Breakthrough Breckenridge - myhomepage.ca · window cleaning business. Most of BTA’s 20 full-time employees worked at College Pro in the past. The company’s mission statement

Renovation Contractor February/March 2019 | renocontractor.ca 27

BY ALLAN BRITNELL

L ong-time readers should be familiar with Breakthrough Academy (BTA). Co-founders Igor Trninic, Danny Kerr,

and James Dale were speakers at our 2016 Renovators’ Roundtable, and the organization has contributed several columns for our Build Your Business section in the magazine.

When we were invited to the organization’s annual Winter Summit in Breckenridge, Colorado we jumped at the opportunity to learn more about how BTA helps its members grow and expand their businesses. Here’s a recap of the event, and some of the many lessons we learned.

We were invited to Breakthrough Academy’s annual Winter Summit held in Colorado.

Here’s what we learned

BUSINESS COACHING

BreakthroughBreckenridgeIN

PHOTOS BY JOEL KRAHN PHOTOGRAPHYJOELKRAHN.COM

Renovation Contractor28 renocontractor.ca | February/March 2019

B reakthrough Academy (BTA) was founded in

2014 by Igor Trninic, Danny Kerr, and James Dale. All had worked together as young entrepreneurs for College Pro, the national, franchised painting and window cleaning business. Most of BTA’s 20 full-time employees worked at College Pro in the past.

The company’s mission statement says, in part, “At the Breakthrough Academy, we believe in two core principles: that choosing the entrepreneurial path is a courageous journey towards achieving a fulfilled life of freedom and control; and that the trades industries offer a thriving platform for a business owner to realize their maximum potential.”

BTA’s multi-pronged program for business development includes thorough templates for budgeting, job costing, sales tracking, and more, a catalogue of customizable forms for everything from employment agreements to operations manuals, one-on-one coaching, and a mix of moderated and informal networking opportunities with the owners of other similar businesses.

“We want to help [members] implement all the business skills, processes, and planning that they need, while surrounded by likeminded peers,” says Trninic.

Initially, given the founders’ College Pro back- ground, the program was geared towards service

companies such as window cleaning, junk removal, and movers, but they’ve since expanded and fine-tuned their various components to address the needs of construction companies as well.

That said, BTA is not for everyone, and the organization actively seeks out only companies that are “the right fit.” Part of the vetting process involves a two-hour assessment call that includes reviewing each applicant’s personal and business goals, and analyzing their biggest challenges and opportunities for growth.

If after that initial conversation both parties are still interested, the process starts with a six-week long Blueprint Phase that covers “Six Pillars” of business restructuring (see sidebar). The cost of this phase is $4,000.

While some may decide to opt out after completing their six-week pillar program, most continue on with one of two moderated networking programs, lead by one of BTA’s business coaches. With the Crew Approach ($2,000/per

month), members are partnered with three or four similar companies for bi-weekly videoconference meetings (using the Zoom platform), quarterly planning meetings with a dedicated coach, unlimited one-on-one access to the coach, as well as in-person group meetings. The Team Approach ($1,000/per month) is a similar program, but with a larger number of companies involved in each group.

Most companies that join BTA are fairly new, typically in business for about five years with revenue in the $1–$10- million range. But not always. Paul and Margaret Janssen of JDC Custom Homes, a design-build company based in Shelburne, Ont., joined about a year after listening to BTA’s presentation at the 2016 Renovators’ Roundtable.

“We have been in business for 25 years,” says Paul. “We know our trade really well. But we didn’t really know the business side of it. [BTA helps us with] the marketing, sales, hiring, coaching our people, and strategizing for

BUSINESS COACHING

BTA BackgrounderIgor TrninicBTA Founder

James DaleBTA Founder

Danny KerrBTA Founder

the coming year. It’s been really good for us.”

Dustin Maclean who, along with his brother Darren, owns Maclean Brothers Drywall in Maple Ridge, B.C. (and received the Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the opening night dinner), whole-heartedly agrees. “I can’t say enough good things about what we’ve learned [working with BTA].”

Today, BTA has more than 230 active members across the U.S. and Canada, including more than 50 renovators, homebuilders, and developers. Combined, BTA member companies pulled in just under $500- million in revenue in 2018.

Last year, BTA was ranked as number 16 on Canadian Business magazine’s top 50 fastest growing start-ups for their two-year revenue growth of 945 percent!

A fter gathering together in Denver,

Colorado, attendees climbed aboard three coach buses to head out to Breckenridge Ski Resort, a couple hours west of the state capital. This was BTA’s fourth annual Winter Summit, the first held out- side of Canada. (They also host annual Summer Summits.)

Breckenridge was founded in 1859 during the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush. The town boasts many historic buildings including log homes and the Gold Pan Saloon,

which has been in continuous operation since 1870.

In the 1960s alpine skiing was introduced and, today, the resort boasts five peaks at elevations in the 13,000-foot range, with dozens of ski runs in the winter and hiking and mountain biking trails in the summer.

The event coincided with Breckenridge’s annual Ullr Fest, started in 1963 to honour Ullr, a Norse god associated with skiing and snowshoeing. (Okay, it was a marketing stunt, but one

that’s proven perennially popular.) Today, Ullr Fest includes a wacky parade of homemade floats, polar dipping in the local murky pond, a massive bonfire, and an annual attempt to re-set the record for most participants simultaneously downing a shot-ski – drinks consumed from shot glasses fastened to retired skis. This year they lined up 1,300 participants with more than 400 connected skis stretching up and down Main Street.

1 Clear business objectives on a defined budget.

2 A detailed organizational structure that links to every employee’s goals and objectives.

3 Finding and recruiting the people with the skills you need.

4 Building a training program that puts every employee on the same page.

5 Sales and marketing that attracts your ideal client, rather than just more clients.

6 Determining your goals and defining how you’ll achieve them.

BREAKTHROUGH ACADEMY’S

SixPILLARS

Pillage in the Village: BTA’s Winter Summit was timed to coincide with Breckenridge’s annual Ullr Fest.

Breckenridge Backgrounder

BUSINESS COACHING



P rior to an intensive day of small group

discussions, Leonard Buhler of Lenmark Industries in Langley, B.C., kicked things off with his presentation on the “Leadership Tool Box.” His well-received presentation included a number of tried-and-true techniques for business leaders to manage employees and improve their companies from the top down.

One key aspect of leadership is being a visionary by imaging the

future and then “seeing the present from that future.” In other words, you have to envision where you want your business to be, and then think about what you can and should do today to get yourself there. Too often, business owners get caught up in the day-to-day and don’t step back to think about the future. “If you’re only focussed on today you’ll get distracted and never achieve your vision,” says Buhler.

He also touched on author and business coach

Patrick Lencioni’s work on “The Ideal Team Player,” explaining how you want employees that are “hungry, humble, and smart.” People lacking any of those traits will cause you problems. Someone who is humble and smart, but lacks hunger is a “lovable slacker,” while

those that are humble and hungry, but lack smarts will go around making a mess of things.

He also discussed how to identify “the missing link” when trying to implement complex changes. Successfully implementing a new direction in a business requires having a clear vision for the change, providing incentives and resources for implementation, and having a clear action plan. If any of those components are missing, you’ll end up with failure. A lack of clear vision, for example, will leave your team confused, while a missing action plan will only lead to false starts.

True leadership requires both emotional strength – “You’ve got to be able to take it on the chin” – and a willingness to hand things off in times of crisis to

BUSINESS COACHING

Leadership Tool Box

Leonard Buhler of Lenmark Industries kicked things off with a presentation on leadership skills.

Renovation Contractor February/March 2019 | renocontractor.ca ??

lawyers, accountants, or other appropriate parties who won’t be as emotionally invested as you are.

He then segued into a section about “emotional curves” based on the work of leadership coaching expect Bob Lewis. As Buhler explained, “When you implement change [to business operations] there’s an emotional reaction [employees have] that’s somewhat like grieving.” These emotions range from denial and shock, through anger and sadness, then hopefully to acceptance and enthusiasm for the new direction.

Part of a leader’s roll is to address each employee’s specific concerns and help them understand the long-term view. “If they fear the new system won’t work,” suggests Buhler, “then provide them validation. ‘You’re right, it might not

work.’” If you’re able to successfully talk them through their concerns, eventually you’ll get most (if not all) team members on board.

Buhler wrapped up by talking about the “bulldozer effect,” an apt analogy for the crowd. He described two methods of using a bulldozer; move a full load or move a partial load. “For a bulldozer to be moving a full load, a lot of stuff will roll off the side,” he explained to the crowd. “If you want to run a successful business you’ve got to let stuff fall off the side.”

With their buckets full of valuable leadership insights, the crowd was ready to get down to the main part of business for the day: sharing their conclusions from their 2018 reviews and their strategic plans for 2019, and getting feedback on each from a small group of peers.


T he key business development

component of BTA’s Winter Summit is a daylong set of small group discussions. The morning started off with an icebreaker session where attendees were asked to pair off with someone they didn’t know to share their thoughts on, “What are you excited about in 2019?” Let’s just say it was a room full of enthusiastic people.

After Leonard Buhler’s talk about leadership (see previous page), members were broken down into groups of three or four companies from similar industries. In kicking off the sessions, BTA’s James Dale described the groups as “your little board of directors.”

About a month before the Summit started, each was given some homework to prep for the event, which included reviewing 2018 operations using a

“SWOT” (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis template, developing a strategic plan for 2019, and identifying key outcomes they hoped to accomplish at the Summit.

Each participant was given about an hour to share their findings with their group, and solicit feedback and advise on overlooked risks and strategies for success.

I sat in with a group that included Dustin Maclean, co-owner of Maclean Brothers Drywall in Maple Ridge, B.C., Jacob Kuiken of Everton Ridge Homes in Vernon, B.C., Kim Larson,

director of All Elements, a custom homebuilder in Kelowna, B.C., and Ryan Steward of RJS Construction, in Surrey, B.C.

Maclean kicked things off by explaining that since his company had doubled commercial revenue in 2018, that will be a key focus for 2019. (BTA’s thorough tracking

programs make it easy to identify which business streams are the most and least profitable.) Another potential area for growth is adding more insulation work to his projects. “Currently we only insulate about five percent of our projects, but we want to do more.” That prompted Larson to remind him that while insulation may seem simple, building envelopes are complex and require education and under-standing of how the various components work together.

Maclean agreed. “When you’re doing drywall, your liability risk is pretty low.

BUSINESS COACHING

Summit Summary

Group work: From left, BTA members Dustin Maclean, Jacob Kuiken, Kim Larson, and Ryan Steward.

You ask everyone for rebates?” says an amazed Jacob Kuiken. “I get

some, but I never thought about going to everybody. That could be huge.


When you’re doing the envelope, it’s huge. My insurance guy is not going to be happy.”

Another goal for Maclean Brothers in 2019 is to hire an HR/office admin person because working with the BTA system Dustin’s realized that while many HR- or admin-related questions end up on his plate, “I’m not good at it.”

One way that Maclean Brothers boosted revenue in 2018 was by asking for discounts and rebates. “I’ve asked anyone we spend $100,000 or more with, ‘What can you do for me?’ They can say no,” he admits, but impressed the group by explaining how he renegotiated a multi-tiered rebate program with his main supplier that now

pays him a 4 percent rebate on purchases of $3 million or more, which works out to $120,000 and up.

“You asked everyone? I get some, but I never thought about going to everybody. That could be huge,” interjected Kuiken. “That’s probably going to be the number one takeway for me.” Kuiken told the group that while he gets a discount from his main lumber supplier, he’d never thought to ask his other suppliers for the same, and was enthusiastic about getting home and getting the ball rolling on that.

Maclean went on to discuss how he’s trying to overcome his natural instinct to be the first one into the office in the morning and the last one out.

“I struggle with it too,” agreed Steward.

Recently, Maclean has adjusted his schedule to spend time with his son in the morning, then head to the gym before arriving at the office around 9:30. “Now I find I’m more productive,” he added.

During Jacob Kuiken’s presentation, he admitted that his biggest concern for the coming year was that he has three spec homes on the market and that he’ll be facing a cash

flow crunch if they don’t sell shortly.

This lead Larson to ask, “Do you have other revenue streams?”

“No, I don’t,” said Kuiken. “I have thought about going somewhat horizontal with a framing business…”

Later, the conversation bounced around from what types of software each company uses and business books they’d recommend, to new business acquisitions and some of the different charitable programs each is involved in.

While the formalized business reviews are important and certainly helpful, the general consensus among attendees was that these informal sidebar conversations that can have some of the biggest impacts on their personal and business growth.

The next day, Kuiken summed it up by telling his peer group: “This may sound cheesy, but I really, really appreciated all the feedback. I come to this event and feel inspired.”

Dustin Maclean of Maclean Brothers in Maple Ridge, B.C., received the Entreprenuer of the Year Award from the BTA’s James Dale.

Teamwork: Attendees split off into groups of three or four companies to discuss their strategic plans for 2019.


BUSINESS COACHING

Snow DaysThe BTA crew likes to play as hard as they work

1 Brekenridge, Colo., was founded during an 1850s gold rush. Many historic buildings remain in town. The ski hill – with multiple peaks in the 13,000-sq.ft. range – opened in the 1960s.

2 The BTA conference coincided with Ullr Fest an annual event held in Brekenridge, Colo., that’s jokingly intended to get Ullr, the Nordic god of skiing, to bless the region with plenty of snow. On opening night locals drive through town in makeshift parade floats.

3 A massive bonfire is also part of the Ullr festivities. Locals save up pairs of old skis and dried out Christmas trees to fuel the massive fire.

4 After participating in an Amazing Race-style scavenger hunt through town, teams threw back a pre-dinner “shot-ski.”

5 On the final day, most of the group went alpine snowmobiling. After a safety demo and some practice runs on a flat oval course, participants headed up the mountainside through wooded trails and then up

above the treeline to 12,000 feet above sea level.

6 The danger of giving an unfamiliar power tool to an amateur! Managing editor Allan Britnell managed to slide his sled into a snowbank.

7 For those too intimidated to hop on a snowmobile, alpine ziplining was an exhilarating alternative.

8 Even before it opened in 1995, Denver’s massive 34,000-acre airport had been the subject of a variety of conspiracy theories, ranging from it being the site of a secret underground bunker to being built by Freemasons or even a New World Order of Nazis. During some ongoing renovations, the airport has been poking fun at the conspiracies.

9 Don Vloet of Dun For You Home Improvement in Welland, Ont., joined BTA after hearing their presentation at the 2016 Renovators’ Roundtable. He was one of a handful of Winter Summit attendees who stayed on for an extra day of skiing at Brekenridge, Colorado.

1

2

3

4


5

6

7

8

9


B TA always builds its bi-annual meetings

around fun, team-building activities. The night we arrived in Breckenridge we were divided into teams of eight to 10 to participate in an Amazing Race-style scavenger hunt through town, trying to answer trivia questions and complete a variety of activities.

The final day of the event there were two options: snowmobiling or alpine ziplining. Your correspondent opted for snowmobiling – with a certain degree of trepidation. I’d only ever driven a snowmobile a couple of times, and always on flat, frozen lakes in Ontario.

The morning trek started off with a safety presentation and a rundown of how to operate the 550 cc machines, before setting off on a

BUSINESS COACHING

Work Hard, Play Hard

They were asked to reconvene in their small groups from the day before and come up with a list of the key takeaway for each group member.

I sat down again with the same group I’d observed the day before to listen in on their key takeaways. For Kim Larson it was to work on developing ways to incentivize her key employees; Ryan Steward was going to hire a project manager so he could focus on growing his business; Jacob Kuiken was going to ask for more rebates and discounts from suppliers; and Dustin Maclean was keen to re-evaluate his “Why” – why he does what he does – so he can figure out how to give back more

to the community. Once each group

presented their collective insights, all attendees took turns downing shots (of OJ or Fireball – most opted for the Fireball).

The funniest moment of the day? One member announced that, “My key takeaway was learning how powerful absinthe is.” It nicely sums up the fact that the companies that are working with BTA to grow their businesses know how to play almost as hard as they work. RC

10-minute practice run around a flat, oval practice course. With everyone (somewhat) comfortable with what they were doing, we divided into groups of three or four and were led by a guide through winding forest trails, eventually making our way above the treeline for some awe-inspiring views of the Colorado mountains. Pleased with myself for not damaging myself or the sled, we made our way back down to base camp where our guide took us on one final run around the practice course. That’s when I slid my sled off course into a snowbank! (See photo on the following spread.) Luckily, the machine and I both came away unscathed.

After lunch on the last day there was one final task for the attendees.

Documents

Breakthrough Breckenridge - myhomepage.ca · window cleaning business. Most of BTA’s 20 full-time employees worked at College Pro in the past. The company’s mission statement