How to Grow a Business The Right Way. Small Business Tips from a Small Business Coach

In my capacity as a small business coach and an entrepreneur for the past 25 years, I am frequently asked how to expand a company. The question is wide, but as I talk to a small business owner, it becomes clear what their real concern is. The fundamental issue is how to expand a firm ethically. Everyone wants to make the right choice, let’s face it. The truth is that there is a lot of incorrect information, “advice,” and viewpoints available for small business owners to absorb from so-called small business coaches.

I have seen (as well as have been) the coach that gives their opinion/tips/advice to an entrepreneur only to see said entrepreneur take that advice (read what I think about advice here) and completely run their business into the ground with it.  All the while, the key ingredient in a growing a successful, long lasting, market enduring business is missed.  This blog will talk about the key ingredient in any small business winning in any market.  If this is looked over, your organization will crumble, and crumble hard!  Consider the following example as it relates to your small business and its growth.

Think of building a small business, large business or any organization, just like building a home.  To first build a home you must dig dirt out of the ground and lay a foundation.  This means creating space, time and energy in your life to have a business.  Before you can build a business, which requires time and energy, you must reallocate your current time and energy  to allow your business the space it requires on the real estate you currently own.  The next step is to pour the foundation.  This foundation includes understanding the concepts of small business marketing, sales, recruiting and hiring, the internet and social media, finance planing and forecasting, how and why people behave the way they do, legal and contractual concepts, etc.  If you don’t understand these foundational concepts your work and action will be less effective.

Building a framework, running wiring, dividing the rooms and walls, and finishing the interior of the house with trim, painting, and decoration come after making room and installing a foundation. I observe a lot of small business owners seeking “help” from coaches regarding the framework and finer details, and I witness these so-called coaches offering their “advice” without addressing the soil and foundation. In my experience, I consistently let my clients down while doing this for them.

As I have spent the last 11 years growing M & E Painting, I have spent time in many homes.  We have put the finishing touches on over 7,000 homes in Northern Colorado since 2005.  Being in these homes, I have also had the opportunity to learn about the basics of home construction. I recall one instance where I arrived to perform an interior painting estimate and discovered why our customer really needed interior painting.

I observed a large fracture between the kitchen’s wall and ceiling as soon as my customer led me there. There was now a half-inch gap between the ceiling and the wall since the entire wall had started to fall away. Bentonite-containing soil in Colorado expands, contracts, and shifts as the amount of moisture in the air changes. A home’s foundation may experience extreme stress as a result of this expansion and contraction. The dirt, the home’s base, supports the concrete foundation. The remainder of the house is affected if either of them is weak. It was only a half-inch separation in the kitchen in this instance. This could refer to a sinkhole in Florida, when a whole house and its foundation could be instantly absorbed by the ground.

Question, what is the foundation of your small business? How strong is the concrete? Does it have any cracks? How strong is your understanding of marketing, sales, recruiting and hiring, internet and social media, building and leading people? Do you need more education, understanding and mentoring? If you feel strong in your understanding of these concepts and have put them into practice, great! Here are a few more questions:

How is your soil? Have you created enough space, time, and energy in your life to lay this foundation and get to work? If so, how sturdy is your soil? Part of the DNA of your soil is the 100% absolute certain beliefs you have about the world and the value you bring to it. Are you 100% absolutely certain that you will win, that you have worth and value to bring to the world, and that good triumphs in business and life? Have you absolutely decided you win in business? Or, is water creeping into your soil, making it shifty? Are there weeds in your soil? Are there negative thoughts, patterns or emotions creeping in that ultimately affect the stability of everything your foundation sits on? Are you not good enough, not smart enough, not old enough, not young enough, not pretty enough, not _______ enough to win, bring value and triumph in life and business?

I was holding a bankers box filled with the contents of my office as I stood in front of a bank in Windsor, Colorado, in March 2005. I no longer work at the bank, and this box had an engraved business card holder from the bank with my name on it. I also had a condo that was 103% financed, a brand-new car, two pricey degrees, two suits, and twelve ties. To the tune of $175, 219.83, those goods I owned me.

I had just been informed that I was not good enough to win in banking (sounds like an oxymoron if you ask me). I was advised to “go do that painting thing” by a smug banker guy in a suit and tie. I was told by many that this M & E Painting side project would never grow to millions of dollars. I was told by many more that a 23-year-old kid close to $200,000 in debt would never become a millionaire, let alone a multimillionaire at any point in his life. As that negative water started flowing towards my soil, I had a decision to make. Let it enter, let it grow weeds, let it shift my soil, or the opposite.

I made the choice that chilly afternoon. The remainder of my life was impacted by that choice. Before getting in my car to go home and tell Emily what had happened, I knew I had to make it. I was aware that my knowledge and comprehension of managing a genuine business were extremely poor (foundation). I had a hazy idea of what I would do and how I would go about it (framework and fine finishes). The world was yelling at me to get smarter, learn more, take it slower, and plan ahead before I leaped.

Before I stepped off the curb into the parking lot, I stated with 100% absolute certainty that, “I am Matt Shoup, and I am a millionaire running a million dollar painting company that has changed the way people do business in Northern Colorado, period, end of story!” Then, JUMP!!! I jumped. That was it. I was all in. I was all in as I opened a bank account with the last $100 I had to spend. That was my soil moment. M & E Painting has been built on a strong foundation, with solid framework, and has a team of phenomenal human beings that have and continue to work the fine finishes of the business every day. Before any of that happened, I had to evaluate my soil and absolutely believe. I knew with absolute certainty that I win, I am wealthy, I triumph, and these are all good things.

Have you had your “stuff in a box” moment, your soil moment? Who or what is approaching your soil? Have you let it in? What is it cultivating? Are weeks sprouting? Is your soil shifting?

A real small business coach does not give advice.  A real coach does not tell a client what to do.  A real coach keeps their opinion to themselves.  A real coach listens, unpacks a clients story/situation and then challenges them to make not a choice but a decision (read about the difference here) about where to go from there.  A real coach is not relevant if they understand theory but have no actual experience and practice to share with a client.  Lastly, a real coach inspires and ignites a small business owner at the heart level to take action and move forward and then walks, jogs, runs and/or sprints along side of them on their way.

Do you have and work with this kind of coach? If the answer is no, AND this blog inspired and ignited you to own and live your business with excellence, I would love to start a conversation with you!  Click here to reach out to me and schedule a time to do so. Click on the coffee cup to the left to get caffeinated with me on a weekly basis, and become a member of the MattShoup.com community.

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