Operations partnerships are not common, especially in the trades. Had a few people DM me asking how I actually help. So here you go: -Build operating plans with clear targets to achieve. -Define the owner's role and create a plan to get them out of day-to-day operations. -Build organizational structures with outcome-based roles and accountability. -Establish who owns decisions, results, and responsibilities. I-mplement KPIs, scorecards, and performance tracking. -Build and implement SOPs that employees will use -Establish weekly meeting rhythms and accountability systems. -Create financial visibility into profitability, cash flow, and job performance. (fCFO partnerships in some cases) -Fix broken processes between the office and field. -Develop GM's and Dir of Ops who can make decisions without the owner. -Lead operational projects from start to finish. -Step into the operations seat when the business needs someone to run execution. -Train internal leaders to take over the systems we've built. -Transfer operational ownership to the team so the business can run without me. Coaches teach. Consultant advise. Ops partners do. All 3 are needed at various stages. I just fill the gap at the end. And for the record, I don't use Fractional COO because everyone over on LI seems to be a fractional COO these days. 😎 All about the free value, so start here. 👇 builder.frontierbusinessdesi… Want to chat? DM's are open.

One of the hardest parts for me in consulting is the inability to form a bond with the employees in each company. Today, I got to experience that again. I’ve spent the last couple of weeks questioning whether I was actually making a difference at a client’s business. Am I just like all the others? Is the team actually responding? Is the owner satisfied and answering fewer questions? Then the ultimate question…Is the business less dependent on the owner? Progress wasn’t happening as fast as I’d hoped, and I was frustrated. Well, the employees noticed. Unsurprisingly, I tend to hold emotions very close to vest. At the end of a 1:1 today I asked if they had anything else to share. Both chimed in… “We just wanted to ask, how are you doing? Because we noticed you’ve been a little different. And you don’t have to say anything, but we just want to make sure you’re doing okay too.” Caught me completely off guard. I told them what had been bothering me. Then they shared something I needed to hear. About previous attempts to improve the business… “I personally didn’t feel like I felt any of what he was working on. None of it had any effect on us.” Then they started talking about how things used to operate. “It was just kind of, here, let’s have you do this task, let’s have you do this task, how about today we do this task, you know what I mean?” “So to build the structure for the office, I think, was really important. It was not there.” And finally.., “And like I said, you being able to give an expectation, clear expectation of what done looks like and how to get there is very helpful.” I’m the 5th consultant they’ve brought in. The pressure I have to be the last one is huge. Today gave the motivation that what we’re doing is working whether I “feel” it or not. Onward.

I’m not kidding when I say that this @ryanraysr and @paulswaney3 event has me wanting to go meet everyone I’ve connected with on here. Will start soon.

I should have bought a plane ticket.

Is anyone not in Tampa, FL right now?

This is truly a remarkable time when you can simultaneously work IN one business while “someone else” is working ON your business in the background all day. And that someone else costs $50/mo.

Current client owns an electrical business as well and starting to think through acquiring others in the area. He has no idea the firepower I can bring to the table because of the relationships from X. I say it all the time…many times the value isn’t just in your own skills, it’s in the people you know.

6 ways to guarantee your operations people leave: 1. Correct them even when they’re right. 2. Give them the who, what, how and when for every outcome you need. 3. Never allow collaboration. 4. Expect them to just “get it done” without any expectation of what “done” actually means. 5. Never allow them to actually reason or ask questions about something they’re asked to do. 6. When they do excellent work, don’t tell them that. Ops people need affirmation. Most of us anyways. We may seem like machines that don’t have souls, but that’s far from reality. We want to know what the definition of excellent is. We want to be able to ask questions in order to get it right. We want the freedom and trust to operate within boundaries.

I’ve made so many apps with Claude, Codex, etc over the last few months. All have been work-related. This is my favorite one I’ve built. The Rugged Face Operating System Not a product to sell. Not a SaaS to grow. Not a subscription to offer. One dashboard for our family to pursue the adventures we dream about. Rugged Face Ranch Rooted Living Hospitality Etc.

1 of 2 remaining open slots filled. Roofer in CO signing a 6 month contract. $1.2M annual revenue No W2's. All subs. Profitable business he's buying, but seller owns 100% of knowledge and systems inside of his noggin. Job 1 is knowledge extraction. Job 2 is implementing the Frontier framework to build the foundation first. I've had 9 clients this year. 5 of them in Colorado. The universe is telling me something. 1 more client spot open if you've been a lurker! 🤣

4th Quarter priority tracking for a client: 2 of 4 Priorities are on track 2 of 4 Priorities are off track There are common denominators between each of them. The 2 that are on track? They are owned by the two highest level, non-owner seats in the org. The 2 that are off track? Both owned by the owner. Lots of work to do this week.

I remember when I first got rolling in February, I was encouraged to give away as much free work as possible for the first 30 days. So I did. I reached out to a bunch of people. A couple took me up on it. One in particular asked me to do a specific project for them as they were building out a database for their clients. Met with them 3 times about an hour each time. Spent 6 hours building prototype 1. Spent an additional 3 hours building prototype 2. Sent the email asking for feedback, refining and edits. Followed up 3 times. Ghosted every time. From that point on, I determined free was never to be offered again. People need investment and buy-in to what you’re doing. Agree or disagree?

College football flyovers are undefeated.

I’ve been tracking my Saturday morning attitude and joy level over the past several months. It’s ranged from excited, motivated and at peace to frantic, depressed and worried about paying bills. Our circumstances haven’t changed near that much though during that time. I’ve been able to conclude that when I’m on top of 4 things that particular week, life is good on Saturday morning: 1. 5 days in the Bible + Prayer 2. Connected with my wife each day 3. Teacher/patient/selfless with my kids 4. Sales + Marketing efforts every day The bad news? It’s really hard to feel accomplished in each of these every week. The good news? All of these (especially first 3) have forced me to be better in each area though. So thankful the refining aspects of Jesus, marriage, parenting and business happen so regularly. I’ll be in the sauna if you need me. 😎

When I hear “Outcomes” instead of activities and “Ownership” instead of roles, I can get on board with a plan.