I never do this, you can look through my reddit 4 yr history and you will see I never take the time to post things myself. I make comments here and there that help but this is the first time I am really giving back to the reddit community and I do think it is important.
First off, a little about me, because that is important. I am giving advice, and there is too much advice about how to be successful from people who aren’t. Actually, I am not even that successful, but I am in a position now where I could potentially be set for life if I stopped now. Still, there are over 22 Million of us Millionaires in the US alone. So, I wouldn’t say I am doing anything incredible but I am someone who brings in 7 figures on an ANNUAL basis and not just worth a million dollars. So if you want my advice, I am happy to give it.
I have been an entrepreneur for 7.5 yrs now. Uniquely, I started my first two companies within 6 months of each other and both are doing very well. By very well, I mean 7 and 8 figure companies. If I dove into specifics on the companies, it may not be as helpful to apply to what you are doing, but I do think knowing the industries is important. One is in the logistics industry and the other is in home improvement. After 2.5 years of the home improvement company I stepped away from daily roles and only take a distribution and handle marketing. My partner on that business handles the rest which is 95%. We are equal partners. In the logistics business I am the sole owner and have no investors. I have other businesses as well now but they are more like investments where I collect maybe $50k a yr from each of them. So nothing to write about here. I am writing below about my logistics company ONLY and how I pushed that into 8 figures.
Alright, so the focus of this post is not a 0-$10M+ post. It is $5M-$10M+. I can make $0-$5M later if anyone really cares. You see, my company was stuck at $5M-$6M in sales for 3 years (partly covids fault).
It was not until I implemented the following things that I grew past $10M, and blew by it btw.
Here are some of the most important things I learned.
- Hiring process. You need to make sure EVERYONE that applies understands that you only hire the best and you have a culture of excellence. Not good, not great, F’ing excellent. If they are hired they will be held to that standard and measured constantly. Let them know it is for their own success. I tell everyone that our company has a pace and I set the tempo. They will be dragged along until it is time for them to perform. From there they will either keep up or get left behind. I can demand this because the average employee in my company makes 6 figures. I tell salespeople, you will make $100k next yr or you won't be here. We demand the best out of our employees.
- Be a leader and a boss. I know “be a leader not a boss” is widely accepted (though still not adopted in exercise much tbh). And I will say it is more important to be a leader than to be a boss. Your staff will look at your work ethic and it will drive the energy from the top down. There is nothing more powerful. BUT you still have to be a boss. As you set the standard, YOU have to make sure the standard is being matched and if not, you have to cut anyone below the line. If you do not, your winning culture will turn to a losing culture rapidly. They need to be held accountable by you.
- **Self accountability is the biggest myth. If you all learn anything from me, please learn this. Absorb it. It is worth more than any advice I have ever read or heard and I put this above anything else. Contrary to what you might believe, everyone gets lazy. Even you. Companies grow when the company as a whole is efficient. In order for you to accomplish #2 on this list in the most efficient way, you need to hire a boss. Not a boss for the office, that is you. I mean a boss for you. Some people have personal assistants, I have a personal boss. In charge of me and me only. And they know they have to be hard on me, no exceptions. They get bonuses for how many tasks I complete. More on this in #4. Quick note, I would not be able to demand #1 (excellence of new hires) if it weren’t for this. I set the example of excellence, I set the pace. They see it.
- My compensation- Link your compensation to your productivity. My boss is in charge of my review and based off the tasks that are set for me (and by me mostly) I get paid only if I hit my productivity targets. If I hit 90% of them I get 90% of my salary. That’s it. My calendar is stacked everyday in 30min increments all 10 hours and there hasn’t been an open spot in 6 months. My boss makes sure of it. If it is open, she will fill it with meetings or lead generation for the sales team. No time is wasted. That being said, it is a system that demands efficiency and tasks take a while to properly plan the correct timing. I have never done better than 80% in a quarter, so that quarter, I made 80% of my salary only.
- Don’t be greedy, only pay yourself what you are worth to the company. When you are a 5-10m company employees like to see you work for your money and invest it back, that is also good for company morale. Your compensation should be known (this is my personal choice to do what you like). My employees know I get paid on my productivity and that I get a bonus on how well I help them grow their accounts. If they make more I will make more too. So I get a bonus on quarterly profits and a bigger one on the amount we increased from last quarter sales. All about growth. If I want my bonus I better make sure my staff is getting paid by getting sales.
- Assign teams to compete internally. Every team will have a team leader that they report directly to BUT everyone knows that if they need to go to you, they can, without recourse guaranteed. Assigning teams drives the competitive spirit and everyone does better. Whatever team wins for the month (or quarter, whatever timeframe you like) gets a prize or small bonus.
- Team leaders get bigger bonuses if their team wins. This encourages team leaders to participate. BUT they get a separate bonus based on their team's own goals too.
- Everyone gets bonuses if over the company goal. This is extremely important because while #6 assigning teams to compete internally will be good for driving sales, it can also lead to an unhealthy attitude and a divided company if the teams are in the same office or near each other. Having an overall company bonus reminds them all that while they are competing with each other, they are not AGAINST each other. In order to really make sure this point is driven home, the company goal bonus is usually 3x bigger than the team's goals.
- Pay for the best tools for your people. Get the best software to increase the odds of success. People notice this, they notice your effort to put more money in their pockets.I spent over $200k in software this yr. A drop in the bucket for the $14 Million we are on track to do this year in sales.
Making so many different bonuses shows your employees that you are constantly trying to come up with ways to put more money in their pockets. Quick note about goals, they have to be clear and simple. You don’t want interpretation issues.
That is it. Take what you will but I promise you if you are an entrepreneur with no one to report to, you are leaving a ton of money on the table. It starts and ends with you.
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