Dec 13, 2018
Steven Bousquet joins Dr. Sabrina on today's episode of
Profit by Design Podcast after returning, very relaxed,
from a 4 Week Vacation vacation. (He made the 4 Week Vacation
Pledge at the last retreat held at Dr. Sabrina's home, The
Entrepreneur's Retreat Centre.) And the truth of it is that
this wasn't even his first 4 Week Vacation. He's had many of them
before! So, as you can see, Steven is doing a lot of things right
in his business and there's a lot we can learn a lot from him. On
the show today he talks to Dr. Sabrina about how he has grown his
business quite considerably over the last few months, by acquiring
another business. And how, with all of this going on, he still
managed to take a 4 Week Vacation.
Steven describes himself as a blue-collar executive and his
business is American Landscape and Lawn Science. He
founded S&B Lawn and Garden Care in 1983, while still in high
school. After graduating from college with a BA in Economics, he
changed the name of his landscaping company to American Landscape
Service. In 1991, Steven added Lawn Science to the company to form
American Landscape and Lawn Science LLC.
Today, Steve and Dr. Sabrina have a though-provoking
conversation about getting out of your way in business. Steve talks
about how he is continuing to improve his business by making sure
that it is not dependent on any one person. He also shares the
changes he has made in his business over the last three years,
based on what he's learned from the books such Profit
First and Pumpkin Plan by Mike Michalowicz. Today's
show is going to be a real eye-opener for you!
Show Highlights:
- Dr. Sabrina is writing a book, The 4 Week Vacation,
documenting what happens in a business from the moment that a
business owner commits to taking a 4 Week Vacation until the time
they take it. She will go deeper into what's involved in a later
episode.
- You can download Dr. Sabrina's 4 Week Vacation Jumpstart
Guide right now. Go to www.drsabrinastarling.com/jumpstart.
- Steve talks about the 4 Week Vacations he's taken before, the
first of which was not a “vacation” but rather an extended absence
following an injury.
- Steve discusses what his business was like back when he had to
take an unplanned six weeks off work in 2014.
- The preparations and plans that Steven made, and why he made
them, before
taking his unplanned six week vacation.
- How Steve's business grew 6% without him being around.
- Steve is still working on getting out of the way.
- The way that Steve implemented Pumpkin Plan and Profit
First.
- The difference that having things clearly defined and money
properly managed made to Steve's business.
- This time around, Steve took his 4 Week Vacation after growing
the company by acquiring another business.
- Successfully doubling the business and integrating new team
members smoothly at the same time.
- Steve's secret to keeping his staff for a really long
time.
- Traveling to ten different businesses across southern America
to get a different perspective and to get out of the way of his
peoples' talents.
- The benefits of taking time off from your business.
- How to start getting out of your own way in your business.
- Bringing in new people to train for unique roles and key
functions and working through the pushbacks.
- The things that became really clear to Steve after taking four
weeks off.
- The struggles that come with running a small
business.
- Always keep your eye on your mission.
- The importance of understanding the numbers.
- Hitting profit targets every year by implementing
processes.
- Steven got really serious about watching his numbers in 2012 by
using only three books- Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big
Profit by Greg Crabtree, Accounting For The
Numberphobic by Dawn Fotopulos, and Profit First by
Mike Michalowicz.
- Tripling his company profit since the 2008 recession due to
understanding the numbers.
Resources:
Profit by Design Podcast www.profitbydesignpodcast.com
Profit by Design Facebook group
Email: sarbinaandmike@profitbydesignpodast.com
4 Week Vacation Jump Start Guide: www.drsabrinastarling.com/jumpstart
Apply at www.profitgift.com for to be 1 of
the 5 business owners Dr. Sabrina works with in 2019 to triple
profit, identify your business Sweet Spot, and put the team and
systems in place so you can take a 4 Week Vacation.
Books: Profit First and Pumpkin Plan by Mike
Michalowicz
Simple Numbers, Straight
Talk, Big Profit by Greg Crabtree
Accounting
For The Numberphobic By Dawn Fotopulos
Connect with Steven Bousquet:
https://www.lawnscience.com/
https://www.facebook.com/AmericanLandscapeLawnScience/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyVEOUwoxflVaH94JTtLNoA