Business Builder Near Me | The Business Builder Guide with Bruce Baker Episode 1
Broadcasting from the business capital of the world, this is the podcast Business News Network. Welcome back to the show. We are excited to be joined by Bruce Baker once again, our Chief Business Builder from Workplaces. He hails from beautiful Edmonton, Alberta, in Canada, and we’re excited to talk to him more about how they’re helping business owners and boosting profitability, and really, you know, finding more freedom for the day‑to‑day operations. So listen up, a lot of you business owners out there—he has a lot of information and knowledge.
Bruce Baker, how are you today?
Not bad, Jill. How about yourself? Thanks for having me.
I am excited you’re back. You’ve got great energy; you’re just truly inspiring—a genius. I mean, the work that you’ve done, that you continue to do, is overwhelming, and you’ve got to read his reviews. We’ll talk about some of those later, too. So please tell us a little bit about your coaching, your consulting, your business building, and what you do.
Well, Jill, it’s been a good 11, 12 years—been doing this for a while—and for the most part what we do is simply three things. We help business owners—small to midsize businesses—either start up business, scale up their business, or fix up their business. So any businesses that are in trouble, we try our best to get them out of trouble. Businesses that are at a certain point and they want to grow—they want to scale—we make sure that the growth doesn’t happen in spite of them but happens to benefit them and benefit their business over the long term. And, of course, we have our startups, and that is near and dear to my heart, of course, as always, because we want people to really do well, but we don’t want to see the failure rate, and that’s one of the big reasons we get involved with startups—because we want them to succeed.
Amazing, thank you. And you have lots of experience in this field and a lot of great credentials, a lot of certificates, a lot of awards, but it’s not just about that. You’re really a transformation expert and you’re helping those. So where did you want to start today? What did you want to kind of dive into?
Does School Help You Become a Successful Entrepreneur
Yeah, absolutely. I think the biggest thing—and, funny enough, I’ve been talking to a lot of folks the last two weeks around this—is that, you know, a lot of people are reaching out to people online, colleges, universities, maybe consultants, buying a bunch of books, going on some courses, etc., etc., and one of the key reasons why people do this and then don’t necessarily see the return on investment is because we’ve got it the wrong way around. We’re putting the horse before the cart, and what I mean by that is we tend to absorb all this information, say that we’re going to use this information, bring it back into our business, and we don’t—we don’t execute.
So, us humans, we love to talk; we fall in love with our “whys,” we fall in love with what it’s going to look like, but unfortunately, when it comes to the execution and the tasks associated with that, we fall out of love with that. So a big focus and a message I want to send to everybody this morning is: it’s not about all the technical knowledge and all the expertise, etc., that you want to gain and push into that big brain of yours—it’s about you. You are the most, and probably the only, complication you’ll have in your business. So when we want to fix things, we want to grow things, want to achieve things, it’s about you first. You are the first and last employee of your business, and you are the author of your business, and that’s something that is very, very important for people to understand if they really want to make a big difference.
Thank you for that. All right, and by the way, Workplaces—the Business Builders, as they call them—really helping you, you know, make more money, save time, and you’re really training the people and implementing amazing systems, so you can get started there. Go ahead.
Is Time Management the Answer?
Awesome, awesome. Well, you mentioned something that also I speak with a lot of people about: “I’ve got to have more time,” or “I’m not a very good time manager,” or “I just don’t have the time to do this and do that, I’m overwhelmed,” etc., and the biggest problem, Jill, is that people are managing time. Managing time is a fallacy. There is so much out there in terms of time management and making us more efficient. Since the Industrial Revolution, for instance, time became this commodity, and there’s nothing wrong with it becoming a commodity, but the problem is that when we ask people—in this case, business owners—to manage their time more effectively, the mere statement of “managing time” is not accurate.
The mind, at the end of the day, is a tangible machine; it can’t necessarily manage a minute, or an hour, or a day—whatever the case may be. We all get 1,440* minutes per day. How we manage those minutes is not about the amount of minutes available to us—it’s about the actual action that you need to take, how important, how urgent that action is. Being able to take action with the right things at the right time is what the management piece is all about. I call it action management or commitment management as opposed to time management.
And I’ll tell you, you know, a client of mine about five years ago—absolutely overwhelmed in his construction business, three‑ to four‑million‑‑dollar size business—and him, being the CEO, came to me absolutely overwhelmed, not necessarily knowing what to do with all of this. We did exactly that. It took us a week; I flipped it around for him. It was pretty different and unintuitive for him at the time, but flipping around and getting into this exercise every single day, it was an absolute transformation. That impacts home life, it impacts the business life, it also impacts how the business runs efficiently.
The last thing I’ll say in terms of time: there’s also a lot of talk out there saying that, with the time, the actions business owners take in their business—it’s about working on your business, not necessarily always in your business. I don’t necessarily agree with that statement. It’s a balance between working on your business and working in your business, and that, again, are those action items you take that are most important and most urgent.
Well, thank you for that. And, by the way, you know, people—you’re working with people. I know you’re based in Canada, but just explain to me—you’re worldwide, right?
Well, for the most part worldwide. Definitely US and Canada; there are a couple of clients in the UK, South Africa, and Australia, but for the most part in Canada and the US.
Awesome. What else do you want people to know about your consulting and coaching?
Get An Accountability Buddy or Business Coach
Well, I can tell you this much—and I want to preface this by saying that I have many coaching and consulting friends, and we share ideas and thoughts—but the problem with having those two in isolation is, you know, the consultant comes in, does whatever they need to do, then they’re done. A lot of the time, business owners put the stuff on the shelves and they get dusty, and the reason why they get dusty is because—people in general that don’t necessarily take the action—it’s not because they’re lazy, it’s not because they’re disengaged or not intelligent; it’s because they feel they don’t have the ability to actually do it. People don’t say it very often, but they’re embarrassed, they’re shy, they don’t have the time.
So just consulting and just offering subject‑matter expertise doesn’t necessarily solve the problem. It also doesn’t necessarily focus on the author of the solution—that’s the business owner and their team. The coaching component is so critical because the coaching piece is that support mechanism, that accountability buddy, if you want to call it. What we find tremendous results in doing is we combine those two—having a subject‑matter expert, technical expert, at your side that is not only giving you the technical intellectual knowledge on how to do it, but also at your side every step of the way to make sure you’re emotionally invested, and what you execute, you can actually see that you’re capable of doing.
That is a phenomenal thing to see. Once the business owner sees that, “Hey, you know what, I just did what you told me to do, I can do these things,” that’s when the confidence ratchets up. And when confidence ratchets up in people—in terms of their ability, or known ability, to do something—the pendulum starts to swing, and that’s when you see massive change in action.
And time and time again, I’m sure you have many experiences of this—this pattern of how it’s working for the good, right?
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. And it’s crazy because, you know, through the 11, 12 years that I’ve been doing this, there is a clear distinction between those that succeed and those that don’t succeed, and the ones that do succeed are the ones saying, “I’ve got this, I can do this, this is not complex.” And I’ll tell you one thing, Jill: building businesses, regardless of stage—every single business is the same. It’s a system: it’s input, throughput, output, regardless of industry, regardless of business. Every single business has exactly the same challenges as they grow and take themselves through various stages of growth.
Building a business is not complex; what is complex is you. You, as the business owner, are the first complexity in your business and the last complexity. If we can deal with you effectively, and you get to realize what astounding potential and ability you have as a business owner, it’s amazing what we see.
Thank you for that. And, you know, just a little bit about your background for people that don’t know, because there are new timers here each and every week—could you just tell us, you know, how did you get into this business and, clearly, you know, your passion for it?
Absolutely, yeah. I was lucky—throughout my corporate career I worked for, you know, large Fortune 500 companies and had the opportunity to not just delve into one area. I started off as an HR professional back in the day and eventually got to a point where I was able to lead in finance; I was able to lead in various other operations of the business. And, being the consummate business geek I am, I also got involved in—got involved in areas of opportunity where, you know, for instance, we had an operations project, post‑sales project, where we had to improve efficiencies.
The Difference Between a Business Consultant and a Coach
Like everybody else, I’ve been exposed to consulting, I’ve been exposed to the coaching component, and I finally got to a point where I thought to myself, “Well, you know what—small business is the backbone of our economy, whether it’s Canada, US, any westernized country that I can, from an educational standpoint, tell you that it is the backbone, yet so many of them fail and so many of them don’t have the resources available to them to actually take their businesses to the next level.” So it got to a point where I said, “Look, it’s time to put my money where my mouth is and start this business and truly make a difference that, quite frankly, I’m not seeing much of a difference anywhere else.”
So that’s what got me into it—the passion to truly help business take it to the next level.
Beautiful, thank you so much. All right, and what else do you want our listeners to know about you, the work you’re doing? And I also love hearing the client stories and the client reviews, because so many people are saying amazing things about you. I know you’re a little modest—you don’t want to talk about yourself—but, like this, you know, Zach says, “You came to me at a point in my life where I had lost my long‑term business partner. Not only was I able to steer my habits and mindset in a way that has allowed me to own being the only decision‑maker in my company, but we also implemented strategies that allowed my business to run smoother than it was when he started.”
Do you mind talking a little bit about some of those client stories? It’s always good to hear the work that you’re doing.
Absolutely. Yeah, I’ll tell you a funny story first—I’m sure our listeners like to smile in the mornings. I’ve been called “The Spaghetti Man” for a long time, and you might want to know why “The Spaghetti Man.” I had a fantastic, fantastic client—her name was Jen—and she said to me one day during our session, and she was very overwhelmed and really worried about her business, and this was a fix‑up. She said, “You remind me of cold cooked spaghetti.” And I said, “What are you talking about? There goes my credibility—I’m now cold cooked spaghetti.”
And she says, “You know when you try to reheat cold spaghetti, and it’s sticky, and it just breaks and eventually becomes a big mess?” Exactly, right. And she says, “What you remind me of, and what you do for me, is that you take off each strand of that spaghetti intact, and then you put it on the table for me, and you make it all right. You make it all look simple, and just when I think I don’t have the capabilities, or there’s no way that I’m going to get out of this mess, you put it in perspective, and the next minute I know I’m out of the mess.”
Putting Your Problems Into Perspective
And that, for me—I mean, this was a good seven years ago—but I’ve never forgotten it because I get similar interactions with a lot of people. You know, being called an “evil genius” by a construction client of mine about three years ago, and I asked her, I said, “Why the evil genius?” Obviously, I put up my Austin Powers little pinky, yes, that. And she said to me, “In five minutes you have fixed something up that we haven’t been able to do in seven years.” And I said to her, “You know, it’s not about me; I’d love to take the credit, but it’s about you.”
And, Jill, at the end of the day, I’m as good as the people I serve, and when they know that they have the capabilities to do it, that’s what makes me look good. But, at the end of the day, it’s really got very little to do with me—it’s got to do with a business owner finally taking it to the next level and seeing what they’re capable of.
Beautifully said, thank you so much. All right, and wow. And let me just—by the way, what time is it where you are? What is our time difference?
9:21 a.m. at the—
Oh, okay, okay. So, yeah, we’re 11, so we’re two hours off. I didn’t realize that. But, you know, there are things that—you guide people along the way. When you get started with someone, what’s the first thing that you do? You offer free consultations, right?
Absolutely, yeah. We call them business building sessions—
Thank you, I didn’t know what to call them, sorry.
Yeah, no, that’s quite all right. Business building sessions, essentially, are—when we start working officially with the client, we have business building sessions that are scheduled. But, essentially, to answer your question, when we start off with someone—prior to even engaging officially with someone—we offer a free business building session, and the business building session can last up to three hours.
Start With a Strategic Session
Essentially, we invite people to come in, do a complete strategic discussion with them, give them information that they’ve never had before, take them through exercises that they’ve never been through before, and this includes business operations, a financial review. We also talk to them about themselves, and we talk to them about their natural strengths or behaviors that keep them back, but also those that are naturally going to propel them forward.
So by the time they leave the session—whether it’s a 90‑minute or a three‑hour—by the time they leave the session, they get to see how we work with them, and because it’s about chemistry as well and fit, and they get to leave with some seriously big golden nuggets that they haven’t had before. And, you know, if we don’t engage with them—whatever that reason may be—they’ve left with an amazing experience, and they’ve left with information that they can take back and implement.
We find that these sessions—you know, it’s not, again, it’s not always about us—but if we can provide and give back, and they get something fantastic out of it, then fantastic. If they do sign on with us, we then get them onboarded, and then we move forward with analyzing their business, having a good look, and then setting some key objectives and a project plan that we can take forward and ensure that results are achieved at the end of the day. And that, I will say, is a huge, huge core value of our team—where results matter.
And if we’re not seeing results—as I said to a client the other day—there’s no business that’s going to fail on my watch. And that’s how we see things: we want to make sure you are cared for, make sure you see the results, and are getting your time and money’s value worth.
Love it—the dedication, the teamwork. And, by the way, how many others are part of your company doing what you do—doing this coaching and consulting?
There are a couple of us—there are about five to six people that do various things. We also use partners that are not necessarily part of our company, but we have—I’m proud to say—quite a large satellite of subject‑matter experts that we make use of and we partner with as well. The reason why it’s so good is because they’ve been tried and tested. So when people say, you know, “I’m looking for a financial expert,” or “I’m looking for a marketing expert,” we’ve been there, done that. We’ve worked with them, we’ve tested them out, we know that they are really good at what they do, and we provide that network to our clients as well.
Got it. All right, thanks so much. We’ve still got five more minutes left in the show—I don’t want to cut you short at all. There’s plenty to learn and to know about our business‑building guru and all the services that you provide.
Seven Week Online Bootcamp for Entrepreneurs
Yeah. One thing I will say, Jill, is just for folks that are out there that are thinking of starting up a business, we have an amazing opportunity. It’s called Living Life, Living Business, and ultimately it’s a seven‑week boot‑camp online program that is there to actively engage with you as a group and individually. Essentially, what we do is we prepare you for starting up your business; we give you a phenomenal foundation and stick with you throughout that period of time to make sure that you are seeing actual results. And the fears that people naturally have when starting up a business—we eliminate those fears, rationalize those fears, and then drive you forward.
So, again, it’s called Living Life, Living Business, and I encourage people to go on our website—www.4workplaces.com—and check it out. It’s an awesome program; we’re really excited to see it going. Right now, there is an 80 % discount on first early birds, so please go ahead, schedule yourselves, let’s get going.
Oh my goodness, I love it. What is your schedule like for today, just curious—on a daily basis? Give me a little overview.
You chose the one day that I’ve got back‑to‑back client meetings all day long, and it’s going to be a good day—like to see changing people’s lives, one step at a time, right?
Beautiful, I love it. Well, I don’t want to cut you short—we still have more time—so did you want to share something else with us? Or have you got to go—you’ve got a call coming up at 11:30?
Hey, this came first—I had to do this first, and then I can get on my way.
Yeah, right.
No, I think—just to let people understand that, you know, there’s a lot of concern or hesitation when it comes to stuff like this: “How is this person going to help me with my business?” “How is this company—Workplaces—how do they—they don’t know much about our business.” And I can tell folks out there that you’ve got nothing to lose, right? Giving us a call, putting us to the test, putting us in front of you, and allowing us to fill your mind with information—about yourself, about your business—that I would almost guarantee that you’ve never heard before. It is mind‑changing; it is inspiring.
If You Need A Coach – Call Workplaces!
And, unlike a lot of other experiences people have—they tend to get all inspired, huge value in the beginning, and then slowly but surely it peters out, and then they don’t take that value back with them—we do the complete opposite. We want you to take that value back and absolutely crush it. So give it a try—you’ve got nothing to lose.
Beautiful—we’ll crush it together. Thank you so much, always a pleasure having you here, Bruce Baker—our coach, our consultant. He’s in the business building: Workplaces. www.4workplaces.com—that’s the number 4. 780‑850‑6957. Also, we can find you on social media, right? Facebook—
Absolutely. Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn—absolutely.
Beautiful. Thanks so much for your time. Enjoy the rest of your day, and happy working and helping so many continue to grow. Oh, don’t forget the profitability quiz as well—that’s on the website; always a good thing to take—to check out.
Absolutely. Thanks for having me, Jill.
Thank you, Bruce. Enjoy your day.
Bye.
Broadcasting from the business capital of the world, this is the podcast Business News Network.