Picture a hot air balloon lifting off the ground, but it can’t go higher than 60 feet because of the rope holding it down. The balloon is your business, and the rope is how many hours you can physically work each week. Your business wants to soar, but eventually, you reach the end of your rope. It might be 50 hours, 70 hours, or 90 hours, but you’ll run out of hours that you can put into your business. In Part 1, I talked about how some dealers dow what so many dealers only dream about. Now let’s look at five keys to cutting the rope.

Key #1: Goals/Objectives

Goals are your destination. Imagine a ship setting sail from New York without a goal. Where is it going to go? In circles. Which is where a lot of flooring dealers find themselves going. Goals enable you to set a course and move forward toward a specific destination.

Goals must be specific, written, and have a deadline to be useful. Saying, “I want to make more money,” is not a goal. Writing, “I will increase my average monthly revenue from $20,000 to $25,000 by July 1st of 2018,” is a goal. Saying, “I want to work less,” is not a goal. Writing, “I will take Fridays and weekends off by November 1st, 2017” is a goal.

It’s important to review your goals regularly. Let’s go back to that ship setting sail from New York. The captain has a goal to reach London. During the voyage, waves and wind will knock the ship off course, so the crew must monitor where they are at and make continuous course corrections. The ship will get to London not in a straight line, but in a series of zig zags. It’s the same with your business. The path to your goals will zig zag, and the more frequently you review your goals, the tighter the zigs and zags, and the more efficiently you’ll get there.

Key #2: Core Values

These are the timeless values that are unique to your business and that separate you from the competition. Some real-world examples include: customer service, always do the right thing, continually strive for perfection, exhibit creativity, growth-oriented, we have fun in business, etc.

Your core values already exist in your organization, you’ve just lost sight of them in all the chaos. An effective way to uncover them is to do the following 4 steps, which I learned from the book Traction by Gino Wickman, and have applied in my own business:

Step 1: Have your leadership team make a list of the 2 or 3 people in your organization who, if you could clone them, would enable you to dominate your market.

Step 2: Make a list of all the positive traits exhibited by these people.

Step 3: Your businesses core values are contained within this list. Your leadership team should identify every core value that applies to your company.

Step 4: Whittle the list down to the 5 to 7 that are truly your company’s core values.

Being clear on your core values enables you to attract and keep the right people. It empowers your team to make decisions or handle tricky situations when you’re not there. Once you identify your core values, hire, fire and train based on these values. This will enable you to build a strong company culture that can survive ups-and-downs in the market, and enable you to achieve your ideal business and ideal lifestyle.

In the next installment, I’ll cover the remaining 3 keys for cutting the rope so your business can soar. If you have questions or comments, I’d love to hear them. Please email me.

 

To Tons Of Customers!
Jim Augustus Armstrong is The “Coach”

Jim Augustus Armstrong is the President of Flooring Success Systems, a program that equips dealers to double their profits, cut their work hours in half and beat the boxes! Many dealers have totally transformed their businesses and their lives for the better after joining Flooring Success Systems.
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Free book! For a complimentary copy of Jim’s book, “How Floor Dealers Can Beat the Boxes and Escape the Cheap-Price Rat-Race of Doom Forever,” visit BeatTheBoxesToday.com.