Business Builder in Edmonton | The Business Builder Guide with Bruce Baker Episode 4
Broadcasting from the business capital of the world, this is the podcast Business News Network. Welcome back to the show—we are joined by Bruce Baker once again, our chief business builder with Workplaces, hailing from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It’s a pleasure to have you back. I’m excited; it’s a beautiful day here in New York. How’s the weather in Alberta?
Oh, it’s—the snow is coming, and it’s coming heavy today, that’s for sure. I dream about that! See, I don’t know—as a New Yorker, I love when we get a snowstorm. We had like two this year where the kids get off school, you get the snow, but, I mean, to have it like, you know, year—well, not year‑round, but it’s got to be so beautiful. Do you get sick of it? Are you—are you ready to—to—
It’s beautiful in the beginning, and then you start looking at it and saying, “Why, Lord, why?”
Well, just how many feet have you had so far this—you know, the past season?
Oh, I would say at least two to three, easy.
God bless—amazing! I’m jealous; we had like about six inches total. But all right, Bruce Baker—excited you are here with us. Tell us all about Workplaces, what it is, what you do, even though I know some new‑time listeners and viewers out there may not know. So—welcome back.
Absolutely, well, thanks for having me again, and hello, everybody. What Workplaces does—and we continue to do—is we do three things. We help business owners—we work with CEOs, entrepreneurs, ERS—to either start up their business, scale up their business, or fix up their business.
Many Businesses Need Help
Fixing up businesses is about getting people out of trouble. Scaling up the business is taking their business to the next level. A lot of people consider growth as a positive all the time; growth is not always a positive—it can be, it can be quite deceptive. So we make sure that the path that they’re taking to grow their business is clear, and they understand what’s behind the proverbial corner.
And, of course, we’re very passionate about helping our startup community get their businesses going and reduce as much stress and surprise as we possibly can to make sure that they’re successful—at least within their first year. So that’s what we do ultimately.
Well, I love that you’re helping so many—you’re totally credentialed, experienced. Just a little bit about that: how long you’ve been doing this for, Bruce? And then we’ll get into today’s topics—what you really wanted to focus on, you beta.
Yeah, we’ve been doing this for about eleven years. I’ve been doing this—other than the business—for at least twenty, twenty‑five years, so it’s—it’s certainly been a roller‑coaster ride, but a very positive one.
Great, so what did you have in mind for your audience today? What did you want to focus on?
So this is something that—you know, I love to talk about things that—interactions that I’ve had with my clients and people that I work with over the last week or so. So it’s fresh off the press—I should say hot off the press—and it’s all about, and I want people to really listen to what I’m saying, the fallacy of time management and the actual path—or the true path—to profitability.
The Same Actions Get You The Same Result
So I want to talk about that, and why I want to talk about it is that, you know, as humans we get programmed—we get stuck in these axioms, stuck in the way that things have always been done, so why change them? And we do them over and over again, even though we know it’s not successful, but we continue to do them.
So I want to share something that not only I deal with my clients on a regular basis—now, fun fact, I had three hours with a client yesterday dealing with the exact same thing, okay—but also I w— I want to talk about how—what a transition this makes, a liberating effect on business owners when we start to think about this differently.
So, Jill, the first question I want to ask—and maybe, maybe you can even tell me—is: How many businesses, or how many business‑owner entrepreneurs, do you know that say they are profitable, everything is great, because they’ve attended a time‑management course and they come out and they’re absolutely great time managers?
See, I don’t know enough entrepreneurs to even talk like this, but I’m—I’m—have a feeling it’s not going to be many.
It’s not—not many, yeah, and that’s—and that’s the crazy part. How many people—let’s flip it on the other side, okay: How many businesses or entrepreneurs do you know that said they’re profitable simply because of the money? Right? They’re—they’re not necessarily profitable because of the money; they’re profitable because of other things, and that’s what I want to share this morning—on what truly profitability means.
So when we think about profit, we’ve got to think about not just the money that’s growing, but the time associated with it, right? The problem is, is that money and time aren’t truly what drives profitability. What truly drives profitability are actions; it’s what we do.
So we’re stuck thinking about time and money as if they are the key drivers of success, ESS, but the truth is neither of those things can be managed. What we can manage—what really makes a difference—are our actions.
Is Profitability All About Making More Money?
Yeah, let’s talk about profitability as a—as a—as a construct. So profitability isn’t about just making more money; it’s about making better decisions. Money is the result, it’s the outcome, not the starting point. And the same goes for time: we all get the same 1,440 minutes a day, yeah? The question is not how much time do you have, but how effectively you manage your actions within that time—that’s where real business success is built.
So this is where so many people get it wrong. They—they go on time‑management courses, they read books, they speak to coaches, and the same old message is, “You’ve got to manage your time better,” yeah, and people—the to‑do list just gets bigger and bigger, and unfortunately people get stuck and dig the hole deeper and deeper. They take time‑management courses, but nothing really changes—they aren’t managing the right things.
So you don’t need more hours; you need better priorities. Instead of trying to manage time, we need to focus on managing the actions.
So, first point is: Not all actions are equal. Busy work doesn’t equal profitability. How many times do people say, “So, Jill, how’s it been going, how’s business?” And a lot of people will answer, “Ah, it’s really, really busy,” right? Well, being really, really busy doesn’t necessarily mean really, really productive, and productivity and efficiency is what creates profitability.
So the key is focusing on high‑value, high‑impact actions—things that actually drive revenue growth and, of course, efficiency in your business.
The second point over here is the power of prioritization. Every day, like I said earlier on, we get 1,440 minutes—all of us, regardless of who we are, where we are, where we come from in the world, what businesses we own. If you waste them on low‑priority tasks, you’re actively choosing to lose profitability, and this is well‑researched. The goal is to focus on actions that matter, not just take you—or, excuse me, and not just the tasks that keep you busy.
And the last point I’ll make on this is shifting from time management—it’s—it’s a mind game. Stop trying to manage the minutes or the hours and try to manage the actions. Forget cramming more into your day. Instead, filter everything through a simple question: Is this action moving my business forward in a meaningful way? If not, it’s time to reassess.
Why Should You Stop Managing Time?
So, if we want real profitability, we have to stop managing time and start managing actions. It’s not about having more hours; it’s about making the most of the ones we have. The right actions lead to profit, and that’s where our focus should be.
So it’s not about the minutes; it’s about what we do with these minutes—how we take it to the next level. And it’s—you know, it’s extremely challenging for most people, especially—you know, I have entrepreneurs or business owners saying, “Well, Bruce, it’s great, you know, putting highly important, highly urgent action in place, and that’s what I’m going to do, that’s what I’ve planned for the day, and, man, all of a sudden this curveball just smacks me at the side of the head. What do I have to do then, how do I do it then?”
And we have the tools, we have the techniques to deal with this. Once you start to make the shift—reaching out to us, reaching out to anybody that you trust that have these resources available to you—once you make this shift, I can promise you it is an absolutely liberating experience. Your crazy day doesn’t—never—go away in business, right? Yeah, but it’s a good kind of crazy that starts to transition, and that’s the important part that we need in business to become profitable.
Beautifully said, thank you so much. And at this time I just want to remind everyone you are listening to the mastermind himself, Bruce Baker—yes, for Workplaces—and he’s joining us here, talking today. This is great—you’re teaching me so much. For someone who doesn’t own a business and not an entrepreneur—would love to be one day—this is so helpful, because I’m thinking along the lines of my friends who have businesses and what they’ve been going through, what they’ve gone through, how they’ve been helped, have they been misguided, have they been mis‑leaded? These are all amazing ways to really help. And so—knowledge is power, and even if you don’t own a business, this is a great conversation because we all know people who do. So continue, continue, Bruce Baker.
Knowledge Is Power
Well, I—it’s an interesting, interesting point you make with “knowledge is power.” I completely agree, but I would take it further: knowledge is power, but taking that knowledge and doing what humans do best—putting it into action—is huge amounts of power.
I said to—to a client early on this week: I’m saying, you know, you’re waiting—it’s like pitching your tent at the bank, yeah? You’re waiting, you’re stressing about money, you’re going in, opening up, making sure that the bank is open, and then you—the bank is open—you go through the doors, you go through your teller, and say, “Well, where’s the money in my bank account?” Yeah, and we sit and we wait and we look and we wait. That is a useless spend of your energy, as opposed to actually thinking about why, or what is actually making this my reality. Why do I look at my bank—do I step into the bank and there’s no money in the account, or there’s little money in the account, or the account balance is starting to drop?
That—that is the problem—we are waiting for something to happen but not necessarily actioning on stuff to make the end result occur. And again, like I said earlier on, that’s a mind shift.
It is—it is, and—wow—what are some of the other things we should be doing, be aware of? I know you have a whole show ready for us, Bruce Baker. Please continue.
Yeah, absolutely. So the—the other thing that I think is important as well—and I want to give a shout‑out to—to a man that I’ve got major respect for—is Mr. Michael Michaelowicz. And Mike is one of the bestselling authors on “Profit First,” and it’s got a great book out there—it’s been out there for many years. But, you know, we talk about profitability and we talk about, you know, how to become more profitable.
And again, it’s—it’s—it’s also what Mike says a lot: it’s—it’s not—it’s not just about this—you know, the profit‑and‑loss statement, it’s not just about the balance sheet. At the end of the day these are important things to consider, but it’s about truly understanding the relationship that you have with money, and Mike’s system and the tools that he uses are absolutely outstanding. So anybody that’s listening to this—check the book out; it’ll—it’ll make a big difference.
But I want to talk a little bit more about our relationship with money and our relationship with—with—or at least how we perceive money going through our business. Remember that a business, regardless of size, is about money coming in and money going out when it comes to cash‑related concerns. And this is—this is very rough at the moment—there’s a lot of instability in the world, there’s a lot of change, a lot of chaos—and that ultimately affects business and how we operate.
Managing Cash Flow In Your Business
But we’ve got to remember that, just like you and I breathe in—we all do breathe out, right? A business, if we want to personify it, a business is about breathing in cash and breathing out cash. We’ve got to breathe in the right amount of cash and the right amount of cash coming out of the business. Not—is it just about more—having more cash coming in than cash going out, but it’s also the timing in which that cash comes into the business and the cash goes out of the business. If we breathe in too little or breathe in too much and/or we breathe in at the wrong times, we start to hyperventilate.
The same exists for the business: when there is that—that imbalance between cash moving in and out of the business, the business starts to hyperventilate. Yeah, we’ve got to have cash running through our business constantly at any point in time. So when we talk about cash in the business and cash out the business, there are some great tools that are available to the listeners on our website—we can actually make those available. But truly start thinking about cash in your business differently.
It’s not just about looking at the bank account; it’s not just about worrying and stressing about, “Well, how am I going to make payroll at the end of the week? How am I going to do this? Well, the government’s on my back for taxes—how am I going to pay my taxes at the end of the day?” Those things are certainly stressful, but you’ve got to remember that those are the things that impact us emotionally. And when business owners or business leaders are impacted emotionally, the ripple effect—and unfortunately not positive—but the ripple effect through the business, it can be devastating.
So getting our minds re‑reshaped, getting our minds in the right place and focus, starts with that: Okay, what am I dealing with, and how am I going to deal with this effectively? Cash is what it’s all about, and we’ve got to think about it differently.
Wow—amazing—we do. And also, you know, people out there who are interested in taking advantage of working with you, I also just need to point out, as I always do—you know, when they reach out to you, you offer, you know, what type of consultation? What happens in the beginning, you know, when you are meeting with someone and, you know, discussing, you know, where do they stand, you know, and to—how does that process work when you get to know someone in the beginning?
Who Can Business Owners Turn to for Help?
Absolutely, yeah. One of the key things that I think a lot of people have—you know, they’re going through some challenges in the business—be it startup, scale‑up, or fix‑up—and they think, you know, “I’m at a loss, the walls are closing in, I just can’t get my business to the next level,” and the first thing that comes to mind is, “Who can I reach out to to help me fix this up?”
And we just had an experience this week with a hospitality company that didn’t want to reach out—because “I can’t afford it,” or “I just don’t have the time to do that.” And I want to encourage the listeners on the call to—to stop thinking that way, right? It’s not about the money; it’s about reaching out to someone that’s been there, done that—reaching out to someone that can actually help you change the way things are right now in your business life and in your personal life, of course.
So what we do is: we want to encourage people to reach out—it’s not going to cost you a dime. Reaching out, making sure that we can engage and talk to you about whatever your challenges are. What we love to do—we do this on a regular basis—is offer our first session (sometimes it can—it can be a half‑a‑day long) where we call it the “Business Building Session,” okay? It’s there to give you insights into your business and for you to leave with some seriously big golden nuggets in terms of having a very different direction, different insights in how you think about your business.
So we—we start off with that, Jill; it’s at no charge to—to anybody that is interested. And, of course, they’ve—they’ve got nothing to lose. So if they decide to move forward with us—wonderful. If they decide not to, they’ve certainly got some phenomenal perspective that they can move forward with.
Thank you so much. What else do you have in mind today, Bruce?
Challenge Yourself as a Business Owner
Well, I—you know, I think the—the—what I really wanted to hit home in today’s, you know, discussion is: really, really think about profitability—really think about what it means to you. If you have money that pops into your head the first thing we do when we say profitability, I really want you to challenge yourself. I want you to think differently. I want you to think of profitability as the actions you take.
And the last thing that I’ll say—remember: actions we take is who we are naturally as a species. Our brains are beautifully structured to be tangent, to take control, to want to build something, to want to tinker with something. If we make that firm decision to go with the grain of who we are, as opposed to against the grain—and what I say against the grain is, if I, for example, ask you to start managing your time better, Jill, that’s going against the grain; but if I say to you, “Jill, start focusing on the actions that make the big impact for you,” true, the first thing your mind is going to do is going to resist that.
I want you to try to welcome that back into your mind, because that’s the way you work—you work on action, you work on tangible. Don’t sit doing the same thing that’s not helping you, because that’s just silly stuff. Change the way you think, and if you need the support—if you need someone to work you through that—reach out to that person. Reach out to us. Again, it’s not going to cost you a thing, and I promise you we will give you insights in a different direction that will be liberating.
Wow—beautifully said, thank you so much. And, by the way—also with Bruce Baker—you offer a profitability quiz, which I love just bringing up, and, you know, it can really also help you when the business may be not doing as well—you’re feeling stuck, you’re—what is holding you back. But these are all the things that—you know—you’re helping people with. And then you have the—the—the “life is the living,” the life living—what is it called—the “Living Life”?
The “Living Life, Living Business,” absolutely, and thank you for bringing that up. And that—and that again is—is something that we’re really excited about—we’re trying to launch. It’s all about startup business. So for entrepreneurs that are thinking about starting up a business, and those that have just started up—they want to do it better—this is what it’s all designed for.
Owning a Business Should Be Exciting!
And—and the passion or the driver that’s come behind giving this to the public or to the market is: there is too much failure, there’s too much pain associated with starting up a business. We want people to be excited starting up their business, and we want that excitement to last—not to let them down halfway through the process. So—phenomenal training; there’s been some great successes so far. Love to encourage people to check it out on our website.
Beautiful, thank you so much. We still got a few more minutes in the show here, and I want people to really understand—you know—what it’s like to work with you, firsthand experience. And, you know, I’ve read some great testimonials before. Could you share just another—a story or two about a business owner—you know, a company that you’ve worked with, that you’ve helped? It’s—it’s always good to hear those stories, Bruce.
Yeah, absolutely. Well, if we want—if we want the—the heart‑touching story, which still stays with me today and primarily the reason why we do what—what we do—it was a lady, and—and I won’t mention her name on—online, but certainly a lady that had a very prosperous woodworking business back home. And when we started working with her pre‑COVID, and just as she was getting up and recovering from her downfall in her business, COVID hit.
And, obviously, she couldn’t afford our services—she was down and out. But unfortunately she had no choice; it was either making sure the business survived through that downward spiral that we experienced through COVID, or she’d had to claim bankruptcy. And—you know—at the end of the day, as she was doing—living in her truck just outside her—her workshop that was pretty much about to be closed down.
And what we did was—throughout COVID—we—we actually provided pro‑mo services to a lot of businesses out there—her business specifically—and we worked very, very closely with her through that period. That was probably—probably about a year that we worked with her. And not only did she survive, but at the end of COVID—specifically, if I recall correctly, probably about three months into it—profitability came back. She secured a very large client—ongoing business.
Succeed by Focusing on the Right Things
And by virtue of just focusing on the technique, focusing on the tools, focusing on her emotional state—which is absolutely critical—and she got through it. And that’s not to say that the year that we were working with her wasn’t emotional and wasn’t topsy‑turvy. Business is—is not perfect—it’s not an art, it’s not a science—it’s a practice, and that practice will—will surge, will become profitable, not because how clever you are or how much knowledge you have, but because the emotional state that you start and you build your business with.
So that’s the important—that’s the important lesson we learned, and that—that philosophy that we stand by: we’re at your side, we’re not going to give up, and, quite frankly—like I said to a—a startup business a couple of—couple of months ago—is that no business will fail on our time with you. And that’s what we stand for, and that’s what we’ll drive towards.
Well, thank you so much, Bruce Baker—always insightful, always willing to help, and excited he’s joining us here today. And he wants to help you—you and your business—that’s right. There’s so much that he can help you with and, really, you know, overall, gain more profitability.
And some people might, though, say, “Well, coaching—you know, I’ve tried other coaching programs—why should I try yours?” What would you say, you know, makes yours different or unique?
For two big reasons: one, coaching by itself—consulting by itself—does not work very well; it’s not very sustainable. Pulling coaching and consulting together becomes a very, very powerful force. The second reason is, is that typical traditional coaching, consulting, educational institutions start with the business—start with the technical side first—and deal with, if at all, deal with the human second or last. What we do is we focus on you—we focus on the person first—because you are the author of your business, you’ll be the first and your last employee of your business, and that, Jill, makes a huge difference to the results that we continue to see with the businesses we help.
Beautiful. Thank you so much for being here today.
Thanks for having me.
Workplaces and Bruce Baker Can Help Entrepreneurs
All right—Workplaces—how do we find you? Tell us the website, phone number, all forms of contact, Bruce. Thank you.
Absolutely. So our website: www.4workplaces.com. Contact us through info@4workplaces.com. And if you really want to get personal and give me a shout—I’m always open to talking with new friends and people—780‑850‑6957. And again, it’s Bruce.
Thank you so much, Bruce—pleasure having you here.
Pleasure, and we’ll talk soon.
Thanks so much, you—have a good one.
Have a great day. Bye‑bye, everyone.
Broadcasting from the business capital of the world, this is the podcast Business News Network.