KickStart: Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less. C. S. Lewis
I’ll admit it. When I started my first Home Services business I was a cocky, proud and yet insecure jerk!😲 (My dear wife is saying right now, “So Steve, you think you’ve changed over the last 50 years?”)🤔 Hmmmmm…
KickStart: Develop remote workers to answer your service business lines when you (or your office staff) aren’t available. Read on to review the four simple steps to “git ‘er done”…
I’ve been (unjustly) accused of being a bit OCD in my Home Services business!🙄 And yes, too often I was guilty as charged when it came to me personally answering incoming calls on my business line(s)… 24-7!
Steve’s Embarrassing Confession: Even after we were grossing almost $2,000,000.00+ yearly I STILL was answering my business lines… even at home 24-7! In fact, (GULP!😲) I STILL kept on doing this AFTER I sold our company. That’s when my dear wife Sioux blew up! (Hopefully she won’t get mad again reading this- 30 years later!)😡
Sure, you should focus on your business phone. After all, every missed/mishandled call can literally cost you many 1,000’s of dollars in downstream income. But eventually I realized that not every call needed to be answered by me (or any business owner) personally! Instead…
KickStart: “Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure…” Andrew Grove, CEO of Intel
During his eleven years(1987-1998) as CEO at Intel, Andy Grove used his absolute hatred of “business complacency” to rocket Intel’s value by 4,500%! (From $4 billion to $197 billion!) But now let’s talk about you and your residential services business…
KickStart: “There are two things people want more than sex and money: recognition and praise.” Mary Kay Ash, Founder of Mary Kay Ash Cosmetics
I count four very strong “wants” (desires) in Mary Kay’s quote above. And yet, I’m guessing YOUR #1 business desire/ want/ need is finding committed, hardworking and (most of all) reliable employees!
This ongoing recruiting quest for quality workers is brutal in today’s hiring crisis. But wait! You likely already have these reliable employees… already working for you!👍👍
KickStart: Stop treating your business phone as a distraction. Instead, obsess over each and every service inquiry!
When your business phone rings do you: A) ecstatically scream with delight?👍💪💖 B) fall into an anxiety attack?😬 or C) collapse in panicked dread?😨 For all you “B” and “C” folks, let’s move you into the delighted “A” category with a ringing phone!
First, reflect on the HUGE stakes with this caller. I know, you’re thinking, “Ummmm, Steve, I thought you were going to cheer me up. I’m even more freaked out now!” My reply?
KickStart: “The person who walks alone will find himself in places no one has ever seen before.”
KickStart: Maintain your prices high enough that homeowners routinely wince… and then book the job anyway!
True Confession Time: Steve Toburen is not remotely an accountant and/or a financial planner. In fact, Steve HATES and despises “number crunching” of any type!😡
In fact, I tell each client and every online class I teach: “I’ve always been good at MAKING money. But I’m terrible at counting, tracking or even investing this money!”
And yet, even with this major financial disability I’ve enjoyed a very successful career as the owner of multiple Home Service businesses! I’ve built my (very profitable) success on one informal pricing concept I call…
KickStart: “… the inexperienced keep right on going and suffer the consequences.” (Proverbs 22: 3) If you choose to “stay small” protect yourself going forward.
I’m so very proud of you! You’ve analyzed your personality, skills, circumstances and what you (and your family) want out of life.
This honest self-appraisal may have convinced you that the inevitable stress, drama and (at times) agonizing sacrifices required to build a larger Critical Mass Business simply aren’t for you. Instead…
KickStart: “I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.” Groucho Marx
So, have you found your “Happy Place” as a Home Services business? (And life?) Your biggest “Happy Place Choice” in our residential services industry is…
KickStart: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it!”😲 Yogi Berra, Baseball Hall of Fame catcher/manager and pithy folk philosopher.
Good for Yogi! He was a man of action! But Yogi overlooked a very important part of any “fork in the road”.
Recognizing that a decision “masquerading as a small choice” now can have HUGE consequences later in life!😲