I’m a huge fan of The Profit, a CNBC show centered around business guru Marcus Lemonis taking a struggling business and helping them turn it all around into profitability.
Once he takes on a challenge and invests in their business, he now has skin in the game and deeply cares about getting their team on the right track.
In fact, in the past ten years, he’s turned around over 100 companies by focusing on the 3 P’s: People, Process, Product.
Think of it as a show like the popular business sharks in the tank, but without any “sharks!”
As I reflect on my long track record of turning around financial advisor practices, I’m happy to say that I’ve helped my fair share of advisors get their teams on the right track as well.
As Marcus advises teams of all sorts, his top tips are ones that I think can help any financial advisor do a better job of achieving goals for their practice.
Top 10 Rules for Success:
- Don’t be an ass. Self explanatory?
- Make employees #1. They are your ambassadors on the front lines and directly with clients.
- Know what you don’t know. Find people to compliment your skills. If you need hiring help to pinpoint the right people, get it.
- You have to accept crazy if you work with friends or family. Think twice, or fully embrace and manage the crazy!
- Be vulnerable. Embrace being real, which takes courage to open up and own your story.
- Be authentic. Consider yourself to be a work of nonfiction. Don’t be delusional about your business, and instead be believable and true.
- Be transparent. Rather than hiding, hustling or lying, you’ll feel so much better and achieve much more by sharing the truth.
- It’s all about follow through. Many businesses that appear on ‘The Profit’ have a misconception that Marcus is there to run the business; always by your side to push you along and point out things so you can do it when he is gone. Instead, you have to immediately commit to consistently following the process. If a leader is needed but not willing to lead, failure is imminent.
- Know your numbers. This is the true “health report” on the business to guide decisions about where you’re going: who to hire, expansion plans and more. You have to know the current status of your business, and there is no excuse not to know the numbers.
- Quit whining and start winning. Business owners who don’t take responsibility get a mirror. Why? To see who gets the blame. Guess what, it’s always you!
After 4 years and 67 episodes, here are the biggest things Marcus Lemonis learned and his takeaways:
- All business owners are people who have belief in self and passion to get into something and try.
- They each go into each business with the same fresh set of eyes to take a chance on people and take a fair crack at it.
- You can learn anything if you try hard enough.
- You don’t have to be an expert at everything; partner with someone that is an expert.
- He has cried with business owners and also screamed at the top of his lungs.
What Other Lessons did Marcus Learn?
- Learn how to treat people and how not to treat people, a solid life lesson in general.
- Take a chance on really good people, and it will work out.
- Don’t invest in really bad people or bad ideas. Easier said than done, but do it.
Conclusion
When you reflect on these business lessons from Marcus Lemonis, you’ll quickly see these are no different than any lessons learned from relationships, hiring, or anything involving human interaction.
Follow these tips, and you’re sure to enjoy great profit as well, in all sorts of ways!
Want our help getting your financial advisor practice turned in the right direction? We’re happy to lead the way. Simply send us a note and we’ll get started!
