Only 20 out of 100 business start-ups survive 5 years.
Only 4 out of that 20 make it another 5 years
Only 1 out of that 4 make it another 5 years!
Fortunately, there is a way to turn things around before it’s too late…
What I’m about to share with you is NOT another "get-rich-quick" scheme. And it’s NOT yet another ploy that only offers temporary solutions to the long-term (major) business problems of low profit, operational chaos…and an exhausting lifestyle for the owner…
I’m going to give you specific strategies you can immediately start implementing in your business. Again, these approaches aren’t temporary fixes. This is the same methodology we've implemented in leadership-level consultations with companies with annual revenues ranging from ten million to fifty million to one half billion dollars per year...and they will work for you regardless of the size of your company.
My name is Sam Carpenter, author of Work the System: The Simple Mechanics of MAKING MORE AND WORKING LESS, and for 30 years the owner of Centratel - the highest quality answering service in the United States...and likely the entire world. What follows is a story. Not any story, but my story. It's the narrative of how I changed my perspective – in an instant – and then quickly took my business from absolute failure to overwhelming success, and created the Work the System Method in the process - a powerful Methodology that WILL transform your business...
Are you spending an enormous amount of time and energy “fighting fires” and dealing with chaos in your business?
Are you making very little money in the process?
Do you feel trapped by your business – afraid to expand and equally afraid to give up?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you will benefit from what I am about to share with you, because I was just like you not too many years ago. But, due to what seemed like sheer dumb-luck at the time, I discovered a way to turn it all around.
On December 1, 1984, at the age of thirty-five, I bought Girl Friday Telephone Answering Service, an ailing telecom business in my hometown of Bend, Oregon. The total purchase price was $21,000; the down payment, $5,000, which I borrowed. There were seven employees, 140 small clients ($40 per month each), and 400 square feet of office space.
I changed the name to Centratel to reflect the changing times and then set out to blaze new trails as any new business owner does. But it didn’t happen.
Despite growing volume, our profits weren’t increasing. The business was a disorganized nightmare, always on the brink of disaster, and my personal life, what there was of it, devolved into shambles. Within a year, I went through a divorce and then proceeded to do my best to bring up my two children as a single, custodial parent. Things were bad.
I got sick from the pressure, but powered on anyway. The only thing that would stop me would be if I dropped over unconscious from stress and sheer fatigue (and after fifteen years of relentless pressure, this became more than a possibility).
If things were so bad, why didn’t I just throw in the towel and get a regular job? Frankly, I was terrified of rejoining the workforce as someone else’s employee. The thought of having a traditional job sent shivers down my spine. After all those years of being on my own, working for someone else would be a nightmare for me and for my employer. I rationalized, if I am in Hell, at least it’s my Hell.
One night around 3:00 a.m… I found myself awake yet again, exhausted, with an unfunded payroll less than a week away, when suddenly I stopped thinking about work details, business philosophies, elaborate theories, or some last-minute divine intervention.
Without coaxing, and for no apparent reason, two simple, pragmatic questions charged out of the blackness: What have I been doing wrong all these years? And, since the end IS coming, what is there to lose if I abandon past assumptions and look at things from a completely different angle?
I know it sounds corny, but I underwent an enlightenment of sorts. It struck me that Centratel was simply a self-contained mechanical device! It was—and is—nothing more than the sum of an assemblage of sequential systems: answering the phones, sales, payroll preparation, scheduling, handling complaints, etc. —each executed in a linear fashion whereby one step follows another step until the sequence for that particular system is complete and some kind of a result occurs. I saw that my mode of thinking and managing had been reactionary, defensive, and incredibly inefficient. I had taken the wrong stance because the mechanics had been invisible to me!
All I did was kill fires, unaware that they were the products of unseen, dysfunctional systems. These systems had lives of their own and were acting out their 1-2-3 sequences without direction, producing results that were unpredictable at the least, and debilitating at the worst.
My business was out of control because I had been coping with the random results of unmanaged systems. My life was chaos – not because I was some kind of loser or unfortunate victim of circumstance, but because most of the systems of my life were not being managed. Out of control, these inefficient secondary systems composed the dysfunctional primary systems of my life: business, health, and relationships.
I would create the Strategic Objective, which would define us and set goals.
I would put together the General Operating Principles, which would serve as our guidelines for making decisions.
We would write out our Working Procedures, which would exactly define every recurring process of the business.
Marching ahead without pause, we quickly began to see results as confusion diminished and cash flow came under control. In the first six months, my work week dropped from a hundred hours to sixty. Then, in the next six months, it fell below forty. In the next two-year period, our client base grew from three hundred to seven hundred as my work hours still progressed downward.
It took a long time to straighten things out, five long years actually. But as I look back, that’s understandable because we were figuring out the details of the Work the System methodology from scratch. We invested (and sometimes inadvertently wasted) time and money as we experimented with new concepts, tried to find the right management people, and stumbled with the system documentation.
Despite the setbacks and the additional workload, my physical involvement with the company’s daily operations continued to decline. Today, I spend just a couple of hours a week working on Centratel business. One of those hours is for our weekly staff meeting and the other is for paying bills and attending to various R&D efforts.
I run a high-end organic skincare business. Prior to implementing the Work the System Method I was working 90 hours a week. Now I work about 30 hours per week, my income has tripled, and my productivity has increased by over 500%. 
I’m in the solar lighting construction business, and thanks to the Work the System Academy I’ve turned my operation into a machine which functions without me there day-to-day. I now work as little as 5 hours a week and, a few months ago we took a unique adventure, my family and I spent months in a remote Alaskan village.
Before discovering the Work the System Method I couldn’t see a way out of the constant grind of long work weeks and little income. My real estate management company had taken complete control of my life. I had almost given up the hope of finding a solution to the pain, but now, thanks to the Work the System Academy, I’m able to navigate each day in serenity…and sometimes I have to pinch myself as a reminder that this new life is real.
But you may be thinking, “Sam, why should I listen to you? Just because you turned your business around doesn’t mean it will work for me.”
Well, I used to think that the Work The System Methodology might only work for businesses like mine, but the more I introduced it to people with all manner of businesses, the more I saw it working!
The solution is universal and indisputable, and just like the law of gravity, it works everywhere, in the same way, all the time!
The best part of the Work the System Method is that it makes gut-sense. No esoteric theory. No blind faith propositions. Just simple, mechanical steps that you can take to quickly turn things around.
Why should you listen to me?
Well, it’s NOT because of my pedigree. I’m just an average Joe. And it’s NOT because of my long list of degrees. I have an AA degree in forestry. And it’s NOT because I have everything figured out. I don’t!
Needless to say, I’ve taken the long road to freedom and wealth, but I got there! Today my income is comfortably in the top 1%, and yet I only work about 2 hours each week.
You know what I learned along the way?
Nobody likes working like a dog and getting paid peanuts! Most business owners live off the respect they get from the community because of their business card, and not because of their income.
Simply put, you should listen to me because I have developed a proven method that will take you from Underpaid and Overworked to Overpaid and Underworked! I did it myself. This is not theory. It’s fact. AND it will work for you –I guarantee it!
Since the first edition of my book, Work the System: The Simple Mechanics of Making More and Working Less published in 2008, I have heard from literally thousands of business owners around the world who have used these methods to their own benefit.
The freedom my business now gives me has allowed me to discover a new passion along the way: helping business owners escape the chaos that keeps them trapped in long hours, and little pay. I now spend considerably more of my time helping other business owners than I do working in my own business.
The more my team has reached out to entrepreneurs, the more we encounter a common problem. It’s much easier to agree that this system works than it is to get started working it! .
Scores of people contacted me to say, “Sam, we get it – but can you help us get started?”
The Work The System Academy is an online training program, and it’s unlike any other program you’ve seen in the often hype-filled internet. The Academy is designed to take you by the hand and show you EXACTLY how within only 90 days you will be working less (probably much less), and making more (probably much more).
This isn’t theory! Through the Academy, I will personally guide you through implementing the Work the System Methodology in YOUR business.
Remember when you first learned to ride a bike? I bet there was somebody (for me, it was my dad) holding onto the back of the seat, balancing the bike for you until you got the hang of it. Right? You weren’t aware of it, but with each successive attempt, your teacher would loosen the grip just a bit more until, BOOM! There you were, riding all by yourself.
Well, that’s the Work the System Academy. I am going to hold the bike steady while you learn to ride. Until now, my personal guidance was only available through our high-end consulting. But through the Academy, you will have me as your personal guide, taking you from overworked, stressed, and underpaid, to freedom, peace of mind, and making more money in only about 90 days.
The Work The System Methodology is the closest thing there has ever been to an “easy button” for entrepreneurs.
Your Declaration of Independence, your mandate for a better future.
Your Constitution, a set of guidelines for future decision making.
Your laws, the rules of your game.
These are the documents that will guide you to your destination of working less and making more! They seem simple enough, right? Creating these three documents is easy, but creating them in the way that they radically transform your business takes skill and insight, and that’s exactly what I’m going to give you through the academy.
As a participant in the Work The System Academy, you will be getting help from me, the architect of this methodology, and it will skyrocket your chances of success!
With my guidance, I will share the nuanced details of the methodology and show you how to create the core documents that WILL turn your business into a money-generating machine that gives you all the freedom you desire.
Ok, so how does the Work The System Academy help me get this done?
Once you are an exclusive member of the Work The System Academy, you will gain instant - lifetime - access to the Academy Training Portal. Here you will receive the following:
We have included every possible tool you’ll need to make this life-altering change in your business.
It is best if you start at the beginning and work systematically through the lessons and assignments, but you have free reign inside the member’s area. Most business owners can complete the Academy training within 60-90 days…and you get it for life!
The whole reason we went to such considerable trouble and expense ($200,000 over three years) to develop this training is because we want you to succeed! We want you to get out of the chaos, seize control, and get your life back!
For business or personal life, it’s not mysterious bad luck that takes people down; it’s serial inefficiency. The great news is that inefficiency is easy to correct if one can see the cause of it!
Stop looking for a sudden hand-of-God solution to problems. Drop the idea that life is convoluted and mysterious, strip away the complexity, and get to work repairing the underlying inefficient mechanisms one by one!
But if you do take action, think about what this can do for your income AND your peace of mind. Imagine waking up well rested and confident in knowing that your business will continue to operate smoothly with the systems you have put in place.
Let’s get busy fixing your business!
Introduces the Academy and tells you how to maximize your time and effectively use the program.
Learn the key principles that will allow you to be successful in this program and in life. I will provide a solid foundation so that you can learn the material thoroughly, as well as your staff (if you have any yet). You will set goals for yourself.
Learn how to get control of your life and business with systems and a mind shift. Spontaneity and creativity can abound when your systems are in order. I reveal the secret to stopping bad events before they happen. Discover the formula I used to get permanently out of chaos.
Gain the secrets to avoid procrastination and get in the fast lane. Learn the trait that all successful entrepreneurs embody.
Learn how to systemize the creative process. Discover what you should or should not actually systemize.
Understand the power of implementation. How to fix existing systems and how to make your own luck.
Getting the right perspective of your business. What does Centratel actually do to be so efficient?
How to take advantage of your body’s highs and lows. When to do the important things. How to maximize your energy.
Instructional tool to shape your future business. Learn how to communicate these power words in order to kill chaos.
More than a glossary, but a new way to communicate, think, and act. You now have a rock solid mental foundation that no one can take away from you. You are ready for rapid system implementation and have the tools to do it.
This is your key to a strong enduring strategy. This module will offer the mechanics and a template to create your own powerful Strategic Objective. This is the most important document you will ever create.
The rudder for your ship. How to systemize excellent decision making throughout an organization. A management document that will align and leverage your most variable systems: “people.”
What are the first steps to seeing the systems of your business? The guide sheet to build a solid plan.
The key to getting consistent wins. What makes a good working procedure vs. a bad one? How can you reduce your employee training time by 90%? What processes should you eliminate? No more learning by osmosis over a long period of time…
How to engage your team to get the heavy lifting done. The trap of multitasking; how to get focused. Keeping the machine maintained.
The system to create happy and productive employees. These are the most important principles for being effective with your people, learned in 30 years of business ownership and distilled into one video. How to achieve excellence in your business. Converting mistakes to your permanent advantage. Priceless communication systems that I have developed as a lifelong telecommunications professional.
Time management simplified. What is my secret? The system that creates massive task accomplishment …including – especially – the important yet non-urgent ones.
How to get the maximum ROI out of each system. How to be OK with mistakes so you can move forward towards “good – enough.” What does the powerful acronym POS really mean? How will it move your company far beyond the competition?
Fix your health and relationships with the WTS approach. The simple structure to plan out a great life!
Conclusion and highlights of everything important. This is the key motivation to keep you moving forward successfully.
Every video lesson comes complete with a transcript, lesson guide and a “Do-It-Now” worksheet.
Here’s what Kim, one of our recent members, had to say…
I read Sam’s book years ago (before I opened my business) and I knew deep down what needed to be done, but I never forced myself to stop and do it. The Academy has provided the discipline and structure I needed to move forward. It’s forced me to be accountable to myself, the business, and our employees.
Since joining the Academy I feel better. I’m more in control and more hopeful. If I am totally honest with myself; there were a lot of days I woke up feeling not so great. Our business was growing steadily, and as a result, so were our “issues.” I just hadn’t made it a priority to get documented systems and procedures in place. We are lucky to have a successful business, outstanding employees, and loyal customers. But instead of enjoying our success and celebrating our good fortune, I found myself stuck in a rut. I needed some help to get me moving in the right direction. It hasn’t been easy – but I’m not looking back!
I definitely recommend the Work The System Academy. Everything is already working better and everyone’s morale is improving with each new procedure. The Academy has allowed me to focus on what’s working and what’s not. Instead of dealing with the same issue disguised as a different problem, from one day to the next, we are thinking about what is broken and fixing it. We’re learning the difference between a symptom and a problem. The systems mindset is a powerful vantage point that I will use for the rest of my life.
Honestly, a lot less than it should. We regularly charge in excess of $100,000.00 to personally bring businesses through the exact same methodology that we’ve laid out in the Academy.
Why are companies willing to pay us so much for helping them implement the Work The System Methodology? The reason is simple…when this methodology is properly implemented it WILL result in less stress, less chaos, AND more money, plus more freedom.
And now with the Work The System Academy, you can have me guide you through implementing this powerful methodology into your business for only $495.00.
Yes Sam, I’m ready to change my business and life!
Please send me access to the Work The System Academy so I can immediately get started creating and improving the systems in my business – and start working less AND making more money.
And another Academy member, Jeff, says…
Our business was really out of order before signing up for the WTS Academy. We had no systems in place even though we knew we needed them.
One tangible result we have received from the WTS Academy is clear direction and instruction on how to create the systems we need in order to be free of the business. We have created our Strategic Objective, 31 Operating Principles and 17 Working Procedures for different areas of the business, which is the start of a solid foundation that will allow us to scale our business model nationwide.
We’re on the right track to creating a machine that will run like clockwork. I feel much better because our vision is being laid out right before our eyes for our team to see clearly where we are going.
I’ve recommended the Academy program to everyone that I’ve come in contact with who is a business owner or thinking about starting a business. I’ve always asked the question, “where’s the blueprint” and I’ve finally found it after years of searching.
I am a French signmaker and small business owner. Prior to joining Work The System Academy, my business was chaotic. I worked day to day with no real strategy and organization.
Since joining the Academy I have the “systems mindset.” I have a clear direction, my business is better structured, and a much more effective organization.
I recommend Work The System Academy for any small business owner, so that their business can be organized as a company.
Our business is making Precision Components for the Automotive and Hydraulic Industries. Prior to Work the System Academy, life at work was a frenzy of “Fire Fighting” and I felt there was no way out. At this point, I have more hope that we can turn this around to making the progress we all want. I would recommend this program to friends because of its potential to make a difference.
I’m in the Real Estate business. My personal business provides property for low-income families. My business life has been good, but I took way too many calls and handled too many simple items. With systems, I now put the responsibility on the correct person and empower them to make decisions without me and remove any fear.
I severed a business relationship when I couldn’t get my new contractor to read the book to understand our system and why it is making my life simpler in every way. I then discovered, after severing the relationship, he had stolen 54k and that is why he wanted nothing to do with our new “idiotic” system.
Roy H. Williams