Morgan and Catherine Fahey from Smart Build Solutions on O2E Business Academy
Is your business exactly where you want it to be – right now? Or are you drifting a bit, knowing your SME has the potential to grow but you’re not sure how to take it to the next level.
Or perhaps your current business practices are not quite aligning with where you want to be in, say, five years’ time, and you need some guidance on how to spark the catalysts of positive change.
These scenarios were expressed by Morgan and Catherine Fahey of Smart Build Solutions. Their search for best-fit systems to get that momentum happening was the spur for them to apply for our O2E Ordinary 2 Extraordinary Business Academy.
Background
Morgan and Catherine Fahey have owned Smart Build Solutions for almost two years. During this time, Morgan has explored the full gamut of building service offerings and has literally said “yes” to most customer requests.
That broad-strokes practice left Morgan querying whether being Jack of all trades to everyone was working as a viable branding option, and one which could be sustained financially - as well as physically.
Juggling the art of running a business; making good decisions, finding resources to keep up with the job sheet, maintaining creative drive and trying to stay financially afloat and with family responsibilities thrown into the mix is a challenging mandate.
A major stumbling block adding to Smart Build Solutions’ sole trade workload was the necessity to start all processes from scratch due to a lack of standardised administration systems.
The upshot for Morgan and Catherine was an overwhelming and impractical workload, confusion over where their business was placed in the market, a sense of isolation, and the realisation that their future direction consisted of murky and muddled waters.
Smart Build Solutions had unanswered questions such as:
How to identify core service offering and market position
How to simplify and systematise processes
How to stop feeling the need to say “yes” to all work opportunities
How to create structure and begin utilising template systems
How to better promote business brand
How to create a more sophisticated and comprehensive quoting procedure
How to cope as a do-it-alone husband-wife partnership (while raising a young family)
How to clarify role demarcation
How to find direction about future pathways.
Why choose O2E Business Academy?
O2E was set up by Craig Oliver of Project HQ and assisted by Donna Yeats of The Marketing Consultancy to help SME’s improve and enhance business practice, share journeys, feel supported, and receive qualified guidance and usable advice.
At first Masterclass meeting Catherine and Morgan liked the way Craig set the scene immediately: confidential, welcoming, safe, calm, friendly, nurturing.
Small group size and a variety of participants all with different needs meant a comfortable and mutually constructive environment. Catherine and Morgan quickly lost their initial concern that they wouldn’t ‘stack up’ against the other business owners or have anything worthy to contribute.
The time framework of the Academy was perfect for busy business owners. Attending a session one day per month encouraged a mindset change to embrace the commitment to take time off tools and work on their business instead of in it.
The programme was tailored to provide solutions to each business's specialised issues, and these were explored more at the 1 on 1 sessions which followed each Masterclass.
At the 1 on 1’s, Craig would set homework as well as translate his interpretation of the Masterclass; dissect the information, make it 100% relevant to Smart Build Solutions and supply a customised, tailor-made delivery.
The subject matter experts facilitating each class were specialists in their fields and offered practical, far-reaching, and immediately applicable tools for better business practice.
The Takeaways
For Smart Build Solutions, an unexpected bonus emerging from the financial masterclass was connecting with a better-fit accountant, Cerise Klenner (Klenner Consulting Ltd).
And to boost their existing low-key, untargeted marketing strategy, Donna Yeats’ (The Marketing Consultancy) marketing tuition encouraged Catherine and Morgan to finetune where to best spend their promotional budget. They decided to redesign the format of their social media posts to include variety and humour, and to place more content gathering responsibility onto Morgan at the frontline.
Receiving the tools and know how from the Masterclass tutorials and subject matter experts, plus interacting with other course participants gave the wherewithal and impetus for Smart Build Solutions to change and adapt existing practices to better serve their business goals.
One valid system Morgan and Catherine learnt about was how to implement an Operations Board to assist them in setting yearly, quarterly, monthly and weekly goals.
A session on personality profiling gave Catherine clarification and reassurance that she’s in the right role and the right ‘flow’ for her natural aptitudes which lean towards initiating and administrating systems and procedures.
One major coup was the discovery and adoption of a comprehensive Quotation Template. This has allowed Morgan to:
Communicate to clients in a more professional way
Present the plans, price and schedule of work
Depict the job process in detail
Itemise each costing to maximise transparency
Show true value in each step
hare the build journey.
Results? Yes, no, maybe? YES!
Morgan and Catherine have transitioned from general building services to finding a market niche that fits well with their creative passions, skills, resources and future-forward goals.
Building great outdoor living spaces, beautiful backyards, retaining walls, decks and renovations is now a specialised focus for Smart Build Solutions. Identifying where their core values lie and being confident in saying ‘no’ when asked to divert from this.
The assurance gained from the creation of a quotation proposal package to present to clients means Morgan now has hugely increased faith and pride in the service he provides and the confidence to validate his work every step of the way.
Investing in a stronger brand presence encompassing advertising, social media, new website, signage on vehicles and new business cards.
O2E gave much-needed support, like-minded encouragement, networking opportunities and a feeling of connection to Morgan and Catherine’s isolated sole trade situation.
Decisions made about the structure of a five-year plan forward.
So, did O2E live up to its promises?
The promoted points of difference about the features and format of O2E Business Academy all came through, according to Catherine and Morgan.
Small group sizes created trust, intimacy and comradeship
The professional networking was valuable and expansive
The guest speakers were relevant and engaging
The 1 on 1 sessions timely and pertinent
The Masterclass learnings were able to be implemented
The lessons were personalised to suit each business; translated, shaped and accessible, so therefore immediately applicable.
Final words:
Morgan: “If you’re having problems with what direction your business is heading in, get on the phone and talk to Craig.”
Catherine: “O2E has given us the tools and the guidance to take our business to where we want it to go.”