Most business owners get into business because they want more freedom and flexibility.

They want to be the master of their own destinies, call the shots, take time off whenever they want and enjoy the fruits of their labour.

But when you start your business - it often demands more time of you than a day job and you then sacrifice the very things and the very reasons why you started your business in the first place.

As your business grows and you hire more people, I see business owners carry the same mentality through with them from when they first started out which is…

“I have to do everything”

This may have served you when you first started (because you did have to do everything) - but it certainly won’t serve you now as you grow.

If you want to build a business that allows you way more free time, allows you to spend more time with your family & friends, allows you to travel more and allows you to live a fun and meaningful life…

….you need to shift your foc...

One of the most common frustrations amongst business owners is that they know they need to be focusing on strategy, vision and big picture - but can never seem to find the time to actually do it.

There’s always more pressing things to action first. Calls to make, emails to respond to, a report to review, a client to keep happy, a staff request or issue etc.

There’s quite literally 100’s of things vying for your attention at any given moment. 

And it’s not because you don’t know that you need to be making more time for strategy and big picture - you do.

And that’s what makes this even harder - because you can feel the stress building up in you when you know you need to be getting to something but you aren’t.

So it’s not a question of awareness - you have that.

It’s an issue with priorities.

“What you focus on - grows”.

There will literally always be something you can focus your attention on - but is it a priority? Will it actually make a difference and move your business forward...

Business growth is what we're all striving for.

We want to be able to look back over the months and years and feel really proud about what we've created and how far we've come.

We want to feel like it's all been worth it. The hard decisions & conversations, the big hours & big weeks, the sleepless & restless nights - we want to be able to look back on all of this and feel really proud with what we’ve achieved.

But what happens when we're working really hard, doing all the 'things' - and the growth never comes?

When you’ve been at the same point, plateaued in your business for months, years or even decades?

That's tough. That's frustrating. That's defeating.

It can be downright demoralising.

If this is you - if you’re feeling like you’re putting in the hours and the work - but you’re not seeing the results - it’s probably because you’re still hanging on.

Hanging on to the small things. 

Hanging on to doing the tasks that you know you shouldn’t be doing and won’t act...

Most founders and business owners haven’t thought about their exit strategy from their business.

They either put it off because they don’t want to think about it just yet or they genuinely get consumed with the day to day running and building of their business that it gets forgotten about.

There are plenty of stories of business owners leaving this decision until it’s too late and not giving themselves enough time to properly plan for their exit. 

This leaves them with very few options and they either sell for a much lower value than what their business is really worth or they just shut the doors, turn off the lights and walk away.

To me - that’s such a wasted opportunity, when some planning, a good strategy and consistent effort can have you realising maximum value for your business when the time comes to hang up the boots.

Planning for your exit from your business needs to be thought about now and planned for now as this informs the strategy that you put in place now. 

One opti...

I’ve been learning to surf on and off now for about 2 years.

I love being in the water but haven’t been able to commit to the consistency because of a few pesky injuries.

The last 6 months my body has been feeling really strong and fit and I’ve committed to consistently just getting out in the water and practicing.

No stress or frustration about the outcome. I don’t care whether I catch 1 wave or 10. I don’t care whether I fall off or stand up. 

Just committed to the process of practicing, being the learner & enjoying the journey.

And this morning a bunch of stuff just clicked. And it became really fun.

I’m by no means a pro surfer or catching 6 foot barrels 😂 But I could really see the compounding effects of just turning up every day and putting the work in.

The same is true for business.

We often want the outcome to be immediate or that any effort we put in will be guaranteed to pay off.

Unfortunately neither is true for business.

We put so much pressure on ourselves for th...

Wow, what a super interesting year! Right?!

If you're like a lot of the engineering industry right now you're still madly running around trying to get things finished and wrapped up before the Christmas break. 

Things work wise are likely to be quite intense and busy right up until Christmas this year and then you'll be jumping right into family get togethers, parties and the holidays which also can be quite full on.

Today I'd like to remind you that it's incredibly important for you to create some space in all of the craziness and intensity of work and life to really reflect and evaluate the year you've just had.

Before you can look to 2024 and the year ahead, it is so important to evaluate the year that’s just gone - including its successes, failures, lessons and themes - before you think about next year and your goals and how you want things to be different. 

You really want to understand what happened this year, why it happened and how to improve for next year.

I'm now going ...

Are you feeling the weight of your business resting solely on your shoulders? Are you stuck in the never-ending cycle of constant decision-making and firefighting, leaving little time for your businesses growth and strategic vision? If this sounds all too familiar, you might actually be the bottleneck hindering the growth of your business.

The Bottleneck Conundrum:

It's a natural evolution for a business owner to initially be the sole decision-maker and driving force behind every aspect of the company. However, as your business expands, clinging to this control actually starts to hold you back. Whether it's the fear of letting go, the need for perfection, or the desire to be at the centre of everything, being this bottleneck is stunting your business's potential.

As a business owner, it's easy to fall into the trap of believing that only you can ensure that everything is of the highest quality & that everything needs to come through you. The truth is - this mentality leads to burnou...

I used to be amazing at delaying, procrastinating, justifying and not taking action on the big things that I logically knew would move my business forward.

Seems weird thinking about it now because doing those very things has single-handedly been the reason behind my business growing 5x this year.

As I look back on this year (and we’re not quite done yet), it’s incredible to think that we’ve now helped 50+ business owners grow their revenue, shape their business plans and their goals for their businesses future, gain the confidence they need to take their business to that next level as well as meet and make friends with a whole bunch of other incredible business owners along the way.

There is a saying “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is today.”

This is a mantra that I constantly remind myself with when I find myself delaying, procrastinating or putting off taking action on those (in my head) scary and big things that I know will move my business...

Are you stuck in the never-ending cycle of being the technician in your business? 

It's a common part of the journey that all of us experience when we start our own businesses. You're wearing all the hats & handling every aspect of your business - from winning the work to delivering the work, to admin, HR, marketing, operations etc - and it can sometimes feel like a hamster wheel.

But here's the deal – in order for your business to grow, you'll need to make the time to step out of the technician business owner mindset and into the entrepreneurial business owner mindset. You’ll need to focus on controlling the resources, not being the resource.

Regardless of whether you're a single person business owner or running a $10 million per year consultancy, the goal is the same: shift your thinking from the technician business owner to the entrepreneurial conductor. You want to be the one shaping the vision, guiding your team, and orchestrating the path to success, not stuck in the daily gri...

When I first started my business - I set out to work with as many clients as I could.

I wanted to help as many people as my weeks would allow, & I thought that by working with anyone & everyone - this was the quickest way to business success.

How wrong I was.

So off I went, working with and taking on any client that would work with me.

Years passed.

One day I looked up and I realised that I was super unhappy - running around trying to please and help everyone - but feeling empty inside.

I was doing great work - but at the cost of everything else.

I was having an impact - but if I was being honest, some of the clients I was working with weren’t right for me.

And so…

What I came to realise, is that in order to build a business that is truly successful to me (not anyone else… to me) - I can't work with everyone.

I fact, I don't want to work with everyone.

So I changed who I was working with.

Now I'm really selective about who I take on and who I don’t.

I only work with client...