Moving from a job in big corporate to building a soloist expertise business is a bit of an adjustment. Consultant Mike Ryan turned his sweet spot into a thriving business and last year doubled his already significant revenue—he shares his story:

The transition from being a buyer to becoming the seller—and how he built his referral “machine” (hint: cold calling didn’t work).

Why he ignored advice to grow by hiring employees—and what he did instead.

The two things that first accelerated and then doubled his revenue.

Why understanding the relationship between fees and value for his clients was a major turning point in his business.

How to resist the temptation to dial back after a 230% growth year and keep thinking bigger.

LINKS

Mike Ryan Website | LinkedIn

Rochelle Moulton Email List | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram

BIO

Mike Ryan is an expert in solving supply chain and inventory challenges for middle-market manufacturers. He quickly analyzes complex issues, generates cash, and improves EBITDA to deliver repeatable results.

With over 20 years of experience working for companies like GE and Goodyear, he tailors blue-chip best practices to help manufacturers achieve their goals.

WORK WITH ROCHELLE

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TRANSCRIPT

00:00 – 00:29

Mike Ryan: There were 2 things at play. 1 was figuring out how to work in parallel, work with multiple clients at the same time, which was definitely a mindset shift. And the second 1 was being confident and having the confidence to be able to look at a client and say, hey, here’s the value we are going to unlock in your business. The beautiful thing about the work that I do is it’s all measurable. Here’s the value we expect to unlock.

00:34 – 01:17

Rochelle Moulton: Hello, hello. Welcome to the Soloist Life podcast, formerly known as Soloist Women, where we’re all about turning your expertise into wealth and impact. I’m Rochelle Moulton, and today I’m here with Mike Ryan, who is an expert in solving supply chain and inventory challenges for middle market manufacturers. He quickly analyzes complex issues, generates cash, and improves EBITDA to deliver repeatable results. With over 20 years of experience working for companies like GE and Goodyear, he tailors blue chip best practices to help manufacturers achieve their goals. He is also a super smart and generous guy, so I’m delighted to

01:17 – 01:18

Rochelle Moulton: have him on the show. Mike, welcome.

01:19 – 01:21

Mike Ryan: Thank you, Rachelle. Thank you for having me.

01:21 – 01:31

Rochelle Moulton: Oh, I’m delighted. I’m delighted. So you and I have been in each other’s orbit for a few years through my other podcast, The Business of Authority, and we’ve had some rather eye-opening discussions over the

01:31 – 01:33

Mike Ryan: years. We

01:33 – 01:56

Rochelle Moulton: have. But our last chat made me realize that I had to have you on this show because you broke a significant revenue barrier that many ex-corporados struggle with when they go solo. So I thought we could start there. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. So how did you come to create your business? Was it always intended to be solo, or did you flirt with hiring employees? What was your plan?

01:57 – 02:42

Mike Ryan: So the plan for my business and really kind of the genesis was I realized that through consulting, instead of being tethered or obligated to 1 business, I could help multiple businesses. So that was the thought process behind it. And when it came to figuring out my niche, really where I started was I looked back through 20 years of resumes through all the supply chain and operations experience. And what I realized was I had a knack for freeing up cash by fixing supply chains. So that’s how I decided to focus in on helping middle market manufacturers solve

02:42 – 02:44

Mike Ryan: supply chain inventory problems.

02:44 – 02:52

Rochelle Moulton: I love that You targeted your genius zone, right? And how long did it take you to hit your first $100, 000 a year?

02:53 – 03:37

Mike Ryan: Ooh, that’s a great question. So I hit it year 1. Part of it was had a relationship, got into a business that was being cleaned up for sale. So I hit it the first year, but I missed it the second year. And it’s been said the lessons you pay for the ones you remember. And with that, I mean, it was a 9 month engagement. I was fat dumb and happy ringing the bell, getting paid, making great money. And when that engagement wrapped, What I realized was, oh, sugar, I haven’t had a single business development conversation in

03:37 – 03:48

Mike Ryan: 6 months. So that second year, I did not crack $100, 000 and then got back up years 3 and 4 back over that first hurdle.

03:48 – 04:03

Rochelle Moulton: Was there a panic in year 2? Because what you describe is not that uncommon, right? The first year you find a good whale client and it’s so easy not to do all the spade work of business development because, as you said, fat, dumb, and

04:03 – 04:19

Mike Ryan: happy. For me, it was the realization that no matter how engaged I am with a client, I have to set aside time to keep conversations going and keep relationships moving.

04:19 – 04:25

Rochelle Moulton: Yeah, so when you started your business, did you already have all the contacts you needed from

04:25 – 05:01

Mike Ryan: your corporate jobs, or were you going out and finding new contacts? New contacts, cold. I mean, I had been corporate for 20 years, GE and Goodyear. And it’s interesting because it’s kind of a bubble. So once I got outside of the corporate role, my first client, they were private equity owned, was able to get to know the operating partner, sort of the bridge between the PE and the business. And it was the operating partner who exposed me to the PE. And that’s where I realized private equity is going to be a huge source of referrals for

05:01 – 05:27

Mike Ryan: me. So it was figuring out where to fish and 2, then ended up creating a middle market networking group in Northeast Ohio. And the spirit of the group was really just helping good people connect. And it was through that combination of doing work with and for the private equity and the middle market networking group that helped me expand my sphere.

05:28 – 05:33

Rochelle Moulton: So, can I take that to mean that you did both the in-person piece in Ohio, but also virtual?

05:33 – 05:35

Mike Ryan: Yes, absolutely.

05:35 – 05:45

Rochelle Moulton: Okay, I love that because we almost never hear about people doing like actually in-person local networking anymore, but it sounds like you were able to use that to kind

05:45 – 06:26

Mike Ryan: of worm your way into the middle market space? Absolutely. I mean, pre-COVID, our last event before COVID, we had something like 65 people. And the list at that point was maybe 250 people, and we would rotate the list. And what we found was 65 people was too many to have a conversation with any meeting. So through COVID, that forced us really to be much more intentional about who we invited to the events. And what we found was 25 to 30 people really became the sweet spot where you’re gonna meet somebody new there’s gonna be a few

06:26 – 06:34

Mike Ryan: familiar faces but everybody can have a decent conversation without feeling like they had you know a football field to cover.

06:34 – 06:59

Rochelle Moulton: Yeah yeah I can see how that would evolve. Well, you kind of glossed over something that I sort of imagine our listeners saying, what, cold calls? Cold calls? Talk a little bit about, especially since you didn’t think of yourself as being a sales person. So how did you do those cold calls? Did you literally pick up the phone and call them or did you have a different process?

07:00 – 07:41

Mike Ryan: No. I think I tried 3 cold calls. I’m like, this is not who I am. What I learned was, I guess, first is refining that fishing line of, I help X with Y, being very, very concise about it. As I met people, whether it was just, you know, Northeast Ohio or through the private equity and their portfolio companies, it was asking them, Hey, you know, is there somebody else I should talk to? Or is there somebody else interesting that you know?” And wherever possible, I try to make it a warm introduction or a warm connection because

07:41 – 07:59

Mike Ryan: to me, I’m always open. I don’t have a call with anybody. I’m happy to help. But at some point, it’s, hey, I need to make sure I’m fishing where the fish are and really focus my time on people that either I could help or potentially they could make introductions for me.

08:00 – 08:18

Rochelle Moulton: I like that. I just want to point that out to listeners, this idea that when you have a conversation and you’re providing value to the person on the other end, and then when you’re done, you say, is there somebody else that you think I should talk to, is a very low key way to expand your network because they can just say, no, can’t think of anybody.

08:18 – 08:20

Mike Ryan: Yep, which is okay, yeah.

08:20 – 08:24

Rochelle Moulton: Yeah, but most times people will come up with somebody that they think you should meet.

08:24 – 08:24

Mike Ryan: Agreed,

08:24 – 08:33

Rochelle Moulton: yes. So Mike, as long as we’ve been connected, you’ve been pretty active on LinkedIn. Is that where you generate your leads now?

08:34 – 09:16

Mike Ryan: LinkedIn is a way for me to stay engaged and stay visible. At this point, most of my leads come through referrals. So it either comes through primarily through private equity channels where, hey, Mike, I heard you helped company XYZ, we’re having a similar problem, can we have a conversation? So a good portion of my work now is either referrals or repeat client work, where I’ve got a client from 3 years ago that said, hey, we need your help again. Can you help us? So it’s, I would say it leans heavily towards referrals And LinkedIn is a

09:16 – 09:26

Mike Ryan: way to stay visible. And as I work with clients who are active on LinkedIn, it’s another way for me to engage with them and help support them.

09:26 – 09:54

Rochelle Moulton: Got it, got it. And you know, it’s funny because People have a love-hate relationship with referrals, but when you’re doing a high-end service for corporate or in this case, private equity, and you build a reputation, you literally can get ongoing work from referrals and not have to spend a lot of time on business development once you’ve created the machine. And of course, I’m sure your second year, you were scratching your head trying to figure out how

09:54 – 10:29

Mike Ryan: you were ever going to create the machine. Yes. Right? And it is. I mean, Rochelle, you’re absolutely right. Creating that machine, nurturing the machine. I don’t know if I’m stretching the analogy too far, but keeping it fed and oiled, that’s the thing. Because if the machine stops running, there’s a lag. It could be 3 months, it could be 6 months, but all of a sudden the phone stops ringing. So keeping that machine going, even if it’s low key, just maintaining that momentum, right, that helps me 6 months a year and further down the road.

10:29 – 10:46

Rochelle Moulton: Yeah, there’s always a point where like we could just stop feeding the machine. But to your point, at some point it runs out. If we’re really good and really lucky, it can go quite a while. But it takes so little to nurture it on an ongoing basis. Like why would you stop?

10:46 – 10:47

Mike Ryan: Yeah, I agree.

10:47 – 11:18

Rochelle Moulton: Yeah. So it was an experience you told me about I would just love for you to share with listeners. And it was a while back and you told me about this experience from your mastermind. And I think it’s instructive for people who are trying to figure out their ultimate end game, whether that’s the sale of a business or retirement or just paying for a whole lot of college tuitions. If I remember the story correctly, you told your group that you wanted to have $3 million in your pocket in 10 years. And

11:18 – 12:00

Mike Ryan: their advice was? Go hire a whole bunch of people. That for me, the way I look at it, I’ve got blessed with a wife and 4 children. I am happy with that responsibility, right? Keeping my family fed and a roof over our head. For me, hiring an employee is a huge responsibility because not only am I responsible for my family, now I’m potentially responsible for somebody else’s family. So what I’ve done and how I’ve helped with bandwidth and capacity is I have a network of trusted advisors where if somebody needs help with the voice of a

12:00 – 12:33

Mike Ryan: customer, I’m going to call Dave Loomis. EOS, I’m going to call Kimberly Dyer. So I’ve got different areas that are adjacent. In most cases, they have solo businesses themselves, so they’re not dependent on necessarily revenue from me and they understand, hey, I absolutely will call you when the opportunity arises. And having that flexibility by hiring other contractors or other soloists has worked very, very well. Well, the responsibility is

12:33 – 13:09

Rochelle Moulton: so different. So if you don’t call them in 2024 and give them an assignment, they’re not gonna starve. You’re not gonna feel guilty that you haven’t created opportunities for them. It’s that, I think it’s that psychological or emotional component that people with integrity realize when not always right away but once you actually have people on the payroll you’re like oh I’m responsible and so yes I have to lead these employees they have to create the conditions for them to be successful and for us to be successful together. It’s just a whole different ball of wax. But

13:09 – 13:42

Rochelle Moulton: what I remembered at the time was that the idea was, okay, hire a bunch of people, build up your business, and then sell it at the end of 10 years for $3 million. And the other part of that, that’s really the fallacy is that the market will be ready to buy that at that price when you get to that point. I mean, 1, you might not get there to the market might have changed dramatically. I think when I sold my company 6 months later, the deals were a lot smaller. It was literally like half, some of

13:42 – 14:02

Rochelle Moulton: the deals were half the size of ours for the same kind of situation. So yeah, it’s difficult and it’s more dicey versus, okay, well, so if I wanna have $300, 000 or $3 million in 10 years, then if I make $600, 000 and keep half of it, I’m there.

14:02 – 14:20

Mike Ryan: Right. Yeah. And that’s right. There’s there’s multiple ways to get to that destination. You know, I’ve kept that bogey in mind year over year over year and figuring out, you know, how do I break through the next revenue hurdle and in what ways can I continue to be successful?

14:21 – 14:25

Rochelle Moulton: Well you just led me right into the next thing I want to talk about. Thank you.

14:25 – 14:27

Mike Ryan: That was very smooth. You’re welcome.

14:27 – 14:50

Rochelle Moulton: Well, whenever we talk, you’ve often attributed your success to your willingness to raise prices and tie them to the value that you create and I was hoping you could talk some more about that because you more than doubled your income which was already Substantial in a single year And so I really love for to kind of tease out how you did that.

14:50 – 15:04

Mike Ryan: Yep, sure. Yeah. So looking back at 2023, the revenue for 2023 was 230%. So just over double of 2022. So

15:05 – 15:08

Rochelle Moulton: a fantastic year. Yeah, by any stretch.

15:09 – 15:48

Mike Ryan: And there were 2 things at play there. 1 was figuring out how to work in parallel. So work with multiple clients at the same time, which was definitely a mindset shift. And the second 1 was being confident and having the confidence to be able to look at a client and say, hey, here’s the value we are going to unlock in your business, right? The beautiful thing about the work that I do is it’s all measurable. So here’s the value we expect to unlock. And if I’m asking for a 10th of that, you’re gonna get the payback.

15:48 – 16:25

Mike Ryan: The payback is going to be there. Having that confidence, knowing the value that we can unlock made it easier for me to say, hey, I want to be of service. I like your business. I like the people. Here’s what the investment is going to look like.” And I found that starting from, hey, here’s the value we anticipate creating and walking back to the investment for an engagement, I want to make it as much of a, oh my God, yeah. So I get to put $9 in my pocket and I give you $1. Okay. Right? I’m good

16:25 – 17:05

Mike Ryan: with that. And really the other thing that helps with that Rochelle is private equity understands that every dollar that we can put to the bottom line, there’s a multiple associated with it. If it’s a manufacturing business that has an EBITDA multiple of 6, every dollar we put to the bottom line, when the PE sells that business, each single dollar is worth $6. So if I’m asking for 10 cents of that $1, when it falls to the bottom line, there really is, there’s no math involved. It’s like, cause they know they’re gonna get a multiple of whatever

17:05 – 17:10

Mike Ryan: we can kick to the bottom line. So again, it just, it helps to bring it all back

17:10 – 17:16

Rochelle Moulton: to value. Well, plus speed, I would think. I’m thinking most PE companies want to be able to turn their companies around faster.

17:17 – 17:44

Mike Ryan: Yeah, Absolutely. So this is, you know, hey, there’s a three-year payback. No, that’s not going to fly. Right? We’re typically looking inside of a 12-month window to realize whether it’s freeing up working capital, unfreezing cash that’s frozen in inventory, or making the...

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