Go for Growth with Doug Hall

On this week’s episode of the Go For Growth Podcast, we chat with Jason Blumer, entrepreneur, business owner, and overachiever. Jason began his career as an entrepreneur in 2003, leading Blumer CPAs, the firm started by his father, and went on to found the Thriveal CPA Network in 2010. “It's an unending drive for creativity, just lots of new ideas are really hard to keep inside of you, you kind of can't help but produce those,” says Jason about being called a visionary entrepreneur.

In this episode of Go For Growth, we’re thrilled to be sitting down with a serial entrepreneur who helps business owners and entrepreneurs get their mindset right, improve their profits, and drive their cash flow. Our very special guest is Jennifer Dawn of Jennifer Dawn Coaching!

June Jewell has seen lots of ups and downs in her many years as a CPA, with companies she’s worked for, her own ventures, and the businesses of clients she works with at AEC Business Solutions. In many ways, that’s prepared her for the current pandemic crisis engulfing the world. One way she’s ahead of the game: she’s been working remotely from home since 1990 and has set it up so her team can do the same. Along the way, she’s discovered best practices for running a “virtual” office.

In today’s episode, we sit down with Bert Martinez, marketing strategist to celebrities, consultants, and companies, EOS Implementer, and the host of the Money For Lunch podcast. Bert is also the author of Dominating Your Mind: 10 Simple Affirmations That'll Crush Your Fears, Destroy your Doubts, and Make you Unstoppable.

Business consultant Steve Gordon turns the tables and interviews me about a topic that’s near and dear to my heart: being an effective boss. Specifically how to be a leader that engages employees and inspires them to do their best work. This is especially important in small and medium-sized business where a business owner is in direct contact with employees all the time.

A lot of businesses are born out of need. An entrepreneur solves a problem for themselves… and realizes others in the same situation could benefit. Emily Morgan was looking for ways to work while still having plenty of time to raise her young son, when she came up with the idea for Delegate Solutions.

The dream of every business owner is to achieve freedom. That’s what not having a boss is all about, right? But, says Mandi Ellefson (and she speaks from personal experience), all too often you’re more stressed and busier than ever as an entrepreneur.

MJ Fitzpatrick wants you to listen to that little voice that is telling you to break new ground, to try a new tactic, to create a new product, or start a new business… even when everybody in your life says it’s crazy. He helps entrepreneurs with business problems get to the root causes – not just treat the symptoms. For example, not selling enough is usually the #1 in most businesses – but why you’re not selling is something you may not realize. Often, it’s your attitude, says MJ. He talks about how to overcome that obstacle.

Steve Sims’ clients often ask the impossible. And he provides, whether it’s a marriage ceremony in the Vatican or a private concert from Andrea Bocelli. How does he do it? He reveals at least some of his secrets, including the first step to making any connection that can advance your business or career in a big way. Steve says that most people go about networking all wrong and fail miserably at self-promotion.

As a consultant focused on helping companies break through to the next level, Josh Long knows a thing or two about the obstacles that typically hold a business back and how to bust through them to unlock massive growth. Josh says you must first identify your business’s biggest issues – the bottlenecks that waste your time and money.

Many business owners have a business they’re proud of… with great products or services… satisfied clients… the whole deal. But, says Dan Kuschell, they haven’t been able to translate that into growth and profits. They’re like the best kept secret in the market, and that’s not a good thing.

BJ Foster is CEO of PRR, an award-winning public relations firm that works with government agencies, organizations, and businesses in the fields of transportation, public health, economic development, and environmental policies — helping them better inform the people in the community. They’re a great asset to creating positive change. We chat about that work, including why PR can be so powerful if done correctly — and how it can do more harm than good when it’s not.

Mitch Russo has a philosophy when it comes to profits. It’s about what you earn and what you save. This entrepreneur, author, and consultant has followed that mantra in the many businesses he’s built and sold, as well as with the work he does with clients today. One way he and his partners found to save big time on operating costs allowed one of the businesses to grow very quickly.

When starting a business, it’s tempting to want to grow as fast as possible. You want to see a return on your investment of time and money, after all. But too much growth too fast can actually sabotage the long-term viability of your company, says Matt Inglot.

“The revenue follows if your purpose is clear, and you’re living in alignment with that.” As you can see from that quote, when it comes to business growth, Bryan Falchuk is a big believer in mindset and culture. He says those principles should guide everything you do – every interaction with potential investors, your customers, and even your team members.

Team building is a popular practice in corporate America. But often the lessons learned are quickly forgotten as soon as people get back to their desks. Andrew McMasters has a unique approach. With his company, Improv Mindset, he uses improvisational acting techniques to foster better communication among teams. He makes clear that this isn’t about telling jokes or wearing funny costumes, as you might have seen with improv on TV.

Over the last 20 years, Joseph Hagar, CFO of engineering and construction firm McKinstry, has seen exponential growth in the company, with a huge spike in the number of employees and offices spreading nationwide. But despite being trained as a CPA, he says the company didn’t rely on financial numbers or other metrics to set policies or make business decisions.

Russ Shulman of Sound Bookkeepers isn’t just a whiz with numbers. He’s also a philosopher of business… and life. In fact, he says that the path to happiness is to be the same person at home and at work. We get into that, the importance of finding balance, and the fulfillment that comes with doing work you love and that helps people, as well as more practical matters.

Andrea Heuston, founder and CEO of Artitudes Design, has a motto: Be the so-called dumbest person in the room. It’s a philosophy that has guided her since during her firm’s startup phase and up to present-day. We unpack exactly what that means and how it guides your hiring. A willingness to make some radical changes and try to focus on a niche market has also made Artitudes Design more successful than ever in recent years.

Creating a cohesive team is the #1 contributor to success in your business, says Jeff Rogers, chairman and founder of M&A advisory firm OneAccord. But recruiting top employees and getting everybody in your organization on the same page are also the biggest challenges. Jeff offers up solid - but unexpected - strategies for finding and hiring the best people… and then making sure everybody can work towards the same goals.

If you’ve been in a condo or commercial building in the Seattle area, you’ve no doubt run into the handiwork of Gene Kettler and his team at Frontier Door and Cabinet. But you don’t have to be in manufacturing or construction to benefit from what 21 years in business has taught Gene about figuring out the right product mix to attract the most customers… how to become the go-to provider in your industry… and strategies for putting the right team in place to drive consistent growth.

Peter Adams’ philosophy is simple: You can deploy the best technology, but if it doesn’t actually solve a real problem in your business… it’s worthless. It’s not that Peter, founder of the Lighthouse Information Systems company, doesn’t like technology… he embraces it. He just likes to make sure his clients get the right tools they need to drive their businesses forward. Often it’s much different than what you think you need.

Too many entrepreneurs have some level of success but then struggle to take it to the next level, says Doug Hall. Doug specializes in helping those folks get out of their own way to find the personal income and time freedom they desire. But his approach to taking control of business is different from that of other coaches. He uses a technique only practiced by a few hundred experts around the world.

It’s all too easy to get busy with the day-to-day of your business… and neglect to put systems in place that will help your company grow and be profitable in the long-term. Jim Roddy, a business advisor with payment solutions provider Worldpay, helps small business owners streamline operations and plan for the future. A big part of that is making sure it can survive – and thrive – if you’re not around.