S2-E33: What's the Alternative to Getting Better?

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Deep End with Eric Triplett

Episode: S2-E33 - "What's the Alternative to Getting Better?"
Date: April 3, 2026
Host: Eric Triplett ("The Pond Digger")
Audience: Contractors, builders, tradespeople, entrepreneurs, and leaders focused on self-improvement and business growth

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Main Theme & Purpose

Eric Triplett leads a deep-dive discussion into the mindset and systems required to break out of business plateaus, specifically addressing the question: “What’s the alternative to not getting better?” He challenges contractors and business owners to confront their habits, document their standards, and recognize that ongoing growth, both personal and professional, is not optional if they want lasting success. The episode emphasizes leadership transformation, the critical need for systems (like Standard Operating Procedures/SOPs), and the importance of continual self-improvement to avoid stagnation and decline.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Personal Breakpoints and Growth (00:46 - 07:25)

• Eric’s Transparency: Eric recounts his own business journey, candidly sharing struggles with surpassing the $3 million revenue mark, setbacks due to economic downturns (2008) and personal health battles (cancer in 2015).
• Growth Isn’t Accidental: He stresses the need to “dream bigger” and work continuously on vision, inspiration, and self-mastery to break through revenue ceilings.
• The Real Question: “What’s the alternative to not getting better?” Eric frames growth as a non-negotiable—without it, both owners and their teams stagnate.

Quote:
“I just don’t want to be on my deathbed one day and go like, I never cracked through. I never broke that break point.” – Eric (03:02)

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2. The “Logic vs. Logic” Trap in Leadership (04:00 - 11:28)

• Danger of Assumptions: Eric explores the common contractor refrain, “If I told them once, I told them a thousand times, they should already know!” But, as he points out, “they” don’t know—if it’s not written down, clear, and enforced, standards become optional.
• SOPs & Consistency: He shares how lack of documented procedures led to inconsistencies in his own fleet management, resulting in repeated frustrations over truck maintenance.
  • If it’s not written, it’s not a standard.
  • If it’s not enforced, it doesn’t exist.
  • If training is inconsistent, results are inconsistent.
• Personal Anecdote: Discovering an old, unenforced SOP for trucks (with employee signatures on it) prompted Eric to recognize that merely having documents is not enough—the system must be lived and enforced.

Quote:
“If it’s not enforced, it really doesn’t exist.” – Eric (07:34)

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3. The “Peanut Butter and Jelly” Principle (13:29 - 20:15)

• Defining Instructions: Eric uses a viral classroom exercise—kids write directions for making a PB&J sandwich, and the teacher follows them literally, often to hilarious results—to illustrate how “obvious” expectations produce wildly different outcomes unless explicitly defined.
• Application to Business: If you ask ten team members to make a PB&J sandwich (or return a truck, clean a filter, prepare an invoice), you’ll get ten different results unless you provide clear, detailed expectations.
• Consistency Across Scale: Fast food chains (e.g., McDonald’s) can replicate the same customer experience worldwide because of rigorous SOPs.

Quote:
“If you ask ten people to make you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, you will get ten different sandwiches. That’s your business.” – Eric (18:00)

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4. The Cost of Not Getting Better (13:20 - 15:30, 26:02 - 29:00)

• Choose Your “Hard”: Eric recounts the story of a friend who, despite warnings about his health, suffered a stroke and permanent disability—a visceral warning about the consequences of ignoring self-improvement and systems, both for your body and your business.
• Breaking the Cycle: Without growth and documented systems, owners get trapped: hiring, rehiring, micromanaging, and repeating the same mistakes—“not a business…a prison.”

Quote:
“What’s the alternative to not getting better? Stay stuck at the same revenue. Keep repeating yourself forever to your employees. Keep hiring then rehiring. …That is the alternative. That’s the alternative.” – Eric (28:15)

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5. SOPs vs. Instructions – The Key Distinction (30:35 - 32:15)

• SOPs = Standards: SOPs set a standard of excellence and outline expected outcomes (e.g., trucks must be clean, full of fuel).
• Instructions = Steps: Instructions are the step-by-step tasks or techniques to accomplish those standards (e.g., how to properly fuel a truck).
  • Example: Installing pond lights—the SOP states that trucks should have necessary supplies; the instructions detail how to install and wire the lights.
• Practical Advice: Use tools like ChatGPT to help articulate expectations; have all team members read and sign off on new SOPs.

Quote:
“Standard operating procedure outlines the overall process and standards for completing the task, while instructions provide the specific step by step directions to carry it out.” – Eric (32:10)

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6. Community Input & Implementation Challenges (37:02 – 69:36)

• Community Contributions: Contractors share stories about SOPs from their careers (e.g., using TQM, Six Sigma), reinforcing the universal need for consistent systems.
  • Notable insight: Good SOPs won’t scale your business, but they prevent errors and chaos, giving you the foundation for sustainable growth.
• Practical Steps:
  • Start small—voice record expectations, document them, and iterate.
  • Use resources like 2 Second Lean by Paul Akers for shop and field systems.
  • Apply SOPs to onboarding, culture communication, incident protocols, and property maintenance.

Quote:
“If you don’t have these small items in place and you do scale, you’re just scaling your problems.” – Eric (42:38)

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7. Leadership Mindset: Transformation and Accountability

• Change Is Required: The version of you that got to your current level is not the version that will get you to the next level—transformation is mandatory.
• Accountability: Personal discipline (like maintaining a rigorously structured calendar) is central for a leader—discipline first, then freedom.
• Growth Philosophy: Borrowing from Dan Martell’s “10/80/10” rule: you set the opening vision (10%), your team executes (80%), you review/finesse (last 10%)—which unlocks true delegation and leverage.

Quote:
“The version of me that got me here today is not the version of the person that I need to get to the next level.” – Eric (29:43)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Stagnation:
  “If you’re not leading and you’re just babysitting… that is not a business, people—that is a prison.” – Eric (26:15)

• On SOPs:
  “If it’s not written down and clear…it becomes an option. If it’s not trained continuously, it becomes inconsistent.” – Eric (06:24)

• On Personal Crisis:
  “How fucking hard is it to go home and go for a walk? …How hard is that compared to living in a wheelchair the rest of your life…?” – Eric (15:00)

• On Team Culture:
  “Train your guys like people. Don’t dump on them. Don’t talk down to them.” – Eric (27:40)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:46 – Opening remarks, logic vs. logic setup, Eric’s business struggles.
• 04:30 – The “I told them a thousand times” trap.
• 07:25 – Discovering unenforced SOPs; why enforcement matters.
• 11:28 – Shifting logic: why what seems illogical is actually the next step in growth.
• 13:19 – Personal health story: consequences of neglecting self-improvement.
• 13:29 – Peanut butter and jelly principle—clarity of instructions.
• 20:15 – From sandwiches to business systems; need for McDonald’s-level consistency.
• 26:10 – Staying stuck vs. breaking free; the cycle of micromanagement.
• 30:35 – Q&A: SOPs vs. instructions.
• 37:02 – Guest Jeff’s input: TQM, Six Sigma, the importance of role definition.
• 46:53 – Takeaways and contributions from listeners; recurring real-world struggles.
• 54:41 – “80% done by someone else is 100% awesome,” Martell’s philosophy explained.
• 65:46 – Two Second Lean, practical example at Granger.
• 71:35 – SOPs for incidents (e.g., accidents) and practical start-up advice.
• 74:34 – Final thoughts: learning from problems and complaints.

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Takeaway Action Steps

• Define your "sandwich"—create clear, documented SOPs for every repeating process in your business.
• Enforce standards—it’s not enough to have SOPs; you must train, inspect, and hold your team accountable.
• Leverage community and resources: Consider books like 2 Second Lean by Paul Akers, utilize tech (even AI tools), and engage with peer groups for best practices.
• Delegate intentionally—use the 10/80/10 rule: set the vision, let your team execute, then review/finesse.
• Prioritize personal leadership— habit, health, mindset, and discipline are prerequisites for all else.
• Start small but start now—even solo operators should document expectations and processes before hiring.

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Summary Statement

Eric Triplett challenges listeners to examine the real costs of not pursuing personal and operational growth. The answer to “What’s the alternative to getting better?”—staying stuck, repeating mistakes, and living with regret—is not one he’s willing to accept, and he urges his audience to adopt systems thinking, unyielding discipline, and transformational leadership as the path forward.

Transcript

[A]

Welcome to the Deep End with Eric Triplett, the pond digger. This is the show for contractors, tradesmen and entrepreneurs who want more from their business and from themselves. Eric brings decades of experience as a seven figure contractor with expertise in leadership, sales systems, and the discipline it takes to build something real. Shaped by years in the aquatics world, his insights are rooted in precision, craftsmanship, and performance. If you're done skimming the surface and ready to go deeper, it's time to dive in.

[B]

What's happening, rockstars? Welcome back to the Deep End. It's Triplet here, and today we're diving into something that's going to change the way you think about leadership, about growth, and about logic. In fact, we might uncover why exactly it is you might be stuck exactly where you're at. Logical versus logical. Isn't it the same? Isn't it the same? I will challenge you to say that it's not. And the point of the podcast today is the real question of what's the alternative to not becoming the best version of yourself? What's the alternative to actually getting better? If you've ever caught yourself saying about some of your employees, well, I already told them to do that. If I told them once, I told them a thousand times, they should already know. If you found yourself saying that before, this episode will hit you right between the eyes. Let's go. Okay, welcome everyone. Today we're going to be talking about logic versus logic. And it might take me just a minute to get there, but the real premise about today is what's the alternative to not getting better? Okay, so, you know, I'm grinding through my, my process of breaking the 3 million mark. I've been very transparent about that. I've been stuck at this particular point in business many, many times. And I dropped out in 2008 when the economy went sideways. And then I dropped out again. I got back up and we were broke. The 1 million headed towards 3 million mark. And. And then 2015, then I fell down again. I know a lot of you guys have heard this story, but I had cancer in 2015, and then I shut the construction business down and then I got better, back in the grind again, back in that 1 to 3 million mark again. Been very transparent about me wanting to break this 3 million mark. And I know that I shared with you that, you know, sometimes I just didn't dream big enough. Like 3 million sounded a big enough dream to break 3 million. I have to dream bigger than that. And so I work really hard on inspiration and vision and all this kind of manifestation and stuff like that. But I'm also coaching, being coached, reading and all this stuff, studying to figure out what it takes to break through. Because what's the alternative to not breaking through? What's the alternative to not getting better? You know, I just don't want to be on my deathbed one day and go like, I never cracked through. I never broke that, that break point. I never broke through. And I just don't want to deal with that. You know, hopefully when I'm 95 in bed calling it a day. Right? But what I want to do here today is I want to talk about logic versus logic. I'm going to show you exactly where I'm at right now. We have guys on the call right now that are well past the 3 million mark. So, you know, they've already been through this spot, but now they're going through their new different breakpoints. So this is kind of going to align with, you know, becoming a better version of ourself. And what is the altern to not getting better? Right. I think that it's so hard to break a million, right? And then it's so hard to break the 3 million mark if you, if you're lucky enough to get past that point that we as humans go like, well, I gave it a pretty good run. I'm pretty content, I'm doing okay. But then what you find out is your employees lose that steam, they lose that momentum because you like pulled back and, and then you lose valuable people and then you have to start all over again and you get stuck doing the same thing over and over and over again. Okay? So today might mess with your head just a little bit. And I actually hope that it does because this logic versus logic thing, this is, this is actually the thing that gets us stuck. Okay, So I want to talk about the trap. So here's part of the problem, okay? Part of the problem is it's logical to think in training our people, training our groups especially. Remember, if you started out, some of you guys are still one man operations. Some of you guys have three, four, five guys, some of you scaling to 10. But I will tell you that if you have one to three people on your team, you're probably already dealing with like, hey, if I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times, right? You should already know this. You've been working next to me for this many times. You should be able to make this decision. You should be able to know what the standard of excellence is that we've kept here why do I have to tell you again? Right? Why do I need to write this down? Okay? That's completely logical, you know, because if I've worked with an apprentice for two years and I talk to them every day and I'm helping them make decisions, it seems logical that they should have, you know, it kind of figured out. But here's another truth to what is also logical, okay? Your team doesn't execute the same way every time, okay? Probably because if they don't, it's probably because it's not really as clear as you think that it is, okay? Because sometimes we have little nuances in the way we do things. We make a little correction, get back on track, and then people around us see this and they think that maybe that's whatever, okay? Now, if it's a learning point, then fine. But if it's a, hey, this is what I feel like today, then that's part of the problem. If it's. If it's. If it's not written down somewhere, then it becomes an option, okay? For the people that you're working with, if it's not written down and clear it is, you consider it being optional. If it's not trained continuously, it becomes inconsistent. If you're not constantly being consistent on the training and the discipline of the way you want things done and the standard you want set it inconsistent. And when you have inconsistency, everything falls apart. So if it's not enforced, it really doesn't exist. And I'll share with you exactly what I'm going through right now, okay? So, you know, we bought a bunch of new trucks. You know, we're expanding our fleet, we're growing our company, we're doing our stuff. And I find that, like, hey, I want the truck to be this way. And oftentimes when you get a new vehicle for someone, they take pretty damn good care of it because they're excited, but quickly they can fall off and slip, right? So most of my guys have been with me, have been with me for, you know, five, six years already. You know, four and a half, five, six years. So, you know, if I've told them once, I've told them a thousand times, the logic is in my head. This is the way we get it done, right? And. But I still find they're slipping. Like, why do I have to tell you this all the time? If I told you once, I told you a thousand times, it's because I didn't write it down. I didn't make a standard operating procedure.

[C]

And.

[B]

And then I Don't hold them accountable to it. Okay, this sounds ridiculous to me as an eight personality type, been in business for 30 years. You know, I've trained a lot of people. It's so logical and common sense to me. Right, but is it? Right, but is it. So if it's not enforced, it doesn't exist. So we're going through these SOPs, and I want to be really super clear about it. And this is. I don't have the book in front of me. I know I have the book in front of me. Teamwork, right? And they talk about SOPs and job descriptions, all this stuff, which I think doesn't make sense. It's not logical. I'm with them all the time. I've already trained them. But is it really logical? Right? So we're going through these SOPs. I create the new one. It's 15 pages. Can you imagine? It's not really logical to me. 15 pages of how the. How the trucks should look when you should do the oil change, how often should you clean them, can you leave food in them overnight, what it should look like, you know, can you put stuff on the dash, like, how much fuel should you have when you get back to hq? Because if you don't set the standard operating procedure, then it'll be inconsistent, it'll be optional, and it just doesn't exist. Here's where it kicked me in the face. I come up with this new thing. I hand it to, you know, I hand it to Kathy Jo who runs HR, and I hand it to her. She's like, 15 pages. She's like. I'm like, yeah, it's crazy, right? She's like, yeah, I think we could make it nine pages. I'm like, okay, reduce the font. But I'll just put my glasses on. Whatever. This seems so illogical to me. But then she goes into our archives and she pulls out a standard operating procedure that I did like two years ago. And there's even signatures on it from some of my guys. But. But guess what? I didn't enforce it. So it didn't exist. It was just there. So now I had to redo the operating procedure and I had to say, your trucks will be. Your trucks will be. They will be inspected every week, okay? And you have to keep the standard. So if, you know, and I'm not going to do that forever, there'll be a supervisor that end up doing it. There will be a. A production manager that I ended up doing that and holding these guys accountable to that. But see, here's the thing, I didn't enforce it, so it just disappeared. It was in a drawer somewhere. But now that I understand, because of the work that I've been doing on myself, remember? What's the alternative to not getting better now? The alternative, I stay stuck right here. I stay frustrated and, you know, banging my head against the wall. I don't hit the numbers I need to. I lose good people because I can't help them achieve their dreams and they go work for someone else. I started all over again. And this will be the. This will be the cycle that I'll do for the rest of my life. And I'm not prepared to do that. I'm not willing to do that. I am going to crack 3 million and that's where my focus is. And I'm just going to tell you straight up, I have to think my logic that I have today is different than I have to be tomorrow. Okay? And this shit's hard. It's not easy. It's not for the faint of heart.

[A]

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[B]

In order for me to do that, I literally have to become someone different. I have to think about logic differently. And you know that that logic's different than mine. It doesn't mean that it's illogical. So here I am. I'm writing down SOPs of things that I said 20 times over, a thousand times over. And now I have something to hold the team accountable to. And if I don't inspect, if I don't be consistent with holding them accountable to it, then it will go away. And even though this might feel really stupid to me, I realize now that is a requirement to get to the next level. Now, the Next phase of this conversation. And it's not really a conversation, it's a monologue, because I'm just. I'm just telling you what's on my mind and my personal struggles I'm sharing with you as I grow through this, right? The next thing's gonna be about peanut butter and jelly, and I hope that makes you smile. Hope it doesn't make you go, oh, God, why am I on this phone call? But before I get to the peanut butter and jelly principle, I want to tell you and I. I have talked about this on the podcast before. I've talked about this in these coaching groups because our Friday calls are about accountability. I am going to pressure you because I'm pressuring myself, okay? When you get on the call, I want you to know that, like, I'm going to. I'm not gonna necessarily call someone's name out specifically, but I hope that I'm speaking right to your soul, right into your face. Because I have a contractor two years ago, came in and labored breathing, red flush face, and just sweating. And it's like, I'm like, bro, you need to take care of yourself. What are you doing? Like, I mean, you're not looking great. Was that rude of me? I don't think so. He's a friend of mine. I know him 20 years. I'm like, bro, you needed. Like, are you walking at night? Are you exercising?

[D]

What are you doing?

[B]

Bro, you eating okay? You got to take care of yourself. We only got one body. And he's. You know, he says to me, he's

[E]

like, oh, God, it's so hard.

[B]

I work hard all day, and then, you know, I get back and it's like, I gotta. You know, I gotta handle the dogs and I gotta do the honeydew list. It's just so hard, you know, I'm on the road. I don't have time to eat good, you know, and he's drinking too much, and he's just fat and flesh. I'm like, bro, you need to get this in check. You need to take care of yourself. And he, shortly after had a stroke, and he's fucked. He's still alive. Wheelchair. Half his body's paralyzed. What's the alternative to not getting better, right? This is the choose your hard moment, right? I mean, I'm like, how fucking hard is it? Is it harder to get home and go for a walk? Is it harder to, you know, not eat shit today and just, like, go to the grocery store and buy something healthy? Like, what? How hard is that compared to living in a wheelchair the rest of your life, having someone help you wipe your ass, learning how to wipe your ass with the wrong hand, walking around like, how fucking hard is that? So the peanut butter and jelly principle. Okay, this seems silly. And I almost did something with my team. I may have even said it here before you guys on the podcast, but I'm going to do it again anyways, in case I didn't, because so much is on my mind. I saw this adorable, adorable demonstration from a kindergartener teacher, right? And she. Maybe it was a seven. I don't know, it was somewhere around first, second grade, something like that. And this teacher asked her class to write down specific directions on how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I don't know if you saw the viral video or not, but so everyone wrote it and she. She did the exact directions that the kids gave her live in front of the class, and it was hysterical. And unless you have grandbabies or small kids, maybe it's not going to hit with you. But it's really cute because, you know, the kids all had different methods and they're like, hey, put the peanut butter on the bread. And so she's like, she takes the bread, it's a loaf in plastic, puts it down, she takes the can of peanut butter and she sets it on top of the bag of bread. And everyone in the class is like, no, no, that's not how you do it, right? And so she went through the whole thing and they made corrections and they changed the directions. And, you know, then they're like, take the peanut butter and spread it on. So she, like, reaches her hand inside the peanut butter jar and she starts wiping it on her ar. Screams are coming all over the place. I just thought it was so funny. Okay, but how does this relate to us as contractors, as grown ass men and women who are running teams? Okay? It's not a whole lot different than if you were in a circle of 10 or 15 people, and the more people you add to your team, the more complicated it becomes. But I don't even know the name of the exercise, but if you say a small phrase or a sentence or even a word to someone on your right, and by the time it goes around the circle of 15, 20 people, it is. It is completely different than where you started. Okay? And so I almost did this demonstration with my team, but I thought it felt petty. I thought it felt like maybe they wouldn't understand it. And it was like, there's too much seriousness in the. In the way that I'm pressing and holding my team accountable. So I didn't do it. Although I did talk a lot about it in a meeting or two. Right. I would highly recommend you guys look that up, especially if you have kids. It's quite a lot of fun. But how this relates to us as contractors and grown ass men and women running businesses. If you ask 10 people to make you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, you will get 10 different sandwiches. If I have a team of 10 people, I say, hey, tonight everyone make me a peanut butter jelly sandwich. Bring it back to this meeting tomorrow morning and we're going to do an inspection on all of them, okay? Some might be toasted, some might not be toasted. Some are going to have crunchy peanut butter. Some are going to have smooth. Some are going to use a jelly, some are going to use a jam. Some of them are going to cut them in half. Some of them are going to cut them diagonal. Some of them might even cut off the, you know, the crust. Like there's seven. You know what I mean? A grown ass person cutting off the crust because they don't like the crest. Some people might add a fucking banana because it's a little bit cool. You know, someone might make blueberry jam and put a little bit of cheese on it, you know, like a little bit of that fancy cheese because it makes the peanut butter and jelly sound just amazing. They go fancy it up. Some keep it basic. You will get 10 different sandwiches. Some are going to pack them in aluminum foil, some are going to put them in a Ziploc baggie, some are going to wrap them in like a, you know, they have those little Tupperware boxes where you put it in there. The sandwich fits perfect in there. You will get 10 different demonstrations through this exercise, okay? But you do it one way and you think you have those expectations of how these sandwiches will show up. That's your business. That's your business. How do you stack the rock? How do you talk to the customer? How do you invoice? How do you do the paperwork? How do you clean the filter? Where do you distribute the water? How do you prepare for a job? How you bring your vehicle back at the end of the day as the fuel regulation? How much fuel's in the back of your truck? You think it's obvious. You think it's obvious how the sandwich is going to show up at your facility, but you get 12 different sandwiches. So in order for us to grow and press past this breaking point, we have to remain consistent. We have to get through the inconsistencies. Because if I go to McDonald's in California and get a burger and fries and a diet Coke, it's gonna taste a certain way. And if I jump on a plane and I fly to Tokyo, Japan, and I have the same meal the next day or two days actually, it's a day in advance travel. So if I have, you're literally going to have the same experience that you will have in Tokyo, Japan, that you'll have in Southern California. So how can we recreate this in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that 12 people bring to you or how they bring your vehicle back at the end of the day? This is my pathway to get through 3 million. This is not logical to me, but it is. Now I understand that this is logical. This is the new logic that I need to be. I need to become a different person, right? So the trap between 1 and 3 million, the break point, it's not about if. If we don't document, if we don't define, if we don't train properly, if we micromanage instead, you know, it, it feels faster that way. Sometimes as a contractor, we wear way too many hats. I still wear way too many hats. If you're a solo guy or girl, you're wearing at least, I don't know, 10, 12, 15 different hats, you know, depending on what you are. A lot of contractors will hire someone to take that hat and put it on their head and have them do some of that work for them. And then what they do is they end up micromanaging that person and still wear that hat. It's faster to just stay stuck. Are you a contractor looking for growth, training and to level up your contract business? If so, join the TWT Contractor Circle. It's our free Facebook group where like minded professionals go to share insights of success, strategies for growth and a place to find some accountability. In fact, we have a powerful accountability call every Friday with a live Q and A session at the end. And whether you're seeking advice, collaboration, or just a supportive community, this is a place for you request to join today and start building a valuable connection with me as well as our amazing network of contractors. Tango Whiskey Tango. That's TWT Contractor Circle on Facebook. I'll see you on the inside. Now back to the show. So what's the alternative to not getting better? If you're not baby, if you're not leading and you're just babysitting, you're lacking all those systems and you're lacking those. The SOPs that you can use to hold the people accountable. And when I say you, I say me. I'm talking to myself because I know contractors that will micromanage, that will not have standard operating procedures, or the standard operating procedures are not consistent, or they just talk about them and they vary on them. It's optional, right? And then when the employees are not doing it the way they want them to do it because they've made it inconsistent, they haven't enforced it, and they've. What's the last thing trying to. They haven't been a discipline just to push that through. Right. They don't end up firing them. Right? Because if they fire, then they'll have to do all the work. And that's what keeps them stuck. Right? That's why you get stuck, because of that. Not doing the work, managing the people, fixing the mistakes. That's not a business, people. That is a prison, okay? And I've been a prisoner in my own business. Luckily, there's two, three beautiful women in that office that I gotta be in. They're very nice and considerate. But I'm stuck in that prison of figuring out how to replicate myself and how to be better at that and how to have an operating procedure and how to have specific directions on how I want the peanut butter and jelly sandwich made to run my team. So logical versus logical. Right? On side one of logical, you have, you know, they should already know. I already told them. It's common sense. That's logical. But the other side of logical is if you want consistency, you must define the standard. If I want to grow, I must build those systems, and if I want the freedom, I must duplicate myself. And that's where I'm at right now. I was on a coaching call the other day, and I shared my screen and I showed my calendar of how I'm enforcing myself and disciplining myself to be in the right spot at the right time. That's why I'm always here with you guys on Fridays. That's why I'm always training with you guys on Tuesday nights. That's why I'm always syncing with my team members at the right time of day. Okay? And the calendar was. It's pretty stacked. It's intimidating. I get intimidated by it sometimes, but I know through that discipline, I find my freedom. And one of our members was like, oh, shit, that was crazy. You know, like, it was like, thanks for showing it. But it's also like, I'm not glad that you showed it to me, because it. It reveals the fact that they have to Work harder at their calendar. So the question is, will that calendar get worked on by a member? What's the alternative to not being better, to not working to get better? They might stay stuck right there. And sometimes they'll stay stuck right in that one exact same position for another year before they figure it out. They're like, man, I just wish I would have done it a year ago. So what's the alternative to not getting better? Stay stuck at the same revenue. Keep repeating yourself forever to your employees. Okay, Keep hiring, then rehiring. Keep being the bottleneck to your own personal development growth. Keep working harder year after year and not making any more money or profit or time for yourself or like my buddy that had a stroke or a heart attack, whatever you, you know, and I have multiple stories just like that one. That is the alternative. That's the alternative. And if, if that doesn't piss you off, then you're probably in an okay spot right now. You're like, okay, cool. And I'm not mad at you for that. You're not ready for growth. If that doesn't strike a chord, if that doesn't hurt somewhere in your soul just a little bit, you're not ready for growth. And that's cool. I'm not here forcing everyone to grow. I'm just here to on accountability call on a Friday, try and expose my own vulnerabilities onto you. So here's how you're going to fix this. The solution is define your sandwich. Whether it's peanut butter and jelly or how to stack the rock or how to bring your truck trucks back. At the end of the day, write the SOPs and I want to pause at the SOP here for just one minute because there is a difference between instructions on how to do something and a standard operating procedure behind those instructions. I did have that confused and that's why I pulled out last minute on doing that exercise with my grown ass. Men and women on my team, like, you know, they were seven year old kids because I had to create the standard operating procedure, have to make sure that my journeyman can demonstrate that to my apprentice ones and apprentice twos to get them to deliver that, the sandwich to the right place. Right? So that's why. So write the SOPs and then build the role model. Build the roles, which is the job descriptions. Like you have to really define the job descriptions. There are lots of people on my team still today that are, that are doing multiple roles. They're wearing multiple hats. Now, that doesn't mean that you're wrong Necessarily. Okay. That doesn't mean we were all going to have to do that. We're all going to have to run multiple stuff. If we're going to be scaling, we're going to be like, hey, this is what we're doing to move to the next level. You're going to have to help me build up into that. And when it gets to be too much, then we'll hire someone in that same spot. Okay? And then that's how we're going to grow. Okay? So it's okay if you have lots of people wearing the same hats, but make sure you're not micromanaging things. Okay? So stop just hiring people and hire for those positions. Identify those positions and put it on. Okay? Train your guys like people. Don't dump on them. Don't talk down to them. If I told you once, I told you a thousand times, there is a method behind onboarding your team. Think about that. You guys are all here training with me. You're training on the nights on Tuesdays. You're coming in on accountability calls. But how is it exactly that you were training your members? Are you onboarding them well? Are you just throwing them in a truck and making them push dirt all day? Have you told them about your culture? Have you shared with them what your core values are? Have you shared them with what the company dreams are and what the mission and the vision is for the team? Onboard them correctly, then show them how to do that, tell them how to do it, let them do it, and then coach them on how they're doing it. That's how we're going to train our people. Okay? So. And then hold the line. I want you guys to. If without that standard operating procedure, how can you really hold everyone accountable to it? You know, you could fire everyone because they leave Cheetos in your truck and a monster can. But if you have it written down and they signed it and you pull that piece of paper out and go like, look, bro, I don't know, maybe we should go over this again. This. Remember here when we talked about you should bring back this truck and have it halfway full of fuel minimum, and that you should not have Cheetos and monster cans laying around the truck. No food, no beverages, no trash left in the truck overnight. You remember this? Yeah, I do. Can you be better, please? Because if you can't do this right, then you can't help us achieve our goals. You can't help us achieve your goals. So that is the accountability piece of the puzzle, is by writing those job descriptions and SOPs and having them in place. So that's where I'm at right now. That's my struggle right now. That's my vulnerability. And I'm trying to break through to that next level. And I'm trying to become a different version of myself than I was yesterday. I'm trying to become someone different because the alternative is not satisfactory for me. Ask yourself that same thing. The version of me that got my hear today is not the version of the person that I need to get to the next level. And this is a very difficult conversation because this is when your friends and family go like, man, you sure have changed. And hopefully you'll be like, good. Yeah, I've changed. I've had to. To get to that next level. So think that one through. Hope this one guys. I hope it hits you guys at some level today. I'm going to open up the floor for conversation and feedback. Let's go.

[F]

So, real quick, standard operating procedures, in my head are the instruction manual. But then you just said they're not the same thing. So I just would love to hear something about that right quick.

[B]

Okay, let's do this. So standard operating procedure is like your, your standard of excellence. You keep things organized and clean, right? This is, this is the standard that we're setting across the place. We're going to set a standard to keep our trucks clean, our trucks to be full of fuel. But I'm not going to tell them how to, you know, the instructions on how to put fuel in the truck. Right? Here's the standards, here's the credit cards, here's the, here's the places that we go, get it done. You know, here's the places we. We fuel our trucks up, right? But, like, that's why I had such a problem with the standard operating procedure of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, because some people might use a spoon and some people might use, you know, a knife. I don't know, do they lick the thing or do they use a paper towel and throw it in the trash and then put it in the sink? So the specific instructions are a little bit different. And I, I can't look it up right now, but I really labored over this. I probably went to ChatGPT and I said, what are the differences between a standard operating procedure and setting the excellence and standards behind what it is that I want to do versus instructions? And I even use the peanut butter and jelly analogy. Like, what the. That principle. What are the differences? So I would advise you to do that. But instructions are very different. Because what I was confronted with was, eric, now you need to write a standard operating procedure for how we install pond lights. I'm like, no, that's instructions. That should be done by the journeyman. The journeyman should be able to teach these people how to do that. If you're an electrician, how to pull wire, do you put lubricant in there so it comes through easier? Do you have a wheel on one side where the thing spins? So the standard is different. Some people keep their peanut butter maybe in the fridge, and some people don't. Some people. Can you keep jelly on the counter or does it have to be in the fridge? I don't know. It is different. I don't know if I explained that really well to you, but I would highly recommend that you deep dive that. I'm gonna leave it. Currently, I can't fix it all at once overnight. I just gotta chip at it. So currently, I've trained. I have three crew chiefs. They're all journeymen. They all know how I like lights installed. Okay? If I start having defects on a job, I go inspect that job. I go, hey, you're. You're not doing it like you were trained. Then I have to have a training, a training regimen at that point. Right on instructions. But the standard operating procedure is in your truck. You will have a. Nick's probably putting it in there right now. In your truck, you will have, you know, wire nuts, and you will have silicone, and you'll have an extra bolt of. Of a wire to run around there, the lead wire. You'll have an extra transform in case there's a problem. Yada, yada, yada. That's the standard to install those lights. So what does it say right here? Standing operator procedure outlines the overall process and standards for completing the task, while instructions provide the specific step by step directions to carry it out. It's a subtle nuance, but that's the case. Okay, Harley. Harley asks, what are some of the ways to write SOPs when you have employees that have been with you for five years? Okay. I don't care if they've been with you five days or five years or five decades. You need to write the standard operating procedures in a certain way. I'll tell you two things that I'm doing right now. I had a moment where they weren't loading a dumpster correctly, and I was like, I struggle with this every time. Once a month, I go to the guys and talk to them about this dumpster. Okay? So I stood there in front of ChatGPT. And I talked to ChatGPT for seven minutes, and I said, this is how I think about it. This is what I'm thinking. This is what my expectations are. You know, this is what happens all the time. And I'm not happy with it. And I feel like, you know, on one or two times a month, I have to address this. I have to pull everyone aside, and then two guys have the day off when I'm going through it, and one guy's sick and one guy's already on the job site, and I'm pulling the four guys around and I'm yelling at him about this. But I don't have a standard procedure for the entire team. So I just talked to it for a certain amount of time, and then I. I said, please write me as a standard operating procedure for this dumpster. Okay? Then the next meeting, I go, hey, everyone, just jump in. This is how it's going to be. And if two guys were gone for the day, then they have to read it before they go to work the next time. Okay, so that's. That's how I would do that. Such a thing. Contractors, if you're sick and tired of not making enough money, you might suck at sales and you don't even know it. Or worse, you suck at sales and you actually think you're good. Before you get upset with me, I sucked at sales, too. And for a long time, here's the difference. I pulled my head out of the sand and I forced the change. That. That's why I know what you're up against and how you, too, can turn things around for you and your family. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. I got really uncomfortable. I trained hard. I studied books and podcasts, videos, courses, role playing, and I took guidance from mentors and coaches while spending thousands of dollars. But trust me, it was all worth it. I mean, I turned my struggling company into a profitable seven figure construction business. I put together a list of the critical sales techniques that I use to flip my business from surviving to thriving. And I call it my contractor sale secrets. I want to share the list with you with no, no expense, just to get you moving in the right direction. It's my way of contributing and giving back to my community and the construction industry that I know and I love. The list is available to [e-mail] I promise you, with these sales secrets, some grit and discipline, I know you can dramatically change your life. So stop what you're doing right now and go to contractorsalesecrets.com that's contractorsalesecrets.com. let's talk to Jeff on here. Jeff has his raised hand. He probably has some good feedback for this.

[G]

Hey, Eric, thanks for. So, you know, I learned about SOPs when I went to work for a friend of mine, like, 30 years ago, and they had a system in place that they had learned called tqm. And TQM stood for Total Quality Management. Okay. And a lot of companies use, you know, sops, and they use eos. It's a system that they use to write their sops. And TQM was kind of the predecessor to all of that. You can look TQM up and it'll tell you how to write a tqm. But like, I posted that difference between process or SOP and instructions, and this is how I learned it. It's like, you know, what they did was they. They figured out, you know, how do you. How do you open the mail? How does the mail get opened every day and then how does it get distributed? And, you know, every company does it a different way. You know, but for that company, they figured out that, hey, the mail comes, the mailman brings it in and puts it in this box. And then, you know, Carol, when she knows that the mail's there, she goes out and gets it, and she opens it and she divides it up into pieces. You know, this piece is for Rob. This part pieces for Steve. This piece is for. This piece is for Scott. Now, this piece is supposed to go to Jeff, but Scott's Jeff's boss, so it goes to Scott first, and then Scott's going to give it to Jeff. And then when Jeff gets it, he needs to read it, address it, write a response, and give it back to Scott. And then Scott gives it to Carol, and Carol sends it out, but she records it and puts it in the file first. It's a lot of stuff, right?

[B]

Yeah.

[G]

Then you. Then. Then they. Then they have to boil it down so that it doesn't have Carol, Scott, Jeff, Rob, Steve, you know, Eric, toodles. Everybody else, you know, everybody's name, it's got to say mailman, office manager, president, vice president, operations manager, account manager, you know, customer. It's got to be written in the way that when one person opens the binder, and in these days, in those days, it was a binder that sat on my. Yeah, bro, I'm old. Yeah, yeah, up on the shelf. And you opened it, and there was about 25 TQMs. And I swear to God, I can remember TQM. One was, how do you open the mail. And it made that company really easy to work for. Because when I started, my boss was Scott. Scott goes, here, dude, this is, check this out. This is like a bible for us. I really. He's like, yep. He goes, it's all the ways we do things around here. And then when I wanted to learn, but I learned what I needed to know. How do I write a proposal? I just opened that up. Hey, there it is. How do I approve my time cards? Open it up, Boom, there it is. It was really, really simple. Okay. And. Okay, so now, you know, like a bigger picture. You know, like you. You told that story about the peanut butter and jelly. Well, back in those days, computers were like, pretty brand new. And the story that they told me was if you told your computer to go and get the milk out of the refrigerator, would it do it? And you go, well, yeah, if it was a robot and all this other stuff. Right. Well, they contended that if you told a. A computer to get the milk out of the refrigerator, it would put its hand through the door if you didn't tell it to open the door first. So that was part of the SOP process too. You know, gotta. You gotta put the steps in there, you know, Otherwise someone's gonna be plugging in the 110 before they wire the low voltage and they might get shocked, you know.

[B]

Yeah.

[G]

All right, so. And okay, so then I found out later on, working for another company, that, oh yeah, TQM is the predecessor for Six Sigma. Six Sigma. I don't know if anybody else on this phone call knows about Six Sigma, but, you know, like, look that baby up. That's. That is sop. That's what keeps airplanes from flying, falling out of the sky all day long. Airplanes don't fly out of the sky because of Six Sigma. And that's the way you eliminate errors. So it's like the next step. It's the next peel the layer of the, of the, of the onion to improving your business. And so I, I'm just, I'm the re. The reason I'm saying that is because SOPs are great, but it's not the answer to, to scaling your business, okay? It's going to keep you sane so that you can go and work on scaling the business. But it's not what's going to get you to go from two and a half to three million or three million to eight million or eight million to 25 million. You know, you've got to know that. You've got to reduce errors and find ways to, you Know, improve the things you need to improve. So writing SOPs is going to make it everybody the same. And yeah, you're going to get a Big Mac every time you go to a McDonald's everywhere in the world, but it doesn't get you selling five hamburgers instead of. Instead of three. So it's like the next layer, right?

[B]

Yeah, yeah, for sure.

[G]

Anyhow, that's all I. Sorry I ran it so long, but this is good stuff, man.

[B]

Yeah, that was actually amazing. I loved it.

[G]

Okay, cool.

[B]

Only thing I would. I would. I don't want to argue, but only thing I would say is, like, if you don't have these small items in place and you do scale, you're just scaling your problems. If I go to 10 guys that can't fucking bring a truck back right at the end of the day and load a dumpster and I go to 20, it's just gonna. It's gonna double my. My frustration.

[G]

100%. Yeah, 100%. And, you know, like, you know, you're talking about, you know, inspecting what you expect, right?

[B]

Yeah.

[G]

So, you know, I have my. I. You know, we've got a bunch of trucks, like 60, so everybody's gotta inspect their truck on Friday. They have to turn their inspection into their boss. Their boss has to go out and look at them every once in a while. And whenever I walk up to a truck, I inspect it.

[B]

Yeah, right.

[G]

So. And I'll take pictures of shit on the dashboard. You know, I'll walk the yard. You know, sometimes I walk the yard at the end of the night. Boy, I'll tell you what, people hate it when I do that because I find every unlocked door, every unlocked cabinet, every gas can is in the wrong place, every pesticide container that doesn't have a label, every piece of equipment that got lost in the truck. I steal stuff out of the trucks, and then I wait for them to come and tell me, oh, someone stole the laser level. Really?

[B]

Yeah.

[G]

Coming to my house in San Mateo, mother. You know what? And come get it, because I got it, right.

[B]

Yeah.

[G]

Thanks a lot for taking care of my stuff. You got an extra laser level in your pocket?

[B]

They're only a thousand bucks, Jeff. Come on. What's the big deal?

[G]

Yeah, yeah, I know. We should have like, two per truck. That way you can lose one every day.

[B]

No kidding, right? Let me. I'm going to address Harley's comment in the. In the chat. So he says he doesn't have any operating procedures in place. Zero has five employees right there, right? Oh, for five Years. Oh, that was part of the thing. I don't know how the employees. I think he has two or three employees. But Harley is in the fabrication business. So I think one of the best things you can do. I don't. I'm sure I told you this before, but you need to get the book 2 second lean from Paul Akers and turn that into your bible. He is all about fabrication. He's all about that. Each, each contractor on this call should run their trailers 2/2 lean. They should run their, their retail business 2/2 lean. If they have a retail section, everything should be two second lean. So he, I mean he basically Two second Lean is just how to do things perfectly, instructions and SOPs. So I would, I would highly recommend that. So he has three full time manufacturing, one part time manufacturing and his wife does graphics as well. So you need to more than just listen to it. You need to listen to it and read it. Yeah, for sure, for sure. Because the book has actually lots of photographs. Because the photographs are part of his of the way he does SOPs and videos. And so yeah, if you want to scale even where you're at, everyone has to be on the same page. So. Cool. What are the questions we got?

[A]

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[B]

All right, ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to wrap it up unless you got some final words. Any takeaways? Let's do some takeaways. Let's just. Austin, you got a takeaway?

[H]

Yeah, Jeff talking about his laser level or he steals it out of people's truck. I think that's pretty good idea. Like, I like how we color code our tools because we have three laser levels, three crew chiefs, three laser levels. We each have our own laser level. They're all painted, but sometimes I'll find my laser in Justin's truck and his lasers in the tool trailer. You know, I'm just like, what the.

[B]

Like, it's painted.

[H]

We should not be having this problem.

[I]

I don't know.

[H]

I just really like that. Like, I like the fact maybe I'm go steal Justin's laser one day when he tries to do something like that. It's kind of, kind of cool how he brought that up. It just made me think about that.

[B]

Okay, Alan, did you get anything out of today?

[J]

Yes. It's kind of really hitting home now that this is my first year out of the field and I'm getting like these random calls. Like, we have SOPs. We're not 100% there, but we, we do have a lot. But like, we need to like, grind it into their brains. Every time they do a job, they need to especially, like the crew leads need to go. Like, they need to do a walkthrough like I used to do with them, especially with the apprentices. And like, say, this is what's expected over the SOP for until it's like down pat. I got. Now I'm getting random calls like, something's not working. I'm like, well, what would you do if I didn't answer the call?

[F]

You know what I mean?

[J]

Like, think for yourself or revert back to the sop, you know?

[B]

Cool. Joe, you got something? No, you don't think Eric's just being a hard ass.

[K]

I had some thoughts about a couple things, but I appreciate Jeff sharing because that kind of just made my whole head go like that. And it's like when I decide or when we as individual owners decide that we want to be better and we're going to put in the work and like, it doesn't matter if you guys have been helping you or working for you for all these years. Like, well, Eric, you always done it this way. Well, it don't matter. Joe, you always done it this way. Well, that don't matter. Today things are different. I'm starting. Something's going to start from right now. And so I had a couple things happen on some clean outs and I. And I knew, like, well, I just assumed that they would do what we did before. Like, and I came back and looked and like, why isn't this done? And I was like, well then it's like, that's my fault because I didn't. And all this you're talking about today, like, I don't have all that. Like, I don't have the binder on the shelf or whatever. But it's my fault. And I like what Jeff said, total quality management. Because like, if I want my stuff to be better for, for the people that I take care of and serve, then the people that are helping me do that need to have that same. And if I don't explain it to them exactly the way I want it, like that whole peanut butter and jelly thing's gonna happen. So yeah, a lot of that was going through my head and the one thing that's like kind of stuck right there right now is that whole 80% getting it done when you don't have to do it's good enough is a hundred percent good enough. And I'm like, no, that's like old behavior or old thought. Old men. Like, I don't like that. Like, and I was trying to do that, like put John and Brandon on the job and go, okay you guys, you got it. I'll be back and come back and go, this is not what I wanted. So it's because I didn't train exactly what bread I wanted, what peanut butter, what jelly, what, whatever I just said, you should know what you're doing. We've been doing this. You've been at this exact house before. So yeah, it's, it's a, it's, it's a lot to absorb for sure.

[B]

Since I've been such a big fan of Dan Martell, I do want to stick up for him just a little bit. And I know it probably rings true with Daryl as well. I don't think Daryl's. Daryl's on the call. So look, the original quote from Dan Martell is 80% done by somebody else is 100% fucking awesome. That's the quote. Okay, but you know the quote that says master, you know, jack of all trades, master of none, and everyone clowns on that particular part of the quote. That is not the entire quote. The entire quote. I'm going to open that one up too. But Dan Martell's 80 done by someone else 100 awesome is because here's the key philosophies. Martel argues that wanting everything to be perfect leads to frustration and prevents scaling. Now you're saying it's exactly opposite that. Because if quality is slipped at that point, then you become frustrated and it prevents scaling anyways. But buy back your time philosophy. Even if someone else does a task only 80% as well as you could, it frees up your time to focus on high value tasks that only you can do. And the 1080, 10 rule is Martell often explains it through his 10, 80, 10. The first 10% is your vision. They're not doing 80% of something that you just send them off and do 80. Like you. You. The first 10% is done by you. You help them understand the vision. This is what I like to get done. Then the team executes on 80, and then the final 10% is your. Your review and your finesse and your quality control at the end. So I know that we've had some misunderstanding about that one in the future, especially with Darrell. I just want to be clear on that. Okay. Does that help?

[K]

Okay, yes. Because what I failed to do was be 100% clear in my 10% opening. If I was like, this is the steps I want, and I only had to be there for 20 minutes, and I could leave for four hours and come back for the last 20 minutes, that's where I failed. Because I. I just like, here you go. I'll see you guys a little while. You know, Like, I didn't know the 10% part to start it off, but in that is where the binder should be, where the SOP should be, where the exact detailed instructions should be correct.

[B]

Well, I mean. Yes. So even if I have an apprentice who doesn't really know any better, and I give them that 10% vision and they don't nail it, and they do 80% execution, and I. Then I finesse the last 10, you know, the next time, hopefully I can articulate better, and next time they're going to absorb it better, and then it'll just get better. So just because they, you know, they don't nail 80% exactly what you want to doesn't mean you explained it poorly. We have to depend. It depends on who we're explaining it to.

[K]

If they have the wherewithal.

[B]

Yeah. Or the experience, you know, or the training. Right. I do want to touch on the jack of all trades, because the true quote is jacker of all trades, master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one. Okay. That's the true quote that has the more positive meaning rather than the negative meaning, which just says, he's a jack of all trades and master of none. So if you never heard the second half of that quote, you would think it's a shitty quote. And I don't agree with it, but so cool. Dominic, you have any takeaways from today?

[I]

So, guys, it's good stuff, as always. And it's funny because I'm actually trying to, like, really whip my crew into shape, and I'm not dealing with a bunch of Crap. So just yesterday after work kind of chewed their ass a little bit and told them, hey, you know, we can't do this. I need you guys thinking. And I'm thinking at the end of the day, probably haven't had a dip into my brain in a while. So they don't know exactly what I'm thinking or how I'm thinking. So I kind of explained it, you know, like, unloading the trailer. This is how it's going to go. This makes the most sense. This is efficient. What's the objective? And what's the easiest way to get there? So we went over that last night. Hopefully they, you know, sunk in a little bit, but I definitely needed to write standard procedure for that. How to unload the trailer. Time, time saving. Green waste goes here, dirt goes here, and trash goes in the dumpster instead of one big pile.

[B]

So, yeah, it's, it's so. It's such common sense to you, but it's not. So. Austin's on the call. I'm so glad because I am so frustrated by fuel cans on my property. There's 14 people touching fuel cans over here. Well, not 14 because my wife won't touch them. But, dude, I, I have them all full. I line them all up. They're perfect. They're in the right spot. The diesel's over, the gasoline's over there. And then all sudden, fuel's out in the field. And I come back at the end of the day and the fuel's just over by the trailers. Like cans, empty cans by the trailers. I'm like, why are they over there? Because I'm gonna go, like, I need fuel. I'm gonna go and I'm not gonna be able to find them. Then it's covered up by a, you know, a piece of fabric or an underlayment. I don't know where the fuel cans are. I waste half an hour. I'm. I'm so frustrated, right? And then, then if, even if they get them back to the general location, they just kind of drop them on the ground right there. I have two stroke gasoline, diesel. And then all sudden, all the cans are all mixed up again. And it's like, it's common sense to me. You come and you get a fuel can, you know, you don't just throw it in there. It has to go back in the right spot. But, but since I've never walked, my entire tire team over there said, here's a standard of excellence that I expect in this location. I can't hold anybody accountable. But once I Do this. I can go. Who did this? Someone's getting written up. You know, if you don't want to. If you don't want to grow with us, then you don't need to be here, because you're slowing me down. And so this is how it has to go. Am I wrong on this, Austin? Fuel cans everywhere. Like, what the. Not at all. No.

[H]

It happens all the time.

[B]

Yeah. And it might be common sense to, like, four guys on the team and maybe only two guys that are just totally screwing it up all the time. We just have to coach them, you know, like, if my truck's immaculate and you go to someone else's car and they drive you home and there's some bottles on the ground and there's cigarette ashes on the freaking thing, and there's a, you know, an old T shirt laying in the back seat and a bag of Del Taco behind the seat. That could be normal for them. That's a standard of excellence to them. That's. That's my standard. I'm cool with that. You know, and some paperwork up on the dash to them. That's their standard. That's their standard of excellence. It's not ours. As business owners, we have to identify that for people. Hub, what do you got?

[G]

I don't got much, and I got kids. I'm trying to conduct work, so a little.

[B]

All right, cool, man. Thanks for being on the call. I know you're busy. These calls are important, so I'm glad you're taking time for them. I know, Tootle. Love this call. What's up, Tootle?

[L]

Yeah, you know, it. As I'm surrounded by my cazin foam and all of my boxes that I'm trying to organize by, you know, what I'm actually doing. If I'm doing testing, I have a box for that. I'm doing corrections. I have a box that has all of the chemicals, and I'm just going crazy with that. And, you know, pond season's right. Right on us. So I started doing these systems years and years ago. And I will say this. Having the systems is. Is great if you use them.

[B]

Yeah. Are you holding yourself accountable?

[L]

I am.

[B]

I am.

[L]

You're one thing to take away again. There's a story about your friend who's in a wheelchair. That's. That hit home good.

[B]

Phillips, what do you got? Thanks, Tootle. I appreciate it. Thank you, man.

[F]

This has been super helpful because I. We have been doing all this kind of stuff a lot to this, trying to really organize. So we on hire, bringing new People and have them know our culture and who and what we are. But I've realized that there's like standard operating procedures, like culture, which is, I feel like a smaller, simple, two page kind of thing. And then there's the TQM vibe of like full instruction detail. Like, this is how it gets done. My brain very much is just taking all this in because I've been working so much on it. But this makes you realize that I. I'm working on everything all at the same time. It's just hard to get separated. And then what you're talking about implementing, like, you have to implement it so you can train your next person to be you and do this. So that's just huge. And why I'm doing this leads back to where you started this. And what I wanted to mainly speak about is like, to Austin. Austin.

[G]

What?

[F]

A few weeks ago, fat pop back, went out, couldn't move for a day. Like, I'm glad you're up and moving again. But just know that that was my first sign a decade ago. And I was like, I'm a soldier. I kept doing the same shit for 10 years. And then I lost six months of my life stuck in the bed and couldn't stand. I don't want you to get to that point ever. Stretch in the morning, look into what you should be doing to make yourself not have that pop happen again. And make sure that you're addressing it, because this is your future. Like using your body, moving stuff, being active. If we don't take care of ourselves, it's all going to end. And I just don't wish this upon anyone ever. And I'm fighting through to get back. But to make the right decisions now at your age, when you've already had something like this happen, it really will change the course of your life.

[B]

Let's go. Let's go, Phillips. Let's go. Augustine, what do you got?

[L]

No, just,

[B]

you know, hearing all this

[L]

stuff about, you know, the standard operating procedures, I just, I gotta get to that.

[K]

I know I've been knowing I have

[L]

to get to that. I'm just gonna honestly just probably make

[K]

a list, but like, hey, this is

[L]

what I'm gonna do.

[B]

Work on today and just start knocking them out. Just quit bullshitting around already. Good. Augustine's on the. In the verge of hiring a bunch of people. So look at like, this is important for me to tell you, Augustine, you need to like, if you're gonna hire a person, you should already like. And I don't want you to not hire a person because you don't have SOPs in place. You need to hire, you need to get going, you're moving, right? But you know, as you start hiring and you're going, hey, I need you to read this. This is how, these are my expectations, right? Here's my core values. We're going to hire and fire off of these pieces of paperwork and make sure we're, you're aligned with those people. So the faster you do that, otherwise you're going to hire one guy, get busy, get two guys, you have to sell more, get three guys, get more things, wear more hats, four guys, you're getting things and then you're going to hit a wall of five, six, seven guys and you're not going to be able to find where the fuel tanks are. Like how come, where's the gas cans? You know, like, you'll be just like me. Like, do it.

[K]

Start.

[B]

Start right now. Hey, it's triplet here. Listen. In a world where quality is often overlooked, Helix Life Support stands proud, bringing you American made excellence for your koi ponds and water gardens. And I want you to know I worked in the field field for over 15 years and had professionally built nearly a thousand ponds before I designed my own proprietary filtration equipment. So trust and believe when I say that Helix Life Support is a product line that was crafted for those who demand durability, advanced technology and a deep commitment to fish friendly designs. Now at the heart of the product line is our patented, award winning Helix pond skimmer. Built with the safety for your koi and other fish as our top priority. No sharp edges, no unnecessary risks, just an innovative fish friendly skimmer you can trust. And every piece of Helix equipment that's made is with high quality materials so you can get a filtration system that's as tough and reliable as it is efficient. Whether you're a first time pond builder or professional, professional contractor looking to elevate your game, my team and I are ready to help you realize that vision for personalized pond design assistance or to get your hands on Helix Life Support filtration equipment. Give us a call today at 800-522-5043. That's 800-522-5043. Support American craftsmanship and choose Helix Life support for your pond. Built for koi, built for life, built for you.

[D]

No, I really want to start implementing SOPs. I've been just kind of like free balling it, you know, for the past seven years. Just kind of like, yeah, this is how I do it and everything Is. Is because I've done it that way. It's not because of. This is the best way to do it. This is just how I've done it. So if. If there's ways that I can be better, obviously, I would love to do that. I have zero idea, like, where my. My best starting point for making SOPs is. So it's definitely something I need to look into. I don't necessarily hire and fire and, you know, change rotation of employees. Like a lot of companies or a lot of other businesses do. We have, like, a very set, structured team. I've been working with the same two guys that are some of my best friends, and they've been here for five years. So they come in every single day. And it's like a. A standard of, like, this is trust. This is what we're doing. This is kind of like how everything's going down. So there's. For me, there's never been like a. This is standard because I. Standard is just kind of continuing to fall upon me and continuing to. To be adapted. So for me, I definitely need to learn a better way to make SOPs for, like, this is shop procedures. Obviously, my team doesn't need instructions. They don't need me to stand over them, look over their shoulder and be like, oh, you're gluing this, you know, in a way that I wouldn't. But they definitely could. Could use structure in our shop. And definitely they could. They could benefit from having some of that kind of stuff. So especially as I look forward to growing and potentially hiring more employees down the line, I definitely need to consider making some shop SOPs as how we come in. This is how we leave. This is where we stand throughout the week kind of thing.

[B]

Yeah. So that book by Paul Akers, that is. That's the beginning point. That is where it all comes from. So I went to Granger a couple days ago. It's a national brand. Everyone. Everyone probably has a Grangers anywhere around them. So I went into Grangers, had valor. My. My canine. We walk in, he comes around, he's sit there all protecting me. It was so sick. And it was just this long process. It took forever. And I was like, I'm gonna use the restroom. And I'm like, hey, which way to the restroom? Did you have a restroom I can use? And the guy goes, yeah, come on over here. Now I'm in this room, and it's. It's like maybe, I don't know, like, 35 by 60, 35 by 70. This room and those tools Hanging on the wall. Everything's in the exact same spot. Everything's perfect. But I didn't see restrooms anywhere. I'm looking around, I'm like, hey, excuse me, can I. Is there a restroom I can use? He's like, yeah, right this way. And so I walked over to this guy and this is Two Second Lean. I swear to God, it came straight out of his book. He's like, see the blue line on the floor? Follow the blue line all the way to the end. It'll take you right to the bathroom. So I followed the blue line. There was a pink line right next to it. Just imagine what you think the fucking pink line was for. Okay? I'm following the pink, blue line down to the end of the hallway. I can go left or right. The blue line takes a right. I turned right and I come into this multiple, multiple thousand square foot warehouse. I mean, it's probably a million square feet in Granger behind the scenes. And I'm following the blue line and the pink line together. We get to this stairway, and then the blue line heads right, the pink line heads left. And it just jogs me around and boom. I walk right into the restroom. So clean. It was so easy. It was so simple. He didn't have to tell me, hey, make a right at the stairs. Go like this. Coming back around the corner, it's all the way back on the left. And hope that I find it. Because if I veer off to the right and I got my dog with me, he's probably like, oh, God, he's going into my warehouse with his dog. You know, it was so simple, it was so clean. It saved him so much time. That comes from Two Second Lean. And it's as simple as a blue piece of stripe on the floor in your place. And I don't want you to think, well, my building's too small. You could see the bathroom. I don't need a piece of blue tape. But the principles and the thought processes behind the Two second lean philosophy will absolutely help you set your place. Ready to go.

[D]

Awesome. Yeah, I definitely need to look into it. I know you've mentioned it before. I remember looking it up on Amazon and being like, oh, I can listen to this, and then never did. So that's something that I need to take the initiative of.

[B]

I'm going to hold you accountable. I'm going to hold you listening to it.

[D]

Yeah.

[G]

Let's go.

[B]

Okay, cool. Thanks for being here today.

[E]

Of course.

[B]

Something, Terry, you got something? How you feeling, Daryl? Marcus, Last call. John. There's Marcus. Let's go. Okay. Did you hear me? Yeah. Terry, go first.

[I]

All right.

[D]

Hey.

[C]

Everything was awesome. Of course, I'm solo right now, but for the SOP part, I need to get started now, you know what I'm saying? Like, how we load the truck, you know, how do we start on the property? You know what I'm saying? Down to gas. How's that done? So it's very beneficial for me for where I want to go, and I need to definitely look into the book.

[B]

Two second. Okay.

[C]

Two minute, two second lean.

[B]

Two second lean. Two second lean.

[C]

Yeah, I need to look it up on Amazon.

[B]

Yeah.

[J]

He also has a big thing on YouTube if you don't like reading, but

[B]

massive, massive amounts of videos. Yeah.

[E]

Yeah.

[J]

I wrote in the comments. I heard him speak at the last conference I was at. Oh, my God.

[B]

Yeah. The way you run, the way he

[J]

runs his company and his businesses, it's insane.

[B]

You can do it, too. Start small. John Grant, you got something for us?

[E]

Yeah, I need to just start making SOPs. Like, I don't know what Kaden has going. He worked on some. We need to kind of collaborate and just see what we have and then just build on it because, like, I totally see it with training this new guy.

[G]

It's.

[E]

It's definitely, like, the same thing over and over. Hey, this is like, I tried showing him yesterday. I just said, I did a yard that we keep immaculate, and I was just like, hey, this yard. This is the expectation. This is what it needs to look like when we finish out every time on every property. And he was doing the house right next to me. So I said, you know, you go through. I want you to look at this property and just, this is how it should be. Edges, how it should be trimmed. This is how. This is what we expect. This is the quality we expect and the customer expects out of us.

[B]

Yeah.

[E]

When we leave this property. So I need to. And I was thinking about it, just take like, a picture or landscape design. And you kind of talked about it with the lines just now. But I was thinking about this earlier when you were talking about kind of how. How it needs to be done. And I was just like, man, just a blue line around. Hey, this is how. This is the areas that have to be trimmed every time. And this is the areas around the beds that have to be edged every time in a different color. And the fence, this has to be done, like, so there's a line, you know, what needs to be trimmed and if, you know, around every tree around the Septic, you know, around whatever, you know, everything has to be hit. So just giving that clear, defined expectation, when you look at just a basic thing and you say, okay, that property needs these things every time. So when I get on that property, I need to make sure, hey, did I do I do this line? Did I do this line? Did I do this line? You know, are my steps taken care of? That I have to do? And for the mo guy, maybe that's something different. He has to have, you know, a different set of, you know, a plan that's there and that just stays in the truck as an sop, you know,

[B]

look, take it one small step at a time, you guys. Anyone's on the call, one small step at a time. Marcus, you know, doesn't have any employees, but he has certain expectations. And when he hires an employee, he's going to train him how he likes to have his. The back of the trailer loaded. But SOPs are very simple nowadays. It. It took me a while to get over it because I. I was fighting it. I didn't want to do the SOPs. It's common sense to me. It's logical. Remember, there's a difference. There's an opposite side of logic. So you can literally talk into your phone for 10 minutes, like I did on the trash can, the way I wanted the dumpster loaded, right? And then everyone signed it. And next time I see that dumpster not in place, you know, if I find the person that did it, I'm gonna talk to them individually. But if I can't get someone to fess up, then I talk to everyone. Okay? And so, Marcus, I would say talk into your phone of what your expectations are for the back of the truck. Augustine, whatever. Whatever you plan on having the job description for the person you want to hire kind of line that out and talk to your phone about what your hopes are for that and ask them to create an sop. It could be very simple in the beginning, put your letterhead on it and use it. And if you need to change it after six months, then change it after six months. Make an addendum on it, you know, so, you know, if. I don't know how many guys here like Alan, you probably. Guys, you have drivers on your team, right? Do you have standard operating procedure on if they get in a car accident when they're on the job? What do they do? Okay, you know, it needs to be written out. These are the photographs I expect. This is the information I expect. And it's inside each vehicle, right? Because you're going to do a standard operating procedure. Go like, hey, everybody, let's just get around. This is what happens when we get an automobile accident in one of the company trucks while we're at work, okay? Do they go to the hospital? Do they call 911? Do they call, you know, do they pull over? Do they beat the shit out of the guy who caused the accident? Like, you know, what do they do? Right? So hopefully you guys are going to create this sop. You're going to put it in front of them, you're gonna go over it with them, you're gonna sign it, and then hope to God you don't ever have to use it, or you hope to God it doesn't happen for several years. But if it's not in the vehicle, how do they find it? You know, you should have whatever binder or folder is necessary inside that vehicle to where they can pull it out and go, oh, my gosh, I was in an accident. I'm full of adrenaline. I'm, you know, I'm kind of dizzy. I don't feel real good. You know, like, they should be able to open it up and go like, hey, get their license, get their insurance card, get their, you know, all this. It should be there. So start, start with the simple stuff and let's go. Later, Dominic. One last person. Darrell, can you unmute? You got any last minute vibes for us?

[M]

I think everything you talked about just comes down to once you discover something that you didn't know about, it's like, what are you going to do now? Like, hey, I didn't know that I needed that. It's the, like, it's basically the same thing when we start a business. I don't, hey, I don't know that I need this. But now that you do, now it's your responsibility. You can't claim ignorance now that that's come to light. So I think it's good to have those systems and procedures in place. And I was just talking to Hub about this where I found a lot of my contracts. What ends up happening is my contracts are built based on the clients that complain, because the clients that don't complain, they're not going to tell you what's wrong with your business. The people that are complaining, you know, okay, well, now I know I have a crack in my glass floor. So now I need to figure out how to fix that to stop the cracking.

[B]

And

[M]

so, yeah, that's kind of my two cents about what you were, you were saying. And, I mean, I was talking with Joe, a couple days ago about my business and just how, you know, I lost 40% of my business overnight. Okay, well, how, how do we, like, what do I have to do to make it so that that never happens again? So that's kind of what I'm working on right now.

[B]

Cool. Thanks for being vulnerable with us. What a great call, people. Let's go into Easter weekend focused. Let's go in aggressive. Let's go in and also take time to really enjoy our family over the weekend. Appreciate you guys. Have a good night. Later. All right, that's a wrap for today. Lots of good questions at the end of that weekly Compass call. And if, you know, if you found this really interesting, it would be amazing if you jumped on live with us. We do this every single Friday, 9:00am Pacific Standard Time. All you have to do is jump on over to Facebook and go to TWT Contractor Circle and then ask to join the private group. I'll let you write in, it's free. All you have to do is, you know, say you want to be in there and I'll put you in there. And then we do this live every Friday and we have the play in there. And then oftentimes, like the people that are on the call, they're part of my more elite and private coaching group. But, you know, you have access to all that every single Friday inside the TWT Contractor circle. And again, you can find that in the show notes if you want to just find that link. So there you go on that. But listen, if it hits you, it's because the reality is the version of you that built your business to the point that you're at right now is most likely not the version of who you need to be to take your business to the next level. And each time you make it through to a different break point, you have to become a different person. And the sooner that you realize this and you become self aware of it and you confront it, then the better you are moving forward. So you do not going to, like I said, you don't. And you won't and you can't and you will not rise by just working harder. Because the contractors that I know, the contractors that are in my circle, they're the hardest working human beings I know. And it shouldn't be. We shouldn't have to work harder than we already are, longer than we already are. We should be able to work less, make more money, work smarter, and get everything that we want out of our business in life. So you don't rise by working harder. You rise by getting more clear, more disciplined, and more intentional on how you lead your business. Okay, so ask yourself the one question a day. What's the alternative to becoming the best version of yourself? What's the alternative to you getting better? If you don't like the answer, you already know what you need to do. And I'm going to ask you right now to share this podcast with someone that needs to hear that message, someone in your network that you think this could improve their life. It would mean the world to me if you do that. And remember, ask that question right now to yourself. Turn it off and think about it. What's the alternative to getting better? You don't like the answer, you know what to do.

[G]

Depth.

[B]

Discipline. Diligence. Catch you on the next one.