Many business owners spend sleepless nights worrying if there is enough money coming in to pay the bills. Working hard for years with little to show for it can feel like Groundhog Day. It could be time to start asking yourself, “How can I do better?”

Every athlete competing at the Olympic Games has a coach to help them perform, help them excel, and achieve their peak potential. The same applies to your business. A business coach will help you unlock the full potential of your business by identifying your mistakes and inefficiencies. A coach will uncover business practices that cost you money and time, issues that are holding your business back, issues preventing you from achieving the true potential of your company.

Jobman is a company that is partnering with business coaches who recognise the benefits of an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) in manufacturing. Software systems like these that are tailored to suit your business, provide vital insight into your operational, customer and financial data. Jobman software gathers data from every stage of your kitchen and bathroom cabinet or furniture production process in a single user-friendly interface, giving you the information you need to move your business to the next level while also improving your quality of life.

The Question we Should be Asking

Supplier Magazine recently had a long and informative chat with Aaron Crees of Jobman, a company that attracts five new clients a week who have asked the question, “How do I do better?” These companies have recognised that the prime ingredient for long-term success lies in making strategic decisions, managing and using resources wisely, and maximizing efficiency. They recognise that true sustainable success isn’t about how hard you work; it’s about how smart you work.

Aaron is a cabinet maker by trade with experience in TAFE teaching and providing software solutions for the trade since 2009. Ben Hitchcock was tasked with the first iteration of Jobman software in 2008 as a software programmer who saw the merits of this type of software. It was then marketed at the interim 2009 AWISA trade show in Melbourne, with a very positive response.

In 2014 a partnership was formed between Aaron and Ben, where they took over ownership of the business and started putting a lot of energy into solving the issues facing cabinet making industry. The business grew quickly following the last AWISA fair in 2018 and now employs a large and experienced team of professionals. Aaron says, “We don’t settle for mediocrity and always strive to improve our processes to make your business more profitable with the help of powerful tools. If you’re not moving forward, you’re actually moving backwards.”

You may be able to survive in business without the help of a Business Coach, but expert advice from one can help you thrive. Jake Maring of Superior Cabinets and Stone in Albany says, “After six years in business we felt like we’d hit a ceiling. Everything we did was on a job-per-job basis. Jobman allowed us to blow away the ceilings that were holding us back and now we run on a schedule that has improved our relationship with our suppliers, raised our level of professionalism and allowed us to produce a high-end product that makes a better profit.”

You have likely heard the phrase, “You don’t know what you don’t know.” It’s an intentionally redundant phrase that points to the fact that we can only work with the information that we have. Aaron says, “A question every cabinet making business should ask of themselves is how do I do it better? You need to get the business basics right; you need to know what your business is costing you, where is all your time going. Are you working harder and not seeing any growth? Are you just keeping the doors open or are you achieving real growth? The size of your business is not always a measure of your profitability, and a great cabinetmaker does not mean it’s a great business.

A Look in the Mirror

“Look in the mirror and ask if you would do business with yourself, put yourself in the shoes of your customers, your employees and your suppliers. Are you transparent? Do you deliver on your promises? You need to remove the blame game and start thinking about what you can do to improve your business and one step you can take is to seek professional advice, and once you’ve done that, act on it.” Aaron said.

In Canadian clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson’s self-help book ‘12 Rules for Life’ Peterson says, “Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world” and “Assume the person you are listening to might know something you don’t.”  Both these ‘rules’ apply here. Stop blaming everything else and take control of your business. Seeking advice and acting on that advice will lead to a transparent overview of what you are doing and the steps you should follow to achieve the quality of life you expected when you started the business.

Chris James, Executive Director at NORTH Link reports that on average, estimated operational costs including government charges, gas and electricity prices, Insurance costs, transport, and skilled labour have increased by 30 per cent across all areas of their business over the past eighteen months. An ERP system like Jobman will identify these ongoing and often changing costs in real time, allowing you the opportunity to make the changes you need to stay profitable. Jobman is your key to stability, productivity, and growth in an ever-changing industry.

Measure Your Business

One Jobman user was able to identify the tyre-kickers, put their prices up 30% and attract a higher-level clientele. They left the rat race where price was the determining factor in whether or not you got a job that was most likely not worth your while. Aaron said, “As cabinetmakers (in general) we measured twice and cut once, but over time we forgot to measure how our businesses were performing. When we started out, we delivered on our promises but over time we often failed to understand how our time allocation was divided. Our promises and our word meant less and less.”

Do you really know where your business is? Your yearly visit to your accountant may show you are making some money, but not where that profit is coming from, nor what you could be doing to improve your bottom line, or what parts of your business are losing money.

Jobman is a key to stability, productivity, and growth in an ever-changing industry. Jobman is a tool, just like CAD software or a CNC machine, it is a vital part of a successful manufacturing system. One example of the value of Jobman is the ability to produce accurate, timely quotes. Prompt and accurate quotes return more profitable orders. Consider that if you spend three hours on a quote and do ten quotes a week, and because you take so much time, the job may already have gone to someone else! Aaron says Jobman already has the answers, you just need to start asking questions.

The Real Questions

What do you really want from your business? What are you doing that is good? What are you doing that’s costing you?  What is it about your business that you don’t know and how are you going to find out what these things are? How are you going to make the changes you need to turn your good business into a great business? But most importantly, are you working ‘in’ the business or are you working ‘on’ the business? There is a difference and maybe that’s the first question you should be asking.