DBF Ep 001: Confessions Of A Business Owner

Confessions of a business owner.

How to avoid these scaling mistakes – A candid conversation with life coach Melissa Garn.

Amy (02:37):
Hey guys. Amy and Shane here. And we are so excited to help you avoid what is not working in your business systems here on the Don’t Be Fooled podcast.

Shane (02:55):
Exactly. Amy. You know, the goal here is to help you stop doing the activity that will not give you the highest ROI and is suffocating your value in the market today.

Amy (03:06):
And it says so much about you, those of you with very little time, investing it here so that you can deliver your highest value and not compromise your personal values to do it. You’ve heard it said “hire for your weaknesses and then get out of the way?” Be very careful my friend, not to outsource key positions because you have decided you aren’t good at something like marketing or sales or content. Otherwise, you will be wasting your time and you will lose money. As a matter of fact, according to the small business association, the number one reason why businesses are closing – cashflow. The second reason is failure to define their target market and connect with them while they are sustaining their business model. Basically, an owners lack of business acumen leads to their lack of understanding who their ideal client is and what that person wants and needs from them. This then leads these owners to be oblivious as to how they can best help people.

Shane (04:18):
Yes, yes. I mean, I had no idea what numbers I should be tracking in order to sustain my cash and actually get more of those ideal clients. Like, I had a deep desire to help people solve a very specific problem. And I did want to get paid too.

Amy (04:35):
Right? I mean, who, who wants to be an owner and work for free, right? We have dedicated this podcast to every entrepreneur, every business leader that has done a lot of those marketing tactics or created a lot of different product offerings and cannot get a real return on investment.

Shane (04:56):
No, real meaning like a 300% or higher ROI, right? Like, not just breaking even like I was.

Amy (05:02):
Yeah, sure. I mean, this was my story too in days gone by and I have been on a quest ever since. And in fact, years ago, before I built my own agile business system called ascend, I was looking high and low for something to show me how to get the highest ROI, not kill myself and my life to do it and not drain my nest egg in the process. And I couldn’t find anything. I mean, I was literally going to free events. I was listening to conference calls that ran an hour or two hours at 9:00 PM. I was devouring books. I was going to webinars. I was purchasing online programs and there was nothing that gave me a step-by-step process that would allow me to systemize, sustain and scale without losing it all.

Shane (05:55):
Amy, if you go online and you type in how to scale my business or, or how do I pick a niche or how do I use automation or, you know, when’s the right time to outsource or should I create a new product? Now, when you do that, you’re going to get a ton of procedural, step-by-step, you know, uh, webinars and stuff and cool things like that, but you are not going to find anything that tells you what you are NOT supposed to be doing. That actually gives you that full system and shows you how to make it work. But there’s a massive need for it. I mean, a huge need. And that’s why I’m so excited to be on this journey with you, Amy,

Amy (06:34):
I’m so excited that you said yes to this crazy ride and I am so thrilled to be helping you the listener. So as we go forward, we’re going to pull back the curtain and we’re going to reveal the very system that the top 1% of businesses are using to define and duplicate their ideal client on demand, predict profits, sustain their business model, scale, their impact, and they are living life on their terms. Now, another exciting aspect of our conversation together will be real life owners who open up about their entrepreneurial journey, both the very high highs and the very low lows starting with this first owner. Melissa Garn. Listen in.
When I was in college, I owned my first business. Now it was a fitness studio.

Shane (07:27):
Oh, Oh, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa! Wasn’t it more like a Jazzercise too.

Amy (07:32):
Okay. Thanks Shane. Uh, yeah, it was a matter of fact. It was, that is when little leotards and Jazzercise was cool. Okay. Now in those, the little leotards in little bitty studios around town, I learned a very valuable lesson, amidst a very full college schedule, helping to care for my sister with special needs and my sort of existence social life. I learned this, that success without duplication is simply future failure. Randy gage said that. And to say that time was not an excess is an understatement. And I knew that if I didn’t break free from the old way of working, the old way of doing business, then I would surely lose everything. Now, I only knew one way of working. I only knew one way of growing a business and this business had become very demanding of my time and my money. I had literally built a business that I was a slave to. Now I’m very security minded. This is something Shane and I have in common. And I started a business. Can I just tell you guys honestly, here to actually make a lot of money! That’s why I started a business. Now. I learned, learned some very valuable lessons about that kind of focus. And while I was building a business that was money centered, I entangled myself in the day-to-day nonsense of this business. And quite frankly, I could not untangle myself without the feeling that everything was going to fall apart and I was going to lose it all because I believed a myth. Now, this myth is a very simple idea that someone else must be the secret to my success. I really believed that I wasn’t good at business. And quite frankly, I didn’t want to be the marketer. I didn’t want to be the salesperson. I didn’t want to deal with inventory. And if I’m really, really honest with you, I just wanted someone else to bring me. the people like, just bring them to my door, open their wallet, have them pay me and I’ll do the rest.

Shane (09:55):
I mean, hey, who wouldn’t think that something’s wrong with them? Right? I believed that it surely couldn’t be the authors of those books that I was reading or, you know, the people up on those stages, at events that I was attending, because I mean, they’re the experts, right?

Amy (10:11):
Shane, this just isn’t the truth. If we’re going to duplicate our success, we, the owner, you and I must be able to show others how we got those results to begin with. No one else can create or scale our success, but us. Shane, the question that just has always plagued me is why in the world would I or any other owner even give into this lie that they should hire for their weaknesses instead of taking full responsibility for directing their company’s success?

Shane (10:47):
It is, it is conflicting when you really think about it. And what’s really happening here Amy is these leaders are having an identity crisis there. And there’s this pattern that I’ve seen emerging over the years of my coaching practice with clients who struggled with this concept of taking responsibility. And here’s what it’s like. They have this incredibly gifted, you know, way of working. I mean, people look at what they’ve accomplished and they go, wow, that is amazing! They get all of this affirmation coming their way about how, how great they are, but here’s the thing. They don’t believe it. They don’t believe that they are actually fully equipped to make the kind of impact that they are already making. And so here’s what they do. They start telling themselves that something is missing. They just can’t quite put their finger on it. You know, they, they start thinking, well, I must not be that smart or even worst that somebody is going to find out that I’m not as good as it looks like I am. That’s what really starts rolling around in their head. And so whenever they try something that they’re not good at, I mean, immediately they go on the search for someone that they think can do it for them. And the truth is they’re focused on the wrong problem. I heard it said, one time you cannot give what you do not possess. So here’s what I mean. You can’t outsource something that you don’t understand. You can’t steward the talent that you’ve been given by throwing your genius over the wall to someone that you can’t guide, hoping and wishing that they will make a wise investment with it. Like, when you take responsibility for your success in every aspect of your business, now, now you’re demonstrating good stewardship. Strengths can be built when you dump the lie that we aren’t good enough and step into growing them without being fearful.

Amy (12:38):
Wow. You know, I am just thinking back to the opportunities that I’ve had and I know you have had to literally sit at the feet of some of the greatest experts our generation has ever known. And I remember them sharing with me that it wasn’t until they took full responsibility, like, they’re, they’re not, um, immune to this same myth and giving into it. And they have shared that it wasn’t until they took full responsibility for every part of their business success, which ultimately led to success in life. Measured why they were being successful. Where was it coming from? How often was it coming? What could they expect when it came, documented that success and then showed others how to do it? It wasn’t until they went through that process, that they were able to scale impact and help a lot of people, a lot more people, to be honest, then they could have done just by handing it over to somebody and hoping and praying that they get the same outcomes. You see owners who have the courage to adopt an agile business system, know something that owners who have not been willing to make that transition don’t know. That agile is not something you do. It’s something you become. Agility equals stability.

Shane (14:12):
You know, this to me really becomes evident when something like a worldwide pandemic knocks at your business door. You know, businesses that are agile, those are the ones that thrived and those that were rigid, you know, operating out of those old ways, those are the ones that suffered and really got hit hard. And that pressure has revealed and is revealing if the business has been built on that foundation of stability or not.

Amy (14:45):
You see Melissa’s experience is not far off from my own. And the owners I work with, I pulled back the curtain for Melissa and had to show her what it would take. And she had to accept the fact that she needed to work her business, measure its success, and only then would outsourcing work for her. And it has! This idea that our success depends on a certain human and how much better they are at certain tasks than we are, is a result of centralized business training.

Shane (15:16):
And, and if we’re, if we’re going to achieve this agility becoming an agile business, we have to move away from the mindset that I have to be the one who is controlling everyone and everything that they’re doing so that we get the results we want, right? Like even to the point of specifying every task that people are taking on in my, in my business, we have to move away from that and towards empowering those employees to be leaders, to take full ownership, right? Demonstrating and giving them the confidence to drive the organization towards our goals and purposes and vision

Amy (15:50):
In order to be those leaders that empower others to Shane, we ourselves must be willing to take full ownership for a period of time, measure the success, define the outcomes we expect. Know how to hold others accountable before we hire or outsource. So, here are three things that matter as we move from rigid and archaic business practices to fast and flexible ones. Number one, the owner must define the success of the organization before someone else can duplicate it. Number two, the owner must know who the new clients are and what the few clients put the most value on in business. Only two things matter, always acquiring new clients and always helping our clients get what they want. And last but not least, the owner must be willing to track the numbers that matter to the company’s outcomes the most. So, are you the owner who is ready to execute the new ways of building your business? If so, I’ve taken a bold step to give you all the information you need to execute this agile business system. And that advice is for free. Now you can access that link under this episode or in the show notes. Get the information here.

Shane (17:13):
And also while you there, if you found value in this chat today, then please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a friend. And don’t forget to take advantage of that free training.

Amy (17:24):
So you will hear us on the next episode of the Don’t Be Fooled podcast, where we show you what’s not working, what will never ever work and what you should focus on instead. Bye guys.