Contractor Evolution

Book an implementation call and join thousands of contractors like Jason in running a better business while working less: https://trybta.com/DI1026

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/EP296

Get the free templates from this session here: https://trybta.com/DL296

Winter is the season most contractors brace for. These four have stopped bracing.

This is the replay of our October Marketing and Sales Roundtable, where Danny sat down with three painting contractors running between $5 and $10 million and the founder of CompanyCam.

Joe Kelly went from $3.5 million to $10 million in three years at JK Paint in Portland, and he keeps all ten crews working through December and January.

Mason Marquis runs one of the largest residential painting companies in Dallas, and his winter discount season produced a better gross margin than his busy season.

Toby Woodiwiss has been building Woodiwiss Painting in California since 2004, holds a net promoter score of 100, and runs at 46% gross profit. Luke Hansen founded CompanyCam after years in roofing.

Here is what they talk about:

• The numbers each of them watches weekly, and why every one of them named booked appointments as the earliest warning sign
• How to tell the difference between passive and active lead sources
• Which levers you can actually pull when flow dries up.

00:00-Intro

04:25-Meet the Panelists

17:06-Signs of Broken Sales Process

28:34-Winter Playbook & Data Tracking

48:18-Off-Season Crew Tactics

1:03:07-Turning Leads to Booked Work

1:28:22-Final Advice

Book an implementation call and join thousands of contractors like Jason in running a better business while working less: https://trybta.com/DI1026

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/EP295

Take our five minute quiz and get a custom Contractor Growth Scorecard: https://trybta.com/DL295

There are two levers that move gross profit on a job: labor and materials.

Most contractors only pull one.

Materials feel fixed. The supplier sends a price, you pay it, and that's the end of it.

But what if it wasn't?

Prices and terms are negotiable, and your ability to have that conversation shows up in your cash flow and your bottom line.

Rhydon Atzenhoffer has been on both sides of the counter.

Contractor for many years, supply side now. And host of the HVAC R&D Podcast.

Today he walks through how to find the right supplier, how to get the best price, and how to build a relationship that pays off for both of you.

Check out the HVAC R&D Podcast here: https://www.hvacrnd.com/

00:00-Intro

03:35-Distribution Misconceptions

05:29-Choosing the Right Distributor

12:03-Securing Lines of Credit

18:42-Navigating Price & Value

28:29-Streamlining Job Production

34:01-Final Advice

Book an implementation call and join thousands of contractors like Jason in running a better business while working less: https://trybta.com/DI1026

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/EP294

Take our five minute quiz and get a custom Contractor Growth Scorecard: https://trybta.com/DL294

On the surface, a subcontractor model seems like a good idea.

That’s what Red Branch Construction business owner Jacob Toler thought. Higher margin, lower overhead.

It worked great for him, until it didn’t.

His reputation was unremarkable. His margins were thinning out. Lack of accountability almost toppled the business.

And so, Jacob made a massive change that took him from negative profit to a healthy 8.5% net profit.

He cut the subcontractors, restructured his office team, and hired four crews in just five months.

If you’ve ever wondered whether you should switch from subs to employees or vice versa, then today’s episode will give you a great perspective.

00:00-Intro

02:05-Initial Subcontractor Model

06:47-The Warning Signs & Near-Collapse

15:28-Transitioning to In-House Employees

21:28-Recruiting & Vetting Processes

27:59-Subs vs Employees Model Analysis

35:28-Checklist for Business Model Evaluation

Book an implementation call and join thousands of contractors like Jason in running a better business while working less: https://trybta.com/DI1026

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/EP293

Take our five minute quiz and get a custom Contractor Growth Scorecard: https://trybta.com/DL293

Learn more about Spencer and Entreprenutcases: https://entreprenutcases.com/

Talk to enough contractors and you hear the same sentence.

"This isn't fun anymore."

Sometimes it comes from the guy who is grinding to make payroll. But just as often it comes from the guy whose business is finally working, who has the trucks and the team and the margin, and who feels absolutely nothing about any of it.

Spencer Sheinin has seen both versions up close. He is a CPA, the founder of Shift Financial, and the author of Entreprenumbers. He has owned businesses since 2000, across four companies and 300 employees, and he spent roughly twenty years running work that was never really connected to him.

He is now writing a book called Entreprenutcases based on interviews with owners who found real meaning in their businesses and the ones who lost it along the way.

In this episode, Spencer and Danny dig into why the business stops being fun. The grind that only works for so long. The moment survival is handled and the fight disappears. And what Spencer calls robot mode, the programming that keeps us chasing bigger and faster instead of better.

Then he gets practical. Three archetypes of purpose-driven businesses, two questions every owner needs to answer, and the formation moments in your own history that point to the answer.

Danny gets into his own version of it too, including the year he quit painting to fly helicopters and what that taught him about being underwhelmed.

Fair warning: Spencer is not here to convince anybody. If money is the whole point for you right now, he says that is fine, and he will be around when it stops being enough.

Spencer is offering free live coaching on his own podcast to help owners find their purpose. Learn more at https://entreprenutcases.com/

00:00-Intro

04:39-Root Causes of Disconnection

09:56-Recognizing Signs of Burnout

22:20-Three Archetypes of Meaning

29:21-Money vs Authentic Purpose

36:22-Finding Personal Purpose

48:02-Organizational Impact of Alignment

52:46-Practical Steps for Entrepreneurs

Book an implementation call and join thousands of contractors like Jason in running a better business while working less: https://trybta.com/DI1026

Get a copy of our AI Guide For Contractors and learn the 4 highest leverage AI workflows for trades businesses: https://trybta.com/DL292

Get Grant’s free Claude skills for your business here: https://skillmatch.zite.so/

Most contractors are drowning in AI options.

New tools every week. New features buried inside the tools you already pay for. No clear answer on which ones are worth your time.

Grant Fuellenbach implements project management systems for contracting companies at GoFirst Consulting, and he uses AI to do it faster. He also hosts the Beyond the Bid podcast.

So we asked him a simple question: what should a contractor actually be using right now?

His answer was three tools, and two of them are free.

Grant walks us through NotebookLM (he calls it the underserved GOAT), Prompt Cowboy, and Claude Cowork. Then he actually walks through the work, with examples: a company brain built from SOPs and training videos, an estimate pulled together from a photo and a few measurements, and an SEO audit that runs on a schedule without him touching it.

If you have ever lost a night to an AI rabbit hole and come out with nothing, start here.

Find Grant on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grantfuellenbach or reach him at https://gofirstconsulting.com/

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/EP292

00:00-Intro

01:49-AI in Contracting & Workflows

10:01-NotebookLM & Second Brain

21:59-Prompt Cowboy & Efficiency

25:50-Claude Co-Work & Automations

31:23-Demo of NotebookLM

38:45-Final Recommendations

Book an implementation call and join thousands of contractors like Jason in running a better business while working less: https://trybta.com/DI1026

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/EP291

Get a copy of our AI Guide For Contractors and learn the 4 highest leverage AI workflows for trades businesses: https://trybta.com/DL291

Tyler Folkman has been working in the AI space for nearly twenty years.

You read that right. While most of us were just getting used to having a website, Tyler was working on next level technology.

Today, he’s the Chief AI Officer at JobNimbus. He helps provide roofers with the tech they need to make operations quicker, easier and more profitable.

Here’s why we wanted him on the show:

Many of you are starting to incorporate AI into your business.

The result is that we end up wasting a ton of time going down rabbit holes that lead nowhere, maybe even putting our information at risk along the way.

Today, Tyler is walking us through a clear roadmap to using AI to build systems once, properly, so you can power your business with good processes and accurate data.

And if you’re not a roofer, don’t worry.

Everything we discuss today is relevant to any business owner in the trades.

Subscribe to Tyler’s AI newsletter here: https://www.tylerfolkman.ai/

00:00-Intro

04:08-Contractor AI Adoption

13:30-Practical Workflows & Estimating

22:16-CRM AI Integrations

30:08-Managing Data Security Risks

40:25-Staying Current with AI

49:22-Future of AI in Contracting

Book an implementation call and join thousands of contractors like Jason in running a better business while working less: https://trybta.com/DI1026

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/EP290

Take our five minute quiz and get a custom Contractor Growth Scorecard: https://trybta.com/DL290

There's a lot of noise about selling to private equity in the trades right now. Some of you may even be considering this as your exit strategy.

But how much do you REALLY understand what’s involved in arguably one of the biggest decisions of your life?

Our guest today Tyler Goodhue has been involved in the acquisition of over 200 businesses, primarily in the trades, and he's here to discuss the part nobody talks about publicly.

What actually creates value, what quietly destroys it, and how to avoid settling for a bad deal.

Today, he’s walking us through what actually happens when you decide to sell to private equity. The whole process: the good, the bad and the ugly.

00:00-Intro

02:27-Why Private Equity Loves Trades

08:04-P.E. Acquisition Strategy

11:58-Factors Driving Company Valuation

24:57-Evaluating Owner Reliance Risks

38:20-Common Seller Misconceptions

46:07-Key Contract Deal Terms

53:48-Planning an Optimal Sale

Book an implementation call and join thousands of contractors like Jason in running a better business while working less: https://trybta.com/DI1026

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/EP289

Get a free contractor Lead Source Attribution template and example here: https://trybta.com/DL289

While contractors and construction business owners are busy scrambling to get our websites ready for AI search, Phil Risher is asking a much bigger question: Will your website even matter in 3 years?

Phil is a digital marketing specialist who works exclusively with contractors.

He's been watching in real time as AI search puts an end to everything we thought we knew about modern marketing.

Traffic is dwindling. SEO is changing. And websites... well, they might be dying.

Instead, Phil says AI agents will dominate contractor digital marketing strategies in just a few years.

In today's episode, Phil shares his predictions, what they mean for the construction industry, and what you need to start building today to survive the next decade.

00:00-Intro

02:03-Recent AI Shifts

03:41-Changing Website Traffic

07:32-Measuring Marketing Success

12:43-Gathering Customer Data

24:25-Building Trusted Brands

31:38-Evolving Ad Landscape

34:56-Selecting Right Agencies

Book an implementation call and join thousands of contractors like Jason in running a better business while working less: https://trybta.com/DI1026

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/EP288

When ChatGPT released in 2022, we all knew the start of a new era in tech was coming.

But we couldn't possibly comprehend just how much our industry was about to change.

Although robotics are a few years away from replacing field labor, pretty much every other area of a contracting business has been totally disrupted.

Today, I've brought on DJ Carroll, a former contractor known for scaling home service companies through disciplined AI and automation, to share his opinions on where the industry is now, where it's headed, and the skills and concepts we HAVE to understand if we want our businesses to survive what he calls the next industrial revolution.

This is not a philosophical conversation. DJ gives some real, actionable advice any contractor can implement in the next week.

–

Learn more about DJ Carroll: https://carroll.media/about/

00:00-Intro

04:12-Hype Versus Reality

08:28-AI Adoption & Memory Capacity

19:43-Marketing Use Cases

28:32-Building AI Ads

34:50-Adopting Voice Services

40:17-Creating Company SOPs

45:23-Upcoming AI Advancements

Book an implementation call and join thousands of contractors like Jason in running a better business while working less: https://trybta.com/DI1026

To get the Project Management resource bundle, click here: https://trybta.com/DL287

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/EP287

Caleb George produces $34M in projects with just three project managers.

Scott Kelley’s team can run a million dollar project without asking him a single question.

What do these two builders have in common? Exceptional project management systems.

In this roundtable discussion, I sat down with Caleb George of Chris George Custom Homes, Scott Kelley of Evolution Design Build, and Jordan Coolidge from Buildertrend to break down the difference between projects that run profitably without owner involvement and projects that require constant firefighting to cross the finish line.

–

Caleb and Scott are Breakthrough Academy Members who have worked with their coaches and contractor community group to achieve exceptional results. To learn more about becoming a Breakthrough Academy Member, click here: https://trybta.com/EP287

Check out Buildertrend: https://buildertrend.com/

Learn more about Chris George Custom Homes: https://www.chrisgeorgecustomhomes.com/

Learn more about Evolution Design Build: https://evobuildgroup.com/

00:00-Intro

07:37-Biggest Contractor Issues

09:59-Broken Process Signs

15:38-Defining PM Roles

26:18-Implementing Balanced Accountability

35:49-Optimizing Project Communication

57:51-Streamlining Planning Capacity

1:12:11-Advice for Contractors

Book an implementation call and join thousands of contractors like Jason in running a better business while working less: https://trybta.com/DI1026

To learn more about becoming a Member, click here: https://trybta.com/EP286

Take our five minute quiz and get a custom Contractor Growth Scorecard: https://trybta.com/DL286

At just 30 years old, Riley Rivers owns a $7M dollar landscaping business, pulling in $120K in profit every month.

Multiple divisions.

Massive contracts.

Complex operations.

And he does it all in less than 40 hours a week.

In this episode, I'm talking to Riley to find out how he built his company, including the key decisions he made as he scaled.

If you're ready to step out of the day-to-day and become a real CEO, Riley's story is a must listen.

—

Riley is a Breakthrough Academy Member who has worked with his coach and contractor community to build a business he loves running. To learn more about becoming a Member, click here: https://trybta.com/EP286

Learn more about Rivers Landscaping: https://www.riverslandscapingmt.com/

Episode highlights:

• Learn which systems enabled Riley to more than double his revenue without sacrificing profitability.
• Get insight into Riley’s hiring strategies when it comes to adding high-impact leaders into his organization.
• Discover how Riley built his team culture… by letting his team build his culture. Find out how he stepped back and let his people establish the company’s core values and the tactics used to live them out.

00:00-Intro

01:55-Journey to $3 Million

07:12-Evolution of Roles

09:41-Strategy for Growth

11:49-Identifying Core Gaps

21:01-Org Structure Strategy

30:18-Cultivating Company Culture

40:22-Leadership and Management

Grab a copy of Bob's Top 10 Tax Tips For Self-Employed Contractors: https://trybta.com/DL285

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/EP285

Ever run out of money despite making millions of dollars?

This is the situation Bob Gauvreau has seen hundreds of contractors fall into.

Revenue is up, profit may even be up.

But they run out of cash unexpectedly and when they get hit with an unexpected bill or expense…

…they crumple.

In today’s episode, Bob walks us through a foolproof system for managing your cash flow so financial stress becomes a thing of the past.

Episode Highlights:

• Learn why your P&L might be lying to you, and which metrics actually matter when it comes to the health of your business
• Understand where cash gets “stuck” and how to avoid accidentally spending the cash you need to pay the bills.
• Discover the foolproof system for managing your cash flow and forecasting potential issues 90 days in advance (no more being jump-scared by your bank balance)

Get in touch with Bob: https://gauvreaucpa.ca/

00:00-Intro

02:18-Cash Flow vs Profit

08:32-Tight Cash Impact

15:36-Optimizing Cash Inflows

23:04-Accounts Receivable Systems

29:38-Managing Cash Outflows

43:57-Owner Compensation Rhythm

47:24-Financial Process Organization

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/EP284

Take our five minute quiz and get a custom Contractor Growth Scorecard: https://trybta.com/DL284

Joel Retherford made an extra $1.6 MILLION in the first four months of this year.

How? By hiring for one simple role.

In today’s episode, I’m talking to Joel to understand:

• How hiring a project manager helped him produce an entire year’s worth of revenue, in 4 months
• The hiring process he used to find a rockstar capable of driving all that value
• And why so many contractors completely botch their project management, and how to stop killing your profit as you grow.

If you’re struggling to scale and want to stop bottlenecking your operations, this episode is for you.

00:00-Intro

01:25-Overcoming Personal Operational Bottlenecks

09:20-Hiring An External Candidate

12:19-Managing Internal Staff Friction

21:02-Presenting A United Front

26:44-Unlocking Strategic Owner Advantages

31:19-Timing The Project Manager

36:41-Structuring Tangible ROI Goals

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/EP283

Take our five minute quiz and get a custom Contractor Growth Scorecard: https://trybta.com/DL283

Eric Olson found a way to squeeze an extra 200 thousand dollars of profit out of work he was already doing.

His secret weapon? Change orders.

In today’s episode, Eric is going to talk us through:

- The exact strategy he used to 4X his profits on all change orders

- Why getting this wrong can leave you with angry clients, a frustrated team and zero dollars in the bank

- And how to get your team stoked about maximizing profit at all levels of the organization.

Eric Olson is a Breakthrough Academy Member and Owner of Olson Defendorf Custom Homes in Texas.

He has worked Breakthrough Academy coaches and community members over the years to create bulletproof systems in his business that have significantly improved his profit, cash flow and personal life.

Learn more about Olson Defendorf Custom Homes: https://www.odcustomhomes.com/

00:00-Intro

06:17-Incentivizing Project Managers

12:18-Pricing Logic

16:55-Profit Sharing Expansion

24:06-Collection Process Timing

28:48-Tracking Change Orders

34:14-Schedule Management Updates

40:58-Systems Optimization Change

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/EP282

Ready to build smarter? Meet Breakthrough Academy at Build Show Live in San Antonio, Sept 10–12. Use code BTA26 for 25% off. Click the link to register: https://www.buildshowlive.com/

Take our five minute quiz and get a custom Contractor Growth Scorecard: https://trybta.com/DL282

Most contractors struggle to build four to ten homes a year. Today’s guest, Charlene Barrett sold six hundred. That's hundreds of millions in sales.

Today we're going to go through:

- What contractors get wrong about scaling from 1 to 10 million,

- How to use referrals and reviews to supercharge sales,

- And how to deliver world-class services that customers love, at scale.

Charlene is a Breakthrough Academy coach and former Director of Sales and Marketing for a top North American builder, where she worked for over 12 years.

She is a true expert in customer experience and sales, so don’t miss this episode if this is something you’re interested in improving.

00:00-Intro

04:59-Service vs experience

06:25-Creating wow moments

11:57-Negative customer experiences

15:00-Systemizing customer experience

23:02-Driving five-star reviews

32:55-Generating customer referrals

40:37-Insights on coaching

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/EP281

Ready to build smarter? Meet Breakthrough Academy at Build Show Live in San Antonio, Sept 10–12. Use code BTA26 for 25% off. Click the link to register: https://www.buildshowlive.com/

Take our five minute quiz and get a custom Contractor Growth Scorecard: https://trybta.com/DL281

When most contractors think about disaster planning, they picture insurance policies, backup equipment, and emergency contacts.

But what if the real question is this:

Would your team know what to do if you weren't there?

BTA Members Curt Janzen and Kevin Boschee from Beyond Foam got an answer to that question when they found themselves in the worst case scenario:

Their shop burned down. While they were on a business trip. Hundreds of miles away.

In a matter of hours, their team had to make decisions, communicate with customers, protect equipment, coordinate next steps, and keep the business moving forward—all without waiting for the owners to swoop in and save the day.

The result wasn't luck.

It was the outcome of years spent building a business that didn't depend on them for every decision.

00:00-Intro

02:03-Operational Impact of a Fire

09:27-Initial Team Response

13:08-Enabling Structural Systems

18:45-Supporting Team Emotionally

24:21-Insurance Process Lessons

30:08-Overall Key Takeaways

Ready to build smarter? Meet Breakthrough Academy at Build Show Live in San Antonio, Sept 10–12. Use code BTA26 for 25% off. Click the link to register: https://www.buildshowlive.com/

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/EP280

Take our five minute quiz and get a custom Contractor Growth Scorecard: https://trybta.com/DL280

Most contractors become leaders by accident.

You start a business because you're great at your trade. Then suddenly you're managing crews, handling conflict, giving feedback, and trying to keep good people from walking out the door.

And if you're like most owners, nobody ever taught you how to do any of it.

That's why this week's Contractor Evolution episode with leadership expert and former Head of Storybrand Dr. J.J. Peterson is worth your time.

In this conversation, Dr. J.J. breaks down a simple approach to leadership that helps you:

- Keep your best people longer

- Reduce costly mistakes and miscommunication

- Build a team you can actually trust

- Create a culture people want to be part of

The best part?

You don't need to become some hard-nosed manager or abandon the "nice guy" you've always been.

Strong leadership isn't about being tougher. It's about creating clarity, accountability, and trust.

00:00-Intro

04:41-Guide Versus Hero

11:28-Formulaic Collective Communication

22:20-Badass Softy Philosophy

30:45-Empathy and Authority

40:45-Three Leadership Pillars

49:53-Modern Leadership Era

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/EP279

Download Rob’s AI Opportunity Scorecard: https://trybta.com/DL279

AI is exposing everything that's broken in your contracting business…

…before it fixes anything.

Everyone's racing to adopt AI right now. But here's what nobody's saying: if your workflows are messy, AI doesn't clean them up. It accelerates the chaos. This episode is your filter; a practical, no-hype walkthrough of where AI for contractors actually fits, where it makes things worse, and how to know if your business is even ready.

If you're running a contracting company and feeling the pressure to "do something with AI" before you fall behind, this is the episode to listen to first.

In This Episode:

• 🤖 The AI Trap: What contractors are believing about AI that's dead wrong, and why owners are wasting money on tools they don't need
• 🔍 The Real Problem: Why AI exposes hidden workflow chaos before it saves you a minute, and where contractors have the most mess
• ✅ The AI Readiness Test: The 3 things that need to be clear before you even look at a tool, and the signs your company isn't ready
• 🎯 The Opportunity Filter: A simple scorecard for evaluating AI ideas (so you stop confusing "cool" with "valuable")
• 🏗️ Where AI Actually Fits: Sales follow-up, SOPs, job handoffs, client communication — and where it should stay far away
• 👤 Human Review: What AI should never decide by itself and how to stop your team from treating AI like the final answer
• 👥 Team Adoption: Why your crew will ignore new tools (it's not the tech — it's the conversation you haven't had)
• 🛠️ Build Your First AI Workflow: If you're a $3M contracting business, here's exactly where to start this week

00:00-Intro

05:06-Decision-Making Hierarchy

08:26-Effective Workflow Documentation

14:59-Privacy and Security

20:13-Custom Business Models

25:16-High-Impact Contractor Cases

35:31-Internal Team Adoption

43:01-Future Contracting Trends

54:51-Starting with Friction

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/EP278

Get a copy of Ryan’s Lead Follow Up Formula (The Revenue Engine) here: https://trybta.com/DL278

Most contractors assume the sale is dead after two ignored messages. The data says otherwise, and the money you're leaving on the table is staggering.

Ryan Fenn, founder of CHIIRP, has analyzed massive volumes of real customer conversations to find out what actually gets replies, what kills deals, and what the best follow-up systems do differently. In this episode, we break it all down into the three elements that matter most: words, cadence, and channel.

You'll learn: 

• Why the words most contractors use in follow-up are silently killing deals — and what to say instead
• The data-backed timing and cadence that turns cold quotes into signed contracts
• Which channel (text, phone, email, video) actually converts — and when to use each one
• A simple dead quote reactivation system to bring stalled deals back to life
• Where AI is genuinely helping follow-up right now — and where it's hurting

If you've ever wondered why your quotes go cold or how long you should really keep following up, this one's for you.

00:00-Intro

10:44-Follow-up in contracting

14:30-Effective sales language

29:57-Ideal follow-up cadence

44:13-Choosing communication channels

52:01-Risks of AI voice

56:05-Increasing lead conversion

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/EP277

Take our five minute quiz and get a custom Contractor Growth Scorecard: https://trybta.com/DL277

Your crew isn't lazy. Your processes are broken. In this episode of Contractor Evolution, process strategist Moustafa Moursy breaks down why most business systems collect dust, and introduces the OPTIMIZE Framework: a step-by-step method for building SOPs that your team actually uses, so you can stop running every decision through yourself.

If you've ever written a process doc that nobody followed, this episode will show you exactly where you went wrong (and how to fix it).

In this episode:

• Why "people problems" are almost always process problems in disguise
• What you need to define BEFORE touching any software or templates
• The OPTIMIZE Framework: Observe → Picture → Tailor → Implement → Memorialize → Zoom/Evolve
• The real balance between owner direction and team input when designing processes
• How to know when a process is ready to roll out (instead of endlessly perfecting it)
• What separates a process that gets followed from one that gets ignored (the triangle)
• How great processes give your team independence, not just more control

Check out Moustafa’s TedX Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SemHh0n19LA

00:00-Intro

02:21-Successful vs. Failed Processes

07:21-Defining the Optimize Framework

10:14-Step 1: Observe

15:43-Step 2: Picture

21:58-Step 3: Tailor

34:18-Step 4: Implement

45:54-Step 5: Evolve