Understanding when the right time to expand your business is critical to it’s success.
So when Anthony Hunter form Plan B Plumbing Solutions in Melbourne Victoria, sent me an email asking me to cover the topic in an episode, I called on two of the most experienced people I know.
Al Levi (The 7 Power Contractor) and Ellen Rohr (The Plumbers Wife).
Both Al and Ellen have appeared on the podcast before and each time they come on the show, the ratings soar. Also, their giveaways have received some of the most downloads so far, so be sure to get a hold of them at the bottom of this page.
Here are the links to Al and Ellen’s previous podcasts in case you missed them. They’re good. Like, seriously good.
Ellen Rohr Series – Business Uncomplicated
Al Levi series – Powering Your Business with The 7-Power Contractor Approach
Al Levi series – Why Most Family Businesses Don’t Work
The question
“When is the right time to expand? When the work is there, or during the planning phase”.
To give you a bit of background on the question, Anthony is trying to create an exit strategy in his business, so he’s trying to get the right people in the right place to that he can phase himself out of the operations.
Pretty smart move. Probably something we all should invest more time into.
At the end of the day, if your business doesn’t have systems in place, it makes it very hard for someone to acquire it. If everything is in your head, now would be a good time to start getting it out of your head and documenting the things that you and your staff instinctively do on ‘auto pilot’.
Why I asked Al and Ellen on this show
Both Al and Ellen have had extensive experience in knowing when the right time to expand a business is. If you go back and listen to Al’s podcasts, you’ll hear him talk about the family business he grew up in in New York and the systems that he created which later formed the foundation of The Seven Power Contractor methodology which he teaches at his company, Appleseed Business.
Ellen in her own right has also worked with organisations all over the USA to help them grow their businesses. EllenRohr.com is fantastic resource to go and check out Ellen’s conquests.
Both Ellen and Al are now working with Zoom Drain, which is a franchise drain cleaning business in the USA. Zoom Drain is one of the fastes growing trade franchises in North America and much of their growth has come as a result of the leadership and structure that Ellen and Al have been able to implement into the organisation.
The bottom line is, they know how to grow a business and they know how to do in a way that’s sustainable.
What I learned from this podcast about when the right time to expand is
It seems that everyone was in agreement that the right time to expand is when the phone is ringing and you have the work. Yes, it might sound like a good idea to have the right people in place for when the magical switch get’s flicked and the calls start pouring in, however the reality is, that approach is pretty risky.
So the first step is to get the phone ringing. Sure you can plan to put people on in the planning stage, however set your strategy around putting the people on, once the work is there.
Anyway enjoy this awesome podcast and if you have any questions, feel free to email me at [email protected]
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