MA Business Success 96: Seasons In Your Business

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 Graham: Good day, guys. It's Graham McDonnell here.

Phil: And Phil Britten, as always.

Graham: And this is the Martial Arts Business Success podcast number 95, I believe.

Phil: Yeah.

Graham: My goodness, they've...

Phil: We may be wrong because we've been traveling for seven days in the bush but...

Graham: Look, if we're wrong, and we're excused. We're in the middle of nowhere.

Phil: Let's get rid of this.

Graham: So, guys, we thought we'd do a special edition simply because we like to challenge ourselves on a regular basis and we have a bunch of awesome people that we've just shared the last seven days with, out in the remote Kimberleys, almost 200 kilometers out of Kununurra, and probably the third most remote wilderness in the world. So, the very first, the Antarctica, second one is the Amazon, and number three is the Kimberleys, especially where we are.

Phil: Yeah, look, what we're trying to achieve here is two parts that we're trying to achieve, and if you're listening to this right now, if you...you gotta go watch it because we actually are sitting in a gorge in...very remote. So, if you're listening, because it's a podcast, you've gotta watch it. The backdrop is amazing, there's a waterfall going in the background, you'll see Graham and I after seven days of not shaving, it's pretty crazy, but there's this twofold reason why we do this. One, we're calling it the "Entrepreneurs Expedition," because what we're trying to do is take small business owners, entrepreneurs, people who run teams, or even if you're a one-man band and a one-woman band, people who are in the rat race, stuck doing the day-to-day, and never get a chance to go within and just take a time out and switch off, like, we haven't been around technology for, you know, eight days now, seven, eight days.

Graham: Yeah.

Phil: So, it's really, really great, the lessons that we've learned within ourselves, within the team and we really wanted to share some of those lessons and that's why we've got a four-part series as Graham mentioned and we're kicking off with this particular topic being...

Graham: It's all about the seasons and how things change and anticipating, you know, the future, dare I say, because as a leader you can't be stuck in the everyday grind, we've gotta forecast and you'll hear us say this often in our podcast, "Get out of the engine room and steer the ship," and that's where your power is. So, we've had a couple of our key managers come with us, so for you guys listening to this, we've got two of the owners and two of our top managers joining us on this trip, that means they're absent from the business and they run one of our largest schools of, you know, upwards of 850, 900. So, to be able to get out of there, wow. We're not in the engine room guys and neither are they. They're on this trip now to start seeing and understanding what's ahead. But I guess first and foremost Phil, you gotta understand I guess where you're at.

Phil: Yeah.

Graham: You gotta know where you're at. Now I know that...

Phil: Which sort of means like what season are you at?

Graham: Pretty much.

Phil: What season are you in and then why do we need to know that, Graham?

Graham: Look, I think it's one of those things that I liken it to there's been an economic downturn for some of the guys in Australia at the moment. So, that means you're kinda in winter. You're in a closed down state, where instead of looking at expansion, you gotta look internally and really work on your systems and really work on your way to improve the areas that you can control. Financially, as a country you can't control that, you can control your own backyard. So, this is where internal dialogue, and on this trip, we can't control the environment, we can control what going on inside ourselves and that's something that these guys have learned a whole heap. But Phil, what else would you do during that winter cycle I guess?

Phil: Yeah, I guess, you know, I liken it to the bear gathering its, you know, food, going into the den for the winter, you know, as we've known before. Not everyone likes winter, winter's probably, you know, for in most people's case not the most appealing season to be in. So, you know, people will take, like to rug up and close the door, put the telly on, and lots of stuff. And if you think about it in a business sense, that's what we're trying to get, relate to is like winter for an animal, winter for us as humans, winter for business, is a time for that, sort of, to take stock. Now, don't get me wrong, it's also a good time to invest. So you should be saving for winter, you should be collecting data and information for winter, and that may be within your own brand, your own business, your own corporation, or organization, but also, it might be the time that is best for you to strike and expand, you know, on your next venue or purchase or something.

Graham: Look, one of the, one thing that's really easy to do is invest in your staff at this time because what comes after winter is spring, that growth stage, where everything starts to happen. I know that within our schools, when we've had a bit of a lull, instead of getting rid of staff we're looking to hire and develop more staff. Now, you may not be in a position to be able to hire staff, you can certainly start looking for them because as the economy changes or situations change, everything starts to go into a growth cycle again, well, guess what, you wanna be on the front foot, not the back foot going, "Oh, my goodness. I wasn't ready for this."

Phil: Yeah.

Graham: So, you know, that's what winter's doing, about planning for that growth stage which is what happens when we kinda enter into that spring cycle and something we liken it to is that growth phase of your business.

Phil: Yeah. I don't know if all the other Martial Arts Businesses out there are like ours across the world, but we run our school almost all year. We only close for two weeks over Christmas and that sort of December/January time is what I would class, even though it's summer in our country, it's like sort of the winter in our business. It's the time for us to go, "Holy moly," you know, like, "We really are struggling for numbers here. What can we do to build more value within our school?" And so that's that time where we go, "Jesus! Not great right now. How can we make it better?"

Graham: Yeah, for sure. So, let's move into the spring. When we're planning or things are starting to grow, understanding that's important because, again you, like I just said, you need to be on your front foot. You don't wanna be on the back foot, you don't wanna be scrambling, so what are some of the things Phil that we do in our growth phases to make sure that we can cut, sure we can understand, you know, really get the most from that?

Phil: From our staff?

Graham: From the entire business, both staff and also, potentially the systems or again, how we operate to make sure we get the most.

Phil: Look, I, you know, all hands down, that is a great time, December/January, is to take a look at all our syllabus, our curriculum. It's a great chance for while things are quiet and we are trying to get more numbers coming through the door and keep more retention going because, you know, closing for two weeks over Christmas, you know, people are trying to save money and stuff like that, so you wanna build more value. So, it's a really good time for us to take stock of our systems, e.g. our curriculum, our lesson plans, and anything that's really the operations, the day-to-day, because it, like I said, we've got lots of staff and there's a good chance for them to spend some good amount of time in that area, in that season to be able to go into that area.

Graham: Yeah, for sure. I guess what we're gonna look at now is like, we've talked about winter which is preparing and kinda internalizing the...we've got spring which is that sort of growth, we haven't quite hit that excessive growth just yet because that comes through when we talk about our summer cycle, you know. In summer in business is when everything is pumping, going, when you are, you almost can't put a foot a wrong, you know. You've got insurers coming out your backside, your staff are flying high, everything's going well but you know happens? You gotta understand, like, for every high, there's a low and again, like any economic downturn, any cycle, we're talking about cycles here, everything has a repeat cycle.

Phil: Absolutely.

Graham: So,3 you'll hear this on the news, housing booms and crashes and all the rest of it, you know.

Phil: It's a cycle.

Graham: It's all a cycle and if you can understand that, you can prepare for what's next. Like this terrain, as we've been navigating through here, we've been planning and mapping so we know what's coming up. It's almost like seeing into the future and as a Martial Arts or as a business owner, if you can understand these trends and cycles, you're almost predicting the future. You know, within that few months or whatever it may be. So, you know, the summer time is where you, you really do take that abundance and you really gotta understand you're working really hard, your nose is to the grindstone and away you go. But now let's hit the autumn stage. Things are starting to slow down, but what should we be doing when we start slowing things down or, again, we're not at that winter stage, nothing's shut down but it's starting to slow down. What should we be thinking of?

Phil: Even though you've got, you know, summer at that time it's booming, you should still be planning for the next season and really, the next season is then planning for that winter months as well. So, because you know it's getting bad, you know, it's gonna be tough, you know it's gonna be hard for your business so you want us to really go into, "What are my action plans? What are my procedures? What are my marketing tools? What are my systems? What can I do online, offline?" You know, all those type of things, so that when winter does come it's not that bad, you know. I mean, I think about this place right now, we've just spent seven days and right where we are now is a nice gentle waterfall behind us, whereas, in the wet season, we would be underwater.

Graham: Oh, yeah.

Phil: The water would be way, way above our heads, and what happens is it devastates the vegetation, it devastates the land. But what we're sitting in here right now is something beautiful because of the wet season, because of the rush of water, you know. There's different fish species that grow, new growth comes within the plants. And the same goes, secondly, when we came down that big mountain, the fire, you know.

Graham: Yeah.

Phil: You know, the fire rips apart all the trees and the vegetation and then, you know, even the animals as well, but from that comes re-growth. You just gotta understand, it's not bad, it's just a moment in time that things get a chance to re-grow and rebirth, so to speak.

Graham: For sure. And I think, Phil, you pretty much hit the nail on the head about forward-planning because I know I've heard of and seen a lot of guys, and we don't do this but I've heard a lot of guys in the business, when things are going good they're buying all the trinkets, all the bits and pieces, spending money, but they're not putting anything away for the future, and therefore, when you hit a winter cycle, when things go slow, they're scrambling, a lot of those go out of business because of that. Again, with the economic downturn, it happened like that. It's like a flash winter, you're gone. Your business could close very, very quickly. So I guess in summary, guys, I know that is not a, you know, direct, I guess, easy way to translate for some people. You're talking about seasons. What the hell? This is a Martial Arts Business podcast. But guys, seriously, when we talk about...let's recap.

Phil: Just have a think about it, like, everyone's seasons different in business. What season are you in right now and how, you know, out of the four seasons, where you could you map that out in a calendar year and plan out, like we've said? You know, I guarantee you it will help you with planning for the future.

Graham: So, let's recap. Spring, what is that? It's about growth, but it's not abundant growth, it's just you're starting to grow. Summer is where it's booming, all, everything's flying high, you're ticking all the boxes, nothing can go wrong. But, like every up, there's gotta come a down. So, autumn is where you start understanding, "You know what? Something may be around the corner." Not that I hope for that, but you gotta put things away. And winter's where you may have a slow point or you just wanna consolidate and hold stock ready for that next growth cycle again, so...

Phil: And just like Graham said, anything can happen. A flood can happen, a fire can happen, you know, and you've gotta prepare. And so even though you've got all these ups and downs and these glorious seasons that you're planning for, anything can freaking happen. You know, a fire could rip through, you know, metaphorically, something really bad in your business could happen, so you wanna make sure that we take stock and we plan for the future in case of emergency.

Graham: Great, look, guys, we're gonna wrap it up on that one. We've got plenty more really cool stuff coming on the next three ones, all about the leadership, making decisions, you know, I really guess, you know, survival techniques, dare I say it, for your business, because nowadays you've gotta be on the top of your game and there's a lot of guys that are just kinda simmering and not really reaching their full potential. But, you know, as Phil pointed out and I'm gonna throw this in there because this is a thing that we do on a regular basis. If you wanna be part of this, this is something we're doing with like-minded people, we take them on many different adventures to bring them outside of their comfort zone, but put them in a world where they get to explore, learn, dissect about their business, have an absolutely great time, and you know what, they come out of this a changed person. Also, their business really thrives because of it.

Phil: I'm gonna ask you something, Graham, because I know you know the answer, but maybe someone out there is asking or saying to themselves these two things. "I would love to, but I don't have time and I don't have enough money."

Graham: Well...

Phil: Well, what would you say to that, Graham?

Graham: The thing is, guys, you're always not gonna have enough time to make that excuse, and the thing is you can't not afford to do this because, again, guys, when you pinch your pennies, you're always gonna be in that position. If you invest in yourself and these experiences, you will reap the rewards tenfold, a hundredfold, a thousandfold. Look, I can't say that we haven't spent a lot of money doing these great things, and honestly, the seven or eight people we have there, the business owners would equally, equally agree with it's a time and money well spent. And, guys, look, we'd love to share in this experience with you guys next time round.

Phil: Don't just say, "I can't afford it." Say this instead, "How can I afford it?" When you ask yourself, "How can I," you'll look for resources, you'll look for ways. Hey, guys, just in finishing, I would really love you to share, like, comment, and do whatever you like to do with this, but please give it some feedback, "Do you like this style of podcast?" If you're listening, watch it, an amazing backdrop, the waterfall's back there. I'm sleeping right here on this bank. I hope the sound of the water doesn't make me want to go to the toilet in the middle of the night when it's freezing cold, but hey, that's what we're living in. So, take care guys, have a fantastic week and we'll see you on the next three episodes.

Graham: See you later. Take care.

 

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