Avoid These Mistakes In Business!

I have over 30 years’ experience in the trenches, growing businesses of my own, which probably means I’ve done more stupid things than you have.?

So, I can help you avoid the stupid thing you’re getting ready to do.??

That’s the difference between listening to someone who actually builds businesses every day instead of someone who just talks about it, that’s called theory, or someone who did it once, that’s called luck.?

And there are a lot of people who get lucky in business, which is great, but I never want to listen to those people because their path is not repeatable, otherwise, they wouldn’t be one-hit wonders.??

Now, I run a portfolio of 12 successful companies, all of which I’ve built from scratch, and that’s not including the companies I bought because they had something I wanted that helped grow one of my portfolio companies faster, like a certain team, a software patent, or big relationships that we leveraged.??

And it also doesn’t include the small group of companies in my advisory firm, called Club 28.?

Those are companies that I don’t own any part of, but I leverage what I know and help them grow.??

That’s a very small group of companies, and I focus time every week to help each of them grow.??

And if you want to know about Club 28, just go to ChrisGuerriero.com.??

But every time I go into a company, whether that’s as an owner, investor, or advisor, there are five things I always keep my finger on the pulse of.?

As long as I focus on these five things, growing is much easier.??

They are:??

- Reach??

- Revenue??

- Retention??

- Organization??

And the fifth thing, I’ll tell you about in a moment, but I want to make sure you know these four first...??

Because the number one obstacle to growth at any stage in business is distraction from one of those first four things.??

And it doesn’t matter if you run a small mom-and-pop business or a multi-billion-dollar company, either you or your team absolutely need to track all of these areas in your business.??

The first is reach, which is a calculation of the amount of market share a company owns compared to the amount of market share available in their industry.?

And how many people in your audience know about you.??

Meaning, if we were standing on the top of a mountain with a bullhorn shouting our best marketing message, how many people would hear us??

That’s your reach.??

Then I focus on revenue, which is not just how much money a business generates but also how much of that money is profit, meaning how much of it funnels through to either invest in growing the company or to pay the owner.?

Because I’m assuming you’re not a non-profit, you’re here to grow and profit more so you can help more people, employ more people, and make a bigger impact in your industry, in the lives of those around you, and in your personal life too.??

Third is retention, which is how long a customer stays with you and keeps buying from you.??

Fourth is organization, which includes:??

- Your people??

- Your structure (meaning how clearly defined the positions in your company are, and whether each person on your team knows how to get the info they need and who they should work with to get their job done)??

- Your systems (because everything in your company that might ever be repeated should be systematized)??

- Your values (because having values helps you know which decisions, big and small, fit into your plan, and which ones are distractions)??

Before I knew how to focus on these four things, reach, revenue, retention, and organization, my first company struggled for a decade.?

Then, it finally got momentum and was sold for a very nice exit.??

Because momentum is everything in business.?

When times are good, you press the gas harder and grow, because most other companies, when times are good, get comfortable and think it’s always going to be good.??

But when you have momentum, that’s when you need to double down, push, systematize what’s working, and add the right people.??

I didn’t know that when I first started in business, so I got distracted by a lot of shiny objects, people telling me to run sales that didn’t work, hiring the wrong kind of team members, and taking advice from people who didn’t have a strong track record of success.??

So, it took me more than a decade to get momentum, grow, and become highly profitable. But because I brought on people who helped me stay focused on reach, revenue, retention, and organization, and because I systematized everything…??

My second company took less than six years (because I had a template).??

My third took less than two and a half years.??

And my next one took less than 18 months.??

All of them grew more smoothly than the one before, more predictably, and far exceeded the revenue and profit of each previous company.??

Because every business I build, I learn lessons that make it significantly easier to build the next one.

Your goal in business is to learn lessons fast, then systematize things so your team knows how to handle the obstacles, then improve those systems every year, so you grow more predictably every year, if not every quarter or every month.

But…

I said there were five things that make growth much easier. And the fifth thing has a way of crushing all the others if you miss it.

After I passed (I guess) the age of 40, I didn’t have the same “blind drive” that you have as a young entrepreneur, where you think it’s okay to work 16 hours a day, sleep in your parents’ house, or screw up all your relationships because work is your number one focus all the time.

After you pass that age, again, for me, it was around 40, you need more than just those four things.

You need mental stability (sanity, happiness, fulfillment, whatever you want to call it)…

You need something that drives you and something you enjoy as a reward so you feel fulfilled.

I’m driven by my kids, I’ll do more for them, to travel with them, and to create memories and experiences with them than I will for almost anything else in life, and I’m also driven to be healthy, to be happy, and to have a certain amount of wealth, success, and love in my life.

I’m driven by those things, they push me to keep going forward every day.

But just as important is also having things I do that make me feel successful, happy, healthy, and fulfilled. (There’s a difference between something that drives you forward and something that makes you feel rewarded.)

And I used to only allow myself to enjoy those things when I hit certain targets in my business, but that mindset came close to burning me out.

The greatest growth you’ll ever have in business or life comes when you dip into the things that make you feel successful and fulfilled on a regular basis.

And here’s why…

Because all humans are programmed to not want to lose something they already have, that they love, and they’ll do far more to not lose those things than they will to get more things.

A couple who wants to have a baby will keep trying until they have one, and if they can’t have a baby, they’ll pay a lot for artificial insemination or a surrogate, and if that doesn’t work, they’ll go through the long process of adopting.

Because they truly want to have a baby.

But I promise you one thing, whatever that couple is willing to go through because they want to have a baby…

Parents who already have a baby will do 1,000 times more to protect the baby they already have.

If you’re a parent and your child is in danger, you’ll find a way to protect them because you’re programmed to do more to not lose something you already have and love.

In order to stay focused and driven, and to keep growing in business, you need to understand how your brain works.

Your greatest growth in business (and in life) will come when you give yourself the time to enjoy the things that truly make you feel successful and fulfilled, and then set up your business to focus on the few key things that keep it growing so you can keep enjoying what you love.