In this transcript, Clay Clark (US SBA Entrepreneur of the Year) discusses the concept of where two are gathered on Thrive15.com, one of the best business schools in Michigan!
Clay: Today we are talking about building a culture. Specifically, we are talking about where two are gathered. Where two are gathered, creating a culture with just two. Where two are gathered. This is tough because when you start a business it’s just you and another dude. I’m going to give an example here. This is you, and this is Ashley. You are Karen, and this is Ashley. The two of you are now are in business together. You are the owner under this model. Ashley is the first employee.
What happens in most businesses is that instead of having function, they have dysfunction. Instead of having an organization, they have disorganization. Not in your business, but in most businesses, this is what happens. That’s why if you read all these statistics, they say that 90% of all small business fail. Why do they fail? Because the owner, Karen … Karen, I’m talking to you. Karen is, instead of having function she’s having dysfunction. Instead of having an organization, she has disorganization.
Then Ashley runs around like a human with her head cut off. You know how you have chickens with their heads cut off? This is a human with her head cut off. She’s just running around trying to find her head all around the office, and not getting anything done because she has no idea what to do. This is a problem, because you have no function. You have dysfunction. You have no organization. You have disorganization.
What we’re going to teach you specifically is how to take the dysfunction out of your organization, how to take the disorganization out of your organization, and to come up with a system to create a wining culture. Does that make sense? We have to create a culture. We’ve got to create a system. We have to create a place that works. Otherwise we are creating a business that’s just going to drift.
I’m going to give you the checklist. I want you to write these things down, because these are huge. When I say write these down, we’re supposed to use some innovative Thrive technology and type this, but the point is you need to take note of this. Principle number one of five, you have to set weekly meetings.
I worked with a young man about a year ago who had an outstanding business model. He literally had a business that was creating so many customers that he had people waiting in line. He literally had that product that people couldn’t stop talking about on the media. It was in the news. People were in line. People would call, phones ringing all the time, and they’re not available. They’re always booked out. They can’t take care of customers because they’re already booked out. They can’t even handle another customer because they’re already booked out.
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Could you imagine what a great place that would be in right now, if you had a business that had that kind of excitement and that kind of demand for it. Here’s the thing. Until he had the discipline to set weekly meetings, everyone’s freaked out. One, you have to set weekly meetings. Now he has a system. I’m just making up dates and things to give you a concept of what he did here. This is very accurate, but I’m just not going to throw this person under the bus here, exactly.
He sets up a weekly time. He says, “Here’s the deal, guys. Wednesday, moving forward, we’re always going to meet here at 8:30 in the morning. Then every Friday we are going to meet here at 8:30 in the morning. When he says we, who’s we? That’s he plus two. That’s maybe you plus two. What happens when you try to set an appointment? I’m just making up an example, here. If you say to Sue, and Dan, and John, “Hey …” You’re Sue. That’s Dan. That’s John, and this is Kevin, and this is Doug, and this is Louis. You don’t see enough Louises today.
You say, “Hey …” You’re name is Sue. You say, “Dan, John, we’re going to start meeting every Wednesday at 8:30 and every Friday at 8:30.” They say, “Why do we have to meet. We’re already here. We’re already right here. Why do we need to meet then? We could just talk, right?” You say, “No, no, no. We’re going to build an organization.” Repeat it after me. We’re going to build an organization. We’re not going to have disorganization. We’re going to have something that functions, so we’re not going to have dysfunction. We’re going to go ahead and meet every Wednesday at 8:30. We’re going to meet every Friday at 8:30.