January 21/28, 2019: Volume 34, Issue 17
By Jim Augustus Armstrong
(Second of two parts)
In part I of this series (FCNews, Jan. 7/14), I outlined why dealers deserve to have an awesome life in flooring. I also provided examples of dealers just like you who have done it.
Unfortunately, many dealers don’t achieve the life they want, and I’ve found the reason why is they don’t have the two-part success formula in place. Part one is making plenty of money so you can grow your business, hire good people and afford a great lifestyle. Part two is having freedom so you’re able to take time off and work the hours you choose.
Let’s cover some of the basic steps I take dealers through to put the success formula in place so they can have the life in flooring they really want.
Step 1: What does your ideal lifestyle look like? When most floor dealers begin their business or take over an existing one, they are totally consumed with growth. A few years down the road, many find they are working 60-plus hours per week, and they don’t have time to do what’s important to them outside of business.
I believe the purpose of your business is to fund and facilitate your ideal lifestyle. So, let’s start by creating your ideal lifestyle on paper. Write down what your ideal week looks like. How many hours would you like to work? What time do you arrive at work? What time do you go home? What do you do with your free time? For example, coach your kid’s sports team, golf every Wednesday, volunteer at your church, hang out with your spouse, train for a marathon, etc. Also include the things you’d really like to do but can’t because you’re too busy or can’t afford it.
In other words, create a clear picture of what you want your ideal lifestyle to look like without any limitations.
Step 2: What needs to change in your business in order to make your ideal lifestyle a reality? For example, let’s say you’re currently working 50 hours per week, and 15 of those hours are spent on the sales floor, including Saturdays. Furthermore, let’s say that as part of your ideal lifestyle you want to cut your work hours down to 35, quit working weekends and golf every Friday. What needs to change in your business to make this happen? You would write down that you need to hire someone to take over those 15 hours of selling from you, what your revenue needs to be in order to pay for the new hire and a process for delegating.
Step 3: Put your plan in place. Block out several hours each week to begin implementing these changes into your business. You would begin implementing marketing strategies to increase your revenue and creating a plan to delegate your selling responsibilities. Finally, you would recruit your new hire.
Step 4: Enjoy your new life. Obviously, this is an oversimplified example. I would normally do this over several months, the plan would be much more detailed and it would be done in carefully planned stages. However, this gives you the 30,000-square-foot view of what it looks like to take your business from where you are right now to having the awesome life in flooring you truly want and deserve.
