“ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME”
You have undoubtedly heard this centuries-old expression. In Roman times, all roads were built to lead back to the Capitol. Thus, no matter where one started or which road they took, they would end up in Rome. As every business owner soon learns, there is only one road to “profit” and that is through sales and revenue growth. All that follows is to help you grow a bigger and better inspection business and in turn, earn more profit.
STEPS TO SUCCESS
Welcome and thank you for becoming a part of NPI/GPI. By becoming one of our franchisees you have expressed the desire and commitment to build a successful inspection business. Your two weeks in Omaha was the first step and it is exciting to know our business relationship is just beginning.
National Property Inspections, Inc.’s goals for assisting you are consistent with the six steps you must take to become successful:
· To teach you the business of property inspection
· To provide you with inspection training and ongoing support
· To teach you how to find and keep loyal customers
· To teach you how to find and keep loyal employees
· To teach you how to grow your business
· To teach you how to earn a profit
Take a moment and reflect upon some of the successful small business owners in your community. They most likely work hard, earn a good living, have offices, have a number of employees, have repeat customers, have a good reputation, etc. Make this pledge and issue yourself this challenge: “If they can do it, I can do it.”
Most of those business owners did not have the training, support and coaching behind them that you now have. For over 20 years, we have considered ourselves a family. We care about your success. As an independently owned and operated business you are in business for yourself, but you are not by yourself. National Property Inspections, Inc. is here to guide you, support you, and share with you the things it takes to build a successful inspection business. Though even with our help, you must ultimately build your own business. We can never do as much for you as you can do for yourself.
ONE PLAYER CAN SCORE POINTS. IT TAKES A TEAM TO WIN
It is possible to operate your franchise and to earn a measured living operating alone. However; operating alone leads to lost opportunities, makes it more difficult to round out your business, leads to less free time with your family and makes it very difficult to build a business that can be “sold” when you retire or otherwise leave the business. Working alone builds an upside down pyramid and requires a sustained balancing act.
Your NPI/GPI franchise affords you the opportunity to offer numerous inspection services to a diversified client base. This is an opportunity to build an inspection business and not intended to be a “one-man” operation. We are here to coach you along the way and are excited to watch you grow your business.
There is more than one way to do anything, including building an inspections business. You may wish to incorporate many of your ideas into your business planning. Please feel free to do that, though we encourage you not to stray too far from the path we know to be proven.
RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO YOU
You are now acquainted with the Omaha staff, with each person’s job responsibilities and how they might assist you. Please feel free to call upon them. On your NPI/GPI Web site you can access our “Forum.” There you will find an outline for a business plan, information about bankers and business loans, and information about finding, hiring and compensating employees. You will also find information about how to build value and prepare your business for eventual sale. You can post questions and/or otherwise communicate with other franchisees on the Forum. Please utilize this resource.
A MENTAL PICTURES IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS (DOLLARS)
Building a business begins with a vision. The following visual exercise helps demonstrate all the things that must be done to build a successful inspection business. It also shows why it’s extremely difficult to do all of the things necessary by yourself.
Imagine a 100 foot piece of rope lying on the floor in front of you. Let the rope symbolize your business. Imagine grasping the rope with both hands in the middle, at either end or anywhere in between. Now extend the rope up over your head. No matter where you grasp the rope, most of it will still be lying on the floor. In short, you can not lift all the rope alone.
Now imagine every few feet of that rope represents an ongoing task that must be done and done well to build a successful inspection business: sales, performing inspections, customer contact and follow up, seeking new opportunities, confirming appointments, returning phone calls, maintaining Web site content, depositing
checks, paying bills, record keeping, etc. No matter how tall you are, you can not “lift” all those tasks by yourself.
Lastly, imagine three or four people holding the ends and middle of the rope. A few people can hold a 100, 200 or even 300 foot piece of rope and none of the “tasks” hit the floor. This demonstrates the point that you can earn some income working alone, but you can not build a business alone.
GRAVITY: SYMBOLIC AND REAL
Gravity is real and ever present. Your rope will lie on the floor indefinitely unless you make the effort to lift it. If you do lift it and inadvertently let it go, it will drop back to the floor.
Symbolic gravity is just as real, ever present and much harder to overcome. The forces pushing down on your financial well being (rope) are numerous:
· Federal, state, provincial and sales taxes
· Mortgage payments, car payments, credit card payments
· Expenses for food, clothing, medical expenses
· Competitors, changing circumstances, fatigue, etc.
As you can visualize, there are a lot of forces pushing down on your “rope” as you try to build your business. Understanding a problem is the first step to solving it. As you start to build your business, your rope will rise from the floor.
GOOD INTENTIONS ARE NOT ENOUGH
To accomplish your goals, you must put things in perspective. Good intentions will not build a successful inspection business:
· “I hope to start my sales and marketing next month.”
· “I might hire an inspector in a few months.”
“Hope” and “might” are nothing more than wishful thinking. Neither means much and is not likely to become a reality unless you change your perspective.
INTENTIONS REALIZED
If your intentions are to become reality, change your perspective to:
· “I have started my sales and marketing campaigns…”
· “I will hire my first inspector by the end of June, 200_...”
· This is how I will find that inspector...”
· “This is what I am looking for in an inspector…”
· “This is how I will train that inspector…”
· “This is how I will utilize that inspector…”
· “This is how I will compensate that inspector…”
· “This is how much gross profit I expect to earn from that inspector…”
All the above have a lot more meaning and are much more likely to become a reality.
Determination and vision aside, it does not help to work hard on the wrong things and at the wrong time. A thoroughly planned and well executed business strategy is a key to your success. Success can come quicker if you do not make the same mistakes most business owners make.
Competition
At some primal level we are born to compete. Go to a NASCAR race, a football game or hockey match and you will see thousands of fans who paid to be there. And there will be millions more watching on TV. Why? We enjoy the competition. We enjoy watching our children compete in anything from sports to school work. Why to we have “Spelling Bees?” It’s for the competition. We have our pets compete in horse shows, dog shows, etc.
We also compete against ourselves: Runners strive to continually shave a few seconds off their time; swimmers want to do one more lap, at the gym people try and do one more rep on the bench press, etc. Competition is part of our nature. Whether or not the words are actually spoken; we want to be bigger and better than our competition. This is not about being arrogant or egotistical. It’s about the personal satisfaction.
In this race called life, we have no choice about when the race begins. We are already in it. We compete in life everyday…we should not be afraid to compete in business everyday. Strive to be bigger and better than your competition.
Lesson Learned The Hard Way
Most small business owners tend to repeat the same seven “rope-dropping” mistakes. Pointing them out now should help you avoid making the same mistakes:
The business owner tries to find and hire someone just like their self. There is only one you; you will not find another. That does not mean you can not find great employees. It is better to hire someone that complements you and rounds out your skills and experiences. There is an old business adage that says, “You do what you do best, and hire someone to do the rest.” You will find that sage advice.
Most business owners try to hire too cheap. This is arguably the biggest mistake of all. You can not find or expect to keep great employees if you do not pay them well. How much help will an employee be to you if they can not afford a reliable car to drive to work? How negatively does it reflect upon your company if your inspector shows up in a very old, rusted, muffler-less truck? How much productive work will you get from an employee that is overly stressed about the rent or how to buy food?
You can structure their compensation in such a way that they have an opportunity to earn more. In short, the more the company earns, the more they earn. (We have information about finding employees and Excel spreadsheets for calculating compensation on our Forum.)
Most business owners hire too quickly. At first they are reluctant to hire at all. They wait until they are very busy and in desperate need of help. They do not take the time necessary to seek out and consider numerous candidates. The business owner considers hiring the person or persons that happens to call the business owner. Seldom does the business owner initiate the call or actively seek out an employee. When they consider hiring, they do not take the time necessary to get to know each candidate or to fully explain the job, the company, or the tasks the employee is expected to perform.
Because of the sense of urgency, the business owner generally hires the first person that will accept the position at the too-low salary. This is not a formula for success.
Most small business owners fail to properly train their employees. Many hire an employee one week, give them very little training, and consider firing them the very next week. Why? “They are just not catching on.” This is not an employee issue. This is a training issue.
Good employees are first screened by looking for the right attitude and the right aptitude. Beyond that, good employees are not found, they are created. Create good employees by: providing proper training, providing helpful and encouraging feedback and creating an opportunity for them to grow along with the position
(compensate them accordingly). Create good employees by becoming a good boss. Create a good place for them to work.
Your employees can not perform well unless they understand their positions, what’s expected of them, the company and the inspection industry. As their employer, you must provide them with good training and help them develop the skills they will need to help you build your inspection business.
The proper way to train employees is time-tested and scientifically proven:
· Tell them how to do it
· Show them how to do it
· Let them do it
· Watch the results
· Patiently correct their mistakes and give them encouraging feedback
· Recognize them when they do a good job
If you do find and train a good employee, all is for naught if you never give the employee the freedom to do the job. No employee likes to have someone constantly looking over his/her shoulder and constantly second guessing them. Giving an employee conflicting instructions such as, “This is your department and you are fully responsible for all your decisions… but check with me first,” will very quickly lead to an ineffective employee and stymied growth and profitability for your company.
Most small business owners think of employees as an expense rather than an asset. If employees are doing their jobs, they are paying you. As you read on you will see that an office manager/administrative assistant, an inspector, an inspector helper or a sales and marketing person all more than pay for themselves. They are all assets paying you. You are not paying them. (Use our Excel spreadsheets for calculating the benefits of having employees. You will see this to be true.)