Grow A Small Business Podcast

In this episode, Troy interviews Darrell Evans the Co-founder and CEO of Yokel Local based in Las Vegas, United States. Darrell has set up his own business to help customers, especially CEOs, business owners, and the like in creating digital marketing strategies that ensure growth and the highest ROI. Darrell started to manage a digital marketing agency that provides digital marketing strategies, particularly for CEOs, business owners, and the like, after switching from multiple business ventures. Yokel Local started in 2011 and has been in operation for over 12 years. It was growing with over 6 FTEs and annual revenue of around 2 million dollars. Darrell has stated that starting a digital marketing agency necessitates preparing for the challenges and opportunities that come with it. "This is the hardest business I've ever had", he says, "we are responsible for growing companies on platforms, but we don't own that change all the time. Yet, we are responsible for the result. That is why we're changing the model today to deliver the output consistently." This Cast Covers: Managing a digital marketing agency focusing on helping their customers in four ways. Taking a traditional service business and productizing it. Starting in 2011 providing as the number one driver of their revenue and the number one driver of client's results in success. Learning the use of dynamic tools in the fast-paced digital arena with proven ROI. The formulation of "recipe" or "frameworks" to find the shortest sales cycle with the highest profitability in the first 60 to 90 days. Strategies that produce the highest ROI in the past 20 years. Business experience from a young age breakthrough the odds of business venturing. The perks of joining an entrepreneurial conference, fairs, and cast for successful business ventures. Learn how to attract an M&A market. Talks about being mindful of internal operational systems than scaling in a fast-growing business. Links: Darrell's Linkedin Darrell's Facebook Darrell's Instagram Additional Resources: Yokel Local A Scrum Book by Jeff Sutherland Quotes: "Success is giving people fulfilling opportunities to explore their gifts and to have a ripple effect on their lives and their family." —Darrell Evans "Make sure people have autonomy, to make mistakes, and to do things without repercussion. If we make a mistake, we try to learn from it." —Darrell Evans "The money will never always be in one pot of gold in one spot, to take care of yourself along the way." —Darrell Evans "There are seasons when you'll be extraordinarily out of balance so that you can have an ultimate life balance." —Jim McMahon "You can start an entrepreneurial thing even if none of your friends are doing it." —Darrell Evans

In this episode, Troy interviews Rob Watchorn the Founder and CEO of Blythe & Watchorn based in Hobart, Australia. Rob has set up his own business to provide high-end residential renovations with the highest quality in construction, finish, style, and functionality. With over 31 years of experience in growing his business, Rob has been through deep dark times which taught him to become wiser and be able to appreciate the most important things in life in order to manage his business in the finest way. Blythe & Watchorn was established in 1993 and has been running for over 31 years. Became multi-award winning in-home alterations and ecstatic customers with over 10 FTEs. Rob has said that growing a small business requires time management because you can't work in your business 24/7 and expect to have a happy life. So he added, "At the end of the day, if you find yourself falling into this trap, you've got to do something to change that or you'll end up losing everything you have." This Cast Covers: Focus very much on high-quality work and focus solely on home renovations. The positive effect of keeping your business manageable. Helping professional people and handling top-end projects. With over 31 years of experience in managing businesses. Learning how to recover from very dark times. Helping entrepreneurs improve work and life balance. Learning how to have a stress-free life business through proper money handling. Importance of voluntarily asking and accepting advice from experienced ones. Benefits of establishing your business with ethics and morals. Sharing is the finest way to add people by training them, keeping them enthusiastic, and offering them opportunities. Links: Rob's Linkedin Rob's Facebook Additional Resources: Blythe & Watchorn Quotes: "Try different things, see what works, eat what didn't, and then swing your business around and focus on the things that did work rather than things that didn't." —Rob Watchorn "Success is your security and the time to spend doing the things you want to do with the people you love." —Rob Watchorn "If you don't allow yourself time to recover and rekindle then you're never going to have the enthusiasm you need to run a successful business." —Rob Watchorn "If you want a stress-free life in business, you've got to have a decent bank balance and not too much debt." —Rob Watchorn "You have to take the courage of voluntarily asking for help or you're not going to get out there." —Rob Watchorn

In this week's Quick Fire Friday episode, Michael interviews Harry Sanders, Founder and Director of Studio Hawk, a specialized agency dedicated to search engine optimization with a mission of reforming what people think about SEO. He is based in Melbourne, Australia. He has been in the SEO game for 10 years, growing to a team of well over 60 SEO specialists, winning multiple awards such as the Best Large SEO Agency in the 2023 APAC Awards, Best Large Global SEO Agency in the 2021 Global Search Awards, and the list goes on. SEO has dramatically changed in the past 10 years, back then it was about how many keywords you have on your page, shortcuts if you will, but now it is about building a solid foundation and understanding of a brand and its positioning with the help of moderate use of artificial intelligence. To catch up with the paradigm shift you can start learning at Hawk Academy, or kickstart your business' digital presence with StudioHawk and their white hat SEO techniques that will undoubtedly reach your goals and maintain an average of 300% ROI. As a small-medium business owner, you must consider your expertise and authority carefully. Contemplating what makes you unique in the market, owning a niche that others don't have. That's the only way a small business could compete with the big ones. A prime example is Harry, who specializes in SEO and masterfully carves out that niche. This Cast Covers: Various complexities of Harry's company, Studio Hawk. Changing the public's perception of SEO. SEO is concerned with organic results rather than people clicking on advertisements. What SEO is today is a paradigm shift from what it was ten years ago. The significance of branding and positioning in today's world of digital marketing. Small businesses learn about SEO and P&L through different online resources. Using artificial intelligence to alleviate rather than solve a problem. Thinking about insights that will make you unique to the rest of the world. Handling digital public relations via various media sources. Allocating a huge amount of time to build a business. Links: Harry's Linkedin Harry's Company Website Additional Resources: Hawk Academy SEO 2023 by Adam Clarke Quotes: "It's not a Swiss army knife that needs to come in for very specific tasks to help or provide insight." — Harry Sanders. "How do you position your expertise and authority? What makes you unique in the market? What's that niche that you feel that other people don't feel?" — Harry Sanders. "It takes time to build a business, it doesn't happen overnight, regardless of what you think." — Harry Sanders. "You need to have that consistency that focuses on discipline." — Harry Sanders. "Sit down and think about one unique insight you have about your industry or field." — Harry Sanders.

In this GASB Podcast episode, Troy interviews Shawn Shewchuk, President and Founder of Change Your Results. He's based in Calgary, Canada. Shawn grew up as a farm kid, going out in the springtime planting 1000s and 1000s of plants, later on, he started knocking on the doors of his home city of Calgary, at the age of 13, thinking he could help them, a true coaching spirit right from the very start. Fast forward 28 years, Shaun is now a successful coach, a bestselling author, and a serial entrepreneur, he successfully worked with well over 12,000 clients and profited from 43 different companies. When it comes to building a business, it doesn't matter what the company is, there are always only two things to be concerned about, profitability, and growth. Shawn helps small-medium business owners achieve those goals first, is by helping them be aware of the things they shouldn't be doing as complacency is one of the main things that hinder business growth, and second is to engage in high-leverage activities to see the outcome they want to see. One tool he recommends to accelerate business growth and generate results is to get a business coach. Two heads are better than one, business coaches can help hold individuals accountable, ease the cognitive load on strategic planning, and help expand your network and make valuable connections in the industry. This Cast Covers: Focusing on what drives the outcomes and results. Impacting the lives of entrepreneurs in a positive way through coaching. Key things that are hindering business growth as well as business owners. Fundamentals of a business: profitability and growth. One of the hardest things an entrepreneur must do is let go. Prioritizing engaging with high-leverage activities to deliver results. Developing a multi-pronged proactive approach to marketing. Carefully selecting who you take in as a business partner. Investigating thoroughly and doing reference checks around the applicants. Various benefits of investing in a business coach. Links: Shawn's Linkedin Shawn's Company Website Shawn's Twitter Additional Resources: Change Your Mind, Change Your Results: #1 Proven Success Strategies by Shawn Shewchuk Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It by Michael E. Gerber Quotes: "The reality when it comes to building a business, there's always only one outcome, profitability, and growth." — Shawn Shewchuk. "You can't manage time, the clock doesn't stop, but you can manage the activities and the time you're given and blessed with." — Shawn Shewchuk. "You cannot grow, scale, or expand the business without knowing what you should not be doing." — Shawn Shewchuk. "Be aware of who you partner with, because who you partner with can determine your outcome, good or bad." — Shawn Shewchuk. "Always approach a situation this way, no matter who it is or what it is, there is always a solution." — Shawn Shewchuk.

In this episode, Troy interviews Angela Achitei the Founder of ADV Romania based in Yash, Romania. Angela has set up her own business to help people with disabilities and especially youth a chance to have a job. Angela accepted an offer to manage an organization that provides social services, particularly to children and youth with HIV and AIDS, after working for an international organization in the United States. Romania Group was founded in 2002 and has been in operation for over 20 years. Growing from 5 to 100 employees and a monthly revenue of around 4.5 million euros. Angela has stated that growing a small business necessitates preparing for the challenges and opportunities that will arise along the way. "It's not easy to maintain and develop," she says, "but if you are able to see the challenges and opportunities and work with them, I think it's a good way to be sustainable and in the market." This Cast Covers: Managing a group of social enterprises and reinvesting 100% of the profit in their social services. Giving people with disabilities and especially youth a chance to have a job. Producing different types of equipment, for different companies, or archiving services. Starting in 2002 by providing social services, especially for children, and youth with HIV and AIDS. Growing from 5 to 100 employees and around 4.5 million euros a month. Went to different business training, and competence. Worked in the past for an international organization in the United States. The importance of understanding the numbers before writing a business plan. Worked a lot with the Global Fund for HIV and AIDS. Provides good results and defines actually the good of their future to do things carefully. Links: Angela's Linkedin Angela's Facebook Angela's Instagram Additional Resources: ADV Romania Quotes: "If you don't have very good people with high random and inverted war, this makes you not competitive in the market." —Angela Achitei "Success is when the people around you are happy." —Angela Achitei "It's crucial to look at the market and to do research before trying to go to do something in the field." —Angela Achitei "If you will be very transparent as an organization, you will be very clear in your mission." —Angela Achitei The biggest assets for your organization are the people." —Angela Achitei

In this week's QFF episode, Michael interviews Shelley Brooks, a registered liquidator, director, and owner at Rodgers Reidy. She's based in lovely Hobart, Australia. Shelley's a seasoned corporate and personal restructuring veteran; she's been in the industry for about 19 years and counting. During those 19 years, she gained exposure to a variety of industries facing financial difficulties. Small-medium business owners are as fallible as everyone else. They are susceptible to falling into a financial bind, especially when outside factors like COVID are involved, a mean pandemic that struck in 2020 and put financial distress on almost all business owners. It can be hard for them to bravely tread these stormy waters. The good thing is, they don't have to do it alone. For 19 years, Shelley has successfully helped small-medium business owners who are on the brink of bankruptcy through corporate and personal restructuring; designing arrangements to return to a state of commercial viability, and getting the business back on its feet. Throughout Shelley's 19 years worth of experience, as a recommendation based on her knowledge and expertise in her area, she heavily emphasized the importance of small-medium business owners who are stretched thin to be brave and reach out, ask someone for advice sooner rather than later, instead of sticking their heads in the sand. Topping it all off by saying, "A fresh set of eyes can be your saving grace." This Cast Covers: The condition of being in financial difficulty. Shelley's 19 years of experience in corporate and personal restructuring. Financial distress has major implications for business owners' mental health. Taking action on the situation immediately before it's too late. How the ATO (Australian Tax Office) affects small-medium business owners. A formal restructuring process to rehabilitate the business. Possible reasons why a business is under financial distress. The ins and outs of rehabilitating a business under financial distress. Different classifications of corporate restructuring. Ensuring the return of business viability. Links: Shelley's Linkedin Additional Resources: Corporate Debt Restructuring in Emerging Markets: A Practical Post-Pandemic Guide by Richard Marney, Timothy Stubbs Quotes: "If people put their heads in the sand for too long and don't come in and seek any help, they might find that it's too late." — Shelley Brooks. "It doesn't matter what people think, what the public thinks, what your friends think; you're actually doing the right thing." — Shelley Brooks. "For directors of a company in particular, because the idea of a company structure is to try and protect your own assets." — Shelley Brooks. "You might be great at building houses, but it doesn't mean you're great at doing finances." — Shelley Brooks. "A fresh set of eyes can be your saving grace." — Shelley Brooks.

In this episode, Troy interviews Jeff Greenfield, CEO of Provalytics. He's based out of Boston, USA. Jeff's a tech-savvy entrepreneur. He always had a nose for using technology to drive business growth since the early 2000s. He created one of the first SaaS, Position Solutions, a search engine optimization, but he didn't stop there. As he proceeds on his entrepreneurial journey in the tech world, he co-founded, C3 Metrics a leading MTA platform, and his latest achievement, Provalytics, launched with the notion of preparing for, according to him, "the cookie apocalypse." Of course, Jeff's achievements are undoubtedly backed-up by illustrious credentials and degrees, he studied Biochemistry at the University of Maryland, obtained his Doctor of Chiropractic, and BS in Human Biology from Southern California University of Health Sciences, and was a performing member of the Magic Castle in Hollywood. The wide world of the web has dramatically changed since then. Gone are the days when you can track users across the web, as they went from site to site, following the user's interests and behaviors, based on the websites they visit, the content they view, and the ads they click on. It was all possible due to cookies, however, it all changed with the uprise of privacy policy changes and changes in iOS, which sparked this so-called, as Jeff Greenfield coined it, "cookie apocalypse," which has significantly impacted the marketers and advertisers of various organizations. Fortunately, Jeff found a solution, a new way of connecting small-medium business owners' brands to a sale in this new status quo, with Provalytics. It steps back from the old ways of highly depending on user-level data, borrowing from marketing mix modeling, and producing whole new different types of results that allow you to get the answers that you need to drive business results. Despite this daunting task of preparing for the inevitable future by launching Provalytics, Jeff still seems to never forget the important work-life balance. Making sure to sleep right and eat right. Staying mentally healthy by writing down your thoughts, taking power-downs, and relaxing on your nights off before going back at it again the next morning. This Cast Covers: Driving business growth through ad effectiveness. Privacy policy changes, changes in the iOS, and the effects of it on the status quo. The traceability of the users' data back then, as they could be tracked site-to-site. How Provalytics differ from the deprecated user-level data dependence. Organizations wrongly see marketing as a wasteful expense. Marketers justify the expense by being data-driven and the use of measurement. The types of industries Provalytics focuses on. Series of events and decisions that lead Jeff to enter the industry. An upcoming avalanche this July through the launch of Google Analytics 4. Utilization and integration of Artificial Intelligence to ease and improve your business. Links: Jeff's Linkedin Jeff's Twitter Additional Resources: Lemon. How the advertising brain turned sour. By Orlando Wood Provalytics Producthunt.com Fireflies.ai Close.com Quotes: "The other thing is, is that you have to show people, to take a leap and be willing to take a risk." — Jeff Greenfield. "Overall success is growing a business that enables me to also have a healthy life." — Jeff Greenfield. "Make sure what you say about your business is the same across all platforms." — Jeff Greenfield. "It's about maximizing the time in your current gig so that you can go on to your next one. That's what it's about." — Jeff Greenfield. "We all have doubts. Once we can figure that out. We're in great shape." — Jeff Greenfield.

In this episode, Troy interviews John Jonas, founder of OnlineJobs.PH and a pioneer in outsourcing tasks to virtual workers. He's based near Salt Lake City, United States. After quitting his day job to work online and becoming overloaded with tasks, he decided to outsource tasks to free up time. Now liberated with the idea that he could delegate tasks to keep from burning out, he and his newly hired programmer started OnlineJobs with the goal of helping small business owners all over the world find hardworking virtual assistants in the Philippines. OnlineJobs was launched in 2009 and has seen 50% growth since its inception. It now has a total of 40 FTEs in the Philippines, recently hitting eight figures last year, maintaining a truly remarkable run. Combined with the concept of arbitrage and teaching how to utilize outsourcing differently, John has helped a lot of small business owners manage costs and get more done by introducing them to hard-working VAs in the Philippines and providing Filipinos with a way to support their families. To top it all off, John has placed an emphasis on the subject of thinking. Thinking is the number one habit that small-medium-sized business owners should develop and maintain to grow, as John said. Implying, that being able to think through the hard stuff is the catalyst for a small business owner to make things happen because consequently, it's where ingenuity and success happen. This Cast Covers: The inner workings of John Jonas' company, OnlineJobs. Discovering the amazing work culture of Filipinos. Events that lead to John launching OnlineJobs. OnlineJobs' consistent growth since its inception. Gaining trust between your employees. Success is determined by the amount of progress made. Recognizing that success is not limited to business success. Delegating tasks that you are unfamiliar with to experts. Solving problems through critical thinking. The significance of providing value to your business. Links: John's Linkedin John's Personal Website John's Company Website Additional Resources: The Outsourcing Lever: Secrets of How Successful Entrepreneurs Grow Their Businesses with Virtual Assistants by John Jonas My Life in Advertising and Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins Confessions of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy Quotes: "You have to gain their trust, you have to do things so that they trust you." — John Jonas. "Success is progress." — John Jonas. "Success isn't just business success, for me, it's family life, it's a personal life, its relationships and all of that." — John Jonas. "It's not just about money, it's about fulfillment." — John Jonas. "Take responsibility ... when something goes wrong, you have to take the responsibility yourself." — John Jonas.

In this week's Quick Fire Friday episode, Michael interviews David Jenyns, who's based in Melbourne, Australia. David is the Founder of SYSTEMology, the system to systemize your business. A process that breaks small-medium-sized business owners free from being tied to the day-to-day operations by its effective 7-step process that will delegate the recurring, repetitive, essential, delegable tasks down to team members. The process starts with identifying your CCF (Critical Client Flow) and documenting the systems needed. When the documentation process is done, recording the current systems will be assigned to the established department heads, then one of their SYSTEMologists will extract and analyze the information. Proceeding to organize the systems with their systemHUB; integrating it into the team, and fostering a healthy culture of 'systems thinking.' Topping it with a shift in focus in recruitment to boost the scalability of your business, finishing it all off with optimizing the most important systems and processes. "Systems and processes are important," according to David. Systems are important because they provide structure and organization to various processes, operations, and activities to such an extent that they give small-medium-sized business owners freedom. Building a systems-driven culture can have a profound impact on so many different aspects of the business, as well as the lives of the business owners. This Cast Covers: Why systems are critical for small businesses to grow. The tendency of small-medium-sized business owners to do everything. Business owners getting shackled to their businesses. Finding a way that your business can work without you. Building systems for your business using SYSTEMology. SYSTEMology's proprietary 7-step process. The challenge of making changes in a business. Finding someone in your business to be the system's champion. The impact of building a systems-driven culture on different aspects of the business. SYSTEMology, giving freedom to small-medium-sized business owners. Links: David's Linkedin David's Company Website David's Twitter Additional Resources: SYSTEMology: Create time, reduce errors and scale your profits with proven business systems by David Jenyns Quotes: "Most of the resistance to any sort of change, in anything, happens upfront." — David Jenyns. "We need to get someone who becomes the system's champion." — David Jenyns. "You need to do it enough till it becomes a habit." — David Jenyns. "Building a systems-driven culture can have a profound impact on so many different aspects of the business." — David Jenyns. "It's quite natural for the business owner to not feel like a systems person. That doesn't mean you can't own a systems-driven business." — David Jenyns.

In this episode, Troy interviews DaRel Daniels from Alsace Legacy Group. He's based in Charlotte in the United States of America. Alsace Legacy Group is a financial literacy platform that helps smaller companies, LLCs, and entrepreneurs to access capital to start their businesses or help their businesses grow that need 100k to 20k to get started. As a chef, he and his wife started a food truck business in Charlotte in 2014. This was before his knowledge of how to get funding and capital. So they started using their own money. In 2019, they sold the food truck, and at around the same time he started on a financial literacy journey that kind of led to the business that they do today. The most stressful point was when one of their 2 food trucks broke down on its second day so they had to shut down and get more funding so they could shoot the equipment into another truck and get back on the road and running. This Cast Covers: How he got started with a food truck business in Charlotte in 2014 How it grew to around 12 to 13 team members Why they decided to transition to their current business What success looks like to him Luxury car rental named Alsace Auto Group and how it got funded Part of the business he had to work on the most to add value Links: LinkedIn Additional Resources: OnlineJobs.ph Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki Rich Dad's CASHFLOW Quadrant: by Robert T. Kiyosaki Earn Your Leisure (EYL) podcast Quotes: "Get a virtual assistant." — DaRel Daniels "Don't chase the dollars, but chase action and results." — DaRel Daniels "stay consistent, stay on track, know where you're going personally." — DaRel Daniels "Being able to see the change in people that we work with like that's been the most rewarding. Definitely." — DaRel Daniels "Being around people in the same industry, that's doing and kind of the same thing and moving towards the same goal. So just having somebody to bounce ideas off of, really helps." — DaRel Daniels