I’ve talked to a lot of owners who got incredibly busy after the pandemic. While it was a relief to see work flooding in again, it was also frustrating — because the profit somehow wasn’t matching the chaos.

That’s what happened to Zack Grant, CEO and co-owner of SEAS Productions, a full-service AV company in San Diego, California.

The Problem of Plenty

With business roaring back after the COVID shutdowns, Zack could tell something was off. Operations were getting chaotic, and he felt he was losing his grip on his business. He hated the sense of just keeping up but not being fully in control.

Zack recognized that being ingrained in the day-to-day operations made it difficult for him to pull away and look at things with objective distance. He also knew that, as a relatively young business owner, he didn’t have all the know-how he needed to navigate the situation he found himself in.

Zack needed somebody with an outside perspective and experience to point him in the right direction and provide clarity in his blind spots. He also wanted a sounding board for his own ideas — someone who could tell him if he was trying to reinvent the wheel.

“I wanted someone to come in and audit what we were doing as a company, to come up with a good path forward. We were really busy, but not super profitable. That never made sense to me.”

Zack needed a fresh perspective. So he called me.

Why Me?

Zack reached out to me in 2022. He didn’t look at many advisors. In fact, I might have been the only one.

“I remember Tom from the beginning of the pandemic. He was one of the only people out there saying the pandemic was going to take a lot longer than everybody thought it was. I was thinking three months and things are going to blow over, but Tom was out there saying, ‘Whatever you think it’s going to be, it’s going to be a lot longer.’”

That’s the only clip of my advice Zack came across, but it stuck with him for 18 months. As business picked up and he was looking for an outside perspective on things, I was the one he thought of. He took action. We jumped on a call, and he started telling me about the problems he was experiencing.

I shared some thoughts with Zack, which seemed to resonate and led us to meet up in person at InfoComm in Las Vegas. He and his team discussed their situation with me further. This was his response:

“He seemed to have really obvious answers to most of these things that, for whatever reason, we hadn’t thought of. It was like a light bulb would go off: Why aren’t we doing things this way?”

Strategy and Results

The first thing I did was audit SEAS Productions to identify weak points in the business. The next step was to come up with a plan for solving the problems on a timeline, starting with what was most urgent.

The first problem we tackled was labor pricing. SEAS Pro was a little bit upside down there, so I showed Zack how to fix that right away. Next, we focused on building a better management team to keep Zack from being pulled in too many directions and having to micromanage all aspects of the business.

We also set up SEAS Pro’s financials in a way that Zack could easily understand what was going on inside his business and, using that understanding, make informed changes.

“What I got most was clarity. That was the main thing I was looking for: clarity on the path forward. And that’s what I got.”

The Path Forward

Zack now feels like he’s back in the driver’s seat of his business. They have a new, solid growth plan, and they’ve addressed the major issues that were holding them back.

“I have confidence that the plan is going to work. Before, we were doing the things we thought were going to work and hoping for the best. I didn’t feel like I was in control. Now I do.”

One of the biggest takeaways Zack and his team learned was to better differentiate good business from bad business. They learned to latch onto the good and stay away from the bad.

They now consider factors like the profitability of a job, whether the client is a good fit, whether it’s a good working relationship, and whether the client sees SEAS Pro’s value or views them as a commodity.

“We definitely made changes and now choose clients who value our time rather than trying to win every single project like we used to.”

A Long-Term Relationship

Though Zack is a comparatively young CEO, he has a lot of energy and aptitude for the role. If I could hand out MBAs, Zack definitely earned one this past year.

Zack’s open-minded approach to advising meant that he and his company benefited quickly and noticeably from our relationship. Even today, he knows he can continue to benefit in the long haul.

“I continue to work with Tom because I still need a voice of clarity from somebody who’s been around this industry a long time. And Tom’s good. He’s a good sounding board because he’s involved with many other companies as well. He’s not just looking at what we’re doing; he’s looking at what the industry as a whole is doing and how other companies are doing it. And then he brings us all together to bounce ideas off each other.”

Zack’s done a great job bringing new systems and processes into his company. He also likes to try new things, though he acknowledges he can give his team a bit of whiplash if he hops from one thing to the next. That’s another area he keeps me around to help with:

“Tom’s the person I go to when I have a new idea. He’ll tell me if it’s a terrible idea or a great idea. I’m able to vet ideas before I start implementing them like I used to do.”

Closing Thoughts

One of the best things about Zack is he’s open-minded to change. Not all business owners are. If you’re going to work with me, you have to be open to change.

“If you’re close-minded and not willing to try new things or look at things differently, working with Tom’s probably not going to be a good thing for you. You really have to be ready to implement the change you come up with when talking to Tom.”

Zach’s right. It’s great to talk and bounce ideas around, but without action, it’s meaningless.

“If you’re going to make the commitment to change, be ready to do it.”

That’s the bottom line. If you’re ready for change, why not give me a call?