Business Performance Advisory
"What you don't know yet — what you haven't thought of yet — that's what truly matters. Figure that out. Every day. Every hour. Every second."
Mark Shoe has spent forty years in business — building companies from scratch, buying and selling operations, rehabbing and flipping properties, and walking into other people's businesses as a fresh set of eyes. He has been the owner, the operator, and the outside perspective. In every one of those situations, the results improved. He hasn't had a different experience yet.
Before you do anything else — keep scrolling.
Most business advice sounds the same. Garthism is not. Founder Mark Shoe has spent forty years inside businesses — Starting them, building them, Operating them as a middle manager, buying them, turning them around, and selling them — working from a set of principles — Garthism's — his grandfather started passing down to him in 1976. Not theories. Not frameworks. A way of living and operating that dynamically changes outcomes.
Take a few seconds. Read what Garthism has built here. Then decide if it's worth a conversation.
— Garthism · Founded by Mark Shoe
In the 1930s, a young man named Garth came through the Depression determined to make something of himself. He started by knocking on doors in Detroit — telling stories, building relationships, selling magazine subscriptions one door at a time. He went on to build and own large condo and golf course developments across the Southern US. He grew them from nothing into something lasting. Everything he built, he built on a foundation of values — principles about how to treat people, what drives the choices you make, and equally, why you don't do certain things. Those are what Garthisms are. Not tactics. Not tips. A value system and a way of moving through the world.
When Mark was seven years old, his grandfather, Garth, shared with him the Garthism that is the lens he peers at the world with. Mark has lived every moment of his life through that lens ever since:
"Mark, it is not what you know that matters. You're gonna act, react, respond, make decisions based upon what you know — that's not what truly matters. What truly matters is what you don't know yet. What you haven't thought of yet. What is that 800 pound gorilla around the corner that's about to get you. Every single day, every single hour, every single minute, every single second — everything you see, or hear, or think — figure out what it is you don't know about it."
— Garthism • 1976This is not a piece of advice Mark received once and filed away. It became a complete mentality — lived by since childhood. Not just in business. In everything. If something crosses his path that he doesn't understand and needs to understand, learning it is not optional. That drive is constant. It does not turn off.
Garth passed 82 of his Garthisms to Mark over a lifetime of conversations — not in one sitting, but over decades, through phone calls and visits that continued well into the nineties. They became the foundation of everything Mark is. Not just how he operates in business, but who he is as a person. Every decision. Every relationship. Every moment. He is defined by these principles.
There is one more Garthism that has shaped every business relationship Mark has ever had:
"When you meet your customer and shake their hand — say to yourself, in the back of your brain — I will see you at the family reunion in July. And from that second forward, treat them accordingly."
— Garthism • 1989Mark shares this Garthism at the moment it matters most. Sometimes it's hours into a conversation — when the easy part is over and something important needs to be said. He stops and tells them: when we first met, I said to myself, I am going to see this person at the family reunion in July. And from that second forward, everything I have done has been lived accordingly. That is why our time together has gone the way it has gone. He has been their advocate from the first handshake — not as a technique, but as a commitment. And because of that, he has earned the right to be direct with them. To tell them what they need to hear. To ask them to trust his direction. Every person. Every conversation. No exceptions.
A broken process, a team issue, a number that has been off for months — it is there whether anyone sees it or not. Some people never notice it at all. Others see it, make a mental note, intend to deal with it, and two days later it has become part of the furniture. And slowly, without anyone deciding to ignore it, it seems to become invisible. You can have a multimillion-dollar foyer and a dirty mop bucket sitting in the corner. It happens everywhere. In every business.
Invisible problems are exactly as real as visible ones. They just don't get fixed.
"Monday morning, I walked into the foyer of the country club and noticed a dirty yellow mop bucket sitting in the corner. I thought to myself, I ought to get that and put it in the janitor closet."
"Tuesday, it was still there. I mentioned it to the desk clerk."
"Wednesday I caught it in my peripheral vision and just kept walking."
"Thursday it barely registered."
"Friday — I didn't even see it anymore. But it had been there all week."
"That's what happens in every business. The question is never whether the mop bucket is there. The question is what you're going to do about it."
— Garthism • 1982Mark walks in from outside. He sees what's there — before familiarity has had any chance to blur it. And when he finds something that needs to change, Garth had a way of saying what comes next that never left him.
"Mark, if something needs fixin' — there are only three times to fix it."
NOW. NOW. NOW.
— Garthism • 1982Garthism doesn't specialize in one type of business or one type of problem. You direct where the fresh eyes go — that's where the focus lands. Every situation is different, and the right direction won't be clear until there's actually a conversation.
If there's a part of your business Garthism genuinely can't help with — that gets said plainly. You'll hear what was noticed and why it's outside scope. This isn't about collecting a check. It's about earning one.
Before talking about getting more leads, the first question is what's happening with the ones you already have. If you're closing 10% of your leads — what's happening with the other 90%? One or two more closes a week, without spending another dollar on advertising, can change the whole picture for the year. The answer is almost always already inside what you have. Then comes more opportunities — measured, adjusted, and built on what actually works.
A business closes 18% of its leads and wonders why revenue is flat. What's happening with the other 82%? The most powerful growth conversation often isn't about more leads. It's about what's happening to the ones already in the door.
The information you need is often already available — just not in a form anyone's looked at from a different angle. Asking for the same data differently can reveal what every competitor is missing. The insight was always there. Nobody thought to ask for it that way.
Whether building his own businesses, managing operations for other owners, or leading departments as a middle manager responsible for specific numbers — the performance improved every time. Revenue, profitability, or both. That pattern has held across forty years and every type of situation he has been part of.
Took over a dealership in a potato field the owner said couldn't be profitable. Found publicly available data nobody else had thought to ask for differently. Same people. No new hires, no firings. Fourteen months: from losing $190,000 a year to making $483,000.
First business before he was old enough to drive. Two businesses built and sold before he was twenty-three. Three decades in automotive leadership while simultaneously buying, rehabbing, and flipping properties and starting businesses across multiple industries. No safety net. Just a way of operating.
Passed from a grandfather to his grandson starting in 1976 — over decades of conversations that never really stopped. They became the foundation of how Mark leads, how he sees business, and how he moves through the world every single day.
— Garthism • 1978
Mark is the person who gets to his car after checkout, realizes something didn't scan — sixty cents — and walks back in to pay for it. Nobody's watching. Nobody would have known. He does it because it's right.
That's how this works. He'll tell you honestly if he thinks he can help — and honestly if he can't, before you spend a dollar. And if you don't feel like you're getting real value from working together, you won't pay.
Mark Shoe grew up without a safety net. Parents divorced young. On his own at seventeen. The only thing he ever had to count on completely was how his mind works — the clarity of it, the positivity of it, the absolute knowing that he can make things happen. He has proven it enough times, starting young enough, that doubt never really got a foothold.
He started his first business before he was old enough to drive — a paper route that became thirteen lawn mowing customers he found by knocking on the same doors where he delivered papers. Snow blowing followed to earn more money. Then construction work through high school, leading painting crews of men in their twenties and thirties, he was sixteen, writing estimates, running jobs. He learned early what it meant to make yourself useful to people who had no obligation to let you.
After serving in the United States Navy, he built a pressure washing business from nothing, then acquired a second operation and grew it to nine trucks washing thousands of units a week. He sold both while still in his early twenties, walked into automotive sales, and became the number one salesperson his first month. Management within the year. Three decades of operating, owning, and turning around franchise dealerships followed — while simultaneously buying, rehabbing, and flipping properties, building others from scratch, and starting and selling businesses across multiple industries.
The role never mattered — owner, operator, or manager responsible for specific numbers. The results improved every time. That is not a streak. That is a way of operating.
That is who walks into your business when you work with Garthism. Not a consultant with a methodology. A man who has built things from nothing, bought and sold operations, turned around businesses in every condition, and lived by 82 principles his grandfather started passing down before he was old enough to tie his own shoes.
Before you read anything else about working together — watch this first.
Mark Shoe — Founder, Garthism • 2 minutesGarthism works with businesses at every level — from the one-person operation just getting started to established companies with complex challenges. Monthly engagements start as low as $199 and scale from there based on what your business actually needs. The first conversation tells both parties what that looks like.
Every business is different. There is no preset plan. The first step is listening — and after that first conversation, you'll hear honestly what Garthism thinks it can do. And what it can't.
Mark Shoe and the client get to know each other. You share what's going on. Questions get asked, the situation gets understood. If there's no fit — it ends there. If things move forward, the $199 applies to your first month.
Start HereWhatever makes sense for your business — built after the first conversation. For some that's a trusted advisor available during business hours. For others it's ongoing analytics, competitive intelligence, or digital advertising. The scope is always built around what your business actually needs.
MonthlyA performance deep dive. A competitive analysis. A sales process review. A digital advertising campaign. Defined scope, agreed cost, clear deliverable. No surprises.
Defined ScopeGoogle Ads and Meta campaigns built around what customers actually respond to. Set up properly, managed monthly, reported on honestly. One tool among many — deployed when the strategy calls for it.
Add-OnWatch the video above first. Then, if it resonates — this is the next step. One conversation. Sixty minutes. No pitch. Just an honest look at whether Garthism can help.
Applied to your first month if things move forward
Zero risk. If there's no genuine fit — you'll hear that before you spend a dollar. And if at any point you feel like you're not getting what you deserve, you won't pay.
You'll receive a Zoom link in your confirmation email immediately after booking.
If you're not quite ready to book, fill this out completely and Mark will read it personally. Only complete submissions receive a response — this is how both parties know the time is worth spending.
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