplish the things you want to accomplish instead of just being blown about by the winds of chaos every single day.
So what does it look like? Well, here’s a picture of my Weekly Schedule. Blocks of 30 min for the entire week. Split up into specific tasks each week for admin, sales, marketing and coaching. I’ve got time for sales lunches and recording these videos, I have time built in for professional development and team meetings. It’s all here. I don’t let chaos pull me from this for a second! But it keeps me locked in on the things I need to be focused on to grow my business.
So what are the things that pull you off track? Is it sitting on a job site for too long? You look up and it’s 2 o clock and you haven’t finished your estimates or answered emails or called back your voicemails? Well, then you need to use the weekly schedule to tell yourself how long you want to be on the job! As soon as that time is up, you need to be moving again!
E-mail! Gah you’ll notice on my weekly schedule I have 2, 30 minute blocks for email. I took it off my phone, so I don’t even know if I have an email until I look back at it during my email block in the afternoon. Now here, some of you are thinking I’m crazy...but here’s what I’ve found with email. The more you answer it, the more people want you to answer it. But half the time when it’s been 2 hours without me answering, I see that people are smart and they answer their own questions half the time!
Same thing with talking to your team. What if you set up a 30 min check-in time with your admin or your Superintendent or your Project manager. If you looked at them and told them, we will touch base every afternoon at 1 pm. That’s your slot to ask me all the questions you need to ask. Because what happens all day? You’re locked in working and the phone rings, It takes you 5-10 min to answer the phone call, then another 5-10 min to lock back in on your task...but then bang another call comes in and you never finish what you were doing!
STOP it!!! Set a time for your crew to check in with you...where you can be fully present with them and then let them do their job. If you’re thinking that CAN’T happen, then you need to train them better to do their job so you can do yours of actually running the business.
This stuff is not rocket science, but it can give your business the jet fuel it needs to take off and get where you want it to go! I know, because I’ve built this out with business owners who are sick and tired of living in chaos! Now, it’s work to implement it. It doesn’t just happen! Chaos doesn’t like to leave you alone for long. But when you build the system to deal with it and put it in it’s proper place...you can have the freedom to work ON you business!
That’s what it takes. The Master Weekly Schedule...jump on it and let me know if I can help.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Do you own MORE than “Just a business?”
We were working on mission statements with several clients recently and the question came up, “why not just come up with a catchy slogan that we use as our mission statement?” That’s what most places do, right? Find some group of words or a phrase that is catchy, repeatable, and gets stuck in the head of whoever hears it? That’s as far as most mission statements go.
Mission statements need to be so much more than that... why? Because it’s what fuels you every single day. It’s what keeps you moving on the days you have to pull yourself out of bed. It’s the “Why” behind everything you do. It’s so much more than a catchy slogan that gives your sales some juice.
At the end of the day, so many people think the same thing about their business. Just like they say, it’s just a mission statement, they say…” It’s just a business!” It’s just a way to bring home a paycheck and finance my lifestyle.
But what if your business could be more than that? What if there was an amazing “Why” behind it that led to something much much greater? Well, then that would touch all areas of your life and your community. It would lead to a sense of purpose that not only impacts you, but every single one of your employees and their families. Which is Exactly WHAT IT’S SUPPOSED TO DO!
How do I know? Because I get a front-row seat to it with our heroic business owners every day. Once they realize their why, it turns a simple landscaping company into one that teaches their employees about finances enough to tell them they are getting ripped off by cashing their checks at a local grocery store. They worked with them to actually open bank accounts and are saving them hundreds of dollars a year (per employee), by taking the time to teach.
I’ve gotten to sit front row as I see local nurseries pay to put their employees through financial peace university and help them get driver’s licenses to help get them out of debt and gain some ground financially in life! I’ve watched a client of ours at Pay Proudly take a portion of every sale and give it away to non-profits that desperately need the money.
I’ve seen mortgage companies take a portion of their profits and invest in local schools and teachers to let them know they are valued and important in the eyes of the local community. I’ve watched as employees grab hold of the vision and see a destination that they can achieve and then set out to go and do it! To grow and not just settle into a job.
You see it’s amazing when business owners see their work not just as a business, but as a way to invest in people and a community. That’s the why you have to capture. Something that when someone looks at you and hears your mission would want to ask, “Ok, but how do you do that.” And you get to tell them what you do.
That’s a “Work worth doing.” That’s something that will keep you excited for years to come. That’s what our world needs more of. Is people with a work worth doing, willing to view their work as more than just a business, but an investment into everyone they come into contact with.
I hope you can grab ahold of that and figure out your why in your day to day...
How To Find A Professional Mentor
On my first trip to Nigeria back in 2006 I met a man who was unpretentious, slow, deliberate, and available.
Abraham Dada, known simply as Pa Dada, would eventually become for me a standard-bearer of life and leadership.
He was a sage. He was a man who lived out the challenging invitation to have “eyes to see, and ears to hear”.
Imagine if Yoda were a Nigerian man. That’s Pa Dada.
His words were few, each one cutting consciously like a razor-sharp blade, causing little pain while exposing the inside.
Mr. Dada was never the loudest person in the room, but his presence alive, known, and decisions always traveled through his unspoken filter. His life was spent serving... at times with words and actions, at other times with simple presence.
Each time I visited Mr. Dada at his unpretentious home in Egbe, Kogi State, he would be sitting thoughtfully in a blue plastic yard chair on the aft side of a small plastic table. Rarely was he wearing something other than a simple linen set of shirt and trousers. He would usually have his crooked reading glasses on while reading or writing.
Within five minutes of arrival, we would always be welcomed with a warm bitter lemon and a soft “e’kaabo” and “e’dupe”.
If I was visiting without Ashley and the kids, Mr. Dada would kindly ask, “How is Mommy?”, and of the kids, “How are my little friends?”
One of my favorite images that Ashley captured was Mr. Dada thumbing through my book. The teacher humbly offering a generous moment for the student.
In 2014 and 2015 Mr. Dada and I spoke often by phone when I was not in town due to some strain that was taking place within an initiative for which both he and I were committed to. I remained in a state of foggy confusion and did not hesitate to verbalize bewilderment, and I believe Mr. Dada did as well, although he never spoke a crossword or thought to any person or scenario.
It was a real-life, in the moment lesson in “considering others better than yourself.” It was a moment of transparent grace.
On Wednesday night October 28th my phone rang with Mr. Dada’s number. Answering, his daughter called and said simply, “Pa Dada passed in the midnight and he wanted me to let you know.”
“He wanted to let me know.”
Of all the conversations I remember, these may very well be the words that stick.
“He wanted to let me know.”
Two significant mentors have passed on from this life in the past decade. The first is the man who invited me to look through the telescope of the nations and see God’s creation beyond my own borders. Dr. Mike Barnett summoned me to embrace the nations.
Mr. Dada invited me to enjoy the wisdom and grace God has placed among the nations and to do it slowly and methodically.
With Mr. Dada, I did not sign up for a global mentor program, and I did not ask that he formally “mentor” me. I just went with a blurry, poorly planned vision to “work in Nigeria” and over time a friendship developed that provided me with a 5 foot 2-inch man in his nineties who just “wanted to let me know” with limited words and maximum presence.
What is that place, or those people, or that thing that you have an unreasonable, blurry desire for? What if you just set up lunch or booked a ticket and just went regularly so you too can look up fourteen years later and realize that you too found a true gift whose ambition was to “let me know”?
How do you find a professional mentor?
Many times is by not signing up for the professional mentoring program and instead of being bold, proactive, courageous, and a bit unreasonable to make friends with some unlikely people who are older and more experienced than you.
Who do you need to go see today? I wish I could go see my friend and just sit for a while.
Scott Beebe is the founder of Business On Purpose, author of Let Your Business Burn: Stop Putting Out Fires, Discover Purpose, And Build A Business That Matters. Scott also hosts The Business On Purpose Podcast and can be found at mybusinessonpurpose.com.
The Five Questions Every Entrepreneur Must Answer For Their Employees...And Themselves
My son and I were on an 18-foot center console boat on the edge of the Port Royal Sound in the lowcountry of South Carolina when all of a sudden a thunderous squall line formed just to our west and bared down on us.
We had a decision, sit in the middle of the torrential rain and lightning, or make a run for it.
We were about 20 minutes from the boat landing. Within 2 minutes of going full throttle on our Mercury 150, we were surrounded on all sides by the summer squall.
Hindsight being more sober than the present reality, we continued throttle down at 30 knots with what seemed like a 10-foot visibility. Equipped with a simple Navionics boating app, I kept my head down, focused on the GPS map while my teenage co-captain had his head up and eyes peeled so he could call for a last-second “swerve” maneuver if needed.
The storm was relentless.
It felt like we were riding blind for 30 minutes, but was probably more like 8 or 10...it was confusing, chaotic, exhilarating, and probably not wise looking back.
Amidst the uncertainty of that moment though, here are some truths that we could count on…
We were headed towards a defined destination; the Lemon Island boat launch.
We knew what route we were taking; the Chechessee River.
We knew what vehicle we were committed to; an 18 foot Henry O center console.
We knew what kind of engine we had to work with; a Mercury 150 horsepower two-stroke.
We knew exactly WHY we were headed in that direction; to stay alive and make it back home to tell the story!
Owning a business is peppered with days just like that. The surprise squalls of unexpected tax bills, frustrated customers, misaligned employee expectations, and a lack of perfect efficiency.
To help you navigate through the chaos of business ownership and the life of an entrepreneur, here are five questions every entrepreneur must answer for their employees...and themselves.
First, where are we going?
Fortunately, there has been a surge of good teaching, training, and resources around building a powerful vision story.
Your Vision is a detailed snapshot of the future of your vision. Not a pithy statement, and not a paragraph of haiku. Your vision story should be detailed, multiple pages, and meaty with details.
Second, how are we getting to the vision?
It’s silly to imagine that you will hit the road without aiming for a destination. Every road trip is a series of following turn by turn directions on specific streets while passing by many others.
Your unique core values are nothing more than intentional street signs along the route to your destination.
For most, you will avoid turning right on Apathy Lane, or left on Muddy Expectations Blvd. Instead, you will use Intentional Relationships Street or Relentless Learning Circle. Know your unique core values and you’ll know the streets to take towards your destination.
The third question every entrepreneur must answer is, what does the automobile look like that we will be driving towards the vision?
When a new team member comes into the business, they need to know where their role fits within the larger whole. The good ol’ fashioned Org Chart is a visual representation of what the vehicle of your business looks like so they know what they are riding in.
Fourth, what are the specifications of the engine used to motor you to your destination?
One of the most powerful tools in your business is the Master Process Roadmap. Imagine this, your entire business on one sheet of digital paper.
Broken down into four systems - Admin, Ops, Sales, and Marketing - the Master Process Roadmap spells out all of the processes needed to send your business vehicle motoring down the road to your destination.
The final question every entrepreneur must answer for their employees and themselves is “why?”
Why are we going to that destination?
What is the emotion...the magnet...the draw that is pulling us to that particular destination?
WHY ARE YOU GOING THAT WAY?
Whatever your answer is, that is your mission.
Five questions that every entrepreneur must spend time on…
Scott Beebe is the founder of Business On Purpose, author of Let Your Business Burn: Stop Putting Out Fires, Discover Purpose, And Build A Business That Matters. Scott also hosts The Business On Purpose Podcast and can be found at mybusinessonpurpose.com.
5 questions to ask every new hire...EVERY. SINGLE. WEEK!
It never fails to happen after hiring...the honeymoon phase is over, the patience is wearing thin with the new employee, and they seem to maybe have fibbed a bit on their resume. Well, they’re your problem now...YOU HIRED THEM!
We see it so often with our clients. A business owner gets so excited to hire someone and thinks they’re going to magically fix so many problems just by existing in the business! But, as you and I know, that rarely happens.
New hires come with baggage! They come with bad habits and different ways of doing things. So often, business owners tolerate things that drive them nuts until finally it all boils over and they blow up...ok, let’s NOT do that if we can help it.
This is the reason we put together an incredible onboarding process for every new hire. I know this process backwards and forwards, because I’ve been participating in it weekly for almost the past 6 mos. That’s right...every week. For 6 months!
Here’s what I can tell you… it works! It has given me radical clarity for how to do the job I’m being asked to do and also has helped shape me into the employee that my boss desires.
So, here’s 5 questions to ask your new hire...every single week! Carve out some time and get it on the calendar for onboarding time. Never cancel it and watch the results!
1. How are you seeing us live out our Mission/Vision/Values?
Give your employees a chance to tell you if they even know the mission/vision/values of your business. You might be shocked to realize you’ve never communicated that to them. Hopefully, you hear a little bit about how your business is accomplishing these things and it’s an encouragement to you as the owner, but if they can’t point to anything you need to swallow your pride and figure out a better way to show these in the day to day.
2. What are you seeing?
You’ll never get your employees eyes back. Now, what does that mean? Well, they will see things and experience things that you want to capture. Things that seem a little off or things that they’re probably asking why do we do things this way? You want to give them an open ended question to be able to ask about them. WHo knows? It may give you perspective you need that you had never considered before, since you’ve see it done one way forever! It’s so valuable to capture their experience and what they’re seeing from day one.
3. What questions do you have about your Job Role?
This ones simple, give them a chance to tell you where they’re struggling and where they lack clarity in their role. So often new employees just want to act like they have it all together, but this gives them the chance to admit where they’re struggling so you can get them up to speed faster! It also helps you record processes that are unclear or ones that you need to have written down!
4. What do you need from us?
Again, this ones simple. Give them an open ended question to ask for help, if needed. This is relational more than anything. Ever week they will hear that you are for them, on their team, wanting them to succeed and willing to do what it takes to help them succeed. That’s all you can ask for as an employee.
5. Here’s what we see…
Here’s your moment to offer encouragement and critique their work. Notice that it needs to be BOTH! But too often, we wait for a year end review to offer critical performance reviews. This gives you a weekly time to make small tweaks along the way. It makes job performance normal instead of it feeling like the end of the world when your boss unloads on you! It also keeps you from sweeping things under the rug and building up resentment towards employees. Let’s talk about it, get it out of the way, fix it and move forward!
That’s it. Record the answers as you go, so you can come back to them and have documentation from all of these answers. It’s life changing for your employee, too. Imagine having a boss that gave you a voice to speak out on what you see, gave you clarity about what you’re being asked to do, offered to help whenever needed and then offered constructive feedback each week.
That’s what your business needs! That’s what your employees need from you, as the owner. Don’t wait for them to figure it out, but take control of the onboarding process today...even if your employees have been around for months or years. It’s never too late to start.
Have a great day y’all!
What matters most?
Here at BOP we have a mission statement that is the why behind everything we do. It’s “Liberating business owners from the chaos of working in their business…” but we also add this on at the end, “and freeing them up to concentrate on what matters most!”
It’s something we stand by and something that fuels everything that we do. Yes, business coaching is a passion of ours, but it’s the “what”, not the “why.” It’s the freedom to concentrate on what matters most that pushes us.
You see, when you’re locked into chaos, you’re blind to the needs around you. You’re blind to what you’re supposed to be doing because you’re stuck putting out fires and doing what you HAVE to do.
So what is that? If you were to fill in the blank of what matters most to you, what would that be? That’s why the Vision story is so important! It’s doing the deep work of figuring out what you truly want once the chaos is gone!
What happens if you find yourself free from the chaos and watching afternoon talk shows, snacking on Cheetos every day. Or binging the next Netflix series that adds nothing to your life because you have nothing else on your to-do list. Is that what this is about? Now, there’s a real story there and it’s hilarious, but No! It’s so much more than that. It’s taking that time free from chaos and figuring out what using that time for what matters most is all about.
Is it coaching a kids sport team or driving them to dance classes? Is it taking your wife on a date regularly and investing in your marriage? Is it being engaged with your family, not just physically present as a business owner told me last week. Is it setting up team development meetings to actually pour into your team and invest in their professional and personal development? Is it hiring new team members and providing jobs for your community?
Maybe it’s getting engaged in your church or a local non-profit, maybe mentoring a younger business professional and sharing what you know? Is it giving generously because you have more than you need?
I cannot make these decisions for you, but I know that there is freedom to be had from chaos and I know that when that comes...you have to know what you want to do with that freedom. It’s worth it!
Your work is more than “What” you do...it’s how it frees you up to make an impact on others and what you do with that margin that makes such a difference in your family and your community. And THAT, is what should drive you out of bed in the morning.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Do your employees have clarity?
I played high school lacrosse growing up. Loved it! And I was new to the game when I first started playing...barely knew any of the rules, but I was a decent athlete, so I got on the field early on.
I remember our coach yelled almost non-stop at the games. He would be hoarse at the end of every game because he screamed the whole time!
I’ll never forget, during the first half of one of my first games, he started screaming at me after I picked up a ground ball.
“GET IT IN THE BOX! GET IT IN THE BOX! GET A TOUCH IN THE BOX!”
I had a guy guarding me, and by this point I was tuning out my coach and the non-stop noise being yelled from the sidelines. Next thing I knew, the referee is blowing his whistle and it was a turnover going the other way.
I immediately get pulled out of the game and the coach is just ripping into me. Veins on the side of his neck popping out...and I learned a few new 4 letter word combinations I’d never thought of before.
“Joyner, why didn’t you get it in the box? What’s wrong with you?”
I’ll never forget what I said as I yelled back at him, “Coach what does get it in the box even mean!”
I’m laughing right now, because my coach had never explained this rule to me before. Whenever there’s a turnover, you have 15-20 seconds to carry the ball through “the box” on the field and establish a possession.
His anger immediately subsided and he laughed as he realized I couldn’t be responsible for something he had never taught me. He just looked at me and said, “That’s on me Joyner, we’ll get you back in there in a minute.”
I laugh at this, because this situation is no different from the business world. I sit in Coaching meetings with business owner’s that are ready to fire an employee because their work is trash and they won’t do this or that.
My question is always, “Well have you trained them on that?” It’s always so funny to see there reaction. 9 times out of 10 they realize, I’m trying to hold them accountable for something that they don’t even know is on their job role.
So why does this happen so frequently?
Well, typically we assume things are common knowledge...typically we assume that they SHOULD know that.
Listen to this please, they SHOULDN’T know! What is common to you is not common to me! And, ultimately, your employees cannot be responsible for things you have not communicated just like it wasn’t my fault when I didn’t know the rules on the lacrosse field.
That’s why job roles are so important. We have every client build crystal clear job roles for every position in their business. It’s that important. They go over it with them, ask for any questions and record every process that they’re responsible for.
Why?
So that when you go back to critique their work you can know if 1) They’re being lazy and not doing it correctly, 2) The process needs to be tweaked, as it doesn’t work, or 3) There is lack of clarity on the totality of the process.
It’s so important to give your employees the gift of training so they can adequately accomplish the job you’ve hired them to do. It keeps them from being frustrated and you from being frustrated with them!
So, the next time you are upset with an employee, ask yourself where the blame lies. Is it actually your fault, as the owner, for failing to give them a 100% clear job role and training? If so, you’ve got work to do on your end.
Don’t let your employees underperformance be a result of your unwillingness to help them succeed. It matters and will be a GAME CHANGER for your business!
Have a great day!
How To Restructure A Company To Increase Profits
The golden ticket in business is to figure out a way to increase profits without having to increase revenue.
Speaking to a variety of business owner groups virtually or in-person, owners want to know the “secret” to generating higher profits while selling the same amount of product or service.
It is straightforward: the less you spend, the more you keep. The more you generate, the more you can either spend or keep.
That’s about it.
As with most things in life though, the way you structure your business accounting can provide some powerful efficiencies that can lead to better outcomes.
Here are three systems that we have embedded into our business workflow to help ensure that we have healthy profit, while also working to pay appropriate taxes, and reserve cash for rainy days.
First, subdivide your bank accounts. If you are running your business from just one or two bank accounts then you are in a state of constant temptation to spend money that may not be yours. Just because cash is in your account does not mean it is yours.
Some of that cash is for debt payment, taxes, payroll, reinvestment, and other responsibilities. If all of your cash is kept in one account bucket, then it all looks like it belongs to you. Subdividing your bank accounts (we have nine!) will allow your mind to see where the different dollars are to go.
Call me crazy, but we actually get excited when it’s time to pay our quarterly estimated taxes knowing that we have done the hard work of setting it aside.
Second, track the ABC’s of your business. The A stands for your cash Accounts. The B is for Bookkeeping. The C is for Customers.
Each week on a simple spreadsheet, you should record the balances of your accounts. It allows you to watch the flow of cash in and out of your business, and to make sure that each of your accounts is being funded at the level of the budget that you have set for your business.
Tracking your accounts each week allows your business to “speak to you” and tell you where your business is thriving, or where it is struggling.
Each week you should also be tracking on the same spreadsheet your bookkeeping numbers, particularly outstanding receivables from your aging report, and any known payables due from your business to others.
Finally, it’s a great idea about once a month to run a calculation of the number of days of cash you have on hand at any given time. It’s a calculation of actual cash, known receivables, payroll and payables in-and-out in the next 30 days, and number of working days in a month.
We have a calculator that we have built that allows us to see what that number is at any given time.
Jim Lewis, owner of Vision Stairways And Millwork, talks here about how implementing these practices allowed him to grow his profits while his revenue actually decreased!
We have put together a webinar tomorrow Tuesday, October 13th at 3pEST/12pPST and will be walking you through each of the three steps I just mentioned; subdivision of bank accounts, tracking your weekly ABC’s, and determining your cash runway.
Registration for this webinar Masterclass is free here at bopwebinar.com
Scott Beebe is the founder of Business On Purpose, author of Let Your Business Burn: Stop Putting Out Fires, Discover Purpose, And Build A Business That Matters. Scott also hosts The Business On Purpose Podcast and can be found at mybusinessonpurpose.com.
Why BIG Wins?
When I grew up, life felt so much slower. Long days spent playing in the woods or playing games like kick the can and manhunt. Just being a kid! Days felt like they wouldn’t ever end, I didn’t really mind it at the time.
Now? Well, it couldn’t be more different. It feels like our performance is measured by the minute and the good old days are gone for good! We’re owned by our phones and never sit around long enough to actually celebrate. If there’s one recent trend, ok there’s about 50 things that could make this list, but if there’s one recent trend that bothers me... it’s our lack of celebration for things that truly matter.
Now don’t get me started on kindergarten graduations and birthday months and things in our society that are OVER celebrated... that could take a while, what I’m talking about is our inability to step back and celebrate hard work and achievement without looking forward to the next thing that needs to be accomplished. We’ve forgotten how to celebrate things that should be celebrated in the workplace!
Now, this goes back to the book of Genesis right...it’s a Biblical concept as old as time! When God created...he stepped back and said this is “Good.” Right? He took a minute to pause, to celebrate. When he created us, he said...this is VERY GOOD! His masterpiece. He didn’t sit there and say, “Ok, so what’s next...what’s on tap for tomorrow?” No, he stepped back and celebrated the fruits of His labor.
So why do we have a tough time with this? Why can’t we stop long enough to celebrate a job well done, a deal closed, a new venture? Well, I think it’s because our society feels it is ineffective and worthless if we’re not working towards something! It’s not about what have you done lately...it’s about what are you doing next! Our attention spans are so teeny tiny, that what has been accomplished is quickly forgotten about and what is yet to accomplish becomes the “White Whale” we chase after.
Think about the iPhone or the newest gadget you’ve bought. As soon as it’s released the question is brought up of what the next one is going to look like! It’s madness. They even are working on the next release before the current release is out, why? Because you’re only as good as your next release... your next achievement... your next innovation.
I’m here to tell you that’s simply not true. Yes, we should be building new releases and innovating, but not if it costs us celebration in the process. Not if it robs us of ever enjoying what we’re working on in the moment. Life cannot be lived in these mountain top experiences, but is lived in the margins. It’s the conversations you have with a coworker when you’re at lunch. It’s the quick little glimpses we get as we’re walking into a meeting with some people instead of scrolling on Instagram waiting for the meeting to start.
One of the things we love to celebrate at BOP is BIG Wins. It stands for Begin in Gratitude and if you’ve ever sat in on a team meeting of ours or sat through a coaching time, you know we always ask you what your BIG Win is. It’s a Unique Core Value of ours because we believe that celebration needs to be an integral part of who we are. You work too hard to not be allowed to celebrate and celebrate regularly.
Many of our clients have started BIG Wins in their team meetings as they’ve realized how critical it is to morale and how tight it draws their team together.
It’s a moment of humanity in the midst of a grueling efficiency battle. It pulls the curtain back a bit to remember that our coworkers or employees are humans and not just chess pieces to move around. It’s a way to celebrate the PROCESS of achieving a goal, not just the goal itself!”
Because your employees want to be celebrated...so how are you doing that as a business? That’s what I want to leave you with today?
What’s the culture of celebration and wins feel like in your business? Is it go go go and never stop for recognition? Or is it one that pays attention to the little things? One that celebrates the wins along the way? One that isn’t playing the game of always looking forward, but is willing to slow down enough to celebrate the daily and weekly BIG Wins?
I hope so…
Have a great weekend y’all!
Four Steps To Setting Crystal Clear (As Mud) Expectations
Human beings long for clarity. We want to know precisely when the train will arrive, exactly when school will resume in person, and definitively when my Instacart order will show up.
Large corporations have entire departments focused solely on communication; communicating with the public, with employees, with customers, with regulators, with vendors and suppliers.
What about a small business?
Typically, it is the owner who will have to embrace the banner of clear communication for the business team and begin thoughtfully and repetitively empowering others to generate their own clear communication.
Communication is one of the kindest actions we can take as business owners to bring clarity to all of those partners. The very root of the word communication simply means, “to share”.
Oh if Mom could see you now as you recall all of the Kindergarten cliches about how sharing is caring.
In fact, sharing is caring, but only if sharing is done in truth, kindness, generosity, shrewdness, and discretion.
We’ve all met the “keep-this-between-me-and-you” guy who you know has spread what they are about to share with you, to plenty of others before you.
And we’ve spent time with the “I-hate-to-gossip” lady when she pivots with a simple, “but…” and then drops a gossip bomb. That is not careful sharing.
Careful sharing means laying the foundational concrete of forethought, timelines, impact, and outcomes.
Here are four steps to creating communication that will be helpful and set some powerfully clear expectations for everyone involved.
First, remember that it is going to take longer than you think. If I had a dollar for the number of times that the expectations were clear in my own head, and yet still led to confusion to others. It’s not their fault, instead my expectations have not had the necessary time to build clarity for others.
Expect questions. Expect curiosity. Expect confusion. Just because it is clear to you does not mean it is clear to me.
Many business owners are driver-personalities prone to rush results. Results of clear communication often come with slowness and time.
Second, write down your expectations. The simple value of writing things down is proven every time to read an important historical document; the Constitution, Luther’s ninety-five theses and his volumes of other writings, or the history of trees.
Oral cultures have existed in the past, but the ones that have endured have transcribed the oral stories into written histories.
Many business owners and key leaders are even taking the peculiar step of writing out a simple outline before they go into a hard conversation with an employee or with a customer. They will even use their written outline to show the other person that they have truly thought through their words.
Write down your expectations so others have time to digest.
Third, set a formal time to share your expectations.
It is not uncommon to hear a business owner frustratingly respond with, “but I told them (the process) the other day!”
If all Ashley and I did for the health of our marriage was to talk “in passing”, then it would be a long marital road. We must have intentional times to sit down and discuss and dream and ideate.
After you have your expectations written down, schedule a time to formally present them.
Finally, realize that sometimes you will never be fully understood...and that is ok.
This morning I was reading accounts of a few stories that Jesus was sharing with his apprentices. Once he wrapped up, he walked to his hometown of Nazareth (which is halfway between the Sea Of Galilee and the Meditteranean Sea). Some of the towns people he grew up with were curious as to how he had become so famous, and frankly were offended by his fame, and he turned to the small group following him and said simply, “A prophet is honored everywhere except his own hometown and among his own family.”
Sometimes, regardless of your clarity, you will simply be misunderstood. I have yet to find the magic elixir of how to reconcile that feeling, but it makes me feel better knowing that even Jesus himself was not able to bring clarity to everyone.
Neither will I, but for the ones who do find clarity it will be worth the effort. For the rest, it may be clear as mud.
Part of setting clear expectations is having both thoughtfulness, and a process. We have unlocked the entire Business On Purpose Roadmap coaching experience to help you build those necessary processes in your business, including your communication process. You can go to mybusinessonpurpose.com/free to get started setting clear expectations!
Scott Beebe is the founder of Business On Purpose, author of Let Your Business Burn: Stop Putting Out Fires, Discover Purpose, And Build A Business That Matters. Scott also hosts The Business On Purpose Podcast and can be found at mybusinessonpurpose.com.
What do customers expect when they do business with you?
I’ve always loved small businesses. I love supporting them! I love how you’re treated when you walk in the door. As the more you go, the more you they get to know you and know what you like!
I lived in Greenville about 8 years ago and there was this tiny little restaurant that we would walk to from our house called the Soda Shoppe. It was amazing! I went there and would order pretty much the same thing every single time because I liked it so much.
One day, I walk in and the owner, who’s name was Ren, just waved at me and didn’t walk over. That was not like him at all and I just chalked it up to the fact that is was pretty busy at the time. Less than 5 min later he walks over with my exact order and drops it off at my table.
My jaw almost hit the ground! He knew me, knew the sandwich I wanted, with the correct dipping sauce and he just dropped it off and said, “the usual right?”
That’s where small business hits it out of the park. When they provide an experience and service at or above where you can find anywhere else. From there on out I’d just wave at him walking through the door, give him a thumbs up and it would be at my table in less than 5 min! I felt known, I felt cared for and honestly that was my spot from there on out!
So, what happens when the opposite happens. What happens when you frequent a small business and you do NOT receive superior service? Well, it happened to me the other day. I needed something for one of my various hobbies...and I decided that instead of jumping on amazon and saving a couple bucks PLUS my time, I would drive 15 min to this store to see if they had it.
I walk in...and the store was empty. 3 guys working unloading a few boxes and restocking shelves. I walked straight up to the owner, who I’ve talked to about 5-6 times recently and asked for what I was looking for.
“Ah we’ve had a hard time keeping that in stock. There may be some in these boxes but there’s just no way to tell.”
I kind of looked at him stunned, no problem solving, no let me look in the box real fast to see if I can make this sale. He simply said…”I’m sorry man, you may just need to come back tomorrow.”
Let’s just say I didn’t go back the next day. Now I get it, some days it’s tough, but you have to ask yourself some serious questions about the culture of your business. Now, more than ever, the customer has convenient options for how to get what they need! Now, more than ever, you have to find ways to exceed your customers expectations. That’s why they buy from you in the first place instead of going the convenient route. So, how do you do that. Is it hand written notes, is it working as hard as you can to remember someone’s name? Is it a follow up survey you can create in google to make sure their experience was excellent in every way?
This stuff matters! Do you know how many people I told about the soda shoppe? It was my go to lunch spot for 3 years! I took everyone there and the word started to spread. All because the owner took the time to build a culture at his restaurant that made me and the rest of his customers feel known, appreciated and cared for.
That’s what it takes! You’ve got to create customers that sell for you as they share the stories of their interactions with your business!
That’s what makes you worth the drive, worth the inconvenience, worth the price difference.
Hey I know I’ve mentioned this a handful of times, but if you haven’t signed up yet...what’s stopping you? 28 days free to our online platform. All the trainings, all the templates for free for 28 days! Go to to mybusinessonpurpose.com/thomas28 to sign up and start jumping into all the stuff we have for you. Do it...RIGHT NOW! I promise...you need it and it’s free so do it!
Have a great rest of your week everyone!