A Stronger Business And 125 Days Off Per Year—During the Recession

Matt Ritter develops a stronger business and takes more time off during the economic downturn using Strategic Coach® concepts and tools.

The challenges of growth.

With years of experience in commercial real estate behind him, Matt Ritter decided to start a firm of his own. As a salesperson, he’d been successful, aggressive, and independent. Now he found himself called on to provide his clients and team members with working systems and a “big picture” vision in the face of economic uncertainty. He faced several major challenges:

• Commercial lending froze, creating a dangerous drop in transaction volume.
• His planning until now had been limited to one hope: “Work hard and get rich.” He knew this wouldn’t work in his current situation.
• His business was relatively undifferentiated and commodity-based during a very price-sensitive time.
• One of his two administrative support positions turned into a “revolving door,” needing to be refilled every six months.
• His sales team was made up of friends who were now employees, which made communication a delicate issue.
• He found it impossible to turn off the phone and be present with his wife and two young children.

“I was run so ragged, I felt like I had handcuffs on my brain.”

Looking for a long-term plan.

Around the time he started his business, Matt met a friend who was a participant in the Strategic Coach® Program. He was inspired by the business this “neat, dynamic guy” had created, and recognized possibilities for himself in what he heard. He joined Strategic Coach because he wanted to:

• Develop a business immune to swings in the economy.
• Establish a vision and a plan for his business, rather than just reacting to day-to-day events.
• Figure out how to successfully delegate the administrative tasks that were taking up so much of his time.
• Improve communication with his team to maximize productivity.
• Shift from not taking any time off to taking 100 days away from the business, so he could enjoy a better quality of life with his family.

“Strategic Coach is a team of really smart people who’ve been doing this for 20 years. They’ve created names and procedures for this stuff, so we don’t have to think of it all ourselves.”

Rebuilding and refocusing.

Participating in the Strategic Coach Program gave Matt time each quarter to think through and plan—both on his own and in the company of other like-minded, successful entrepreneurs. Identifying his short- and long-term goals, he restructured his business and personal activities by doing the following:

• Shifting from a commodity-based, transactional business to delivering a higher-value, differentiated service using financial products.
• Eliminating the activities and expenses that weren’t consistent with his priorities in order to maximize his profitability.
• Delegating all his administrative tasks, freeing himself up to focus on revenue-generating activities and spend time with his family.
• Resolving issues with his sales team and staff by applying Strategic Coach’s teamwork principles and hiring process.
• Using Strategic Coach tools with his team on a regular basis to keep communication open, create strategies to capture opportunities, and establish implementation plans that produce quick results.
• Creating a system of monthly “experience goals”—fun new activities to do with his wife and children.

“Being able to do this mental workout, the incremental progress each quarter is huge.”

The payoff.

Matt has considered his participation in the Strategic Coach Program a “great decision”—especially during the market downturn. He treasures the growth he’s achieved in the Program, both as a person and as an entrepreneur:

• Instead of putting energy into selling a commodity-based product, he now has a unique process that makes selling “just so easy.”
• He has a clear plan for increasing his income despite the confusion and stagnation in his industry.
• He focuses his time only on revenue-generating activities.
• Once his biggest challenge, his support team now takes care of itself, and communication has improved.
• He now has a third of the year free to spend with his family.

“I have the highest level of clarity I’ve ever had in my adult life, and if you were to ask me what my wealth would be in 20 years, my expectation today is significantly more optimistic than it was three years ago.”

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