Welcome to Business Banter with Tom & Kerry: Your twice-monthly dose of real talk, smart strategy, and a little grit to go with the grind, from two locals who are passionate about helping local businesses thrive. Kerry Solmonsen, Executive Director of the Enumclaw Chamber, and Tom Sauvageau, local entrepreneur and Certified EOS Implementer®, team up to explore the challenges and opportunities facing today’s business owners. Whether it’s leadership, growth, culture, or cash flow, we’re bringing practical tools, honest insights, and a whole lot of heart—one topic at a time.

Kerry: Lately, I’ve been thinking—and hearing from our Chamber Partners—about what happens when “growing your business” starts to feel more like doing more for less. You’re adding services, expanding your offerings, saying yes to everything… but somehow the profit, and the joy, just isn’t showing up. So I brought this to my friend and trusted business coach Tom Sauvageau: How do we know when we’ve stepped outside our core focus, and how do we get back to what actually works?

Tom: Let’s talk about core focus. I was having a great conversation with a local contractor. He was explaining to me how he’s added so much business as of late. This was mainly due to him expanding his offerings, which included adding commercial remodels and repairs to his normal residential workload. He also started offering outdoor jobs like fences, paving, and landscaping. Business was booming!

“But you know the funny thing,” he quickly concluded, “my bank account doesn’t seem to be growing as fast as it was before.” He noticed a trend. Even though more money was coming in and going out of the business, it didn’t translate to more profit. In fact, in this case, it equated to doing more work and seeing less results. And that’s when I brought up core focus.

Core focus is simply that main area where you, as a business owner—or your business itself—perform best. By combining your talents and abilities, it’s where you’re most likely to succeed. It’s your sweet spot.

Some businesses benefit from expanding outside of that sweet spot. Cross-marketing is a term we use when we get a chance to sell a different product or service to the same customer base because it just “makes sense.” But done incorrectly, it quickly ends up not making sense at all. Every business should be asking themselves on a regular basis, “Am I still within my core focus?”

The issue in this case was that new revenue streams were being added to the business that didn’t allow the owner to stay in his sweet spot. Instead of working on jobs where the business knew their costs well—and could price accordingly—profits were falling. Costs weren’t well understood, and prices weren’t established appropriately. He gave me an example of a landscaping job that he knew wasn’t going to bring in much profit. “I made about 10% on this job, but hey—profit is profit, right?”

Well, kind of. Except when that 10% profit could’ve been time spent making 30% profit on another job. In that case, you just lost 20% of your profits by not allocating your limited time and resources effectively. When I dug deeper into why he made so much less profit, it came down to two things: he didn’t know the area well, and it was a type of job where you just can’t charge as much. Of course, this begs the question, “Then why are you doing it?”

He quickly started to see the light—his bank account wasn’t growing because he was stretched too thin and becoming less and less efficient. But one thing I say a lot: it’s not just about profits. Core focus also allows us to stay energized. When we’re working in that spot where we have the natural talents and abilities to do well, there’s just something about it that adds to our energy rather than drains it. Most of us went into business because we love doing what we do. Making money from it is just a bonus.

When I started to dig into how happy this contractor was, he admitted his satisfaction level with the business had dropped. “Yes, it’s fun to see some pretty big numbers. But when I’m working 12-hour days putting my time and energy into stuff I don’t really understand, it’s a bit deflating. I went into this business so that it would give me more time to spend with my family, not take time away from them.” And that was when it really sank in for him—his core focus was how he used his energy best.

Fast forward a few months. I sat down again over coffee with this contractor to see how things were going. He admitted the last few months had been a bit of a struggle. He took the advice about core focus to heart and started making changes. He canceled some jobs, which was tough. Some customers weren’t very happy. But in the end, they understood when he explained he didn’t feel he could do the job as well as they deserved since it wasn’t part of his main offerings.

It was also tough due to the cash flow shift. He had some bills he had to pay off from the high volume of work he’d taken on previously. That allowed him to realize he was making less profit than he thought—he just hadn’t paid all his bills yet. But once things settled down after that first month or two, he really started to see the change. Business began to smooth out, his bank account began to grow, and most importantly, he felt significantly more satisfied coming home after a day that didn’t leave him drained with no energy for his family.

This is the type of success story I see and hear often when business owners and leaders make core focus a priority. Of course, expansion and cross-marketing into new products or services isn’t always a bad thing. When done right, it can lead to fantastic success. But we should always be aware of what makes up our core focus—and ask whether that expansion is adding to it or taking away from it. Taking a periodic “priority” check is one of the healthiest practices a business can do. So how about you—are you prioritizing your core focus?

Kerry: Hearing stories like this reminds me why these conversations matter. So many of our Chamber Partners are doing the hard work—showing up, wearing all the hats, and trying to make smart decisions in real time. We’ll be back in two weeks with another round of Business Banter with Tom & Kerry, diving into the next challenge (or opportunity!) facing small business owners. Until then, keep doing what you do best!

Kerry Solmonsen is the Executive Director of the Enumclaw Chamber of Commerce and community advocate with a passion for helping local businesses grow and thrive. With a background in leadership, sales, nonprofit development, and business development, she brings both heart and hustle to her work. Whether she’s organizing a parade, launching a community initiative, or championing small-town entrepreneurship, Kerry is all about connection, collaboration, and creating momentum that matters.

Thomas Sauvageau is a lifelong entrepreneur and seasoned business coach with a passion for helping small business owners succeed. Over the past 20+ years, he’s owned or partnered in more than 30 businesses across industries like finance, real estate, and hospitality, many of them right here in our community. While he’s no stranger to the highs and lows of entrepreneurship, Tom’s true calling is helping others grow thriving, values-driven companies. As a Certified EOS Implementer®, he now works with business owners across the region to bring structure, clarity, and momentum to their vision.