Grow A Small Business Podcast

In this episode, I interview Jennifer O'Farrell, a Senior Associate at Dobson Mitchell Allport. Jennifer is a commercial litigation and dispute resolution lawyer. She has a particular interest in insolvency, personal property securities, administrative and local government law. She began her legal career as a judge's associate in the Federal Court of Australia. In that role, she gained experience in a wide range of areas, including constitutional and administrative law, insolvency, tax, and general commercial disputes. She added to that experience by then working for a national law firm in Melbourne for 7 years. Jennifer is a Professional Member of the Australian Restructuring Insolvency and Turnaround Association. She has a first-class honors degree in Law from UTAS and is the recipient of both the Tasmanian National Undergraduate Scholarship and the Tasmanian Honours Scholarship. She joins us in this episode to demystify the topic of insolvency and restructuring in relation to small businesses. Enjoy! This Cast Covers: From a judge's associate to a solicitor at a national law firm, and how she was attracted to the world of insolvency. Doing general litigation and also acting for insolvency practitioners like liquidators, administrators, and receivers. Australia having some of the harshest director penalties in the world for insolvent trading. The current low number of insolvencies due to the federal government's initiatives aimed at discouraging businesses from entering into insolvency. Identifying the critical problems earlier on to ensure one has the resources to fund a restructuring plan when their business is in financial distress. Why proper cash flow management is critical to ensuring the sustainable success of a business. The wisdom in making sure you pay your tax debts on time. Voluntary administration to maximize the prospects of a business continuing in existence. Preventing your debtors from getting away from you so you can ensure you have enough cash to meet your overhead needs. Additional Resources: Jennifer on Linkedin Dobson Mitchell Allport Music from https://filmmusic.io "Cold Funk" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com). License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In this episode, I interview Gillian Horton, the owner of Colleen's Lingerie and Swimwear and the Co-Owner of Treat Me Treasure Me. Colleen's offers post-surgery pocketed bras and swimwear along with a wide range of large cup and front opening bras; gifts; turbans; wigs and beautiful leisurewear. After treatment for breast cancer, Gillian got back to a toxic government job in 2013 and one day looked out the window and asked herself, "I'm never ever going to get this minute back. What I'm I doing?" After a shop that specialized in offering bras and products for women after breast cancer surgery was shutting down in January 2014, she decided to buy it at age 54. They have the widest range in Australia and only 10% of sales are currently online with no focus on it yet. They moved from an industrial location into the city in between two hospitals, and even with rent doubling, the move propelled growth. Sales have doubled in six years and the team has grown from 1.8 full-time employees to 6. She funded the business from an initial bank loan and then bootstrapped from profits. Gillian felt she had succeeded when she was recognized as an expert in her field and was nominated for the Telstra Business Woman of the Year award. She says the hardest thing about growing a small business is knowing when to let go. The one thing she says she would tell herself on day one of starting out is, "Strap yourself in. It's going to be a hell of a roller coaster ride" Tune in to learn more from Gillian. This Cast Covers: Making money from offering products that positively impact the lives of women. Being in a niche market where they are among very stores that offer post-surgery pocketed bras and swimwear. Generating 90% of their sales from their traditional brick and mortar store with 10% coming from their online store. From disillusioned public servant to a successful entrepreneur who overcame cancer. How she ended up owning the only bra shop she could ever go to. Taking over to grow the customer base and revenues by a hundred percent within six years. Being proud to be recognized as an expert and influencer in her field. Determining what your customers' pain points are and offering solutions to them coupled with exceptional customer service. Investing very little in Facebook and Google ads but seeking an expert to help her implement them. Buying the business with credit financing and growing it purely from profits. Considering franchising as an option for opening up new locations. How and why they moved from their previous location into the city. Serving women who have undergone breast cancer-related surgery and normal women. Holding true to her own vision by working on her own resistance. The decision making freedom of being a small business owner. Being passionate about serving others and overcoming fear. The great results she has gotten from investing in digital marketing. Some of the best and actionable staff hiring tips from Gillian. Putting family first and building their culture around that. Struggling to achieve work-life balance and how she slowly started working towards achieving it. Additional Resources: Colleen's Lingerie and Swimwear Treat Me Treasure Me Dare to Lead By Brene Brown The Life Coach School Podcast Your Digital Coach Bootcamp Music from https://filmmusic.io "Cold Funk" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com). License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In this episode, I interview Gavin Hodgins, the CEO at FloatPac Pty Ltd, a company that offers technologies to a diverse range of pioneering ideas and products across air, land, and sea. The company was founded in 1982 and the founders were making lift bags for the Australian army, pioneering high-frequency welding. Gavin started out in the company in 2002 as a welder aged 22 and is now the group CEO. They are the Mercedes Benz of fish air transport, the only company in the world with a product to transport fish with oxygen (FishPac). They also have other products like Flexitank Australia fish farm liners, pillow tanks, bladders, inflatable marker buoys, and lift bags, and RainPac under house rainwater bladder tanks, and in 2015 they launched a floating solar business (FloatPac) When Covid hit, to be able to keep all their team members, they pivoted to producing face masks while fish transport stopped overnight. Demand was so high that they had to add 50 more team members. People on their website at any one time grew from 500 to 100,000 after being featured on two news channels. Their full-time employees grew from 2 to 65, and are now down to 12 after changing strategic focus and giving their manufacturing to a partner in Queensland so they can focus on their strength; marketing. Their profit growth has been 5 to 7% year on year, and they have funded their business purely from profits and a few research grants. Gavin felt he had succeeded when they got through Covid with a massive pivot and he feels that the hardest thing about growing a small business is intestinal fortitude. The one thing he says he would tell himself on day one of starting out in business is, "Build your website and spend the first eight weeks so you don't need to touch it for a while after that" There's a lot to learn from Gavin's awesome business ownership story, so don't miss this episode. This Cast Covers: Starting out as a plastics business (lift bags) and diversifying into revolutionary products that have seen the business thrive since 1982. Joining the company as a welder and moving up the ladder to become CEO. Diving into the huge solar (Renewable energy) market in Australia with a brilliant product. Making water transporter liners for the billion-dollar Salmon industry while focusing mainly on the coral trade industry. Facilitating an environmentally friendly way of shipping through their products. How they went into the manufacturing of reusable face masks when Covid-19 hit. The seven seconds of fame that had traffic to their website blowing up so much that they had to get a dedicated server to keep it from crashing. Maintaining a strong position all through the Covid-19 recession brought about the pandemic. How going into a joint venture with a manufacturing business has enabled them to grow their business by focusing all their efforts on marketing. Reducing their workforce from 65 to 12 and helping their outgoing employees find other jobs. Navigating through the loss of their revenue streams within 24 hours to pivot and succeed. Discovering the effectiveness of email marketing and the huge return on investment they get from it. Funding their business with a combination of profit reinvestment and R&D grants/refunds. Running a strict line of credit, only dealing with clients who pay deposits and are excellent payers, and how that has helped them build great relationships. How diversification ensures their continuous ability to keep the business running sustainably. People who do their job well versus people who are invested in their job. Learning and enjoying sales before building his skills in marketing. Why employing people is what he loves most about growing a small business. How he has been able to get rid of impostor syndrome while also knowing where his place is. Finding out that potential employees may look good on paper but not be the best candidate. Building a great company culture by buying everybody coffee every day. Having a hard time achieving some work-life balance but making sure he doesn't work weekends. His fascination with reading the biographies of big business people like Richard Branson and Bill Gates. Why they moved away from using MailChimp and settled on ActiveCampaign. Additional Resources: FloatPac Pty Ltd MaskPac The Industrial Marketing Show Music from https://filmmusic.io "Cold Funk" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com). License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In this episode, I interview Daph Crowhurst, the Managing Director at Crowies Paints, a fast-expanding retailer of paints. In 2019, Daph was named Telstra's SA Business Woman of the Year. She got into the industry by buying three paint stores in 1996 with her husband and they grew that to six stores until their divorce in 2011. Aged 52, she decided to keep the business and grow it. She started off by changing the business model and they now have 24 stores in four Australian states, with half of those being franchises. Crowies buys paint from manufacturers and sells it in both trade and retail. In 2011, most of their sales were coming from trade, but she focused their marketing and customer service on the retail channel, and now that forms the majority of sales. The business has grown from eight full-time employees in 1996 to the current sixty-five, including the twelve franchise stores. Sales have also swelled from $7 Million in 2011 to the current $27 Million a year. Daph has consistently funded the business entirely from profits and says the hardest thing about growing a small business is the hours required. The one thing she says she would tell herself on day one of starting out in business is, "Be brave" Stay tuned as Daph shares her awesome and successful small business ownership journey. This Cast Covers: Buying paint from manufacturers and retailing it to trade customers, painters, and retail customers. Why they have had an increase in business in most of their stores during the pandemic. How they started out with 5 stores and later on changed the business model to grow the business. Differentiating themselves from competitors by doing all the admin work, marketing/advertising, product research, and training for their franchisees. Implementing the no-asshole policy in their franchisee vetting process. Growing from 20 full-time employees to 65, and from $7 Million in sales to $27 Million. Thriving in the capital intensive paint business by bootstrapping purely from profits. Their success in marketing themselves as painting specialists. Growing their retail sales while also sustaining a stable growth in trade accounts. The importance of learning to be brave as a small business owner. Getting a great return on investment from traditional marketing. Appreciating her staff by always giving them the opportunity to step up to the next level and improve. Hiring for the personality without necessarily focusing on the skill too much. The value of building a culture founded on openness and honesty. Finding mentorship from some of her senior staff and suppliers. Additional Resources: Crowies Paints Music from https://filmmusic.io "Cold Funk" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com). License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In this episode, I interview Emily Gowor, an inspirational writer, author, and speaker. Aged 19 in 2007, Emily launched her writing business, traveling around the world in her early 20s, writing an award-winning blog, staying with friends, and living on $22,000 a year in earnings. In her mid-20s, she settled back in Australia and doubled her revenue three years in a row to hit over $100,000 per annum, peaking at $249,000 when she was aged 27. At only 23, she was asked to write her first book and is now a writer, author, speaker, trainer, coach, and consultant. Emily's writings, projects, and speaking presentations have touched and moved thousands globally as she inspires people to reach for more. Her purpose-finding tool, the Inspiration Formula, is licensed to consultants around the world who are dedicated to showing clients a lasting glimpse of their destiny on Earth. As a winner of the 2012 and 2014 Anthill 30under30 Young Entrepreneur Award, Emily has been featured in a range of media sharing her inspirational messages. 70 to 80% of her sales are from training courses and coaching, and the rest are from speaking, and the eleven books she has published. She has launched over 25 online courses on writing and publishing books and building a business from zero to $100,000 a year as a coach. She has clients all over the world and has grown from one full-time employee to two (Spread across several contractors). Emily felt she had succeeded when a couple of moments she realized she didn't work for anyone. She highlights that the hardest thing about growing a small business is making sure the business is taking you in the direction of your purpose and your legacy. The one thing she says she would tell herself on day one of starting out in business is, "Don't you dare give up. Great things are coming" Please help me welcome, the very inspirational, Emily Gowor. This Cast Covers: Discovering that she wanted to do what she loved as a business. Getting the opportunity to edit a book for Dr. John DeMartini. Coaching people to have a life that they want and grow a six-figure career around their calling and their purpose. How her training in NLP at a young age shaped her writing and speaking career. Doubling her revenues three years in a row to get to a six-figure mark which she has sustained every year since. Her experience with publishing, promoting, and selling books. Starting out as one full-time employee and growing her team to include five to six different contractors. Doing different inspirational speaking engagements to empower people. Offering a diverse range of online training programs to serve clients worldwide. Succeeding at changing lives, loving it, and celebrating the various wins. How being in business empowers people to be the best versions of themselves. Identifying your target customers and basing your marketing on resonating with them. Starting solo and funding her business with hustle. Getting poor accounting advice, paying herself poorly, experiencing burnout, and how she dealt with it all by learning how to manage her money better. Working on herself and how it helped her take her business to where it is today. The importance of being authentic and the power of time blocking. The ease with which her team members understand her mission and vision. Maintaining work-life balance while making sure that the business you're growing is actually taking you in the direction of your purpose and legacy. Additional Resources: Emily's Website Profit First By Mike Michalowicz The Pumpkin Plan By Mike Michalowicz Clockwork By Mike Michalowicz Deep Work By Cal Newport The One Thing By Gary W. Keller and Jay Papasan Music from https://filmmusic.io "Cold Funk" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com). License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In this episode, I interview Michelle Gallaher, a Melbourne-based award-winning entrepreneur, speaker, and advocate for the Australian health technology sector and for women in science, technology, engineering maths, and medicine (STEMM). As CEO of Opyl Ltd (ASX:OPL), a company working at the intersection of social media, clinical trials, health data, and artificial intelligence, Michelle is a sought-after mentor, collaborator, media commentator, and influencer particularly on the pace of advancement of emerging digital health technologies. After 25 years in Biotech, aged 48 in 2014 with a massive mortgage, she bootstrapped a business focusing on social media and healthcare. Three and a half years later in 2018, she sold to a listed company that did marketing in AI for $1 Million. She really wanted to get into the AI space and so after the sale, she stayed on as general manager and in early 2019, there was a significant strategic shift and the CEO left. She took over, rewrote the business plan within two weeks, and pivoted the business within seven months. The business started with two full-time employees and currently has six. Their first-year sales were $311,000 with a profit of $80,000 and the two founders paid themselves $26,000 each after leaving a $220,000 a year corporate salary. A year before selling, her business partner got sick and never returned. Michelle's father came in once a week for six weeks to help her with the restructuring and they grew their annual sales from $500,000 to $700,000 with a profit of just under $200,000. She put up her office across the road from her kids' school. Michelle recommends growing a business through collaboration and feels that she has not yet succeeded in business, but is killing it as a parent. She believes the hardest thing about growing a small business is cash management and says that the one thing she would tell herself on day one of starting out is, "Go hard" Stay tuned to gain from Michelle's wealth of small business growth wisdom. This Cast Covers: Solving the problem of recruiting people into clinical trials and the mining of social media for data that help inform healthcare strategy and forward development of new products and services for healthcare organizations. Enabling an environment where patients' voices are brought into the development of new healthcare technologies and clinical interventions. Monetizing their work by offering consultancy services and selling enterprise solutions. How she started the business, sold it three years later, and stayed on to manage it to date. The intricacies of how artificial intelligence technology works and how they use it. Pivoting from a social media consultancy to an AI-Based company that facilitates healthcare design, development, and delivery. Leaving a cushy corporate job to bootstrap with no capital injection at all. Why she feels she could have taken on an investor if she had to do it all over again. Being left to run the business solo after her business partner got very sick and couldn't help manage the business anymore. Selling the business at a million-dollar valuation. Shifting from a revenue-based business and pivoting into building out an intellectual property portfolio. Scaling the business by collaborating with a company in a similar space. Building a diverse team and implementing flexible workplace policies that ensure people enjoy coming to work. Not there yet with success in business but killing it as a parent. Success in seeing an idea coming to fruition and not getting too hung up on the idea of social proof. Why articulating what your value proposition is is key to succeeding in marketing. Leveraging R&D tax incentives and looking at government grants to raise gainful financing. The wonderful validation that comes from being listed at the ASX and the challenges that come with it. Spending a lot of money to generate revenue and then selling intellectual property to get investor funding that can be immediately allocated to more research and development. The level of expensiveness in terms of both time and money of being a listed company. Working on improving her skills in talent management by having more difficult conversations with her team members. Learning not to be affected by people not believing in her and to think fast to be able to evaluate where the business is at any one time. Meeting Ariane Huffington and learning the value of sleep and sleep hygiene. Being able to make all her decisions herself and fail without anybody watching. Shifting from a growth mindset to a transformational mindset. Consciously building on their culture on a daily basis and struggling to find some work-life balance. Trying not to tie her identity to the success of her business. Spending $100k on her professional development and how it has improved her strategic and core functional skills. The advantages of having a diverse board of directors. Additional Resources: Opyl Limited Value Proposition Design By Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Gregory Bernarda, and Alan Smith Manager Tools Podcast Difficult Conversation By Bruce Patton, Douglas Stone, and Sheila Heen The Goal By Eliyahu M. Goldratt Music from https://filmmusic.io "Cold Funk" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com). License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In this episode, I interview Carissa Reiniger, the Founder, and CEO of Small Business Silver Lining, a company that helps more small business owners make money doing what they love by building more profitable and sustainable businesses. They believe strongly in the power of small business to generate sustainable economic development and to create economic justice. Their work has been featured in many publications and media outlets including the New York Times, Forbes, TechCrunch, National Post, Globe and Mail, Inc, Entrepreneur, CNN, and more. Carissa is also the Creator of the Thank You Small Business movement and regularly writes, speaks, and advises on small business. She started out in 2005, aged 22, and after accidentally firing herself from corporate. She initially did consulting in anything with the simple drive to help small businesses and soon after, she pivoted to an online training offering called Silver Lining Action Plan (SLAP). SLAP has now helped over 10,000 small businesses around the world. They later reduced their fees from $2,000 a month to $300, and their success rate has been 70 to 80%, which is measured on the goals the business owners set for themselves before starting their 13-Month program. From one full-time employee to now forty, her team is in 14 countries and went remote eight years ago before it was cool for Covid. Their next move is to offer small business lending lines based on SLAP behavior. For culture, they focus on team wellness, extra holidays, and an unlimited time away policy. When it comes to success, Carissa feels she has had moments of success but hasn't gotten there yet. She says that the hardest thing about growing a small business is juggling the complexity or volume of things to do. The one she says she would tell herself on day one of starting out in business is, "It's going to be okay. Pace yourself and don't do it alone" It's going to be a super resourceful episode if you're looking to grow your small business, so don't forget to tune in. This Cast Covers: Working with small businesses to help them grow by helping individual small business owners become more profitable and sustainable. Facilitating the creation of opportunities for families, jobs, communities, and the economy. Moving from a subscription model charging $300 a month to a pay-what-you-can model during the pandemic. How their current business model is helping them grow their customer base and help more businesses. The advantage of having a scalable software-as-a-service model. Saving the business by cutting some of their costs and from SLAP experts donating their time. The backstory of how she came up with the SLAP methodology. Working with 10,000 small businesses in over 20 countries and the metrics they track to keep growing the business and its impact. Starting out as the only full-time employee to the current eighteen full-time staff and some freelancers and contractors. Why tracking against top-level revenue and team count may not be the best way to measure business growth. The value of decreasing their overheads to get their price point down. How their profit margin grows with the growth in customer base while their overheads don't grow that much. Enjoying moments of reminders that her hard work has been paying off. Doing marketing that is helpful, valuable, authentic, and not spinny Making a decision not to take VC money to maintain their focus on making an impact. Encouraging small business owners to raise funding from selling products and services and taking equity financing as an option of last resort. Giving unsecured loans at fair interest rates based purely on business owners' SLAP behavioral data. Learning to be vulnerable and asking for help in difficult times. Working hard rounding herself and learning to be a better manager. Seeing that something she created out of nothing is now a huge machine that employs people and helps lots of small businesses. Going remote years before Covid hit and how that has helped her find great team members. Building a culture that focuses more on team wellness. Spending tens of thousands of dollars on personal development and continuous learning. How she has benefitted from being intentional about building a network of incredible mentors and coaches. Juggling the complexities of the many hats a small business owner has to wear. Learning from other people who have valuable expertise to share. Additional Resources: Carissa's Website Small Business Silver Lining Integrity by Dr. Henry Cloud The Modern Manager Podcast with Mamie Kanfer Stewart MasterClass Music from https://filmmusic.io "Cold Funk" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com). License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In this episode, I interview Craig West, the Founder, and CEO of Succession Plus, author, keynote speaker, strategic adviser, and leading authority on Succession and Employee Share Ownership Plans (ESOP). Craig is a strategic accountant who has over 25 years' experience advising business owners. His background as a CPA in public practice has provided invaluable experience in the key issues of concern to business owners. Following 6 yrs of study to gain two master's degrees, Craig focused on Capital Gains Tax (CGT) for business sales advising on strategic management of taxation issues in exit planning. This experience formed a very strong view that the majority of business owners (and often their advisers) were unprepared and unaware of the steps required to prepare for exit. Craig then designed and documented a unique process to assist owners and their advisers prepare for exit. He now acts as a strategic business and financial mentor for mid-market business owners. He has written four critically acclaimed books educating business owners on employee incentives, succession planning, asset protection, and exit strategies. Craig has conducted numerous seminars and keynote presentations throughout Australia and internationally. In March 2014, Craig was appointed Chairman of the SME Association of Australia, an organization focused on improving the success of SMEs in Australia, and in October of the same year, he was awarded the Exit Planner of the Year by the Exit Planning Institute in Texas, USA. The award was as a result of his innovative development of a 21 step exit planning process to help business owners maximize business value and achieve a successful exit. His proprietary structure - a Peak Performance Trust - has won the Australia-wide award for the ESOP of the Year twice in four years. Don't miss this episode as Craig comes on to share highly valuable expertise with you. Enjoy! This Cast Covers: Becoming an exit planning expert because he hated being an accountant. The importance of small business owners learning how to extract the value of their businesses. Giving people a better understanding of ESOPs (Employee Share Ownership Plans) How ESOPs contribute to a 7% to 23% improvement in business performance. Developing a simple way to explain, design, and implement an ESOP in a business. The great return a small business owner can get from investing in the implementation of an employee share ownership plan. Getting small incremental amounts of money out of your business each year by selling part of the business to your employees. The popular business exit method where employees can end up owning the business they work for. The reward of equity in a business versus a cash reward. Implementing a succession strategy sooner rather than later to allow for a proper exit over time. Avoiding the "Us and Them" way of doing things to ensure the growth of your business and how ESOPs can help. How an employee share plan in a professional service firm can work to lock in employees and incentivize them to perform better. The Win-Win-Win model he focuses on when designing an ESOP for a business. Committing to getting your ESOP to keep your employees, improve their performance, and get a great return in both the short and long term. The value of getting clear on what your exit strategy is before you start and build your business. How to cash in at the end to fund your retirement or your next venture. Additional Resources: Succession Plus Build It By Craig West The E-Myth Revisited By Michael E. Gerber Incentivising Employees By Ann O'Connell, Ian Ramsay, and Ingrid Landau Ownership Thinking By Brad Hams Music from https://filmmusic.io "Cold Funk" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com). License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In this episode, I interview Mellissa Larkin, the Founder, and CEO of Peripheral Blue, a company that has been disrupting the way companies receive legal and consulting services by giving clients access to top tier, responsive legal and advisory services in a flexible and affordable way. Peripheral Blue provides legal advice and business advisory services to clients of all sizes including SMEs and ASX 200 companies across a broad range of industries including health, energy, IT, construction, rail, hospitality, food, and manufacturing. Mellissa is responsible for recruiting and managing PB Lawyers, Law Clerks, PB Consultants, and support staff. As well as developing and refining the strategic growth plans for the business. She was the 2020 Telstra Business Women's Awards Winner, a 2019 Telstra Business Awards Finalist, and a finalist in the Women in Law Awards in two categories: Innovator of the Year (Individual) and Wellness Advocate of the Year. After 20 years in corporate law in 2016 aged 38 and with three young kids, she started a new type of law firm to disrupt the market. Questioning what value juniors gave to clients when they were being charged to clients to effectively learn on the job, the company only has highly efficient and experienced lawyers with 20+ years in the game. Mellissa started as the one full-time employee and they're now up to nine, and sales have grown 267% year on year over the four years. The business has been funded entirely from profits. They are obsessive about culture and changed theirs to a collaborative one, not competitive amongst colleagues for billable work, putting value for clients front and center. Mellissa felt they had succeeded when they won their first big piece of work then won a large old client. She feels the hardest thing about growing a small business is accepting the risks and making it happen. The one thing she says she would tell herself on day one of starting out in business is, "You can do this" Please join me in welcoming Mellissa Larkin from Peripheral Blue in beautiful Adelaide, Australia. This Cast Covers: Disrupting the legal and consulting service industries in Australia by doing things differently to deliver great value to clients. Fostering more collaboration and changing their culture to achieve more efficiency. Creating a business model that invests heavily in building solid and long-term relationships. The challenge they had explaining their new way of doing things in a way that clients could connect with. Their genuine and authentic attitude towards helping their clients and how it worked in their favor in terms of customer attention and conversion. How taking the first six months of the law firm to build on the new concept helps in ensuring the firm's success. Transitioning to business ownership and the difficulty she had in breaking the mindsets and habits of working in corporate. Starting from zero to sustaining a 267% growth year on year while maintaining a great culture From one full-time employee to nine within just four years. The big moment when she realized that her firm could go for the big commission corporate work. The importance of being clear on who your client avatar is and what your messaging is. Hiring top-tier trained lawyers who have worked in-house or for the government. Funding the business from her own funds and growing it purely from cash flow. Pushing herself out of her comfort zone to learn about marketing and selling. The stress of making the necessary decisions and risks to facilitate growth. Learning how to say no, prioritize her time, and value herself and her team. Putting systems in place, being disciplined, and setting goals. How bringing in two of her law school mates eased the hiring process. Understanding what drives and motivates people as part of their focus on wellbeing and culture. How she goes about seeking her own form of work-life balance. Investing in learning about marketing, social media, selling, brand development, and public speaking. How powerful LinkedIn is for a professional services company. Additional Resources: Peripheral Blue Deep Work By Cal Newport Secrets of Closing the Sale By Zig Ziglar Sell Like Crazy By Sabri Suby Music from https://filmmusic.io "Cold Funk" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com). License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In this episode, I interview Michelle Dale, the Founder, and CEO of Virtual Miss Friday and 1nSourcing™, the alternative virtual assistant service for digital entrepreneurs. Virtual Miss Friday is an online business consultancy and academy with built-in virtual assistant services while 1nSourcing is a service that specializes in serving 6 and 7 figure business owners. Originally from the UK, Michelle traveled a bit then settled in Cairo, Egypt. Aged 24 in 2005 and sick of selling Eqyptian rugs on eBay, she pivoted to become a virtual assistant. 5 years later, earning $500,000 a year as a virtual assistant, she pivoted again to online courses and now teaches people to create their own online businesses, and build and leverage remote teams for 1nSourcing social media, website building and maintenance, customer service, and content creation. By the end of 2010, 10% of revenue came from training courses which is now 60% with 30% coming from services, 10% from affiliate revenue, and the rest from her team. With her team having once peaked at 25 full-time employees, she now has 10 and has grown the business purely from profits. Michelle says she felt she has succeeded when people were asking her for help and advice. Trying not to give up at the toughest times is what she finds to be the hardest thing about growing a small business. The one thing she says she would tell herself on day one of starting out in business is, "Don't give up" Ladies and gentlemen, please help me welcome Michelle Dale. This Cast Covers: From providing virtual assistant services to teaching people how to create online businesses or take their existing businesses online. Selling her services through a role-based system that ensures business owners get all the support they need to succeed. Training people to become virtual assistants, build their own team, go into consulting, and sell digital products and services. Transitioning from getting all her revenue from services to create new income streams from training, affiliates, and her team. Booking a one-way ticket from the UK and settling in Egypt where she built an online business and eventually got into virtual assistant services. Starting from $0 to hitting 6 figures, scaling fast, and hiring full-time team members. Focusing more on digital products to get more flexibility and streamline operations. Earning $20,000 a month as a virtual assistant while traveling all around the world and how that inspired people to become virtual assistants. Achieving happiness and fulfillment as a small business owner. The importance of personal one-on-one interaction in marketing. How using Bonjoro to send customized video messages to her customers has helped her grow her business. Plowing back profits to build the business without external funding. Growing during the recession by maintaining a positive mindset. Navigating the tough business environment brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and thriving through it all. Working on herself, her mindset, and her confidence to add the greatest value to the business. Overcoming stress from making mistakes and learning from those mistakes. Learning that sometimes one can't control everything. Advising every small business owner to maintain a good self-development ritual. Hiring and training different types of people from different countries. Putting pride aside and asking for help from more experienced people. Traveling, running the business, raising a family, and still achieving work-life balance. Going from $0 to $20,000 right after completing Yaro Starak's Blog Mastermind Course. Additional Resources: Virtual Miss Friday 1nSourcing™ Crush It By Gary Vaynerchuk Music from https://filmmusic.io "Cold Funk" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com). License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/