There’s a massive difference between a Business Owner and a Business Operator. Business Operators are depended upon individually for the vast majority of the success of the company.  Business Operators typically lack systems and structure where Business Owners intentionally create systems and structure, plus bring on the right people to operate the business, so that the success of the Business isn’t directly tied to them physically being there.

Going from sitting in front of a Sales Manager completely unprepared for an interview, saying that there’s no reason I couldn’t sell what their top Salesperson was doing even though I had zero experience to Partnering into a multi-million dollar Dealership only 6 years later, and now being the Majority Business Owner 10 years after stepping foot in the automotive industry was not easy.

Here are the 5 hardest lessons I learned along the way;

#1. Time Management – Something I wasn’t good at until a few years ago. I was flat out 6 days a week and on the 7th day I would go golfing with a group of friends or spend it with the family, they came second. It’s important to have a strong work ethic but I’ve learned to prioritize my day and control it versus the other way around. I use to be at the mercy of the client, which I thought was the right thing to do, and it is, however, learning to say no and be home for supper with the family with energy rather than showing up at 8 and wanting to hit the pillow actually created more respect from my clients and for my time. I started saying no, I started prioritizing my “Get To Do List” in order of importance, I tracked my time throughout the day so I could determine where I was wasting most of it, and I held my clients accountable to their appointment times much the same as a dentist or doctor would. I held them accountable for creating appointments at 1:45 pm instead of 1:00 or 2:00, and I wouldn’t book any appointments after 3:45 pm.

#2. Relationships – I see social circles at various dealerships and although I agree with healthy relationships amongst other Sales Consultants, there needs to be a limit on how much time you spend with them. I found myself caught in the social traps early on in my career because I was striving for people to like and respect me, and I knew that I may need a favor from them at some point so I thought this was the proper approach to take. What I should have been doing, is allocating that time amongst the other departments rather than just the Sales team because it put up this invincible wall between me and the other departments. Because I hadn’t invested any time in a healthy relationship with them, and once I started selling more, I became more demanding with getting my clients vehicles out the door but they weren’t as willing to help because they saw me as another young cocky Sales Consultant. Once I realized my approach was wrong, I started allocating more time to get to know Service, Parts, Techs, and the Business Office, and once we build a relationship up, my stress level went down, and so did theirs. We both got what we wanted.

#3. Managing instead of Leading – Looking back, this was the area I screwed up the most in. But I’m proud to say now that it’s the area I’ve developed the most in. I’m now a Leader, not a Manager. Because I was driven and had a strong work ethic, I expected everyone else to have the same level of hunger. When you’re on commission and you’re essentially a business owner, how could you not be driven to build an empire? How is that not fun? Yet there are people out there who are content with where they are, selling 8-10 vehicles a month and making a decent living. Instead of recognizing that, I got pissed off when the Sales Team wouldn’t work as hard as me, stay as late as I would, or have shitty months. I would criticize, complain, get stressed out, and blame them for their shortcomings. It wasn’t until I started to recognize how the owner starting treating me, which was exactly the same as I was treating the Sales Team, that I started to make changes because I knew how it felt to be one of them. I had little to no support, direction, or leadership training, yet I was responsible for doing those very things for a team of 6, plus myself. I started investing time into Leadership books, videos, seminars, and courses. This gave me a clear understanding of how important leadership was. It started with me and taking ownership of the type of Leader I wanted to have and be.

#4. Patience – This isn’t my strong suit. In particular, when I first Partnered into Woodworth Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Ltd., my Business Partner had essentially started the company from scratch 30 years prior. He had your prototypical response in regards to any kind of change “this is how we’ve always done it and it’s worked, don’t fix something if it isn’t broken!” It took a little over 2 years to start incorporating change and it was in baby steps. I was to the point of frustration where I was ready to walk away from the opportunity I had to pursue something else. But once my Partner saw the positive effect of the change, he started opening up more and giving me more freedom to implement new ideas, structure, and systems. Had I lost my patience entirely, I’m certain I would not have been in the situation I am today. Instead, I should have appreciated his position more and the opportunity he was providing for me and my family. It would have made those 2 years more enjoyable and less frustrating. We can’t have it all now, no matter how bad we want it or how much we think we’ve earned it. I’ve learned to appreciate more what comes my way each day and have accepted everything happens for a reason which has allowed me to be more patient.

#5. Taking care of myself – By far the best investment I’ve ever made. The personal development field is flooded with advice, much of which is bogus and repetitive to the point where you know someone is out to make a buck. What I can tell you about my experience is that I’ve been to the bottom and worked my ass off to what I feel is the top of my game. I’ve lived off soup crackers and tap water from poor life decisions, I’ve said and done the wrong things at work and in my personal life countless times to the point where I lost the respect of my peers, I’ve been called an arrogant asshole more times than I care to remember, and so on. But when I came to understand the value in respecting myself so I could, in turn, get the respect from others, it was a game changer. I started to care what people thought because it was crucial to my personal and business success as they are constantly linked together. It matters what people think of you in this business because people buy you, your character and your reputation. I never cared about that and I was as close to self-destructing as it gets. You know that saying “you don’t know what you have until it’s gone”? That’s where I was, except I was fortunate enough not to lose my opportunity. I’m forever grateful for those moments of second and third chances. Now that I put myself first, I’m better able to lead myself, my family, my Partners and my Clients.

I’d encourage you to make time to pause and reflect on these lessons that I learned the hard way so that you don’t have to. It’s never too late to learn something new or develop both personally and professionally.