Does Your Business Suck…

The Time, Money and Life Right Out of You?

You started your business for more money and more freedom. Financial freedom and lifestyle freedom.  Perhaps you are sacrificing too much for too little reward?

I struggled with my business, too.  It became obvious that my business-partner-husband and I were not on the same page.  No wonder we were always frustrated with each other.  The effect that had on our team members was stressful.  They were confused because we would give conflicting directions.  Our company culture was a mess…drama-filled and non-productive.  No wonder we weren’t making any money.  

What helped us, and what could help you and your team members, get on the same page?  A simple, powerful, profitable business plan.  A business plan helps you “Makeover” your company and get focused.

I know that business planning sounds like something you should do.  Like eat more vegetables.  Maybe it sounds like a drag.  Perhaps it sounds like something only people who own big businesses have the time to do.  Maybe it sounds like a waste of time.  Most of the time, it is.

However, business planning can be a way to get clear about what you want, and commit to a plan of action that will make that happen.  It can save time and frustration.  It can save relationships.  And the process can be fun and inspiring.  It can be empowering.  For you and your team.  (The way I do it, it is!)

And, are you ready to get really profitable?

$99

Money buys options.

I’ve worked with hundreds of business owners.  I’ve studied many more.  This is what I know:  Those owners who are really, really, really clear about what they want, and take aligned action, are successful.  By their own yardstick.  They make more money, have less stress, have better relationships, and have more fun.

Today, I am challenging you.  Are you ready?  To ask and answer the big questions?  To put a profitable business plan in place and commit to making your dreams come true?

Since working on my biz plan, In LESS than one year, still 2 months left, we went from 1.4 Mill to…are you ready… 3+ Million… Thats 3,000,000.00 so fun to type it out.

So this goes to prove in a “Down economy” if you have a good product, and the drive to succeed, stay the course and follow your BBB Plan ( Even if not complete…) you can make it happen!

Michelle Blemel,
Amber Leaf Designs

The Challenge – Home Edition – Biz Makeover

I’m delighted to introduce The Challenge – Home Edition – Biz Makeover program.  Previously, I offered The Challenge as an Online Webinar course. We have completed 8 Challenge programs! That’s good news for you, because I have been working with previous Challengers to refine and improve and “plus” the program. We have added terrific NEW features to The Challenge, thanks to their suggestions.

Previously, I charged $1,499 for the program.  ($1,299 if you signed up early.)

This NEWEST version of The Challenge is different.  It’s a Home Study program.  You work through the Biz Makeover process on your time, at your shop or home office.  Easy, convenient and powerful!

The Challenge – Home Edition – Biz Makeover program is a series of Webinars that we recorded.  A few months ago, I met, on GoToWebinar, with the Challengers, each week for eight consecutive weeks. We recorded one “Intro” Webinar, to preview the process, introduce the tools and get you prepped for the adventure.  Then, we spent six weeks building a business plan, section by section…and to get clear, get going and get profitable.  Then, we hosted an additional Webinar of business plan “polishing,” focusing on implementation and fast results.  The recordings of that powerful series are now available, with this Home Study version of The Challenge.  

Each of the eight (8) Webinars previews the exercises for every section of your business plan. Then, we review homework from the previous Webinar.  In the Home Edition program, you follow along and work at your own pace.  At the end of the program, you will have your own customized business plan, reflecting your refined intention with a clear set of actions to help you – and your team – make it happen.  You watch the Webinars at your own pace, in your home or office, on your computer.

Between Webinars, you and your team work on daily business planning exercises that will help you build your business plan and assemble your Biz Plan Binder. Together, you’ll build each section of your Biz Plan.  You will ask and answer the big business questions…

• Setting Sight:  What do we want and why?  Whom do we serve?
• Building the Team:  Who does what?  Who reports to whom?  Who else can we recruit to help us?  What’s in it for them?
• Making Money:  Where do we stand financially?  How do we make more money?  How much should we charge?
• Getting it Done:  What needs to happen now? Next? By whom and by when?
• Getting it Sold:  Whom do we serve?  What makes us different and better?  How do we get the phone ringing with the right calls at the right time from the right customers?
• Making Sure:  How will we know when we have done a great job?  What do we do if we screw up?  What next?

The Challenge will help you get clear about what you want and why.  It will help you and your team (your spouse, your family) get on the same page. You’ll commit to a new, inspiring vision for your business…and you’ll have a business plan – and a Biz Plan Binder – for making it happen.

And if you don’t take the Challenge? Well…another year is racing by. Do you have another strategy for getting your team aligned and your business on track? Your business holds the potential of creating wealth and freedom. Why not fix it?  Make it over!  Or, start fresh with another one. But don’t let another year slip by.

So, to take away any reason to NOT accept the Challenge, I created this Home Edition version of this powerful course.  With a no-brainer price tag…

$99

The Challenge works because it helps you… 

Get clear.

Get going.

Get profitable.

Here are the details… 

1. You’ll see immediate results.

Each day, the work you do on your Biz Plan will start delivering results in your business and in your life. You will know where you stand, and have a simple path for getting where you want to go. You’ll have clarity on WHY you are in business and WHAT you offer and WHO would spend lots of money with you. You’ll be clear on the score…you’ll know when you are on track, or off track. And you’ll know what needs to be done to get back on track. You’ll be on your way to a better business and a more fulfilling life. You’ll have a PLAN…in writing and in action. That focus means you can work less and achieve more. It’s all about making things…easier.

2.  You and any or ALL team members can do The Challenge

Work with your team on your business plan.  This means more buy-in and less frustration for all of you.  You can invite key employees to help you put the plan together and get your homework DONE.

“Just a note to let you know how much I am enjoying listening in on the Challenge this go around.  The timing is grand for me at this point.

The tools with the plan have given me direction and confidence to make a couple of difficult decisions to the benefit of the business. It is good for me to listen and review my past work in the context of today!

Mary A. Ardapple
Apple’s Bakery, Inc

BONUS for Family Businesses!  This program is especially great for family members.  Have you found it frustrating to talk about business without arguing or someone’s feelings getting hurt?  A formal, focused biz planning program can take the emotion down a notch, and increase productivity.

3. Here’s What You Get…and How It Works!

Bring yourself to the program and I provide the rest!

• Review The Bare Bone Biz Plan business planning program.  Included in this package is The Bare Bones Biz Plan softcover book.  This book is the workbook you will use to guide you through the business planning process.

• Set time aside on your Calendar.  For best results, spend one hour a day, five days a week, for six weeks.  That’s how The Challenge is laid out.  However, you can spend as little as one hour a week and still get great results.  Any time spent thinking about what you want and planning a focused course of action will help you get more – more money, more life! – out of your business.  It’s up to you.  That’s the advantage of The Challenge – Home Edition.

• Watch the DVD.  This program includes eight (8) recorded Live Webinars, each about 90 minutes.  These recordings explain and demonstrate the exercises in The Bare Bones Biz Plan and help you assemble your own Biz Plan Binder.

• Listen to the CD.  This is an audio companion to the The Bare Bones Biz Plan.  Listen as you drive, or workout, or relax, and reinforce your understanding of the lessons and the Biz Planning process.

• Use our customizable Biz Planning forms.  You’ll receive a website link where we have stored the ALL the forms, procedures, checklists and exercises we refer to in The Challenge – Home Edition.  Every form is a result of working with my clients in the “real” world to get focused, keep track, communicate and DO what is needed to make business WORK. Some I created for my own businesses. What I have learned is that it is so much easier to edit a form than to start one from scratch. Have fun making these tools your own. The result: An extraordinary business…more impact, more money and more fun!

Download what you need.  Edit and save the forms…and make them your own.  Customize this program to work best for you!

• NO PRESSURE!  It’s Your Timeline… 

I’ve included loads of information for building your business plan and business.  It is virtually impossible to every exercise I have included the first time through The Challenge process.  Do what you can.  Be easy on yourself.  Have fun!  Dream…and take action.  Then, go through The Challenge again and again.  You can keep refining your Biz Plan and expanding your business!

“The Challenge gave us the courage and the tools to take our business to the next level. It was a powerful moment when we realized that we could combine our personal values with our business goals to create a mission statement that is so much bigger and more important than just making money. We are excited to represent our company with the confidence of knowing who we are and why we do what we do.”

April Buchschacher,
Watermark Plumbing

4.You’ll work smarter…not harder. You’ll get RESULTS!

The Challenge – Home Edition is easy. You can DO this. Just let me be your “Pace Setter” and I will guide you through the process of building and using a POWERFUL Biz Plan…to drive you to your BEST business…and life!

Why Should You Learn From Me? 

My husband “Hot Rod” and his buddy Richard Yox started a plumbing and solar contracting company. Hot Rod and Yox were good technicians and they got busy…fast. Within a few years, their business grew from easy-extra-money to maxed-out-overwhelming. On a Friday afternoon, Yox complained about a remodeling project. He was fed up with the general contractor and our flaky employees. He said, “If I don’t do it myself, it will never get done.” Yox had worked about 100 hours that week and he wasn’t feeling well.

By Saturday, Yox was in the hospital. By Sunday afternoon, he died. He had health problems and didn’t take great care of himself . . . there was too much work to do. He was 33 years old. It was devastating for Hot Rod, who had been friends with Yox since they were in third grade. We were stunned. We started to recover, as you just do.

And, then I did a really stupid thing.

Yox had been the bookkeeper at Hot Rod and Yox, Inc. After he died, I raised my hand to take over those duties. Hot Rod had no interest in the paperwork, and was more productive out in the field. I had a degree in business and lots of working experience, so I figured — piece of cake — I can handle the accounting for a dinky plumbing and heating company.

I was wrong. The next few years were . . . humbling. Every month I would ask, “Where did the money go?” I didn’t know why we weren’t making any money. I would try and talk to Hot Rod about it, and all he heard was, “You are not good enough.” It was so stressful on both of us.

Then, at Hot Rod’s urging, I wrote a letter to Frank Blau. Frank is a super successful contractor and – as I was to discover – a brilliant mentor. My letter was a request for help — and a pathetic justification for why we were charging $30 per hour. Frank called me on the phone a few days later. He introduced himself by telling me I had my head so far up my #@% I would never see the light of day. He told me I didn’t know the first thing about business or accounting and that we would never make a profit. Even worse, he added, I thought I was so smart with my business degree. That degree just meant I was arrogant in my misunderstandings.

Well. I was…offended. Then, I got angry. Then, I got over it.

I called Frank back. This was the beginning of our unlikely mentorship. This mentorship, now a deep friendship, has had a rippling impact on so many others, in powerful, positive ways.

Frank is an amazing man. He’s funny and irreverent and he loves to help people make money. And he believes that one should make a good living providing essential goods and services. His meat-and-potatoes advice applies to everyone who has hung up the shingle – or plans to – offering the gifts that he or she has to share.

I am so grateful for Frank. He taught me how to make money. Frank mentored me. So, I am honor bound to help others. I started Bare Bones Biz- a business planning and profitability consulting company to help folks turn their big ideas into successful businesses. Since then, I have helped thousands of business owners start, fix and grow their businesses. My basic approach works. With the help of some terrific investors/mentors, I started Benjamin Franklin The Punctual Plumber. Within 2 years, we went from $0 to $40 million in franchisee sales and 47 locations. I learned that the simple systems I teach work…from Main Street to Wall Street.

In The Challenge – Home Edition – Biz Makeover program, I’m your virtual mentor. The Bare Bones Biz Plan is a sound, simple, no-nonsense plan that will appeal to your common sense. I’ve learned a lot about building businesses over the last 20 years. From mom-and-pop-shops to a Wall Street-bound conglomerate, I have used a simple business plan to reach goals and enjoy uncommon business success. It is so much fun to envision what you want…and then make it happen. The Bare Bones Biz Plan will work…as long as you are willing to think differently and act accordingly.

One step at a time. And YOU will reap the benefits. You get the WIN!

I know that I would NOT have the success I have without Frank and other amazing mentors who have shaped my life. Our family plumbing business was failing. I can’t describe the energy I saved by letting go of a bad approach and allowing myself to be helped. How freeing it is to know how to manufacture money with a profitable business!

Are you ready for The Challenge?

Will you accept The Challenge? 

The Challenge requires that you watch the Webinars and read the book and do the exercises.  I make the process easy by laying it out for you.  YOU add you.

You choose.  What you want out of business and life.  Who can play.  How you will make it happen.  I provide a rockin’ proven path.  You walk it.  Fast, slow…alone or as a team.  Once, twice…over and over again if you like.

And, you will have a living, breathing, workable PLAN, one that captures your vision and moves you in the direction of your ideal business. Note that whatever energy you put into this process, you will receive back in multiples. You can “Makeover” your business…and make it work for you and your family.

This process is a combination of focusing your energy on what you really, really want, and taking inspired action in that direction. 

The Investment: $99 plus shipping.  (In the US that’s $7.  It’s more for International, depending on where you are.)

Say YES to The Challenge.

“Makeover” Your Business…and your LIFE!

BTW…I only want to work with people who need and want what I have to offer. That’s not everyone and I am OK with that. If for any reason you change your mind about participating in the program, I will give you ALL your money back. So, even if you are a little skeptical, why not try it out?

P.S. I’m so proud of these Challengers. More clarity…less drama…more money!

The Challenge Testimonials