Good day folks, and welcome to episode 92, we're in a different space. We used to be over there, now I'm here. And we're sort of... We've changed it a little bit for various reasons that we may explain down the track, but we're simplifying things. We're not having all of the three or four camera shoots. 

We haven't got a picture of our floating light bulb anymore. It's sitting over there being very dejected. 

In this episode, we're gonna be talking about the one thing that will accelerate your business progress more than anything else. 

And it's not a coach, it's not getting a coach. It's not taking a course. It's not a particular business model. 

And this one thing, that over my journey of being a business coach I've observed, somewhere between a four and six times increase, in the progress, the change of results by taking advantage of this, this amazing thing, this amazing one thing. 

And that's what we're gonna be talking about in this particular episode. 

Also idea of the week, we're going to give you one thing that we are doing in Blackbelt that I think really will increase your productivity, during the week, and give you a sense of being more in control instead of being pushed around by the whirlwind, the way the things that... Circumstances that push you around and cause you stress and overwhelm and all that sort of stuff. It's gonna put you back in control. 

So, if this is your first time in the Builders Business Success Podcast, We are a construction business podcast or a builder's podcast. If you've never met me before, I'm Mick Hawes. And I wanna be a construction coach, or you might say your builders' coach. 

And before we get on with it, just want to share with you this QR code. So if you've got your phone out, you can scan that QR code. And what that QR code will do is, it will take you to our new book. 

And this is this, "The Successful Builder's Toolkit," is the new book. It's only just come out, if you want a copy of it, you can jump onto that QR code, and it will take you to the page where you can get yourself a copy of the book, 29 95, "The Successful Builders Toolkit." 

But if you want a free copy, at the end of the show, I'm going to let you in on how you can get a free copy of the book. So, let's get into the show.

Transcription of the show!

So, as I said at the start, of the intro, I'm gonna share with you the one thing that I've noticed, that's made a massive, massive difference. And to give you a little bit of background, where we've come from, is we used to have the standard garden variety, what you would expect one to a one coaching business. 

And it was quite successful. Like the clients that we had back then, were really happy with how things were going, and the progress, and what they would learn, and so on and so forth. 

And I've had lots and lots of mentors over my journey, but around about eight years ago, I went to a weekend session with Taki Moore, who is my current business coach. And he's taken on a pretty amazing evolution himself, like, the environment that he has created now is terrific. 

And he is a business coach that coaches business coaches. And what happened at that very first session with Taki was, he introduced me to two really important things. One was niching and getting really clear and narrow, on who you are going to specialize in helping. 

And that was profound for me. And so one of the things that we learned, I learned in that scenario, because back in the day, when we were doing the one to one thing, we were working with builders. 

There was a couple of builders, other trades, but also like a motor mechanic, a hairdresser, a massage therapist, bank, TV, radio stations, transport companies, security companies, all sorts of things. 

And the one thing that I found through that journey was, the problems that the bank or the radio station, or the hairdresser had, were all the same. But they wouldn't believe me, because everyone seems to think that their business or their industry is unique. 

And no matter how much I tried to help people understand that the solution to the bank's problem is the same solution that you apply at the hairdresser, or in the motor mechanic business, no one would believe me. But when we niche down, and we just started to work with domestic builders. 

So, custom home builders, generally run by a husband and wife team, some things changed. That is because the majority of our members, in Builders Business Blackbelt because that's... 

We changed our name and created Builder Business Blackbelt. Because everybody, pretty much in the group, was the same, they assumed that all of their problems were the same, or they started to believe that all their problems were the same, and so the solutions were the same. 

And so that made it significantly better and easier for me, but it made it better and easier for the members because they really believed that a shared solution that worked over here in another building business, would work in their building business. 

So, they didn't have this hurdle where they felt that they needed to get the theory from the solution that was working in the hairdressing business, and try and put it on the TV or radio station. 

So, as I was saying, we noticed that because everyone was in the same place, so, we were... We noticed that when everyone was in the same industry, they started to believe that the solution that worked over there would work over here. 

And so just that having that belief that something that has worked in a business similar to yours, just makes it so much easier to implement something, rather than trying to work out a solution that worked in a different industry and modify it for your industry. 

So that made a big difference. But here's the thing that made the biggest difference, and that was the ability of the Blackbelt members to speak with each other. That's the thing that made the biggest difference. 

And as I said, in the intro of the show, what I've witnessed, since we started Builders Business Blackbelt, is that the pace at which progress is made in a business is somewhere between four to six times faster. 

So what that basically means, is that what we're taking, potentially 12 months to implement in the old coaching, the one to one, where it was just you and the coach, what would take 12 months to implement in your business, is now taking two months, you know, eight weeks thereabouts. And standing back from that, I thought, well, what is that? 

You know, because I haven't... I'm not six times better than I was when I was doing one-to-one stuff. It's not me, it's the group. It's being part of a group that has made that massive difference. 

And in this podcast, I wanna share with you the reason why, or the reasons that I believe why. Number one, and not in a particular order of importance but, the sharing, being able to learn and share... 

When people share their wins, when people share their lessons, it inspires other members. But you can cut to the chase as well, you don't have to make the same mistakes that other people have made. 

You can learn from the way that they've made their mistakes. Also, support, another reason is support. Support is super important, knowing that there are other people that understand what you are going through, and can cheer you on when you are down, but then you get the opportunity to cheer them on, and support them when they're down, you know? 

Not everybody's up together, and not everyone's down together. Being in a group is super powerful because you get that support, you get that understanding. 

One of the things that I've always found strange, is when you ask, "What's the best part of being in a group, "like Builders Business Blackbelt?" The answer sort of confounds me to a certain extent, but it's really, really common. 

And we found that other business coaches, that are in the group that I'm in, get the same thing from their group as well. And when you ask them, "What's the best thing, "or one of the best things "about being in a group like this?" They often say, "Knowing that others "are going through the same thing." 

And if I ask the question, "So what you're saying is, "what's good about this is that you know that others, "or you are suffering together as a group?" They kind of go, "Yeah, yeah." That makes it okay, it still confounds me, but it is a very, very common thing. 

So people get comfort in knowing that other people have the same challenges that they do. OPE, or other people's experiences, I've already mentioned is very, very powerful and valuable when you are part of a group. And when you're part of a group, you can use other people's experiences. 

As I said, you don't need to make the same mistakes. And if you're reasonably new, you can jump in and tap into the experience of someone who's been around for 30 years, and you can get the benefit of that experience, without having that experience, so it's very, very powerful. 

And being in a group, you know, with that number one point that I shared, where it's sort of in the culture to share, it's just so valuable. And it wasn't something that I decided on purpose to create a culture of that, it just kind of happened. 

Because when we first started Blackbelt, instead of everyone being in the same group, we had lots of little groups. And we used to have these things called intensives, one-day intensives, where people would fly in from wherever they were in Australia, and we would meet in Hobart, and we'd sit around the board table, and we'd do some training and some masterminding, and things like that. 

And I remember one of our members, Andrea. And Andrea is still in Builders Business Blackbelt, all of this time later was asking about, you know, does anyone have any suggestions about, like from memory it was like color selection, or something like that, to help their clients, in the early stages. 

And another one of our members said, "Yep, I've got a whole document, you know, "multi-page document that I use "to go through color selections "and this, that, and the other. "I'd be happy to give it to you. 

"All you'll need to do is just take our logo off "and put your logo on." And I'm sitting there and it just blew me away, particularly because the lady who was offering it, it took her two years to create this thing, that she had this resource that took her two years, and she just said, "Give me your email address, "and I'll just send it over to you." And it just blew me away. 

And I've seen that. It just continues to this day and it just blows me away, that people that are in the same industry, instead of thinking that they are opposing each other, and competing against each other, they are supporting each other to help each other, to allow and encourage other businesses, that are in the same industry as you to become more successful, and it's just wonderful to see. 

I've seen Blackbelt members jump in their car, or travel in a plane to go and see other members, to learn from each other, help each other. 

You know, I've seen it where a builder was in trouble, you know, and something went pear-shaped on a project, and another builder has jumped on an airplane, and gone to help them fix it like it just blows me away. 

And, you know, these are some of the things that are just so valuable about being in a group. 

Now, to make a group successful, you've gotta have the right people. And we stand guard at the entrance to Blackbelt, with veracity like, and to make sure that we only allow the right type of people into that group, because, you know, about what they say about, you know, one rotten apple. 

So it's really important that the right people are in the group and it's amazing when... Because our Blackbelt members realize that we guard the door and only certain types of people are, you know, get an invite into Builders Business Blackbelt. 

So, the moment that they are in that group, they are taken on board as a person that you can trust, a person that you can share with. 

And you know that this new person is gonna be a contributor, which brings me to my next point, that when you're in a group, and if you are in a group, and if you are watching this, you're in the Builders ToolShed, so you're already in a group, but how do you make that group successful for you? How do you make it valuable for you? 

One of the key things is that you need to be a contributor. I say this all of the time as if we're all standing around the campfire, and I'm the only one that brings you an idea, some training, an idea, a question, pose something, bring an experience into the conversation, and everyone's standing, you know, there's 20 people standing around the campfire, and they're all waiting for me to deliver this idea. 

They all might go, "Wow, that was amazing! "What a fantastic idea or tool or whatever." But everyone walked away with one idea. 

Whereas if we came to the campfire, and everybody brought one idea, and we started to share our experiences, started to share our tools, our templates, the things that we've created in our business, and we bring that to the campfire, everybody walks away with 20 ideas. 

Like it's so much more valuable, and it's one of the reasons that progress can be so much faster because people are sharing their ideas and their experiences. 

Something else that you need to make a priority, and that is that, sorry, I just told you what it is. 

The key to making it work is making it a priority. I'm getting confused. So, what that means is, well, priority means that you've gotta do it first. 

You've gotta give it the priority, so like in a surfing competition, the guy who's got priority, gets the wave first, does it first, that's what we talk about a lot in Blackbelt, that your priority is the thing that you do first because what that does, is it enhances the belief in the importance of this thing. 

And so, if you watch, or jump into the Builders ToolShed, you know, when you've finished work, what that means or what the message it's sending to your subconscious is that the work on-site is the most important thing, and, you know, you might disagree with me, and I don't care if you do, and I'm happy to have a discussion with it, that the work on-site and the work in an office, is not an investment in your business's future. 

It's an investment in the current, the right now success of the business, but the business will never get any better if you invest all of your time and give priority to the work on-site and work in the office. 

When you start to give priority to yourself, your mindset, your systems, and your procedures, that's an investment in your business's future. And that allows the business to improve. 

And if you're getting that information from other people, that have implemented these ideas, and have proven that they work, it saves you a ton of time and a ton of effort, but give it the priority. 

So, in your mind, you start to believe that working on yourself and working on your business, is the most important thing. And it doesn't need to be for hours and hours and hours. 

It just needs to be for a short amount of time every day, and you do it first. And so, give this sort of learning and contributing, and engaging with your community, make that a priority every day. 

And as I said, if you're watching this, you're already in a community, you just need to lift your game, make it a priority and start to engage. 

I know that there's a lot of what we call free pool around, particularly when we had the Facebook group, you just knew that the majority of people that would come in and they're looking for free information. 

And I don't mind that, but I want to encourage you, to have more of an investment mindset with this, and I'm not even talking about money. Yeah, we've got courses that you can invest in, and they have an incredible return on investment, you know? 

I can put you in front of people that have invested in our blueprint program for instance, and they have had a return on their investment of, I think it was something like six times, what they invested into the program. They had had that returned into their business within six weeks, you know? 

So, it was a good return on investment financially. But what I'm talking about is becoming an investor of time, getting involved, starting the conversation, starting to ask questions, helping and answering other people's questions, when they start to ask questions in the ToolShed. 

So instead of being reactive, instead of just sitting in the background, you need to get into the foreground, start to ask questions, and start to communicate with other members of your community. Start to be proactive and invest time and effort, because it will be a massive return on your investment. 

As I said, working on-site and in your office, on the administrative side of things, is an investment right now, but it won't improve your business in the future. Doing what I'm talking about now, will improve your business in the future. 

Now, if you wanna chat about any of this sort of stuff and go, you know, "What the bloody hell really, "are you talking about? "And, and how specifically can it help me?" All you need to do is reach out to us. 

There is, and let me show you because I can bring this up right now, with this new technology I've got there. So down here, personal help, you can get personal help over here. Just click that, and it takes you to a form, fill out a form, away we go, we have a conversation. 

The other thing about that folks is that what I want you to do, in relation to having a conversation with us, is what that does is it helps us stay current with the current challenges and issues and problems, that builders are experiencing. 

And it allows us to be searching around for solutions, maybe even creating solutions that can be put into the ToolShed, for the members of the ToolShed to be able to implement. 

So, just by you having a conversation with us, it helps us figure out what the solutions are, or the tools, anything that will help overcome that problem in the building industry, just by having a conversation with you so, really encourage you to do that. 

Idea of the Week

Now it is time for this thing here. It's called the idea of the week. And the idea of the week, this time is, it's all about how to be more productive in your week. And it's something that we have been doing in Blackbelt for a while. We've just started to refine it. 

And I think it really makes a big difference. And it's just a mentality called to win the week. And we have a conversation with our members, at the start of the week, on Monday morning. 

And the focus of the conversation, is what is the one thing that you are working on, you know, the big emphasis on, on. The big emphasis is on, on. And what I mean by that is, what are you working on this week, in relation to yourself? What are you working on yourself this week? 

Or what is it that you are working, on that will improve your mindset or your skills this week, or the procedures and systems to make your business a more effective business this week? And the reason that we do that, is that everyone gets affected by the whirlwind. There are all of these pressures on us. 

People are calling you, there are customers and prospects, and people chasing you for money, and you're looking for work, and you're managing sites, and blah, blah, blah. There's all of this stuff going on, and it's the whirlwind. And if you allow the whirlwind to suck you in, it stays there, as the whirlwind keeps you inside of it. 

So what we need to do, is every week, is make sure there is one thing that we are working on, that is either gonna make us or our business better. 

And we talk about that at the start of the week, and we've just introduced what we call a rapid round table mastermind at the start of a week where we break into small groups, and each person for five minutes gets to talk about what they're working on that week, and the group that they're in, asks them questions and gets them hyper-focused on what they need to do, and gives them any suggestions to either make it faster, better, or easier. 

Like, how cool is that? You've got a focus that's gonna make your business better, and then you've got other people with their experience and wisdom contributing to what you can do that week, to either make it faster, better, or easier, to accomplish that thing. 

And if you think about that, and you know, if you take four to six weeks off during the year, you've got 40 odd 46, 48 things that you have implemented in your business, you've invested in your business, to make your business more effective over that year. 

So in one year, you've got almost 50 things, you know, 46, 48 things that have improved your business, versus most people in small business, most builders, the business is pretty much the same at the end of the year as to what it was at the start. So this is a very, very cool thing. 

You can do this on your own, you can get together with other people in the ToolShed if you want, and you can form a small group and do this yourself, every Monday, get together, share what you're focusing on, and share your wisdom, and hold each other to account. It's super, super powerful. 

Wrapping Up

So, I hope this episode was valuable. We got off to a bit of a rocky start with the technology. We've got a few things that we need to figure out, but we will figure them out. And we're always looking to make this more and more valuable for you. So if you have got ideas that you would like to have covered in the podcast, just jump into the comment section, and tell us what you think about the podcast. Do you like it? 

Do I ramble on too much, you know? What's gonna make it better, and what topics would you like to see covered and unpacked that would be helpful to you in the podcast? Just put them in the comment section. Or you can reach out to me in the Chat. If you don't know how to use the Chat, I'm gonna do something off the cuff here. 

If I come over here into the ToolShed, and I go like that, you can now see my screen. And up the top here, up the top right-hand side, there is, hang on, I just need to get rid of that first, so you can see it. Up the top here, there is a little thing called Chat. 

It's just these two little balloons, if you click on that, it will bring this up here and you can press this, add a Chat button, press that, and you can search for all or any of the members that are in the ToolShed, and you can reach out to them individually, you can get a bit of a group Chat happening, and you can do all of those things. 

You can reach out to me in the Chat, if you wanna let me know what you want to be covered in the podcast, you can do it that way, or as I said, you can just put it in the comments underneath the podcast, in the ToolShed. I hope that's helpful. We'll be back again, same time next week. Hopefully, we'll have audio and we'll be able to go live. And it won't all fall apart like it did this time, but that's okay, we've got the replay. 

I hope you enjoy the replay. I'm Mick Hawes from Builders Business Blackbelt. We'll be back again next week at 10 o'clock on Tuesday, Sydney time for another episode of the Builders Business Success Podcast. That is it, bye for now.