CEO Coaching International Podcast

Government contracting can be lucrative, but it can also be a cutthroat competition between companies trying to outsmart and under-bid each other. Winning major contracts requires a detailed proposal strategy that balances innovative thinking with a clear-eyed understanding of what your company can and can’t bring to the table. On today’s show, Rafe Wilkinson shares three key steps to accelerate your growth in the government contracting space – including an ingenious acquisition strategy that Rafe has seen get BIG results.

Branding has never been more important to successful businesses. The number of choices that your customers have multiplies every single day. Companies with strong brands are able to stand out from that crowd and make clear, direct value propositions to the public. Companies with weak, or worse, inauthentic brands are never going to separate themselves and will just get swept away in the non-stop marketing din buzzing across our screens every day. On today’s show, Mike Marchi discusses how building and maintaining a strong brand can lead to higher profits for your company. He also shares some key lessons on leadership he learned from working under Jack Welch.

There’s more than one way to get BIG. If your company is really firing on all cylinders, hitting its targets, and keeping you in the black, an acquisition might be just the thing to take you up to the next level. But whether you’re looking to buy or sell, it’s critical that you and your team don’t get too caught up in the excitement of the opportunity. CEOs who chase acquisitions like they’re shiny new things to collect risk stretching themselves too thin. A smaller business that wants to sell quick might be too focused on a payday and not as attentive to all the fine print that’s attached to it. A careful consideration of strategy, partner fit, and your long-term goals either inside or outside of this new entity should be what drives this process. On today’s show, Jim Weaver outlines a well-planned, seven-step acquisition process that will help ensure proper execution, strong growth, and BIG profitability.

Today’s best-seller will be in tomorrow’s bargain bin. The companies that avoid this fate always have one eye on what’s next. They’re creative, they’re innovative, they’re willing to experiment, and they’re prudent about how they expend time and resources when it comes to refreshing their product lines. On today’s show, Alberto Carvalho outlines a four-step process to product development that he honed while working for some of the world’s biggest businesses. Alberto’s process won’t just get you from prototype to finished product – it will get you there with minimal waste and with a maximum shot at hitting BIG returns with your customers.

In her 30+ year career, Cynthia Cleveland has driven significant growth at major companies like Universal Studios, Mattel Toys, and Teleflora. And while these companies all had their unique challenges and opportunities, Cynthia found a recipe for success by focusing on three key drivers that she believes are essential to getting any business BIG. On today’s show, Cynthia discusses her “3 P’s” and how CEOs can master these essentials to build a great business.

The absolute best companies don’t get BIG by accident. They grow fast and achieve meaningful scale because their CEOs are rigorous in their planning, committed to working with top talent, believers in the culture they’ve built, and dedicated to learning and growing every single day. On today’s special episode, we dig into our archives to see what some of our past guests have to say about these four key traits that the CEO Coaching International team helps its clients cultivate.

No, Amazon and the other tech giants have not wiped out family-run businesses. In fact, one third of Sheldon Harris' coaching clients are family-run businesses that feature multiple family members in various roles. And in Sheldon’s experience, that arrangement can be just as complicated as it sounds. “It's hard to find a business that doesn't have challenges,” he says, “and it's hard to find a family that doesn't have challenges. So those things are just amplified in the case where you've got both of those dynamics going on.” On today’s show, Sheldon Harris discusses how family-run businesses can learn to keep their family issues from running the business into the ground.

Entrepreneurial inspiration can strike at any time. In Brian Scudamore’s case, he was sitting in a McDonald’s drive-through, trying to figure out how to pay for college, when he noticed a beat-up old pickup truck with plywood sides built up around the bed. “I looked at the truck and I went, ‘Aha, that's my ticket,’” Brian remembers. “I took a $1,000 investment, $700 into a truck, the rest into flyers and business cards. Within a couple of weeks, I had a business that actually paid for itself. It was ironic because what funded my college education also inspired me to drop out.” On today’s show, Brian Scudamore discusses the 3 key mindsets he used to grow 1-800-GOT-JUNK into the core business of an organization that now generates more than $300 million in annual revenue. We also discuss a really tough and really courageous staffing decision Brian made early on that allowed him to regroup, reorganize, and refocus on making BIG happen.

Jim Bennett’s parents never gave him an allowance, and so from a very young age he was always doing something to earn money. Those early experiences mowing lawns, delivering newspapers, and stringing tennis rackets planted the seeds of an entrepreneurial spirit. “I learned quickly that starting your own business always paid more than just a job,” Jim remembers. After college, that’s what Jim did. He became a Worldwide Express franchisee, and through determination and perseverance, went on to compete with the big boys in global shipping—and win. On today’s show, Jim Bennett discusses how he homed in on the best business for him to grow, the talent he targeted as the best for the job, and the mindset that all CEOs should adopt if they want to get BIG too.

How did Grasshopper grow from a virtual voicemail leader to a $170 million-dollar sale? In no small part, because they hired a superstar COO: Don Schiavone. Don’s SaaS and technology expertise combined with his commitment to rigorous testing and annual planning were instrumental in getting Grasshopper BIG. On today’s show, Don Schiavone, who is now Managing Director of CEO Coaching International, explains how to fine-tune your baseline forecast to create a compounding effect that will accelerate your growth way beyond what companies can accomplish with more traditional top-down planning. If you incorporate Don’s proven best practices into your own upcoming planning sessions, you’ll be well on your way to a BIG 2019.