The 2 Most Damaging Lies Business Owners Tell Themselves

Business owners must constantly evaluate their financial situations and have systems and processes in place to avoid a professional crisis

BY LUANN NIGARA

A

t some point, we all tell ourselves sneaky little lies in our personal life. You know what I mean… “On Monday, I’m starting back at the gym (for real this week)” or “I’m making my coffee at home every morning and breaking my standing date with Bonnie the Barista.”

But what happens when we lie to ourselves about our businesses? Does it matter, or is it like the gym: no one knows, no one cares? Well, it can matter a great deal, depending on the lie. Some of these lies are not critical to our success. It is possible to coast along for years without facing these kinds of lies in the mirror. However, some lies really do affect our business at a fundamental level. Certain areas in business cannot be ignored or you will not be profitable. And understand very clearly, there is a huge difference between existing year after year versus being a vibrant, money-making business. If you are running a business, not a hobby, these are the two most destructive lies you can tell yourself.

My finances are in order

Do you know your “cost to be open” number? This is the finite dollar amount it costs to run your business. These are the expenses you have every month whether you have five, 50 or 500 projects. You must know your baseline number. As my friend Alinda Morris of Alinda Morris Interior Design in Gig Harbor, WA, said to me on my podcast, “If I don’t hit my cost to be open number every week, I’m just borrowing money from my own family to run my business.”

Sit with this statement. Do you see how true it is? When you are not profitable, you are borrowing from your family vacation fund. You are borrowing from your retirement egg. You are borrowing from yourself.

Do you know your gross and net profit margins? Do you know the difference between them? Do you evaluate every single project at completion for profitability? Do you have specific sales goals defined by day, month and year? Without your cost to be open number and absent defined sales goals, it is truly impossible to know if you are on track, headed to a brick wall or having a banner year.

Believe me, I would be one of the many business owners who wouldn’t have known how or why to measure these things. I understand how easy it is to think, “There’s money in the bank, I

make my payroll, I pay my bills, things are probably OK.”

If this is you, this is the most critical lie you tell yourself. Years ago, my husband Vin drilled it into my head. Now I own it and guess what: It’s very empowering. It’s even comforting because I know when I am making money and when I better get up and get going.

If you know you should do this but don’t know how, there are tons of resources available. Seek out awesome coaches like Michele Williams of The Scarlet Thread Consulting, who is also a Certified Profit First Coach, or Madeleine MacRae of MM MacRae Consulting. Join organizations like Exciting Windows, a pay-to-play group of high-achieving window treatment professionals whose virtual monthly meetings help guide you toward being a better, more profitable business owner. There are Window Covering Association of America chapters all over the U.S. that provide resources and educational programming. And, of course, there is the International Window Coverings Expo (IWCE). Join us in Charlotte next year and make it a point to attend the seminars by business experts who have been where you are and can teach you how to know your numbers.

I know how I do things, and that’s good enough for me

No ma’am, no sir, this is not good enough. I always tell the entrepreneur groups I speak to, if you don’t have a finite system for how your business is run, you don’t have a business, you have a you. There should be a particular way everything in your business is executed. I say to my staff all the time, if you win the lottery tonight and I never see your eyeballs again, I shouldn’t have to call you to ask a question about anything. We all order product the same way, we all check in product the same way, we all put install notes in the same place. Why? Because now anyone can pick an order up in process and carry it to the finish line.

When you have clear, written systems, it ensures your business runs smoothly and efficiently in good times and bad. Ever feel like you are so busy that you have to hire someone, but you don’t even have the time to train someone? What if you have a family emergency that takes you away for a few days or a few weeks? Maybe you want to go on vacation and relax—there’s an idea.

When you have a defined system in place, your business can operate with efficiency in your absence. Your level of customer service will be elevated because attention to detail is easier when you are not fighting fires all day. With a business manual and systems in place, you can actually contemplate selling your business rather than simply closing the doors at the end of your career.

I know it is hard work to create a system for every aspect of your business, so I’m always asking colleagues, “How did you do it for your business?” My friend Sara Brennan of Sara Lynn Brennan Interiors in Waxhaw, NC, shared with me recently on the podcast how she did this for her interior design firm.

For weeks and months, as she went about her normal work, she would jot in one notebook all the details required to execute the various tasks, in no particular order. Additionally, whenever she had downtime, she brainstormed and added to her wish list of the things she should be doing to make each process better, like creating a checklist for the window treatment installer.

Finally, after many weeks and a full notebook, she went back and highlighted each note according to the process it belonged in. For example, any note related to onboarding a new client was highlighted in blue, any note related to the design presentation was highlighted in yellow and so on. Next, she collated all the information for each process and created a detailed guide describing how to do every task in her business. The last step was to assemble all the information according to task and category and create her SLB Interiors Manual. This is a living document. It can be revised and improved upon as she grows and faces new challenges and revenue streams.

Having this for your business is a game changer. This clarity in your process creates an unforgettable client experience. It helps when you hire and train new employees. It creates synergy and optimal results when dealing with vendors.

Let’s get practical. There are at least three months left in 2019. What if you committed to knowing your numbers and creating your business systems once and for all? Creating a sustainable, profitable business begins with a single action. Draw the line now and accept responsibility for making drastic changes.

The best way to do this is one step at a time. If you are telling yourself either of the above lies, start with one, master it and go to the next. Make a plan, read up on how to do it, join an organization, listen to my podcast or hire yourself a coach.

Once you have these critical areas locked down, you can grow, move on and tackle some others. I’d love it if you found me at IWCE next March in Charlotte and let me know what action you took. z

LuAnn Nigara is an award-winning window treatment specialist and co-owner of Window Works in Livingston, NJ. Her highly successful podcast “A Well-Designed Business” debuted in February 2016. She has since recorded more than 400 episodes.

WindowWorks-NJ.com/podcasts Facebook: WindowWorksNJ Twitter: WindowWorks_NJ Instagram: WindowWorks Houzz: Window-Works

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