Be a PROFITABLE Badass Small Business Owner

Success Saturday: Are Distractions Preventing Your Success? How Much Time Are You Wasting on Your Guilty Pleasure? In today's episode: We discuss how we lose time through the course of our day and week on things that don't really help us reach out goals. Maybe you don't need to stop, but you do need to tweak so as not to prevent your success. HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com GET YOUR FREE 10 Questions Every Small Business Owner Needs to Ask to Evaluate their Business - WORKBOOK WHO THIS PODCAST IS FOR: local small business owners, mobile businesses, brick and mortar businesses, handymen, landscapers, pool cleaners, cleaning services, QSRs, restaurant owners, mechanics, plumbers, real estate agents, dog groomers, franchisees, tradesmen, medical, dentist, insurance, & those looking to increase profits, boost sales, improve processes and develop stronger teams ~~~

Episode 61 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: Q & A: How to Transition Your Business When Your Body Starts to Breakdown 3 Ways to Transition Your Business When You Physically Can't Do it Any Longer In today's episode: We discuss a question from a listener whose body is breaking down and he now needs to transition his business to keep supporting his family. So we discuss 3 ways he can start to transition into his future while still maintaining his income. For the Full Show Notes Visit: Episode 61 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com GET YOUR FREE 10 Questions Every Small Business Owner Needs to Ask to Evaluate their Business - WORKBOOK WHO THIS PODCAST IS FOR: local small business owners, mobile businesses, brick and mortar businesses, handymen, landscapers, pool cleaners, cleaning services, QSRs, restaurant owners, mechanics, plumbers, real estate agents, dog groomers, franchisees, tradesmen, medical, dentist, insurance, & those looking to increase profits, boost sales, improve processes and develop stronger teams ~~~

Episode 60 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: 7 Lessons Learned from My 1st Local Small Business Lessons for Anyone Looking to Own a Local Small Business In today's episode: We discuss 7 of the lessons I have learned from owning my 1st local small business. Some of them I expected by some of them I wish I would have prepared more for before I jumped in to my new small business. For the Full Show Notes Visit: Episode 60 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com GET YOUR FREE 10 Questions Every Small Business Owner Needs to Ask to Evaluate their Business - WORKBOOK WHO THIS PODCAST IS FOR: local small business owners, mobile businesses, brick and mortar businesses, handymen, landscapers, pool cleaners, cleaning services, QSRs, restaurant owners, mechanics, plumbers, real estate agents, dog groomers, franchisees, tradesmen, medical, dentist, insurance, & those looking to increase profits, boost sales, improve processes and develop stronger teams ~~~

Episode 59 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: 3 Myths to Why You Can't Find Good Help for Your Business Subtitle: Good Help is Hard to Find – Or Is It? In today's episode: We discuss why you need to stop believing these 3 myths that are preventing you from finding good people for your team. No more excuses. They are out there, let's talk about it. For the Full Show Notes Visit: Episode 59 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com GET YOUR FREE 10 Questions Every Small Business Owner Needs to Ask to Evaluate their Business - WORKBOOK WHO THIS PODCAST IS FOR: local small business owners, mobile businesses, brick and mortar businesses, handymen, landscapers, pool cleaners, cleaning services, QSRs, restaurant owners, mechanics, plumbers, real estate agents, dog groomers, franchisees, tradesmen, medical, dentist, insurance, & those looking to increase profits, boost sales, improve processes and develop stronger teams ~~~

Episode 58 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Success Saturday - Does it Matter What Time Your Get Up? NO! It is All About the Morning Routine In today's episode: We discuss why the time you get up doesn't matter as much as what you do when you get up. Too many people are telling you to not follow your natural rhythms. HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com GET YOUR FREE 10 Questions Every Small Business Owner Needs to Ask to Evaluate their Business - WORKBOOK WHO THIS PODCAST IS FOR: local small business owners, mobile businesses, brick and mortar businesses, handymen, landscapers, pool cleaners, cleaning services, QSRs, restaurant owners, mechanics, plumbers, real estate agents, dog groomers, franchisees, tradesmen, medical, dentist, insurance, & those looking to increase profits, boost sales, improve processes and develop stronger teams ~~~

Episode 58 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: Q & A: Can a Positive Outlook Really Make a Difference? Positive Attitude Plus Action Equals Great Results! In today's episode: We discuss How a Positive Attitude Plus Action Equals Great Results! We look at a question that I keep getting about why my real estate business is taking off this year. While there are a few factors, one of the biggest shifts I've made is in my outlook. In today's episode, I talk about what I've done to ensure I have a successful year. For the Full Show Notes Visit: Episode 58 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com GET YOUR FREE 10 Questions Every Small Business Owner Needs to Ask to Evaluate their Business - WORKBOOK WHO THIS PODCAST IS FOR: local small business owners, mobile businesses, brick and mortar businesses, handymen, landscapers, pool cleaners, cleaning services, QSRs, restaurant owners, mechanics, plumbers, real estate agents, dog groomers, franchisees, tradesmen, medical, dentist, insurance, & those looking to increase profits, boost sales, improve processes and develop stronger teams ~~~

Episode 57 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: Understanding Your Product Costs Watch These 3 Areas to Improve Sales & Profits In today's episode: We are going to take a look at why it is important you know your product costs. Your product costs will determine your sales and profits. For the Full Show Notes Visit: Episode 57 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com GET YOUR FREE 10 Questions Every Small Business Owner Needs to Ask to Evaluate their Business - WORKBOOK WHO THIS PODCAST IS FOR: local small business owners, mobile businesses, brick and mortar businesses, handymen, landscapers, pool cleaners, cleaning services, QSRs, restaurant owners, mechanics, plumbers, real estate agents, dog groomers, franchisees, tradesmen, medical, dentist, insurance, & those looking to increase profits, boost sales, improve processes and develop stronger teams ~~~

Episode 56 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: 3 Ways You Are Killing Your Small Business's Growth Watch These 3 Areas to Improve Sales & Profits In today's episode: We discuss 3 core ways that small business owners kill their business's growth. My keeping focus on these 3 areas, you increase your odds for success. We also discuss what you need to do. For the Full Show Notes Visit: Episode 56 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com GET YOUR FREE 10 Questions Every Small Business Owner Needs to Ask to Evaluate their Business - WORKBOOK WHO THIS PODCAST IS FOR: local small business owners, mobile businesses, brick and mortar businesses, handymen, landscapers, pool cleaners, cleaning services, QSRs, restaurant owners, mechanics, plumbers, real estate agents, dog groomers, franchisees, tradesmen, medical, dentist, insurance, & those looking to increase profits, boost sales, improve processes and develop stronger teams ~~~

Success Saturday: Does Your Business Have a Clear Vision? Every Small Business needs to have a clear mission. You are more than what you DO or what you Sell. It is the emotional WHY you do it! HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com GET YOUR FREE 10 Questions Every Small Business Owner Needs to Ask to Evaluate their Business - WORKBOOK WHO THIS PODCAST IS FOR: local small business owners, mobile businesses, brick and mortar businesses, handymen, landscapers, pool cleaners, cleaning services, QSRs, restaurant owners, mechanics, plumbers, real estate agents, dog groomers, franchisees, tradesmen, medical, dentist, insurance, & those looking to increase profits, boost sales, improve processes and develop stronger teams ~~~

Episode 55 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: Q & A: How to Turn Around Your Business's Reputation Get Your Customers to Love You Again In today's episode: We answer a question from Matthew. He recently purchased a pizza place that has a bad reputation. He is wondering what his first steps should be. We discuss how Matthew can turn around his business's reputation by focusing on providing a great local experience over his competitors. For the Full Show Notes Visit: Episode 55 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com GET YOUR FREE 10 Questions Every Small Business Owner Needs to Ask to Evaluate their Business - WORKBOOK WHO THIS PODCAST IS FOR: local small business owners, mobile businesses, brick and mortar businesses, handymen, landscapers, pool cleaners, cleaning services, QSRs, restaurant owners, mechanics, plumbers, real estate agents, dog groomers, franchisees, tradesmen, medical, dentist, insurance, & those looking to increase profits, boost sales, improve processes and develop stronger teams ~~~

Episode 54 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: Is the Customer Always Right? Maybe not, but they aren't wrong as often as you might think! In today's episode: We discuss how we get defensive whenever a customer complains about something. Too often we assume they are lying or trying to get something for free. What would happen if you were problem solving vs being defensive? For the Full Show Notes Visit: Episode 54 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com GET YOUR FREE 10 Questions Every Small Business Owner Needs to Ask to Evaluate their Business - WORKBOOK WHO THIS PODCAST IS FOR: local small business owners, mobile businesses, brick and mortar businesses, handymen, landscapers, pool cleaners, cleaning services, QSRs, restaurant owners, mechanics, plumbers, real estate agents, dog groomers, franchisees, tradesmen, medical, dentist, insurance, & those looking to increase profits, boost sales, improve processes and develop stronger teams ~~~

Episode 53 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: Catch Your Employees Doing Something Right It's Easy to Point Out What is Wrong, the Challenge is Recognizing the Positive! In today's episode: We discuss how critical it is that you start to catch your employees doing something right. Too often we focus on what they aren't doing. The problem is, you want to help them hear the positive feedback you give them just as much as the opportunities. Here's why… For the Full Show Notes Visit: Episode 53 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com GET YOUR FREE 10 Questions Every Small Business Owner Needs to Ask to Evaluate their Business - WORKBOOK WHO THIS PODCAST IS FOR: local small business owners, mobile businesses, brick and mortar businesses, handymen, landscapers, pool cleaners, cleaning services, QSRs, restaurant owners, mechanics, plumbers, real estate agents, dog groomers, franchisees, tradesmen, medical, dentist, insurance, & those looking to increase profits, boost sales, improve processes and develop stronger teams ~~~

The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Bonus Episode - Success Saturday - The Power of Words On today's Success Saturday we discuss how the power of words impact your success. From the words people use with you to the words you use on yourself. Let's talk about how they are preventing your success. HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com GET YOUR FREE 10 Questions Every Small Business Owner Needs to Ask to Evaluate their Business - WORKBOOK WHO THIS PODCAST IS FOR: local small business owners, mobile businesses, brick and mortar businesses, handymen, landscapers, pool cleaners, cleaning services, QSRs, restaurant owners, mechanics, plumbers, real estate agents, dog groomers, franchisees, tradesmen, medical, dentist, insurance, & those looking to increase profits, boost sales, improve processes and develop stronger teams

Episode 52 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: Q & A: Should I Do A Sign Twirler? Subtitle: Should Sign Twirling Be Part of Your Advertising? In today's episode: We take a question from Jeremy who is asking about doing one of the arrows out on the street. I'll give my 2 cents on having a sign twirler and when it might be a great idea For the Full Show Notes Visit: Episode 52 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com GET YOUR FREE 10 Questions Every Small Business Owner Needs to Ask to Evaluate their Business - WORKBOOK WHO THIS PODCAST IS FOR: local small business owners, mobile businesses, brick and mortar businesses, handymen, landscapers, pool cleaners, cleaning services, QSRs, restaurant owners, mechanics, plumbers, real estate agents, dog groomers, franchisees, tradesmen, medical, dentist, insurance, & those looking to increase profits, boost sales, improve processes and develop stronger teams ~~~

Episode 51 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: 7 Powerful Things to do Today to Turn Your Employees into a Great Team Subtitle: Turn Your Team into Your Greatest Asset In today's episode: We discuss the steps you can take to develop your team into one of the greatest. We all can have a Superstar, but do you have what it takes to build a fantastic team. One where you would be proud to be their leader? For the Full Show Notes Visit: Episode 51 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com GET YOUR FREE 10 Questions Every Small Business Owner Needs to Ask to Evaluate their Business - WORKBOOK WHO THIS PODCAST IS FOR: local small business owners, mobile businesses, brick and mortar businesses, handymen, landscapers, pool cleaners, cleaning services, QSRs, restaurant owners, mechanics, plumbers, real estate agents, dog groomers, franchisees, tradesmen, medical, dentist, insurance, & those looking to increase profits, boost sales, improve processes and develop stronger teams ~~~

Episode 50 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: 8 Mistakes that Could Be Costing You Time Subtitle: Stop Wasting Time in Your Business In today's episode: We discuss 8 mistakes that you might be making in your local small business costing you time. We all could use more time in our lives. Not only to work "on" our business but also to find more time to spend with our family. Are you making any of these? For the Full Show Notes Visit: Episode 50 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com GET YOUR FREE 10 Questions Every Small Business Owner Needs to Ask to Evaluate their Business - WORKBOOK WHO THIS PODCAST IS FOR: local small business owners, mobile businesses, brick and mortar businesses, handymen, landscapers, pool cleaners, cleaning services, QSRs, restaurant owners, mechanics, plumbers, real estate agents, dog groomers, franchisees, tradesmen, medical, dentist, insurance, & those looking to increase profits, boost sales, improve processes and develop stronger teams ~~~

Bonus Episode – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Success Saturday: Find Positive People to be in Your Life HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com GET YOUR FREE 10 Questions Every Small Business Owner Needs to Ask to Evaluate their Business - WORKBOOK WHO THIS PODCAST IS FOR: local small business owners, mobile businesses, brick and mortar businesses, handymen, landscapers, pool cleaners, cleaning services, QSRs, restaurant owners, mechanics, plumbers, real estate agents, dog groomers, franchisees, tradesmen, medical, dentist, insurance, & those looking to increase profits, boost sales, improve processes and develop stronger teams ~~~

Episode 49 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: Q & A: Employee Fraternization Subtitle: Should Employees Be Allowed to Date? In today's episode: We take a question from Karen. She has a problem with two employees who are dating. So how do you handle employee fraternization? Do you allow it or not? If so, how do you handle the impact on your business? For the Full Show Notes Visit: Episode 49 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com GET YOUR FREE 10 Questions Every Small Business Owner Needs to Ask to Evaluate their Business - WORKBOOK WHO THIS PODCAST IS FOR: local small business owners, mobile businesses, brick and mortar businesses, handymen, landscapers, pool cleaners, cleaning services, QSRs, restaurant owners, mechanics, plumbers, real estate agents, dog groomers, franchisees, tradesmen, medical, dentist, insurance, & those looking to increase profits, boost sales, improve processes and develop stronger teams ~~~

Episode 48 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: Give Your People Permission to Screw Up! Mistakes are Where They Will Grow the Most In today's episode: We discuss why you should let your employees make mistakes. How they will grow and develop their critical thinking. You will empower them and end up with a much stronger team. For the Full Show Notes Visit: Episode 48 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com GET YOUR FREE 10 Questions Every Small Business Owner Needs to Ask to Evaluate their Business - WORKBOOK WHO THIS PODCAST IS FOR: local small business owners, mobile businesses, brick and mortar businesses, handymen, landscapers, pool cleaners, cleaning services, QSRs, restaurant owners, mechanics, plumbers, real estate agents, dog groomers, franchisees, tradesmen, medical, dentist, insurance, & those looking to increase profits, boost sales, improve processes and develop stronger teams ~~~

Episode 47 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: 10 Questions Local Small Business Owners Need to Ask as they Head into the New Year Make This the Year of More Sales & Profits! In today's episode: We discuss the 10 Questions every small business owner needs to ask themselves. Each year you should pause and ask these questions to evaluate your business and if you are on track. Don't forget to grab the workbook below. For the Full Show Notes Visit: Episode 47 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com GET YOUR FREE 10 Questions Every Small Business Owner Needs to Ask to Evaluate their Business - WORKBOOK WHO THIS PODCAST IS FOR: local small business owners, mobile businesses, brick and mortar businesses, handymen, landscapers, pool cleaners, cleaning services, QSRs, restaurant owners, mechanics, plumbers, real estate agents, dog groomers, franchisees, tradesmen, medical, dentist, insurance, & those looking to increase profits, boost sales, improve processes and develop stronger teams ~~~

Bonus Episode - Success Saturday Today we discuss having a positive mindset vs allowing negative thoughts to drive how you think. Too often we think about what we don't want and not what we do want. Let's talk! HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com WHO THIS PODCAST IS FOR: local small business owners, mobile businesses, brick and mortar businesses, handymen, landscapers, pool cleaners, cleaning services, QSRs, restaurant owners, mechanics, plumbers, real estate agents, dog groomers, franchisees,

Episode 46 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: Q & A Do I Need an Employee Manual for my Business? Set Expectations with Your Team from Day 1 In today's episode: We discuss why it is critical that every business with employees has an employee manual. Setting expectations and informing new team members on day 1 is very important. Get Manual Template For the Full Show Notes Visit: Episode 46 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com WHO THIS PODCAST IS FOR: local small business owners, mobile businesses, brick and mortar businesses, handymen, landscapers, pool cleaners, cleaning services, QSRs, restaurant owners, mechanics, plumbers, real estate agents, dog groomers, franchisees, tradesmen, medical, dentist, insurance, & those looking to increase profits, boost sales, improve processes and develop stronger teams ~~~

Episode 45 – Should you Hang Out with Your Employees After Work? Today's Topic: Do You Own a Business or Just a Job? Subtitle: How to Avoid the Perception of Favoritism In today's episode: We discuss the pros and cons of becoming friends with your employees. How the perception of favoritism will consume your other employees and what you can do about it. For the Full Show Notes Visit: Episode 45 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com WHO THIS PODCAST IS FOR: local small business owners, mobile businesses, brick and mortar businesses, handymen, landscapers, pool cleaners, cleaning services, QSRs, restaurant owners, mechanics, plumbers, real estate agents, dog groomers, franchisees, tradesmen, medical, dentist, insurance, & those looking to increase profits, boost sales, improve processes and develop stronger teams ~~~

Episode 44 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: Do You Own a Business or Just a Job? In today's episode: We discuss how most small businesses owners actually own a job and not a business. We will talk about how to tell which you have and what you need to do to go from Job to Business Owner For the Full Show Notes Visit: Episode 44 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com WHO THIS PODCAST IS FOR: local small business owners, mobile businesses, brick and mortar businesses, handymen, landscapers, pool cleaners, cleaning services, QSRs, restaurant owners, mechanics, plumbers, real estate agents, dog groomers, franchisees, tradesmen, medical, dentist, insurance, & those looking to increase profits, boost sales, improve processes and develop stronger teams ~~~

Quote: "Alice asked the Cheshire Cat, who was sitting in a tree, "What road do I take?" The cat asked, "Where do you want to go?" "I don't know," Alice answered. "Then," said the cat, "it really doesn't matter, does it?" ― Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com

Episode 43 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: Q & A How Much Should I Budget for Advertising? In today's episode: We discuss Tom's question on how much he should budget for his advertising costs. The key is remember: Advertising is an Investment and Not an Expense. Plus we will discuss if you should do a percentage or flat amount. For the Full Show Notes Visit: Episode 43 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com

Episode 42 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: What are Best Practices & Why You Need Them In today's episode: We discuss Best Practices and why they are critical to your small business's success. Best Practices streamline our businesses and add to the bottom line. For the Full Show Notes Visit: Episode 42 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com

Episode 41 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: 5 Pros & 5 Cons I Learned from Owning a Franchise In today's episode: We discuss 10 things I learned from owning a franchise. A franchise isn't for everyone and today I share the pros and cons I found during my 5 years as a franchisee For the Full Show Notes Visit: Episode 41 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com

HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com

Episode 40 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: Q & A How to Drive Sales During Seasonal Slow Months In today's episode: We discuss how to increase your sales during your seasonal down time. The key is to have a plan. We will walk through 5 things you can do to help during these critical months. For the Full Show Notes Visit: Episode 40 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com

Episode 39 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: Should You Share Your Financials with Your Employees? In today's episode: We discuss a debate that happens within the business world. Should you share your profits and sales with your employees? By the way, Sharing Your Financials with Your Employees Might Just Get you More Sales & Profits For the Full Show Notes Visit: Episode 39 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com

Episode 38 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: Do You Need a College Degree to Run a Successful Business In today's episode: We will discuss my thoughts on if you need a college degree to run a successful business. Does it give you a leg up on those that don't? I'll share my experiences and what I think it takes to be successful. For the Full Show Notes Visit: Episode 38 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com

Are you currently suffering from a lack of inspiration to do what you need to do? You are not alone. HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com

Episode 37 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: Q & A: When Should I Hire an Assistant Manager Use an Assistant Manager to Allow You to Work ON Your Business More! In today's episode: We have a question about when is the right time to hire an assistant manager or shift leader. We will walk through the questions to ask. But we also discuss the importance of having a set of duties for this new positions. For the Full Show Notes Visit: Episode 37 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com

Episode 36 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: How Lack of Communication Can Kill Your Business My Rant on Power Communication from Business Owner to Business Owner In today's episode: We discuss how the lack of communication can kill your small business. I begin with a rant of how 4 local small businesses might lose my business due to making me look like a fool with my client by their lack of communication. For the Full Show Notes Visit: Episode 36 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com

Episode 35 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: What You Can Learn from Big Box Retailers & the Power of Add On Items Easy Ways to Increase Your Dollar Average In today's episode: We discuss how big box retailers strategically place products in key locations in their store to drive additional sales. Otherwise known as "add on items". We will go over a few examples of how you can do the same in your brick and mortar business. For the Full Show Notes Visit: Episode 35 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com

Bonus Episode: Success Saturday - Your people are the key to your success! Today we talk a few minutes about your employees and how they are the key to your success!

Episode 34 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: Q & A Help! I Keep Losing Employees In today's episode: We have question from a listener who is losing employees and wants to know how to figure out why and how to change it. Shownotes: Welcome back to the Local Small Business Coach Podcast, I am your coach Tammy Adams. Today we will wrap up our week of employee turnover episodes. Now you are probably wondering what sparked this theme week in the first place. Well, actually, it was a question that I received last week from Jesse. When I was thinking about how to respond, I realized that the subject was much deeper then the answer I would give to the questions, so why not make it a theme week so we could cover the other key things every small business owner should know. If you haven't had a chance yet, listen to episode 32 where we discussed 7 Reasons Your Turnover Might Be High and in episode 33 we discussed 4 Ways Turnover Costs You Thousands of Dollars a Year. The reason I did these prior to today's question, was I felt that they would give you a little background into why I am answering the question the way I am. Not to mention why I feel this topic is so important. So how about we jump right in? Jesse asks… I'm hoping you can help me out. Over the past year I have had a hard time keeping employees. It seems that every time I hire someone they either quit or I end up firing them due to their poor attitude or the crappy way they do their job. This is getting frustrating and I've tried everything. Any thoughts on how I can fix this? Jesse Hey Jesse, thanks for the question. Hopefully you have actually listened to those last two episodes and you've already been getting a few ideas but let's dive in a little deeper shall we? First, I can only imagine how frustrated you are. It is a pain in the kester to have to keep hiring people. Even though I have hired thousands of people through the years, I still hate the process. I hate having to take time away from other things I'm working on to sit through interview after interview. Especially when I usually know 5 minutes into the interview, that I'm not going to be hiring them. But, I did learn early on that it was a necessary evil. Every time I hired someone for the wrong reasons, I always paid the price. So even while I hate it, I make sure to do it right so I don't have to do it again soon. But let me step back first. If your employee turnover is as bad as you say it is, odds are you have a few areas you will want to take a look at. From the way you ask the question a few things come to mind immediately. The first, was what we were just discussing. Are you just hiring anyone or are you putting the time in upfront to find the right people? What is your interviewing process looking like? Are you asking questions that matter? Are you having them tell you about past experiences vs just giving you an answer that sounds good? Are you asking questions about customer service? Once you hire them, are you throwing them to the wolves or do you have a true onboarding process? Experience has shown that if we show that we don't care about them in those first weeks, we have already set the tone with them that we won't care about them later so why should they care about you? Since you mentioned that they had that type of attitude, I think there might be opportunity in your onboarding. However, there is another reason employees just don't care. How are they treated day in and day out. Jesse, I don't mean to come across harsh but I'm going to for a few minutes. You need to look in the mirror first. Why are these people not connecting to you and your mission? Just like we've talked about in prior episodes, when you respect your leader and you love working for them, you bend over backwards to make them proud. When you don't have that respect for them, you just don't give a crap. How are you speaking to them? Are you listening to ideas and questions? Do you check in with them and ask how they are doing. Oh, and act like you mean it? Or do you just see them as a revolving door so why care about them? I firmly believe that how you treat people is the #1 key to reducing your turnover. Think about it. If you hire a great person and you don't care about them, they will eventually not care. However, even a poor hire will bend over backwards to do well or at least as good as they can for someone they like and respect. Treating people well will actually offset a lot of other poor practices. So it is critical that you do a "self-check" first. You need to figure out how much of this turnover is coming from your employees "firing" you. As part of this self-check, I want you also look at how you are doing with your accountability. Now, I'm not talking about your firing process. Sounds like you are letting people go as much as they are quitting. What I'm talking about is setting expectations and then giving them the tools to accomplish those expectations. When I would investigate

Episode 33 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: 4 Ways Turnover Costs You Thousands of Dollars a Year In today's episode: We will walk through the 4 ways that turnover is impacting your sales but also your profits and how you can stop the bleeding. Welcome back to the Local Small Business Coach Podcast, I am your coach Tammy Adams. Today we are going to play off our last episode where we discussed 7 reasons your turnover might be high. You might recall that we went over the most common reasons your employees or team members might quit or end up getting fired. In this episode, I really want to discuss, why it is critical that you continually pay attention to your turnover and why you need to keep it as low as possible. What a lot of business owners don't realize is, high turnover actually can cost them thousands of dollars in lost sales and profits! Let's take a look at a few of the major areas high turnover hurts your local small business. Or for that matter, anybody's business. Let's start with the most obvious and work our way up Cost of Hiring When you lose someone, you need to replace them. We all know that. But have you ever put pen to paper and thought about what it costs for you to hire a new person? In order to do this, you need go back to something we discussed in the past and that is the cost of your time. If you time is worth $50 an hour for example and you have spend 5 hours on interviews and the hiring process, then you are already at $250. But that isn't all. Take it to the next level. What could you accomplish in those same 5 hours? How much in sales are lost due to you not working on money generating activities? For example, if you spent 5 hours on marketing, what would that return on investment be? Now, you need to avoid the trap many folks fall into. They realize they don't have 5 hours to hire the right person so they shave that down to an hour. The problem with this is, you are back in the vicious cycle of turnover as you might recall the #1 reason for high turnover is bad hires. So you MUST avoid trying to cut corners on your hiring. If it takes you 5 hours to find the right person, then this cost will pay back in dividends down the road due to reducing the turnover problem. But more on that shortly. Cost of Onboarding & Training Now, once you have hires these new folks, the next major expense you will have is your onboarding and training of them. Now you have time dedicated to their orientation, onboarding and training. You have the cost of another employee being pulled off what they would normally be doing so they can train the new person. Depending on your set up, you also have costs in training materials, uniforms, tools, etc. While sometimes you can reuse, for some of you and for items, you are starting over with each person. Don't forget, you also have an employee who is working at 10% compacity when they start. While they do grow each and every day you still have losses as they get up to speed. Which brings us to our next item. Cost of Poor Customer Service This one has two angles. First, let's continue down the path of the new employee. Since they aren't fully up to speed on their training or ability to help folks, you are losing sales due to them not being able to help as many folks as a fully functioning employee, nor are they at the level of doing add on sales or full packages. While they might give excellent service, it is normally at a much slower rate than you need. But the good news is, this gap should close quickly as they grow. However, I want you to look at this cost of high turnover a little differently. Where you really have a high turnover cost in poor customer service is actually prior to the turnover. Think about it, many of the reasons we have turn over are due to negative reasons. Poor hiring, poor training, poor attitudes, lack of caring and lack of leadership, often leads to people that don't care. When people don't care, they don't give great customer service. When they give poor customer service, your sales go down. When sales go down so do profits. You can only imagine how many sales are lost due to employees with poor customer service. This alone can add up to thousands a year per employee. Cost of Not Caring or Not Knowing And since we are talking about it, let's go over why your profits go down. We just discussed how poor service costs you profits but think about all the other ways your profits suffer. Do you think employees with poor attitudes or poorly trained are doing their jobs to the standards you expect? If you have a food business, do you think they really care if they put the right amount of cheese in that taco? If I go back to my ice cream days for example, if an employee was doing huge scoops they were shooting the costs of goods up. But why would they do this? Either A) We never trained them to do it right in the first place or they just didn't give a crap. Heck, they might even give away product to their family or friends?

Episode 32 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: 7 Reasons Your Employee Turnover Might Be High In today's episode: The loss of employees can be tough on your business. Constantly hiring and training new folks can be costly and time consuming. In this episode we walk through 7 reasons your employee turnover might be high. Shownotes: I want to dedicate this entire week's worth of episodes to your employees or as I like to refer to them your team. Now you may have heard some places are no longer calling them employees but rather team members to help promote the whole team concept vs the individual contribution. Ultimately it is up to you if you want to refer to them as employees or team members, the important thing to remember is that you respect them and you take really good care of them. They will not be hurt by one name or the other but they will not accept being disrespected. The reason this even became an issue in the first place, was to drive that "team" feeling as I mentioned. Then for some reason, the word "employee" became a negative term. Folks felt they needed to be a cool kid and join the crowd with this new term. To move away from the employee / boss combo vs the team / leader combo that seems more positive. But as I mentioned, most folks don't care if they are treated right. If they aren't treated right, then they will leave. Which we will get into in a few moments. But ultimately, don't get hung up on this. Go with what feels right. But like I said employee, team member and probably a few other ones that have been floating around are all fine. More likely you are going to hear me float in between the two words employee and team member. So don't get hung up on it. For today's topic I want to discuss 7 Reasons Your Employee Turnover Might Be High. I think we can all agree that employee turnover can kill you. Not only due to the time it takes to find the right person, but also the time it takes to train them and for them to learn the job. On our next episode, we will go into more detail on how turnover is costing you thousands of dollars each year, but for today, let's take a look at 7 reasons why folks decide to leave you in the first place. You Hire the Wrong People Too often we hire folks that fill a spot or a need and not necessarily the best qualified person. I've hired thousands of people through the years and I can tell you, there are a lot of people that interview well but are nothing like the person that shows up to work. It takes time to spot the warning signs that might show up. For example, if you are interviewing someone and they just roll their eyes or get annoyed at the interruptions that might happen, then how will they deal with the interruptions they are bound to get during the normal business day. Now don't get me wrong, I prefer interviews in a quiet setting but the reality is, many of you are doing these interviews in your lobby. Also, ask questions that require more reality based answers vs theory. Everyone will tell you they are great with customers. They would be stupid not to. But have them tell you how they have dealt with folks in the past. Great customer service they have already given. If you hire kids for their first job, you can still talk about how they handle helping people. Do they help folks at school, at church, in clubs, at home? And NEVER EVER EVER hire people because they fog up the mirror and you are desperate. You will pay the price in the long run. We will do future shows on hiring but you get the idea. Lack of Training both at hire and ongoing Do you hire people and throw them to the wolves? Or do you have an official onboarding process you use? Do your new folks go into a training program or mentorship to learn the job you hired them for? Or do you use the "sink or swim" method? But training doesn't stop with bringing them on board. Training means you have an ongoing program to help people get better at their job. When a new task is introduced, do you teach them the expectations and give them the tools to do it? Do you know most people fail in their job due to lack of training or at least poor training? Either they will quit due to being frustrated or you will fire them for doing their job poorly. Treat Them Poorly This one is a no brainer. If you treat your people poorly, they will not stick around long ** For the full show notes click the link below! HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Episode Show Notes: Episode 32 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com

Bonus Episode 4: Success Saturday Today's Topic: Finding that Daily Motivation In today's episode: We talk a few moments about finding that daily motivation to keep going and chasing out dreams and success HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com

Episode 31 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: Q & A: How Can an Introvert Drum Up Business? In today's episode: We discuss the various ways that an introvert must conduct business. While they don't go out and shakes hands and kiss babies, there are other things they can leverage to drum up business. Shownotes: Welcome back to the Local Small Business Coach Podcast, I am your coach Tammy Adams. Time for another question from one of you. Today's question comes from Jason and his question is one that I can totally relate to. Since this is something I struggle with at times with as well. Jason writes: Tammy, do you happen to have any advice for an introvert? I know I need to get out there and talk to people to create more sales for my business, but I just can't seem to do it. Do you have any pointers? - Jason Boy, do I feel you Jason! As a fellow introvert, I struggle with this every day. The interesting thing is, I have fooled many people through the years. When I was at Home Depot, I was always part of those personality tests that everyone likes to give. People were always shocked that I flagged as an introvert as they would have sworn I was an extrovert. I would actually get into debates with people. They would be confused by my ability to speak to my team or doing training events as meaning I must be an extrovert. What most folks don't realize is, introverts have the ability to speak to people about things they are passionate about. They can do this with one or many. Normally these groups have already been formed or they are already a captured audience. What introverts don't want to do is go out and seek new relationships. If they had to go out and collect these people, it would never happen. But hey, if they were already there, that works. Just know, that even if they must speak to a group, they will be dying inside but can pull it off as long as it is a topic they are passionate about like I mentioned. But if you ask an introvert to just go up to random folks and start a conversation, we just can't do it. You would think it would be easy since we are good at one on one and it isn't a group but trust me it isn't. We might stand there for 20 minutes trying to talk ourselves into it but in the end, we just walk away. The extroverts out there, are thinking "what is so hard"? Just talk to them. They don't bite. But to us, they just might. LOL Now, one would think this skill would give extroverts the leg up in business. I'm sure in some cases it does but believe it or not, some of the best business people out there, are introverts. The key is to leverage what you are good at. Recognize what your strengths are and how you can get the most out of it. Jason, Extroverts might win the race when it comes to getting out there shaking hands and kissing babies, but as an introvert that isn't in your wheel house. I'd like to tell you that you will never have to speak to another person but we both know that perfect world doesn't exist. LOL Two things come to mind that I personally have used through the years..... ** For the full show notes click the link below! HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Episode Show Notes: Episode 31 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com

Episode 30 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: What Are Loss Leaders and Why Your Small Business Needs Them In today's episode: We discuss what loss leaders are and how they can help you drive your sales and more importantly your profits! Shownotes: Let's dive into today's topic. – Loss Leaders. Now, unless you come from a big box retailer, you might be wondering what the heck a loss leader is. Basically, a lost leader is a product or service that you have that you know you will not make any money or at least a very little amount, but you know it is a gateway to additional products or service that will make great add on items or project completers. For example, a home improvement store will sell drywall around cost but they are hoping you will get the drywall mud, tape and tools which typically has a much higher margin thus more profit. You see this with the dollar menu at many fast food places. These items are not high margin but they are gateways to frequency and upgrades or add on items. Each business needs to have a loss leader or two that they can use in a similar fashion. Your loss leader can do one of the following: Drive traffic to your business since you will be the best price the best in town Be a Project Starter that you can pile on top of Increase frequency of use Let's take a look at each and what might work for you and your business. ** For the full show notes click the link below! HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Episode Show Notes: Episode 30 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com

Episode 29 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: Think Like a Leader Not a Manager In today's episode: We discuss the differences between leaders and managers. Too often these roles get confused. Those with successful teams understand that the importance of being a leader and leading their teams and only managing the tasks. Shownotes: You don't manage people; you manage things. You Lead People - Admiral Grace Hooper Welcome back to the Local Small Business Coach Podcast, I am your coach Tammy Adams. Today we are going to discuss something that is near and dear to my heart. Something that I feel is critical to your business's success. And this is a subject that I think so many people get wrong, not only in small business but in any business. I have watched many leaders through the years not under the difference between being a manager and being a leader. There is a quote that sums up what you need to remember: You don't manage people; you manage things. You Lead People - Admiral Grace Hooper As I mentioned, I've seen many people that assume they are the same thing. That a manager is a leader and a leader is a manager. The reality is, they are completely hats that a business person will wear. As a local small business owner, these are two roles you will want to make sure that you fully understand. Let's take a closure look shall we? When to Wear the Manager Hat The manager hat comes easy for everyone. After all, most of what we do, will fall under this umbrella. When we are working on our marketing we are wearing our manager hat. When we are doing the actual tasks of the business we are wearing our manager hat. When we are working on our numbers or ordering inventory, we are wearing our manager hat. When we are doing our bookkeeping or invoicing, we are wearing our manager hat. You get the idea. Whenever you are working on any task within your business, you are wearing your manager hat. When to Wear the Leadership Hat Now, let's look at the leadership hat, typically it will involve your interaction with your people. However, the leadership hat is more than this, which we will discuss in a few minutes. When we think of leaders, we think of people that inspire, people that provide direction and people that fire us up and motivate us. You are wearing your leadership hat when you are speaking to your employees. Think about it, you are trying to inspire them to give great customer service, to have the best store or maybe the best company. You are providing them the expectations and more importantly the "why". Another aspect of leadership has to do with your role in the community and with your peers. You are wearing your leadership hat when you setting the example with other business owners and with how your community will view you and your company. Your company's brand and reputation is all about the leadership you provide it. So it is important to recognize that even one person local small businesses have a need to understand when they are wearing their manager hat vs their leadership hat just as much as a brick and mortar or any other team business. Why Do These Terms Get Confused? What causes folks to confuse the manager hat and the leadership hat, is how we use the word manager. Think about it, we have store managers, assistant managers, department managers & office managers. We use the word manager over and over when we discuss who leads our teams. When your employees go home at night, they talk about their "manager" not their leader. But the ironic thing is, they are actually discussing what type of "leadership" they had that day from their manager. An example might be: "Today my manager yelled at me to clean the lobby". Yes, the manager was discussing a "task" if it were, but the what the employee was upset about was how this person provided "leadership". If they were asked to clean the lobby and explained why it was needed, the odds are it would not have been dinner conversation that day. ** For the full show notes click the link below! HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Episode Show Notes: Episode 29 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com

Bonus Episode: Success Saturday - Build Your Own Dream Stop Building Other People's Dreams and Build Your Own Today we discuss why you need to build your own dream and stop building someone else's dream. HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com

Episode 28 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: Q & A – Any Advice on How to Save My Business from Failing? In today's episode: We take a question from Tina who's business is starting to fail due to a competitor who opened and she can't seem to get back to where her business was in the past. Shownotes: Welcome back to the Local Small Business Coach Podcast, I am your coach Tammy Adams. If you are here in the states, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. Even if it was just a day off for you, I hope you enjoyed it. Guess what today is? Yep, it is time for our weekly question. When I shared my business failure back in episode 24 it was a difficult thing to admit to myself, not to mention to share with you folks. But ultimately, I knew if I could help just one person with their situation, then it would be worth it. While it has only been a week or so, the feedback has been positive and I hope the episode will continue to help others. I'm sure we will continue to dissect the learnings in the future. With that said, I thought I thought I would pick a question that came in from someone fighting that struggle today. I want to thank you for sharing your story about your failed business. I am currently going through this very thing now. I feel like I work 24/7 and can't seem to get out of a hole that I have put myself in. When I started my business several years ago, I was growing each year and making a decent amount of money. Unfortunately, a competitor opened a couple of years ago and I haven't been able to recover. My business has been down 30% from previous years and I'm afraid that I will not be able to hold on much longer. Should I just call it a day and close up shop or should I continue to fight? I just know I'm tired and I'm not even sure I have any fight left. - Tina Hey Tina, I can only imagine what you are feeling. I remember those same feelings. During my last year, I felt so drained and second guessed myself and my decisions all the time. However, even though I was on the fence about if I could make it or not, the one thing I didn't do is give up. I knew I would go down swinging. Even when I thought I didn't have any fight left, I knew I had employees and customers counting on me. This provided me the energy needed to keep pushing. You didn't mention what type of business you have so I'm going to be a little more generic but my thoughts should still work. Let's tackle what seems to be your biggest hurdle, the competitor that has chipped away your business. Thirty percent is a hefty drop, not going to lie. But I'm curious if it has been a steady 30% loss from the beginning or if it was higher at one point? If it was higher at one point then we at least know you are headed in the right direction and we could focus on how to move that needle even more. However, if it has been a steady 30% or even worse, still sliding, then there might be some bigger issues than just your competitor. Let's take a look at that angle first, shall we? If your business keeps sliding, then your competitors have figured out a better mouse trap. Maybe their products are better or their services. For some reason, they are hitting your customer's needs better than you are. Tina, your mission if you are willing to fight longer, is to find out what they are doing better than you. First and foremost, look at two key things: Customer Service & Quality. Why these two? Because, people will pay more if they are getting excellent customer service and great quality. Don't assume it is price. It might be these items. I've seen many folks falsely believe it is price, so they lowered their prices to combat. Since the core issue had nothing to do with price, it actually just compounded the problem. So now, not only were they were losing customers due to customer service and / or quality, they pushed their sales even lower by dropping their prices. I'm not sure if you did this or not but if you did, then don't worry, you can always fix that later. But first, you need to focus on how you can stand out from this competitor those two key issues: Service and Quality. One thing I've learned about new competition opening, is that you always have the initial dip in sales due to what I call the looky loo syndrome. People are always excited by what is new and shiny. They will always give it a try. Whether they stay or not, is up to you and that competitor. When I was with Home Depot, we knew that we would have an initial drop in business, but if we continued to offer great service and showed why they loved us in the first place, they would come back "home" if you will. Even better would be if that competitor stumbled. Fast forward to when the competition opened with my ice cream store. This time it was a yogurt place. I told the kids that worked for me to focus on the experience our customers had and keep the quality of our product high. Folks would miss us and come back. Sure enough, after losing the initial 40% we crept back up and wi

Episode 27 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: Is Your Local Small Business Growing or Dying? In today's episode: We discuss why you want to identify if your local small business is in a dying stage or a growing stage. We walk you through the 5 things to look for in both stages Shownotes: Welcome back to the Local Small Business Coach Podcast, I am your coach Tammy Adams. Hopefully your week is going strong with lot of business. I also hope that after our last episode you have been putting some thoughts into what you want your 2017 business goals to be. So, have you set those target sales and profit goals for next year? Which processes you will improve and what are your plans to develop your team? Don't forget, you have one more month to finalize those goals. Don't procrastinate, do it now. Not only is this time of the year a great time to think about your goals for the new year, but it is also a great time to analyze your small business and ask a very important question: Is Your Local Small Business in a Growing or Dying Stage? I'm going to assume that some of you had an immediate answer pop in your head. Maybe your business has been going bonkers so you know your business is in the growing stage. Perhaps you've been losing customers and sales have been sliding so you are facing a dying business. For the rest of you, I'm going to wager that you are landing somewhere in the middle. Neither dying nor growing. The problem is, you can't be stagnant. While it might be very subtle, you are headed in one direction or the other. You challenge is, you must identify which way you are headed. Let's take a closer look at the signs you should look for. If your business is starting to die, you are going to see these 5 warning signs: Word of mouth for your business is not positive. You are seeing some negative online reviews or maybe your customer complaints are higher than normal. Folks are sharing with family, friends and neighbors that they should use or go to other businesses. Sales are flat or dipping – If your year over year sales are flat or sliding backwards, then this is an obvious sign. While flat sales still might be good sales, there is no growth going on, unless of course profits are up. Don't get a false feeling of growing business if your sales are strong yet are same as the month or year prior. This is an early warning sign that is often missed. Lack of Innovation or New Ideas – When you started your business you had a lot of great ideas going on. You were probably trying stuff to see what worked and what didn't. You listened to new idea. Over time, a business can stop creating new ideas thinking that what they do is good enough. Problem is, this just isn't true. There is a reason that Nike has a new line of shoes each year, why Coke & Pepsi still put out new flavors or takes on their sodas. They know they must always be looking for the next big thing. Morale is low – Not just yours but more importantly your people. Remember, your team is the first line of contact for your customers. If your team is negative and unhappy, your customers will feel it. And no one likes to shop or use a business that is depressing and just not fun to visit. Poor Cash Flow – Believe it or not, there are businesses with great sales yet they are poor at the end of the month. Just like a doctor who makes $200,000 can still be broke, so can a $200,000 business. It is only a matter of time before something can happen and poof, it is all over. Just like that doctor who can go bankrupt even though they have a great income, so can a business with great sales. Now that we know what to look for to identify if you are in a dying stage, let's take a look at 5 ways a business in a growing phase has going on and how you can go from dying to growing! Growing businesses are trying new things. They are trying new products or services. They are adding on related items to not only grow sales but profits as well. Maybe they are trying new ways to market their brand. They might be stepping out of their comfort zone and trying social media. Encourage your team members to share their thoughts, their ideas. Ask them what they think the customers are wanting or asking for. Let's face it, they are the ones that are belly to belly with the customers and they are experiencing it every day. When I worked at Home Depot, the founding father, Bernie Marcus, was a master of this. Every store visit he would break away and just talk to the customers. He would not only find out things about that particular store, he was also looking for trends from store to store, market to market. It was fascinating to find out the things he pick up from this exercise he did from day one and long after he left as our CEO. Hire talent that "isn't like you". One of the worse things you can do is hire people that are just like you. Now, before you even say it, yes, you want passionate people that love customers. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking ab

Episode 26 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: Time to Start Planning Next Years Business Goals for Your Small Business In today's episode: We discuss why it is critical for you to set your business goals for next year. You don't want to risk not growing your business by doing what you have been doing. You want to push yourself to improve and grow. Shownotes: Welcome back to the Local Small Business Coach Podcast, I am your coach Tammy Adams. Today we are going to discuss why it is important that you start to plan your 2017 goals now if you haven't already. I'm sure you have thought on and off about what you hope to do next year. They typically come in flashes. For example, maybe you are paying bills and tell yourself that you need to increase you profits the next year. Maybe even going as far as thinking of a specific number. Maybe you mumble to yourself during the summer months how next year you really do need to hire some help much earlier next time. Or maybe you thought about some new products or services you would introduce in the coming year? Best case scenario you have been capturing these thoughts along the way. Maybe in a notebook or an ap in your phone. This way you can easily reference them for the exercise I will challenge you with today. So before we dive into what you should capture, let's take a few minutes and discuss why you want to start in November and why it is critical to your local small business's success next year. Businesses that do not carve out a plan for the new year, tend to get the same year repeated over and over. While the calendar flips over to a new year, it might as well just be flipping to a new month only. When you do what you did last month, you will get what you got last month. And the month before that and the month before that. Anyone that doesn't plan out 2017 will get 2016 repeated. Now, that might be good for you and perfectly ok. Maybe you had a banner year and you think you will get the same thing. Then again, maybe you won't. Without a plan, you are taking a big risk. The world is full of people that keep reliving the same year over and over. Both personally and professionally. I have a sense you are the type that wants more than that. You are the type that wants to take your business next year to the next level. You want better sales, more profit and a smoother running business. You do this by having a plan. A plan that you want to put together now. Why a month early? This allows you the time to put into place anything you need to hit the ground running on January 1st. ** For the full show notes click the link below! HELPFUL LINKS CLICK TO GET THE NEW YEAR GOAL WORKSHEET Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Episode Show Notes: Episode 26 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com

Bonus Episode / Success Saturday – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: Don't Compare Yourself to Others Shownotes: Hey Local Small Business Owners, welcome to our Success Saturday Bonus Quickie Episode. Today we will discuss why you need to use other's Success for Motivation, not to Diminish Your Own Success HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com

Episode 25 – The Local Small Business Coach Podcast Today's Topic: Q & A: Frustrated By Lack of Sales in Pool Cleaning Business In today's episode: Matt's Asks: I started a pool cleaning business back in June. I have been doing this full time and have been struggling to cross $1500/month. This month it looks like I will cross $2000 (if I'm lucky). I am getting frustrated and wondering if I made the right decision. Do you have any thoughts on what I can do? Matt Shownotes: Let's dive right in. Today, we have a question from a relatively new local small business owner, Matt. Let me read his question so we can discuss his situation Matt's Asks: I started a pool cleaning business back in June. I have been doing this full time and have been struggling to cross $1500/month. This month it looks like I will cross $2000 (if I'm lucky). I am getting frustrated and wondering if I made the right decision. Do you have any thoughts on what I can do? Matt Hey Matt, you don't mention if these number are profit or sales. The way you have written the question, I'm going to assume that you are giving us sales numbers. You are still doing pretty good for how long you have been doing this. So don't get discouraged. I know when you started the business you had a target goal in mind and if you are an over achiever like I am, then you thought you would have achieved those targets already. And you will, but you probably need to tweak a few things to get there. Let's take a look at some things that might help. My first thought is, Where is your business coming from now? Are these customers that are one and done? Are they family and friends? Are you using any types of advertising? How are you marketing you and your business? When it comes to your current customers. How many are reoccurring accounts? One of the nice things about having a pool cleaning business is, it is one of those local businesses that are built on the recurring business model. Similar to landscapers, cleaning services, pet grooming and nails, the money is made in the repeat business as you know. Let's say you charge $100 a month during the summer months since you might have to swing by weekly and the other months you drop to $50 since you do less frequently. Assuming 5 months at the $100 and 7 months at the $50 a potential client is worth $850 a year. If you can get 30 recurring clients, that has the potential of $25,500 or a $2,100 monthly average. But that is only 7 clients a week so there is a great opportunity for doubling this even if you do all the work yourself. If you could do 3 folks a day, 5 days a week you are now looking at that doubling of sales we discussed. The real challenge becomes, how do you get these folks and how do cut down the turnover. If you are losing clients, you need to ask yourself why. My experience has been, if your clients love you and the quality of the work you do and every time they go to use their pool is is ready to go, then they tend to keep their person as long as financially they can. Granted, you will lose folks due to them selling their home. But ** For the full show notes click the link below! HELPFUL LINKS Podcast Website: LocalSmallBusinessCoach.com Leave your Message on the website with the Speak Pipe Button or just email me at [email protected] Episode Show Notes: Episode 25 - Local Small Business Coach Podcast Our Training Materials for Local Small Business Owners: TrainingforLocalSmallBusinessOwners.com Starting a Local Small Business Website: StartALocalSmallBusiness.com