5 Ways to Create A World-Class Company In Any Industry

Working hard isn’t the secret to success.

No, the real route to success is working smarter — and that starts by changing the way you look at other people’s success.

When I was working my hardest, I was cleaning crummy, cat-infested apartments in Phoenix’s 120-degree heat. I had started a carpet cleaning business in my early twenties, and even though I’d gone through the training, bought all the right equipment, and treated people fairly, I was up to my neck in credit card debt. In fact, I was working as hard as possible just to lose money.

Until one day, a high school friend invited me to go jet skiing.

The guy who owned the jet skis was a multi-million dollar real estate investor. And when I met him, I immediately spilled my guts: how I owned a struggling carpet cleaning business, how I was racking up a huge amount of debt, how I was looking for another industry where I could make more money.

“There’s nothing wrong with the business you’re in,” he told me.

I stopped talking and started listening.

“If you switch industries before you figure out how to make your current business work, you’re going to repeat the same bad business habits that caused you to fail in this one. If you want to become successful, take a look at your fundamental business principles.”

I took that advice to heart.

Things didn’t change for me until I started changing the way I looked at my life. If my life sucked, it was my own fault. I was the one making decisions, no one else. And if there were others out there more successful than me, then they knew something I didn’t …

I eventually turned my cleaning company around by seeking out, and acting on, business wisdom from the best sources I could find. And once I went through that transformation, I started teaching other carpet cleaners how to make more money. My program, “Piranha Marketing,” became one of the best-selling marketing manuals for almost a decade straight. And today, I run two mastermind groups that connect like-minded entrepreneurs and teach them how to improve their businesses: Genius Network and GeniusX. Some of the business leaders we’ve brought in to share their secrets include Richard Branson, Tony Robbins, and Daymond John — to name just a few.

For the past two decades, I’ve been helping everyday entrepreneurs become top industry performers and world-class business leaders.

Here are five ways to create a company that outshines — and outearns — your competition.

1. Decide Whether You Want An ELF Business (Easy, Lucrative & Fun) Or A HALF (Hard, Annoying, Lame & Frustrating) Business

There are two types of entrepreneurs: “treadmill” and “ladder.”

A treadmill entrepreneur goes through the motions over and over again, working up a sweat, but never progressing. They come into the office with no clear plan and just let the day take control. Treadmill entrepreneurs run what I like to call a HALF business: hard, annoying, lame & frustrating.

A ladder entrepreneur, on the other hand, takes action, always climbing up to the next level. They come to the office with a clear plan for their future and actively seek how to get there. They end up building what I’ve named an ELF business: easy, lucrative & fun.

Both types require work and effort… but only one gets you to a better place.

Ladder entrepreneurs have clear goals in writing. It’s vital to achieving success. By blocking out time every week to write out your goals for creating a world-class company, you multiply your chances of success. So, grab a sheet of paper, write down where you want your business and your life to go next, and come up with an action plan to get yourself there.

It’s amazing how doing this one exercise on a regular basis can begin to fundamentally transform your company from the inside, out.

2. Educate Your Clients

In order to be a world-class company, you have to be faster, smarter, and most importantly, more generous than the competition.

You need to show people what makes you different. And the best way to do this is education.

Your prospects know nothing about you — until you teach them. The trick is, you’ve got to make it known to them in a way they’ll care about. Where most entrepreneurs go wrong is they mistake “bragging” for selling. But effective marketing isn’t touting how great you are. No, you have to get into the mind of the customer:

• What are they afraid of?
• What can’t they stand about other businesses they’re working with?
• How can you do things differently?
• Why should they trust you?

The single most effective way I’ve found to accomplish this is to provide your prospective customers with sources of helpful information. Doing this keeps them from seeing you as a pushy salesman, and as an industry expert instead.

3. Challenge The Norm, And Be Open To Change

How many people do you know are resistant to change?

We all have people in our lives who are reticent to break the mold. Sometimes, it’s even the person in the mirror. Change makes us feel out of control. It means stepping into the unknown. And even if a person is in a place of suffering — personal or professional — many choose to stay where they are because it’s familiar. They’d rather stay in their comfort zone.

But if you’re an entrepreneur, your business will never be static.

Change is part of the game.

To make it to the top in today’s fast-paced world, you have to be willing to pivot and adjust at a moment’s notice. A world-class company needs to grow with the changing world around it, and the single best way to make yourself comfortable with the dynamic world is to be open to changing yourself. Remember, your company is, in many ways, a reflection of you.

One of my favorite sayings is, “Be willing to destroy anything in your life or your business that is not excellent.” What I mean by that is, sometimes things just aren’t working anymore. They’re outdated or can’t be fixed. And they’re not worth spending time on.

So, let go of your old ways, innovate them for the better, and trust that you’ll create a much better life, and business, in the process.

4. Focus On Relationships, Not Transactions

It costs anywhere from 5 to 20 times more marketing dollars to attract a new client than to attract repeat business from an existing client.

That’s a huge difference.

Yet, the vast majority of companies focus on tracking down new clients. They are transaction focused instead of relationship focused, and end up running around throwing money to get strangers to buy their product without realizing that (for a fraction of the cost) they could be nurturing repeat and referral business.

Look at any world-class company, and you’ll see a culture that shares the central goal of building long-standing relationships.

How?

Newsletters, ‘Thank You’ cards, reminder cards, letter campaigns, client appreciation events, referral reward programs. You can send a monthly newsletter to your clients for an average of $12 a year per client (in both printing and postage costs) — and you can generate hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, in repeat and referral work.

In my carpet cleaning days, it was the small stuff people remembered the most. I would use a walk-off mat to wipe my feet before entering a house. I’d give clients booties to wear while their carpets dried. I was always looking for ways to show people I cared, and build a relationship they would value beyond the first transaction.

Next time you feel envious when looking at a company more successful than yours, I encourage you to ask yourself, “What can I do today to make my own world-class company?”

5. Foster Involvement And An “Owner’s Mentality” In Your Employees

Most entrepreneurs start out on their own, wearing all the hats.

What keeps entrepreneurs from scaling their businesses, however, is a fear of delegation. Once you’ve gotten used to wearing all the hats, you hesitate to pass along responsibility because you’re worried the next person won’t be able to perform your duties as well as you.

But training people to never think, or act, on their own is a formula for failure.

If you want success, you have to get your team involved because they have a stake in it being a success. Let your team take ownership of their areas, and prove they’re worth the authority they’ve been given.

The late Jim Henry used to say, “You don’t buy a dog and then bark for it.” The same goes for hiring. You have to want to let your employees have some control. Let them make decisions. Let them give input, and feel important.

Great employees don’t need to be managed, they need to be led.

So, if you’re going to have people working for you, let them be entrepreneurial — and incentivize them in ways that will encourage them to work hard on their own.

PS: The 2018 Genius Network Annual Event is taking place November 2nd — 4th at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix, Arizona.

Would you like to join us? APPLY TODAY to see if you qualify. We only have a few spots left!

Grow Your Business 10x

If you listen to the podcast Joe does with his dear friend Dan Sullivan, founder of Strategic Coach, you can discover untapped potential in your business, multiply your opportunities, and grow 10x — Click Here.