Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to the Power of One more. I'm Julie Duncan. And today we explore how small steps, bold faith and relentless resolve shape us. You're watching now Media Television. Welcome to the Power of One more. I'm your host, Julie Duncan. And today we're diving into the breakthroughs that help entrepreneurs move from confusion to clarity. So, so many business owners feel lost, like they're walking in circles with no map. Our guest today has dedicated her life to helping others find direction when everything feels unclear. Crystal Lynn Smith is a high performance business coach, a national speaker, and best selling author and the founder of Crystal Clear Business Strategies.
She has trained over 4700 leaders, coach hundreds of entrepreneurs, and build a reputation for helping business owners break through plateaus using the power of One More. Crystal, welcome to the show.
Let's begin with what you see most often, those moments when leaders feel stuck and overwhelmed. Today we'll unpack how that one more step can shift everything.
Christa, welcome to the Power of One More. I am so happy that you're here. I have seen your work in the community. I know how much you pour into the community. So I'm so excited for you to pour into our audience today with Crystal Clear Business Strategies. So welcome. Welcome.
[00:01:32] Speaker B: Oh, thank you for having me. I'm honored to be here to have the opportunity to serve this community and the business owners with the reach that you have, with the power of One More. It's an incredible opportunity. So thank you for having me and.
[00:01:44] Speaker A: Absolutely. Okay, so we're going to start with some questions. Are you ready?
[00:01:48] Speaker B: Okay, let's do this.
[00:01:49] Speaker A: Christa, what's one more small step someone can take today when they feel totally lost about the direction of their business?
[00:01:57] Speaker B: That's a great question.
What I would. Well, let's ask this question. Are they really lost in the entire direction of their business or are they just lost in an area of their business?
You know, a lot of times we find that business owners, you know, owning a business can seem very overwhelming. It can seem daunting, it can seem lonely, and it can also be the most rewarding, exciting time of your life.
But also when sometimes we feel like we're lost in the direction of our business, it might not be the entire direction of our business. It might just be I'm lost on how to increase my profitability.
I'm lost in how to grow. I'm lost in how to scale.
[00:02:39] Speaker A: I love that perspective, Crystal.
[00:02:41] Speaker B: Yeah, it's so true. So often we get caught up in the, oh my gosh, business is overwhelming. And I Don't know where the direction my company is going to be headed when the reality is we might just have these smaller challenges. So what I would recommend to answer your question is what is one step that someone can take when they're confused about the direction of their company is really to drill down and say, am I concerned about the direction of my company or confused about the direction?
[00:03:06] Speaker A: Or.
[00:03:06] Speaker B: Or is it that I just don't understand how to increase profitability? Right. Maybe that's where the confusion lies. Maybe it's, you know, I don't understand how to grow my business or we've reached a certain plateau and I'm just not sure how to break that. That. That plateau. Right. So to really drill down and figure out what it is that you're confused about, is it really the direction of your company or is it just an area of your business that you're confused about? Right. And if it is the direction of your company, my question then would be, well, what's your destination?
Right. So if you think about when we go on vacation, we will spend months, years planning, deciding where we're going and how we're going to get there and what our budget is and who we're going to bring. Right.
But when it comes to our business, do we ever really determine the destination? Right. So figure out what the destination is. What do you want your business to do? Is it to provide generational wealth for your family? Maybe you're like Steve Jobs and you want your business to change the world, right?
[00:04:06] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:04:07] Speaker B: Maybe you're like one of my clients who said, you know what? I'd like to travel the world and have this thing run without me and provide an amazing lifestyle for my family and the kids to come. And so that's what we did. But having that destination, if we don't have a destination, and then we can't determine a clear roadmap or drive the direction of our business. So if the direction of your company is the big picture of what you're having a challenge with, we just need to figure out what the destination is and then we have clear direction on how to get there.
[00:04:37] Speaker A: Wow. So it reminds me of why you're so good at what you do. Because you give people a GPS.
[00:04:42] Speaker B: Yes.
Yes. Remember the days of MapQuest. Right. We would never just jump in the car. Well, I wouldn't. Maybe you would.
But when we plan a vacation, we would never just jump in the car and figure out where we're going when we get there. Right.
We have a map, we have a budget, we know exactly where we're going. And we usually start with where we're going. So then we can determine the budget and the GPS and the exact steps we need to do to get there.
[00:05:05] Speaker A: And that's why you're so good at what you do.
[00:05:07] Speaker B: Oh, thank you.
[00:05:08] Speaker A: Thank you for sharing that excellent example.
Okay.
How do you help entrepreneurs find clarity when everything seems confusing and overwhelming? We know that it can be very confusing and overwhelming and feel really hard. Right. In the business world. So can you speak to that, please?
[00:05:25] Speaker B: Well, this is one of the most fun things that we do and the most eye opening and enlightening is so before we work with a business owner, we do what we call a business analysis. It's a fancy term for we ask you about 80 questions. So we drill down because again, what we find is that while everything feels overwhelming, it's not everything. Right?
[00:05:48] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:05:48] Speaker B: It's like saying, I had a bad day, you didn't have a bad day. You might have had a bad 10 minutes. Right. So if we can ask a series of questions and drill down to it. And a lot of times it's, you know, we open things to them that they didn't know they needed to know. Right. So while the business may seem overwhelming, maybe it's that their profit margins are off, Maybe it seems like the business is overwhelming because nobody's knocking down the door for our product or service.
Well, it might not be that you can't generate leads. Maybe your problem is you just have a conversion problem.
So what we do is we walk them through a series of questions based on different business strategies. We figure out what they're really great at and then where their challenges are.
And what that does is it really opens their eyes to the smaller things that we can fix in the business that'll make the bigger impact to give them some clarity and some direction. And then we just prioritize and then build the GPS to fix the broken first. We like to fix the broke first, get a good foundation, and then we can begin to grow and scale.
[00:06:48] Speaker A: You said a magic word. You said the word clarity.
So if a business owner gets clarity, how much does that decrease the confusion and the overwhelm?
[00:06:58] Speaker B: Well, not only does it decrease confusion and overwhelm, it increases their peace of mind, typically increases their ability to sleep. It increases their ability to grow and scale their business. Because now I have some clarity and I know where my challenges are. I know what we do really well. Right.
Business owners are some of the most remarkable, resilient, resourceful people that I've ever Met.
Just a little guidance into where their challenges are, like I said, can provide such a peace of mind and clarity in them being able to resolve the challenge, overcome the challenge, and then grow and scale from that.
[00:07:36] Speaker A: So would you say clarity is key and it drives the business?
[00:07:42] Speaker B: Clarity on the right areas?
[00:07:44] Speaker A: Yes. Yes, of course.
[00:07:45] Speaker B: Because I can be super clear on how great our product is.
[00:07:48] Speaker A: Yeah. Right areas.
[00:07:49] Speaker B: That doesn't mean that I know how to run the business. Right.
[00:07:51] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:07:52] Speaker B: We can get clarity on how to run a successful business and what you do well and where your challenges are. And we can fix those challenges and overcome those obstacles and put some business acumen behind it.
Yeah. It's nothing like it.
[00:08:09] Speaker A: I'm so glad you came today because I love what you're doing and what you're pouring into our audience.
So valuable.
So what simple questions can someone ask themselves to figure out what they really want their business to become?
Simple questions.
[00:08:23] Speaker B: That's a good question.
I'd like to rephrase that question.
[00:08:29] Speaker A: Please do.
[00:08:29] Speaker B: Because that's what we do as business owners. Right. What is our business going to become?
I would challenge business owners to say, what do I want my business to do for me? Right.
So, like the client I mentioned earlier, she said, hey, I'd like to, you know, nine years from now, I'd like to be traveling the world. I'd like to have my children with me. This is where I'd like to be. I'd like to relocate. And so we built the business that did that. Can you imagine every day waking up going, oh, in nine years, we're working toward moving to St. John, having my children with me and having the company run by other people. And that's exactly what we did. We did that in about four years. Right. But that is a different purpose, a different direction. It's not necessarily what the business will become for us. Right. It's, what do you want the business to do? I had another client who said, you know, I just don't like people. Quite honestly, I would love to not have to have people on my team.
And so we built a business.
Well, let me back up. What she wanted the business to do was give her the ability to.
Her big goal was watch her soap operas.
[00:09:35] Speaker A: I remember that story.
[00:09:36] Speaker B: Yep. And eat bonbons. Right.
That was the big life goal. You know what?
Everyone's life is different. And what we see as a valuable use of our time and how we want our life to look is different.
So that's where we start. What do we want the business to do for You. Right. And so we ultimately automated her business, and it's all automated now. And so she gets up for about an hour every day, protects her little automated things, and then she gets to watch her soap operas and eat her bonbons.
But having said that, so what do you want your business to do? Not necessarily become, but do for you?
[00:10:13] Speaker A: And, you know, I was thinking, we're as unique as our fingerprints. And everybody's goals and desires are very unique. And I love how you embrace that and bring them to where they're at.
Where do you want to be in the future? What are your goals? What's your why? And that's all going to be unique and different for everybody.
[00:10:30] Speaker B: Absolutely. Absolutely.
[00:10:33] Speaker A: So when someone feels embarrassed that they still don't have it figured out, how do you help them feel normal and ready to try again?
[00:10:40] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. First of all, what is normal?
What is normal? Can we just define what normal is? What I find in, especially in the business owner and the entrepreneur world, we tend to compare ourselves to another business or another business owner who we think has it all together. Right?
[00:10:57] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:10:59] Speaker B: And so can we just redefine what normal is?
And, you know, we've worked with so many business owners. I've worked with companies that have been in business for 20 years. And the first thing I say is, listen, we're messy.
And I'm a little embarrassed to tell you that, but on the outside, right, everything looks great. They have a couple locations, like on social media, everything looks great. People are lined up out the door. But internally, that's not necessarily.
They're not at their best. Right.
But here's what I would also share with you, is that.
And this is what I share with a lot of business owners. Look how far you've come. You know, they say we were just winging it. How far you've come. Winging it. You have a $3 million company just winging it. Right Again, business owners are some of the most resourceful, remarkable people I've ever met.
[00:11:47] Speaker A: So what I'm hearing and that I absolutely love as an executive coach, is you normalize it for people. Businesses are hard. Businesses are messy. Businesses are not easy. Comparison is a thief of. Is a thief of joy. Is that what they say?
[00:12:00] Speaker B: Right.
[00:12:00] Speaker A: So I love that you normalize it and nobody needs to be embarrassed. We're all messy at some level.
[00:12:06] Speaker B: Right?
[00:12:06] Speaker A: Right.
[00:12:07] Speaker B: And now that we know this is the way it is, but now that we know, now we can fix it. And can you imagine. And if you come this far, just Winging it. You can you imagine what we can do with a little business acumen, a little bit of accountability, some education and some focus?
[00:12:23] Speaker A: If we can name it, we can tame it, but we must name it.
Coming up, what do you do when your business feels messy, chaotic and overwhelming and how a simple system can change everything?
Don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more stories, strategies and inspiration to help you press beyond what seems possible.
This is a power of One More on NOW Media Television.
And we're back. I'm Julie Duncan and you're watching the Power of One More on NOW Media Television.
Let's dig deeper into the journey of becoming. Welcome back to the Power of One More. We're here with Crystal Lynn Smith. And this segment is all about a reality. Many business owners hide chaos behind the scenes. When everything feels disorganized, overwhelmed or unmanageable, systems can feel like lifelines. And today, Crystal is breaking down how simple systems, not complicated ones, can transform a business.
Viewers often feel ashamed or disorganized about their operations.
They need tangible steps to simplify complexity and regain control.
So, Crystal, what's one more system or routine someone can create to bring peace back into their business? Imagine having peace in your business.
That just feels so nice to even.
[00:13:48] Speaker B: Say, yeah, peace of mind.
[00:13:50] Speaker A: Yeah. Share more about that, please.
[00:13:53] Speaker B: Listen, so what I'm going to share with you is super simple. Okay?
I know a lot of times what I see and what I found is that as business owners, we can overanalyze, overthink, over, complicate things. Right?
But the system that I'm going to share with you, you might say, Crystal, it sounds great in theory, but let me tell you, from mom and pop to multimillion dollar companies, we've used this system and that is to block time to work on your business. You know, as business owners, I see, well, block time, I need to do payroll, I need to block time for social media. So much time for social media. I need to block time for marketing, I need to block time for clients, I need to block time for growing my team.
But we don't actually block the time to work on the business, working on cash flow, profitability, market share, systematizing the business.
So if you can just block that reoccurring time to work on the business, you won't be as scattered and working in it constantly.
[00:14:56] Speaker A: So that leads me perfectly to the next question, because as you were speaking, I was thinking that workload. Oh my goodness.
So, so share with us. What's the first simple Step someone can take when their workload feels too big to fix. Because all of those elements are big and they're important, right?
[00:15:14] Speaker B: Everything's big, everything's important, everything's a priority, right?
So again, I'm gonna give you some gold.
Take out a piece of paper and a pen. If you're not old school like me and like to write things, get out your iPad, something to take notes with.
And again, we've done this with mom and pop to multimillion dollar companies. So you as the owner, your job, your number one job in business is to get better at business, right? It is not to create the next marketing strategy, it is not to generate the leads, it is to get better at business.
So anything outside of that realm is not a good use of your time. So when the workload feels too big, it's because it is too big, it's not where you need to be spending your time, Right?
[00:15:56] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:15:56] Speaker B: So number one, you're going to make a list of everything you do. I mean everything from I get the mail, I make the bank deposits, I do the social media, I do the payroll, I do. Maybe you're still wearing those hats, right?
Start with the list.
And I mean, I do mean everything. Like if you run to the post office to get the mail or run to the bank to make a deposit that goes on the list.
The next step is to number these things in one of three ways. Number three, anybody or a system can do it, right? If you're spending your time doing something anyone can do, it is not a good use of your time.
Then two, put a two by the ones that take some skill set, right? Not just anybody, a little bit of skill set and then put a number one by the things that only you can do, right?
So then the next step from there, first just get it out of your head, right? Because we keep everything in our head typically as like solopreneurs or business owners that have a few employees.
But if you can look at that list and all of those number threes, we either automate. You know, there are so many systems and tools and templates that we can use to automate our processes.
Take that, take that off your plate, right? If there's something that's a one that someone else can do, we need to look at either outsourcing it or hiring somebody, right? The twos come next. Those are the things we can begin to take off our plate next. They take a little bit of skill, might take some hiring somebody, might take a heavier investment in automation of that and then be Able to focus on the ones, the only that you can do. Yeah. We've got to get out of employee mindset and working in our businesses to working on the business.
[00:17:40] Speaker A: So what I'm hearing is this is why systems matter so much. Find a system and work it daily as to what you can control. Excuse me. And where your priorities need to be.
Daily.
[00:17:54] Speaker B: Right, right. And you'll find that as you be. It might be daily in the beginning, but really as you begin to hone and refine and drill down to what are the priorities for you as a business owner and you begin to delegate those things. Sure.
[00:18:07] Speaker A: Yeah. Absolutely.
[00:18:08] Speaker B: Right.
[00:18:09] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:18:09] Speaker B: It won't be as time consuming.
Workload won't feel as overwhelming. Right. But what I find is we're doing everything because we can.
Just because you can doesn't mean you should. Right.
You slow the business down, you become the bottleneck, you become the stop for growth.
[00:18:26] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:18:27] Speaker B: So if you can just eliminate those things or delegate those things or automate, create systems and processes for those things that anyone can do, I can imagine you'd probably get 10 years of your. Or 10 years, 10 hours a week of your life back.
[00:18:41] Speaker A: And that's what I've always admired is you're all about systems and processes.
[00:18:45] Speaker B: Right. Well, we build the systems that drive the team and then the team runs the business.
It's basic math.
[00:18:51] Speaker A: Yeah. Beautiful, Beautiful. Thank you for pouring into us. This is so valuable. Can you share an example of a business that became easier and more joyful after adding one more system? And I'm sure that that will come easy for you because I'm sure you have a million examples.
[00:19:05] Speaker B: I have maybe thousands of examples.
Yeah. So I was working with a custom home builder and, you know, he came to me, said, I make money and then I have no money. I have money and then I have no money and then I have money and then I have no money.
And what he said was he needed to get more jobs. And let me tell you, most business owners will come to us and say we need to generate more leads. Right.
Most of the time the leads are there. Either they're not good at converting them or their profit margins aren't good. So in this case, we drilled down in the business. I won't go through the whole story, but we drilled down into how he was job costing for his builds. Now, these were custom homes, green homes. So, you know, the price was no small investment. Right. Well, what we found, when I did some job costing on the jobs that he had done, he was losing 13% on every job.
[00:20:08] Speaker A: Ouch.
[00:20:09] Speaker B: So when you multiply 13% on average at that time, and this was years ago, his average home build was about $400,000. Imagine losing 13% of that over and over and over and over again. Right.
So while he thought he needed to do more builds, what was happening was he would get the initial deposit, pay the guys have no money, get a draw, pay the guys have no money. And at the end of the project, essentially he was paying them to build their own house.
I should have got in on that deal.
[00:20:40] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:20:40] Speaker B: But so what we did is we created a simple system. We created a job cost estimator. Right. And we built in which the piece he was missing was overhead won't go into that if you don't know your overhead margins and your profit margins. We need to talk.
But having said that, we built a simple job cost estimator. Now, he knew exactly what he needed to charge, exactly what his profit margin was going to be on every job.
And he's doing very well right now.
He's doing very well right now.
But again, it goes back to not only gave him profitability, but peace of mind. Right. Because at that point, him and his family were paying for other people's houses. Right.
That's a huge stressor on the wife and the children. And.
[00:21:26] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:21:26] Speaker B: You know, when you have a business that the family is just pouring money into. Right. No, but that one system was a game changer for their business. And not just for their business, for the business owner, for their family, for their life, for their financial stability.
[00:21:41] Speaker A: Wow. I remember a story you sharing with when you were doing a speaking engagement, how somebody was going into their 401k for their business. And it makes me cringe. And how one simple system can change a trajectory of their business.
[00:21:56] Speaker B: Yep. Worked with a local.
I won't say local. This is a global show coffee shop. And this person had been open, I don't know, more than nine years and had every year taken money from their 401k, paid the taxes, paid the penalties.
[00:22:16] Speaker A: Ouch. Ouch.
[00:22:16] Speaker B: To support this business and to support his people and his community. Right.
We made one small change. We made a couple of changes. But the biggest impact we had or change we made, system that we created was we realized our average dollar sale was about $3. People walked in, they bought their coffee, they walked out. Right.
So the system that we created is we train their team.
Trained the team for every customer to say, what would you like with your coffee this morning? A ham sandwich.
You know, ham, egg and cheese croissant.
We got their average dollar sale up to $8.
That gave him the. But it took the system, right? We trained the team, we gave them the script, we gave them how to do it. We actually put a little post it note, simple post it note that said $8 on the cash register.
Right.
Simple, simple system.
So the next year we made over $300,000. He hired a manager, took his first vacation from that one system.
[00:23:14] Speaker A: You know, that's a. And that's also a perfect example of the power of one More.
[00:23:19] Speaker B: Right.
[00:23:19] Speaker A: Do one more thing. Do one more thing. Scale one more. Sell one more upscale.
[00:23:23] Speaker B: Yep. Wow. I would say that there's people say, what's the key to success? I'm like, there's no key. There's no magic key. It is combination all day. One click right, two clicks left, one click right, one. One more click left, one more.
[00:23:36] Speaker A: Love that.
Perfect example. Thank you for sharing that.
[00:23:40] Speaker B: Oh, you're so welcome.
[00:23:41] Speaker A: Up next, pricing with confidence. We'll dive into why charging your worth feels so emotional and how one mindset shift can change everything.
We'll be right back with more stories, strategies and inspiration to help you press beyond what seems possible.
This is a Power of One more on NOW Media Television.
And we're back. I'm Julie Duncan and you're watching the Power of One More on NOW Media Television.
Let's dig deeper into the journey of becoming welcome back to the Power of One More. In this segment, we're tackling a topic that makes many business owners uncomfortable. Pricing.
So many people undercharge out of fear, guilt or habit. Today, Crystal is helping us break that cycle and step confidently into the value based pricing.
Viewers often avoid raising prices, apologize for the rates, or undervalue themselves.
They need empowerment, not spreadsheets. So Crystal, what's one more simple shift that helps people raise their prices without feeling guilty?
[00:24:52] Speaker B: If you're struggling with raising your prices and you know a lot of business owners struggle with this, well, I'll say entrepreneurs, typically business owners who are running a profitable business don't struggle with, with the guilt of pricing. Right.
But if you are, here's what I challenge you to do, or here, here's what I know to be true.
If you're struggling with increasing your prices or charging a certain amount for your product or service, you clearly haven't defined or understand the value of your product or service. Right?
[00:25:26] Speaker A: Amen. Amen.
[00:25:27] Speaker B: Or maybe, or maybe you do and it's not that valuable. So we need to add some value, Right?
You know, I worked With a photographer who did not want to build and grow and scale a business. She just wanted to create a business that provided a good income for her and her family. And she was new to the area, new to photography, and she was charging.
How much time do we have? Wait for this.
So she would come on site.
She had a makeup artist, a wardrobe expert. Yes.
Do an entire day photo shoot.
The end product, if you will, was an entire album, printed album, the digital copies and the copyright. Okay, take a guess what she charged.
[00:26:19] Speaker A: $100. I'm disagreeing.
[00:26:20] Speaker B: This is probably eight years ago, $300.
Because she said, I'm new, you know, I'm just break. I'm just breaking into the market. Right. I'm not.
Right. And she said, and who's gonna pay me more than $300 for a book and some digital copies?
So what I would challenge your viewers to think about today when they're pricing, if they're feeling guilty or don't feel like they can charge enough.
You need to.
Your buyers need to understand the value, not just the tangible book. Right.
But there's a lot of intangible value that comes with it. So I said, listen, number one, she said, anybody can take pictures and put it in a book. And I said, well, if anybody could take pictures and put it in a book like you do, they wouldn't need you. So either we quit because we don't need you, or we decide why do they need you? What value do you bring? Right. So we built a package that showed all the value, right. It includes an on site visit, includes X amount of hours of photo shoot, includes eight hours of photo editing, includes print, includes makeup artists, includes wardrobe, includes.
Suddenly we have a much more valuable package. By the way, she was losing money on every. By the time she paid the makeup artist and paid the.
The wardrobe person, forget about the amount of hours like she thought, thought she was getting carpal tunnel, she was working, she was paying other people and okay.
So she said, I don't know what to do. How do I increase my price? I said, we're going to start by adding a zero. We're going to go from 300 to 3,000.
She about fell out, right. I love to shock people. It's so much fun.
So she was very scared. She said, crystal, I'd be lucky to get one job. Like I said, good. How many are you getting now? She said, like 10. Great.
You can do one and make a profit or you can do 10 and starve. I don't.
Yeah, in a nice loving way. Yeah. Always to build you up, never to tear you down.
So fast forward to today.
Not even today. This was probably two or three years ago.
It was $6,000 to hire and she had a wait.
Right. So part of is the value. Part of it is, do your clients understand the value that you bring? Right. Not just the book. Right.
And the other part is, can you articulate that?
[00:28:55] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:28:55] Speaker B: In a way that shows the value.
And then when you know the value of your product or service, there is no guilt. Right. There is no guilt associated with that.
[00:29:06] Speaker A: That is such a profound story and such a perfect example of that, of why we should never apologize for our prices. Because we know the value, but we also need to know the self worth of ourselves, what we bring to the table, and the worth of our business and our service.
[00:29:21] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:29:22] Speaker A: So perfect example, Krista.
[00:29:24] Speaker B: But if you don't know, you got to figure it out.
[00:29:25] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:29:26] Speaker B: Sit down with a piece of paper or your iPad, whatever mechanism you use to take notes and begin to list out the tangible and intangible and the value that you bring to the table. Especially in a service based industry.
Same thing for a product based industry.
But I don't know if business owners, if we take the time to do that. And there's so much value in determining the value.
[00:29:47] Speaker A: I remember about five years ago when I was starting empowering life coaching and my coach said, okay, what are you gonna charge? And it was the biggest gasp in all of creating an llc. And I just gasped. He said, okay, we're gonna take a break. We're gonna come back next week and you're gonna tell me your worth.
[00:30:04] Speaker B: Interesting.
[00:30:06] Speaker A: It was powerful.
[00:30:07] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:30:07] Speaker A: And it really made me dig deep. And what's the value that I'm bringing to the table? And that's what business owners need to do. Right?
[00:30:14] Speaker B: Right. Absolutely.
[00:30:15] Speaker A: Absolutely. Great example, Crystal.
All right, so what's one more mindset or belief someone can practice to feel confident saying their price out loud? And I feel like we've just talked about that, but can you flush that out for the viewers a little bit more?
[00:30:30] Speaker B: Well, listen, if you're not comfortable in saying your price out loud, you don't understand the value of your own product or service, or maybe again, you maybe need to add value. Right.
Something you can do Right. Outside of if you're not comfortable saying it out loud, either you're not adding enough, giving enough value, or you don't know the value. Right. We have to flesh that out. But the other thing is. So I've had clients that, you know, we're $200 an hour.
No, you're $200 for A, B, C, D, E, F, G. Right. So we fleshed it out, but the other thing we did was I took them out of invoicing. I was like, you are no longer allowed to invoice your clients. We hired somebody to invoice because a business owner wanted a discount.
Right. So we hired somebody to invoice. The second thing that you can do is if you don't want to say your price out loud, you let the world say, see your price out loud. Put out loud, put it on the Internet. It's on your social media. It's on your brochures, it's on all of your media. Right.
It is what it is. And if people don't find value in it, then you're not going to spend your wheels apologizing or trying to explain why the investment is the way it is. By the way, it's an investment. It's not a cost. Right. You're investing in something in yourself, in a product or service.
[00:31:42] Speaker A: So, viewers, you're hearing this firsthand from Crystal Smith, the founder and owner of Crystal Clear Business Strategies, who's been in business for how many years?
[00:31:52] Speaker B: Oh, my goodness. We launched the firm in 2013.
[00:31:58] Speaker A: 2013. So we can do the math.
[00:32:00] Speaker B: Simple math is 25 years or 12 years in 2025. Next year will be 13 years. Oh, my goodness.
[00:32:06] Speaker A: Yes. And I met her way back when, so I feel like we're in a business workshop. So thank you for pouring into the viewers. There's so much value here.
[00:32:16] Speaker B: You're so welcome. We live and breathe it. You know, life is too short to do anything other than what you love.
[00:32:21] Speaker A: Absolutely. Absolutely.
So, Krista, what's one more small step someone can take today to bring energy and hope back into their business? I love those words, energy and hope. They're powerful.
[00:32:35] Speaker B: Yeah, It's a great question.
Here's what I challenge you to start with.
To ask yourself, what is it that's kind of sucking the energy and the hope out of my life? Right.
Because it might. It might not be the business. Right. It might be, again, just a piece of the business. Like what? What's taking your energy and your hope? Do you feel like you're struggling because you're working 100 hours a week? Are you struggling because you don't have any time with your family? Are you struggling with, you know, we're not profitable. What it. What is it that's stealing your hope and joy? Right.
What is it? Let's start there. If we can start there and we can fix that challenge.
Then we can get a little peace and our energy and hope back.
[00:33:23] Speaker A: Yeah. If you can't identify it, how can you fix it?
[00:33:25] Speaker B: Yep, exactly.
[00:33:27] Speaker A: Okay, so Crystal, before we move on, where can viewers find to connect with you? Learn more about crystal clear business strategies. And I know the wonderful resources you have because this audience is going to want to access your you and your information. So please share.
[00:33:43] Speaker B: Okay, well can I share with you all the resource, all the resources we have available?
Yeah.
[00:33:50] Speaker A: This is exciting because I know so.
[00:33:52] Speaker B: And then I'll tell you where you can find them. So we have free business strategy videos. We have an entire video library that you can access. Maybe say hey, I need to increase leads, I need to increase profitability. We have quick, usually under 10 minute videos that give you business strategies on how to do that. If you're more the like I need to download something and then I want to hand write on it or download it and fill it in online. We have free downloads available. We have free business tools templates available online.
We have online courses. So if you're kind of like that, I want to do this at my own pace in my own office or maybe you know, comfy on your couch. We have online courses for small business academy. We have 30 day challenge courses.
So there's just a plethora of resources for small business owners and to access any of those you can go to our website and it's crystal clear business dot com. Now listen, God bless me with amazing parents who spelled my name a little differently. So I'm going to spell it for you. It's C R Y S T E L clearbusiness. Com.
[00:34:58] Speaker A: And I also know that you're an Amazon best selling author. So how do people access your books?
[00:35:04] Speaker B: So that's a great question. All of our books and business books are available on Amazon. But again if you go to the website, everything's on the website. We have the books listed there. There's a link that you can grab them.
Yeah. So they're all available online and just go to our website. Crystal with an E clearbusiness.com and I've.
[00:35:24] Speaker A: Been gifted, excuse me, with a couple of those books and I know they're amazing. So viewers, I hope you'll tap in tune into what Crystal has available. There's a plethora of information there. Coming up next, Burnout. We'll discuss how one more act of self care can be the turning point that keeps a business alive and a leader grounded.
We'll be right back with more stories, strategies and inspiration to help you press beyond what seems possible.
This is a Power of One More on NOW Media Television.
And we're back. I'm Julie Duncan and you're watching the Power of One More on NOW Media Television.
Let's dig deeper into the journey of becoming. Welcome back. We're closing out with a topic that every entrepreneur faces. Burnout.
When the passion, faith and survival mode takes over, even the strongest leaders feel defeated. Crystal is here to show us how one small intentional action or, or several actions can build energy, purpose and momentum.
Viewers often feel exhausted, unseen or overworked or alone. They need help emotionally getting grounded and doable. Next steps.
How do you help someone recognize the early signs of burnout before it gets too heavy on the business owner or in their life?
[00:36:55] Speaker B: Yeah. Fortunately and unfortunately, typically when a business owner comes to us, it's one of two areas.
One, they are maybe not struggling, but challenged. They know their business can do more, but they're just not sure how to take it to the next level. Or they've hit in a plateau, right. And they can't figure out how to break through that kind of million to 3 million dollar plateau. Or they're like, we need to dominate the market so we need to hire. Right.
When they come to us and they are in the stages of working 90 hours a week. Right. Maybe the business is profitable, but they're working 90 hours a week. Right. And they're feeling that burnout.
One of the first things that we're going to do, and I would challenge you to do this as well, is really look at what the challenges are in their business and them operating in their business.
We take a deep dive into those and then we just build a plan to fix it. And I mean a step by step plan. Like if, you know, the challenge is we need to convert better what has to happen for us to get there. Right. So we build out a step by step plan. The key to not feeling overwhelmed or burnout in that plan because it can be very easy. You know, we have a plan with 35 steps on it, right? Yeah, it could be very easy to get excited. And we want to do all of these things this week. And, and often I'll have people tell me, oh, I've got this. There's only, you know, these six things. I'll have them done by next Tuesday.
Bet you will.
Let's talk about it. Right. So in that planning session and you as a business owner, I know you want to get it all done now and we want to go from 1 million to 10 million tonight. Right. But let's be a little bit smarter. Not. Let's try not to kill ourselves doing it. So we look at every, every strategy or every action step we're going to take for the week and we analyze, you know, we project. How much time is this going to take us? Right?
[00:38:50] Speaker A: Yeah. Awesome.
[00:38:50] Speaker B: Because we have a beautiful plan here. But the reality is this is going to take us four hours and we've only got four hours blocked to work on the business this week. So guess what? That's all we're going to put on for you for this week. That's what we're going to focus on. We're always going to have progress. We're always going to have momentum, and we're not going to be burned out and overwhelmed in the process. And the plan is still there. If you feel froggy, you know, we plan four hours and it only took you three.
Good for you. You can move on to the next thing. But I want you to be steady and consistent and really have clear direction and not just check it off to check it off the list. Right. Because that's when we start to get burnt out.
[00:39:26] Speaker A: I love the strategy that you build in, but also the peace of mind that you give the business owner. You do both very strategically well.
[00:39:35] Speaker B: You know, like I said, running a business can. It can be challenging, it can be hard, and it can be lonely, or it can be really rewarding and fun and life changing. So we want the life changing to be for the good and not get burned out.
[00:39:49] Speaker A: Love it. Absolutely.
What is rest and pause? Why, Excuse me, is rest and pause just as important as taking action?
[00:39:58] Speaker B: This is a great question, especially for me, because I'm an action taker. Yeah, I will go, go, go, go, go. But I'll tell you what happens when we do that as business owners, without taking rest and pause, we don't have the clarity. Right. We get the brain fog. We're not getting enough sleep. We're probably eating crap because we're eating on the go. Or maybe it's just me that that's happened to. Right, right. And so we're not making good business decisions. We're not making sound. We can't think clear enough into the future to be able to make the, you know, the bigger plans and work on those bigger level things.
And when we do, it's because we're tired and exhausted. We just got to get it done. Right?
[00:40:39] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:40:39] Speaker B: We have to get this in the business plan. We have to get this thing checked off and so we create this job description and KPIs, and we bring the person on, and we found out the waters are very muddied and we weren't clear and we thought through it. So there's a big domino effect, right? To not having that clarity and that, that rest and that pause. And I always share with people to take pause before any business decision because it might seem like a little thing then. Right. Just like the example I just used, you know, I'll share an example with you. I worked with an organization, and they were a very large global company that installed, let's say, alarm systems. Right. It's much bigger than that. But. So the very large company, very big presence, their average dollar sale was probably about $300,000. Like they were. They were no joke, right?
[00:41:30] Speaker A: Yeah. Wow.
[00:41:32] Speaker B: Well, the owner said, you know, these. These people don't listen to me.
I can't, you know, they don't want to do good work. Okay, well, my first question was, who hired them? Who trained them? Who set their expectations? You, You, You.
With love.
[00:41:47] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:41:50] Speaker B: So he said, we need an employee handbook. And I agree, I agree. We need some policies and procedures and clear expectations and systems.
And he said, I'm going to go download one.
Great.
That's not what I'd recommend. How about we bring in an expert? Right. Let's flush through. What are your policies? What are the systems? What are the processes? Because yours might be different.
Business A, you could be very different from business B. Right. I don't ever want to download the cookie cutter. Right.
So I left that week, and our plan was that week for him to start. Let's just start. List out some of the biggest challenges. What are some of the biggest challenges? We need some policies and procedures around.
That was it. Just make the list. Right. Let's start simple. Make a list of what you need.
When I tell you I came back that next week, Julie, there was nobody there but him.
He had probably 28 employees. I think at the time, they were nowhere to be found. Now, when I tell you they had a big job to do, it was for a celebrity. Okay?
We had no staff to do this job that we had booked. And I said, where is everybody? As he's on the phone screaming.
What we later found out, we found out that day was that he decided to go ahead and download the employee handbook and have everybody sign it.
Well, do you know in that employee handbook, that particular day was a holiday and it was a paid holiday.
So his employees read the employee handbook, signed the employee handbook, and took the day off paid according to his.
Right. And so it was that rushing through and not taking the time to pause and really think it through that will ultimately have the domino effect.
Yeah. That was a hard day.
[00:43:44] Speaker A: That was a hard day.
[00:43:45] Speaker B: It was a hard day.
[00:43:46] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:43:47] Speaker B: We gotta pause. We gotta think things through. I don't mean overanalyze, but we need to take the time to pause and to think about the domino effect of wrong job description, a wrong handbook, misprojected cash flow projections. Right.
[00:44:00] Speaker A: Well, I'm also thinking about how the brain just can't function.
Prefrontal cortex is shut down.
Right. Your amygdala is on fire, fight or flight because you haven't rested, you haven't paused, you're on overdrive and it does not serve you well for making good strategic business decisions.
[00:44:17] Speaker B: Then 28 people don't show up and you lose a job for a big celebrity.
[00:44:21] Speaker A: Painful. But lesson learned. I bet, I hope, I hope, I hope lesson learned.
Wow, Crystal, these stories are just amazing. Thank you for pouring into us today.
So how does choosing one more act of self care lead to long lasting business success?
One more act of self care. Because think about that one more act. We oftentimes get overwhelmed to think we have to do everything all the time. But what if we drilled it down to one more small act? And how does that affect their business long term?
[00:44:53] Speaker B: Well, we saw how the detriment, or how it could be a detriment to the business without self care and.
And pause. Right.
But can we just talk about what self care is?
[00:45:03] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:45:04] Speaker B: Right. Because listen, I'm just gonna keep it real. Right. A lot of time we think of self care is, oh, I'm going to get a mani pedi. I'm self care.
Let's think about what the definition of self care is. Improving one's health. Right, girls? I like a good mani pedi. I'm just gonna keep it real.
That doesn't improve my health. Right.
So when you think about improving your health, does it improve your mental health and your physical health? You know, we're big advocates. We'll post on social media. I went to the gym, lifted weights. Right. We don't want to talk about our mental health, about having rest.
[00:45:39] Speaker A: Amen.
[00:45:40] Speaker B: Right, Right. So when it comes to driving the success of your business without taking the time for self care and what that looks like for you might be different for what it looks like for me. For me, I just went on a journey and knew that I had to get healthier. Right? So decided just eat better and I move more that's what it boils down to. Right.
But the clarity that it's giving me mentally. But it took some time and some discipline. Right.
[00:46:09] Speaker A: Of course.
[00:46:10] Speaker B: To prioritize that time to get the rest, to figure out what were the right foods to eat and right to be able to do that. So what happens is if we're able to reserve that time, it's about making it a priority, right?
[00:46:25] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:46:27] Speaker B: Unlike the gentleman that not making the time to pause in self care priority could have been the detriment of his business. Right.
On the opposite end of that is mental clarity, better decisions, better processing, which ultimately drives a better business.
[00:46:49] Speaker A: Crystal, this has been very powerful.
Where can viewers follow you? Connect with crystal clear business strategies and dive deeper into the power of one more method that you have shared.
[00:47:00] Speaker B: Today, we'd be so honored if you would join us. Follow us on Facebook, follow us on YouTube, on LinkedIn, on Instagram.
We're on all the channels and we would be honored to have you follow us.
We are dedicating to providing good content to educate, uplift and inspire business owners.
[00:47:22] Speaker A: Oh, those are good buzzwords.
[00:47:24] Speaker B: Oh, thanks.
Absolutely.
[00:47:26] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh.
[00:47:27] Speaker B: That's the truth.
[00:47:28] Speaker A: Crystal, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for being on the Power of One More Show. I can see firsthand, and I'm sure the viewers can see firsthand, how you have poured into your clients over the last 212 years and really built systems and processes for the power of One More to empower them, to help them scale and be profitable. I am so glad that you came in today to pour into us. Thank you.
[00:47:54] Speaker B: Well, thank you for having me, Jill. You know, it's an honor when you can meet with someone and a couple of their friends around the kitchen table on payroll and now they have a multimillion dollar company and we've created generational wealth. Like, it's just fun. And listen, business owners aren't alone.
Right. Like, that's, that's what I want people to know that you're not alone.
[00:48:15] Speaker A: Yeah. Yes.
[00:48:15] Speaker B: There are people here to support you. There are mentors out there that will help you. You have a community of other entrepreneurs.
Like, reach out and do what you're great at and then just work with someone else that can help you with what you're not great at. Right. So you can get great at that too. But it's just fun. We get to do this every day.
[00:48:34] Speaker A: Yes, yes, yes. I feel like this has been a business course 101.
[00:48:37] Speaker B: Oh, my goodness.
It was a good time. Right? And I hope that for your viewers that you took a lot of good notes that you.
[00:48:45] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:48:46] Speaker B: Just take one or two things. Look, don't get overwhelmed by the things that we talked about today. Take one thing at a time, get really good at that thing, and then move on to the next.
[00:48:56] Speaker A: You talk about that very thing in Business 101, her Amazon bestseller book, Business 101.
[00:49:02] Speaker B: Yeah. So business. Can I share with that about that?
[00:49:05] Speaker A: Absolutely. I think that's phenomenal book.
[00:49:07] Speaker B: So I'll do it very quickly. So business 101, it is not a sit down and read a bedtime book. It is not a coursework business guide. And I say that with, like, a lazy eye because those kind of things bore me. Right. I need real life, real actions, real strategies that I can implement in my business fairly quickly with some thought and some pause and some focus and intention behind it. So it is really A checklist of 101 things you can do to improve your business. Right. It is like I need to scale my business and automate chapter 72. I can go right to it. I need to generate more leads. I need to sell part of my business. I need to whatever the thing is, Right. It is just a quick open it, get the strategy.
Shows you exactly how to implement it in your business.
Get better and better every day. Yeah. So it's not a boring read. It's. It's pretty darn good, if I say so myself. You're. If you're a small business owner. Highly, highly recommend.
[00:50:05] Speaker A: Yes. It's genius.
Thank you for coming today.
[00:50:09] Speaker B: It was my honor. Thank you for letting me come serve and share and hopefully lift some people up.
[00:50:14] Speaker A: You have served very well today.
[00:50:16] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:50:17] Speaker A: And then some.
[00:50:17] Speaker B: Thank you so much.
[00:50:18] Speaker A: Absolutely.
Thank you, Crystal, for your honesty, wisdom, and the powerful reminders you've shared with us today.
You've shown us that clarity starts with one more question.
Systems start with one more step.
Confidence starts with one more belief. And healing from burnout starts with one more intentional act of care.
I'm a huge fan of the greats like Tony Rohn and Tony Robbins. They both remind us that success leaves clues.
If you want to be successful, find someone who has done what you want to do, follow them and model what they do.
Crystal has taken it one step further and guides business owners along the path.
I know firsthand the quality of your work, Crystal, and how you pour into business owners to transform their businesses. I'm so grateful you came on the show today and poured into our audience.
Thank you to everyone watching. Remember, your breakthrough is always just one more step away. Join us next time on the Power of One More. I'm Julie Duncan. Stay encouraged, stay committed and take one more step forward.
