7 Facts About Profit

“For me, it’s not about the money.” I was talking to a client about how to increase profits dramatically.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I don’t want to be greedy and make too much.”

“So, how much is too much...?”

I didn’t get an answer. I never do. I know that some people (hopefully a small minority) are put off by my constant emphasis on making money. I know that because, as a business coach, I have talked with hundreds of small business owners about profit and have often had conversations like the one above. It’s as if the speakers feel guilty about making a profit or that it is somehow noble to loathe money...

GUIDANCEMartin HollandFebruary 6, 2019PROFIT, GREED, CHARITY, ALTRUISM, EARNINGS, PHILANTHROPY, MORALITYComment

How to Hire the Right People in 2018

Jonathan: “You’d think he’d see the trash in the parking lot and pick it up.”

Me: “Why in the world would you think that? You hired him because he was the first guy through the door who would work for $11 an hour.”

If you're like most of us small business owners, you hate hiring new employees. Distractions and inconveniences make the hiring process itself annoying, but the real reason we hate it is that most new hires don't work out. It won't be long before, yet again, you'll know that they need to go.

GUIDANCEMartin HollandDecember 21, 2017SKILL, BEHAVIOR, ATTITUDE, VALUES, HIRING, SKILLS, CULTURE, LEADERSHIP IQ, TOPGRADING, MORALEComment

Alignment: How to Prevent Culture Shock

“It's important to keep the right people on the bus, but more important to keep the wrong people off.”- Reed Hastings CEO, Netflix

When I first met the founder, he had grown his company from start-up to eight-digit annual sales in under nine years. It appeared to be a tremendous small business success story, but things were not entirely what they seemed.

The company had an insidious flaw which even now threatens to destroy it.

GUIDANCEMartin HollandJuly 13, 2017Values, alignment, behavior, vision statement, culture statementComment

How to Set and Achieve Powerful Goals

My father piloted one of the first American airplanes to land in Japan after their surrender in WWII. As he parked the C47 cargo plane, a Japanese man approached on a bicycle.

Hanging from the top tube of his bike was a sign that read “Watanabe Trucking Company.” He was looking for work.

“Do you even have a truck?” asked my father through an interpreter.

“No,” replied the man, “but my son will.”

GUIDANCEMartin HollandJuly 6, 2017Vision, Goals, TimeComment

It's Up to You: Living Life Above the Bar

He sat up straight in his chair with his arms rigid at his side lifting himself slightly out of his seat. Brian was getting mad again. I would have worried about his coming over the table at me, except I’d seen him this way before. So had everyone else in the office.

“So, what’s the problem?” I asked.

GUIDANCEMartin HollandJune 29, 2017blame, excuses, denial, ownership, accountabilityComment

How to Make Time to Manage Your Time

As a business coach, I often quote Mark Twain who is rumored to have said: “I don’t want to know when I’ll die, I want to know where.” His point, of course, was that he could influence his location, but not time. He was right that we can’t influence time, but we can certainly manage our allotment.

Managing time is work until it becomes habit, and work requires incentive. Jim Rohn says that ”If the promise is apparent, the price is easy.” His genius was saying in simple terms what we all know is true: If we are complacent, unimaginative or completely satisfied, we will not do the work necessary to change.

GUIDANCEMartin HollandJune 22, 2017TIME, TIME MANAGEMENT, PRIORITY, MULTITASKING, DEFAULT CALENDARComment

How to Create a Powerful Vision for Your Company

“What do you want?”

“You mean for me or for my business?”

“Either. Both. What do you want?”

“Man...That’s a good question…”

As a business coach, it’s the first question I ask every prospective client. Such a simple question, yet very few of the business owners I meet have a clear idea of what they want or where their businesses are going.

GUIDANCEMartin HollandJune 8, 2017VISION, PURPOSE, VALUES, IDEAL Comment

Do You Know Why You Are In Business?

A prospective client called me in February a few years ago.

He had opened a new business in July, and by the time we talked he was selling over $100,000 of merchandise per month. Going from zero to $100,000 per month in seven months is a good thing, right?

Not this time.

How to Change Reality

“Are you sitting down?”

It was our new regional salesman, Frank, talking to a customer on the phone.

“I’ve got pricing for you, and I just want to be sure you’re sitting down when I tell you.”

I was in Georgia to find out why Frank was struggling, and it was apparent. The quote was for a small commercial job, but Frank thought $10,000 was a lot of money. It showed.

GUIDANCEMartin HollandMarch 24, 2017REALITY, BELIEFS, SELF TALK, ENVIRONMENT, SKILLS, VALUES, PAIN, PLEASUREComment