Last time, I talked about changing your mindset about outsourced workers, but this also means we need to think differently about the staff that makes up the core team.

Chapter 5 — Low Overhead Means Every Employee Matters More

What is your real superpower? It’s planning; it’s design. You know how to organize the parts and pieces, create flexibility in the schedule, prepare the details, and put the right people on the job to ensure everything goes well and the customer is happy.

It was never about the gear. As long as the equipment was appropriate to the task, well maintained, and properly installed, no one cares what that gear is — except maybe you and some of your technical staff.

It was never about the employment status of your team. Full-time, part-time, freelance, or subcontractor — as long as they’re good at what they do, can do it pleasantly, and behave professionally, the client rarely cares how that person gets paid.

Did you understand the customer’s needs? Did you find appropriate solutions for their budget? Was your advice helpful? Once the job was confirmed, did you take care of the details like you promised? 

Remember what I said about capacity exceeding demand pre-pandemic? Direct Costs without Income equals Loss. Designing a business that loses money most of the time is kind of insane. But the lure of over-building is very, very powerful.

“We need to be prepared to react, to say yes. We want to take on those last-minute shows, because there’s a lot of profit in them.” Obviously an Owner said this because your team hates last minute jobs.

The additional profit from that one extra last-minute show is expensive. 

Building any Cost of Goods Sold into your overhead implies that you can do it at a lower cost. That might be true on a job-by-job basis, but if you look at annualized spending for things like trucks, specialty equipment, and technical staff, you would be better off outsourcing.

You’re still reading, so you either believe this already or you’re willing to try — if I can show you how to do it.

Where Does Value Come From?

We should always sell from our highest level of contribution. If rental equipment is a commodity, then it doesn’t have a lot of value to the buyer — they can get it anywhere. If you have the best people, but you let their price be dictated by competitors that don’t take the same care, then your team is also a commodity. 

If you’re better than your competitors, then why don’t you cost more? You do? Good. We can build on this.

Can you provide exemplary service, professional planning, excellent technicians, and state-of-the-art gear — without having any employees or equipment?

“…Sure, but it would be more expensive…”

Correct, your costs would be higher. But you could do it, right?

If your best customer or even a great prospect needed your help on the busiest day of the year, you could figure out how to do it. It might cost them more, but all they care about is getting it done, and they trust you. 

That is value defined.

That is your highest contribution. What would your company look like if this is what you sold?

You would need:

• Time and patience that come from not being in the weeds micromanaging jobs costs
• Systems and processes for getting things done quickly and efficiently
• Dedicated professionals who can help that client (and aren’t tied up on show site till next week)

Changes to Your Core team

As I’ve said, there are three key skills you need to develop in your business: Selling, Planning, and Procuring.

Every person on your team needs to fit in one of these buckets, and they need to be genuinely good at it. They might be good at doing shows too, BUT shouldn’t need to do them. 

Finding good show technicians and project managers that can also design the show, estimate the price, plan the logistics, prep the gear, and source the people/equipment is very difficult. That person is a unicorn, and probably expensive, when all you really need is to rethink your processes.

The idea of working from your highest level of contribution applies to you and your employees too. Just because you CAN do a task, doesn’t mean you SHOULD do it. 

Who’s best at communicating with customers, understanding their needs, and delivering bad news? Put them in sales. It doesn’t matter if they play golf or know how to build a quote. Whether they’re your best lighting programmer shouldn’t matter. You can find other board ops. Finding a good customer interface is priceless.

Who’s great at figuring stuff out? You need that person to support Sales and Planning. They might help with creating estimates, or maybe you have one more person who does that. The job is to keep Sales supplied with practical solutions and quotes that Planning can execute quickly when the job confirms. 

Do you have someone who’s organized and detail oriented? Put them in charge of Planning for all your jobs. Logistics, equipment allocation, crew flow — this is where you succeed or fail once the job is confirmed. Build some redundancy into this department.

You need to buy supplies, sub-rent gear, schedule labor, and book travel. This might be a team or one person, but if your planning is solid, this role is mostly about placing orders.

You’ll get the right gear and people to show site if you have a dedicated team to Sell, Plan, and Buy. 

Some of My People Won’t Do That!

You’re correct. Some of them won’t. But, some will jump at the chance to do what they do best every day. 

Do you want to design your business around the team you have or the customers you want? I’m not saying there’s no middle ground, but if you start compromising before you optimize, you won’t get the results you deserve.

You SHOULD have a lot of questions and even some serious objections. 

Some of My People Won’t Do That!

You’re correct. Some of them won’t. But, some will jump at the chance to do what they do best every day. 

Do you want to design your business around the team you have or the customers you want? I’m not saying there’s no middle ground, but if you start compromising before you optimize, you won’t get the results you deserve.

You SHOULD have a lot of questions and even some serious objections. 

I don’t expect you to take this at face value, nor do I think you can pivot your company overnight. This is why I’ve put together the Jumpstart Management Workshop on Intentional Scalability. Here’s the value:

• Learn the steps to get started along with your leadership team, so you can avoid mistakes.
• Understand the common challenges you’re going to encounter, so you’ll see them coming.
• Meet other business owners who are also on this journey, and stay in touch with them.
• Talk directly to folks who are already successfully doing this
• Get your questions answered, so you can move forward sooner.