Jared McLeod of McLeod Architecture on the O2E Business Academy
After five years running McLeod Architecture, Jared McLeod felt the wheels of his business were starting to spin without traction. It wasn’t that they were about to fall off anytime soon, just that Jared was super busy, taking on a lot of work but not progressing as he’d hoped. He began questioning how to change tack to steer his enterprise in a better direction.
The main problem was that Jared had no idea of his desired destination point, let alone the course of action required to get there. Adding to his indecision was the temptation to pursue and develop a new product venture and so with an identity crisis looming Jared decided to seek advice from Jane Moffitt at Venture Taranaki.
Jane recommended he ‘step this way, sir’ and into the mentoring hands of Craig Oliver from Project HQ. During this time Craig partnered with Donna Yeats of The Marketing Consultancy to create the O2E Business Academy and when the opportunity to join presented itself, Jared marched right on in. Perhaps it was one of his most serendipitous walks because SME, McLeod Architecture is now a company with clear ideas and a confident future.
“If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail” - Abraham Maslow “… when sometimes you need a screwdriver!” – Jared McLeod
Some business owners might see joining a program such as the O2E Business Academy as an extravagance. Finding the time, raising funds, and committing to a new regime sounds challenging, but for McLeod Architecture, joining the O2E Academy gave excellent value. It offered practical scenarios and a teaching format that entailed monthly masterclasses co-hosted by a variety of industry-leading subject matter experts, plus structured peer advisory sessions, and one on one coaching that’s 100% personalised to each participant.
The one main requirement for the O2E Academy is the desire to learn and Jared describes Craig as a great guy who genuinely cares, though not one who does ‘dickheads’ well. Craig’s no disciplinarian, but participants need to be receptive to positive and progressive change and show the workings in adapting new, proven systems to suit their business model. The collaborative structure of the Academy offers exclusive access to the various subject matter experts and is designed to open participants' eyes to the possibility of how change can lead to revolution.
Jared enjoyed the fact that the nature of the O2E model is also designed to capitalise on the breadth of experience on tap from around the table amongst the other exclusive fellow members. Talking about current issues and problems not yet encountered means participants are exposed - and forearmed - to circumnavigate some potential pitfalls. Extracting info from the skill sets of newbies and older heads allows participants to draw conclusions and put discovered solutions to good use.
The fortnightly follow up (one-on-one) sessions are tailored specifically to individual businesses and it's here that the nuts and bolts of newly learnt attitudes and processes are applied.
O2E Academy: The best of all worlds.
O2E participants are encouraged to remember that their business enterprises are vehicles to enable life goals (not just work goals) come to fruition.
The initial passion for running an SME might have created the impetus to throw it into the real world, but once immersed, it’s easy to lose perspective and become distracted by minutiae. Even easier to lose sight of the holistic purpose behind work - to earn a decent living, experience a rewarding lifestyle and achieve the plans you dreamt about BB (Before Business!)
Jared reckons his time on the program has refigured his motives and restructured his methods. The opportunity to talk to other like minded folk made him realise that the myriad of problems typically beset by business owners are common burdens. When on the Academy, that strain doesn’t need to be born alone. The group situation (comprising a trusted, empathetic, and nonjudgmental crew) provides the support and relief that ‘it's not just me … I'm not the only one'. In Jared’s words, this was 'comforting and liberating'; reaching out is reassuring and inspires the confidence to move ahead.
Big gains for a manageable effort.
At each monthly masterclass, the Academy provides professional input via regular guest speakers and industry-leading subject matter experts. For McLeod Architecture, each of these leaders added immense value. What's really powerful, was how they tailored their advice and teachings to each individual business owner on the Academy. Getting Jared’s business back on course meant interpreting then following accessible processes as offered by the Academy’s teachings.
He particularly engaged with:
Goal setting
Corporate identity
Market positioning
Business vision and how to shape it
Target marketing to desired clientele
Digital marketing; website overhaul
Expanding current client base by referral.
Jared’s decision to hire a bookkeeper came from a masterclass facilitated by Ian ‘’Harv” Harvey of https://www.collectiveintelligence.co.nz/ on understanding the power behind personality profiling. Jared has an architectural eye for exact detail in drawing plans (his builders thank him for that), however, the nitty-gritty of monthly GST and other accounting tasks were not jobs he enjoyed. He can now hand over this aspect of his business and stay focused on developing designs that afford best customer satisfaction.
Additionally, working with Donna (http://themarketingconsultancy.co.nz/) on his marketing has resulted in a new focus for Jared’s branding and customer relationships, along with online and direct marketing strategies, and they are now working together on building a tailored website to showcase Jared’s work and expertise.
His new-found strategy confidence also has him right on target to:
Identify and balance low-value jobs with high value
Implement more streamlined systems
Position himself as an expert in his industry
Continue to create perfect plans
Consolidate position and purpose
Implement a proactive marketing plan to target the clients he enjoys working with
Improve job time tracking
Prioritise and update timelines
Develop better email templates
Develop more comprehensive pricing (quotation) processes.
Jared says it’s a work in progress, but McLeod Architecture now knows its worth and is making small, steady advances with clear goals in sight.
Final words:
“The O2E Business Academy is a short course which gives you longterm results. Why reinvent the wheel or spend time doing huge amounts of study when you have the answers right here! It's real-life stuff and it's tailored to YOU."
Jared McLeod, McLeod Architecture