The Story behind “The Ultimate Guide to an Extraordinary Service Business”: From Idea to Best Seller
If anyone told me back in high school, that by the age of 27 years old, I would be the owner of a home services franchise network, I never would have believed them. Honestly, I would have thought they were completely out of their minds!
I hated school, couldn’t wait to get out, and truly didn’t see myself as a business leader. I had absolutely no desire to go into the “corporate world.”
I could never have imagined that I would take my part-time, one-man band car cleaning business into a national brand, James Home Services. Or that it would grow into a 400-franchisee strong network supplying over $20 million in professional home services annually, for nearly 20 years.
I was just a kid with a horse obsession — I dreamt of being a world-class horse trainer and escaping to beautiful Queensland to pursue a business career in the racehorse industry.
At 16 years old, I was off chasing my dream and learning as much as possible about the training, breaking, and education of horses; I lived to be around these beautiful creatures! I had natural horsemanship skills that very few possess and went searching for the adventure of a lifetime.
By the age of 21, I had my professional trainers’ license. I had focused on learning absolutely everything about horses and the skills needed to get the best out of them. I was very good at what I did; I was a gifted horseman.
I could read the animal and understand what they needed. In addition, I was lucky enough to have excellent mentors that taught me all about preparing horses for racing.
Unfortunately, what I didn’t learn was how to run a business. I was naïve, and thought good horsemanship was all that mattered. If I was the best in the business, then people would be begging me to help them train their horses. What I didn’t know was that it was much more about running a business — a racing stable business.
I had not learned any actual business skills and I really, honestly did think that if I was good enough, if I worked hard enough, it would all just miraculously come together.
Most business owners think exactly the same way I did — that it is all about the technical skills. If you are the best horse trainer, mechanic, house cleaner, lawn mower, lawyer, accountant, engineer, or a pet groomer, then obviously your business success is guaranteed. Right?
I could not have been more wrong …
This is the first mistake made by most business owners. Good technical skills are only a part of the foundations that create an extraordinary service business.
My horse business started out alright. I had some contacts that became some of my best clients. In the early days, I had some big milestones and was certainly living my dream. I loved it, but the problem was, I also had a young family to feed and the horse business could be up and down. I needed to find a secondary income.
So, I took an “opportunity” I was offered at a local pub to do some shifts. It was a nightmare; I was terrible at it and I resigned at the end of my first shift.
I was stunned by how rude customers could be. To this day, I have huge respect for those working in these areas. No way was I going to work in that environment.
A friend then randomly recommended that I consider starting a car cleaning business. He said the guy he usually used was so busy that he couldn’t fit him in and, that I could work in the middle of the day around my horse training business.
He would be my first client, actually. I respected his opinion, I knew I could learn to clean a car professionally, much easier than training horses. So, why not?
And with that conversation, my car cleaning business was born. It filled my days and helped to feed my young, growing family. I was 23 years old, had a wife (who also worked), two young sons and two businesses. But you know what? I still hadn’t figured out how to run a business.
I still thought it would just happen, how hard could it be to get people that wanted to get their car cleaned? There were heaps of dirty cars around, and I was going to be the best! Easy, right?
Well … I did do a few things right though. First, I found a guy who sold car cleaning chemicals and equipment and really knew his stuff. Darren, who would end up being the main supplier to the whole James Home Services network.
Darren taught me how to use his products and equipment and was always available for technical advice. He was a good guy and a huge help.
Secondly, I knew I needed to look professional, so I invested in a trailer, 500 brochures, uniforms, and business cards. I was off and running and looked the part to prove it. I had all the gear, but no idea what to do with any of it.
With that, I started my first ever marketing campaign. I took my 500 brochures and marched into all the local businesses. I was thinking, this won’t be hard, I’ll be flat out by next week. Boy, I could not have been more wrong!
The problem was that I had no sales skills. And I mean — None. At. All.
I was terrified as I walked into each business. I would literally throw my brochure on the front desk and run back out the door before they could say “no,” or anything else for that matter.
I got one $10 car wash out of those first 500 brochures; not quite what I had planned. Luckily, I finally realized that I was the problem. More importantly, I realized it was my lack of skills in this area that was the problem in both of my businesses.
I decided to learn: I found there were hundreds of sales books in the library and you could borrow them for free. So, I read … and read … and read. I tested the skills, measured the results, and wrote my own fool-proof rules.
I remember reading a great book called The E-Myth by Michael Gerber. I am not exaggerating when I say that this book completely changed my life. It taught me that long-term success in any business is all about the systems you put into place. I set about the systemization of both of my businesses, and it changed everything!
My car cleaning business went through the roof. The systems were so good I could have had an 18-year-old run the business.
Our systems were very straight-forward, easy to follow, and very, very effective. I knew I had developed something special and that anyone who followed this recipe would have a very successful service business.
And with that … the big dream was born.
I saw other service franchise systems and knew ours was better; because of the foundation that we had put into place. It quickly became clear that we had what it would take to build a large, successful network.
Then one fateful day, I was sharing this dream with a client and he was so impressed that he bought into the business immediately. Within 2 months we were selling franchises, and I was just 27 years old.
Robert James and James Home Services grew at a rapid rate. We quickly expanded throughout regional Queensland, and within 2 years we were the largest home services business in the state. The systems were created to stand the test of time and to grow with the business.
If anyone told me back in high school, that by the age of 27 years old, I would be the owner of a home services franchise network, I never would have believed them. Honestly, I would have thought they were completely out of their minds!
I hated school, couldn’t wait to get out, and truly didn’t see myself as a business leader. I had absolutely no desire to go into the “corporate world.”
I could never have imagined that I would take my part-time, one-man band car cleaning business into a national brand, Robert James and James Home Services. Or that it would grow into a 400-franchisee strong network supplying over $20 million in professional home services annually, for nearly 20 years.
I was just a kid with a horse obsession — I dreamt of being a world-class horse trainer and escaping to beautiful Queensland to pursue a business career in the racehorse industry.
At 16 years old, I was off chasing my dream and learning as much as possible about the training, breaking, and education of horses; I lived to be around these beautiful creatures! I had natural horsemanship skills that very few possess and went searching for the adventure of a lifetime.
By the age of 21, I had my professional trainers’ license. I had focused on learning absolutely everything about horses and the skills needed to get the best out of them. I was very good at what I did; I was a gifted horseman.
I could read the animal and understand what they needed. In addition, I was lucky enough to have excellent mentors that taught me all about preparing horses for racing.
Unfortunately, what I didn’t learn was how to run a business. I was naïve, and thought good horsemanship was all that mattered. If I was the best in the business, then people would be begging me to help them train their horses. What I didn’t know was that it was much more about running a business — a racing stable business.
I had not learned any actual business skills and I really, honestly did think that if I was good enough, if I worked hard enough, it would all just miraculously come together.
Most business owners think exactly the same way I did — that it is all about the technical skills. If you are the best horse trainer, mechanic, house cleaner, lawn mower, lawyer, accountant, engineer, or a pet groomer, then obviously your business success is guaranteed. Right?
I could not have been more wrong …
This is the first mistake made by most business owners. Good technical skills are only a part of the foundations that create an extraordinary service business.
My horse business started out alright. I had some contacts that became some of my best clients. In the early days, I had some big milestones and was certainly living my dream. I loved it, but the problem was, I also had a young family to feed and the horse business could be up and down. I needed to find a secondary income.
So, I took an “opportunity” I was offered at a local pub to do some shifts. It was a nightmare; I was terrible at it and I resigned at the end of my first shift.
I was stunned by how rude customers could be. To this day, I have huge respect for those working in these areas. No way was I going to work in that environment.
A friend then randomly recommended that I consider starting a car cleaning business. He said the guy he usually used was so busy that he couldn’t fit him in and, that I could work in the middle of the day around my horse training business.
He would be my first client, actually. I respected his opinion, I knew I could learn to clean a car professionally, much easier than training horses. So, why not?
And with that conversation, my car cleaning business was born. It filled my days and helped to feed my young, growing family. I was 23 years old, had a wife (who also worked), two young sons and two businesses. But you know what? I still hadn’t figured out how to run a business.
I still thought it would just happen, how hard could it be to get people that wanted to get their car cleaned? There were heaps of dirty cars around, and I was going to be the best! Easy, right?
Well … I did do a few things right though. First, I found a guy who sold car cleaning chemicals and equipment and really knew his stuff. Darren, who would end up being the main supplier to the whole James Home Services network.
Darren taught me how to use his products and equipment and was always available for technical advice. He was a good guy and a huge help.
Secondly, I knew I needed to look professional, so I invested in a trailer, 500 brochures, uniforms, and business cards. I was off and running and looked the part to prove it. I had all the gear, but no idea what to do with any of it.
With that, I started my first ever marketing campaign. I took my 500 brochures and marched into all the local businesses. I was thinking, this won’t be hard, I’ll be flat out by next week. Boy, I could not have been more wrong!
The problem was that I had no sales skills. And I mean — None. At. All.
I was terrified as I walked into each business. I would literally throw my brochure on the front desk and run back out the door before they could say “no,” or anything else for that matter.
I got one $10 car wash out of those first 500 brochures; not quite what I had planned. Luckily, I finally realized that I was the problem. More importantly, I realized it was my lack of skills in this area that was the problem in both of my businesses.
I decided to learn: I found there were hundreds of sales books in the library and you could borrow them for free. So, I read … and read … and read. I tested the skills, measured the results, and wrote my own fool-proof rules.
I remember reading a great book called The E-Myth by Michael Gerber. I am not exaggerating when I say that this book completely changed my life. It taught me that long-term success in any business is all about the systems you put into place. I set about the systemization of both of my businesses, and it changed everything!
My car cleaning business went through the roof. The systems were so good I could have had an 18-year-old run the business.
Our systems were very straight-forward, easy to follow, and very, very effective. I knew I had developed something special and that anyone who followed this recipe would have a very successful service business.
And with that … the big dream was born.
I saw other service franchise systems and knew ours was better; because of the foundation that we had put into place. It quickly became clear that we had what it would take to build a large, successful network.
Then one fateful day, I was sharing this dream with a client and he was so impressed that he bought into the business immediately. Within 2 months we were selling franchises, and I was just 27 years old.
Robert James and James Home Services grew at a rapid rate. We quickly expanded throughout regional Queensland, and within 2 years we were the largest home services business in the state. The systems were created to stand the test of time and to grow with the business.
During this time, we not only grew the business, we also expanded into different services. Our services included car cleaning, house cleaning, external house cleaning, carpet cleaning, pest control, lawn and garden care, pet grooming, laundry and ironing services, as well as window cleaning.
James Home Services grew at a rapid rate. We quickly expanded throughout regional Queensland, and within 2 years we were the largest home services business in the state. The systems were created to stand the test of time and to grow with the business.
During this time, we not only grew the business, we also expanded into different services. Our services included car cleaning, house cleaning, external house cleaning, carpet cleaning, pest control, lawn and garden care, pet grooming, laundry and ironing services, as well as window cleaning.
The foundation we built transferred beautifully into each division of the business; just as it was designed to do. Our foundation was tested repeatedly and never failed. Now, all we had to do was to develop “technical” skills.
We went on to national expansion and eventually reached across Australia. We had a turnover of $20 million worth of services across the country each year.
After 20 years in the business, the network was sold to a commercial cleaning company. In those 20 years, I saw thousands of families have successful home services businesses, with our proven systems at their core.
In this book, I am going to introduce you to my 9 Foundation Steps. These basic rules will show you step-by-step how to build an extraordinary home service business. These rules will help you duplicate the foundation we built when we created James’ Home Services.
The only catch is that you must use all of them if you want to be successful. Like all great recipes, they have to be followed rigorously if you want to get a consistent predictable outcome.
I hope this book can give all services business owners the tools to build an extraordinary service business. Running your own successful family business is the best game in town, have a fair dinkum go and enjoy the journey.
Originally Posted:- http://www.robertjameshomeservices.com/the-story-behind-the-ultimate-guide-to-an-extraordinary-service-business/
