Contractor Evolution

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP159 We spend a lot of time on this show on systems, best practices, and tactics. But Today’s conversation is a human one.  Our very own BTA Member, Brady Williams of Ox Glass, went through one of the most terrifying and harrowing experiences you will ever hear about.  On June 8th, 2023, while Brady was at a business retreat thousands of miles away, his son James (back home in Utah) fell backward off a third-story balcony straight onto his head.  Shattering his skull, puncturing his lung, and damaging a number of other vital organs. He was given minimal chances of survival. Even if that did happen, James's normal life was completely off the table. If you want systems or tactics, come back next week.  Today’s conversation is about James' miraculous battle for survival, Brady’s experience as a father, and how the OX Glass Team rallied around to support a family in their time of need.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP158 Do you ever feel misunderstood by employees, partners, vendors, and stakeholders when discussing the future—the vision, the strategy? That “mental image,” to you at least, feels unbelievably clear, precise, detailed, and exciting.  How could anyone NOT get this?  How could you NOT be fired up about this? Cameron Herold is back on the show to lay out the solution to your visionary woes. His 2018 book, Vivid Vision, became an instant classic in the small business community because it completely transforms how you approach strategy and visioning in your business through the painted-picture exercise. And today, I get to pick his brain. Expect to learn:  What most of the traditional planning tools like mission statements and one-page plans get wrong How to create a painted picture step by step - a super fun and rewarding exercise How to roll out your painted picture with your team, turn it into your rallying cry, and reverse engineer the steps to execution.   Cameron’s a great podcast guest; that’s why we had him back; you’re gonna love this one. To know more about Cameron visit: https://cooalliance.com/ And get 10% off on the Invest in your Leaders course https://investinyourleaders.com/ using the promo code cameronh10  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP157 The labor shortage is not improving anytime soon. This is why smart contractors invest in their employer brands. Many businesses competing over a small supply of talent drives up its price and gives your would-be employee a sea of options. Ensure your business is the best choice for them by building a world-class employer brand. How you package and communicate your place of work to potential employees matters more now than ever.  Our guest on the show today is Andrew Hansen, founder and CEO of Site Partners, A specialized marketing agency that works exclusively with the industrial sector. Over the last 5 years, he’s shifted from helping businesses get customers to helping them find talent. Buckle up for an employer brand deep dive…. To know more about Andrew and SitePartners visit: linkedin.com/in/andrew-hansen- and sitepartners.ca  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP156My guest on the show today is Luke Hansen - Founder and CEO of Company Cam, the industry-leading job site photo tool that allows you to manage work from anywhere. Today’s episode is a Tech CEO’s 4 Business Lessons for Contractors.  We talk about brand building, strategy, social media, and more.To get a deal on CompanyCam click here: https://companycam.com/ceSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP155 If you’ve ever wondered how an Open Book Management business operates and whether or not this model might work for you. You’re in luck! Open Book Management, or OBM for short, is a business philosophy and system that communicates the entire financial picture of the business all the way down to the laborer in the field.  The fundamental idea is that every set of hands comes from with a free brain, and people generally play better when your keeping score.  Our guest today is Ryan Markewich, founder of Creative Roots Landscaping in Kelowna, BC, and a certified Great Game of Business Coach. For the last twenty years, he’s run Creative Roots fully “Open Book” and is here today to tell us about it. I ask him: Does OBM really work? Or is this just another hyped-up business framework? How much extra work is it to train employees on the financial reports and KPIs in order for them to truly be “in the game”? How do they select future partners from their employee pool?  How do they groom them? And what does it actually mean when an employee purchases a tranche of the company? Open Book Management isn’t for everyone, but if you’ve ever been curious about it, this is a great jumping-off point. To know more about Ryan visit https://rmark.ca/ and https://www.greatgame.com/about/our-coaches/ryan-markewich  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP154 My guest on the show today is Kyle Nitchen. I found Kyle through his substack and newsletter called “The Influential Project Manager” - which is worth a follow, btw. As a senior project manager for Layton Construction, Kyle has built over 350 million dollars worth of hospital wings, Surgery rooms, and urgent care centers all over Los Angeles. He writes about all things construction, leadership project management on his substack and today we talk about: Why Project Management in the construction industry is as big of a dumpster fire as it is How many of the modern tools and methods, from Gantt charts to critical paths, while useful, are incomplete in today's construction environment - and what to do instead Lastly, he takes us through the 7 archetypes of effective project managers - a simple but powerful framework to develop your PMs with. To learn more about Kyle Nitchen: https://kylenitchen.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Marcus Sheridan, author of 'They Ask, You Answer', returns to share his insights on revolutionizing video content for contractors. He discusses the six must-have videos every contractor needs and the importance of video in building trust and engaging customers. Sheridan also provides a handy Chat GPT prompt for generating video ideas and weighs the pros and cons of in-house vs. outsourced video production. Tune in for actionable strategies to elevate your marketing and enhance client relationships through impactful video content!

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP152 My guest on the show today is Cameron Herold, best-selling author of 6 books, many of which you’ll know and love: The Miracle Morning, Meetings Suck, and arguably his most popular Vivid Vision. But today’s conversation is about his latest book, The Second In Command: Unleash The Power Of Your COO, which I am immediately putting on the must-read list for all of you. Cameron was the COO of 1-800-Got Junk and helped Brian Scudamore grow from just $2 million a year to over $100 million a year.  He hosts a podcast called The Second in Command Podcast, where he interviews COOs of some of the biggest brands in the world. Shopify, Zendesk, Asana, MailChimp, and the list goes on.  He’s even built a mastermind group for COOs called the COO Alliance, which is like a breakthrough academy but just for COOs. Super cool. The book and today’s episode amalgamate Cameron’s wisdom gained through decades of filling, studying, coaching, and writing about the all-important COO role.  To know more about Cameron and his courses visit: https://cameronherold.com/ and https://investinyourleaders.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To get the resource bundle we talk about in the episode, click here: https://trybta.com/SOP No one sets out to run a dumpster fire of a business.  And yet… we can all admit that, at least occasionally, it feels that way.  Things tend towards chaos. Entropy is a real thing. This phenomenon is literally baked into the fabric of the universe. But that doesn’t mean through smart systems, we can’t overcome it and create organizational order. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are arguably the most critical weapon in this battle, and my friend Tom Hughes is back on the show to enlighten us.  Tom’s a lean manufacturing guru, owner of Lumen Electronincs, and the author of Improvement Starts With I and GREAT Processes - two amazing books devoted to organizational change through SOPs.  Expect to learn: Why “pulling” SOPs out of your team is more effective than “pushing” SOPs onto them How using a multimedia approach to SOPs ensures they actually get followed Leadership tactics to create a Kaizen culture that continuously improves itself   To know more about Tom and GembaDocs visit: https://gembadocs.com/  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP150 Do you shove off your social media strategy to already busy employees who half-ass it or just don’t have the time?  Because I certainly have. When you’re slammed running a business, making Instagram posts can feel a little beneath you. And so the default move is to pawn it off to a junior who inevitably does very little with it. This is exactly why a fully formed strategy is so important. It gives you something tangible to hand off so that someone else on your team can find success with it. Jonathan Cor is the founder of Customer Growth - A contractor-focused social media agency. He advises and consults with 7-figure and 8-figure businesses dialing in their social media strategies to deliver actual business results you can measure. Today we answer a few questions: With so many content creators and distractions, is social media still worth investing in? What are the ingredients that go into a simple and easy-to-execute strategy? What should your posts even be about? Who should be capturing and posting them?   To know more about Jon and Customer Growth visit: https://www.customergrowth.co/  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.