Intentional Success with Tom Stimson

In my 100th episode, I call out the "accidental entrepreneurs" who build businesses by doing what they know well and neglecting what they don't. Before launching your next strategic adventure, master these fundamentals: fix your accounting (align revenue to actual services), fix your pricing (stop guessing!), and set clear standards for execution. Most businesses fail not because of today's proble...

When you start a business, your wants are simple: control, independence, proving yourself. But quickly, other wants take precedence. Let's break down what owners really want, both practically and emotionally, so you can start getting more of what you deserve from your business. https://www.trstimson.com/5-things-owners-want/

Ever wonder why clients demand detailed breakdowns of your quotes? We created this pricing nightmare through excessive transparency. In this week's episode, learn why every pricing decision is about profit, how to stop reinventing the wheel with each quote, and why ditching line items protects your margins. The math is simple: know your costs, add a reasonable margin, and be confident in your wort...

It's time for your mid-year mindfulness check-up! Are you reaching your business goals? Has your forecasting been accurate? How far down the road have you been kicking challenges? Many of us begin the year with resolutions, goals, and high aspirations. Then, reality happens. If your vision for the future and actual results have moved farther apart as the year waxes on, then now is a good time to r...

What's your single source of truth? Whether you're running a rental company, project-based business, or creative services firm, you need to decide which system rules them all. QuickBooks? Rental management? Project software? In this episode, I break down the right approach for each business type and why fighting your software's design is a losing battle. The perfect software for your situation doe...

Perfection - if it even exists - is probably boring. Humanity brings character to perfection, but does that make something imperfect? As you approach perfection, does the remaining imperfection seem more glaring? When do you stop? Why all this philosophy on a Monday Morning? Because, if you make something good enough , there is still room for improvement, later. https://www.trstimson.com/business-...

Think discovery calls are about clients discovering YOU? In this episode, I set the record straight about discovery calls and explain why so many of you get them wrong. You'll learn how to listen more than you talk, master the small talk trick (just repeat the last word someone says!), and show only the slides that matter. When it's finally your turn to speak (you get about eight minutes in a 30-m...

Can you think of any other industry that's proud of not having ANY salespeople? Here's a disturbing stat: 90% of owners that call for help on their business have a sales problem. 75% of those owners tell me they have no one in their company whose jobs are in sales. No salespeople. https://www.trstimson.com/embrace-sales-role/

Your financial reporting might be the key to solving your biggest business headaches, from seasonality to pricing problems. In this episode, learn three simple accounting shifts that turn confusing paperwork into actionable insights that help you control your business. Stop treating your books like a necessary evil and start using them as the powerful management tool they should be! Visit trstimso...

0Marketing is probably the last item on your priority list, yet your prospective customers are deciding whether they want to do business with you before you ever meet them. If that doesn't wake you up, I'm not sure what will. If you're in business at all, you're doing marketing. If you're not thinking about it, you're probably doing it badly. https://www.trstimson.com/simple-av-business-marketing/

Scalable companies are far less likely than non-scalable companies to complain that they're "too busy." They accomplish more with fewer people. How can this be? https://www.trstimson.com/busy-leadership-not-staffing-problem/

We're all accidental entrepreneurs who fell into this business backwards. Most of us are still pricing like we're freelancers with gear instead of businesses that deliver outcomes. In this episode, I explore the trap of thinking that owning more equipment and hiring more people will reduce your costs so you can "charge less and win more jobs." Learn what successful AV business owners know: stop se...

Most prospective buyers use RFPs to evaluate more than your design concepts or pricing structure. Here are 10 qualities I'm very nearly positive most people issuing RFPs are actually looking for. https://www.trstimson.com/hidden-tests-in-every-rfp/

What makes a show "big"? Money? Complexity? High profile? In this episode, Tom Stimson challenges the industry's obsession with show size and reveals why your operational processes shouldn't change based on arbitrary definitions. Learn why project managers are often symptoms of broken systems, how planning makes complexity simple, and why there are no small shows, just small budgets. Plus, discove...

Many years ago, I introduced my approach to evaluating customers in a pre-negotiation mode. Understanding what's important to them and how they prefer to buy before creating a proposal is critical. As we've moved beyond the "before times" of line-item pricing and rental-based businesses into a service-focused era, those buying styles are still relevant — but our response to them needs to evolve. h...

In this episode, I tackle the biggest headache most companies face: hiring and keeping great talent. I share my proven 90-day plan with clear checkpoints at 30, 60, and 90 days that create real accountability for both managers and new hires. For balanced companies that need half the staff but twice the performance, I provide practical strategies to spot talent quickly, pay what they're worth, and...

Last week, I explained my three-call process for closing better deals with awesome buyers. Step three in that process was the proposal presentation meeting. Today, I want to drill down into what goes into those proposals and share some practical considerations. https://www.trstimson.com/how-to-set-baselines-that-clients-accept/

Are you conducting discovery calls at the right time in the right way? Discovery calls should happen MUCH earlier in your relationship development process than you may think. Learn how proper discovery converts leads into permanent prospects, helps design better pitches, and creates client relationships before you even have a project. Stop waiting for business to appear! Learn how to create a sens...

Many selling organizations have clear guidelines for walking ideal prospects through their system. Why? Because we know how ideal customers buy. It's non-ideal customers who confuse us, and if we improvise to accommodate them, we're taking our eyes off the focus. https://www.trstimson.com/three-call-sales-process/

Who is your ideal customer? In this episode, I explain why this seemingly simple choice has massive implications for your business model. Discover whether your business is designed to serve clients (optimizing for revenue) or customers (optimizing for resources), and why trying to serve both usually means doing neither well. In a balanced, scalable business, turning down work is essential. If that...

We all know managing pricing variables is a nightmare. If you can't raise your rental or labor prices without creating a firestorm of resistance from key customers and a reluctant sales team, you have a transactional problem. You're a valuable service business, not just a rental company. https://www.trstimson.com/you-should-charge-more/

In this no-nonsense episode, I tackle the economic headwinds we're facing. Unlike the pandemic, this downturn won't eliminate work, but it will shift power back to buyers. I share practical strategies to weather the storm: revisiting cash flow projections, calculating realistic break-even revenue, making tough staffing decisions, and having crucial customer conversations. Remember that high-margin...

I used to live for RFPs. Requests for proposals were my mainstay. I didn't have to do any sales work. The fax machine went off, the emails came in (sometimes they showed up in the mail), and I'd crank out a proposal and send it back. It was so easy doing business back in the day. https://www.trstimson.com/stop-wasting-time-on-bad-rfp/

In my latest episode, I unpack the tariffs that could hit our industry as hard as the pandemic did five years ago. I cut through the uncertainty to deliver straight talk about what's coming and how to prepare. If you haven't achieved a balanced, scalable business model yet, you're running out of time. Learn why maintaining low overhead, focusing on gross profit over revenue volume, and smart billi...