Welcome to The Biz Dream Group Blog, the blog and newsroom for The Biz Dream Group, a business value and training consultancy focused on re-energizing teams, renewing entrepreneurial spirit and building business value and equity with a holistic approach.
There’s this book called the ‘eMyth’ by Michael Gerber that sits on my desk. It illustrates the distinction between working on your business and working in your business. I read this book while pursuing my bachelors in entrepreneurship from the Huntsman at USU and noticed each of my graduate instructors reiterated its premise again and again. It resonated with me then. And continues to do so today. The book will often accompany me when facilitating entrepreneurial groups, deliver keynotes and team training’s. I refer to it and try to re-read it often because it reminds me not to get distracted with bells and whistles, but rather to focus on what’s really important and build a business model that maximizes business value.
Business owners are often working 60-70 hours a week with all of the trade secrets locked away in their heads. They are working in the business thinking its the “lifestyle” of business ownership. The business is the owner and all they do to keep it going. That business started with an idea, a vision and a dream. And they may dream of selling the business or passing it on to family, but what happens when crisis occurs? Then it might be too late.
In the summer of 2015 I was in crisis and didn’t know it. I remember sitting on the beach with my daughter, our favorite place to spend time together, and I could not enjoy it. My anxiety was high and I was running on fumes. I had been working so hard at the organization I was working for. I pushed myself with the entrepreneurial mindset that if I build value the money would follow. I continued this way for several years until my body had enough and I crashed. The organization I was working for had great benefits but none of the doctors could figure out what was wrong with me. Testosterone, check. Leaky gut, check. Nothing was helping…until my wife scheduled our whole family to see a very special holistic dentist. The short story is that unbeknownst to me I was suffering from a chronic infection that stemmed from high school when I had my wisdom teeth pulled. On my first appointment the dentist showed me two giant holes on a CT Scan of my head where my upper wisdom teeth had never healed and an infection was for sure festering. It explained a lot. Why when I pushed myself physically I would inevitably get a “cold” and feel sapped. Or why with all the stress I was putting on myself at work had come to the breaking point even with all my excercise and eating healthy. Thank God in Heaven for leading my wife to schedule that appointment and finding the one holistic minded dentist who knew the cause to my problem.
As I look back I can see how working hard in your business rather than on it is a lot like having a chronic infection no one can pinpoint the cause until its too late. Just like a business my health affects some other aspect of my life – at home, at work or play. A business is no different. If a business isn’t healthy it will affect other parts of the business. But like my chronic infection a business owner may not know how unhealthy the business is since that’s all they’ve ever known; that is until crisis hits and that chronic infection rears its ugly head. That’s why I like the eMyth concept of working on the business not in it. Its like taking a holistic approach, the idea that the whole is more than merely the sum of its parts, and focusing on all the parts for the right healthy combination of business value.
This concept continues to inspire me for The Biz Dream Group and for this blog.
In this blog, I will share best practices about how business owners – particularly ones who have sold their business for maximum value – position businesses for more equity, uncover untapped value and create higher value propositions with the right combination of tangible and intangible value drivers.
I’ll provide powerful insights to re-igniting the entrepreneurial fire, offer hard and soft skill tools that uncover a businesses untapped value, a persons hidden strengths (their super powers), along with how to be successful using them. Yes, I’ll be generally celebrating re-energizing approaches to business.
I will also share with you news and releases relating to Biz Dream Group. I expect that other ideas and topics will come up along the way and hope you will find them relevant.
In case it isn’t obvious, you will be exposed to my views. You are more than welcome to respond, add comments and suggestions. Even disagree. I ask that we keep our comments relevant to the conversations taking place here so that we can maintain respect for all those involved and add value and depth to the discussion.
I moderate comments and will quickly remove any that are offensive, disrespectful or irrelevant. That means that if you simply come by to advertise your [irrelevant] website [n.b., often considered SPAM], your comment will be deleted. However, if you truly want to add to the conversation and engage, then I welcome your perspective.
Oh, and please don’t post any private information as this is a public forum. I might repost your comments and/or try to reach you to add more depth to the discussion.
I encourage you to visit the Biz Dream Group website and learn about us, about what we offer and who we are. And, do feel free to contact us for more information! Please consider subscribing and engaging in discussion around the notion of ‘biz dreams’ which I believe will become more important than ever.
Thank you for reading and visiting, and helping build an exciting world of business value focused on re-energizing vision and making that vision a reality.
All The Best,
Graysen Fox