Jim Lager Success Secrets Part 1: Follow the System

NOTE:  Texas Hose Pro founder Jim Lager is commemorating his fourth year as an independent business owner by launching his “Shot of Lager” blog post series.  In this series, Jim shares lessons he’s learned in four decades of growing successful service businesses, including the principles he’s used to grow his pandemic-era success stories Texas Hose Pro & American Hose Pro. 

This is Part 1 of the series.

In four decades, I’ve followed established systems (success!), disregarded an established system (failure!) & forged my own independent system (greatest success yet!)

Over the past four decades, I started four distinct businesses.

The first was a success.

The second was a spectacular failure.

The third was extremely successful.

And my fourth, and current, business start-up, that of Dallas-based Texas Hose Pro and soon-to-be-national American Hose Pro, is far and away my most fulfilling and profitable venture yet.

While they were all different businesses with different results, one lesson came from each experience: Find – or create – a good system and follow it faithfully.

Having a clear system is the basis of good execution and good execution is the foundation of success.

A Good System + Faithful Execution = Success.

I launched my first venture – a franchised business of a major brand – with little money and even less experience. I followed and executed their established system faithfully and had more success than seasoned franchise veterans who second-guessed the company and its procedures.

Unfortunately, my success made me cocky and over-confident. With my second venture – a franchise of a national motel brand – I fell into the same trap of many in my earlier franchise.

I thought I was smarter than the established, proven system and violated its basic principles without truly understanding them.

I lost a lot of time and money with my motel venture, but I regained my humility.

My third venture was with another national franchise in the industrial service area.  As with my earlier success, I started out with respect for the established system and followed it with diligence and enthusiasm.

In my fourth (and current) venture, I’ve been able to achieve even greater success as an independent, non-franchised business owner.

My successes and failures of the previous four decades have enabled me to create and execute my own effective system.

Unlike the prior systems that guided me, my system is designed to maximize the benefits to my customers, to my employees and my business without the diversion of funds to or restrictions imposed by a third-party company entity.

I am, in a way, my own franchisor.

Through painful and costly lessons, I have learned that rigorously adhering to a consistent system is my only path to success. The only difference is that now it is my system, and entirely my own success story.

My second bit of advice to those thinking of starting a business – or growing an existing business is covered in my next post:

Be Essential!