The Fort #158: Josh Schultz - Masterclass in Small Business Operations & Execution
Josh Schultz is a master of SMB Operations. This episode is a deep dive into SMB Operations and how Josh analyzes businesses in order to optimize operations to greatly scale SMB's. They discuss his journey of joining his father's company, expanding into the Mexico market, living in China to learn the nuances of the international supply chain and manufacturing practices before ultimately leading the sale of the business and his current role as an SMB ops consultant. They also discuss prioritizing KPI's, beneficial softwares for SMB's and his forthcoming cohort for business owners led by him and previous FORT guest Rich Jordan. Enjoy!
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Learn more about Chris Powers and Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com
Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/
Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/E_76qTSmt2g
The SMB Ops Letter by Josh Schultz
(01:52) - Joshua’s Background and Career
(05:04) - What was the state of the company when you joined your father?
(08:08) - What’s unique about how you look at businesses?
(09:30) - What systems did you implement and what things did you change in your father’s company?
(12:03) - How did your process of systematizing communication help with growth?
(12:45) - How did you implement a culture of adopting technology?
(14:44) - Expanding into Mexico
(17:44) - Living in China and Learning the International Nature of Supply Chain
(22:21) - What’s the playbook for a new business owner that needs to start working with China?
(24:12) - What is “The Chinese Way”?
(27:34) - The Process of Selling the Business in 2019
(31:47) - Why does every small business not see these obvious operations optimizations?
(36:49) - What type of businesses do you specialize in with your consulting?
(40:45) - How do you create an environment where employees feel comfortable bringing operational frustrations to your desk?
(42:26) - Prioritizing What to Tackle First
(47:33) - Should every business have a way to submit anonymous feedback?
(48:36) - How should people decide what software to use in a no-code world with limitless options?
(50:16) - How do you know what KPI’s matter?
The 4 Disciplines of Execution
(56:44) - Accountability for KPI’s
(58:19) - Why does nobody look at dashboards?
(1:00:07) - SMB Cohort with Rich Jordan - Crucible
(1:05:16) - 90% of Business is Boring!!
(1:07:57) - How and Why to Ask Questions
(1:11:16) - What’s next for Joshua?
(1:16:37) - What are the biggest mistakes from an ops perspective that most SMB’s make?
(1:20:03) - What’s the bridge between Sales and Operations?
(1:21:11) - What happens at a business where your skillset is no longer valuable?
(1:22:43) - Is there a great ops book you recommend?
(1:24:41) - Do you have an operational person you look up to?
(1:25:28) - If you had a billboard you could put anything on, what would it say?
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