My Business On Purpose

Over the weekend I devoured John Eldredge’s new book, Get Your Life Back: Everyday Practices For A World Gone Mad.

A line in his introduction had me hooked as he was laying out the purpose of the book, “I found myself flinching when a friend texted and asked for some time.  I didn’t want to open email for fear of the demands I’d find there…It made me wonder -- am I becoming a less loving person?”

How I wish that line didn’t resonate when I read it.  But it did.  

Towards the final pages of the book Eldredge diagnoses what is really going on, “these are symptoms that we’re running on fumes.”

Chaos is a gas-guzzler and has a high emotional fuel burn rate especially for those in the service and “helper” industries.

As you build and grow your business, here are low to no-cost steps you can take to both re-fuel while burning less fuel.

First, make time for a daily walk.  This may or may not be your regular sweat-exercise.  The goal with a walk is to get outside. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that Americans spend 93% of their life indoors.

Eldredge puts it in a deeper perspective saying that if you live to be 100 years old, 93 of those years have been spent indoors.

In her article The Daily Routines Of Geniuses, Sarah Green Carmichael reflects on the outdoor walking habits of the greats like Dickens (3 hours per day), Tchaikovsky (2 hours per day), and Kierkegaard who would “often rush back to his desk and resume writing, still wearing his hat and carrying his walking stick.

I have been taking a walk most days just around my street (it’s a big circle) for the last few years.  It is restorative.   

Second, time block your week.  We have business owners tell us regularly that time blocking their week has been one of the most clarifying disciplines they have installed.  One business owner even told me a few weeks ago, “it has literally changed my life.”

Why?  

Time blocking your week means that you own your week instead of your week owning you.  Time blocking means that when someone reaches out to you to connect, then you get the share the times you are available while feeling confident in the times that you are not available.

We delivered a powerful webinar called Owning Your Schedule: Stop Wasting Hours Every Week On Small, Boring Tasks That Never Really Add To Your Life.  You can watch the replay here:

http://bit.ly/bophiringwebinar

One humble suggestion as you layout the hours of each day in your time block.  Go to bed earlier and wake up earlier. There is typically not much good happening late, and there is a whole lot of peace and quiet if you are willing to get up early.

Third, find a private workspace without distractions.  The open office concept is cool to look at and yet is killing focus and deep work.

We rent a space in town where we have the majority of our in person, and online client interactions, but then I retreat to my upstairs home office overlooking my backyard most Mondays and Fridays.

Those are the days that I spend preparing for the Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

Although we have minimal general foot tracker in our conference room space, distractions still abound.  

In most cases, your workspace as an owner is too accessible.  You don’t have to rent a separate space.  Do you have a home office, or a study room at the local public library, or a corner booth at Panera bread with a powerful set of headphones?

Time block segments of your week at your private office where no one except your loved-ones can find you.

Finally, ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.  

I wish I had come up with that, but it is a line from my favorite author and thinker Dallas Willard.  

Theologian Robert Banks points out that “our society is rich in things, but poor in time”. 

Last week I sat with a dear friend in Nigeria for a little over an hour and then mentioned that I needed to head to the next meeting, his response was quiet and simple, “you can be late.”

The West African context is rich in relationships and time, but poor(er) in things.

Even writing this I am already looking forward to the next thing...as I am sure you are too as you read or listen.

Stop.  

Go for a walk.  

But you respond, “none of that will work for me...you don’t understand my world.”

Then you will need to embrace chaos.  

But you don’t have to.

Want to invest more time in building a business on purpose?  You can register for our next Business On Purpose Webinar 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.

There are seven things you will have to obsess over and implement if you wish to be the “leader that your looking for is looking for”

• The Leader Your Looking for wants a WRITTEN and repeated Vision

• Story: BOP began in March of 2015.  Most of my biz owner friends had what everyone saw as a successful biz...and they worked hard.  When I began to ask them, do you know where you’re biz headed? There response was unanimous…”NO”
• You ought to see the heartbeat a team member when WRITTEN VISION gets shared...it’s like a dry-soul gulping fresh water
• Why?
• • Prov 29:18 - people die where there is no vision

• Hab 2:2 - it is a catalyst for others to RUN!

• How?  2-5 pages of details around these 7 categories: Term, Family/Freedom, Finances, Product/Service, Team, Client, Culture
• A dream is a loosely held ideal...VISION is specific and clear!

• The Leader your looking for wants a WRITTEN and repeated Mission Statement

• Story: Care Africa (voiceless, exhausted)
• They are investing courage into the voiceless and exhausted.
  • If voiceless, but not exhausted = No
  • If exhausted, but not voiceless = No
• • 70 children (mostly single or double orphans) making sure they have what they need to grow
  • 40 Caregivers to make sure that they have what they need to grow 
  • The mission commands respect
• Think of Moonshine 
• Less than 12 words, POWERPACKED and memorizable
• THIS is how you answer the question, “soooo, what do YOU do?”
• “I came to liberate business owners from chaos”
• • What did YOU come to do??...the leader your looking for, is looking for a leader who will have their mission written down and will OBSESS about it.

1. The Leader your looking for wants you to know your NUMBERS (and to help them know their numbers)
2. • Not just P&L’s and Balance Sheets...REAL CASH
   • Story: Gerrick (grew up in a house that just needed a little jingle in the pocket...his Dad was a “cash man”)
   • Money is a tool...treat it as such.  Sharpen it and know exactly how to use it.  Know what you have, know what you need, and plan for the unexpected

• Control money...or it will control you and eat you alive 

• In 2020, the focus for our BOP clients is RE-INVEST (same things over and over)..why?  Profit AND Generosity!!!!
• Resource: Profit First for Contractors

1. The Leader your looking for wants agenda-driven, leader-led team meetings that don't waste their time
2. • Let’s face it, in the words of Cameron ???...”meetings suck!”
   • Analogy: Meetings are the IV port to the body of your business
   • Story: American Paving Design (laid a great foundation)
   • Agenda Agenda Agenda...repetition repetition...DONT CANCEL
   • Resource: HBR Meeting Cost Calculator 

• The Leader your looking for wants to SEE where they fit in your business

• Medicine has diagramed the human body to know exactly how the whole body works together into 11 body systems (Cardiovascular, skeletal, Reproductive, etc.)
• Story: PSA (When I walked into PSA the first time…)
• We are all members of one body each doing her part, but you MUST diagram the entire body (Org Chart) AND the specific body part/role that a leader plays (Job Role)...and review it regularly

• The Leader your looking for wants to SEE the results of their work

• Pilot flying a plane via a dashboard...real time feedback
• Story: TJ (Dashboard)
• Here is an example SIMPLE dashboard...job costing, job loss/profitability, cash, receivables, follow up, cold leads 
• Ambiguity leads to frustration and chaos

• The Leader you're looking for wants to have WRITTEN goals with proper resources AND accountability

• Shoreline was building some incredible product but came to a sobering reality when Chris Dalzell sat down to actually write out his vision story.
• • A Shoreline home was a $1.5mm commodity
  • A commodity!
  • I could ride down the streets of PB and couldn’t tell you which house was a Shoreline house vs. the other builders in town...they were all beautiful
• Shoreline Construction has transitioned and lived out the custom home building business unlike any other builder I have seen up close. 
• THIS is their Customer Experience and Project Management wall

• Chris, Steve, and John came to a healthy realization understanding that the Shoreline product was less about the finished product and far more about the 18-24 month experience that the customer felt.  
• Chris also made a tough decision that once every 13 weeks, he takes his entire team OUT of the field for a half day and, through the BOP 12 Week Plan LIVE Event, has each of his 20 team members build out their own 12 week plan 
• • 3 goals
  • Unlimited tactics
  • 12 weeks to complete it
  • Embedded in their agenda-driven, leader-led team meeting and voila...GOALS ACHIEVED around the company with incredible predictability
• THe leader your looking for needs to SEE what you are shooting for!

BONUS POINT!  The leader you're looking for is looking for a leader who MAKES TIME FOR solitude to read and write.

• Thomas Jefferson said it plainly, “I cannot live without books”
• TJ and Gerrick Picture
• Writing (show pics of annual letters)

Want to invest more time in building a business on purpose?  You can register for our next Business On Purpose Webinar 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.

We are wrapping our fifth calendar year as a business and in pursuit of our mission to liberate business owners from the chaos of working IN their business so they can build a business on purpose and leverage their business AS their mission in life.

Why We Are Doing This Work

E.F. Schumacher says there are three purposes to work:

1. To provide a necessary and useful good or service
2. To enable every one of us to use and thereby perfect our gifts like good stewards
3. To liberate ourselves from our inborn egocentricity (i.e. we work so we can be humbled and therefore humble)

To us, our work is a display of our faith.  Faith is the conviction of something that does not exist, and work is the creation of that thing that we see only in our minds that would be useful to others.

When we coach, plan, prepare, market, support, encourage, and research we are doing so to create something useful to others and to ourselves.

As to our mission, we have an enemy that hastles our dear business owners.  Chaos.

Chaos has set the ground work for many of our beloved, heroic business owners (those we work with and those we do not) to be distracted from their purposed work.  It is our work to help liberate them from the stubborn and filthy grips of chaos and instead guide them into the diligent world of healthy and fruitful work so they themselves can fulfill each of Schumacher’s three purposes of their own work.

When they enter this world of what Schumacker calls “Good Work” then we have the joy of knowing our work was useful.

2019: The year of “Aha”

Looking back I am compelled to see 2019 as the year we arrived at the peak of a very small mountain.

Of course this mountain seemed unscalable in March of 2015 but now is a source of incredible joy when we think about the business owners who have been able to climb their own mountains with our encouragement, coaching and support.  

Between the one-on-one coaching, our new LIVE/LOCAL group coaching, the BOP Roadmap, and Architect’s Coaching program, we have had the honor and responsibility of directly impacting a powerful numbers of owners and key leaders in just this year.  To our best estimate, at least…

443 Families!

...this does not include subcontractors, vendors, and suppliers.

2020: A little nervous...a LOT EXCITED!

I’ve got loads of clarity both for our Business On Purpose business and for our heroic business owners and their key leaders in 2020.

I’ll be honest, I’m a little nervous about two things.  Greed and Complacency.

In 2019 a critical mass of our business owners really figured out how to recognize real cash profit thanks to the a) multi-bank account structure, the b) level two dashboard, c) financial barn, and d) a lot of discipline.  It worked! The profit accounts started filling up and will continue to do so in 2020.

If we’re not careful it can lead to a mindset of coasting, or even worse...greed.  

To push beyond that, our word for 2020 is REINVEST, and I am A LOT EXCITED about that.

We are going to be relentless with our heroic business owners to REINVEST in vision, mission, values, systems, and process.  

REINVEST in identifying purpose.

REINVEST in team meetings.

REINVEST in processes and process roadmaps.

REINVEST in knowing our team through roles, org charts, and personality profiles.

REINVEST in knowing your numbers through our accounts, dashboards, financial barns, budget, etc.

REINVEST in owners connecting with other owners and key leaders connecting with each other.

REINVEST in our 12 week plan LIVE event.

REINVEST in our common goal and responsibility of building a business on purpose.

I’ll use Business On Purpose as an example.  Our major internal business focus is broken down into three tracks…

1. REINVEST in our existing heroic owners and their teams the BOP process!  Not allowing them to coast, but constantly fanning the flame of the gift they have each been given.
2. Expand the Business On Purpose Roadmap online member community among business owners who are generating annual revenues of $750k or less.  This will require a real commitment to thoughtful, helpful, and generous “marketing”.
3. Hire our first full time Business On Purpose Coach locally (Beaufort County and surrounding areas) showing our radical commitment to liberating our local business owners from chaos.  

In March of 2020 we will celebrate five years of liberating business owners from chaos.  Over the next five years, we WILL see overwhelming waves of liberation among existing and new businesses and their owners that will lead to a bona fide movement of purpose, generosity, and progress in marriages, families, and communities.  This WILL happen and we want you to be a part.  

You can begin to REINVEST in your own business by joining us for our next powerful, free webinar “Stop Hiring The Wrong People”, where I will build a hiring process from scratch right in front of your eyes!

You can register for 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.

Michael Beaumont was doing a masterful job yesterday of teaching about the priority and necessity of vision.  I was in my happy place. There were friends who I could here in our small church meeting space snickering and chuckling as Michael talked about vision, as if to say, “Scott must be lapping this stuff up!!” 

Michael then shared a story about Matthew Emmons that made me immediately think of you, the business owner. 

Emmons is University trained in finance and management and moonlights as one of the world’s premier rifle marksman having won multiple Olympic medals. 

Emmons was competing in Athens, Greece during the 2004 Olympics and was on his way to winning a gold medal.  It was time for the three positions competition where competitors “fire .22 caliber smallbore rifles from the prone, standing, and kneeling positions at targets 50 meters downrange. The bullseye is 10.4 millimeters in diameter, smaller than a dime” (Washington Post).

It was time for his final shot and he drilled it.  A bullseye.

The official score was posted and Emmons was confused.  It read “0”.

Zero.

What happened?  It was a bullseye.

Emmons was aiming at the target in the next lane over.  Zero. He would not earn the gold medal.  

Sometimes we have vision but find we are aiming at the wrong thing.  The Independent later reported Emmons admitting, “I didn't look at the number above the target before the last shot...I usually always look [through the scope] at the number first and then drop down to the target. I was just working on calming myself down and getting a good shot off. I should have looked.”

Over the past month I had multiple conversations with people who want to start their owxn business.  I asked them one simple question, “do you have anything written down?”  Typically the answer is “no”.  

Here are three realities to know when we choose not to take a look at the right target.  Three realities of not writing your vision down on paper.  

First, if you do not have a vision you will feel chaos.  Do not be surprised by that feeling of restlessness, confusion, frustration, and detachment like things seem out of control.  That is is the natural result of a lack of vision.  

The question now becomes, “do you wish to continue living in the uncertainty of chaos?”  If you do, and believe it or not some go looking for chaos, then please be a solopreneur and do not bring others into your chaos.  It’s cruel and we have seen it lead to damaged relationships. 

If you wish to not spend your time in chaos, then let’s move onto the second reality.

Second, if you do not write your vision down then you do not have a vision.

There is clear historical precedent in understanding vision and seeing out vision gets distributed.  A Jewish story gives us insight into the priority of writing a vision down. The Jewish prophet Habakkuk is in a tense conversation with God and God responds, “write the vision down so those who read it may run” (Habakkuk 2:2).  

Think of all of the visions, ideologies, convictions, instructions, and master plans in history that have been written down.  You cannot imagine walking into the Pentagon to a high level meeting among four-star Generals with battle plans...in your head.  “Greetings Generals, I had this idea…”

Global religions do not lean on the oral traditions along, they all have a “book”.  

I heard it said, “if you do not write it down it does not exist.” 

The reason we do not rush to write things down is because it is hard, and because it feels so elementary.  We have got to get over both.

Hard things breed endurance and thoughtfulness.  Elementary things usually remind us that life is a series of living out fundamentals.

Do the hard, elementary discipline of writing down your vision either with pen on a real piece of paper, or on a digital document that you will review regularly.

Final reality.  If you do not have a written vision then no one will run with you.  You will be alone.

Periodic isolation can be restorative and valuable.  Continual isolation is predictably damaging and punitive in most societies.

What may be worse is perceived companionship where you think you are surrounded by like-minded people and wake up one day realizing that you are running alone.  

How does that happen?  Not having or communicating your written vision. 

Let me encourage, motivate, and persuade you.  Please...

Write your vision down so you have confidence in the target you are aiming at.

Write your vision down so your kids know what Mom or Dad’s ambitions are when you are not around to share them. 

Write your vision down so you don’t live a life in the slow drain of chaos.  

Write your vision down because WE WANT TO RUN WITH YOU! 

You can write out your own vision by going to our website at mybusinessonpurpose.com and click “Get Your Free Vision Story Here”.

We want to help you run and liberate you from business chaos.

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.

Over the holiday break I had a chance to restructure my bookshelves and do one of my favorite things...meander through my books!

Books are NOT just for nerds like me.  Books are a wise conversation with an old soul.  

Hemingway said, “no friend is as loyal as a book.”  

Jefferson said simply, “I cannot live without books.”

Or how about this more modern Game Of Thrones reference, “... a mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge.”

You will need to keep your edge throughout 2020 as it is an important year, and books will sharpen you. 

Here are four books that I recommend you load up for 2020 and spend time re-investing in yourself (in no particular order)...

1. The Alchemist by Pablo Coelho (1988): It is an adventure book of wisdom.  My son and I listened to it in the car on the way to school everyday last year and what a treat!
2. This Is Marketing by Seth Godin (2018): Although a relatively new book it is an important discussion, non-traditional walk through the most frustrating (at least for me) topic in business.  This is NOT a “100x your business by tomorrow” kind of book...it is for those of you who are willing to work the long-game.
3. Good Work by E.F. Schumacher (1979): I found this in an old, small book store in Chicago and was immediately taken by this explanation of the three purposes of human work.  Schumacher wrote it in the late 1970’s and it is eerily relevant today.

• Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard (2006): The founder of Patagonia gives you a counter-business-culture insight into life as a socialist-minded entrepreneur operating in a capitalist world.  Regardless of your affinity this book will breed ideas, insights, and a pinch of intentional confusion.   

1. Oh yeah...one more.  Generation Z Unfiltered by Tim Elmore (2019): Trust me...just read this.  

This is not a list of my top books of all time (that may come later this year)...but some powerful reads to keep you engaged in this important year of re-investment.

Re-invest in yourself...set a timer for 10 minutes per day and commit to reading.  

Just read.

“But reading is boring!”  Read anyway until that mindset changes:).  

Be like my buddy TJ who does not consider himself a reader but realized last year the impact that reading has on his family...look closely at one of my favorite pictures...

It is a life-discipline that will TRANSFORM you.

P.s. - you can add my book Let Your Business Burn to your list, and while you’re at it register for our next free BOP Webinar in February RIGHT HERE “Start Hiring The RIGHT PEOPLE: Watch Me Build A Predictable Hiring Process Right In Front Of Your Eyes”

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.

Over the holiday break I had a chance to restructure my bookshelves and do one of my favorite things...meander through my books!

Books are NOT just for nerds like me.  Books are a wise conversation with an old soul.  

Hemingway said, “no friend is as loyal as a book.”  

Jefferson said simply, “I cannot live without books.”

Or how about this more modern Game Of Thrones reference, “... a mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge.”

You will need to keep your edge throughout 2020 as it is an important year, and books will sharpen you. 

Here are four books that I recommend you load up for 2020 and spend time re-investing in yourself (in no particular order)...

1. The Alchemist by Pablo Coelho (1988): It is an adventure book of wisdom.  My son and I listened to it in the car on the way to school everyday last year and what a treat!
2. This Is Marketing by Seth Godin (2018): Although a relatively new book it is an important discussion, non-traditional walk through the most frustrating (at least for me) topic in business.  This is NOT a “100x your business by tomorrow” kind of book...it is for those of you who are willing to work the long-game.
3. Good Work by E.F. Schumacher (1979): I found this in an old, small book store in Chicago and was immediately taken by this explanation of the three purposes of human work.  Schumacher wrote it in the late 1970’s and it is eerily relevant today.

• Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard (2006): The founder of Patagonia gives you a counter-business-culture insight into life as a socialist-minded entrepreneur operating in a capitalist world.  Regardless of your affinity this book will breed ideas, insights, and a pinch of intentional confusion.   

1. Oh yeah...one more.  Generation Z Unfiltered by Tim Elmore (2019): Trust me...just read this.  

This is not a list of my top books of all time (that may come later this year)...but some powerful reads to keep you engaged in this important year of re-investment.

Re-invest in yourself...set a timer for 10 minutes per day and commit to reading.  

Just read.

“But reading is boring!”  Read anyway until that mindset changes:).  

Be like my buddy TJ who does not consider himself a reader but realized last year the impact that reading has on his family...look closely at one of my favorite pictures...

It is a life-discipline that will TRANSFORM you.

P.s. - you can add my book Let Your Business Burn to your list, and while you’re at it register for our next free BOP Webinar in February RIGHT HERE “Start Hiring The RIGHT PEOPLE: Watch Me Build A Predictable Hiring Process Right In Front Of Your Eyes”

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.

Last month we hosted our 9th BOP 12 Week Plan LIVE Event with over 130 business owners and key leaders in the room all culminating with each person working on their next 12 week plan.

Each event we ask for feedback on what people are struggling with, it was overwhelmingly clear what the current headache is in owning a business.  One owner said it this way, “I need to cut the distractions, and get a real employee to help me!”

The curse of the business owner is taking the superhero mindset into their business and setting a stage where they are the promoter, the actor, the director, the stage hand, the writer, the ticket seller, the janitor, and everything in between.

We believe that no one is equipped to help.  We say things like, “I hate having to have employees.”  

In reality, employees generally want to be useful and valuable to the organization that they are a part of.  We tend to be the missing link.

Here are five clear things you can do to make sure that your mission gets the help it needs.

First, do you really believe in your mission?  If you do, there is no way to do it alone.  If you do not have a written mission then go to work to create one sentence that is less than 12 words that will capture why you do what you do.  

At Business On Purpose we are obsessed with liberating business owners from the chaos of working IN their business.

Second, write out every task that you are currently doing yourself or that you know needs to be done.  Once you can visually see those tasks and how much time they take each week you will awaken to the sober realization that you cannot do it all yourself and remain healthy. 

Third, write out a simple job role.  Take those tasks, lump them into a role, articulate how each of those tasks are done and then go find the right person.  Make sure to spend the extra time putting together a budget for the role based on your actual financials...do not guess.

Fourth, go find a person to match the role.  Don’t focus on a person with a pulse, instead focus on someone who has the personality, the skill, and the desire to work this role towards the mission you have laid out.

Finally, empower, equip, deploy, rinse and repeat.  Take the role and the processes of each task and walk through them with your new team member.  Send them out to do the task and provide a weekly (at minimum) set time and place to follow up with progress of their deployment.  

Let’s put an end to the mindset that we “hope they do it right”, and instead own the mindset that will work to empower, equip, and deploy so you can have some real help so you can impact your real mission.

You don’t have to do it all yourself.  You yourself can be liberated from the chaos of working IN your business.

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.

Last month we hosted our 9th BOP 12 Week Plan LIVE Event with over 130 business owners and key leaders in the room all culminating with each person working on their next 12 week plan.

Each event we ask for feedback on what people are struggling with, it was overwhelmingly clear what the current headache is in owning a business.  One owner said it this way, “I need to cut the distractions, and get a real employee to help me!”

The curse of the business owner is taking the superhero mindset into their business and setting a stage where they are the promoter, the actor, the director, the stage hand, the writer, the ticket seller, the janitor, and everything in between.

We believe that no one is equipped to help.  We say things like, “I hate having to have employees.”  

In reality, employees generally want to be useful and valuable to the organization that they are a part of.  We tend to be the missing link.

Here are five clear things you can do to make sure that your mission gets the help it needs.

First, do you really believe in your mission?  If you do, there is no way to do it alone.  If you do not have a written mission then go to work to create one sentence that is less than 12 words that will capture why you do what you do.  

At Business On Purpose we are obsessed with liberating business owners from the chaos of working IN their business.

Second, write out every task that you are currently doing yourself or that you know needs to be done.  Once you can visually see those tasks and how much time they take each week you will awaken to the sober realization that you cannot do it all yourself and remain healthy. 

Third, write out a simple job role.  Take those tasks, lump them into a role, articulate how each of those tasks are done and then go find the right person.  Make sure to spend the extra time putting together a budget for the role based on your actual financials...do not guess.

Fourth, go find a person to match the role.  Don’t focus on a person with a pulse, instead focus on someone who has the personality, the skill, and the desire to work this role towards the mission you have laid out.

Finally, empower, equip, deploy, rinse and repeat.  Take the role and the processes of each task and walk through them with your new team member.  Send them out to do the task and provide a weekly (at minimum) set time and place to follow up with progress of their deployment.  

Let’s put an end to the mindset that we “hope they do it right”, and instead own the mindset that will work to empower, equip, and deploy so you can have some real help so you can impact your real mission.

You don’t have to do it all yourself.  You yourself can be liberated from the chaos of working IN your business.

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.

Now is about the time that owners and key leaders think, “we need a plan for next year!”

You are right...you do.  What about last years plan?  Did it work? Did you stick to it?

Do goals and plans even work?

Through our in depth research we have uncovered the secret in what plans and goal-setting tools work and which do not.  Stay tunes and I will answer that in a minute.

But first, why do we need a goal setting plan in the first place?

This is a story of two boats.  Both boats were planning to leave the safe harbour of Ft. Lauderdale with their destination (vision) set on Marsh Harbor in the Bahamas.

One boat arrived safely in Marsh Harbor the same afternoon they departed Ft. Lauderdale ...the other boat was lost at sea, frustrated and cursing God for not “blessing” them with a safe arrival.

When we dig a bit deeper we find some helpful information learned from both situations.

The first boat that arrived safely had spent two weeks preparing for the trip with a simple, written checklist on a simple sheet of notebook paper.

Fuel, check.

GPS, check.

Fresh batteries, check.

Food, check.

Water, check.

Weather, check.

Safety equipment, check.

The second boat decided on a whim to go.

Fuel, not enough.

GPS, broken.

Fresh batteries...nope, drained.

Food, couple packs of crackers.

Water, a few water bottles

Weather, never bothered to look.

Safety equipment, a child’s life vest and a whistle.

The people in the second boat were rescued by a charter sportfishing boat and their crew and brought safely back to the coast of Florida, but their boat was badly damaged.

Upon return, the captain of the misshapen boat talked with disdain and jealousy about the boat that had safely made it to Marsh Harbor without incident using language that made it sound like the successfully arrived boat was “lucky”.

Meanwhile, the shattered and unprepared captain continued telling harrowed sea stories at the local watering hole about the time he made it back safe to shore after he had beaten back the winds and the waves, enduring dehydration, a lack of food and lifejackets and on and on and on...as if he were a hero.

Business owners can sometimes confuse unpreparedness and a lack of planning with unforeseen persecution and suffering.  They will tell others, “the market was against me” or “employees are impossible” or “we could never catch a break”. 

In reality what they meant to say was, “I was unprepared”.

Here is the easiest preparation tool we have found; Brian Moran’s 12 Week Year.

We have adapted his principles into a simple 12 Week Plan tool that everyone of our heroic small business owners use and refresh every 12 weeks.

Here are three reasons it works so well and why you should try it beginning on Thursday December 19th, 2019…

First, twelve months is TOO LONG!  

With twelve month plans we get to April and think, “well we haven’t done anything with our twelve month plan, but we still have nine months.”

Then we get to July and think, “well we haven’t done anything with our twelve month plan, but we still have six months.”

Then we get to October and huff frustratingly, ““well we haven’t done anything with our twelve month plan, but we only have three months till the new year so we’ll scrap this one and do one next year.”

And the cycle repeats into insanity.

Second, the twelve week plan only allows for three goals.  Moran defines goals simply as “outcomes”. In other words, what are the three major outcomes you hope to achieve over the next twelve weeks?

Is it to “clean up your bookkeeping” or to “finalize a hiring process”?  Perfect. Whatever it is, it is ok for the goal itself to be broad (I know, I know...it feels like a violation of the S.M.A.R.T. goal process...stay tuned).

Finally, each goal has an unlimited number of tactics with Moran defines simply as “actions”.

In other words, if your goal is to “finalize a hiring process” then your list of tactics may look like this…

• Set a time to define our mission and core values
• Define our mission and core values
• Set a time to finalize our Org Chart so we know what roles exist
• Finalize our Org Chart so we know what roles exist
• Set a time to write out our hiring process using Google Draw
• Write out our hiring process using Google Draw
• Set a meeting with the team to reveal our new hiring process
• Meet with the team to reveal our new hiring process
• Set a time with the team for follow up, etc…..

By principle, when all of the tactics (actions) are completed, then the goal is completed...all within the timeline of twelve weeks.

It’s simple.  Twelve weeks, three goals, unlimited actions steps.

So what is the secret to finding a plan and goal-setting tool works?  The one you IMPLEMENT and DO!

MAKE the time on your calendar, get out a sheet of paper, and IMPLEMENT.  Then create a line item in your weekly team meeting agenda for each person to review progress to their twelve week plan so you can track their progress to “Marsh Harbor”.

What about the ones who don’t implement?  They will likely be the ones griping and complaining about how they braved the elements and were left in a hopeless goal of reaching their vision.  Not sure if they are a good fit for what you are building.

FYI, we are hosting our next Business On Purpose 12 Week Plan LIVE Event on Thursday December 19th, 2019 in Bluffton, SC at 9amEST.  You can sign you and your team up here.

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.

Now is about the time that owners and key leaders think, “we need a plan for next year!”

You are right...you do.  What about last years plan?  Did it work? Did you stick to it?

Do goals and plans even work?

Through our in depth research we have uncovered the secret in what plans and goal-setting tools work and which do not.  Stay tunes and I will answer that in a minute.

But first, why do we need a goal setting plan in the first place?

This is a story of two boats.  Both boats were planning to leave the safe harbour of Ft. Lauderdale with their destination (vision) set on Marsh Harbor in the Bahamas.

One boat arrived safely in Marsh Harbor the same afternoon they departed Ft. Lauderdale ...the other boat was lost at sea, frustrated and cursing God for not “blessing” them with a safe arrival.

When we dig a bit deeper we find some helpful information learned from both situations.

The first boat that arrived safely had spent two weeks preparing for the trip with a simple, written checklist on a simple sheet of notebook paper.

Fuel, check.

GPS, check.

Fresh batteries, check.

Food, check.

Water, check.

Weather, check.

Safety equipment, check.

The second boat decided on a whim to go.

Fuel, not enough.

GPS, broken.

Fresh batteries...nope, drained.

Food, couple packs of crackers.

Water, a few water bottles

Weather, never bothered to look.

Safety equipment, a child’s life vest and a whistle.

The people in the second boat were rescued by a charter sportfishing boat and their crew and brought safely back to the coast of Florida, but their boat was badly damaged.

Upon return, the captain of the misshapen boat talked with disdain and jealousy about the boat that had safely made it to Marsh Harbor without incident using language that made it sound like the successfully arrived boat was “lucky”.

Meanwhile, the shattered and unprepared captain continued telling harrowed sea stories at the local watering hole about the time he made it back safe to shore after he had beaten back the winds and the waves, enduring dehydration, a lack of food and lifejackets and on and on and on...as if he were a hero.

Business owners can sometimes confuse unpreparedness and a lack of planning with unforeseen persecution and suffering.  They will tell others, “the market was against me” or “employees are impossible” or “we could never catch a break”. 

In reality what they meant to say was, “I was unprepared”.

Here is the easiest preparation tool we have found; Brian Moran’s 12 Week Year.

We have adapted his principles into a simple 12 Week Plan tool that everyone of our heroic small business owners use and refresh every 12 weeks.

Here are three reasons it works so well and why you should try it beginning on Thursday December 19th, 2019…

First, twelve months is TOO LONG!  

With twelve month plans we get to April and think, “well we haven’t done anything with our twelve month plan, but we still have nine months.”

Then we get to July and think, “well we haven’t done anything with our twelve month plan, but we still have six months.”

Then we get to October and huff frustratingly, ““well we haven’t done anything with our twelve month plan, but we only have three months till the new year so we’ll scrap this one and do one next year.”

And the cycle repeats into insanity.

Second, the twelve week plan only allows for three goals.  Moran defines goals simply as “outcomes”. In other words, what are the three major outcomes you hope to achieve over the next twelve weeks?

Is it to “clean up your bookkeeping” or to “finalize a hiring process”?  Perfect. Whatever it is, it is ok for the goal itself to be broad (I know, I know...it feels like a violation of the S.M.A.R.T. goal process...stay tuned).

Finally, each goal has an unlimited number of tactics with Moran defines simply as “actions”.

In other words, if your goal is to “finalize a hiring process” then your list of tactics may look like this…

• Set a time to define our mission and core values
• Define our mission and core values
• Set a time to finalize our Org Chart so we know what roles exist
• Finalize our Org Chart so we know what roles exist
• Set a time to write out our hiring process using Google Draw
• Write out our hiring process using Google Draw
• Set a meeting with the team to reveal our new hiring process
• Meet with the team to reveal our new hiring process
• Set a time with the team for follow up, etc…..

By principle, when all of the tactics (actions) are completed, then the goal is completed...all within the timeline of twelve weeks.

It’s simple.  Twelve weeks, three goals, unlimited actions steps.

So what is the secret to finding a plan and goal-setting tool works?  The one you IMPLEMENT and DO!

MAKE the time on your calendar, get out a sheet of paper, and IMPLEMENT.  Then create a line item in your weekly team meeting agenda for each person to review progress to their twelve week plan so you can track their progress to “Marsh Harbor”.

What about the ones who don’t implement?  They will likely be the ones griping and complaining about how they braved the elements and were left in a hopeless goal of reaching their vision.  Not sure if they are a good fit for what you are building.

FYI, we are hosting our next Business On Purpose 12 Week Plan LIVE Event on Thursday December 19th, 2019 in Bluffton, SC at 9amEST.  You can sign you and your team up here.

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.