Ernesto Mandowsky With The Million Dollar Machine

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia, it’s time for High Velocity Radio.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here. Another episode of High Velocity Radio and this is going to be a good one. Today on the show, we have Ernesto Mandowsky and he is with the Million Dollar Machine. Welcome.

Ernesto Mandowsky: Thank you Lee. Happy to be here.

Lee Kantor: I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about the Million Dollar Machine.

Ernesto Mandowsky: Well, the million. Most companies, most growing companies struggle to keep up with all the internal changes as they’re getting busier, as they’re scaling. And so what we do is we help companies design systems so that they can not only increase profit, but increase the peace and the performance that they’re feeling, along with all the growth.

Lee Kantor: So is that an issue you find in the companies you work with that they don’t have their processes? Correct?

Ernesto Mandowsky: Yeah, every company has processes, but they also have just so many tools that they’re using. They have like six different communication tools. And so it’s really unclear which one to use at what time, which creates a lot of confusion.

Lee Kantor: And the fact that every day a new one appears. Does that make things worse?

Ernesto Mandowsky: Oh yeah. It doesn’t help that ChatGPT is keeping everyone excited about new AI capabilities, you know?

Lee Kantor: So now how does it work if somebody works with you and your team?

Ernesto Mandowsky: So every client, they start with us through a 90 day program. And in those 90 days we set up six core systems. The first one is how they set goals. The next one is how they cultivate relationships. The third one is how they manage projects, how they manage work that gets done internally. The fourth one is how they communicate and promote their message. And the last two is how they design training programs and how they keep it all together through weekly, monthly and quarterly planning cycles. So we believe that these six systems are what keep the foundation of any business.

Lee Kantor: So someone can’t just hire you to come in and fix their kind of marketing automation?

Ernesto Mandowsky: No, it’s never one problem. Everyone goes through this cycle because as you’re going through it, you uncover all of the problems that exist. And that’s what usually happens in the second phase of work.

Lee Kantor: And then what is the outcome if they follow your plan?

Ernesto Mandowsky: The outcome is that everyone feels a tremendous sense of peace. Everyone has immediate clarity on what the company’s prioritizing. There’s ownership and understanding of who needs to do what by when. And when you have that level of clarity everyone can feel confident around when work will get done or when it won’t get done. Just it’s clear now and then.

Lee Kantor: Are there kind of is there workflow now moving more efficiently, or is it a different workflow altogether?

Ernesto Mandowsky: No. We use we like to we like for clients to preserve as much as possible of their existing workflows. We just suggest that they integrate what they’re doing with aspects of what we teach. So, for example, clients probably have a weekly meeting. Probably it’s some sort of a weekly status check in, but we want their status checking to be. We want for them to use our our software to run that status check in. Because our software helps them review all of the projects that they’re working on, all of their priorities, all of the relationships that need to be followed up with. And so we kind of blend both worlds together.

Lee Kantor: So, um, what’s the genesis of this idea? How did it come about?

Ernesto Mandowsky: I spent ten years in restaurants and, uh, working in restaurants, working in startup operations and even working in Deloitte and Fortune 500 companies. The challenge, you know, the size of the business is very different. Challenges was very much the same in that there were so many things happening and people couldn’t keep up with all of the initiatives, all of the requests, because all of these businesses were using so many different communication tools. So I said, there must be a way to be more effective and efficient when collaborating, when delivering projects. When building a business. So that’s when I discovered a software called notion, and I kind of took my best practices around designing these workflows. And I used this tool, which is extremely customizable to implement it in over 50 companies across ten different industries.

Lee Kantor: Now, you mentioned that, um, your system touches on a variety of aspects of running a business. What was kind of the early users of this? What were their challenges? Was it the holistic like you’re describing with issues in multiple areas, or were they coming to you typically with an issue in one area? And in order to solve that one area, you had to kind of, you know, at least discuss the other areas.

Ernesto Mandowsky: People typically come to me saying, hey, we want to grow our business. And so I’ll ask them, how many clients do you work with? And they’ll say, any number from 8 to 15. And I’ll say, so what happens when you double the size of clients? And they’ll say, well, we wouldn’t know how to fulfill that. And so that’s why it goes back to the way through which I designed my, my program. It’s not just one problem. You have to look at the entire system and how it’s set up. So that’s why every client starts with a holistic analysis of how they are organizing their business, how they’re setting goals, how they’re tracking relationships. So even though client thinks it’s one area, it’s usually a number of areas that they need to fix.

Lee Kantor: And then what’s kind of a symptom of a potential client is having that. The million dollar machine is the solution towards.

Ernesto Mandowsky: Uh, the scaling of overwhelm, uh, the feeling of overwhelm, this feeling of stagnation. They haven’t been able to increase the capacity. Maybe they’ve only been able to bring on three new clients each month, but they can’t bring on 5 or 6. It’s too much of a demand on the teams. And so when they when you don’t see that revenue is growing or number of new clients is growing, that is a typical symptom of a probably time to improve your workflows.

Lee Kantor: And are you working with these people individually, or is this group or is it a webinar based like cohort learning?

Ernesto Mandowsky: There’s two ways of doing it. One is through a cohort in which everyone is learning to make this information accessible. And for those who need more in-depth support, I do offer working one on one with people getting into their business and implementing what we teach.

Lee Kantor: So what was kind of the first hint that you were on to something?

Ernesto Mandowsky: Uh, the first hint was when I applied my same methodologies for a marketing agency and an organizational trainer and a coach and a life coach, the three of them vastly different, vastly different businesses. But they all experience the same pain, and they all experience the tremendous gain when we’re able to set up their business system. They all were able to increase their capacity. We productize their business and they were able to triple their capacity. So I said, you know what? Like I think this is the thing.

Lee Kantor: And is it industry agnostic? You mentioned several use cases.

Ernesto Mandowsky: It is industry agnostic. Um, we primarily like to focus on businesses that have a services model. Uh, the services model are more complex, and it requires moving pieces across different collaborators on your team. It doesn’t really help people who are selling $30 T-shirts on Etsy or $200 products on Amazon doesn’t really apply to them or them or manufacturing businesses, mostly for services.

Lee Kantor: So people who are kind of selling the invisible.

Ernesto Mandowsky: People selling the invisible, the invisible and very tangible.

Lee Kantor: And then, um, do you help productize that you use that word earlier?

Ernesto Mandowsky: Yeah. And for those who don’t know what that means, uh, typically services businesses that are earlier on in their development, they you ask them, well, how do you how do you help a client? And they can’t explain it to you because they’ve never written down all of the steps. And so what I do is not just write down all the steps, but we set up automations to support the delivery of that step. Sometimes it’s reminders, sometimes it’s laying out a list of tasks according to a schedule so that a team can follow a timeline when they’re working with their clients. Um, it’s really turning that service into a product, into something that is tangible.

Lee Kantor: And is that a product that is, um, kind of hands off? It’s a digital product.

Ernesto Mandowsky: Um, no. Services are usually. It’s a service sometimes, and a website is a digital product. But the building a website is a service. And so we turn that service. We turn that service into a product to make. It’s as simple as possible for teams and contractors to understand what is the progress of that service.

Lee Kantor: Right. But productizing sometimes also means that you’re taking something like a service and then turning it into an e-book or a course or a, you know, a series of webinar series.

Ernesto Mandowsky: It could mean that I don’t particularly focus on that. Those are more acquisition tools when you’re trying to enhance your marketing. I focus more on the fulfillment side.

Lee Kantor: So the services that work best in this system are services that are kind of bespoke, so that they’re creating a service that is being delivered kind of customized to an individual, not something that’s like a digital product. They’re just buying off a shelf.

Ernesto Mandowsky: Correct. The clients that we work with typically have $10,000 plus offerings in their services, with something that is extremely custom and bespoke to their clients needs.

Lee Kantor: And it’s delivered like kind of a human to a human. Yes. It’s not like scalable to get 10,000 sales necessarily.

Ernesto Mandowsky: No, not 10,000 sales. We like to teach people, hey, if you have a $10,000 offer, you will need 100 clients to build $1 million business.

Lee Kantor: Right? So it’s to create higher value offerings for less people. Correct. And then what is kind of your biggest success story thus far? Or you don’t have to name the name, but maybe explain the challenge they were having and how you were able to help them overcome it and get to a new level.

Ernesto Mandowsky: Sure. So we have a we had a $3 million software development shop and they, you know, got into the business and they asked them, hey, what are you focused on? What are your goals? They said, well, we’ll get back to you. And it took them two days to get back to me with the Google Sheet that they needed to pull the goals from. So after working together, we were able to get their 30 people in this company onto my six piece system, and now they’re at 5 million in sales, and they’re excited about the prospect of getting 10 million over the next three years. And it’s that piece. It’s that clarity that my systems have given them that gives them the confidence to hit ten, 10 million.

Lee Kantor: Now, is your system kind of a do it yourself. Do it for you. Do it with you.

Ernesto Mandowsky: Well, if the client wants to set it up themselves, I do offer do it yourself offering. Um, there is also the done with you or I support them on a weekly basis. Um, and then in very rare cases, I offer done for you. But this is all based on client’s budget and availability.

Lee Kantor: So now, um, how long does it take to get a noticeable result?

Ernesto Mandowsky: Every client is different, but people typically feel the results right in the middle of the implementation. They already feel clearer about how they’re fulfilling their service. And so within 45 days, they’re already feeling the confidence of increasing their capacity because everything is down on paper. It’s in the system, and they know that they can serve twice as many clients in any one month.

Lee Kantor: So it takes around 90 days to implement the entire system. Correct. And then once it’s implemented, is it like you’re done now or is it something that you got to kind of be continuously tweaking over time?

Ernesto Mandowsky: Well, businesses are, uh, eternal work of art. Uh, you will have to tweak over time. Businesses typically grow, and then they have to adjust whatever was built for them to account for the new level of capacity. So it is something after we after the 90 day program, we do offer continuity programs to continuously train and support the operator that is owning the system. Typically, the operator maybe didn’t necessarily work in a tech company, or they didn’t work in fortune 500 company, or they don’t necessarily have the scaling mindset. Um, so that’s why we offer this continuous training program in the form of a membership.

Lee Kantor: So the first stage is this 90 day kind of launch. And then after that, if they choose, they can become a member and then have ongoing support.

Ernesto Mandowsky: Correct.

Lee Kantor: And then if somebody wants to learn, uh, and get more information and maybe have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on the team, what’s the website? What’s the coordinates?

Ernesto Mandowsky: Yeah. You can go to the Million Dollar machine.com and you can press the button. That’s right at the top. We’re on around calculating your potential. We offer a complimentary strategy sessions around building the scorecard of your future business. Uh, we talk through what your price is, how many clients you need to serve, your conversion rate, how many calls you need to have, and really set yourself up to have that clarity before we actually get started to build your business.

Lee Kantor: Good stuff. Well, congratulations on all the success. Thank you. Um, and, uh, is there anything you would need from our listeners? What could we be doing to help you grow your business?

Ernesto Mandowsky: I would love for you to share.

Ernesto Mandowsky: Uh, we have a monthly workshop every month where people can come and do the work in community. That’s called the designer machine Experience. And that is something available to all listeners. Totally free, totally complimentary. Um, you could we can include a link in the show on where you can sign up and, uh, just spread the good word.

Lee Kantor: And will they find that on the website?

Ernesto Mandowsky: Uh, we.

Ernesto Mandowsky: Will find that at the end of the growth scorecard, after you get your growth scorecard.

Ernesto Mandowsky: We’ll.

Ernesto Mandowsky: Have information on how you can join our monthly training.

Lee Kantor: Good stuff. Well addressed. Thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Ernesto Mandowsky: Thank you Lee.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kanter. We’ll see y’all next time on High Velocity Radio.