Century-Old Playbooks, Reinvention, and Building a Business That Lasts with Kenneth Kollasch

Speaker A: Next on your Customer, your Success, Kenneth Kolash.

Speaker B: When I ask them, so, why are you doing this? It always. The response is always silence. And then it's always, I've not thought about that in a long time. And it's like one, uh, it's. It never fails to deliver the what I'm looking for, which is, I need to have a reason why I'm doing this.

Speaker C: Welcome to youo Customer, your Success. Um, the Mara CX Hub podcast, bringing you insights from innovators who are excelling in their fields. I'm your host, Gary Mara, and each episode we dive into the strategies and mindsets that drive customer centric success. Our guests share their journeys, revealing the secrets behind their achievements, with a special

Speaker A: focus on creating great experiences.

Speaker C: Whether you're a business leader, solopreneur, or simply someone striving for excellence, you'll find

Speaker A: actionable advice to elevate your strategy. Get ready to learn a lot, have

Speaker C: some fun, and transform your path to success.

Speaker A: Hi, everyone, and welcome back to your Customer, your success. My guest today is Kenneth Kolash, a certified business coach and the founder of Kenneth coaches. At 21, Kenneth turned down a professional soccer contract to marry his wife Caroline and become a professional ballroom dancer instead. And the two went on to become international champions. Not bad. He carried that same discipline into a career running an Arthur Murray dance studio franchise, one of the oldest franchise systems in the country, before stepping away to build his own coaching practice. He now works with small business owners through a system he calls the Small Business Flight Plan. And he's also a pastor as well as a certified coach under Will Guidera. Applying that lens to how small businesses map and improve their customer journey. Kenneth, welcome to the show.

Speaker B: Thank you, thank you, thank you. A great intro. I wish I could take you everywhere I go.

Speaker A: You guys maybe take that recording and play for me. There we go. What an interesting background and a timely background, but your soccer background. And we're in the middle of the World cup still at this time of this recording, I've just become a franchise owner. Uh, great timing. And so it's great to have you here. So let's get rolling.

Speaker B: All right, let's do it.

Speaker A: All right. So you gave up a professional soccer contract to pursue ballroom dancing. And yep, you and your wife became champions. Good for you. But tell us how that impacted your business focus from then on.

Speaker B: Yeah, so for me, of course, it was like any major decision in life, especially early on. You mentioned I was 21 and, uh, I at that time in life thought I knew how to make decisions really well. Thought I knew all the ins and outs of life, as any young person, uh, does. And it was actually super pivotal in how it shaped, um, some of the things that I do today in my consulting. Because it was in that time that actually my grandfather, who had been in radio and tv, uh, interviewed Pele and other people like that.

Speaker C: He.

Speaker B: In that moment when I was getting ready to go overseas and accept the contract, he helped me understand how to make a quality decision when I thought I knew how to. And, uh, some of the things that he taught me back then and helped me understand, and thankfully, I listened to him. Um, those things actually are things that I talk about. And as much as it wouldn't seem to make sense, the same things that helped me make a decision about that professional soccer contract and farm dancing in my, you know, future with my future wife. That actually applies to the same things I do in people's sales processes and how they hire and fire and onboard. And so it's crazy how just learning a principle, then when you extrapolate that out, um, throughout the rest of your life, it's funny how it applies in more ways than you would ever think. For sure.

Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, that's so cool. And I just. Your grandfather interviewed Paylite.

Speaker B: Imagine that. Yes. He was in. I mean, he. So he's an immigrant from Mexico City. He should be your next guest on the podcast. He's the most amazing person ever. He's my hero. We just went to a World cup match two weeks ago in the Spain game, and, yeah, he's an amazing person and, uh, very timely.

Speaker A: I. I am Pele years old because I grew up in New York, a Cosmos fan. For those of you, this is throwing people back. I used to watch the New York Cosmos, and I do vaguely remember Pele being on the Cosmos and. And retiring. And they had a retirement match where he played one half of the Cosmos and one half with, uh, Brazil.

Speaker B: Wow, that's amazing.

Speaker A: And I do remember that. So, yes, I go back to Giorgio Canelia and Chef Metzink, but that's not

Speaker B: a reason to continue listening to this show. I don't know what is.

Speaker A: I know I could. Like I said, we go down that path for the whole show. My God. But watching this World cup and teaching my kids all about it. I've been talking and thinking about them and looking about, uh, back at all the Cosmos teams and everything, because it was crazy back then. Crazy soccer was huge, believe it or not, in the 70s. So. All right, let's get back to, uh, franchises and Dancing and dance studios. So you ran an Arthur Murray franchise. So people. It's been over a century. Arthur Murray's.

Speaker B: Yeah, there it is. 114 years now, if you can believe it. Absolutely amazing. So they've figured a few things out along the way, that's for sure.

Speaker A: They. And dancing kind of changes along the way, for sure. So what did operating inside that structure, but something then dancing changes continuously. What did it teach you about uh, what m. What do most small business owners? What are they still missing? What did it teach you?

Speaker B: Yeah, so that I grew up. So a lot of people, they grew up in one specific way, whether their family were engineers or they were doctors or where they were, um, worked in some type of home service industry. And so for me, I grew up as a third generation entrepreneur. I learned everything I know about business at the dinner table with not only my parents and grandparents, but you know, other, other business owners that would fly in and they'd stay overnight at my parents place. So I had this really strange kind of education growing up at the dinner table. And most of the people that um, that got me into the ball and dance world were people I met along the way that were dance coaches. They had been on Dancing with the Stars, they had done all these different cool things around the world. And one of the things when I got into that business, that franchise model that I didn't understand before when I was thinking about, oh, do I go to college, do I pursue this career path or this career path. One of the unique things about moving into a franchise model, especially one as old as that one, and you probably understand this now, having recently, uh, become a franchisee yourself, the franchise model is so brilliant in the sense that you're buying something that you already know is proven. And when you're taking somebody through any kind of sales process or even hiring, people on the other end of the conversation are wanting some level of assurance that this is going to work out for me, right? And it's the same when it comes to an employee coming into a business, or in my case, um, a third generation coming into the family business, wanting to know even then, is this actually going to sustain, survive. And so one of the things that Arthur Murray specifically that franchise had figured out is how to take something that is somewhat novel, somewhat unique. Um, yes, it goes through ebbs and flows of being relevant in culture and society in terms of the mainstream, but learning how to literally grow and expand despite the fact that it's so niche and so luxury and so novel, um, through the ebbs and Flows of like when it was in the 70s and you know, John Travolta is doing his thing in the movies and you got Saturday Night Fever. I mean, it's like when it's easy to grow the business, that franchise model obviously did well. But even when it was, so to speak, not easy to grow the business, they still figured out a lot of different ways to, um, not only grow their business, but pivot their offering, pivot the way they found and acquired employees. Great employees. So, yeah, there's a lot of things about that that I, that I'm, um. A lot of small business owners, it takes them sometimes decades to figure out how to create a sustainable business when it's not necessarily the easiest market to deal with in terms of things like Covid or things like 911 happened or 2008, the market crash. In moments when it's easy, of course, we all rejoice. But even in those moments where it's tough, you have to rely on your ability to, um, create new systems and pivot your offering and all that kind of stuff. And that's what that franchise did really, really well.

Speaker A: Yeah, that is interesting because you just think, I. Going back to the seventies. You said it. Um, I'm continuing to date myself here, but Travolta and Do the Hustle. I remember that and all everybody trying to learn how to do the Hustle. And then the 80s were. Was much different. But yeah, that's definitely something. See where that market ebbs and flows tremendously. And so you definitely have to adapt and change. So, um, so tell us about kind of how you work that in now because, you know, what do you see with owners that are starting themselves from scratch? Um, and so they might be genuinely good at the work themselves, but they're going to struggle to grow the business. So what, how do you kind of tie that all in?

Speaker B: Yeah, I would say for especially new business owners, which I consider anybody under five years, you're still figuring things out and you listening, you know that. I mean, if anybody, if we. We've all owned something that is relatively new and we're still figuring out all the kinks. But one of the things that, um, a lot of people, I don't say forget about, but one of the things that they need to focus on is the ability not just to supply a great offer, whether that's a service or whether that's a specific product, something you've patented or something you've gotten really good at. I know there's a lot of car mechanics out there, but I Do this specific thing really well when it comes to car maintenance, or I do it faster or better or, uh, more. More I do it nicer than the, than the person across the street. The supplying aspect is actually probably one of the most intuitive parts of running a business. Knowing what you do well and knowing how you want to package that, but finding out the demand and the specific pain point of the client base or the, the audience or your target market, all of those things are actually not intuitive. A lot of times we think, well, because I have the problem, everyone has a problem, or because I would want the product this way, that means everybody wants the product this way. Or because I, like, I understand that the pain point sounds like this, that means everybody would express the pain point like this. And those three statements I just said aren't true. Yeah, um, I know. And a lot of times we have to find out from the people that are eventually going to be our customers. You have to find out from them first how they not only want to hear our offer, but what they actually want the offer to be. And so I think we underestimate as new business owners the, the we don't respect enough the aspect of finding demand. We respect more our ability to supply a product or service. And so I think that balancing those out better, not that you don't need the supply side, but balancing the supply and the demand, um, research that you do is really, really important, especially when the market shifts. Like I said in 2008, Covid, et cetera, et cetera, the 70s versus the 80s. For us as a dance business, all those moments are perfect, prime moments to not just reach into your, well, what are we supplying? Uh, pocket, but actually reach into the market and say, okay, well, what are they demanding? And then let's pivot and, and supply that.

Speaker A: Yeah, no, that's brilliant because, uh, you see a lot of that with CX and CX consulting, because I think there's a need, but sometimes there's little demand because people don't see the roi. And maybe we don't have time for this. And this is what we talk about on the show all the time. But I could see the same thing with dance. Now, certainly there's a need for people to get help with dancing.

Speaker B: I would say, oh, there's people with a need.

Speaker A: There's people with a need. It's like golf. 99% of people really need some help with it and don't know what they're doing and think they know what they're doing. But is there really the demand and so that is super true and it's something we've touched on in the show. So that's a great statement. So your program, it's uh, built around doubling revenue footprint, right? Uh, correct. In 12 to 24 months. That's pretty lofty goals. So what, you gotta have something to work with, right? So what has to be true inside a business for a result like that to be realistic?

Speaker B: Okay, so there are two things that. First, uh, of all, yes, there's the, the, the guarantee that comes with my small business flight plan is we double their revenue, their footprint, or the business's valuation in 12 to 24 months from the start date that program. And there are two things that are absolutely necessary for uh, for that to actually happen. And the first is you have to be in a growth stage. And when I say that like not the, the business, of course we always want more clients, uh, leads, sales, conversion rates. We all, all want that to be better. But I'm talking about the actual owner themselves has to want and be in a growth phase themselves. So a lot of times if somebody just had their first child or if they just moved into the area or they just started their business, yes, you're uh, in a growth phase, but a lot of times you're um. There's a lot of other things that are competing for attention. And I always tell people if, if uh, if there's some type of barometer and uh, 10 is literally 24, 7. You don't even sleep, eat, shower, and that's you're on your business 24, seven. And one is uh, you would rather just sell the business and get out. Um, somewhere between a 6 and a 7 is the perfect prime spot for people that um, that I tend to work with and in the sense that they need to want to be in a place where they're looking to double grow their business because it's going to require time, energy, attention that they are otherwise spending in a lot of areas. But of course the second element that has to be true about that business is they have to be willing to bring in somebody from the outside that they would trust as much as they trust themselves. And for a lot of business owners, they have the time, energy and resources that they're wanting to invest into their business to double it. But they don't have the expertise and they don't have the um, they're not at the place where they were wanting to trust somebody with the responsibility of that, like it, like they would trust themselves. So it has to be true that they're Willing to bring in somebody else like myself that uh, would have as much authority in the business as they would and they have to actually want the results and the, uh, be okay with the work that it'll take to get there. Because it is work. You know, 12 months spending, spending 12 months with me. 12 months with me is not, uh, going to be the easiest thing. I try to make it easy and fun and all that and all that good stuff. But it is, um, it isn't intensive. It is not a relaxed, comfort driven journey. It is a result, outcome focused, uh, enterprise that we're going on. And, and for me, I've got skin in the game. I mean it's, it's we double in 12 or 24 months or I work for free until we do. So I've got skin in the game too, to make this thing happen.

Speaker A: Yeah, no, I mean it's almost like you're like a personal trainer holding everybody accountable, it sounds like. And you've got to be willing to do it and that trust is super important to let you in. And then, you know, because it doesn't sound like this is like say a, uh, half, you know, what effort here. This is your all in. So tell us.

Speaker B: That is actually the perfect. Not to cut you off, but that is the perfect analogy, the personal training analogy. Because like to your point, you just mentioned a little bit ago, everybody has the need. Would we all be better off if we had a personal trainer? Uh, yeah, of course I would, I would, I would get where I want to get to sooner, faster and better. But um, there is the cost, uh, to that. And the cost doesn't just come in money. It comes in, I might be embarrassed to show him how I do the exercises and he might be like, or she might be like, oh, that you're, you're doing it like that. Oh my gosh, no wonder you've not gotten anywhere in two years. Um, but, so there's a, there's risks that we wouldn't think of that are associated with it that go way beyond just money. And it's the same thing for business coaching. If somebody's a small business, uh, owner out there. Half of the battle isn't paying for the coaching. Half of the battle is exposing what's actually happening in the business. That's the uh, it's the, it's the ego, it's the, it's the pride. It's the, this is my baby, this is my livelihood. I'm not just supplying for my family, but I've got five employees and it's their families too. So there's a lot more that goes into it that people wouldn't think about. They would. They normally think about the money and the time and the energy, but there's a lot more that they're handing over to me and trusting with. With me than just their wallet and, and the energy that they're willing to put into it, for sure. So the personal training analogy was, Was perfect.

Speaker A: All, uh, Right, good. Well, let's stick with that theme then. Cause you're a certified coach under Will Guerra, the author of Unreasonable Hospitality. He's come up a number of times on the show, both on the chip shots. His book's been recognized, recommended, uh, twice. Somebody else recommended quoted him. I think I used a quote for does, uh, it old water. So tell us how his approach to hospitality and customer experience and all that shows up in your framework.

Speaker B: Okay, so I will. Is amazing. And if you've not read his book Unreasonable Hospitality, uh, you, you absolutely have to. It's on audiobook and it's amazing. He owned the number one restaurant in the world at one point. He was a former co owner there. And how it applies to what I do is I came from a very luxury, premium experience brand in the dance world. So you can have dance lessons in a variety of different fashions, just like you can go to a car dealership that looks different, like Ford versus Ferrari. You know, there's. There's different cars for different people in different seasons of life. And so ours is a very luxury, um, premium brand. And for me, uh, one of my favorite things to do with Will's frameworks is he has this ability to create the ROI that luxury and premium brands get when they're able to charge more and they're able to have customers for longer. Because there's prestige and there's an experience that comes with the product, not just the, the deliverable of the product getting from point A to point B. Um, so one of my favorite things to do is with his framework, turn ordinary everyday businesses and add into their business without this massive, you know, cost of running ads like Ferrari does or building some crazy beautiful building, having the ROI of adding the customer experience, luxury feel, and changing their processes and the way that they interact and engage with their customers in that journey from they become a lead all the way till they're a recurring client. And that whole journey people, um, one of my favorite things to do is help those ordinary brands create a luxury, a premium type of experience in a way that doesn't cost them what they think it's going to cost them. AKA oh, I don't have tens of thousands of dollars to just pour into ads like that or videos or, or fireworks going off in the, in the showroom. You know, like, I don't have. I don't have the budget to do that. And people don't understand. Creating a luxury experience has very little to do with spending more money on something. Now, of course. Is there some investment? Uh, yeah, of course. Naturally, there's training staff, there's some physical things you'll do. But one of my favorite things to do is to see an everyday brand like an H vac company or some home services business or a pet groomer and see them be able to charge more or have a higher client retention rate because of the frameworks that Will teaches. And it literally costed them a tenth of what they thought it was. And yet their customers still have that same experience. Like, wow, you're like the. You're like the top tier pet groomer and that I've ever worked with. Like, this is, this is way different than so and so down the street. And that's what they're going for, is creating an experience that's unique and special. And that's really what we think of when we think of Will's frameworks, is creating something that is unforgettable. Uh, even if it's something as simple as I fixed your air conditioning unit or groomed your dog, um, those, those types of industries can still have the Ferrari type of experience for their customers.

Speaker A: Yeah, even. Even something as simple as getting your haircut or your hairstyle. Yeah, there's. We have got a local barbershop, the great.

Speaker C: Sorry.

Speaker A: Uh, a local barbershop up the street that's still all cash. Uh, great, guys. You just walk in, it's like old school, like, you know, Saturday afternoon, and it's a whole different experience than, you know, the fancy salon or kind of in the middle where I tend to go. And it's very simple, but it's like, it's so noticeable when you, uh, when you do what I do, when you talk to people like you all the time. But something simple could be made. Something so much more if you. I think if you practice this.

Speaker B: Absolutely.

Speaker A: Yeah. So tell us, so what is. What is customer journey mapping look like in your practice? Because we talk about this a lot of, a lot on the show, and we've taken it from, you know, really detail to. Sometimes it's just, you know, the basics. So maybe some. You're somewhere in between.

Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah, so some. So every business of course is unique. So every business we. The first step in any customer advantage map, uh, that we do is to of course find out, okay, what is the customer experience? And honestly this is probably one of the most revelatory exercises that I go through. There's a ton of assessments and diagnostics and all kinds of things that I do throughout the 12 months. But when we do this one specifically, you know, when you're in the business every day cutting hair or servicing, you know, as a plumber or electrician or whatever you do, whatever your business is, the, when you're in it every day, it's hard to, as I would say, it's hard to read the label when you're in the milk carton. It's like when you're in the business every day, it's hard to know. Oh yeah, like that is actually like I take it for granted or I just, I've been doing this so long I just didn't even notice that. But that is a, that is a part of the customer experience. That is a touch point. And so the first thing we do is we actually map out what is every single point of interaction that the customer has with your business or your product or service or your employees or your ads, et cetera, et cetera in their journey. In other words, what is everything that we have control over? And all of these touch points either have some type of positive reinforcement, some type of neutral, um, neutral, uh, stance with the customer, or has some type of negative reinforcement. And all three of these points are either obligatory, like they have to happen, for example, they have to pay at some point. That's a, that you can't escape that, uh, you, the, you know, then there are some that are non obligatory as in, okay, well I can target a different audience that the ad doesn't have to go to. This audience specifically. Um, things. Things like, okay, well if I dis, if I'm a restaurant, for example, we don't have to have them come in this way. We can only make the entrance, the store instead, since this is a prettier entrance or whatever. So there are same things that are in our control, there are things that are not in our control. And then the last step to just kind of generalize the whole process is we've listed everything. We've actually categorized which ones are positive, neutral and negative. And then of course the last step is what is our three tiers of things we can actually change. And those would be your low hanging fruit, your middle of the road and Then your, your, your best, you know, dream scenario. If I could, I would change this. And um, a lot of times again that, that end of the, of the map mapping journey.

Speaker C: Naturally.

Speaker B: Um, we'll start with the low hanging fruit. Okay. What are the few things that we can do to you know, improve the negatives or fix the negatives, turn the neutrals into positives and even double down on the things that are already becoming a positive experience or enhancing the journey for the customer and the low hanging fruits. What we start with and naturally we work up from there. And it's so cool to see almost like the business owner become inventive again in their business or become creative again in their business or become strategic. One of my favorite things is I'm, I'm strategic by nature. And it's so fun when somebody will say, well I'm an engineer, I have an engineering background or I'm analytical. I don't really have the creativity gene. You know, I'm not really strategic by nature. I can't really see the big picture.

Speaker C: Ah.

Speaker B: And my, one of my favorite things is in this process they learn how to be strategic and they learn how to be creative and they learn how to be inventive. And it's actually in a way still analytical for them because it's still a structured process. It's still something they can reevaluate every year. So it's just so cool. It's one of my favorite things to do throughout the 12 months is go through this customer advantage map with people.

Speaker A: Yeah, uh, it's a great way to do things. We've talked about a lot on this show. Uh, but yeah, everybody can, does have some creative side to them. I think it just doesn't come out if your natural inclination is towards the analytical. And I think it becomes a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy where you say, well, this is just the way I am. Um, which is. Well, I used to be, but now I've been create, I mean for fun. I, I create golf courses online, you know what I mean? And I do videos. Well, that's how I started doing this, right? And I started doing videos and helping people learn how to design the golf courses, uh, for the game. And then, you know, when I started doing this, I just said I was writing first and I'm like, I really don't want to write, I just want to talk about it. And the creative process for this is what I really enjoyed. It's a lot of work and stuff, but when I see the finished product because now I know how to, uh, edit video just from the Goofy Golf videos. And, and, oh, I got a tool like Riverside here. This helps me. And look how great this looks if I put a little effort into it. So you can really, um, unpack that in yourself if you start doing it a little, little by little. Uh, and so sometimes at first it was intimidating for me to put myself out there, but it took about a few.

Speaker B: I will say, like you just said, the ROI is unexpected. Like the ROI of creativity, inventiveness, strategic mindedness. Uh, those things have an ROI that is quantifiable and that's with the customer advantage map. The quantifiable ROI is customer retention, your conversion rates. There are quantifiable things that change that. I encourage people, hey, we're going to do this. And when we make that change, let's take 14 days and then come back and see what was the difference. Our average number before was this. Now our average number has suddenly gone up 5%. That it's not an accident. You know, our customer reach has gone up an extra thousand impressions a month or a thousand impressions in these two weeks. Whatever that the ROI is, there are, it is quantifiable to know that this, this, these things that are somewhat intangible, making a customer experience better or addressing these touch points. There are actually rois ROI attached to it that isn't. That, uh, is quantifiable. That, uh, without a coach, sometimes you think, well, it's all just fluff and it's just being creative and it's just for me, it's for me, myself and I. But like you just said, with, with your business, it, it enhances the show. It makes the show a great show because you've learned and, and gone through all these different things and um, um, Riverside's a great tool, so. Yeah, no, I totally agree. There's, there's, there's an ROI on the other side of creativeness and um, strategic mindedness and all that fun stuff.

Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. So walk us. If you could walk us through your small business flight plan. Kind of top level. Right. Just so everybody understands what is. Because we've hinted at it and we've talked about a couple of different aspects of it, but what does the kind of total package look like? And I know you could probably spend the full hour on that, but, um, just, you know, just so people know what we're talking about here.

Speaker B: Yeah. So here's how you know if the small business flight plan is for you, because it is true. It is not necessarily for every Joe Schmo out there. Um, the small business flight plan is for you. If one, you're a small business owner, two, you've been in business less than five years, three, if you're doing under a million dollars, and four, if you have less than 10 employees, if you're in that mom and pop stage where you're wearing all the hats, putting out all the fires, cleaning up all the messes and just kind of crazy and stress and chaos is kind of your normal on a week to week basis. That is, that's who the small business flight plan is for. For. And of course there's other things I do if that doesn't fit you. But the small business flight plan is essentially, it is a business system that we install into the business. So one of my favorite ways to describe it is there's business coaches that will work on you as the business owner, which is extremely valuable and of course necessary. And we all could become better. There's all aspects of our ownership and leadership and et cetera that we could improve. But what I do with the small business flight plan is I come alongside the business owner and we together install and work on the business. So rather than working on you, the competent professional and business owner that you are, and I assume you are, we come alongside together and we install a leadership suite into your business and understand how to create a mission statement and core values and create an atmosphere within your business that facilitates the culture you want and not the culture that just falls into your lap. And we go into your marketing suite and we make sure that you're doubling your conversion rates and doubling your lead flow and all the, all the fun things like, you know, developing your brand and creating more brand awareness. We go into your sales, uh, funnel and we address your email campaigns and how are your sales, uh, conversations going. Let's, let's create a dynamic that actually doubles the conversion rates. Again, again, every, every aspect of the small business flight plan is going to be wherever the baseline is. Let's double whatever the, the lead, uh, the lead measures are and that will create the result that we're looking for, which is of course a double business. And then in the product suite we move into their product offering where we're literally auditing their product offering in a sense that we're not only finding which products, uh, in the product ladder are good and right, but which products could we double down on and invest more into? Which are the most profitable, um, and other products, which products can we introduce that actually add to the value or even for the customer and make more sense in their journey and trust with you as a business that would make sense and almost like break the steps up. Because a lot of times we have these few very large offers, but we don't really have a nice ladder that leads a customer to it. And sometimes it's just too big of a jump for them to go from A to, from A to K or A, A to Z, so to speak. And then we come into their management um, suite and we go and we actually install uh, what I would call the five meeting system which is basically it's every meeting that you would need uh, within a business's quarter. And uh, instead of doing the emergency meetings where you meet with Joe whenever he screws up, or you meet with Jane when, when some, some type of fire starts happening in the business and you run over to the office, you give them a call. And instead of having a urgency based meeting system where it's well whatever's on my plate and whatever's most urgent is what I'm going to start meeting with people about instead that our, the meeting system we install actually helps them get ahead of the work, get ahead of the, these stages of their business and get ahead of the fires. So we become more proactive and obviously then preventative in their business. And then the last thing that we address is their cash flow and how they actually manage the assets that come into their business. Whether that's the obviously cash, um, the literal cash or whether it becomes the investment, uh, items that they, that they um, invest in as the business to of course create external cash flows outside of just the customer base for the owner. And inevitably the goal is of course to find a really really, or to establish a really, really great cash flow within your business and then create alternate cash flow, um, alternate cash flow through investment opportunities outside of the business. So that way eventually as the business owner, you're running the business because you love it, not necessarily because you need it. And that is of course the end goal for our, for a lot of business owners. And we don't always accomplish that in the 12 to 24 months. But the goal is to that then by the end of the small business flight plan, you not only have doubled your business, but you have actually created a playbook along the way that if you ever wanted to do it again, yes, of course you could hire me again, you know, I'd happily do that with you. But you have a playbook to run in a year or two from then when you want to do the same thing all over again. Wow.

Speaker A: That is a lot and a lot more than I thought. And I even do. I do my research on, um, my guests before the show. Wow, that is comprehensive. That is way more comprehensive than I thought. Good for you. So how long did it take you to come up with all of this? I assume you kind of. You built it as you went, but, um, that is a lot. Because that's a lot of different disciplines you're hitting on.

Speaker B: Yes. Um, well, so I. I think it did help coming from that franchise background. Like I said, they had so much figured out. And all my experience, for the most part, came from when I was in high school and even before then. Like I said, growing up in this business, I. I have. This has been my education the whole time, and I never was isolated to. Well, you're this type of person, so you're only going to learn the marketing stuff because you're a creative guy or you're. You're really inventive, so you're the product guy or you're really good with people. So you be our manager. Like, I was never pinned into a specific role. And in the franchise world over the 14 years I was in there, I was in every role. Like, there was a time where I was in charge of all of our leads and ad campaigns, and then I was in charge of the sales team, and then I was in charge of, you know, actually leading all these different teams. And so we got into management, and then I, in the latter stages, started managing and understanding cash flow. And I'm like, man, like, this is. This is good stuff. But I will say, um, a lot of the people I certified with, Donald Miller, Will Guidera, Michael Hyatt, these guys have amazing platforms that added to and. And helped me clarify my own experiences and my own knowledge and wisdom that I had gotten through my own experience, and they combined with, um, my experience helped me put together these types of frameworks. And, um, I cannot speak highly enough about when you do certify or you do anything with partners like that, you. You not only want to have an. Have an ability to obviously make money alongside them, but you want to also be able to glean wisdom and frameworks and even clear versions of your own wisdom from them. So, yeah, I've got. I've got great partners that have helped me along the way and a lot of mentors and anybody that, uh, listens to this podcast knows how valuable, like, shows like this are. So it's a culmination. A lot more than just my own brain, that's for sure.

Speaker A: Wow. Doesn't I was. I was impressed with your background before, but now that's. That's amazing. And when you, you, you lay it out there all like that, good for you. All right, unfortunately, we only have time for one more on, um, the interview segment of the show. The closer is, if a business owner listening today feels stuck in their current stage, what is the one thing you want them to do differently this month?

Speaker B: Okay. If you are stuck. And of course, there's a lot of ways to be stuck, so congratulations, you found one. Um, if you're stuck. If you're stuck, which we all get to at some point, so don't feel bad if you're stuck. One of my. One of the things that you can do to get unstuck the fastest is, is to stop being alone. And of course, you know, that plugs people like me, but it could be anyone, whether it's a spouse, a pastor, a mentor, a great show like this with Gary, having an accountability to actually get unstuck is half the battle. And it's like part of what I mentioned earlier of the benefits, uh, and the cost, uh, of hiring a coach or even attending and listening to a show like this. The cost is you feel convicted to do something different than you are currently doing. So I cannot speak highly enough to accountability. If you want to get unstuck, you can do a lot of things differently, but you can intend to do a lot of things differently, but you probably won't actually do too much differently until there's somebody to be accountable to.

Speaker A: Brilliant. I feel like so many small business owners just try to be Superman and Superwoman and you don't have to. So, yes. Awesome. Great job. Let's hit the segments. All right, everybody, it is time for Does It Hold Water? My favorite segment. This is where I asked our guests to be our resident expert witness for the day. I read them according quote, a piece of thought leadership. They let us know if it holds water or not, and more importantly, why. You ready?

Speaker B: Let's do it.

Speaker A: All right. This quote comes from James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Does the defense case hold water?

Speaker B: This absolutely holds water. I have never heard a statement more true. Systems are everything. And James Clear and Atomic Habits. There's not much that doesn't hold water in that book. It's a fantastic resource.

Speaker A: I thought you would like that one. But why? I think, where do people fail with goal setting?

Speaker B: Okay, so with goal setting, uh, I, I use this framework it's called hero on a mission. And one of the ways that people fail, uh, and that I failed for a long time in my goal setting was, again, I'll go back to the accountability thing. I said, it's not just knowing what to do, but it's actually having a reason to do it and somebody knowing that you are going to do it. And, uh, that's why professional baseball players have coaches. That's why, uh, actors and musicians have coaches. It's why people have people in their life to not only teach them, but to actually help them be accountable to what they're. What they're saying their. Their own ambitions are.

Speaker A: Yeah, it is so important to have the right coach, whether it's sports, soccer, golf. I'm a golf nut. But business, I think it's underappreciated in business. So, um, that's why we're here, and that's why we do what we do. Awesome.

Speaker B: That's right.

Speaker A: Ready for chip shots?

Speaker B: Let's do it.

Speaker A: Let's roll. All right, everybody, it's time for chip shots. These are my shorter form questions, more personal, yet still professional in nature. And, Kenneth, we start with the book question every time. What is one book that has significantly influenced you? Personal, professional, and how did it impact you?

Speaker B: Yes. So my favorite book is called the 21 irrefutable laws of Leadership. It's by John C. Maxwell and I that when I was 18 years old, and it totally changed my life. Not just on the professional side, but there was so much I was getting. I got married young at 22, and there was so much in that book that. That just changed my life.

Speaker A: And. I'm sorry, who's the author again?

Speaker B: John C. Maxwell.

Speaker A: Yeah, I don't. I don't know that one at all, really.

Speaker B: Oh, the 21 irrefutable laws of Leadership. It's. You will not. You will not be, uh, disappointed.

Speaker A: All right, we've got a new one for the list. Awesome. The leader questions next. I love this one. If you could spend the day shadowing a current leader, uh, any profession, any industry, who would it be, and what would you hope to learn?

Speaker B: Okay, so my person is John Bevere. Uh, he is a minister, Christian minister here in the United States. Uh, his ministry is a global ministry, and, uh, one of my favorite people on the face of the earth to listen to. They've got a great. Him and his wife have a great podcast, awesome Marriage. And, uh, I've gotten to see him speak live a few times, and I would love to shadow a man who gets so much done in a way that is obviously super purposeful and aligned with my, my wife and I's ambitions too. So yeah, he's, he's, he'd be somebody I'd love to, love to sneak around with.

Speaker C: Oh, great.

Speaker A: That's a good for our first minister.

Speaker C: Great idea.

Speaker A: That's a great, great way to grow.

Speaker C: Great path.

Speaker A: All right. Is there a particular experience of failure early in your career that taught you a valuable lesson you still use today?

Speaker B: Yes. I remember my first management opportunity. I had three interns that I was in charge of managing and all three of them, uh, by the time I was done with them, told me they hated dancing, they hated me, and they were never coming back. And so that is, that's what you call a 21 year old leader, uh, in the dance world. I was so selfish. I was very ego driven and it was at that stage, stage of my life where I thought I knew it all. And so humility, uh, goes a long way is what I found out. And I still stick to that today. And it's in the back of my mind anytime I have a contractor employee or work with anybody, humility goes a long way.

Speaker A: Uh, a little bit of a cold shower for you, so to speak. A cold shot of cold water being thrown in your face. Yeah, yeah, I feel I was a little bit like that and I had a few incidents like that too. Like I just thought I would, you know, I was a little bit of confidence, uh, overload sometimes and um, not reality based and that a few of those doses of reality myself.

Speaker B: Amazing.

Speaker A: Yep. No, brilliant. Awesome. What is one question that you ask clients that never fails to deliver?

Speaker B: Mhm. One question that I love to ask clients that never fails to deliver is for most small business owners, they are in the grind all day, so they're always focused on what are they doing, you know, what do I got to do today, who do I got to talk to, all that m. When I ask them, so why are you doing this? It always, the response is always silence. And then it's always, I've not thought about that in a long time. And it's like one, uh, it's, it never fails to deliver the what I'm looking for, which is, oh, I need to have a reason why I'm doing this because I'm working real hard and I'm sacrificing a lot of things to make this happen and I don't even know why I'm doing it. Yeah, I love that question.

Speaker A: That's, that is brilliant. That Is brilliant. And it's it. I could totally see it. Especially with the smaller operators that are just working so hard. You lose sight of the goal because you're so damn busy putting out fires.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: And such. Awesome. Kenneth, Great job. Kenneth Kolash, great guest. Thank you so much for being here today. Why don't you tell everybody where they can find you?

Speaker B: Yeah, my pleasure. What a great show. Uh, if you are interested in finding out about me, all my stuff is in one location, so you only have to go to one spot. It is kenneth coaches.com. my social links are on there. I've got a whole hundred thousand dollars free, uh, resource market that's on there. And, uh, everything is on kenneth coaches.com. so the socials, all the free stuff. Hearing, uh, about my small business flight plan, booking a call with me, it is all on kenneth coaches.

Speaker A: Com. Awesome. Lots of freebies. Great to hear. All right, everybody, thank you so much for watching your customer, your success or listening. So if you're watching, don't forget we are available on all major audio platforms. And if you're listening, don't forget there is the YouTube video. So thanks for watching today. That is all for today. We'll be back with more CX leaders, customer success leaders and more real soon. Bye for now.

Speaker C: That's a wrap. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We hope you found something insightful that will enhance your experiences and drive your success. If you enjoy the episode, please leave a review and share your thoughts to help us improve the show. Don't forget to head on over to Mario for more ways to connect with me and learn more about experience management. Until next time, I'm Gary Mara. Working hard for your customer and your success.