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 implies shall be extended to W FOURCY Radio
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or it's employees are affiliates. Any questions or comments should
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be directed to those show hosts. Thank you for choosing
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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 is
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your host. President of Next Step CFO Michael Barbarita and
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joining Michael for today's show as an executive moderator is
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chooky obia.
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Yes, this is chookey, 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.
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Michael, how are you fantastic? Cherokey? And my name is
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Michael Babarita, President of Next Step CFO. And next Step
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CFO is a fractional CFO and strategic implementation firm. Business
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owners hire us to double and triple at profit using
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business and financial strategies that their competition isn't doing, and
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our vision is to ensure overwhelmed business owners achieve consistent
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profits that leads the time, freedom to build a legacy,
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and the light that they desire. Our mission is dedicated
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to guiding small business owners to leveraging their time, exploding
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their profits, and building a meaningful legacy. The show Powerful
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Business Strategies in our book of the same name is
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a step toward accomplishing that vision and mission. So with that,
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I'd like to hand it back to my co author
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and moderator for the show, Chucky O.
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Michael, this is episode fifty. I feel so inspired by
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the insights that we've packed in today's episode. So the
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title is the Final Formula, the ultimate blueprint for business
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transformation that changes everything. Before we get started, a quick disclaimer, look,
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Michael and I are both affiliated with a number of
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different organizations. I currently serve as the Managing director of
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Business Development for Vetaprice, a global business focused law firm.
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In addition to that, it's truly an honor to collaborate
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with Michael to moderate business roundtables coast to coast and
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really document the insights as part of our book, Powerful
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Business Strategies. So please note the views expressed on this
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show are our personal views born out of these very
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successful experiences. My mission as a fearless moderator is to
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ask the right questions to help you the listener learned
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the best business strategies that the competition isn't doing. With that,
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back over to Michael.
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Thank you, chier Key. So, welcome to the final episode
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of Powerful Business Strategies. And today I want to ask
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you a question that will define your next decade. What
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if I told you that in the next hour you're
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going to learn a complete system that could be worth
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millions of dollars to your business. And what if everything
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we've taught over the past year could be distilled into
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one ultimate formula that transforms struggling businesses into profit powerhouses. Well, today,
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on our final show, we're not holding anything back. We're
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revealing the ultimate business transformation blueprint and the exact system
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that has helped our clients generate business success. And this
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is a theory. This isn't motivation. This is the real deal.
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And if you've been waiting for the perfect moment to
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transform your business, this is it. If you've been looking
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for that missing piece that ties everything together, you're about
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to find it. And if you're ready to finally build
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a business that serves your life instead of consuming it,
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the next hour will change everything for you. And this
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is your moment, this is your blueprint. So let's make
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it count. So over the past year, we've covered dozens
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of powerful business strategies. We've talked about position of market dominance.
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We've talked about the conversion formula, cash flow mastery, confident
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decision making, and so much more. But here's what I've realized,
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information without implementation is worthless. See, most business owners suffer
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from what I call strategy overload syndrome. They know a
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dozen different ways to grow their business, but they're not
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implementing any of them effectively, if at all. And they
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like someone with a toolbox of professional grade tools but
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no blueprint for building the house. And that's why today's
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final show, I'm going to give you that ultimate blueprint,
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the exact sequence and system for implementing these strategies in
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the right border at the right time for maximum impact.
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So let me start with a quick story that illustrates
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everything wrong with how most business owners approached growth. So
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last year I met a contractor call him Robert, at
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a business conference, and he'd invested over fifty thousand dollars
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in business education courses, coaching programs, mastermind groups, you name it.
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And Robert could tell you all about sales funnels, digital marketing,
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employee retention strategies, financial management and operational systems, and everything
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else under the business book. But he had notebooks full
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of strategies and his computer was loaded with templates and worksheets.
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But here's the problem. His business was still struggling. Revenue
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was flat, he was working seventy hour weeks, his cash
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was unpredictable, and he was more stressed than when he
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started learning all these strategies. And when I asked Robert
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when he was impling, he said, I'm trying to do everything.
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I'm working on my marketing, improving my sales process, implementing
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new systems, managing cash flow better, and trying to hire
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people all at the same time, Well, realize the problem
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because because Robert was trying to fix everything simultaneously instead
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of following a systematic approach that builds success upon success.
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Man, Michael, this sounds so compelling, but look, it's a
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problem that many business owners face.
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I mean, what's the solution, Well, Cookie, the solution is
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what I call this ultimate business transformation blueprint. It's a systematic,
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step by step approach that ensures you, that ensures that
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you implement the right strategies in the right order for
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maximum impact. And here's the key insight. Business transformation doesn't
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happen by doing everything at once. It happens by doing
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the right things in the right order, building momentum as
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you go. It's like building at You don't stop with
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the roof, or you don't start with the plumbing or
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the electrical and the landscaping all at once. You stop
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with the foundation, and then the framing, and then the
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systems and finally the finishing touches. Each phase builds upon
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the previous one, and so the same principle applies to
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business transformation. There's a specific sequence that works when you
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follow it, and the results are dramatic and sustainable and
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this ultimate business blueprint transformation has five phases and I'm
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going to walk you through each one today. So Phase
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one is foundation building. This is where you establish the
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critical systems and the mindsets that everything else depends on.
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Phase two revenue acceleration. This is where you implement the
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strategies that have the biggest immediate impact on cash flow
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and sales. Phase three operational excellence. This is where you
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build the systems that allow you to scale without the chaos.
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Phase four market dominance. This is where you implement the
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strategies that separate you from all the competition. And then
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Phase five it's legacy building. This is when you create
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a business that runs without you and build long term
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value and scale. Each phase has specific strategies, specific timelines,
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and specific success metrics. And here's the critical part. You
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don't move to the next phase until you successfully completed
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the current.
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One step by step, right, Michael, next step, So look
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a systematic approach that makes so much sense. Can you
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give us an overview, Michael, of just what makes each
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phase essential?
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Certainly, and so each phase serves a specific purpose and
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solves a specific set of problems. So phase one is
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foundation building. It solves what I call the chaos problem.
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Most businesses are built on shaky foundations, poor financial systems,
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unclear decision making process, no strategic planning, and reactive management.
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Can't build sustainable growth on a weak foundation. Phase two
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Revenue acceleration solves the capsulo problem. Once your foundation is solid,
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you need immediate revenue growth to fund further improvements and
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provide breathing room for strategic thinking. Phase three, operational excellence,
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solves the scaling problem. So many business owners can generate
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revenue but can't scale efficiently, and this phase builds the
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systems that allow growth without proportional increases in stress and complexity.
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Phase four, Market dominant solves the competition problem. This is
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where you implement the strategies that make you the obvious
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choice in your market, allow you to command premium prices
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and a tract ideal customers. Phase five, legacy building solves
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the exit strategy problem. This creates a business that had
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value beyond your personal involvement, whether you want to sell it,
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pass it on, or simply step back from the day
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to day operations that continue to scale. The beauty of
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the system is that each phase makes the next phase
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easier and more effective. The foundation you build in phase
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one makes the revenue strategies in phase two more powerful.
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The operational systems in phase three amplify the market dominant
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strategies in phase four. Now, most business owners try to
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jump to phase four or five without completing the earlier phases,
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and that's where things fall apart and strategies don't work.
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They're trying to build market dominance without operational excellence, or
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create legacy legacy, actually legacy value without sustainable revenue systems.
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So let's die a little deeper into phase one, foundation building.
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This is where most business owners want to skip ahead,
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but it's absolutely critical for everything that follows. And foundation
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building has four core components. I call them the four
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pillars of business success. Financial clarity, decision frameworks, strategic planning,
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and mindset masters. So let's start with financial clarity. I
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can't emphasize this enough. You can't manage what you don't measure.
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And we've said this a lot, and you can't measure
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what you don't understand. Yet, eighty percent of business owners
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I meet don't know their basic financial numbers. And in
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our business assessments, we ask three simple questions. We ask
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what your sales are your gross profit and your net
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or sorry, gross profit percent and your net income percentage.
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Four out of five business owners cannot answer these questions
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with any kind of confidence. And this is out. This
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isn't about being an account This is about understanding the
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financial levers that drive your business. You need to know
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your vital five sales, gross profit, gross profit percent, net profit,
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and your current cash balance. These numbers should be on
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your memory all the time. But beyond knowing the numbers,
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you need systems for tracking and analyzing them. And this
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means monthly financial statements completed within fifteen days of them month,
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then weekly cash blow reports, and monthly metrics reviews. A
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restaurant owner who was constantly stressed about money but couldn't
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tell me if his business was profitable. When he finally
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implemented proper financial tracking, he discovered he was actually losing
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three dollars on every lunch specially sold and he thought
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he was generating revenue, but he was actually destroying profit
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with every sale. And once he had financial clarity, he
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could make the intelligent decisions about pricing, menu design, and
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cost management. Within ninety days, he turned that three dollars loss,
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which was seven dollars profit per lunch special, adding one
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hundred grand to his bottom line. And the second pillar
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is decision frameworks. As we discussed last week, most business
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owners suffer from decision paralysis or they make decisions randomly
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without systematic thinking. So in phase one you establish clear
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frameworks for different types of decisions. For example, any expense
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under one thousand dollars that improves customer experience gets automatic approval.
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It doesn't have to be one thousand dollars, could be
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some other smaller number or a bigger number. Any marketing
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investment under five thousand dollars that could generate three times
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hour wide within six months gets automatic approval. Any process
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change that could save more than five hours per week
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gets immediate implementation. So and you could change all those
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numbers to oose parameters, but having pre established frameworks eliminates
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the mental energy still on recurring decisions and ensure us
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consistency in your business operations.
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This is interesting, Michael. So this foundation work sounds crucial
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but also potentially overwhelming. How do business owners tackle this
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step by step without getting bogged down?
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Yeah, that's legitimate concern. I think the key is to
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implement these foundations systematically over ninety days and not all
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at once. So Week one and two would be financial clarity,
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getting your bookkeeping established with weekly financial reporting. Weeks three
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and four are your decision frameworks. Document your criteria for
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the five most common decisions that you face. Week five
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to eight Strategic planning. Complete your business and cash flow
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forecast for the next twelve months. Week nine to twelve
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mindset mastering. Implement the confident decision making practices that we
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discussed last week, and I believe the week before as well.
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Each builds on the previous week, and by the end
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of the ninety days you have a rock solid foundation
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that supports everything else you build. Now let's talk about
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strategic planning, and that's the third pillar. Most business owners
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confuse activity with strategy. They're busy, but they're not strategic.
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They're working hard, but not necessarily on the right things.
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Strategic planning means having a clear twelve month business and
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cash flow forecast that shows exactly where your revenue will
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come from, what your expenses will be, and how much
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cash you need win. And this isn't about predicting the
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future perfectly. It's about having a roadmap that guide your
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decisions that helps you spot problems before they become a crisis.
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Tells you when it's cloudy, not when it's raining. I
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can't tell you how many business owners tell me they
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were surprised by their tax bill or didn't see a