Beyond 8 Figures

Mike is the co-founder and CEO of FreshBooks, a provider of accounting software in the cloud for self-employed professionals. Built-in 2003 after he accidentally saved over an invoice, Mike spent 3.5 years growing FreshBooks from his parents’ basement. Since then, over 10 million people have used FreshBooks to save time billing and collect billions of dollars.What did Mike find didn’t work while starting up? (3:52)There are trade-offs. Pricing is one of the things you can do to do your business, and business model work differently depending on which customers you are seekings.Mike’s company started with a freemium model before moving to a free trial. They could change it up again according to what objectives they had at the time. They also like to focus on what would be best for their customers.They found that having a free trial is an excellent way to have people experience the product before actually buying it.They are giving people time to experience their product to be sure that they do want to adopt it and change their behaviour coming from Word or Excel. It helps people find value in your product and give them a goal to work towards. Many people then choose to stay a customer for years after if their experience is positive. What started the idea in Mike’s mind? (6:32)Mike was using Microsoft Word one day and his clients, and he saved over a prior invoice for reasons unknown. Mike snapped and figured there must be a better way to do this.So he started building on that idea mostly for his convenience. It was a scratch your itch, write your book endeavour. He did not have global ambitions, but today they have to pay customers in over 120 countries, more than 20 million people have used the software since Mike started it. He was just building it for himself to get invoices in front of clients, and he made a simple web application to do that. Over time he figured other people could use the software too. So he figured out how to market it towards them, and now Mike’s company is a successful Software as a Service business. How did Mike differentiate himself from competitors? (19:01)They did and are still playing the field with competitors. What they do is they are invoicing and accounting software that solves your billing issues.Firms with billing problems related to invoicing, not point of sale or retail restaurants can find use from Mike’s software. When they started, they were only doing online invoicing. Mike felt like an Attack Vector on a big platform. He found a sliver of the tech and made it better. Some people did not like the desktop software, but no one else was doing online invoicing as comparably well as FreshBooks were. That was their hook that got customers coming back and eventually. They grew to know their customers and what they expected from the software. They adjusted it accordingly and started adding other things customers might need like estimates and quotes.What was the most challenging period for Mike? (26:46)Challenges change according to each stage of your business. You need to morph and contort yourself to solve the different problems that arise. It is always challenging, and the challenges will always be present. The whole, while you learn how to lead and what running a company, is really like. There are many different problems to solve many other vectors, but it is also the fun of starting a company. It is not for everybody, but it can be a gratifying process. If mike went back and did it again, he knows he would be able to do it so much faster than before, and that is why so many people back repeat entrepreneurs. FreshBooksFreshBooks is an online invoicing and accounting software designed for self-employed professionals and small business owners and their teams. As a cloud solution, it is highly accessible but secure enough for sync and integration with banks, credit card companies, payment centres, and other cloud productivity apps.ResourcesConnect with Mike: TwitterFreshBooks: WebsiteBeyond 8 Figures: WebsiteSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sabri Suby is a serial entrepreneur who runs Australia's fastest-growing end-to-end digital marketing agency. Having originally founded King Kong in 2014 from his bedroom, Sabri has bootstrapped his company since day one and in under five years has successfully built a team of 54 specialists now achieving $14 million+ in revenue. As a pioneer in the digital marketing arena, his business has impacted 250,000 businesses in 42 different countries and has generated more than $400 million in sales for him and his clients.What are Sabri and his company about? (3:27)They are an end to end marketing agency.  They help clients grow their revenue by increasing their traffic leads and sales. It could be anything from building a high converting landing page to running Facebook ads or building out a sales funnel or a webinar for clients. It’s all about getting traffic to some asset online and then helping that traffic convert into actual sales and leads for their clients. Examples of companies Sabri worked with and what he managed to help them do. (3:53)One of Sabri’s clients is a pilates instructor business; in other words, he teaches people to be pilates instructors. They took him from a struggling 200k at most a year to do about $3 million yearly now. They work with anyone from small to medium sixers businesses. One of their clients is the most prominent home builder in Australia, ranking somewhere around a $1 billion company.No two days are the same. They are always working on entirely different projects.They took a property client to $250 million within their first three months with King Kong. It’s crazy the results you achieve once you find something that works and you can then scale it quickly. They took a client in a niche property market where he was selling houses to a specific demographic market, and they built him a landing page as a primary funnel and took him from zero to $50 million in under three months.Where did Sabri come from before founding King Kong? (10:03)Sabri started when he was 16. He was doing direct selling, telemarketing, and everything in between. Sabri failed miserably at that in the beginning, but it was the only job he could find at the time. It was his first full-time job, and the business owner saw something in Sabri even though he was doing terrible at the time. It was the combination of believing in Sabri and being back into the corner from possibly losing his job, something snapped within Sabri, and the very next day he approached the sales game in a completely different way. He quickly became the top salesperson for the company. Over the next few years, he travelled the UK and the U.S  selling, and He was always the best salesperson at each company he worked at. After spending 2-3 years abroad, he returned to Australia and went off to university.He had a part-time job where he was selling Google AdWords for a company. One of the clients had said he did not want Google AdWords, and he wanted to be on the left-hand side of the page with SEO. This got Sabri thinking and being the ambitious person that he is he said he could do that for that person. He told his manager that he had just sold SEO and his manager said that it was not a service that they offered. Sabri figured out how to supply this service to the client, and that was how he started in the world of digital marketing. After figuring out SEO, he thought that he could run the company better than the person currently running it. And so Sabri started his own business from his bedroom, he was mostly cold calling clients during that time. He decided to drop out of university and focus solely on his business. With his business partner, he managed to grow the company up to $1 million in revenue in 18 months. He sold that business and founded a few more, some of which he exited successfully and others that ran into the ground. He did a few joint ventures with AFL, which is the Australian equivalent of the NFL. With all of those businesses and the time he had spent in them, he realised there were fundamental problems in trying to acquire new clients that other people just weren’t solving. This is what led him to start King Kong.  King Kong King Kong is a digital marketing agency that specialises in social media marketing. It offers services such as traffic generation, conversion, retargeting, and nurturing. It provides custom digital marketing plans by analysing its client’s target market, competitors, sales, and goals.The company provides services such as search engine optimisation, conversion rate optimisation, social media marketing, web design, Magento web design, and landing page design. King Kong was founded by Sabri Suby in 2014 and is headquartered in Prahran, Victoria.ResourcesConnect with Sabri: LinkedInKing Kong: WebsiteBeyond 8 Figures: WebsiteSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Marx AcostaMarx Acosta is the founder of Onestop, a company that makes 30+ million dollars in annual revenues selling print cartridges. Marx dropped out of law school to become an entrepreneur. He is also an investor and consultant who shares his wisdom with other entrepreneurs to save them from falling into traps that might paralyse them and keep them from living the life they want to be living.  Marx believes that family comes first, and they became his inspiration for rising again.How did Marx’s company get value? (4:43)Businesses sell for a multiple of revenue rents usually EBITDA, so EBITDA was about six times multiple.The challenge with these kinds of businesses is that there are no contracts by which you can have customers.When the business crashed, they sold it. Later on, they repurchased the assets, which they had to build once again from scratch.Marx’s secret sauce which he figured out himself. (10:46)He was voted least likely to succeed when he was in high school. He is an introvert and would be happy if you sit him in a corner and give him a book.The thing that he figured out early was that he was doing something different. He was utilising things that others weren't doing.His secret is in the way that he speaks to the other person. He puts forth a good ego and authoritative character. He uses the term “assume” which puts him in that position.What makes or breaks the business? (33:11)You're only one to three moves away from greatness or disaster, it’s not 50 or 100 but as little as up to three movements, and this is not always noticeable.The one move that caused the downfall of Marx’s organisation was a wrong hire. He realised that he had made the mistake of advocating and neglecting four areas at some point.Once he got a hold of that, everything started to change for him.The purpose of building an organisation is to grow it. If you succeed, it will be “attractive.” At some point, someone will come and knock on your door if it's a good company.Marx’s vision around particular businesses. (33:11)Marx’s vision right now is around his kids as they are all heading to college.Some entrepreneurs keep making the same mistakes over and over again, and the reason for this is because they're not working on their mindset.What drives results are behaviour, so if you want results, you need the right actions, and what drives behaviour is belief.Marx Acosta-RubioMarx Acosta-Rubio helps you with creating a selling system. They help owners transform average salespeople into extraordinary income producers using their predictable sales system that never fails.ResourcesConnect with Marx: LinkedInMarx Acosta: WebsiteBeyond 8 Figures: WebsiteSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sharran SrivatsaaSharran Srivatsaa is the CEO of Kingston Lane, a push-button technology execution platform for real estate. Sharran is a serial entrepreneur, sought-after keynote speaker, and a respected thought-leadership resource for publications such as The Wall Street Journal, SUCCESS magazine, Huffington Post, and Forbes.What income range does Sharran have, and where does it come from? (2:21)Sharran exited a business around the 8 figure mark, although he is not allowed to disclose the final sales amount due to selling to a public company. He chose to share some of the other exciting stats.They owned a real estate brokerage which Sharran fell into. They grew it to 10x the size it was when Sharran started in five years. They had over 600 agents and did about 3.6 billion in top-line sales, which were about $83 million in revenues, and they had 22 offices.  By the end of 2017, they had been acquired by a public company out of New York called Douglas Elliman.It was the largest transaction Douglas Elliman had ever done. Even though the sales number is a $3.6 Billion number and the one published the most, Sharran wants people to know that that is not what he walked away with. Gross revenues for the firm were $83 Million. Was there a unique way that Sharran acquired customers? (7:20)At some point, the business was in red ocean waters. It is a commoditised business, and everyone believes a brokerage is a brokerage.You have to figure out whether you are going to get clients and hand leads to your agents or how you are going to get great agents and support them. You have to figure out your business model from the start. The industry is primarily based on an agent to client relationships. An agent to client relationship is tough to displace. Sharran did not go down the path, worried about how he was going to acquire new clients. He decided to instead focus on how he would build an operating model that can support an agent trying to gain more clients. This was the core value proposition of the company. So for the first six months, it was all about how to get to the heart of building a value proposition. Sharran wanted to be able to give a one-sentence pitch to clients which would make them like the offer they were getting.How did Sharran get a foothold in the market? (37:17)Sharran has no people on the ground. They started building a partner model. They have someone in every country, promoting them. They have a major real estate network in Australia which had a substantial real estate conference.Sharran was there as a keynote speaker, and that grew into a 3D keynote that eventually developed the brand. They found the right kind of person to become partners with.It could be a portal, a coaching company, or even another brokerage, but it’s mainly about helping with the delivery of your service. In Australia, there are no buyer side commissions, so the company quickly realised that buyers are not taken care of in Australia. There is no incentive to look after buyers in Australia because they are not getting paid. It ruined half of Sharran’s original pitch about understanding agents well. Therefore learning local market nuances is super powerful.What does Sharran recommend entrepreneurs do to address a shortage of listings? (42:14)You have to have a singular focus which is what you wake up and obsess about every single day. You need to have a cadence of accountability.You have to have a fair process that drives good results. A lot of entrepreneurs will hack stuff.Teles’ singular focus was recruiting agents that were selling at least ten homes a year or more.They incentive their agents even more by saying if you get seven or more listings a year you get 52 days off in that year. Sharran would also tell all his sales managers and recruiting managers the same thing. Once Sharran managed to get the employees on board, he could deliver the service. TelesTeles Properties is a full-service, luxury real estate firm headquartered in Beverly Hills. They have 21 offices strategically located in California’s most prestigious markets. From the highlands of Carmel to the island of Coronado as well as a presence in Boulder, Colo. Recognized for four consecutive years by the prestigious Inc. 500|5000 lists as one of the fastest-growing private companies in America, Teles has become an industry disruptor, attracting top broker talent and elite leadership from invaluable and complementary sectors such as marketing, technology, finance, and law.ResourcesConnect with Sharran: LinkedInTeles Properties: WebsiteBeyond 8 Figures: WebsiteSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Colin Wayne is a 30-year-old Millionaire from Huntsville, Al who has accomplished more in the past 10 years than most will in a lifetime. To include being a prior Army Combat Veteran, Former Top Fitness Model with 50+ Magazine Covers, Social Media Savant with over 3.6M followers across Social Media, Husband, Father of 3, and currently an Entrepreneur scaling his company, Redline Steel into a Billion Dollar company within the next decade.How Colin started out. (5:01)Manufacturing was something he had zero experience in.Prior to getting involved with this business, Colin wanted to partner with a guy who offered a marketing opportunity.At some point, Colin made his partner an offer to get 51% of the business if he was able to do six times the revenue of what his partner was making. In which he backed out when they got to that day.Getting into doing steel decor. (14:34)He was working out at the gym with a good friend of his, and he showed him a steel baseball figure with a name engraved into it.Colin figured that he also wanted a gift like this for his own son, he phoned, and the opportunity showed itself.Colin and the owner that did the steelwork developed, spoke, and built a business plan, once again, Colin made the same proposal, and for a second time, the other party backed out.He decided to get his own equipment the very next day even though he didn’t know what he was getting himself into.How Colin scaled his business. (22:19)He officially started his business in 2016 when he completed the big purchase order.They had three or four employees full time doing 50 to 60 orders per week. It was noting substantial, and he could only pay the bills and not himself.Colin used Facebook marketing which helped with the boost. He continued to do soft scaling for quite some time.They used different channels to market so that they don’t solely depend on just Facebook alone.They are launching other brands to stretch the LTV even further like selling candles as well.Advice for someone wanting to scale or potentially exit a business. (48:13)Colin’s biggest advice for anybody wanting to get started is to execute.Don’t let the fact that you have zero experience stop you from doing what you want to do. Believe in yourself and in your abilities to move forward.If you continue procrastinating you might end up regretting that you did not take initiative, simply execute what it is you want to do.Redline SteelRedline Steel is a customized decor manufacturing company inspired by design and relentless innovation to bring a level of quality unprecedented to what's been seen in home decor. They are proudly veteran owned and operated and 100% manufactured in the United States.ResourcesConnect with Colin: LinkedInColin Wayne: WebsiteRedline Steel: WebsiteBeyond 8 Figures: WebsiteSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Steve Layton is the founder of the furniture business The Layton Group. Supplying furniture to large Australian retailers such as John Cootes and Harvey Norman since 1998. Layton started the business in Hong Kong in 1990, exporting furniture to Australia, the US, and Europe.Layton’s new, reworked venture Sofa Brands is a three-way supply and retail agreement with Italian furniture business Calia Italia and leading Chinese furniture retailer, De Rucci, which has more than 2000 stores.What was the first transaction for Steve? (13:39)The very first transaction would have been a container of sofas shipped to Auckland in New Zealand.The tough thing was finding the factories, finding the manufacturers, finding the product, and then developing the product.Back in the day, they had to be on the ground, shaking hands and making relationships with the Chinese manufacturers.How did Steve go about hiring his first employee? (20:51)The first hire was in Hong Kong in 1991.They had the shipping person who handled all the logistics and the paperwork for the export.They had a PA who was handling all his travel and various other things.The people they focused on most, which they spent most of their money on was quality control. They had four quality control inspectors based in China.Steve believes that focusing on good quality products from the start is what helped his business grow. They did not own the manufacturer; they were only developing the product and then sold that.Roland’s mistake which ended up making everything move faster? (7:12)They committed to material back in 2009, which was a new material called bonded leather.They put together a collection of furniture, presented it to one of the biggest retailers in Australia and they took it up.Everyone was telling him that he can’t use that material since no one would be interested. However, it became a $12mil category of leather material.By taking such a big risk, it ended becoming a huge success.Since the pivot, the IP that they have, and the business models that they're actually growing is going to have a real value.There are huge upsides on average transaction values now, as they’re racing back up to the middle and having the exclusive production and distribution rights on the two big Italian brands. The Layton GroupThe Layton Group has been one of Australia’s premier furniture supply and manufacturing businesses, supplying furniture and homewares to the majority of Australia’s largest retailers since 1998.ResourcesSofa Brands: WebsiteBeyond 8 Figures: WebsiteSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Roland Frasier talks about business from an equity and acquisition standpoint. He also shares how thinking outside the box can bring success and fulfillment in the business world.About Roland Frasier:Roland Frasier, a serial entrepreneur, co-founder, and principal of multiple rapidly growing companies, possesses an extensive background in diverse industries, ranging from e-commerce and e-learning to industrial machine manufacturing. With a remarkable track record of founding, scaling, or selling two dozen businesses, Roland is currently the CEO of War Room Mastermind, advising over 150 companies on digitally-centric growth strategies. Additionally, he serves as a principal in several prominent ventures, including DigitalMarketer.com, Traffic & Conversion Summit, Praxio.com, Plattr.com, TruConversion.com, and Real Estate Worldwide.His relentless passion for business and deal-making is reflected in his book “Zero Down: 5 Proven Steps to Quickly Acquire Businesses + Unlimited Leads for Zero Money Out of Pocket“, where he provides entrepreneurs with practical strategies to acquire businesses without relying on personal funds or credit.For a comprehensive book review, check out this page.In this episode, Steve, Mary, Richard, and Roland discuss:Getting started with equityHow to invest for a good returnWhat risks are good to take, and which are dangerousHow to acquire a businessKey Takeaways:Choose a business where you would do what you’re doing for free and find another job to earn money to allow you to do the business you are starting. And… try to find a business that you can sell for a multiple of sales and not a multiple of earnings. SaaS companies are currently one such businessTaking a risk on a deal to invest can grow your return if you manage your time wellIt’s better to invest small in the beginning, then invest everything later and lose it allKeep yourself open to all opportunities and what they may present you“I try to stay in the strategy lane.” — Roland FrasierConnect with Roland Frasier:Facebook: @rolandfrasierWebsite: http://www.rolandfrasier.comFollow Beyond 8 Figures:Website: Beyond8Figures.comTwitter: @beyond8figures Facebook: Beyond 8 FiguresInstagram:@b8fpodcastAffiliate Disclaimer: Some links in this episode are affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Rest assured, we only promote products/services we believe will benefit your entrepreneurial journey. 

Dan is the founder of Growth to Freedom, ProsperityBasedLiving.com, creator of Millionaires Mindset, bestselling author of Bootstrap Business as well as A Champion in the Making: Awaken the Champion Within Your Life, Business, and Relationships, and more.Dan is a Dad, Thought Leader, Humanitarian, Angel Investor, and Business Growth Specialist. Dan started his first company at 22 years old, has owned multiple companies, and has over 22 years of experience helping businesses grow exponentially.How did Dan get started? (2:35)Dan says that it has been quite a journey. Dan has always been fascinated by direct response marketing since the late ’80s.He worked in a direct mail company before starting his own company that he built up. The company ended up not doing too well because Dan was young and didn’t understand enough about being young, dumb, and made a bunch of mistakes. Pre Internet, they were able to take messages and put them in the mail, and people would respond and send them money.They would also put ads on TV and people would respond to those and also send them money. And so it was with radio as well.Dan build a version of a business, and after a bad breakup with a business partner, Dan had to regroup. He got into the seminar business.He started to learn about selling from the stage and event model type businesses. He then started a company where they sold business opportunities, and he found it enjoyable. He loved watching people start up their businesses, taking their dreams, and creating freedom for them and their families, and making a difference in the communities they plan to impact. While doing that, Dan was also notating the experiences into a journal so he wouldn’t forget where he came from. He journaled certain strategies into one particular journal, and a friend saw it and asked if he could check it out. Reading it, his friend said that he should consider turning it into a book.This was in the mid-’90s, and Dan was not sure how to publish a book or even write one.But he decided to go for it and published his book all by himself, the first few sets of copies cost him something like $50.What did Dan do next? (5:52)TV was not like it is now. Now it is relatively inexpensive to start a TV production facility compared to back then. Dan decided to go to the other section, which was radio infomercials. He created a Radio Infomercials business where he took 30-minute presentations he had that converted to generate leads that fed to the audience. This was in the late ’90s to early 2000s. What would then happen is that these would feed into the education programs through an automated teleseminar. Today these are called quite a few things, including a webinar.Dan figured out how to merge different technologies to automate it. They hit a winner when they saw that they could create leads for almost no cost. Dan started to mass-air his product on all different networks, including ESPN, before it was famous. They were generating thousands of leads which drove into their automated teleseminar process to sell their education. How did Dan and his team keep up with the growth? (7:42)In the process of building the leads, they required more people to supply and support them. They needed people to talk to the people receiving their leads and enrol them. They quickly outgrew their 400 square foot office. They started with 4 people in the original office. They rented an adjunct space next to their first office, which added another 300 square feet of space. They grew to include 10 more people working for them and started to build the online filament to their teleseminars. Other employees generating leads mused about parlaying the eduction to be able to provide it to their clients. So these people would hand over their leads to Dan increasing his number of them. The team grew from 10 to 40 rapidly, which is when Dan realized that the business was starting to become a little overwhelming but was amazed by what they had accomplished at that point as well. Panicking at projected growth data, Dan did not want to have to hire more people and so he jumped to thinking up solutions. He started to work on copy online. He was convinced you could take a sales message and put it online.With some help from people who joined the company a little later, Dan managed to eventually pull it off. Prosperity Based Living In this new power program, Prosperity Based Living™. Dan Kuschell gives the specific tools, resources, and strategies that he's used to transforming the lives of others who truly desire to begin immediately to attract abundance, wealth, and prosperity.ResourcesConnect with Dan: WebsiteProsperity Based Living: WebsiteBeyond 8 Figures: WebsiteSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Melissa Krivachek has been honored with enthusiasm for training people, groups, and organizations over the globe who wind up lacking energy, losing cash, and feeling lost in the everyday cycles they've made for themselves, their organizations, and families. Beyond the ability to create systems, scale, and develop teams as well as increase bottom lines and help people with discovering genuine feelings of serenity Melissa has been given various awards, handling her on the front page of Evolution Magazine as their Top Power Player Under 40.What helped Melissa to grow the business? (9:46)Everyone should find themselves a protector, a guard dog, someone that's going to keep the doors shut for you, accessing clients that aren't in your realm of expertise.She has a CEO that does a phenomenal job of telling people when Melissa can’t do certain things.Melissa’s definition of fun, doing sales. (14:01)She believes that it is a conversation that people have.Melissa is more interested in finding out what the other person is like so that she can put emphasis on that during a sales conversation.In company culture, people spend way too much time being serious and not enough time doing the things that bring them joy and fulfillment.Melissa has done tons of things with her clients such as going skiing, running and splashing in puddles, etc. If you can create an experience for someone from start to finish, they're much more likely to spend their money on your company.Other business owners that don't quite make as much revenue, generally don't know what fun is since they are just stuck in the mundane task of trying to figure out how to generate more revenue.Melissa’s advice for business in terms of starting scaling or exiting? (28:43)Melissa advises not to look to do things for yourself and your own division of revenue, you must look to do things for other people.The first thing you do is to find something that makes you happy, then the price tag should not matter.The better energy that you have, the more you can do with it. You can contribute to charities, you can be philanthropic, you can give back and just do good.Melissa makes sure to fulfill her promises, she does not set goals, instead, she sets requirements.What's the overall vision in terms of revenue around the first year? (33:21)Melissa is already cash-flow positive, it is well over 10 millionIt is important to get out of startup mode as quickly as possible, which is only achievable if you have money to invest back into companies.The majority of salespeople do not have great sales talents.The second category is people that might not be the best at sales, but have experience with it.These are people that Milisa knows she can call and sell tickets to.Melissa Krivachek Melissa Krivachek runs her own business which is in business and sales. She does financial analysis, total business evaluation as well as helping you to develop management roles. It is important to organize the workflow and to outsource low-level tasks. In order to maximize the cash flow, she also focuses on hiring the right people and helps you to develop daily routines.ResourcesConnect with Melissa: Instagram Melissa Krivachek Companies: WebsiteBeyond 8 Figures: WebsiteSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Viki Winterton is the founder of Expert Insights Publishing, home of best-selling and award-winning books and magazines, where visionaries and those on the rise come together to create immediate impact. Viki is also a multiple #1 International Best-Selling Author and Award-Winning Publisher, founder of Bestselling Authors International Organization, Write Now! Broadcast and Write Away, Write  Now!, the global community where writers find everything they need at each stage of their journeyHow involved was Viki in the firm? (2:41)When Viki hit her 20s, she started working part-time for an ad agency between her modelling gigs.There was a fierce desire to be more in control of life.Modelling is somewhat manipulated by a lot of different factors.When you get to the age of 24 it is time to retire, for a lot of models, which Viki decided to pursue.A lot of recruitment and general advertising was done during the time that there was a bad recession.Who were Viki’s partners at that current point? (5:06)She acquired a number of other smaller agencies and then approached a full-service agency about sharing a space and sharing their creative department.Three years later the owner of that department was interested in Viki’s part and made her an offer to acquire her portion of the agency.He ended up buying her portion of the agency for the big sum of $12M.How her business grew and what Viki would’ve done differently (7:12)Since she was so young, all of Viki’s energy was going into billing and getting bigger numbers.As they grew, they had to take contracts several times, which almost doubled their size. This meant that they also needed to nearly double their headcount.In her mature years, she could see people planning for growth without planning how to grow.If she would have had any regrets, it would probably be that she tampered with their growth to be a little less dramatic.When they acquired two businesses, she would have changed that, some of the people would also change along with the business, because it would’ve resulted in the way that the business was run.When Viki initially worked in the business, she loved it, but as it got bigger she realized that she preferred a more entrepreneurial background or environment.In this day and age, it would be wonderful to talk about profitability as there is a movement behind that. Those in bigger businesses or those starting out should be looking at profitability.Viki’s advice for entrepreneurs? (32:44)First and foremost you must follow your bliss. If you do what you love, everything comes naturally.All information is free on the internet and people have access to this information to make their business successful. But one thing they can’t replace is passion and the bliss that they find by doing what they are passionate about.Expert Insights PublishingExpert Insights Publishing has helped more than 100 companies, experts, writers, and entrepreneurs to successfully define their dreams and their businesses to achieve success for over 30 years. They are a 23-time #1 International Bestseller and award-winning publisher.ResourcesConnect with Viki: LinkedInExpert Insights Publishing: WebsiteBeyond 8 Figures: WebsiteSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.