About Us (continued)
Journey with me into space and time
Come, my darlings, we shall travel together
Yes, there is a secret. Change flies. Time goes pretty slowly if you watch a clock.
Where were we? Oh, E-Myth. Michael Gerber wrote the book. It's still in print if you're interested. It's really a good read. In May, 2009, I signed up for the intensive, even though we couldn't really afford it at the time. On the other side of that cheap coin, it's pretty darned affordable.
I got a coach. I buckled down. I started, finally, to replace knowledge with understanding. And Team Mates began to turn the corner. So how, Rachel, how?
First, we looked at who we, Team Mates, are. We suffered a major amount of turnover during that year. New decorators, new staff, new directions. We began to focus. I began to focus. I didn't look at how much we were doing. Instead, I saw what we were doing. I analyzed my own purpose and desire in life. I saw that what I was doing was, well, you know the nagging spouse and how he (or she) tries to change the other? That was me with my company.
And the result? Totally bad.
I took a survey in 2009. Mostly, the survey included questions about our internal operations. Were people happy? Were we presentable as a shop? Were we efficient?
Beginning in 2010, we started on the lowest rated score. We were filthy. Unkempt. We didn't look good to our employees.
I realized something. Employees. They are the business. We are a manufacturer. We are a service organization. We are partners with our customers, the distribution network. Our employees are our only sales staff. If they are not at least pleased with their work, then we will not be a success. Growth? That comes via the successful handling of current customers. It does not come through the effort of selling.
And so we're through 2009. Oh, we grew a little. And, we spent a lot of time cleaning up and tossing stuff. More? Really? Well, Augie, if you insist.