Fab Lab

Imagine what your family and friends will say when you tell them you’re taking a day off to spend with them and that you won't be on your phone! Once you’ve mastered the art and science of taking lunch breaks without being interrupted, you can start taking full days off! The steps are the same, they just require a little more communication and little more planning. With a little practice, it's only a matter of time before you’re taking a week off, on a “non-working” vacation! You’re worth it and you can do it! Happy Fabricating If you’d like to experience high-level fabricator coaching firsthand, click here and we’ll schedule a complimentary, no stings attached coaching experience with me!  It's my gift to you as a member of the Fab Lab Podcast community.

What if you could leave for lunch and not get calls from the office or the crew?  What if you could take a day off of work and not spend half the day on the phone or computer putting out fires and apologizing to customers?  What if you could take a week-long “Non-Working” Vacation?    The fact is you can and I would go as far as to say you should!   In fact, in this episode, I teach you how to take your lunchtime tomorrow and not get any calls.   We cover the following: Communicating: what time you're taking off and who needs to know it. Define Exceptions: making it clear what is urgent and what isn’t urgent. Planning and Preparing: what information do you need to hand off before you take time off. Enjoy your next Lunch Time and Happy Fabricating   If you’d like to experience one on one coaching with me, click here.   Or visit aaroncrowley.com and visit the “work with me” page.   Visit noliftsystem.com and support the sponsor that makes the Fab Lab Podcast possible!

Conventional wisdom says we have to wait until we build and sell our business for millions before we can have the time and money to do the things that are important to us. In this episode, I challenge that idea and ask some tough questions that can actually have life-altering impacts on the way we build our businesses and the lives we experience as a result. How do you define rich:Income – money rich – Time - What definition of success are you working off of?Is that your definition Is that someone else’s definition? How would you define success for yourself, your spouse, family, etc. How would you measure your success? What are the things you long to do & want to do, but just never seem to have time?You need time to ask yourself this question You need to give yourself permission to ask this question Happy Fabricating!   Send me a note:  aaron@aaroncrowley.com Ed Young’s Fabricators Business Academy Register Now!  There are limited spots available! Click here: FabricatorsBusinessAcademy.com

Breaking out of the “doing it” mentality and into the “delegate it” mindset and practice is HARD!!! No way of getting around that fact…   In this episode we discuss 3 simple principles to help you continue your journey of learning the skill of delegation: Start Small Stay Committed and Engaged Slow and Steady Wins the Race It's tough but so worth the effort! Happy Fabricating! Click here for 1/1 coaching – a 90-minute complimentary coaching experience with Aaron. Want to email Aaron?  Here’s his email:  aaron@aaroncrowley.com

It would be nice if we could just throw a document at an employee and magically see flawless execution…But that’s not reality and it's not a fair expectation. Furthermore, if that is our expectation we risk overacting and concluding that we can't trust our people or the PROcess. So how do you get traction with delegation, after you’ve done the hard work of creating a written document? Simple (but necessarily easy), we do the following: Remind – Regular and purposeful checking in to keep it top of mind Insist – Wake-up Call   Demand – Choices…either perform…or else. Now the “else” is up to you as the owner and if you Remind and Insist adequately, the chances of getting to that stage are low. Enjoy and happy fabricating! Aaron  Click here for One-on-One Coaching – Experience a no strings attached 90-minute call with me, talking about you and your stone shop! Click here to download the first 3 chapters of Less Chaos More Cash Or visit aaroncrowley.com Lastly, if you’d like to reach out to me directly, email me! 

When your team is working at their maximum potential, everyone wins!   Your customers win, you win, and your team wins!   In this episode, we discuss two dimensions of trusting your people:   Believing they WANT to do great work Believing that they CAN do great work   We also discuss how a process enables good work to continue, grow and expand…eventually enabling you to grow your business and get away from it for a change!   Enjoy and Happy Fabricating!   Aaron   Click Here for One on One coaching with Aaron.   Click Here to download the first 3 chapters of Less Chaos More Cash for FREE!

Stressed out?  Pessimistic or Negative thoughts creeping in?  Disappointed over something?  If so, you’re just like me

Have you ever had a problem in your business, and you took action to solve that problem only to find out later that you still had the same problem?  Do you find yourself saying things like - I thought we fixed that a few weeks ago!  We already solved that problem, didn’t we?! In this episode, I’ll share some simple ways to generate lasting solutions to problems – and build the capability of your employees. Is your fab shop healthy enough to weather the recession?  If not, or if you’re not sure, you’ll want to check out Fabricator’s Business Academy.  In just 10 weeks you can set your shop on the right path to better handle an economic downturn. Fabricator’s Business Academy is a unique combination of financial analysis, marketing, and sales designed by experts specifically for fab shops.  You'll get hands-on tools and experience so you can prepare your shop to weather the storm with confidence.  Only 10 shops will be accepted, so if you want help, save your spot now.  Just go to FabricatorsBusinessAcademy.com

When you start digging, it’s not hard to find what I call ‘Unsung Heroes’ in our industry.  In this episode, we talk with Gina Gardner who has worked with Cosentino, the Artisan Group, is a mentor for Women In Stone, and is currently with BB Industries.  Along the way, she shares some great suggestions on how you can improve the visibility and notoriety of your fab shop. Click here to access Gina's press release or visit: https://noliftsystem.com/wp-content/uploads/BBI-Introduces-Game-Changing-Inline-Tooling-edited-1-22.pdf I hope you enjoy the episode and Happy Fabricating! Is your fab shop healthy enough to weather the recession?  If not, or if you’re not sure, you’ll want to check out Fabricator’s Business Academy.  In just 10 weeks you can set your shop on the right path to better handle an economic downturn. Fabricator’s Business Academy is a unique combination of financial analysis, marketing, and sales designed by experts specifically for fab shops.  You'll get hands-on tools and experience so you can

Are you ready for whatever this next recession or ‘soft landing’ is going to bring?  Do you know where you should spend marketing and ad money for the best impact?  Can you quantify which market segments – retail, big box, K&B, contractors, etc. – are more profitable for you?  Which jobs generate cash for you faster than you burn cash – and which don’t?   In this episode, I’ll dive into the mechanics of quantifying your intuition so that you can answer these questions – and more.   Enjoy and Happy Fabricating!   Click here to learn more about the metrics I discuss   Click here to learn more about the sales and marketing workshop that starts in September   If you’d like to explore coaching with Aaron – click here   If you’d like to explore coaching with Ed – click here 

This may sound too good to be true or counterintuitive.  Or it might sound crazy…to choose not to quote someone’s project.  But the fact is, opting not to quote work that you’re not likely to get is good business.  And developing a class act sales presentation will serve your business well for years! In this episode, I discuss how to develop a qualifying script and the fundamentals of a world-class sales presentation.   Enjoy and Happy Fabricating!   Click here to download my FREE video training – Radical Retail Sales   Click here to use the Stone Shop Biz Assessment Tool.   If you would like to explore transformational one-on-one coaching click here…and schedule a 90-minute complimentary coaching session!

Would you like to put more jobs on the calendar without having to generate more leads and produce more quotes?   You can, if you follow the following 3 techniques explained in this great episode of the Fab Lab Podcast!   Send quotes the next business day (from presentation or drawings) Follow up on sent quotes, the next business day Ask for the sale (give the customer the chance to say yes)   10’s of 1000’s of $$$ is at stake, and the companies that put these techniques to work for them will have it…those that don’t, won't.   Enjoy!   If you’d like to experience high level one on one coaching, click here, to set up a no strings attached 90-minute complimentary coaching session with Aaron Crowley   If you’d like to use the Stone Shop Biz Assessment Tool, click here.    Happy Fabricating!

Want to grow your profits without growing your headaches?  Want to grow your profits without growing your business? The fact is you can and its easier than you think! In this episode we cover the following: Price Increase – minor increase = massive impact High Margin Upgrades – grow the size of the jobs you’ve already sold Cost Cutting – reduce OT and grow your profits Enjoy To get an excel spreadsheet with the #’s used in this episode click here  and click the “connect with me” option. To explore high impact one on one coaching with me, click here  Happy Fabricating! Aaron Crowley

Have you raised your prices?  Are you raising your prices?  Does the topic of raising your price cause you to sweat and worry about what your customers might say? Well, no matter how you answer those questions, there has never been a better time or a better reason to raise your prices…and it's not just because costs keep going up. Your work is worth it!  The customer values what you do for them and they will pay more!  You need to maximize pricing and profit!  You can! In this episode, we discuss the topic in detail with guest coach (and one-time Fab Lab guest host) Ed Young of fabricatorscoach.com You can read his recent article on pricing here: https://fabricatorscoach.com/how-much-work-can-your-shop-handle/ Check out the sponsor of the Fab Lab: noliftsystem.com Enjoy and happy fabricating!

Ready to grow beyond the “redlined existence”?  Would you like a more relaxed pace as you lead and manage your stone shop?  The way you get there is to first operate the engine at the Power Band instead of the Redline, and then to shift through the following 3 gears: Delegator Discipler Dreamer As you grow your skill in these areas, your business can grow with less reliance on you, freeing you up to experience the best part of owning a business! Enjoy!   Click here to use my free Stone Shop Business Assessment tool.   Want to explore coaching with me in a complimentary no strings attached 90-minute coaching experience? Click here…it might just change your life and revolutionize your business!   And you can download the first 3 chapters of my book, Less Chaos More Cash at aaroncrowley.com   Happy Fabricating!

Are you a doer, director, or dictator?  In this episode, we assess each stage (or gear) and how the redline effect happens at each stage.  We also discuss how to escape the redline experience so you can get your life and your profits back!   Click here for my free Stone Shop Assessment Tool.   Want to explore coaching with me in a complimentary no strings attached 90-minute coaching experience?  Click here…it might just change your life and revolutionize your business!   And you can download the first 3 chapters of my book, Less Chaos More Cash at aaroncrowley.com    Happy Fabricating!

Your stone shop is an incredible asset.  It is an “engine” that has the potential to provide you with massive wealth creation opportunities!  But it must be maintained and cared for.  Is your stone shop, your wealth creation engine a well-oiled machine?  Or is it red-lined and at the risk of overheating? Either way, this episode begins a short series on how to “shift through the gears” as an owner of a stone shop! Click here to take the Stone Shop Assessment. Click here if you would like to schedule a complimentary 90 coaching experience with Aaron.

High demand and lack of labor running you ragged as you make up the difference?  Thinking that growing might be the answer to your challenges?  It might be. But what if there is another way to reduce stress and higher profits? Well in this episode, I suggest a highly controversial approach: Shrink your capacity and headcount Shrink the number of tasks you must perform thru delegation Both of these tactics will result in higher profits and less stress! Enjoy and happy fabricating!   If you would like to take advantage of a complimentary 90-minute coaching experience, Click here and tell me about your business and we will schedule a no strings attached coaching session!   Click here to read the original article in the SRG.   Visit aaroncrowley.com and download the first 3 chapters of Less Chaos More Cash for FREE!

Economic forecasts are essential and smart business owners pay attention to them. But those forecasts can be too general and there can be enough lag in when they are made available to render them obsolete. As such, smart stone shop owners must look to data inside their own business to use as leading indicators. In this episode, we discuss leading indicators that don’t serve us well, and the one that does: Quote Volume and Closed Sales. Enjoy!   Click here if you’d like to meet with Aaron in a 90-minute complimentary coaching experience…and talk about implementing this critical strategy in your stone business!   And please support our sponsor:  The No Lift Install System

Interview – Economist Eric Post of ITR Economics Want to know what's happening and what’s going to happen?  We don’t have a crystal ball, but we do have a great economist from ITR Economics on the show today and he provides some fantastic insight as well as encouraging news for those of us in the stone business. Enjoy and Happy Fabricating! Want to explore coaching with Aaron Crowley?  Click Here for a 90-minute complimentary coaching experience!   Or visit aaroncrowley.com to get Aaron’s book!