Get Off The Treadmill Podcast

Do you want freedom IN your business, not from it? We can get there using three Big Ideas for small business owners:

1. The Four Building Blocks – the four essentials for getting started, and keeping it all going.
2. Small Business Marketing and Sales – the radical difference between what giant corporations and guru books tell us to do, and what actually works for small business owners.
3. The Emerging Work World of the Participation Age – moving past the tired Factory System hierarchy model 90%+ of business are still trapped in, and building a business that re-humanizes the workplace by giving everybody their brain back. 

We need to move past the Random Hope Strategy of Business and understand how Clarity gives us Hope, which allows us to take the measured Risks we need to grow and build a business that gives us freedom. Let's stay disoriented, embrace things that are counter-logical, but highly intuitive, and be intentional about what we want.

Check our special offer for the Making Money is Killing Your Business: https://bit.ly/m/3to5Club

In the latest episode of the "Get Off The Treadmill" podcast, host Chuck Blakeman chats with Clayton Achen, founder of Achen Henderson, a cutting-edge virtual CPA firm. Clayton, a passionate advocate for small businesses, shares his unique journey from a sales career to becoming a significant force in accounting, focusing on tax, cloud accounting, and technology.

The conversation explores the seven stages of business ownership from Blakeman’s book, “Making Money Is Killing Your Business:”

1. Startup: Excitement without practical challenges.
2. Survival: Financial struggles and time constraints.
3. Subsistence: Breaking even but with high risk.
4. Stability: Profitability with a sense of incompleteness.
5. Success: Balance of money and time, offering more freedom.
6. Significance: Established leadership and systems for even more freedom.
7. Succession: The business operates independently, providing maximum freedom.

Clayton discusses his personal transition from stage four (Stability) to stage five (Success), emphasizing the role of clarity and intentionality in achieving this shift. He highlights the importance of building the right team and realigning financial and operational strategies to strike a balance between time and money.

Despite facing setbacks and revisiting earlier stages, Clayton remains committed to creating a business that supports freedom and sustainability. He invites listeners to connect with him for further insights or to join his mastermind group, the 3 to 5 Club.

Listeners can reach out to Clayton at clayton@achenhenderson.ca or visit AchenHenderson.ca. Chuck Blakeman encourages subscribers to stay tuned for more valuable business growth tips and strategies.

There are Two Opposing Forces in Life and in Business we are faced with every morning before we even get out of bed; the Tyranny of the Urgent and the Priority of the Important. The Tyranny of the Urgent is like a three-year old, relentlessly pulling on us, demanding our attention, yelling at us to find clients, make the chairs, pay bills, hire people, do financials - it's all relentless and in our face. And it causes use to focus on present-day problems so that every year feels like Groundhog Year - just like last year. 

And yet sitting quietly in the corner of our office, the Priority of the Important whispers, "Hey, I know you're really busy right now, but when you get a moment to talk, I can help you solve the Tyranny of the Urgent...permanently. Let's talk some time."

Check our special offer for the Making Money is Killing Your Business: https://bit.ly/m/3to5Club

In this episode of the “Get Off The Treadmill” podcast, Chuck Blakeman interviews Ben Kimball, co-owner of Kimball Productions, focusing on the shift from a "random hope" strategy to a deliberate, intention-driven approach in business.

Key points discussed include:

1. Initial Challenges: Kimball describes his early business strategy, which relied on hope—specifically hoping to cover expenses and manage mortgages—rather than structured planning.
2. Turning Point: The discovery of Chuck Blakeman’s book, “Making Money Is Killing Your Business”, and involvement with the 3to5 Club marked a pivotal shift in Kimball’s approach.
3. Strategic Shifts: Kimball implemented intentional strategies, including:
   a. Effective Hiring: Recruiting skilled employees to alleviate the workload and improve operational efficiency.
   b. Work-Life Balance: Developing a clearer vision for balancing business demands with personal time.
4. Results: These changes led to significant business improvements, highlighting the benefits of a well-defined plan over mere hope.
5. Broader Implications: The episode underscores the importance of setting clear intentions and taking actionable steps to achieve both business and personal goals, emphasizing that while the process is challenging, it is both straightforward and transformative.

Check our special offer for the Making Money is Killing Your Business: https://bit.ly/m/3to5Club

Being wealthy or rich are vastly different things. Many, if not most people who are rich live in unimaginable poverty when it comes to free time. We pursue money because we think it will give us freedom, but freedom in our business is not a function of how much money the business is making. In this podcast we will talk about the difference between being rich and wealth, and how one can lead to being a hostage and to having a JOB, and the other leads us to FREEDOM in our business. We’ll give you the Significance Formula to show with Utter Clarity the very few resources we need to live a life of significance, get off the treadmill, and get back to the passion that brought us into business in the first place.

Jeff's journey is a compelling one. After a decade in the insurance industry with Century Insurance, he followed his passion by purchasing an independent insurance agency in Littleton, Colorado, creating Security-First Insurance. Jeff’s story is a testament to the highs and lows of entrepreneurship—the thrilling startup phase, the grueling early years, and the eventual realization that ownership wasn't all he had hoped for.

In this episode, Jeff and I delve into the concept of Business Maturity Date (BMD)—a goal for achieving a business that provides both financial rewards and personal freedom. Jeff shares his experience of transitioning from a hands-on operator to a leader who could step back and enjoy life more fully. We discuss the importance of setting a BMD, overcoming self-doubt, and creating a supportive business culture.

Instead of separating the "strategic" and the "tactical", or the "long-term" vs. the "short-term", we need to see how to use every activity in our business to do both, and the better we get at this, the faster our business will grow up and make money when we're not there.  

This podcast gives multiple examples of business owners who weren't dual tracking, started doing it, and saw their businesses not only grow, but give them freedom while they were growing. Business owners who are buried in the day-to-day and think strategic "stuff" is something you do once a month (or less), will stay on the treadmill. Those that learn to apply Dual Tracking will thrive, grow, and gain freedom IN their businesses. 

Today’s guest is Liz Daeninck, Founder of Valentis Wellness, which focuses on creating customized nutrition plans tailored to individual health challenges and life circumstances. Liz's expertise lies in understanding the body's responses to movement and diet, particularly for those dealing with obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, irritable bowel syndrome, and other chronic issues. She also works with individuals who have undergone or are planning weight loss surgery, aiming to support their health improvements.

In our conversation, Liz shares insights from a class she took called Fast Track, which helps business owners step away from the traditional sales approach. Instead of pushing sales, the course emphasizes building meaningful connections. Liz discusses the "Three Cs" approach: Connections, Conversations, and Clients.

1. Connections: Liz highlights the importance of making initial connections with potential referral sources, such as physicians and therapists. She notes that while starting with doctors seemed logical, it was often more effective to connect with other office staff or related professionals who spend more time with patients. This approach also led her to other valuable referral sources like physical therapists and psychologists.
2. Conversations: Liz explains that having meaningful conversations with potential clients is crucial. In her field, it's essential to determine if someone is ready to make a change before engaging deeply. She emphasizes asking questions and letting clients share their stories, which not only helps understand their needs but also significantly improves the likelihood of closing deals.
3. Clients: Once clients are onboard, Liz focuses on converting them into advocates who can refer others. She underscores the value of asking clients for referrals, especially after a successful engagement. She also notes that current clients who refer others are often motivated by a desire to affirm their own decisions.

Liz’s advice is to be proactive in reaching out and to keep refining your connections strategy based on what works best for your business. She stresses that persistence and flexibility are key, and the process of trial and error can lead to discovering effective new referral sources and strategies.