Nov. 19, 2024

Breaking Free from the Time Trap: The Counterintuitive Path to Time Freedom

This topic addresses a core pain point of business owners who struggle with working too many hours and missing family time.

Powerful Business Strategies is broadcast live Mondays at 12 Noon ET Music on W4CY Radio...

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This topic addresses a core pain point of business owners who struggle with working too many hours and missing family time.

Powerful Business Strategies is broadcast live Mondays at 12 Noon ET Music on W4CY Radio (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com January Jones Sharing Senior Success is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).

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WEBVTT

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The topics and opinions expressed in the following show are

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solely those of the hosts and their guests and not

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those of W FOURCY Radio. It's employees are affiliates. We

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make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services,

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or products mentioned on air or on our web. No

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liability explicitor implied shall be extended to W four CY

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Radio or it's employees are affiliates. Any questions or comments

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should be directed to those show hosts. Thank you for

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choosing W FOURCY Radio.

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Welcome to Powerful Business Strategies, where you will find out

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that everything you have ever learned about growing your business

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is wrong. Finally, a show where you'll learn the right

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way to grow your business by learning business and financial

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strategies that your competition isn't doing. And now here's your host.

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President of NeXTSTEP CFO Michael Barbarita and joining Michael for

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today's show as an executive moderator is chooky obia.

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Yes, this is schooky and I believe that gratitude is

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undefeated and growth is about the next step. It is

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an honor for me to moderate today's discussion with my

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good friend Michael. Michael, how are you excellent, Choky.

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I apologize everyone for being a minute late because of

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technical difficulties, but it just happens.

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It's funny, Michael says. Technical difficulties. I say, Michael was

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gathering the wisdom for today's show. A lot of brought

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we have to gather for today's show, so Michael really excited.

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Well, thank you, Chokey. My name is Michael Barberina, President

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of Next Step CFO, and Next Step CFO is a

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fractional CFO and strategic compmitation firm. Our vision is to

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ensure overwhelmed business owners achieve the time freedom and consistent

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profits to build a legacy and the life they desire.

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Our mission is dedicated to guiding small business owners to

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leveraging their time, exploding their profits and build a meaningful legacy.

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And the show Powerful Business Strategies and our book of

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the same name is a step toward accomplishing that mission

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and vision. And so with that, I'd like to hand

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it back to my co author and moderator for the

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show today, Choky.

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Obi up, Michael, thank you so really energized by today's episode.

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The title is Breaking Free from the Time Trap. The

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counter Intuitive Path to Time Freedom just really really impactful

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stuff that Michael is put together for us, and Michael,

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as always, we'll have a number of questions from our audience.

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So we have business owners that listen coast to coast,

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so really really enthused by the insights that we have.

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Just a quick disclaimer before we get started, Michael and

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I are both affiliated with a number of different organizations.

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I currently serve as the managing director of business development

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for Better Price, a global business focused law firm. In

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addition to that, look, I find it and on it

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to collaborate with Michael to moderate business roundtables, as I said,

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coast to coast with small to medium business owners, and

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we document the best practices from these roundtables. In fact,

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we've got the insights. We've put it together in a

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book called Powerful Business Strategies, which Michael referenced earlier. But

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please note that the views expressed on this show are

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our personal views based on successful experiences, and my mission

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as a fearless moderator is to ask the right questions

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to help you the listener, learn the best strategies that

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the competition isn't doing. Michael, back over to.

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You, Thank you, Thank you to Key so today's topic

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is like the elephant in the road. Yes it. You know,

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part of our vision is to ensure overwhelmed business owners

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achieve the time freedom. And so today we're talking about

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something that hits home for every business owner that I know,

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and that is being trapped by their business. And so

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last week it was I was on this zoom call

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with a client at a thirty night and he looked exhausted.

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His daughter had a dance recital that evening that he

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missed again, and he turned to me and said, Michael,

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I'm working seventy hours a week. I make good money,

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but I never see my family. This is not what

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I signed up for when I started the business. Does

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that sound familiar? Well, maybe you're listening right now while

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driving between job sites, or maybe you're catching this show

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during the only forty five minutes you have free today.

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But and maybe you can't remember the last time you

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took a real vacation without your phone buzzing every hour

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with some crisis that only you can handle. Well, I've

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got some news for you. Everything, and I mean everything

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you've ever learned about time management is wrong and I

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can prove it to you today. So, and did you know,

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by the way, another little fact that working longer hours

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actually makes you less productive. Study show that after fifty

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hours a week, productivity drops so sharply that someone working

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seventy hours gets the same amount done as someone working

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fifty five. So you're literally working an extra fifteen hours

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for nothing. Whoa, here's what's fascinating.

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Yes, oh, I was just gonna say, I mean, yeah,

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we may want to repeat that. That's just so impactful,

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Like we're getting some buzzes on that.

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Yeah. So study show that after fifty hours a week,

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productivity drops so sharply that someone working seventy hours gets

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the same amount done as someone working fifty five hours.

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So you're literally working an extra fifteen hours for nothing. Wow.

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And here's what's fascinating about that. Right now, in your industry,

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there's probably a competitor who works forty hours a week,

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takes regular vacations, makes more money than you do. Same market,

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same business type, completely different life. So over the next

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forty minutes, I'm going to share specific strategies that have

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helped CEOs transform their businesses from time sucking monsters into

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well wealth machines that can run without them. And the

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best part is these strategies. They work in every industry,

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and I'm going to present the strategies from these case

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studies that I've compiled. So grab a pen and paper,

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because I'm about to share strategies that will completely change

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how you think about time and business that if you're driving,

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don't worry. You can catch this episode again on our

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part podcast at powerful business Strategies dot com. So if

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you're just tuning in, we're talking about breaking free from

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being trapped by your business and I promised to show

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you exactly how to do it. So let me tell

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you about Mike, a remodeling contractor. Mike. Mike was the

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classics superhero business owner. Every problem had to go through him,

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every decision needed his approval, Every client wanted to deal

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directly with him. Does that sound familiar at all? So

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one day, Mike's wife asked him a question that hit

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him like a ton of bricks. She said, if you

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got sick tomorrow and couldn't work for a month, would

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your business survive? And Mike realized that the answer was no.

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He had built a business that was completely dependent on

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him and it was slowly killing him. And here's the

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first major myth about time management. That's keeping you trapped.

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Nobody can do it as well as I can. I

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hear this from business owners all the time, and you

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know what, they're right. Nobody will do it exactly like

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they do. But here's the million dollar question. Doesn't really

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need to be done exactly like you do. Let me

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show you something fascinating. We did an exercise with Mike

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where he we tracked every minute of his time for

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a week, and what we discovered, out of seventy two

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hours that he worked that week, only eight hours were

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spent on tasks that truly required his unique skills and expertise.

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The rest anyone could have done with proper training and systems.

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And what's really interesting is we discovered that Mike was

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spending fifteen hours a week just answering basic questions from

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his team, things like what color should we use here?

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What suppliers should should we use for this? How should

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we handle this customer complaint? So he created what he

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called the decision Tree system. For every type of decision

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that commonly came up, he created a simple flow shot.

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If A happens, do B, if C happened, do DP,

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and he documented every decision Mike had had to make

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over the past month and turned them into standard operating procedures.

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The results those fifteen hours of answering questions dropped down

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to two in the first week. But his what's really great,

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His team started making better decisions than he did. Why

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because they were following a tested, proven system instead of

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making emotional decisions in that moment. You know how we

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business owners will were pressed for time, we just oh,

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we just blurt out anything, and when afterwards you think,

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did I really say that? You know, did I really

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answer that question that way? It's because we're under so

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much pressure that we get a question, we're just make it,

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making a quick decision without even thinking. So let me

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share another example that will really drive us home. So

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Sarah owned a successful marketing agency. She was working eighty

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hours a week, missing her kids' events, and falling behind

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her Her biggest problem, she was the bottleneck in every project.

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She then implemented what she called the eighty twenty time Audit.

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And here's how that works. You track everything you do

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for two weeks guy, categorize each task by importance and

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dollar value, identifying which twenty percent of activities produce eighty

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percent of your results. I'll get that in a minute.

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Create systems to delegate or eliminate the other eighty percent. Now,

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if this sounds familiar, this is exactly what we've discussed

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on a previous show called the seven Step Pathway to

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Profit Formula. That show you will learn the actual activities

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that make up the twenty percent that business owners should

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be doing that produces eighty percent of the results. So

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to go to that show, go to a powerful business

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strategies dot com and look up the show titled seven

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Step Pathway to Profit formula. Because what Sarah discovered is

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that she she was spending thirty hours a week on

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admin administrative task that a twenty dollar an hour virtual

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assistant could handle. She was spending another twenty hours doing

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fifty dollar an hour work when she could have been

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doing five hundred dollars per hour work. But here's a

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real kicker. She was so busy doing twenty dollars per

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hour work that she was turning down high value projects

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that only she could do. She was actually losing money

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by working more hours. She then created the value based

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time management system, and every task in her business got

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assigned a dollar value. She wasn't allowed to do anything

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that could be done by someone she could hire for

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less than her target hourly rate, and so the results

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within six days, Her work week dropped from eighty hours

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to forty five hours, her revenue increased by forty percent,

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her profit manchus went from twenty five percent to forty

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two percent, and she hasn't missed a single one of

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her kids events since. But what's really powerful about that

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system is it forced her to create processes for everything.

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Because she couldn't touch the low value tasks anymore, she

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had to document exactly how she wanted these things done.

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So let me give you another example. Bom runs a

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plumbing company, and like most service business owners, he was

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trapped by constant emergency calls. Nights, weekends, vacate didn't met vacations.

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It didn't matter if a customer called with an emergency,

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he answered. He implemented what he called the Freedom Framework. First,

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he analyzed every after hour's call he'd received in the

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past year, and what he did discovered is that eighty

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five percent of these emergencies followed the same five patterns.

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Once he knew that he could create systems to handle

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them without Rob's involvement. So it's just basically understanding what

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those emergencies were, are those crazy after ours calls, and

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then creating a system to handle it without his involvement,

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since eighty five percent of the emergencies were fell into

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five categories. But here's what's really interesting. He found that

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forty percent of these emergencies could have been prevented with

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proper maintenance. So he created a BP maintenance program that

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actually generated more revenue while reducing emergencies. And the key

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to all of this is understanding a crucial truth that

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time freedom isn't about managing time better, it's about managing

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your business better. But let me show you something even

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more powerful than what Tom discovered at Tom's Plumbing company.

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Remember how I mentioned that forty percent of the emergencies

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could have been prevented. Well, here's exactly how he turned

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that problem into a profit center. He created what he

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called the Crisis Prevention Program. So instead of just responding

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to emergencies, he analyzed every emergency called from the past

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year and categorized them. And here's what he found. Twenty

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five percent of those calls were due to a lack

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of maintenance, fifteen were due to outdated equipment, thirty five

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percent of them were from minor issues that became major,

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and twenty five percent with genuine emergencies. So he created

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a three tier maintenance program Bronze, which was a basic

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annual inspection, Silver, which was quarterly maintenance, plus Priority service Old,

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which was monthly checkups, twenty four to seven emergency access

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and equipment monitoring. And then he priced the Goal program

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at three times what Bronze cost. What ended up happening

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is that over forty percent of the customers opted for

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Gold because he showed them how the actual cost of

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emergencies that they'd faced in the past year, and the

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program was cheaper than dealing with the emergencies, So that's

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why they jumped all over it. But here's what's really

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powerful about this system. It's not only not only prevented emergencies,

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it created predictable revenue. The famine cycle of emergency calls,

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TOM now had steady recurring income and its emergency calls

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dropped by sixty percent and its problemagice went up by

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forty five percent. So you know it. Once again, it's

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it's how you run the business, not how you really

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manage your time. And let me share another quick example.

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So another Sarah this time with a successful dental practice,

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was constantly interrupted by staff asking basic questions about insurance

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coverage and treatment plans. And she was spending two to

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three hours every day just answering these questions. So she

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implemented what she called the knowledge Capture system for two

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weeks to record every single question that the staff asked,

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and then she created a searchable digital manual, quick reference guides,

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decision flow charts, video training modules, and weekly team training sessions. Now,

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the time invested up front about twenty hours. The return

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on that investment is she got fifteen hours back every week.

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A lot of these strategies do require upfront time. And

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I know people are going to say they don't have

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the time, but think about that leverage. You know, twenty

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hours invested once save sixty hours every month to a eternity.

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You think about that, right, twenty hours that pays you

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back every month, sixty hours of time. M That is

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really leverage.

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Absolutely.

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But here's what's Here's the really important part. Her staff

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actually started making better decisions than they were when they

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were relying on her. Why because well, they had clear,

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consistent guidelines instead of uh, you know, catching her between

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patients when she was rushed and stressed. So when we

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come back from this ninety second break, we'll talk more

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about breaking free from your business because there's bour case

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studies that I want to share. Great, hey, their business owners.

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Let me ask you something. Are you tied of blending

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in with your competitors? Frustrated with slow growth and slim margins? Well,

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I've gotten news for you. Anything you've ever learned about

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growing your business is wrong. But don't worry. I'm here

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to let you in on a secret weapon, your position

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of market dominance. It's what sets you apart, makes you irreplaceable,

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and has customers lining up at your door. My name

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is Michael barber Rita from Next Step CFO. I know

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what you're thinking. Sounds great, Michael. How do I find

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my position of market dominance? Well, that's exactly why we've

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created our game changing impleventation program called Next Step to

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Market Dominance. In just ninety days, we'll guide you step

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by step to a position of market dominance by uncovering

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your unique strengths that competitors can't touch. By crafting a

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message that resonates deeply with your ideal customer, by building

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a strategy that turns you into the go to expert

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in your field. Now this is in theory. These are

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battle tested strategies that have helped businesses like you as double, triple,

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and quadruple their revenue. Don't let another quarter go by

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struggling to stand out. It's time to dominate your market. Period.

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Go to NEXTSTEPCFO dot net forward slash contact. Fill out

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the form and in the message section put the word

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dominate or call us at seven eight one three two

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six three A two two. That's next step CFO dot

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net forward slash contact or call us at seven eight

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one three two six three A two two. So if

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you're just joining us, we're talking about breaking free from

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being trapped by your business. And I just shared how

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the Freedom framework transformed a plumbing company. Now let me

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show you some more time freedom strategies. So let's talk

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about First of all, talk about the second major myth

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that's keeping you trapped, and that is this I need

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to be available all the time or I'll lose customers. Well,

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this is probably the biggest live business owners tell themselves.

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Let me give you an example. David owns an IT

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service company and like to it professionals. He was essentially

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handcuffed to his phone. Every client had his personal cell

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phone number, and they used and they used it. Nights,

306
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we get at holidays didn't matter. His wife actually threatened

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to throw his phone in the swimming pool during their

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anniversary dinner. So he did something radical. He created what

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he called the client communication Pyramid. And here's how that works.

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So Level one was for true emergencies, like, for example,

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the system is down or there's a data breach. Level

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two was urgent, but not an emergency like a slow

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printer or a system or other printing issues. Level three

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important but not urgent, and that's like upgrades and some maintenance.

315
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Level four regular service requests, new users, set up password

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resets and things like that. For each level, he created

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response time standards, communication protocols, escalation procedures, pricing tiers, and

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staff assignments. Was David nervous about implementing this, no question

319
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about it. He was convinced he'd lose clients. But what

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actually happened is his client satisfaction scores went up forty percent.

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And why well, because now they had clear expectations and

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consistent service. But here's where it really gets interesting. He

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created a VIP service tier that actually charges more for

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that twenty four to seven access, and know how many

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clients opted in for it, well less than ten percent.

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It turns out most clients, Yeah, most clients didn't want

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to pay a premium price for Olbauer's access that they

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rarely needed, you know, but they had it sell phone

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number and everything, so you know, they just figured it

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would just call any time for any reason. So let

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me share another example that will really drive us home.

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So Elaine runs a successful real estate agency. She was

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working seven days a week because she believed clients would

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only work with an agent who was available twenty four

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to seven. She then implemented what she called the presence

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paradox system. Here's the fascinating truth that she discovered. The

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harder you are to reach, the more valuable you become

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if you do it right. Let me say that again,

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the harder you are to reach, the more valuable you

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become if you do it right. And here's exactly how

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she structured her business. Monday through Thursday, both client meeting schedule,

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Friday team meetings and strategy only Saturday Sunday completely offline.

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All showings handled by team members and she only attended

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final negotiations and closings. And what happened to her business

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is it tripled in eighteen months. But here's what's really interesting.

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Her average sale price went up by forty percent. Why

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because she positioned herself as a high value advisor, not

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an always available showing agent and subservient vendor. So that

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was really something that hit home. And then she also

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created what she called the time multiplication system, and the

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principle of that was every hour you spend, you should

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create at least ten hours of value. Let me give

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you a specific example. So, instead of doing individual buyer consultations,

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Elaine now does a monthly buyer success workshop. She spends

355
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two hours presenting to twenty potential buyers instead of twenty

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one hour meetings. This is called the one to many model.

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But here's the genius part. She records these workshops, so

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now when a buyer comes in, they can watch the

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recorded workshop, complete a detailed questionnaire, meet with a team

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member for specific questions, and only meet with a lane

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for the final strategy session. She turned twenty hours of

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meetings into two hours of high value presentation time, plus

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created a valuable asset that she can use over and over.

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But the secret to making that work is you have

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to be willing to let go of the myth that

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be equals successful. In fact, we found it to be

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the opposite. We're the most successful business owners are the

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ones who have the most free time. Le me give

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you another example. So Jim runs a manufacturing company and

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he works seventy five hours a week and was proud

371
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of it, and he thought it showed dedication. But when

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he analyzed the company's performance, he found something shocking. The

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weeks he worked the most were the weeks his company

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performed the worst. So the weeks that he worked the

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most were the weeks the company performed the worst. And

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why well because he was solving problems instead of preventing them,

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putting out fires instead of fireproofing his business. He was

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the bottleneck that was actually causing many of the problems

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that he was working so hot to solve. So let

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me share something that might shock you about Sarah's real

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estate date business transformation. Remember how I mentioned she completely

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stopped working weekends. Well, most real estate agents would say

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that's impossible, that's when see houses right. Well, what she

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discover is when she actually analyzed her time. On average,

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she was spending twelve hours every weekend showing houses. But

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when she looked at her conversion rate that is how

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many of these showings actually turned into sales, it was

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only fifteen percent. That means eighty five percent of her

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weekend time was spent with people who never bought a

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house for her. So what she did is she created

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what she called the qualified buyer system, so before anyone

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could schedule as showing, they had to watch her buyer

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education workshop, complete a detailed needs assessment, and meet with

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a mortgage broker, and also have a phone conversation consultation

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with her buyer specialist. Was she worried this would drive

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people away? Because she was definitely worried that it would

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drive people away, and she was very resistant to do it.

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But what actually happened is her showing to sale conversion

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rate from fifteen percent to sixty five percent because she

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was only in time with serious qualified buyers, not tire kickers,

401
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and so she started to getting referrals from people who

402
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never even bought a house from her. Why Because her

403
00:27:11.200 --> 00:27:15.000
education materials were so valuable they recommended her to their

404
00:27:15.039 --> 00:27:20.039
friends even though they were ready to buy themselves. Let

405
00:27:20.079 --> 00:27:24.839
me get another example, you know, and once again this

406
00:27:24.880 --> 00:27:32.559
works in any industry. A custom cabinet maker who was

407
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working ninety hours a week because he was the only

408
00:27:34.880 --> 00:27:37.839
one who could design and price custom jobs. He was

409
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the bottle lick in the entire business. So he implemented

410
00:27:41.000 --> 00:27:44.599
what he called the knowledge transfer protocol. And here's how

411
00:27:44.640 --> 00:27:50.160
that works. So week one, he recorded every design decision

412
00:27:50.160 --> 00:27:54.720
that he made. Week two he documented his pricing formulas.

413
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Week three he created design templates and guidelines. Week four

414
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he trained his team on the new system. Was it

415
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perfect right away? No?

416
00:28:06.599 --> 00:28:07.359
No, of course not.

417
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Fascinating. After six weeks his team was actually creating better

418
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designs than he did. Why focus solely on designs while

419
00:28:18.559 --> 00:28:21.200
he had to be trying to design while also running

420
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the business, managing production and handling customer service. So the

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results his involvement in design work dropped from forty hours

422
00:28:30.160 --> 00:28:33.680
a week to five hours just final approvals. But the

423
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best part is his closed rate on proposals went up

424
00:28:36.119 --> 00:28:38.359
by forty percent because his team could turn them around

425
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in forty eight hours instead of the two weeks that

426
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used to take him when everything had to go through him.

427
00:28:45.799 --> 00:28:50.079
So it's really fascinating how some of these business owners

428
00:28:50.240 --> 00:28:55.039
are able to just save an ordinate amount of time

429
00:28:56.039 --> 00:29:01.400
by managing their business better through systems and through things

430
00:29:01.480 --> 00:29:05.400
like recorded trainings. They don't have to keep.

431
00:29:05.240 --> 00:29:10.400
Repeating exactly Michael. So, look a couple of questions from

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00:29:10.519 --> 00:29:14.319
the audience. Do you have, you know, two minutes to

433
00:29:14.319 --> 00:29:15.039
take on some questions?

434
00:29:15.079 --> 00:29:15.599
Absolutely?

435
00:29:15.720 --> 00:29:17.799
Yeah, great, So let's start with the first one. So

436
00:29:18.640 --> 00:29:21.559
why do you think business owners embrace the myths that

437
00:29:21.599 --> 00:29:25.000
you talked about? What is it about the process of

438
00:29:25.200 --> 00:29:28.359
business ownership that allows those myths to develop in their minds?

439
00:29:29.720 --> 00:29:32.440
Well, one of the reason, the main reason is is

440
00:29:32.480 --> 00:29:38.960
that you know, they truly believe that it's the business

441
00:29:39.039 --> 00:29:42.400
is their vision. Yeah, and they have there has to

442
00:29:42.440 --> 00:29:47.119
be some things done absolutely their way. M This is

443
00:29:47.160 --> 00:29:50.240
a myth though, Yeah, absolutely their way or the or

444
00:29:50.279 --> 00:29:55.160
the business will you know disintegrade mm hm. And it's

445
00:29:55.200 --> 00:29:58.240
it's that mindset. It's a mindset thing. Yeah. It's like,

446
00:29:58.440 --> 00:30:03.000
you know, you just think that you know, only you

447
00:30:03.039 --> 00:30:05.759
can answer the question, only you are dedicated to the

448
00:30:05.839 --> 00:30:11.079
business is another is another thing that's really a problem

449
00:30:11.160 --> 00:30:13.599
where the business owner is so focused on the fact

450
00:30:13.599 --> 00:30:18.440
that he's the only one that really cares really dedicated

451
00:30:18.519 --> 00:30:21.480
to the business, and no one else really cans. And

452
00:30:21.519 --> 00:30:24.680
I think that that's part of the reason why they

453
00:30:24.720 --> 00:30:27.680
try to handle everything or they have to have things

454
00:30:27.720 --> 00:30:31.359
done a certain way, when in fact they don't have

455
00:30:31.480 --> 00:30:35.079
to be done that certain way exactly. Yeah, when and

456
00:30:35.119 --> 00:30:38.240
when somebody else handles it, it's just done more effectively

457
00:30:38.279 --> 00:30:39.759
and more efficiently.

458
00:30:40.799 --> 00:30:46.400
For scalability purposes, for purposes of growth, right, I mean,

459
00:30:46.400 --> 00:30:48.720
it's just really interesting. So last question, and this is

460
00:30:49.000 --> 00:30:52.480
kind of a consolidation of a number of the discussion

461
00:30:52.559 --> 00:30:57.640
questions that we're getting here. The idea of using this

462
00:30:57.759 --> 00:31:01.599
as a way to reconnect to their origional passion for

463
00:31:01.640 --> 00:31:03.480
the business or their number one goal.

464
00:31:03.920 --> 00:31:04.200
How do.

465
00:31:05.839 --> 00:31:09.119
Let me see some of these exercises, some of the

466
00:31:09.160 --> 00:31:10.880
tools and techniques that you've talked about, Like, how do

467
00:31:10.880 --> 00:31:12.680
you see that connect into the business owner's number one

468
00:31:12.720 --> 00:31:13.720
goal for their business?

469
00:31:14.279 --> 00:31:19.519
Well, Chokie, in our analysis of people's number one goals,

470
00:31:20.039 --> 00:31:23.039
when we when we have a prospect, we always ask

471
00:31:23.119 --> 00:31:28.200
them what their number one goal is, and it always

472
00:31:28.240 --> 00:31:33.400
comes down to one of three things that they're that

473
00:31:33.440 --> 00:31:35.799
they're looking for or a combination of these three things

474
00:31:35.839 --> 00:31:39.759
that that a business owner is looking for time freedom.

475
00:31:40.200 --> 00:31:44.920
Mm hmmm, leverage revenue. And what I mean by leverage

476
00:31:44.960 --> 00:31:49.519
revenue is like one of the practitioners, I think it

477
00:31:49.599 --> 00:31:52.599
was the the I T guy with the with the

478
00:31:52.680 --> 00:31:55.200
late night calls. He turned that into a revenue street.

479
00:31:55.519 --> 00:31:59.319
And that's leveraged revenue because uh and and he he

480
00:31:59.359 --> 00:32:01.000
had a set up so he didn't have to take

481
00:32:01.039 --> 00:32:03.400
those calls. He said, he had it set up so

482
00:32:04.319 --> 00:32:10.000
he was able to monetize a subscription program. That's leverage

483
00:32:10.039 --> 00:32:14.880
revenue where you generate revenue without doing without the business

484
00:32:14.880 --> 00:32:18.119
owner having to do the work. And so time freedom,

485
00:32:18.559 --> 00:32:22.359
leverage revenue. And the third thing was to build a legacy.

486
00:32:23.960 --> 00:32:28.720
So those are the three things that business owners usually

487
00:32:30.759 --> 00:32:34.440
have one or more of those three things is their

488
00:32:34.519 --> 00:32:36.880
number one goal when it comes right down to it.

489
00:32:37.240 --> 00:32:38.799
You know, they might say the number one goal is

490
00:32:38.839 --> 00:32:40.799
to do a million dollars worth of sales, but that's

491
00:32:40.839 --> 00:32:43.880
really not their number one goal. That that might be

492
00:32:44.599 --> 00:32:47.319
a conduit toward it, but it's not their number one goal.

493
00:32:48.279 --> 00:32:49.960
Very helpful, thanks, Michael.

494
00:32:51.279 --> 00:32:54.039
And so when we come back after this thirty second break,

495
00:32:54.240 --> 00:32:59.079
we'll talk more about breaking free from your business. Hey,

496
00:32:59.160 --> 00:33:01.640
their business owners, let me ask you something. Are you

497
00:33:01.759 --> 00:33:05.519
tied of blending in with your competitors, Frustrated with slow

498
00:33:05.559 --> 00:33:08.680
growth and slim margins. Well I've got news for you.

499
00:33:09.359 --> 00:33:12.880
Everything you've ever learned about growing your business is wrong.

500
00:33:13.599 --> 00:33:15.880
But don't worry. I'm here to let you in on

501
00:33:15.920 --> 00:33:19.960
a secret weapon, your position of market dominance. It's what

502
00:33:20.039 --> 00:33:23.960
sets you apart, makes you irreplaceable, and has customers lining

503
00:33:24.039 --> 00:33:27.279
up at your door. My name is Michael Barbarrita from

504
00:33:27.319 --> 00:33:31.799
Next Step CFO. I know what you're thinking. Sounds great, Michael,

505
00:33:32.200 --> 00:33:35.640
How do I find my position of market dominance? Well,

506
00:33:35.680 --> 00:33:39.319
that's exactly why we've created our game changing implepitation program

507
00:33:39.480 --> 00:33:43.200
called Next Step to Market Dominance. In just ninety days,

508
00:33:43.240 --> 00:33:45.279
we'll guide you step by step to a position of

509
00:33:45.319 --> 00:33:49.680
market dominance by uncovering your unique strengths that competitors can't touch,

510
00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:53.480
by crafting a message that resonates deeply with your ideal customer,

511
00:33:53.799 --> 00:33:56.440
by building a strategy that turns you into the go

512
00:33:56.519 --> 00:33:59.920
to expert in your field. Now this is in theory.

513
00:34:00.160 --> 00:34:03.079
These are battle testing strategies that have helped businesses like

514
00:34:03.160 --> 00:34:07.960
yours double triple, and quadruple their revenue. Don't let another

515
00:34:08.039 --> 00:34:11.360
quarter go by struggling the standout. It's time to dominate

516
00:34:11.400 --> 00:34:17.079
your market period. Go to NEXTSTEPCFO dot net forward slash contact.

517
00:34:17.559 --> 00:34:20.360
Fill out the form and in the message section put

518
00:34:20.400 --> 00:34:24.119
the word dominate or call us at seven eight one

519
00:34:24.480 --> 00:34:28.360
three two six three A two two. That's next STEPCFO

520
00:34:28.480 --> 00:34:31.880
dot net forward slash contact or call us at seven

521
00:34:31.920 --> 00:34:35.960
eight one three two six three A two two. So

522
00:34:36.039 --> 00:34:38.400
welcome back to powerful business strategies. And if you're just

523
00:34:38.480 --> 00:34:41.400
joining us, we're talking about breaking free from being trapped

524
00:34:41.400 --> 00:34:43.480
by your business. And now I want to show you

525
00:34:43.519 --> 00:34:45.920
something that will completely change the way you think about

526
00:34:45.920 --> 00:34:48.760
your time. So let me introduce you to what I

527
00:34:48.840 --> 00:34:53.039
call the Time freedom FOA. This is the exact system

528
00:34:53.119 --> 00:34:56.360
a contractor used to go from working seventy hours a

529
00:34:56.360 --> 00:34:59.280
week to forty while I'm increasing its profit by eighty

530
00:34:59.320 --> 00:35:02.079
five percent. The best part is that this works for

531
00:35:02.679 --> 00:35:08.320
virtually any business. But let me first tell you about Bob.

532
00:35:08.960 --> 00:35:10.519
I'll cover that later on, but let me tell you

533
00:35:10.519 --> 00:35:15.199
about Bob, who runs a successful contracting business. Bob was

534
00:35:15.239 --> 00:35:19.400
the classic overwhelmed business owner, constantly running between job sites,

535
00:35:19.400 --> 00:35:22.719
putting up buyers, dealing with employee issues, and trying to

536
00:35:22.719 --> 00:35:27.440
squeeze in estimates between all that chaos. Sound familiar, Well,

537
00:35:28.199 --> 00:35:31.079
here's the third major myth that was keeping Bob trapped.

538
00:35:31.159 --> 00:35:36.599
I need to work harder and everything will fall into place. Now,

539
00:35:36.599 --> 00:35:39.719
this is probably the most dangerous live business owners tell themselves.

540
00:35:39.760 --> 00:35:42.199
And let me show you why. He did what he

541
00:35:42.320 --> 00:35:46.519
called a time money now time to money analysis. For

542
00:35:46.679 --> 00:35:51.239
one week, he logged every single activity. This is so important,

543
00:35:51.280 --> 00:35:54.079
by the way, you gotta log your activity just for

544
00:35:54.119 --> 00:35:57.880
a week or two. And he logged every single activity

545
00:35:57.920 --> 00:36:00.840
and he assigned it a dollar value. And here's what

546
00:36:00.920 --> 00:36:03.159
he discovered. Thirty percent of his time was spent on

547
00:36:03.280 --> 00:36:06.679
twenty five dollars an hour tasks, forty percent of the

548
00:36:06.719 --> 00:36:10.519
time was spent on fifty dollars an hour tasks, twenty

549
00:36:10.559 --> 00:36:13.199
percent was spent on one hundred dollars an hour task,

550
00:36:13.320 --> 00:36:17.199
and only five percent, five percent was spent on five

551
00:36:17.280 --> 00:36:21.199
hundred dollars an hour tasks, which is the task that

552
00:36:21.280 --> 00:36:23.760
he should be doing, and he only spends five percent

553
00:36:23.760 --> 00:36:27.599
of his time on it. That five percent of his

554
00:36:27.679 --> 00:36:32.599
time that he spent on high value activities generated sixty

555
00:36:32.599 --> 00:36:36.440
percent of his profit. Whoa think about that for a minute,

556
00:36:36.480 --> 00:36:38.679
Just three and a half hours a week was producing

557
00:36:38.840 --> 00:36:42.559
most of his profit. So we implemented the mnemonic called

558
00:36:42.719 --> 00:36:46.639
AID AID COD And here are the five components of

559
00:36:47.119 --> 00:36:51.800
a CO number. One. A stands for automate, What can

560
00:36:51.920 --> 00:37:00.880
we systematize? Two I I stands for innovate? Solved any roadblocks?

561
00:37:03.079 --> 00:37:08.880
D stands for delegate, what can someone else do? C

562
00:37:09.400 --> 00:37:14.079
stands for cancel what can we stop doing entirely? And

563
00:37:14.280 --> 00:37:19.280
O stands for outsource? If there are no employees that

564
00:37:19.400 --> 00:37:24.440
have the skill, then outsource that task. And let me

565
00:37:24.480 --> 00:37:27.800
show exactly how this worked for Bob. So automate, he

566
00:37:27.880 --> 00:37:31.719
created what he called decision trees for every common situation

567
00:37:32.360 --> 00:37:36.760
employee issues. Here's the protocol, customer complaint, here's the process

568
00:37:36.800 --> 00:37:41.119
material delay, here's the system. So instead of Bob having

569
00:37:41.119 --> 00:37:45.039
to handle every decision, his team had clear guidelines for

570
00:37:45.119 --> 00:37:50.840
handling ninety percent of the situations. Next innovate. Bob was

571
00:37:50.840 --> 00:37:54.119
constantly innovating with all the new systems he created, and

572
00:37:54.199 --> 00:37:57.119
a lot of this process led to innovation. So as

573
00:37:57.119 --> 00:38:00.960
he was creating these systems, he discovered more and more

574
00:38:01.000 --> 00:38:08.559
opportunities to improve it to if baby and then delegate.

575
00:38:08.800 --> 00:38:12.280
This is where most business owners get stuck. They say, well,

576
00:38:12.519 --> 00:38:14.480
nobody can do it as well as me. His here's

577
00:38:14.480 --> 00:38:18.039
what Bob's wife toldbot. If nobody can do it as

578
00:38:18.039 --> 00:38:21.679
well as you, you failed as a leader. It's true, okay,

579
00:38:21.760 --> 00:38:26.079
and that and that that's a that's an ouch, it's true,

580
00:38:27.679 --> 00:38:31.760
and then cancel. He found he was doing free estimates

581
00:38:31.760 --> 00:38:34.039
for anyone who asked. Seventy percent of these people are

582
00:38:34.079 --> 00:38:37.000
never going to buy. It was just price shopping. So

583
00:38:37.039 --> 00:38:41.480
he created a paid consult consultation model. If they hired him,

584
00:38:41.679 --> 00:38:46.159
the consultation fee was applied to the project. His time

585
00:38:46.320 --> 00:38:49.159
spent was on estimate. It's time that he spent on

586
00:38:49.320 --> 00:38:51.639
estimates dropped by sixty five percent, and he doubled his

587
00:38:51.639 --> 00:38:59.119
closing rate. So what he did he actually charged everybody

588
00:38:59.119 --> 00:39:02.719
out there basically has all these free estimate stuff, he

589
00:39:02.800 --> 00:39:08.599
actually charged for it because, first of all, his consultation

590
00:39:08.880 --> 00:39:11.360
during estimates was very valuable.

591
00:39:12.159 --> 00:39:15.039
And people were getting it for nothing. And a lot

592
00:39:15.079 --> 00:39:17.199
of people were getting it for nothing, and they would

593
00:39:17.239 --> 00:39:22.000
run to the competitor and take that advice for the competitor.

594
00:39:23.599 --> 00:39:24.559
So that doesn't work.

595
00:39:25.960 --> 00:39:31.840
So and so he he developed this this this system

596
00:39:31.840 --> 00:39:36.360
where he was able to monetize his estimating estimating process

597
00:39:36.440 --> 00:39:41.920
and certainly if the if the if the prospect became

598
00:39:41.960 --> 00:39:44.920
a customer, then he would deduct it from the from

599
00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:51.079
the estimate outsource. He discovered there were still tasks that

600
00:39:51.159 --> 00:39:53.719
he was doing that someone else could do, but there

601
00:39:53.760 --> 00:39:58.880
was no one in the organization with this organizationization skills needed,

602
00:39:59.079 --> 00:40:03.599
so he outsourced of virtual assistantes where they needed admin

603
00:40:03.679 --> 00:40:07.880
skills organization skills, I should say so. Pot of Bob's

604
00:40:07.880 --> 00:40:11.159
innovation was creating what he called the skill transfer system.

605
00:40:11.239 --> 00:40:14.639
So for every task Bob handled, he documented the process

606
00:40:14.679 --> 00:40:19.519
step by step. He created training videos, he developed checklists,

607
00:40:20.159 --> 00:40:25.840
he established quality control metrics, he built feedback loops, and

608
00:40:26.239 --> 00:40:31.320
was a time consuming. Upfront hope was it was absolutely happened.

609
00:40:31.360 --> 00:40:34.559
Not within ninety days, his team was handling eighty percent

610
00:40:34.559 --> 00:40:38.639
of what used to land on his desk, and once

611
00:40:38.679 --> 00:40:41.239
Bob wasn't trapped doing twenty five dollars an hour work,

612
00:40:41.280 --> 00:40:44.119
he could focus on the five hundred dollars hour per

613
00:40:44.119 --> 00:40:49.159
hour activities, which was strategic planning, key client relationships, business development,

614
00:40:49.239 --> 00:40:54.000
process improvement, and team development. But here's what's really powerful

615
00:40:54.000 --> 00:40:56.840
about the system because it creates what I call time momentum.

616
00:40:56.880 --> 00:41:00.239
Every hour you invest in systems and trainings give you

617
00:41:00.280 --> 00:41:07.840
back multiple hours in the future. It's just leverage, tremendous leverage.

618
00:41:08.840 --> 00:41:11.079
And Bob used to spend ten hours a week dealing

619
00:41:11.079 --> 00:41:16.480
with scheduled changes and crew assignments. He created a simple

620
00:41:16.599 --> 00:41:19.960
scheduling system and trained his project manager to handle it,

621
00:41:20.239 --> 00:41:24.119
and that ten hours became thirty minutes of review time,

622
00:41:25.800 --> 00:41:29.320
and the schedule actually got better because his project manager

623
00:41:29.400 --> 00:41:32.280
was focused solely on this task and could give it

624
00:41:32.320 --> 00:41:34.559
the attention to deserve while Bob was trying to do

625
00:41:34.920 --> 00:41:39.239
ten thousand crisis calls and other estimates and all these

626
00:41:39.280 --> 00:41:48.400
different handling customer complaints and employee issues without focusing on

627
00:41:48.440 --> 00:41:52.480
the estimate. So within and by the way, within six months,

628
00:41:52.719 --> 00:41:55.199
his work we dropped from seventy hours to forty, his

629
00:41:55.280 --> 00:41:58.840
profit increased by eighty five percent, his employee turnover dropped

630
00:41:58.840 --> 00:42:02.880
to zero, patis factions scores hit all time highs, and

631
00:42:02.920 --> 00:42:04.800
most importantly, he hasn't missed a single one of the

632
00:42:04.880 --> 00:42:05.880
kids' games this season.

633
00:42:08.360 --> 00:42:12.159
The sidelines faring on right, Yeah, you got my sidelines,

634
00:42:12.320 --> 00:42:14.920
I was saying, he's on the sidelines cheering on right.

635
00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:22.119
I mean, that's right, that's right, yeah, exactly, And so

636
00:42:22.239 --> 00:42:24.440
let me circle back on that time freedom formula. I

637
00:42:24.480 --> 00:42:26.800
promise to share with you that this is the framework

638
00:42:26.880 --> 00:42:30.000
that ties everything that we've talked about together. It's based

639
00:42:30.039 --> 00:42:32.920
on what I call the four zones of freedom. And

640
00:42:32.960 --> 00:42:36.000
here's exactly how that time freedom formula works. Zone one

641
00:42:36.599 --> 00:42:40.199
is the foundation zone. This is where you document everything

642
00:42:40.239 --> 00:42:45.119
you do, I mean everything, creates, systems, processes, procedures for

643
00:42:45.719 --> 00:42:48.559
every recurring task in your business. And yes, it takes

644
00:42:48.599 --> 00:42:51.719
time up front, but it's like laying a foundation of

645
00:42:51.760 --> 00:42:55.960
a house. Do it right and everything else becomes possible exactly.

646
00:42:56.039 --> 00:42:59.760
Zone two the multiplication zone. This is where you multiply

647
00:42:59.840 --> 00:43:03.880
your time through people and technology. For every task, you

648
00:43:03.960 --> 00:43:07.079
ask yourself, can this be automated? Can this be delegated?

649
00:43:07.119 --> 00:43:12.199
Can this be canceled? This is essentially eight come. Zone

650
00:43:12.239 --> 00:43:16.199
three deliberation zone. This is where you create what I

651
00:43:16.239 --> 00:43:19.800
call time freedom triggers specific points in your business where

652
00:43:19.840 --> 00:43:22.679
you step back and you'll let systems and the team

653
00:43:22.800 --> 00:43:25.880
take over. For example, when revenue hits X, you stop

654
00:43:25.960 --> 00:43:31.079
doing estimates. When profits hit why you hire operations manager?

655
00:43:31.400 --> 00:43:35.719
When systems are document meant did you reduce your hours

656
00:43:35.719 --> 00:43:39.719
to forty hours per week. Zone four is a leverage zone.

657
00:43:39.920 --> 00:43:42.360
This is where the magic happens because in this zone

658
00:43:42.440 --> 00:43:45.920
you're only doing things that only you can do, that

659
00:43:45.960 --> 00:43:48.960
you love to do, that generate the highest return of

660
00:43:49.000 --> 00:43:53.360
your time, that move your business forward strategically. So the

661
00:43:53.400 --> 00:43:56.719
formula works like this. This time spent in zone one

662
00:43:57.039 --> 00:44:02.360
creates freedom in zone two. Success success in zone two

663
00:44:03.000 --> 00:44:07.400
enables zone three, and then a Zone three catapulture is

664
00:44:07.480 --> 00:44:12.000
zone four. So remember Bob the contractor using this formula.

665
00:44:12.039 --> 00:44:15.880
He spent ninety days in zone one documenting everything. He

666
00:44:15.960 --> 00:44:18.800
used zone two to train his team and implement systems.

667
00:44:19.199 --> 00:44:23.039
He activated zone three by gradually stepping back from daily

668
00:44:23.079 --> 00:44:28.119
operations and now operates in zone four, focusing on only

669
00:44:28.599 --> 00:44:33.920
high level strategy and growth. The key is here is

670
00:44:33.960 --> 00:44:36.760
to move through the zone systematically, and most business owners

671
00:44:36.760 --> 00:44:39.800
try to jump straight to zone four without building the foundation.

672
00:44:39.920 --> 00:44:41.480
That's like trying to put the roof on the house

673
00:44:41.519 --> 00:44:48.719
before you built the walls. So that is pretty much

674
00:44:48.719 --> 00:44:53.639
st ended by strategies today for time management time freedom.

675
00:44:53.719 --> 00:44:56.800
I should say that more time freedom you just you

676
00:44:56.920 --> 00:45:00.599
run your business better and it will result in and freedom.

677
00:45:01.039 --> 00:45:03.440
And so now it's type of compliments.

678
00:45:03.760 --> 00:45:09.559
Yes, Michael really energized by our segment on business complements.

679
00:45:09.559 --> 00:45:11.559
So there are a number of business owners coast to

680
00:45:11.639 --> 00:45:18.239
coast that we want to spotlights. I will start with

681
00:45:18.320 --> 00:45:22.760
Jay Miller. Jay's she's a financial planner based in Florida, Michael,

682
00:45:22.800 --> 00:45:27.639
and she's affiliated with Haven Partners Group hPG Holdings. Get this.

683
00:45:28.119 --> 00:45:32.519
Her focus is building wealth, is about moving the needle

684
00:45:32.679 --> 00:45:36.280
and making measurable progress. That's her mindset to your point,

685
00:45:36.920 --> 00:45:40.119
and her headline and mission statement as part of that

686
00:45:40.199 --> 00:45:45.199
mindset is to focus on this hashtag hashtag needle mover.

687
00:45:45.559 --> 00:45:49.480
How about that you need if you need a catalyst

688
00:45:49.760 --> 00:45:53.519
or creating a prosperous environment, or you just need a

689
00:45:53.599 --> 00:45:58.000
go to financial consultants. Yeah, touch base with j and

690
00:45:58.119 --> 00:46:01.760
you can find her as again j Millers Spelt ja

691
00:46:02.719 --> 00:46:07.320
Ye Second Spotlight and Austin and Austin. She is a

692
00:46:07.360 --> 00:46:12.599
certified financial advisor with Raymond James Financial Services Incorporated. She's

693
00:46:12.639 --> 00:46:17.280
based in Georgia, Michael. Get this. For her headline statement,

694
00:46:17.320 --> 00:46:22.960
she is a financial professional serving her community in retirement,

695
00:46:23.599 --> 00:46:28.119
college and estate planning. Very focused on those three pillars.

696
00:46:28.559 --> 00:46:32.199
You can find out more about Ann Raymond James dot Com,

697
00:46:32.239 --> 00:46:37.400
Forward Slash and Austin. The third spotlight is on Lorie Rogers.

698
00:46:37.760 --> 00:46:42.440
Laurie Rogers. She is with Keller Williams main Line. She

699
00:46:42.559 --> 00:46:46.639
works relentlessly for her clients. She's got extensive knowledge in

700
00:46:46.719 --> 00:46:49.400
the real estate market really throughout the Philadelphia and Greater

701
00:46:49.400 --> 00:46:53.400
Philadelphia area, and she really tries to keep the process

702
00:46:53.440 --> 00:46:55.920
fun for her clients. That's one of the things that

703
00:46:55.960 --> 00:46:58.599
clients love about working with Laurie. You can find out

704
00:46:58.599 --> 00:47:04.079
more about her l our homes dot com, so effectively

705
00:47:04.239 --> 00:47:08.760
al Forlori Rfurrogershomes dot com. The next business owner of

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00:47:08.800 --> 00:47:13.000
Spotlight Frank Scerbo. Frank is the leader with Serve First

707
00:47:13.239 --> 00:47:18.039
Solutions based in Massachusetts. They are a nationwide payment solutions

708
00:47:18.159 --> 00:47:21.800
firm assistant small to mid sized businesses with a focus

709
00:47:21.920 --> 00:47:25.920
on vertical specific to the B to B sector and

710
00:47:26.760 --> 00:47:31.280
I like this leadership tagline from Frank. I have the

711
00:47:31.400 --> 00:47:36.199
care for high credit card process and fees full stop. Right.

712
00:47:36.960 --> 00:47:40.480
You can find out more information about Frank at serve

713
00:47:41.239 --> 00:47:44.840
iphen First dot com. So that's Serve dash First dot com.

714
00:47:45.440 --> 00:47:48.199
And then last business owner of Spotlight in today's segment

715
00:47:48.320 --> 00:47:52.440
is Jason Fiala. Jason is the president of Premium Termite

716
00:47:52.559 --> 00:47:57.000
and Pest Control based in California. They serve all of

717
00:47:57.119 --> 00:48:00.519
SoCal so from the greatest San Diego area and beyond.

718
00:48:01.440 --> 00:48:04.639
And I really like this focus. So their focus is

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00:48:04.760 --> 00:48:11.920
to provide amazingly fast turnaround on termite reports for escrow purposes.

720
00:48:12.360 --> 00:48:14.880
And even better than that, they're very committed to providing

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00:48:14.920 --> 00:48:19.760
amazing care, compassion Michael, and customer service. So they combined

722
00:48:19.800 --> 00:48:23.360
compassionate customer service. So with that, I'll welcome back over

723
00:48:23.480 --> 00:48:25.159
to you. Those are the compliments for the week.

724
00:48:25.920 --> 00:48:29.559
Thank you, Chicky. So you know the great paradox of

725
00:48:29.599 --> 00:48:32.559
business success, it's the less dependent your business is on you,

726
00:48:32.719 --> 00:48:35.800
the more successful it becomes. And the less you try

727
00:48:35.840 --> 00:48:40.199
to control everything, the more control you actually have. The

728
00:48:40.360 --> 00:48:44.039
more you go, the more your business grows.

729
00:48:44.480 --> 00:48:45.000
Great point.

730
00:48:45.119 --> 00:48:47.239
And so to get a copy of the book Powerful

731
00:48:47.320 --> 00:48:51.719
Business Strategy, simply go to our website www dot NEXTSTEPCFO

732
00:48:51.840 --> 00:48:55.480
dot net. It's totally complimentary and until next Monday at

733
00:48:55.559 --> 00:48:59.079
noon Eastern time. For Chicky Obio. My name is Michael

734
00:48:59.079 --> 00:49:04.440
Baberita and member don't keep doing what your competition is doing.

735
00:49:06.639 --> 00:49:09.719
You have been listening to powerful business strategies finding out

736
00:49:09.760 --> 00:49:13.360
that everything you ever learned about growing your business is wrong.

737
00:49:13.719 --> 00:49:16.840
Tune in next week and every week at noon Eastern

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00:49:16.960 --> 00:49:20.400
time on W four CY Radio with your host Michael

739
00:49:20.440 --> 00:49:25.079
Barbarita of NeXTSTEP CFO and moderator chugy Ovio