The following is an excerpt of David’s interview in Top Coaching Techniques.
David: A lot of things we spend money on are not adding to our life -cigarettes, for instance. If you quit those you would be adding to your health too.
Ingrid: I think that’s a whole other topic.
David: Instead of a gym, get into a training program with a friend. Ditch your cell phone for a few months until you are able to save. If you own a car, really consider writing a paragraph on how you could get around without a car. They drain money like nobody’s business. You can ride your bike or share a ride. When you can actually put a number on that and say, ‘Oh, look, I could save $5,000 this year.’ and that could go towards your goal, then you have the motivations to get rid of that expense.
The following is an excerpt of David’s interview in Top Coaching Techniques.
Ingrid: You know, I have this theory that all you need is one good idea, David. For example, the guy that developed the bendy straw or Velcro or the zipper or your fireman hose – is it a bit more than just a good idea?
David. I’m so glad you said that Ingrid, because yes, I think it is. You could have the most brilliant idea in the world and make nothing from it, or you could have an idea that’s just good – it’s not brilliant like velcro, but it’s a good idea, people need it – and you feel passionate about it and you can actually really make some money from that and make a living for yourself. So, no, an idea alone is not what’s going to do it. You need some passion behind it. It does need to be a good idea that the world needs right now. You don’t want to do something that’s already being done, unless you can do it better. I think you need to start creating some systems for the business. It’s also really going to help to have a partner who’s got some experience in this. Take on a business partner, or get yourself to a really good accountant or business advisor or business coach who can help you with it.
The following is an excerpt of one of David’s coaching sessions in Top Coaching Techniques.
David: It sounds great that you hit that block, you kept on moving, and I’m grateful to these people who didn’t keep their appointments with you.
Client: Yeah, that was a real kick in the gut. It was like, ‘Oh, no. I knew it wouldn’t work.’ You know, I went into the whole self-doubt thing. Some of them did ring me and apologize, which I thought was great. When I went back, it was, ‘Oh yeah. Sorry.’ I said, ‘Would you like to reschedule?’ ‘Oh yeah,’ so I’ve actually rescheduled everyone.
David: Okay. I think this may have come along for a reason for you right now, being some kind of lesson here. Can you see what the lesson is, what might the lesson be?
Client: That it’s not necessarily about me, that maybe something else came up, and it’s not personal.
David: Okay, very good. I can see that as being a powerful lesson. I can see another one here, too. See, early on in my practice, I had a lot of people not be there for calls. I can have six calls scheduled in a day, and two or three of them wouldn’t be there when I called. Nowadays, that doesn’t happen. Nowadays, there are zero people not show. Even for the trial sessions, in different countries with different time zones, the people are there. It’s very few: maybe 20 percent aren’t there. Who doesn’t show up, the percentage of people that don’t show up is totally a function of who you’re being in setting up that call.
The following is an excerpt of David’s interview in Top Coaching Techniques.
Ingrid: Hey David, you mentioned that you have a couple of balls in the court – a couple of different businesses. When you have your own business, how do you stop that from encroaching on your whole life?
David: That’s a very good question and what some people say is, you really have to devote six days a week, minimum. I was reading that Dick Smith and other people say, ‘Get stuck into it and have no life.’ Now, I don’t actually believe that’s necessary. You can actually start a business with two days a week. If you have a job already, you don’t have to just quit and go on and start something new. Again, take the guy making chili in his backyard – spend two days a week starting to develop the business and then get a small profit. Make a small profit and then you start expanding it. So, you may initially be working two days in the business, and then you expand it to three, and then four, and eventually do it full time. But, as I said, you start making systems out of the business and start hiring – for example – a high school student. Then maybe someone else who’s more qualified for another role, and build it up. You don’t have to be working in the business. That’s a job, not a business.
The following is an excerpt of one of David’s coaching sessions in Top Coaching Techniques.
David: Think of the cost of them not getting their stuff right. The cost is unbelievable. You probably use that in your sales, but whatever they’re paying is worth it, because the cost of them not getting their stuff right is astronomical.
Client: It’s significantly more. This is why the top executive search firms charge about 33% of salary and we charge 12½ to 15%.
David: Why is that?
Client: Good question. It’s like selling Porsche or Rolls Royce. They have absolute market reputation and they’re dealing with the organizations that can afford to pay that. However, we were a long way from there, so we started at 12% so we could be competitive and get in the door. Raising the price to 15% was the easiest thing I ever did. No one even said anything, and it gave us a massive increase in profits. The reason we do 12½ is because we realize that there’s some value in customers who work with us exclusively, so we give a discount and some other benefits.
David: Imagine if you charged 18 and discount to 15 or 12½. You have just created a bigger discount, a bigger value for them. Then they’ll be saying, ‘Wow, I can get 5 ½ percent.’
The following is an excerpt of David’s interview in Top Coaching Techniques.
Ingrid: Know what David? I’m going to put my cynic hat on here. That is, what about all that paperwork and guff and BAS statements and paying the bills that come for you, if starting your own business?
David: Yeah, there’s a lot that comes with it. One of the traps that people fall into is, they start working in the business and they take on something, and then they find that really, this is just another job where they’ve got ten times more responsibility. Ten times more work and less pay than before. So what’s really important is, once they get started in the business, you start setting up business systems so the business starts running itself. Start bringing on employees and people to help so that you don’t just have a job anymore, but it actually runs as a business instead of a job.