Business Infrastructure - Curing Back Office Blues

Thalia Toha has cracked the code for setting and achieving your BHAG (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal).  As a long-time trusted advisor to high earners and achievers, she knows what it takes to focus on the things that matter in creating the life and business you desire.  In this episode, Thalia describes her visual "reversing the timeline" process for identifying overarching goals and the specific tac...

Every business needs money to grow and sustain itself. Did you know that 75% of all business loans are denied because of fraud?  Jenny Jones learned this the hard way after repeated loan rejections. The reason? He and his wife share the same first and last names! This prompted him to leverage his background as a stockbroker and financial advisor to educate others on the ABCs of building business c...

When it comes to marketing data, your small business might have more in common with Google, Facebook and Amazon than you think. According to Love Hudson-Maggio, whether you're collecting data from two customers or two million, the science of analyzing it is the same. Data tells a story and paints an accurate picture of sales results. In this episode, Love describes the three stages of her process...

What do peanut butter, gas gauges, coffee, and flat tires have in common?  Leave it to Wes Graham to explain.  As an Industrial Engineer and Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, he uses clever analogies to assert the value of processes and why, if not properly defined or followed, "Everybody will always follow the path of least resistance."  In this episode, Wes dons his training hat to offer a crash...

As demand increases for your tangible goods, you will inevitably have to streamline your order-to-delivery process to ensure customer satisfaction.  Outsourcing inventory management represents an opportunity cost when considering your small business no longer has the capacity to fulfill orders in a timely manner.  Storing inventory in your basement, garage, or closets is no longer an option.  In t...

Good things come to those who wait…and persistently work toward their goal.  Damon Burton knows this all too well.  As the founder of SEO National, he made a conscious decision to scale and increase his company's capacity to work with large clients.  It worked!  SEO National now works with Inc. 5000 companies as well as various NBA teams.  In this episode, Damon shares the realistic time commitmen...

"al·li·ance - a union or association formed for mutual benefit."  Mariela Dabbah says every leader should have 10-15 strong alliances to assist in career navigation and professional development.  As a leadership and career development expert, she has built an entire movement around this principle.  In this episode, she describes the 5-stage process her company, Red Shoe Movement, implements to emp...

Calvin Williams, Jr. is on a mission.  He believes wealth management services should be accessible to all people, not just the uber-rich.  As such, he started Freeman Capital – an award-winning FinTech company with rapid expansion goals and high visibility.  In this episode, Calvin details the service delivery process he implements to maintain a positive customer experience while managing a 100% r...

Positioning your company for hyper-growth requires "leveling up" people as well as processes and tools.  Many leaders (and investors) interpret leveling up as replacing existing personnel with more qualified people.  But the onus is on these leaders to create a culture of continuous education rather than blaming people when things go wrong.  In this episode, Anne Sugar, an executive coach for Harv...

When Trace Blackmore started getting information out of his head and onto paper, great things happened in his business.  His 16-year-old industrial water treatment company has defied the small business failure odds and he attributes some of that longevity to having procedures that remove guesswork and promote high standards.  In this episode, Trace shares his process for identifying and documentin...

As a former Financial Times executive with a background in economics, Diana Wu David knows a thing or two about pricing.  The price you charge for your product or service directly reflects its perceived value and is one of the quickest ways to increase profitability.  Yet, some find it difficult to raise prices.  In this episode, Diana explains her formulaic process for testing pricing strategies...

EVERY business exists to make money.  Without it, they will surely fail.   This #1 need kickstarts the sales process and it's the reason we're kicking off Season 6 (Profitable Processes) with the topic.  In this episode, sales guru Jason Smith shares his sales synergistics process for aligning all business units of a company to maximize revenue potential.  Learn about his 5-ring framework for achi...

Think the lean methodology is only for large corporations and government entities? Well think again! John Kamp is an entrepreneur, Lean Six Sigma expert, Project Management Professional, instructor at Purdue University, and U.S. Navy veteran. In this episode replay, John draws from his wealth of experience to explain the lean methodology (including its principles and tools) and how you can apply i...

Processes not only ensure consistency with how you make a product or deliver a service, but they directly impact your customer's experience.  In this Season 5 finale, Alicia Butler Pierre, host of the Business Infrastructure show, shares what a process is, its importance in building business infrastructure, and the one thing you need to know about improving one.  Listen in as she describes the sta...

As you lead your company through growth spurts, you may realize that it's time to "level up" your business infrastructure. But how you communicate the need to upgrade people, processes and tools is just as important as the upgrade itself. Change is difficult, even in a faster-paced small business environment, and you can unknowingly create more chaos if you deliver news about change improperly. Li...

Estate planning is NOT just for wealthy people.  In fact, Estate Planning Attorney Deshonda Charles says, "An estate plan is your strategic plan to preserve and protect your business and assets over your lifetime."  It's never too late to get one in place and it ensures you don't leave a burden behind after you die or become unable to operate your business.  In this episode, Deshonda not only disp...

Who will take over your business when you're no longer able to?  Your answer to this question is the foundation of your exit plan and EVERY entrepreneur should have one.  In this episode, exit and succession planning expert David Shavzin defines what an exit plan is and the people, processes, and tools needed to create and update it.  As someone who helps business owners build value around their l...

Leading and/or operating a business is a road less traveled.  It can take you on an emotional roller coaster you might not be mentally prepared for.  This is where Silke Glaab comes in.  As a psychologist and executive coach, she helps entrepreneurs and executives reset self-limiting beliefs.  In this episode, she describes her proprietary Elevate Intensive Therapy process as well as the people an...

Be careful about the labels you put on yourself," warns Josh Cary, "Because people are willing to validate them."  A hard, but valuable lesson he learned after spending 40 years in hiding.  In this episode, Josh, a former actor turned podcaster and business coach, explains the moment he realized he was hiding his power and ability as a leader.  Tune in to learn the specific people, processes, and...

Are you someone I can trust?  Jodi Daniels says the answer to this question determines whether potential customers will do business with you.  As a data privacy expert, she keeps her finger on the pulse of privacy policies that affect every sized business.  In this episode, Jodi details the business infrastructure required to support a strong data privacy strategy.  Find out why she says your comp...

If you think that "conscious" and "capitalism" don't go together, you might change your mind after listening to Corey Blake.  As a leading voice in the conscious leadership movement, he defines conscious capitalism as "an operating system for not harming the planet as we grow our businesses."  In this episode, Corey explains how conscious capitalism can profoundly change the electricity of a compa...

Like entrepreneurship, podcasting is not for the faint of heart.  It requires patience, commitment, and consistency – all of which is challenging since it takes a while before you know who your audience is.  In this episode, nationally recognized speaker, bestselling author, and podcaster extraordinaire Doug Sandler shares the most important thing you need to know about podcasting.  He also reveal...

According to professional speechwriter and speech coach Dez Thornton, "A high stakes conversation is anytime you have to communicate and your reputation is on the line."  The successful outcome of your communication depends on your delivery.  In the most quotable episode to-date, Dez shares the most important thing you need to know about having high stakes conversations and the people, processes a...

Vlogs, blogs, links, tags, hashtags…these are more than just buzzwords.  They are the digital currency of the Information Age and businesses seeking to grow who ignore it, do so to their detriment.  In this episode, social media consultant Marie Incontrera shares the most important thing you need to know about social media as well as the people, processes and tools needed to implement a sustainabl...

Making physical products can be prohibitively expensive and requires careful coordination of the right people, processes and tools.  No one knows this better than Eric Lange.  As an engineer in the toy industry, he's taken more than sixty products from various stages of development to production for retail stores like Target and Walmart.  In this episode, Eric not only defines what a prototype is,...