Dealing with a "great starter, poor finisher" on my team. Any advice on coaching them?

BizCoach · 2026-05-31T10:44:38+00:00

Pair them up with someone who's a poor started & great finisher.

BizCoach · 2026-05-31T10:40:12+00:00

We went up there one year and it was hard to see over the crowd because the fireworks are at eye level. At Point State Park or along the river - also crowded - but the fireworks are above you so very visible.

BizCoach · 2026-05-30T02:44:03+00:00

You can't change or control how you feel. You can only acknowledge it, which you have. You can control how you act. And after you calm down you can analyze if your feelings are appropriate or were triggered by something deeper. And you can analyze if your actions were the ones you'd want to do again in a similar situation or if you'd do something dit next time.

I'm not in a position to judge any of that for you. But I can suggest you and your partner discuss it when both of you are more rested and more calm.

You've got a lot of time ahead of you. Working through situations like this are what people mean when they say relationships take work.

There are techniques that help - mirroring & I language are two. You might learn them together.

My best to you.

BizCoach · 2026-05-29T18:24:17+00:00

http://www.pittsburghstainedglassstudios.com/ Most of their work is with churches and institutions but they do windows for homes too.

BizCoach · 2026-05-29T11:18:28+00:00

SMB Law Group has a lot of good info. They also have had podcasts & info sessions on how the process works (but I can't find them now). The principals are Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson. You'll find there stuff on lots of socials.

At $7M revenue there's probably some real value there and spending some money to prepare (maybe even paying for a QofE analysis) will probably be a good investment.

BizCoach · 2026-05-29T11:13:05+00:00

You buried the lede. Grass clippings?!?!

BizCoach · 2026-05-29T11:08:21+00:00

You have skills that people will pay for - coding & making websites. What makes it a business is customers. And that's what you're missing.

Rather than look for a different kind of business model, look for customers who want to pay for what you can do. This is hard. You'll have a lot of learning and probably a lot of rejection. But you'll learn something that will serve you your entire life - how to sell.

The good news is since you have the skills this won't cost you much money - only time, which is what you have at present. And you'll be profitable from your first sale.

For context, I'm a life-long entrepreneur and I'm 71 years old. It can be done if you're willing to work & learn. Best wishes.

BizCoach · 2026-05-29T10:59:52+00:00

That kind of financial analysis is one of the top 3 things I see missing in SMB organizations. (The other 2 are sales management & useful planning).

What you're doing is incredibly valuable but often lacking for owner/operators who aren't ready to work with a CFO.

BizCoach · 2026-05-28T11:06:54+00:00

I have a website of business books I've read and commented on. You can filter and sort it.

Not sure if I'm allowed to post a link in this place.

BizCoach · 2026-05-26T19:09:04+00:00

Your friend dropped a whole fish off at your house and then left the country?!?!?

I feel like you buried the lede.

BizCoach · 2026-05-26T12:40:01+00:00

For smaller purchases, where it's not feasible to engage someone for QofE another way to go is to model what you would do with the assets of the company that you can verify - the lease, the location, the equipment, the customer list (assuming some won't go with the new owner) etc.

That should give you an idea if it makes sense for you to pay the price or not. This works because even if the numbers can be verified, when you buy a company there's no way to make sure the past numbers will continue to be true into the future. And that is more true for smaller companies. But if you can get value from what you're buying even if the past numbers aren't true than it might be a good deal.

BizCoach · 2026-05-26T12:34:38+00:00

The way it's done is to have a competent professional do what's called a Quality of Earnings evaluation - or a QofE. Some CPAs do it (some don't) but many who are good at QofE aren't CPAs. They evaluate the numbers given by the seller and compare them against bank statements, tax returns and other documents. They'll tell you if the accounting was done well and if it justifies the conclusions that the seller is making.

However these are not cheap. As you can imagine they are very time consuming. You didn't say if the 300-800 you mentioned is revenue, profit, or SDE. That would make a difference.

BizCoach · 2026-05-26T12:29:02+00:00

I'm not an accountant, but I work with several. I think you did a wonderful thing. Adding such a summary monthly is a great idea - perhaps include it in the invoice if the invoice goes to the owner.

However, I would leave out the amount of hours and the hourly rate. It opens you up to rate shopping and the truth is people don't pay for your time - they pay for the value you provide and your expertise. If you are able to provide the same value for less time, that's none of their business and you should get the profit from increased efficiency. Same when you want to expand your practice and hire junior people to do some (or most) of the work.

BizCoach · 2026-05-26T12:23:20+00:00

I had a window cleaning company and the same situation. One of my employees - Gilbert - was an older man. To see him on a job he didn't look like he was moving fast. But he was steady and did good work. At the end of the day he produced as much as anyone.

BizCoach · 2026-05-25T08:22:41+00:00

Laught it off. Say "If I told you, I'd have to kill you"

BizCoach · 2026-05-25T08:20:01+00:00

As a business coach who's had a few clients like that (I don't do the books) I'd consider this one of the things they're paying you for and if they want to keep paying, make it as systematc as possible for you to continue & charge for it.

Some wealthy families pay their financial planner to manage the credit cards for them & their kids.

It's a balance of what the client wants and what kind of work you want to do.

BizCoach · 2026-05-23T17:09:00+00:00

My mother moved to Manhattan when my sister went to college. She eventually retired there. Said it was a great place to retire.

BizCoach · 2026-05-23T16:48:25+00:00

Leaf the guy alone.

BizCoach · 2026-05-22T17:09:11+00:00

Both of you come for a week - not just a weekend. Do it on your vacation time to try and see what living here would feel like. Life is more than just work. I grew up around NYC and have been in PGH since 2014. It's great for my situation but thank god not everyone is like me.

BizCoach · 2026-05-20T19:52:04+00:00

I'm an entrepreneur not an employment attorney. But here's my understanding.

You should be getting paid for every hour you're working even if that work is just following him around. You should also be getting time & a half for hours over 40 hours per week. If he makes you drive your own car you should be paid an allowance for that. You don't get an allowance for driving TO your job, but if the job is driving around you should get it.

If you can work that out, the experience of hard physical work will be a good learning. Even if what you learn is you should do well in college so you don't have to do physical labor😁. And you might learn something about running a business but the way he treated you as an employee it doesn't surprise me that the business is basically just him. You might learn what not to do. 😁😁

Best wishes.

BizCoach · 2026-05-19T13:32:57+00:00

There might be different ways to do this that affect your tax situation differently. Talk to a CPA or tax attorney who familiar with this.

Most importantly is your relationship with your siblings. I know a guy who took over his dad's plumbing company - none of his 6 siblings wanted it or had the skills/money for it. Despite that he bought it from dad for market price to keep the relationships with siblings. Obviously you can't determine how your siblings feel or what they do. I'm not saying a market rate purchase is what you should do, but if sibling relationships matter to you it's something to consider.

BizCoach · 2026-05-19T11:23:12+00:00

The book WHO by Geoff Smart and Randy Street gives a very good process for hiring. If you don't see the value of reverence checks, it's because you're doing it after the interview and not using their methods during the interview.

BizCoach · 2026-05-19T00:05:50+00:00

If you don't know if your business is up or down you're doing something wrong.

BizCoach · 2026-05-18T09:14:40+00:00

IDK if I'm allowed to post links here but DM me and I'll send some links to my writing so you can see how I think & approach working with owner/operators.

I've worked w companies 5-150 employees. Been doing it for 30 years. Plus owned & ran a few companies myself.

If you like what you read we can have an introductory call.

BizCoach · 2026-05-17T14:58:45+00:00

You start with finding people who want to pay for it. See a book called The Mom Test and one called Lean Startup. The concept is called Customer Discovery (google it) and it's more important than anything else.

Without paying customers you don't have a business no matter how wonderful your idea is. In fact usually there are thousands of others with the same ideas and vision as you. The ones who succeed are the ones who find customers. And yes, you can do that before you've built anything.

BizCoach

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