These are interesting and for some, challenging times at the moment. There is work out there, but in much smaller packages and much more hotly contested with everyone bidding on or pricing for the same work. 

So many people in the industry are fighting for work and lowering their fees to win work. Everyone has adopted the scarcity mentality. 

You need to be doing the opposite right now.

This is an incredible opportunity for you to be setting yourself, your team and your business up to break through the hill that is in front of you and come out the other side not just surviving, but thriving. 

Instead of running around and pricing anything and everything, let’s get really strategic here.

Take some time, slow down and identify the value, the real and tangible value, you bring to your clients and your industry. What is it that you can do really well, that no-one else can, that you know will save your clients (or potential future clients) time and money? Remembering...

During a crisis there can be a temptation to split your focus and try and do everything you possibly can to steer the ship out of troubled waters. However, this can be a costly mistake as in actual fact, during a crisis - you need to simplify everything and focus only on mission critical activities. 

And your number one mission critical focus - is cash. 

During a crisis and market downturn - you literally need to be obsessed with your cash flow. You need to be focusing all of your efforts on how you get more cash through your doors. The more cash you have - the more options you have. The less cash you have..... well you're in trouble. 

People can easily get distracted focusing on any number of bright and shiny temptations - but in reality you need to simplify things and focus on dollars coming in vs. dollars going out. You need to be making sure that you're doing everything you can to increase dollars coming in and turning off every and all leaky taps that are...

Let's be honest. This is a really weird time at the moment. 

I know nothing about viruses - I'll leave that to the doctors. 

What I do know is - now, more than ever, we need leaders. 

Your team, your business, the people around you, your family - they need a leader.

Being a leader when things are going really well - that's easy and fun. 

Being a leader in adversity. When things aren't going so well, when people are scared and overwhelmed and can't think straight - that's not so easy. 

But where there is fear and overwhelm, there is also opportunity. And this is a really incredible opportunity for you to learn, to build the skills and get to experience what it's like leading in adversity. 

Now, no-one expects you to be perfect at this. But your team and the people around you who look up to you - are looking at you to guide them, to comfort them and to help them feel more at ease knowing that you're leading the way. 

There are 3 key elements to...

One of the areas that a lot of my clients struggle with is building themselves into a purely strategic and high level leadership role, whereby they are the orchestra conductor of their team and business.

Successfully building yourself into this role means that you are responsible for the high level and long term vision of your team and your business. You are responsible for where you want to be taking your team and business and how you want to get there. 

To be truly successful in this role, you need to:

• Have a really good handle on where the market sector that you play in is going in 6, 12 and 18 months’ time.
• Be creating the time and space in your day to think creativity and strategically about your vision for the future of your team and business (hint - this can't happen at your desk or in the office).
• Be talking to and connecting with existing customers and future potential customers that support you having a good solid pipeline of work in 6, 12 and 18 months’...

At what point did we stop seeing ourselves as a work in progress?

As kids we were constantly trying new things, failing, falling, picking ourselves up again and learning in the process. We viewed the world and the experiences in at as an opportunity to teach us new things and to learn and grow. This is natural human evolution.

But as adults, at some point along the way we decided that we were done with growing, done with pushing the boundaries and limits of what we currently know and the skills that we currently have and that this [insert selfie] is simply the 'finished product'.

Today I want to explore with you why we stop learning and growing and why it is imperative that you get comfortable with growth, moving outside of your comfort zone and 'upgrading your shell' if you truly want to build a successful and profitable team and business.

I get it - failing is scary. 

Learning something new can be overwhelming. 

Moving outside of your comfort zone can be daunting.

All of...

So many engineering leaders and business owners groan when you talk to them about winning work.

"It's really hard"

"It takes a lot of effort and most of the time doesn't pay off"

"Most of the potential customers I talk to already have their preferred engineer and they are just going to give the work to them regardless of what I say or do"....

...and this is absolutely true if you're approaching BD and winning work like everyone else - unfocused networking, boozy lunches, fighting for work based on being the cheapest etc. etc.

Today I want to talk to you about a strategy that has been absolutely amazing for my clients: Authority marketing. 

Authority marketing is where you are actively and consciously positioning yourself, your team and your business as a thought leader and a market leader in your chosen field.

You are constantly producing articles, marketing material, content for LinkedIn and other platforms as well as your email database where you are talking about your...

Today I want to debunk the myth that you have to do it all on your own.

A lot of the team leaders, a lot of the market leaders, a lot of the engineering business owners that I work with are really stressed out. They're burnt out. They're overwhelmed. They’ve got so many things to do and they wear so many different hats in the business. You know - winning the work, delivering that work, ensuring the team's performing well and then growing the team if possible. 

And so, when you talk to them about delegation or passing off some of their workload, they're like – “I can't do that”. And when you start to coach them and work with them around this, there's a couple of key elements that can really help them shift this to ultimately increase their profit and performance.

And that’s what I want to explore with you right now… 

WATCH THE VIDEO:

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Hi, everyone - Josh here. Hope you're...

Now in this post I’m not necessarily talking about sailing around the world on a boat for a year or living on a mountain top with not a single care or responsibility in the world - although these may be aspirations you have!

 In this post I’m talking about in your day to day. In your role or in your business.

Would you like to have the ability to be in a true leadership role, where your team largely look after the day to day and you focus on the strategy and direction of the team?

Would you like to focus on client relationships whilst your team focuses on delivery?

Would you like to actually be able to get out of the office and create the space to think strategically about the direction of your team and where the next big client is coming from without your phone ringing a hundred times?

All of these represent freedom too. The freedom and ability to choose where you are directing your efforts and energy. The freedom to operate largely in your zone of genius and to...

Today I want to talk to you about a really simple concept that helps my clients set their day up for a win. 

It’s a really simple and implementable strategy that ensures you are always focusing on the tasks and priorities that will move the needle the most for you, your team and your business. 

I’ll also explore with you why people don’t / won’t do this, and it has a lot to do with them secretly enjoying being stuck in a stressed out and overwhelmed state. 

WATCH THE VIDEO:

OR LISTEN TO THE AUDIO:

 OR READ THE TRANSCRIPT: 

Hello everyone, Josh here. Hope you're having an incredible day 

Now in today's video, I want to ask you - what are your three big rocks?

Now, I use this teaching concept a lot with my engineering coaching clients and it really helps them set up their day for a win. And you know, I'll talk a little bit about the time management element of it, but really want to talk to you about - well, why don't...

How incredible does it feel when you land a new big client or project? It feels great right!!

You’ve often spent months (or sometimes years) investing your time, effort and energy in bringing this client or project over the line.

But to be honest with you, it’s not the greatest business development strategy out there. It takes a lot of time and energy, pulls you away from leading your team and your business and can often take months or years before anything comes to fruition.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love it when my clients land new clients because they are so excited that their efforts have paid off, it often means exciting things for their team and business and every growing team or business needs an element of winning new work from new clients in their BD strategy.

Today I want to explore with you the less sexy and often unsung hero of business development...retaining existing clients.

Once the incredible amount of effort has been invested in winning a new...