I define ‘Displacement Activities’ as: “‘Displacing’ an important (but disagreeable) business activity with more enjoyable ‘fun stuff’!” The danger? These seemingly innocent tasks and/or pleasures can ‘distract’ you from achieving your personal definition of success.
I recently shared a few ‘distraction candidates’ that can sneakily detour you from away from your ‘highest and best use’. However, by far the most common (and dangerous) Displacement Activity (substitute here: “fun stuff”) for many cleaning and restoration contractors is…
Staying on the truck too long!
Alright, I get it! It is just so tempting to ‘hide out’ on the truck! After all, you enjoy the work, customers love you and you’re making a ton of money! Life is ‘FUN’! (Even better, you’re successfully avoiding the unpleasant confrontations that inevitably come with hiring employees!) But here’s the problem…
Your body is NOT like fine wine… it most definitely is NOT improving over the years! Plus the situation of a solo ‘Lone Wolf’ owner-operator is very fragile. I ask every SFS Training group: “What would happen to you, your business AND your family if you get ‘T-boned’ by a car full of coked-up teenagers going 90 MPH?” The silence in the room is deafening…
So HOW can you define your ‘highest and best use’ in business? (And guarantee your family’s future financial security?) By meditating on this deceptively simple question: “What do I want to be when I grow up?” NOTE: This question is especially important if you (like me) sort of ‘accidentally fell’ into the cleaning and restoration industry!
Assuming you want to stay in this business (and why wouldn’t you?) then you have a not-so-simple choice between only two smart options. Either A) you ‘get big’ by building a Critical Mass Business (CMB) that will run without you being there 24-7 OR you can B) ‘stay small’ by becoming a very high-priced (and much sought after) ‘Boutique Cleaner’. Either of these Business Models can work well.
Sadly (for them) many cleaning and restoration contractors fall into a third option. I call this ‘The Road In-Between’ where the owner is ‘too big’ to enjoy the (supposedly) ‘care free’ life of an owner-operator but ‘too small’ to hire mid-level managers so they never achieve ‘Personal Freedom’! Listen closely here…
Do NOT stay long term on the ‘Road In-Between’ (RIB)! The RIB is a terrible Business Model AND dumps you into an agonizing life- literally the ‘worst of both worlds’! And yet this RIB is where most cleaning and restoration contractors get ‘stuck’. So make a decision between building a Critical Mass Business OR downsizing into a owner-operated ’boutique’ cleaner.
NOTE: If you DO decide to ‘get big’ you WILL need to spend a limited time (two to five years?) on the Road In-Between while growing your company into a CMB! But puhleeeease don’t spend your life trapped and enslaved on the RIB! WHEW! I feel sooooo much better after this little rant!
Let’s sum this QuickTIP up! Take your time and choose between A) building a CMB OR B) ‘downsizing’ into a (much) higher priced boutique cleaning firm. (Yes, you’re allowed to stay on the truck while meditating (and conferring with your family and friends) on your future!)
Just to help you make this decision let’s examine the ‘why and how’ of both a Critical Mass Business versus becoming a ’boutique’ owner-operator. Let’s ‘start big’ with a CMB and very soon!
Steve