Systems Simplified

Greg Tomchick is a Partner and CISO (chief information security officer) at Valor Cybersecurity, which helps small to medium-sized businesses simplify and address cybersecurity threats. As a former professional athlete, entrepreneur, and cyber attack victim, he focuses on mitigating cyber threats and countering attacks with targeted and strategic responses. Greg is the host of The Connected Mindset podcast and the author of Growing Into You. In this episode: Entrepreneurs possess a unique discipline to identify and execute their strengths, endure failure, and develop systems to maintain success. But what happens when the fruits of your labor are compromised during a cyber attack? How can you prevent and mitigate threats to your business? All business owners must prioritize their endeavors based on objectives, culture, and values. For pro athlete turned entrepreneur, Greg Tomchick, cybersecurity is a fundamental component shaping all other business ventures. This form of protection extends beyond traditional notions of digital security and involves a holistic process. Assessing core systems and processes allows you to recognize risks associated with your digital footprint, whereas identifying and enforcing your culture mitigates internal threats. It's also critical to allocate and safeguard your resources. Join Adi Klevit in this episode of Systems Simplified as she welcomes Greg Tomchick, a Partner and CISO at Valor Cybersecurity, who shares comprehensive cybersecurity processes for disciplined entrepreneurs. Greg explains the similarities between entrepreneurs and professional athletes, companies' main cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and how to protect against cyber attacks.

Leslie Harpole is the Co-owner of Champion Plumbing, a residential plumbing service business she started with her husband, Brent. The company services Oklahoma City and the surrounding areas. After leaving her job as a Land Technician at Red Sky Land, LLC, Leslie channeled her passion for her community and other local businesses to start Champion Plumbing. In this episode: While technical systems and processes are integral to a company's operational efficiency, support systems allow entrepreneurs to build and scale their businesses. Learn how a network of supportive consultants and executives helped a trade entrepreneur advance her passion. As a tenacious tradeswoman managing a plumbing company with her husband, Leslie Harpole channels her strategic drive and personal and professional support systems to build her business into an influential empire for her family and the community. But business challenges can interfere with your personal life, so Leslie urges you to divide time between your family and strategic idea-sharing with your support network. In today's episode of Systems Simplified, Adi Klevit hosts Leslie Harpole, the Co-owner of Champion Plumbing, who shares her passion for building a lasting business in the trades. Leslie talks about her inspiration to launch a podcast, how she founded and scaled Champion Plumbing, and the difficulties of managing a company with a spouse.

Todd Taskey has been an entrepreneur, business owner, investment banker, and business finance advisor for over 20 years. He is the M&A Advisor at Potomac Business Capital, where he helps CEOs and entrepreneurs maximize their company's value and develop a successful exit strategy. His specialties include M&A, strategic acquisition, divestitures, and more. In addition to his role at Potomac Business Capital, Todd is an angel investor at multiple companies, including Zoomph, Whitebox Inc, and RightEye LLC. He is also the host of the Second Bite Podcast, where he talks with top CEOs and entrepreneurs about creating valuable companies through creative transactions. In this episode: One of entrepreneurs' standard desires is attaining the freedom to work when and where they want. Selling and exiting your business is a viable option, but it requires extensive due diligence and a systematic process to execute effectively. How can you source and finalize optimal acquisitions? According to seasoned M&A advisor Todd Taskey, the buyer acquires 100% of the business in an ideal transaction while the seller maintains equity in the new company. This can be accomplished through a private equity acquisition or by partnering with a company that specializes in your industry. Before executing any deal, Todd emphasizes maintaining your organization's quality by implementing processes to systematize operations and finances. In today's episode of Systems Simplified, Adi Klevit is joined by Todd Taskey, the M&A Advisor at Potomac Business Capital, who details the components of a successful business transaction. Todd also explains how to evaluate potential companies for acquisition, the road to post-acquisition freedom, and the ideal time to exit a business.

Alex Rodriguez is the President of YMMY Marketing, a creative lead-generation agency. He helps growth-oriented businesses acquire intent-filled leads and revenue opportunities. As a speaker and creative strategist, Alex has over two decades of experience generating leads. He is also the author of the best-selling book Digital Bacon and Sell You Before You Sell. In this episode: When it comes to lead generation, marketers and business owners often invest in digital or social media advertising arbitrarily, lacking a well-defined strategy and losing potential clients in the process. Today's guest shares proven systems to engage and generate qualified leads. According to seasoned marketer Alex Rodriguez, the main objective of lead generation is to deliver value to potential customers or clients. When prospects display interest in your product or service, you can identify a need or problem they face and offer affordable and low-friction solutions. The lead generation process involves advertising on three channels. Marketing on organic channels like podcasts boosts discovery and brand awareness, while paid digital channels allow you to share common customer experiences. By combining these channels with personal channels like your website, you can assess lead engagement and ROI effectively. In this episode of Systems Simplified, the President of YMMY Marketing, Alex Rodriguez, joins Adi Klevit to talk about profitable lead generation systems. Alex describes the value of intent-based leads, the do's and don'ts of paid lead generation, and automated systems for lead engagement.

Victor Nunnemaker is the Founder and Investor at Digital Porcupine, a website investing in the digital revolution. He is also the President-Elect of Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO) San Francisco. With over 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur, Victor has held executive positions in public and private high-tech, biotech, and startups in Silicon Valley. As an avid investor in SaaS and other digital companies, his returns have exceeded 10x the average of their market indexes. In this episode: People often believe that business owners are born successful. But entrepreneurs who have built companies from scratch have lived through adversity. How can you scale and exit your business to achieve full financial freedom? After being raised in poverty and having launched, sold, and exited several successful businesses, Victor Nunnemaker is no stranger to hardships. His four-step system for entrepreneurship involves survival, stability, success, and service. Establishing and selling a company with those key components requires embracing your adversities, taking the initial step to execute your ideas, gaining financial clarity, and implementing systems and processes to prepare for a sale. Tune in to this episode of Systems Simplified as Victor Nunnemaker, Digital Porcupine's Founder and Investor, joins Adi Klevit to talk about the systems for a rewarding entrepreneurial journey. Victor shares his habits for success, how he remains goal-oriented, and the value of intentionality and learning from others.

Brett Trembly is the Co-founder and CEO of Get Staffed Up, a staffing agency helping lawyers at small and mid-size firms hire off-shore, full-time virtual assistants. He is also the Founding Partner of Trembly Law Firm, where he resolves businesses' legal issues. As a practicing lawyer, Brett has been named a Super Lawyers Rising Star in Florida for three years and is the former President of the Miami Kendall Bar Association. In this episode: Startup entrepreneurs often take on multiple responsibilities while scaling their companies simultaneously. Consequently, they find themselves in an endless cycle, unable to catch up. How can you delegate your tasks to qualified professionals? According to attorney and recruitment expert Brett Trembly, time is an entrepreneur's most valuable asset. He has developed a 24-month hiring process for business owners to protect their time and focus on growth. This roadmap involves hiring virtual assistants gradually and systematically, beginning with an executive assistant to relieve you of minute tasks. From there, you should hire a receptionist, a marketing assistant to develop a system for generating conversions, an intake coordinator, a billing clerk, a secretary, and a client concierge. In this episode of Systems Simplified, Brett Trembly, the Co-founder and CEO of Get Staffed Up, is back to speak with Adi Klevit about developing a hiring system for business growth and freedom. Brett talks about the business principles outlined in his book, how to reshape your perspective about delegating, and the role of a client concierge.

Jamie Royce is the Founder and CEO of MindCloud, a software company that builds and maintains custom connections between software and other platforms. He is also the Owner of Royce Enterprises, LLC, which works with companies to build tailored software solutions. With over 25 years of software engineering and sales leadership experience, Jamie helps business leaders scale with automated workflows. In this episode: In many organizations, data is scattered throughout multiple software systems, and integrating it necessitates frequent transfers. But most software isn't homogenized to handle the demand, and staff are stuck in the minutiae of repetitive tasks. How can you streamline communication between software systems and automate your workflow processes? Manual workflows can cause errors when team members input duplicate or incorrect data from disconnected software systems. To avoid data silos, software enthusiast Jamie Royce says to develop a process that identifies the workflows that must be automated. But this process can become jumbled if your software isn't integrated together, so Jamie advises grouping these systems by function to minimize redundancies. In this episode of Systems Simplified, Adi Klevit interviews MindCloud's Founder and CEO, Jamie Royce, about automating workflows and integrating software systems. Jamie explains how automation leads to increased efficiency and profitability, frequent data automation challenges, and common use cases for automation.

Greg Crabtree, CPA, is the Founder of CRI Simple Numbers, a business profitability consulting and advisory firm providing tax and accounting services to entrepreneurs and businesses. As a serial entrepreneur, he founded Crabtree, Rowe & Berger, PC, an accounting firm focused on entrepreneurs' business needs and growth strategies, which merged with CRI in 2019. Greg is the co-author of Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits, which covers core principles for building business wealth. In this episode: Most entrepreneurs aren't financially savvy. When determining their company's profitability, they often analyze inaccurate data without understanding its implications. What metrics should you evaluate to develop a simple system for scaling your business? As a CPA and financial strategies expert, Greg Crabtree knows that focusing solely on revenue is futile. Instead, businesses must measure and optimize gross profit margins by calculating revenue and subtracting associated costs. Your ideal gross profit margin should be $2 for every dollar of labor, so you must maximize productivity and efficiency to maintain your profit goals. Greg recommends creating a system that incorporates these metrics for operational success. Greg Crabtree, the Founder of CRI Simple Numbers, joins Adi Klevit in this episode of Systems Simplified for a conversation about gross profit margins. Greg talks about the importance of optimizing price, productivity, and people, his processes for increasing cash flow and labor efficiency, and fundamental financial metrics.

Ruben Dua is the Founder and CEO of Dubb, a sales operating system that helps small and medium-sized businesses to Fortune 500 teams scale revenue with the power of data, automation, and video. Ruben hosts Connection Loop, an interview-style show that helps business people improve their branding, sales, marketing, and communication. He is also the author of Click Record: How Overcoming Fear, Storytelling, and Video Marketing Can Change Your Life. Before Dubb, Ruben was responsible for demand generation and corporate marketing for the enterprise segment of Scorpion. In this episode: When marketing a business, many entrepreneurs are apprehensive about conducting outreach strategies, especially if they involve cold-calling or emailing. But even more uncomfortable is video marketing, as many fear public speaking. How can you develop thorough systems and processes for marketing and outreach? Video marketing enthusiast Ruben Dua says that trepidations about cold outreaches and messaging can be eliminated through personal connections. For outreach and follow-up processes, this means delivering value by displaying empathy and understanding the client's needs and problems. This may involve communicating through multiple channels to expand your reach. To enhance your video marketing, Ruben emphasizes remaining consistent and persistent in your efforts. Developing authentic scripting and calls-to-action are also crucial in this process. Listen to this episode of Systems Simplified as Adi Klevit sits down with Ruben Dua, the Founder and CEO of Dubb, to discuss video marketing and outreach tips. Ruben shares entrepreneurs' most common video marketing mistakes, how to conduct sales follow-ups, and how the Dubb tool encourages personal connections.

Jason Swenk is the Agency Advisor, Coach, and Mentor at Agency Mastery 360, which guides agencies through a proven framework to scale easier and faster. As one of the world's most sought-after advisors for agencies, he has developed an eight-system framework for growing two agencies from nothing to eight figures helping brands like AT&T and Hitachi. Jason hosts the Smart Agency Masterclass, the #1 podcast for digital marketing agency owners. In this episode: For digital marketing agencies, scaling to over $1 million in revenue is complex and intricate. It requires implementing sound processes to build trust, sell your services, and generate leads. Today's guest offers demonstrated systems for growing your agency to eight figures and beyond. As one of the world's most trusted agency advisors, Jason Swenk has built, scaled, or sold two top-performing agencies using his tried-and-true eight-step process. When starting out, it's essential to identify and communicate a growth vision to your team. This allows you to position your business effectively to your target audience and craft an offer that demonstrates value. Referrals are no longer viable in the next stage of growth, so you must form strategic partnerships to generate a steady flow of leads. Strategic scaling also necessitates replicating reliable sales systems, enhancing operations, and motivating leadership teams. In this episode of Systems Simplified, Adi Klevit welcomes Jason Swenk, the Agency Advisor, Coach, and Mentor at Agency Mastery 360, who shares proprietary, actionable agency growth systems. Jason talks about his journey to agency ownership, how he scaled his agency from zero to eight figures, and his eight-step agency scaling process.