Business Owners Freedom Formula With Paul Maskill

Stop trying to work harder to get to where you want to go. This is simply an excuse that most business owners use to ignore reality. They are putting off the inevitable...even though the problems are staring at them in the face. Instead of facing the problems and putting a plan in place to overcome them, they simply "work harder". Everyone is busy, busy, busy...but very few are productive. As the cliche goes: "work smarter, not harder".

After watching his father’s family-owned business struggle to succeed, he made it my mission to turn failure into a legacy by asking one simple question: what makes a business work? The answer? It’s as easy as knowing how a bike works. Rich is a high- energy speaker, recognized author, successful entrepreneur, and sought- after advisor to business owners, proving time and time again that his bicycle model works. With experience in both large and small companies, including growing a small manufacturing business to well over $100M in annual sales, he has helped hundreds of business owners harness the power of their team – giving them the freedom, flexibility and profitability they deserve.

Our business is our baby. And when it's our baby, we tend to make decisions based on emotion and not numbers. Well, I'm here to tell you that the best part about numbers is that they don't lie and they take the emotion out of decision making. In today's episode, I share with you how to start creating a weekly dashboard in your business so you can track all of the important numbers that drive your success. This allows you to keep a pulse on your business, spot trends and make educated business decisions.

There's a lot of advice and gurus out there who help with marketing when it comes to online courses, e-commerce and coaching...but it sometimes can be hard to find real marketing advice for local businesses. Well, I love me some local businesses, run two myself so I want to share with you my marketing DO's, marketing DON'TS AND my Six-Step Marketing Game Plan. Check it out!

With more content coming at us than ever before, we are getting consumed with all of the glitz and glamour of the overnight success. We don't ever see what it took to get there and how long they've been doing it. Secret - There is no overnight success! Those businesses that we are "jealous" of, didn't just happen. They took patience, persistence and passion...while also having a vision and a plan. Stay on your own path and stop getting caught up with what others are doing.

Tim Rhode, is the co-founder of GoBundance, author of Tribe of Millionaires, and founder of nonprofit 1 Life Fully Lived. Tim co-founded GoBundance in an effort to build a quality peer-group of other successful men who could hold one another accountable to their own high standards, who chose to live life at-the-peak. Since its official founding in 2013, the GoBundance tribe has grown to nearly 200 members who connect at seasonal Tribal Gatherings and annual International Bucket List Trips.

You can't just read about how to ride a bike and then go and do it. Business is no different. You can't just keep consuming content without taking consistent action. The problem is, business owners are great at making excuses. We're afraid of failure. We're afraid of what people think. We're afraid of it becoming a wild success. So we just sit..wait..and wait until it's "perfect" Which also means, NEVER. It will never be perfect. But the only way to improve is by taking action. Stop making excuses. Start taking action.

Tyler, a regular BOFF listener, recently reached out with praise for the show and recommendation on what he would like to see. He wanted to know what are some financial strategies I use and what are the most common mistakes I see. So here we go! In today's episode I share with you my top 3 strategies that I use along with the top 6 mistakes I see way too many business owners make. From Profit First (HT Mike Michalowicz) to paying your taxes and not using your checking account as a slush fund, this episode has you covered!

In the first few years of business, I was just as guilty as anyone else on this. We have our all star employees and we basically ignore them because we know they can do their job above expectations. And then we have the helpless employees who we spend all of our time and energy on...for zero results. Just imagine how much progress you could make if you poured all of that energy into your all stars. The same goes for your customers...spend all of your time with your best customers.

Robin Waite is the Founder of Fearless Business, a 12-Week Accelerator to Help Consultants, Freelancers and Coaches Learn to Articulate Their Value From 2004 to 2014 he ran a successful design and advertising agency serving over 250 clients. During this time, he delivered workshops and masterclasses that helped over 1,000 business owners improve their marketing, product architecture, pricing, websites and digital advertising. He loves helping businesses to become more successful, and getting results for his clients is what gets him out of bed each day.

If you want to actually make progress you need measurable goals so you can take measurable action in your business. If you ask most business owners what their goals are, they'll say "more of..." and "less of..." but they don't quantify or describe what that is. "More Clients" isn't a goal. 10 more clients who live in Raleigh this month is a much more achievable goal. Why? Because it's so specific that you can then figure out what your daily actions need to be in order to get there. Otherwise, you'll just keep spinning the hamster wheel.

My ONE question for you on this Labor Day, 2019 - Were you able to NOT WORK at all during the 3 day weekend? If not, why not? What actions are you taking to make sure you don't have to work weekends forever? Are your daily actions mapping to your ultimate goal? Yes, there will be times where we have to work more than most...but make sure that work is helping you get one step closer to your ultimate freedom.

We as business owners like to think BIG! We have BIG goals. We have BIG dreams. We have HUGE aspirations. Yet, they are always so far away. And we realize our daily actions will never allow us to achieve those goals. In today's episode I share with you the easiest way to start changing, stay motivated so you can actually achieve those goals.

When you start doing less, you'll start making more. And that making "more" doesn't necessarily mean money. It could be more of an impact. It could be more freedom. It could be more clarity. In today's episode I share with you 3 different aspects of business in life that when you start doing less there, you'll start having more. As Warren Buffet says "The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything."

So often we let what happens today become the new norm. We let it bog us down and keep us from taking action. Sometimes you just have to look back and see how far you've come. And use that as motivation to keep moving forward. The next time you get froze with inaction, understand that imperfect action is the only way forward. You've done it all along and what was impossible to you last year is the norm now...so use that as motivation to continue moving forward.

Pretty much every business owner is afraid to hire people...especially when it comes to leadership positions that aren't delivering the service. It's easier to justify hiring someone that is providing your service because they are directly producing revenue. However, it's very difficult to hire people into leadership roles such as marketing, sales, operations, financials, customer service or office management. And one of the BIGGEST reasons for this is lack of vision. We don't know where these people would fit in, what they would do, who they would report to...because we don't have a vision. In today's episode, I share with you why (and how) creating your ideal Org Chart is a MUST in order to grow and scale any business.

Everyone I talk to has big goals, huge goals! Yet, most of them aren't taking action on them. They'll do it tomorrow...they'll magically happen. Whether it's delegating something in their business or reaching a personal goal, everyone has goals. Yet they don't have a plan to get there. In fact, they don't even know where they are going. In today's episode I share a quick tip on implementing the 12 Week Year.

Here's some earth shattering advice...treat others the way you want to be treated. And for your business, that goes for your customers and potential customers. Just because you could do something, doesn't mean you should. Stop putting profits before people and stop putting your best interest ahead of theirs. If you treat them the way you would expect to be treated and put their best interest first, you will win. You will win BIG.

I run into business owners every day who want massively different results...yet they don't want to change anything that they are doing. "You don't know my business" "You don't know my customers" "What will my parents think" All of these "what ifs" based out of fear. But what if I told you that 99% of the time, the worst case scenario is right where you are today. Do your due diligence, plan, prepare but then TAKE action. The worst action is inaction. How do you expect to get to the next level when you're not willing to do things differently?

Steve Anderson has spent over 35 years shaping the insurance industry through a deeper understanding of emerging technologies and how businesses today can best integrate and leverage them. Steve is a sought-after speaker and influencer in the insurance industry. He is also the author of the widely-anticipated book The Bezos Letters, where he outlines a detailed framework for business growth based on the ideas and patterns that emerged when he examined Jeff Bezos’s last 21 annual letters to Amazon shareholders.