I am a huge proponent of “Self Investment” when it come to business and life in general.
I am constantly listening to recordings in my car (translate – office) in between clients. They cover a variety of subjects and the speakers are always varied. The other day, I was listening to Jim Rohn, and he covered a subject and described it in such a way that YOU’RE going to get paraphrasing.
Finish your day BEFORE it starts!
– Simple, yet confusing.
You don’t buy a piece of property, order a load of bricks, and just start building walls on an empty lot.
First – WHAT are you building and wouldn’t a set of PLANS contribute to not only a better finished project but also contribute to a more COST effective vision?
After all, some architect figured out the design, then he handed it off to an engineer that put in all the details required to meet the architect’s design – power, plumbing, foundation, materials. All there, so as you construct this home and follow the plans, then timelines are met (mostly) and budgets are achieved (mostly – depending on changes and upgrades.)
Most dealers start their business with an idea, and a loosely formulated plan.
“I’m gonna open up my own lot and sell cars!” – THERE’S the loosely formed plan.
“I found a lot, signed a lease, filed for my license and got a floor plan – what else do I need?”
“I know how to buy cars and I have been selling cars for years now, how hard can it be?!”
You can easily see where this is going!
No PLAN = Little to NO pay!
I frequently consult with dealers to help grow their business and I have a standard list of things I ask the dealer to provide for the consultation.
You guessed it!
First thing I MUST see before I can be of any assistance is to see their list of 1yr / 3yr / 5yr Goals AND what is their Exit Strategy (the latter tends to throw most Dealers a real curve.)
A good GPS can not help you navigate without a destination in mind. If you have no idea where you’re going, then I am of no use to you, and it will be wasted time and money for both parties. (Unless that is what we’re initially establishing – 1/3/5yr Vision Plans.)
Once I know a Dealers “charted course” then it is easy-breezy to proceed and help expand their business.
Even those rare few that had their goals right at hand ( I do mean RARE) few of them practice “FINISHING” THEIR DAY BEFORE IT STARTS – much less a year in advance!
Here is how simple the process is:
- Take your DREAM (remember that old friend?) and write it down.
- Take that written dream and start breaking it down into GOALS (timelines are MANDATORY).
- Take those written goals and break them down into ACTIVITIES (again, timelines are MANDATORY).
- DO (repeat DO) one of those activities DAILY!
This business will throw you curve balls EVERY single day – and you know it! Too many times the Dealer spends a majority of his/her day “putting out fires” and seemingly running in circles.
So just how do you FINISH your day before it starts – simple.
- First; drag you butt out of bed by no later than 6am every business day.
- Spend your FIRST 10 minutes of every day being thankful for what is right and good in your life (the 1st 10 minutes of thought SETS the tone (paycheck) of your day.)
If your feet hit the floor and all you think about is the negative things that are in your life or HAVE to be done – boy howdy YOU just programmed a real fun day FULL of the negative stuff you didn’t want. - Second – have a short list of the day’s activities prepared (night before), give them priority and set some loose timelines around each one (allowing for the fires.)
- Third and most important; take 5 minutes and envision all those activities “flowing” throughout your day.
Be sure and give yourself “permission” to shuffle activities around as the day progresses ( the highway has a wreck -hello Google Maps find me the back roads.) Should you be put “off course” by a person, situation or thing; then your list acts as a compass to get done what is important for your growth and progress (Goals.)
It is crucial to the survival of EVERY business to make progress every day (yes- even at a turtle’s pace.)
At the end of the day, pull out your list and what activities did not get done go to the top of tomorrow’s list.
Told you it was simple.
Now for the challenging bit – repeating this list of activities weekly / monthly / quarterly and annually (which must also be “tracked” accordingly)!
This is December and it is time to prepare for 2019!
If you do not CREATE your reality … Your REALITY will create you!
I know how my 2019 will be; do you?
Now you understand my “tag line” …
CREATE-A-GREAT-DAY,
Tom
Tom Hampton Agency
“Success Fuel For Your Business” since 2006
P.S.
I privately consult Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday, please feel free to reach out to me and schedule your growth session.
