Why Most Entrepreneurs Struggle to Get the Growth, Profit and Freedom They Want with Clate Mask

0:01Boom! Shake the room, Fire Nation. JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire. Brought to you by the HubSpot. Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals with great shows like Sales Evangelist. Today, we'll be breaking down why most entrepreneurs struggle to get growth, profit, and the freedom they want. To drop these value bombs, I brought Clayton Mask into EO Fire Studios. He's a New York Times bestselling author and CEO of Keep, the small business automation leader. Keep is an eight-time Inc. 5000 winner serving 100 ,000 users with$1 billion in revenue generated. Today, we'll be chatting about small business chaos, the dark side of entrepreneurship.

0:42We'll talk about better life balance and so much more. And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Clayton and our sponsors. Marketing Made Simple, hosted by my friend, Dr. JJ Peterson, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. Marketing Made Simple brings you practical tips to make your marketing easy and more importantly, make it work. A recent episode on whether vulnerability is a superpower in business is a must listen. Listen to Marketing Made Simple wherever you get your podcasts. Ever thought about giving a TEDx talk?

1:15It's one of the most powerful ways to share your message with the world and four-time TEDx speaker Taylor Conroy from Thought Leader can help you get there. Visit thought-leader.com slash fire to join Taylor's free training where he teaches you how to land a TEDx talk and spread your message to millions. Clayton, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with. You bet. Shout out to Fire Nation. So great to be here with you, GLD. What I would say is any business can double or triple their sales with proper follow-up. Fire Nation, follow up.

1:54It sounds so easy, but the execution level on that is so small of a percentage. And we're going to talk about why most entrepreneurs struggle. to get growth, profit, and freedom. Because I know you won it, Fire Nation. We're going to talk about that today. Because chaos is all around us, Clayton. But what exactly is small business chaos? Yeah, you bet. I've been studying, living, teaching this for over two decades. And it's the small business chaos is sometimes referred to as growing pains. Sometimes it's referred to as dropping balls. Sometimes it's referred to as work-life imbalance. You know, it's the systems that are inadequate, that are causing issues in your business.

2:38It's the breakdowns between team members, the missed handoffs, the egg on the face with the customer because something didn't work out quite right, frustrated employees, partners, customers, family members, friends, because business and entrepreneurship can take so much from the entrepreneur. So it's all of those things. That's the small business chaos that prevents businesses from, and their, you know, businesses from achieving the profit, growth, and freedom that they want. Two decades, Fire Nation. Just let that sink in. And on Entrepreneurs on Fire, Clayt, we mostly, not always, but we mostly focus on the light side of entrepreneurship, the light, the positive, the awesomeness.

3:19But there is a dark side of entrepreneurship as well. Can you speak to this? Yeah, I will. And by the way, I'm right there with you. I love entrepreneurship. I love the light side. I love the triumphs and successes. And as entrepreneurs, we're a sunny bunch. We typically are saying, yeah, things are great. Anybody asks about your business, then you're going to say positive things. And there's a dark side. And that dark side is actually the extreme end of the small business chaos that I just mentioned. And it's where the business owner begins to really make the kinds of sacrifices and trade-offs in their life that begin to have long-term consequences.

4:01And so it comes from the pressure, the overwhelm, the imbalance of work and life, and it creates really some ugly things from depression and drugs and addictions to sometimes things as rough as divorce and death and things we really don't like to talk about. And so the reason why I think it's important to at least acknowledge it is that sometimes the business can require so much of us that if we're not careful, we get out of balance in an extreme way and that dark side shows up. And I've seen it with struggling businesses. I've seen it with successful businesses. This isn't something that is unique to those that are trying to make it.

4:46Sometimes the dark side shows up in the most successful entrepreneurs' lives. Can we get specific on what a dark side of entrepreneurship could look like? We don't have to use names or real situations, but I want Fire Nation to be able to see or have a picture painted for them of that in real life. I'll give you a couple examples. $10 million business owner. On the outside, everything looks amazing. He's been growing the business about 25%, 30 % per year for some time now. His health is in a bad place. His marriage is on the rocks. He's dealing with some addictions and things that are just really eating him up.

5:32And you wouldn't see it from the outside. You wouldn't notice it, but it's creating sustainability in the business that is a question mark at best and is doubtful, you know, more likely. And so that's one example. Another example, you know, I talk about this in the book, Conquer the Chaos, very opening story. Business owner is doing great in his landscaping business, feels like he's on top of the world. Friends and family are no longer worrying about him because he's actually now successful. But he comes home and his new wife is frustrated and saying, look, you're putting too much into the business.

6:10He tries to get the balance right, can't quite get there. On Valentine's Day, she breaks the news to him that she's going to divorce him. They divorce. He's frustrated, sad, heartbroken, and then has an amazing bounce back story the second time around with his business where he learns balance in a better way. Those are two examples of the dark side. Now, you've seen people get stuck in the chaos. And of course, we've been talking a little bit about chaos with the dark side. But let's keep talking about this, because this is obviously an issue, getting stuck in the chaos. What does that look like?

6:44How can we pull ourselves out? What lessons can we learn from you today? There are a lot of causes of the chaos. Part of it is, like I mentioned, is the personal habits and practices of the entrepreneur. There's a lot to be said for that. But where it really manifests itself in the business is in the systems and processes of the business. When those systems are inadequate, when tools aren't talking to each other, when there aren't clear SOPs, standard operating procedures and processes that people are following, what ends up happening is there are breakdowns and things slip through the cracks, whether it's leads or customers, projects, deadlines, and customers get frustrated.

7:28Team members are feeling stretched thin and overwhelmed. The business owner is saying, gosh, why are we making these mistakes? And it causes the business to plateau or to slow down in its growth. And sometimes we call these things growing pains, but really it's just a matter of getting the systems right. And so if I had to put my finger on one thing and say, what is it that causes and perpetuates the chaos within the business? it is inadequate systems. Systems, processes, I mean, these are things that people struggle with their entire time running a business. I mean, the people that really succeed at the beginning and continue that success have nailed it at the beginning.

8:13And of course, they continue to iterate and pivot and adjust as they need to going forward with that process. But it's really interesting that you're pinpointing that. So if you were to talk to Fire Nation, our listeners right now who are running businesses, who are small business owners, entrepreneurs, side hustlers, what would be a step they could do this week, this month to really get prepared for their business to take the next step? The first thing is to recognize that, I'll just say it this way, JLD, a lot of times as entrepreneurs, we love the rush, the fun, the excitement, the thrill of the deal, the serving the customer, the impact we have on clients.

8:52We love all of that. And sometimes the systems and processes are just like, blah. We don't want to think about that. But that is what keeps you from having those firefighter drills that you deal with and the late night calls and the weekend issues and as a leader getting pulled back in and as your team members having to constantly be in reactive mode. And so the very first thing I would say is recognize that systems are the way. I mean, this is how you avoid that frustration that you deal with as an entrepreneur. And I think it's a mindset, JLD, as much as anything else. It's just to, you know, like some people have a math block and they're like, oh, no, I'm not good at math.

9:36Some people have like this systems block and they think, oh, no, you know, we don't want, let's have somebody else do that. But I would just say, recognize that the system's the way. I mean, look at McDonald's. They create an amazing system, whether you like their food or not. The fact is when you systematize things, it changes everything and you can build an amazing scalable business that runs without you. And so I think if people stop and think about the freedom that they really want and the reason they started their business in the first place, then they can change their mindset to, oh man, we're going to build an amazing system.

10:10We're going to do that work. And so honestly, it's the mindset is the first thing. Fire Nation, this is just the beginning of the value bombs that Clayt will be dropping when we get back from thanking our sponsors. Are you ready to start your year off with increased revenue, faster growth, and record-breaking performance? Well, a powerful sales platform can make it all happen. And for that, there's the all-new Sales Hub from HubSpot. Sales Hub is an all-on-one platform, thoughtfully built with the tools and insights you need to communicate on a personal level with every lead, prospect, and customer.

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13:52I just rewrote Conquer the Chaos. And it was so fun because it ended up being almost a complete rewrite after 14 years when I wrote the initial, you know, the first edition. But I break it down to the six keys to success for entrepreneurs. There are three personal keys, three business keys. The personal keys are mindset, life vision, and a rhythm of execution. And those are the personal things that entrepreneurs do to create balanced growth in their life, not just in the business. The business side, and I think this is a little more of what you're asking, I break it down to strategy, automation, and leadership.

14:31And I think for purposes of what I consistently see and where we spend most of our time, what we see is successful businesses create a process that their customers follow. and then they automate that process. And that is, if there's one thing I could just put into Fire Nation, I would say, look, you know, at the very beginning I said, look, if you follow up properly, it will double or triple your sales in any business. What's required is to actually map that process that needs to be, that a customer goes through. Sometimes it's called a customer journey or a customer life cycle. But the short of it is what successful businesses do really, really well is they know their customer and they know the journey that that customer goes through in order to become a raving fan of your business.

15:21And they not only map that journey, but they automate it. And that's what I would, you know, I'd love to, if there was something I could just say, look, Fire Nation, this will supercharge your success. It is map your customer lifecycle and automate it. Fire Nation, you heard mindsets, you heard life vision, you heard balanced execution. And then on the business side, we're talking strategy, automation, leadership. We've talked a lot about the automation side of things, but if you could just give one quick tip for Fire Nation on leadership, what would that be? We like to say all problems are leadership problems.

15:57When you look at almost anything you're struggling with in the business, it comes down to leadership, either yourself or the leader that you have over that function. And I think just recognizing that as the leader, the buck stops with you and taking accountability and saying, okay, we're going to go address this issue that we're not happy with the result. All problems are leadership problems. Fire Nation, all problems are leadership problems. And Clates, you believe that entrepreneurs can achieve a better life balance than they're probably experiencing right now. How the heck do we do that? You know, it's about getting more hours in your day.

16:36When you get right down to it, we all are wishing as entrepreneurs that we had more time. So how do you change the equation from trading hours for dollars, getting more hours in the day? You do it with automation. This is what we've done for years and years and years. And the thing that I see that smart entrepreneurs are doing is they're recognizing, I need to clone myself. I need more of me. I need to get more. I need to do more with less. It is the great game changer for small businesses. And when you do that, you have more hours. You can go to your kid's soccer game. You can spend time with your family.

17:10You can actually show up with your friends and have them look at you like, hey, great to see you, instead of like, hey, wow, where have you been? So it's that entrepreneur. I'm such a fan of automation because it changes the game for entrepreneurs and enables work-life balance. If there's one thing that I love, it is a foolproof strategy. And you have one, that literally works every time for entrepreneurs. And since Fire Nation are entrepreneurs, we need to hear this. It's so simple and yet so controversial and emotional, but raise the price. It works every time. Let's hear a real world example where this strategy just blew the roof off of a specific client customer business.

17:56Yeah. We had a customer that was, I'd shared this with him and I saw the person at an event and he was saying, hey, I know you've said this before, but I can't bring myself to do it. And I said, look, you're spending a bunch of your resources on customers who are not appreciating the value that you actually offer. And so he went away, raised the price. And when I saw him at the next event, he said, I raised the price 20 percent. And I was so nervous because, you know, I just thought it was going to cause all kinds of problems. And he said, I lost a few customers and I was able to get more customers and better customers.

18:41And then the customers that I had, they had no problem with it because they recognized the value. And so I just think sometimes it's a 5%, 10%, 20%. Sometimes it's something much more radical. My friend Donald Miller just spoke at our event and he told a story of a guy that was selling an offering to churches for his services and they were just really struggling to pay. He increased it from a hundreds of dollar offering to a$10 ,000 offering and changed his target audience and his business exploded. And so sometimes it's actually recognizing it's not just changing the price, but it's also not giving your solution to the right audience who appreciates the value.

19:28Fire Nation, there's one thing that I've talked about a couple of times on this show that I want to bring up now, which is raising your prices, lowering your prices. A lot of people are like, well, man, if I was just a little bit under my competitor, then I'll win more business. but that's what's called the race to the bottom. And as a great Seth Godin said, the problem with the race to the bottom is that you just might win. And guess what? That is a race you don't want to win. Let Walmart, let Amazon, let Costco, let them win the race to the bottom because of their scale, they can do that. Not you, Fire Nation, not what you're building, not what you're doing.

20:08Clayton, we talked about a lot of awesome things today. What is the one key takeaway you want to make sure our listeners get from our conversation today, which is all focused around getting growth, getting profit, getting freedom? Yeah. You know, if you're feeling that frustration and that chaos that I talked about, and you're like, gosh, I want to change this, talk to one of our experts. We have experts that will take you through a free one-hour consult that will show you in your business where that customer journey is, where the opportunities are that you can automate. We'll give you three things to automate.

20:47It will transform your business as you put that automation in place. You'll want to consume more and more. So for people that want to do that, you'll get a one-hour consult and then a customized guide of the three things to automate in your business growth and freedom plan. They can just go to keep.com slash fire. We've created something special for them that they can take advantage of that. And one more time, just get a little deeper into that call to action. Yeah, you bet. It's keep.com slash fire. And what our experts do, and these folks have spent the better part of 20 years working with small businesses and identifying, they'll take you through that mapping of your customer process, which can be kind of intimidating and people don't quite know what to do.

21:29They'll create that clear map for you. they'll identify the three areas, the top three areas for your business, where there's, where there's a loss and waste and inefficiency. And they'll identify these three things, the three things that you can do. And it's different in every business, but they'll tailor it for your business. And then you'll actually get a, a tailored business growth plan that we'll send to you. And you can use that plan. You can implement it yourself. You can take it to somebody else, a consultant to help you do it, or we'll be happy to help you do it. But basically it's, it's, you know, this is something that's got a$500 value to get that consult and a tailored plan for you.

22:05But we love your nation. We're excited to help you guys in any way we can. And that's how they can do it. Keep.com slash fire. That is such a fantastic call to action, Fire Nation. I hope you listening right now are saying I'm going to take advantage of this opportunity. Keep that's K-E-A-P.com slash fire. Because you're the average Fire Nation of the five people you spend the most time with. And you've been hanging out with CM and JLD today, so keep up that heat. For links to everything we talked about, visit eofire.com, type Clayton, C-L-A-T-E, in the search bar. The show notes page will pop right up.

22:43And Clayton, thank you for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value with Fire Nation. For that, we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side. Sounds great. Thank you, JLD. Hey, Fire Nation, a huge thank you to our sponsors and Clayton for sponsoring today's episode. And Fire Nation, over the last decade, I've interviewed more than 4 ,000 of the world's most successful entrepreneurs. And I've created a revolutionary 17-step roadmap to your financial freedom and fulfillment. I put it all into my first traditionally published book, The Common Path to Uncommon Success, personally endorsed by Seth Godin and Gary Vaynerchuk.

23:17The Common Path to Uncommon Success is the step-by-step guide that you need to achieve the lifestyle of your dreams. visit UncommonSuccessBook.com and I'll catch you there or on the flip side. Marketing Made Simple, hosted by my friend, Dr. JJ Peterson is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. Marketing Made Simple brings you practical tips to make your marketing easy and more importantly, make it work. A recent episode on whether vulnerability is a superpower in business is a must listen. Listen to Marketing Made Simple wherever you get your podcasts.

23:51Ever thought about giving a TEDx talk? It's one of the most powerful ways to share your message with the world. And four-time TEDx speaker Taylor Conroy from Thought Leader can help you get there. Visit thought-leader.com slash fire to join Taylor's free training where he teaches you how to land a TEDx talk and spread your message to millions.