Scaling Up Business with Bill Gallagher

If you're bootstrapped and don’t have a nice wad of VC money to grow your business, how can you scale up faster? In this episode, Bill Gallagher and his guest explore various scaling up strategies to create a sustainable company. Pete Martin loves starting, scaling, and selling companies (6 so far), playing drums in a classic rock band, traveling, reading/learning, and most of all, helping business leaders improve the health of their companies and personal wealth through richer exits. According to his bio, his “go-to humor is sarcasm” and he was “voted class clown in high school for a reason.”Key topics that Bill and Pete explore in this episode: - Pete shares insights from his book, Scale Up Faster, and three years of studying successful scaling strategies.- Frustration around the media’s attention on unicorn founders, who haven't created sustainable companies.- Growing a company fast without a business plan or outside funding.- How a chip on your shoulder can empower you to prove something to others. - The lean leadership teams of successful companies. - The importance of integrated marketing and how it can lead to growth. - Why some companies prioritize a single growth lever and master a specific channel instead of spreading themselves thin over various channels. - Prioritizing cultural alignment in a company’s hiring process.- Thinking of culture as: How do you act when the CEO is not around? - Created rituals, traditions, and symbols to reinforce your brand promises and values.- Having a vivid vision statement or a short manifesto for your businesses. - How Taylor Swift has mastered the art of community. (Yes, Taylor Swift.) - Geoffrey Moore's book, Crossing the Chasm and how creating a community around a product or service can lead to customer loyalty and profitability.Thanks to Pete Martin for being on the show! Connect with Pete on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petegmartin/ Learn more about Peter’s book, Scale Up Faster: https://scaleupfaster.com/ Follow Peter’s company, AskMyBoard, on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/askmyboard/ Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the Scaling Up Business podcast, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth. Join Bill in the Growth Navigator Coaching Program: https://ScalingCoach.com/workshop Bill on LinkedIn: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/BillGall/Bill on YouTube: https://www.YouTube.com/@BillGallagherScalingCoach Visit https://ScalingUp.com to learn more about Verne Harnish, our team of Scaling Up Coaches, and the Scaling Up Performance Platform, which includes coaching, learning, software, and summit. We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail. We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around people, strategy, execution, and cash so that they can scale up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.Subscribe via Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3PGhWPJSubscribe via Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3PKe00uBill on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/billgall/ Bill on Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/billgall This episode was produced by Story On Media & Marketing: https://www.successwithstories.com

Our focus is on transforming the hiring process to make it more manageable and predictable for businesses looking to grow and scale. Bill shares innovative strategies and practical tips for improving hiring practices, emphasizing the importance of creating a large candidate pool and moving candidates through the process efficiently. He advocates for treating the job posting like a product launch, complete with marketing efforts to attract a wide array of candidates simultaneously, rather than waiting for them to trickle in. This approach allows for a more dynamic selection process and ensures that companies don't miss out on potential hires by waiting too long for more applicants.Bill also discusses the need to sell the company first by highlighting its unique qualities, values, and vision, making the job opportunity stand out to prospective candidates. He suggests using screening techniques like phone interviews or meet-and-greets to quickly assess a large number of applicants. Furthermore, Bill touches on the importance of deep-diving into candidates' backgrounds through methods like top grading and the threat of reference check techniques to weed out dishonest applicants. Additionally, he recommends asking candidates to translate job requirements or company values in their own words to ensure understanding and alignment. Lastly, Bill advises on discussing salary expectations early in the process to ensure candidates' expectations align with the company's budget, thereby streamlining the hiring process and saving time for both parties.

How can you, as an entrepreneur, take your first steps toward buying and selling businesses? Do you agree, like my guest, that most businesses should never be owned longer than six years? In this episode, Bill Gallagher talks with Josh Tolley, an expert in flipping businesses. Josh is the chairman of a business brokerage company that buys, builds, operates, and sells companies in finance, spirits, birthing centers, professional sports, and other industries. Key topics that Bill and Josh explore in this episode: - Josh shares insights from his recent book, Acquisition of Wealth, on creating life-changing prosperity.- The importance of perseverance and learning from failures in acquiring business success.- Saving vs. investing for wealth, with a focus on business ownership. - Why saving your way to wealth can become like chasing a moving target.- The power of buying businesses for profit over real estate.- Buying vs starting a business. - The distinction between small business owners and entrepreneurs. - Why buying an existing business is often more efficient than starting one from scratch.- Flipping businesses, using  Warren Buffett as an example. - Warren Buffett invests in companies, keeps profits for himself.- Acquiring a 20-year-old business with a skilled employee as CEO can yield higher returns than starting a new venture.- Flipping businesses every 5-7 years is more profitable than holding onto one.- Equity gained from flipping a business can be used to buy a more valuable business.- Josh advises against listening to “Instagram experts” who recommend buying, say, a laundromat or car wash. - Common mistakes business owners make when selling their companies. - Business owners often lack a clear exit strategy, leading to problems when it's time to sell.- Entrepreneurs must set up their businesses to run without them. - Entrepreneurs struggle with identity issues when their businesses fail or they sell them.Thanks to Josh Tolley for being on the show! Learn more about Josh: https://www.joshtolley.com Get Josh’s book: Acquisitional Wealth: The Fastest, Most Proven Way to Create Life-Changing Prosperity: https://amzn.to/3UbD560 Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the Scaling Up Business podcast, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth. Join Bill in the Growth Navigator Coaching Program: https://ScalingCoach.com/workshop Bill on LinkedIn: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/BillGall/Bill on YouTube: https://www.YouTube.com/@BillGallagherScalingCoach Visit https://ScalingUp.com to learn more about Verne Harnish, our team of Scaling Up Coaches, and the Scaling Up Performance Platform, which includes coaching, learning, software, and summit. We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail. We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around people, strategy, execution, and cash so that they can scale up successfully and beat the odds of business growth.  Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.Subscribe via Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3PGhWPJSubscribe via Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3PKe00uBill on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/billgall/ Bill on Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/billgall This episode was produced by Story On Media & Marketing: https://www.successwithstories.com

In this episode, Bill contrasts the job scorecard's effectiveness with traditional job descriptions, which he finds overly bureaucratic and filled with generic language. The job scorecard, with its clarity and simplicity, provides a structured framework for outlining the responsibilities, expected outcomes, and key performance indicators (KPIs) for a role, making it an invaluable asset in evaluating candidates and managing employee performance over time.Bill outlines the key components of a job scorecard, including the job title, reporting lines, a succinct headline describing the role's main function, specific outcomes the role is accountable for, and a set of KPIs to measure these outcomes. He emphasizes the importance of setting clear performance standards (green, yellow, red levels) for each KPI, facilitating objective performance evaluations and discussions. By employing the job scorecard in regular one-on-one coaching sessions, managers can effectively guide employees towards improved performance, ensuring regular feedback and action plans are in place. This approach promotes continuous performance enhancement and avoids the pitfalls of traditional, less frequent performance reviews.

How can business leaders let go of control at the same time as they empower team members to take ownership of their work?In this episode, Bill Gallagher and Hortense Le Gentil discuss trust, empathy, and the importance of leaders recognizing and challenging their limiting beliefs. An executive leadership coach and an author, Hortense Le Gentil is on a mission to empower leaders to embody authenticity, inspire meaningful change, and make a profound difference in the lives of people around them and the organizations they lead.Key topics Bill and Hortense explore in this episode: - Hortense’s journey from France to business coaching and book writing.- Why empathy and trust are key to effective leadership. - Hortense recounts a personal experience of feeling unfulfilled in her professional life and seeking a change, despite having a seemingly perfect life on the outside.- Hortense’s journey as an entrepreneur, from learning to be herself to helping others.- Self-discovery through neuroscience and psychology.- Unlocking potential in CEOs and executives.- Why the traditional heroic leadership model is no longer effective in today's workplace.- The importance of teamwork and collaboration in overcoming challenges.- Leaders can’t be like Superman and have all the answers.- The importance of leaders being remembered for empathy, support, and human connection.- How each person has a unique talent that they are meant to share with the world.Thanks to Hortense Le Gentil for being on the show! Visit her website: https://www.hortenselegentil.com/ Connect with her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hortenselegentil/ Get her book: The Unlocked Leader: Dare to Free Your Own Voice, Lead with Empathy, and Shine Your Light in the World: https://amzn.to/49NgSkA Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the Scaling Up Business podcast, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth. Join Bill in the Growth Navigator Coaching Program: https://ScalingCoach.com/workshop Bill on LinkedIn: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/BillGall/Bill on YouTube: https://www.YouTube.com/@BillGallagherScalingCoach Visit https://ScalingUp.com/ to learn more about Verne Harnish, our team of Scaling Up Coaches, and the Scaling Up Performance Platform, which includes coaching, learning, software, and summit. We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail. We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around people, strategy, execution, and cash so that they can scale up successfully and beat the odds of business growth.  Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.Subscribe via Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3PGhWPJSubscribe via Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3PKe00uBill on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/billgall/ Bill on Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/billgall This episode was produced by Story On Media & Marketing: https://www.successwithstories.com 

In this episode, Bill emphasizes the significant impact of crafting a company manifesto as a foundational tool for embedding cultural elements deeply and swiftly into the organizational fabric. This manifesto should articulate the company's purpose, its emotional core, the vision for the future, the values guiding its operations, promises made to customers, and a long-term transformational goal, commonly referred to as a "big, hairy, audacious goal" (BHAG). By doing so, a manifesto provides a comprehensive overview of why the company exists, its direction, how it plans to get there, the intended experience for its beneficiaries, and a specific target to achieve.Bill outlines a practical approach to creating such a manifesto, starting with defining the company's purpose and detailing its aspirations, operational values, customer commitments, and a visionary BHAG. He suggests integrating this manifesto into daily business operations through various means such as printing, office displays, recitation in meetings, and ongoing dialogue about its relevance and challenges. This integration process transforms the manifesto from a static document into a living, breathing aspect of the company's culture. By fostering regular conversations around the manifesto, businesses can ensure it remains a central, dynamic element of their identity, significantly easing the challenges associated with scaling and growth.

As an entrepreneur, have you given much thought to your exit plan? Are you not only capturing wealth but also putting the right things in place to preserve your legacy? In this episode, Elizabeth Ledoux shares her wealth of knowledge on business transitions. With over three decades of experience, Elizabeth helps entrepreneurs start their business transition journey. Elizabeth Ledoux is the founder and CEO of the Transition Strategists, an international consultancy that helps owners of private and family businesses to maximize the odds of successful business transitions. Key topics that Bill and Elizabeth explore in this episode: - Exit strategies for business owners.- Why some entrepreneurs prioritize revenue or valuation over exit planning and impact, but may struggle with purpose and fulfillment in their businesses.- Family business ownership and passing on a legacy to the next generation.- The importance of starting with the "why, who, what, and when" during conflict resolution, rather than jumping to "how much" or "how."- Fairly distributing profits among multiple investors.- How business owners can identify their objectives and create a strategy for their exit. - The importance of purpose and fulfillment in life, rather than just wealth or time.- Encouraging entrepreneurs to consider their personal values and goals in their business decisions, including philanthropy and family legacy.- Why starting planning your business transition early will provide you with more choices and reduce stress.Thanks to Elizabeth Ledoux for being on the show! Connect with Elizabeth on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethledoux/ Learn more about The Transition Strategists: https://transitionstrategists.com/ Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the Scaling Up Business podcast, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth. Join Bill in the Growth Navigator Coaching Program: https://ScalingCoach.com/workshop Bill on LinkedIn: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/BillGall/Bill on YouTube: https://www.YouTube.com/@BillGallagherScalingCoach Visit https://ScalingUp.com/ to learn more about Verne Harnish, our team of Scaling Up Coaches, and the Scaling Up Performance Platform, which includes coaching, learning, software, and summit. We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail. We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around people, strategy, execution, and cash so that they can scale up successfully and beat the odds of business growth.  Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.Subscribe via Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3PGhWPJSubscribe via Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3PKe00uBill on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/billgall/ Bill on Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/billgall This episode was produced by Story On Media & Marketing: https://www.successwithstories.com 

In this episode, Bill delves into the significance of creating a powerful and positive company culture as a foundational strategy for scaling businesses effectively and sustainably. He likens the ideal company culture to a "good cult," emphasizing the need for intentional, cult-like qualities within a company to foster unity, commitment, and shared values among team members. By drawing parallels with companies like Disney and Apple, known for their strong, cult-like cultures, Bill outlines how such a culture can significantly contribute to a company's success by enhancing teamwork, shared responsibility, and overall satisfaction within the organization.Bill provides practical advice on building a company culture that resonates deeply with employees and guides the organization towards its goals. He stresses the importance of defining clear and meaningful core values, purpose, and brand promises that reflect the company's essence and how it operates at its best. Bill encourages embedding these cultural elements into every aspect of the company, from recruitment and onboarding to daily operations and external communications. Through rituals, traditions, and consistent reinforcement of these values, leaders can cultivate a unique and vibrant culture that not only distinguishes their company but also supports its growth and the well-being of its people.Moreover, Bill suggests incorporating various methods to keep the company's core values visible and top-of-mind, such as utilizing visual reminders in the workplace, incorporating values into employee recognition programs, and even integrating them into personal accessories or digital wallpapers. By rewarding adherence to these values and holding everyone accountable, companies can ensure that their culture remains strong and pervasive. This episode serves as a guide for leaders looking to build a cohesive, values-driven environment that propels their company forward while making the journey enjoyable and fulfilling for everyone involved.

In this insightful episode, Bill delves into the essence and significance of company core values, demystifying how to get them right and why they are so crucial for creating a thriving, scalable business. He emphasizes that core values are not mere aspirational statements or the embodiment of desired traits but rather a reflection of how a company operates at its best. Bill argues that core values should guide the behavior and decisions within a company, ensuring it grows in a way that remains true to its founding principles without becoming overwhelming or diverging into something the founder no longer recognizes or loves.Bill advises against common pitfalls such as creating too many or too few core values, suggesting an optimal number of five to maintain focus and memorability. He strongly cautions against using generic business terms like integrity, communication, or teamwork as core values, advocating instead for richer, more descriptive phrases that evoke a clear picture and resonate more deeply with team members. Through examples, he illustrates how to transform generic terms into meaningful, actionable values that genuinely reflect the company's culture and operational ethos. This episode serves as a guide for entrepreneurs and business leaders aiming to build a distinct and enduring company culture anchored in authentic core values.

Peter Kingma, practice manager for Ernst & Young and author of Cash Is King, sheds light on the balancing act between profitability and cash flow. He discusses how different accounting practices influence cash flow and emphasizes the need for essential KPIs to avoid information overload. Kingma advocates for cultivating a 'cash culture' in organizations, shares strategies for small operational tweaks to boost cash flow, and highlights the importance of storytelling in communicating financial insights.