Computer network gurus attain business enlightenment

Entire company reaps rewards!

By Michael Lloyd, Certified E-Myth Mastery Coach

Q: HOW DID THIS BUSINESS GET STARTED?

A: My brother and I are both engineers by training. We decided that we were either going to do this thing called business or work as engineers for the rest of our lives. We finally said, "Let's try it for six months. We'll know after that whether it will work or not." We called all of our old clients from the last shop, and they were happy to hear from us. Within five months, we had hired a bookkeeper and a system engineer, and from there it was exactly as described "The E-Myth Revisited."

Q: WHAT GOT YOU INTERESTED IN E-MYTH MASTERY?

A: I read "The E-Myth Revisited" in 2000, and it was speaking directly to me! When I read the book, I liked what it said, but I didn't know how to make it happen. I could see that E-Myth Mastery was the way to do things in our business. The price was in line with other consultants we've hired, and we signed up shortly after that.

Q: WHAT CHANGES HAVE YOU NOTICED IN THE BUSINESS SINCE THEN?

A: Boy, we've noticed so many changes. My partner Brad is technical, so some of the biggest changes I've seen relate him. The program really conveys the differences between the Technician, the Manager, and the Entrepreneur, and it made us sit down and look at our lives and figure out what we want the business to do for us, rather than always being at the mercy of the business.

Q: WHAT OTHER CHANGES HAVE YOU NOTICED?

A: Two and a half years ago we did about $1.7 million in revenue. This year we'll end up at a little over $3 million. One of the biggest things that Mastery did was help us focus on who our target client is and to concentrate on the 'A' type clients, rather than trying to serve everybody. Our revenue growth is not going to be as much as it has been in the past, but our bottom line profit is significantly up. Brad and I both took a very directed, conscious effort to improve our business knowledge, just as we ask the people that work here to be better engineers or to be better at finance. Mastery helped us first realize that our roles as owners is completely different than our roles as employees, Mastery has also helped to clarify our roles between each other and to our employees so that they understand the difference.

Q: HAVE THEIR BEEN ANY CHANGES IN YOUR STAFFING LEVELS SINCE YOU STARTED?

A: We've had roughly the same number of employees for the last year, year and a half. What we're focused on now is getting the RIGHT employees. Now that we're more focused on our target markets, we're hiring the employees that are best suited for those target markets. It makes a big difference in the level of service we're able to provide.

Q: WHAT ELEMENT OF E-MYTH MASTERY HAS HAD THE BIGGEST IMPACT ON YOUR BUSINESS?

A: The Marketing Module. We were fairly strong financially. Brad and I both got instant results from marketing and helped us define those clients who were the most lucrative for us. We've actually hired a marketing agency to get us into a new geography that starts the first quarter of this year. And when we take the work we did in the marketing module and give the marketing agencies the demographic and psychographic information, they're just floored! They say, "If all of our clients could give us this type of information and convey to us this clear of a picture of who they were trying to reach, it would make our job so much easier." Nobody knows our clients better than we do, and the Marketing Module enabled us to put that information down on paper in a way that is easy to understand and convey. The marketing/advertising agency can then create a clear and consistent message for our target market.

Q: WHAT IS THE MOST INTERESTING PART OF THE BUSINESS FOR YOU?

A: I really like solving our clients' problems. It's great to hear them comment that we actually care that THEY can DO their job, when nobody else has ever cared or conveyed that they cared before.
Brad and I both love learning. Business is a great game that you never master. It's a constant growth process and a challenge everyday. Mastery has helped this great game become a lot of fun rather than a chore that you hate doing everyday.

Q: WHAT ARE SOME OF THE THINGS YOU DO TO STAY AHEAD OF THE TECHNOLOGY CURVE?

A: Staff training and exposure. Brad and I both attend emerging technology meetings four times a year, so we'll know about it what's coming. In addition, we belong to peer groups of other business owners with companies like ours. We keep our senior level engineers trained and up to speed on things that are coming. We give personality tests when we hire our staff and make sure they WANT to stay ahead of the curve and be the expert. I actually did a quick survey at one of our staff meetings and asked, "How many technical books do you have on your nightstand right now?" Our best engineers were the ones that consistently have three or four books that they're reading all the time, just to stay ahead of things.

Q: WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS THE MOST REWARDING PART OF THE BUSINESS?

A: At our Christmas party one of the employees said to me, "Do you know that there are 68 mouths that depend on the paychecks that you and Brad sign every month?" That is so rewarding - that we can put systems in place that give our employees the ability not only to provide for their families, but provide for their families very well.

Q: WHAT KINDS OF CHANGES HAVE YOUR EMPLOYEES NOTICED?

A: There's now someone responsible for every detail and a system in place to attend to that detail. Our objectives much clearer to our employees and we don't have to micro-manage them. What we expect is much clearer. They know whom they answer to and they understand the rules of the game.

A: The other is profit sharing. We are making more money, so therefore they are making more money.

A: I think it's good for the employees to see that the owners are working on becoming better business people, the same way we're asking them to become better at their jobs. We're walking the talk.

Q: HOW HAS YOUR LIFE AWAY FROM THE BUSINESS CHANGED SINCE YOU BEGAN MASTERY?

A: Our personal lives started to get better after reading The E-Myth Revisited, but things have really improved since we enrolled in Mastery. I work on MY terms. My role requires me to be here 8 to 5 every day, as does Brad's. The difference is, we CHOSE those roles. My employees joke that the business runs better when I'm not in the office. If I'm traveling, it runs without me. I can take time off and very rarely get phone calls, because people here can handle the problems that come up and they know that Brad and I trust them to handle the problems. It's hugely empowering for me. I'm home every night at 5:30, and I don't work weekends any more unless I want to or in the rare event choose to because of a deadline. It used to be seven days a week, ten hours a day. By no means do we have it all figured out yet, but I can tell you that the improved quality of life for both Brad and I is significant.

Q: I IMAGINE YOUR FAMILY IS PRETTY HAPPY ABOUT THAT?

A: Yes, my wife is ecstatic. I have two young children, and my partner has three young kids, and it's great to be home with them. If I need to leave and meet them for lunch, I can. If Brad needs to go in for parent's day at school, he can, and doesn't worry about things slipping through the cracks. It's great!