Why Most Builders Fail Before They Ever Win (Ep 291)

“As long as you are doing all you can do, all you can do is enough.” — Art Williams 

Today, Max shares how the power of patience can become one of your greatest assets when it comes to business development 📈⏳

If you own a business and are looking to expand, do you have this key component in place before you start growing? 

Watch today's episode on the whiteboard --> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL76rc3DrCOMb7VM9icAOQmLodNCSZTfKf

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Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:00

Often in business development, it's the subtle things that make a massive difference. On today's episode, I'm going to share with you how the power of patience can make a massive difference in your ability to grow your business. Enjoy. How old are you going to be before you start to experience life like you want it? I want to tell you right now, whether you like it or not, there is a better way to do business. Hi everyone, welcome to the Business for Builders Podcast. My name is Max. I'm your host. Thanks for joining me. Welcome to you if you're in podcast. Welcome to you if you're in uh YouTube land. Thanks for uh hanging in there with us. Welcome to you if you're brand new. Um, I used to say that a bit now. I'm sort of getting a little bit uh lazy, but um, if this is the first time you're checking this out, I uh appreciate you just stopping by um and hope that uh there's something that you hear that's gonna be able to help you build a more profitable, higher performing building company. All right, today on the board you can see behind me the power of patience. So, you know, last week um the podcast, if you didn't get a chance to listen to that, that one and this one probably go together pretty well. Um, you know, I was talking a lot about capacity and consistency and really personal leadership and the speed of the leader, your speed as an operator, how you execute, will actually there'll be a ripple effect out to the rest of your business, okay, and your business ecosystem, all right? And so um, you know, really following on from that, because we're all about well, we want to go faster, of course, but we've got to understand when there's more speed in your side inside your building company, the infrastructure has got to be better. But at the same time, you can't force it. And I think there's this happy medium, right? So as long as you're doing all you can do, all you can do is enough. As long as you do all you can do. I think that's the that's the that's the uh the bells and whistles. That's what you need to focus on. So, what we want to make sure is we're not dragging our ass, and we've got to make sure we're not being overly impatient, okay? I tend to lead, like lean towards being overly impatient. Of course, you know, I won it yesterday, and so I'll try and force the issue and make it happen and then get frustrated because it doesn't. Surprise, surprise. So, today's episode we're gonna talk about the power of patience. Okay, the first thing it the first thing that we note is it takes longer than we think. Okay, and and that's just the reality of it. You know, for me, and I I think I mentioned this last episode too, it's like as a guitarist, I want to be able to just get that in my ears and in my head and learn the song and be golden overnight. You know, there's one song that sort of stands out. There's a whole bunch, but you know, Rebel Yell by Billy uh Billy Idol. I was gonna say Billy Joel. Billy Idol, you know, that that's a very guitar-heavy song. The solo in it is very quick, it's a fast, you know, high beats per minute, and it's a very tricky solo. And it's funny because I remember just going, I will never get this, okay? And then now we play it live, and it's one of my favorite songs, and it it's not something I've got to think about. But I had to work on it, and you know what? I still had to be patient and let it come to me because it just took longer than I thought. Okay, so whether you're just starting out in the game, you know, as a builder, or you're decades in, um, the growth is still a process. So what you're learning as a 25-year-old builder, right, is relative to you. Like you're gonna be able to pick off the elementary stuff first. If you're my if you're gonna get into coaching on demand, so every 90 days you get four hours of my time, okay? And so that gives some space financially, but it also gives some space mentally for you to be able to process. Because I'll often say to guys, and any of the guys that have been with me just for a quick uh complimentary coaching strategy session, you you will know that I will start out by saying, Look, I can just do a massive brain dump on you, and you'll actually walk away overloaded, probably more frustrated, and possibly even more confused, simply because of the volume of material that I would share with you that maybe is above your pay grade. So, you know, I became a lot more strategic in my approach. I have a lot more empathy towards the human that I'm chatting with and making sure that it's gonna suit them at their point. You know, I don't want to be undercooking it to someone that's got more experience, but I don't want to be overcooking it to somebody that's maybe just getting started. And so, you know, for me, I'm just sort of understanding that it's a process, okay, and you need to understand that as well. It's gonna take longer than you think. The process is the process is the process. Okay, many builders are under mess underestimate how long meaningful success actually takes. And here again, I think you know, it's funny, you see successful people that hit a point in life financially and professionally and every other everything else, and you go, I would love to be like them at that level, but I'm not really willing to pay the price. Okay, I'm not willing to be that patient. I want it all and I want it now. Good name for a rock song, good good vocals, good good uh lyrics. Okay, so you know, meaningful success, and I think success is just an evolution because I might have mentioned that you know to retire means to basically stop doing stuff, like particularly work and income generating stuff. We want to lean towards traveling and you know, you know, doing some things that we couldn't maybe do as an employed person or as a business operator. And so I think it's important that we stay active but understand that it's still a process. Um, impatience causes people to quit too early and lose sight of the bigger picture. So somebody that's needed to drop 20 pounds, that's me, you know. Like I just go, oh, it's garbage, I can't do it. You know, but in that regard, I'm I'm the 10 out of 10 quitter. There's no question. I just get tired of the you know the drama. Um, but in the business sector, I'm completely the other beast. I'm the guy that will do so much work up front, I'm so patient as it relates to the learning curve, you know, and over time you see the development is very, but it's very subtle, okay? Um, and so it's really important that we understand that if we are impatient or we don't have the ability to be patient, what we're gonna find ourselves is quitting. Now that becomes a habit because you go, the minute it gets hard, what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna go fine. And this is something that I think Alex Hormosy, I think I saw him talk about it, is that everybody loves, and I'll see if I can draw it out here. Everyone loves to start a business here, and then it gets hard, and then they go down here, and just before they start to hit growth, they'll go, it's too hard because I'm in the valley. What I'll do is I'll come over here and I'll go back to starting a business because everyone enjoys the creation phase. Okay, and so what you find yourself here is in this disorganized position where there's chaos, and chaos just means there's disorder. Okay, and so when whenever we're in that position, we want to find a way out, and more often than not, we understand how wonderful it is to come up with another business name, another brand, another URL, another logo, and go, yay, we're in business again until the activity of business gets difficult, and we are not patient with ourselves throughout that learning curve. Okay, and so this you're not gonna learn anything here. See what you what you know as an operator at the top, you learn at the bottom. Okay, it's what the challenge that you went through and the ability to develop and to pivot and to react and to find a way and to be committed and be consistent, that's what helps you climb the mountain. So what you know at the top, you learn at the bottom or on the way through. Right, motion creates emotion. You know, I think when we go back to the weight loss analogy, and this pen's starting to run out, we start thinking about well, the best motivator is to see results. So it's almost like in the first 90 to 120 days, maybe not even that long. If you look at your eating habits and your exercise habits and your sleeping habits and all of that kind of stuff, and you start seeing a result, that is actually a motivator. So you've done the motion with very little emotion, other than oh, I kind of hope we lose weight, and then the minute that it starts to work, it becomes emotional, and then the commitment will elevate. All of a sudden, you know absolutely why you're doing it, and then it does work. So it is like flicking on a switch. If you continue to exercise, you sleep good, you eat right, that trajectory should maintain. If you change your eating habits, you don't exercise, you don't get good sleep, all of a sudden the trajectory will go negative. Okay, so activity builds momentum, confidence, and optimism, just like I was just talking about with the whole weight loss program. Progress often comes from continuing to move even when results feel low. So, guys and gals, I have been in the valley, okay, but I've also been here. This is enjoyable. We love that, okay. We we love that creation phase. The minute that it drops into here in the chaos stage is where all of a sudden we find out what your level of commitment to your commitment really is. Small consistent actions compound over time into major outcomes. Number three, we must be content but not complacent. You know, I recall one operator who's no longer in the Smith Sons group, and he walked into head office one day and he thought he was doing pretty well, and I was happy to hear that. I'm like, great, you know, we've got staff and we've got office and we've got contracts and things are happening. And what he said to me next almost knocked me over. He said, It's going so well, I am bored. So, to me, what that what was happening there, he was getting complacent thinking that well, I've made it. This is all there can possibly be. We're good to go. And I'm telling you right now that that individual is probably operating a business with no full-time staff, no office, and uh his revenue has dropped significantly. I was gonna try and come up with a percentage, but doing the numbers had to be a bit quick. But I'm telling you, it's one-third of what it was. Okay, and he was into the seven figures. Okay, so it's unfortunate that the attitude brought him unstuck because he just thought he'd reached the you know, the whole the end of arrived. I've arrived. See, for me as an operator, what I'm doing is I'm saying if I start to feel complacent, I've got to ask myself some questions. It's like, okay, so if I feel like this is good, this is good, but I don't want to get caught in the oasis and then or in the eye of the store where it's calm and it's awesome, and then the business carries on. Because that's what happened. He went from complacency, thought it was gonna be okay, and then he crashed. Because the business got, instead of him saying, Whilst I've got a little bit of blue sky, what else do I need to learn? What can I improve? You go into that that that assessment phase where you go, all right, what is it that I've not had the opportunity or the time to improve? And this is where business owners need to, their brain needs to kick in. You go, great, operations are happening, I can fall into some complacency if I'm not careful. But what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna go and audit, I'm gonna go and look at my systems, I'm gonna go and maybe build a couple of SOPs, I'm going to look into some technology. Um, I might look into recruiting, or maybe I'll start, you know, building on the other side of town and we'll set up an office over there. Something, right? Because the minute you stop peddling the business from a business standpoint, not an operation standpoint, but you as the business owner, remember, as the business owner, we want to what control more but do less. See, you've got to become the visionary of the business. Someone has to be in the bridge that's looking at the radar and ensuring that the ship goes forward unimpeded and doesn't hit an iceberg or whatever. Right? Now, you've got people working in the restaurant, people in the engine room, right? You've got all sorts of you know, business infrastructure that allows you the space to be able to be on the bridge and just looking out. You're not stuck down in the engine room checking the oil pressure. Okay, it's not what we do. Appreciate the distance already traveled and the lessons you have already learned. See, that's where I think we want to get rid of the complacency and use that as the time period where you start reflecting. Okay, appreciate the distance you've already traveled and the lessons you learn. I am supremely, what's the word? I never get comfortable. I think that's the thing here. Complacency, comfortability, all of that sort of stuff. You're either busy living or you're busy dying, okay? You're either busy going up or you're busy going down, whatever it is for you. Okay, and so you know, I think when we look at, we if we don't look at where the distance we've traveled, and maybe you've only been in this for five minutes, I get it. If you're 23, there's not a lot of distance traveled out the back of your apprenticeship. So it's all in front of you, right? So just take this on board, knowledge is not hard to carry around. Keep this in the back of your mind so that in seven years, when you hit 30, you would have traveled some distance now, okay? Gratitude creates perspective, complacency kills growth, right? So when I'm grateful for the distance that I've traveled, like the point we just made, okay, and the lessons that you've learned, you've got the gratitude, it creates the perspective. So you you use that historical data just to help clarify your vision for the next steps, right? And then if we don't do that and we don't have that attitude, okay, then what it does is going to kill growth. Like my old mate, he was complacent, and what he did, what it did is killed his growth, killed his opportunity. And furthermore, the other sinister side of that is when the business does start to tank, the easiest thing that you and I can do is start blaming third parties and everything around. Why? Because if we're insecure, that's the ego gonna say, oh, it's the marketplace, it's the government, it's those clients, it's those subs, it's materials going up, blah, blah, blah. Because there's an insecurity that you've got to protect using ego, and that's what ego will do, right? So this is why don't get overly comfortable, don't get too complacent. Make sure that you are grateful for everything you've learned thus far and the distance traveled, and then start thinking about what is next. You can accept today's reality while still wanting more tomorrow, both good and bad. If you've had a great run up until this point in time, Mozeltov, great. Okay, look at the distance traveled, be grateful for what you've got and go again. If things haven't gone as well as what you know you'd hoped, or you haven't covered the amount of ground, you know, sometimes I think I should have done more, I should have achieved more, things like that. You've got to just put that to one side. I have to mentally just stop myself and go, you know what? Look at the distance traveled, what lessons have I learned, what have I achieved, what have I done? Be grateful for that so I don't fall into complacency, both good and bad. Right, number four, stay above the line. And this is with your thinking. Stay above the line in the way of, you know, we are we a victim mindset or are we someone that takes ownership and responsibility? Okay, do we we apply some critical thinking and say, well, that didn't work out too well, but what can we do to make it better? Or do we sit there and start blaming other, you know, other forces around us that we have no control over? Victim thinking destroys energy. So when you think like a victim, like woe is me, okay, it destroys your energy, your creativity, and your leadership. Okay, you are literally selling out, right? Positive perspective helps builders stay resilient during difficult decisions, uh, sorry, difficult seasons. So the the whole thing about you know, resistance builds muscle mass. You know, that's really where we we get broken down and we come back stronger. See, if you don't come back even a little bit stronger, you never really benefit from the hardships. If you jump out and you go and do something else, the lessons are never learned. They will never you'll never retain those. I'll never stay with you. Your mindset influences your team, your family, and your future. And you know, I can only speak from a guy's perspective, but you know, we do have a lot of influence in the house, and there's a lot of pressure on us to be, you know, the rock, you know, or or you know, to be that individual that that really is dependable, that really doesn't trip up or falter. But I'm gonna tell you some some of the some of the best lessons I've learned is just being vulnerable. I don't know what to say, you know, because I know that you know you and and you know your weak spots and you know those things that really eat you up, okay? You know your shortcomings better than anybody else, right? You just you know you really got to be happy with who you are internally. Number five, patience, persistency. Here we go again. So patience plus persistence equals long-term success. Now remember, it's there's it's not you know, the life is the journey, success is the journey, there's no destination. And so, with that in mind, great businesses are built slowly through consistency and endurance. I was just talking to a company today that have been in this town since 1963, which doesn't seem like a long time ago, since I was born in 73, but they've been operating in this town since then, so 60 years, right? 63 years, whatever it is. And so, you know, I think we underestimate, you know, what we overestimate what we can do in 12 months, but we underestimate what we can do in, you know, five or ten years. And I think that's where when you when you have the the outlook or the perspective that says, I will do all I can do, and then let it come to me, um, and that you are persistent in both the activity and the attitude, that's where where you will start to walk in um long-term success. Now understand this too, that that is part of your success program. You because you're not looking for the next watch or the next car or the next toy or the next holiday or you know, the next wife, or whatever the case is for you. Okay, you enjoy in the moment because you are exactly where you're meant to be. You know, do I look back at my life and think there's some ugly things back there? Absolutely. But you can't go back and modify, and even if I did, that would change something else. It's kind of like the whole back to the future thing. Um, every new day brings fresh opportunity to improve and move forward. You know, and I think that's every time that you know I've had a bit of an ordinary day, and you sort of start thinking about geez, do I really am I really committed to the you know the long game? Um, what I know this is I don't make any rash decisions whilst I'm emotional, because guys and gals, you know that when your emotion is up, your ability to make good decisions comes down, doesn't it? Okay, so we never want to make any decisions, you know, life-changing decisions, when maybe our emotion is a bit high. We need to just calm down and step out of that bubble and just cool it for a second. And I find that, you know, even if I've had a pretty ordinary day today, I know that at 5:30 when I hit the showers and I'm in the office at 6, I just know that my level of optimism, I'm not very emotional because the day hasn't beat the shit out of me yet, and so I'm thinking with a lot more clarity, and that's that's a beautiful, you know, part about how we conduct our life to ensure that we do go long term, that we do make good decisions, and that we do see the business getting better, and us as operators and leaders are more patient and you know are better business owners. Life and business are journeys, not destinations. Stay patient, stay grateful, and keep moving forward. If you want to talk to me about business coaching or you want a complimentary coaching session for 30 minutes, hit that uh big yellow button up there on the elite businessadvisory.com web page. Um, and I think I might have mentioned this on the last episode. Get across to the number that's up there, and that's that's my WhatsApp number. So you might want to just send me a message instead of an email or instead of booking a Zoom call, and maybe we can get on a bit of an audio. I'm always on the road going somewhere. So if there's an opportunity and there's a timeline where you can maybe have a quick chat, mate, hit me up. I'm right here. So um be patient, folks. Work like it to like everything depends on you, and then just wait. Okay, do all you can do, as long as you're doing all you can do, that's enough. Be patient and um more profit, better lifestyle. You deserve it. Go build a kick ass business. Cheers