My wife recently had open heart surgery. It was the kind of situation that stops everything. The surgeon? Brilliant, highly skilled, and probably one of the best. But here’s what caught me off guard—he was terrible at communicating.

The information came fast with no context or space for questions, but a firehose of terms and decisions. And as much as I was grateful for the surgeon’s hands, I couldn’t help but think: “I’ve seen this before.” Not just in hospitals, but on job sites, in offices, and in shops. Different tools. Same problem.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re holding a scalpel or a carpet wand; people struggle to communicate. We talk, sure. But talking isn’t the same as connecting. It’s not the same as being understood. This isn’t a skill gap. It’s a clarity gap.

Most of us think we’re clear because we understand what we’re saying. But we don’t stop to check if the person across from us does. We explain things in the way that makes sense to us, not the way someone else needs to hear it. And then we’re shocked when it goes sideways.
In the hospital, a lack of communication creates confusion and fear. In the field, it leads to callbacks, frustration, and mistakes that didn’t need to happen.

What makes it worse is that we’re in too much of a hurry to notice.

We text instead of talking. We rush through instructions. We skip the tone, the context, the eye contact—then wonder why someone takes it the wrong way. A short, efficient message sounds cold. A fast correction sounds like a slap. People start filling in the blanks and usually get it wrong.

Fear plays into this more than we like to admit. People nod because they don’t want to look dumb. They don’t ask questions. They don’t say what they’re unsure about. They fake it and hope for the best. Sometimes they get lucky, but sometimes they blow it.

Then what happens? We blame the employee. Or the customer. Or “poor communication.” But we rarely rewind the tape and ask if we made ourselves clear.

Ego creeps in, too. The tech who’s been around for 20 years doesn’t want advice from the new guy. The project manager doesn’t want to say, “I don’t know.” The surgeon doesn’t want to explain himself twice. And once ego enters the conversation, clarity walks out the door.

Listening? That’s become a lost art.

Most folks don’t listen to understand; they listen to respond. They’re already forming their comeback before you finish your sentence. You can feel it. And when people don’t feel heard, they stop trying. Or they fight back.

Now mix in stress. Under pressure, people cut corners. They bark orders instead of explaining. They assume everyone’s on the same page. They confuse sharpness with clarity. I’ve watched this play out on job sites and in hospital rooms. The stakes may differ, but the pattern’s the same.

The irony is that good communication saves time. It prevents do-overs. It keeps problems small. It gives people what they need to get the job done right the first time. It costs you an extra minute upfront, but it saves hours on the backend. And yet, we skip it because patience is in short supply.

Across every industry I’ve worked in, I’ve seen assumptions replace questions; speed replace clarity; ego replace curiosity.

Want to fix it?

Slow down. Speak plainly. Don’t assume people get it. Ask questions. Please encourage them to ask back. Don’t treat communication like fluff. It’s not a “soft skill.” It’s the skill.

Whether you’re cleaning carpets or cracking chests open, communication is what keeps things on track. Without it, even the best people end up misaligned.

You can have all the training in the world and all the talent in your pocket, but if no one understands you, it won’t matter.

Trust me, I’ve seen it.

The post Why We All Struggle to Communicate—From Carpet Cleaners to Surgeons appeared first on Cleanfax.

Let’s Start with a Flashback

Back in the day, someone told me that 90% of a company’s assets walk out the door every night. The goal? Ensure they are willing to return in the morning.

Sounds simple, but it’s a lot harder than it looks, especially when the go-to excuse is: “This generation just doesn’t have the same work ethic.”

Every generation has said that about the next. It doesn’t hold up. What matters more is whether we’re doing the work to connect with and develop the people we already have. They’re the future of your business, like it or not, so you might as well lean into that and find out what makes them tick.

Years ago, I read an article called “The Service-Profit Chain.” It argued that companies that take care of their people tend to have happier customers, greater loyalty, and better bottom lines. That idea stuck. It changed the way I viewed my entire company, including how I hired. I stopped settling for whoever happened to apply and started looking for people who actually fit. Once I found them, I poured into them. Because when your team feels valued, your customers feel it too.

It’s Not Either-Or

Some companies seem to have to choose a side—either they invest in their team or prioritize customer delight. But this isn’t a tug-of-war. It’s more like a seesaw. Lean too far in one direction, and the whole thing tips.

I’ve watched companies become so focused on “culture” that they forget the customer is even part of the equation. They trained well, treated employees like gold, and still lost business because they weren’t delivering the results.

I’ve also seen the opposite, where companies chase customer satisfaction so hard that they burn out their teams. The staff started quitting, and customers stopped being so satisfied.

There’s a middle ground here. And innovative companies find it.

Creating a Culture That Works Both Ways

I call it a symbiotic culture. It’s when the success of the employee and the satisfaction of the customer are tied together, rather than treated as separate goals.

Here’s how to build it:

1. Listen on purpose—Real listening isn’t about surveys, it’s about conversations. Your frontline team is aware of the issues customers are complaining about. And your customers will tell you exactly what kind of team they need. Close that feedback loop, and you’ll find shared ground.
2. Connect growth to service—Training shouldn’t happen in a vacuum. If you want quicker response times, better communication, or more consistent results, your training needs to support that. When people see how their development helps customers, they take more pride in it.
3. Invest where it matters—Not all development is about throwing money at perks. Sometimes it means fixing broken systems, creating better tools, or simply making sure your crew isn’t getting in their own way. The best investments support people and performance.

Your People Are Changing. So Are Your Customers.

Younger workers want to do meaningful work. They want a culture they believe in and a path to grow. That’s not a problem, that’s a gift. If you can create that environment, you’ll get people who buy in.

Customers have changed, too. They expect speed, clarity, and experiences tailored to them. Meeting that bar takes a solid team that’s trained, motivated, and supported. In other words, you can’t serve modern customers with a team stuck in the past.

Watch the Right Dials

If you want balance, you have to measure it. That means tracking both employee engagement and customer satisfaction. If one starts dropping, there’s your red flag. In healthy businesses, those numbers tend to rise together.

Leadership Is the Linchpin

If leaders treat staff like line items on a spreadsheet and customers like complainers, guess what? That mindset trickles down. However, when leaders invest in both sides of the business—the team and the client—everything starts to work more effectively.

You don’t need all the answers. What you do need is the humility to ask good questions and listen to both employees and customers. Let them help shape the solutions.

The Bottom Line

I used to think it was a choice: do we prioritize the team or the customer? Now I know better.

When people love where they work, it shows. Customers can feel it. And when customers love the service, the team takes pride in delivering it.

It’s not a tradeoff. It’s a loop. And it’s one worth building.

The post Walking the Line: Why Great Companies Balance Staff Development and Customer Satisfaction appeared first on Cleanfax.

The Morning: It Begins with a Mental Checklist

Most small business owners wake up thinking about unresolved issues from the day before:

“Did the part come in for that client’s job?”

“I’ve got to follow up with that guy about the estimate.”

“Crap, we’re short a crew member today.”

Even before they check their phone or calendar, their mind has launched a mental triage: What fires are already burning? What could explode today? Who needs what?

Problem solving doesn’t wait for the workday to begin; it shows up before coffee.

The Office (or Truck): Where Chaos Meets Strategy

The beauty (and challenge) of a small service business is that it’s fluid. No two days are alike. Whether they operate from an office, a shop, or the cab of a truck with a Bluetooth headset and a clipboard, small business owners are constantly adjusting.

And here’s the truth most outsiders don’t realize: Their phone is the battlefield. That device rings, dings, and vibrates with problems.

• A customer’s job didn’t go as planned.
• One of their best techs called in sick.
• A piece of equipment broke.
• Someone didn’t show up to a bid.
• Billing and collections are behind.
• A subcontractor dropped the ball.

There’s no “Let me check with the VP of Operations.” The owner is the VP, HR, sales manager, and janitor.

Problem solving isn’t a part of the job. It is the job.

Midday: Juggling Hats and Fires

By lunchtime—if there is one—they’re in full swing: onsite solving a technical issue, texting crew leads for updates, coaching an underperforming employee, or emailing a high-maintenance client who needs some handholding.

And guess what? Every one of those moments is a problem-solving moment:

• Coaching someone who’s struggling means addressing a performance issue before it becomes a people issue.
• Answering a panicked customer’s call is solving a trust issue before it becomes a Google review.
• Navigating job pricing means correcting a margin issue before it becomes a cash flow crisis.

If they’re doing it right, the best owners are always looking one step ahead, fixing the small stuff now so it doesn’t become a business-threatening disaster later.

Afternoon: Decision Fatigue Is Real

By 2 or 3 p.m., decision fatigue starts to hit. A hundred small calls and a dozen big ones are already behind them.

Here’s the thing: small service business owners are constantly in demand and often underappreciated. They typically don’t have assistants, staff meetings, or strategy retreats. What they do have is a truck, a phone, a handful of hard-working employees, and a calendar filled with appointments, estimates, and expectations.

And yet, they still must lead.

• Make sure today’s work gets done.
• Prep tomorrow’s crews.
• Check the weather (yes, it matters).
• Review quotes.
• Handle the latest curveball.

Each decision, whether it’s about fuel costs, hiring, or inventory, is a problem to be solved. And there’s no one else to figure it out.

Evening: Reflect, React, Repeat

Dinner might be the first quiet moment all day—if the phone doesn’t buzz. For many, theevening becomes the time to catch up on everything they couldn’t get to earlier during the chaos.

• Returning emails.
• Invoicing.
• Reviewing timesheets.
• Looking at job costing.
• Planning the next day’s schedule.
• Wondering how they’ll get it all done with one truck down.

It’s tempting to think, “This isn’t what I signed up for.” But for most owners, it is. They didn’t just sign up to clean carpets or repair HVAC units. They signed up to run a business. And running a business means solving problems all day, every day.

The Truth About the Job

They’re not doing it wrong. It’s just hard because it’s supposed to be. They’re building something from the ground up with sweat, risk, and vision. They are, in the truest sense, a builder—not just of buildings or systems, but of a company and legacy. Something that didn’t exist until they decided to make it so.

And yes, that means solving problems constantly.

It also means learning to get better at it, and not just faster but smarter. Business owners delegate what can be and systematize what repeats while letting go of perfection, investing in their team, and learning when to say no and when to ask for help.

Wrapping It Up: Their Real Title

If job titles were honest, the business card wouldn’t say “Owner” or “President.” It would say Chief Problem Solver, Head Firefighter, and Reluctant HR Manager

And maybe it should.

Once a business owner embraces that role—not as a burden, but as a badge of honor—they stop fighting the chaos and start managing it.

Problems are not signs of failure; they’re signs that you’re still in the game. Solving problems is how to win.

They’re not alone. Every small business owner worth their salt is solving problems every day, from sunup to sundown. It’s what they do. They keep showing up. Keep solving. And keep building that dream one decision at a time.

The post The Problem Solver’s Life: A Day in the Shoes of a Small Service Business Owner appeared first on Cleanfax.

At its core, embezzlement is a betrayal of trust. In small businesses, employees often have access to financial resources, client accounts, and sensitive information, creating plenty of opportunities to divert assets for personal use. Unlike most other types of theft, this doesn’t involve breaking in. It consists of breaking trust. The person already has legitimate access to the very thing they’re misusing.

Throughout my career, I’ve had the misfortune of seeing embezzlement up close—sometimes from people I never would’ve suspected. Each time it happened, it left behind more than just missing money. It left suspicion, shame, and a lot of “How didn’t we see this coming?”

Embezzlers are often clever and creative, and their methods can be surprisingly simple. One common trick is falsifying records. A receipt here, an invoice there—all tweaked just enough to create fake transactions or bump up expenses. Some go a step further and create fake vendors or clients, issuing payments to entities they control. Others take advantage of their access to company accounts, moving money around in a way that looks legitimate on paper. Then old-school tricks like skimming (taking cash before it gets recorded) or lapping (covering up one theft with another payment) occur.

Here are a few real-life examples I’ve encountered:

• An office manager at a small carpet cleaning company—a family friend of the owner, no less—had signature authority on the bank account. She would generate the profit and loss statement each month for the owner’s approval. Once it was signed off, she’d back-date the computer, cut herself an extra check, and reset the system as if nothing had happened.
• A lead carpenter used the company’s lumber account to purchase materials—not just for company jobs but for his side work. He’d drop off the personal supplies at another location before heading to the actual jobsite.
• And then a business development rep routinely charged more fuel than her company car could hold. It turns out that every time she filled up, her husband pulled up beside her, and she filled his truck, too, using her company login.

So why does this happen? What makes someone cross the line from trusted employee to quiet thief?

Sometimes it’s financial pressure—debt, medical bills, addiction, etc. Sometimes, it’s an opportunity—no internal controls, high-trust environments, and not enough oversight. And sometimes it’s rationalization. People convince themselves they’re just borrowing, or that they deserve more, or that “everyone else does it.”

Regardless of the reason, the damage goes far beyond the dollars. Financial loss is apparent—it hits cash flow and profits and sometimes even pushes a business into bankruptcy. But the company’s reputation also can be damaged. Once word gets out, clients start to question your integrity. Internally, it affects morale. Suddenly, people aren’t sure who they can trust anymore. And if legal action is needed? That comes with its headaches—costs, time, and potential exposure.

So, what can an owner do to protect their company?

Start with strong internal controls. Separate duties, conduct regular audits, and make sure no one has unchecked access to sensitive accounts. Background checks aren’t just for show—they matter. Promote a culture of integrity. Let your team know that honesty isn’t just expected; it’s required. And yes, use technology. Monitoring tools can flag suspicious activity long before it snowballs. External auditors? Absolutely. A second set of eyes never hurts.

If you suspect embezzlement, act fast. Investigate thoroughly, involve professionals, and take disciplinary action, as needed. And once it’s dealt with, use it as a wake-up call to tighten your controls. Be transparent with your team. Acknowledge what happened, and what you’re doing about it. That honesty will help to rebuild trust.

At the end of the day, money can be replaced—but trust takes a lot longer to rebuild. That’s why it’s worth investing in the culture, controls, and conversations that will keep the company honest and your team protected.

The post Embezzlement in Service Businesses: A Hidden Epidemic appeared first on Cleanfax.

I saw an ad for Bambas on TV the other day. The ad described how Bambas has One Purchased = One Donated policy. In a nutshell, for every “essential clothing item” purchased, Bombas donates an equal item to a homeless shelter. That reminded me of a company I owned for more than 32 years.

At my company, we did a lot of things really well. We also were not immune to messing stuff up, so please don’t let me give you the impression that we were perfect. However, one of the things we did right was to create an organization that attracted good people. We were pretty good at retaining those people. When I sold the business, the average employee had been with us for over eight years. Needless to say, I was (and still am) pretty proud of that. So how did we do it?

One of the things that brought our team together was a common goal to help others. (Those of us in the disaster repair business must have this in our DNA.) Simply being in the disaster mitigation and repair industry gave us daily opportunities to help people, but we got paid for most of it. I’m talking about the fact that we always seemed to have a “special” project going on that helped people who couldn’t help themselves—financially, physically, or otherwise. Let me give you a few examples.

We learned of a young father who had been swimming with his kids in Lake Tahoe when he dove into some shallow water and broke his neck, rendering him a person with quadriplegia. The carpeting and narrow doorways of his house made it impossible for him to navigate his wheelchair. We discussed this at a company meeting, asking if anyone would be interested in donating their time to install hard surface flooring throughout the house as well as widen the door openings. Not surprisingly, almost every hand in the room went up. We were able to get our suppliers to furnish the materials, and our team did the rest. Needless to say, we all felt pretty good about getting that family some genuinely needed help. Another note about this story is that one of our technicians brought this to our attention. He knew he worked for a company that would want to help if we could.

In another instance, an insurance adjuster whom with we frequently worked called me one day and said he knew we liked to take on projects in the community and wondered if we could help an elderly couple whose insurance claim he could not cover. Their bathroom shower had been leaking for years, resulting in the tile shower, walls, and flooring being on the verge of collapse due to the extremely long-term leak. Their only source of income was Social Security, and they didn’t have the funds to fix the problem. Again, our team jumped at the chance to help, and we were able to give this elderly couple a new, safe, and functional bathroom.

Another example is that of an Army sergeant who also had damage to his home that wasn’t covered by his homeowner’s insurance. He was worried about getting his home repaired for his family and how to pay for it. It was even more critical because he was being deployed to Iraq within the next two weeks. By now, you should know how this story ends. We were able to tell the sergeant how much we appreciated his service and not to worry about his house getting repaired. The team again jumped in, and while he went to Iraq, we went to work and fixed his home—at no cost to him.

So, why did I just tell you about Bombas, the young quadriplegic father, the elderly couple, and the sergeant? It’s because the idea of giving back to the community we work in seems like a no-brainer for a host of reasons. First, we’re helping someone truly in need. Next, it simply feels good to help others. To expand on this, how do you think working for a company that gave back to the community made my employees feel? It made them proud, for sure.

Employees can be compensated in a lot of ways. Being part of a company they can be proud of is one form of compensation. Maybe, just maybe, that’s one of the reasons my employees stayed around for so long.

The post A Different Way to Compensate Employees appeared first on Cleanfax.

If you’re a business owner and that’s the way you see business planning, then you probably shouldn’t write a plan this year. Just do me a favor: next year, when you’re lamenting your business being no further down the road than it is today, remember that you read this article and decided that planning was a waste of time. Maybe then you’ll decide that picking a path for your business to follow just might make some sense.

For those business owners who see the value in mapping out the future of your business, let me point out the main components of a business plan and why they’re so valuable.

Vision

This is the part of the business plan that people struggle with more than any other. The vision is simply a statement of what your business should look like in it’s perfect state five or ten years down the road. It’s what you want the company to be. I believe one reason people struggle with establishing a vision is that it makes them commit to something, which translates into forcing them to actually DO something, and then hold themselves accountable to actually achieving the vision they set.

In short, the vision is the “what” of the business plan. It’s the destination. Does determining the vision make a difference? According to author Mark Lipton of the Ivey Business Journal, “Publicly owned firms that use a vision to guide their growth have significantly higher market-cap growth, top-line and bottom-line growth in comparison to their competitors who aren’t driven by the vision process.” If publicly traded companies operate this way, why wouldn’t you?

Mission

The mission isn’t something you actually need to create. It’s in you already. Why are you in this business? Why do you do what you’re doing instead of trading stocks or selling shoes? There is a reason. Trust me; it’s in there. You just have to find it.

As an example, most of those I’ve worked with in service businesses have an overwhelming need to help others. Just as the vision is the “what,” the mission is the “why.” If you dig deep enough, you’ll find that the mission statement is actually inspiring for you and for your entire team.

This is now starting to get fun, right?

Core Values

We’ve determined that the vision is the “what” and that the mission is the “why.” Now, doing some real soul searching and identifying what your core values are gives you the “Rules that Guide Us.” In other words, your core values are essentially your beliefs.

Our actions are hugely impacted by what we believe. We simply cannot change our actions long term without changing our beliefs. And changing our beliefs is hard, so be honest and define what your beliefs truly are, not what you’d like them to be or what you think sounds good to others. Then hire people with similar core values. How do you do this?

Let’s say one of your core values is “integrity.” When interviewing, you would ask questions like, “What can you tell me about what integrity means to you?” By doing this with each of your core values, it’ll go a long way toward determining if the candidate’s core values are aligned with yours. I promise, working on a team where everyone has similar core values is awesome!

Another way core values can serve you is in training your team to filter their decisions through the company’s core values. If the ultimate decision the team is trying to make is aligned with the company’s core values, there’s a pretty good chance the decision won’t be a bad one. It may not be the decision you would have made, but it will be framed in what is important to the company, and you will now have developed people capable of making decisions without coming to you each time a question needs to be answered.

Major Business Objectives

So far, we’ve talked about the “why” (the mission), the “what” (the vision), and the “Rules We Play By” (the core values) and how they affect your business plan. Now, let’s talk about the “How”—the Major Business Objectives or MBOs. The MBOs take the vision and break it down into smaller, doable, measurable chunks.

This is where the rubber meets the road, where we define the steps necessary to move closer to achieving the vision. We do this by prioritizing the most important steps we need to take and breaking those down into even smaller, more achievable, measurable action items. These action items are then assigned an owner (the person responsible for ensuring the action item is completed), a due date, and a budget. While you can add a few more steps to this process, you don’t need to. You can keep it just this simple.

As you can see, business planning really isn’t the arduous task that most people make it out to be. A diligently created business plan, followed by the discipline to put the plan into motion with frequent monitoring of your progress will ultimately result in the company getting closer and closer to achieving your vision each year. Or you could skip all of this and just stay where you are. Again.

The post A Pathway to Success appeared first on Cleanfax.

I’ve said many times that I wish I could have been in this position before I owned my company. Some of my clients have ways of running parts of their business that are downright brilliant. I can just imagine how much better my company would have been had I learned from them and employed some of those same strategies.

For today, I’d like to discuss how business owners manage their greatest assets: their employees. It’s been said that at the end of each day, 90% of a company’s assets walk out the front door. So what is it that makes them come back the next day?

Some companies are downright awesome at attracting and retaining great employees, and some (this might be the time to look in the mirror) … let’s be kind and just say that some have work to do when it comes to attracting and retaining talent.

I was going to use a descriptive adjective to describe the type of talent some attract as “top” talent, but honestly, I have come to the conclusion that creating a “top team” is much more important than hiring top talent.

If hiring superstars at each position was the answer, why haven’t the New York Yankees won the World Series every year? They have the bankroll to pay for the best players in baseball, and they’re willing to spend it. It’s paid off, kind of. In the almost 150 years of professional baseball, the Yankees have been at the top 27 times, mainly by “buying” top talent. But if money was the deciding factor, why haven’t they won 150 times? Do you know what team is tied for the number three position in all-time World Series wins? It’s the Oakland Athletics, a team famous in Major League Baseball for paying its players the least. From this comparison, money clearly isn’t the deciding factor in winning the World Series.

So, what is?

Let me use my own ‘baseball’ experience to make a point. After high school, I played on the same softball team for 12 years. None of us were very good. For example, I played second base because it was the only place on the diamond where I could throw the ball all the way to first base without bouncing it in the dirt. We were mediocre players at best, but we won. We won a lot. In fact, we won almost every league we played in, and we won a lot of tournaments. And we didn’t do it by beating Mrs. Finch’s kindergarten class. We played some pretty good teams. What we had was a group of people who communicated well, had each other’s backs, and trusted each other. And we didn’t let our success go to our heads. In fact, after a big game we frequently scratched our heads and wondered, “How did we just beat those ���ܲ��?”

It was an honor to get to play with that team. A lot of mutual respect was had among its members. In short, we were a bunch of average players who did great things. Ok, maybe using the word “great” is a stretch, considering we’re talking about rec league softball, but you get the point. And you know what? It seemed like everyone wanted to join our team. Because of the culture we had built and the respect we had for each other, no one wanted to stop playing.

So how does my softball story apply to companies and their employees? Let’s circle back to the beginning where I said that some owners have built incredible teams. These companies have people who trust each other, communicate well with each other, and constantly have each other’s backs. Other companies have some arrogant superstars who are in it just for themselves. Is that type of behavior tolerated at your company? If so, what kind of team is being built?

Working with a bunch of arrogant individualists doesn’t sound like someplace I want to go to every day. I would rather work for a little less money and enjoy what I do instead of making bank and hating my life. I’m not alone here.

When you’re part of a team of people who respect each other, have each other’s backs, and genuinely enjoy working together, that’s when the magic happens. It all starts with the owner and where they’re willing to set the bar in order to play on their team. Are they looking for team players or for the superstar?

I’m willing to bet that the clients I have that attract and retain employees are the ones who pay a fair, not exorbitant, wage. But they offer their people something much more valuable than money. They offer them the chance to play on a team where they are respected and are part of something much bigger than themselves.

What I didn’t tell you about when I played second base was that our first baseman always had my back. He scooped a fair amount of my errant throws up out of the dirt. He made me look pretty good. Who wouldn’t want to play on a team like that?

The post Top Teams Win Over Top Talent appeared first on Cleanfax.

Think about how much planning it takes to build today’s automobiles from order to delivery, all while staying competitive and profitable in a very competitive environment. Now think about the possibility that if one bolt is overlooked in the sourcing and ordering process, the entire assembly line gets shut down, potentially costing millions, if not billions, of dollars.

This is an absolutely ridiculous example that doesn’t apply to us, right? Maybe. But let’s take it down a few notches and talk about the type of scenarios I hear about every week from clients.

Just last week I spoke with a company that dispatched an emergency services crew to a water loss an hour away from the client’s shop, only to find that the technicians forgot to load any drying equipment into the truck. (I’m not making this up!) What do you think this did to the client’s profitability on that job? What about the effect it might have had on other jobs? The crew had to make a second trip to set equipment, potentially delaying or eliminating their ability to respond to the next loss.

How do we ensure that we never make mistakes like this?

The answer lies in redefining SOP from “seat of pants” to “standard operating procedure.” You see, successful companies have thought through the whole process and have created workflows that define what happens from the initial phone call to collection of payment and securing that coveted five-star review at the end.

And you know what? When those companies sat down and defined their processes, many frequently found that they had missed a step—or many steps—when they were in seat of pants mode. Steps like making sure there are checklists and processes that ensure their emergency service vehicles are not only in serviceable condition, but they are stocked with the equipment and supplies needed when it’s time for the next crew to respond. Or making sure their tradespeople have the materials and supplies they’ll need to do the job so their $35 dollar-per-hour lead carpenters aren’t spending their mornings wandering through the aisles at The Home Depot?

Does this help explain why some companies make 40-50% gross profit on reconstruction projects while others struggle to simply earn 17% gross profit (overhead and profit)?

Are you not in the restoration business? Perhaps you’re in the carpet cleaning side of the industry. If so, this still applies to you. Do you have a system for gathering the necessary information when a customer calls? Do you have a way to confirm appointments before sending a truck and crew to a job where the customer forgot you were coming? Do you have inventory lists and truck load lists to ensure the crew has the right chemicals, supplies, and equipment on board to be able to complete the job without having to make a run back to the shop?

Does any of this sound familiar? Come on, admit it, you’ve been guilty of at least some of the above.

There’s no judgement here. For the first few years of operating my business I was a master of seat of pants business practices. But let me assure you, there’s a more efficient, organized, enjoyable, and profitable way to do business. And what I’ve described above applies to every operation in your company—from sales and marketing to administration to operations.

I understand it’s a huge undertaking to plan every aspect of your business, so take it slow and steady and eat this elephant one bite at a time. The rewards are huge in terms of the value of the company as well as how enjoyable it is to run or work for a company that operates like a well-oiled machine.

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The first skill appears to allow you to make something out of nothing. I really don’t want to tell you what it is, because as soon as I do, you’re going to say, “Oh, that again,” and let it go by the wayside once more. I would like to find a way to make it sexy, disruptive, exciting, or even obnoxious, but it’s none of these things. It’s a solid principle that every successful businessperson employs. OK, here it is (drumroll please): It’s time planning. “Ugh,” you say, “not that again.” But that’s it.

So, what’s the “make something out of nothing” I was talking about? Well, when I start to work with a new client, one of the first questions I ask is how that person manages time. When Violand Management engages with a client, we ask the client to dedicate 10% to 15% of their time to working on their business…and they look at us like we just asked them to sacrifice a goat.

“Where am I going to get five to eight more hours per week? I hardly see my family as it is,” the client will say. And this opens the door for me to start the discussion about how they manage their time.

Honestly, I have seldom seen clients come to us who are masters of time planning. But most people can easily gain 10% to 15% more time just by managing it correctly. In other words, you don’t make more time. You just learn to effectively manage the time you already have, allowing you to dedicate that 10% to 15% working on something else instead of what you’re currently using it for. You don’t work any longer; you just work smarter. I know, I know. That’s an over-used phrase. But it’s accurate—extremely accurate.

So how did I become so adamant about learning to plan time? It all started for me in the early ’90s. I was attending a restoration conference in San Diego when a very successful friend of mine walked into the room carrying a leather-bound folder. Being the sarcastic jerk I was at the time (I was in my 30s and thought I knew everything), I said, “Hey Jeff, nice purse!” Jeff replied, “It’s not a purse. It’s a Franklin Planner.” After again mentioning that it looked like a purse, Jeff proclaimed that this “purse” had changed his life.

More sarcasm from me resulted in Jeff challenging me to take the Franklin time planning course. In fact, he said that if I completed the course and it didn’t change my life, he’d pay for the course and all of my expenses. Well, Jeff never had to pay me a dime. Learning how to manage my time genuinely did change my life.

I could go on and on about the benefits of learning to be the master of your time, but I’m guessing you’ve gotten the idea by now. I believed in it enough that as my company grew, every person who held the position of project manager and above was required to take the Franklin course and adopt the system into their daily work life.

Please understand that this is not an advertisement for the Franklin Planner and the system that goes with it. I honestly don’t care what system you use. I just care that you have a time planning system. And this statement brings us to my second point.

This point is even worse than my first was when it comes to not being sexy, disruptive, exciting, or obnoxious. This one can be outright painful because it revolves around discipline. “Ugh,” you say one more time.

The best laid plans are absolutely worthless unless you can reach down deep and find the discipline to execute those plans. I don’t care if they revolve around planning a wedding, building a house, or managing your time. If you don’t set rules for yourself and follow those rules, all of that time you spent planning is simply wasted.

“Wait a second,” you say. “Rules? Who said anything about rules?” I’m talking about rules that keep you from allowing others to steal your time. I’m talking about rules you set for yourself where you require yourself to plan your week every Monday morning. I’m talking about rules you set for yourself where you don’t close out your day without acting on every item on your task list.

I’m not saying you need to finish every item. I’m saying you need to act on every item. You can complete the item. You can move it forward. You can delegate it. Or you can deem it unworthy of further effort and eliminate it. Regardless of which you choose, you will have acted on every single item. Because you had the discipline to play by the rules—your rules.

To sum this up, success lies right behind planning and discipline. This concept might sound like a trap, but trust me. Following these two principles will liberate you, not trap you. Give them a try.

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Why did I stay, you ask? I stayed because it was 1972 and jobs were not plentiful like they are today. In fact, I considered myself lucky to have that one. I was in that job for 12 years, and I felt pretty good when Attila the Carpet Layer eventually entrusted me to run his entire production department. Although I’m really in the weeds here, I provided this background so you would understand my belief that there’s a better way to train than yelling, humiliation, and threats. I also wanted to grab one of Atilla’s many inspirational phrases to set the stage for the purpose of this article.

In the first few years of gainful employment with Attila, the phrase “You should have learned that the first day you were here!” was heard multiple times each day. It got to the point where my coworkers and I would joke about the fact that there had been simply too much to learn on our first day.

That’s it. The story doesn’t get any better than that. However, within that overused phrase is a mistake that almost every employer makes in the course of training their team.

Since I previously referred to the 19th century, let’s go back there once more—to the 1880s, to be specific—and take a look at the work of Hermann Ebbinghaus, a German psychologist who was a pioneer in the study of human memory. His research led to what is commonly known as The Forgetting Curve, which relates forgetting to the passage of time. OK, we all pretty much know that our memories fade over time, right? Of course. But The Forgetting Curve is basically a graph that demonstrates just how much we actually do forget over a given period of time.

What’s most important for the sake of this article is the fact that there is a way to substantially slow down memory loss, or dare I say, there’s a way that our employees can actually retain what they’ve learned. With this, we can ensure that the time we spend training doesn’t have to result in our workers forgetting what we told them just a few days later.

The Forgetting Curve shows us that by reviewing what’s been presented at spaced intervals, we can flatten the forgetting substantially and actually have the information that’s been learned become knowledge. What does this mean to you, the business owner or manager? It means that if you train on a subject once, you’ve essentially gone through the motions but wasted your time. Sure some training is better than none at all, but if you want the full effect of that training, you need to review the information not once, not twice, but as many as three or more times for the information to become knowledge.

The Forgetting Curve

Let’s put this into a practical application. Imagine what would happen if you selected one hour each week for training, let’s say Tuesdays from 7:00 to 8:00 am. After picking out the learning objectives for the first week, you then clearly and concisely train around those learning objectives, spending about 40 minutes presenting the information. The next 10 minutes would be spent testing the learners on how well they absorbed what you instructed. The test would be kept short, with no more than about a half-dozen questions. The last 10 minutes would be spent reviewing the test.

The purpose of the test is twofold. First, it’s to make sure the way the material was presented resulted in each student learning the information. If you have 10 employees in the class and all 10 get a question wrong, that’s a pretty good indicator that you failed in the delivery of the information and need to revisit it. The second reason for testing at the end of training is simple: If people know they will be tested, they’re going to pay just a little more attention during the training. Now, this isn’t supposed to be one of those “gotcha” tests where you pass with 70% and never know what you got wrong. Far from it. The review period is to ensure that every person thoroughly understands the material that’s just been presented. And you don’t stop the review process until this is the case.

Let’s now take this a step further. You trained your team clearly and concisely on week one. You tested and reviewed to make sure everyone understood the material. Week two starts with the next step in flattening the curve, which is spending the first 10 minutes reviewing the learning objectives from week one. Then, and only then, do you spend the next 30 minutes training on week two’s learning objectives. And once again, the last 20 minutes is spent testing and reviewing that week’s material.

This training method is repeated each week until the final week when there is no material presented. Instead, that week is spent entirely on testing and reviewing, using the test questions from previous weeks’ tests. At this point, do you think your team actually retains a substantial amount of what you’ve taught them? Of course they do. How do I know? I used this method in my own company, and the results were incredibly successful. Without a doubt, I had the best trained team on the planet! (OK, maybe that’s a little bit of an exaggeration, but they were darn good.)

There’s one more element that makes this fun for the employees. We turned the final week’s test into a game that I called Beat the Boss. Here’s how it worked: I would come to that final week with 100 new one-dollar bills. There were 100 questions on the test. We would start at the front of the room and ask the first employee the first question. If that employee got the answer correct, I would give them a dollar. If they got the question wrong, I moved on to the next person and so on, until the correct answer was given. Here’s the kicker—if an employee had previously scored some cash from me, an incorrect answer meant they had to give me back one dollar.

Beat the Boss was fun. It was competitive, the employees loved it, and once they experienced just how much fun it was, their interest in the weekly training increased incredibly. What did I get out of it? I got a flat line on The Forgetting Curve and a room full of well-educated employees. I was delighted when I gave away all 100 dollars in the first 45 minutes! That meant my team knew their stuff!

The bottom line is that you can be like Attila the Carpet Layer and yell, humiliate, and intimidate your team, or you can make training effective and fun. It’s up to you. I just know there was way too much to learn on that first day with Attila.

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