Grow A Small Business Podcast

In this episode, Michael interviews Ian Whitworth, co-founder of Scene Change, Australia's most-awarded AV company. He's based in the Greater Sydney Area. Ian had the most obscure career path; he started as a vet, then a cab driver, and is now a leading figure in the audiovisual industry. After 17 years, Scene Change is still going strong. As a live event business they were shut down for nearly two years, but they survived by creating TV-style impact for virtual events with a national network of high-end virtual event studios, saying goodbye to boring home-office Zoom calls. This allowed them to keep 95% of their people, unlike many in their industry, so the company was strongly placed to bounce back when live audiences returned. Scene Change has debuted in several locations, including Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart, Hunter Valley, Melbourne, and Sydney. Since its establishment, its growth has always been steady. In the previous year, they generated $1,000,000 in revenue. Despite being a capital-intensive business, they are experiencing an impressive 25 to 27% compound annual growth rate each year, overcoming all odds, including the challenges given by COVID, and most importantly, they are sustaining their growth. Ian Whitworth heavily emphasized consistency, especially in marketing a fast-growing business. "Great brands, profitable brands are built on just being consistent." It takes a long time for people to hear and understand the many points of difference you want them to understand. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither is your brand. Find your audience, find your niche, and niche down. This Cast Covers: Challenges brought by COVID to small-medium businesses. Innovating the business model to the present-day situation. Ian Whitworth's obscure path to the audiovisual industry. Scene Change's steady and sustained growth over the past nine years. Starting businesses in areas in which you're knowledgeable. The significance of consistency in building your brand. Learning as much as you can about your business's many functions. Sales are a crucial component in establishing brand loyalty. Avoiding hiring a narcissist that can be detrimental to the team culture. Perseverance is the key to success in the face of adversity. Links: Ian's Linkedin Ian's Company Website Ian's Blog Additional Resources: Undisruptable by Ian Whitworth Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life by Rory Sutherland Quotes: "We allow them a lot of freedom, control is overrated." — Ian Whitworth. "If you're special to a smaller group of people, then you'll be more profitable." — Ian Whitworth. "Great brands, profitable brands, are built on consistency." — Ian Whitworth. "Learn to live cheaply yourself, and reinvest." — Ian Whitworth. "It's persistency that gets you through most of these things." — Ian Whitworth.

In this week's Quick Fire Friday episode, Troy interviews Gillian Pereira, co-founder of The Business Pickle, and Simon Smallchua, co-founder of Harvey. They're both based in Melbourne, Australia. Gillian and Simon are co-founders of companies focused on using business as a means of good, helping small-medium business owners grow while at the same time creating strategies and plans to make sure they're on track to make a positive impact on the world. For businesses that are at the start of their journey toward taking responsibility for the environment. They can start by asking themselves these questions, is it a matter of waste they are creating with their business? Is it the carbon footprint of the company? Simon and Gillian help business owners tackle these questions by giving them a clear map of where they are and where the gaps are with their assessment tools, sustainability plans, and insightful research. When questioned about one thing they'd recommend a small business do on Monday, their collective answer is, "Progress is better than perfection." When starting on something, like making an impact on the world, just starting a conversation, start with the kind of access that you have and not being pretentious about anything, which can do a lot, and build from there. This Cast Covers: Helping businesses grow profitably while making a positive impact on the world. Where it all began for The Business Pickle. Developing sustainability plans and identifying gaps to accelerate their positive impact. Importance of considering different ESG factors of a company to evaluate the sustainability and ethical impact. Working with leaders/business owners that are motivated to create positive change. Case studies conducted by the research team of The Business Pickle. B Corp, a social, environmental, and accreditation system that started in the US. Practical aspects that small businesses can do around ESG. Being comfortable looking into the space and not seeking perfection. Finding charity partners that are closely aligned with the values of your business. Links: Gillian's Linkedin Gillian's Company Website Simon's Linkedin Simon's Company Website Additional Resources: Patagonia Thankyou Quotes: "Mapping out their reporting and other activities to make sure that they're on track to make a positive impact in the world." — Gillian Pereira & Simon Smallchua. "We really love to work with leaders or businesses that are motivated to create some positive change." — Gillian Pereira & Simon Smallchua. "So do some research, talk to people in your network, and find out what's already out there." — Gillian Pereira & Simon Smallchua. "Be comfortable to sort of look into the space and don't seek perfection." — Gillian Pereira & Simon Smallchua. "Progress is better than perfection." — Gillian Pereira & Simon Smallchua.

In this episode, Troy interviews Jackson McGrath, the Founder, and CEO of Greenstreat based in Brisbane, Australia. Jackson has set up his own feel-good food business to provide fresh and green healthy foods for different occasions and cravings across five sites in Australia. They strive to change the way people think about, choose, and eat food. From supplying GIS at supermarkets and groceries to making condiments, and sauces dressings with his family as their business, which is actually a champion product at Hobart Fine Food Awards, Jackson has decided to create a healthier and better food provider than fast food industry to solve the health and craving issues of Australian people in their place. Greenstreat was established in 2018 and has been in operation for 5 years with over a million annual revenue and 100 FTEs. Jackson has said that growing a small business includes putting structure into the business, making sure that you're growing and you're stabilizing the foundations while it grows and scales. He added, "One thing that's hard is to identify the right people, take off those hats, trust the system, and trust who you're working with, it's your baby, you've done it since day one, so you have to pay a lot of attention to it." This Cast Covers: Providing feel-good food to many Australian people for 5 years already. Skilled in Entrepreneurship, Food Preparation, Fast Food, Creative Entrepreneurship Sharing the advantage of growing a small business in your area. From having 3 to now over 100 FTES across five sites. Importance of applying authenticity and transparency in marketing a fast-growing business. Discusses how success is a continuous process, not a one-moment achievement. Learn how to overcome the challenge of structuring into the business, making sure that you're growing and you're stabilizing the foundations while it grows and scale. Encourages entrepreneurs to think bigger and put it into motion. Learning business strategies through great people that have done amazing things in their profession. Cultivating work-life balance through separating the hours for work and responsibilities at home. Links: Jackson's Linkedin Additional Resources: Greenstreat Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara Eleven Madison Park by Daniel Humm Quotes: "You have to hit your mission of just getting your product to as many people as you possibly can in order to help your business grow." —Jackson McGrath "Make it a goal to surround ourselves with good people." —Jackson McGrath "If you provide the customers with an unforgettable experience, the numbers will look after themselves." —Jackson McGrath "It's really important to just keep going, success will come naturally when you change the way people act and think through your service." —Jackson McGrath "The biggest thing for marketing is it has to just be transparent, and relevant." —Jackson McGrath

In this Grow A Small Business Podcast episode, Troy interviews Naomi Johnston from The Noa Group based in Sydney, Australia. The Noa Group is a digital marketing agency. Who are really niche with who they work with. Real estate, construction, and financial services and working with a range of businesses from small to medium enterprises, government agencies, and corporate clients as well. Business doubled during COVID as there was a big demand for a lot of businesses, as you couldn't go to the store and buy things. So a lot of people were doing e-commerce, they're running Shopify sites, with the service-based businesses that we work with. In real estate, there was a massive boom as well. So people were just looking to move everything online, which correlated to a lot of development work for us. Looking back, Naomi would tell herself on day one of starting out "Don't waste time dwelling on your ideas or dwelling on you know, should I delegate, should I not? I think take action, don't look back, everything in life is a lesson. Whether it's a good lesson or a bad lesson, just take the action and learn from it." This Cast Covers: How they've known each other How the business was started purely out of demand Why she decided to niche down to only 3 industries Having a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 86 How COVID impacted the business Why she recommends building a strong relationship with clients How the business was funded How the potential of the industry is being affected by AI How delegating has helped the business grow The 4 main points for building a sustainable and kickass culture How time blocking has helped her have a work-life balance 4-day work week Links: Naomi Johnston LinkedIn Naomi Johnston Facebook Naomi Johnston Instagram Additional Resources: The Diary of the CEO with Steven Bartlett The Mindset Mentor by Rob Dial High-Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard Start with Why by Simon Sinek The School of Greatness by Lewis Howes Quotes: "Success is seeing other people thrive in their businesses and being able to see them paying their employees wages and then their employees being able to provide for their families." — Naomi Johnston "Build a strong relationship with your clients this will fuel repeat business clients." — Naomi Johnston "I felt like I needed to do everything on the account, being in control of the social media content that was going out on my client's pages. However, as I started to build the business, I identified, certain people have certain skill sets, and I need to be able to delegate them to those people. And as soon as I did that, I started to see the business grow, grow further and further." — Naomi Johnston "Recognize the team for the good work that they're doing because a lot of people feel undervalued in their line of work." — Naomi Johnston "When you're extremely passionate about work, it's kind of hard to have that work-life balance." — Naomi Johnston

In this Quick Fire Friday episode, Michael interviews John Warrillow, founder of the Value Builder System, a sales and marketing software for business advisors to find, win and keep their best clients. He's based in Toronto, Canada. Asides from being the founder of a successful company, John's also a host of the Built to Sell Radio, he's an esteemed author of cohesive books. All of his works are focused on having a common thought, increasing the value of a business. Increasing the value of your business is essential, it's a critical piece in entrepreneurship. Value bares financial growth, competitive advantage, and, most importantly, an exit strategy. John's Value Builder System helps small-medium business owners build an asset as opposed to a job at a company, it assesses a business objectively based on the 8 Key Drivers of Company Value. Small-medium business owners should also balance their views on value and profit; to look more at the multiple, grow their profit, and grow the value of their business. The one thing that John Warrillow would recommend a small business owner does based on his knowledge and experience, is that small-medium business owners should think of themselves more as owners, parents, of their businesses rather than CEOs of their companies; to evolve a business into becoming independent as their biggest aspiration. This Cast Covers: The process and significance of making a company more valuable. The Value Builder System is software that helps entrepreneurs build their businesses as an asset. John's journey into becoming what he is now, a man focused on creating value. Different components that qualify a business exquisite for acquisition. Small and medium-sized business owners are frequently emotional about their business. The 8 Key Drivers of Company Value. Benefits of making your business differentiated as it increases sellability. Stories John shared to inspire business owners to cultivate the value of their businesses. Small-medium business owners celebrate revenue too much. Encouraging small-medium businesses to look at the multiple, profit, and value. Links: John's Linkedin John's Company Website John's Twitter Additional Resources: Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You by John Warrillow The Automatic Customer: Creating a Subscription Business in Any Industry by John Warrillow Built to Sell Podcast Quotes: "A business is transferable if it can run without the owner." — John Warrillow. "You teach what you want to learn." — John Warrillow. "Invest in companies with a deep and wide competitive moat." — John Warrillow. "Ego is what drives us to want to be the biggest shot in the room." — John Warrillow. "Evolving the way you think of your role as an owner of the business and thinking less as a CEO of your business and more as the parent of your business." — John Warrillow.

In this episode, Troy interviews Robert Gauvreau, the Founder, and CEO of Gauvreau Accounting Tax Law Advisory based in Peterborough, Canada. Robert has set up his own professional accounting firm to provide proactive accounting, advisory, and taxation services to businesses, practicing professionals, and individuals to create a public accounting firm focusing on 3 fundamental principles. From working at a global firm as someone who's gone through a public accounting background, now running a professional accounting firm that provides the highest quality proactive accounting, taxation planning, and client services. Gauvreau was established in 2008 and has been in operation for over 15 years. Became an award-winning licensed public accounting firm with over 10 million dollars in annual revenue and has 84 people that are all across Canada. Robert mentioned that resilience needs to be something that every business owner can deal with and cope with because it's not easy to handle and it can also affect the workflow of business. So he added, "The reason that so many businesses fail, number one is they run out of cash, 82% of businesses that fail. They run out of cash flow, not because they're not the smartest people, but they don't have the best business plan." This Cast Covers: Sharing his journey from working at a global firm to starting his own gig by managing a public accounting firm. Specializes in providing proactive accounting, advisory, and taxation services to businesses, practicing professionals, and individuals. Growing from $200k in revenue in the first year up to cracking the $10 million number this year with 84 people that are all across Canada. Offers a MILLI\coaching program that helps business owners grow and scale and earn their first million dollars a year. States how spending time with business owners in the proactive space and connecting with people regularly can enhance the understanding and unity on making the business succeed. Admitted into fellowship with CPA Canada at the young age of 26. A lifetime achievement award for being a professional. Takes ethics, integrity, and professional competence very seriously. Focusing on making relationships that have a huge network of business coaches, and starting to test value add opportunities to contribute to those markets. With a Net Promoter score of 73.2 in his 100% of commitment. Gives practical pieces of advice on how to make a good partnership works. Links: Bob's Linkedin Bob's Facebook Bob's Instagram Additional Resources: Gauvreau Accounting Tax Law Advisory The Wealthy Entrepreneur by Robert Gauvreau The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek Quotes: "Change is hard for people, then merging two cultures together is tenfold harder." —Robert Gauvreau "You can actually go to your competitors, and tell them exactly what you're going to do. Share with them your best tactics, and none of them will do it." —Robert Gauvreau "If you want to grow as a business owner, you've got to be committed to getting yourself uncomfortable." —Robert Gauvreau "If you're looking at a partnership and money gets involved, make sure you outline how the partnership works." —Robert Gauvreau "When challenging times happen, find a way that works for you to get yourself back to positive momentum." —Robert Gauvreau

In this Grow A Small Business Podcast episode, Troy interviews Ami Bateman, a 2023 Telstra Best of Business Promoting Sustainability Winner in Queensland, a 2023 SBE Australian Global Growth program participant, and CEO & Co-Founder of Pleasant State; a company that creates ethical products that make home care a form of self-care, eradicating single-use plastics and toxic cleaning chemicals from people's homes. In the scope of self-care your home is a big factor. Ami went through this realization so that you don't have to, she was suffering from chronic headaches in her home due to toxic cleaning chemicals and single-use plastics. They had this idea of adding water, and now it's a huge success with a Net Promoter Score above 78. Pleasant State in last year's fiscal year achieved 150% growth and did $440,000 in revenue. When asked about what she would tell herself on day one of starting out, Ami heavily emphasized the importance of nurturing your network. "People buy into people." Your network is your support system, where you can get all kinds of help, including funding, personal growth, or exquisite mentorship. This Cast Covers: Creating ethical products that make home care a form of self-care. Innovating a product for the betterment of everyone's well-being. The impact of single-use plastics and toxic cleaning chemicals on people's homes. A combined passion for technology, health, and safety. Running effective crowdfunding to drive significant business growth. Positively impacting people on the planet while achieving a profitable business. Achieving literacy in e-commerce provides immense value. Hiring potential employees based on their value alignment with yours. Pursuing one's own growth and development. Nurturing your network with great care. Links: Ami's Linkedin Ami's Company Website Additional Resources: The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work by Shawn Achor Female Startup Club ____________________________________________________________________________ Quotes: "You need to participate in stimulating the economy and create jobs." — Ami Bateman. "Positively impacting people and the planet while achieving a profitable business." — Ami Bateman. "Anytime you're facing a new problem or a new subject matter, top the podcasts, read books, but most importantly, your network." — Ami Bateman. "We're building a brand that people love." — Ami Bateman. "Your network will be so important." — Ami Bateman.

In today's Quick Fire Friday episode, Michael interviews the Founder and Leadership Team Coach of Evolution Partners, Brad Giles. He is a strategic planner, professional trainer & coaching consultant, speaker, and best-selling author of "Onboarded" and "Made to Thrive" books. Brad has always been passionate about growing mid-market businesses and has started seven companies over the years in different industries. Fourteen years ago, he started getting into coaching and now helping leaders across Australia grow their revenues from 10 to $300 million through a proven structured strategic planning process. According to Brad's research, 83% of people have companies have an onboarding process of 14 days or less. The problem is that only 4% have a 90-day onboarding. And 30 days is the inflection point where the impacts start to happen. For this reason, Brad is prescribing the 90-day onboarding process as one of the best practices in an organization to avoid wasting time, money, and effort in onboarding people. Brad and his team collaborate with company executives to guide their recruit through three phases to become the "right person" for the job: comprehending in month one, learning and applying in month two, and embedding in month three. So the first month, it's where the manager is more of a teacher. The second month is when the manager is more of a mentor. And in the third month, switch to more of a leader as a coach. So it's more of a coaching relationship with that new hire to get them to own and be accountable for their roles and responsibilities. A key takeaway that small-medium business owners can learn from Brad is the emphasis on the subject that business owners should apply proven structured strategic planning processes, particularly on the aspect of onboarding new hires in a three stages 90-day process to have a good understanding of whether or not that person is the right one for the job. It is one of the best practices that could be used in an organization to prevent wasting time, money, and effort; it is one of the key aspects that increase productivity and delivers success to the entire business. This Cast Covers: Has founded seven companies over the years in different industries out of passion and love, which led to coaching and helping small-medium businesses. 14+ years in coaching and helping leaders typically work with businesses from 10 million to $300 million in revenue. Helping business owners learn how to onboard new hires to the point where they are effective faster. Shares five roles that CEOs got to perform to achieve five great results. Asserted building systems around people that generate accountability. Stressing that desire and capability to do the task without understanding how to succeed can create misery and problems that lead to the leader's frustration. Take three years of research and an international research study to implement simple tools for onboarding people. Discussing the positive effect of following the three stages 90-day onboarding process at multiple levels. Talks about onboarding debt that creates expensive rework, problems, and cultural challenges. Mention that there's a direct connection between the retention of a new hire, attrition rate, and the quality of the onboarding process. Links: Brad's Linkedin Evolution Partners Additional Resources: Made to Thrive by Brad Giles Onboarded by Brad Giles Quotes: "Having the desire and capability but having no understanding of how to succeed can create problems and frustrations as a leader." — Brad Giles "There's a direct connection between the retention of a new hire, attrition rate, and the quality of your onboarding process as well." — Brad Giles "No one wants to be micromanaged. And no one wants to be a micromanager." — Brad Giles "Getting the new managers to understand and to work more as coaches have led to significant sort of further impacts around their revenues and their profits." — Brad Giles "New hire wants to spend time with a manager to get to know them to get to know how to succeed in the role." — Brad Giles

In this episode, Troy interviews Declan Kluver and Blake Thompson, based in Brisbane, Australia. They co-founded XRecruiter. Blake and Declan go all the way back, but they finally converged when COVID hit; their pipelines and clients fell and evaporated overnight. So they started chatting again, brainstorming ideas, and in August 2022 they launched XRecruiter, a company that revolutionizes the future of recruitment by taking an industry-first approach. XRecruiter assists high-performing recruiters who would not have considered starting their recruiting firm and provides them with all of the same support and tools they are accustomed to from their job. Enabling them to create their brand while taking home 90% of their billings. Since their start, they are now earning at least $581,000 per annum with four full-time equivalents. All the while taking away the need to manage admin, marketing, accounts, and all the mundane operational aspects from the hands of the recruiter. In the context of adding or recruiting people, it's important to highlight the significance of the boss and employee dynamic before proceeding with hiring them. This is especially true when hiring your friends, you need to draw a line between friendship and business, maintaining a formal tone and the professional nature of the relationship. This Cast Covers: Helping people launch and market their recruitment agency. A robust business model that revolutionizes the recruitment industry. Prioritizing the business' overall growth, regarding scale and its network. Doubling down on one niche, own it, and beat the other businesses in it. Finding and developing your personal brand especially in small businesses to raise reliability. Utilizing grants available to your access as a means of funding your business. Abstaining from being overly anxious, and controlling your imagination. Taking more accountability and responsibility for the people around you. Having intimate relationships with colleagues at the same time maintaining a formal undertone. Business owners commonly fall into the trap of hiring egoistically. Links: Declan's Linkedin Blake's Linkedin Declan and Blake's Company Website Additional Resources: Confessions of a Recruiter Podcast Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by Jim Collins, Jerry I Porras Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson M.D. Living With A SEAL: 31 Days Training with the Toughest Man on the Planet by Jesse Itzler Diary Of A CEO Podcast Quotes: "We just want to grow as fast as we can with the right people." — Declan Kluver and Blake Thompson. "The really big businesses that do one thing well will always beat the other businesses." — Declan Kluver and Blake Thompson. "Your personal brand matters the most." — Declan Kluver and Blake Thompson. "Draw a line between friendship and business." — Declan Kluver and Blake Thompson. "A lot of new business owners fall into the trap of, is ego, ego hiring." — Declan Kluver and Blake Thompson.

In this episode, Troy interviews Sondre Rasch, the Co-Founder, and CEO of SafetyWing based in San Francisco, United States of America. Sondre has set up his own business, to provide health insurance for remote teams and digital nomads and remove the role of geographical borders as a barrier to equal opportunities and freedom for everyone. From running a venture-funded startup company that benefits the Freelancers on the platform, now growing a health insurance business for remote teams and digital nomads. SafetyWing was established in 2018 and has been in operation for 5 years. Growing with 22 billion ish and over 150 people. Sondre says starting a health insurance agency that provides benefits for Freelancers in this remote world of work necessitates preparing for the challenges and opportunities that come with it. "People have problems, people have arguments with each other and then you become like mediators slash psychologists and chief and it's just it's not building product", he says, but having the correct model and understanding of what you're doing, having an ideal solution, and proper worldview, he succeeded. "The benefit is that if you can be relentless, and resourceful across that barrier, you have very few competitors", he added. This Cast Covers Offers health insurance for remote teams and digital nomads. Previously running a venture-funded startup called "Superside"- a great Freelancing platform. Shares his history of working for the Norwegian social safety net that helped him create his own online-base business. Starting in 2018 with a couple of hundred thousand dollars to 22 billion ish in revenue and growing with over 150 people. Following the "standard playbook" in venturing solves many problems. Creating a product that people would love. How to secure the best quality customers through "word of mouth" and "mimetic desire". The 3Fs can be the breakthrough of venture stages. The relevance of influencer marketing these days. Recommendation on how to add people to the team and build a sustainable and kickass culture that helps with the growth. Links: Sondre's Linkedin Sondre' Twitter Additional Resources: SafetyWing Hackers & Painters Book by Graham Paul Quotes: "Success is completing the product, and the SafetyWing is to be a success." —Sondre Rasch "Make a product that people love so much, and then find top influencers and let them write about your product."—Sondre Rasch "Just follow the standard playbook in venture stages." —Sondre Rasch "The benefit is that if you can be relentless, and resourceful across that barrier, you have very few competitors." —Sondre Rasch "Hire people based on their general ability than their particular experience." —Sondre Rasch