The Profit Builder Unscripted

Beyond the Numbers: How a Simple Tool Changed Everything for These Contractors

• Vicki Suiter • Episode 22

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Are you a contractor struggling to consistently hit your profit goals?

Feeling overwhelmed by the day-to-day challenges of running your business?

You're not alone!

In a recent episode of The Profit Builder Unscripted, I sat down with Susan Williams and Tessa Springer from Aesthete Painting where they shared their journey from struggling to make a consistent profit, to exceeding their profitability goals!

In this interview, they share the simple tool that transformed not just their bottom line, but their entire approach to running their company.

Their story reveals how a single change in perspective can lead to:

  • Increased confidence in decision-making
  • Better financial clarity and control
  • Reduced anxiety about the future of your business

Curious about the game-changing strategy that made all the difference?

Listen to this episode to discover how Susan and Tessa revolutionized their contracting business - and how you can, too.

Resources:

Connect with Vicki on social media:


If you love listening to this podcast, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts.


welcome back to another episode of The Profit Builder unscripted today's guests are a couple of contractors who I've worked with for a while sharing their story about how did they go from struggling to make a consistent po profit to exceeding their goals and what were the few two things that they have done that have been the difference that's made the difference in their business and in their lives all right let's jump in today my guest are Susan Williams and Tessa Springer with a that painting and uh it they've just got such a great story to share and um I think you're just going to get a lot of value out of what they have to say so before I jump in and we start talking Tess Susan first of all thank you thank you for being a guest on the profit Builder unscripted so um we're a painting Contracting and wall covering contracting business and we've been um in San Francisco do Bay Area and we've been in the business of painting and wall covering for um probably over at least with the business aead and Incorporated and all that probably close to 30 years 20 28 maybe um and um and just uh going strong right now since we've been working with Vicki you guys are doing awesome well you know part of why so thank you for that part of why I asked you to be a guest on here is there was this moment um a few months ago when we were meeting and talking and um we were looking at your financials and it was like there was this moment of oh my gosh you have you've exceeded your goals and not only did you meet them but you exceeded your goals and it was just very apparent to me that where you are today in your business is very different than you were four years ago when we first met and started working together and this isn't about like what did I do to make your business different really what this is about is there's there's something that's different about who you are and how you run your business now than is then and and my question to you is what do you feel like is the thing that's different that's allowed you to be able to well meet your goals exceed your goals what's the thing that has you because then I you know we we all got into this conversation too about like how are you feeling about your business and your lives and yall went on about like how different your experiences not just in terms of the numbers and the results but your experience of being in your business so I guess my my first question is maybe you could even just start by sharing um what what's the thing that is different about how you run your business now that you feel is the thing that's allowed you to to cause such a different experience in your business right so I I have to say for myself the um sense of confidence and Sh that I have is pretty mindblowing I knew I had talent I knew I had experience I knew I had fortitude I knew I had a lot of things inside of me but based upon how I feel now it seems like all those you know qualities were latent in comparison to where I am now um I wake up every morning and I feel so much better about where I am just um mentally emotionally about my business um I I feel like I've really grasped the challenge of um making it work better and stronger each and every day um I am more connected to what I do in a in a different kind of way Al together um in the sense that I have goals that I set um with Susan I set with you uh monthly and so on and so forth and as you spoke about us exceeding our goals in our business I mean that was amazing once we went through the numbers and we saw that the trajectory was looking so awesome I mean I just felt so strengthened in you know what we're doing what we continue to do and um you know I just feel so much more confident in so many ways I think that's the word for me today what do you think it is that's given you more confidence basically just knowing what I'm doing and what what I'm supposed to do in order to get from point A to point B for example um just using our backlog report and knowing what um how how much revenues are required what we have to sell each month and you know in order to meet our goals and um that alone has really sort of given me you know a path forward it's like my GPS point A to point B it's easy you take this route and you'll arrive there in this amount of time right if you're driving from one place to the next so for me that has been immeasurable um can you just speak a little bit more about because there's people who are listening who we know what a backlog report is okay can you just can you just extrapolate a little bit about it because it's part of what you're saying is it lets you see where you're headed right exact whole thing of you got a GPS right like you have a place where you're headed but can maybe um so first of all backlog report is what's in contract so when we use that word right it's backlog what do I have in contract that's signed that's yet to be build and um when you use that report so it lets you compare budget what your budget what's your budget goal by month so first of all you have budget goals that you're comparing all right how much do I have in contract that I'm going to build compared to that budget Revenue goal and how much am I off so can you speak to what like how does having that information help you make different or better decisions like what what do you like so it's good to be able to see it right like because sometimes I think the whole thing of sometimes we don't want to look at information because we don't like what it has to say right to be able to like it I always think like it takes courage to be able to go first of all I put a stake on the ground about how much I want to bill in terms of Revenue but then to look at how am I doing compared to how I said I wanted to be doing takes courage because sometimes what that means is facing a picture that we don't NE necessarily like and then and then sometimes I think that it actually that fear of I'm not going to make my goals keeps us from even setting goals so can you just talk and we'll talk a little bit more I know about setting goals in a little bit I I suspect that's going to be part of our conversation but when you look at that backlog report and you can see that Gap can you just talk a little bit about how you look at it and what and what decisions what how does it help you make decisions or take action in a way that is something other than I'm not making my goals like there's a there's a mindset that you have about it and there's something that you do with that can you just talk a little bit about that yeah I I I like that word mindset because so much of um you know having your own business is a mindset right so the back CL report is almost like the foundation U the physical Foundation that complements you know a changing mindset or a growing mindset so for me when I tackle you know filling out the backlog report I actually like seeing all the previous months accomplishments I don't like erasing them I like seeing them because it shows me um each step that I've taken with Susan in this business to create that backlog report which basically is like you said what we have in the pipeline under the contract what we're 90 something percent working on that we're likely to get right that's that helps with my mindset because it helps me drive that business even more to get it under contract and then the third um part of the backlog report is stuff that you're working on like it's 50/50 but you've got some more work to do with that client or or whatever have you so having all that information gives me direction right I know how much time I need to spend um filling that pipeline for the next six months the next year so on and so forth um I know that I have to um do some cult cold calling I have to do some marketing all these things are initiated by that backlog report because it's black and white the numbers don't lie if my goal go ahead sorry yeah so if my goal for let's say uh next month in November is$200,000 and I am short I know I have to be proactive and fill that month otherwise I'm going to fall short of my goal and I am really serious about my goals because those goals mean success those goals mean I can expand my business I can have um additional support here in the office um hire someone to support Susan and I here in the office um I can purchase a new vehicle there's so many things that fulfilling that goal means in expanding our business so that backlog report is almost like my you know my daily you know uh look see where I'm at yeah I I really appreciate what you what you just said there too because it's so interesting because I always think if there's like if we can keep it super simple right and like what are the most simple things that let us look from 30,000 feet right that if we manage something like a backlog report that you know if meet I love what you just said if I meet those targets those Revenue targets and I bring my projects in on margin and all that like but if you meet those targets that's the first thing that when you're paying attention to it all the time you know that all the rest of the things that you're planning for want to do in your business or growing your business is dependent on doing that so I love that first of all and second of all that like what you said which I think is really important it's like I look at November and I go I'm short in November I've got to fill that Gap the other thing I would you say that this is true is it sort of takes it out of the realm of I just gota like I got to sell more I got to sell more I got to sell more to in the next two months I need to sell this much and I need to sell this much now I'm much more focused on then looking at like all right like who's the potential you know is there a change order is there somebody who was on the fence that I and bring you know I can get them over the fence somebody who's said yes for later that maybe I can move up all those different things you now are in a completely different conversation yeah so I so I um as I'm listening to you I'm thinking well I'm guessing that's part of what brings you a peace of mind is that now it's not this big overwhelming thing yeah that it's just a smaller chunk would you say that true I think for I think for for myself it's um and just piggybacking on what Tessa said um really it's like very clarifying it's a it's like a clarification of all of the information and all of the elements that go into you know creating creating the the the um the work getting the work um planning for the work um you know planning for the the the um income that's going to come in from the work um and that's also part of the budget but the backlog really that is something that we're interacting with more regularly and that is the road map I mean to have that in a more structured format I think if I could say three things about what that creates is it creates structure for us in regards to planning and how we're perceiving what we have rather than having everything up here and going well I think can you just speak a little bit more about planning because I'm hearing the Nuance of what you're talking about right now but can you just expand on that a little bit when you say yeah so the planning yeah so the planning and the organizing around scheduling um you know uh Manpower um when things are coming in when things are winding down when other projects you know how how all of that when projects are overlapping so it really is such an amazing organizational tool as well um it helps us um budget it helps us really look at get a picture of what you know how how much is going to be coming in um from those projects and when when we can build for those um and so I think for me it's it just it gets a lot of um the chatter and a lot of the um busyness out of my head and it gets it in a structured form so that I'm I'm and it's not just a calendar I mean it's it's really structured so that we can see what are the projects that uh we know we have when are we anticipating that they're coming in what what the what the um the budgets are for those projects um and and when they need to be allocated out with Manpower um and so it's for me it's just uh it it it creates less anxiety because you have a road map and then you you can see very clearly you know what months or in what areas like you're like you said that you're you're going to be running short or that you need to fill so you can anticipate when you have gaps you can anticipate is there a Chasm to fill here right do we need to you know bring bring something in or do we need to work on something a little bit more to make sure that we you know that we're that we're ID so I think for me having that and being able to look at that creates um a it just creates a sense of it it it it affects the my mindset as well because I know that I can have less worry about it or less questions about it and I'm more focused about how to actually um have an actionable sort of plan to deal with it so whether that means more work or managing what is in the backlog and how we're going to if we need extra crew if we need to man up for things you know we we're we're we're ahead of the game yeah and so I think that that's been huge I mean really makes makes a huge difference for us so is I'm I'm listening to both of you it's kind of like the difference between looking in the rear view mirror to see where I'm headed like which is what happens a lot of times it's like we look and we go how much got build this month like it's all here and part of what you're doing is I'm listening to you with the with the backlog report is you're like being able to see where you're headed before you get there and it's allowing you to be proactive now about how that future is going to show up in a way that gives you more control more peace of mind more like you're you're being more proactive versus reactive to what's showing up is that absolutely absolutely absolutely yeah so cool so cool you know it's interesting because I um I you know I I created this tool I love this tool um and um and I and and just how you guys just described it really is the essence of sort of its best version of itself Beyond even sometimes how I think about it most of the time how I think about about it right like I I think that what you just described is it's that thing that lets you get elevation it has you when I'm listening to you it's like it has you ask all of these questions about like when is that job going to start or how many people are we going to need or how are we going to stay on schedule how are we going to get that work done so that the next project can come on it's like and and that it because it's codified because it's in writing it makes you stop and think about it and put it down and and plan for it so I love that no it's huge I think for and everybody has a different style of learning or or of absorbing information and I've and and probably a lot of people in our industry are probably visual type you know Learners or people that that visual reference rather than just a list or um the way that it's structured um it it really helps with uh with just getting things out of your head and creating that space and and again the clarity to just know what do you what do we need to focus on rather than being you know sort of all over the place it's it's it helps to really narrow that down in terms of where do we need to take actions yes I think 100% And also to it it it extends into all the other aspects of you know putting our daily weekly monthly uh business together in terms of our cruise then that backlog report gets directly translated onto our scheduling calendar right that we have up on the wall and we know how much crew or if we need any subs like a taper for this particular job or we need you know a special finisher for this job we can use all that information in real time and pre-plan so that we're ahead of the game as much as we possibly can in construction right but at least it helps us prepare for um the future down the road even into the following year uh for example in uh January we have another job that we have that's been delayed so we know that what we're going to need in January in terms of our crew size if we're going to need any more subs that's sort of thing so it translate directly um you know to to these other parts of the business that is equally important yeah so let me ask you guys a question um because as I'm listening to you I'm thinking all right if I'm somebody listening to this or watching this I might be thinking like I wouldn't like I wouldn't know how to begin or like there was some transition that you went through when you first started doing this and when I I know when I introduced this this wasn't this this took some getting yes used to some learning some leaning into what do you feel was the thing that helped you get beyond the oh my gosh it's something new I have to do I have to figure this out like you weren't used to looking at it like can you just describe what it was like when you first when you first got introduced to this tool and then how did you how did you turn it into being that kind of an amazing tool like what were some of the things that helped you make that shift well I think for me um it looking at it sort of like looking at the spreadsheet for the budget our budget um the first couple of months watching you know you move around in there and US filling out the the spreadsheets and um learning how to work within the the structure of the of the format um it did it was a little bit of a learning curve for sure and I think it was just getting used to um well I'll just say it was getting used to seeing the numbers and really uh the numbers and and the organ organization of it um I knew right away it was going to be a powerful tool there was times when I would be a little overwhelmed by it um like whoa this is a lot of information this is we're gonna this a lot of stuff we're going to need to stay on top of in the entries but the more that we got comfortable with it and the more you know we did it and we did it together for a while and then I did it and and Tessa so we've sort of traded off doing the updating on it and I think that's good um it we got excited about it pretty quick quickly because we could see we see what a great organizational tool it was um but I think it took us a it took us a few months to really um start to get comfortable with it and wrap our heads around it and and not see it as you know oh we're gonna have another meeting with Vicki we have to hurry up and get this like we gotta we have to get this you know filled in so we we're we're we're ready that happened pretty quickly because once we start filling it in being ready we we recognized you know how how um um powerful it was really in terms of us seeing in real time where we were at and it wasn't you know I'll tell you the other thing that happened for me it it really eliminated the emotional um charge and Trigger around um you know the anxiety around the work you know are we meeting our goals what are our goals um the the numbers really looking at the numbers I think that was something te Tess and I both um wanted to get more comfortable with but we were kind of terrified about it and and and it was a dynamic between us that we had to really get past and these tools that you've provided for us both the budget and the um the backlog report really helped to De uh sort of decompress the emotional uh charge and Trigger around sometimes the difficulty or or just the mindset of of facing things looking at it headon and really just saying this is this is the deal this is where we're at this is like a numbers thing there's no emotion here we're just this is going to tell us the truth and there there's something about truth right the lies will kill you right truth hurts but the lies will kill you and and that right there just being able to like feel like we're being honest and clear and we're facing our our business and we're facing the difficulties around the things that um both together and individually that we're we felt a little intimidated about I think have just become way less intimidating way more userfriendly I still get a little um overwhelmed at times around some of it but mostly it's just feels like a good friend like really awesome yeah awesome so let me ask you guys question and then I want to talk about budget um because I know that you've Shar that the budget and this backlog report have really been two key things um if somebody's listening to this and they're like all right maybe I should do that like what's is there a what's a if you were to give them each of you a a just a brief piece of advice about getting started what would you say to him getting started well personally I had to um recognize first of all that I needed help to cross those barriers and hurdles Within Myself I know I had the competence to do great things in my business but I didn't know how to get there so the first thing I think in life is realizing if you want to accomplish something like if you want to learn to play the piano you get a teacher right whether that's an online thing if that's your thing or you go to a class or you have a teacher come to your home you get help and so ask asking for help starts the process and then you find the helper right so we found you and then we had to embrace the help right and even though at times the help didn't make sense to me I was like okay okay I'll go I'll go a little further I'll expand myself a little further until it started to make sense and more and more sense and then something happened where I was like wow this is amazing I feel better my business is doing better I feel um more confident I'm able to speak to my clients in a more direct way I started valuing myself and the work that I was putting out there more so many things happen simultaneously and it's amazing how just you know your coaching for instance because it's just not for anyone who's listening it's just not about the backlog report and knowing your numbers it's all the other stuff that comes along with that right because we are people and we bring ourselves to our business we don't just bring numbers or contract to a client we bring our personalities to a client and so that confidence for instance that I'm speaking about today and that sense of value in you know my experience and and and the quality of work that we're committed to the to delivering is what I bring now with with so much more ease because I know what I have to do I know where I'm I know the numbers I know how I have to get there so therefore I bring myself there saying this is what we are offering this is what the stat is offering and this is how much it costs and here's why it costs this much and this is why you're going to be so happy at the end of this project because this is the value that I'm going to bring you know to you so um you know I think so so just to suisee you know getting the help you need is important embracing the help and running with it and you'll get where you need to go yeah and I think I think what happens is like with anything that you start new it's you know you get to a place in in in your business and it happens more than once as you're growing and I think it's just the growing kind of growing pains right where you you kind of get stuck or you get you hit a place of sort of resistance or where you feel like okay I've made it to this point you know however I did you know sometimes I wonder how did we but we did because we're smart and we you know we're motivated and and we we have a lot of you know a lot of things that we a lot of strengths but like anything you get to a place and it's like you know I just we need to get to the next level we need to level up how do we do that like what is missing here and I think the thing that um that you provided uh aside from the structure uh which was huge which which was huge and we're we're an organized business but that the structure that you provided uh was some of the other things that you have um the budget the um the backlog and and and other things that that I think created a cohesiveness and it gave us another place to kind of uplevel and have and not have to reinvent the wheel all all alone on you know and just kind of try to figure it out we've already done that so I knew we had to be efficient with our time right and efficient with our resources and um and so I think for us that part worked and I think it's like anything when you're starting something new or you're trying something new we're used to especially people that have been doing this for a while we're used to doing things a certain way yeah and so whenever you're introduced to a a a format or or a structure software anything it's there's a learning curve and there is going to be a little time that it takes until you you know it's like riding a bike until you you're not weaving bobing and you all over the place you're you're actually you're you're coasting yeah and kind of I wouldn't say we're coasting but I'd say we're in a really good place in regards to being very comfortable and um and getting more and more comfortable um and the more comfortable you get I think the more the more this you strengthen and then have more time for the other things that you want to do and want to work on right absolutely yeah so part of what I hear both of you saying is one you know be willing to be uh be willing to get help be willing to be coached be willing to which also requires being a beginner at some level being willing to learn and grow being will and being okay with not knowing what you don't know and then practice right like anything that we've gotten good at in life requires a repetitive um doing it repetitively repeatedly right like we just we grow and we learn and we get stronger out of doing something consistently over and over and over again and sometimes our greatest learning is in the mistakes that we make too so making mistakes along the way is totally fine right you probably didn't fill it all out perfectly the first times you did it right but then ex learned yeah so thank you yeah I think that that's great advice to to anybody who's listen listening or watching who you know looks at is listening to you guys talk about the backlog report and how powerful it's been for you in managing and running your day-to-day operations giving you more peace of mind more more ease and more uh more time to focus on other things that it's it's this that's been very powerful and how you run your business I think you've given people some great advice about where to be how to begin so one of the other things that uh you have talked about in terms of the thing that's been the difference that's made the difference and having you be at this place in your business where you're consistently meeting your goals exceeding your goals having more peace of mind more joy and fun in what you do is the budgeting process now I know a lot of times people hear the word budget and they're like oh I don't want to do budgets because I never meet my goals or it's something that they put on a piece of paper and it used to stayed on a shelf but like now it just sits in a computer and nobody ever looks at it but there's a different dynamic in how you use in approach budgeting so you can you just talk about how that has served and supported you in a way that again wasn't just another thing that you did but that supported you in getting where you are today your success well the budget um is very clarifying it's it's basically basically in black and white exactly how much on one column uh you know uh everything costs from the your lease agreement um down to your internet service your pg& bill whatever it is you know including your materials your cost of goods etc etc and the budget report that Vicki um prepared for us lists everything that we spend throughout the year down to the car wash etc etc because it's all money that's going out so having a budget informs us then what that nut is for 12 months and from that budget we know what we have to bring in as revenues to maintain the business pay our employees well and have all these other criteria like paying ourselves well maybe expanding you know uh pay time not pay time off but vacation pay things like that that's in the future etc etc so you know they go hand inand um we've never had a Budget prior to working with you we had an idea right right you can't run a business on that idea yeah so those by the way a lot of people yeah they they go I got a number in my head it's like yeah I think I think it's this much but I'm not sure I think we're close but yeah but we're not sure but having a budget is helpful because for instance we want to purchase you know a couple more vehicles in 20125 for instance what will it take to do that how much more revenues um would we have to generate you know by when to be able to do that and so that pretty clarifying right because then it gives us something to work towards and because we look at the numbers on a monthly basis at the moment we know if we're meeting our goals and when would be a safe time to purchase those vehicles for instance um because it's there it's it's budgeted essentially so having a budget has you know given me peace of mind I know what the number is and so I don't have to worry I don't have to think about it I don't have to make it up I don't have to yeah it it it's just there it's very very clarifying yeah I I I think again it's kind of it's It's It Works hand inand with the backlog um but it's it's again it's a road map it's clarifying it helps to helps us to focus on if we're meeting our our financial goals um and you know and that and that is really important in regards to what our profitability is you know as we're as we're doing projects um as well as what our profitability is like for you know for the month for the quarter at the end of the year um we are following that and we're tracking it so we can make um we can make you know calculated adjustments or we or if something's really not ding in the budget we know you know there's a hole or something's going on right so it helps us really I want to throw something in here because what you're talking about is like so Tessa you were talking about like the first part of it is it helps us clarify like a plan for what we want to do in our business right like how are we going to pay all the expenses how are we going to have enough profit to you know pay ourselves a really nice salary and invest back into our business maybe in our teams right all of that but part of what you're talking about Susan right now and and I think Tessa you're alluding to this too is like you look at it every month so it's not just numbers on a piece of paper that then gets filed away someplace no the end of you're actually looking at how am I doing compared to how I said I was going to do so I'm assuming that's the part that you're talking about where like you can like look up and go am I on track am I off track what do I need to do differently next yeah right exactly well it's it's very clarifying also because you can look at okay so we're bringing in maybe the the amount of Revenue that we wanted to bring in but what's our profitability right so I mean if you're and that that tells the tale right there so are you know how do we need to you know tweak things or are we making are we meeting those goals because I think and we've been there right so we're just you know really working on that and it's made a difference to be really seeing that in black and white in the with the numbers and the percentages of you know how are we running our business are we running lean and and and profitable are we you know doing what we need to be doing in regards are we charging enough um and all of those things so that that for me um on top of the the big picture stuff you know that Tessa was talking about which is huge um the you know working with the budget on a micro level you our you know uh monthly has just been a huge iopener and also a really um helpful strategy I think for us in regards to our profitability and how how we're doing you know what do we need to right look at what do we need to work on right um and and how are we running our projects you know it all gets tied into the numbers and the budget and the budget again is the road map I mean it's just black and white it's just numbers right and it makes it really easy to to understand because they don't lie right I mean you want to just make a story up about things sometimes and really the thing about the numbers is they're it's kind of like well you can't FIB on that you can't tell yourself numbers don't lie you that's thing right and so there's no joking around about it we can joke about it sometimes you know we feel like we're not you know where we want to be and that's that's those are those are hard days when we have to look at that and go okay can you speak to that for a minute because you know again this is kind of like one of those things that I think people get intimidated by I'm not comfortable looking at financial statements I'm not look comfortable looking at the numbers I don't like getting past the like the numbers cuz let's face it those first few years the numbers were not showing the results that you want right we just talked about the fact that this year is the year that you're like not only did we meet them we're exceeding them yeah and part of what's prompted and sparked this conversation between the three of us was I said hey would you come talk about how you did that right so the the whole part about looking at the numbers month in and month out can you just speak to how did you have to shift your mindset about that or how did you shift your mindset about it from being something that was intimidating or challenging or hard to look at to being something that you like what I know from I know about you guys like you've been willing to lean into it in in a way that sometimes clearly was not comfortable and I think it's true for all of us like when we're embarking on engage in was something that we're not comfortable with we're not familiar with but also something that we don't necessarily want to always look at how did you like what did you what did you do what advice would you have for somebody who was needed to kind of get past that hurdle like what's the mindset that you had that let you lean into it well I I'm just going to say from myself um it's made me a lot more willing to be honest and and sober about it like if you don't have something solidly clear to you know inform you or guide you um you're you know kind of working in la la land on some level I mean you're kind of can tell yourself any story at that point right you can tell yourself whatever and sometimes sheer will and the story maybe will get you through you know because it has for a few times you know um because we have the will and we have the motivation and we're pretty resilient but after a while that gets really tiring I mean it just that'll wear you down and wear you out and it can be discouraging and frustrating and you're like oh my god I've been doing this for a long time and I and we do okay but we're not really where we want to be where we should be right um and so I think you don't want to wait until you're just like worn down and tired and like you know beating it's like beating a dead horse you you know if I knew what I know now I mean I keep saying this and if you can't take it back but if we would have been doing this 20 years ago who knows where we would be right now um and and so and even the cost or whatever it is to to get the help and to to work with you or or somebody believe me I mean it's worth it because the cost of running your business at a deficit or running yourself at a deficit let's say uh is just taxing on your health on your emotional stability on you know your family life on on your financial life and so in in the end really yes there is a cost to everything but it's the that's what happens when you up your game and so I think for for me I go to bed and sleep better at night I I I still have you know I still worry about things but not like I did and I I'm just so much more focused and more confident knowing that well one just knowing the numbers because I know that we're being real we're being realistic and I know what I'm going to need to do to get to the next level so um I I we believe me used to have meltdowns and we would find every reason to get in an argument or to like you know avoid make that conversation not happen and blame blame each other for something and there was all kinds of convenient ways to avoid those numbers and when I saw your spreadsheet the first time I was like you know that's that's going to be a job to get my head around and and then after we did it I I mean I loved it like right now like I get excited about looking at the numbers even if I know we might not be where we want to be I'm like ready for it because then it motivates me it motivates me to like get on it to get where we need to go and why isn't it working and what's not working about it I'd rather know that yeah and know we're working on the things we actually putting energy in the places where we need to put the energy because I know that when we put the energy out there it expands and that's not a joke well so it's that thing of if you have more clarity we have more confidence and when we have more confidence we can take more powerful actions right absolutely absolutely so true Vicky yeah yeah Tessa so would you what would you add to that just in like in terms of like what did you have to do to get beyond that like I don't know intimidation or the resistance of it or any advice that you would have for somebody like what was the thing that let you lean into doing the whole budgeting looking at the numbers every month process that how'd you get past it what was the what was the driver for you um gosh I think it happened incrementally over a period of a few years um prior to working with you um Susan and I both um worked with another coach but it was only on occasion and we had like a workshop at the end of the year for two days that was all about um looking at the accomplishments of the year we were in and you know planning ahead uh for the next year but it was not on um a financial level it was more about an emotional psychological you know level you know personal barriers yeah person personal barriers yeah so I have to say that that really contributed to you know Crossing those barriers within my own self you know um thinking that going from thinking that I did not have value to thinking wow I'm valuable not just to myself my family my friends my relationships but you know in every aspect of my life which then extended to my business so that was I'm invaluable to my team to my clients to my work etc etc so fast forward to a moment in one of those um uh workshops where we met a woman who had this um what was it called Susan it was a an an exercise um on how to make a decision oh a decision Mak exercise okay one of those things it was very very simple and you gave um a number number you scored you it was very very simple right and so Susan and I had been back and forth about expanding our business physically into the space that we're in now we went from a home office and you know a little workshop to 3,000 square feet of space that decisionmaking process um we scored one day out of like the moment when you feel really elevated you've just come out of a workshop and everything's beautiful and you're on top of the world but and we've been working with Vicki too right yeah in one of your group workshops so the culmination of all of that was going you know what this is a no-brainer we need to expand physically out of the space that we're in that expansion of that physical moment really sort of was like a defining moment for me as well because it was it was a barrier that I crossed Within Myself you know to expand specially meant that I expanded internally if that makes any sense it does and so I have just been you know working on that because when you have an accomplishment and that was a big accomplishment for me personally to say we can afford this we can afford a fiveyear lease with 3,000 square feet right and and it hasn't even from day one been an issue it was just like this is what we got to do we'll figure it out we are smart we're talented we will make it all happen so that for me was the first barrier I crossed and then working with you and um getting our budget together really honing it down and saying okay you always say the way to expand your business is two ways I increase revenues or you know decrease costs so that clicked in a big big way so the budget really became for me one of those things as well where I had to look at each line item and go okay does this make sense should we is this going to return our investment if we spend this much money you know each place you know in and even just our basic Services here is there another company that I could get the same service for half the price etc etc etc you know so that really was a big hurdle to cross and so continuing to work with you has really sort been incredible because that Foundation was laid and you know to speak to Susan's point when you focus on something right if you focus in what's positive more comes your way if you focus on things that are small and Petty and minuscal and we as human beings are so comfortable with sometimes just doing the same thing over and over and over and over and expecting a different result I can say I was one of those people I am not that person anymore because I think just having these successes like meeting our goal and exceeding our goal lets me know that all the work that I'm putting in not just in my business but in my personal growth has really allowed these successes yeah so I look forward to you know continuing to grow and times it's not easy but I I'm here for the challenge yeah so part of what I hear both of you saying is that part of the beginning right part of the getting beyond that like limitation or what holds you back or or the focusing on what's what's not possible or just the operating from the worry as opposed to being intentional which I hear is part of what's really shifted for both of you is deciding like right choosing I hear both of you saying that there was this moment when you chose to focus on all right this isn't necessarily in my wheelhouse this isn't necessarily comfortable this isn't something that we've done and what would it take you know asking a different question like how can we and deciding like just like that mindset of deciding that's what I'm going to do and then figuring out how can I do it how can I how I can I get that done um and as you've both been talking it's like that whole ability to be able to have more um Clarity gives you more confidence to take those actions and part of that clarity as I'm also listening came from hey when we put the numbers on a piece of paper and we figured it out and we started looking at our results consistently again you're sort of building muscle memory in managing by the data by the numbers which is Susan you said like don't lie right so it starts to give us more confidence to have that ability to know where you are as opposed to just operating right out of that like worry and concern is it all going to turn out right I I really think Vicki U you know that removing the emotional um element of operating you know uh is such a big deal because I think what happens is we tend to ignore our our own voice you know ignore a lot of the things that intuitively and internally you know we have this intuition about things we know probably what we should be doing we just don't always know how to get there right and so I think even even if you're at a place in your business where you feel like you're reaching out or you need the help or you need to the guidance and the structure of getting you know to the next level right I think that is such a big deal and I would encourage anybody to not ignore it to not minimize it to that's the voice inside of you that's saying go for it you you know and get whatever you need to to be able to level up and that requires some work and I think what what you have always encouraged is just just doing you know do one thing just do one thing because sometimes it gets overwhelming all the different could be doing do one thing and that's what we we did we really focused on the numbers the budget the backlog getting organized in regards to just what we were bringing in and what was going out just those basic things just get comfortable with that and um that was huge for us and it really changed the game I mean we're we're looking at all kinds of other things now where do we focus next and what what are we thinking we need to do next right but we're working um we have a foundation I feel that's really different that's really supporting where we are and where we want to go um but the taking that emotional charge and Trigger by by using these tools that are really giving you you know the real deal it it just that's a game Cher that that is a total game Cher right you know and I have um and I have shared with other contractors you know our experience and um I think it's noticeable our level of comfort now with our business how we project that out and I was talking to somebody a few months ago and I mentioned you know what we were doing and the first thing was well how much does it cost so I said well talk to Vicki because you know every I'm sure she has different um relationships depending on what your needs are and so on and so forth and he goes well I don't think I can afford it but I know I know that as a contractor he has a team of 10 employees out in the field every day and I do know that here in San Francisco if 10 employees are operating as a loss even for one day that might probably more than pay for a consultation or an opportunity to work with you for sure for sure a good coach is always going to make you way more money than you're ever going to know it's like I always want to say okay you can't afford it but you can't afford not to not afford it right now can't yeah it's that whole thing of like investing understanding that when you invest in the right way in your business in somebody who can help you fill the gaps where you have gaps in your ability to be able to get to the next level um is huge because that's going to give you a greater return than whatever the investment is and what I'll contend too is that sometimes it's just really that when you really get down to it is that sometimes people aren't ready and I that the not ready sometimes is based on you know some you know negative self chatter that goes on between two people's two ears of they don't think that they can they don't think that they're capable they're not smart enough I don't know math whatever you know whatever that story is I think a lot of times that's actually the what's at the root of what stops us from engaging we we don't think that we can do it we don't think that we have it in us and um you know I I think that one of the things that you guys got clear on that even allowed me to be able to support you in the way that I have is that you were clear about you wanted to make a change and you were willing to do that like that you wanted to you had the desire and you were clear about what that like you didn't know how it was going to look you didn't know how you were going to get there but you had the desire and the drive to grow and to get to the next level in your your business and I think that has to that you know of all of this like has to come first whether you're hiring a coach whether you're doing a backlog report whether you're doing a budget like there has to be that willingness to go okay I got I and I can trust that that's going to be the next thing and you know so part and then then it comes back down to do we trust ourselves right so sometimes think that's really what it is we don't trust ourselves I think that's huge that's a big part of it when I say it takes the emotional kind of charge out of it that is exactly what I mean by the emotional charge because when when I say emotional charge I'm talking about the little monkey in their brain that's telling you see you you really can't do this or you're just never going to get to to the next place or can we do the doubt and and questioning yourself and when you start to get tired of doing something you know a one way and having to work twice as hard to get there I think that part of it becomes clear and I think really it's the self-doubt and the little the chatter that goes on when you when you when that starts to seek in that you start to let it let you start to let it take hold and I think mindset again it's the mindset it's it's it's this is in a huge part of the transition for both I think Tess and I I can say so is is is is as we are doing the work and we start to see the change and it took a while to just really in a real transactional way see the the change but we were seeing it we were feeling more confident we were building the muscle and once we started doing that and putting it in motion that we we started to feel differently and our mindset had already been in the process of changing because we knew we had to listen to that voice that was saying you have to do this you have to do this because you don't want to keep doing what you've been doing yeah and it's a a leap of faith I mean it really is it's trust and faith and then trust your instincts you know trust your intuition and then do the work I mean you have I sorry no it's just you have to do those actionable things otherwise you don't get there yeah you know yeah well I commend both of you for having the courage for being willing to begin to be willing to be coach to be willing to have a different set of practices around how you've done your business and how you do your business um it has been a great joy for me to watch how you've grown and evolved and how you're um you're you've you're building the business and the life that you desire and I love that you both have more peace of mind more time off more like more fun in what you're doing which is really like what it's all about in the end and um and thank you uh thank you so much for being willing to come on the show and share your story thank you for your honesty your authenticity and um for you know helping somebody else who is listening to this who's like that's what I needed to hear today like um because I think our stories are so powerful as a way of being able to um you know understand we have this shared humanity and that we you know we don't necessarily wake up one day and it's all fixed and all great like we you know we have to go through sometimes the struggles to get to the other side and that we also need to at some point have faith in ourselves trust ourselves be willing to begin be willing to be a beginner and that takes courage and so um yeah thank you thank you so much for for being here sharing your story and uh yeah and thanks for letting me be on this journey with you I really appreciate it well thank you Vicky and we thank you every day I that you're here in our lives and that we actually that we have the courage to just pull the trigger and say we're doing this and take the leap and and and it's been a wonderful journey and a wonderful relationship and I look forward to continuing to keep it keep it going because we're not we're not there yet but but we're but we're getting well on our way we're getting we're on our way yeah you guys have done awesome well thank you thank you thank you I hope you enjoyed today's interview with Susan and Tessa and that you took away something that will help you in your business if you're interested in learning more about our services please feel free to check out the contractors collective.com uh it is a great program that I run that's peer group program with contractors bu it's all about helping you grow Thrive and prosper in your business and be able to cause uh some of those kind of results like Susan and Tessa were sharing about their business as well and make sure to subscribe or follow me uh by clicking on the button below and I look forward to seeing you next time on the profit Builder unscripted

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