The Sharpest Tool™

Max Rohr is the Marketing Academy Manager of Building Solutions for REHAU Academy and the host of the podcast REHAU Academy on Air. REHAU is a sustainable, polymer-based solution company focused on improving energy efficiency in businesses, homes, and automobiles. He shares how growing up in the home services trades shaped his passion for radiant heating and cooling, and why you should never be afraid to pitch your premium product. 

Growing up, his parents Ellen Rohr and Bob Rohr were leading Zoom Drain, so he learned the ropes of the trades early on. When he learned about radiant heating and cooling systems, and how it is made possible with hydronics, he was amazed. This concept circulates water through pipes in the ceiling embedded in concrete. A combination of forced air and radiant heating creates the perfect environment where you have warm feet and a cool head, mimicking humans’ natural state.

Radiant heating and cooling solutions can achieve net-zero energy project goals and it is largely underutilized in the United States, as opposed to Europe, where it is more common. 

“The Energy Information Agency in a 2012 study said that radiant heating saves about 32% energy especially on commercial projects so it’s a great way to maintain comfort and have energy efficiency both in the same package, which is one of the reasons I love to talk about it.”

If you could take your automobile to the mechanic and have him flip a switch and make it 30% more efficient, wouldn’t you do it? This is possible with our buildings too. 

Even in homes or businesses with standard forced air, there are options and solutions that can utilize radiant heating and cooling. 

Max highlights that he believes the reason this option is less recognized in the United States is it is 5-10 years ahead of the curve so not that many HVAC companies offer it yet. And if they do, it is a premium product. But don’t be intimidated! Don’t be afraid to sell your premium product and services!

Remember, your trade and your skills as a trades professional are essential and your services deserve to be valued as such. 

“I think one of the things is that our history has quietly done such an incredible job of making thermal comfort and plumbing disappear. The average homeowner doesn’t even think about it. We’ve done our job so well that we don’t think, ‘What happens when I flush the toilet?’ ‘What happens when I push up on a thermostat?’ We’ve made all of that hide behind a wall because we’ve done our job well and if you install the system well, your homeowner doesn’t even know what the equipment is, they may not even know where it is in a big house, you have just made it invisible.” 

When you’re interacting with your customers, paint a picture for them of how your products and services benefit them. Find a way to make a complex topic easier, and explain why upgrading to an energy-efficient solution like radiant heating and cooling increases sustainability and comfort. 

Max shares how important it is to get involved in IAPMO, your local community, and understand the current codes and ones coming down the pipeline. You can provide expertise and have an impact on the future. If you’re in traditional HVAC, now is a great time to make the leap and help your customers save energy with radiant heating and cooling. 

For Max, finding his own interests and being inspired by his family legacy is what drives him.

1. If you’re in the same field as your parents, it doesn’t mean you have to do things the same way. Learn from them, and then find your own personal passion.
2. Identify what you want and what your goals are. Then, find the path of least resistance and how you will make it happen.
3. Communicate with your team.
4. Listen to your customers in order to understand the root cause of their problems.

Learn. Take advantage of everyone sharing their knowledge right now with all of the online webinars and courses. Soak it up. Find your place in the industry and know you are essential. 

Learn more about Max at REHAU Academy and REHAU Academy on Air

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Dan Dowdy is the Founder of Built for the Trades and former General Manager of his family’s second-generation plumbing company S & D Plumbing. He shares how his passion for servant leadership and building relationships has led him to launch his new business to support home services business owners. 

After learning the ropes from his father, Dan ran his own service truck for a decade before stepping into a leadership role for another decade at S & D Plumbing. During this time, he learned what true leadership looks like and how the right network of relationships can help you create a healthy, profitable work-life balance. 

This inspired him to create Built for the Trades, a network of business coaches and vendors specializing in various niches of the home services industry. 

Dan highlights the fact that as a business owner, it can be lonely and overwhelming in the weeds, making it difficult to accomplish your goals. 

“When you hire a great business coach, you have that relationship, somebody who can come in and look at your business, give you an outside perspective, and hold you accountable to your vision, accountable your goals, and really just encourage you along the way.” 

From his own personal experience working with coaches, Dan was inspired to become one himself and signed up for John Maxwell’s training program.

“It’s really just taking action. And so I’ve made a lot of big life changes in my life, I’ve taken a lot of risks to build Built for the Trades. But I truly believe in it.”

Dan shares that working with others who have built trade-specific businesses is important to him because of the unique set of values that comes with this industry and he looks forward to serving others.

Dan didn’t always have a servant’s heart. He says it took him a while to realize he had created a toxic culture in his company and needed to change. He traded his pride for humility, took real interest in his employees, and saw his business transform. 

“Really having a vision as a business owner is looking out five or ten years and being able to write that into one or two sentences to where when your team sees that, they see kind of the destination of where the company is going.” 

Vision is where you and your team are going. Mission is why you show up to work. Values are a reflection of you and your company’s character. As a coach, Dan helps owners define these core pillars within their own companies, follow through on them, and learn how to communicate them to their team effectively. Having these foundational principles clearly defined is crucial for success.

Dan emphasizes that leadership is about relationships. Owners need to balance a giving heart with a backbone, meaning: hold your employees accountable to the job they are doing with scorecards and clear responsibilities. 

It’s also important to remember that just because someone is a top performer does not mean they will make a great leader. 

“Who is willing to go above and beyond selflessly to help with some training on younger technicians or to help stop by a job late in the evening and help finish a job for another technician and not even asking for pay in return, just doing it out of a servant’s heart, I think that’s where you start to see your leaders grow in your company.”

1. Lead where you are. No matter what position or role you are in, leading is about serving and building relationships. 
2. Ditch the shallow relationships and spend time getting to know your team. Understand who their family is and what their goals and dreams are. It’s important to listen and let them know they are appreciated. 
3. Keep your vision at the forefront of every day. Speak it loud and clear and act it out. 

Learn more about Dan’s new venture at Built for the Trades.

Tommy Mello is the “home services expert,” owner of A1 Garage Door Services, author of “Home Service Millionaire,” and host of The Home Service Expert podcast. He shares why branding matters during the crisis, the system for consistent recruiting, and his secret to growing a multi-million dollar home services business.

First, Tommy emphasizes the importance of zeroing in on your message. What sets your business apart? Focus all of your mailers, websites, social platforms, ads, and vehicle wraps on having the same cohesive messaging. Now is the time to double down on your marketing, like increasing reviews on your Google My Business page and pay per click ads. 

“You know, I’m a big fan of direct response so I say do everything in your power. Get on Groupon, get on Living Social. Google My Business page is awesome, invest in link building (white hat preferably), and max out your digital footprint.”

Tommy says “inspect what you expect” meaning: you have to create checks and balances that keep you and your team accountable to the details that matter. You have to decide to be the best quality and that requires paying attention to detail. It’s not going to just happen. 

Tommy is adamant that recruiting and hiring needs to be a constant priority, not just an emergency measure to fill a need. His process has several important steps that he highlights: 

1. He actually prefers no experience.
2. Post on Facebook and job forums.
3. Provide an eligibility form.
4. Have candidates take a Predictive Index Test (personality profile).
5. Complete a background and drug test.
6. Go on ride-alongs.
7. Pass four interviews.

Only one out of every five candidates will make it through this interview process, but that’s why Tommy is passionate about consistently looking for excellent talent. 

But just hiring the right people isn’t enough. You need to provide them with training and a game plan to win. For Tommy’s team, this includes detailed training manuals that are utilized daily, health insurance, vehicles, tablets, and financial incentives. He also talks with them regularly about the goals that are important to them and how they can stay motivated to make them happen, the big wins, and what’s working well. 

1. Ask questions. Get to know the customer and do the job you came to do.
2. Have a strong follow-up process. This can be made very easy with the right technology. Take advantage of it!

When you train your team to make the customer experience great, your revenue will increase. Going the extra mile always pays off.

Tommy’s advice is to set your goals and then reverse engineer them to figure out how to get there. Act like who you want to be, bring in great talent to bring your goals to life, and never stop learning. 

“I found companies that I want to be like, and I flew out and I literally asked them a million questions. And I fly out all the time. I find these hundred and fifty million, two hundred million dollar companies and I go ask the owner a million questions and tell them how much I appreciate them. I send them gifts through Amazon. And then I listen to books, I listen to podcasts, and I’m always learning. Find out the company you want to be like and ask them questions and trust me, successful people will answer all of the questions you have.”

For more resources from Tommy, visit:

1. Book: “Home Service Millionaire”
2. Podcast: The Home Service Expert
3. Email: [email protected]

Business Development Consultant Kathy Neilsen shares how home services businesses can respond by playing to their strengths during the COVID-19 crisis. From tips to increase lead volume to what steps you can take to evaluate your business honestly, these are important measures every business owner can embrace. 

Kathy highlights that now is the time to really sit down and evaluate your business. Be honest with how you’re doing and what direction you’re going in. Own those key financial indicators, and where you might have blind spots. For technicians turned owners, identifying these gaps in your business knowledge and experience can help you solve big picture problems. 

Similar to your seasonal marketing, Kathy emphasizes the importance of making sure your ads are relevant to what is going on. 

Some businesses might be thriving right now, others may be slower. Look at where you can do some spring cleaning in your downtime or how you can make your business more efficient. Her recommendations include:

• Clean Your Email List: Go through your database and make sure your list is full of people who are viable customers in your area of service.
• Organize Your Financials: Go through your spreadsheets and identify any errors that you may be repeating in a normal workflow and fix them.
• Connect With Customers: Reach out to your customers during this time to see how they are doing and how you can help them. They will be grateful for the thoughtful call. Most importantly, this is a chance to build trust and let your people know you are there for them, even if it’s just to drop off complimentary hand sanitizer or notify them about a service discount.
• Highlight Your Services: While your company may be well-known for your larger services, make sure you give your smaller services some time in the spotlight. People are spending more time at home which is putting more wear and tear on basic home appliances and units that your customers may be unaware you can service for them.

“A lot of people have never spent this much time in their home, so their dishwasher is getting used - ours gets used almost every day now, we never did that before - your disposal, all those things. So let people know ‘Hey, we can do maintenance on things, we can do repairs.’ Again, customers don’t realize you do a lot of things. You think they know, but just really they are unaware until it’s needed.”

In order to be successful, you need to do what you are wired to do. By spending time understanding how everyone on your team is wired and how their talents can align with a specific job, your business will be more efficient.  

Now is also a great opportunity to zero in on the processes and workflow that your business runs on. Will it be able to run smoothly if someone is out sick? 

Kathy shares that it’s important to realize that in order to manage well, you need to know how you can delegate and put people in the “right seat on the bus” as Jim Collins, renowned business consultant and author says. 

“A lot of people don’t like to let everybody know how they do something, it’s human nature, because then they think they’ll be out a job or not be needed, but the truth is that then they can do something that they’re amazing at instead of going to do this other stuff that maybe they’re just not wired for.” 

1. Now is the time to allow people to fail in order to learn and grow.
2. Be really clear on your language and intent when communicating with your team and customers since so much is being relayed over phone and email.

Learn more about Kathy’s consulting expertise at Kathy Neilsen.

Holly Holder is the Director of SEO for home services at Scorpion. She highlights the priorities your business should be focusing on for strong SEO performance that will help your customers find the information they need during COVID-19.

Holly has been working in the SEO realm at Scorpion for eight years. Her expertise lies in helping home services clients maximize their online presence to create the ultimate experience for their customers.

Holly argues that in many ways, SEO is the last free form of marketing. If you take the right steps and optimize your website, your content will work together with Google to give your customer exactly what they are looking for.

However, it’s key to stay on top of the trends because the landscape is always changing. Amidst the current COVID-19 crisis, she names three key areas of information to prioritize:

1. People are looking for D.I.Y. tutorials, and guides on how to fix things. They are trying to save money and limit the amount of people coming in and out of their home. How can your business meet these needs with valuable content?
2. People are looking for updated information on any changes to your business hours and services. They want to know how you are adapting to the pandemic, if you can still help them, and when your company is available to provide services.
3. People are looking for peace of mind. They want to know what sanitation measures you are taking to keep your employees and customers healthy and safe.

While the crisis has certainly changed the face of everyday life, Holly shares that offering valuable information for your customers can help build trust. It shows you care and that you want to help them during this uncertain time.

Using your Google My Business account to manage changes to hours, services, and COVID-19 safety measures is a smart way to keep your information clear and easy to access for customers.

“I think just knowing that… people are maybe more at the top of the funnel… people are in that informational stage. They are doing a lot more research now. So it’s important for us to get in front of people with blogs, again, with helpful videos. If you have a YouTube account or even if you just have videos that you’re filming on your iPhone, you can send those to the marketing people that you’re working with to get those posted somewhere… A lot of people are searching for air quality improvements, maybe water filtration systems, because you know it’s harder to go out and buy a water bottle or they are sold out.”

Holly emphasizes the importance of remembering that for many people, this crisis has put them out of work. The future is uncertain, money is tight, your customers are interested in discounts. Consider offering content that guides them through solving a problem, offering virtual consults, and coupons. In the long run, people will remember how you offered them a helping hand and lessened their burden during this time.

Another great way to give back is to see what measures you can take to support your local community or other small businesses.

“I think overall, SEO has always been about the customer. And Google very much has always wanted to create content and create websites that are easy for customers to use, provide valuable information, are authoritative, and again it’s the whole picture, you know who you are as a business and a brand, rather than just trying to get rankings. So, that hasn’t changed, it’s still all about the customer, I think it’s just a season of how do we provide even more information to customers, how do we let them know that we’re open and operating, how do we let them the measurements we’re taking to protect them, it’s because again, it’s up to the customer if they want to click and call you. There’s plenty of options out there, so what are you doing you know to kind of stand out.”

Howard Partridge is an internationally recognized business coach, business owner, and best-selling author. He shares his tips for leading with a positive attitude and finding inspiration during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In his latest book, Failure to Implement, Howard highlights how important it is for leaders to take action and make decisions, even if you do not have all of the information. Instead of “reacting” which is a fear-based response, try “responding”, which is a faith-based reaction. 

Howard created a blueprint to help guide home services business owners during these uncertain times called PIVOT. The acronym stands for position, imagination, voice, opportunity, and training.

POSITION: In this moment, we are all approaching the challenge from a different place. For example, if you were responsible with finances before, you will respond differently than someone who is hanging by a thread. However, there is no time for regret. Understand where you are, then take advantage of that position. 

IMAGINATION: Get creative and see how you can maximize this time with new ideas and tackle your problems with innovative solutions.

VOICE: What kind of messages are you putting in your head? Be intentional about who you listen to. On the flip side, make sure your voice is being heard by your customers and team with strong communication. 

OPPORTUNITY: If you are not an essential business right now, take this time to partner with someone who is an essential business. There will be opportunities even in these hard times and it’s up to you to spot them.

TRAINING: Take this time to work on your business, learn something new, learn something you can do right now or in the future for your team and clients. 

You need to have a vision that inspires you from within, and positive motivation from outside sources. This means you should stop listening to news and gossip that may be impacting you negatively. 

“What a beautiful opportunity to get your infrastructure together so that when things get back to normal, you have transformed.”

Howard highlights a few areas you should focus on organizing and implementing systems in your business that will support your priorities. 

1. Financial: If you have high-end clients, you could roll out a “pay now, play later” business.
2. Communication: Utilize your newsletter/email list to offer value to your clients with content.
3. Training: Consider how you can support your team whether it is by not penalizing them if they do not want to work due to the virus or offering part-time opportunities and further education and training via online resources. 
4. Personal Growth: Invest time in your own training to learn the marketing strategies, leadership concepts, and how you can build or improve systems you have been putting off giving your time and attention to.
5. Future Planning: Consider how you can prepare for the future. What is your plan for after this passes over? How can you be better prepared in the case of future emergencies and unforeseen circumstances?

Howard emphasizes the power of shutting down the negative mindset and focusing on the positive. When you have gratitude, you have less time to let fear in. It could be a lot worse for many of us. 

“Keep your head up and your eyes open and look for those opportunities. Look for the silver lining.”

You can learn more about Howard’s endeavors and resources at his site, HowardPartridge.com.

Al Levi, Founder of 7-Power Contractor and Zoom Franchise Company and Ellen Rohr, President of Zoom Drain share how home services businesses can weather the storm of COVID-19 with accountability, urgency, and communication. 

Al shares how today’s COVID-19 pandemic and hardships like 9/11, the 2008 recession, and Hurricane Katrina all serve as reminders that sometimes there is no playbook. It’s times like these where his father’s advice to “Act like you’re going to be in business for a while” rings true and you just have to take everything one day at a time.

Ellen adds that this is also when accountability and consequences become high priority.

“What is different about this time now is that there is no luxury of time. You are going to survive and thrive only if you apply business basics with no excuses, if you take extreme ownership for this situation that you find yourself in. And I think my goal as a leader is to up my standards and the immediate consequences if people are going to do things if they put themselves or the team at risk… If you get them the PPE… and they don’t use it, that puts the entire team at risk.” - Ellen

Systems matter. Both Al and Ellen emphasize how whether you already had systems in place or you are wishing you did right now, they will be what carry you through. Start creating them, leaning on them, and improving them. Don’t wait. Take action. 

Ellen outlines the numbers that matter in their Financial Quick Check system that Zoom Drain monitors weekly in dollars and percentages to see where they can improve:

1. Sales
2. Cost of goods sold
3. Gross margin
4. Overhead
5. Profit
6. Cash flow position (What do you have in cash in accounts receivable and what do you have in bills to pay right now. More cash helps you weather the storm better.)

Let your employees and customers know what you are doing to protect them and the steps you are taking for safety and health. Lead from the front. By communicating exactly what the experience will be like you can establish expectations with your customers and build trust.

“I know it sounds weird because we are talking about sewage, but we are the originators of how it stopped the Black Plague from happening all of these years. And if we fall out of our habits in sewage or any plumbing, you guys have all seen the signs about ‘The plumber protects the health of the nation,’ that’s not just some words written on a page, that is a calling to all of us.” - Al

Ellen and Al highlight a few tips to keep top of mind while communicating:

• Call and FaceTime in order to communicate.
• Remember that the nuances with the added Personal Protective Equipment need explanation.
• Give people the benefit of the doubt.
• Be kind.
• Relationships are everything.
• Share the why behind your standards.

Al says you have to pull the curtain back. Proactively communicate how the magic happens, how your business does things, and how you are going above and beyond during the pandemic. Ellen emphasizes the importance of leveraging this moment to share the why behind your business, and make your interactions human by really listening to them. 

Financially:

1. Find responses and guidance on steps you can take for your business from credible resources: U.S. Small Business Administration 
2. Within the Care Act, it looks like there is relief for payroll if you keep paying your employees, so this is an important step to take.
3. Contact your CPA and financial planner to help you sort through this.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE):

1. Be resourceful.
2. Share information and how you are solving problems with fellow business owners.
3. Tweak your Customer Service Representative (CSR) script to let customers know what you’re doing to keep them safe.

Your customers will remember how you treated them during this time of crisis. These employees are part of your family. If you can, think long term during this time. Most importantly, remember that everyone has a role to play and you have to work together and lean on each other. Nobody can carry this burden alone. 

“There are many heroes in our life… There’s a reason we are essential workers. It’s because we are essential. And when this passes, I want you to remember that we need to charge the right price… there’s a reason you have to be in business right now. This is why you have to have all the money to buy this stuff, the PPE. This is why you have to get the systems in place. You don’t owe it to just yourself, or even your staff, you owe it to the community you serve.” - Al

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tim Flynn, Owner of Winters Home Services, and Dan Dowdy, Founder of Built for the Trades, offer some tangible advice. These home services experts highlight actionable ways your business can build strong customer relationships during today’s challenging times. 

During this unprecedented time, Tim and Dan offer some straightforward steps you can take right now to protect the safety and health of your employees and customers.

1. Create a clear plan for how you are going to continue serving your employees and customers.
2. Try to have at least three months' worth of expenses in your savings as a cushion if you have not already done so.
3. Separate inside staff and outside staff. See if some of your Customer Service Representatives may be able to work from home. Maximize technology for communication. Cancel in-person training sessions or meetings with more than 10 people.
4. Screen customers and employees for their health to minimize exposure.
5. Sanitize! Everything from tools and trucks to payment technology and uniforms.
6. Step up your communication with your team and customers and use this as an opportunity to educate on the precautions you are taking to help ensure health, safety, and sanitation.
7. Don’t slow down on your advertising and marketing. Social media is where your audience is right now. Connect with them!
8. Increase your outbound calls. Even just calling to check in on the health of your customers’ families is a great way to build authentic relationships.

While challenging financial times like this are pushing business owners everywhere to see where they can cut down costs, Tim and Dan emphasize the importance of prioritizing your marketing and advertising. 

“I would add more money to my marketing and really ramp that up to ensure my team has some work because customers are still going to need us. And the second thing I would do is get on social media… think of all your homeowners sitting at home on their phone looking at social media. You could actually be communicating with them pretty easily through video or posts, letting them know that you’re open, the precautions you’re taking to serve them.”

During this time when most people are spending more time at home, you may be experiencing an increase in calls. However, you also may be receiving cancellations. When communicating with customers, be prepared to share the precautions you are taking to put them at ease. For example, you can offer to enter the basement through the backdoor to work on the unit and only communicate by phone while in the house to stay compliant with social distancing. Let them know you’ll wear protective gloves, use booties, and sanitize.  

“We need to rewrite the playbook on how to handle customers’ needs as we go forward in the next three weeks.”

However, if they still want to cancel, make sure you have a script prepared to let them know that you will check in with them to reschedule in the future when things calm down.

Now is not the time to sell. Now is the time to educate. For example, online searches for air filters and how to keep your home healthy are skyrocketing. Offer your audience an informational video on how having clean air filters can support your customers’ health in their home. These are the kind of opportunities home services businesses should be taking advantage of to educate and provide value. Be human. Be honest.

The home services industry is considered essential, but decreases in demand as other non-essential businesses close may still be hurting your business. Tim and Dan recommend taking a strategic approach to retaining your employees.

• Consider splitting the week with your staff instead of having all hands on deck all of the time. This also decreases interactions to slow the spread of the virus.
• Take this opportunity to cross-train employees and be creative with positions and responsibilities.
• Lean on your company values, vision, and mission.
• Communication is key. If changes and reductions in work need to be made, being transparent and honest with your employees will show you care and support them.

Your business has an opportunity in these challenging times to serve, protect, and support customers and employees in an ethical way. Stay positive. Stay healthy. This too will pass.

Howard Partridge is an internationally recognized business coach, bestselling author, and experienced business owner. Originally from Mobile, AL where he grew up on welfare with six siblings, Howard shares the principles and components behind phenomenal business performance.

Howard’s new book “F.T.I.: Failure to Implement” is based on the idea that this is the single thing keeping you from accomplishing your goals. In the book, he highlights the 10 principles for life and business that lead to phenomenal performance.

1. Potential: understanding your potential is key. If you have a bad self-image, you won’t perform well. YOU are the phenomenal product.
2. Picture: you need a compelling vision to move you and compel you to perform. This is how you create your vision.
3. Purpose: understand why you are in business. What would your customers miss out on if your company didn’t exist?
4. People: having the right people around you influences and inspires your outcomes, from family and coaches to team members and clients.
5. Planning: a proper focused plan will help you get where you want to go. Give this process time. Dream and think about what steps you need to take to reach your goals, then build a plan.
6. Priority: living by priority means focusing on what is important right now. This requires discipline and focus.
7. Process: implementing simple processes, checklists, and systems will help your team stay on track and know what their job is.
8. Productivity: take action. Once you have your priorities straight, take the time each day to kick the ball down the field. It’s not easy, but it is simple.
9. Progress: keeping track of your progress is important for staying motivated.
10. Patience: exercising great patience will increase your performance. You can’t be in a hurry. Let things develop, let processes start working, and let people start growing.

Howard shares how instrumental Zig Ziglar, one of his mentors, has been in his life and business. He was thrilled to be invited to join Ziglar’s coaching team, and is passionate about sharing what he has learned to help guide other small business owners.

One of his favorite stories of Zig’s is the water pump anecdote. It illustrates how implementing the right systems and processes in your organization will build the momentum that leads to success.

“And that’s what getting your business systemized is really all about… if you will practice these and give them time to work, pump like crazy… and keep on pumping at the right pump and get that flow… keep it in play so that you just have a constant steady growth of clients, play growth, profit, production.”

Howard’s advice for establishing systems in your business is focused on two important layers.

1. MVP: define your mission, vision, values, and purpose.
2. Organization Chart: build systems and processes to make these five parts of your business run smoothly:
   • Leadership
   • Marketing
   • Sales
   • Operations/Service
   • Administration/Tracking Results

Howard shares the success story of John Torres, President and CEO of Entrusted, a water, mold, and fire restoration company serving South Florida and Texas. John implemented these processes, and watched his company take off.

“John Torres, because he simply learned the systems and implemented the systems, went from zero to $20 million a year. That guy makes so much money it’s incredible… His leaders are… young people who are hungry and want to make their mark.”

Howard Partridge is an internationally recognized business coach, bestselling author, and experienced business owner. Originally from Mobile, AL where he grew up on welfare with six siblings, Howard tells a story with lessons of hard work and intentional action.

Howard shares how his rebellious teenage years got him kicked out of his house and sent off to live with his dad in Texas. There, he waited tables and met his wife Denise, an Italian from New Jersey. When they got married, a friend of the family who was about the same age as Howard gave them $3,000 as a wedding gift. Inspired by the generous gift, Howard decided to try his luck in the home services industry.

“As soon as I got back to Houston from our honeymoon, I spent that entire amount of money starting my service business out of the trunk of my car. Fast forward 35 years later and it’s a multi-million dollar business…I have a great staff, great systems in place.”

After achieving his own success, Howard is now passionate about helping other small business owners stop being a slave to their work and create a predictable, profitable organization.

His new book is called “F.T.I.: Failure to Implement.” He shares that this is the number one factor that stops you from reaching your goals.

Howard emphasizes that there is often one obstacle that is stopping you from gaining traction. A coach or mentor can be instrumental in helping you identify what that obstacle is. He shares the example of how Ellen Rohr’s plan and structure helped him overcome his obstacle of debt and start building profit.

After identifying the obstacle, the next step is the realization that you have to make the solution happen. You have to replace yourself, step by step. It’s time to stop saying:

1. I know I should market.
2. I wish someone would do this for me.
3. I know I should be a better leader.
4. I know I should track my numbers.

It wasn’t until Howard was 13 years into running his company that he started going to seminars, learned about systems, and read “E-Myth” by Michael E. Gerber. This was the turning point when he realized he could have his business run without him. With this new inspiration, he started rewriting his vision and plan with Michael Gerber’s principles as a guide:

1. The reason your business exists is to be a vehicle to reach your goals.
2. You need systems to help you get where you need to go.

Another mentor of his, Zig Ziglar, also shaped his new trajectory and taught him the importance of identifying the inspiration and desire behind your vision.

“The inspired person is the one that performs at a phenomenal level.”

Howard has written books on everything from dreams and leadership to systems. However, “F.T.I.: Failure to Implement” really underscores the fact that none of it will happen without action. You have to wake up everyday with desire, inspiration, and a vision. His four keys to implementation are:

1. Inspiration: Evaluate your life and realize you can do this. Wake up with a vision.
2. Organization: Take time everyday to think about priority projects that will take your business to the next level.
3. Training: If you’re not a good leader, you won’t train well. Listen to podcasts and learn from people who have already been there.
4. Community: Surround yourself with people who will support, encourage, and hold you accountable.

“That’s my greatest life lesson, I think that I’ve learned...get around people who not only have already done what you want to do, but that know how to help you get there.”

Stay tuned for Part 2 with Howard on The Sharpest Tool™ and visit Howard Partridge to learn more about his coaching services and books.