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Nick & Johnny do a weekly ‘what’s up’ catch up session to talk about their week in business, crazy business ideas and the little things that can make a big difference to your small business.

On this episode of What’s Up, Nick and Johnny talk about some employee issues.  Namely, we talk about uniforms, policies, and workman’s comp issues.  Do your employees wear a uniform?  Do they follow the dress code?  Are they wearing appropriate clothing?  How does that effect the small business owner, and what kind of impact can it have on the customer?

Nick and John both talk about showing up on Saturday projects, and each catch an employee not dressed appropriately.

A proper uniform can do several things for a business.  It elevates the brand.  It raises the professionalism.  It can also increase job-site safety.

What do your employees wear?  Do they follow it?  Let us know in the comments below.

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If you own a business or consider yourself an entrepreneur, than you have no doubt tried to start a 2nd or 3rd business that was not your main business.  If you have had similar experiences to Nick and Johnny, the results were most likely a little lack luster.  On the episode today, we talk about some of the many businesses that we have started over the years.  From t-shirts, to a paint store, to an internet retailing, to house cleaning.  Nick and John have tried many things far removed from their main businesses.  

One of the businesses or 2nd brands that Nick started was One Coat Painting.  It was a low service offering, painting service the incorporated an online estimator.  Best part about it was the mascot, Sammy.  He even had his own Facebook page.

Nick and Johnny each have had their bunny trails, and I am sure they will find others.

If you didn’t have to work, whether you won the lottery or got an inheritance, what would you do?  Would you keep doing the business you are in?

New Sponsor:  VA Staffer.  Check them out and let them know you heard about them here.  J and his team do a great job with all sorts of administrative tasks.

Check out a video I found:

http://audioboom.com/boos/2816553-26-what-s-up-bright-shinny-objects.mp3

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Lots to cover in this What’s Up episode.  Johnny and Nick chat about Customer Service, and all it’s glory.  But before we jumped into that, we had a few shout-outs and an email from Scotty Bowden.  Thanks for the nice note of encouragement.  We love that!

We announced a T-shirt campaign we will do in 2015, so if you have any ideas, please hit us up over on the right hand side.  More details to come…as they come to us I guess.

We also announced that we will be doing something with the gang over at The Big Idea.  We need to chat with them, and then we will let you know what’s up.  Should be fun.

Customer service is one of the biggest thing that can set you apart as a small business.  We cannot always compete on price, but we can always wow them with our level of service.  From answering the phone, to following up when things don’t go according to plan, there are a lot of ways we can deliver good customer service.  When problems come up?  How do you respond? Do you accept the blame, or do you make excuses.  Johnny’s tagline for Erbert Lawns is “We show up.”  That means they show up when the tell the customer, but it also points to the fact that they take care of problems fast.  At Walls by Design, Nick’s team tries to over communicate, and help the customer understand everything that will happen, and what they can expect.  To figure out what you need to do, you should figure out what will emotionally connect with your customer.  This will help them connect with you.  Big shout out to Joy Gendusa, and PostcardMania (past guest of the radio show).

We also talked about doing something unexpected.  Maybe that is giving out dog bones, or upgrading a customer to a premium product or service like Zappos does with two day shipping.  Give them a surprise and they will remember you.

Good quote that Johnny pulled by Zig Ziggler:  “You can have anything in life you want, if you just help enough people get what they want.”

To listen to the entire interview, please visit us on iTunes or Stitcher or at our website at smallbusinessnaked.com 

http://audioboom.com/boos/2722456-20-what-s-up-customer-service.mp3

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If you are reading this post, than most likely you have listened to our podcast.  If you listen to our podcast, there is a good chance that you listen to other podcasts.  That if fantastic.  BUT, are you able to connect the material you are hearing to your small business?  It’s great that there is so much good content out there, but if you don’t take action on it, it will never help you grow your small business.

If you listen to as many podcasts as I do, you may have some of the same problems that I have. Every time I listen to a podcast, I think, WOW, that is a great idea.  I should do that.  It can be a small thing, or it can be a big scary thing.  I’ve gotten business ideas, marketing ideas, and book ideas from listening to so many podcasts.  But the problem I have found is that I am usually listening to these shows while I am doing other tasks.  I could be running on the treadmill, driving the car, or mowing my grass.  What do you do when I good idea comes up so you don’t lose it forever?  I am going to give you 5 ways in which to take action.  Action is huge, because without action, ideas are worthless.  Just an idea.

Five ways to take action from a podcast:

1. Cary a small notebook.  I find that big things don’t tend to travel with me well.  I suggest getting a small Moleskin notebook that can fit in your back pocket, and always be with you.  ONLY write ideas in this book.  Then, once a month go through it, highlight things you need to take action on, and cross out things that are no longer valid.
2. MeMail. Great little app for your phone.  Once you set it up, it is very easy to jot a note (I usually use voice to text) and hit send.  It goes only to one email…yours!  Quick and easy, and you will never lose it, because it goes to your inbox.
3. Limit the content. Make a list of things you want to action.  Maybe it is FIVE things.  Once you have FIVE things on a list, do not listen to another podcast!  That’s right.  You heard me.  Once you cross something off the list, you are free to listen again.  The podcasts will still be there, waiting…they don’t go anywhere.  This will help focus you on things that you really want to take action on.
4. Limit the podcasts. If I’m honest, I don’t LOVE all the podcasts on my list.  I do listen to different podcasts for different reasons, but why subscribe to podcasts you don’t like.  If I don’t like several episodes in a row, I delete them off my phone.  Try limiting yours to 5: one for each day of the week.
5. Listen at your desk. If you can’t focus on listening when you are doing other things, try listening only on your computer.  Contrary to popular opinion, multi-tasking is NOT a good thing.  Focus on one thing, and you will do each thing better.

So I have to come clean.  I am not fantastic at this. The reason I wrote this blog was that I am having problems with idea overload.  I feel like I have this basket, and I keep trying to stuff things in it, but things just keep falling on the floor.  Hopefully, I have inspired you to take better action on things you are hearing so you can grow your small business.  If you have an idea or something that has helped you not get podcast idea overload, please share in the comment area below.

Year End planning for your Small Business

I’ll be honest, if you are not in business, or have just started, today’s show might not make much sense to you, but it will give you an idea of why tracking performance for lots of different things can be.  This could be marketing activity tracking, it could be employee performance, it could be your sales process.

At the end of the year, it is incredibly important for you, the small business owner, to look back at what you did the year prior, and make adjustments in your planning based on what worked and what didn’t.  This can only happen if you do a good job of tracking data, recording sources for new business, and know truly, what worked, and what didn’t.  It is okay to make mistakes.  We make lots of them every year.  But the smart small business owner does a good job of learning from those things that did not work and what did.  Do less of what didn’t and do more of what did.

But before we jumped into planning, Johnny shared with us what Johnny Battle is all about:  Johnny Battle is about being like a Spartan warrior, but more importantly, we will all be faced with a challenge; a divorce, a bully, a mountain climb, a business challenge, etc. We are forced to fight because we care about something. As business owners we have to wake up daily and look at ourselves in the mirror and know that you are responsible, and that you will always come out on top.

We get a little introspective on today’s show.  Looking back on 2014 to see what we did well and what you can do better in 2015.  A few things you need however to be able to do this:  you need data from the the year, you need it organized, and you need to know where you want to go with your business.  Do you need more sales?  Do you need more profit?  Do you need more staff?  Do you need to outsource more?

Things we talked about along the way:  Lifetime Value of a Customer, ROI (Return on Investment). and acquisition cost.

We finished up our conversation talking about cutting things out of our businesses that just don’t make sense.  If you decided to cut something out of your business as a result of hearing our show today, we want to hear about it and why.

To listen to the entire show on finance your business and personal finance, please visit us on iTunes or Stitcher or at our website at smallbusinessnaked.com 

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We thought we were going to just learn about investing into real estate, but we learned so much more.  Nick proved to be an on fire entrepreneur that had a crazy life story.  Nick had early success in real estate, but got burned when the market tanked, and ultimately, Nick wound up in bankruptcy.  But, instead of sitting back, feeling sorry for himself, he got back up, and is once again killing it in real estate.

Nick’s business is not just investing in real estate though, he now also teaches others how to invest into what he calls the single family triad:  Rentals, wholesale, and rehab.

Nick has several different ways of making money.  Nick buys, sells, flips, and teaches others how to do the same.  But if you reach out to Nick, you will go for the information about investing, but you will fall in love with his passion and energy.

For more information on Nick Ruiz go to Alpha Home Flipping.

To listen to the entire interview, please visit us oniTunes or Stitcher or at our website at smallbusinessnaked.com 

http://audioboom.com/boos/2738595-21-making-money-in-real-estate.mp3

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Tom Shane, founder of Shane Co.

Most people do not know his face. Many know his name…and legions know his voice.  In the United States, I would bet that there is no other voice as well-known on the radio airwaves. Tom Shane is a legend in radio advertising. But Tom is not just a pitch man; he is the founder and owner of Shane Co., America’s largest independently-owned retail jeweler. What many don’t know about him is how big his family-owned business is.  From the sound of his commercials, you can tell he is “your friend in the diamond business,” and you just imagine him down the street, waiting for you to come into his shop. Shane Co. is a chain of 20 stores in 13 states, plus an online store.

Tom shared some great insights into how and why he started his own business, his business philosophy, what his strengths are as a leader, how the company faced adversity and his fantastic response, and how Shane Co. has positioned itself as small and local in each market it serves. It is not too often we get to sit down and have a chat with a man as successful as Tom, but he really didn’t hold anything back and was very transparent.

For more information on Tom Shane and Shane Co., check out their website at ShaneCo.com.

To listen to the entire interview, please visit us on iTunes or Stitcher or at our website, smallbusinessnaked.com. Small Business Naked is one of the best free small business podcasts to listen to if you are an entrepreneur, a small business owner or you are stuck working for The Man and are looking for small business ideas.

http://audioboom.com/boos/2797698-25-tom-shane-founder-of-the-shane-co.mp3

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If you have owned a small business for a while, one of the biggest things you deal with is hiring.  I don’t know about you, but I’ve hired thousands of people over the years.  Yes…THOUSANDS.  Johnny and I have lots of fun on today’s show sharing our pains and victories in hiring staff.  Probably more pains than victories though.  If you run a seasonal business that is dependant on employees, you know just how hard it is to hire the right people.  Sometimes you might just want a warm body though…like Johnny.

We talk about systems for finding key employees, how to bonus employees, problems with hiring, hourly pay vs. performance based pay.

Nick and Johnny Battle talk about the hard issues of hiring, finding the right person, and just finding a person.  It gets a bit real on this weeks episode of Small Business Naked.

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Systems

There are a lot of good business ideas out there.  People start new businesses every day.  Why do so many fail?  Why do so many just limp along?  I would bet, that many fail or never truly succeed due to the lack of systems in the business.  McDonalds does not make a great hamburger.  They don’t make a great chocolate shake.  What McDonalds has done better than anyone else, is to create systems for their franchise, that has been duplicated thousands of times, around the globe.  Right now, I am flying back to Denver from a vacation in Vietnam, where McDonalds has just opened two locations within the last few months.  I have eaten McDonalds in Chicago, in Washington, in Moscow, and in Frankfurt, and I can tell you that the burger and fries have been consistent every single time.

Any talk of systems, rules, or plans, usually sends budding entrepreneurs into the corner to hide, but there is so much freedom, when systems are put into place.  Years ago, I started creating so many forms that I eventually created a master list of all the forms we had; a form for the forms.  My office manager dubbed me the Form King and I soon learned to love the idea.  The more forms I created, the more things I could track, and the more things I could track, the more I could measure.  But better than tracking, the forms allowed me to do things the same way every time.  Even though I created those forms, I would forget certain things every once in a while.  Systems help you create order out of chaos, and bring consistency where happenstance would tend to take over.

Creating systems in your business can be a daunting task, and you may be wondering where to start, and what comes first:  the chicken or the egg?  I would say, start with what you know works and works every time.  If you have been running your business for a while, start simple, and start recording what you do.  And it does not matter if you are the only employee in the business.  If you ever plan to expand, and hire someone else to do some or all of the things that you do, you need to write down and create a system for everything.

If you own a retail organization, do you have a system for opening and closing?  What is it that needs to be done every day, the lights turned on, chairs brought down, displays filled and cash register turned on and unlocked?  Document your procedure and create a check list so nothing is missed. Then it doesn’t matter whether you do it, your manager, or your newest employee.

If you own a contracting business, do you have a written procedure for your sales process?  This one thing could help you not only raise your closing ratio, but it could enable you to command a higher price for your work.  The more organized and structured you appear to your potential customer, the more value and worth you bring to the table.

When writing out a system, write it in a way that is understandable to a fifth grader.  It needs to be simple and if it’s not simple, it will not be followed  by you or your employees and team members.

Creating a system is truly the first step in building an organization.  What is the desired outcome, and how do you make sure that it happens every time?  When and who has contact with the customer and what information do you need from them.  Where can problems be avoided that have occurred in the past?

To start, write out a normal process on paper and identify areas where problems have occurred, on occasion or consistently.  Once you identify the items, what could you do to make sure they don’t happen again?  What are things that you could automate with technology?  What are things you could build into the system that would create more value for the customer?  What is it about the product or service you offer that customers truly value?  How can you build on this?

After owning a high-end paint contracting business, I realized there was a need for high quality painting at a more affordable price point.  We had always offered our customers the moon and stars and nothing was beyond our scope.  The problem with this model was that it’s hard to make a profit and leave the customers feeling like they received great value, while paying our team appropriately.  I then created a limited service painting company where we automated the bidding process through an on-line paint estimating system and our customers could, price out, pay for, and schedule their projects. On top of this, we also limited the level of service we provided. Homeowners would move furniture, remove blinds and wall plates, and then our painters would show up and paint.  No moving furniture, fixing of holes and no guess work.  This took out most of the unknowns for us, ensuring that we could quickly and efficiently execute our process, and ensure low prices.  Prices so low, that we were able to cut our pricing model almost in half compared to our full-service model.

There are books, that go into great length on building systems and if you want more details, I suggest you read E-Myth by Michael Gerber.  On this topic he does the best job of any I have read.  I think I have read it about 12 times between the written page and the audio version.   It is one thing to think about it, and another to create the system.  If you need help, there are companies out there that can help you create the systems you need.  We hired Tuesday Consulting to come in and not only build the systems, but to help us implement them and train our guys to use them.  This was invaluable.  I think most companies want to build the systems, but either don’t know where to start, or get totally overwhelmed in the process.

Each week, Nick and Johnny talk to small business owners that have implemented systems into their business.  Download or subscribe to our podcast from iTunes or Stitcher to make sure you never miss an interview.

On this episode of What’s Up, Nick and Johnny talk about being weird and standing out. Sheldon Adelson tells us all how to do it, and because he is a gazillionare and owns the Venetian in Vegas…we believe him.

We have interview many successful business owners, and most of them stand out in the crowd.  Jerome Grady, founder of Colorado Ski and Golf, Johna White from the Billy Bob Teeth company, and many others have shown us this again and again.   Being different is not only more profitable, but it is more fun.

Johnny has his core values hanging from the ceiling in his shop that his company believe in, and the main idea is: Get Shit Done!  Some believe he needs to be more professional, but he believes that is truly what they want to be like.

Johnny’s list of Core Values:

Tattoos in the workplace?  Nick and Johnny actually disagree on something!  Nick hires purple hair, tattoos, and nose rings, and John wants NO tattoos.  John wants his team to look nice, but worries that his customers will be put off by an employee that is not clean cut and nice.  Nick uses the edgy look of an artist to further the story of hiring starving artist and teaching the art of painting houses.

How do you create fun in the business.  Johnny believes that it needs to be the owner or manager.  He needs to lead the team into fun.  John reveals how he is walking the walk and provide fun for his team.  After a long season, he is bringing his managers on a trip after a long hard season.

If you have a topic you’d like to hear Nick and Johnny talk about in an upcoming What’s Up talk, let us know below.  Or, if you have done something to provide fun or weirdness in your business, let us know below.

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