Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
>> Owen: Hi, everyone. My name is Owen McGab Enaohwo and welcome to Process Breakdown where
I get on successful entrepreneurs to come on here to tell you exactly how they deal
systems in their businesses that allow them to be able to run their businesses literally
on auto-pilot without as much involvement from their part. And my guest today is Phil
Thomas from GotMemories.com. Phil, welcome.
>> Phil: Thank you for having me.
>> Owen: And Iím very excited because during our pre-interview, you mentioned how you literally
worked 15 minutes a week and yet you generate over $200,000 in profit a year. Not even the
runway but actually the profits, so that is awesome.
>> Phil: Yeah, thank you. Yeah. Itís not something that happens overnight but yeah,
it is the truth and yeah, here I am living free.
>> Owen: Awesome. The listener right now, Iím sure theyíre curious, what is your company
all about? And whatís the big pain that you solve for your customers?
>> Phil: Well, GotMemories.com is a company that converts video tapes, film, all of the
old media formats that everyone used to shoot in all that home movies back from as early
as the 1920's up to like the 1990's with camcorder tapes in such. So we put them in digital form
so people can access them, watch them online, put them on DVD, they can edit them, share
them with friends and family around the world.
>> Owen: Awesome. So basically as people bringing this new technology and we have the old technology
of how youíre capturing memories, what your company does is basically takes all that,
old school cameras and all that and brings it into the new tech age, the digital format
I guess?
>> Phil: Yes, correct.
>> Owen: That is very awesome. And also so that people could understand kind of like
the scope of employees that you have, how many employees do you have?
>> Phil: I have four full time employees that are on location in Tempe, Arizona which is
part of Phoenix and I also have two contractors that work here in England, where Iím at right
now and so I work between those two places.
>> Owen: Awesome. And so you mentioned that you made about 200k in profit last year. So
that the listeners know that this is not something that just happened overnight, youíre actually
doing this on a yearly basis. What was kind of the turnover for the last couple of years?
Give us a little bit to understand what youíre doing there.
>> Phil: The turnover from the last couple of years. Yeah, last year was 200,000. The
year before was about 150,000 and the business has been going for 10 years. So it started
to make money on its own without my full-time involvement after about 5 years.
>> Owen: Awesome. And the reason Iím asking that just because the listeners are wondering,
I want to listen on standard. I actually bring on proven entrepreneurs only here who have
employees, who have businesses that are actually making money and we want to learn from them
and that are why I ask these questions ahead of time. So letís go back a little bit, what
would you say as kind of the lowest point in your business back in the day and just
quite how bad did you get?
>> Phil: Are you talking about emotionally or mechanically?
>> Owen: Yeah. Letís go both ways then. Letís talk about emotions and also the mechanics
thatís behind it as well because I want people to understand where you were before and we
can take them to where you are now based on the systems you have. I just want them to
have a peak into what it was before.
>> Phil: Yeah. Probably the lowest point emotionally is probably about 5 years ago. One of the
things that were kind of linked together, so mechanically, we had equipment that was
breaking down a lot it was very cumbersome. We had quality issues here and there. Retention
of stuff and that was then directly were linked to the emotional point as well because youíre
kind of at the point where you go ìWhat do I do? Do I pack it in? Do I just go get a
day job and clock in and clock out? Or my point here where most people give up and see
that road block and just do actually give it all up and get a clock in, clock out job
and I think those points in the business is where you go ìUh-huh, this is where most
people give up. If I get over this and figure out whatís going on, think about the best
way to overcome it and improve,î then youíre in kind of like a whole new group of people
that start to realize and understand business and understand these ups and downs. So the
low point was equipment and the only option was spending quite a bit of money in buying
the right equipment, finding the right equipment. So if you could ultimate process this and
retain stuff and reduce the amount of time it takes to do what youíre doing to therefore
lower your prices as well and bringing more customers with lower prices.
>> Owen: Just so that the listeners can kind of get like a concrete example, you mentioned
that one of the issues was you didnít have as much reliability from the employees saying
ìIt was a pain to train them.î Can you share a story with us as to that can give more,
highlight that point a little bit more if it comes to mind?
>> Phil: Yeah, well, in our industry, for instance, film transfers. There isnít too
much equipment out there to do it in a very speedy way. Equipment is expensive so you
got to kind of rely on more antiquated methods and equipment that breaks down. You got a
projector and typically how it is done in the industry and you filming off the wall
and itís quality issues and there are so many things that can go wrong in that whole
antiquated process and I basically just thought this is no good and we have to spend the money
and do it right and research the different types of equipment that had the processes.
And itís just more fun pleasurable experience now transferring film as one particular Iím
talking about and we can also basically [06:58], we document our processes now with video to
the customers so they can actually see how weíre doing and weíre doing it right and
giving them an educational experience as well.
>> Owen: On the employee side, Iím just curious that youíve mentioned that the equipments
side where you had issues with the equipment but on the employee side, was there any kind
of thing that you can remember back in the day of how it wasnít as reliable in terms
of result that weíre getting, if you can share a story with us during to make that
point concrete as well?
>> Phil: So where I had unreliable staff?
>> Owen: Yeah.
>> Phil: In terms of the processes, in terms to relating to equipment and the process as
in stuff before we upgraded, yeah, I mean there was a lot of ways to make mistakes and
you really have to watch the staff to make sure they were doing it correctly. Corners
could be easily be cut. Training time, there was so many pieces to the puzzle and to try
and get somebody to do it correctly and right, you literally have like a 15-step process
as opposed to afterwards, you have like a three step process. So it was a lot more clearer
once we upgrade it and did everything the correct way or upgraded equipment and the
process is just less to train is less for them to think about, less chances for them
to make a mistake. And if theyíre making a mistake, they get deflated and no good at
this and this is too hard and they, all of a sudden, you got something thatís easy and
fun and they go ìYey, Iím good at this.î And they are because the equipment is kind
of 85% of doing the work that they use to do. So yeah, itís all about morale and when
it is more fun, theyíre going to stay and theyíre going to grow with the company and
they donít going to give up and thatís huge.
>> Owen: So you said in 2007, you actually end up taking the blunt in finding the equipments
and that needed easier for the actual work, your results to be more reliable and then
on top of that, you also decided that you wanted to improve the quality of training
so that you can basically increase the retention of the employee that maybe when you hire them
itíd be quicker for them to get started. So I want to just jump into specifics behind
what kind of business systems you have in place now because in 2007, you made that thing
so letís jump into some of these systems you have in place in your business.
>> Phil: Yeah, I mean other systems in 2007. We had invoicing program that was based on
one computer and they stopped supporting it that we had a website that was all over the
place and the sales process was just all over the place. There was a point that you got
so sick of repeating yourself to customers and to staff as well and it very quickly started
to move into ìHhow do I use things that been [10:28], like web apps and blogs where people
have already done it before and theyíve got it documented?î and just start to basically
realize that itís all been said and done before, why reinvent the wheel?
So I started to use things like FreshBooks.com for invoicing for estimates and it was easy,
it was clean, it was so great for the customer to see, itís professional. But on the other
end, the staff enjoyed using it and that was a big moment as well and started to use YouTube
for my staff to understand like the most frequently asked questions. So Iím so sick of repeating
myself to customers that I started to make video just so I didnít have to repeat myself
every single day, a hundred times a day with the same questions.
And so when the staff would get off these questions, they would diver customers to the
FAQ page and they go ìYeah, number three.î And theyíd watch a video on me talking about
it and then the staff needs to learn from watching these videos and so with the customers
as well. It was kind of like a two-way thing and also the staff where they had these videos
out which customers really like, with me and then Iím confident and Iím in front of the
camera and everything and it gave them the confidence because I was actually taking the
time to make the company look professional and so forth and again, they have more pride
and retain them because I was putting in this much effort as they were.
>> Owen: During the pre-interview you mentioned how you literally created a book where you
had set in procedures in place and actually documented procedures, letís jump into that
a little bit. How did you even get started with that? What did you even start documenting
at first? I want to understand how you literally broke down what you do step-by-step in procedures
for your team.
>> Phil: Well, we created a book. It was the Got Memories Bible and itís literally like
that is the coverage of it and it still goes and is sitting around and itís filed away
and itís got everything written in there and if anyone had any questions as what to
do, they went to that book and looked it up and it also clarify to me as well when I was
writing that and I would say ìWait a minute, thatís full step process right thereî and
when I read it out, that doesnít seem to work. That could be two steps. So as I was
writing it out to the staff, I was actually inspiring myself to exemplify even more and
so that was pretty much how that started. I also brought in a consultant and relatively,
the consultant was confusing that as even more and wanted to add more steps and thatís
a whole another blog right there. But yeah, so weíve got it right and now we have companies
like SuiteProcess.com. Everything, you basically want to take that and have that in the cloud
and have it accessible anywhere, anytime, any locations.
>> Owen: Thanks for the blog but I also want to talk about something where because a lot
of people will look at documenting procedures, something friction that will come to their
mind or things that want to make them do it and Iím trying to figure out from a mindset
standpoint, how did you get passed that mindset and actually say ìOkay, this act of me documenting
my procedures step-by-step is actually an investment as opposed to checking my time.î
What tricks did you get passed that mindset to actually do it?
>> Phil: Okay, myself Iím a firm believer for a motion to happen, you need emotion behind
it and my biggest drive, everyone else whose trading business tries to look at that more
money, more base, more, more, more. Like ìMy God, there are a million things to think about.î
And right about 2007, my son was born and my wife is a flight attendant. She travels
around the world on private depths and sheís gone for times, weeks of the time. So I wanted
to spend as much time with my son as possible at home or somewhere else other than the office.
I used to take him to the office on a baby [15:17] and so I was very lucky to have that.
That once he gone older, the crying and having him in the background and just reaching stuff
and so forth, I was like ìHow do I remove myself completely from this business?î So
I donít have to put him in daycare and that honestly was my biggest motivator. I have
to do it. Otherwise I had to put him in daycare and nothing against daycare. Itís just something
that I didnít want for a young baby. So really, that was my biggest motivation with him.
>> Owen: I think we got now, we got the biggest motivation that you beat the mindset by having
a big ìWhy?î behind it but not as the actual mechanics of doing this. So youíd have a
big ìWhy?î the mechanics of doing it now, Iím just trying to see what challenges you
have with the mechanics of actually, literally documenting procedures and how you overcame
them?
>> Phil: I literally sat down and went through every single step of the business, from the
first one, a couple of different areas. So when that customer first comes to the website
and they place an order. What are they doing? And they go from ABC and I basically drew
it out to about six steps and how do I automate everything using auto-responders, forwarding
web pages with videos where theyíre not calling up, taking up stuff, time, wasting their time
as well and not having to make any phonecalls or anything. So I literally went through every
single step and documented everything. But also in that process, I came up with a solution
to that step as well. Like kind of a subset by making a video, by making a webpage to
explain it to customers and then also to staff as well. And then put it altogether in a book
and also took action and documented it on the website as well in terms of helping customers
get to where they want to go without having to pick up the phone or send an e-mail that
will be making it easier for them to give us money.
>> Owen: I like that and I like the way you broke it out, how you did it. But what I also
like to do is give listeners a kind of an example that makes it a bit more complex.
Letís jump into business and see what the first thing you started with was? What was
the first task that happen on the recurring basis that you felt you had to start documenting
and why? Maybe kind of walk us to how you did it. That way, the listener can use that
as a starting point in their own business? You understand the question?
>> Phil: So basically, letís talk about a process of when an order comes through our
front door.
>> Owen: Okay.
>> Phil: And one thing with us is every single piece of media that we have, these are peopleís
home movies and theyíre very precious and you cannot misplace anything. All the videotapes
look that same, look alike and you want to keep everything. So the customer sends in
50 videotapes and theyíre going to get 50 videotapes back in a roll and so forth and
theyíre done right. So when it comes to particular process is when we got a packaging and we
open up the box, what do we do? And using like FreshBooks and all the different
programs, we basically set out system where you were using Ziploc bags, synthesize inside
Ziploc bags, synthesize IKEA boxes to put everything in or using stickers on every single
tape back to the invoice numbers. Theyíre all sealed out and put into these boxes and
zipped up and then put on a particular shelf and then they give an order that theyíre
going the shelf and IKEA was a big help with that, with the auto-maintain processes just
through furniture and all the different knick-knacks that we use to basically make conveyable so
to speak of everything. So checking in jobs as being completely documented
on one, literally about six steps and everything is written down on tables and this has all
been a lot of it has been implemented by the staff. So I give them a lot of freedom, a
lot of leeway and we work together to come up with these systems. So itís theyíre idea
and they know it. Theyíve created it and Iíve got great staff and theyíre very organized
and thatís one of our biggest point is staying organized. We know what everything is at any
given time within our building.
>> Owen: And I like that and the reason why I wanted you to give an example is that the
goal is too for the listeners to say ìOkay, this is my businessî and your business is
different from theirs because you actually, literally have to receive physical goods from
people in terms of tapes.
>> Phil: Right.
>> Owen: And you literally have to create a system those goals in from when you get
the tape, what do you to get all the way to an endpoint where they donít have a digital
copy? So the listener listening to this has this ìOkay, for my own business, depending
on what Iím doing, I have to look at it different. Like a journey from when the customers come
in.î How do we get them? What are the different steps in place? And you just kind of broke
down your intake process. It doesnít necessarily mean itís going to be the same as the listener
but I just want you to say that so that youíll understand the reason behind how you broken,
created procedure, whatever task. The intake process of your business and what do you mention
was how you said that you literally empower your employees to kind of help to take, youíve
created the initial foundation of the procedures but you have a part that could take you to
the next level? And Iím curious how and how does that even benefit you?
>> Phil: My motto is ìThe less fingerprints on everything, the betterî and usually, how
can we make the job more fun and more enjoyable? How do we create the questions are how do
we get customer work? And I make them happy and make the job more enjoyable for all of
us and which usually involves less steps. So I sat down with them, everything from furniture
arrangement. Where this goes and where the computers are? So weíre just all flow and
I let them, I empower them to create their own work spaces and what works for them. Iíve
been an employee myself which I think helps once youíve got your own business because
you know what it feels like on both sides. But when it is their idea, thereís a sense
of thrive there and thereís less friction. I think a lot of owners out there that just
want to do it their way and theyíre not in their 40 hours a week. So I like to give the
staff to take out of their brain all of the time. Half the time, theyíve got better ideas
than I do. If there are other questions, I just throw that question back out them, what
would you do? And Iíd say half the time, theyíd come up with an answer and Iím like,
that is way better than I did.
>> Owen: Iím curious too, just so that we can have this more concrete in the mind of
the listeners because Iím always about empowering the employees to improve the procedure. Your
job is to create the foundation where you impart and take it to the next step. Is there
an example you can show us? Like a moment that you got based on getting feedback from
your employees that you guys actually improve the procedures for what you guys are doing?
>> Phil: My gosh, thereís a quite a few. Iím trying to think of something recent.
Right now, weíve got a new piece of equipment that has been put in place by the manufacturer
and there have been some problems and I have literally, I used to get involved in the middle
of going back and forth between the manufacturers. The staff will communicate to me and then
it will fill back to the manufacturer, the wrap and then it comes back through me and
then back to them. We eliminated me from the middle and Iíve
been kind of in the outside just recently with a big problem and with one of these new
piece of equipment and has it really been tested that much. My staff would actually
come up with a solution themselves beyond what the manufacturer could come up with and
now theyíre working directly with the manufacturer and theyíve helped them improve a product.
So thatís one kind of area where I just stepped out of the way and given them the respect
that theyíve got brain and have a good amount of intelligence to figure out the problem
themselves and improve the process there and steps and so we can all get quality product
type on time.
>> Owen: And one of the things that a lot of people also struggle with is giving up
of control because Iíll just give an example of how, before and now, when youíre having
a problem with an equipment, they would have to insert you into it and now, in this case
as example, you literally took yourself out and they have taken over the process and that
even help you to improve when you are in that all step that you just mentioned. But how
does it feel to just literally let go? What kind of struggles that you have struggled
with in terms of giving up control?
>> Phil: Itís big. It is the biggest step that you have to do is to trust that theyíre
going to do it. I mean, Iíve seen my own habits, Iíve seen other entrepreneur habits
and itís the biggest thing that I see that just ìYou know what? Iím just going to do
it myself.î I could get this done in 3 minutes and itís going to take them 15 and I havenít
even given them a chance yet and it is really hard to let go but once you do, itís kind
of like your child. When you got a baby and you just donít let anyone near it, you want
to feed it, you want to do everything because nobody else knows your child. Itís kind of
like that once you start mature a little that you go, ìIím going to let them walk on their
own and will had them *** their head and get little cuts and scrapes.î But at the
end of the day, you see those 10 years later and that they can bike downhill and youíre
not even thinking twice about it and itís 10 times more dangerous than anything you
ever thought theyíll be doing but itís okay to let go.
Whatís the worst that could happen? I think itís good to start with a very small thingósomething
very simple, straightforward. Yes, it might take them a little bit of extra time but just
let them do it and just sit back and remind yourself that itís okay. Really, itís about
wanting. What do you want from this business? Do you want to be in it every single day?
Do you want to go? Do you want to have a life? And Iíve seen many entrepreneurs that escaped
the 9 to 5 and now theyíre in the 6 a.m. to 12 midnight in the week. And itís because
they will not let go and if they took some of the advice from the day job and they had
bosses and they were comfortable what they did. Somebody trusted them as some point to
take over and itís time to let someone else. They might not be the greatest person doing
that job at the time but at least youíre going to learn as you go and go ìOkay. Well,
that person might not be good for that job. Letís get someone in that can be.î But yeah,
itís a huge step that once you do it once, twice, you get kind of addicted to letting
go. You just like, you know what? Iím just going to see how it goes and whatís the worst
that can happen?
>> Owen: And Iím curious too because now, weíre talking about letting go and giving
up control, the most that happened something from your own experience that was a little
more difficult than everything else to let go of control and if you canít shed some
light on it, what was it and how did you finally get past it to let go to your employees?
>> Phil: I think the biggest was letting employees handle customerís media and transfer the
film. Iíve created my own system in my head when I was transferring film to video DVD
many years ago. So long that I thought that was the only person that could do it this
could and I remember the first time I really let someone else do it and then stands in
over them and Iím literally like ìOh, ohî and Iím being really critical. Iíd still
be in the room but Iím listening and Iím looking and Iím like and then I remember
the first [28:39] as she walked out of the room, them doing it and Iím like, it feels
kind of good actually. Then after a couple of days, Iím going to
go get a cup of copy at the road and then youíre at Starbucks and youíre just going
ìActually, Iím making money right now.î It feels kind of good and you come back an
hour later or so and go ìDone okayî and I just made $200 and you go ìOkay, can I
make a thousand bucks?î and then you start to do more fun things. Iím going to go at
mountain biking and theyíre coming in at 9:00 and Iím out mountain biking and if thereís
any problems, these days, you got your cellphone, they could text you, they could video chat
with you, there are so many things opposed to even 5 to 10 years ago you couldnít do.
So thereís constant contact now and really thereís no better time to let go on that.
And so yeah, itís a really good feeling though. I mean, youíve got to focus on what you want
and why and the feeling that itís going to give you, the emotion I was going to feel
when youíre at your kidís soccer game, someone else is doing the work for you.
>> Owen: And Iím curious too is I like the point that you share and this question I have
is basically now you sort of how you created kind of procedures for your teammates to handle
several different recurring task in your business but then the question thatís in the mind
of the listeners, how do you exactly know that theyíre delivering the results that
you want them to deliver? What ways are you verifying and tracking the results are coming
out the way you want? So letís share right on that.
>> Phil: Yeah. Itís a great question because you can get sloppy with letting go. You can
start to look in the solution, everything is great and on the backend, all of a sudden
you got customer complaints about things arenít getting shipped on time especially now with
review sites or bad reviews on there and a couple bad experiences and these people are
really pissed off and theyíre going to write a novel and thereís people [30:53] they go
down Yelp or wherever and thereís a thousand great reviews but thereís 3 bad reviews and
then it goes straight to the bad reviews.
>> Owen: I definitely do that when I read, looking for new books, I just go to the bad
review first. Let me see the bad review.
>> Phil: Whatís the problem here and also very important how was it rectified? You have
to always respond to those bad one. But getting on point, so you know we have within FreshBooks,
you know itís a ticket system, customers can log-in if thereís a problem as a ticket.
We also have to run older review sites as well and youíll be also get a lot of work
through eBay so we got that whole in the feedback system as well. And I kind of judge it by
the ticket system if there are problems and I monitor, usually once a week, Iíll take
a quick look or my manager will take a quick look over the reviews. But generally, itís
amazing. I mean, Iíll be gone for 2 months and come back in it so usually like whatís
going on? And there are no problems or whatsoever. Iíd be hearing about it. I have my e-mail,
my personal cellphone number on our entire site. If anybody wants to speak to the owner,
they have my name. Iím over the website. Iím all over the web, videos of me with my
face and my name. So if there are any major problems and Iím an open book, I mean, Iím
very accessible.
>> Owen: One of the things you also mentioned during the pre-interview, because the way
your team is structured, the kind of work in tandem together and thereís a missing
piece, it cannot coordinate to the accountable, can you shed some more light on that?
>> Phil: Yeah. We have a motto, ìWe never want to see the same piece of media again
ever. It should be done right the first time.î If we have some work and itís done incorrectly,
well, people on the front end are going to get the grief. The customer complaining and
then theyíve got to work hard, going to ticket system, theyíre going to create shipping
label, call time and to get FedEx ticket back up again. It will be shipped across the country
and weíre going to re-do it and then got to ship back again and then itís just all
these different processes. So busy, itís the last thing that we need.
Itís just more dead work. Everybody has a place and if somebody has to pull that way
or if thereís a silly problem, theyíd come down or we all come down on each other. I
mean, itís a very constructive way of coming down but theyíre all very respectful of each
other and literally, everyone has got each otherís back. If thereís a problem, they
will get together and theyíll solve the problem. When the work comes back in or if thereís
a problem in-house that work as a team and they were very closely on that to make sure
that weíre not getting grief from the customers and the customers arenít getting grief from
our work.
>> Owen: And what I hear from that is like I feel like your business is kind of like
a conveyor-built. You think of a conveyor-built like a manufacturing, like an car manufacturing
where the parts come in and they put the pieces together and on the other end is the car.
I couldnít get an extra sense like a conveyor built kind of like?
>> Phil: It is like that. Yeah, it is. And weíve simplified as well to my process. I
mean there are so many different things that we could be doing in our business and some
of our capacitors they have a lot of different options and they do all different other types
of media, audio and all these other stuff that we donít do and we keep it very simple
for a reason just so we have a great at this block of stuff and it works well with the
equipment weíve got and it simplifies our business greatly so we can get a lot of work
here and knock it out very quickly and efficiently with very high quality. And weíre not trying
to be masters of everything so thatís not bad.
>> Owen: Thereís one thing too, basically when youíre doing the work yourself, right?
If wanting to document how you work is being done so that you can deliver it to the front
end guys, the employees who are going to do the work but then, you mentioned how you have
a manager. And now how did you create a system so that the manager can takeover you and manage
over from you and manage your employees on your behalf, is there anything that you can
share with us based on what youíve learned on creating a system on which managers can
use to manage on your behalf?
>> Phil: Yeah, I think with the manager for me because it is a small business, I had created
within work but we also had a personal rapport as well and very similar personality. So really
there was a lot of unspoken stuff, we just knew what was going on just with eye contact
and movement. So thatís one of the biggest things that taken over with sales and e-mails
and responding to e-mails. So really, that was the biggest thing and also having the
respect of other employees as well. So I chose her out of everyone else because she had previous
experience with managing people and she wasnít afraid to speak up and also to speak up to
me as well. So thatís the big thing as well. Sheís not afraid to speak her mind to me
and that is exactly why I have her in charge. But sheís very good grandma, very good rapport
with customers. Doesnít flip hire over things. If thereís a problem, sheís as cool as can
be and a really good maturity level but does have management experience in the past and
thatís a big plus there. >> Owen: So from a manager standpointÖ
>> Phil: Okay. Thatís my son Sydney.
>> Owen: Weíre almost done.
>> Phil: Yeah, heís all grown up now so this is my reason for ultimatum my business right
here, was this boy right here so we can travel back to England and hang out for a couple
of months and get out of the Phoenix Heat and hang out with the family and stuff and
anyway, Iíll be right back. Iíll be down in a minute, okay? Okay. Iíll have it this
time, all right?
>> Owen: I like that. Itís very real. The listeners listening this now are seeing real
life. Weíre not even headed to this stuff and so okay.
>> Phil: That is as real as it gets. Some of my videos online Iíve been doing Iíve
got a million videos and some of them Iíd come up with ideas and Iím in the middle
of recording them and in my office and they will pop in and just do the same thing and
youíre like ìHello, there you are.î So thatís why itís a little hard right there.
>> Owen: One thing on the topic of tracking for results, I guess how you track the turnover,
the profit and customer service is based just to relate that to how the employees on the
ground are actually doing in their work but how do you track on the manager side. What
do you use for the manager to make sure that the manager is doing his work? You understand?
>> Phil: Well, sales. Sales and profitability. Number one, I mean sheís in charge of the
numbers and that is pretty much the bottom line right and if the number are dying as
some accountability and so far, I mean so far so good. So that is pretty much it. I
mean Iíve checked the numbers every day on my iPhone, thereís an app and Iíll just
quickly look it up, quick scan. Sometimes every day, sometimes every couple of days
depends on my mood on where Iím at but yeah, weíre comparing them. I got numbers, she
got numbers. We have goals and targets from the beginning of the month and history of
last year, the same month last year and so on and so forth and during the month weíll
do checks over the past 5 years of where we are in relation to the middle of the month
of JulyÖ
>> Owen: For work analysis, right?
>> Phil: Exactly, yeah. So yeah and thatís pretty much the money is what it comes down
to and where we are at.
>> Owen: I love that because for when I get from that is not only are you now delegating
the work to both on the employee side where theyíre doing customer facing or work or
on the manager side where the manager is managing the employees but on each level you are creating
metrics to track the results for each level so that you can actually see that ìHey, not
only do they want to do the work but Iím actually very fine and trusting that theyíre
getting work based on the results Iím getting back.î
>> Phil: Yeah.
>> Owen: One thing you mentioned too was that how you have automated your marketing. This
is different now from systematizing and creating procedures for how work gets done but I wanted
to shed some light on what exactly you did to automate your marketing?
>> Phil: Automation of the marketing, as I kind of talked about earlier was this is just
me every day. The phone would ring or a customer would come in and they would say the same
questions again and again and I used to be running to that phone. If any other staff
member again talking about letting go, I mean, certain letting go of the process is in the
some of the manufacturing side of things. But letting go of sales, I mean where you
have to make that money, you got payroll to meet, rent to pay, families to support and
an employee picks up the phone and so as like, ìHi, I want to give you money and lots of
it.î And they go ìYeahÖî And youíre just like ìOhhî and you know how to sell. I mean,
you actually master the process. You own it and you know that $2000 job would have been
done. So I just literally die for the phone every
time it went [41:27]. Everyone in my office, if the phone is ringing and it wasnít a telemarketer
or a number that they recognize. It was they could get out of the way. Heís running and
Iíll grab that phone out of breath then Iíll just [41:44] and I had to sell every single
time and I got so sick of repeating myself every single day. I could only talk to one
person at a time. Itís not like Iím having a conference call or standing in front of
a bunch of people. Every single person I was putting in the same passion, same energy and
the same words again and I could literally just on auto-pilot and I was just so bored
with it that I just sat there one day and Iím like, thereís two things here, I could
make videos to empower the customer in finding out the information themselves and at the
same level of energy and passion and everything and they can see my face as well and they
can tell from the video whether if Iím full of crap or not and have it on the website.
And have it on YouTube, have it on Daily Motion, have it on Vimeo, having it in all these different
sites and actually that was the site that I didnít know that was going to start happening.
I just made it so I didnít have to repeat myself and my staff then had a little bit
more confidence because they have seen the videos and also knowing that some of the customers
have seen the videos. So they were like already pretty much sole because that seemed filled
on the left side and they go ìWow. Itís a good website, good information, the videos
and the competition donít have these videos.î Anyway, so I made those videos and then very
quickly without me knowing, they started to go viral in my industry. Viral as you know,
top videos of 100,000 hits maybe over but itís steady and if you typed in certain keywords
or long tale. There was my free spaying face and I started to just asking ìWhere did you
hear about us?î and so forth or the e-mail and saying ìI saw your video or Iíve seen
your videosî and the great thing was they would, lot of them, you donít have to repeat
yourself, if they were calling up, they already knew the answers. Iíve been there, itís
stunning. Thereís people literally on this day, Iíve
spent an hour and a half on your website, watched all your videos and I just had one
extra question, Iím like ìWhat is that?î ìBecause we donít have a video on that one.î
Itís all just like touch, feel the business and go ìOkay.î But these videos just started
to get crawled and other people were embedding them on their site and for the blog content
and newspaper where they did an article on it. They were using our videos like ìYou
might want to go here and click here for an explanation on this.î And it just started
to just viral in a good way. So yeah, I mean, that was kind of by default. But that came
from just not wanting to repeat myself and getting sick here.
>> Owen: And I like that because one of the things Iíve learned from that now is one
of the things too is a lot of times is the founders are usually like the best salesman
or saleswoman of the company. What you literally did there is you literally replaced your sales
skills by answering questions with the excitement and all that that youíre showing here. Answering
questions that customers potentially have, turning that into educational-based products.
The people can actually watch on their own for free and get all the questions in advance
and remove all the resistance even before they come to the employee. So the employee
doesnít really have to be this kind of sales person now. This person is ready.
>> Phil: Theyíre just taking orders. Yes, we are open, weíre here, weíre alive and
we havenít closed down in the past [45:33] the video. Thatís pretty much it and its
amazing because if ever Iím in the office, I used to rush to phones now, I used to look
at the phone and itís ringing and ringing. Iím like, is anyone Iím at the way like
theyíre running. Iím like ìWhoa, okay.î And I listen in and Iím like ìMy sale is
gone, good.î But if I answer the phone, thereís usually about 20% of the time people call
me out by name. They go ìHi.î Because of my accent, business
in America, they like ìOh, this must be the same guy that watching but a lot of them are
laughing or they called me by name. Theyíre like ìOh, Phil!î And Iím like ìYeahî
and theyíre like ìIíve just been watching you for like an hour.î And like ìWow.î
If you got anything [46:23] but itís fantastic, I mean then they just compliment on the videos
and it isnít just sitting in front of the webcam. I mean I spent quite a lot of time
with the videos and production value. I try and keep it real and it doesnít have to be
fancy but I think you can just rather be passionate about what you do and definitely I am and
know what Iím doing.
>> Owen: I like that because you said that because the way youíve automated out with
these two things, you systematized your business so that your team knows how to deliver the
results based on you creating procedures and on this order and you actually automate your
sales based on education based marketing of videos and all that and one of the things
you mentioned during the pre-interviews that because of your automation, now of your sales,
you literally have videos coming in from all over the world and you are able to take on
new customers regardless from where. You say that, Iíll repeat it, you say it.
>> Phil: So yeah, I mean itís crazy when we get work and from Italy. We got a lot of
work from Australia.
>> Owen: Yeah.
>> Phil: And itís crazy. I mean, I love to talk to those customers. If ever I get them
on the phone, Iím like what on earth possessed you to send you home movies 7,000 miles.
>> Owen: Yeah.
>> Phil: Across the ocean. Because thatís powerful right there and Iím like, Iíll
go to place up the road and I could have taken my steps 20 miles at the road but I chose
to send it to you guys because of the videos and the information that youíve provided.
You didnít have to do that but you did and if you take that much current attention to
your marketing, on the backend it reflects everything about your business if you care
enough to educate me. Then youíre going to care enough to take care of my precious home
movies and thatís true in my business but thatís true in everyoneís business.
>> Owen: And weíre almost done. I know Sydney is waiting for you to come back and weíre
almost done and we have a couple more questions and weíre done.
>> Phil: I think he just likes the limelight.
>> Owen: And so we love how youíve been able to literally remove yourself from your business
and one of the things that people might be listening is what has been the longest time
that youíve been away from the business? Iím just curious.
>> Phil: The longest time Iíve been away from the business is 8 weeks. Thatís 2 month.
>> Owen: Wow. That is something. That is definitely something.
>> Phil: Currently, right now Iím on a 6 week vacation in England to my hometown in
[49:27] where my family lives. So Iíve got a big family here and here with Sydney and
itís in Phoenix, this time of the year itís just 115 degrees and thereís nothing to do
really even going to pool and sitting in an air conditioned house. So I literally just
say goodbye and then Iíd get on the plane with him and flyover here and spend 6 weeks
and travel over. I mean, weíve been literally on this trip to Belgium and France, weíre
going to Scotland in a couple of days and heís having a real world vacation and a real
world experience, something the school canít give him. Weíre up in Australia 2 months
ago for 3 weeks. I do pull him out of school a lot so Iím kind of in trouble with the
school sometimes because I do take him away on vacation quite a bit and so yeah.
>> Owen: Weíre getting the real deal here. Itís real, this is real stuff.
>> Phil: Those people donít even understand this is it. This is the end of result and
this is the why is because you can go away and do these things and you donít have to
worry about money and all the [50:53] get into. So this is the goal is to be able to
do this kind of thing.
>> Owen: And one last question is now that you have all this time to do the stuff you
want, Iím just curious and you only work 15 minutes a week?
>> Phil: Yeah.
>> Owen: 15 minutes in a week. What are you doing with that 15 minutes? Where are you
spending that 15 minutes of your time in the business?
>> Phil: I would say the minimum is 15 minutes on average, right now, to be perfectly honest,
Iíve been working on a couple of little things so itís more like an hour to two a week but
typically what Iíll do is Iíll scan e-mail at the end of the day. If thereís anything
that needs my urgent attention, Iíll respond. Iíll look at the numbers and Iíll drop [51:47]
and ideas that Iíve had and then Iíll forward those ideas or suggestion on to staff and
then get it implemented.
I mean itís literally just leverage couple of seconds of thought and then quick e-mail
and then something is created from that. So once you do let go, you do get as I said,
you start to do less and less and less and realizing that there are people out there
that know way more than you and are hungry to do great job and you could sit there and
teach yourself and learn and so forth in something youíre not really passionate about when you
can just hire someone and they love it, theyíre educated and they can get it done and time
is quicker.
>> Owen: So basically, because youíre not working in the business now you literally
have more time to work on the business? I mean, thatís a clichÈ but thatís really
the reality behind it now.
>> Phil: Yeah and when you do that, when you remove yourself from it you can see it so
much more clearly. Most people in their business is, I kind of feel like a mastered it. I mean,
it has taken a long time and most people think of the quick fix and so forth but I would
say it does take about 10 years to mechanically, people can get lucky very quickly or they
can build business in a couple of years but I think emotionally itís taking me about
10 years to get a hand on it. Because most people, when they see a problem, they just
go ìHold on to that problem.î And they just go crazy and then they do all this crazy stuff
and then they do push through eventually. Now I see a problem and I go ìA problemî
and Iím just much more cooler about it and I look at the resources and I know it all
happened before and I just step back and I just go ìAll right. Well, there are there
options here and this is the one weíre going to go with and if that doesnít work out then
weíll just do this one.î So nothing flips me out these days like it used to. But that
does take some time.
>> Owen: I guess from that, like every problem is an opportunity to go back and fix the system.
Itís like a system building thing now? >> Phil: Yeah and never stop trying out. You
can mess with things too much but also, Iíll be away from the business for 2 months and
Iíll walk in and itís very important not to start changing things immediately because
the staff donít like that. But constantly looking to improve and with also with the
notion of less improve this process because itís going to be less work for you and then
you could do something based out the other and then when we understand that, getting
the staff out of their habits is another whole of an issue. But when I come from the opportunity,
the part that itís going to benefit them, they listen a lot more intensively and a bit
more willing.
>> Owen: Weíre coming to the end of the interview and one of things I always like every gust
to do is what books or book have had the most influence on you and why? Can you share the
resources?
>> Phil: Tim Ferriss: 4-Hour Workweek. [55:04] 3 hours, 45 minutes a week. So thatís always
good and the constant updates on this blog that he has. Iíve been to lot of Tony Robbins
seminars. ìAwakening the Giant Withinî is a book Iíve read and one of the things really
talked about in business is healthy mind meaning exercise, eating right, hands that youíre
having a great relationship with your wife, your partner because they are your business
partner whether you admit it or not and theyíre very much involved in it. So I think it is
a lot of different scopes the business and just that the shock of the door and open it
and figure out whatís inside. It literally is 80% up here and so yeah. Tony Robbins,
his information has been great. Seminar has been great. Tim Ferriss also some of the other
Dr. Joe Dispenza Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself is another good book. So these are
some of the things that I read.
>> Owen: Thank you very much and Iím just curious whatís the best way for listeners
to reach out to you and thank you for doing this interview?
>> Phil: Well, gotmemories.com. Philip@gotmemories.com. And if you got any stuff, any transferring,
get along over to us and weíll do a great job. Also, putting out a website called LekoVideo
and Phil@lekovideo.com on Twitter @LekoVideo just giving you tips and tricks and information
on how to basically automate your business with video getting you, the owner in front
of the camera and just letting go and how to free up your time and live your life how
itís intended which would be family and child in the world.
>> Owen: Just let me do a quick promo to the listeners. If you have been enjoying this
interview so far, you know any other entrepreneur that you feel might benefit from this interview,
feel free to share this interview and also if you know listener that has been able to
systematize their entire business and will be a right fit for this interview, send them
my way and I will love to interview them. And finally, if you are ready to get started
with systematizing your business and creating procedures so that you could literally work
out of your business and let your business be handled by your employee just like how
Phil has described. His business is basically handled or run by his employees, sign up for
a free trial or free process. And Phil, thanks for doing the interview, I appreciate it.
>> Phil: Yeah. Thanks for having me, Owen.
>> Owen: And weíre done.
>> Phil: Yeah.