Grow A Small Business Podcast

For this week's Quick Fire Friday episode, Michael interviews Andrew May, the Founder & CEO of Strive: Stronger based in Sydney, Australia. He's recognized as one of the world's leading human performance strategists and leadership coaches. A best-selling author. In-demand keynote speaker. Top-rating podcaster. Leadership and transformation specialist. And, mental skills coach for elite athletes and sporting teams, CEOs, Founders, and entire organizations. Seeing his life purpose as waking people up to a better way of living working and leading, Andrew is now helping small-medium business owners manage energy and high-performing team. According to Andrew's research, many of their clients are struggling with work/life balance, which is affecting their productivity and morale. Employees are caught in a never-ending cycle of busyness and reactivity. Have felt exhaustion and showed signs of burnout. Felt disconnected, disengaged, and psychologically unstable. And this has been amplified due to the disruption caused by the pandemic, macroeconomic instabilities, geopolitical issues as well as shifts to the "new normal" of work. Andrew helps small-medium business owners and their employees by managing and improving the three big components of energy: first, physical energy, second, psychological and emotional energy, and lastly, social energy. A key takeaway that small-medium business owners can learn from Andrew, is the emphasis on the subject that business owners should realize that healthy and sustainable well-being and productivity behaviors are essential to the success of any organization. Thus, effectively managing and improving the physical, psychological and emotional, and social energy which builds healthy and sustainable well-being, and productivity behaviors can ensure ripple effects throughout the organization. This Cast Covers: The significance of managing and improving energy and high-performing team in an organization. The three components of energy and its ripple effects throughout the organization. Suggestions on how to manage energy amidst adversity. A widespread struggle with life/work balance that's affecting productivity and morale. Interconnectivity of the three components of energy. The "big factor" supplements the three components of energy. The importance of down-regulate in building more energy. Building a strong culture and safe environment inside the organization. Have a team where people learn grow, develop, and result. Developing meaningful relationships and solidarity inside the company. Links: Andrew's Linkedin Andrew's Company Website Additional Resources: MatchFit: The Complete Manual to Getting Your Body and Brain in the Best Possible Shape for Work, and for Life. Quotes: "You can train your body as well as your mental skills to get fitter, faster, and stronger, but not in a pressurized environment." —Andrew May "Sustainable high-performing team has both a really strong culture and psychologically safe environment." —Andrew May "Have a team where people learn, grow, develop, and result." —Andrew May "If you're serious about running a small business, then start taking yourself with utmost care." —Andrew May "The one big factor that gives you more energy to go on is aligning your work/life with your purpose." —Andrew May

In this Grow A Small Business Podcast episode, Troy interviews Travis Lamance, from Dallas Texas, United States. Travis is the CEO of Haven Aero. He started his humble aviation career with an A&P license he got in 1999. He worked for several individuals for a few years, later on, Travis then launched his maintenance business. Years went by, and with his garnered experience in the aviation business, he decided to combine it with his entrepreneurial aspirations. Launching two successful unique aviation companies, Flight Mechanix and Haven Aero. To build, run, or grow a business, you need money or more specifically, capital. It's hard generating funding, it's twice as hard especially if you're starting a capital-intensive industry such as aviation. However, that's not a problem for Travis, he took a partnership and minor credit and he built from there. Travis also utilized the concept of sweat equity in marketing their business, gaining popularity and fame through appearances in podcasts and social media; preserving cash and budget. Looking back at all of it now, Travis would tell himself on day one of starting out, "Be patient, be persistent, and stick with it, it'll all come to fruition." You don't have to be in a race to get to the finish line. You can arrive there at your own pace, enjoying the view along the way; don't forget the goal is nothing without the journey it took to get there. This Cast Covers: Increased demand for private aircraft since the pandemic. Taking the next necessary big step to grow the scale of your business. Winning the daily battles to win the war. Successfully launching and legalizing your startup to the government to start operations. Getting the right team around you and the right people in the room. Marketing creatively to abide by the limits of a capital-intensive budget. Being smart with money, not putting all your assets in one basket. Figuring out the business's cash flow to not draw in more debt. Seeing returns on hiring a coach that is willing to get critical about you. Staying lean and mean, contemplating carefully whether to hire the next person on the team. Links: Travis' Linkedin Travis' Company Website Additional Resources: Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by Jim Collins, Jerry I Porras The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It by Michael E. Gerber Quotes: "The biggest challenge is getting the right team around you and the right people in the room." — Travis Lamance. "Marketing is a lot more about creative marketing." — Travis Lamance. "Things don't get solved smoothly and permanently when you just fix them with money, you've got to fix them at the root." — Travis Lamance. "You got to get an outside impartial person to come in there and give you brutal feedback about where you suck and where you don't." — Travis Lamance. "Be patient, be persistent, and it'll all come to fruition." — Travis Lamance.

In this episode, Troy interviews Samantha Dybac, host of the Influence Unlocked podcast and the CEO and founder of The PR Hub, rated 2022 Sydney's No 1 PR Agency. Samantha started her career in brand marketing as a University student with Aussie success story Nad's Hair Removal, the foundations for her learning of and passion for the intersection of founder storytelling and brand PR. She's based in Sydney, Australia. Samantha started the business in 2013 as a side project while working in government relations alongside former NSW Liberal leader, Kerry Chikarovski. The PR Hub is a public relations and corporate communications agency. It has successfully carved out a niche and reputation for representing award-winning entrepreneurs, business leaders and high-growth, challenger brands, trusted to develop their personal & company brand stories, and then develop and execute sophisticated communications strategies that help them get recognised and support key objectives like capital raisings, stock exchange listings, partnership announcements, international expansion, acquisition and more. For Samantha, success includes many things including growing an amazing team where she can contribute to their learning and personal growth, while helping tell the stories of The PR Hub's impressive client roster. Samantha also shares some insights into her own personal journey as a Mother and solo business owner and why the recruitment and onboarding process are critical to business success. This Cast Covers: How Troy and Samantha have known each other The big misconception around PR and Marketing Revenue dropping to about 80% at start of COVID The difficulties of having a fast-paced, high-growth environment Years ago made plenty of mistakes recruiting people and how it was solved The hardships of balancing family and work Links: Samantha's Linkedin Samantha's Instagram Additional Resources: Trello No Bullsh!t Leadership Podcast Atomic Habits by James Clear Quotes: "Get yourself out there, go and meet people within the industry that you operate in, send emails, call people, make a list, and new social channels that are relevant again to your business and your audience." —Samantha Dybac "You need money to live and to have a lifestyle but it's never been the key driver for me in building businesses." —Samantha Dybac "I don't call myself a publicist anymore. I have a passion for PR in the sense that it's all about building relationships, connections, and networking, and helping great people get their products and services out there on a broader scale. So those businesses can grow. That's my passion." —Samantha Dybac "If you're not focusing on the things that are bringing in the revenue, you actually can't grow your business." —Samantha Dybac "You don't always have to say yes to everything that looks like an opportunity that knocks on the door." —Samantha Dybac

In today's Quick Fire Friday episode, Rob interviews Rachael Evans, the Founder & CEO of the Workshop Whisperer. She is a world-leading visionary business pioneer, speaker, author, and advisor. Rachael started her marketing and sales career at an early age. She has grown her own multi-dollar companies in male-dominated global industries. Driven by her passion and desire of helping others, Rachael is now helping auto repair shop owners across Australia and New Zealand to achieve business and lifestyle success. After the Global Financial Crisis, Rachael saw a gap in the market. She then identified a need for coaching in the auto repair shop industry. And with her marketing and business growth, tactics, and strategies she had acquired and developed from her own experience and previous business, along with her skills in creating online programs, she developed a unique online training program that helps auto repair shop owners in terms of cash flow management, productivity, efficiency, and leadership problems. Rachael helps them improve the financial reward, but also the lifestyle reward by coaching, changing money habits, setting up new systems, generating additional profits and savings, and providing practical real-life examples through peer groups. A key takeaway that Rachael recommends to all business owners is to implement a four-day workweek. The need for space for business owners and employees to relax and to restore and achieve work-life balance has numerous benefits in terms of productivity. Burnout is prevalent, thus, having the space to relax and enjoy life the way we want it to be can cause a healthier, happier, and more communicative workforce. This Cast Covers: The "pain points" are why auto repair shop owners struggle to become great business owners. Benefits of choosing a specialist business coach rather than a generalist business coach. Developed a "world-class curriculum" -the solution to the problems of auto repair shop owners. Discuss how poor leadership can be a bottleneck to business growth and development. Asserted that problems revolving around the auto repair shop industry are more on internal rather than external. Improving the four major areas in the auto repair shop industry can ensure success. The reinforcement of a solution that has quick results, attracts business owners. Learning from real-life examples rather than sticking to old systems can be a great source of profits. Reasons why business owners should implement a four-day workweek. Three benefits in making space for the employer, team, and overall business. Links: Rachael's Linkedin Rachael's Workshop Whisperer Website Additional Resources: Poor to Profit: An Auto Repair Shop Owners Guide to Financial Success by Rachael Evans Quotes: "It is vital that if you're going to invest good money in a coach, they understand your industry intimately because they've walked in your shoes at some point in their own business". —Rachael Evans "Marketing problem is rarely the actual issue, it is the productivity, efficiency, and leadership problem." —Rachael Evans "We just need to be biting off one small piece of the elephant at a time, not trying to do something for three years down the track." —Rachael Evans "As business owners, you need space to relax, to restore, and also to be able to think for the business instead of just all of that below-the-line stuff every day." —Rachael Evans "We want a life for ourselves and for the people who actually devote an enormous part of their life to working for us."—Rachael Evans

In this episode, Troy interviews Victor Peña, Founder and CEO of OmniPrint International. He's based in Orange County, Southern California, USA. Victor is an electronics engineer, and naturally, he's heavily involved with technology. He was a technician, managing the in-room internet in hotels all around the county. Discovering he loves the print industry, he transitioned to his newfound niche in print engines and printing on-demand T-shirts, turning it into a successful multimillion-dollar business. Offering the best digital printers and printing technology with the best digital DTG (direct to garment) printers on the market, Victor Peña and his company, OmniPrint International, empower small-medium business owners around the world with their continuous innovation, high-quality prints, and the ability to be able to print on a wider range of fabrics, paving the way for business owners to sell their products at a better price. Since his start in 2004, they now have a roster of 70 full-time team members, earning $16 million in revenue in 2021, up from zero when they started 19 years ago. Victor heavily emphasized that marketing is the number one thing that any business should invest in and that focusing on having the best-engineered product simply isn't enough. Because having the best widget and the best technology is of no use if the product isn't known. So it goes to show that a better-marketed product will always be the greater product. This Cast Covers: Empowering business owners with the technology of the company. Development of the technology and the software of a product. Constant optimization and planning to scale the business. Focusing on creating bigger goals and bigger targets. Becoming a better leader and running a more organized organization. Investing money into marketing should be a top priority. Funding the startup with the pre-sales model of financing approach. Putting on money on other forms of investment such as multi-family real estate. Being able to attract, incentivize, develop, and retain top talent. Finding the best leverage you can get with the money you have. Links: Victor's Linkedin Victor's Company Website Additional Resources: The 10X Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure by Grant Cardone Valuetainment The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz Quotes: "We have to make sure that we're always optimizing and figuring out how to grow and scale businesses." — Victor Peña. "Focus every year on creating bigger goals and bigger targets." — Victor Peña. "Marketing is the number one thing that any business should invest in." — Victor Peña "Culture is defined by every single team member." — Victor Peña. "Pick someone that has crushed it and has done well at what you want to do." — Victor Peña

In this episode, Troy interviews Kristie Baird from Drip IV based in Gold Coast, Australia. Offering a wide range of Vitamin IV treatments in clinics, homes, hotels and offices in Australia. When Kristie was 13, she had glandular fever, which then developed into adult life into chronic fatigue syndrome. Visiting friends in LA, she was introduced into IV therapy which is very common there. Went back to Sydney and she can't find anyone offering IV Therapy services. Knowing how beneficial it can be, she decided to go all in to open up one in Australia. Kristie says the hardest thing in business is finding the right team members, learning how to identify those team members, and making sure that you're creating job roles that are a necessity, not just creating job roles to fill the space. The number one thing she would recommend is to not outsourcing your marketing. There are a lot of outsourcing marketing companies and PR companies that are not fully invested in your company or your vision or your goal. This Cast Covers: Starting her entrepreneurial journey at the age of 17 How she discovered commercial intravenous (IV) vitamin therapy How Drip IV was born Effect of COVID into the business How the business was funded Why she opted to create a mobile business instead of brick and mortar Working with a predominantly female 98% team What she enjoyed the least about managing fast growth What she loved most about growing a small business How doing podcast most mornings have helped her Benefits of having a mentor Expanded nationwide to 110 locations and 330% growth in 2022 Transitioning to a franchise model with plans of expansion Links: Drip IV Additional Resources: Atomic Habits by James Clear The Diary of a CEO Podcast JotForm Quotes: "When you get so busy in your day-to-day work life, you forget to look back on where you were, how many years ago." —Kristie Baird "Success is having freedom, having a work-life balance, having great friendships, relationships, that's kind of my success now." —Kristie Baird "I've had to work on my own growth so that I can be the best version of myself for my team and for the business." —Kristie Baird "You cannot be good at everything. You can't be all over all areas of the business. You can't be a marketing manager, HR accounts, and a CEO, you really have to identify where your weaknesses are and employ those people that can complement your weaknesses." —Kristie Baird "I find that if I start my day with some form of exercise, my day runs so much smoother." —Kristie Baird

In today's Quick Fire Friday episode, Michael interviews Daniel Sih, the Founder & CEO of Spacemakers. He's based in Hobart, Tasmania in Australia. Daniel is a strategic planner and productivity consultant and has been writing and speaking about productivity for a long time. He's also a physiotherapist, an accredited CliftonStrength coach, and an award-winning author of the book "Spacemaker: How to Unplug, Unwind and Think Clearly in the Digital Age and had won the Australian Business Book Award in 2021 for Best Personal Development Book, and has been shortlisted for Myriad Award. His productivity group focuses on helping busy leaders, managers, and business owners to make space for more important things, especially in the heavily technology-driven world. In the heavily technology-driven world of marketing, where digital distraction can easily distract and overwhelm many leaders, managers, and business owners, thus, taking away all their time and space from more important things like personal well-being, family, and relationships which can result in poor health, relationships, and unproductivity, Daniel's productivity group can help provide a lot of research-backed reasons why we need space, how to make space, and to implement that as busy leaders, managers, and business owners. One thing Daniel recommends to small business owners is to start thinking about their relationship with the online world, self-reflecting if their relationship with the online world is maybe codependent or somewhat unhealthy and needs to be changed. So look at your habits. Where technology is adding to your life and your business. And where is it distracting from the life I want to live? From there, you can start to implement a series of simple habits to recapture the type of humanity you want to live. This Cast Covers: Daniel's insight about making space in digital distraction. Observation in the last five years and accelerating to post-covid about how leaders are smashed for time and space in their life. Shares about space's importance and how the overuse of technology can take us away from more important things. Asserts that making space and having a work-life balance will result in success in many aspects. Recommends two skill sets that can help overcome problems concerning space and work-life balance. Relates effective email management to the whole space-making methodology. Encourages self-reflection regarding habits, particularly around technology. The risks of the patterns and behaviors of digital overuse in many areas. Helpful practical examples of practices to create space and work-life balance. Links: Daniel's Linkedin Daniel's Company Website Daniel's eLearning Website Additional Resources: Spacemaker: How to Unplug, Unwind and Think Clearly in the Digital Age by Daniel Sih, Kylie Sih Quotes: "Space is what people need, and people must recognize that the way to be productive is to do less, not more." — Daniel Sih "If you can't get off the runway of basic productivity, it's very hard to start thinking about goals and vision and projects and culture." — Daniel Sih "Making space is about having that bigger picture, particularly around technology and how much we're online." — Daniel Sih "To become productive, we need to learn to be thoughtful about how much we're practicing the internet, why we're practicing, and when to get offline." — Daniel Sih "At the end of the day, the business you create will be a representation of who you are and how healthy you are as a person." — Daniel Sih

In this episode, Troy interviews Arjun Paliwal the Founder and Head of Research of InvestorKit based in Sydney, Australia. Arjun has set up his own business to help customers, particularly property investors, find high pressure markets, maximise capital growth, and build impressive portfolios. Arjun launched his buyer's agency – which specialises in interpreting and storytelling of data to make informed residential and commercial real estate investment decisions and creates proprietary detailed research and analysis –after transitioning from being a CBA manager. InvestorKit started in 2018 and has been in operation for over 4 years. It's a growing business with over 17 full-time employees and annual revenue of around $3 million. Arjun says starting a buyer's agency out of curiosity necessitates preparing for the challenges and opportunities that come with it. "I had no idea of what I was going to do," he says, but with an aligned passion and drive to help people, and support from his family and friends he succeeded. "I really enjoyed this and wanted to help others, and the passions aligned from investing, helping people, and turned it into a business", he added. This Cast Covers Founding and running a buyer's agency focused on helping property investors in three ways. Taking unique strategies in the real estate marketing world to ensure success. Starting in 2018 with a couple of hundred thousand dollars in revenue to $3 million dollars and growing with over 17 FTEs. How to secure the best quality customers through transparency and good PR. Two key areas in business to achieve the most that add the greatest value. Growing and retention of the business through two "takeaways". Establishing "trust" as a small business owner to develop and maintain relationships. Recommendations on adding people to the team and building a sustainable and kickass culture that helps with the growth. How compound effects can be the breakthrough in the odds of business venturing. The "omnichannel" in personal and professional development. Links: Arjun's Linkedin Arjun' Facebook Additional Resources: InvestorKit If You're Not First, You're-Last Book by Grant Cardone Quotes: "Because of the constant pressure, I almost never think I've achieved or am achieving something successful." —Arjun Paliwal "Success is just the impact you can have on yourself, your loved ones, and those close to you, and the impact we're making with clients." —Arjun Paliwal "Having been through various marketing channels, approaches, and strategies, and started to pick out what's really working has been a game changer for the business." —Arjun Paliwal "Giving the trust that people want us to give away can get you the best quality customers who love what you do, want to work with you, enjoy your transparency, and carry the values and ethics that you have." —Arjun Paliwal "Keep asking questions; even if it makes you look like the dumbest person, it can help you improve and process up." —Arjun Paliwal

In this Grow A Small Business podcast episode, Troy interviews Simon Severino, founder of Strategy Sprints. He is based in Vienna, Austria. Simon, at the age of 21, started as one of a global team of strategic advisors in Switzerland. Realizing he wasn't fit for the corporate lifestyle, he decided to do his own thing and founded Strategy Sprints, now with a staff of 25 FTEs, helping B2B firms win more easily and gracefully. Oftentimes, B2B leaders, agency owners, and small-medium business owners find themselves struggling with time, marketing, and doubling their revenue. Simon assists them with growing their businesses by using the Strategy Sprints method, a robust strategy that will double your business's revenue in just 90 days, freeing up to 10-14 hours of your time, delegating tasks to department heads, and following the "3 Habits." Overall, improving the business's Net Promoter Score, shortening the long sales cycle, and commanding the prices you want. According to Simon, he puts a great deal of effort into his business operations to add significant value. Diving in deep into topics that would help their clients, doing pretty much anything, from building external tools that the client would need, like blueprints, to assist them overcome their mindset challenges; carefully working on the product, and getting it right, to yield lots of great results. This Cast Covers: Many types of agencies face very similar problems. Helping agencies scale their business, improve their sales, and refine their operations. The Strategy Sprints method: doubling your revenue in just 90 days. Employing the services of a business coach to assist in overcoming difficulties. Mapping things out and simplifying everything to maximize revenue while maintaining efficiency. Marketing's critical role in a fast-growing business. Putting up maximum effort in improving the business's Net Promoter Score. Diving in deep into topics that would suffice the needs of the client. Creating hiring systems both before hiring and when onboarding. Developing a team culture of accountability while dealing with it with grace. Links: Simon's Linkedin Simon's Company Website Simon's Twitter Additional Resources: Strategy Sprints: 12 Ways to Accelerate Growth for an Agile Business by Simon Severino The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact by Chip Heath, Dan Heath Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen Quotes: "It's tough to stay in the business and enjoy growing and scaling the business." — Simon Severino. "The reason is you want to deeply care about the people that you're here to serve and understand them better than they understand themselves." — Simon Severino. "Should we quit? We don't quit, we improve." — Simon Severino. "The other skill is that you have to help them overcome their own mindset challenges, increase their energy, tackle bigger problems, and hire people." — Simon Severino. "The culture is about how you moderate each meeting and how you deal with variations from the standard." — Simon Severino.

For this week's Quick Fire Friday episode, Rob interviews Kurt Wilkesmann, a Director at Intelligent Business Thinking. He was born and educated in Melbourne, Australia. Kurt obtained his degree of Bachelor of Business at Swinburne University of Technology. He's a successful entrepreneur and has had a variety of businesses. Always having an inherent virtue of helping people, Kurt is now helping small-medium business owners overcome this pandemic of disengagement in the workplace. According to Kurt's research, 90% of business owners recognize that engagement is essential, but fewer than 25% have a plan, and not much of that 25% is executing their plan. Employees are the company's greatest asset; engaged employees are the gears that keep the company machine running smoothly, and without them, it seems impossible for the organization to succeed. Kurt helps small-medium business owners integrate a connection with their employees by teaching them the three components that constitute a miserable job: first, a deep dive into transactional relationships, second, informing them that the work they do helps the organization, and third, commending them for the measured improvement that they've shown. A key takeaway that small-medium business owners can learn from Kurt, is the emphasis on the subject that business owners should realize that meaningful relationships are critical within the company. Relationships and emotions govern rational thought; they're stronger. It's the glue that holds the team together. It increases productivity and job satisfaction, but most importantly, it develops a positive company culture. This Cast Covers: The significance of employee engagement and organizational culture in the organization. A widespread lack of engagement in the workplace across the globe. People accepting the status quo of workplace disengagement. Business owners increase their awareness regarding their employees. Employees are a company's or organization's most valuable resource. Employees are attracted to an organization because of what it stands for. Managers and business owners need to embody the organization's core values. Emotions are more powerful than rational thought. The three components that compose a miserable job. Developing meaningful relationships and solidarity inside the company. Links: Kurt's Linkedin Kurt's Company Website Additional Resources: The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever by Michael Bungay Stanier Quotes: "Without good people, it's impossible to be successful." — Kurt Wilkesmann. "People join organizations but leave managers." — Kurt Wilkesmann. "There are certain key elements that business owners should be aware of." — Kurt Wilkesmann. "Emotions are stronger than rational thoughts." — Kurt Wilkesmann. "You can't have a team of individuals, each doing their own thing without communication." — Kurt Wilkesmann.