by MHolland | Apr 2, 2025 | Business Tips, Systems
You have heard the phrase “take massive action” more times than you can count. It is the rally cry of entrepreneurs and their coaches. Push harder. Go bigger. Move faster.
And there is a time and place for that.
But if you are running a $3 to $20 million business, especially a family-owned one, “massive action” might not be the magic pill it once was. In fact, it could be exactly what is holding you back.
Let us talk about what really drives consistent, low-stress growth.
🚀 When Massive Action Works (and When It Does not)
Massive action can be a powerful tool. It is how you:
- Launch a new service line or product.
- Make a bold marketing move.
- Rapidly pivot in a crisis.
But it is also:
- Hard to sustain.
- Risky without a solid financial foundation.
- Draining for your team (and yourself).
We see this a lot with high-growth businesses—especially in industries like construction, property management, and even cross-border logistics. There is a sudden burst of growth… and then a scramble to catch up on systems, staff, and cash flow.
You are “winning”, but it does not feel like winning.
🎯 The Power of Precision – Rifle Shots + Daily Habits
What separates thriving $10M businesses from the ones that stall at $5M?
Not hustle.
Discipline. Systems. Focused execution.
We call this the “rifle shot” approach—making smart, well-aimed moves backed by rock-solid daily and weekly habits.
🛠️ What You Can Do This Quarter
You do not need to burn out to grow. Try this instead:
- Pick one high-leverage improvement. (Pricing, collections, margin, etc.)
- Set up a repeatable habit. (Weekly review, monthly scorecard.)
- Use the tools. (Xero + HubDoc + ApprovalMax + Plooto = less stress.)
- Avoid “growth at any cost” mindset. Target profitable, aligned growth.
Thanks for reading…
by MHolland | Mar 28, 2025 | Business Tips, Cash Flow, Systems
The following is a reprint of a Four-Part series of Blogs I wrote in 2028.
In the previous 3 Blogs I wrote about the first 3 ways to grow a business, any business.
Way number 1 is to increase the number of customers/clients (of the type you want)
Way number 2 is to increase the transaction frequency (or in business terms, the number of times they buy)
Way number 3 is to increase the average value of each sale.
And, way number 4 is to increase the efficiency of how you do the first 3.
The measurements of the first 3 ways to grow your business are a breakdown of what is in your total sales figure:
Number of active customers
X
Number of times they shop/buy
X
The average sale per transaction
=
Total revenue
All 3 of the above can be measured and when you increase each one as an independent strategy you can achieve some explosive growth!
So, you may be wondering….
How Do You Measure Increasing the Efficiency of Your Systems?
The measurement for the efficiency of your systems is the cost per transaction.
For your variable costs it is your gross profit margin.
For your fixed expenses it is the total fixed costs divided by the number of transactions.
And, this is where it can get very slippery!
Because we all know that Profit is equal to Revenue less Expenses, then it would seem that the way to increase profit is to reduce expenses!
And this is a huge mistake, if applied without further thinking …
Even Huge Companies Really Get This Wrong
I read the other day that stock repurchases (something that was illegal under SEC rules in the past) are all the fashion in the public company world.
In other words, large companies increase stock value by using internally generated cash to buy their own stock back.
This increases the share value, and then the Executive stock options are worth more, which they cash in on.
Do you see a motivation here?
All this is done at the expense of the people who are generating the bulk of the share value – the people who work there.
So, am I saying that a business should not reduce its costs?
No, I am not. What I am saying is that a company must use a different way of thinking when they examine each cost of the business…
Before Axing a Cost, You Must Ask These 3 Questions
As I mentioned above, because revenue – expenses = net profit, it would seem logical to think that reducing expenses will increase net profit.
And, this would (in most cases) be totally wrong.
Why?
Because costs drive value.
I will repeat that – costs drive value.
And if you reduce them willy nilly, you will end up cutting the heart out of the business, and revenues will eventually, sometimes quickly, decline with the cost-cutting.
There are 3 Vital Questions to Ask Before Eliminating or Reducing any Expense
They are:
- Does this expense help to increase sales?
- Does this expense help to increase Return on Investment?
- Does this expense help to increase cash flow?
If the answer is “no” to any of those questions, then either cut it, or replace it with a lower cost alternative.
Let’s look at some simple examples. Take rent – perhaps you are in a high-traffic location for a retail store and you are paying $500 a square foot. You find another location for $250/ square foot.
If the high-traffic location can generate more than twice the sales per square foot, then it is a better investment than the lower cost alternative.
Coming back to my example of the share re-purchase schemes by public companies. Imagine that they – instead of buying back their own shares – invested in better infra-structure, team training, and higher wages. Perhaps those drivers of value can result in higher sales and thus higher net profit.
From the higher profit, dividends could be paid to the shareholders, and everyone wins.
The Best Way to Create Effectiveness and Efficiency is Systems
 As Michael Gerber said in his underground bestseller, The E-Myth, the systems are your business.
Put another way, without good systems, there is just you, “doing it, doing it, doing it”. You may be good at the technical work of the business, but that is not what is required to create a sustainable business. For that you need systems!
Your systems must revolve around what your customers truly value so that you can deliver a consistently awesome product or service in a manner that has people feel cared for and appreciated.
Start by flow-charting every vital customer-centric function of your business, and eliminate steps that add no value, and add steps that do.
One way to find out what your customers value is to run a Client Advisory Board, where you meet (or rather someone else meets with them rather than you as owner, so they will be more honest) with a select group of your best customers and ask them what is working and what is not working in your business.
It takes guts to do that, yet most good(A) customers will not trash your service offerings – they will offer constructive feedback that will help you run a better(and hence more profitable) business in service to them.
Thanks for reading….
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by MHolland | Mar 21, 2025 | Business Tips, Selling Tips, Systems
Micro-habits work…
What are micro-habits, you ask? They are tiny ways to get started on setting new habits versus setting Big Goals that never happen. As in, put on your jogging shoes and run in place for 2 minutes versus 30 minutes of exercise as a goal. Or, in business, call one customer a week for 3 minutes.
I use two apps that help me develop habits and fulfill on my goals.
Habit Loop tracker is a terrific app that you use on your phone (funny that we call it a phone, when it so much more than that, right?).
You simply create a habit you want to track, set notifications, and, then, well, track it! For me, a simple personal example is stretching with bands. I set the habit for daily tracking and for 10 minutes.
I know I can do 10 minutes! Maybe 20. Thirty minutes – maybe. Yet every day, that starts to seem like a grind and no fun. I also do 15 minutes of stretching. I would never do 30. You get the idea.
Start small. Because the habit is King. The habit is the goal. It will either be enough, or stretch out beyond the micro habit.
In business, I am singing a tune more and more with my clients of improving only 1%. In four areas. The effect can be wildly powerful.
Here is what I am saying – 1% price increase, 1% savings in Cost of Goods Sold, 1% volume increase, and 1% savings on fixed costs.
For example, a business with $10 million in sales implementing a 1% price increase adds $100,000 to the bottom line. We have not even started on the other 1% improvements yet! The leverage effect is incredible.
Here is a great article from the Freedom App people talking more about Micro-Habits: Micro-Habits With Freedom.
(PS – that is the 2nd app I use daily – the Freedom app. I block websites to avoid distractions and stay focused on – you guessed it – my habits. Habits are King).
Capital Gains Exemption
Here is a good article on recent changes to the Capital Gains exemption for small businesses in Canada: Capital Gains.
Marketing on LinkedIn
Here is a good article on increasing your profile on LinkedIn, a global network with one billion members – Linkedin-7 Tips To Improve Your Company Profile
Have a great weekend, and thanks for reading…
by MHolland | Mar 14, 2025 | Business Tips, Cash Flow, Selling Tips
In the last few weeks, I have written two blogs that were repeats from a few years ago…
These blogs are focused on the first three ways of the 4 Ways to Grow Your Business (any business).
The following is the third part in the series. Enjoy!
 What is the 3rd Way to Grow Your Business?
Over the last 2 weeks I wrote about the first two ways to grow your business. Today I am going to write about the 3rd Way to Grow Your Business.
As a refresher – the 1st Way is to increase the number of customers of the type you want. Here the big takeaway is to find out who is serving clients in your industry and create a relationship with those businesses, so you can get direct “warmed-up” access to their clients. This transforms a cold marketplace to a warm one. For the full Blog post, please click here:
Leverage Your Business – There Are Only 4 Ways to Grow, As You Know
The 2nd Way, which I wrote about last week is to increase the number of times (on average) your customers do business with you. For the full Blog post, please click here:
The Best Way to Leverage the Growth in Your Business – Part 2
The 3rd Way to Grow Your Business is this – to increase the amount people spend with you during each interaction (in accounting terms – increasing the transactional value of each sale).
The strategy and the resulting actions you will take are completely different from the first two ways to grow when you focus in on this way.
And, by combining all three together you will have the potential to create massive increases to your Net Profit.
Find the Key Number
First, to increase something, you need to know what your starting point is. For this Key Performance Measurement, it is quite simple and easy to find.
You just take your total sales for the period (month, quarter, year) and divide that by the total number of sales invoices issued to get your average dollar amount per transaction.
Ok, now that you have a starting point…
How do You Increase Your Average Sale Without Sounding Salesy?
One way is creating scripts to use to simply ask your customers if they want to add to their purchase.
Of course, we all know the ubiquitous line from McDonald’s clerks, “would you like fries with that burger?”
And what they know at McDonald’s is that this has a profound impact on the average sale per customer and the net profit.
Another way to view “scripting” is to take the opportunity to educate your customers/clients on all the services/products you offer. Your customers may just not know you offer certain things and will often be delighted to spend more with you because you are adding value to their lives!
In fact, it is the focus on adding value, on educating your customers with a solution-minded intention that moves you from simply sounding “salesy” and mechanical to interested, and educational.
Newsletters are a fantastic way to educate your customers and not only increase your average sale, but to increase your transaction frequency.
Discounting is Bad, But It is Ok When You Do This First
Another way to increase your average sale is to bundle things into packages or offer 3 for 2 specials.
For instance, if someone is interested in cross-country skiing and they have not skied before, they do not come in to just buy skis. They also need, boots, poles, gloves, a parka, a toque…you get the idea. Even lessons.
All these items can be packaged into a beginner cross-country ski package and a discounted price offered for the bundle.
We do not recommend our clients offer blanket discounting across all their product lines as a way to grow sales, however, when bundling, it is ok to offer a reduced price for the whole package.
The reason is that the increased amount they are spending justifies the discount.
Add Value and Raise Prices
Finally, it may be time for a price increase. First you must examine your products/services and ensure that the value you are offering is high and service levels are high in terms of quality, timeliness, and so on.
Most business owners under-value their products/services – looking at them through the lens of their competitors rather than their customers.
Many business owners are fearful of raising prices, yet when they do, they often are surprised to discover that almost no customers leave, and the few that might were often price-shoppers and difficult to deal with anyway.
Case Study in Action
A few years ago, we met with a client to do some strategic planning.
The client was a log home builder, and they built exceptionally beautiful homes.
We went through the 4 Ways to Grow and saw quickly that the only leveraged way to grow was the 3rd Way – increase the average sale of each transaction.
(After all, how many log homes per year would most people likely buy? So, transaction frequency could not easily be increased).
The power of this focused, strategic way of the thinking is that we could rule out the second way and concentrate a lot of our attention on the 3rd Way.
I knew that the owner had outsourced the marketing and sales to another company. I also knew – from observation – that the marketing people were doing very well financially by the amount of time spent golfing, the cars they drove and the commissions in the business being paid out.
This client was giving up a lot of profit.
So, I asked the owner – “why don’t you get your wife to do the marketing? After all she is incredibly good at building websites and could put together a nice presentation.”
His initial answer was, “no way!”
I asked, “why not?” (Good business coaching is asking rocket science questions like this!)
He told us that the marketing guys had an extensive network throughout the USA and that if he moved away from them, he could never, ever replace those valuable contacts they had developed over years and years.
I kept probing and pushing a bit, and he decided to go for it and get his wife involved in the marketing and do it all in-house.
The results were explosive!
The very next year his sales doubled, and his net profit margin hit 50%!! This was an unheard-of net profit in the log home building business.
He sold homes to very wealthy people, including the 4 chalets at the Salt Lake City Olympics.
This volume continued over the next few years, so he became quite well off.
Thank you so much for reading…
by MHolland | Mar 7, 2025 | Business Tips, Cash Flow, Selling Tips
So, the U.S. just hit Canada with a fresh round of tariffs. Great. But instead of panicking, let us talk about opportunities—because there are ways to not just survive but thrive in this new reality.
Remember, the tariffs did not just affect you alone if you sell into the USA. It affects everyone else in your industry. By getting creative, taking massive action (in the right direction), you can grow your business inside this demanding situation.
Many businessowners will react with fear. Fear often leads to inaction. This is where you can take the lead and get proactive.
Oh, and remember this – the Canadian dollar is weak right now. This is bad news for vacations but fantastic for selling into the U.S. market. If you play your cards right, you could come out ahead. Here is how.
Turn the Weak Loonie into a Power Move
With the Canadian dollar low, your products just got cheaper for U.S. buyers. Even with tariffs, you might still be the best deal in town. Make sure your U.S. customers understand this advantage—lock in contracts while your pricing looks attractive.
Sell Beyond the U.S. (Yes, it is Possible!)
The U.S. is Canada’s biggest trade partner, but it is not the only game in town. Trade deals like CETA (Europe) and CPTPP (Asia-Pacific) give you tariff-free access to other markets. Time to explore who else wants what you are selling.
Get Smart About Supply Chains
If tariffs are making it painful to import materials from the U.S., look at domestic suppliers or other international partners. Some Canadian companies are already shifting supply chains to Europe and Asia to dodge extra costs.
Lock in Pricing Before It Gets Worse
If you are exporting to the U.S., now is a great time to negotiate longer-term contracts with customers. Tariffs can change, but locking in deals while the currency works in your favor can help hedge against future cost spikes.
Play the Government Support Card
There is a good chance the Canadian government will roll out tariff relief programs, tax breaks, or incentives to keep businesses competitive. Stay plugged into industry associations and government resources—you might be leaving money on the table otherwise.
Pass Tariff Costs Smartly
If you have to raise prices, do not just slap a tariff surcharge on your invoices. Look for ways to add value so customers do not just see an extra charge but a better overall offering. It is bundling services, improving delivery times, or locking in loyalty rewards.
Cut Costs, the Smart Way
Instead of slashing staff or quality, look at efficiency plays. Are there manual processes eating up time that you could automate? Could bulk ordering save costs? Small tweaks can protect your bottom line without killing morale or product quality.
Work the Trade Rules
Some tariffs have exemptions or workarounds. Depending on what you are selling, you might qualify for duty drawbacks, trade programs, or reclassifications that reduce the impact. A good trade lawyer or consultant can help you find loopholes you did not even know existed.
Bottom Line – Tariffs Are not the End of the World
Sure, tariffs make things harder. But with the right strategy, they do not have to crush your business. Play the weak Canadian dollar to your advantage, explore new markets, optimize costs, and keep an eye on government support.
Lastly, awesome service is, now, more than ever, a competitive advantage. Any business in a tough economy is going to suffer when they do not have awesome service.
Remember this, it is not just the quality of the product or service you sell – it is the process of delivering it that defines awesome service.
You do not, unfortunately, get to define awesome service – your customers do.
And one last-last thing! This is not Canada’s first tariff rodeo—we have survived before, and we will do it again. The smart businesses? They will come out stronger than ever.
Thanks for reading…
