Don’t you hate when someone asks you, “So, what do you do?” My answer these days has become, “About what?…”
After a bit of consternation, I finally acquiesce.
“Oh, you mean: ‘what do I do for work’…” I honestly don’t know how to answer the question and I don’t have an “elevator pitch.” I inevitably end up back-sliding into some sort of answer that closely resembles an “Executive Coach” or something like that…
But it doesn’t feel right.
I think the reason for that is because of the way Next Level Executive has evolved this year. What started out as Educational with a focus on tactical, structural elements of how a business truly fits together has evolved into an equal part of true Leadership Development out of a necessity to create greater results through other people. What I’ve discovered is that there are an awfully large number of people who have no desire to exit their businesses anytime soon. Healthcare services businesses can generate a little bit of fun; a lot of cash flow; and massive personal fulfillment to own.
Who knew?!
So take that revelation alongside the Educational component and the Leadership component, and now I get to add some sort of Aspirational Philosophy oriented toward building a business that doesn’t cannibalize our families or our selves in the process, which I now refer to as “Entrepreneurial Leadership.”
So, what do I do? I guess I:
- Teach people how to be better business owners
- Develop people into being better leaders
- Guide people into creating a business that unlocks the freedom to pursue a greater purpose – whatever that may be and how ever they’d like to define it
Maybe I’ll create a QR code that links to this essay so that the next time I’m asked at a party, conference or gathering, I can let them read it on their own.
Truthfully, I love what this new venture has become. It feels like “the right thing at the right time” for me personally, but that’s also 90+% attributed to the people I have in the program. At the risk of sounding patronizing, they’re all fantastic. I admire them for the businesses they’ve created, and I actually enjoy interacting with each and every one of them. It doesn’t feel like work to me.
Are Your Rose-Colored Glasses the Correct Prescription?
That being said, one of the hardest aspects of creating a services business – especially one that is in the realm of coaching or consulting or fractional work – is trying to define:
- What the business is
- What the service does
- And who you intend to work with
Add to that the sheer volume of competitors and the challenge becomes pretty daunting. This type of business has almost NO barriers to entry because there’s no certification and basically no qualification required. I’m frequently reminded of the George Costanza line from Seinfeld: “Jerry, it’s not a lie if you believe it.”
People incorrectly assume that creating a business built around sharing your expertise will be easy because “you’re only a few paying clients away from success…” Reality has a way of level-setting this rather quickly. I don’t consider myself to necessarily be successful, but I do get asked quite often how I’ve managed to create what Next Level Executive has become.
I’m happy to share some insights when asked, so I’ll do so here.
Awareness & Building a Following
One of the biggest challenges to building any business is creating awareness that you exist.
The world is filled with a ton of noise these days, so cutting through all of that to reach your target audience isn’t easy. I’m fortunate in that I’ve been hosting podcasts for over six years now and many of you say that you enjoy the subject matter and the way I share it. My podcast is typically me speaking extemporaneously on a topic that I think you’ll find interesting.
Talking to yourself for 30 minutes and not putting your audience to sleep is extremely hard, which is the reason that so many podcasts rely on an interview format. It’s also the reason so many people rush into podcasting and abruptly fail.
According to Riverside (a recording and hosting platform), “44% of podcasts don’t make it past 3 episodes…and only 8% make it past 10 episodes.”
Want to host your own podcast? Well, an average of 27,000 new shows are launched every single day. It’s a crowded field, so you’d better have something interesting to say…and you’d better bank a library of content ahead of time.
I personally love the podcast format because I feel like it allows me to connect with my audience. I know that sounds weird, and it is, but my audience is very engaged and they basically tell me that when they email me. When someone books an exploratory call, they’ll often say, “I feel like we already know one another because I’ve been listening to your show for years.”
In a content world driven by A.I., this authentic connection I have to my podcast audience is one of the most valuable commodities I have – and I’m hyper-sensitive to it.
Kevin Kelly wrote a blog almost 20 years ago called “1,000 True Fans.” It’s a brilliant essay dedicated to those who do creative work and are trying to build an following. His point is that if you’re authentic and if your artistry connects with as few as 1,000 people, the likelihood is that they’ll buy enough of your work over a long period of time that you can earn a living at it. The key is that you have to connect with your “fans” directly and not allow an intermediary platform to take most of the profit from your work.
Building a direct following isn’t for the faint of heart because the feedback loop is disconnected at best.
Content Generation versus Thought Leadership
If you’re going to be in the coaching or consulting or fractional world, the service you provide is built off of your experience, wisdom and expertise. Establishing credibility with a following that doesn’t know you first-hand is beyond difficult. I think the adoption of A.I. for content generation purposes further muddies the waters. It creates more noise and it undermines trust.
Consider me a prospect and a consumer of content and expertise. I love to read. I love to learn. And I love the thought of personal growth. But now, I’m left doubting whether or not the author of the content is actually sharing his or her expertise, or if it’s simply the result of a prompt for an A.I. to create what I’m consuming.
Content is becoming prolific. Thought Leadership is becoming rare.
It’s forcing me to do a better job of curating my sources for learning purposes. The only way I can truly validate the expert is through a personal connection. My recommendation to those providing expertise is to “lean in” to one-on-one connections, and my recommendation to seekers of expertise is to accept nothing less than authenticity.
I’ve made a commitment to my followers and to my members that nothing will come between me and them. I’m not building a content factory of A.I. driven podcasts, essays or presentations, and I’m not building a coaching business of subordinate coaches or intermediaries. People follow me for me, and people are a part of my program because they believe in my guidance. They want access to me. I’m equally flattered and humbled by that, and I’m hyper-aware of just how fragile that trust is.
If you’re going to build a business based on expertise, that expertise had better be your own.
Your Model Matters
I’m the guy who talks about “building a business that’s not dependent upon your own skillset for its existence.” And I’m doing just the opposite.
Anyone who launches a new business needs to be very thorough about the model they choose to build. Specifically, what is your revenue equation and what’s your price point? Is it one-to-one or one-to-many? I’ve done both, and I elected to build a model based off of a lower price point subscription and a one-to-many delivery. You could generate more revenue in a one-to-one, high price point service, but the deliverable has to be much more specific and the likelihood is that the engagement is shorter. It’ll take me longer to build high levels of revenue at my price point, but my hope is that I avoid constantly “churning” my members. Overall I want my revenue to be consistent, which likely means lower highs and higher lows.
Your model should also dictate your cost structure – not the other way around.
I don’t know how to say this diplomatically, but…I’m done with managing employees. I have a few key contract people that I rely on, but my fixed cost structure is very reasonable and my variable costs are very discretionary. In light of that, I can afford to be patient in building a subscriber base. And because I’m patient, I can allow myself to focus on “doing the things that don’t scale.”
The true merit of my model is that it’s a high leverage of my time. This is key for me because I can control it. Yes, you read that correctly. I have been able to create massive freedom of time. The time I focus on thought leadership and the delivery to my members is what I want it to be, and it comes with no stress and no drama.
The key components to consider in your business model are: revenue generation, cost structure, and time allocation.
Competing Interests: Income & Equity
Mine is a business model with inherent limitations when it comes to growth, size and scale. The biggest limitation is me. And I’m intentional about that.
I’ve decided that I don’t want to “chase more for the sake of more.” Since I’m not going to have subordinate coaches and operations people and a marketing department, I’ve had to confront the fact that this won’t be a 100+ person coaching program. My gut feeling is that this model tops out around +/-50 participants because I don’t want to lose the connection I have with the individual members. There are a lot of other programs where the Founder is the figurehead and why people join the program, but they never get to work directly with him or her. I’ve been a participant in those programs, too. That’s not what I want to create.
I recently sat in a conference where a speaker from another coaching-type business touted that they have “over 550 members in their program.” My first reaction wasn’t envy, it was: “God, what a mess…”
I’m sure it’s a great business, but how must the participant feel when they enroll in the program, then immediately get handed off to some subordinate? It confirmed everything I had been thinking in my mind when I started this journey: I currently have 28 members, and I know each and every one of them personally. I also feel like it’s important that they know me. Call it a competitive advantage, if you want.
In spite of the fact that I’m the guy who also talks about equity, valuation multiples, and scaling, I’ve consciously decided that I’m not going to build a business with any equity value. Because “I’m the business and the business is me,” there’ll be nothing of value to sell. If the cash flow is consistent and the impact I make with the members is fulfilling to me, then I’ll gladly declare victory on a monthly basis.
If you’re building for sale, then you’ve got to build for scale. On the other hand, if you’re only creating cash flow, then you’re potentially creating a prison. I may not have a business that “makes me money while I sleep,” but I’m pretty happy with the middle path I’ve developed.
Ideal Client Avatar
After someone asks me what I do, inevitably their next questions is, “Who do you work with?”
I’m pretty clear on what I want to be and what I don’t want to be. I’m also very rock solid on those with whom I want to work and those with whom I don’t. I read the book “Blue Ocean Strategy” several years ago and it made a massive impact on the way I think about target markets and service offerings.
I don’t want to be in a hyper competitive market with low price points due to low differentiation of services. For this reason, I don’t provide operational consulting or clinic-level coaching. There are hundreds of “Practice Management Consultants” that can handle that – and I’m not one of them. I’ve spent the last decade working one-on-one with clients as a growth strategy consultant, but that’s also not what I focus on anymore. I know I fit nicely in between those two.
I’ve defined my ideal client avatar as one who has achieved practice mastery in that they have completed some advanced clinical courses to be able to provide more complicated clinical treatment, and they have probably already worked with a dental practice management consultant to implement operational systems and processes that create predictable, repeatable results. If they can perform complicated clinical procedures and they have stable operations, then theirs is a business that most likely generates predictable cash flows.
And now, they’re wondering “what’s next?”
“What’s next” typically involves something along the lines of adding locations or bringing in partners, so they’re desiring to learn more about how it all is supposed to fit together. The other common denominator is that they want to be more confident in leading the business into the future.
I am a HUGE proponent of defining your customer or your audience. All of us who are entrepreneurs can easily fall victim to trying to “be anything to everyone.” This is either a fast road to business suicide or a slow road to becoming commoditized.
I want neither of those. Besides, the ability to say, “That’s not what I do” is very liberating.
Creating Clarity & Avoiding Misalignment
I’m a big believer in surrounding myself with people who are smarter than I am. The author, Austin Kleon, has a great quote: “If you’re the smartest person in the room, then you need to find a new room.”
He’s 100% right. I’ve spoken and written about creating your own “Personal Board of Advisors” and I’ve acknowledged that some on mine are paid service providers whereas others are curated relationships based on expertise I do not have, but value immensely.
Every time I’ve worked with a coach or consultant, the investment has more than paid off in terms of avoiding mistakes, instilling confidence, accelerating my learning curve, and making better decisions. Full stop.
That being said, one of the biggest mistakes I try to avoid with those for whom I have provided services as well as those with whom I’ve contracted, is a lack of clarity around “the how.”
You’re probably pretty clear in your own mind if yours is going to be a coaching service or a consulting service or a fractional service. My advice is that it’s probably more clear to you than it is to your audience, so continue to hone and refine your messaging in terms of “the what.”
The piece everyone fails to clarify is “the how.” Think of it this way: is yours a service that is done for the client? Done by the client? Or done with the client?
I’m an Executive Coach, so I share a lot of education and give a ton of guidance, but ultimately it’s up to my client to choose whether he or she is going to implement it in their own business. It’s a “done by you” application.
A Consultant works one-on-one with a client usually in a customized engagement based around the needs of the client and his or her business at that given point in time. That’s a “done with you” application. And a Fractional (COO, CFO, etc.) is a part-time member of your leadership team working on your business in a specific capacity to fix or create something. This is a “done for you” application.
If your messaging speaks clearly to your service offering, then you’ll avoid a new relationship getting off on the wrong foot due to misalignment of application.
Maybe the next time I see one of you at a conference or, God forbid, a cocktail party, I’ll be the one to ask: ”So…what do you do?”
And maybe this is the start to your answer.
Now go grind some beans.
