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The biggest shifts in a business often come from decisions no one else sees.
Future Proof is a show for business owners facing the pressure to grow and the weight of legacy, often at the same time.
Hosted by Scott Eckart, each episode features honest conversations with leaders who’ve made bold moves, stepped into succession, or redefined success altogether. You’ll hear what they were up against, what they chose, and what they’d do differently now.
If you're thinking about what's next and want to build a business that lasts, this is the show for you.
[00:00:01] Scott Eckart: I'm Scott Eckhart and this is Future Proof, a show for building something that lasts. Let's get into it.
[00:00:08] Scott Eckart: Hello everyone. Today on Future Proof, Mark Miller and I, who's a new coach here at Velocity, will be talking about some of our key principles of business transformation.
[00:00:17] Mark Miller: to extract maximum value is the conscious
[00:00:20] Mark Miller: effort to grow
[00:00:22] Mark Miller: your business in a manner that efficiently converts ownership
[00:00:26] Mark Miller: into
[00:00:27] Mark Miller: personal financial freedom and
[00:00:30] Mark Miller: peace of mind.
[00:00:31] Scott Eckart: So let's get into it
[00:00:33] ​
[00:00:36] Scott Eckart: Welcome, everybody, to this edition of Future Proof. Very excited, to have Mark Miller back in the studio on what's becoming our first anniversary of Future Proof. Welcome back, Mark. Thank you. It's great to have you. Thank you.
[00:00:49] Mark Miller: Great to be
[00:00:49] Mark Miller: here. It's always-
[00:00:50] Scott Eckart: Yeah. So we're, sporting our, um, team colors today.
[00:00:54] Scott Eckart: We have our, our new merch on. New merch. So thanks for sporting the colors. So-
[00:00:59] Mark Miller: a cool day out. Feels good. huh?
[00:01:00] Scott Eckart: Yeah, it does. It does. So you're, here back in the studio under, your new role with me as a business partner,
[00:01:09] Scott Eckart: coming
[00:01:09] Scott Eckart: under, um, after a very successful transition. I don't know if people
[00:01:14] Scott Eckart: know that,
[00:01:15] Scott Eckart: but you're, you're my, uh, I like to call you my poster child for-
[00:01:19] Speaker:
[00:01:19] Scott Eckart: a great succession transition. And how does it feel? Let me just ask you that. Now that you're really on the other side and kind of coming out of that, and how does it feel?
[00:01:28] Mark Miller: Yeah, it feels, feels good. Um, you know, very, um, freeing.
[00:01:33] Mark Miller: So
[00:01:34] Mark Miller: I'm looking forward to, uh, the next steps.
[00:01:36] Mark Miller: and-
[00:01:36] Scott Eckart: But I didn't want you to feel too free, so that's why I said I, I-
[00:01:40] Scott Eckart: come,
[00:01:40] Scott Eckart: come on in. I've got, I've got things for you to do. That's right. Yeah. Right. So very excited. But we have had some, uh, great opportunities, uh, here recently. We've had some great conversations with business owners.
[00:01:51] Scott Eckart: Yeah.
[00:01:51] Scott Eckart: Um, and already people have been saying, "Mark, you know, I heard that, you know, you made a change," and, you know, they've said, you know, "What are you doing?"
[00:02:01] Scott Eckart: And, and you've said, "Oh, you know, I need to, I need to, you know, get my, uh, get my answer right." So what are you telling them that you're doing?
[00:02:09] Mark Miller: Well, um, you know, a lot of people ask what I'm doing. What a lot of people ask what, uh, you know, what's the most exciting thing and-
[00:02:18] Scott Eckart: Right ...
[00:02:18] Mark Miller: and so I, I guess I'll answer in a combination.
[00:02:21] Mark Miller: I think the best way to say it is, f- is what comes to mind is freedom.
[00:02:25] Scott Eckart: Okay.
[00:02:25] Mark Miller: And, um, when I say freedom, it's kind of freedom with choice i- is where I'm at. And I, I love that because, um, I, I liken it. I was trying to come up with a good analogy, but you know, when I, when I used to go to work every day-
[00:02:43] Scott Eckart: Yes
[00:02:43] Mark Miller: it was kind of, it was... it, I liken it to, you put on, if you're going hiking or if you're going for a walk or you have to get dressed up, you put these tight restrictive things on. You gotta buckle up, and you're ready to go. And that's very restrictive. And then once in a while, you have the opportunity to put on a nice pair of loafers and feel comfortable.
[00:03:02] Mark Miller: And if get really, really lucky, you put on a pair of thongs- Yeah, and go outside- Yeah ... you
[00:03:08] Scott Eckart: know,
[00:03:08] Mark Miller: on the beach or- Yeah ... sandals or whatever that might be. Yeah. So, um, anyway, that, that freedom allows me many choices to do what I want to do and what's life-giving to me. Yes. And so work is life-giving to me, but it's, it's different than it was.
[00:03:27] Mark Miller: Uh, so it's, it's fulfillment. And yet I also have time and energy to do the things that I like to do, play guitar, uh, work on cars. Um-
[00:03:41] Mark Miller: uh-
[00:03:41] Scott Eckart: Travel. You're going on a
[00:03:43] Mark Miller: trip.
[00:03:43] Scott Eckart: Travel. Yeah. Going on great
[00:03:44] Scott Eckart: trip
[00:03:44] Mark Miller: Yeah, Coming up here. which has always been a part of our plan.
[00:03:46] Scott Eckart: Yeah. Right.
[00:03:47] Mark Miller: And, uh, yeah, so we're going.
[00:03:49] Mark Miller: We've gone on some trips and still going on them this year. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, transition's been good, and I'm just excited about, uh, moving on.
[00:03:57] Scott Eckart: It's a great segue to what we're gonna talk about today. our core belief at Velocity Coaching, as you know, but I'm gonna state it here-
[00:04:05] Mark Miller: Yeah ...
[00:04:05] Scott Eckart: uh, for listeners, is want business owners to do what they wanna do on, on their timeframe.
[00:04:13] Scott Eckart: And you and I feel very passionately about we don't ever want a business owner to feel held hostage by that economy. So we want them to be able to do what they want to do when they wanna do it, no matter what the political, social, or economic times. Mm-hmm. So there's a lot, in that short phrase, there's a lot of stuff in that, so we're gonna unpack some of that stuff today.
[00:04:35] Scott Eckart: Good.
[00:04:36] Speaker: Great.
[00:04:36] Scott Eckart: And one of the things that as I'm out and about, um, chatting with folks, and also whether it's formally or informally, in a workshop or not, are some very key principles, you know, that, that we discuss. Couple questions that I like to ask people. Number one is, will you work from inspiration or desperation?
[00:05:01] Scott Eckart: That's one. Number two is, what comes next for your business environment? Which is a loaded question, right?
[00:05:10] Mark Miller: Yeah.
[00:05:11] Scott Eckart: And then following right on the heels of that is, are you ready to capture those new opportunities, right? So there, there's, there's just a lot in there. so I really wanna, we're gonna unpack, we're not gonna unpack them all.
[00:05:25] Scott Eckart: but if you go out onto our website, we have them listed all there and you can kind of take them down. But we're gonna start with those, uh, today. We're just gonna unpack the, the first one. I think you've got 'em, they're listed, so I'm gonna let you take over and kind of-
[00:05:40] Mark Miller: Yeah ...
[00:05:40] Scott Eckart: let's get started.
[00:05:41] Mark Miller: Yeah. So, um, I think the first one we really ought to talk about is, um, clarifying your velocity vision. And, that takes a lot, and a, and a lot of people, I think you'll agree, when you first talk about vision, they're like, "Well, of course, Scott, I have a, I a vision." And, they tend to, minimize that- Yes
[00:06:03] Mark Miller: if you will. I think it's important to dig into that a little bit more about what, how we see that- Mm-hmm
[00:06:10] Mark Miller: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm ... and just how important that is to bring that clarity first and foremost Right ...to the table. Right.
[00:06:17] Scott Eckart: So we also add the word velocity on it. and I think with, with a lot of intentionality and design on that one.
[00:06:24] Scott Eckart: I think oftentimes the word vision just gets thrown around in business and, and unfortunately, it's been diminished, I think in a lot of, in a lot of ways. And to be, contrasted with the word mission. Mission is who we are, but vision is where we are going. And in today's business, you know, velocity is about speed, it's about acceleration.
[00:06:46] Scott Eckart: But to me and to you, it's about how do we collapse time also and get to where we want to get a little bit faster. Mm-hmm. So one of the things I like to do as a test, I guess, or how do we solve for that, is if I come into a situation, you know, early on in, in a, in a coaching environment, and I'll say to the owner or the, the, the leaders, "Let's sit down with a blank piece of paper and get your, your key people who you depend on the most."
[00:07:16] Scott Eckart: And I give them a blank piece of paper. With no coaching, with no lead up, with no any kind of, prompting, in as few words as you can, please identify the vision of our company, and then stop talking. Like, say nothing else. Mm. And first of all, if they, you know, look at you with a blank stare, now you, you know something, something's going on.
[00:07:43] Scott Eckart: And give them whatever time they need to do that, and then collect those papers. What they put down on that paper is very, very, very telling.
[00:07:51] Scott Eckart: And I'm not trying to embarrass anybody, Mark. You know, I'm not trying to be snarky, I'm not trying to do that. But more often than not, number one, between let's say there's three people, you have three key leaders, there is no agreement on that, and those answers are wildly different.
[00:08:08] Scott Eckart: Now, why do you, why do you think that might be?
[00:08:10] Mark Miller: Well, I think it, it has a lot from experience, it has a lot to do with how much you've shared that vision, how much you've talked about that vi- that vision. Because many times it's, it's something you just put up on the wall.
[00:08:23] Scott Eckart: Right.
[00:08:23] Mark Miller: We get together as a group, what's our vision gonna be?
[00:08:27] Mark Miller: We're ready for that, let's go. We memorialize it, and then it's, it's left to collect dust.
[00:08:35] Scott Eckart: Right. Right.
[00:08:35] Mark Miller: And so there's very few companies that I think would ... any company that would, unless very intentionally-
[00:08:42] Scott Eckart: Mm-hmm ...
[00:08:42] Mark Miller: that they talk about it, they live it-
[00:08:44] Scott Eckart: Mm-hmm ...
[00:08:45] Mark Miller: that could
[00:08:46] Scott Eckart: each and every person
[00:08:47] Mark Miller: answer that the same way.
[00:08:48] Scott Eckart: Right. Right. And then go from there, we take a, you know, process to be able then to then refine it. But one of the things that's most concerning to me is, how do you know if you're gonna go where you need to go if you have no idea when you get there if you've arrived? And, and that, that's part of it.
[00:09:05] Mark Miller: Right.
[00:09:06] Scott Eckart: And so that's what I call also the tyranny of the urgent, where people are just running, running, they're busy, but maybe not productive, and they don't know. But it, it gets very specific very quickly when you get to things like valuation, you get to things like key performance indicators, and that if that is not actually tied to the vision, now you have a complete
[00:09:24] Scott Eckart: Now you've got confusion. And, and that's part of why a vision can be so really critically important, is to actually, you know, clarifying that and keeping people on, on the right page. Because if people come in to you and they say, "Mark, I don't even know what I'm doing here. I don't even know if what I do matters."
[00:09:42] Scott Eckart: Then, then you can't say, "Well, are you working according to the vision?" They have no idea what that is.
[00:09:48] Scott Eckart: Now, in your experience, how much time as an owner did you spend on your vision?
[00:09:54] Mark Miller: probably the most time was uh, As a group that we've got, we got together to, you know, help create it, like the example I talked about.
[00:10:04] Scott Eckart: Yeah,
[00:10:04] Mark Miller: yeah. in later years it became more apparent to me-
[00:10:08] Speaker: Mm-hmm ...
[00:10:08] Mark Miller: that just by that example that you gave, that there were people who got it, people who didn't get it. And there was also, you know, people are always, it ebbs and flows 'cause you, y- as everything in business. But you have times when y- you talk about it a lot, it's part of your monthly meetings, your quarterly meetings, whatever.
[00:10:32] Mark Miller: We always tried to lead with that-
[00:10:34] Speaker: Okay ...
[00:10:34] Mark Miller: each and every major meeting that we got together. But then you, you look out at the room and got four new hires that came in during the year. So do they know it? And do know it the same way that Beth knows it, who was there for the last 5 years, 10 years, and has lived it?
[00:10:54] Scott Eckart: Mm-hmm.
[00:10:55] Mark Miller: Probably not.
[00:10:56] Scott Eckart: Yeah.
[00:10:56] Mark Miller: So you begin, it begins to, you know, disintegrate that knowledge level, um, as we go forward, unless you continually focus on it.
[00:11:07] Scott Eckart: I've had a lot of fun too, when I get to help create it brand new as well. When they say, "Honestly, Scott, we don't have one." Yeah. And that's really fun for me to say, "Okay, now we really do have a blank piece of paper."
[00:11:19] Scott Eckart: And I've got some really great exercises to take people through that. And, and we get to actually get very interactive and do that. I have had fun where, uh, you have company meetings, and you have people, you know, the owner will give people 100 bucks if anybody can stand up and say, "Can you, can you quote our vision?"
[00:11:37] Scott Eckart: Right? And then it becomes really fun. Yeah,
[00:11:39] Mark Miller: right.
[00:11:39] Scott Eckart: Right. And they have the spirit stick, and they, you know, give that away. But they also then tie it to performance appraisals.
[00:11:44] Mark Miller: Okay.
[00:11:45] Scott Eckart: It gets really specific really quickly. And it's not just some ethereal little cl- puffy cloud that floats out there. Yeah. It actually means something-
[00:11:53] Mark Miller: Right
[00:11:53] Scott Eckart: when it's tied to performance. Pretty exciting.
[00:11:55] Mark Miller: Yeah. I would hold too that it also becomes a, should be and does become a part of the hiring process. Mm-hmm. So those values and, and vision and where you're going, what the company isn't, is, about-
[00:12:09] Scott Eckart: Mm-hmm ...
[00:12:10] Mark Miller: needs to be reiterated and brought to the forefront even in that process.
[00:12:16] Mark Miller: Yes.
[00:12:16] Scott Eckart: It can also help if you need to invite someone to leave the team and/or the company.
[00:12:23] Mark Miller: Right.
[00:12:23] Scott Eckart: This is our vision and-
[00:12:24] Mark Miller: Right ...
[00:12:25] Scott Eckart: it's clear that this isn't something that you can embrace- Right ... and maybe we need to help you find somewhere else to go.
[00:12:32] Mark Miller: Yeah, somewhere else to thrive if they can't. They can't live up to that, then it's not a good fit.
[00:12:38] Mark Miller: It's not a good fit for them.
[00:12:39] Scott Eckart: Correct. Yes. Yeah. Great. Okay. Okay, Scott, let's,
[00:12:42] Mark Miller: um,
[00:12:43] Mark Miller: let's take on another principle here. Yeah. One that,
[00:12:45] Mark Miller: uh, that I, I like to talk about this one.
[00:12:49] Scott Eckart: Okay.
[00:12:50] Mark Miller: And that I... Because
[00:12:50] Mark Miller: I
[00:12:51] Mark Miller: like the...
[00:12:52] Mark Miller: I like what comes from the audience.
[00:12:55] Mark Miller: And those people we're working with. Um,
[00:12:58] Mark Miller: just a lot of
[00:12:58] Mark Miller: interesting,
[00:12:59] Mark Miller: comments and feedback come from it. So
[00:13:02] Mark Miller: the, the
[00:13:03] Mark Miller: one I wanna talk
[00:13:03] Mark Miller: about is what we call,
[00:13:05] Mark Miller: uh, is really extracting maximum value-
[00:13:07] Scott Eckart: Okay
[00:13:08] Mark Miller: from the organization. And,
[00:13:10] Mark Miller: one of
[00:13:11] Mark Miller: the things you have done a
[00:13:12] Mark Miller: really nice job on was coining,
[00:13:14] Mark Miller: a phrase to that, and that's systematic value extraction.
[00:13:17] Scott Eckart: Okay.
[00:13:18] Mark Miller: And, uh,
[00:13:19] Mark Miller: so I wanna
[00:13:20] Mark Miller: follow through with that
[00:13:21] Mark Miller: a little bit and have you cover that. But
[00:13:23] Mark Miller: let, let me just read for you.
[00:13:25] Mark Miller: So it-
[00:13:26] Mark Miller: to extract maximum value is the conscious
[00:13:29] Mark Miller: effort to grow
[00:13:30] Mark Miller: your business in a manner that efficiently converts ownership
[00:13:35] Mark Miller: into
[00:13:35] Mark Miller: personal financial freedom and
[00:13:39] Mark Miller: peace of mind.
[00:13:40] Mark Miller: And so I, I know I've heard you, and I'm starting to use the
[00:13:44] Mark Miller: thing. So a lot of times I'll, you
[00:13:46] Mark Miller: know, one of the questions I'll ask is, "
[00:13:48] Mark Miller: What
[00:13:48] Mark Miller: does the life you want
[00:13:50] Mark Miller: actually require?"
[00:13:51] Scott Eckart: Okay.
[00:13:53] Mark Miller: So tell us a little bit more about
[00:13:55] Mark Miller: historically what you've
[00:13:57] Mark Miller: seen and how you
[00:13:58] Mark Miller: present that.
[00:13:59] Scott Eckart: Yeah, so systematic value extraction, I say, sounds fancy, but it's not.
[00:14:04] Scott Eckart: Right?
[00:14:04] Mark Miller: Yeah.
[00:14:05] Scott Eckart: And, uh, and a phrase that sometimes gets people's attention and they think, oh, you know, is that a machine? Is that, you know, whatever. But, but it's a process. And another way to ask that, if I'm sitting with a business owner and I look them straight in the eye, not to be snarky, but to say, "What does it cost to be you?"
[00:14:27] Mark Miller: Mm-hmm. Yep.
[00:14:28] Scott Eckart: And they say, "Oh, well, you know, more than I have," or, you know, whatever it is, it's not enough or, you know, some sort of, you know, kind of flippant back answer. I'm like, "Okay, well, that's, that's okay. But l- let's circle back and what does it really cost to be you?" And they're like, "Well, I'm not sure I know either what you're asking or how to answer that."
[00:14:50] Scott Eckart: I said, "Okay. Well, let's think about all the things that, that you kind of do in a day or in a month or in a year. Um, you have a second home."
[00:15:00] Scott Eckart: Um, you like to travel, you have a couple cars, you know, who pays for those? Does that come from the company and the cellphones and all the things? There is a finite number there, whether you know it, realize it or not, that it actually costs for you. So if we're thinking about a day in which you don't either own this business anymore or how, how does that work?
[00:15:28] Scott Eckart: We really need to replace that paycheck, that income stream or something So that you can do the things you wanna do.
[00:15:35] Mark Miller: Right.
[00:15:36] Scott Eckart: And very often, Mark, not always, but very often, the owner really hasn't considered that in a way that they should. And the problem is that we don't always have tomorrow, right?
[00:15:52] Scott Eckart: You know, I, I don't like to necessarily think about, you know, that, that kind of negative thing, but if I get conked on the head and I can't come to work tomorrow, what do-- what does that look like? Mm-hmm. And so from a pure just, uh, income replacement standpoint, I, I really wanna make sure that you're gonna be okay, but I also wanna make sure you get to do all the things that you wanna do.
[00:16:12] Speaker: Mm-hmm.
[00:16:13] Scott Eckart: You've worked really, really hard, and you've been focusing on everybody else for a very long time, and it's time to think about yourself. And you know that phrase that we've all heard a hundred times every time we get on an airplane- Mm-hmm ... is put your oxygen mask on first, and then you can help others.
[00:16:34] Scott Eckart: And that's kind of what I'm talking about. And I've been in too many situations where we're looking at the valuation of a company, and the number comes in, and it's not gonna really be enough to provide the income for someone for the rest of their life. So systematic value extraction really is, have I been extracting enough value along the way over the years to put into just a, a, a third bucket, a different bucket, which is not the business that has been there working for me, where I can go then tap it or access it so that it's my bucket.
[00:17:13] Scott Eckart: Mm-hmm. So that I can go do that. So basically, what that means is I have options. So just a quick example. Um, we all remember '08 and '09. It was a kind of a scary time, right? And what I did was I, I-- after that was over, I interviewed some of my, um, some of my business owner clients, and I said, "Okay, well, what are you gonna do now?"
[00:17:34] Scott Eckart: And they said, "Scott, I guess I'll have to work another five to seven years." And Mark, that answer made me really sad because I thought, what if you don't want to work five or seven more years? What if your health isn't great? And I kinda felt like I had failed them in some ways- Yeah ... because we hadn't done a good job of SVE or systemic value extraction.
[00:17:56] Scott Eckart: So that was in '08 and '09. So I went back to the drawing board, and I said, "Look, there's gotta be a better way." Mm-hmm. What if we could future-proof What if we could do that? And that's where this idea of saying, "Let's get on that now." And even if you're not even thinking about selling work, let's start systematic, let's start extracting value so that you've got options in the future.
[00:18:19] Scott Eckart: So what if you have family members coming in and they can't go to the bank and they can't get the loan to do the thing, but you've got options, you've got margin, you've got the extra funds or resources that you need because you've been doing the extraction. And, you know, if you've got the runway, if you've got the time, a little bit over a long period of time really does add up.
[00:18:41] Mark Miller: There's...
[00:18:42] Scott Eckart: a big difference. it's, and it's pretty powerful. So Yeah I'm very, very passionate about SVE or systematic value extraction.
[00:18:49] Mark Miller: Yeah. I want to go back just a second to, um... Because I, and, you know, probably people listening, and I know some of the people that we work with-
[00:18:57] Speaker: Mm-hmm ...
[00:18:57] Mark Miller: but, um, many of those are closely held companies.
[00:19:01] Mark Miller: Correct. And so I, I think this, this topic's, it- it's really important to those that are considering succession.
[00:19:10] Speaker: Mm-hmm.
[00:19:11] Mark Miller: And, because many times that owner has... they know they wanna give it the two kids- Or the son-in-law and one child or whatever, and they think they know, you know, what that value of that company is.
[00:19:30] Mark Miller: Right,
[00:19:31] Mark Miller: right. Right? But when they, they get to that point and start talking succession and this valuation, it's all about around what they've been spending.
[00:19:43] Mark Miller: And that makes it very, very difficult to realize that value that the, those that are gonna receive from succession, those two sometimes don't really really match up.
[00:19:57] Mark Miller: Can you speak to that just a little bit?
[00:19:58] Scott Eckart: Yeah. Well, they really don't, especially if they say, "Look, um, I want you to run the company, but you kind of still need to pay me my fake salary- Right ... for a really long time- Yeah ... because I don't have a retirement because I put it all back in the business." Mm-hmm.
[00:20:15] Scott Eckart: That is so common. And they did it nobly, and they did it willingly. Um, but now somebody has to pay the price for that. And I can't tell you how many times I come in and I, and I look at the P&L and I see this line item, and it's, it's a, it's a biggie. And the son or daughter says, "Yeah, that, that is, that's for mom or dad."
[00:20:40] Scott Eckart: And I'm like, "Well, when does that get done?" "Well, it, it, it doesn't."
[00:20:45] Speaker: Yeah.
[00:20:46] Scott Eckart: And, and it, and it's a, it's a drag on, on cashflow and profit and, and there's really very little we can do about that. Now, they can go to the bank potentially, right? And just get, get the loan, but that's debt still, and maybe they can do it, maybe they can't.
[00:21:03] Scott Eckart: sometimes they recapitalize, which that, that can work, right? Where they can bring in maybe a new investor and they can, you know... But oftentimes it's not for the, for that reason, right? It's so that they can buy a new piece of equipment or another company or a competitor or, You know, upline, downline, vertical, something that's very strategic.
[00:21:21] Scott Eckart: It's really not to buy out, you know, that senior generation. So what they've essentially done is that they have, you know, hamstringed, you know, that, that generation- Right ...
[00:21:32] Mark Miller: which
[00:21:32] Scott Eckart: is, which is really unfortunate.
[00:21:34] Mark Miller: So to bring this a little bit to a close, how many... What's been your experience when you've truly asked somebody what it costs to be them?
[00:21:46] Mark Miller: How many people in the last five years Mm-hmm ...that you've talked to with that question have been able to either understand what you're talking about- Right ... or give you a definitive answer?
[00:21:57] Scott Eckart: So anecdotally, I would say one out of 100 probably.
[00:22:01] Mark Miller: Okay.
[00:22:01] Scott Eckart: I mean, it, it, it's a very small percentage.
[00:22:04] Mark Miller: Very small.
[00:22:04] Scott Eckart: and quite frankly, if they know it, they probably don't need me.
[00:22:07] Scott Eckart: I mean, honestly.
[00:22:08] Mark Miller: Yeah.
[00:22:08] Scott Eckart: That, that's part of why a team like ours would come in is because they really aren't sure, and they, they, they need that and- Yeah ... and quite a few other things. Right. and, and it's actually true, not just for the business owner, right? It, for anybody listening, you know, it, it's, it's true for anybody, whether you're W2- Sure
[00:22:27] Scott Eckart: or, you know, or not. Because i- if you are extracting value for yourself along the way, you're just gonna do yourself a huge favor. And, and I wish that somebody had shared that with me, you know, even at, as an 18-year-old. Yeah. You know? It, it would've, it would've made a huge difference because, you know, I didn't grow up, you know, we didn't talk about money in our household.
[00:22:45] Scott Eckart: You know, there, first of all, there wasn't much, but second of all, you know, money was just kind of like taboo. I mean, people didn't, you know, share those things. And- Right ... and so we can do ourselves a favor. We can do our kids a favor. We can do our grandkids a favor if we just, you know, get out there and talk about, you know, some, you know, compounding interest and how cool that is.
[00:23:03] Scott Eckart: And talk about freedom, right? Talk about, you know- Right ... the ability to do that. And you know, one of the questions that we like to ask is, if you, could do anything you wanted and it didn't matter if you got a paycheck-
[00:23:14] Mark Miller: Yeah ...
[00:23:14] Scott Eckart: what would that be? Right. And that, that's a really, that's a really fun conversation to have.
[00:23:18] Mark Miller: Big question.
[00:23:19] Scott Eckart: Yeah. Yeah, it's great. Yeah. And, and you and I also know people that are extremely generous, right? And they love to give because they're givers.
[00:23:29] Speaker: Mm-hmm.
[00:23:30] Scott Eckart: And they have built churches, they have built organizations. They have, you know, built pools, right? They, you know, for community, you know, pools and learn to swim and all, all that cool stuff.
[00:23:39] Scott Eckart: And they want to extend their legacy beyond, you know, that business. And it's fun to be able to see those dreams come true as well. Right. Because it's a way for people to live beyond their own life.
[00:23:53] Mark Miller: Mm-hmm.
[00:23:53] Scott Eckart: You know? And, and so how does that happen, you know? Well, if you have enough for you, then there's more to give, you know?
[00:24:03] Scott Eckart: And so that's a, that's a part of the equation as well.
[00:24:05] Mark Miller: Yeah. Great. Good answer
[00:24:07] Speaker: So let's talk a little bit about valuation.
[00:24:09] Mark Miller: Oh, boy.
[00:24:10] Scott Eckart: That's
[00:24:11] Scott Eckart: a, Yeah
[00:24:12] Scott Eckart: that's a powder keg.
[00:24:13] Mark Miller: Tough one,
[00:24:14] Speaker: yeah.
[00:24:14] Mark Miller: Yeah, it is. Goes a lot of different directions. Yeah. So key to that is really saying, "What's the true value of my enterprise-
[00:24:22] Scott Eckart: Mm-hmm ...
[00:24:22] Mark Miller: that, that I have?"
[00:24:24] Mark Miller: That can be, it can be one singular thing. It be a combination of things. Right. Uh, it could be the business, multiple holdings, but primarily focused around the business itself.
[00:24:35] Scott Eckart: Right, right.
[00:24:36] Mark Miller: So, um, you know, that- that's gonna enter into KPIs. Cannes.
[00:24:42] Scott Eckart: Yeah.
[00:24:42] Mark Miller: Um, all types of things. And people get a little bit of tightness when we open that up and start-
[00:24:51] Scott Eckart: Boy, do they ever
[00:24:52] Mark Miller: asking about that. Yeah,
[00:24:53] Scott Eckart: yeah. So
[00:24:54] Mark Miller: let's, let's sh- share a little bit about issue.
[00:24:57] Scott Eckart: So we could really talk for hours and hours, and there's so many people, uh, out there who work in this realm. So first of all, let's talk about what it, it, what it isn't. when bring it up, people say, "Scott, I am not putting a for sale sign in the front yard.
[00:25:13] Scott Eckart: We don't need to worry about that." I'm like, "Okay, walk me." And I say, "W- why not know internally, even if we never sell it? Don't you think you need to know the value of the company?" And and I were in meeting just not too long ago, where somebody said, "Isn't that just a distraction? Why, why, why do you need to know that?"
[00:25:38] Scott Eckart: And I think the person said, "I'm living in a home, and somebody... You get it appraised. I have no intention of selling. Who cares what it's worth? It, it actually doesn't matter." And I said, "Well, you know, that- that's a, that's an interesting thing." And then he followed up with saying, "Are you saying that the entire company needs to know all of the financials?
[00:25:57] Scott Eckart: And now you've got people getting into my business, and you know, if it's closely held, and you know, on and on." Yeah. So I said, "Okay. Wow. There, the, you know, there's a lot there." Yeah. And, and for, for us, what, what we do is we do valuation. We have to know internally, whether we're selling it or not, what, where are we starting?
[00:26:19] Scott Eckart: And my experience has been that either the owner or owners you know, one to three or, you know, So wildly overestimated or wild-wildly underestimated. Very rarely do they actually have a very sensible known value, or they just say, "Scott, it's one and a half times EBITDA, three, end of story. Let's not talk about it anymore." The problem with that is-- Well, there's several, but what if I want to finance or refinance?
[00:26:53] Scott Eckart: What if I, you know, need a new line of credit? Well, guess what? The bank's gonna wanna know. And wouldn't, wouldn't you wanna know? what if there is a divorce or other things? What if, God forbid, there is a death? What, what if, right? And my, my favorite terrible story is the one that I, I do share. When I had an owner who left in the middle of the night and activated a buy-sell, that the last time it was visited was in 2007, which had been valued the company very high.
[00:27:31] Scott Eckart: This one had been valued, uh, the activation of the buy-sell was in 2009. Company had not been revalued, but they, they had to, and it led to an actual bankruptcy. So companies that are, are not very intentionally looking at the value of their business, whether or not they ever intend to sell is really beside the point, Mark, is to be very actively knowing how are we doing?
[00:28:04] Scott Eckart: And think about companies that are now being threatened by AI, for example, you know?
[00:28:09] Speaker: Right.
[00:28:10] Scott Eckart: And we had a technology eighteen months ago that everybody wanted, but suddenly now AI is taking some of that away, and has the value of our company plummeted, or has it gone up? Well, nobody knows. So let's not be afraid of that.
[00:28:26] Scott Eckart: Let's figure it out because if in fact it's gone down, there are things you can do to change that. And if in fact it's gone up, then great, we have an opportunity to, you know to do other things. So by ignoring it, I think you're at your own peril, you know, by doing that. Mm-hmm. The very interesting thing, and again, something that we do with our, uh, coaching process and our process is to be able to actually do it on a dynamic basis, on a daily basis if we need to.
[00:28:57] Scott Eckart: technology there is our friend, AI is our friend when it comes to that because it talks to, you know, Quicken, and it talks to the actual accounting, so you're not doing extra work. Mm-hmm. And if you're mapping KPIs to your point earlier, and everybody knows what their part of the deal is, and that is reporting in, we create a dashboard, and you can, you can see it in real time.
[00:29:20] Scott Eckart: So if you're in charge of an area or, and a department, and you're doing your job, and you get to see in real time the value of your work, how cool is that?
[00:29:32] Speaker: Mm-hmm.
[00:29:33] Scott Eckart: And now Mark knows Mark matters because Mark's doing his thing, and maybe Bob is not as good. Well, you don't even have to say Bob's not good 'cause it's gonna show in the valuation.
[00:29:47] Scott Eckart: Right. Which to me is why valuation is so important. Now, the other thing sometimes I have to tell people, "I'm sorry, your baby's ugly," right? It's not- Yeah. You know, they come in and say, "Oh, Scott, this thing's probably worth at least ten million." I'm like, "Really? Well, okay, great. how do we know that?
[00:30:05] Scott Eckart: How do we get-" there?
[00:30:06] Mark Miller: Yeah.
[00:30:07] Scott Eckart: And, you know, it's kind of like with Zerbaz, "Don't pay no attention to the man behind the screen." It's like, you know, we really need to let, let's, let's find that out. It might be worth more, you know? But if they're only kind of making things up, if they're only kind of looking at that, that is not really very helpful.
[00:30:23] Mark Miller: Yeah, it's interesting, a couple points there. One, one is that, to the last point, your business is only worth what someone's willing to pay for
[00:30:30] Scott Eckart: That is correct.
[00:30:31] Mark Miller: Right? And we, we as owners get stuck in, well, my revenue is this. So isn't that what I can sell it for? and even people that are very sophisticated are basing it on EBITDA.
[00:30:46] Mark Miller: And yes, but what you think the multiplier is is that what the market is, is generating right now? And this, this idea of the continuous evaluation is not another task for the CEO or the owner, but it's a means to be able to answer questions when you need to have that. Yes. And that can be a multitude of things.
[00:31:11] Mark Miller: It can be for the bank, it can be for succession, it can be in one of those situations that inevitably are gonna come us, and some of those are bad situations. But you don't wanna be, you don't wanna be trying to figure that out at that moment. It should always be there for you.
[00:31:30] Scott Eckart: Well, and to your point, one of the things that we do when we come in, you get a report card, you know, the way, the way we do it.
[00:31:36] Scott Eckart: And financials are key obviously, but we also look at all of the non-financials. Mm-hmm. Governance, leadership, we spend a lot of time looking at all of those things as well. So for example, what is your succession plan? You get a letter grade for that.
[00:31:54] Speaker: Mm-hmm.
[00:31:55] Scott Eckart: And why is that? Well, if you can go through the fire drill and one of those six things happen, and the company doesn't miss a beat, guess what?
[00:32:07] Scott Eckart: That makes you worth a lot more. And that is not on the EBITDA.
[00:32:12] Mark Miller: Mm-hmm.
[00:32:12] Scott Eckart: Cybersecurity, we give you a score on that. If all of those things are in order, guess what? The value of the company just went up, right? So the non-financials are incredibly important. The other thing we do is we compare you peer to peer. We look at your market share.
[00:32:29] Scott Eckart: We look at what you could achieve. Value goes up. We look at retention. We also look at, you know, where's your concentration? So back to my favorite Oracle story, 80% of their revenue was from one source Mm-hmm. Right? So when we do evaluation, the lower that percentage, the higher the value of the company. And then we also look at on January 1, how much do you have to sell again, and what is your retention on contracts?
[00:33:01] Scott Eckart: So the higher retention, the higher the value of the company. You're not even having to sell more stuff. those numbers matter all across the board.
[00:33:10] Speaker: Mm-hmm.
[00:33:11] Scott Eckart: So it's very interesting when you talk about closing the value gap. There's wealth gap, there's income gap, and there is profit gap. And so those things alone, if we can close gaps without even selling more stuff or working what you do, we've just increased the value of your company.
[00:33:29] Mark Miller: Yeah. And back to, to the whole issue of future-proofing your business- Mm-hmm ... if, if one of those, the three you just mentioned, if we do have those gaps in there, it just opens up a whole world of very tough questions that people have to ask themselves. Correct. And there's, there's solutions to those. We can solve for all three of
[00:33:50] Scott Eckart: those.
[00:33:51] Mark Miller: But they have to realize what it is. Right. It, it, you know, it- is it a s- is it a cultural issue? Right. You know? Are you, "I'm gonna sell to you-"
[00:34:00] Scott Eckart: Mm-hmm "...
[00:34:00] Mark Miller: and tomorrow, but do our cultures align?" Right? Because that's where I'm going to obtain value.
[00:34:06] Scott Eckart: Yes.
[00:34:07] Mark Miller: And that was, when, when I sold my that was very important to me, that those cultures align.
[00:34:11] Mark Miller: Mm-hmm. But because they align so well, I got more for the company.
[00:34:16] Scott Eckart: Yes, you
[00:34:16] Mark Miller: did. So just by one example. Mm-hmm. But those questions all have to be looked at. And the, if you can be working on them now for where you ev- inevitably want to end up five from now, the better off you're gonna be.
[00:34:29] Scott Eckart: Well, and I happen know you have some really, really smart people that work for you.
[00:34:34] Scott Eckart: Mm-hmm. And a great leader will also trust their people. Yes. And they will then say, "I have a value gap. Help me figure this out." So if you trust your people, and you do the evaluation, and you share with some of them, not with everybody. Right. Like, you're not gonna necessarily ... You know, if you have 100 people, you don't need to open post everybody.
[00:34:52] Scott Eckart: That's
[00:34:52] Mark Miller: right. You never do.
[00:34:53] Scott Eckart: Right. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, great point. And so you do need to have some ... know, you need to have wisdom in that. But if you trust your people, you have some really smart people that work for you, and I'm talking to business owners that are listening, let them help you solve some of the value gaps.
[00:35:10] Scott Eckart: And now It's not all on your shoulders. I was just talking to a couple the other day and they said it's lonely at the top. And we don't know who to turn to sometimes. And if you have these things, you have smart people working for you, let them help you. The other thing we look at, and I do this all the time, is I say, "Okay, we're gonna line everybody up against the wall, and who leaves that hurts you the most?"
[00:35:37] Scott Eckart: Mm-hmm. Yeah. And people always know. They're like, "Oh, that's Bill or Mary." I'm like, "Okay, what are we doing in this valuation plan to keep them?" Like, what do you mean? Well, if somebody dropped five grand in their lap, would they walk across the street? Is it really worth it? And the costs of retraining are so high.
[00:35:57] Scott Eckart: And they're like, "Well, can't necessarily afford it." But can you afford not to do that? Mm. Do they know how important they are? Well, if they did... I'm like, "No, no, no, no, no. Do they know how they are?"
[00:36:08] Mark Miller: Mm.
[00:36:09] Scott Eckart: And they say, "Well, are you telling me I should give them a share of the company?" No, there are other ways to do that.
[00:36:15] Scott Eckart: I'm not telling you to- Yeah ... you know, give them a share of the company. Yeah. But are you treating them like they are an, an owner? And you, and you don't have to give them a share, but you can create compensation package so that they understand the value that they bring. Right. And this is part of all of that valuation because somebody's gonna be coming in saying, "Okay, I think those two people are really important, but they're not owners, so what are you doing to keep them?"
[00:36:40] Speaker: Mm-hmm.
[00:36:41] Scott Eckart: And if there's a plan there, value goes up. Correct. The other thing I'm say about succession planning was working with a company, and they could not decide on a timeframe when they were going to announce their 2.0 plan. They lost a very big account because they looked at the leadership and they said, "What if something happens?
[00:37:06] Scott Eckart: We're not confident in the next gen because they haven't, you know, done it." Yeah. So what I like to tell people is that your succession plan is one of the best marketing tools you have.
[00:37:16] Mark Miller: Mm-hmm.
[00:37:17] Scott Eckart: Celebrate it, announce it, run it around because that is a wonderful publicity and, and marketing event for you.
[00:37:26] Mark Miller: Mm-hmm.
[00:37:26] Scott Eckart: Tell your constitu- tell your stakeholders, tell the world, "We are, we are solid, we're ready. Here's our succession plan. Have confidence in us. We are here. We are open for business. We are ready to go."
[00:37:41] Scott Eckart: Mm-hmm. Right? they're like, "What do you mean?" I'm like, "Yeah, because now People know you're gonna be here, and they're gonna make big bets on you because that team is there and they're ready to go.
[00:37:51] Mark Miller: Mm-hmm.
[00:37:52] Scott Eckart: That's another way that you can increase the value of your company- Yeah ... without selling one more contract.
[00:37:57] Mark Miller: Mm-hmm.
[00:37:58] Scott Eckart: And they're gonna stay. Because what is a contract worth to you that you don't have to go replace?
[00:38:05] Scott Eckart: It's worth a lot.
[00:38:06] Mark Miller: so Scott, one of the things, um know, that means a lot to us
[00:38:09] Mark Miller: we've been, been
[00:38:11] Mark Miller: trying to introduce
[00:38:12] Mark Miller: to
[00:38:12] Mark Miller: what we're doing and how we're doing it.
[00:38:14] Mark Miller: Is even on
[00:38:15] Mark Miller: a web- on the website,
[00:38:16] Mark Miller: we have what we
[00:38:17] Mark Miller: call the velocity scorecard.
[00:38:19] Mark Miller: Right.
[00:38:19] Mark Miller: And, uh, it's a, it's a
[00:38:22] Mark Miller: kind of simple entry,
[00:38:24] Mark Miller: if you will. It can be simple.
[00:38:26] Mark Miller: Yes. But the
[00:38:26] Mark Miller: questions can be very detailed. But it's, a, it's thought-provoking
[00:38:30] Mark Miller: and gets people starting
[00:38:31] Mark Miller: to focus on where they're going and how they're gonna
[00:38:34] Mark Miller: there.
[00:38:34] Scott Eckart: Right. Self-evaluation.
[00:38:36] Mark Miller: Self-evaluation. So, um, there's some pretty good questions that we also include there Mm-hmm ...for reflection.
[00:38:43] Scott Eckart: Right.
[00:38:43] Mark Miller: And to, uh, start jotting some things down.
[00:38:47] Mark Miller: Yeah. and getting the mind working. So let's talk about those briefly. Yeah. I think helpful. So, um, the first one is, um, think it starts with, describe in detail your most important and exciting, uh, it can be financial, business or a a personal goal, for the future. Right. And, and you can be, you you can be very specific or very broad.
[00:39:12] Scott Eckart: one of the reasons we, we talk about that is that I have found that people tend to focus on hindsight and insight more so than foresight. More so. Right. Y- you know, hindsight, a, a good example of that would be a tax return. You know, this is what we did, this is where we were. Um, we had, you know, this much in, you know, cost of goods sold, and we paid this much, this much taxes, and that kind of thing.
[00:39:37] Scott Eckart: Um, it's a lagging economic indicator. It, uh, that's important, right? Um, it r- it, it's a rear view mirror. You know, insight is your profit and loss at your, at your quarterlies, and those are also very important, and people tend to get yet myopic on that. The reason that we're so focused on vision and so focused on this piece of it is, by design, people spend too little time on foresight, partly because things are changing so quickly, they don't, they don't really know where to go, and they don't know how to do it.
[00:40:18] Scott Eckart: But I think also, Mark, they don't give themselves the permission to dream. And I know that sounds kind of fluffy and everything, but they look around at other more successful companies, and Simon Sinek wrote a great book called The Infinite Game, and I know you know that. And he says, "Pick a worthy opponent and go after them.
[00:40:37] Scott Eckart: What are they doing?"
[00:40:39] Mark Miller: Mm-hmm.
[00:40:40] Scott Eckart: One of the best things to do for foresight is not to talk about your successes, but to talk about some of your misses and what happened and what are you going to do to achieve that.
[00:40:52] Mark Miller: Mm-hmm.
[00:40:52] Scott Eckart: And you know, one of my favorite questions is, if you knew you couldn't fail, what would you attempt to do?
[00:41:02] Mark Miller: Mm-hmm.
[00:41:03] Scott Eckart: And I never-- I wish somebody as a young man would have said, "Scott, I believe in you wholeheartedly. If you knew you couldn't fail, Scott, what would you try?"
[00:41:13] Speaker: Mm-hmm.
[00:41:13] Scott Eckart: Right?
[00:41:14] Speaker: Mm-hmm.
[00:41:14] Scott Eckart: And as a leader in here, that's what's embedded in this whole vision thing. If you knew you couldn't fail, Mr. Leader Man, Mrs.
[00:41:25] Scott Eckart: Leader Man, Ms. Leader Man, L- Mm-hmm ... Leader Person ... what would you try? And, and give your team the ability to try. Who cares if they fail, right? Mm-hmm. Fail quickly. I think that's what people say, right? But how do you know if going to work if you're too scared, you know, to do that? So when I say, "What are you most excited about?"
[00:41:49] Scott Eckart: That's really what I'm asking-
[00:41:50] Mark Miller: Mm-hmm ...
[00:41:51] Scott Eckart: is let's spend some more time in foresight. Because I'm convinced people spend more time planning their next vacation than they do the future of their company.
[00:41:59] Mark Miller: Mm-hmm. I, I think it depends too on where you are in the business. So if you think back, uh, from many people in this are entrepreneurs.
[00:42:09] Mark Miller: That's our focus, really. And you thought that way when you started.
[00:42:15] Scott Eckart: Yeah.
[00:42:15] Mark Miller: You didn't think about failing.
[00:42:16] Mark Miller: Right.
[00:42:17] Mark Miller: You're just trying to, how do I get there? What do I do? How
[00:42:20] Scott Eckart: I pay the bills?
[00:42:20] Mark Miller: How do I pay the bills? Yeah. Um, I'm hiring people, but I can't pay you.
[00:42:24] Scott Eckart: Yeah.
[00:42:25] Mark Miller: Trust me. Yeah. Um- Join the team. You know- It's
[00:42:27] Scott Eckart: gonna
[00:42:28] Scott Eckart: great. You
[00:42:28] Mark Miller: know. Yeah, and I, I actually did that. Yeah. We were laughing at the office the other day, somebody had been with me a long time. and one gentleman came in a couple years, he came in later, but when you first talked to him, it was in the early years, and he goes-- I said, "I, "Well, I'd love to, I'd love to hire you, and I will, but I can't pay you right away."
[00:42:46] Mark Miller: And he came back three years later when I could pay him. Yeah. And then he stayed with me for 20-plus years. So-
[00:42:51] Scott Eckart: That's amazing ...
[00:42:52] Mark Miller: Th- those are kind of funny stories. But, um, so depending on where you are in that curve has a lot to do with that impression and what, what you're trying to get back and, maybe you've been doing this for a long time, and you don't think about those things 'cause you're, you're tired.
[00:43:10] Scott Eckart: Mm-hmm.
[00:43:10] Mark Miller: Right? It's true. You're, you're tired. You're just, you're, you're tired and you- you're- Just tired. "It sounds like a cool idea, but, I'm not sure I wanna do that."
[00:43:18] Scott Eckart: Yeah.
[00:43:18] Mark Miller: But if you're, if you're laser-focused on succession, you have to reinvigorate and start thinking about these things.
[00:43:25] Scott Eckart: Or let someone
[00:43:27] Scott Eckart: else-
[00:43:28] Mark Miller: Give
[00:43:28] Mark Miller: them the charge. That's
[00:43:29] Scott Eckart: right.
[00:43:29] Mark Miller: That's right.
[00:43:30] Scott Eckart: right.
[00:43:30] Scott Eckart: Yeah.
[00:43:30] Mark Miller: Okay. So, uh, s- well, the second question, what excites you most about this vision for the future? Mm-hmm. Uh, How will you feel when it becomes reality?
[00:43:41] Scott Eckart: Yes. And so that's a, that's a turn, that's a facet of the second one, saying, "Do you actually think it's true?"
[00:43:51] Mark Miller: Mm-hmm.
[00:43:52] Scott Eckart: Because a lot of people put stuff on paper, and they think it will never happen.
[00:43:56] Mark Miller: Mm-hmm.
[00:43:56] Scott Eckart: Right? So for example, do I wanna be voted best places to work? I mean, you know, that's just an example. Or number one market share, or getting that account that we thought we would never have. What would that feel like to actually have the biggest company in town say yes, right?
[00:44:15] Mark Miller: Mm-hmm.
[00:44:16] Scott Eckart: And I know that I've been at tables where I thought I would never get to, and I'm like, how, how did this happen?
[00:44:23] Scott Eckart: Remember how this feels to be there. It's pretty cool.
[00:44:27] Mark Miller: Yeah.
[00:44:27] Scott Eckart: So that's what that question's about.
[00:44:29] Mark Miller: Yeah, that's very good. Uh, three, are you committed to yourself- Mm ... for achieving the future?
[00:44:38] Scott Eckart: Okay. And in that question is also will you fund the vision? Mm-hmm. Right. So you're my champion, you come to me, you're my maybe heir apparent, you're my successor, that kind of thing, and I say, "Go make this happen, but I'm not gonna fund it."
[00:44:56] Scott Eckart: So how, how is that going to happen?
[00:44:58] Mark Miller: Mm-hmm.
[00:44:58] Scott Eckart: Or, "I want to do this, and I want to buy this new piece of technology. I want to, I want to, I want to." Say, "Well, that's fine, but I'm not, I'm not gonna extend the credit. I'm not gonna do the thing, okay?" So really-
[00:45:14] Mark Miller: Yep.
[00:45:14] Scott Eckart: Okay.
[00:45:14] Mark Miller: It's already
[00:45:15] Mark Miller: you really committed.
[00:45:15] Mark Miller: or not?
[00:45:16] Scott Eckart: Yeah, exactly.
[00:45:17] Scott Eckart: Yeah. It's just, it lip service. So- Yeah ... this is really about empowering people and actually trusting them.
[00:45:26] Mark Miller: Mm-hmm.
[00:45:27] Scott Eckart: So I know there have been times when I have to physically remove myself from a situation in order for me to let my team thrive.
[00:45:36] Speaker: Mm-hmm.
[00:45:37] Scott Eckart: I can't be in the room-
[00:45:38] Speaker: Mm-hmm ...
[00:45:39] Scott Eckart: because I know all eyes move to me.
[00:45:40] Scott Eckart: The only way to do that, Mark, is for me not to be there.
[00:45:43] Speaker: Mm-hmm.
[00:45:43] Scott Eckart: And I'm a control freak, and so I can't go there, and I have to trust maybe they won't do it as well as me, or they'll get it 70%, but that's, that's okay.
[00:45:54] Mark Miller: Mm-hmm.
[00:45:55] Scott Eckart: So that's what that question's about.
[00:45:57] Mark Miller: Yeah, that's great. That opens up a whole lot of other things to talk Yeah, it does.
[00:46:01] Mark Miller: Um, and we'll probably get there some, at some point. At some
[00:46:04] Scott Eckart: point.
[00:46:05] Mark Miller: You know, all kinds of dysfunction.
[00:46:07] Scott Eckart: Next time.
[00:46:07] Mark Miller: Yeah, so very cool. Um, last, what three things do you need to do differently in order to achieve your vision?
[00:46:15] Mark Miller: Yeah.
[00:46:15] Mark Miller: So that's true follow-up to, um, reconcile with yourself if you have that commitment.
[00:46:21] Scott Eckart: That's correct. My big one are you letting the new leaders emerge? Mm-hmm. That, that's, really my question. So, uh, part of the reason I wanna be in the room with management team-
[00:46:35] Mark Miller: Mm-hmm ...
[00:46:35] Scott Eckart: and just sit back and take notes. Mm-hmm. And then what I do later then is we debrief, you know, in private because I watch.
[00:46:43] Scott Eckart: And I remember, uh, one situation where there was, uh, just shame that was put on someone.
[00:46:51] Mark Miller: Mm-hmm.
[00:46:52] Scott Eckart: And it was hard to watch.
[00:46:54] Mark Miller: Yeah.
[00:46:54] Scott Eckart: And I said to the person, "Do you know you're shaming this person?" He didn't have the answer that you wanted him to have." And there was, there was shame there. Um, so there's a, there's a lot going on there in the human dynamic, and it has so little to do with the money.
[00:47:14] Scott Eckart: Um, oftentimes their information is power, Mm-hmm. I'm not going to share that because then I don't have power. So this really comes back then to, do I matter anymore? And I'm not really ready to let go. So it has actually more to do with the leader than it does anybody else.
[00:47:35] Mark Miller: Yeah.
[00:47:36] Scott Eckart: So that's a, that's a big part of that too.
[00:47:38] Mark Miller: Also strikes to death of ego, right?
[00:47:41] Scott Eckart: Yes. One of your favorite topics.
[00:47:43] Mark Miller: Yes.
[00:47:43] Scott Eckart: And we will-- We're gonna examine that as well. Awesome. Yeah.
[00:47:47] Scott Eckart: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So
[00:47:48] Scott Eckart: very good. So great conversation. So if people are interested, please sign up for The Velocity Network. Go to www.velocoaches.com and you can find the quiz, the self-evaluation, you can find the questions.
[00:48:02] Scott Eckart: We'd love to interact with you. Mark is here to talk with you. I'm here to talk with you, and we would love to hear your thoughts on that and the beginning of creating perhaps a redone vision or your first vision or what that looks like. But add the word velocity on the front of that so we can help you gain velocity, perhaps collapse time and get where you want to go faster.
[00:48:25] Scott Eckart: Uh, but just by way of, of, uh, uh, review, get that velocity vision moving. If you haven't started to extract value for yourself and for others, please do so. And then also think about if
[00:48:40] Scott Eckart: you haven't valued in a bit,
[00:48:42] Scott Eckart: gotta do it and don't, don't put that off. I know it can be painful, but then it's only painful once and then you've got it up and running and you can keep it going.
[00:48:50] Scott Eckart: Mark, final thoughts?
[00:48:52] Mark Miller: You know, it's just these are the... What we tried to hit today are just the three things to get started. Mm-hmm. So get started.
[00:49:01] Scott Eckart: Get started. Don't wait. Great. And it's so great to have you on the the team. Mm-hmm. I, can't tell you how excited I am-
[00:49:08] Mark Miller: Welcome. Welcome ...
[00:49:09] Scott Eckart: to have you, uh, as the newest coach in Velocity Coaching.
[00:49:13] Scott Eckart: And remember everybody, the future is bright, and we can't wait to see you next time. Thanks for listening.
[00:49:21] Mark Miller: Thank you for listening today. If you like what you've heard, please join us in the Velocity Network and sign up@www.velocoaches.com, which is a gathering of entrepreneurs, business owners, and people who desire to learn more about running and owning a business.