Around 80 business people were in attendance on the morning of October 5 when Bill Gilliland shared strategic information with a goal of reeducating business owners and helping them build their business. Gilliland’s workshop consisted of interactive discussions of topics ranging from challenges experienced by business owners to effective time management to discovering systems that may help a business run more smoothly. 

In a small-group setting, participants were encouraged to brainstorm together, share ideas, and interact throughout the workshop. Attendees discussed finding their key performance indicators, defining their business culture, and scheduling regular team meetings. They also discussed methods of generating new leads, how small changes can add up to big revenue gains, and staying persistent with their efforts. 

One topic of focus was defining the vision of a business. Gilliland shared the vision of ActionCOACH - ‘World abundance through business reeducation’. He pointed out that mastering a business’s vision is the first step toward providing it stability, which is the foundation of any business’s growth. Gilliland also mentioned the importance of planning. He believes that having an actionable plan can help businesses and individuals stay focused on the right track and make intentional progress toward their goal. 

Gilliland’s comparison of daily disruptions to “a monkey on your back” provided a visual image of how distractions can become too much, preventing business owners from tackling their priorities. Attendees discussed what some of these look like - technical issues, employees having questions or needing help, or supply chain disruptions. Solutions such as proper delegation, daily huddles for answering questions, and creative problem solving were shared.

Gilliland also mentioned the importance of persistence and following up. “It takes seven or more contacts before someone commits to making a purchase, and most salespeople give up before five of those,” Gilliland said. “Consistency in the follow up is critical.”

Toward the end of the presentation, Gilliland asked the audience if they’ve gotten more out of this session than out of other recent workshops they may have attended. When asked to raise their hands if they had, more than half of the participants did so. Gilliland attributes this to the community setting. “Community is important. People get more out of their learning when it happens in a group setting,” Gilliland said. “This is why it’s important to build a strong business community here locally.” Gilliland asked the audience specifically if they felt that there is value in in-person meetings, and the audience responded with a resounding “yes.”

Several attendees shared their thoughts on highlights from their participation. Cindy Kimmel, HR & Benefits Advisor at Kimmel HR Solutions, said she realized that she needed to stop for a minute and do more to leverage her systems. “By building them up a bit, I could get the ‘monkey off my back’ and help my clients be able to do more for themselves,” said Kimmel.

E. G. Sebastian, COO of Revenu, a business to business matchmaking service, is a self-proclaimed “learning freak." He said that after reading hundreds of books and attending numerous workshops on business and personal growth, this workshop provided several great reminders. “I need to reestablish my KPIs, and I’ll go home and start to implement some of these strategies,” said Sebastian.

Katherine Mirosani, financial advisor with Edward Jones, said that the most notable idea for her was how making small changes can increase different KPIs even by 10 percent, and how these can compile to magnify a business.