Note from the Editor: We had so many spectacular quotes and words of wisdom from Mike Mataraza to choose from! Instead of our normal article format, we’ve snagged most of Mike’s insights and arranged them for your convenient reading. With the exception of a few editor’s notes and headers, this content all comes straight from the source!
Introduction
Hi, everyone! My name is Mike Mataraza. I am a business and life coach for entrepreneurs and business owners. My website is coachwithmike.com, pretty easy. I’ve been doing this for about 17 years. Before I started coaching, I had 4 businesses of my own. I had one in Tokyo, one in Bangkok…3 now, 2 before in North America. I worked with [Tony] Robbins; I was an executive at his company for 5 years.
Tony had me going to 5-8 companies a week and talking to the owners, finding out what their problems were, doing customized trainings for them. I did real estate, I did mortgage, I did tech companies. I worked for Budweiser. I went to Pepsi. I went to Walmart. I went to investment companies. I did tons of work with remodeling people, solar panel people, roofers, plumbers. You know, I have to go in and turn business into more business. It was amazing, because I got exposed to every type of company there was, all the different personality types and owners. All different types of problems. All different sizes of companies, from 5 people to 5000 person companies.
Learning to Ask for Help
Why would anybody do their first thing without mentorship?! You could say “Oh, I know how to do that.” Sure you do, but you also don’t know what you don’t know. And if you got a guy…who’s done this for more than a decade…what tiny little things might he have that could save you this much money here and that much money there, make the process faster…
There’s a reason why I’m a business and life coach. When I first started, I was purely a business coach. When you’re a business owner, any mental block you have, any health thing that’s out of balance with your life will affect the business. Everybody has this dream they have in the future. What if you could have a lot of your dream now and really enjoy the journey to an even bigger dream later?
How Teach-ability Can Be Cultivated
I remember when we [Mike and Nolen] started coaching. The wonderful thing about you as a client is that you came to me with a massive level of success. You’re a very smart businessman. You have multiple businesses and multiple income streams, and they were certainly doing well. Yet, you were super coachable.
A lot of people, when they start with me, if they were in your situation they’re just like ‘You know, I hired you just to have a business coach, but I just want you to know that I know everything. I always humor them and say ‘Great! Tell me what you know.'” Then 2 to 3 sessions in, they go “Oh, well I kinda know everything…but what about this?” Then we start having a real dialogue.
You love Maui like nobody’s business. That is your passion. You came to me; you said “Mike, I really want to live in Maui full time. I’m going to start buying property and then do the…rental income. And then finally, I can move.”
I’ve been with them [clients] for years. I’ve been through marriages and children. Through going from barely making any money to living their dream, and it’s beautiful to go deep and watch the progress. And that’s the difference with coaching.
Redefine What a Business Looks Like in Your Head
One thing I see with a lot of people that I coach is: They actually think they’re business owners and they’re not. What they are is very advanced self-employed people.
Do we have systems, processes, people, procedures in place? What can be delegated to another person? What kind of software are we using to track all your projects? Are there standard operating procedures? Because those are the things that allow someone to be a true business owner. The only measure of being a true business owner – there’s just one measure – Can you go somewhere for two weeks, not answer your phone, and when you come back everything’s fine and you have more money in the bank than when you left?
If you want to go beyond traditional levels of success, don’t just think of yourself as a craftsman. Put on the mindset of a businessman. Create those processes. Build a system of people, software, tools, etc. to standardize those processes and gradually remove yourself from that equation. “My job is no longer to be the roofer. My job is to be the owner of a roofing company.”
At that point you have choice. I work with a lot of people like yourself that they build their business with their bare hands. They don’t necessarily want to leave. They like seeing the supervisors every day. They enjoy their team. They actually love their people and their secretary and their assistant. They enjoy going into the office. So it’s not like, you’re a business owner and you just bail on your business.
Anchor to Your Dream and Move Towards It.
Anchor to your dream. If you want to live in Maui, why would you buy 5 rental properties in Fort Worth that you now have to take care of and manage?
There’s a reason why I’m a business and life coach. When I first started, I was purely a business coach. When you’re a business owner, any mental block you have, any health thing that’s out of balance with your life will affect the business. Everybody has this dream they have in the future.
Make a 6 month plan. It’s long enough that you can get stuff done, but short enough that you don’t have time to sit on your butt. Health, relationships, finances, and business. What are my goals in each of those areas? What are my top 5 steps in each of those areas to make those goals happen? What’s my vision statement?
[Mike goes on to explain how goals should be segmented into months, then weeks and days, and how accountability plays into their success.]
I swear it. If you just do that… 30% increase minimum in your income. If you get accountability plus coaching, 50% increase in your income, because now you’re actively looking at what you’re doing and making changes.
Keep Pursuing Your Dreams with Roofer’s Paradise!
Well, that was a spectacular discussion from Mike Mataraza! Remember: Don’t treat a dream as just a dream. Treat it like it’s something you’re going to do. Take inventory of your life. Consider what’s in the way of your dream and start cleaning that up. Don’t do it alone either! Your objectivity is limited to your perspective, so widen that perspective with insight from successful, like-minded people who challenge you.
Be sure to check in next week for more exciting content from successful business owners. If you haven’t already, subscribe to Roofer’s Paradise so you never miss a new release! We can’t wait to see you next week.