THREE MILLS BAKERY

Founder

A. BAKER

Co-Founder

Two Before Ten Coffee Roasters

Founder / Director

I've built four 7-figure+ companies over the past decade and a half

- A pumping cafe
- A coffee roasting company
- A huge multi-level restaurant/bar/events space
- And now an artisan bakery doing just over $11 million in annual revenue. 

But right before the bakery, everything imploded in one of those typical business stories you hear about...

- Bankruptcy meetings
- Business partnership breakdown
- Lost every cent I put into the business
- Started rebuilding from scratch using a $20k credit card. 

A proper rags-to-riches story with my back against the wall...

Fast forward a few years and my company now employs 130+ wonderful people pushing for excellence in the artisan bakery industry. 

And I've begun sharing my journey and my processes so that other entrepreneurs can avoid making the same mistakes and achieve success faster. 

Here's where to find my insights:

Linkedin and Twitter - Daily insights about entrepreneurship

Weekly Newsletter (Curious Founders) - Actionable deep dives into a challenge I faced and how I overcame it.

www.jarroddeaton.com.au

Or simply DM me.

I'd love to hear from you.

Thanks for reading.

Three Mills turns 8 years old today! 
 
But it almost never launched. Here's a quick story from the beginning.  
 
8 years ago I was in a business partnership that went sideways.  
 
(yep, the usual story) 
 
After a year of trying to sell my share of a business to others and being blocked by my partners, I had no choice.  
 
I had to walk.  
 
To leave all of my investment on the table and just get out or I'd lose more than just cash. 
 
I had two choices at that point.  
 
1) File for personal bankruptcy because I had no way of paying the personal loans I took out to join the business.  
 
Or 2) take a small piece of the business that my partners didn't want and make something of it.  
 
I interviewed at a few places for a job around then and each time it just felt wrong.  
 
I wasn't done with business.  
 
So with the support of my family, I accepted the terms to buy the used bakery equipment from my business partners. 
 
(yep, I had to leave my investment in the business and still buy the equipment...) 
 
The kicker? 
 
They gave me two weeks to leave. 
 
I had to: 
 
- start a company 
- find bakery space 
- fit it out and it open a cafe 
- handle legal, finance, banking, branding 
- move all the bakery equipment across town 
 
Literally... find a space and build a brick-and-mortar bakery from scratch in 2 weeks. 
 
Well, here we are so you know how that story ended.  
 
But one of the best memories of it all was Day One.  
 
I had no cash to open. 
 
Nothing. Nada. My whole life savings was sitting in the business I walked from. 
 
Everything we used to start the business was either borrowed or had long payment terms.  
 
I couldn't even afford to get a cash float for a till.  
 
So we gave coffee and pastries away for the day just to welcome people in.  
 
But something strange started happening.  
 
Customers were so happy we were there that they started doing their own cash transactions with the tips on the bench.  
 
They wanted us to succeed! 
 
At the end of that first day we had a small pile of money to take to the bank and actually start the business.  
 
Makes me emotional thinking about how great people can be.  
 
That type of support for local businesses can mean the start of something big.  
 
We've gone on to build something we're proud of since then.  
 
- 130 employees. 
- Loads of wonderful clients. 
- And some of the best sourdough and pastries around.  
 
It's been a wild ride! 
 
Hugely grateful to those first clients who walked in the door on day one.  
 
And every single one since.  
 
And for an amazing team.  
 
And for a family who backed me. 
 
Thank you all!

Jarrod Deaton

Founder of Three Mills Bakery. Living on sourdough & croissants and sharing personal insights from building businesses that I wish I'd known earlier.

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It's always exciting when you're launching a new bakery site and the sign goes up.  
 
It's one of those milestones that makes it feel like a real project for some reason - Not just thoughts, ideas and plans.  
 
Really looking forward to opening this one in Woden on the south side of Canberra. 
 
We've got great neighbouring businesses, loads of growth happening around us and we're pumped to look after our wonderful clients there with fresh baked goods. 
 
It looks like we're about a month away yet but you'll see us around there getting to know people shortly.  
 
Don't be shy. We love the curious ones, so come say hello. 
 
I'll keep you posted with some more photos as the build comes together and we get closer to opening.  
 
Stay tuned. 

What are some best practices for opening a new business?

What are some benefits of having neighbouring businesses?

Most business owners think their main problem is finding good people... 
 
But their problem is they're not attracting them.  
 
There's a question I asked myself a while back: 
 
𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦? 
 
The answer at the time was, NO. 
 
So then it was a question of: 
 
- Why not? 
- What are they looking for? 
- What leadership would they need? 
 
In all honesty, I didn't have my sh*t together enough to attract them.  
 
They probably took one look at the place and thought, "Yeah, no thanks". 
 
And it wasn't all the flashy stuff. 
 
For me it was about creating a big vision and working towards making it happen. 
 
After a while, good people started coming out of nowhere and asking to join us. 
 
It was such a great feeling! 
 
But getting them to join is only one piece of the puzzle.  
 
It's more about getting them to stay. 
 
So you've got to ask: 
 
What culture would make them want to stay once they got here? 
 
Because if you can start to stack talent inside your business, it takes on an electric energy all of its own.  
 
In my last business, I got the timing on this all wrong.  
 
Good people came, had to work with others who didn't suit the culture and then they left. 
 
Right before the next good one joined! 
 
If only I could have got them working together back then, it would have built momentum.  
 
𝗠𝘆 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀, 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲, 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆'𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺.  
 
--- 
 
Follow me for more about how we've managed to do this. 
 
And, big thanks to the 130 legends I get to work with each day.

Making hot cross buns is pretty awesome.  
 
And today, we'll hand pipe over 10,000 crosses on top of these delicious little Easter buns. 
 
But making a few (and eating many) aren't the only great things that happen at this time of the year.  
 
It's also an amazing time for our team to come together and make it happen.  
 
People from all parts of the company end up around the baker's bench helping to mix, bake, glaze, pack and serve the freshest buns we can.  
 
Our goal is to get them hot out of the oven and in customers' hands quickly. 
 
And that's the second joy.  
 
Watching people grab a box at the shop and immediately tuck into one on the way out to the car.  
 
The smile on their face is priceless! 
 
It's one of those special times that makes you grateful to be in the food industry as people get together around great food. 
 
It's a damn good time to be part of their celebration in a tiny way. 
 
And even in the thick of it all trying to keep up and hope nothing breaks down or goes wrong, it's a special time.  
 
As everyone rolls up their sleeves and pitches in to help we see connections forged and relationships deepen. 
 
I often think that any business can use events to achieve the same thing throughout the year. 
 
Getting together to take on: 
 
- Physical challenges 
- Interesting projects together 
- Travel to an event or learn together 
 
They all have the same effect in some way if you involve your clients and your team. 
 
Then stack them throughout the year and you've got yourself a great platform for building a pretty kick ar*e culture.  
 
And that's what it's all about. 
 
More businesses doing more of that I say

What happened to big dreams in business?

These days it's all about short terms wins, quarterly sprints and annual objectives. 

You'd be lucky to hear about a 3-5 goal and it's more rare that companies are acting on it. 

And I totally get it...

I mean, who the hell wants to talk about the long game after Covid anyway? 

It ate business dreams for breakfast and taught the rest of us to reign ours in a little. 

The result is short-termism. 

A bunch of businesses who are sh*t scared to dream big and say:

"Imagine a world where..."

And that sucks a little.

Because thinking small and making short-term bets that we know we can meet creates a different culture. 

One that's about being right more than the endless pursuit of good.

It becomes about certainty and us winning, often at the expense of others.

Again, I get it. 

We've spent the past few years doing the same thing.

But I just don't like where it leads. 

I still hold the belief that businesses can change the world (for the better).

Entrepreneurs who dream big and spend their days building towards an idealistic world are my people. 

Leaders who can zoom out for a moment, look at the world, and decide what they want to do about it. 

So here's to the dreamers, futurists and business builders. 

Don't pull up short on your dreams.

How can businesses change the world for the better?

What is short-termism and how does it affect business culture?

What impact did Covid have on business dreams?

Starting a business is mostly about believing you can. 
 
The rest you can figure out on the way (or get someone to do for you). 
 
Sure, it's also about a good idea, or at least one that's better than someone else's.  
 
And execution 
 
And a hundred other things.  
 
But those early days are all about doing nearly everything yourself.  
 
It's about having your own back and believing you can achieve something remarkable. 
 
I remember how volatile my thoughts were back when I started.  
 
I was secretly on edge and worried about every single persons opinion. 
 
They didn't realise the weigh of their negative opinions during that time.  
 
Even the tiniest piece of feedback could have squashed my hopes and dreams of building the company I have today.  
 
Thankfully I found ways to shut it out and push on with building something. 
 
Over time you build confidence and learn to handle the stress of it all.  
 
(Weirdly you end up loving it) 
 
So if you're in that phase of starting a business or thinking about starting one, remember it's all YOU.  
 
Push through all the opinions and judgements and build the minimum viable product.  
 
That'll be your proof to the world (if you need it). 
 
And it all begins with believing you can. 
 
Best of luck with it.

What are some tips for starting a successful business?

How can new business owners manage stress?

How can negative opinions affect a new business owner?

Here's how my communication has changed as my business grew: 
 
At the start, it's all about one-to-one because there's only a handful of people on the team.  
 
If the information isn't sensitive, you can often speak a little louder and some of the ideas rub off on other people within earshot.  
 
But as the team grows, your time shrinks.  
 
You start looking for ways to get more bang for your buck when it comes to your time.  
 
Meetings become really valuable opportunities to impact at a larger scale. 
 
This is the one-to-a-few world where it's more efficient for you to do small broadcasts to a handful of people so you get more reach in the same time. 
 
But you sacrifice something...  
 
Specificity and Impact.  
 
Your words become general in order to appeal to different people in meetings. 
 
Take that too far and you become ambiguous which makes it hard for your team to connect what you say to their work. 
 
You leave way more open to interpretation and spend more time helping others spread the message you normally would have shared yourself in the past. 
 
It feels clunky. But it gives you leverage which allows you to keep growing.  
 
In my case, we crossed the 100-employee mark. 
 
Now you start struggling to keep track of new people's names. 
 
Your time is spread wafer thin and meetings need to become shorter. 
 
You seem to speak in headlines only now...
 
'Strip away all the fluff and get to the point' you think to yourself. 
 
You start missing the subtle details as you look for ways to impact at scale.  
 
- company broadcasts 
- internal videos 
- CEO updates 
 
All done from a distance and pretty much one-directional. 
 
You still meet with a core team of senior leaders and chase feedback, but the gap widens between you and the growing team.  
 
You start relying on systems and software to capture information and feedback.  
 
Now you spend your days eyeballing reports and responding to things digitally - further fueling the divide.  
 
I paint it at it's worst. There are good bits too. 
 
I just don't like where it leads without thoughtfully nudging in a better direction.  
 
Something I'm exploring for myself before I reach out and ask how others have solved this.  
 
The first thig is to understand what good culture and communication looks like. And then find ways to head in that direction. 
 
--- 
 
Love to know your thoughts on how to scale without becoming a faceless corporate mess. 
 
(smiley face).

What are some ways to scale without becoming a faceless corporate mess?

What does good internal communication look like?

How can meetings be more efficient for larger teams?

The recruiting game isn’t what it used to be.  
 
Here’s what’s changed & what to do about it: 
 
The reality is, people have waaay more choice these days.  
 
Especially the younger generation.  
 
Not only is the business world more competitive than ever, meaning there are more businesses like yours chasing the same people, but there are also more ways to make a living. 
 
There are opportunities everywhere.  
 
And that changes everything.  
 
Including our strategy to attract people. 
 
A decade ago it wasn’t common for people to make $100k dancing on Tiktok. 
 
Or making twice that running a portfolio of simple internet businesses from a beach somewhere.  
 
Or gigging for work from the comfort of their own home. 
 
Whether it's achievable or not, people now see it as an option. 
 
And that can affect the desire to join traditional companies or work the same way we've always worked. 
 
Lots of the business world hasn't accepted this.  
 
And for that reason, they're still using old tactics and expecting miracle hires to walk in the door out of nowhere. 
 
(which isn't happening) 
 
In my experience, attracting talent is more about focusing on : 
 
- brand 
- culture 
- purpose 
- progress  
- and pipeline 
 
To make sure you attract and retain the best talent.  
 
It's what has helped us grow our team to 130 people in a challenging market. 
 
And this weekend I'm going to break down each one to show how we've used it to grow. 
 
I'd love to see you there.  
 
--- 
 
Read it by joining my newsletter 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 
 
www.jarroddeaton.com.au3 


Does anyone feel like you're working 10x harder for the same wins these days? 
 
It could be any number of things: 
 
- the economy 
- the government 
- the lingering impacts of covid 
 
It could also be: 
 
- more competitors 
- a lack of innovation 
- reduced marketing efforts 
 
Either way, if you don't find ways to respond to the challenging climate, you risk going backwards in business. 
 
It sucks: 
 
- losing cash 
- losing relevancy 
- losing market share 
- losing long-term clients 
 
To combat it, our knee-jerk reaction is to do more volume of the usual activities.  
 
To work harder... 
 
It certainly helps for a while but it's impossible to sustain without cracks appearing in other areas of your life. 
 
So the question to ask is what activities yield the biggest and best returns for your effort? 
 
We started auditing them lately to help us decide what things our team can work on that give us the most value.  
 
The activities that generate the most bang for our buck.  
 
Not just financially.  
 
Also things like 
 
- Brand Integrity 
- Customer engagement 
- Employee connectedness 
 
The result was surprising.  
 
We ended up cutting loads of things we thought were valuable to double down on a few. 
 
We're still working harder than ever but it's focused on a handful of things which for some reason makes it feel simpler. 
 
Interested to know if this resonates with you and your business at this point in the year.  
 
Drop a comment below.

The most successful people I know built a business before a personal brand.  
 
But there're a few people on here trying to do it in reverse.  
 
To build credibility without demonstrating they have the experience or skills.  
 
It's not to say it can't be done. Plenty of people have done well: 
 
- collating information 
- simplifying complex ideas 
- reporting on other people 
 
But there are far more examples of people who just built a business and then started becoming known for it.  
 
It wasn't until after they'd reached some level of business success that they looked at themselves as a strategic piece of the brand puzzle.  
 
I'm not here to tell you which way to roll.  
 
But my approach is to build something worth talking about, and then share how you did it with other people.  
 
That's my personal brand strategy in one sentence.  
 
What's your approach?

What are some tips for building a successful business?

What are some key strategies for personal branding?

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One of the hardest parts about business is sifting through conflicting advice. 
 
Best case you stumble onto the right path. 
 
Worst case you spend years heading nowhere. 
 
The only way you'll survive is if you: 
 
- stay curious 
- have a purpose 
- know what good is 
- triangulate information 
- have a decision-making framework 
 
Without these, advice can lead you anywhere, and nowhere.  
 
And it can take years to catch up. 
 
It's not about asking for advice less and just winging it, it's about asking for way more so you have more reference points to know the good from the bad. 
 
And then you've still got to decide what works for you (not them). 
 
Love to know your thoughts on this?

How can a decision-making framework help in business?

What are some best practices for sifting through conflicting advice?

How can staying curious help in business?

Building diversified revenue has saved my business from being wiped out multiple times.  
 
It's also helped me to scale it over the last 8 years in the middle of some pretty challenging times.  
 
But it took me nearly a decade to properly understand it.  
 
To pick the right opportunities and stack them inside our current business. 
 
It's that balance of front-end products you become known for, and a list of back-end products you can offer once people are on board.  
 
It's helped us navigate threats from: 
 
- Shrinking margins 
- Huge competitors 
- And a pandemic 
 
When you get the balance right, it makes your business pretty damn resilient. 
 
But doing it too early can take your focus away from your core business.  
 
Too late, and you're at risk without balanced revenue. 
 
The simple way I look at it is to come up with ideas that are: 
 
- scaleable 
- easy to make 
- profitable 
- highly valued by clients 
 
Then spread them across: 
 
- B2B 
- B2C 
- B2B2B 
- B2B2C 
 
And so on.  
 
Today we've got a dozen different key revenue streams.  
 
It means if the tap runs dry on one, we can turn another up a little.  
 
And for anyone running a business, it helps you sleep a tiny bit better most nights.  
 
--- 
 
If you want to know how I built ours, I'm sharing it this weekend.  
 
You can read it by joining my newsletter Curious Founders. 
 
www.jarroddeaton.com.au 


What are some best practices for building diversified revenue?

How can diversified revenue make a business more resilient?

What is Curious Founders and how can it help me?

Your customers fatigue easily.

Have you ever gone to a restaurant and been given one of those giant menus with 300 options for dinner? 

You know the ones on a double-sided, laminated A3 page...

The choices are overwhelming to the point where you can’t decide easily. 

After telling the waiter to come back twice you then feel rushed and default to asking:

"Have you just got any (insert your favourite meal)...?"

Do you see high-end restaurants doing that? 

Nope. 

They have thoughtful, concise menus. 

Does that mean the brilliant Chef isn’t capable of making those 300 things? You know they absolutely can.

Instead, they wait to reveal their full range until you're in and comfortable. 

Once you're settled they start sharing their back-end products. 

- A few sneaky additional courses and upgrades
- Products you can buy to take home ie a cookbook
- A follow-up invitation to a limited-space class

The point is, nearly every business has that large menu. 

Food businesses
Service firms who list 100 services
Manufacturing companies that can do everything

It confuses the hell out of people by bombarding them with choice straight up. 

I get it, it takes real guts to niche down on the front end. Normally a website. 

And it takes patience to wait and reveal things later on once you've got a customer.

But it is one of the best ways to stand out, position yourself as an expert and build long term relationships with customers. 

Here's another way to look at it using my bakery business.

We started with a only few products in our first year and now sell hundreds.

We’re still known for kick a*se sourdough and pastries but we noticed that as we got to know key wholesale clients, they needed other bakery products from us to sustain their businesses.

So we started making a few and now that we've built those products, we can keep them in our back end and sell them to other establishments without those products confusing the brand.

They’re things we don’t really talk about until you’re on board because otherwise, we’d be that restaurant with the giant menu.

It's not about having less products (although theres a solid case for that), it's about being patient and revealing the others once a customer is in the door and settled. 

What are your thoughts?

What are the benefits of niche marketing?

How can businesses expand their product offerings without confusing their brand?

How can niche offerings help businesses build long-term customer relationships?

Good culture is a snapshot in time.  
 
It changes with every new hire (or fire) a company makes. 
 
But people often talk about it as a static thing.  
 
Something you either have or don't have.  
 
I've noticed that ours has constantly evolved based on the mentality of the team and circumstances impacting the business. 
 
When I think back over the 8 years building Three Mills Bakery, I can see times where we were off track and other times we were one of the best places to work in your industry.  
 
I'm happy to say that most of the time it's been good. Really good. 
 
In some ways it's easier to balance it when you're a small business. 
 
Everyone's within earshot of the senior team members which makes it easy for ideas to rub off on the team and customers.  
 
As you grow bigger those things do become more challenging. 
 
But growth means more great people to help shape it, better ideas and opportunities to do things you couldn't afford when you were small.  
 
At any level, building a great culture is a commitment.  
 
A responsibility that extends to everyone on the team to maintain the good parts and contribute to making the rest better.  
 
Nudging it back on track when it's heading in the wrong direction.  
 
Exiting people who refuse to demonstrate the behaviours the rest of the team expect. 
 
And ultimately, it's about leading with care. For each other, the customer, and the product. 
 
I wouldn't say it's easy, but building culture is some of the most important work we do inside companies today.  
 
Especially if you want to attract good people (customers and employees), hold onto them and get ahead in this world. 
 
Love to know if this resonates?

What is the importance of building a great culture?

How can a team contribute to making a culture better?

How can a company maintain a good culture as it grows bigger?

The higher you climb in a company, the harder you have to look for honest feedback. Here's why that's a problem for you: 
 
If you're at the top of any organisation, chances are you're only getting a tiny tiny tiny little percentage of personal feedback you need to grow.  
 
And normally it's positive feedback in the form of positive reinforcement.  
 
You know... "I like this direction jarrod" 
 
People tend to agree with you to your face and get on with their job.  
 
Their poker face hides the reluctance to share honest truths that will help you grow. 
 
And that's just at a project level.  
 
The bit I'm talking about is the transformational personal feedback that sparks a lightbulb moment for you so bright it blinds anyone who looks. 
 
The sh*t nearly everyone is too scared to share with you today out of fear of: 
 
- making you angry 
- losing their job 
- upsetting you 
- overstepping 
 
The things that would: 
 
- make your words have more impact 
- inspire action within your team 
- generate momentum 
 
Unfortunately the higher you climb, all that feedback you received on the way up from leaders around you that helped you achieve great things, disappears.  
 
And you start acting on that old information.  
 
It's a dangerous move in a dynamic market where businesses are changing and competition is fierce. 
 
I became hyper -aware of this recently and started looking for ways to get it.  
 
Thankfully we laid the groundwork for it years ago which has made it a little easier. 
 
And this weekend I'm breaking down how you can position yourself and your company to cash in on transparency.  
 
Join my weekly newsletter Curious Founders so it lands in your inbox. 
 
I'd love to see you there.  
 
--- 
 
(link in my bio or the comments)

My business got a bit stale a while back. 

Here're 5 things I did about it before digging deep with the team:

1. Begin to dream again.
 
I thought about the ideal company I wanted to build again.
 
What p*ssed me off about bad ones? 

What excited me about great ones? 
 
Then I took a few days off and got away to document my ideas and refine them. An idea I stole from Bill Gates.
 
I went through every facet of the business and painted a picture in my mind so clear that it could have been a feature film.
 
What the company did.
Who and how we did it.
What we stood for and against.
An organisational chart with future roles.
What type of leader I was and how I spent my time.
What the customer experience was across each part of the business.
 
I even went into detail about how we behaved as a leadership team, the types of things we discussed and so on. 
 
Annnnyway, you get the picture.

It was pretty detailed. 
 
And I suggest you do the same.
 
2. Get honest about today. 
 
I documented the same things I was dreaming about but was brutally honest about the standard they were done at today.
 
The result?
 
Two completely different companies on paper.
 
I noticed a massive gap between where we were today and where I wanted us to be.
 
I even saw an entire market and business unit I thought we should be trying to build to solve a problem.

3. Reassemble your team
 
Don’t assume that people are on board with this type of transformation.
 
I was lucky enough to find a few brilliant people who were all in.
 
But many weren’t a few years ago.
 
Most loved the idea of being on the winning team but didn’t want to do more than they were already doing to help get us there… 
 
Remember that a movement can start with just one extra person joining your cause.
 
4. Share the vision
 
After going through a massive (mental) transformation in private I emerged and hoped everyone would subconsciously pick up on my new vibes and start doing it immediately. 
 
Don’t do that…
 
Instead, schedule time to meet with your key people.
 
Explain the whole process you’ve just gone through and give plenty of context.
 
I did this in small groups and 1:1 over a short period of time to make sure they heard it from me first. 

5. Draw a line in the sand.
 
It’s important that you take responsibility for the current state of the company. 
 
After all, you’re leading it. 
 
Suck it up, take responsibility for where your team are today and acknowledge how hard it would have been to kick goals without a clear direction.

Own it 100%.

I hope it helps

How can a strong organizational culture help a business succeed?

What are some best practices for building a strong team?

The role of businesses is changing.  
 
Workplaces are no longer just a means of income for people.  
 
Instead they've got to tick a whole lot more boxes for employees. 
 
(Especially if you want the good ones) 
 
I'm talking about: 
 
- A sense of purpose 
- A feeling of community 
- Health and wellbeing programs 
- Advanced education opportunities 
- Status from working on a winning team 
 
The list goes on.  
 
All in addition to income and in some cases, investment opportunities.  
 
It's not about: 
 
- free food 
- bean bags 
- and table tennis 
 
But there is a social element to it also. 
 
Maybe it has something to do with the amount of time and energy we all put into work these days? 
 
Or it could be filling a gap where church and sporting groups once were. 
 
Either way, there's pressure on businesses to play an important role in employees' lives that extends beyond just offering a salary. 
 
But this should be seen as a huge opportunity. 
 
Because the ones who tick as many boxes as they can and build a culture of support and progress are the ones who will vacuum up all of the talent in the future.  
 
Pretty compelling reason to start educating yourself on how to do it.  
 
--- 
 
If you want a starting point, I write about it often in my weekly emails (link in my bio) 
 
Or YouTube anything by Simon Sinek to get started.

Failure proper sucks in business. 
 
The emotional impact hits harder than losing money. 
 
In the time leading up, you're usually already on a knifes edge with your own confidence. 
 
So when it falls in a heap, you're super hard on yourself.  
 
You question everything... 
 
Including whether you're even the right person to continue running your own business. 
 
At that point it only takes a few off-handed comments from others or a couple of dumb rumours and you're flatter than a coin on a tram track.  
 
Obviously this is nearer to worst case scenario. 
 
But the reality is, the same behaviour exists in small fails where you privately beat yourself up.  
 
When you stack those over time it can eventually lead to the same point. 
 
And it's damn near impossible to coach yourself to come back from. 
 
When you try to google it youfind generic advice that just says 'don't quit'... It's not helpful.  
 
Bullsh*t really.  
 
Yes, not quitting is part of it. 
 
But how do you bring yourself back from the edge and start to love your business (or your role in it) again? 
 
I don't claim to know... 
 
But I have had to do it once and it worked out pretty well.  
 
So this weekend I'm sharing the few things I did that helped the most.  
 
Be the first to get it by joining here: 
 
www.jarroddeaton.com.au

How can one overcome self-doubt after a business failure?

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How can coaching help in recovering from a business failure?

"Find the Rembrandt" he says... 
 
I have no freaken idea what the guy is talking about.
 
There's a pause while I stare blankly at his face...

Am I supposed to know?
 
It's the answer a coach gave me when I asked:

‘Where do you spend your time as the founder of a growing company?’
 
He said:

“Have you ever heard of the story about the ‘Rembrandt in the attic?"
 
I shook my head and said, I haven’t.
 
It went like this...
 
Say you’re going to buy a house. 

And while you’re wandering through the last open home inspecting it before it goes to auction, you decide to poke your head into the attic space. 
 
You’re the only one who does. 
 
While you’re up there you notice an old painting covered with a towel.
 
So you peel the dusty towel back and it hits you. 

You can’t believe your eyes!
 
It’s a freaking Rembrandt!
 
And it’s worth $50 million!
 
You quickly get down and close the hatch. 

No one saw you or the painting. 
 
You casually walk outside and assume your place in the crowd as a registered bidder.
 
You know the house will sell for about $2 million. 
 
And then, bidding opens!
 
How much do you bid to win that house?
 
I’d suggest a sh*tload more than the listing price. 
 
But what if we change that focus? 
 
Apply that same thinking to your own business. 
 
When you first look around, it might look like that regular old house you were just inspecting.
 
But what if you dig deeper and find a product that could be scaled nationally? 
 
Or a process that could be licensed, some IP that could be patented, or some data that could be leveraged.
 
What if you uncovered your own Rembrandt in the very business you're hustling at day in and day out — That’d be pretty damn sweet, right?
 
It might not be worth $50 mill, but it could be worth more than you’re getting for it right now.
 
To find it, think about the stuff you do daily. 
  
Maybe it’s the specific way you manage client relationships or a unique product development stage you’ve created.
 
What if you built an identity around just that thing to give it the spotlight?
 
Not you're thinking of all the challenges. 

- No time
- No cash
- No whatever...

What if you sold it then?
 
That’s right, carve it out and sell it!
 
You’ve got this super neat tool that helps your business flow smoother than a fresh jar of peanut butter. 
 
Why keep it all to yourself? 
 
It might just be the next big thing others would love to get their hands on.
 
If you think you’re sitting on a Rembrandt in your attic, don’t shy away from seeking advice. 
 
Sometimes, a fresh pair of eyes can spot the masterpiece that’s been there all along. 
 
This entrepreneurial journey we're both on is more than just hitting milestones; it’s about discovering hidden gems in places we least expect. 
 
That’s what entrepreneurs do best.
 
And this is a reminder that your very own “Rembrandt” might just be hiding in the most obvious place — right in front of you.
 
I hope you find it. 

How can I find my own Rembrandt in business?

What are some hidden gems entrepreneurs discover?

How can seeking advice help spot hidden gems?

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