Best Advice Ever from Dr. Phil: “You DON’T Want to be Successful!”
This story reflects the day I received possibly the best piece of business advice imaginable from Dr. Phil.
Yes, that Dr. Phil.
Well, the advice wasn’t directly from Dr. Phil himself but from a second-hand source.
Actually, an extremely unexpected source.
Let me explain……..
Meet My Accountant
My business was severely struggling.
We were trying to make the transformation from a brick & mortar wholesale business into an eCommerce business.
It was Dec 2002 and I was at an end of year meeting with my accountant.
As usual, I was full of self-pity and doubt.
Complaining about current challenges, such as cash flow (lack of), profits (lack of) and every other problem conceivable.
I had reached a breaking point where I set myself an ultimatum.
If the business could not be turned around within the next 18 months, I was going to throw in the towel and move on to another chapter in life.
My accountant listened intently to my whining and complaining while even offering several constructive suggestions throughout the conversation.
See, my accountant is an extremely sweet woman.
In the early years of her career, she spent working at a public library.
In due time, she decided that the library route wasn’t exciting enough, so she changed paths to accounting.
At her accounting firm, she was a one-woman show with no partners and preferred working solo. No employees.
She was highly competent, thorough and honest. Just amazing!
Starting her career in a library contributed to being an extremely meek, mild and quiet person.
Small in stature, yet a powerful presence.
During my whine session, she offered numerous excellent ideas to help improve my situation.
However, I was burned out and felt I had already done everything possible.
Additionally, her suggestions were viewed as sacrifices that were beneath me.
Truth be told though, I was a train wreck at that time.
I quickly dismissed and rejected her ideas that each would have definitely helped improved profitability.
Well, I rejected and shot down all of her suggestions arrogantly saying “no, I’m not going to do that”.
I just felt that I had already made every necessary sacrifice and didn’t deserve to add to the list.
Finally, she scoots up in her chair and she asks me an interesting question: “Do you watch Dr. Phil?”
My thoughts were “where on earth is this going?”
Related Article: No Goal + No Direction = Where on Earth are We Going?
Advice from Dr. Phil
Dr. Phil built his success with charm as well as a reputation for delivering blunt advice.
He had just started his TV career when the exchange with my accountant took place.
However, you can Google him if you are not familiar with Dr. Phil (click here).
His fame took off with appearances on the Oprah show (if you are asking right now, “who is Oprah?”, then you are way too young – lol).
Anyway, this is where my accountant dropped the bomb on me.
The exchange went something like this:
Accountant: Do you ever watch Dr. Phil?
Me: No. I have heard of Dr. Phil but I have never watched him.
Accountant: “Well, I watch Dr. Phil every day, do you know why?”
Me: “No, why?”
Accountant: “Because he tells people what they need to hear not what they want to hear. I just offered several suggestions to help your business, improve profitability, as well as address these complaints that you just made and you rejected all of them. You know what your problem is, YOU DON’T WANT TO BE SUCCESSFUL!”
Me: Silence, speechless and stunned
Ouch!
My immediate thought was who is she to be speaking to me like that?
Especially since I’m paying her!
I left her office a bit frazzled with my tail between my legs.
Related Article: “I’M DIVERSIFIED!” No, Actually You’re Doing Five Things Horribly
I Finally Get It!
Approximately 48 hours later it totally hits me ( I’m very slow & it takes me a while to get a point).
I FINALLY GET IT!!
I can tell you exactly where I was when this “aha” moment hits!
My accountant was 100% correct. Her advice was spot on.
I was sabotaging myself and depriving the business of success.
Rejecting the advice was immature, arrogant and foolish.
From that moment on, I went on a relentless mission to turn things around.
I worked harder than ever.
However, I focused on working smarter AND harder.
Made terribly difficult decisions which included making serious cutbacks.
Several steps included selling only high-profit products, fired unprofitable customers, analyzed every single expense to determine what were needs versus wants.
Unfortunately, I had to let go a number of employees who had been with the company for years.
Layoffs are horribly painful. Tears flowed.
For example, one person that had to be cut included a business partner. We were extremely close friends. His only son is my Godson.
Thankfully, he landed into a new career where he continues to thrive far greater than had he stayed.
However, at the time, that was an awful decision and a difficult transition.
My wife and I went through our budget to determine the absolute minimum we needed to get by.
I reduced my pay by 75%.
However, it’s funny how a career or business is not life or death.
If a business closes, life still goes on.
The sun will rise the next day.
We still need to eat, breathe, sleep, and function as normal.
Yet, after you have poured your heart and soul into a business, this living organization filled with relationships, memories, laughter, and tears, being forced to shed staff was terribly difficult.
At least it was for me anyway.
Related Article: The Definition of Entrepreneurtude: “Do Whatever It Takes”
Yes, Please Come Back
Eighteen months later from the famous Dr. Phil’s speech, almost to the day, a previous employee calls.
The employee who worked at my company for ten years previous to the awful layoff.
The one that came to work one day announcing she thought she might be pregnant. So another employee immediately goes out a buys a pregnancy test kit. Sure enough, we found out together, she was pregnant (Her son was 7 by the time I faced layoffs).
The same employee who attended every Christmas party where we laughed so hard that we could barely breathe with tears running down our cheeks.
The same one who leaned on me when she went through a very difficult divorce.
Unfortunately, I simply could not afford to keep her on staff anymore.
So she found another job.
Well, since I laid off nearly 50% of my staff, I had been working non-stop for months.
Seven days a week trying to pay off all debts and vendors so if I did close the business I would have a clean slate and owe nothing.
It was critical to walk away with the peace of mind that not a single company or creditor was owed a penny.
However, months after the layoffs, I desperately needed help. I could no longer continue working at this pace.
The business was picking up steam.
However, the thought of hiring someone new was not appealing at all.
Especially since I had let go of a number of outstanding people just a few months prior.
Well, this previous employee called to explain that she absolutely hated her new job.
She actually called to ask if there was any way she could come back and work.
It was the Fourth of July weekend.
We were going to be insanely busy right after the holiday.
I was ecstatic! This was too good to be true.
The company finally needed to hire again.
Related Article: When a Mistake Occurs at Your Business, “It’s Never the Employee”
Turned the Corner
Within a matter of months, the company had not only paid all of the debt and vendors, the bank account actually possessed a few dollars to the good.
I felt perfectly fine hiring this employee back.
More importantly, I could afford it.
As I hung up the phone, I looked at the list of goals thumbtacked on the wall in front of my desk.
Facing me since the famous “Dr. Phil” speech from my accountant.
While taking a look at each item on the list, at that very moment it dawned on me, we made it.
We had accomplished each goal on the list.
I had been so consumed in working tirelessly to turn the business around, driving towards those goals, that it had not hit me that we were even getting close.
Yet, we made it.
We turned the corner.
It took a tremendous team effort along with powerful advice from Dr. Phil.
Anything is Possible
The company eventually landed on the Internet Retailer Top 1000 eCommerce Companies 3 years in a row.
This certainly did not seem possible when the company faced painful decisions.
Always remind yourself that it is never as bad as it seems.
Business is not life or death.
You will still wake up the next day. The sun will come up.
Yet, understanding and respecting that as an entrepreneur, you feel responsible for the livelihood of others.
That is an admirable trait and a strong motivator.
To reach success, you must confront the brutal facts.
Make the painfully difficult decisions.
Maintaining a healthy balance between a strong sense of urgency combined with a playful entrepreneurial spirit goes a long way.
Thankfully I listened to tough love from my accountant.
Even though it is not easy to hear harsh criticism.
However, taking a hard look in the mirror at your flaws and blemishes pays major dividends.
Especially when a trusted advisor offers extremely valuable advice.
Entrepreneurship requires incredible stamina to complete the marathon.
Being told, “YOU DON’T WANT TO BE SUCCESSFUL!” turned out to be fantastic advice as well as a powerful source of motivation.
I just had no idea that Dr. Phil would be the one to help turn my business around.
Wrapping It Up
Thanks for reading this post.
Hopefully, you found this helpful on your entrepreneurial journey.
For additional articles on entrepreneurship, please click these links below:
- My Most Embarrassing Post: Playing “Fireman and Babysitter”
- 12 Helpful Suggestions to “Give Value First”
Finally, if you are looking for information on Manufacturing eCommerce Strategies, please click below:
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