What’s up, everyone! I’m really pumped for this episode of the podcast as we wrap up our mindset series.
For the past 2 months, we have been focusing on mindset shifts, with a different topic each week.
Today I want to take you through a journey of how I was able to grow Carrot, highlighting some of the lessons I learned and the challenges I faced scaling the company.
Our studio sessions have received great feedback. I think that sharing some behind the scenes information about the inner-working of our company along with some of the information provided in our Truck Talks can be a huge asset to any investor or entrepreneur!
I love being able to sit down with Brady to dive deeper into mindset and personal growth. We really touch on some things that we can all do to become better in business, as well as ways to optimize yourself to be a better father, mother, husband, wife, son, daughter, etc.
Let’s dive in to go deeper into the mindset shifts we have made in order to be where we are today!
Read the Full Show Notes Below…
Behind the Scenes at Carrot | My 6 Biggest Mindset Shifts To Grow A Company From Zero to $10 Million
Growing and scaling a company can be a challenge. Just when you think you have things figured out, something will happen to make you question your processes, people, and even your purpose.
The magic happens when something unexpected happens, and you are able to learn and grow from it. In this podcast, I was able to sit down with Brady to discuss the mindset shifts we’ve adopted as well as the other shifts I have had to make along the way.
Six Lessons I Learned While Growing Carrot
#1 – The Billionaire Code
Alex Charfen created the Billionaire Code to help businesses who feel stuck and overwhelmed. In order to scale, they need a strategic plan. Scaling has been one of my greatest challenges personally.
Alex has an excellent tool that breaks down where you are at in your business. When you are making 0-40, you are a seeker. A starter makes 40-100k, a promoter from 100-300k, and so on from there. When you are first starting out, you aren’t quite yet a true entrepreneur, you are someone who is working hard to build something, but in reality, you are still doing all of the work and have more of a glorified job.
As your business grows, there will likely be some times when you feel stuck and not sure how to proceed. It’s important to have market and avatar clarity so you know who you will serve and what unique assets you will be able to offer.
As Carrot is now headed for the $10 million mark this year, I have had to learn how to delegate success. Delegating tasks can be easy once you develop the right processes and standards. But putting the responsibility of success on others takes some getting used to.
#2 – Don’t Put Pressure On Finding Your Purpose
When many entrepreneurs are first starting out, there will often feel pressure to understand and define your passion and purpose. Many years ago, I thought I wanted to be a golf blogger. I loved golf, and being able to travel sounded great. However, I kept beating my head into a wall.
I had been a part of several startups, but I still didn’t have a business that fueled me, which really sparked my passion. I felt inadequate, and it was this feeling of inadequacy and not being able to define my passion that was holding me back in my business.
So I decided to stop looking for it. I gave myself one year to start my business and to make it as great as possible. I removed the need for purpose and gave myself some time to simply make it work.
By using the Energy Audit, I knew I needed to add people and processes if I was going to be successful. I discovered that I was passionate about pouring into others, being a leader, and coaching those who are just getting started. By taking the pressure off of trying to find a purpose, I was able to find it organically.
This year I am crazy excited about a plaque we recently received from the Portland Business Journal, recognizing Carrot as the 8th most philanthropic business in the state of Oregon. Out of 320,019 small businesses in Oregon, we were recognized. This lets me know that I am on the right track to finding my purpose.
#3 – Recommit Each Year & Reset Your Why
Every year I like to make a contract with myself before diving into the next 12 months. When I first started, I wanted to see if I could make this work. It turns out I was able to, so the next year I wanted to become the best in the industry.
By changing my why and recommitting to what I was doing, things became exciting again. I felt a drive and a passion I hadn’t felt in a while and became excited to see what was next. Just like renewing your vows, recommitting to your business is important.
If you aren’t happy with the way things are going in your business, you can sell it, end it, or revamp what you are doing to make sure you keep the passion alive.
#4 – Learn To Delegate – You Can’t Do It All On Your Own
One of my biggest limiting beliefs was that I had to do it all. I never wanted to grow a large company and manage a large team. I always thought that having employees took too much work and that I would never be able to find the right people.
There was so much promotion from the marketing gurus out these that recommended outsourcing everything, to not build a real business, with real people, and with real teams.
Initially, that’s where I was at, but I was miserable. I felt drained, and the energy audit told me I needed people on my team to really make an impact with my business. After reading The Pumpkin Plan, I realized I needed to trim some things down and take a better look at what I was doing.
In 2016, we brought more people on and grew from about 5-10 people. Now we are a team of 30, with the goal of adding 10-15 more by the end of 2020. I’ve learned to not be the bottleneck when it came to getting things done, but instead to trust the competency of the leadership I have put in place.
Very soon we will be launching something called the Entrepreneurs Freedom Formula which is only for our Advanced Marketer members. In this course, I will walk you through the delegation matrix. You’ll learn how to buy back some of your time and reduce that pressure and noise a bit.
#5 – Extreme Ownership
When I was first starting, and even to this day, I can get frustrated with the way things unfold within my business. It is easy to pass blame or to find an excuse, but when you take ownership of the entire process, you will be able to better find a solution.
Recently, I found out emails were going out that weren’t up to our normal standards. I could have pointed the finger, but I realized that this fell on me. I hadn’t provided the right guidelines or expectations as to what I wanted the emails to convey. Together with my team, we have been able to set standards and guidelines so that anyone can step into the position and know exactly what is to be expected in our emails.
Recently, there was a large amount of shredded paper littering the sidewalk outside of our office. At first, I was irritated and was waiting for someone else to clean it up.
Then one day I got out the broom and just did it myself. I handled it and honestly, I felt pretty jolly doing it. I was able to get my hands a little dirty while having so meditative time to think about the day ahead.
When you aren’t pushing the blame, you’ll get a better learning experience. You will be forced to ask what went wrong, and what you can do about it. You will experience more growth and will be able to put the standards in place assuring the issue doesn’t arise again.
Always remember that things happen for you, not to you. Find the positivity and the knowledge that can come from owning it when things go wrong.
#6 – Fight Against Perfection
My philosophy with Carrot has often been that done was better than perfect. People can spend months analyzing something, working to make things perfect, when in reality it could have been completed in only a few days. We like to build things and throw them out there, making adjustments as needed.
I can have a bit of a perfection complex from time to time, over analyzing things instead of just getting them done. In the past, we’ve gone a little too far with this, rolling out things that weren’t quite ready.
Now, we have a good balance of getting things done quickly, while still making sure they meet our standards. Now we have more of a 10-80-10 rule which says we will talk about things during the first 10%, then my team member will work on it for 80%, then bring it back to me for the final 10% before launching. It allows for checks and balances without me having to micromanage things.
Further Listening…
This podcast pairs well with Episode 66 of the podcast that we did back in January titled: My Struggles And 8 Success Lessons Learned… From Paying Taxes With My Credit Card To Multi-Million Dollar Businesses.
I look forward to taking the podcast even further in 2020 by doing some awesome interviews with clients, investors, and major industry influencers!
Let us know if you want to hear more about growth and mindset shifts! Be sure to check out Carrot.com/epic to check out the replay of my Epic Planning Session!
Mentioned In This Episode:
- The Pumpkin Plan by Mike Michalowicz
- The Carrot Energy Audit
- Our Epic Planning Call for 2020
- The Billionaire Code
- The Portland Business Journal
- Crushing It by Gary Vaynerchuk
- Episode 66 of The CarrotCast – My Struggles And 8 Success Lessons Learned… From Paying Taxes With My Credit Card To Multi-Million Dollar Businesses