We can’t be out in the field forever. If we are fortunate to avoid injury after so many years, our bodies will simply break down. Knee’s, shoulders, etc.
Once you are out of the day to day field work, you will then be in a position to really focus on sales, marketing, networking, operation, and working on your business. And that’s when things really start to take off.
Your first step is to be in a position to afford your salary being it’s not producing. Keep you personal expenses as low as possible.
This will vary for everybody, but for me, I really wanted to be out of the field so I could focus on doubling my business as fast as possible, and to achieve those drastic results, I made some drastic decisions like:
– Not eating out.
– Driving older vehicles. My truck at the time was a 10 year old GMC, but was paid for. I took it to MAACO and had it repainted for $600 and it looked brand new.
And even cut the TV cable service. Crazy I know, but looking back that was one of the best moves we made. Years later and it’s still off.
By keeping our personal finances as low as possible, I was able to get out of the field with just 4 full-time guys working in the field.
I have a free spread sheet you can download for free here that will allow you to enter in your number to see where your breakeven is with your current overhead and guys in the field.
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The other part of it is having the right guys on the team. You will need a couple of leaders that you can trust.
Their production rates will drop slightly with you not working beside them and that’s just the nature of it. Move forward anyway as you will come out much better in the long run as you start to grow and spread your production out over your overhead.
At first you might feel guilty of not grunting it out there in the field with them and that is also natural.
Part of that comes from the idea that only those who work with their hands actually work hard. While I am in no way discrediting the hard work done by those who work day in and day out with their hands, I came across something Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, said which was along the lines of, “Those who work with their hands are mental lazy.”
I have a great respect for both those who work hard with their hands and those who work hard with their minds. Both work very hard. So, I would never say Robert is 100% true, but when it comes down to it for me, as my goal is to run a business, if I want the easy way out, I can work with my hands. If I want to build a business, I have to challenge myself with the hard issues mentally, that are challenging, stressful, and hard.
Look at it this way. We can be out in the field working away day in and day out, year after year and be so good at our trade that for the most part, we can just turn on the radio and work with our hands and not really have to tax our brains too much. It’s a fairly simple process and doesn’t require an engineers degree to figure out and is an enjoyable way to live. However, I don’t want the easy way. I want the hard road to building a very successful business with multiple teams with those who want to work with their hands on my team.
Creating leaders:
As you’re making the transition out of the field, you will notice your guys call you throughout the day with simple questions that they know the answer to.
The problem is we have not clearly given them complete ownership to make the executive decision to complete the project in your stead.
Here’s how to delegate.
Get your guys together for a coffee or lunch. Let them know what you completely trust them and their ability to complete the project properly and earn another Raving Fan.
Let them know, in order to grow this business to the next level and keep strong through the winter, you need their help. You need to be able to completely focus on building the business and not be involved with all of the day to day operations.
You give them complete permission to make decisions to get the job done properly leaving the customer with a great experience.
Also, let them know that you understand they occasionally they will make mistakes and God knows you made mistakes and we will just do the best we can with what we have when that happens.
The important thing is to take complete ownership, admit it, fix it, and move on.
Once they trust this, you will be able to focus on building your network and then Doubling Your Business!
If you have any questions or are struggling with any part of this, shoot me an email and I would be happy to help you any way I can: steve@burnettmarketing.com
Keep pushing forward and #KeepItCaffeinated
PS. We only have 3 spots left for the DYB Mastermind Group 4, where we hold each other accountable, give encouragement and share the “how to” to get you moving to the next level fast! We launch on the 17th at 4pm ET. Click here to get in: GRAB MY SPOT
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