Meet Brad Coverdale: Calendar to Cash for Parent Entrepreneurs | 033

Hello and welcome to another Grand Connection podcast. My name is Crystal Hill. I am your host, interviewing Grand Connection members. In my business, I work with coaches, healers, and entrepreneurs to help them write and publish their books. And today, I'm joined by Brad Coverdale, who is reasonably new to the Grand Connection. So I'd love you to introduce yourself, so the members and the greater community can find out a little bit who you are. Welcome, Brad.

Thanks, Crystal. Hi, everyone. I'm Brad Coverdale with Calendar to Cash, and I show business owners where they can maximize what goes home to their family without spending more hours. Many are told that they have to choose their family or grow their business, and I show them that's not the case. I'm always happy to reach out to fellow business owners and to show them what they need to stop doing so they can start earning.

I love that. What do we need to stop doing to start earning? Yeah, we'll get we'll dive more into that in a moment, and I'll love to hear some tips from you. But before that, how on earth did you get into that? Like we all have feel like time is our enemy. We never have enough time. So what what was it for you that made you say, right, I'm going to make this my business?

Absolutely. So I come from the higher ed world. I've been in there for about 20 years now as a decision strategist, and I work with my higher ed leaders to help them identify what do the what is it they need to do in order to reach their outcomes? How can we create the best student experiences? And I really wanted to be able to provide that same level of insights for our for our parent business owners. And it was interesting because as I was trying to figure out how I wanted to be able to best serve parent business owners, I really started dawning on me of, well, I'm a parent business owner. I have two lovely children that keep me on my toes. And at the end of the night, there were too many times that I'd go to my nine to five. I'd come home. I'd open up my laptop. I'd try and work, and I'd maybe make a couple changes in LinkedIn, and then I'd be spent. I'd be tired and just wasn't getting anywhere, and fearing this pace of if I don't start doing things that are actually going to be aligned with making money, this business is just going to become an expensive hobby. And so I was really trying to figure out how could I take this and make this move. And one day while I was working on a presentation, I for my for my university, I noticed that I was starting to get into that groove of helping them to be like, if I could just get them to one goal, if I could just get them to do one thing, then I could know where to get to, and so that locked in, and then I said, from there, when one barrier, what is getting in the way of that, and then what's that one action? And I'm now taking that same approach with my parent business owners because now I help them to diagnose where are they currently at, where what are they spending their time on, and where is it not making their money? Most people will have when I ask them of where they're going to how much of their money, how much of their time they're going to make in in how much money they're going to

make in 30 days, they say about 10% of their time is actually allocated to that. The other about 20 to 30% is allocated to things that we do for no like and trust. So being in networking groups, being on podcast. Being in this space is doing our one-on-ones, things that we hope will help us be able to make money, but are not necessarily going to get guaranteed to get us there. But then, Crystal, that leaves us about 40, 60% of our time that is doing things that are never, ever really going to be able to make us money. They're important to do. They're they're things that need to be done. We need to be responding to our emails. We need to make sure we've got the right web page and all these different admin tasks, which are important, but they're not our zone of genius. They're not going to pay us, and they have a dopamine effect. So everyone feels the I've done this. I have this new product. I'm now, or I've got something to show for my effort, and we don't recognize just how much of our time do we actually put into that that we're not putting into sales calls, that we're not putting into client delivery, that we're not putting into things that actually pay. And so, at this at the end, then your family's basically left with the leftovers because you're spending all of these hours, you're not bringing him home. You're having a very full calendar, and your spouse is saying, "Is the work done? Your kids are saying, "Can I get time with you? You're questioning about when you're at different events or if you get to go to the event. Am I spending my time right? Or you're thinking about the business and such because you don't have it allocated in the sense of the this is where I want to be, this is where how I'm at, and this is my plan for being able to move forward.

And for myself, I came up with this same method because that's how my health coach worked with me. She helped me to get from over 220 pounds now down to 190, so that I'm no longer obese by doing the same pattern by just coming in, looking at where am I at, that's my ground. Where do I want to be? And then simple actions each week that show checking in where what accountability do we have? How do we adjust? And where do we and where do we move from there? And that's what I want to bring to our parent business owners because they're doing such great work, especially those that you know, those that are trying to be helping others be great leaders, helping to be better parents, helping them to be better at better at speaking. All of these great things in health coaches, of course, and that they need someone on the outside to help them see this way that I've been running my business is not as efficient as it could be.

Yeah, I really think that's such a valuable point. Like the last one you made about we need that mirror, we need that external reflection because we're so close to the day to day, and we think everything shouts at us equally loud, right? The emails shout at us as well as the clients who need to have deliver things delivered. What I'm hearing you saying is that you are creating like a three-step priority list of the things that only you can do, and then the things that with the no like and trust factor, and the third one is, are you is is the emails and the admin? Is that something like if there's there's two ways we can go. One is the the most pressing problem that you see over and over that your clients have. Actually, let's start from there. Like, what do they come to you with? What's the biggest headache that keeps them awake at night that they come to you with?

They come to me and they ask me point blank. They'll say, "Brad, I don't know what I should be doing to to be making the to making the most money. And often that's why I start first with their calendar because they say, well, my calendar's busy; it's full. I can't even think of trying to bring on another client, but I know I need to scale, and so that's where we look. And I then we and we color code it based again on that zone one, two, and three. And I say, look at how much red you have that you've put into this. Or on the other side, look how much yellow you have? The serial networker is a very, it's a very easy thing to get into because we want to have great relationships. We know we need to build in, and we want to get to know everyone. I mean, goodness! Every time I get on a call, I get like everyone saying, "Let's get on a coffee chat. Let's do this, and we and we can, and it's good, and we have to also balance it out and say, okay, you need to take a back, take a step, and go within the last 90 days. Just as an example, how many of those have actually led to being in this networking event that I've taken an hour, two hours from? How many leads did I get from that, and how many of those leads actually became clients or and or referral partners that I can actually see, and again, it's the piece of the you have to just be aware of what do you really want. I love my wife's desserts. I love when she cooks them. Every time, however, I have to be mindful of that. I want to respect her. Because she spent the time to put those together, and I also know I have to be careful with where it fits within my calories. So it comes into one of two things. Well, let's just say one of three things: that if I eat that, then I either don't eat as much food that day so that it meets where I hit my allocation, or I have it planned that I'm going to have to exercise more the next day because I know what that's going to give me as an aftereffect. Or

it, I'm a what I'm aware of where it's going to raise my weight. I'm okay with it because I know the path and the patterns that within a couple of days it will be back because it was a it was a it was a slight deterrent. That's the same thing that has to happen with any activity that we're doing that's not that's not directly aligned with what we know can be able to to generate to generate income generate income from our clients.

Yes. Well, so what I'm hearing is like the first thing is like really have that awareness of what you call the zone one, two, and three activities, and then if you if you expand in one week in the networking activities, maybe then take the following week don't do as much, right? So that we're always balancing it out, but we don't know how to balance things out if we don't even know how much time we're spending on things, right?

100% 100% And the other piece with that is the knowing why you're going to network. If you're going there and you want to create relationships, that's wonderful, great. But know that going in, and that you, because then you can know, am I meeting this goal that I've that I've created, versus the I just do this because everyone says I need to do this, and so it's again taking that ownership and having that mindfulness of I'm in control because it's one of the things I say if if you're not in control of your calendar, your calendars can be in control of you. You jump in and people, and you say you give everyone a link. You say, "Sure, fill out 20 minutes. And before you know it, you look into the next week and you're like, "Oh, I have so many one-on-ones that I didn't exactly plan on. And what does that go with? I just got done doing an analysis a couple weeks ago as I looked at all the calls, I made over 100 different calls. That, as I looked at them, I was like, "How many of these should I have been on, or how many of these should I maybe not? Again, great conversations, but the call to action wasn't as direct, and not necessarily knowing how to how they're going to help me to be able to further my business and to be able to reach those business those parent business owners that I know that I'm really targeting to be able to to serve.

Yeah, so being really intentional before even jumping on a call and going on calls with people that are already aligned rather than going with everyone potentially is sounds like what you're what you're recommending. Speaking of collaborations and jumping on these calls, you know that's what Grand Connection is built all around. So I'm curious how collaboration and fits into your business and what you might have already how you're using these coffee chats, and what is your intention with coffee chats, and what are you looking to get out of them?

Sure. So there are a couple different things. When I do a coffee chat, I'm looking for a couple of different things because when I do a collaboration, I want to see how do I bring in what I do into your into your space and to make it better for your clients. So perfect example, I we're getting ready to do a roundtable myself and and a couple of other guys that are getting ready to do a roundtable or essentially around men's health health wealth and happiness. So I'm coming in on the wealth side. We have a mindset coach that's coming in on on the on mental on the on the happiness side, and we've got someone that deals with depression and such on the mental side. So we're going to have that roundtable, and we're going to be able to again look at these from three different perspectives that men don't necessarily think about, or you know, obviously have that opportunity to be able to do, and so allows us to really, and even with that, we're talking of bringing in a a joint free free item for for our participants to be able to see and to know more about, so that rather than having three things that they're walking away with, they can see. Oh wow, all three of you come together, and it makes and it makes a lot of sense. Similar kind of thing that I'm having right now with someone that I'm working with. I'm trying to put together a joint venture with someone that is that's building out an ad agency because she said there are people that is like I just can't trust in the value. Value of the ads, and I say I understand that. Let's do a diagnostic. Help me to see where are you currently at. Where do you want to get to? And by working with me, that they get their 30 day plan. Then I can because I think of myself as a basically as a as a as a general practitioner, Crystal. In that I diagnose and I see where you're at. We come up with the plan of what we need to do, but I am not the executor. So the one that executes, excuse me, executes a

very different word, and that then I will partner with and say here we. It's now a warm handoff, so you're not having to take someone, take a client, and then go through your process. We've already established the what do you need, and now I'm, and this is what their this is what their goal is, and now it can be a whole lot better because now we're working together, and it's the this was the action that I had planned with my client, my clients on board. They already know they don't have to go find someone. It's someone I've already worked with. I already know. I've already trusted. We've had that conversation. We've locked in, and so then I have my collaborators to work together so that we have we provide that full network.

Yeah, that makes sense. I love that. Have you ever experienced collaborations that perhaps didn't go so well? And if you could tease out if that is the case, if that was the case, is there a core lesson that you've learned that you can pass on to anybody watching or listening of what to avoid?

Yeah, I I am someone that's very loyal, and I say that when someone comes in and they want to collaborate with me, I try I try to keep a very I try to keep a very light bench, and so if I have an ops specialist, I will have a few depending on what what different perspectives. So, for example, one who is more focused on doing automation versus someone that's more on the VA side versus someone who might have a combination. So, depending on what what other clients are comfortable with or expecting, I move them in that direction. Now, I say all of that to say that I also am very cautious of I'm going to bring you on with the expectation that if we're partnering together that we're going to be partnering together and that you're I'm going to become you're going to be top of mind for me I'm going to be top of mind for you and unfortunately if that isn't the right fit, then that's okay. We move, we move on, and that unfortunately did happen with one of my partners that we were supposed to do something together. It didn't quite work out. We lost communication back and forth, and so we just we we just moved on. I was ready to speak to her community, and something just got lost in the weeds, and so again, no harm, no foul. But it also makes it very more challenging for me when now, if I notice someone that is in that zone three and does need that execution, and that's what they need to be able to move forward, I'm going to be a lot less likely to want to partner with you, partner with that individual, because you drop the ball here. I can't afford you to drop the ball with with with my clients, and that's one of the things as others have talked with me of, Brad. I need to understand more of what you do before I can recommend you and and bring and bring you and bring you into my space, and I totally respect that. Totally respect that, especially for family, because the two things that I'm working with is their time, their resources, and their

and their family, and those are three very sensitive things that they need to know if they recommend me that I'm going to, I'm gonna, I'm gonna do what I say. When I say I care about you, your spouse, and your kids before I even know them, I mean that.

Yeah. So you have a certain standard and certain values, and what you're bringing up is that issue of trust. Can I trust you to deliver? Can I trust you to look after my my community, and then when that trust is broken and communication breaks down, it's very difficult to repair. So I guess the the key takeaway I'm taking from your from your story and your experience is that yeah, trust and like we're all human things happen, but it's how we then deal with that, how we repair that, right? That kind of builds and repairs that trust, and still holds us in integrity in in in in the value that we're delivering. So yeah, thank you for sharing that. Yes, if there was one tip that you had in terms of collaboration. I think we kind of briefly touched on that. You know, coming into these coffee chats with a clear intention. So, any anything else that you that comes to mind for you? Any other tips that you have around collaboration?

One thing that I am getting better at doing, and someone had in had suggested, was the from the offset saying, "What do you want to take away from this call? That allows me because a lot of a lot of my clients could easily be partners, and some could and have been partners. That depending on depending on the need, and so I want to go in with the conversation because I've seen too. I've seen too often of if we come in as peers, you've already got a certain perspective of me that you may not be as open to. Oh wow, I actually need your services, but now we're peers. This is a weird relationship, and I don't know necessarily how to how to navigate it versus the and I and as I say that as one that's when it's happened with one of my current clients, she heard that I was working with parents business. She's she's a mom and an expected and expected her second any day, and she's like, I definitely need you to come take a look and see what's going on. What's going on with my team, and we've had a a great relationship as a result. So, but it was also clear from the from the when it was clear from when we started of that was what was going to be that she's still going to be a great referral partner, and now by also being a client, she it gives her even more clout to say, yes, I see exactly what he does, and I can think of others that I that could that could benefit from this.

Yeah, I love that coming in with a very clear intention, stating that upfront, and then the the conversation is very focused as well. In terms of Grand Connection, you've been a member for a few months now, believe. What is the thing that you really love about the community?

I love I love the community. I am not in it as much as I should be because it keeps running into other to other things. But I love mingle every time every time it comes in. I love the opportunity to come in and give talks and to be in that space. I love. I just love all of the different all the different networking opportunities that come about, and that there are so many different flavors in the. If you want to do finance, if you want to do IT, if you want to do AI, if you want to do you want to do mental, like there's all these different groups, and that it's been a it's been a very it's been a very welcoming. It's been a very welcoming community, and sometimes I have to remind myself, like, okay, I know I see you in Grand Connection, but did I originally meet you in Grand Connection, or did I meet you in another community that also is in Grand Connection? And so it's it's it's good to have it's good to have that reinforcement.

Yes, absolutely. I love all the different groups as well, and like you, I they're they're kind of in the background in my calendar, and for me, they're very early because I'm based in Australia. Sure. So I I'm like you, not getting to as many as I would love to. But I love there is a there's a heart centeredness about Grand Connection that I I really really appreciate. So, Brad, what if people want to find out more about you? Do you have like a free gift, or do you have you know anything that what what would be a good next step? Where can people find you?

Absolutely, yeah. I have started putting together a a free gift that it's a $47 value. It's called a start. It's a stop doing, start earning report, where it gives you a personalized report. After you answer a few questions, you can go to stop goodness stop doing start earning.com Use the community code GC for grant connections, and then that will put you right into the intake form. You can then feel free to fill that out, and then I will send you a report that is based on your personal responses of three things to stop doing, one thing to start, and that you can start earning. And then it also gives you an opportunity if you want to continue working with me to see further what's going on your business, do further diagnostics, and so you can see who's your best paying client, or where, what, how do you, how do you go from point from your your best way of going from your lead to, from lead from your lead all the way to your client, all those different capacities. Would love to get a better sense of how I can partner with you.

That sounds amazing. So give us the website again where people can find that. It's

yes, it's stop doingstarturning.com

Perfect. Stop doing start earning.com and so it's it's basically people fill out a brief questionnaire, and then you're going in personally reviewing that and giving them some recommendations.

Absolutely, yep. And I turn them around within 24 hours.

Wow, that is phenomenal. So we'll put that in the in the links below, in the podcast notes. And is there any final words that you have? Any last advice that you can offer?

My advice is what I always what I always say of stop doing what doesn't pay the family. Start cut away the things that aren't paying, so that you're not leaving your family with leftovers.

I love that. Thank you so much, Brad, for for this conversation and for sharing your wisdom with the community. And we put all your details in the chat. Thanks everybody for listening, and stop doing all the things that don't make you money and start doing what does. Thanks, Brad.

Thanks. Bye, everyone.

Bye.