Business Infrastructure - Curing Back Office Blues

Can you keep a secret?  Your answer to this question can determine your ability to capitalize on your company's intellectual property (I.P.).  In this episode, seasoned patent attorney Steve Wigmore breaks down the different types of I.P. using examples of well-known brands.  There is both monetary and intrinsic value in your ideas and Steve offers guidance on how to choose among trademarks, trade...

 Do you have the audacity to take your business to the next level? Listen as staffing and recruiting expert, Dee Williams describes how to identify your niche and expand it into an empire.  With a combination of laser-like focus, determination, and investment in continuous education, Dee identified a niche within the staffing industry and her aptly named company, Identifize Consulting, now serves...

Promises are not made to be broken, they're made to keep. And customers will hold you to that promise, whether you verbalize it or not. In this special 25th episode, hostess Alicia Butler Pierre takes a deep dive into using customer-centricity to drive a company's culture and performance. Using an example from her book, she describes how shifting from a focus on a revenue-oriented goal to a custom...

Racecar driver Chris Grigalunas stopped by to share some analogies between his love of driving racecars and his passion for driving business faster. With a background in data analytics and business intelligence, Chris foretells of the importance of pacing yourself and implementing a Just-in-Time approach when getting critical processes, people and software technologies in place as your business' g...

Jim Stroud is a man of many talents. Over the past decade, he has built an expertise in sourcing and recruiting strategy, public speaking, lead generation, video production, podcasting, online research, competitive intelligence, and online community management and training. He combines all of these skills to bring a fresh approach to help companies attract and retain top talent. In this episode, J...

In this episode, Alicia shares things she observed during a recent trip to Cuba and how those observations apply to how we run our small businesses. A notable observation was the admirable and continuous preservation of cars, culture, and cuisine. However, many buildings have succumbed to the lack of maintenance primarily due to economic factors. She makes the argument that it's possible to save t...

According to quality expert Jarvis Gray, assessing the culture of an organization is one of the first things to consider when improving processes to ensure better quality. As a certified Project Management Professional and Lean Six Sigma Black Belt consultant specializing in healthcare, Jarvis shares some of his favorite tools and techniques for transforming operations to eliminate waste and make...

In this episode, entrepreneur Andrea D. Smith provides a practical and easy-to-remember definition of marketing. And she explains that it is NOT the same as sales. In fact, Andrea and Alicia talk about how to connect marketing to operations and eventually balance these two areas during the expansion phase of a business. The key is in recognizing operations management as a way to maintain your prom...

Look at any generic small business conference or workshop and the likelihood that a discussion on operations will be included is infinitesimally small. Oftentimes fast-growing companies looking for help in scaling their businesses find that the lion's share of resources for processes and systems are reserved for manufacturing companies or larger enterprises. In this episode, Alicia has a frank one...

Imagine if you could grow your business 10x faster. Better yet, imagine if your business could be "infinitely scalable." How? Through artificial intelligence (AI). According to Scott Evans, founder and CEO of Markamind, AI is not only a catalyst for exponential growth, but it also makes data more useful and convenient. In this episode, Scott provides examples explaining how AI technology can help...

"Know Thyself." Thousands of years later, this ancient adage still rings true. In this episode, Keith Finger opens up about how globetrotting solo across 10 countries in a four-month period led to a period of self-discovery and not only made him rethink the way he operated his current business but also gave way to a new business altogether. Specifically, he talks about the people, processes, and t...

In this heartfelt episode, serial entrepreneur and real estate mogul, Nia Imani, explains how her personal mantra of "demonstrate, duplicate and delegate," has enabled her to create and implement key systems that facilitate her bi-coastal lifestyle while expanding her business across multiple states and most recently, multiple countries. Tune in to hear how she flipped her first home at 24-years-o...

At just 15-years-old, Sharron Lee knew she wanted to be an entrepreneur. Her dreams came true when she opened her seafood restaurant — just one of several businesses she'd successfully start, grow and manage all while working a full-time job as a master data analyst! This episode is unique in that Sharron is the first guest to talk about how she leverages business infrastructure in selling a tangi...

Tim Fulton is no stranger to business infrastructure. In fact, he's built and sold several businesses in his 30+ year career as an entrepreneur and small business advisor, executive coach, and facilitator. "Operations," he says, "is highly underrated." In this episode, Tim draws from both his research and experiences in working with thousands of entrepreneurs to reveal the undeniable realities of...

"The fortune is in the follow-up," proclaims Corey Moore as he kicks off the first show of the Business Infrastructure podcast's second season. Corey, a serial entrepreneur, is the owner of Atlanta's largest resource center for business and networking events. He's also a professional networker and in this episode, he shares his tried and tested process to network your way to success. Like any proc...

Technical Writer, Process Analyst, Lean Six Sigma Consultant, Black Belt, Master Black Belt…with all the process-related resources available, who exactly do you need to hire to improve your company's operations? In this episode, Tony Curtis, serial entrepreneur and owner of Curtis Process Consulting and gigPATH, explains how the answer lies in your ability to define your actual needs. He goes a st...

Do you feel stressed out? Maybe a weekend hike can help! According to a 2018 report by the Journal of Travel Research, backpacking is not only good for your physical health, but for your mental health as well. In this episode, Tim Walter, an operations consultant, shares his experiences in hiking the Appalachian Trail for five months. Learn how Tim leveraged his professional background in project...

The digital revolution is here and there's no turning back! We are increasingly becoming more dependent on web-based apps and software technologies as tools to facilitate and enhance the way we communicate and operate our businesses. With infamous data breaches (not to mention cover-ups) and the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation law, which went into effect in late May, 2018, cybe...

Being an entrepreneur can be lonely, even if competent staff surround you. The daily decisions to make are innumerable, the pressure is high and giving up is not an option. Sometimes you just need a sounding board or a person in a neutral position on the outside of your business to confide in. It's during these moments when we can benefit from coaching. In this episode, Latarsha Horne, a Certified...

Think the lean methodology is only for large corporations and government entities? Well, think again! This episode features John Kamp, an entrepreneur, Lean Six Sigma expert, Project Management Professional, instructor at Purdue University and U.S. Navy veteran. As you can imagine, he has a wealth of experience to draw from and you'll get a feel for that in this episode. The subject of lean is hug...

Do you need to hire more people for your small business, but feel that good help is hard to find? Listen as my first guest and serial entrepreneur, Essie Escobedo, explains that good help is out there and why you have to do your part to attract them. Essie shares specific tips for attracting great people to hire or contract as well as some key things small business owners need to have in place to...

Have you ever heard the expression, "The devil is in the details?" In terms of small businesses, the "devil" represents those proverbial landmines, booby-traps, and gotchas that lurk in the background (or back office operations), often going undetected. When they surface, the results can be catastrophic. Details, in fact, do matter! But sometimes this is hard for big picture entrepreneurs to admit...

Necessity is the mother of invention. History teaches us this is true wherever there is a need to do things more efficiently and effectively. Business infrastructure is needed wherever there is more demand for your goods or services that you can provide or supply. You need to scale operationally while maintaining or increasing value for your customers. Such was the case when a young inventor named...

Unmanageable fast growth usually makes the decision to invest in business infrastructure a no-brainer. But what if it's too late? In this episode, you'll learn the ideal time to implement business infrastructure as well as the symptoms of unmanageable fast growth. Find out the impact the Oprah Effect can have on how you manage and operate your business and why it's imperative that you do your due...

It takes guts, grit, and gumption to start a business. Taking it to the next level, whatever that level might be for your company, requires the right people, processes and tools. It might also require an infusion of cash. This episode not only describes who business infrastructure is for but also tackles the realization that you might have to step aside in order for your business to grow to the ne...