Motivo
Motivo
Marketing, Consulting
20 October, 2021
How Developing and Leading With A Strong Purpose and Values Led to 2x in Yearly Revenue and a 35% Profit Margin
INTRODUCTION
Motivo, a leading pipe repair and rehabilitation company for oil & gas, petro-chemical and paper industries, turned to 3MKJ Consulting to help launch them into a prominent market position as they began their business. President Darren Billings and VP of Operations Blake DeRango developed a multi-faceted approach to thoroughly diagnose pipeline issues using Risk-Based Inspection Methodology, advanced cleaning techniques, and remote video equipment. Billings and DeRango combined their decades of expertise to address pipeline issues at both the micro (pipe) and macro (systemic) levels.
CHALLENGES
Start-up and scale-up capital
A major hurdle for Motivo, like other growing organizations was acquiring capital, people, and equipment to open a new venture or significantly scale an existing business without losing a major ownership stake in their business
Defining clear, meaningful purpose and values
Billings, President of Motivo, had worked in companies that talked about mission and vision. But, he felt it was never emphasized or authentic.
For many companies, purpose and are often not consistently communicated, or are not linked tangibly to the company’s overall business. In other cases, company leaders, lack accountability and do not receive feedback, or the purpose and values are not built into the everyday structure of the actual work.
Growing pains
By 2022, Billings and DeRango were overwhelmed trying to keep up with the tremendous growth. They wondered how they could keep up with the demands of the business. Both felt they spent more time working in the business, rather than on their business. Billings stated “You know this concept of the man who chases many rabbits goes hungry. We were trying to do it all and everything was important and we were not focused. And that focus is a big deal.
SOLUTION
Ownership Driven Model
3MKJ Consulting provided Motivo a half million dollars to start up and some initial back-office services to get off the ground. 3MKJ provides both start-up and scale-up financial resources to businesses we partner with. The owners retain 100% of their equity, and 3MKJ shares in the organization’s success via a small percentage of revenue and exit/sale proceeds.
Defining an Authentic Company Purpose and Values Through Workshops
Matt Smith, President of 3MKJ Consulting, worked with Motivo’s leadership team through several purpose and values workshop to extract, refine, and solidify their company’s purpose and values that felt truly authentic to their business. About the workshops, Billings said, “What was most profound was that we actually did the work to come up with something that was real for us. And I think a good way to describe it is when Michelangelo sculpted David. Michelangelo’s quote was, “The sculpture is already complete within the marble block, before I start my work. It is already there, I just have to chisel away the superfluous material.” And I think that was what happened when Matt led. We were trying to get what was there and then spend the time to develop the right language so that it was usable.”
Billings felt similarly when working alongside Matt to develop the company’s core values. He said, “Core values are really about leadership. All problems are leadership problems. But when things get tough, we ask ‘Why are we here? What is this for?’ It changes the game. Our values carry us through and help us perform at a high level. It’s easy to perform at a high level when it’s easy, but how do you perform when it’s hard?”
Developing Strategy Through the Entrepreneurial Operating System, or EOS®
3MKJ Consulting helped Motivo gain traction in their business by helping clarify their vision so that everyone in the company could see where they were going and determine if they wanted to go with them. The Entrepreneurial Operating System, or EOS®, is a business management system that empowers entrepreneurs to reach their business goals and improve the lives of every individual the business affects. EOS doesn’t treat symptoms – it helps cure the “whole body” by strengthening the Six Key Components™ of a business – Vision, People, Data, Issues, Process, and Traction.
Developing An Effective and Efficient Operating System
After 3MKJ Consulting helped Motivo set their purpose and values and developed an aligned strategy, they began developing and documenting an operating system to help them grow at the speed of their vision. 3MKJ utilized simple EOS® tools to help them build a scalable process and map key business functions such as their operational and accounting processes. “Just some basic things that we’ve done with EOS have created so much headroom. We are doubling our revenue again this year, but without EOS and without getting some bandwidth from some of the basic processes that we put in place it would not be happening. It would be broken,” Billings said.
Matt Smith, President of 3MKJ Consulting (left), Randy Mason, Division President of Insta-Pipe (center), Phil Harris, Finance and Information Systems Manager of 3MKJ Consulting (center-back), and Darren Billings, President of Motivo in a discussion about the Queen Bee function of business to proven process for brand.
“Our values carry us through and help us perform at a high level. It’s easy to perform at a high level when it’s easy, but how do you perform when it’s hard?”
– Darren Billings, President of Motivo
RESULTS
After only a few years Motivo has seen tremendous growth and will continue to use 3MKJ Consulting as a valued partner and their resources in helping them meet their big, hairy and audacious goals.
Motivo Reached $5 Million in Revenue Second Year in Business With 35% Net Profit
Billings said this about his journey thus far with 3MKJ Consulting, “To get this kind of growth, keep the company together, and to keep the quality intact without Purpose and Values and EOS® we wouldn’t get to where we are now. If we fulfill the work that we have this year, we will finish this year at about $11 million. And we’ll probably drop 40% to the bottom line.”
Operating More Efficiently With Fewer Resources
3MKJ continues to work with Motivo to build out their processes. So far it has resulted in using fewer people and resources to deliver a higher quality service more consistently. Billings stated this about 3MKJ Consulting and the implementation of EOS® process and tools, “If business owners are trying to figure out how to justify how someone can come and pay 3MKJ 5% of my revenue. At Motivo we are at $11 million in business this year. And without processes and systems I cannot imagine that we wouldn’t have convinced ourselves that we needed three or four more people. And then you think about the cost of a full-time employee, both in terms of bandwidth for leadership and then the dollar costs. It is not hard to think about four people costing $350,000 to $400,000.”
