Does your contracting business pass the fishing test?
In 2017, a contractor who ran a $12 million a year home remodeling business asked me a simple question.
"Does your contracting business pass the Fishing Test?"
I was confused. "What is the Fishing Test?"
He asked, "can you take a week-long fishing trip anytime during the year and still make money from your contracting business?"
At the time of meeting this contractor, who would later become my business partner, I truly believed that I owned a pretty good contracting business.
I had:
-some business cards
-a nice work van, and
-a couple of employees.
Despite this, I was NOT able to answer yes to his question.
He explained to me, "I know you want to grow you business and make more money for you and your family, but if you can't pass the Fishing Test and if you can't take a week-off from your business, then you don't really own a business, you own a job."
Ouch.
But, he was right.
I was wearing soo many hats in my business that if I decided to take a break, nothing would get done. I was essentially the main cog in the wheel.
I did everything in my business, for example I:
-picked up materials,
-got on phone calls with customers,
-drove to estimates,
-handed out business cards,
-did the hiring,
-trained my people,
-managed the crews,
-fixed any mistakes and issues, and
-was even on the tools.
There was simply no way that I could take 3 days off in a row, let alone go 7 days fishing worry free.
So how did I solve this problem?
I decided to shadow him. I decided to shadow that $12mil/y contractor and learn everything that I can about taking my business to the next level.
I didn't care if it cost me money or time, I simply refused to live my life knowing that there was a better way to run my business, and just because I did not go to business school did not mean that I couldn't learn the knowledge that was missing from my business.
So, I put my ego aside and over the next 3 years I would spend over $135,000 on consulting fees, coaching dollars, and 1-on-1 mentorship working with and getting mentored by one of the best contractors in Canada (he hit $25 million this year at the time of writing this)
The more money I made from my, now growing, contracting business. The more money I reinvested in learning.
So what did I learn?
I learned a lot.
Too much to explain here.
So here is what I have done.
I put together a short video where I share what I learned about the experience.
(It's nothing fancy, just short and quick the point)
You can watch it for free here:
If you have a business that you are itching to grow, with a healthy work-life balance, then this video will be priceless.
Usually when I share this story, some people just tell me to give them a quick summary.
And I get how that can seem more convenient.
You can be on the jobsite right now, on the move, or just too busy to do something like that.
The truth is though is that it would not be fair for you if I was to skim over this info, HOWEVER I'll say this.
I learned that there are two sides to a contracting business:
#1 The trade skill, to actually do the work for the customer.
#2 The business skill, to know what to do to grow the business.
Most people, including your competitor, have #1 figured out. They are damn good at doing the work, they have been "swingin the hammer" for years now.
However, most contractors get stuck at #2.
I used to be that person.
-I used to pay Angie's List for mediocre leads since I couldn't find them on my own.
-I used to close 2 out of 10 appointments I went to since I did not know what to say.
-I used to blame the government for making it hard for me to find quality workers.
-I used to slave away 9 hours a day on the tools, and 3 hours more doing paperwork.
Remember that $12 million a year contractor?
-He never spend a dollar on services like Angie's List, yet got over 5,000 leads a year.
-His company closed 6 out of 10 appointments that they went to, deposit in hand.
-He had over 1200 high quality employees, that did not quit the first chance they got.
-He managed over 200 locations across Canada, while finishing work at 6pm.
How?
How can a guy with 1200 employees go fishing with his phone off for a week without any stress?
He did it by mastering #2.
He mastered the business side of contracting.
And what I learned from him over the last 3 years will boggle the mind.
I won't be able to do it justice if I typed it out. (Frankly, I hate reading as well.)
That's why I decided to share it over video here:
In the video I cover:
--> the top 3 things learned from the $12 million a year contractor
--> the biggest mistake that I made growing the business that almost made me lose it all
--> What next step any hungry contractor should do to learn even more information for free
What's the catch?
Well the truth is, I want to be known as the #1 contracting consultant/coach in the world.
And for me to do that, I have to prove to you that I am the best at getting you results.
So far this year alone, we helped create 3 contractor millionaires and 26 six-figure earners.
All of which have started from the same position that I was in, or even worse.
And over the history of our company, my business partner (the $12 million a year contractor) and myself have helped 234 contractors generate over $34,000,000 in growth.
I believe in equal opportunity.
Just because I got a bit luckier meeting the right people and also was lucky enough to have the money to learn this, does not mean I cannot share it.
So if you are open to have a new perspective on what it takes to grow your business and how you can pass the Fishing Test.
Watch the free video, here:
The truth was that before I learned this stuff I barely saw my family.
I was always chasing around, sometimes even working 14 hour days. My body was aching, and I always knew deep down that there must be some better way of doing this.
I was disorganized and working too much. If something didn't change, I was gonna die wearing my steel toe boots.
My second mentor, Chris, used to always tell me, "if you think that your business will stay the same and maybe one day fail, you are right. If you think that your business will grow and maybe one day make you a million bucks, you are right as well."
I hope this post finds you well.
We all deserve a little slice of success.
Here's to yours.
-Amer