In the business world:     How do you start growing your company?  And Make More Profit?



Many moons ago, my partner and I were searching for a way to take our company from a mom/pop business to a full-fledged business.  
We would go to all the associations and talk to so many business owners.  But I would see the same problem;  not enough time, not enough of me to go around, and certainly not enough money for seven days a week, day and night "career."  

For ten long years, our sales didn't go above $750K. 

We needed so many more days every week. Working our tails off – fine when you're starting - but it was becoming very frustrating and too chaotic. 

It was a business, where we were doing everything, managing everyone, starting very early in the morning, going all day, and then (if I was lucky). I'd catch a quick dinner with my family, say I love you, and then straight back into the office for a night of work.

 

I didn't believe that this was what I'd signed up.  This frustration made me have an "enough" moment – I tell you, I was a wreck. I was a bit prepared to take it anymore.  I was going to find the solutions. 

 

We knew the owner of one of the largest landscape companies in Connecticut, and we asked him out of the kindness of his heart to meet with us for breakfast. 
So here we are, two hard-working Italian men, in our green garbage men outfits, construction boots, driving in our Datsun 1-ton pick up truck meeting the owner of the biggest companies.
We were dazzled as he drove up, got out of his Cadillac, in a suit and tie, and sat down with us.  

Holy shit was all I could think.  Ed gave us the gospel of business, according to Ed.   And he parted with a recommendation: a book: The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It

This book led me to the E-Myth program: Business Vocational Masters.  It taught me, not just the how and the what of business, but the WHY.

Why is one of the most important parts for me in the program?  It was finding out who I am and how I live as a man, father, and business owner.  This part was called your primary aims in life.  You learned about them in Tomato Paste Leadership Part One.

From E-Myth, it also helped me understand and support me in translating these primary aims into the values/culture of the company.  And these values turned in a document that helps me lead a company from a $750K company to a $15M company.  

And it all started with:

A Strategic Objective is the first step for your business to make your vision, and your dreams become a reality. 

A Strategic Objective is the clear written statement of what your organization will look, taste, smell, sound like, and how everyone acts like in the FUTURE.

 

Speaking to over 3,000 people and coaching over 15 business owners, there is one question that every entrepreneur/creative has asked.  
The question? "Why do we need a strategic objective?"

The answer is that a written strategic objective will provide your organization, a sense of direction, and a way for the organization to act, a way to think, and a way to achieve your goals for the future.  I am talking about a written statement, not a verbal strategy for your organization.

I say it is the start of all good to great businesses, because one, unless your employees, your vendors, your associates, and your clients read your mind, they will not understand or know what your vision is for the future.  
These owners would say, "everyone should see what I am doing, how I am acting, what I say to clients/employees."  Yeah, ask someone in the organization and see what they say.

 

A Strategic Objective comes from you and your primary aims.  It is THE starting point for your decision-making, planning, and what systems your organization develops.  It is a written document for the owners and the organization, one to lead the team and two for the organization to be able to work towards a result.

 

Think about it like this:

 

If you were building a house, would you pay some tradespeople to show up and start working? Tell the builder, the plumber, and the electrician that you want a home and then just let them go to work?

You wouldn't because that would be crazy. I doubt that there is ever a house built in the world that doesn't start with an image of what it'll look like when it's finished and some written plans. If there is, I certainly don't want to live in any of those houses.

 

So why is it when business owners get to work we tend to wing it? Building a successful business is much more complicated than building a house, yet most business owners try to do it without plans every day. 

Since we want to build a successful business, one that doesn't collapse or trap us inside for the rest of our life, we're going to start with a plan.

 

And that's what our strategic objective is: a plan of what our business will look like when it's "finished."

 

I have a simple way to look at writing a strategic objective.  It is a one-page Strategic Objective use the following pronouns and violá, a plan!!!

- Who:  Who are we as a company, and who are our clients?

- What:  What do we provide to our clients?   

- When:  When will be the business of the future?  Ex. We will be a $5M company by 2025. 

- Where:  Where are we located?  Where are our clients located?

- And Why:  Our values, our culture, How we live and act.

That's it!!!!  

We left off with the grinding and the separations of the skins/seeds and the pulp/flesh of the tomatoes.

The halved tomatoes are ready for the grinder.   The pulp is ground out of the tomatoes and repeated four times to remove every bit of the pulp.

 We take the pulp and start the process of putting the pulp into a prepared mason jar.

 A prepared mason jar is a clean jar that will have a bit of salt and fresh basil on the bottom.                                                                 

 

 
Daisy and Jessica ladle the sauce into the jars as the leader, Annunziata mentors.

And Annuciatina is always QC'ing.  Always.

The final preparation of the jars will be to add a bit more salt and a few sprigs of basil.  Making sure the jar mouth is clean of any debris before sealing the top of the jar. Tightening the top of the jar is very important.  The sauce will become sour if the air can make it into the jar.

Tightening the top of the jar is very important.  The sauce will become sour if the air can make it into the jar.

There is a so much more to leadership:

What do you do with your primary aims?  How do you translate your primary aims into values/culture, and how do you create a more successful business for all involved with the strategic objective? 
And how do you become the leader that fulfills everyone's success?

 

And there is so much more to finish the jarring tomatoes process:

What do you do with all the tomatoes, the basil, and the salt in the jars?  
How do you get to the successful, delicious sauce from the century-old recipe?

 

Want to know more? 

Stay tuned for part three of Tomato Paste Leadership.

 

Please ask questions and leave me some of your thoughts, just email me [email protected] and leave a comment below. I will get back to you!!!