The Brad Miller Show - Growing You, Growing Your Business

You’ve heard this before.

Why is that a problem?

When your mind hears something you’ve heard before…

PROBLEM is… you think that because you’ve heard it before – you Think you’re doing it.

The problem is…

The Problem is… the thing you’ve heard before could be the most amazing Truth of the universe – the Exact truth you need in the moment, but your brain tricks you and shuts off.

Warning:  I am starting a series on The Little Big Things of Selling – and you may have heard these before.  You may have heard them, but they are the little big things that’ll help you succeed in sales and growing your business.  For example:

Have you ever had a new idea or a goal that excites you… but not enough time to execute it?

Get the book by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy.

Entrepreneurs and business owners and creatives will always have more ideas than time.  That can create overwhelm unless, you learn to ask, Who Not How

Have you ever had a new idea or a goal that excites you… but not enough time to execute it?

What about a goal you really want to accomplish…but can’t because instead of taking action, you procrastinate? Do you feel like the only way things are going to get done is if you do them? But what if it wasn’t that way? What if you had a team of people around you that helped you accomplish your goals (while you helped them accomplish theirs)?

When we want something done, we’ve been trained to ask ourselves: “How can I do this?” Well, there is a better question to ask. One that unlocks a whole new world of ease and accomplishment. Expert coach Dan Sullivan knows the question we should ask instead: “Who can do this for me?”

This book will teach you how to make this essential paradigm-shift so you can:

Making this shift involves retraining your brain to stop limiting your potential based on what you solely can do and instead focus on the nearly infinite and endless connections between yourself and other people as well as the limitless transformation possible through those connections.

It’s the Marketing of the “work” that creates success & life transformation and not just the creation and the doing of the work

The transformation is for the creator and doer of the Work, And for the recipient of the work.

There’s no transformation in the book that you Don’t read!

That’s the work of marketing.

It is Marketing and Selling.

Marketing is the work of interrupt and engage.

It all starts with marketing and Marketing is Everything.

The Power of Full Engagement.

Managing Energy, not time, is the key to peak performance and Personal Renewal

The power of full engagement

Yes, time management is important.

You cannot create more time, but you Can Create more energy.

The 4 Types of Energy

“This is the true Joy of life! The being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one….the being a force of nature, instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.”

-George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman

Here is the last element of your franchise prototype operation.

You, the business owner are consistently working ON the business, not in it.

Working ON the business for you should be a Blast!

Your business is known for excellence – you are making money and your company culture is healthy – you are healthy.

And now your work is to consistently work ON it to make it better and better.

There are many metaphors for this:

OR

If you are working IN it – you likely won’t have time to work ON it.

In this last episode of this series, I hope you’ll really get the vision, the importance – the urgency even of working ON your business.

If you don’t do it – it’s not going to happen.  If you’re not working ON your business – it’ll never become everything if was created to be.

Here’s why.

The most important thing you as the business owner can do is – THINK.

Yes.  THINK.

Most people don’t know how to do this – and they don’t have an appreciation for the people that do.  They think those people are goofing off – being lazy.  They’re wrong.

Thinking is the hardest work you’ll do.

Put a sign on your office wall.  THINK.

“The sole purpose of business is to CREATE and KEEP customers.” – – Peter Drucker

I like how he says – sole – the sole purpose.  It is the most important thing

You heard it last week when I talked about marketing and new customer acquisition.

The week, the tenth element of a Franchise Prototype business is – mastery of keeping clients and coworkers

Yes you need brilliant marketing to “create” customers, but if your business depends on you always creating new customer – that is not a sustainable business!

You have to KEEP your customers!

You want to create a relationship that lasts decades or even a lifetime, and then multi-generational if you so choose.

This only happens with an intentional vision and strategy

One of my favorite Business books is, Thou Shall Prosper – by Rabbi Daniel Lapin.

Early on in the book he does a masterful job of making the point that all business is about, People and Relationships.

Say that again – all business is about People and Relationships

That my friend is what this element of a Franchise Prototype business is about – the Mastery of Keeping Clients and Coworkers

And these two – clients and coworkers – have a one-to-one relationship!  Keeping Clients and Coworkers are Inextricably Linked.

Client retention and your staff retention – are completely dependent.

Employee turnover is death to a business.  If you have a staff turnover problem, you will have a client turnover problem.  You can’t fix one, without fixing the other.

Business photo created by drobotdean – www.freepik.com

“The sole purpose of business is to CREATE and KEEP customers.” – Peter Drucker

I learned a lot about business from Dan Kennedy – and his specialty was marketing.  He would make some very strong statements, and one of my favorites was,

“You are not in the _________ business, you are in the marketing business.”

And this one too,

“If you don’t have a system to continuously bring in a steady stream of people that want to do business with you – you can’t control your business.”

Business photo created by pressfoto – www.freepik.com

The Big Idea:  Business Growth and Personal Growth are  inextricably linked (in a way that’s impossible to separate)

Or

It is a beautiful phenomenon and I have watched this happen in my own life for almost 40 years.

Early in my business startup someone recommended the book, Growing A Business, by Paul Hawken of Smith and Hawkins

That was the first time I was exposed to this idea…Growing a business, grows you.

“Being in business is not about making money, it is a way to become who you are.”  – Paul Hawken, Growing a Business

I wrote this quote on an index card – 31 years ago.  I was looking for something special for episode 100 – and I found it in my own work – that has been my tag line all along.

Growing You, Growing Your Business.

“It is a way to become who you are,” – think about that in terms of your potential.

You have this potential in you – but you need a way to get it out, some kind of outside force.  Business is A Way to get it out – a business gets the potential in you, out of you, and you GROW.

Jim Rohn said something very similar to Paul Hawkin,  “Make it your goal to earn a million dollars, not for the money, but for the person you have to become that can earn a million dollars.”

The key word here is differentiation.

You are not just different – you are strategically different – and you have gained a unique place in the market.

A strategic competitive advantage.

It’s called a USP – a Unique Selling Proposition

To be competitive and stay competitive – you have to continually innovate.

Shaun White, is the dominant snow boarder in the world.  He’s an olympic gold medalist because he’s always innovating.

He even have a signature move – the 1280 McTwist!

What’s the equivalent in your business – what’s your 1280 McTwist?

The crowd goes wild when they see Shaun White perform his move.

The same can be true in business.

Walt Disney said,  “Do what you do so well, that people want to come back and bring their friends.”

That is going to require some thinking – and then some working it out and testing it.

Business photo created by rawpixel.com – www.freepik.com

Why is a predictable customer experience so important to creating a successful franchise prototype business?

Because…

A Franchise Prototype is – a Predictable Business

Therefore, the way to create a predictable business – is to create a predictable customer experience.

If people love your business and can trust it – and depend on it – they will keep coming back.

Peter Drucker said, “The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.”

If you want to be successful and prosperous…and rich, as a business owner – keep your customers coming back

People keep coming back to your business for one reason – they know what to expect and they have a great experience every time.

It doesn’t have to be a Ritz Carlton experience – simply a predictable experience.

Phone photo created by Racool_studio – www.freepik.com