Profit First Chapter 8 Summary: Sticking With It

If you have started putting the Profit First system into action, give yourself a pat on the back.

The trick now is to stick with it.

We humans are a fickle bunch. Once we get ourselves out of a crisis, we often slide back into our old ways.

The best way to avoid this is to be held accountable.

There are a couple of ways you can enforce Profit First accountability.

One way is by joining a Profit Accelerator Group. These groups are facilitated by Profit First Professionals, who are financial professionals or business coaches specifically trained in the Profit First system.

Another option is a Profit Pod. Profit Pods are self-facilitated voluntary groups. You can join an existing one or start your own with as few as two people: you and one other entrepreneur.

It is important that you have no business ties to other members in your Profit Pod and that, to begin with, you are not friends. You can know them, but you want to be distanced enough so that there are fewer barriers for honest communication.

Also, do not start doing business with people in your Profit Pod. No money should exchange hands between members.

Try searching online for people to start one with.

In your first meeting, schedule meetings every two weeks for the next 12 months.

It is best if you can schedule the dates around your accounting days.

A two-person pod meeting will take about 15 minutes. Of course, the more people in the pod the more time each meeting will take.

Choose a facilitator to run the meeting and keep things on schedule. Even if there are only two of you, you need a meeting facilitator.

Start by each member giving a one sentence assessment answering the question “How healthy is your business?”

After that, one member shares the following:

• A 3-minute update on progress from the previous call, such as how well they followed through on their commitments.
• An update on current balances in various accounts and a comparison to allocations.
• Struggles, if any. Include current difficulties and possible future ones.
• Wins and discoveries such as new findings on improving systems, profits, etc.

The member that just shared the information is then asked questions from other members. This is not to give advice or solve problems. It is to gain clarification and put accountability in place.

Ask up to three questions about challenges and get commitments for solutions.

Ask three questions about wins and get commitments as to how the member will repeat and grow them.

Now do the whole process with the next member.

At the end, each member closes with a commitment of up to three actions.

Every quarter, when you take a distribution, share how you plan to celebrate with your profits. Celebrate each other, no matter how small the profit.

Read the next chapter here.

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