116: How to Grow a Successful Consulting Business

Ever hit that five-year itch wondering what's next after restaurants? You're not alone.

In this episode, I sit down with Jim Taylor, founder of Benchmark 60 and creator of the Blueprint program—a framework designed specifically for restaurant professionals who want to transition out of operations and into consulting, coaching, or advisory work.

We get real about:

• Why your experience alone won't generate business (and what actually does)
• The mindset shift from "hire me based on my resume" to "here's the result I can get you"
• How Blueprint members collectively signed over $1 million in consulting engagements last year—most starting from zero

Key takeaways:

→ Imposter syndrome is a signal you're leveling up. Lean into it instead of running from it.

→ There's no magic bullet. Business is an experiment—content, conversations, workshops, podcasts—you won't know what lands until you try.

→ Independent consultant is now the 7th fastest-growing entrepreneur title in the US. The market is there. The question is: are you positioned to capture it?

→ Fractional roles are exploding. Rising restaurant costs mean owners need expertise without full-time payroll.

We also announce that I'm taking over the Blueprint program—bringing it under Columbine Hospitality with Jim's continued partnership.

If you're considering the leap: Grab a free copy of Jim's book at BoldConsultingBook.com or reach out at ColumbineHospitality.com/contact to explore the program.

P.S. Ready to take your restaurant to the next level? 

• Get the Independent Restaurant Framework that's helped countless owners build thriving multi-location brands. Grab your copy at https://www.IRFbook.com

Here is my calendar link so you can book time with me: 

• https://api.leadconnectorhq.com/widget/bookings/christin-marvin-personal-calendar-r1jjarmnw

Podcast Production: https://www.lconnorvoice.com/

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Welcome back to the show, everybody. I don't know if I've ever shared this with you or not, but I had moments during my career in restaurant operations where every five years I would get an itch and go, okay, I'm ready to get out of the restaurant industry, but I have no idea what's next. And sometimes I'd start getting online and looking for jobs, and I would just be clueless thinking about what industry I would actually want to work in? What skills have I learned from the restaurant industry that would actually apply to something else? And I would always kind of hit a dead end and end up going back into the restaurant business. And it wasn't until I started working with a coach that I understood that I could build something using my skill sets and my passion and love for the industry, but not do it in operations. And that was a huge moment of insight for me today. If you are a restaurant owner or operator who's wondering what's next when I get out of restaurants, if that's something you want to do next month, something you want to do in five years or 10 years, this is the episode that is going to give you some direction and focus. So last episode we announced that we're taking over the Blueprint program, which is a program designed specifically for restaurant professionals who are wondering what's next and want to build their own businesses coming out of operations. Today I get to bring you the man behind the program who built it from the ground up, Jim Taylor, who's the founder of Benchmark60. Jim is here to share his perspective on how the Blueprint is changing lives for operators who are ready to stop running restaurants and start building something of their own. We're going to go deep today, where the idea came from, real success stories from people who have gone through the program. And I'm going to give you a little inside tip. They're probably not what you think they are. There's some really cool surprises in here. And we're going to talk about what they've built on the other side. We're also going to talk about a full breakdown of everything that's inside the program. We have a six-week program and a six, nine, and twelve month program. Those programs help you understand how to take you from finding your first clients to hiring the right people to building the systems that let you scale with confidence. And if you're sitting there right now wondering whether consulting or coaching is the next chapter for you, or you've already started something that you want to grow sustainably, you are exactly who this episode is for. So let's get into it. Welcome to the Restaurant Leadership Podcast, where we coach independent multi-unit restaurant operators to build systems that drive profitability and reclaim time so they can scale with confidence and spend their time and energy where they want to, not where they have to. I'm your host, Kristen Marvin, restaurant coach and author of Multi-unit Mastery. If you are an independent restaurant owner managing multiple locations, you know the chaos that comes with growth. Inconsistent execution across your restaurants. Managers who won't take ownership. Constantly answering questions your team should already know the answers to. You're stuck in your current role when you want to be playing a bigger strategic role as you scale. You don't have the right leaders in place, or you keep losing them. And you're not sure how to find great people and actually keep them around. We work with passionate independent restaurant owners who found success with their first few locations and are ready to scale strategically. Our clients aren't looking to just survive expansion. They want to thrive through it. They're committed to developing strong leaders and creating exceptional guest experiences. Through the independent restaurant framework that we teach in multi-unit mastery, we coach independent restaurant groups to move from chaos to confidence by focusing on three pillars people, process, and profit. You can grab a gifted copy of the book at irfbook.com. On this show, we bring you real coaching conversations, leadership strategies, and the frameworks that you need to lead like a CEO instead of operating like a worn-out manager. And here's the thing: coaching has changed our clients' businesses and can change yours too. If you've never experienced what it's like to have someone in your corner who actually gets the restaurant world, we'd love to connect. We offer one-on-one and group coaching. Head to kristenmarvin.com slash contact for a complimentary coaching session and let's talk about what's possible for your restaurant group. Jim, let's just dive in here. Where did the concept for the blueprint come from?

SPEAKER_01 4:52

It came from it's interesting, right? It came from a conversation actually with somebody that probably a lot of people listening uh actually know or have heard of. Uh a guy named Scott. We can leave his last name for later in the conversation if you want, but I'll put his LinkedIn profile in the show notes. Yeah, perfect. Hey Scott. Um it came from a conversation with Scott. So I was about, I don't know, a year, year and a half into building my own personal consulting business. I was starting to feel like I had some good momentum and some wins. And I was having this conversation with Scott, and he was saying things like, I don't know how to find a new customer, I don't know where my what my you know ideal client is, I don't know how to charge for my services, I don't know how to talk about it. And it was really interesting because it was a lot of the same things that I remembered feeling when I first started my business. And so at one point I said to Scott, I said, Well, listen, I'm at a point where I'm only a year and a half in. I definitely don't have it all figured out yet, but I'm further ahead than you are. Would you like me to just show you what's working for me and maybe it'll work for you? And you know, that went from one thing to another to, you know, to working together for about a year on his business. And and you know, if anybody looks him up online, which again, share the link, they'll see some pretty interesting things. He's done incredibly well. But that, you know, it was it was him and then another person and another person, another person. At first, it was just the let me show you what works for me, maybe it'll work for you, and realized that there was sort of some legs to that. It's you know, lots of people were dealing with the same challenges when they started a consulting business.

SPEAKER_00 6:17

Yeah, I mean, I and I'm one of those people, right? That you just you just listed in that, right? I mean, this is very this is personal for me, as you know. And you know, when I came to you, I I'm the same thing. I was six months into my business. I had all these ideas, I had looked at different business models and said, I know I want to do that, I know I want to do that, I know I want to offer a million resources to the restaurant industry. How do I do this in a way that that builds a really um sturdy foundation for myself and allows me to accomplish all the things that I want and create all these different revenue streams without burning myself out like I had done in my previous career, right? So you, you know, and then you gave me this information or this invitation I didn't even know was available. You're like, I actually help people do that, right? So it, you know, it's again very personal. It's I just you know, I'm so grateful for your mentorship and what you've helped build. And, you know, we were talking in the program um this morning and last week about how special collaborations are in the group and in the community that you've built. And and I've had the pleasure being a part of. And so what we're gonna talk about later in the episode is kind of a beautiful, you know, organic result of collaboration and and where this program's going in the future, which is very exciting, where we're gonna where we're gonna take it together. Um but yeah, it's just you know, very it's a it's a very cool program and just super excited to share it with listeners today. Let's talk a little bit about what you know, you mentioned a couple things as far as helping, you know, Blueprint helps people scale their business or build their businesses and scale their businesses, but like what what does the program actually do?

SPEAKER_01 7:56

I think it helps, uh it's a good question because there's so many different pieces and things that you know directions that could go. I think you know, we should ask some of them what they say, but I know as far as as far as I'm concerned, I think it really helps people get uh clear on priorities, right? If you really want to build a at first single person and maybe down the road more than one person business providing services like consultation or coaching or advisory, you have to get clear on things like what's the niche that I'm serving, who am I actually helping, and what is the problem I'm solving for people, and how do I articulate it? And then things like what's the ROI and how do I charge for it and what's my pricing model. But I think it helps people get clear on what they're actually trying to build because there's a you know, anyone who's been in entrepreneurship or wants to be, you've probably got a million ideas going through your brain and uh, you know, all these different things about what you think the market wants and what someone asked you for and what might work. And I can't tell you how many times I've seen people build an amazing product of some sort and they launch it into the ecosystem and nothing happens and it's incredibly demoralizing. So helping them get clear quickly on what uh the starting points are, I think, is a big piece of it.

SPEAKER_00 9:12

What do you think the biggest I mean working with everybody that you've worked with over the last 18 months, what do you see is the biggest roadblocks, the biggest pain points for them of being able to start a successful business? Because it takes time.

SPEAKER_01 9:24

It does. I I think that a lot of people expect that their uh they expect that their experience is going to generate business right away. And unfortunately, we're sort of conditioned as a society, I think, to apply for jobs. That's part of life, right? You're 13, 14, 15, whatever age it is, you go and apply for your first job, and someone decides if you're the one that gets the job or not. And then throughout your career, you chase you did this, I did this in the corporate world. You chase opportunities, you work hard, you look for promotion, and you know that kind of thing. And so many people, when they launch their own service business, they basically say, Here's my resume, will you hire me? Yeah. Instead of saying, Here's the result I can get you, would you like to work with me? And it's totally it's two totally different things. So people get really stuck on that and and the speed at which they think it will uh get traction.

SPEAKER_00 10:17

Yeah, I mean, we are this community is all former restaurant owners and operators, right? And we live, you and I know, being in this world for over 20 years, it's a very much a world of instant gratification, right? You drop a plate of food, somebody's eyes light up. You get to immediately, you know, check on how their experiences, you pair a great glass of wine with a dish, and everything's amazing, right? And so we come out of this world where we're moving a million miles an hour. We have huge capacity to produce a bunch of things, solve a bunch of problems, and then it's like, you know, how do I sit in front of a computer or how do I start to put myself out there and actually network and get in front of people and have conversations that are gonna be impactful enough and then be able to ask for the business. It's you know, I was having a conversation with somebody yesterday about the program, and they, you know, they've been in business for years and they said, I just I said, What's your goal? And they said, I'm just tired of having all these one-on-one conversations with people and trying to, you know, trying to generate business. And I was like, I'm gonna be honest with you, that part's never gonna go away. That is the foundation of what we have to do in order to to to continue in this business. So I think it mindset is a really big key component, like you you mentioned, like understanding what the real expectations are of building a business and being an entrepreneur.

SPEAKER_01 11:29

Yeah. I one of the things I've had a few people laugh at me for saying this, but I genuinely think it's true. One of the most important lessons that I learned going from corporate career, you know, individual in the restaurant business, but in the corporate, you know, part of it, to entrepreneur was realizing that putting on the entrepreneur hat doesn't mean that you're an entrepreneur yet. And that's not a bad thing. But I also believe that we should change the spelling of the word entrepreneur to be the same as the spelling of the word student. Because speaking about mindset, if you're not in the mindset of I have a whole bunch of stuff to learn, how to build an audience, how to have discovery conversation, how to get people to, you know, put their hand up and say they need help, how to price your service, how to deliver it, how to there's it, there's a lot there, right? If you're not in the mindset of I'm a student again and I'm gonna learn how to be an entrepreneur, it's it makes it even harder. So that's another part of you know that I've been really proud of in the you know the last few years with people in the blueprint is helping them understand that and and change that mindset.

SPEAKER_00 12:36

Yeah, and I think one thing that really came up for me early in this journey and that I see come up a lot with people in the program is everybody's looking for the fucking magic bullet, right? Like, what's the one lead gym, what's the one lead magnet, what's the one thing that I can do that's just gonna, you know, flood the gates with a bunch of leads coming in. And and it's you know, and I you've seen this a lot, like we really treat business like an experiment. You don't know what's gonna land with people. You we know you post content, so much content, you write so many newsletters, right? You do podcast episodes, you have conversations with people. It all just depends on where people are at in their lives and and who sees what. And we have to constantly be innovating and trying different things and taking a bunch of risks. And I think that's something that also really gets in people's way of being really successful, is not wanting to take a risk or feeling, you know, like being scared of putting themselves out there. We talk about imposter syndrome all the time, right? And you share your view on what imposter syndrome is.

SPEAKER_01 13:41

Imposter syndrome is I I truly believe that imposter syndrome is is your body's way of telling you that you're leveling up. And at first it shows up as really scary and uncomfortable, and it's you know, it's something that we don't like it, and you know, we shy away from it and it happens and we turn it in and go the other direction. You know, I I think I'm I consider myself very lucky in my sort of entrepreneurial journey that I've now imposter syndrome, it happens still, but it's kind of like exciting.

SPEAKER_02 14:08

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_01 14:08

It's like, oh, here we go. It's time to sort of step up and you know learn some new things and again be a student again and and learn, right? Um, but it's scary at first for sure for a lot of people, it was for me.

SPEAKER_00 14:19

Yeah, 100%. Let's talk about some success stories that have come out of the program over the last 18 months. There's a lot.

SPEAKER_01 14:26

There is a lot. So I'll say this the I think the the statistic that I was the most proud of last year is that the people who went through the blueprint program last year collectively generated or signed over a million dollars in individual consulting engagements. So that doesn't mean that each one of them signed a million dollars, but that means that as a group, there was a million dollars in in revenue generated for consulting services. And and n probably 90% of those people had zero revenue when they started in the program. So there's some there's tons of success stories, right? I mean, there's there are there's one that I I I will not name their name. They're probably gonna hear this episode at some time and maybe they'll chime in. A woman that actually told me that before she started in the program, she was about to sell her home. I think you know who this is. She was about to sell her home. She wasn't sure what she was gonna do. She was trying to build this business and couldn't figure out and was doing work hourly and didn't know how to find new clients and was just really challenging. And she said, you know what, I I might just sell my house because I can't afford my mortgage. And four months later, she was generating 20 grand a month.

SPEAKER_02 15:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:43

And didn't sell her home, and you know, things were looking a little bit different. Um, so it's you know, there's certain stories like that that just make me they've made me so proud, and and you know, it's been really cool to see.

SPEAKER_00 15:56

Well, and fast forward six, eight months or however long it's been, that person now has a team of three people and has re-engaged in the program as of last week and is looking to scale and is in that is in that sweet spot of okay, I see there's so much demand coming in now for this business, and I'm not putting the team around me fast enough, and I don't know how to find the right people for the team, who I need to hire, what I need to hire for, and then how do I develop them to get that work, all you know, that admin and all that training and the workload off of their plate so they could truly be in the role that they want to be in. And it's super exciting.

SPEAKER_01 16:34

So, you know what? That's and that's been a byproduct of the the blueprint program that I've found to be very really interesting, but really cool at the same time. Is that and a question I get asked by a lot of people is who is the when should I jump into that? Is this something I should do on day one? I say I'm gonna start a consulting business, so I should join the blueprint, or is this I'm two years in and my I have a bit of revenue and my business is doing okay, and now I should do it. And I you know, I didn't know this when we started the program, but uh it's an ecosystem of people who are at all different stages, and you know, certain things fit better at certain times, but there's always people that are a little bit behind you, likely, and there's always people that are a little bit ahead of you, and so that allows people to collaborate on things and learn from each other, and so it's it's incredibly cool to hear that she's sort of you know come back again knowing that there's there's still more for her to get out of it.

SPEAKER_00 17:30

Yeah, I mean, there's so many, you know, again, just talking about success stories, there's so many motivators for why people enter this program. And we've been, you know, in this in this transition process, we've been meeting with everybody and getting feedback on like what do you what did you love? What are your takeaways? Why'd you get in in the first place? You know, you you want to continue, and how do you want to like where are you at right now in your business and what value do you need to take it to the next level? And it's so cool to see people come in and say, I just want to mentor someone that's that's a little bit younger in the program, or I need a mentor that's that's you know, ahead a couple years ahead of me. Or and you know, last week we just celebrated there are people that have gone into business together from the program, right? Which is so cool to see. So it's just it's so much more than we all know how important community is because this is so lonely, you know, being an entrepreneur is so lonely, but it's so cool to see again the um organic collaborations that can come and as part of, you know, as a result of being part of a group like this and having people that are like-minded, that understand your pain points, and they're not just sharing resources with each other and tools and tips that are going to help each other's clients, they're collaborating on, hey, I've got a client that needs help with cost of goods, but I focus on training. Can we collaborate on this? And then it turns into something beautiful like, hey, my team is growing, the business is growing, there's demand. Why don't you just come join me full time? So it's super exciting.

SPEAKER_01 18:49

You know, and I I talked to uh uh someone this morning um and just was doing sort of a check-in and he he went through the program for a year, and I I just said sort of so how's it going now? Like where are you at? It's been a couple of months since I asked you that. And and he goes, Man, this this life is so much better than being and then waiting for a paycheck. And I said, Well, what do you mean? He goes, Well, I you know, some of the things that he was talking about that he'd learned were, you know, ways to build audience and ways to engage that audience and you know, you know, just uh keep things moving and find opportunity and partnerships and all this stuff that we talked about, right? And anyway, he goes, I got paid three times last week, I got paid twice this week. He goes, I'm still gonna pay get paid two or three more times this month. He goes, That never happened when I had a job. This is just way better, right? And you know, he's obviously doing some great things and and uh has definitely sort of graduated from a lot of the stuff because he was one of the people who started within the program day one. I remember the conversation. He said to me, I started my business yesterday and I have no clue what to do.

SPEAKER_00 19:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:57

When you don't look at him now.

SPEAKER_00 19:58

It's so fun, it's just so fun to watch people come in and say, I don't have a website, I haven't started an LLC yet, I don't even know what to do with my taxes. Like, what like help me build something here that that just looks professional and then teach me how to how to show up out there in the world, you know? And it's and because a lot of people that come to the program, they're former again, they're former operators or owners who don't want to be chained to a business anymore and that want to have freedom to work remotely, work all. I mean, and we have people from all over the world that are you know involved in the program. So it's super fun to see somebody take, you know, be a restaurant owner in the US, decide to move their family over to Europe and and start this life, um, you know, and be able to work with clients all over the world. So the the lifestyle aspect of what they're getting out of it is super, super awesome.

SPEAKER_01 20:45

Yeah, completely, completely agree. Yeah, it's it's been a really cool process to be able to see that it sort of blossom that way.

SPEAKER_00 20:52

Yeah, I mean, there's also, I mean, again, just some to celebrate some wins as we're continuing to check in with people that have been in the program. I mean, how many people do you think wrote books last year in the program?

SPEAKER_01 21:05

Oh, I don't know, at least six or eight for sure.

SPEAKER_00 21:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:09

Um, not including you and I.

SPEAKER_00 21:12

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 21:14

Yeah, it's probably close to 10.

SPEAKER_00 21:16

It's so awesome to see people launching their newsletters, launching these books, launching these podcasts podcasts. I mean, they come up with, you know, the workshop ideas, talk about speaking on stage. I mean, it's just the growth for them as a leader is so, so exciting.

SPEAKER_01 21:31

You know what I think the the underlying message there that I'm uh I'm very proud of and think is just so cool for all those people is that most of them in the first conversation or two, they were afraid to put themselves out there on social media. They were afraid to have a conversation with somebody about what they do. They couldn't articulate what it is that they do or the problem they solve, you know, and through repetition and that ecosystem and building confidence. And now they're a published author and they've got you know all this stuff. It's just so Yeah, it's it's uh it's amazing. And it doesn't, you know, technology makes writing a book easier uh from a I I would say the actual process of it. It doesn't make it easier from a mental perspective, though. Right. So it's still a huge win for those people.

SPEAKER_00 22:14

It's a huge win. And then marketing it, you know, and being able to turn that into a program that you can teach and scale is is incredible. But again, like I think one of the things that I love about the program is you get in front of a group of people like that and you have an idea of where you think you want to go with your business. This, you know, and I see this a lot when I talk to people in the program a lot, um, coach, is I walk away going, look at all the possibilities that are coming out of this group. I'm thinking too small. I need to I need to level up my game. So I love that there's just that again, that we've created that environment where um people can cultivate big ideas and and take those risks that go after their dreams that they didn't even know were possible.

SPEAKER_01 22:53

Well, you know what? Um you and I have talked about Alex Hermosy before.

SPEAKER_02 22:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:58

And something that has always stuck with me that that he talks about is that most service provider, entrepreneur type people are probably a nine out of ten at the skill that they've developed over the years. They might even be a 10 out of 10, 11 out of 10, who knows, right? But for the sake of people in the blueprint, they're expert hospitality people. They've been in this for a long time, they have careers, they were in ops or ownership. They might be uh, you know, when when they launch their business, they might be a three or four out of ten in actually being able to tell people what it is that they're doing, but they're usually a zero or maybe a one out of ten if they're lucky when it comes to actually building, turning it into a business.

SPEAKER_02 23:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

Right. How do you monetize your skill and your your expertise and all that kind of thing? And you know, that's something that I know through the feedback that I've received that that a lot of people had a hard time finding somewhere else.

SPEAKER_00 23:55

100%. Yeah, 100%. I mean, this program really teaches you how to market yourself and not not just social media, right? Again, how to get out there, how to how to create a ton of value for people, um, for your target audience, out of the gate, speaking, workshops, books, podcasts, you name it, like whatever feels authentic to you and which direction, whatever direction you want to go, it's really available, which is exciting.

SPEAKER_01 24:18

So I read an interesting stat the other day that I think for anyone who's listening to this, this will be interesting if you're you know considering um starting a consulting service coaching business, or you already have one. Uh independent consultant is now the seventh fastest growing entrepreneurial business title in the United States. Independent consultant, meaning I quit my job and I launched a consulting business. This it's the set it's ranked number seven out of all the different things that you could call yourself.

SPEAKER_02 24:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:56

So on one hand, that means that people believe that there's a market for this, right? It means that companies are looking for people who have expertise that they want access to, right? Maybe they want someone fractional, maybe they don't want, maybe they're trying to shrink their payroll, but they still need, you know, the same types of results. I talked to an operator the other day of a 50-unit restaurant group that is looking for a fractional labor analyst uh analyst.

SPEAKER_02 25:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:26

So, you know, those things both exist. The the thing that I find the most interesting about that stat is that I think of consultants, service providers, coaches, it's a lot like real estate, right? You hear stats like 90% of the deals done in real estate get done by the top 1% of realtors. And it's because of how they operate and how they act and what their strategy is like, and it's all of those things, right? Yeah, you know, the the the realtors that get their license and never sell a house, it's because they're waiting for their dog walker's uncle to want to sell their house, right? It's just you're just waiting for something to land in your lap and it doesn't happen. Right. Same goes for people who go through the blueprint. It's it's a leg up, it's an advantage, it's an opportunity, it fast tracks them to being able to actually land business. So sure, there's gonna be lots of competition, but there's also equal, if not more, opportunity to differentiate against that competition.

SPEAKER_00 26:18

100%. And then the amount of niching down that we do for people in the program is so uncomfortable, right? And then once they latch onto it and they, like you said earlier, you they get really clear and they're able to go out in the world and say, This is specifically what I do, it just it's amazing for them. And it they really start to build momentum. I think given where we're at in the industry, you you you know, you were just recently a restaurant owner, a partner, so you you know it even more recently than I do. We know it's more challenging than it's ever been. We know it's not getting any easier. We know that there's a lot of owners and operators that want to start their own businesses and be entrepreneurs, especially coming out of the pandemic. The fractional piece is exploding, and there's still so many people that don't know that fractional people are out there or where to find them, which is really exciting. Again, I think it's what's helping cultivate a lot of the partnerships that we have going on in the program. But I think fractional is going to continue just because of rising costs at restaurants, fractional is going to continue to be in very high demand, which is awesome. Um, and AI is gonna continue to drive a lot of that too. And so, and we we talk a lot about AI in the program and how to use it to scale your business, um, which is exciting. So, love it.

SPEAKER_01 27:33

Yeah, there if I can share another quick stat just for anyone who's again thinking about I want to take this leap, or I have taken the leap and I want it to grow faster, whichever scenario you're in. So take Canada and the US combined. I've heard this in a from a few sources. They're forecasting a net negative 13,000 restaurants in 2026. Okay, so if you that what that means basically is that there are a whole bunch of restaurants opening, there are uh 13,000 restaurants more closing than the ones included the ones that are opening. That's a scary stat, right? And we all know the restaurant business is volatile and it's difficult and whatever. However, if I'm gonna if I'm a new entrepreneur or I'm someone who's wanting to build a service business or consulting business, and I'm thinking about is there a market? I mean, if you could find one percent of those restaurants that are maybe going to close this year and help them stay open, one percent, you've got a more business than you can handle.

unknown 28:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:39

Right. So it doesn't have to be the big whale client or the, you know, you don't have to work with a hundred restaurants a year, you don't have to do that kind of stuff. It you can move the needle in a lot of ways without having to get a massive, you know, book a business.

SPEAKER_00 28:52

Yeah, 100%. So let's talk a little bit about the program. There's two different ways that people can get involved. There's a six-week sprint and there's the 12-month program. The six-week sprint is really, you know, kind of future thinking is really gonna be set up with specific curriculum to help people that are wanting to start their business get in, set up their business structure, figure out what their vision is, figure out how to niche down, start making connection conversations immediately. And we're gonna set, we've got some very specific goals for people of how many conversations you got to have each week. We've got the business tracker that everybody's gonna be responsible for filling out every single week, and everyone's gonna see everyone else's results so we can have some kind of fun competition and be able to report back each week how do the conversations go, what's landing, what's not landing. So it's a it's a very intensive boot camp of like, okay, you say you want to do this, let's hold your feet to the fire, let's do some high flame coaching. And and then, you know, for a small investment of your time and and money, you can say, okay, this feels great. I'm all in, hell yeah, or I'm good.

SPEAKER_01 29:58

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:00

I'll do something else.

unknown 30:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:02

Well, it's it's just like anything else, right? I mean, you want to get a you want a promotion, you need more education. You want to start a uh take on a new position, you need some training. You know, it's the same, it's the same thing that goes for almost any promotion. I mean, maybe not some of them in the restaurant business, but we won't get into that. But you know, there's so many that exists in every part of the world, right? You want to start a business on something, you need some education on how to do it first. So the sprint has been uh has been a lot of fun for that, uh, that purpose alone.

SPEAKER_00 30:30

Yeah, absolutely. And then the full program, you know, we've got 12 months, nine months, six month options for people to come in. That's really where scaling takes takes you know, hold. It's again a larger community of people that have been around for years, that have amazing success stories, that have their own perspectives and different ways of doing things that have worked for them. Because again, there is no magic bullet here, right? But it's the framework of again, consistent education every single week, bringing in some fun experts like accountants and CPAs or whatever, like this is what you need to get your business set up, you know, for success, strong component on AI, and then a lot of again, homework and action items and accountability and commitments that are made from the group every single week. And so we're really just trying to, you know, kind of take that again, this community that you've built in this environment and just continue to add value. And we've seen so many wonderful things and learned so much over the last 18 months to be able to put this on steroids, uh, which is really exciting and help and help people, you know, really grow in the healthy, sustainable way that they want to grow. Um, Jim, what would you say? Because you know, we bump into this a lot with people again. Anybody that's listening, they're like, yes, I want to do this, but I don't know if I want to make the investment yet. Like, what's your response? When's the best time to invest?

SPEAKER_01 31:50

So, I mean, the best if we're talking about that full program, the best time to invest is when uh when you feel like you're at a position in your business where you're not sure exactly which way to turn. And that could be how do I find business? How do I increase my revenue? How do I price it? What's my niche? How do I talk about it? How do I write a book? There's an endless list of things there, right? But it's as soon as there's a I'm I'm really not sure what to do right now. Because the reason I say that is that the I think the biggest positive, the most positive byproduct that's come out of the 12 months, that full program, whether it's six, nine or twelve months, the full program is that everybody is learning from everybody else. Right. And when the program actually started, there was a set topic every week, right? We're gonna talk about this this week and this this week. And we actually would tell people you can look 30 weeks ahead and see what we're gonna learn about. But it didn't last because there were, you know, we get however many people on a call, and one person would have a question or something that would derail the topic, but it was relevant to half the people on the call at the same time.

SPEAKER_02 32:59

Right.

SPEAKER_01 32:59

So someone comes forward with a challenge or a problem for us to solve together, and everybody learns from it. So the answer to the question is whenever you feel like there's a stuck point in the business and you don't know how to get over it, you have to find some an expert to help you with that. And and you know, that was one thing I think we were able to really provide. Yeah, and you you'll be you'll do an even better job.

SPEAKER_00 33:18

It's no, I mean it's it's um if you show up to this program and you position yourself again, like you said earlier, as the student, no matter what topic we're talking about, we could talk about niching down, you're like, I've been in business for five years, I got it. If you position yourself and listen for opportunity, which is something we teach a lot in the program, right? How to listen to every single conversation and find opportunity, you will have a moment of insight that you're gonna be able to take back to your business that either validates what you're doing or strengthens your approach. And and you may, if you if you look at something and go, ah, yeah, I don't need that or whatever, you miss the opportunity, right? And so we're always learning, we're always growing. Um, so there's it doesn't matter what stage you're in. I again I learn a ton from listening to everybody in the program. And they're constantly bringing up ideas that I hadn't thought about or I thought about two years ago, and I got busy and I forgot to implement.

SPEAKER_01 34:14

I can't wait to come back and listen and then get some ideas from everybody.

SPEAKER_00 34:17

Yeah, I love it. What's one thing that surprised you most about the program?

SPEAKER_01 34:26

I mean, I have to be honest, the biggest thing that surprised me about the program was how how many people leaned into it how and as quickly as that happened. It just really showed me that launching a and we covered some of this a little bit already, but just a launching a service business, coaching, consulting, advisory, whatever you slap whatever word on it you want without the right framework, it's really hard. And it can be really lonely, and it can be really frustrating. And I'm not saying that as like scare tactic, but you know, it's all of a sudden you're going, okay, my income is dependent on my ability to generate revenue through this business, and I don't know how to run this business, right? So the number of people and that the speed at which people leaned into the the that ecosystem and the collaboration and the program and the material, and you know, it that was the biggest thing that surprised me out of it. And then the second part would be, you know, I I had high hopes for what we were building, but I have to say that it in a very incredible way surprised me how much opportunity people were able to find.

SPEAKER_02 35:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:40

Yeah, that's awesome. That's awesome. Well, we're so excited to take it over, bring it over to Columbine Hospitality with your um partnership and collaboration to help us continue to market this thing and grow it, which is very, very exciting. Um, for anybody that's listening, that it you know something's resonated with them on the call today. Let's talk about how they get in contact and how they can start to get resources around it. So you've got a book around this, right?

SPEAKER_01 36:06

I do. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:08

And bold consulting. So where can people pick that up?

SPEAKER_01 36:11

So, I mean, if they want a free copy of it, um, we are happy to give those out as a resource. Uh, they can find it at boldconsultingbook.com. Um, it's available on Amazon. You know, some people like to have an actual book in their hands. And I should tell you that we are in planning uh to do an audio version of it as well. So nice.

SPEAKER_00 36:34

Are you gonna record it?

SPEAKER_01 36:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:36

Nice.

SPEAKER_01 36:37

Um but that's where they can find it. And and it literally is, I mean, it's not written as a textbook, but that's what it is. It's all of the material that we would go through to help people understand how to build and uh niche down and scale a service-based business. So hopefully people find it beneficial.

SPEAKER_00 36:54

Yeah, absolutely. I did. So I went back through it just a couple weeks ago because again, I always pick up something new. Um, if you're interested in applying for the program too, for either the sprint or the full program, reach out to us at ColumbineHospitality.com/slash contact, and we'll set up a call with our team, have a conversation, see if right now makes sense for you and the investment makes sense, and um we'll figure out how we can best support you and your journey of being an entrepreneur. So um, Jim, thank you for this conversation today. It's been so fun to be a part of the program and just cannot wait for the future and the impact that we're gonna be able to make in you know, people becoming entrepreneurs in the the industry, the restaurant industry as a whole, which we love. So thank you so much for your time. Appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 37:40

Thanks, Kristen.

SPEAKER_00 37:40

Okay, we'll talk to you all next week.