I recently caught up with John & Amanda who joined us in Boardroom in February this year.  

They’re incredibly energised because they’re clear, focused and on track to hit $1.7M in revenue. 

From overwhelmed and 1,000 things to focus on before starting with us. 

To achieving their first 90 day business game plan… 

…all in 30 days. 

That turned into... 

“I can't begin to tell you how happy we are that we signed up with you Josh. Hoping to secure our next 3 goals early with the direction and help you have given us.” 

When I first met John and Amanda they: 

→ Were bogged down in the technical day to day. 

→ Had no time to focus on high value tasks. 

→ Were needing to evolve the business. 

So we got to work. 

Together we worked on: 

Refining their recruitment process and hiring 2 x gun staff members. 

Securing amazing admin support. 

Getting clear on the action required and executed against this plan. 

And now...  

"We’re on tra...

We’re halfway there! 

Over the past few weeks we’ve been exploring the 10 Commandments for Consultancy Business Owners. 

It’s what I believe to be true about how to run a successful consultancy. 

A business that’s fun to run, returns great profit and gives you the life and the lifestyle you truly want.  

Today we’re exploring Commandment #6. 

Thou shalt be a Specialist, not a Generalist. 

When you’re chasing work and trying to increase revenue - it can be really easy to fall into the trap of trying to be all things to all people. 

But as you pursue work from anyone in any area - you fall into the deadly trap of becoming a generalist. 

You may feel like you’re making the right business decision - being able to do all types of work for all types of clients.  

But honestly, it’s a really slippery slope towards lower revenue, poorer profit margins, working with clients who don’t actually value you and - burn out. 

Why? Because playing in the generali...

In order for your business to grow - you need to hire great people or develop them from within. 

Train them to take over a part of what you’re doing right now and then elevate yourself to that next level. 

And you then repeat this process over and over. 

I tell my clients all the time - the roles and the tasks that you’re doing in the business in 6 months’ time should be very different (and higher value) from what you’re doing now. 

You need to be constantly focusing on upleveling your role and what you do in the business so that you, your team and your business are always growing. 

But this process of upleveling can be hard and uncomfortable.  

And humans in general don’t like hard and uncomfortable. 

So you sometimes fall into the trap of unconsciously sabotaging business growth by staying where you are.  

Not growing.  

Getting involved in things you know you shouldn’t.  

Doing the same tasks and roles in the business month after month, year a...

Building a high performing business can be tough at the best of times. 

But it can be even harder if you don’t have the right people around you. 

Let’s dive in and explore Commandment #5 for Consultancy Business Owners. 

Once you get to a certain size in business, your growth to that next level is all about you growing ‘through’ your team - not you doing everything yourself. 

It becomes all about the ‘who’ not the ‘how’. 

And your journey to building the business that you want - is about surrounding yourself with Eagles (high performers) not ducks (low performers). 

Eagles are autonomous and hard working.  

They take pride in everything that they do.  

They’re always looking to improve, to learn new things and to grow - because they’re focused just as much as building their own personal brand and reputation as they are about helping your business grow.  

They can be trusted and don’t need to be micromanaged - meaning that you don’t need to be present...

“Your fees are too expensive”. 

“If you just shave off $XX from your proposal, then you’ll be competitive and I can give you the work”. 

Ever hear or get told that ☝️? 

Today we're talking about the 4th Commandment for Consultancy Business Owners. 

Getting asked to cut your fees to ‘be competitive’ and to ‘bring the project back into budget’ is like a rite of passage in our industry. 

Certain clients seem to do this all the time - regardless of your relationship with them. 

And I think that sometimes they even try it on just to see if they can get things done a bit cheaper. 

Charging what you’re worth starts with you.  

Clients are never going to ask to pay you more. 

It’s up to you to set the bar and set the standard for what you get paid and how much you charge.  

Now obviously what you charge has to be within reason - otherwise you’ll never win any work. 

But when you look at industry average rates and pricing - there is actually a pretty ...

The older I get, the more I realise life is about creating experiences. 

Making memories. 

Doing things in life and in business that leave an imprint. 

As our kids get older, Kim and I have made a commitment to show them more of our local area, of Aus and the world. 

To expand their viewpoint. 

To show them what life and this world has to offer them. 

And more importantly, to create memories. 

When we talk at the dinner table, the kids never talk about the Lego set or the toy they just got. 

But they always talk about the experiences we’ve had together.  

Because those memories and those experiences last way beyond physical things.  

And to be honest, we do the same in business.  

We do the very same thing with our Boardroom members.  

We create experiences and lasting memories.  

In a few weeks’ time, we’re running a 2 x business growth event in Manly, in the northern beaches of Sydney. 

For our Boardroom members and a few guests...

A large part of what we do for our clients is expand their thinking. 

To show them what’s possible for their lives and their business. 

To help them see beyond their current viewpoint. 

To push them a little to help them see what they really want in life. 

Now most of the time, people start their own business for one or all of these reasons - money, meaning and freedom. 

You'd like to make more money than you could working for someone else. 

You'd like to have a greater impact on the lives of those around you. 

You'd like to deliver exceptional projects for your clients and help the community and those who benefit from these projects. 

You'd like to build a great team where everyone is motivated and inspired to do great work. 

And you'd like greater freedom. 

Freedom to choose when and how you work. 

Taking time off to travel the world, spending more time with your kids or loved ones and in general, living a fun and meaningful life. 

But ...

This is a big one. 

The 3rd Commandment For Consultancy Business Owners. 

When you first start out - you’re taking work from anyone who will give it to you.  

You’re building a brand, a reputation and a business - and revenue is critically important. 

So you play the game, do the dance and try and work with anyone and everyone in order to build momentum. 

And you know what - I have no issue with this when you’re starting out.  

It works - until it doesn’t. 

But for some reason, as you grow, you continue to hold onto lower value clients who don’t serve or support your future or where you’re wanting to take the business. 

You worry what they will think or what will happen if you let go of a client who has been with you for many, many years - but no longer fits into your vision for your business. 

It’s important to realise that, for each phase of business, that some or potentially most of the clients who got you to where you are right now, won’t get you...

One of the most common frustrations amongst business owners is that they know they need to be focusing on strategy, vision and big picture - but can never seem to find the time to actually do it. 

There’s always more pressing things to action first. Calls to make, emails to respond to, a report to review, a client to keep happy, a staff request or issue etc. 

There’s quite literally 100’s of things vying for your attention at any given moment.  

And it’s not because you don’t know that you need to be making more time for strategy and big picture - you do. 

And that’s what makes this even harder - because you can feel the stress building up in you when you know you need to be getting to something but you aren’t. 

So it’s not a question of awareness - you have that. 

It’s an issue with priorities. 

“What you focus on - grows”. 

There will literally always be something you can focus your attention on - but is it a priority? Will it actually make a differenc...

We talked last week about the process for bringing on another Director into your business. 

This week we’re exploring the similarities and differences between directors and shareholders. 

Now at a high level: 

Directors: 

 - Are a formally registered director of your business. 

 - Every private company needs to have at least one Director. 

 - Takes on certain risks and liabilities associated with your business. 

 - Makes day to day decisions about where your business is going.  

 - Typically get paid a Directors fee on top of their salary.  

Shareholders: 

 - Are formally registered shareholders of your business. 

 - Are owners of your business. 

 - Don’t typically get involved in day to day decision making (unless they’re a Director as well). 

 - Only get involved in voting on bigger business decisions in accordance with the shareholders agreement or company constitution. 

 - Usually buy into your business to get a % of ownership. 

 - Get paid dividends out ...