Make the Boat Go Faster!

You will often hear me talk about making the boat go faster.

This is a rule I’ve lived by for many years, and it reverts back to the British Olympic rowing team.

Now I’m sure there’s a book or an autobiography out there that will say this more eloquently than me, but this is my version of how I took that story and made it my own. Whereas it might not be factually correct to the actual events, it is factually correct how I interpreted this and used it for my own company.

The British Olympic Rowing team (BORT) was on a mission for the gold medal.

It was all they thought about. They wanted to win, and they wanted to be Olympic champions.

To finish first, first they must finish, and so every decision went back to one sentence – does this make the boat go faster?

So the type of material they used, the training programs, the diet, everything went back to making the boat go faster.

Would training an extra 30 minutes each day mean they were tougher and more resilient and thus make the boat go faster? Would this extra training make them more fatigued and less productive? Would this make the boat go faster?

Would taking time off to spend with their families, or redesigning the hull and the different rowing strokes make the boat go faster? Every decision was on the one goal – finishing first!

Now I’m not an Olympic rower, and not always is it a competition. I would argue that most CEOs have a competitive streak in them, wanting to create something or be something that makes them better than their peers. I’m yet to come across a successful entrepreneur that doesn’t have a slight air of arrogance around them (many have too much that’s for sure!)

So as it is in British Olympic rowing, so it is in business.

My team even jokes with me and constantly ask me, “Brad does that make the boat go faster?” They sometimes refer to the extra drink I might have at the Christmas dinner, or the extra holiday I take – Well, they’re right, and the fact they use it so often (the term not the drink or holiday!), shows that they also think that way.

Let’s look at some examples of how to make your boat go faster.

Sales

Is it easier to make 100 sales at £1,000 or 1,000 sales at £100?

Well, if you said the first, you might be wrong!

In principle, making higher quality sales meaning less work seems the right answer? Well, what if the second option was automated, whereas the first required a more personable approach?

I know in experience I cannot duplicate myself, so if I’m limited to time and just me, I need to make a larger quality of sales with less quantity. This is why I train financial advisors because I know there’s only so many hours in the day and I can’t see everyone!

However, by training more versions of me to do what I do, I make my boat go faster. With the likes of my advisors who come through the academy, learning directly from me is invaluable. They get first-hand experience and by me teaching them what I do, makes our boat go faster.

I have a friend also who set up a paddleboard company. He learned that quantity with quality in terms of sales figures could be an automated process. The moment someone clicked on a link to buy a paddleboard, it sent a response to his warehouse, which in turn sent a response to his suppliers in Asia and when the stock got low, it automatically restocked for future sales – he inadvertently created a process which meant he could make his boat go faster. The time spent creating this, then allowed him to scale up his business so by reviewing the process and coming up with innovative ways, is just as important than the full diary with lots of prospect sale options. Working on your business rather than in your business makes the boat go faster.

Now the boot camp I offer helps hone this skill. It’s not as easy as saying, here’s a process as everything is different.

The hairdresser who's qualified in producing wedding day hairstyles doesn’t then want to pass this on to a junior and ruin someone’s day (unless they can train that person – see where this is going?)

Making the boat go faster comes in many forms.

Another example: Business Plans

For many years, I’ve created business plans. From the very start, I created a business plan with a 20-year (yes, 20 years!) outlook.

Another business colleague of mine said this was one of the most impressive business plans he had ever seen. A 20-year plan with a breakdown year by year on what to achieve.

After year 1, how many times do you think I looked at that plan?

How many times do you think I changed the plan for the year 15 onwards? Exactly Never!

Now business plans are important, and the section on how to create an effective business plan will help here and it is really important to have one. But, create it to make your boat go faster.

Consider the end result (I talk about this in the other sections). Review this regularly (at least twice a year)

What is your get out figure? Either the figure you sell your company at, or the figure you need to retire on?

How long do you want to be in business for to achieve this figure?

If your figure is £10 million and you want to be out in 10 years, how many sales do you need to make the profit, to equal your £10 million. Can you do it alone, or would you need help? What does this help look like? See the section on your hourly rate.

This is an expansive subject and again, the boot camp offers ways to answer this.

In closing, constantly asking if your actions make your boat go faster allows you to hone your focus on improving your business and indeed, yourself.