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It’s pretty easy to point out the things your team could be doing better. They’re too slow. They don’t communicate properly. They’re not learning quickly enough. They struggle to work together. They need too much direction. But here’s a question I think more business owners should ask: How would your team rate you as their manager? It can be a confronting question, particularly when you’ve spent years building the business and employing the people around you. But if there are ongoing problems within your team, it’s worth looking at management from both sides. In this video, I challenge business owners to ask their team for some genuine feedback across six areas: People management Communication Technical skills Leadership Problem solving Training and development You might score really well in some areas and discover there are others where your team sees things very differently to you. And that’s the point. Good management … Read more
There are now plenty of AI tools being marketed specifically to tradies now. Some promise to help with quoting, invoices, customer communication, documents, job management and even answering questions on site. Others offer more complete AI systems designed to automate parts of the business. There can absolutely be a place for these tools. But before you start paying for another piece of software, I think there’s a more important question: Have you actually taught the AI you already have how your business works? Most business owners I speak to are already using AI in some way. They’ll ask it to write an email, tidy up a document, create a social post or answer a question. That’s useful, but it’s really only scratching the surface. The bigger opportunity is to give AI enough information about your business that you can start having much better business conversations with it. Imagine your AI already understood who your best customers are, which jobs are most profitable, your average job … Read more
Our next GrowthCLUB is happening on Tuesday 15 September, and this one is going to be a little different. We’re getting hands on with AI! There’s plenty of talk about what AI can do, but I’m more interested in how business owners can actually use it. So during this GrowthCLUB, everyone will have their laptop or iPad open and we’ll work through it together. We’ll start by training AI to understand your business, including what you do, your customers, services, team, competitors, challenges and where you want the business to go. From there, we’ll put it to work. We’ll use AI to help identify opportunities you might be missing, look at where your time is disappearing, find repetitive tasks it could help you complete faster and get it to challenge some of your thinking. Most importantly, this isn’t about getting AI to run your business for you. It’s about giving … Read more
If you own a business, when was the last time you took a proper break without feeling like you should be back at work? I meet plenty of business owners who tell me they want more holidays, more time with their family and more opportunities to actually enjoy what they’ve built. But unless that time is deliberately planned, there’s always something in the business that gets in the way. I’m a big believer that holidays shouldn’t just happen when you finally find a gap in the calendar. I have a simple system I use each year to make sure I get proper holidays, shorter breaks and plenty of long weekends throughout the year. It’s good for me, it’s good for my family and I reckon it’s good for the business too. When you’re constantly working without taking a break, eventually you become stale, your productivity drops and your team can … Read more
I often hear business owners say, “When I retire, I’ll just shut the doors. No one would buy my business.” But is that actually true? When we start looking at the assets, the profit the business generates and the years it has taken to build its customer base, reputation and operation, the conversation often changes very quickly. The issue isn’t always that the business has no value. It’s that the owner hasn’t built the systems or documentation needed to demonstrate that value to someone else. In this short video, I walk through a simple example I regularly use with business owners to get them thinking differently about what their business could actually be worth. If you’re planning to retire or step away from your business one day, don’t wait until then to find out what you’ve actually built. Hugh BowmanActionCOACH Geelong
One of the biggest parts of succession planning is turning what you know as the business owner into something the business itself can use. For many established business owners, there are years of knowledge, ideas and experience sitting in their head. But if the business is going to grow, operate with less reliance on its owner and eventually be passed on or sold, that knowledge needs to become plans, processes and systems. That’s something I’ve worked on with Chris Beretta from D.A. Beretta, a long standing Geelong plumbing and civil works business. When Chris first came to me, he already had plenty of ideas. What he needed was help getting those ideas down on paper, building plans around them and, importantly, actually implementing them. Since then, we’ve worked on future growth, goal setting and streamlining systems within the business. Chris has also successfully developed a new traffic control arm within … Read more
When most business owners hear the words succession planning, they think it’s something to worry about when retirement is just around the corner. In reality, that’s one of the biggest mistakes I see. The businesses that achieve the best outcomes don’t suddenly become valuable in their final year. They become valuable because of the decisions their owners make over many years. In this short video, I explain why succession planning is really about creating options. Whether your goal is to eventually sell your business, pass it on to family, install a management team or simply step back from the day to day running, it all starts with building a business that isn’t completely dependent on you. I also share some of the key areas I work on with business owners, including developing leaders, documenting systems and increasing the overall value of the business. If you’ve never really thought about succession … Read more
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to step away from the day to day and spend some time overseas. Before heading to the annual ActionCOACH Global Conference in Goa, I spent a week exploring Sri Lanka. From the stunning views at Lipton’s Seat to seeing wild elephants in Udawalawe National Park, it was an incredible experience and a great chance to recharge. Then it was on to Goa for one of the biggest events on the ActionCOACH calendar. Each year, coaches from around the world come together to learn, share ideas and collaborate on what’s working in business today. It’s an opportunity to see how businesses are overcoming challenges, improving performance and helping owners create businesses that are more profitable, more enjoyable and less dependent on them. One of the proudest moments of the week was being recognised as the Global GrowthCLUB Coach of the Year. … Read more
Yesterday I had the pleasure of hosting our June GrowthCLUB workshop, and once again I was reminded how valuable it is when business owners take the time to step away from the day to day and work on their business rather than just in it. The focus for this quarter’s workshop was Sales and Planning, two areas that have an enormous impact on business performance. Throughout the day we explored sales processes, objection handling, goal setting and strategic planning for the months ahead. One of the highlights for me is always the discussion that happens around the room. Business owners from different industries sharing ideas, challenges and solutions. Often the best breakthroughs come from hearing a different perspective or learning how someone else has tackled a similar challenge. The Hot Seat sessions were particularly valuable, with participants openly discussing their biggest business challenges and receiving feedback and ideas from other … Read more
Many business owners blame the job market, a lack of applicants or the younger generation. But in this short video, I share a recruiting principle that can be confronting, but incredibly powerful: You get the people you deserve. The quality of people you attract is often a reflection of the business you’ve built. Leadership, culture, the type of work you offer and the environment you’ve created all play a role in whether great people want to join your team. In this video, I explain why attracting better talent starts with looking inward and what business owners can do to become the type of business that great people want to work for. If you’re finding it difficult to recruit and retain quality staff, this video will give you a different perspective on where to start. Thanks Hugh