Jim Coyle
===
[00:00:00]
Marker
---
Barry: Welcome to the show, Jim Coyle. Jim Coyle is a fellow EEO s implementer, but he has the unique also distinction of being my coach. So I'm honored today. Jim, welcome to show. How are you?
Jim: Oh, I'm awesome. Thank you for having me. This will be fun. Oh,
Barry: I know. It's gonna be a, it's gonna be a blast.
So we'll dive right in. Jim, tell me how you got your start into this entrepreneurial business.
Jim: geez. it's fun. I have been an entrepreneur from the beginning, and there's definitely plenty of years. I looked for some ointment to fix this ailment I have that I call entrepreneurism. and um, Because it was tough, through the years, but I, I actually had a business in high school, and, I definitely was the kid who sold more candy bars and all that kind of stuff.
nice. But that's not what I was talking about. I actually started a jewelry design and sales company and I sold jewelry and I, made thousands of dollars selling jewelry out of my locker in high school. Oh wow. Wow. other places. and then when I got to college, it [00:01:00] paid for a fair amount of my college.
I even had, jewelry stores pick up my line, which I always thought was funny. So, yeah, no, that, that was probably my first kind of, foyer or whatever the French word is for that. Yeah. Into,into it. And, And I loved it. I loved the idea that I got to control my own destiny. If I worked harder, I made more money.
Like there was just a whole, it definitely piqued my interest
Barry: early. Yeah. You, you and I are pretty similar personalities. I think that's, that's just everybody would know that. I think, and, and I think about myself, you know, when I was in high school and I was a very, I was a social butterfly, they would move me to the front of the class.
Because I was talking in the back of the class and I just tell my teachers, well, I'll just talk to you and, but I didn't know anything about business or money or, and I think we grew up different, but how did you draw that conclusion that you could make money and build something? Because that wasn't even close to on my mind.
Yeah. You know, it's funny,
Jim: and nor mine in my, you know, it's funny, my [00:02:00] son just said this the other day to me, so I wanna wanna say it. So my nine-year-old said to me, you know, dad, it seems like you do a lot of things because your parents didn't. Oh, wow. So, and so my, both my parents were not good with money.
It's funny now, after, in their later years I had to tend to that. And, so it wasn't because I was being taught, and the money always felt scarce in our family. Mm-hmm. I think it's because I was doing something I really enjoyed Barry. Yeah. Like, make this jewelry was a blast. And then I gave it to people and they enjoyed it and I was like, Ooh, this is fun.
And then I got money for it. and when I got the money for it, I then could do stuff that I couldn't do before I got to go to Fun Factory Man. and that was like a, a like an arcade or I got to go to the movies and I got to do stuff that my parents wouldn't have given me money to do. And so that then triggered, ooh, I get to do fun stuff if I do this.
Yeah. So that's how it all connected. I'll be honest.
Barry: So what's funny is, you know, we, we have done other, much, you [00:03:00] have done much larger entrepreneurial journeys, but I am interested because this is fun, and I, I think I'm like, well, did they just offer to pay you or did you actually ask for the money?
Jim: I actually thought, yeah, it's I'll be honest, this is good cuz now it, it's reminding me
Barry: Yeah.
I'm a sales guy and I'm like, how did Jim learn how to ask for the sale? Yeah, that's
Jim: exactly right. What's funny is that I made one, so I had one and then somebody asked and I said, yeah, I'll make you one. mm-hmm. And that person was a friend and so then I, I gave them that. And then there was somebody who wasn't as close of a friend.
not that, you know, not an enemy or anything, but just somebody who I didn't know as well. And I said, you know, you know, there's probably value in this. Okay. and so I said, yeah, yeah, I can make you one. they're 10 bucks. and she's like, great. And I was like, Oh, and so then, then I kind of was hooked, right?
Right. From that was from there I think is the, where I caught the, the, the entrepreneurial disease where I was like, oh, this is fun. [00:04:00] and so then I'd make something more expensive and a little bigger and I'd be like, oh, I think this one's 15.
Barry: You know how much better of a salesperson you are is than I am, I think, is I the first person that I ever taught how to.
Sell. He was a coworker and he would come to me, advice and, he says, I feel like I should have to pay you. And I was like, how about 50 bucks? So I only sold my sales training for like 40. Do more dollars than you sold your piece of jewelry. So
Jim: I don't know, because I'm, I was just better with pricing salesman.
I knew pricing better the
Barry: problem. I was actually a salesperson at the time, and that's good. I love it. so yeah. So now you're, you're, you're, you're further on. tell me, tell me how you progressed in this.
Jim: Yeah. And so, from there, ended up, going to college and doing the jewelry again. and that was fun because, I would have sororities invite me over and to show my, my wares and I'm like, this is awesome.
So I was, I will say that that was [00:05:00] a perk. and, And then, but while I was in college, I was looking for some summer work and I heard about this opportunity to run a paint contracting company. Hmm. And it was one of those student painter things. A lot of towns have 'em, and you know, you work for this franchise that takes an exorbitant amount of your money, off the top and, helps you get this thing set up.
And, I got three crews of painters and we did, I forget what it was called. college. College Painters College, yeah, college painters. I think it was called Simple. And, yeah. And We had like a binder and how we priced things. And and I just went out and they taught me how to estimate and I went door to door.
I even had like door hangers and, you know, all that kind of stuff. And, I was told to scr multiple times and one person finally told me, and I was like, do you mean like an animal, sir? Like, scramble, like, like if I was like some animal on your front porch, And he goes, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm like, that seems [00:06:00] inappropriate to say to a human.
and so, I, I left, I didn't get a sale that day. yeah. And so, yeah, no, I did that and ended up being the, they had, I don't know, under these people across the country. And I ended up being the, I don't know the. I forget what they called it, but the, the, the student painter of the year. Mm-hmm.
and so my business was picked to be the best. and it wasn't because I made the most, it's funny, there was another guy who said to me, he's like, you know, I made twice what you made. and I was like, why aren't you up here? And he is like, I don't know. And then they explained it to me. They did this big presentation and all this other reasons is because, I had customers calling them, saying how great I was to, to them.
oh wow. They said they'd never gotten so many,comments, positive comments about a, another franchisee or whatever, you know, something manager, I dunno, I forget what my title was. and it was great. It was fun. And then, then I was like, okay, this is really fun. And then, and then my mom said, okay.
She knew how much money I made. And so she's like, okay, so [00:07:00] you're, you know, you now have to pay for, college. And so I'm like, oh, darn. I thought I'd had a little money. but it was fun to me,
Barry: it's irony that, that they said that you were so nice to them because you're my coach and you're so not nice to me.
Sometimes
Jim: I was wondering, I was like, oh, maybe, maybe he'll just kind of bypass that. I've, I've learned that. I'm an inefficient, I'm a very efficient person, and so I find I can get the to efficiency very quicker if I'm just straight.
Barry: We absolutely resemble that remark and I think when people are direct with me, after I've been direct with them and I don't respond, you know, defensively, they, they're surprised because I'm so right.
A direct, and I'm like, no, thank you. And they're like, what? And it's, it's good though, right? To be able to take the, this, this, this feedback and go, okay, and, and, and knowing that you may or may not be right. You know? Oh, yes. Yeah. And then honest,
Jim: I, I've let that go, to be right. ah, cause I, [00:08:00] I find I, I hit some gold when I'm willing to be wrong.
So I said that to a client the other day. Barry actually said to 'em, I said, you know, I really, it seems like this is what's going on. And they're like, no. And I'm like, okay. And they didn't care. I didn't look bad and I was off base, but it felt like something that was wrong. I was, I was wrong. It's funny, I, I don't think that they, you know, every once in a while somebody will say no.
And that's actually still what it, what it is. yeah, but it was,it's fine. I think the more that I'm willing to be wrong and apologize a lot. I, I do better work
Barry: it. It's funny, I was just yesterday with a, with a newer client, th a third meeting, and, we, we were coming back from a break and, and, you know, the, the, the five minutes was up and I was in the middle of a story and, you know, I love a good story.
So I kept telling the story to the person I was talking to, and the owner said, and this is a new, you know, a newer customer. And he said, he goes, I'm gonna be open and honest here. You know that in [00:09:00] language, right? I am. He goes, I don't know how this, fits with what we're trying to do today. And I go, you're exactly right.
Tangent alert, I'll continue the story later. And then I just started in and he looked at me and said, are you okay with that? I go, yes, sir. I go, this is what I teach. Right? So I need to be able to, to do the same thing. He, and he was just, you could tell he spent a couple of minutes just thinking about what happened right there, that he called me out and I was just good with it.
And I'm like, yeah, that's what we do. Right, Jim? Oh, yeah, yeah,
Jim: yeah. No, if, if we're not good with it, we are not the, the best examples of what hell, they should handle this.
Barry: Yeah. We shouldn't be doing what we do because our life is spent in, in uneasiness, let's call it. Yeah. so you were in your painting endeavor and what happened after that?
Jim: Yeah. Sorry, I'm taking this slow road up. My entrepreneurial,
Barry: I like it. No, I, I'm asking you questions and, and you're going [00:10:00] exactly how you're supposed to. I love it. Okay,
Jim: good. yeah, and so from there, I went to college and, you know, I was doing the, my entrepreneurial stuff there as well. And then literally I thought, Actually Postcollege, I had to get a job.
Like, I just felt like that was the right thing. Like I needed to see what it was like to be in the real world as, as I called it. And I got a job as a, a, what was my title, consultant in Anderson Consulting at the time, which then has now become Accenture, not the criminals, not the Arthur Anderson, but the Anderson Consulting side.
And so, Computer consulting. which is funny cause I was really bad at it. but, I, but I was really good with people, right? And so I was able to connect to the people and they found a, a good place for me, not coding or doing any of that stuff, but really managing the people doing that. Mm-hmm. And, love that.
But oh my God, it was just kind of soul sucking for me. And, I felt like there was a dementor at work every day and it just wasn't for me. And I couldn't figure out why. And so I started to look around for [00:11:00] my next thing and, decided that I was lived in Chicago and, I put together a business plan and I went out and found investors and I opened a bar and restaurant Oh, wow.
At, 25 or 26. Yeah. and, it was great, and, did, did some great work. We owned the bar and restaurant for a number of years. Crazy stories. There are definitely another podcast by the way, out here. it's the afternoon podcast where we'll have to get into, the stories of the mob and, my life being threatened by city officials.
But, but that is a different podcast, the different podcast. but the, I feel
Barry: like you were the main character in a Godfather movie or something. Now,
Jim: Oh, it was, it was crazy. The Associated Press actually called me, and said they wanted my story cuz they heard how crazy it was. Yeah. And only in Chicago do you call your attorney when you get called by a reporter.
and so, and my attorney was like, hell no. Don't even think of doing that. so, I, but then after the restaurant, I sold the restaurant and. My mom had passed that point and my [00:12:00] dad was sick and I was like, you know, I didn't know where to go or what to do. and so I, I got some good counseling and I realized I needed to come home and just kind of get things back together at home.
I moved my dad into an assisted living. He had Alzheimer's, And I moved in, into a sifted living. And then, I, I needed to get the house ready to sell. And so I lived there while I got the house ready to sell, which was great cuz I didn't have a job. and and so then I literally said to myself when I was coming back into my town, I had two rules.
Rule one, I was not going to start a company. Hmm. Well, two, if I broke rule one, I was not gonna have an employee. and so I, after about six months of sitting on my butt, I started to look for work and I interviewed and I got job offers and I couldn't take any of 'em. And I ended up starting my company called Nexus Business Solutions, which is ultimately, you know what, what has gotten me here today?
That's the company that is the US Implementation Company. Yeah. and I. [00:13:00] Instantly started a company and within two or three months of starting at, I had an employee. and so I broke rules one and two. and, and then I, did this work of, of being an US I, before it was called that. and then I, I heard about, you know, implementation from Don Tinney.
Yeah. who lives in my town. And, and then, you know, kind of. And then, you know the bit of the story there. yeah. I'm, of all the implementers left, I'm implementer 16, so I'm Wow. One of the OGs.
Barry: That's fantastic and I'm glad you are because you've, you've sped up my learning and, what I know and, I've, I've told you about mistakes that I, that, that, that I don't, I mean, I would tell other people, but I don't know if they would be able to, number one, handle it the way that you do that you did with love and compassion at the same time, firmness of.
Don't ever, do that again. which was good. But you also shared with me how you've messed up and how it's affected you. And, and it helped me like be able to be okay with it and then [00:14:00] not do that again. Right. Because we're all dysfunctionally functional, I think. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So that's good. I have two rules.
Number one is never lose money. And number two is if you lose money, see real number one. Right?
Jim: Make it, make it up,
Barry: right? That is awesome. So what are you doing today? And tell us a little bit about it. Yeah, yeah.
Jim: so I would say there's always some other side stuff that I'm doing. I'm a landlord, which, I still enjoy.
I'm an e s implementer, you know, same as you doing that. I am a coach. and so I'm a coach within the, US worldwide community mm-hmm. Where I run, the certified program. And so all the certified implementers ultimately fall under me. And then, I have another coach, Kevin Armstrong, who's awesome, who's also a coach in that program.
and then my new kind of love and thing that, Where you and I actually got, you know, talking about [00:15:00] this and all the other, the great stuff that you're doing even, is I built an online platform for US implementers, called the Nexus Accelerator. Mm-hmm. And then I have a, another, part of that that's called the Nexus cohorts, which is groups of US implementers coming together and really, coming together to be in a pack.
People are more collaborative. People who aren't, are built to be us implementers, but not built to do it alone, not built to be solopreneurs. And, I think there's a lot of us. And, mm-hmm. So I built what I needed, because I, I did, I love being an implementer, but I didn't like being a solo anymore.
And so, I brought these groups together, and that's been going great. the online platform is now has 600 hours of content and man, a hundred tools or something that, people can use. And so it's been a blast actually creating it. And we've got, I don't know, 60 maybe implementers that are a part of the program in total.
So that's fun. Yeah,
Barry: that's, I love that, you know, you and I are like sharks if we sit still. We, we'll probably die.
Jim: Yeah, exactly. [00:16:00] We're, I'm always swimming. I've
Barry: always got, we always have to have something to build or do or, and, and, and Ralph falls around coaching, right. Is this, this life passion and I love it.
And you're so, you're so good at it. Yeah. you know, where are you headed? What's, what's next for Jim?
Jim: Yeah, and I think, it, it's funny cuz I, I was doing some soul searching. I've had a little bit of, clarity time after, annual season, which is really busy. And, I started thinking I needed to hunker down.
And then the US Conference really helped me to realize that too, that. I kept getting the message that, maybe there's too much stuff on my plate to be as good to people and the things I really am passionate about right now. and so I'll be honest, one of my things is I gotta start to think through what, what needs to come off my plate.
and, but I, I do think, I love being an needles implementer, and so that won't stop. No. you know, being in these cohorts, I'm really just an eo US implementer within,for implementers, right? you know, and so [00:17:00] that really fits. And then I, you know, I love the coaching and so trying to figure out how to, do all of that, the landlord stuff is the thing that kind of sticks out on the side.
So I might be letting go of that, but I really think what's next for me is doubling down on what I'm doing now, just getting more masterfulness session rooms. doing, better work in regards to, you know, creating more content and things for implementers and trying to get more people connected to it.
Cause when people find out about it, they're, they're interested. And so I just gotta let more people know us worldwide has been excited and they're telling the coaches to recommend it. And so yeah, this has been good. And so I really feel like that's my next step is really to see that thing flourish.
I think Barry, I am the type of person where I'll see that next shiny thing. Yeah. And I know there's times in my life that I gotta, like, I gotta focus. And so I'm at that focus time for me.
Barry: Yeah. like, who are the people in your life? I mean, I know we're implementers. I was thinking go slow to go fast the whole time you were talking.
Yeah. And I wanted to, I wanted to go into implementer mode. Yeah. [00:18:00] But who are the people in your life that are keeping you contained as that, you know, as that visionary that you, we all know you are?
Jim: Yeah, I think that, it, Jen, my wife, Dr. Coyle, you know, she is, I always, you know, I knew from the beginning she was smarter than me and then she, got the letters to prove it.
and so, so for sure, Jen. I also think that, I find I'm connected with, I, own, parts and pieces of other companies. Mm-hmm. and I find some of those other people who are a part of those businesses, I sometimes will get coaching. I'm helping them, you know, coaching them through their business.
Yeah. and so, John LaDuca is one of them from Playbook Builder. Love John. Yeah, he's, absolute, beautiful man. And so, and playbook Builders such an amazing thing and an amazing product. And so, but I do hit John up, every once in a while. and then a, a cousin of mine. Who, he's just got a great brain.
He's able just to see things differently than I see things. yeah, [00:19:00] it's funny, him and I have battled over the years because we are different and I now I see it as such a beautiful thing for me. so Andy is a great guy who just kinda helps me to see things from the, an angle. I wouldn't see it from.
Barry: That's good. That's good. We all need people in our lives, right? Oh yeah. You know, one of the things, and I know you have,an assistant practice manager, whatever it is, you know, whatever you wanna call it, we call it a lot of things, but I, I went through, I was at the conference as well and I saw you in very passing me and you just kind of going like two ships.
Super busy at those things, right? Yeah. I tell my clients, I'm like, look, you, you, you're gonna see me for a few minutes, but don't be surprised if you don't. and, and all of them understand, right? Because every five steps, you're probably gonna get stopped. Yeah. Right? Mm-hmm. And then you, you have to walk really fast cuz people don't normally stop people who are walking really fast.
Yeah. But you know, when I went to Troy Schutz, back to basics [00:20:00] class and it's so amazing to me how many. What I can learn by sitting in those sessions. Mm-hmm. And I'm thinking back to basics and how many times I've taught that and what I have either missed or not known by listening to Troy master that.
But one of the things that I got was he said, it's not the assistant track, it's the assistants track. And I'm like, wow, you don't need an assistant to delegate. It's the assistants track. How did I miss that? I don't know. But how does your assistant keep you from. Going crazy, spinning outta
Jim: control.
Yeah. You know, and it's, it's funny, it's such a poignant time for you to ask that question because, that wasn't happening recently. And Jessica is world class. Mm-hmm. So my assistant is world class. and, but it wasn't happening and things were getting dropped. And so her and I had a meeting and I'm like, what's going on?
Jessica? Like, you were so good at this. I've been working with her for five years. Yeah. and so, We've become really good, close friends now, or, I would say, at least for my [00:21:00] part. yeah. And so she, I, I said, what's going on? And so we started to dig in. And we realized there's way too much stuff on her plate with the, the three things that, you know, really she's controlling.
and so I have a family assistant, I have a session room assistant, and then there's Jessica, who is really my, you know, practice manager, executive assistant. Hmm. And we realize this other business, the, the Nexus Accelerator and the Nexus cohort was taking up about half her time, which it wasn't doing in the past when I was running my firm in the past.
And so, I'm like, half your time. Holy crap. Like, we gotta figure this out. And so I'm actually hiring a fourth assistant, to run my, practice manager to run that other business, to really keep me on track, make sure we're following up with the people we'll be following up with, that we should be doing and we're being good to these implementers.
And, so right now I'm in the process of hiring actually. in a couple hours I'm talking to somebody who's gonna help me do that. so what's funny is [00:22:00] recently that hasn't been happening, Barry. Mm-hmm. But I think of Jessica as the person who manages me. I don't manage her. Right? I asked, I asked for time off.
my sister came in early. she was coming to visit. She was coming in early one day than we had thought. And I asked Jessica, can I have Friday off? And she said, Nope. and I was like, okay, what, you know, what, what can we move? And she said, these meetings in the morning, I've moved around too many times.
We can't move these. Done. I got it. I get the meetings in the morning, and that's the kind of stuff I wouldn't know. Right. And so if I managed her, then I would've been bad to people and I wouldn't even have known it. And so that's not fair. Yeah. It really isn't. Yeah. Yeah. And so she, she really manages
Barry: me.
Yeah. You can lose very important relationships if you don't watch your calendar. Right. And that's what I, I find too. And, and, and this is what's hard for a lot of entrepreneurs. Like you, you gotta be okay with this person who you're paying to be your, your boss, right. Yeah. And you, you have to, you can overrule, you can override them, [00:23:00] but man, you better be careful cuz you definitely don't wanna lose that person cuz they know everything.
I mean, if you could imagine five years and trying to lose that, if you lost that person, you, you would really be in trouble. Right?
Jim: Yeah. Oh yeah. I, I, I literally don't know a whole bunch of my own passwords. Like, like if she just left, I'd be like, I don't know how to get into this. Yeah. Which is dangerous.
We gotta find some way around that, by the way. That's, that's, that's something that's broken. But yeah, no, she manages me and, does keep me out of the weeds the best she can. I'm pretty driven. and so, so I think it's really good that we're bringing on this other person to really help drive that other, that other business.
I
Barry: haven't asked this in a while, but you're the perfect guest for this. So you're, you're given advice to three different people, the startup, people who are in their growth stage, and then people who are, who are scaling. What's your advice to people who are in their startup phase? They're just starting a business.
they've got lower revenue.[00:24:00] they know how to do something, you know, they're the technician or they have a technician. What's your
Jim: advice? Yeah, it's funny, I just gave this advice too. Like get focused on closest to the dollar. Hmm. Whatever's closest to the dollar. That's only thing you need to be doing.
Forget about everything else. Don't worry about your core values, don't worry about your core focus. Don't worry about all the stuff we do, because they were like, oh, I wanna do eos. I'm like, no, don't do. and they're like, what do you mean? And the person said, I was a horrible salesperson. I said, thank you.
because not, and I know your opinion on this, but that's not, that wasn't the point at this in this meeting. I am not selling you anything. I'm literally trying to sell you on doing the right thing here. Yes. And so, and so I did, sell them on the concept. They just needed to go whatever's closest to the dollar, do that work.
Mm-hmm. and so, and that means, in my opinion, doing the work. If they are the operator and selling the work, nothing else should be. Just go do that stuff. Because at the end of the day, if you're not doing that stuff, all that other stuff doesn't [00:25:00] matter. It's all frill. which is funny because I think it's actually foundational for companies later.
Oh, yeah. So, but not in the beginning. Just go, go get business and do it.
Barry: One of the things that I've talked to people about that are started a business, cuz I, I'm a really good startup entrepreneur. Hmm. I'm not a good running your business entrepreneur. I, my wife is really good at that. I've got brothers.
My nephew is, they're really good at running a business. I am really good at startup and then handing that sucker off. But you know, I tell people the mentality that you have to have is you are a 98% salesperson and you are 2% technician. Huh? And, and as you're moving through that first two or three years, those percentages will change.
You'll become 50% salesperson and 50% doer because most people who are doers are the people who start a business and they [00:26:00] don't see themselves as sellers. Right? So they think, they think that if they do a really great job, They won't have any problems. And I'm like, well, for a while, and then you'll hit the ceiling.
Yeah. But, that's good. So now you're given advice to someone who is in their growth stage. They, they're starting to hire people, they've hired some people to do the work, and what's your advice there?
Jim: Yeah, and so this is where, and it depends. Growth stage is an interesting time, and it's actually kind of a broad time, I think, for businesses because.
Some people think a growth stage is just when you hire your first employee, you, I'm like, man, that still can be, you know, still startup. That's startup in my opinion. Yeah. Yeah. So I see growth stage where they, they hit their probably second ceiling. Third ceiling, where all of a sudden the, everybody's doing everything and it's this more scattered approach doesn't work anymore.
And, this is where I think of the growth stage where they gotta hunker down and start to figure out truly why they were put on this planet and what they should [00:27:00] do. And so one of my, you know, pieces of advice of course, and I'm a hammer seeing things as a nail, but I do think for where I see growth stage, it's EOS implementation.
Mm-hmm. I do think that that really does help foundational, helps the entrepreneur get their arms back around this thing. Yeah. which I think is difficult. And so e os, for obvious reasons. and it's also. Just get true to what makes you great and the beauty you bring to the world. Mm-hmm. Which I think it us helps you do that.
Mm-hmm. I do think they can start to get into, Ooh, I'm good at this. Why not this? And unless they're not far off of the startup phase where it was scarce. Right. Or they thought it was scarce, it wasn't. Mm-hmm. But they believed it to be. Mm-hmm. they can get into this mode where they're doing way too much.
and so my advice for growth stages, Get true of, get very clear on the beauty you bring into the world and just stay focused. Yeah.
Barry: It's funny, how I even became an implementer is I was a sales coach and I was coaching, I mean, [00:28:00] probably 25 to 30 hours a week. Which, you know, people, it may not sound like a lot.
It, it's, it's a lot of energy when you're showing up 25, 30 hours a week just coaching people via Zoom and you're bringing all the energy. It's a lot, even for somebody who has a lot of energy and, and, and can talk a lot, I'd get to the end of the day and, and I'd be outta words. For my wife, for my kids, I'd be outta words.
And, but when I got e o s, it was to be an add-on to my sales coaching business. Mm-hmm. And so then I started co I, I started implementing e o s in the room. And what I found was when I was working with a great sales leader in the room. huh Their salespeople. And when they created that structure, it's funny you said that because of in their, their growth stage, they started implementing e o s and their sales would go up and, and I would give a few pieces of nuggets in the room and they would implement it, and the, the sales went [00:29:00] faster than when I was coaching.
And I was like, this is crazy. Who, who would've known? Right. And then the irony, In what you just said and you don't think it's ironic, because it's the way things go is I started doing a whole lot less time coaching, getting greater impact and making a lot more money, and I was like, wait a minute. This e o s thing works even for me.
Right? Yeah. Oh yeah. And that's fantastic advice. So now we're, we're in the scaling and, and where you, where do we go?
Jim: Yeah. Yeah. So the, the scaling entrepreneur is interesting. So I I, if this is, if, if the foundation is laid, they have an operating system, you know, I, I believe u s is the one, but you know, they have a good operating system.
They're at a point where it's a kind of a what's next? They know they need to take that next step. So my, one of my big advices for the entrepreneur is this, sit in [00:30:00] the visionary seat, only get out of all other seats, get focused at how you can take this company to the next level. Mm-hmm. And I'm using the word this intentionally.
Mm-hmm. Cause what happens with some of my visionaries is when they open up time, they start thinking about other stuff. The, the shiny object that doesn't fit here. And I said, what if you spent all of this beautiful energy focused on how to take this thing to the next level? Hmm. Oh. And so my advice for the ones who are scaling, and this is what I see for a lot of my entrepreneurial companies who do this well, or the visionary gets focused and just hunkers down in that visionary box where.
Truly to make this company, which starts to feel boring to them because we're executing well, there's not all this drama. You're not putting out fires. I mean, some of these entrepreneurs actually thrive on the screw ups because they can fix things, right? They're the savior who comes in, and so when all that stuff's not happening anymore, I tell 'em, get focused on how you take this to the next level, and this is what I see.
I see these companies do this, [00:31:00] and they go, whoop. They'll have these years and they literally just take this huge step up. Mm. And it's so awesome to see. And I just had one of my clients do this entre visionary. Pushing back, pushing back. Finally we got 'em in the visionary seat, focused on the company.
And the company, almost doubled in size, hit its three year target, three years early. Took the whole roofing company on a cruise all through the Caribbean. and, which either was, would've been the most fun boat or the worst boat to be on. I cannot decide. Oh, yeah, yeah. A whole boat full of, or, roofers.
I was like, oh my God, it's crazy. Yeah. and they just had this huge celebration because they hit their 10 year target three years early, and it was just because he got focused and figured out how to do this. And it just jumped. It was so cool.
Barry: One of the, you know, yesterday was one of the rare times, and it's almost the opposite of that, is, you know, I've got a, a owner, they're, he's a lawyer and so he has a law firm.
It's a good sized law firm. They're fun to work with. good. Their leadership team is, is, is really taken to e o s. [00:32:00] It's, it's great, but we did it a three year picture. And his three year picture is to go back to being a lawyer for more the, the interesting cases. Mm-hmm. And have you ever seen that And, and, and tell me how that looks like in your opinion.
in, in your. Not theoretical opinion, we don't do that. Right. In your, in your experience, if, if you have an entrepreneur that just wants to go back, you know, they're, they're, they're nearing what they call retirement, right? But they really want to go back and, and, and work the interesting things in, in their business as a technician again.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Jim: No, it's funny cuz I have this with a younger entrepreneur actually. and the first person that jumped into my mind, and he. What's interesting is that him getting into the interesting cases, he's a dentist, but much more of a, a, you know, full mouth restoration kind of dentist.
Not just the, the guy who tells you to floss, but yeah, literally they, the really big cases. He's more of a [00:33:00] surgeon almost. yeah. And he, bought a practice and he is getting it down and, he realized he just loves doing that stuff. And so much so it's been really interesting that he's now doing it for other dentists.
Mm-hmm. So literally other dentists are bringing him in so that they can do it in their practice, so they don't have to refer it. It's just this other dentist who doesn't actually work for their practice who's doing this work, because most dentists aren't. And so he's found a way to do that work. and, and he loves it like you can see him.
Yeah. And he loves this teaching. And, and so it, it's a little different story than yours, right? But what, what's interesting for him is that there's still in the growth stage mode, but he's finding a ways to connect the two meaning. Get into the interesting cases cuz he'll always be a technician cuz he loves the work.
Yeah. and being, finding a way to make that work for his business to take that next step. And so he literally makes more money doing this and [00:34:00] he's just going around to other dental practices and his name is getting more, I mean, it's literally helping in so many regards. And then they have, they're not, his space isn't being used at their practice and so they're able to use his space.
I mean, it, it literally opens up the ability to make a lot more money. So it's really cool to watch this. Gross stage and him be able to hunker down and I just want to do the work again. That's
Barry: good. That's cool. Yeah. Well, Jim, I could go all day talking to you, but I know you're busy. where do people find you?
Jim: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. always willing to help. I love being a resource. and so they could, always contact me via email at j coil eos worldwide.com. I'm on LinkedIn, Jim Coyle, Kalamazoo. I'm sure there's some handle I have there, but I forget what that is. and, so they can find me really through LinkedIn or, through email.
And then, website, nexus business.com. Good. I
Barry: love it. Thank you so much for being on Jim. It was an absolute pleasure. Thank you.
Jim: oh. My pleasure. Thanks Barry.
