‘One is a very lonely number’! No, I’m not having one of my recurrent Three Dog Night flashbacks! Instead, I am reflecting about where so many in our industry are… ALL ALONE!
Now being a ‘Lone Wolf’ owner-operator CAN be a good thing in business. It is simple, drama free, less pressure, reliable (After all, you CAN count on YOU, right?) and for sure it is a cheap, low overhead business model! So where’s the problem?
One word- TIME! Let me count the ways in which “time” weighs on us in business and life. (Remember, you CAN be successful as a “Lone Wolf” owner-operator. But you really should consider both the pitfalls and some alternatives to working solo. For example…
1. Our bodies are only going one way. And it’s not up as in improving over time! No matter how hard you work at it physically you WILL decline. For example, Sioux and I eat right (most of the time!) and walk an hour almost every day. And yet at well over 60 years of age I gotta tell you I’m super happy to not be pushing a wand every day! So think how much longer you can physically do your job. Plus…
2. Freedom is a great thing. We mostly think about ‘financial freedom’ which of course in this system is a good thing. (I always say in SFS that “All other things being equal it is better to have lots of money than to have no money”!) BUT when it is only you (and especially when you are under the gun financially) then you become “enslaved to your cleaning wand”. And that’s no fun! Instead, think about the joy of achieving Personal Freedom!
3. “Bad things happen to good people” and that includes you! In fact, I tell every SFS attendee to perform the “T-Bone Test” on themselves. In fact, let’s do it together right now. Ready? Here goes:
Imagine that you are on your way to your next job and out of nowhere a speeding car full of teenagers hopped up on crack cocaine slams into your van’s driver door at 60 mph! After the EMT’s cut you out of the wreckage you wake up in the hospital and discover you will be in traction and/or rehabilitation for the next six to eight months! WOW! So what will happen to your family/ business/ life? Hmmmm…
So just one more downside to the old “just me working alone on the truck” routine. (I’ve been reflecting on this lately!) And yet my guess is you didn’t start out this way. Most entrepreneurs don’t plan to do the physical part of their job forever. No, the American Dream for most is to build their company, hire employees, achieve Critical Mass and retire wealthy. Yet what happens far too often along the way?
This hardworking owner-operator hires employees but continues to run their company as IF he or she is just a solo tech working alone on a truck. Then when it all falls apart logistically, financially or more likely emotionally (as in complete owner burnout!) this chastened owner goes back solo on the truck to lick his or her wounds. Yes, this is where you hear that bitter refrain, “You just can’t find good employees any more. No one wants to work today!”
NOTE: Even worse, I find many owners of larger, multi-truck companies STILL feel “all alone” and that can be a terrible place to be. Sort of what I call being on the “Road In-Between” as in being “too big but too small”. Sound familiar? Then puhleeeease download my Special Report: “Avoiding the Road In-Between”.
So sad… because it doesn’t have to be this way. And this is where our SFS: Business Transformation comes in. Five days and over 4,000 pages of a ready made, turnkey Business Infrastructure (including our exclusive USB “Business on a Flash Drive”!) along with complete FREE ongoing support all designed to let you build a “real business” that smoothly hums along at the size you choose.
Don’t you (and your family) deserve the Personal Freedom to CHOOSE your future life? I tell every SFS class that true success is based on having “options” as in “The freedom to live the rest of your life in exactly the manner you wish to live it.”
And that is what Jon-Don with our SFS program wants to do- be your “Partner for Success”! But we can’t do it without you in attendance! So please, even if you feel you just can’t invest five days in your future success will you focus on your different SFS Training Options HERE? Thank you!
Steve Toburen
PS So hopefully now you see that you don’t have to be alone even without employees- Jon-Don truly wants to be your “Partner for Success”! For example, please CLICK HERE to check out our Strategies for Success: Growing Your Business Facebook Group. Thousands of cleaning and restoration contractors- all focused on helping YOU in ‘growing your business’! (You don’t have to be a SFS graduate to join us- ALL are welcome!)
And that’s why we developed this website- 1,000’s of articles and systems and Special Reports– all designed to help you build a “real business”! So sign up for our free every-Tuesday QuickTIP program and let’s get started RIGHT NOW- TODAY! You’re not “alone” any more!
PPS Still doubtful/cynical? I don’t blame you- SFS truly can sound too good to be true. So please- check out the dozens of Success Stores from real entrepreneurs who have transformed their lives after SFS! Or look at the hundreds of class reviews we have from your fellow cleaning and restoration contractors.