#2: Your Business Dashboard: The One Number That Changes Everything
Release Date: 06/23/2025
#17 Refocus. Relearn. Reignite
Better Lives Better Business
📄 Episode Description: After a series of insightful interviews and reflections, host Steve Arendt takes a moment in Episode 17 to revisit the heart of this podcast: reclaiming the joy and purpose of business ownership. When you first started your business, it probably felt exciting — maybe even life-changing. But over time, the grind can take over, and the clarity you once had fades into the background. This episode is your reminder that your business is a gift — not a burden. Steve walks through how to reconnect with your “why” and build a business that fuels your life, not just...
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#16: The Power of Community: Dr. Joe O'Jile on Building Better Lives and Businesses Together
Better Lives Better Business
In this special episode, Steve welcomeswelcomes his long-time friend and esteemed guest, Dr. Joe O’Jile—a physician, real estate developer, research lab founder, speaker, and innovator. Together, they explore the powerful lessons that come from doing life and business in community. Dr. Joe and Steve unpack the blessing and curse of entrepreneurial drive, the power of surrounding yourself with people who "get you," and the importance of translating visionary sparks into team-fueled action. If you’re stuck doing everything yourself—or feel like no one else can execute your...
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#15: When Your Greatest Strength Becomes Your Biggest Problem
Better Lives Better Business
In this deeply reflective solo episode, Steve Arendt explores the paradox at the heart of entrepreneurship: the very qualities that enable you to start a business can become the obstacles that prevent you from growing it. Drawing from his own journey starting a tent rental business from scratch, Steve reveals how his entrepreneurial superpower—the ability to create something from nothing and pivot quickly—eventually became his greatest liability. Key Insights The Entrepreneur's Definition"An entrepreneur is somebody who can create something out of nothing—something profitable,...
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#14 - Stop Managing Time. Start Managing Energy
Better Lives Better Business
Show Notes: We’re all told to “manage our time,” but time is finite — and none of us knows how much of it we have. In this reflective episode, host Steve Arendt challenges the popular idea of time management and makes the case for something more powerful: energy management and productivity focus. Drawing from a personal story about two very different legacies, Steve shows how thinking about time as a precious, non-renewable resource can transform the way you live, work, and lead. Instead of cramming your calendar, learn how to direct your best energy into the highest-value activities...
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#13: Rethinking Hard Work — Why Sweat Alone Won’t Build a Profitable Business
Better Lives Better Business
In the early days, hard work was simple: sweat, hustle, grind. Load trucks. Pound tent stakes. Grow sales. And it worked — for a while. But in this honest and reflective episode, host Steve Arendt unpacks a turning point in his entrepreneurial journey where he had to face a tough truth: not all hard work moves you forward. If you’ve ever measured success by how exhausted you feel or how high your revenue climbs, this episode is your wake-up call. Steve shares how he shifted his focus from working hard to working smart — and why profit, cash flow, and clarity around your numbers matter...
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#12: Stop Wasting Time Hiring — Build a System That Filters for You
Better Lives Better Business
Show Notes: Hiring is one of the biggest headaches for small and mid-sized business owners — and one of the biggest opportunities. If you want a business that gives you time to pursue your life goals and live with purpose, you must build the right team around you. In this episode of Better Lives Better Business, host Steve Arendt shares a practical framework for streamlining your hiring process through automation, clarity, and culture-based filtering — so you spend less time sorting through unqualified candidates and more time interviewing the right ones. This episode gives you the...
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#11: The Band-Aid of Scaling — Why Growth Isn’t Always the Answer
Better Lives Better Business
Show Notes: Is scaling your business really the solution… or is it just a distraction from something deeper? In this episode, Steve Arendt challenges the glorified idea of "scaling at all costs" and explores a truth many entrepreneurs quietly feel but rarely say out loud: More money won't fix what’s broken inside. Drawing from personal experience and raw honesty, Steve unpacks: Why many business owners chase revenue without asking why How money is often a band-aid for unresolved fears, insecurities, or past wounds The difference between healthy scaling and reactive scaling How to...
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#10: The Fisherman, the Businessman & the Life You Actually Want
Better Lives Better Business
In this episode, host, Steve Arendt, explores the tension between business growth and personal purpose through the lens of a simple but powerful parable — the story of the fisherman and the businessman. This short story has stayed with Steve for years, and toady he unpacks its meaning for small and mid-sized business owners who are stuck on the treadmill of constant scaling, never stopping to ask: Why am I really doing this? Steve challenges listeners to reflect on their life goals and purpose—and to ask whether their business is serving those goals… or replacing them. He doesn’t...
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#9: Aligning Your Values with Your Spending
Better Lives Better Business
Steve shares a candid story about how a big financial decision—buying a boat—revealed a deeper misalignment between his stated values and his actual spending habits. What started as an attempt to create family memories on the river turned into frustration, debt, and hard lessons about ego, priorities, and reinvestment in business. Through this reflection, Steve explores how entrepreneurs can unintentionally sabotage both their personal lives and their businesses when money isn’t aligned with core values. He reveals how quickly ego-driven purchases can derail financial stability, steal...
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#8: Leadership, Emotion, and the Courage to Own Your Mistakes
Better Lives Better Business
In this vulnerable solo episode, host Steve Arendt revisits a recent leadership experience that went completely sideways—and how he used it as an opportunity for growth through the three levels of work (framework from Episode 6): The cogs and wheels—getting things done The deep work—stepping back to improve the system The deepest work—doing the inner work as a leader Steve shares what happened during a frustrating nonprofit meeting he was leading: unclear leadership, a lack of direction, no measurable deliverables, and confused team dynamics. The result? Frustration, anger, and...
info_outlineIn this second episode, Teeco Steve dives deep into the financial side of building a better business. He introduces the concept of a Financial Dashboard for small businesses, focusing on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that help owners monitor and improve their business health. Steve emphasizes starting with one crucial metric: the Labor Efficiency Ratio, explaining how to calculate and use this number to drive operational improvements. The episode also explores the personal finance side, sharing Steve's own story of how lifestyle inflation nearly derailed his work-life balance goals, and the "inner work" required to align personal spending with life priorities.
Key Topics Covered
The Financial Dashboard Concept
- How financial dashboards help business owners make informed decisions
- The importance of monitoring key numbers daily, weekly, or monthly
- Working with accountants and bookkeepers to rearrange existing tax data
Labor Efficiency Ratio Your First KPI
- Definition: What percentage of gross profit is labor
- Understanding Sales, Cost of Goods Sold, and Gross Profit
- Why labor is typically the biggest cost in most businesses
- How to use this ratio to identify efficiency opportunities
Implementing Efficiency Improvements
- Walking your business with "efficiency glasses"
- Practical examples from tent rental business: truck loading, routing, setup methods
- Application to other business types: manufacturing, distribution, service
- How improvements create a game-like approach to business optimization
Personal Finance and Life Alignment
Steve's story of lifestyle inflation after business success
The disconnect between stated goals (family time) and actual behavior (working more)
How personal spending directly impacts business profit requirements
The Inner Work Challenge
- Defining what you truly want from life
- Aligning spending with actual values vs. perceived status needs
- Facing fears and being honest about motivations
- The ongoing nature of this work as life circumstances change
Vulnerability and Self-Awareness
- Understanding the difference between wanting praise vs. genuine relationships
- Making difficult choices to realign lifestyle with values
- Reducing business profit requirements through conscious spending
RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
Forcey Software: Recommended for tent rental businesses, provides real-time labor efficiency tracking. https://www.forcey.com/
Book Recommendation: "Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits" by Greg Crabtree, author and entrepreneurial finance expert. A simple read that will change how you view finances and business operations. Order here: https://a.co/d/5iwG0lI
Key Takeaways
1. Start with one KPI: Labor Efficiency Ratio
2. Use existing bookkeeping data to create your dashboard
3. Walk your business looking for efficiency improvements
4. Personal spending habits directly impact business profit needs
5. Inner work and honest self-reflection are essential for alignment
6. Better business and better life require constant adjustment and honesty
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