Part 4 – The Building Block Approach™

Who is going to help you attain your goal?

Part four

In our last segment we spoke of the timeline. Now we need to talk to who is going to help you attain your goal.

I would like to digress a bit and tell a story. In the early 1980’s my wife and I moved from the east coast to Seattle. We literally traveled, with the clothes on our back in a 1976 Toyota Corolla. We moved to start anew in a place that at the time was very open to independent minded folks.

We had no furniture because we sold everything we owned to have the cash to move to Seattle. My wife found a job at a restaurant and I started working for The Gap®. Over a period of months we bought furniture, mostly from IKEA® and eventually a luxury – A Television.

Being typical 20s somethings, the box that the TV came in moved closer and closer to the front door and eventually a lamp was put on it – It became an end table. One summer my parents flew from the east coast to visit and stay with us in Seattle. After the initial settling in at our apartment my mom asked me, “why do you have a lamp sitting on an empty TV box?”

My point here is that it took a fresh set of eyes to come into your place of business to see what is really going on as just like it took my mother’s comment to point out to my wife and me that a cardboard box makes a poor end table.

How many times have you gone into a retailer to see the same ceiling lights out, half way down the aisle? Those lights have become part of that stores look and the manager, owner or staff don’t realize it anymore. This is why your new team of advisors, consultants or accountants is so important to a business’s success.

Let’s go back to Bill and Stacy’s situation. They couldn’t see the forest for the trees because they were not looking at their business at 10,000 feet but looking at it from the weeds.
Once we had the plan locked down along with the timeline penciled in we met with their accountant and eventually the bank.

The goal was to make sure that Bill & Stacy’s accountant understood what the goal was and that we needed his firms help in attaining this goal. Not for the Tavern to spend extra money but for the accounting firm to help “them” save money.

Then we went to the Tavern’s bank along with the accountant to explain what our goal was and how they could help us. We were not looking for a larger line of credit but to press upon them our road map and the ultimate goal. At first the President of the branch looked at us as if to say “O-Kay…Thanks for the information.” But soon understood that we were looking for a bank that could meet our needs. Needs in the area of free checking, lower credit card processing fees, etc. When she realized that we were shopping between local banks she became all ears and was very helpful. In essence she became a partner like the accountant.

Once that was accomplished Bill, Stacy and Navigator Business Solutions interviewed realtor’s. Once we found the right one (A whole other article) we listed the business. Again another partner.

Now that the professional partners were set we needed to hire quality employees. We brainstormed on what the positions will be – Today and for tomorrow. We identified traits and skill sets for each position. Once that was accomplished we developed the Job Description and went looking for these new team members.

As mentioned earlier we started with the local Technical schools specifically focusing on the culinary arts. The pay was average however the more savvy potential employees saw the benefit of working for an organization that to be quite frank “had their shit together” in an industry where that was not always the case.

We hired and went through a few employees until we had the right mix. We were quick to weed out the folks that didn’t meet our standards and were disciplined. At first Bill and Stacy had a hard time with this process; recruit, interview, train, nurture and make go away if things didn’t work out and then start the whole process over again. With that written they became more adapt at doing this process and asking folks to move on to be more successful somewhere else.

After all as Mike Hill owner of the 17th Street Bar & Grill in Murphysboro, Illinois says, “it’s all about the people you hire.” They can make or break you!

In the next section of this article I want to talk about Location. Yes it is true Location! Location! Location! Can be the difference between success and failure. It may not always be about the physical location as the deal you sign with the landlord or the obstacles that you will have to deal with an unfriendly town government.

More fun to come in our closing article…