Mike Michalowicz's Blog, page 78

Episode 57: Marketing Buzz and Business Growth with Michael Shepherd

Also Available On

 

Show Summary

Pizza Champion Michael Shepherd joins Mike Michalowicz, Chris Curran and Kristina Bolduc for Episode 57 of the Profit First Podcast!  Michael talks about his experience in growing his pizza chain an how he managed business growth at a fast rate.

 

Our Guest 

Michael Shepherd a 4 time World Pizza Champion, 3 Time U.S. Pizza Champion and an 8 Time World Medalist Pizza Acrobat. He owns and operates his pizza consulting business – Michael ShepherdConsulting, LLC – helping existing and aspiring pizza operators with their pizzerias. Michael Shepherd is also owner/president of 70X7 Incorporated that operates Six Hundred Downtown, a full service pizzeria, in Bellefontaine, Ohio.

From humble beginnings as a delivery driver for a national chain to the owner of three independent pizzerias, he has over 20 years of experience in the pizza business. Growing his original pizzeria from a meager $2,000 per week to over $1 million dollars a year in sales in a town of only 8,000 and opening his newest pizzeria at the $1.2 million sales mark in a town of 13,000 with an advertising budget of nearly zero.

As a founding member of the World Pizza Champions (America’s #1 Pizza Team), he has traveled to Italy competing at the World Pizza Championships in Italy annually since 2002. In 2006/2007 his team won back to back Gold Medals in the Team Acrobatic Event. He has been featured on the Food Network, ABC’s Master of Champions, Discovery Channel, and more.

Michael is a featured speaker for Pizza Today magazine, organizes and manages the World Pizza Games for the International Pizza Expo, is a certified Italian Pizza Maker (certified by the International School of Pizza) and teaches at local adult vocational schools on how to make pizzeria quality pizza at home. In his non pizza making downtown Michael enjoys being an avid OCR competitor, runner, and Crossfitter.

 

Show Quotes 

Turn your idols into your rivals.

Train yourself to turn any situation into a positive outcome. Michael placed 49th/50 participants in the World Pizza Championship in Italy. Instead of looking at it as 2nd to last place, he put a positive spin on it; he promotes himself as being in the top 50 in the world!

Exciting news can fade. Always find new and unique ways that your company stands out – keep elevating and changing the recognition and people will notice. Don’t just sell your product, sell the experience you offer… this makes a HUGE difference.

Once you get your services or your product to the point where it’s already great and you’re happy with it… stop changing the product (because it’s already great) and shift focus on how to manage growth in your business.

It takes dedication, confidence, and preparation. Have systems, tools, checklists in place early on in your business. If you organize your business properly you can grow to a larger scale much easier.

Identify the right people to hire. Make sure they fit the culture and don’t stop looking until you find them.

Make yourself replaceable! Train your employees so they can function fully without you there.

 

Annnnnnd as promised, Mike’s beard:

 

Show Links

Michael’s Website: www.growingpizza.com

 

Corporate Partners

Nextiva – VOIP phone providers for small businesses.

Fundera – Single source online funding for entrepreneurs. Also offers an adviser program for CPAs, bookkeepers and business coaches.

TSheets – The #1 customer rated time tracking solution!

Fundbox –  the simplest and fastest way to fix your cash flow by advancing payments for your outstanding invoices.

Job, Career or Mission

Most people have a job. It is volatile. It is a means to an end. Their future is in the hands of others. At some point, if you make it, you will leave your job.

Some people have a career – a consistent job.  It too is a means to an end. The future is also in the hands of others. As with a job, at some point, you will elect to leave you career.

A select few have a mission. Of course, it is neither a job nor a career. It is the means and the end. No one can ever take your mission away. And the right mission – one that speaks to your life’s purpose – is one you will never want to let go.

Stop Doing These Right Now

Every once in a while we need to evaluate our actions and decide what to continue doing or stop doing. Here are some tips on what to stop doing right now to better your business and your morale.

1. Office Gossip. I get it, I really do. I know how addictive and interesting it can be to talk about the other guy (or gal). But, truth be told, office gossip chips away at your integrity. The best business leaders never participate in gossip. You may be wondering what the secret is to keeping your lip zipped while others around you are going to town, talking about someone. Well, just envision that the person being talked about is in the room, listening to every word and seeing every action. Your behavior will change for the better, and people will begin seeing you as a leader with integrity.

2. Upgrading Your Equipment, Not Theirs. There is a natural tendency for the boss to always get the newest and best equipment, and just let the rest of the stuff trickle down. The older stuff ends up going to the junior employees, yet these are the very employees who man the front line. As a result, this philosophy doesn’t make a lot of sense. After all, you wouldn’t give the 5-star general the newest, best machine gun. You would give it to your front-line infantry man. Do the same in your business, when it comes to your equipment. Equip those on the front line with the best equipment, and give yourself what trickles down.

3. Whatever is Not Working. Yes, this may sound obvious, but year after year I see countless entrepreneurs who continue to invest time and money in things that didn’t work during the prior year. Maybe it was the service you offered that wasn’t taking off, or maybe the advertising that isn’t bringing in clients. Whatever “it” is that has not been working, stop doing it in 2012. Instead, focus on what is working, and do more of that!.

4. Playing Into Other People’s Expectations. Did you put that suit on because you really wanted to, or because it is expected of you? Does your voicemail message have the generic “I am sorry I can’t get to the phone right now, but please leave a message and I will call you back as soon as I can. Thank you,” message because it is supposed to, or because that is really you? Are you doing what you do because that is what others expect or because it is the real you? If you want to have the best 2012 possible, be yourself to the fullest. Let your business be an embodiment of who you really are, unabashedly. I promise you will be more satisfied in your business than ever before, and you will probably make more money as a result (a nice side effect).

So start planning your business resolutions. Determine what you can do to make your business more successful this year, not next year. And while you are listing things you will do, don’t forget to add the above things to your list of what you will stop doing. There are always things we can do in business to improve our office, atmosphere, and attitude. Focus on those issues, and your business will thrive as a result.

Choice Is Killing Your Business

Are you running a business or a smorgasbord?

I get. You love your customers. You want to make them happy, meet their every need and grant their every wish. So you give them loads of options. Options, options, options. They can mix and match, pick and choose, and spend hours browsing your extensive selection of whosiwhattsits and thingamagigs.

With all of that freedom of choice you’re dishing up, surely your target consumer will pick you over the other guys. You’ve got it all. Why would anyone even consider your competitors, right?

Wrong!

It’s a proven fact that the more choices we have as a consumer, the less likely we are to buy. We get overwhelmed when presented with too many options. So overwhelmed in fact, that very often our response is to do the same thing as before or do nothing.

Think about it— you may start out wanting to do something new on date night, but when faced with choosing from dozens of alternatives, nine times out of ten you’re going to end up at the movies, or just stay home. Why? Because it’s easier to do nothing than making up your mind.

Too many options stresses people out. You’ll make people crazy with a choose-your-own-adventure style website and brochures that read like the menu at an all-night diner. And you’ll make yourself crazy trying to be great at delivering value for all of those choices.

I know you want to satisfy your customer’s every whim, and that’s sweet. Really it is. But that’s not what they want. When potential customers seek you out, they want you to relieve them from having to make another decision. They want you to make their lives easier, not more complicated. They don’t want to have to figure out which one of your many products or services is best for them, they want you to TELL THEM what’s best for them.

Look, if you overload people with too much of anything, they will feel stressed and ignore you. If you keep it simple and with fewer choices, they will feel relaxed and confident— they’ll pay attention, maybe even buy. So save the smorgasbord for holiday dinner and start streamlining your offerings. Your customers will love you for it.

Business Applications for Facebook On The Rise

You know all about how companies have been using mobile applications to help boost their bottom line. Now, get ready for Facebook applications to be the next big thing! Development of Facebook applications is on an uptick and you will want to get in on it from the start. If you have been avoiding getting involved in Facebook, now is the time to set your differences aside and write an app (or three)!

Those businesses that have not yet plugged in to all that is the Facebook phenomenon, may be wondering what all the hoopla is about. Fair enough! But once you get the low down on what is going on , it just makes sense to get your business connected and start reaping the rewards.

Facebook has over half a billion people that actively use the site. And on any given day, half of those people log into their accounts. The numbers get even more convincing when you look at the way people use applications on the site. The users on the site collectively install 20 million applications each day!

Now that you know the audience is there, you will need to consider the types of applications. The great thing is that you don’t even need to develop (or hire someone to develop) your own application, you can use what is already out there to get started. Just do a Google search for “Facebook Applications” and you will find hundreds, if not thousands to choose from.

Right now there is a variety of ready, out-of-the-box, applications that can help your business sales. Here’s what you can take advantage of:

– Videos, notes, testimonials, and conference calls.

– Complete shopping carts abilities, with checkout and payment systems linked to Paypal. Using features like this, there are even businesses that are setting up pop-up stores for limited periods of time and cashing in!

– Slide shares, business cards, and the ability to link to other social media sites.

– Blog promotion, polls, file management, fan pages, networks, storefronts, carpooling, groups, event notifications, and invitations.

– Plus, so much more!

There are so many different ways for you to bridge the gap between your business and your customers by using a Facebook application. If you can dream up a way to reach customers through the web, there is likely a Facebook application that can help you reach that goa.

The good news is that using Facebook applications are quite cost effective. The biggest thing you may put into trying them out is some time. Many of the applications are free or low cost. Just do a search for applications, and you will find a variety of them to meet your every business need!

Here’s the dealio – there is a good chance that with half a billion people being on Facebook that a lot of your potential customers are there as well. So that means you want to be there. And if you are going to be there, you may as well find ways to make your presence more effective. Applications are the way to do just that. Master the use of the Facebook applications, and you will have a low-cost marketing tool on your hand that can be used to reach the masses!

If your company is not yet on Facebook, consider signing up. Whether you are there already or you will just be setting up a page, make the most of it by tapping into the resources that are available to you in the form of applications. You just never know where they may take you!

Episode 56: Task Management and Virtual Outsourcing with Chris Ducker

Also Available On

 

Show Summary

Bestselling Author and Entrepreneur Chris Ducker joins Mike Michalowicz, Chris Curran and Kristina Bolduc for Episode 56 of the Profit First Podcast! Chris talks about the benefits of bringing your business virtual.

 

Our Guest 

Chris Ducker is a serial entrepreneur, keynote speaker and author of the bestseller, “Virtual Freedom”. Originally from the UK, Chris has lived in the Philippines for 15-years, where he hosts the annual Tropical Think Tank mastermind event and has founded several businesses, which combined house over 300 full-time employees. He is also a popular business blogger and podcaster at ChrisDucker.com and founder of Youpreneur.com, an exclusive entrepreneurial mastermind community. Follow Chris on Twitter @chrisducker.

 

Show Quotes 

A good goal for business owners is to try to become as removed from your business as possible. Hire people to run the show and stick to the tasks that you do best rather than having to do everything. This will lighten up your schedule and let you enjoy your business. Delegation is important, but you have to make the transition slowly… this is not a quick fix.

Write up your “Three List to Freedom”

1. Create 3 columns on a piece of paper. List the daily/weekly tasks that you hate doing.

2. List the things you are struggling to do or cannot do. We believe we are our own superhero and can do everything… but we need to take a step back and break it down.

3. This is the GAME CHANGER step: List the things you (as the business owner) feel you should not be doing – keep in mind you may love doing them, bust ask yourself “can my time be more useful elsewhere in higher level activities?”

Training is a broad term when you’re talking about staff. On boarding people properly is more important – because if you don’t do it properly they will never know what you like and how you expect things to be done. Hire for the role and not for the task. Don’t hire 1 person and expect them to do 5 different jobs.

You can’t start working more virtually until you determine what tasks you can outsource (by using the three list to freedom method above). Working with someone virtually is not much different from working in the office other than the potential time-zone adjustments and not being there physically.

To dip your toe in the virtual water, consider using a virtual accountant or bookkeeper! Perhaps at www.profitfirstprofessionals.com 

Change Someone Else In These 6 Ways

You know those movies where the guy says, “I could tell ya, but if I told ya, I’d have to kill ya.”? My second company, the one that did computer crime investigation, had that sort of atmosphere. The problem was, I had a fantastic employee, who was great, except he was a loud talker. In a company where total security matters, loud talkers aren’t good to have around talking about your confidential cases. They talk and ya gotta….get them to change.

The bad news is, it’s nearly impossible to change yourself, so good luck ever changing someone else, especially an employee.

However, the good news is, with the right approach you can change people’s motivations and habits, which result in their changing those habits you don’t like.

Here are six simple ways you can change others, or help them change themselves:

1. Blame the Habit – It’s not you. It’s the habit. Don’t make it personal. Blame the habit: “Darn cigarettes wouldn’t be so hard to give up if the tobacco companies didn’t make them so addictive.” Recognize the problem you are trying to fix is not the person themselves, but their habit. Show them that you’re on the same team and talk with them about how you can tackle changes together.

2. One Person At A Time – You save your company the way you save the world—one person at a time. If you want to change the way multiple people are behaving, talk to them one at a time, starting with the person who has the most influence among the group. When you change the leader you tap into their influence with the group, making the whole process a lot easier on you.

3. One Problem At A Time – We know “multi-tasking,” like answering your email and talking to a client at the same time, don’t work. So, solve one problem at a time. Even small changes can be overwhelming if you try to change too much at once. Start with the easiest change. Then go to the next easiest. Build momentum for the major changes.

4. Apply peer pressure – I don’t mean bullying. Try a teamwork approach. Invite the employee to come up with ideas on how their colleagues can help them by enforcing sanctions that encourage change. Make the motivation method fit the employee. They’ve got to want it. Whatever you come up with, reward the person for doing the right thing rather than punish them for doing the wrong thing.

5. Remove The Cause To Kill The Symptom – The thing you want to change is typically a symptom of a deeper habit. Rewind and determine what causes the symptom. Fix the cause and the symptom goes away. Until you fix the cause, you’ll just be swapping out symptoms and the change won’t really take hold. If you’ve got an employee who is always late, find out why and find a solution rather than punishing them for the symptom—tardiness.

6. Start a Dollar Jar – Ever notice how everyone around you can see the food on your shirt and tie but you? The obvious things are often not obvious to the person who needs to see them. First point out what an employee is doing that you want them to stop. Then, make sure they’re in agreement with stopping. Once you have their buy-in to changing, devise a system where their subconscious habit becomes a conscious thing. It could be a dollar jar (where they put a dollar in the jar every time a habit occurs that needs to stop), or you could create a checklist they must use so you bypass the subconscious and create new habits. Making the habit conscious is more important than the mechanism you use.

If all that sounds like a lot of work, consider how much more work it’s causing you to not make the changes! The other thing is, when you hit on the right approach, it’s not as much work as you’d think. My loud talker took much less effort than I thought. I used a penny jar. After a mere 48 cents, we had positive change.

You’re Not An Entrepreneur

If you work your ass to the bone, you’re not an entrepreneur. You own a business that enslaves you.

If you’re constantly attracting different types of clients, you’re not an entrepreneur. You are a yes-man.

If you have to hire people who come with skills they’ve gained elsewhere because you don’t have a system or structure that easily gives it to them, you’re definitely not an entrepreneur. Those people simply control you.

An entrepreneur discovers solutions for problems and then masters every stinkin’ step of solving that same problem over and over again. The output is consistent and predictable. Entrepreneurs avoid the need for people with pre-learned skills, they just require people with the right attitude, energy and intelligence.

Being an entrepreneur is hard not because you need to work crazy hours (you don’t), or because the customer is always right (their not), or because you need to hire Einstein’s (you shouldn’t). Entrepreneurship is hard because it requires tremendous amounts of thought to build a system that avoids all those obstacles.

Less Is More

Could you imagine a fruit stand that just sold bananas? Kinda lame, don’t you think? Customers want variety. Where’s the blueberries? The apples? The mangoes? Where’s all the options?

The problem is it’s hard to scale a business that depends on customers with varying desires and wants. Today they want plump sweet blueberries. Tomorrow ripe un-spotted bananas. The next day’s demand is for kiwis with a sweet and tart pop to them. It’s hard because you have to master all of the steps to achieve perfection in all those things.

But what if you just did bananas? What if you mastered all the steps for growing bananas, transporting bananas, preserving bananas, improving bananas?

Maybe going all in on bananas is a little bit… well you know… but that is exactly what Chiquita Brands did. A company doing $3.1B on mostly (and for the longest time, exclusively) bananas. Show me a farm stand that does $3.1B and I have a Brooklyn Bridge you should consider buying.

Episode 55: Digital Marketing and Profitability with Stephen Christopher

Also Available On










Show Summary

Entrepreneur Stephen Christopher joins Mike Michalowicz, Chris Curran and Kristina Bolduc for Episode 55 of the Profit First Podcast! Stephen shares his experience with implementing Profit First on his business.

 

Our Guest 

Stephen Christopher is the founder of Seequs Marketing Technologies, a web marketing firm designed to help business owners achieve results they never thought possible.  Before starting Seequs, Stephen founded and guided several other businesses to great success, but it was his mortgage company that ultimately changed the course of his entrepreneurial journey. With the crash of the mortgage industry in 2008, Stephen learned what it’s like to go from profitable to over $100,000 in debt…literally overnight. This failure imparted more wisdom about business than any school or program could ever teach him. Since then, Stephen has evolved into a devoted student of personal and business development. He finds the most joy in helping business owners learn how to create happiness in their life and wealth in their companies.  Stephen is becoming an influential public speaker in the personal development community, launching a podcast for business owners (Business Revolution) in December of 2015, and continuing to create an amazing culture and results for clients at Seequs.

 

Show Quotes 

Revenue doesn’t matter, Profit does!

Set up your bank accounts and your percentages… it’s that simple to get profit first started. The first month or two may be a transition period, but once you see your profit in your account you really start to believe in the concept. If you find something is not working, keep changing it until you find what works best for you.

Consider setting up a company wide personal development account – put away the money to cover your company events and travel! Also consider setting up a technology account… what if someone’s computer dies? Now you have the money set aside to replace it. This creates a safety net.

You will notice yourself starting to cut down spending on the things you don’t really need, because you’d much rather have that money in a profit account.

When it comes to your website, don’t waste your money on trying to get more traffic to your site (for example, SEO). Your goal is to make your website the most relevant website and the best resource possible for your field. Make sure you’re consistent online and keep your content updated. That will get your business more recognized.

 

Show Links

Website: www.seequs.com – our website

www.seequs.com/free – free website marketing evaluation to see how your site performs online

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/stephen.christopher1

Twitter: @bizrevo

 

Corporate Partners

Nextiva – VOIP phone providers for small businesses.

Fundera – Single source online funding for entrepreneurs. Also offers an adviser program for CPAs, bookkeepers and business coaches.

TSheets – The #1 customer rated time tracking solution!

Fundbox –  the simplest and fastest way to fix your cash flow by advancing payments for your outstanding invoices.