Donald Miller

I wanted it to be really simple. And the metaphor that I came up with after I did all this stuff, when I was trying to sort of have a controlling idea to bring it all together, was the metaphor of the airplane. And every airplane has, every commercial airplane has six very important parts to it, and they have to work together. The leadership is your cockpit.

Now, I'd never heard the phrase professionalize your operation before, but it rang absolutely true as it's ringing true to almost all of your listeners right now. What it said to me was, what Bill said to me basically was, you're making it up. You're making it up as you go along. And he also said this.

He said, Don, if you leave this company, the company is going to go down because you haven't installed the systems and processes necessary for somebody else to come and buy this company and run it. Right. And that rang so true to me that I spent the next about three to four years figuring out what the systems and processes needed to be and how the company needed to run.

The people in that cockpit need to enter data into the flight computer that says where this airplane is going. Everything is reverse engineered from that leadership in the cockpit. The ride engine is your marketing, and that marketing needs to produce thrust to get the plane moving. The left engine is your sails. It needs to produce more thrust to get the plane moving.

Your products are your wings of the airplane. Those need to be in demand and profitable. The wings need to be big, light, and strong in order to get lift. The body of your airplane is your most expensive, heavy part. That's your overhead, and your overhead needs to stay lean. That's why when you get into a smaller plane,

And the framework that I came up with is actually really simple. And that's kind of what was missing in the market. Everything was very complicated. It took more time to sort of professionalize your operations through other systems than it did to actually build your company. You spent more time working on your company than you did catering to clients, which doesn't work. You lose money that way.

commuter plane, you're ducking your head because they need that thing to be small, and they're squeezing you into those tiny seats. And then the fuel tanks of your airplane are your cash flow. And if you can actually keep the six areas of your airplane in proportion to each other, you're going to do just fine. And it's the same with business.

I wanted it to be really simple. And the metaphor that I came up with after I did all this stuff, when I was trying to sort of have a controlling idea to bring it all together, was the metaphor of the airplane. And every airplane has, every commercial airplane has six very important parts to it, and they have to work together. The leadership is your cockpit.

In order to get a business off the ground and keep it from crashing, you've got to enter the right coordinates into your flight computer. Those are going to be economic coordinates. You got to clarify your marketing message and run a really good sales funnel. That's going to get your ride engine humming. You've got to be able to invite customers into a story and close deals.

The people in that cockpit need to enter data into the flight computer that says where this airplane is going. Everything is reverse engineered from that leadership in the cockpit. The ride engine is your marketing. And that marketing needs to produce thrust to get the plane moving. The left engine is your sails. It needs to produce more thrust to get the plane moving.

And I've got a formula for you to be able to do that in your sales. You've got to have products that are extremely profitable and in demand. Those are going to be your wings. You've got to manage your team so it's lean, efficient, and productive, which is an incredibly hard thing to do. That keeps your body of the airplane small. And you've got to

Your products are your wings of the airplane. Those need to be in demand and profitable. The wings need to be big, light, and strong in order to get lift. The body of your airplane is your most expensive, heavy part. That's your overhead, and your overhead needs to stay lean.

get very clear optics on your cash flow so you never run out of cash or get surprised by a tax bill or can't make payroll. If you can do those six things, your business is going to do just fine. Holly, you've interacted with as many business owners as I have.

That's why when you get into a smaller commuter plane, you're ducking your head because they need that thing to be small, and they're squeezing you into those tiny seats, and then the Fuel tanks of your airplane are your cash flow. And if you can actually keep the six areas of your airplane in proportion to each other, you're going to do just fine. And it's the same with business.

I'm sure there's times when you've walked into a business and they have a really nice facility and they're handing you all sorts of swag and 20 minutes into visiting their business, you have no idea what they do because they can't State it clearly. And you're asking yourself, how in the world are these people making money? And you realize they're not making money.

In order to get a business off the ground and keep it from crashing, you've got to enter the right coordinates into your flight computer. Those are going to be economic coordinates. You got to clarify your marketing message and run a really good sales funnel. That's going to get your ride engine humming. You've got to be able to invite customers into a story and close deals.

They're actually just living off private equity or venture capital money. And all they're doing is living off somebody else's dollars. And this plane is going down. It looks successful, but it isn't successful. I have zero interest in helping anybody listening to the sound of my voice look successful. I have no interest in that.

And I've got a formula for you to be able to do that in your sales. You've got to have products that are extremely profitable and in demand. Those are going to be your wings. You've got to manage your team so it's lean, efficient, and productive, which is an incredibly hard thing to do. That keeps your body of the airplane small. And you've got to

I have enormous interest in you opening up your bank account and seeing a ton of money. That's what I'm interested in. And so these are the basics of how to actually run a successful business without lying to ourselves. This is how it has to be done.

get very clear optics on your cash flow so you never run out of cash or get surprised by a tax bill or can't make payroll. If you can do those six things, your business is going to do just fine. Holly, you've interacted with as many business owners as I have.

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