Latest / The Relentless Pursuit of Winning Podcast / Stop Guessing: How to Use Financial Data to Grow Smarter | Avi Pinsky

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Stop Guessing: How to Use Financial Data to Grow Smarter | Avi Pinsky · The Relentless Pursuit of Winning Podcast

0:00
You do have to understand the language of the numbers.
0:03
You don't have to be an accountant yourself,
0:05
you don't have to be able to put together the financials,
0:07
but the accounting is the language of business.
0:10
Cash is the
0:10
Yes,
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bloodline of a business.
0:12
And if the cash runs out, it doesn't matter how much revenue or profit you have.
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If you're playing the game, you need to know the score.
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The
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scoreboard is a place for you to track your winning and you know which areas
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are you lagging behind.
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When you see it and it's so clear,
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black and white, it drives
0:27
Mm-hmm.
0:28
you to say, Well, I set this target for myself.
0:30
And if I'm not getting
0:31
Minute.
0:31
there, I want to get there. If I am getting there,
0:34
well, am I doing all that I can,
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or did I set the bar too low?
0:53
Hey guys, welcome to another episode of the Relentless Pursuit of Winning Podcast.
0:57
My name is Rick Meekins. I'm gonna be your host today and in our studio
1:00
we have Avi Pinsky. How are you today,
1:02
sir?
1:04
I'm doing great. Happy to be here.
1:05
Thanks for having me.
1:07
Hey, I'm glad you're here. I'm glad you're here.
1:08
This is gonna be a great show.
1:09
We are gonna be talking about money and profitability and all that good stuff.
1:13
But folks, before we get to it,
1:15
let's do this. If you haven't done it already,
1:17
please like, subscribe, and hit the bell so you can get updates every time
1:20
we drop a new episode. And without further ado,
1:22
let's get to it. So, Avi, could you give us a little background on who you are,
1:26
what you do, and why you do what you do?
1:27
So I'm Avi Pinsky. Originally from Los Angeles,
1:30
California. Spent a little time in the New York,
1:33
New Jersey area. About 10 years ago,
1:35
moved over the pond to Israel with my family.
1:38
And I'm basically a an an ex-accountant,
1:42
I guess you could call me. I I still I still have my CPA and whatnot.
1:45
But but I moved away from doing taxes and now I'm doing actual work that
1:50
can help people in a meaningful way.
1:52
Helping people make better decisions using data,
1:55
using instead of the their their gut their gut reactions for decision making,
2:00
they get to use information and data about their business in order to make
2:04
the right decisions and an informed decisions to to build their business
2:08
in the right way, using a systematic approach and not just flying by
2:12
the seat of their pants.
2:14
You know, it's it's it's always interesting.
2:16
I've I've worked with and I'm I'm I'm gonna badmouth everybody now.
2:19
I've worked with a lot of people from like,
2:21
you know, from from larger other consultants,
2:23
I should say, from larger agencies.
2:25
And, you know, I've I've seen it be very difficult to translate what you're doing
2:29
in like, you know, large multi-billion dollar and multinational corporations down
2:33
to, you know, smaller companies.
2:35
Question one, why did you do it?
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And two, you know, what's what's been that what's what's that been like for you?
2:41
Yeah, so why did I do it? I I was getting zero fulfillment in the
2:46
in the accounting world working
2:47
Mm.
2:48
for the big four. It just was not a very fulfilling position.
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you're you're just number crunching essentially all day long.
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There's nobody really behind the numbers.
2:59
You're not dealing with with a person who you know
3:01
Mm.
3:02
has a family who he's trying to support and trying to make ends meet,
3:06
pay his mortgage.
3:07
At best, you're dealing with a bookkeeper who's a hired hand or a
3:12
VP of finance who's making, you know,
3:14
six figure salary and doesn't actually himself have any skin in the game.
3:19
The skin of the game, if the business does better or worse,
3:22
he's got a flat salary. so it wasn't a very fulfilling position.
3:25
And the the the work was kind of it it wasn't necessarily high value.
3:33
and what I mean by that is we weren't doing things that could really affect
3:37
the the health of the business and take
3:39
Mm-hmm.
3:39
it to different levels where now it's doing a better job actually paying
3:43
the bills and helping support the the owner and you know the employees.
3:47
It was like maybe you're saving a thousand dollars here,
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a thousand dollars there, and and and maybe you know,
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I don't I don't want to poo-poo that or not,
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because you know, for some people,
3:55
an extra thousand dollars a year is a huge difference.
3:58
Mm-hmm.
3:59
But now what I'm doing is stuff where I can help.
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Double, triple, 10x the business,
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that makes a whole different world for the business owner.
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Now he can grow it
4:09
Mm.
4:10
more, he can hire more employees,
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provide for more families. he can actually take take a paycheck out at
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the end of the day, right, instead of just scraping by working 80-hour weeks
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and making minimum wage for the amount of time he's putting into it.
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~ so
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Yeah.
4:24
now he can actually be profitable and support his family comfortably.
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And it's a
4:28
You know.
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much more fulfilling and rewarding position.
4:32
Yeah, I hear that I hear that a lot.
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I hear that a lot. That's that's remarkable.
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I mean, the the the human connection,
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I think, and that's something,
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you know, I'm I'm really big into is is is just so important.
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And then, you know, as you say,
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as you say, I mean, you're involved.
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You I I think about the people that I've worked with over the years,
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and it's just like, you know, you get to know,
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you know, not just them, you know,
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but their families and their interests and their visions and and stuff like that.
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And so yeah, I I think it totally relates to that.
4:58
so how would how did that how did that transition work for you?
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I mean, like like you said, I mean you're sitting here and you're making you know,
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you're making your salary and all of a sudden,
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you know, you gotta go fishing in order to eat.
5:08
You know, I mean it that's that's a big deal
5:11
Yeah.
5:11
to me.
5:12
Definitely. I think I d I think doing,
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you know, just like every other person who who who starts their own business.
5:17
I I I think the the majority of them,
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I don't want to speak for everybody,
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but from my perspective and my experience,
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most people don't just decide,
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let me quit my job and and start my own business from scratch tomorrow.
5:30
It's usually a process. ~ usually
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Mm-hmm.
5:33
start as some sort of a side gig on their free time,
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on weekends, on nights, you know,
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whatever. ~ and
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Yeah.
5:38
then as they
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get better at it and they have more of a reputation.
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They find get they're getting more and more clients and and at that point they
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can no longer do both. ~ and
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Yeah.
5:47
then you kind of have to make a decision.
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Well, do I really want to grow this side gig and and maybe go full,
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you know, full tilt at it? Or do I do I not want to do that?
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And you know it'll be supplemental income.
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It's not going to be my primary income.
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so gets to a point where you have to choose a lane and and that's kind
6:05
of where you make that choice.
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If somebody wants to quit their job and just dive head into something
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new and whatever, I mean, you know,
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that that's great. I I wish them the best.
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I don't know if it's the smartest,
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wisest decision to make, but it's a very personal decision.
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it's certainly not the way that I did it.
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I'm very risk averse in that in that
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Yeah.
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way and and I would not I wouldn't be able to to to pull the to pull
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the trigger on that kind of a decision.
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Mm, mm, mm. Good for you, man.
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Cause yeah, I know lots of people that have jumped off that bridge
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and built that plane on the way down.
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wow.
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Just
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like, crap. Cool. Well
6:38
Hopefully
6:39
it had some sort of structure before they jumped.
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Yeah, yeah, I'm I'm sure they did.
6:43
They had a they had a great idea,
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I'm sure. what what was that like?
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I mean, look, don't get me
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wrong, even if it is a side gig that's doing well,
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and then you decide
6:49
Uh-huh.
6:50
to to to to jump and and leave that job,
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it's risky. It still can be very
6:54
Yeah. Yes.
6:55
risky. And and to an extent you are building the plane because now you're
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not just doing the operations,
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right? Take an example of I don't know,
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a plumber. So if if he's doing some plumbing jobs on the side as you know
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on on evenings and weekends.
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But now all of a sudden he's turning it into a plumbing job and he's gonna have
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to hire other plumbers and and a secretary and a this and then that
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and paperwork and bookkeepers and lawyers and and all that jazz.
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His role is changing very drastically.
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And that's kind of where a lot of these business owners come into trouble,
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is that they they think, well,
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it's the same thing. I'm just gonna keep doing my thing over and over again
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and and it's just gonna grow. There's a ceiling
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to to that role. At some point you have to go into a new role completely
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of being the business owner and not just being an operator in that in that business.
7:42
~
7:42
Yeah.
7:43
so to an extent you are still going to be building the the plane as you're
7:47
as you're falling. ~
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Mm.
7:48
and you know hopefully you have some sort of a support group that can help
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you in that endeavor.
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Mm.
7:53
Cause otherwise it's like, yeah,
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how how well do the skills of a journeyman,
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electrician, how well do those translate into
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an owner of a electrical, you know,
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an electrician business, it's
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Yeah.
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a completely different skill set.
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so it still is risky and it still is scary.
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And that's kind of who I'm trying to help are the people who don't really know what
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to do at that point. but yeah,
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at least at least you know there's some demand for your services at that point
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if you
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Mm-hmm.
8:21
if you have that side that side hustle stage before you go full full in.
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Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. You know,
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you you reminded me a lot of a lot of folks that,
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you know, start their companies in the way that,
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you know, in the way that you did and,
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you know, s other folks have is,
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you know, they start doing business with,
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you know, essentially friends and family,
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people that, you know, they kind of know or people they know through their network.
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at what point did you realize that you needed to be able to reach beyond that
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or what what point did you start getting outside of your network and what
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was that like for you?
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Yeah, I mean you definitely have to expand your network if you're gonna grow,
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right? There's and with that you also have to expand your skill set.
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especially on the sales side of things,
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right? Because it's one thing to sell to your friend,
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it's a complete different thing to sell to a stranger.
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So you definitely have to
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Okay.
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expand your your abilities there.
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But, you know, I guess it probably depends on what it is that you're doing.
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~ if
9:14
Yeah.
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you're doing you know, let's say you're doing
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What w what was your experience?
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so with my experience, you know,
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I i it
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If I'm trying to to to service business owners,
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there's only so many business owners that are in my network.
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~
9:26
Yeah.
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so you know, if if I get to the five or ten that are in my network,
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I now have to expand out of there.
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You know, you run out of them quickly.
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~ I
9:35
Yeah.
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think it's the it's a good place to start.
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Are the people that already know you,
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the people that already like you and trust you.
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but eventually you're gonna have to expand your network and and
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and network with other people that can make you referrals.
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Just because there's somebody in your network who doesn't fit your ICP,
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so that doesn't mean that they don't have someone within their network that
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Yeah.
9:54
that that that does fit your ICP.
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So it's so you know, you start with that inner circle and then you kind
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of want to expand and and and get the little V Venn diagrams of,
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you know, just because I don't know him myself,
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but if somebody in my circle, they're in their circle and they're in that circle.
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So the more the the the quicker you can do that,
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the more you can expand your business more rapidly and
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you know, grow to whatever set whatever size or level you're trying to get to.
10:20
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So so what did you do?
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I mean, you're you're going from being an individual contributor,
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you know, you're you're
10:25
Yeah.
10:26
you know, head down, you're doing taxes and all that good stuff,
10:29
to you have you have to be out there.
10:31
And you know, I I know a lot of people,
10:32
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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like my myself included, you know,
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it's it's like this it's a it's a whole shift.
10:38
Too, it's like, okay, I need to go
10:39
Yeah.
10:39
out and I need to meet more people and have more conversations,
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figure out the messaging, define who I'm talking to,
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who I need to talk to. What would what was that journey like for you?
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Yeah. So for me it was it was a lot of social media,
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finding finding groups on LinkedIn that I can join,
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connecting with people on LinkedIn that I can that that were within
10:59
the either potential referral partners or or themselves could be my my ideal client.
11:06
a little bit in the Facebook space,
11:08
but not not as much there. at least not yet.
11:10
Who knows? Maybe in the future.
11:11
and finding other professional networks such as,
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you know, I I never joined a a BNI chapter,
11:16
but
11:17
That's definitely
11:17
Yeah.
11:18
a a good place to start, depending on on who you're looking to service
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and who you're looking to partner with.
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There are a lot of other networks out there as well.
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I know of one that the Connective is one that I that I joined.
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there's there's other, there's I don't even know,
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there's probably dozens, if not hundreds,
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of them at this point. got a lot of groups on WhatsApp that I'm a that
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I'm a member of. And you try to contribute as much as possible to the discussions.
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Again, on LinkedIn
11:39
Mm-hmm.
11:40
and in Facebook groups and whatnot,
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the more you can contribute to the discussions,
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the more you're gonna stay front of mind
11:45
Mm.
11:46
with people. And then there's a likelihood that when they need your services,
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they'll remember you. Cause if you're just on the group and a silent person,
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you're not you're not gonna be front of mind.
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Somebody else is gonna take your place.
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When they're like, who needs a,
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you know, plumber, electrician,
12:01
whatever? There's gonna be somebody else who's been more active,
12:05
with a louder voice and who's gonna like,
12:07
yeah.
12:07
Joe. Joe is the guy who's always talking about these things.
12:10
so you definitely want to not just join,
12:12
but contribute.
12:14
Yeah, yeah. That makes sense. That makes sense.
12:16
That makes sense. let's shift gears a little bit.
12:19
you had talked earlier about that transition from being the plumber,
12:23
the electrician to that to that business owner.
12:25
You know, and and of course you weren't on the same journey yourself.
12:29
You go from being the financial advisor to,
12:31
you know, the guy that's, you know,
12:33
running a company and and and all of that good stuff.
12:36
when you're working
12:38
Bec I'm assuming that you're working with people through that transition.
12:41
You're helping companies, you know,
12:42
you said, you know, 10 extra business and that sort of thing.
12:44
What is what does that education start to look like?
12:48
You know, especially around the financial piece of that.
12:51
Yeah. let's face it, most business owners don't have an a degree in accounting,
12:56
which is fine. You know, it's n numbers is not for everybody.
13:00
but You do have to understand the language of the numbers.
13:04
I mean, you don't
13:04
Mm-hmm.
13:05
have to be a mathematician, You don't have to be an accountant yourself,
13:07
you don't have to be able to put together the financials,
13:09
but the accounting is the language of business.
13:12
So if your account if if your bookkeeper,
13:15
your accountant are talk to you talking to you about your cost of goods sold.
13:18
And you don't know what they're talking about,
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so you're missing a huge piece of the conversation.
13:23
~
13:24
Yeah.
13:24
so you do no matter what business you're in,
13:28
you have to understand the basics.
13:29
You don't have again, not the numbers aspect of it,
13:32
but the concepts. So that when they're
13:33
Mm-hmm.
13:34
saying your gross margin is 50,
13:36
20, 80, whatever, whatever it is,
13:38
you know what that means, and you know what the
13:39
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
13:41
what the
13:42
the goalpost is for somebody in your industry,
13:44
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
13:45
whether it be twenty
13:46
percent in your industry or eighty percent in your industry or somewhere in between.
13:49
~
13:50
Yeah.
13:50
and then when they tell you what yours act what your number actually is,
13:53
so then you know, like what what does that mean that I'm above the number
13:57
and below the the goalpost? What does that say for what do I have
14:00
to do differently in my business?
14:02
'cause as the business owner, you're no longer just working with
14:06
the clients and dealing with the day to day operations.
14:09
You have to be looking at the big picture.
14:10
Mm-hmm.
14:11
So when they tell you that your gross margin is is too low,
14:15
so you have to know what am I what do have to do differently in order
14:18
to get that back on to back on track to the goal that we set,
14:22
you know, whenever it is that we set that goal.
14:24
maybe you have to set your goal a little bit more realistically.
14:27
Maybe you have to set your goal more frequently,
14:29
because maybe your goal is set from 10 years ago and you haven't looked at it since.
14:32
So
14:32
Mm-hmm.
14:33
you you do have to to to look at these things frequently enough and know what's
14:36
a realistic amount to to be trying to hit.
14:39
But
14:39
Most importantly is when you get that information,
14:43
that data from your bookkeeper or from your accountant,
14:45
you have to know what to do with it.
14:46
What decisions
14:47
Yeah.
14:48
are implied by the results that they're showing you.
14:51
And
14:51
Yeah.
14:51
if you don't understand the concepts,
14:53
then you're you're just not even in the conversation at all.
14:58
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Agreed. Yeah,
15:00
one of the concepts that I've had conversations about is is that idea
15:04
of value pricing. You know, you have your,
15:06
you know, you know what your costs are,
15:08
you know, but you know, there's so much more value,
15:10
you know, that's being extended to the customer.
15:12
How do you how do you
15:14
Yeah.
15:14
how how do you put that together?
15:16
How do you how does one figure that out?
15:18
It's a good question and and and it really does depend a lot on
15:21
the industry because they're i and
15:23
Mm-hmm.
15:23
and and on the customer. If you're trying to get a high-end customer,
15:27
so it's a lot easier to to to bring that show them the value that they're getting
15:32
from what it is that you're providing.
15:34
If you're trying to just go with the everyday Joe Schmo on the street
15:39
who is struggling to put food on the table and strugg struggling to make ends meet.
15:45
They're not necessarily going to pay more for value,
15:48
right? They're just
15:48
Right.
15:49
a lot of times they're going be going for the cheapest supplier,
15:52
the cheapest provider of of the service or goods or whatever it
15:55
is that they're trying to get.
15:56
so it's really a matter of who are you trying to target and what does that person
16:01
value? Right. Does that person value time?
16:03
Does that person value convenience?
16:05
What is it that you can speak to that's gonna convince them that your thing
16:10
is worth the the the
16:12
prime the prime price tag that you're trying to put on it.
16:15
Yeah.
16:16
And and it's kind of like a little bit of a marketing question,
16:19
right? Who can I sell to and what does that person care about?
16:22
And if if person X cares about the time involved in getting your product,
16:29
but you're gonna try to sell them to the superior quality of it,
16:32
you're you're
16:33
Mm-hmm.
16:33
just not speaking their language.
16:35
Right.
16:35
So you can
16:35
try to value price on how look at how valuable the quality is and then then
16:40
the and the brightness of the colors and whatever.
16:42
And they're like, okay, but it's still costing me time.
16:44
So I have to go drive to your office to go pick it up and the thing
16:47
and then whatever. And and I I don't have the time for that.
16:49
So who are you talking to? What's their language?
16:53
That's how you're gonna upsell them on the value that you're bringing when when
16:57
you can talk to them about the thing that they care about.
17:00
~ so
17:00
Yeah.
17:00
it's it's it's really a lot of doing market research and seeing.
17:04
What is it? What is it that they care about?
17:05
Are you talking to a middle-aged person?
17:09
Are you talking to an elderly person?
17:10
Are you talking to upper, upper class,
17:12
lower class, middle class? These things are all gonna be factors in
17:16
the message that you want to put out there when you're trying to express that value
17:21
that you're given.
17:22
Mm-mm-mm. What what about when you're in a commodity type business?
17:27
You know, we talked about plumbers and electricians and that sort of thing.
17:30
I mean, it's just like, hey, my pipe is broken.
17:32
I need it fixed. You know what I mean?
17:33
How does
17:34
Yeah.
17:34
how do you how do you advise folks,
17:37
you know, when they do want to kind of break out of that commodity mindset and offer
17:41
Yeah.
17:42
something that is, you know, something that people are going to be willing
17:45
to pay a little bit more for? People that are going to say,
17:47
hey, you know what? I need to go with this
17:48
For sure.
17:48
guy instead or this girl instead of that girl.
17:51
Yeah, I got a great story from that just from I think it was like a week ago.
17:54
Was it a week ago? Maybe
17:55
Awesome.
17:56
maybe two weeks ago. one of my friends,
17:57
he's a locksmith. If he's watching this,
17:59
shout out, you know who you are.
18:00
he was saying the same thing. How do I how do I value my price?
18:04
My change the lock and that's it.
18:06
Like what what else am I supposed to be doing?
18:08
So
18:08
Uh-huh.
18:09
I said to him, Well, at least where I'm located and in,
18:13
you know, where we live, a lot of times these types of
18:17
plumbers and electricians and and people of that those types of services,
18:21
they'll give you like a three hour window where they're gonna come.
18:24
You know, be at some point somebody's gonna come between you know,
18:28
Thursday night and like Sunday morning.
18:29
Yeah.
18:30
So like be at home and, you know,
18:32
hopefully you cat they catch you when they get there and hopefully you
18:35
can let them in. And that's very inconvenient.
18:38
So I'd said to him, if you can figure out a way to make your schedule work that
18:43
I get am going to be there.
18:44
Between, you know, 10 and 10 five,
18:47
you know, both of them a.m. of the same day of the week.
18:51
It's like a crazy concept, right?
18:52
Yeah.
18:53
And then that's a huge, that's a huge value proposition for someone who,
18:57
Mm-hmm.
18:57
you know, maybe you've got a bunch of kids and you have to figure
18:59
out the schedule of this kid and that kid and then the drop and the pickup
19:02
of the carpool and the soccer practice and this.
19:04
I can't necessarily guarantee I'm gonna be home for this three hour period that
19:08
you might show up, right? But if I can
19:11
Yeah.
19:11
tell the person I'm going to be there.
19:14
at this time and you can keep you can you can figure out how to make that work with
19:18
your schedule
19:19
Mm-hmm.
19:19
and you can keep to that so that that's actually the the the reputation that
19:24
you build up in the industry. That's a that's a big value value add,
19:29
at least in my book. Cause I know a lot of times my wife is like,
19:32
well somebody has to be home from this,
19:34
that and the other so we have to worry around our to work out on a schedule.
19:37
I have to cancel this meeting.
19:38
I have to take this meeting from the house instead of from my office
19:40
and then that just so that I could be home when the plumber comes.
19:43
Right. When I
19:43
Uh-huh.
19:44
called the plumber three weeks ago.
19:45
Right. So so
19:46
Mm-hmm.
19:46
it's it's very, very inconvenient.
19:48
And if you can you can create that convenience for people,
19:51
I don't see why you can't then charge whatever you whatever you wanna
19:55
ask for that kind of service.
19:58
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I I would pay extra.
20:00
I think I would pay extra for that.
20:01
I mean it's it's like the mobile mechanics.
20:03
You know, to have a mobile mechanic come to my house,
20:05
work on my brakes, you know, whatever that is,
20:08
I mean that is valuable to me.
20:09
I will pay I will absolutely pay that service
20:11
Yeah.
20:11
fee for that. That's that's imp you know,
20:13
that's you know, I mean t you know,
20:15
I hate to say the thing, but I mean time is money.
20:17
You know, it's like I can't do this other thing.
20:20
If I'm tied up, you know, gotta take my car there,
20:22
it's gonna sit there for three hours,
20:23
they're gonna tell me something,
20:25
I don't know.
20:25
And they're gonna say, hey, plus it's gonna be,
20:27
you know, X number of dollars extra,
20:29
and it'll be ready next week. It's like,
20:30
what the heck?
20:32
Exactly.
20:33
I know somebody else who's got a yeah,
20:34
he bought he he got a truck and he had to get it serviced right away
20:37
Mm-hmm.
20:38
and he's he's it's been
20:39
out of he's been out of the out of his hands for like two months.
20:42
He's been on a loaner for two,
20:44
maybe three months at this point.
20:45
That's definitely a value to someone.
20:48
They want the tr they bought the truck 'cause they want it.
20:50
They didn't want the loaner. They didn't buy the loaner.
20:52
So if you can if you can say, you know,
20:54
buy this from me and I will guarantee that it's workable and usable
20:58
and isn't gonna break down.
21:00
That's a huge value add, a huge value add.
21:03
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.
21:05
Absolutely. You're you're you're really for me,
21:08
you're you're really clarifying a value,
21:11
you know, that that you that you offer people.
21:14
And I and I wanna and and and I I want to kind of use the use the standard term,
21:18
but you know, help me understand,
21:20
help us understand the difference between you know,
21:23
hiring a bookkeeper, hiring an accountant,
21:26
and hiring you.
21:27
Yeah. ~ so a question that's a question I get
21:28
Without getting in trouble.
21:31
all the time. All the time is I have a bookkeeper,
21:33
I have an accountant, what do I need you for?
21:35
So
21:35
Mm-hmm.
21:36
I like to use the analogy of driving a car and looking at the rear looking
21:40
in the rearview mirror occasionally.
21:42
Right. Your your primary focus when you're driving a car is going that way.
21:46
And what's in front of me, what's in my way,
21:49
where am I trying to get to? How much further do I have to go?
21:52
What's my you know, what's
21:53
Mm-hmm.
21:53
my target? What's my goal?
21:55
And what's the path to get there?
21:57
Do I turn right? Do I turn left?
21:58
Is there is there some car in the way that I have to go around?
22:01
Some sort of maybe there's a tire in the middle of the highway I have to avoid,
22:04
right? All these obstacles that are between me and and my ultimate goal.
22:08
and there's also whatever happened behind whatever happened,
22:11
happened. It's behind me, right?
22:13
Sometimes I have to look there just to get a little bit of information that's gonna
22:17
help me proceed forward, right?
22:18
Mm-hmm.
22:19
When I'm trying to switch lanes.
22:20
Or if I'm trying to avoid that tire that was in the middle of the road,
22:23
right? So I'm gonna look and see is there somebody in my blind spot?
22:26
So I'm gonna glance out, I'm gonna glance behind me in the lanes next to me.
22:29
~ maybe
22:30
Mm-hmm.
22:30
I've maybe I wanna push the speed limit a little bit.
22:33
I wanna see if there's a cop behind me.
22:34
Who knows what I wanna do? Right.
22:36
So so that behind me aspect,
22:39
that's the bookkeeper.
22:41
Okay.
22:42
I guess you could say the accountant if you're talking about like,
22:44
you know, doing taxes. That's maybe the police officer that's tailing behind you,
22:47
and he's
22:47
I just want to make sure you're not getting caught by the police and and ~
22:50
Mm-hmm.
22:51
and and getting penalized by not doing your taxes.
22:53
But your bookkeeper is telling you all the information that happened.
22:56
What happened
22:56
Mm-hmm.
22:57
last month, what happened last year,
22:58
what were your margins? but none of it is future,
23:02
none of it is going forward. How to see the obstacles,
23:06
anticipate them, and avoid them and and set that set that path for how do
23:12
I get to my target.
23:14
How do I get to my my goals with my business in the most expedient expedient
23:19
way possible? So that's where I come in,
23:21
where I say, let's look at the past and let's let's get some data,
23:24
but
23:25
Mm-hmm.
23:25
ultimately we're not living in the past.
23:27
We're not dwelling on it. That's not our whole
23:29
Right.
23:29
life. For a bookkeeper, that is their whole life,
23:31
and that's their job, and it's a valuable job which needs to be done and needs
23:34
to be done properly. And unfortunately,
23:35
Right.
23:36
usually it's not done so properly,
23:38
but but the the the data is only
23:41
As valuable as you can use it going forward.
23:44
Cause your job as the business owner is to drive things towards the goal,
23:48
right? You want to be a $10 million company,
23:49
you want to be a $20 million company?
23:51
Are you trying to build towards an exit?
23:53
Are you trying to sell? Are you trying to build up a legacy that you
23:56
can pass down to your kids? What are you trying to do with your business
23:58
and what are your goals? Where are you trying to get to?
24:00
And if
24:01
Yeah.
24:01
that's not your focus, then I'm sorry,
24:03
you're not really being a business owner.
24:05
Right. Maybe
24:05
Mm.
24:05
you're being an operator, or maybe you're just being somebody who's stuck
24:08
in the past and and reliving all the bad decisions that they made.
24:11
but that's not helpful to building a business.
24:14
In building a business, you have to figure out where do I actually want to go?
24:17
What's where where am I targeting?
24:20
What are my goals in life with this business?
24:23
Yeah.
24:23
and then charting the path. How do I get there?
24:26
and that is, you know, you can do that yourself,
24:29
right? It's certainly possible.
24:31
Mm-hmm.
24:32
Oftentimes,
24:32
if you're trying to do it yourself,
24:33
you are kind of going by the seat of your pants,
24:36
making decisions on a whim, using gut reactions.
24:39
Whereas I like to say, well, let's look in the rearview mirror,
24:43
let's see what decisions we made,
24:45
how did those work out for us?
24:46
Which things have to change. So that when we're going forward,
24:49
we're doing it smarter and we're doing it with data,
24:53
we're doing it with information and concrete facts on what worked
24:56
and what didn't work.
24:58
Mm.
24:58
so that's
24:58
that's kind of the big difference.
24:59
Is it a past focus or is it a future focus?
25:02
and and
25:02
Mm.
25:03
I think being on the side of the business owner,
25:05
you need somebody in your corner who's gonna help you translate what happened
25:09
to what should happen, what should be done differently going forward.
25:13
Yeah, yeah. It what what I hear is is also I mean it's it's more of an you know,
25:19
an operation operational attentive role.
25:22
You know, where a bookkeeper is not to tell you why something happened
25:26
or an accountant's not going tell you why something happened,
25:28
you know, but rather, you know,
25:30
they're they're just looking at the raw numbers.
25:32
And it sounds like you're interested in,
25:34
you know, okay, we did we invested this amount in marketing,
25:38
you know, these were the outcomes.
25:39
You know, did we invest enough?
25:41
Did we invest in the right area,
25:42
et cetera, et cetera? Because that's really the only way to to really
25:47
be able to make those predictive decisions that or recommendations.
25:50
So, ~
25:52
Yeah, that that's a great
25:53
example of it, right? We we've we exam we've we've put a million dollars into
25:56
marketing and it increased our revenue by a hundred thousand dollars.
26:00
Well, that's not really very good investment at that point,
26:03
right? You're you're kind of losing
26:04
Right.
26:04
the the nine hundred thousand and it really you want those numbers to be reversed.
26:08
You want to invest the hundred
26:09
Yeah.
26:09
thousand in the marketing to make an extra million.
26:11
you you wanna know if where we're where we're putting our money is
26:16
it actually doing what it's supposed to be doing,
26:18
which is making us more of it in return.
26:20
Yeah.
26:21
are we did we increase it our payroll because we we added some new positions?
26:26
Well, did that did that increase our customer satisfaction?
26:30
Did it increase our productivity?
26:31
Like what did it do for me? Did I actually have
26:33
Yeah.
26:34
any return on that investment?
26:36
so marketing's one area, payroll's another area,
26:38
getting actual physical assets.
26:41
You know, we got a new machine to manufacture our widgets.
26:45
Is that machine working? Is that machine producing?
26:49
these are all things that need analysis,
26:51
which your bookkeeper is not doing because that's not part of their job.
26:54
Right. Their job is just
26:55
Yeah.
26:55
to record. Their job is not to analyze.
26:57
~ but
26:58
Right.
26:58
if but future decisions need past analysis.
27:02
You know, one of one of the one of the mistakes that we make as business owners
27:05
is that, you know, we're, you know,
27:07
working the 70, 80 hours a week,
27:09
but there are activities, you know,
27:12
that we could really distribute to other people on the team.
27:15
And the first thing that we think about
27:16
Yeah.
27:16
is, I'm gonna have to pay money to this.
27:19
I have to take money out of my pocket in order to bring this person in.
27:22
Do us a favor and really help us understand what we're doing to ourselves
27:27
and to our company when we do that.
27:29
When you when you bring somebody in to handle those little minor tasks,
27:33
what you're really doing is buying back some of your own time.
27:37
And so you really have to think,
27:39
is this task worth my efforts?
27:41
Right. Now th there's a whole other thing of,
27:44
well, is it worth anybody's efforts?
27:46
You know, is there is it worth it for anybody
27:47
Ha ha ha ha.
27:48
to be doing this task? Those are there's certainly some of those tasks
27:51
on our plate as well. Like
27:51
That thing.
27:52
this really should just not be done by anybody,
27:55
just drop it.
27:56
But for whatever reason we don't and we can't and we don't want to or whatever.
27:59
We make all the excuses in the world.
28:01
but there's gonna be a whole other part of the part of the job as well,
28:05
where this needs to get done and someone needs to do it.
28:10
It's not part of his job description,
28:12
not part of her job description,
28:13
it's not whatever. So fine, I'll just do it.
28:16
Everything falls on to my head because I'm the owner,
28:18
so the buck stops there and
28:20
Mm-hmm.
28:21
nobody else is gonna do it, I'll do it.
28:23
How many of those things are really worth your time and effort?
28:26
And what could you do if you had that time back?
28:29
Could you grow your business to absorb that cost and then some?
28:34
And if these are low-value tasks,
28:36
they probably are. It's probably things where it's eating up your time
28:40
and taking you away from the things that that could two,
28:44
three, four X the business. And at that point,
28:46
Mm-hmm.
28:47
it's
28:47
like, well, so.
28:48
Hire the person for a hundred thousand dollars,
28:50
you know, like just be crazy, like a crazy salary of a hundred thousand dollars
28:54
to to have this person do these silly,
28:56
stupid tasks that I don't want to do.
28:58
And now I can grow my business by another three million,
29:00
two million, one million, even.
29:02
Like it's it's really a no-brainer when you look at it from a numbers perspective.
29:06
If you're just
29:07
Yeah.
29:07
making a gut reaction, I don't want to take on another salary
29:10
and another pension and this and then benefits and that,
29:13
okay, like it's it's a hard decision to make.
29:16
But what
29:16
Yeah.
29:17
if you're gonna look at it from a numbers perspective and say,
29:19
well, let's actually see what's gonna happen.
29:21
I'm gonna spend X amount on the salary,
29:23
this amount on benefits, and this amount on that,
29:25
that and the payroll and all that HR stuff that's gonna come along with it.
29:29
But I will be able to have my focus back,
29:32
and now I can grow the business,
29:33
get another 20 clients, 100 clients,
29:36
and and and take the business to a whole different level than it was at before.
29:40
So now when I
29:41
Yeah.
29:41
see that number on paper and I see,
29:42
well,
29:44
X amount comes out, but look at the Y that comes in and what that does
29:47
to the bottom line and the cash flow.
29:49
It's it's a lot easier to put your head on the pillow at the end of
29:53
the night once you've made that decision used using your your your intellect
29:57
and and and numbers instead of just going based on your gut.
30:01
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. That makes total sense.
30:03
That makes total sense. Another question for you.
30:05
you know, we're we're finding that some of the current you know
30:10
AI models are connecting with,
30:12
you know, bookkeeping tools like you know QuickBooks and and that sort of thing.
30:16
And so, you know, we're tempted,
30:18
you know, same conversation, you know,
30:20
about saving money, you know, we're we're tempted to use those tools.
30:25
as, you know, for our financial modeling and and that sort of thing.
30:28
Talk talk to us about, you know,
30:30
I mean, I we we imagine there are benefits,
30:33
you know, but we know that there,
30:34
Yeah.
30:35
you
30:35
know, we know somewhere deep inside us there are risks.
30:37
Can you really clarify that for us?
30:40
So I'm I'm not an AI expert by any stretch of the imaginations.
30:43
I use it. I have friends that are experts in it,
30:46
and I talk to them about it, seeing where I can benefit from it,
30:49
where it can help me. And and it seems the consensus that I'm getting from them
30:54
is that it's a tool. and it's a valuable tool.
30:58
It's a very useful tool. But a tool is
31:00
Mm-hmm.
31:00
only as good as the person wielding it.
31:02
Right? You and
31:03
Mm-hmm.
31:03
I can both take the same hammer and start trying to strike a nail.
31:07
It's not the hammer that's doing it.
31:09
It's the skill of the person that's striking is gonna make a world
31:13
of difference into how well that and how quickly that nail is gonna
31:16
get struck into that piece of wood.
31:18
~
31:18
Mm-hmm.
31:19
and and so yeah, if if you understand it and you understand
31:24
the the the the the issues that you're running through it,
31:29
so great, use AI. It's a wonderful tool,
31:32
it can be very helpful. I think it does need spot checking.
31:36
I think it needs
31:36
Mm-hmm.
31:36
a careful, watchful eye because sometimes it can go a little rogue
31:39
and sometimes can make up facts.
31:42
I I've seen it firsthand. It'll it'll make
31:44
Mm-hmm.
31:45
up sources and completely out of out of whole cloth.
31:48
court cases, legal precedence,
31:50
it'll completely manufacture out of
31:50
Yes.
31:52
nowhere. so you do need to check it.
31:55
it could be that it's better nowadays.
31:57
I don't know. The last time I checked that type of stuff was maybe a year or so ago.
32:00
So it could be that it's better now nowadays.
32:02
But if you're somebody who doesn't understand the thing that you're even trying
32:07
to do with it, and you think that it's gonna compensate for that,
32:11
it won't because it's being
32:12
Mm-hmm.
32:12
directed by by you. So you need
32:15
Mm-hmm.
32:15
to kind of know where to take it in its path of thinking.
32:19
And to just say, okay, AI, do an analysis of my business and tell me X,
32:24
Y, or Z.
32:25
probably not going to give you out anything that's so useful because it's
32:28
not getting
32:28
Yeah.
32:28
the direction that it needs. It needs that feedback from you as the as
32:33
the brain to to to to to push it in the right direction.
32:37
It's it's a good enhancement of your skills.
32:40
It's a good tool to enhance your school skills and to use your skills
32:44
and take them to to another level of depth and and efficiency but it's
32:50
Yeah.
32:51
not
32:51
It's not gonna bring a skill set in and of itself.
32:55
Right, right. You know, I I think the d I feel like the danger is and
32:59
and you can speak to this more than I can,
33:00
but there there there's a danger in in you know,
33:04
the predictive analysis in in in particular,
33:06
you know, but also, you know, the the cause and effect analysis.
33:10
You know, I have I
33:12
I can't tell you when it didn't work,
33:14
where, you know, I just, you know,
33:15
just just kind of testing the system.
33:17
What does it mean if we do XYZ?
33:19
And there were so many things that,
33:21
you know, it doesn't take into consideration.
33:23
Or, you know, like you said, you get we get some of these results where it goes,
33:26
my bad. I shouldn't have you know,
33:29
and and
33:29
Exactly.
33:30
you know, there's there's as you said,
33:32
I mean it's it's a tool, but it seems as though it's
33:36
It's it's limited and it really quir requires a human in the loop.
33:40
I mean, would you would you agree with that?
33:41
Yes. Yeah.
33:43
A hundred percent. It definitely needs a a it's almost like
33:48
Trying to think of a of like I have an idea in my head.
33:51
I'm trying to think of like how to put it to an actual example,
33:54
but it it it it's you know maybe we'll go,
33:56
yeah, we'll go with like Captain America,
33:58
right? Captain America, I don't know,
33:59
I'm not so into like comic books and all that stuff,
34:02
but he got some sort of a shot which it enhanced his characteristics,
34:06
right?
34:06
Mm-hmm.
34:07
It didn't it didn't create new it didn't give him new muscles,
34:11
it took the muscles that were in his body and
34:14
And expanded them and and enhanced what already was there,
34:18
right? And and in terms
34:18
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
34:19
of his character. So it took his good character and and enhanced it because
34:24
it gave him the it gave him the tools to use that character more powerfully.
34:29
So the same
34:29
Mm.
34:29
thing I think with AI. It's it's not something that's going to bring
34:33
an intelligence to the forefront.
34:35
It's going to take your intelligence
34:35
Mm.
34:36
and your knowledge base and it's going to enhance it.
34:39
and it's going to make it more,
34:40
you know, quicker.
34:42
It's gonna make it more more efficient.
34:44
But at the same time, like yeah,
34:47
you do need a person that's controlling you know,
34:50
that that's behind the joystick,
34:52
so to speak, that's controlling it and directing it.
34:55
Cause otherwise, yeah, it it could go off the rails.
34:58
And and if nobody's watching it,
35:00
people are just like, whatever it shoots out,
35:02
I'm just gonna go with. You can get yourself
35:04
Mm-hmm.
35:04
into real serious trouble that that way,
35:06
because you know, you don't wanna.
35:07
Absolutely.
35:08
It's like having an associate in your in your business that doesn't have anybody
35:12
who's looking over their work,
35:14
except it's a much more powerful associate.
35:16
and
35:16
Yeah.
35:17
there's no reviewer who's watching and making sure they're doing a good job,
35:20
you can get yourself into real trouble that way.
35:23
I'm I'm I'm a little like I can I can feel like shivers in my back,
35:26
you know, just thinking about all these bad scenarios.
35:29
That that could absolut that could absolutely happen as a as a result of that.
35:32
Yeah, we we definitely
35:33
For sure.
35:34
need to have somebody in the loop on that.
35:36
yeah, one one of one of the other things that we as entrepreneurs do is,
35:41
you know, we're we're ambitious and and we have ideas.
35:43
We have lots and lots of ideas.
35:46
And, you know, when we have money,
35:47
we want to fund all of them.
35:50
Typically at all
35:51
Yeah.
35:52
at the same time, okay? 'Cause they're all million
35:54
Yes.
35:54
dollar ideas.
35:55
How do you how
35:56
Yeah.
35:56
do you manage us? Because we can go broke real quick.
36:00
You there's this is a line that I saw from Alex Harmozzi recently that that profits
36:05
are not natural. people when they have money they they tend to spend it right away.
36:09
So having a reserve, having a an emergency fund is is not natural.
36:14
And in a business that's you know a a a matter of having a profit,
36:18
it's not natural. You have to be conscious about it to to to keep that money
36:22
for when you can use it and put it to its greatest use.
36:26
how do I help people with that is it's a matter of focus,
36:29
right? I I like to have people focus on two or three things that they can
36:34
do in the next month that's gonna take the business,
36:37
you know, one step further on the path towards where you're trying to get to.
36:43
Mm-hmm.
36:43
If you're gonna try to go from from you know ground zero to the moon in a day,
36:49
like I'm sorry, you're gonna you're gonna get you're gonna you're gonna get stuck.
36:53
in your business, you're never gonna get off the ground and you're gonna burn
36:56
through cash like crazy because you're gonna constantly be waiting
37:00
for the solution to go from the ground to the moon in one day.
37:03
And it's
37:04
Mm-hmm.
37:04
you're never gonna get there because that exit that currently that solution doesn't
37:08
exist. But if I tell you, look,
37:10
let's get from the ground to the moon in a year,
37:12
so now it's first of all, it's actually doable.
37:16
And you might actually get there if you do it wisely,
37:19
slowly, slowly,
37:20
Mm-hmm.
37:21
one step at a time. But if you're just
37:22
Mm-hmm.
37:23
looking for that big explosion right away,
37:25
grow the business to, you know,
37:27
from one million dollar business to a hundred million dollar exit tomorrow,
37:30
you're gonna spend the whole year getting nowhere because you're waiting
37:34
Mm.
37:35
for that big, huge change that's gonna come in an instant.
37:38
But if we
37:39
Mm-hmm.
37:39
work on it, that's our 10 year goal,
37:41
maybe. A ten year goal is to have a hundred a hundred million dollar exit.
37:45
Mm-hmm.
37:45
Maybe it's actually going to be doable if we break it down into what
37:48
has to happen today so that in 10 years from now we have that hundred million dollar
37:52
exit. And then what has to happen tomorrow so that in 10 years from now
37:57
we have a and and then you can build the ladder slowly.
38:00
and and and if somebody tells me I want to focus on this,
38:02
that, that, that, that, that, I well,
38:04
excuse me, let's let's take a step back.
38:06
What's the what's the define the word focus for me?
38:08
You can't focus on all of it all at once.
38:11
And let's narrow our focus to one.
38:13
Let's build that area. Let's build that new product or service in the business.
38:17
Make sure it's doing well. Once that one's done,
38:20
we'll put somebody in charge of it.
38:22
He'll maintain it. Now you can focus your attention on this other service,
38:26
this additional
38:27
Yeah.
38:27
product, and we'll build that slowly.
38:30
And then we'll go to the third and the fourth.
38:32
And that's a smart way to build a business out so that it's intentional
38:36
and it's something that can be sustained in the long.
38:39
Mm, mm. I like that. I like that approach.
38:41
I d well, I don't like that approach,
38:42
but I'm just
38:43
It's
38:43
not a matter of liking the approach,
38:45
it's a matter of liking the results.
38:47
And staying in business. Hello.
38:49
Exactly.
38:50
Exactly.
38:52
You put together you've put together the prosperity playbook for our audience.
38:57
Can you can you talk about that?
38:59
Yeah, yeah. The Prosperity Playbook is a very,
39:02
very simple, basic, so easy. A child could use it.
39:06
Excel workbook. and I want to emphasize that 'cause a lot of people hear Excel,
39:10
they get a little intimidated,
39:11
numbers. I don't know. I don't really like doing spreadsheets.
39:14
It's so simple. My 12-year-old,
39:17
or I guess she's 13 at this one,
39:18
my 13-year-old daughter could do it and she's never used Excel before.
39:22
It's
39:23
Mm.
39:23
a a simple spreadsheet where you can go in.
39:26
And you can set your targets for your business within for the next year.
39:31
I mean, you can you could do it over any length of time you want to do it.
39:34
The way that
39:34
Mm-hmm.
39:35
it's intended to be used is at the beginning of every year to look at what
39:39
did we do last year and what are you hoping to do this year?
39:43
again, if you want to do it as what did I do last decade and what I want
39:46
to do for the current decade, like you can you can use it for that as well.
39:49
but
39:50
Mm-hmm.
39:50
you're putting in your targets,
39:51
you're saying, based on my
39:53
previous performance. Again, what's in that rear view mirror,
39:55
right? What
39:56
Mm-hmm.
39:56
I did for the last mile of the journey.
39:59
What do I think I could do for the next mile of the journey?
40:02
~ or the next, you know, whatever,
40:02
Mm-hmm.
40:05
five
40:05
miles of the journey, whatever it is you want to put in there.
40:07
~
40:08
Mm-hmm.
40:09
it basically targets about 15 numbers that cover anything that can go
40:14
on in a business. Again, we're looking at things from a fifth from
40:17
a 30,000 foot view. We're not looking at
40:19
Yeah.
40:19
the granular details of
40:22
Exactly what goes into my cogs and what goes into my payroll and what no,
40:26
just globally speaking, 30,000 foot view,
40:30
what are my cogs? What are my what's my expected revenue?
40:33
What's my payroll? What's my marketing?
40:35
and then throughout the year you can kind of check in with those numbers
40:38
and see how am I doing? Am I actually meeting those targets?
40:42
if not, why not? And what do I do about it?
40:45
Again, which which
40:46
Mm-hmm.
40:47
two or three of them do I want to focus on for the next month?
40:50
Mm-hmm.
40:50
~
40:50
and what can I do about those numbers specifically that the the those
40:54
two or three that are gonna make the biggest difference in the bottom line
40:58
at the end of the day? What can I do about them and what will I do about them
41:02
for the next month or two months in order to really move the whole thing along
41:07
the path more efficiently? and you know,
41:10
next month do the same analysis.
41:12
What's now my weakest of the of the 15 different levers?
41:16
Not every business is gonna have all 15,
41:18
right? Some businesses are gonna have only five of them,
41:20
some of them are only gonna have 10 of them.
41:21
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
41:22
You have to look at your business
41:23
and see where, you know, where it falls,
41:25
which one which ones of those makes sense.
41:27
You know, just for an example,
41:28
one of them is inventory. If you're not an inventory-based business,
41:31
you don't have ~ an inventory
41:32
Mm-hmm.
41:33
lever to play around with. right.
41:35
So do it with a little bit of,
41:37
you know, wisdom and ~
41:39
So smart.
41:39
you know, make sure that you're actually thinking it through.
41:42
But a but again, very, very simple,
41:44
basic, basic Excel that anybody can use tomorrow with n no training.
41:49
and and set the targets of your business and look at them.
41:52
Look at your goals. See if you're meeting them,
41:56
see why yes, see why not, and see what you can do about
41:58
Mm-hmm.
41:59
it.
42:00
Mm. Mm-hmm. That sounds good. That sounds really helpful.
42:02
So simple a business owner can do it.
42:05
Yeah.
42:07
Definitely. That's the goal.
42:08
~ what
42:10
you know, it's it's I there's there's there's a certain amount
42:12
of discipline that goes into managing finances.
42:15
And you as as business owners,
42:16
Yeah.
42:17
I mean it's just something that that we have to do.
42:19
And I know it's really dependent on the type of business that we have.
42:23
but I I know that a lot of times,
42:25
you know, we're as business owners,
42:26
I mean we're we're fighting fires,
42:28
we're putting out, you know, whatever's whatever's flaring up.
42:30
I need I need a recommendation that you can give us to say,
42:34
Hey, this is you know.
42:36
figure out how much time you need to you know,
42:38
whatever that conversation needs to be like.
42:40
What what do you recommend? How do you how do you how would you guide us on that?
42:43
So that that's kind of what it is that I do with my clients primarily
42:46
is play out those what if scenarios with the numbers and and
42:50
Mm-hmm.
42:50
say, okay, so these are the targets that we set,
42:52
and here's our thing, here's how things are going right now.
42:55
If I could
42:56
Mm-hmm.
42:56
only focus on one or two of them,
42:58
which one would make the biggest difference in the bottom line?
43:02
Right. Where
43:02
Yeah.
43:03
do I see that we've been up until now?
43:05
Right. How many leads have we gotten in the door?
43:07
How well have we been doing at converting those leads?
43:09
~
43:10
Yeah.
43:11
And then you know how much are we charging?
43:13
These are all different levers where I could say,
43:15
well, what if I improved one of them?
43:17
What does that do? What if I what if everything stays the same and I just bring
43:22
in more leads? Right? How much more money does that does that make me?
43:26
And what's a realistic thing that can I realistically double my leads?
43:30
Can I realistically
43:31
Mm-hmm.
43:32
triple my leads? Can I realistically increase them by only 10%?
43:35
No, what's what's realistic? And if I did that.
43:40
which how what would the difference be on my revenue,
43:42
on my profit, and on my ultimately my cash flow,
43:44
right?
43:44
You know?
43:45
The thing that hits my bank, that's what makes the biggest difference in a business.
43:49
I feel bad we haven't really talked about cash flow because that's like that's
43:52
the thing that people don't don't understand in their business the most.
43:54
They understand revenue a little bit,
43:56
profit a little bit, cash flow is cash is king,
44:00
right? Cash is the thing that it's the
44:00
Yes, yes.
44:02
it's the the bloodline of a business.
44:04
It's the the the the
44:06
The gas that powers the engine of the business.
44:08
And if the cash runs out, it doesn't matter how much revenue or profit you have.
44:12
because happens to be those are all theoretical numbers,
44:15
revenue and profit. So whatever.
44:17
That's a whole accounting class in and of itself.
44:19
Mm-hmm.
44:19
But
44:20
so if I were to increase my leads with nothing else changing,
44:24
what does that do to my to my cash flow?
44:24
Mm-hmm.
44:26
Okay.
44:27
Assume my leads now stay the same,
44:29
but I get some sort of sales trading,
44:31
so I can close more of them.
44:33
Mm-hmm.
44:33
What's a
44:33
realistic goal? Maybe can I go from 20% to 25%?
44:36
Can I go from 20 to 30%? What's a realistic
44:38
Mm-hmm.
44:39
closing rate? And what does that do to the bottom line?
44:42
Now, which one
44:42
Yeah.
44:43
of those two is more important for me to focus on?
44:45
And and that that's kind of the the the the exercise that I do for my clients.
44:50
And that's the exercise that I that I tell people,
44:52
you know, in if you're not working for me,
44:54
you're not working with me, you still have to do this.
44:57
You still have to look and see which lever.
45:00
of my business and again those 15 levers that exist out there that encompass
45:04
everything from every business ever,
45:05
you know, which of those 15 levers can I actually pull?
45:10
How hard can I pull it? And what does it do
45:12
Mm.
45:13
to the whole machine if I pull it that hard?
45:16
So which
45:16
Yeah.
45:16
lever is going to be the easiest to pull?
45:18
Which one's gonna make the biggest difference basically?
45:20
and just focus on that for the next 30 days,
45:24
60 days, whatever it is, until that lever is no longer the weakest.
45:29
once that lever now has the least amount of power amongst the other,
45:33
not the least, but is no longer the one that has the most power in its usage.
45:36
Mm. Mm-hmm.
45:37
So now focus
45:38
on something else. Now you can switch focus to a different lever,
45:40
the the one that's now gonna do the most for the business and put
45:44
all your strength into just pulling that that second lever now.
45:48
I would suggest to people to not get too many levers going at
45:51
the same time simultaneously, because again,
45:53
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
45:54
focus,
45:54
you want to see which one the one that can have the biggest impact.
45:57
That's the one that should take up all your focus.
45:59
so maybe two a month,
46:02
maybe, maybe, maybe three, if they can all have like similar amounts
46:06
of impact on their own. ~ but
46:08
Mm.
46:08
like ideally one to two. That's like in an ideal situation,
46:12
you want to narrow it down to one or two.
46:14
Mm, okay, okay, okay, fantastic.
46:16
Thank you for that. last question.
46:18
So the name of the show, of course,
46:19
is the Relentless Pursuit of Winning podcast.
46:21
And what we as what we as owners do is,
46:24
you know, we focus on a win, whatever that's going to be.
46:27
The difficulty we have sometimes is maintaining that relentless pursuit.
46:31
So my question for you is what would you recommend to our audience
46:35
in order to encourage them or equip them to better manage that relentless pursuit?
46:39
So actually in the prosperity playbook,
46:41
I have something that I call the scoreboard.
46:43
Right? Because if you're If you're playing the game,
46:45
you need to know the score. That's the only way to know who's winning.
46:47
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
46:48
I play
46:48
pickup basketball with some of my friends once a week.
46:51
well not depends on the week. Not always,
46:53
but right. Constantly asking, what's the score?
46:55
What's the score? Who's winning?
46:56
Like that's when you're
46:57
Mm-hmm.
46:57
playing a game, that's what you're doing.
46:59
You want to know what's the score.
47:00
~ and The
47:01
Mm-hmm.
47:01
scoreboard is a place for you to track your winning and you know which areas
47:05
are you lagging behind. And and that
47:08
When when you see it and it's so clear,
47:11
black and white, which which numbers are doing well,
47:14
which numbers are not doing well,
47:15
it drives
47:16
Mm-hmm.
47:16
you to say, Well, I set this target for myself.
47:19
And if I'm not getting
47:20
Minute.
47:20
there, I want to get there. And and If I am getting there,
47:24
well, am I doing all that I can,
47:25
or did I set the bar too low? Right?
47:27
Yeah.
47:28
If if if if I'm meeting my goals every year and I'm working at seventy percent,
47:34
well
47:35
You know, if you're the one that's driving the business,
47:37
if you're the business owner, what's wrong with you?
47:39
You know, like we'll talk like real talk here for a second.
47:41
If you're driving your business at 70% and you're meeting all your goals,
47:44
why is that all your goals? Why are you not shooting even higher?
47:48
Right? So
47:48
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
47:50
if if your whole scorecard, right,
47:52
I I score everything on my scoreboard as as red,
47:54
yellow, or green, if everything is green,
47:57
like what's wrong with you? Something
47:58
Yeah.
47:59
should be lagging. Otherwise, you're you're not shooting high enough.
48:02
so if everything is red, so maybe you're shooting too high.
48:04
~ right.
48:05
Mm-hmm.
48:06
If everything is green, so raise the bar a little bit.
48:09
Come on, you know, we're all we're
48:10
I love that.
48:10
only here once. You only have one chance to to make the most of yourself.
48:14
And if if your bar is like here and you're like,
48:17
yeah, I'm like soaring over that thing,
48:19
well, like, okay, so maybe like inch it up a little bit.
48:21
Raise the bar. Yeah.
48:22
Don't just like
48:23
don't shoot it up like that. Like,
48:25
you know, again, don't shoot for the moon right away.
48:27
But
48:27
Mm-hmm.
48:28
Try to push yourself a little bit.
48:29
Try to ramp it up to 80%, maybe 90% of your efforts.
48:32
See
48:33
Yeah.
48:33
where you can take yourself. You know,
48:35
set the bar a little bit higher than you think you should be able to get to.
48:38
So there's always something that you're chasing and something that you feel like
48:41
you have to work on and improve upon.
48:43
that's that's the way that I that I try to live my life.
48:47
right. I love that. I love that.
48:48
I love I love your I love your what's wrong with you,
48:52
you need to make a change approach.
48:55
know
48:55
what? I I actually went through that myself a little while ago.
48:58
I had I had a coach with some tough love and you know,
49:02
you need that. That's that's what we need in in in life and in business.
49:05
Yes. Yes.
49:05
You know, you if
49:07
if you're just coasting along,
49:08
like what are you doing, man? You're just you're wasting your talents.
49:12
Yes, yes, yes. Excellent, excellent.
49:14
Avi, this has been a fantastic conversation.
49:16
Thank you so much for being on the show.
49:18
I really appreciate it.
49:19
Thanks for having me. I had a great time.
49:20
This is awesome.
49:21
Awesome, awesome. And folks, thank you so much for watching or listening
49:24
to another episode of the Relentless Pursuit of Winning Podcast.
49:27
We'll catch you next time.