MOST Analysis

Mission Statement

This program is ideal for an entrepreneur; someone who has gone beyond just coming up with ideas and has already had some success by turning those ideas into something tangible and making some money. Specifically the program focuses on entrepreneurs in construction and construction related industries ready to take their business to the next level while simultaneously creating a healthier work-life balance.

By the end of the program the entrepreneur will develop a process driven and efficient business model tailored to work around their individual dreams and goals. This customized model will position participants to enjoy success on their own terms and achieve something most entrepreneurs aspire to attain but never actually achieve – Entrepreneurship Work-Life Balance.

During the first month of the program participants will be guided through a series of steps designed to establish personalized, unique goals, and determine what they plan to accomplish during the program. The purpose of establishing program goals at the outset is so that each succeeding step of the program can be customized and geared towards each participant reverse engineering their own success.

The entrepreneurs will first complete a gut level assessment called the Ten-Second Test, with the intent to begin establishing the baseline needed for self-testing and validation of goals. Next they will work through the Ten-Minute Dream Statement to begin expanding on their gut level assessment. This statement will then serve as the basis for a deeper critical thinking step to develop the Reflection Statement.

Participants will then work through exercises designed to analyze their new self-assessment data and how it relates to their current mindset, positioning, and work-life balance. This analysis is critical for the entrepreneurs to better understand how their end-of-program and long-term goals compare to the current state of their personal life and business model. The analysis will then be used to review their unique value proposition, and current niche markets to gain preliminary insight as to the feasibility of accomplishing their program goals and the necessary resources.

During the final steps of the first month participants will work to culminate the testing and validation results so they can begin brainstorming for the future and putting short-term and long-term parameters down on paper. With this in place the entrepreneur will revisit and further interpret the results of their self-assessment to make any adjustments. These results will be turned into tangible and realistic goals geared towards improving their business and achieving a healthy work-life balance.

At the conclusion of the first month and before moving to the next program phase participants will have established their own personal goals and validated these goals. This validation is the final goal establishment step to confirm the goals are realistic and achievable. Realistic and achievable is not intended to mean easy but instead to confirm that the entrepreneurs are committed to dedicating themselves and the resources it will take to achieve program success.

The participant will in turn leverage these now validated goals to serve as a key ingredient for developing the customized blueprint tailored to focus on results through every step of the program and reverse engineer their own success.

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Objectives

01. Entrepreneurship Cycle: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
02. Mindset: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
03. Deep Thinking: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
04. Positioning: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
05. Balance: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
06. Habits: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
07. Culture: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. 1 Month
08. Niche Identification: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
09. Interdepartmental Survey: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
10. Feasibility: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
11. Parameters: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
12. Goal Establishment: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month

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Strategies

1. Entrepreneurship Cycle: Each entrepreneur to undertake SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
2. Mindset: Each entrepreneur to undertake SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
3. Deep Thinking: Each entrepreneur to undertake SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
4. Positioning: Each entrepreneur to undertake SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
5. Balance: Each entrepreneur to undertake SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
6. Habits: Each entrepreneur to undertake SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
7. Culture: Each entrepreneur to undertake SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
8. Niche Identification: Each entrepreneur to undertake SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
9. Interdepartmental Survey: Each entrepreneur to undertake SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
10. Feasibility: Each entrepreneur to undertake SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
11. Parameters: Each entrepreneur to undertake SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
12. Goal Establishment: Each entrepreneur to undertake SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.

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Tasks

1. Entrepreneurship Cycle: Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, in order to analyze the Entrepreneurship Cycle process.
2. Mindset: Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, in order to analyze the Mindset process.
3. Deep Thinking: Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, in order to analyze the Deep Thinking process.
4. Positioning: Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, in order to analyze the Positioning process.
5. Balance: Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, in order to analyze the Balance process.
6. Habits: Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, in order to analyze the Habits process.
7. Culture: Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, in order to analyze the Culture process.
8. Niche Identification: Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, in order to analyze the Niche Identification process.
9. Interdepartmental Survey: Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, in order to analyze the Interdepartmental Survey process.
10. Feasibility: Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, in order to analyze the Feasibility process.
11. Parameters: Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, in order to analyze the Parameters process.
12. Goal Establishment: Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, in order to analyze the Goal Establishment process.

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Introduction

In the beginning stages of a new company one entrepreneur or a small group of partner entrepreneurs (the founders) often find themselves wearing many hats; taking on the roles of multiple management positions they have yet to fill.

Entrepreneurs who start a business this way eventually fall right into the typical entrepreneurship cycle if the company sees some success and starts to grow. Usually overwhelmed by this point, burn out starts to set in and it becomes less and less likely that the self-employed, sweat equity, approach to running a business will be sustainable. Not all entrepreneurs make it past this point.

The ones who keep going and over time transition into a more process driven business generally learn to shed some of their workload, adding leadership to the organization; C-suite executives and department heads. They also typically add more staff and outsourced resources to help ease the burdens of some of the repetitive day-to-day tasks they had initially been handling themselves because they thought it made sense or they couldn’t afford to hire these tasks out.

With added leadership and staff the founding entrepreneur’s day-to-day role almost immediately begins to change to less of a worker bee and more of a boss, largely out of necessity. For an entrepreneur who has been stuck for some period of time in the proverbial hamster wheel of work, work, work, there is a good chance this was the first time they got a taste of what it would be like to have some of their time back. This feeling could be best described as a breath of fresh air.

In addition to the changing role for the founding entrepreneur under this new model, the leadership in the company also begins to take on the characteristics of an entrepreneur; organizing, managing and assuming the risks of the business. Depending on the structure of the company this leadership could include positions like the CEO, COO, CFO, CMO and CTO, as well as division and department heads such as accounting, marketing and human resources for example.

If you are someone who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise then by definition, you are an entrepreneur. (Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

As one might expect, the cycle continues over time and the time demands increase on the leadership, similarly to how they increased on the founding entrepreneur in the earlier stages of the business. At this point in the company’s tenure, one, a few, several, or in extreme cases all of the leadership could begin to feel overwhelmed, leading to an organizational breakdown starting at the top and trickling downhill.

Inevitably, at this point the time and energy commitment these leaders make to the business have crossed a boundary and begun impacting their own personal wellbeing and success as well; in some cases adding additional strains to life at home, inhibiting their social life and even making it difficult to find time for practicing good habits of taking care of themselves. As leaders, the key players also will begin to stress that their own personal reputation in the professional world is now resting on the shoulders of their company’s success (or lack thereof); which can cause them to work even more, complicating their work-life balance further.

The good news is that this constant feeling of overwhelm can become a thing of the past for entrepreneurs willing to commit to following a process and implementing a series of strategies designed to promote a process driven business geared towards creating a healthier work-life balance; Balancing Entrepreneurship.

In 2020, an eight person expert panel of entrepreneurs put together a list of eight strategies for business leaders to avoid feeling overwhelmed (Source: Forbes Magazine, March 5, 2020, How To Avoid Feeling Overwhelmed: Eight Effective Strategies For Business Leaders, Expert Panel, Young Entrepreneur Council)

1. Use Your Time Outside Of Work Wisely
2. Change Your Attitude Toward Stress
3. Learn How To Delegate
4. Fine-Tune Digital Notification Settings
5. Create More Time And Focus
6. Tackle The Biggest Hurdle First
7. Get An Executive Accountability Partner
8. Manage Your Deadlines

The great thing is that every item on the list can be addressed with goal setting.

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Why Goal Setting

Years ago one of the panel speakers at a seminar I attended made an analogy that really struck a chord with me. I had heard the two words he spoke of, rich and wealthy, used interchangeably quite often but had never really thought about the difference between the two.

To get our attention the speaker started by telling a short fictional story about someone laying on their deathbed and how unlikely it would be to hear them say something like, I wish I had bought that expensive car I always wanted. After a pause for effect, the speaker continued with you would be more likely to hear the dying person say something like, I wish I had spent more time with my kids or visited my parents more often.

Quickly getting to his point, he explained that from his point of view, if you are rich then you have plenty of money to spend but if you are wealthy you not only have money but also have time to enjoy it. Comparison made, he went on to say that although he had amassed plenty of money and could pretty much buy whatever he wanted materially, without the time and relationships he had been able to nurture along the way, all the money and possessions in the world would not be worth it for him. Whether someone agrees or disagrees with this logic there is some rationale to it and there is definitely a difference between having lots of money in relation to having lots of money and plenty of time.

As humans we only get 168 hours in a week. For most people, adding up the hours it takes to do those things they have to do in order to survive leaves little time to spend doing what they really enjoy; one of which is probably spending quality time with the people whom they most prefer to spend it with or hobbies or the like. The funny thing is if you talk to ten people who have jobs and engage in deep conversation you will often find that some of them think entrepreneurs have all the time in the world. Their opinions couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Entrepreneurs, as a whole, tend to work more than employees and this isn’t a new problem. According to a poll of readers of the New York Enterprise Report conducted in 2006, 33% of small-business owners worked more than 50 hours a week and another 25% logged more than 60 hours weekly. On top of that, working a weekend regularly was the norm for 70%. (Source: Inc. Magazine, April 13, 2006, Business Owners Work Twice as Much as Employees, Survey Finds, Ted Callahan)

The constant feeling of not having enough time adds frustration and stress. This in turn triggers all kinds of emotions and inevitably an entrepreneur in this predicament eventually becomes overwhelmed and starts losing control, meaning they don’t know what to do minute-to-minute; much less day-to-day.

As the 2006 poll suggests, some entrepreneurs accept the lack of time as it is, and either continue to work randomly or freeze up and do nothing; basically grinding away daily for survival. In addition to feeling miserable and overwhelmed, doing nothing to get out of the rut like these entrepreneurs choose to do can actually make the problem worse over time because in entrepreneurship standing still typically means you are actually regressing and going backwards.

If you don’t know what to do minute-to-minute; much less day to day then where do you start to remove the randomness and stop wasting so much of your valuable time?

The answer is you start with goal setting, which is why the first workshop is dedicated to Goal Establishment.

As famous entrepreneur, Bill Gates is famously quoted as saying,

“Setting clear goals and finding measures that will mark progress toward them can improve the human condition.”

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Getting Started

These days in society everything is rush, rush, rush. After all, it is completely normal to be overbooked and in many work settings if you aren’t absolutely slammed then it can be construed that you are lazy or a slacker.

The question you should be asking is;

Are all of these people really that busy?

Did you know the automatic scheduling calendar applications have modules built in to make it look like someone is busy. If you don’t believe this check it out for yourself. You can absolutely set a scheduling calendar to randomly block off free time so that when someone books time on the calendar it looks like you are jam packed with meetings already.

The answer is, yes, people as a whole in modern society tend to overextend. Why wouldn’t they? Technology makes it easy. Like it or not, the digital age has put a damper on effective planning because everything is liquid with nothing set in stone anymore. If someone is running late to a meeting they just send a quick text assuming since they let the other person know it was no big deal.

Making changes on the fly has become normal in homelife and in the business world. The problem with this thinking and these habits is that the impacts of these changes filter down much farther into the day-to-day lives of society in regards to how they act or feel.

Take running late to the meeting for example. If two people are meeting and one of them is late, the meeting will more than likely run past the allotted time. This means both meeting attendees are now behind on their next task. Just like that, efficiency is literally out the window.

So what does being slammed really mean? It means people are tracking hours logged instead of tracking results.

The studies already show that entrepreneurs’ employees are not productive. As published in Inc. Magazine, a study of full-time office workers revealed that the average productivity in the office among the respondents was 2 hours and 53 minutes. The study, conducted by www.vouchercloud.com, polled 1,989 UK office workers all aged over 18 as part of research into the online habits and productivity of workers across the nation.

According to the study here is where employees are spending their time.

(Source: Inc. Magazine, July 21, 2016, In an 8-Hour Day, the Average Worker Is Productive for This Many Hours, Melanie Curtin)

It begs to differ that if you conducted the same study among entrepreneurs feeling overwhelmed, the results would be similar which would mean entrepreneurs might think they are really busy; but are they?

Taking it one step further, are overwhelmed entrepreneurs logging hours or focusing on results?

I have to admit I drank the kool-aid for years and bought into the whole, you have to be busy to be successful and you have to outwork your competition to really thrive and reach your potential. For me this worked for years, right up until the time when my life started to change.

Sometimes I think back to what my days looked like before and compare them to what they are like now and I just shake my head. As a young, single, employee out of college work always took priority.

– If I had to get in early to wrap something up; no problem.
– When the boss invited us to a group happy hour I was there.
– Late nights in the office; the norm.
– Covering weekends; sure whatever it takes.

Then, several years later after I had resigned from my job and started a business my life began to change. In my case I had already settled down but was just starting to grow a family with kids. At this point, saying yes to everything work related became more of a decision; and a decision with consequences at that.

For the first time in my life I began to really experience the stresses of trying to maintain a work-life balance. I can tell you this unequivocally – I didn’t like how it felt one bit.

I can also tell you that the stresses of an unhealthy work-life balance took a toll not only at home but also with my business. No matter what anyone tells you it is very difficult, if not impossible, to completely separate your work life from your personal life; especially when you are an entrepreneur.

Looking back, one of the most important steps I made in my own journey to create a healthier work-life balance was to slow down. I remember vividly when I was completely overwhelmed and on the verge of exhaustion yet I carved out some quiet time to reflect back.

It didn’t take me very long reflecting to see the connection between the times when I was crazy busy and felt overwhelmed but had somehow managed to eventually get my head above water. Dating all the way back to my corporate days I realized that each time I had reached this point I had done the same thing; I had done less.

This doesn’t mean that I quit when times got tough. In fact I never threw in the towel and gave up. Instead I managed each time to put in the effort to offload tasks that I knew someone else could handle.

The problem in my case was that I had let myself get so busy that I wasn’t allowing time to develop a repeatable process, train someone on that process, make them responsible for it, and create a follow up process to make sure the process was getting done correctly.

Reality is in each case the process was already built and tested; in my head.

The magic was in slowing down and taking the time to get the process out of my head and down on paper. Once the process had been taught and delegated my role minimized to oversight and periodic follow ups.

Getting back to the 168 hours in a week the question you should be asking is;

Where am I spending my time?

How you get started is figuring out where you are currently in relation to where you want to be.

This leads into effective short-term and long-term goal setting to define the unique path it will take to connect the dots and cross the bridge between now and then.

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Setting the Ultimate Baseline

In goal setting the baseline, sometimes called a datum, defines the starting point. When entrepreneurs set goals, establishing a clear starting point is imperative for the goal setting process to be effective. This is because without first defining the baseline it would be impossible to accurately measure goal progress.

Since the baseline anchors one end of the spectrum and the result, or goal achievement, anchors the opposite end, the distance between these two anchors can be referred to as the bridge. In this case the bridge represents the path between where an entrepreneur is currently and where they want to be.

The single bridge would suffice, and it does at a macro level, to define the ultimate goal. In terms of an entrepreneur working towards the ultimate goal of a more process driven business model with a healthier work-life balance it is logical that in order to achieve the ultimate goal will also require the achievement of a series of smaller goals along the way. Therefore ultimate goal achievement would represent the collective achievement of several smaller goals; interim goals if you will.

The delineation between the ultimate and interim goals is not intended to minimize the importance of setting the ultimate goal first before subsequently diving into setting and prioritizing the short-term micro goals. To the contrary, setting goals in this order helps alleviate the likely consequence of setting several random goals without boundaries; a series of unrelated goals that although achieved individually do not result in the achievement of the ultimate goal.

In their article, How Focusing on Superordinate Goals Motivates Broad, Long-Term Goal Pursuit: A Theoretical Perspective, the authors write,

“Multiple intermediate goals across different behavioral contexts in turn help achieve goals even higher up in the hierarchy—that is, superordinate goals. For example, the intermediate goals to ‘be in good physical shape’, ‘get enough sleep’, ‘avoid stress’, and ‘eat a healthy diet‘ all contribute to the superordinate goal to ‘be healthy’.” (Source: frontiersin.org, October 2, 2018, How Focusing on Superordinate Goals Motivates Broad, Long-Term Goal Pursuit: A Theoretical Perspective, Bettina Höchli, Adrian Brügger and Claude Messner; Department of Consumer Behavior, Institute of Marketing and Management, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland)

Keeping this in mind entrepreneurs will utilize the SMART goal setting methodology, to first establish an ultimate goal with baseline and desired result, followed by a series of interim or intermediate goals needed to achieve the ultimate goal. When utilizing the SMART method, each goal set will meet five criteria.

The five necessary criteria for each goal set are the goals must be,

● Specific
● Measurable
● Achievable
● Realistic
● Time Sensitive

Using this methodology together with the data generated by the entrepreneur in the first workshop will provide the entrepreneur with the information needed to develop a personalized goal tracking log that will be utilized and fine tuned throughout the program. In addition to the baseline for the ultimate goal, the log will also include the unique baselines for each interim goal established.

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Defining Results

For entrepreneurs results matter and in goal setting the result defines the end point, also called the finish line. Similarly to the baseline, when entrepreneurs set goals, establishing a clear result is imperative for the goal setting process to be effective.

Specifically, the desired ultimate result will be different and unique to each entrepreneur although generally it can be construed to mean, where the entrepreneur really wants to be. To help get their arms around where they really want to be a series of steps are followed to facilitate deep thinking, first at a gut level and then at a validation level.

This deep thinking starts with a self-assessment mindset analysis to zero in on and define values, expertise and passions while also acknowledging the entrepreneur’s mindset type. This analysis leads into a three step analysis geared towards establishing the entrepreneur’s ultimate desired result at a gut level before validating that gut and reaffirming commitment to put in the work.

During the Ten-Second Test the entrepreneur will identify their unique dream at a gut level. Subsequently, step two is designed to facilitate the entrepreneur getting their thoughts out of their head and onto paper; a necessary step before validating the dream. In step three the entrepreneur will use a looking back reflection concept to test confidence and clarity which are both integral parts of a healthy mindset.

At the conclusion of the three step process the entrepreneur will be able to define their desired ultimate result while satisfying each of the five criteria in the SMART goal setting methodology. At this point the unique ultimate goal for the program is established which enables the entrepreneur to begin figuring out and defining the interim goals they will need to achieve in their quest to get from where they are now to where they want to be.

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Connecting the Dots

Defining the ultimate goal using SMART goal setting methodology and taking the extra step to put that goal down on paper should feel like a WIN for any entrepreneur. A study of 149 participants conducted by Psychologist, Dr. Gail Matthews shows, those who make the effort to write their goals down are 1-½ times more likely to accomplish their goals than those who just set goals.

With the ultimate goal established and written down on paper the entrepreneur can go to work establishing the interim goals required to connect the dots. Transparency and accountability are critical at this juncture because any known constraints, issues and variables that are ignored will render the analysis and subsequent goal setting process inaccurate.

The process begins with the entrepreneur methodically sifting through and evaluating several criteria at their departmental level. Under the presumption that each criteria evaluated will need work for the entrepreneur to achieve their ultimate goal, they will assess and analyze both their own personal standing as well as the positioning, work-life balance, habits, culture and niche of their business.

Once interpreted, the generated data will provide the necessary information to begin development of the unique, interim goals for the program with each goal again satisfying the SMART goal setting criteria. Although it makes sense for each entrepreneur and/or department to work on this analysis independently it is recommended they circle back around and conduct an interdepartmental survey to ensure continuity, unity and collaboration is present between the major departments and divisions of the organization.

It is important at this stage for the entrepreneur to validate the generated data and remove as many known variables as possible while identifying anything they are aware of that could create a problem or inhibit achievement of a goal. It is not realistic for the entrepreneur to expect that all of the problems will be solved at this point although it can be anticipated that many of the developed goals will require just that; solving known problems.

In fact, the entrepreneur should expect (and welcome) additional challenges to surface later. The objective at hand is to validate the data with the best known information at the time to make sure it represents an accurate assessment. The analysis and deep thinking performed at this stage will provide the springboard for the entrepreneur to evaluate the feasibility and establish goal parameters leading up to the development of the goal tracking log which will mark the completion of this workshop.

The goals will start to take form once validated although they will not yet satisfy all of the SMART goal setting criteria. This criteria won’t be met until time constraints have been applied to each goal. It would not help to apply time constraints at this point without first prioritizing the goals to follow a logical sequence and flow.

After the goals have been prioritized the entrepreneur will assign each item to either a short-term goal or a long-term goal. The short-term goals will then be broken down further into six-month and one-year goals. Similarly the long-term goals will be broken down into two-year, five-year and ten-year goals.

Entrepreneurs moving forward are constantly testing, learning and adapting so the idea is not to get everything perfect but instead to use the best available resources to be as accurate as possible. It is important to understand that the goal tracking log is meant to be a tool so updating the log throughout the program is anticipated and encouraged.

A side note – Don’t forget that billionaire and entrepreneur, Bill Gates is famously quoted as saying, “Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.”

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Feasibility

For a goal to be feasible means that it is capable of being done or carried out. (Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

The main reason to perform a feasibility analysis prior to implementing and taking action on a goal is to make sure the anticipated action will render the desired outcome. Once completed the analysis also confirms another criteria in the SMART goal setting process; achievable.

Confirming feasibility marks an integral part of overall success in goal setting. The goal tracking log will comprise six-month, one-year, two-year, five-year and ten-year goals each follow-on goal will be dependent on the success of preceding goal results.

Acknowledging that ultimate success depends on the interim successes along the way, it is worth the effort to invest time thinking about the adverse effects if one or two in a series of multiple goals working together in harmony wasn’t feasible from the beginning and ultimately failed. Breaking this down further, the ultimate goal baseline is set in stone, representing a snapshot of the entrepreneur’s starting point in the program.

In order to achieve the ultimate goal result at the end of the program, and beyond, will require the accomplishment of a series of interim goals along the way. Because it would not be realistic to solve every problem or start taking action on every goal immediately, each interim goal will in effect have its own unique baseline. As a result many of these interim goal baselines will be dependent on the success of preceding actions and anticipated results.

Therefore, implementing irresponsible action on an unfeasible goal would inevitably lead to the failure to achieve the desired outcome. This failure would likely in turn create a snowball effect with follow on goals, rendering these goals unrealistic or unachievable as well. Utilizing accurate daya and meeting the SMART criteria will eliminate this from the equation but it is worth mentioning to highlight its importance.

In general, entrepreneurs are highly motivated, however when it comes to goal setting commitment and drive are not enough and details matter. Before jumping in with both feet it is important to take the time to get an initial handle on things like money, risk, income potential and available resources. Also an entrepreneur should always consider the consequences of committing to a particular goal in terms of whether the actions required aligns with core values and the perceived impacts on work-life balance.

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Setting Parame