The Boardroom Buzz: Grow, Sell, or Exit

Link To Video Episode You know there’s going to be good information when the interview starts with a legal disclaimer. Phil Tortorich sits down poolside with Paul and Patrick in The Boardroom’s first San Juan Session. This interview is the prelude to Paul and his wife sitting down with Phil for Paul’s personal planning. Phil made his Boardroom debut in Episode 73. Phil steps into the outdoor Boardroom to respond to a listener’s question about the pros and cons of an LLC taxed as a S-Corp vs being taxed as a partnership. The three also discuss The State and Local Tax (SALT) Deduction for 2021, the likelihood of retroactive capital gains taxes, captive insurance, and asset protection. This interview dives into more details on trusts and personal effects. Hear how a trust is used to gift shares to the next generation. Pull up a lounge chair, and join us on YouTube for this pool patio interview. Co-Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Dylan Seals of Verbell.Ltd

You can sprinkle pixie dust and hold your breath, or you can build a system to deliver a world-class experience for your customers. Stop waiting to exhale and step into The Boardroom with our guest Vance Morris. Vance shares his best practices for service businesses from his time at Disney operations. He’s going to clue you in on ways to set yourself apart from your competition. Hear how ownership mentality and employee engagement differ from Vance’s time while working with The Mouse. You’ve thought about direct mail to grow your top line but have you tested it? Feel free to test it out at your expense, or learn from others’ experience in this Boardroom interview. Lights. Camera. Action. The service industry puts all employees on stage. One bad act can shine a bad light on your business. It’s time to create a script for your technicians to follow. Are you struggling with scaling up-sells? It’s time to put the law of reciprocity to work. From implementing a simplified mission to establishing a What-How-Why for each of your actors, this interview is full of tangible takeaways. Disnify your business. Grab a copy of Vance’s book at deliverservicenow.com Roll the credits. Co-Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Dylan Seals of Verbell.Ltd

The locker room meets The Boardroom as Paul and Patrick visit with the newly appointed president of Nisus, Lee Barrett. It wasn’t just any ordinary agent that got Lee his start in pest control. The franchise leader pushed his West Coast way forward from the mailroom at US Borax to now president at Nisus. With 30 years under his belt in the industry, which type of coach is now at the helm of Team Nisus?  Before running Nisus, Lee was reading eyes and patiently following his coach’s system. What did that teach him about sales and execution? There is a new game plan in place, and it calls for a real team effort. Lee opens up about adversity, the sport of business, and more in this motivating interview. Run for 4 yards. Co-Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Dylan Seals of Verbell.Ltd

Paul makes a trip to the Holy Land, but has he found the Holy Grail? Tel Aviv’s high-tech hub creates a new generation of mousetraps. Paul visits with Ronen Amichai and Ethan Vickery of PestOptix to see how future technology is now a reality. The pair of tech-forward thinkers go all-in on digital to change the industry. Pest control is full of countless creatures, but the most reliable is the creature of habit. Has PestOptix created the disruptive monster that non-adopters fear? Imagine the day you’re not shelling out cash to check empty stations. This one of a kind technology is ahead of what Anticimex and Rentokil deploy. Could this be your opportunity to stay ahead of the larger players? Ronen and Ethan created a camera-enabled, AI-driven system to keep you ahead of the competition. As you’ll hear, you can stay ahead of bad press with 24/7 monitoring. Ronen shares his customer interactions about transparency, thresholds, privacy, pricing, and service frequency. As costs continue to go down, this technology also finds its home in the residential side of the business. Alexa, is there a rat in the house? Co-Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Dylan Seals of Verbell.Ltd

Paul claims that this is “one of the most valuable sessions we have done thus far, if not the most valuable session, when it comes to very, very important estate planning issues.” Before jumping into estates and trusts with attorney Phil Tortorich, The Boardroom conversation begins with the pros and cons of various entity structures. Paul recalls witnessing a debate between Phil and Paul’s CPA regarding flexibility and self-employment tax. How far into this discussion before regret sets-in and conversion begins?  Level-up your estate plan… before the government does it on your behalf. When it comes to trusts and planning, which level can (should) you achieve? When a domestic trust isn’t enough, what options exist with higher levels of sophistication? Trusts made the news with the recent release of The Pandora Papers, including Walmart’s Walton’s and Nike’s Phil Knight. Other than using trusts, what other common traits has Phil witnessed in his 20+ year practice working with ultra high net worth individuals? Tax changes are on the horizon, and so is a follow-up sit-down with Phil. Make sure to RSVP your spot by emailing a question that you’d be proud of to events@potomaccompany.com While we wish you a Happy Thanksgiving, don’t be a turkey. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts here. Co-Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Dylan Seals of Verbell.Ltd

If you’re not too busy breaking fire boards or walking on crushed glass, step into The Boardroom with Mike Agugliaro. On his own at age 15, Mike chose the martial arts and vocational school combo. Follow Mike’s path scaling from electrician to entrepreneur to exits. Exits, yes, plural. There were times when Mike and his business partner, Rob, fought for survival. Hear how together they chose the path to not quit. Mike’s formula of sales, marketing, and leadership should help bring clarity to your business. With more than an ordinary reputation, Mike grew his staff (that would fight to the death for him) without negotiating compensation. Is the secret in how he aligned himself with his staff’s personal goals? Everyone has their own opinions on commercial vs residential and single vs many service offerings. Mike will open your mind with his reasons. Speaking of mind… Mike is a learner, a teacher, and an author. Get schooled on his take on ‘mindset’.  The Italian Grandmaster's serve-first philosophy grew Gold Medal to best of class service and also birthed CEO Warrior. Born out of a Buddha moment, CEO Warrior brought CEOs together and gave them the path to conquer fear and change their destiny. Don’t miss Mike’s philosophy of a leader’s #1 job. As the leader of his family, Mike was intentional on his family’s involvement in business and modeled hard work with a front row seat. Don’t tap-out on this interview. How many more service vehicles are you ordering? Co-Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Dylan Seals of Verbell.Ltd

"How do you best sabotage the wealth building exercise of growing a business?" sounds so gloom and doom. It could be re-stated "how do you increase the value of your business?" for the eternal optimists out there. It's not often that Patrick gets away with giving Paul homework. In no particular order, The Boardroom duo makes it through a top seven list. Now it's time for you to do your homework. Email thebuzz@potomaccompany.com with your prioritized list (recurring revenue, pricing, incentive structure, service offerings, density, organizational chart, and understanding profitability). For extra credit, include the number of Episode 70 - Jay & Jason references.  Co-Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Dylan Seals of Verbell.Ltd

Class is in session. Log this one in your planner as a case study on search funds. Harvard Business School classmates, Jay Davis and Jason Pananos, left their successful careers behind to find search funds, or maybe, search funds found them. One minor (major) problem. The year is 2008. Armed with patient investors and critical criteria, the determined duo found themselves in pest control, specifically vector control. Their entry with Vector Disease Control International got the search fund party started, but hear how shortly thereafter they made a splash into lake management. Fourteen acquisitions later, the HBS grads were not bashful about their buy-side bravery. Don’t be fooled though. Although 'acquisition' was in their name (Vector Disease Acquisition), they stress a more critical skill during this interview. You won’t believe it until you hear it, but don’t miss out on some real sage advice from a pair of forty year olds. Step into this Boardroom conversation to hear how these students turned lecturers and businessmen turned investors found their way to a 2-platform exit with Rentokil.  Co-Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Dylan Seals of Verbell.Ltd

A listener’s economic question kicks off this episode although Patrick admits to his own self-interest. Following the listener’s follow-up research on Supernova, the signals and signs are out there, but what are they? The conversation inside The Boardroom turns to investing and the economy. As you can imagine, this episode earns its fair share of financial disclaimers.  Paul chooses to self-manage his portfolio, but that begs the questions of how and why. Diversification goes a lot further than choosing multiple asset classes. Paul shares his investing mindset that goes beyond increasing wealth and into preservation. From crypto to commodities, there are various playbooks out there, but is there one that can solve for inflation? Paul can’t predict the future, but he does see trends reversing. Has anyone ever accused Paul of wearing rose colored glasses? He shares his take on massive demographic shifts and the very real threats of inflation. Tax receipts are at an all-time high, but they still can’t keep up with the US’s debt to GDP ratio. How will the US government navigate out of this extreme liability? Negative forward returns are on the horizon. There can be a variety of extreme outcomes. Take note. Ignorance will not excuse poor preparation. While it may or may not change who you choose to follow on Instagram, it’s time to sign off with one last reminder that Paul, Patrick, and The Boardroom Buzz disclaim all liability. Co-Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Dylan Seals of Verbell.Ltd

Paul goes unplugged in this interview. Literally. Maybe this was part of Paul’s plan to get Allan back for another episode, but the show must go on. This isn't an ivory tower novel. What was the powering force for Allan writing The 1-Page Marketing Plan? You’ll be glad that Allan wrote a book to himself but shared it with everyone. Paul name drops some of the biggest names in direct response marketing. Pop quiz, Allan… Shots fired. Allan says, "Don’t start with why. Start with buy." From attribution to target market, The Boardroom Buzz guest gives great advice on marketing for service businesses. Would it really be a Boardroom Buzz episode without mentioning pricing? Allan even gives his recent experience shopping for a plumber… and from there, a 1-star idea is born. You would clone your customers (at least most of them), but how can you scale your business through word of mouth marketing? “Orchestrating and Stimulating Referrals” gets a chapter all to itself. Implementing the template will more than pay for your copy of Allan’s book. Kohl’s finds a way to set a hook in the Baldwin budget. Have you implemented a voucher into your marketing strategy? Patrick wasn’t expecting to find a derivative of The Pareto Principle (the 80/20 Rule) in Allan’s “marketing” book. There’s a lot more than marketing in this bestseller. High five for this week’s guest as he shares his take on entrepreneurship as a tool for social good. If you get to listen to 1% of this episode, then listen to the angel investor bit ;)  Co-Produced, Edited, and Mixed by Dylan Seals of Verbell.Ltd