The only failure is…
If you participate – if you take action – you create one of two outcomes. You either get the result you were aiming for, or you receive a lesson that sharpens your next move. That’s the real engine of progress. But here’s the truth most business owners quietly wrestle with: participating consistently is harder than it sounds. Good intentions fade. Urgency slips. Ideas stay ideas.
Why Mentorship Turns Action Into Momentum
This is where a mentor or trusted advisor makes all the difference.
They don’t just guide your thinking – they keep you engaged in the game. They shorten the gap between knowing and doing. When you hesitate, they help you take the next step. When you drift, they pull you back to what matters. And when you hit a setback, they help you interpret the feedback instead of seeing it as failure.
The only time you truly fail is when you do nothing, and a strong mentoring relationship dramatically reduces the chances of that happening. You stay accountable, supported, and focused on action rather than excuses.
We’ve all met people with great ideas – ideas that could genuinely change their business – but they never participate long enough for those ideas to become reality. With the right mentor beside you, participation becomes a habit, not a hope. That’s when momentum starts to build.
To find out more, visit www.businessmentored.com
Are you a Business Ant?
Have you ever stopped and watched an ant?
They never stop moving. Always focused. Always on task. If something blocks their path, they don’t sit there frustrated – they simply find a way around it.
There’s urgency, but not panic. Direction, without drama.
Successful business owners are a lot like that.
Those who struggle often lose focus. They get caught on obstacles. They question the path. They react emotionally instead of adjusting strategically.
A big part of my role as a mentor is helping clients maintain that ant-like focus.
When a problem arises, I remind them there is always a way forward – even when they can’t see it yet. Then we work out the path together.
When they feel tired, distracted, or uncertain, we reconnect to the reason they started and clarify what matters most right now.
Business is tough. The responsibility is real. And doing it alone makes it heavier.
Most people around you won’t fully understand the pressure of leading a team, carrying financial risk, and making constant decisions.
If you need help staying focused, navigating obstacles, and building momentum with clarity – let’s talk.
Why Revenue is Vanity In Business
At business events, it’s common to hear someone confidently announce, “We do X million in revenue,” often with an air of superiority. It sounds impressive, but it usually reveals very little about the true quality of the business.
The opening quote in my book Find Your Cash captures this perfectly: “Revenue is vanity, profit is sanity, cash is reality.”
Revenue is the most superficial of the three metrics. It shows how much money moves through a business, not how much value the business actually creates or keeps. High revenue with poor margins, weak cash flow, or heavy debt can disguise a fragile operation. That’s why seasoned investors, including Warren Buffett, place far less emphasis on revenue alone.
Profit is sanity. A business that consistently makes a genuine profit has at least cleared an important hurdle. Assuming customers pay on time, profit should eventually convert into cash. This is real operating profit, not the heavily adjusted figure after creative accounting.
Cash, however, is reality. Cash pays wages, rent, suppliers, and dinner. Without it, the business stops.
So a far better question than “What’s your revenue?” is: “How many months of operating expenses do you have in cash?”
Need help building your cash reserves? Contact me at brad@businessmentored.com
Stop Digging the Hole You’re In
When I was a kid, I earned my pocket money in our family’s monumental business – yes, the headstone business, right in the dead centre of town!
My jobs included mowing the cemetery lawn, making headstones, helping Dad with installations and, occasionally, digging and filling in graves.
That’s where the lesson for your business comes in.
Every business owner ends up in a hole at some point. It’s usually where the biggest growth happens – if we do one thing: stop digging.
Working harder at the same thing that got you stuck is like being in a hole and digging faster, you just get yourself into a bigger hole.
Progress comes from changing your actions and or your tools.
When it was my turn to dig, I always made sure the ladder was close enough to reach. In business, the “ladder” is the help available to you – but you have to be willing to ask for it. If you knew how to climb out on your own, you already would have.
If you’re stuck and ready for a practical way forward, book a chat with me at Business Mentored. Let’s help you find your ladder.
Why is growing a business so hard? Isn’t there an easier way?
True story.
A group of scientists set out to grow the perfect tree.
They created ideal conditions – perfect light, soil, water, and nutrients. Everything went great.
Then the tree fell down.
They tried again, making small adjustments. The tree fell again.
After several attempts, they finally discovered why.
There was no wind.
Without wind, the tree’s root system never strengthened. In nature, wind isn’t an obstacle – it’s essential. The stress helps the tree grow deep, stable roots that support long-term growth.
Stress as Part of the Growth System
Business works the same way. There’s no such thing as a perfect, effortless path. The challenges you face – cash flow, competition, staffing, uncertainty—are the “wind” that builds resilience and strength.
The key is to stop seeing stress as a setback and start treating it as part of your growth system. When you do, you develop the roots to stand tall – strong enough to weather any storm and thrive in the long run.
Be like the roots of a tree, go looking for new ways to go deeper and get stronger foundations. In business, the best way to do this is to ask for help from those who have a track record for solving problems like what you have.
Visit Business Mentored to finally make building your business easier.
Why do customers stop buying from you?
Did you know it costs up to five times as much to get a new customer as it does to keep an existing one?
How would your business be if EVERY customer you ever had, was still buying from you today?
So why do customers leave and what can we do to stop it?
Here are the 5 reasons we lose our customers.
- 4% buy from a friend
- 6% die, or they move
- 9% get sold to buy a competitor
- 14% get a cheaper price
The number 1 reason that 67% of your customers don’t come back is that they think you don’t care about them and their business!
In this super competitive day and age of business, if you are not showing your customers how much you value them, they will quickly and easily move on to your competitors.
There are literally dozens of ways to show your customers that they do matter, and you do care.
What if you sent all your best clients a simple thank you card to acknowledge them?
You would be amazed at the impact this can have. When was the last time you got a thank you card from a business?
The Cost of Staff Turnover
It can cost up to six times more to win a new customer than to keep an existing one.
The same principle applies to staff. Hiring and retraining new employees is expensive – not just in advertising, but also in lost productivity, the time you and others spend retraining, and the inevitable mistakes that come with learning. All of this adds up to a serious hit to profit.
For example, let’s say you have 10 staff on an average salary of $80,000. If the average retention is two years, and it costs 50% of their wage to replace them (studies show this ranges from 30% for low-skill roles to 150% for high-skill), your retraining costs are around $200,000 a year.
But if you improve retention by just 20% – so staff stay 2.4 years – your annual costs drop to $166,000. That’s a saving of about $34,000.
The best part? Boosting retention doesn’t usually cost a cent. The basics are simple: give your team the tools, training, and trust they need to do their jobs, and recognise and reward their efforts.
It’s that simple – and it could save your business tens of thousands every year.
For more information on retaining staff, visit www.businessmentored.com
Who and what is draining you?
As a business owner trying to grow your business, your time is your most valuable asset.
Yet, if you constantly feel “too busy” to focus on growth, you may be falling victim to time vampires – those distractions that steal your focus and keep you stuck in day-to-day operations and prevent you from growing and building that business that gives you choice and freedom.
Time vampires can be people – clients, employees, or even well-meaning friends who take up too much of your time without adding real value. They can also be habits – endless social media scrolling, binge-watching TV, or constantly checking emails instead of working on high-impact tasks.
Not all distractions are bad, but if they’re keeping you reactive instead of strategic, it’s time to reclaim control.
Start by tracking your time. Where is it going? Are you spending time or investing it?
Investing your time in revenue-generating activities and profit-building systems will yield exponential returns, giving you both freedom and growth.
Success comes from being intentional. Cut out the vampires. Guard your focus. Build a business that works for you, not the other way around. Your future self will thank you.
Need help building a business that gives you more choice? Visit www.businessmentored.com
From Revenue to Reality: The Flow That Builds Sustainable Businesses
Your business doesn’t just own assets – it depends on them. Whether it’s machines, systems, or the people you employ, every asset serves one purpose: to generate revenue. But revenue alone isn’t enough. It’s just the starting point.
The End Game: Turning Profit Into Cash
To scale intentionally, you must run operations efficiently, turning revenue into profit. That’s where leadership matters – tight systems, smart delegation and cost awareness move you from busy to profitable. Yet even profit isn’t the final goal.
Cash is. As the old saying goes: Revenue is vanity, profit is sanity, but cash is reality. Profits stuck in unpaid invoices, excess inventory or underutilised assets can’t pay your team or fund your next big leap.
Once you have cash in hand, you’ve got options – and decisions to make. You can use it to pay down debts and reduce pressure. You can reinvest in new assets that fuel future growth. Or, you can reward yourself and your partners for the risk and effort you’ve taken in having a business.
Mastering this flow – from asset to revenue to profit to cash – is how you build a business that not only grows, but lasts.
For advice in applying these principles and making more cash for yourself from your business, visit www.businessmentored.com
Why Marketing is Like Fishing
We have plenty of keen anglers here on our Peninsula.
I once had a client who used to fish a lot and was pretty good at it.
I asked him, “When you go fishing, can you predict what kind of fish you will catch?”
“Yep, about 80% of the time,” was his reply.
I was dumbfounded, as the only fish I catch are the ones who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
He said, “I know what location, what tide, what weather conditions, time of the day, bait and my line setup – that will give me the best chance of catching the fish I am after.”
Marketing in business for new customers and teams is exactly the same.
We need to know broadly –
- The demographics (type of fish) – the who, age, gender and occupation.
- The psychographics – (what bait they will bite) – what is the problem we will solve.
- The geographics – where we will find the above combination in greatest concentration.
Once you have the above clearly defined, it should be pretty easy to work out what will be the best way to fish for them (rod, reel and setup).
For help getting more of the customers you want, visit www.businessmentored.com.
Here’s The Secret to Failure
You didn’t build your business to be everything to everyone – you built it to create impact, freedom and success. Yet, one of the biggest traps ambitious business owners fall into is trying to serve everyone, including those who drain time, energy and profits.
Not every client/customer is right for your business. The wrong ones undervalue your expertise, push boundaries and cost more than they contribute. The more you chase these unaligned customers, the further you stray from your vision.
Instead, focus on those who see your value and are willing to invest in what you bring. When you refine your business around your ideal clients, you gain clarity, control and the ability to scale without burnout.
Here’s the process:
- Get Clear – Define who your ideal clients are and who they aren’t.
- Assess & Align – Review your current customers and eliminate those who don’t fit.
- Strategically Attract – Market and position yourself to draw in the right people.
Sustainable success isn’t about more clients – it’s about the right clients. Focus on serving those who truly appreciate your expertise, and you’ll build a thriving business that fuels both profit and purpose.
How Often Should You Contact Customers and Prospects?
As a driven and ambitious business owner, you know staying connected with customers and prospects is vital to scaling your business. But how do you strike the balance between being helpful and becoming a nuisance?
The key is consistency, relevance and value.
Regular communication – without overwhelming your audience – reinforces trust and keeps your business top of mind. For most businesses, contacting prospects every 7-10 days and customers every 2-4 weeks strikes the right balance.
When reaching out, focus on quality over quantity. Share insights, solutions and resources tailored to their needs. Your goal is to educate, inspire, or solve a problem – not just sell. If every interaction adds value, your audience will welcome your communication, not dread it.
Leverage multiple channels like email, social media, or even direct messages and calls to diversify your approach without overloading a single method. Use feedback to refine your timing and frequency.
By showing up intentionally and with purpose, you’ll build trust and deepen relationships while creating a business aligned with your values of success, purpose and balance.
Scaling your business doesn’t mean overwhelming yourself – or your audience. It’s about building meaningful, lasting connections that grow your business and enrich your life.
Visit Business Mentored here to get help in having meaningful contact with your customers.
Are you an eagle hanging out with turkeys?
One day a man found an eagle’s egg and put it in the nest of a barnyard turkey hen. The eaglet hatched with the brood of turkeys and grew up with them.
All his life the eagle did what the barnyard chicks did, thinking he was a barnyard chicken. He scratched the earth for worms and insects. He clucked and cackled. And he would thrash his wings and fly a few feet into the air.
Years passed and the eagle grew very old. One day he saw a magnificent bird above him in the cloudless sky. It glided in graceful majesty among the powerful wind currents, with scarcely a beat of its strong golden wings.
The old eagle looked up in awe. ‘Who’s that?’ he asked.
‘That’s the eagle, the king of the birds,’ said his neighbour. ‘He belongs to the sky. We belong to the earth—we’re chickens.’
Are You Ready to Soar Like an Eagle?
So the eagle lived and died a chicken, for that’s what he thought he was.” (by Anthony de Mello)
Who are the people in your environment (barnyard) that may be stopping you from soaring like an eagle in your business?
Visit Business Mentored here if you want your business to soar like an eagle.
Here’s The Only Things You Can Control in Business
You can’t control your profits or your revenue.
You can’t control your customers, staff, marketplace or the government, just like you can’t control the weather.
In life and business, there are only two things we can control.
Our thoughts and your actions.
If you are worried about other’s thoughts and actions, STOP IT. You can’t control it.
The Five Activities to Boost Profitability
So what actions do we need to take to increase profitability?
To get more customers, we can do activities that connect us to people who want what we provide, which generates leads.
Then, we do sales training and activities that will convert more leads into customers.
Once we have more customers, we do activities to get them to buy more often from us, as well as provide them with more solutions to the problems they may currently be getting from other providers.
These activities will generate more revenue.
Profit is what is left over from revenue after we take out all our expenses. We do activities that keep our costs down while improving our team performance and negotiating with suppliers for better prices.
In summary, we can only control the activities we do that influence revenues and profit of which there are only five areas – lead generation, sales conversion rate, repeat transactions, average dollar sale and margins.
Need help to boost your profitability? Visit Business Mentored here.
- Reddy Roundup: Updates from the Community
- What’s Hot Around Town
- Bingles, Bathers and By-laws: The First Redcliffe Shire Council
- Beautiful You and Home of Hope Liberia: Empowering Women in Crisis
- We Are Scoring More Centuries!
- Morwong Diagramma Pictum Labiosum
- Podcast Review: A Very British Cult
- Local Faces
- Bookworm
- Movember for Men’s Mental Health
- Mousetrap Theatre Unwraps Christmas Joy For All Ages
- Tune In for Fun at 99.7 Bridge FM Open Day
- Piper Movie Review
