In this engaging episode, John Whitt, Owner of BusinessWhitt, shares how to break free from the founder’s trap and turn ideas into money. If you struggle with overwhelm and scaling, you won’t want to miss it.
You will discover:
– How to use testing to validate ideas before scaling
– How to prioritize clarity to guide your business strategy
– What team-building steps boost your growth potential
Episode Transcript
Scott Ritzheimer
Hello, hello and welcome. Welcome once again to the Start scale and succeed podcast. It’s the only podcast that grows with you through all seven stages of your journey. As a founder, I’m your host, Scott Ritzheimer, and there’s a pattern that I see constantly, one where founders who’ve finally gone full time, who are in their business, they’re generating revenue, they’re doing their thing, they’ve got clients, and they’re drowning the salesperson, the delivery person, the accountant, the marketer, the janitor, and everything in between. You wake up every morning, and the first thing you have to do is get through all the admin that you missed yesterday and the day before and the day before that before the clients start, and everything goes crazy. And so what do we how do we deal with it? How do we focus to grow? Especially because you have these ideas, you know that they’re going to change the very nature of the game, but you just can’t seem to get to them. And what’s really challenging about this stage, what makes it so brutal, is that you’re pretty good at the stuff that you do, too. That’s why folks have hired you. But you can’t keep this up. You can’t keep this cycle going. And so how do we shift this? How do we turn it around? I’d tell you if I knew, but I have something better for you. I’ve got the one and only John Witt, who’s been doing this for 30 years. He’s been helping founders to break this cycle, and he’s also the author of the book, checkmate, translating ideas into money. It’s a book that uses chess as a metaphor for business strategy. John brings over 30 years of experience helping both corporations and small business owners shift their culture, boost their results and improve profitability. As a leadership coach and Business Growth strategist, he specializes in assisting founders to move from high stress hustle to structured, values aligned scale, and he’s here with us today. John, welcome to the show. So excited to have you here. Love the name of the book, Turning ideas to money, that is the game, isn’t it. Why is that so hard to do?
John Witt
Well, Scott, first off, let me say thanks for having me today. I really appreciate it. It’s it’s hard to do because most people haven’t done it before. If you’ve done it and again, when you, when you think about transiting ideas into money or it’s a goal, starting a business is a goal. I want to start a business. I want to generate revenue. You’ve never done it before. I actually teach a program called Achieving uncommon events, because getting going from zero to a successful business is not all that common. There are a lot of people that go from zero to an unsuccessful business as opposed to successful, and it’s really it’s a system and a process, and it’s all brand new. And you’re learning a lot, really fast. And when you’re learning a lot, a lot of times, you make some mistakes, and man, you have to have some perseverance it’s a discipline, and you got to keep getting back up and getting in the fight, because if you give up, it’s over.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, one of the things that you talk I’ve heard you talk about, is this idea of judgment mode, and it’s something that keeps us stuck, even when we have good ideas. What is judgment mode and why is it so dangerous?
John Witt
Well, it’s a preset condition. Instead of, you know, an open mind, it’s a fixed mind. And so judgment mode shows up when I’m working with a client, and I’ve worked with many of them in this space, and sometimes this is what we have to get through first. And I’ll say, so you want to save some time, you need to get some more time. So why don’t we? Why don’t we hire a virtual assistant? Right? That’s a real common process. And they’ll say, oh, no, I can’t do that. I’ve already tried that. It doesn’t work. Well, see, they tried it, that’s true, and it didn’t work. That’s true, but that doesn’t mean they did it, right? So so really, they’re kind of stuck. And so when somebody says no or that doesn’t work, that’s like turning the light switch off. So then we have to say, okay, but well, maybe, you know, there are other people that have done this and had made it work. You think maybe you could try it a different way, and it could be any number of different things, but the, you know, they’re preset because they’ve, they’ve made a decision that that won’t work, and it’s, it’s false information, you know, they basically, it’s only in their head where it doesn’t work.
Scott Ritzheimer
Right, right. Now, you’ve got a framework in the book the five key attributes for success that help to translate ideas into money. I’m wondering if you could just kind of briefly walk us through those and how someone could take that structure and start to put it to use today.
John Witt
Yeah, absolutely. So step number one is clarity. And clarity is king. In the in the chess world, the queen is the most powerful piece on the board. In the business world, clarity is the most powerful piece on the board, and it’s not clarity at the 60 or 70% level. You want to get it as high as you possibly can get it. You want to know what you’re trying to accomplish, who you’re going to do, what there’s, there’s a whole litany of things that you want to work with. And the second step is Team people. And sometimes you need some people to help you figure out the clarity, because you don’t know all that, all the answers, right? So most, most solopreneurs, they start up, they’re not a marketing expert, so they probably should bring somebody from marketing onto their team to help them. And. Are the marketing type questions, right? So we have clarity, and again, super detailed. Bring the marketing team, bring the person on board, and then we get into testing and validation. And that’s typically the step that gets skipped first, right? Let’s, so let’s, let’s spend a little money. And I know it’s tough when you’re getting started your solopreneur, you’re not looking at a lot of money left over. But let’s spend a little money and make sure money and make sure that we’re going to get the results that we want. And based on those responses, we can go back and we can make some changes, or we can go forward and build a plan to launch our product, or idea, our business, our service. So the fourth step is plan, and it’s a strategic plan. It’s not just, you know, let’s do X, Y and Z things. You’re really what are the things are most important to do? When to do it, who needs to do it? So your team is going to change often, very frequently, through the process. And then the last step is, is absolutely critical, and that’s a change management system, because you don’t get to decide what comes in the door tomorrow, right? Adversity shows up. You don’t get to decide when it shows up. You get to decide how you want to respond, but if you’re not paying attention, then you don’t notice the change in the first place. That means you can’t respond and you end off, off course and so frequently, especially with a business, especially when you get started, you need to have a weekly change management cadence in the manufacturing world that I grew up in way back when, you know, we’re making big products a big manufacturing facility. And so there’d be lots of people that say, Well, I wish it would do this, or I wish it’d do that. Sales guys came in and said, yeah, they wanted to change the product because the consumer wants something a little bit different. But they couldn’t just willy nilly change everything. So they’d have a change control board where, you know, whoever was looking for the idea had to fill out all the information and go to the board, and then they would, you know, decide whether they wanted to accept that or not. I’m not saying that you need to change control board as a solopreneur, but a system and a process that reviews what you’re doing, where you’re going, on a frequency basis, so that you don’t end up off course. Yeah, those are the five steps.
Scott Ritzheimer
As folks hear that, there’s kind of this visceral reaction to that’s five steps that I don’t have time for. So how do you start spinning that, that snowball, if you will, in the right direction? Where can you use these five steps to actually create time to do the five steps right?
John Witt
Well, okay, so create time. That’s the first objective. And for many of these solopreneurs, that is, without a doubt, the first objective, and that’s what I try to help them do, because that’s where they get a little breath, that’s where they can reduce a little stress. But we’ll say, Okay, well, let’s bring on an assistant. Let’s bring on a virtual assistant, or let’s find somebody that we can delegate these things to. Well, a, they may not know how to do that, so there’s some training and coaching in that space. Or B, they’re like, I can’t afford that. So okay, well, then, then we got to figure out, how do we get more money into the system? And you do a couple things, you can increase your sales conversion rate, right? Get better at sales, but that just means you have to sell more and that. So it takes more time to sell more. That’s not going to be as effective. The most effective solution that I’ve found over 15 years is raise your prices. Raise your prices so that you can afford to hire an assistant. Now, most people say, Well, I can’t do that. You know, my competitors. And they’ll give you some story. And it’s like, you know, here’s the thing, there are seven attributes. No, what is it? It’s money is the seventh attribute in the buying decision. So there are six other attributes that are more important than money when it comes to making a buying decision. We want to sell on value, we want to sell on convenience. We want to sell on a lot of other things besides price. Because we all make decisions to buy a better quality product or better system. We don’t naturally run to the cheapest thing. We know better in many ways. Yeah, so let’s figure out how to raise your prices. Now. There’s a process for doing that. I don’t think you could just, like, flip a switch and double your rates, but there is, you know, you’re letting your customers know. You’re letting the marketplace know. It’s a it’s a message. But you know, if you could raise your prices by 10 or 15% or 20% that probably pays for an assistant. Now you got 20 hours that you can spend some more time doing something else, and all of a sudden, now we’re we got the snowball going in a different direction.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, I love that. I love that the time value of money is such a big deal. Was such a clever thing, because most folks, especially in like professional services, are charging too little, especially for the amount of time that they’re spending doing the work that they’re doing this. Yeah, what a great strategy there. There’s another thing that comes up, so let’s say we’ve done it. Let’s say we’ve got a little bit of time, we’ve got an idea that we’re ready to execute on, but just saying we want to do it, and actually going out and doing it are a couple different things, right? And and so there’s these stages to learning, and you’ve cited the four different stages to learning. But how do you get through that stage when you realize you have no. Idea what you’re doing.
John Witt
Yeah. Okay, so stage one is what I think it about. This is unconscious incompetence. Unconscious. I’m not aware I’m incompetent. I don’t even know what I’m unaware about. And so what owners have to do founders is they have to put themselves in positions to where they can get exposed to net new information, net new ideas, net new concepts, on a frequency basis. So that’s not 40 hours a week. Maybe that’s a couple hours a week. Maybe you’re at a conference, maybe you’re here. Maybe there’s a lot of places where you can get exposed to different information, different information, and depending on what your idea is and what your service is, maybe there’s an association, maybe there’s a trade show. Maybe there’s a couple different ways you could do it, but you have to invest that time, or else you’ll never get the direction, the guidance that you’re looking for. And you’re going to get exposed to hundreds of things. That doesn’t mean you need to do 100 things, right? Once you’re exposed, now you can make a decision, oh, out of those 100 things, I think this one’s interesting, and now it’s in your control. So you could decide whether you want to go do it, but you have to put yourself in stuff. You know? The great example is AI, right? So AI is just killing everybody right now, and it’s been a couple years, right? There were a lot of businesses that didn’t, weren’t aware of the AI. Call it revolution, until the last six months, and they’re behind the curve. However, if you had put yourself in a situation where you could be with people, learn from technologists, you would have found out about a lot sooner, and you would have started to figure out, hey, how does this fit into my business sooner.
Scott Ritzheimer
Right? Right? That’s really important. I’ve actually found that something that folks one of the reasons why it’s so underdeveloped and underutilized at this stage is because we missed the need for it in the previous stage. Everyone’s in such a rush to get out there, start their business, do the thing, hang the shingle, you know, bring in the revenue that they don’t take the time to set up that learning environment, and they pay for it in the long run. Love the way that you brought that, brought that back into the equation here, because it’s so easy to miss. But I’ve got a question that I’m going to get to in just a moment. But one thing I want to do before we get there is you talk about this idea of a founder’s trap, and our our listeners who, especially those who tune into the show regular are overwhelmingly founders, and this is something that I mean we all faced at some point in time. So tell us, what is the founder’s trap? How do we know if we’re in it, and what do we do to get out?
John Witt
So the founders trap is a wonderful place to be, but it also keeps you stuck. Means that you’ve found a niche, that you’ve got a way to make money. It’s consistent, it’s sustainable. Maybe you have a small team, and you’re able to manage all of that yourself, and you’ve got a consistent revenue stream coming in. And some people, some founders, just say, hey, look, this is fine. This is all I want. But some people want something more than that. Well, now the question is, how do I scale? Right? So how do I and there’s two ways to scale. You can scale with technology and you can scale with people, and generally you’re scaling with both. But now let’s say you have a team of five, and you can kind of watch over them on a frequent basis. You know what they’re doing. You can correct them, etc, etc. But what happens if you want to go to a team of 20 you? I mean, you’re not gonna be able to look over their shoulder and watch, right? So now you have to, you have to bring in some leaders, right? And so now you have to learn to lead, to lead leaders. So when you want to scale, and when you bring that extra people in, you’re going to have to bring in additional processes. You’re going to have to be able to teach them and train them and help them grow to the next level. And so it’s really systems and processes that are associated with people and technology that allow us to scale beyond that small founders space and like, say it’s only a trap because you’re stuck there until you do something else.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, John, there’s a question that I ask all my guests, and I’m interested to see what you have to say. And the question is this, what would you say is the biggest secret that you wish wasn’t a secret at all. What’s that one thing you wish everybody watching and listening today knew?
John Witt
Well, you know, it’s a secret because most people don’t know it, but that doesn’t mean nobody knows it. And I think it’s a two part secret. The first one is generosity. Generosity goes a long way in many, many ways. I mean, it covers a lot of errors. It covers a lot of mistakes. Covers a lot of whoops, the idea is to be generous with your time and your talent, and I would say your treasure, and that will come back to you and your business in the long run. Generosity always, always, always delivers better long term results. And the second one that kind of goes along with that, and this is where people get tangled up. You know, if they have an employee that comes in and has an issue or a problem or a grudge, or, you know, wants to change something, the owner feels like they have to respond right away. And I wish everybody would learn the art of the pause, which is to pause and say, Hey, listen, I hear you. I understand. We need to have a conversation about. About this, but now’s not the right time. I want to give it the time it deserves. Let’s set some time for this afternoon, or let me get back to you with a better time, and so that stops you from spontaneously saying something inaccurate or wrong or inflammatory. You know, it all happens, right? If you have that pause, that little pause, then, then you have the time to think through what’s the right response. There’s a little bit of time between stimulus and response. The better you use that time, the better results you’re going to have.
Scott Ritzheimer
So true. It’s so true. John, there’s some folks listening, and they want to know more. How can they find out more about the work that you do? And where can I connect you with you or get a copy of your book?
John Witt
Well, the books on Amazon. It’s called Checkmate!: Translating Ideas into Money. And if you search amazon.com, forward slash author, forward slash, John Witt, you’ll go right to the page. My website is business Whitt. It’s a play on my last name, businesswhitt.com so www.businesswit.com there are places where you can see all the different tools and strategies and things that we have. There’s a lot of, I would say, free stuff there too, and then there’s certainly a Contact Us space. So if you want to spend spend some time and have a conversation, you can certainly do that. I’d be happy to do that.
Scott Ritzheimer
Fantastic, fantastic. Well, John, thanks for being on the show today. Really was a privilege and honor having you here. I really enjoyed this conversation, and for those of you watching and listening, you know your time and attention mean the world to us, I hope you got as much out of this episode as I know I did, and I cannot wait to see you next time. Take care.
Contact John Whitt
John Whitt is an experienced coach and the author of Checkmate!: Translating Ideas Into Money, a book that uses chess as a metaphor for business strategy. John brings over 30 years of experience helping both corporations and small businesses shift their culture, boost results, and improve profitability. As a leadership coach and business growth strategist, he specializes in assisting founders to move from high-stress hustle to structured, values-aligned scale.
Want to learn more about John Whitt’s work at BusinessWhitt? Check out his website at https://businesswhitt.com/
Grab a copy of his book Checkmate!: Winning Tactics for Translating Ideas into Money at https://www.amazon.com/Checkmate-Winning-Tactics-Translating-Ideas/dp/1947341979
You can follow John through his Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BusinessWhitt/ and connect in LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachjohnwhitt/