Every heavy-duty owner I know wants three things:
More cash
Structured time
Control of their business.
Yet, most owners jump straight to tactics:
Installing the latest shop management software to solve efficiency issues
Hiring an accountant to explain why they are flush one day, broke the next
Hiring a marketing agency to get them more customers
Using debt to buy tools without a plan to generate more revenue
Listing to hours of podcasts and books to learn leadership and time management
When none of these tactics work, owners get frustrated, overwhelmed, and convinced they are missing something or start blaming other people.
What’s worse…
Owners don’t know where to start and they don’t know who to ask for help.
This is why chaos, anxiety, and cash flow problems persist.
If any of this resonates with you, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Every great owner started out clueless (including me).
The secret to turning things around involves approaching your problems in a systematic way - rather than scatter-shot tactics.
The right order of problem-solving is:
Objective → Strategy → Tactics
Start with your objective (what do you actually want to achieve), then design a strategy (how you’ll get there), and only then deploy tactics (the actions and systems).
Here are 10 areas every profitable, growing heavy-duty shop needs dialed in - I’ll break down each one in the next 10 posts (common issues, implications, where to start):
Cash Flow & Financial Control
Operational Systems & Efficiency
People & Leadership
Overwork & Burnout
Customer Management
Tech Stack Utilization
Marketing & Business Development
Multi-Business Complexity
Vision & Planning
Owner Identity & CEO Transformation
Running a growing, positive cash flowing business is 100% possible for you - even if you know nothing about business, finance, accounting, marketing, leadership, or self improvement.
I’m not saying building a company is easy. Far from it. But I am saying, you can do it with the right dose of grit, effort, awareness, perseverance, humility, and belief - belief that you’re the right guy (or gal) to figure this out.
Look out for my next post in this series. Part 1: Cash Flow
If you have any questions, comments, or feedback, just reply to this email.
Go build it,
Mark