Systems for Increased Profits

It was 2005, the economy was booming, and my appointment calendar was full nearly every day.  I was grateful for the abundance of work, but at the same time, I was weary.  I’d been working non-stop for two years and longed to work fewer hours. “Teach a course!” my business coach suggested cheerily.  “That way you can work with “one-on-many” vs. just “one-on-one”, then you could cut down on your hours.”

The thought of developing a course when I was already working so many hours sounded daunting and exhausting.  For several months I kept objecting and explaining all the reasons why it wouldn’t work.  But she didn’t give up and each time I complained about working too many hours, she would remind me that I had other options.

In late 2005, tired of hearing myself complain, I relented and agreed to build the course. In the 1^st quarter of 2006, the first Business Boot Camp course was launched.  A course designed to help contractors create better systems for increased profits. As I wrote each new lesson plan it made me stop and think through what I do with clients when working one-on-one.  As I wrote and then taught each session, the most amazing thing happened in my business…

• I had more clarity about my process, which gave me greater confidence in my ability to communicate that process to clients and prospects, letting me ultimately close more sales
• That clarity and confidence allowed me to be more efficient with my time and cut down on the number of hours I worked, without negatively impacting my income.
• The outcome has been that using those systems for increased profits in my business, gave me the ability to produce positive results faster in client’s businesses in less time. 

When the great recession hit in 2008 those systems and processes had a huge positive impact on my ability to keep my business thriving.

So how does this apply to you as a contractor?

• When you codify your processes, you will be able to more clearly communicate with prospects about how you work, thus giving them more confidence in your services, thus allowing you to close more sales.
• That clarity about your process will give you and your team more confidence about how to manage projects using a systematic approach.
• That confidence and those systems will have you take more powerful actions that will result in projects running more efficiently and profitably.

While none of us can fully comprehend, at this moment, how this pandemic will impact our businesses, we do have the ability to start looking at ways to use this time to build better systems and processes for increased profits.

So where do you begin?

This week’s video is an interview I did with Randall Soules and David Hawke, hosts of the Remodeling Business Blueprint podcast and owners of The Scientific Remodeling System.  Randall and David spent years as contractors creating systems and processes for increased profits, which resulted in building two very successful construction businesses.  What’s cool, is they now teach other contractors how to do the same in their businesses.

In this interview Randall and David share great tips to help you get started on building these systems in your business.   At the end, David makes a generous offer to share his book, Construction Business Systems, for free.  Make sure to check it out.  Also, Randall will give you a free tour of his Scientific Remodeling System and work with you to assess how it could be applied to your business.

May you continue to grow, thrive and prosper!

Warmest,