Howard Partridge is an international business coach, speaker, and author of eight books, including an Amazon.com best-seller. He started his first business out of the trunk of his car and turned it into a multi-million dollar turnkey enterprise. He is the founder of Phenomenal Products, Inc. and is Executive Vice-President of Training Operations at Ziglar.
Howard has owned nine small businesses, and for over twenty years he has been helping business owners implement systems that achieve their goals. In this episode, Howard speaks about his own journey to success, how to create a self-running business, and how personal goals impact professional success.
Welfare to Well-off
You wouldn’t know it today, but Howard shares he and his six siblings grew up in a 600-foot shack in Alabama. Their mother fed them on $100 per month. He says he got his tenacity and work ethic from his mother.
After a falling-out with his step-father, Howard moved to Houston to live with his biological father—and arrived with 25 cents in his pocket. He worked as a high-end professional waiter, got married, and decided to start a home services business out of the trunk of his car.
Howard says his business grew very profitable, but after 13 years it was starting to consume him. That’s when he decided to turn it into a turnkey business.
Going Turnkey
Howard says a turnkey business means he as the owner doesn’t have to be there; the business runs itself. He attributes that to having a great team and great systems in place—and not doing everything on his own.
15:42 “You’re going to reach a lid of what you can accomplish yourself because there are several parts to a business. . . . Put some training into place so you can duplicate yourself, then you can start growing. And that’s exactly what happened.”
Howard says he knew it was time to go turnkey when he found he couldn’t reach his company goals by himself. So, he began:
- Onboarding business partners
- Creating operations manuals
- Implementing employee empowerment
- Developing scripts for employees
During that time, Howard says he started Phenomenal Products and began teaching business owners how to implement marketing and sales processes he devleloped.
The 5 Systems
To achieve their goals, Howard instructs business owners and entrepreneurs to organize themselves into five systems or “buckets”:
- Leadership
- Marketing
- Sales
- Operations
- Administration
23:27 “Everything rises and falls on leadership.”
Howard says he started by conducting a detailed assessment of everything that happened in his business on a daily, weekly, and monthly bases. He then categorized every activity within the five systems.
Vision First
Howard shares organizing your business helps you stay true to your life goals.
26:33 “The one and only reason your business exists is to be a vehicle to help you achieve your life goals, so you gotta look at those goals first.”
Howard says once you’ve defined your personal vision, investigate how to fund it—then develop a marketing plan. But always make sure to keep the whole picture in view.
Four Roles of Business Owner
Howard tells business owners about four roles they can occupy in their business:
- Technician
- Customer Service Manager
- General Manager
- Turnkey Business Owner
Howard says the gap between General Manager and Turnkey Business Owner is the hardest to cross; the biggest challenge is teaching people how to make decisions that align with your vision.
But first, business owners must know the reasons why they want to go turnkey. Otherwise, they will fail to achieve it.
40:50 “If we want to have something different . . . I have to do something different. But in order to do something different, I have to live by different principles.”
Howard is a great example of what it means to work hard, persevere through difficulties when they arise, and go the extra mile by helping others reach their goals too. Howard highlights that through implementing the proper systems, defining a vision, and deciding what role you want to play as a business owner, you can create a wildly successful business—in which your involvement is optional.
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