Business Infrastructure - Curing Back Office Blues

When Nicole McCullum promoted her real estate school using online ads, she quickly learned how difficult it was to fill her classroom. It was 2004 and the competition was stiff. Determined to crack the code of digital marketing, she began educating herself about Search Engine Optimization (SEO).   She soon found herself immersed in the world of SEO. What started as a desire to generate more ROI fr...

Never judge a book by its cover – an analogy that definitely applies to Prosper Taruvinga. Considering his massive success as a preeminent digital marketer, you'd never guess his humble beginnings as a child growing up in a small village in Zimbabwe plagued with inflation.   In this episode, we welcome Prosper as our next small business advisor. He's the Founder and CEO of Livelong Digital, a digi...

We're kicking off Season 20 on the Business Infrastructure podcast! This season will feature 12 guests all of whom are small business advisors with specialized expertise they can't wait to share with you. Expect to hear, learn, and discover specific strategies, tactics, and tips that you can begin applying right away to transform your back-office operations.   With small businesses being the backb...

We've come to the final episode in our encore of the 13-part audio masterclass on business infrastructure! At this point, you've heard six stories of entrepreneurs and leaders in small businesses trying their best to keep their cool amid chaotic fast growth. If you've missed any of those episodes, be sure to go back and listen to them so that you can follow along with the info contained in this ep...

In the last story of our Business Infrastructure audio masterclass, you met Clenard Smith. He's determined to take his flourishing food distribution company public. But there's one problem. He needs more physical space! Or at least that's what he's convinced himself. His consultant manages to convince him otherwise while also getting him to contend with the root cause of his company's space constr...

Prior to the pandemic, people were already spending a lot of time in their offices likely sitting behind a computer. Now, that time has doubled if not tripled for many as companies begin to adopt work-from-home policies. In fact, there are scientific studies that show a direct correlation between the actual layout of a workspace and productivity, job satisfaction, and profitability.   A Work Space...

Vandana Thiagarajan was the subject of the last story you heard in our Business Infrastructure audio masterclass. She's desperately trying to make sure she and her co-founders can once again fulfill their promises to their customers. Their consultant introduces them to the Service Delivery Blueprint as a solution for quickly pinpointing the source of missing target deadlines.   A Service Delivery...

  As small businesses grow, so does the need for consistency. Your company's ability to provide value and meet promised deadlines is only as good as the people, tools, and processes you have in place to deliver your goods and/or services.   A Service Delivery Blueprint describes how you provide goods and services to your customers. Once defined, it enables consistency in your customer order-to-del...

In the last episode of our Business Infrastructure audio masterclass, you heard the story of twin co-founders, Karen and Sharen Benoit. They've been given a second chance to pass an audit of their mental health clinic's records. Their consultant friend comes to the rescue by teaching them how to design a compliant Paper Records Management system that consolidates, organizes, stores, and protects t...

As appealing as paperless offices are, there are still some industries that require meticulous physical recordkeeping. These types of records must comply with regulatory guidelines to legally operate. This is where a Paper Records Management system can be useful.   A Paper Records Management system links the processes, tools, and people needed to create, name, categorize, store, and purge physical...

We're continuing our encore of the masterclass edition of the Business Infrastructure podcast. In the last episode, you heard the story of Sarah and Steve Reuben - siblings whose rivalry and siloed leadership enabled a virus attack on their family-owned business's network. A consultant taught them how to design an Electronic Records Management system to organize, store, and secure their digital fi...

A paperless office comes with many perks. It frees up physical space, removes geographic work restrictions, and makes information accessible from anywhere. But there's a catch.   Without careful organization, adequate security, and an ironclad data backup and recovery plan, there's always the risk of losing electronic records due to manmade or natural disasters.   An Electronic Records Management...

Welcome back to this encore edition of our audio masterclass on business infrastructure! In the last episode, you heard the story of Albert Andoh, the optimistic child entrepreneur of an emerging tech startup. He met a consultant who introduced him to the Business Design Blueprint as a way of proving organizational capability, capacity, and scalability to investors. Now you can learn how they did...

What comes to mind when you think of an organizational chart? Do you have one for your small business? After listening to this episode, you'll understand just how powerful this tool is. An organizational chart visually communicates more than just your company's chain of command, but also its maturity and growth opportunities. For these reasons, at Equilibria, we refer to it as a Business Design Bl...

Welcome back to our Encore of the masterclass edition of the Business Infrastructure podcast! In the first episode of this series, you heard the story of Emily Miller. She's the founder of a fast-growing non-profit. She met a consultant who introduced her to a Business Parts Analysis as a means of sustaining the growth.   As Emily discovered, fast growth is exciting but requires adding more people...

Welcome to Season 19 featuring an encore of our business infrastructure audio masterclass. That's right. The original season was so well received by our listeners, that we are sharing it again in case you missed it the first time.   Over the next 13 episodes, you'll hear the fictional stories of entrepreneurs faced with the challenges of fast-growing customer demand and the specific tactics differ...

It's the last Sunday of 2022! It also marks the end of our 12-country audio tour on this international business season of the Business Infrastructure podcast.   That's right – we visited 12 countries in 12 weeks with 14 special guests. In this final episode of Season 18, producer and host Alicia Butler Pierre summarizes key lessons learned as well as five key factors to consider if you are serious...

We've made it to the final destination of our 12-country audio tour this season. And this country is extra special to us here at the Business Infrastructure podcast. Why? Because it's home to two of our team members - Erika Ve Revilla and Jodie Maquiran. These ladies play an integral role in this show's back-office operations.   After working fully remotely for almost two years, this is our first-...

Imagine growing up in a city known for its bitterly cold winters and as an adult, moving to the desert with temperatures hot enough to melt tires. Well, that's what Tiffany Smith did, and she has no regrets. In fact, she's been living in Saudi Arabia for four years.   We're taking a slight detour with this episode on our 12-country tour this season. Rather than focusing specifically on what it's l...

Jules Brooke is on a mission to amplify the voices of women entrepreneurs, especially those over 40. It's her drive, ambition, and persistent determination to blaze new trails that attribute to her success in graphic design, sales, and public relations. With so much to learn from her, it's an honor to have her be our guide to Australia, the next country on our audio tour this season.   By the time...

São Paulo is one of the most populated cities in the world and it's located in Brazil, the next country on our audio tour this season. We have the pleasure of being joined by Paula Palermo, the co-founder of Impacta Finance - a blockchain company specializing in scaling solutions that have a social impact.   As a fluent speaker of six different languages, Paula's insights on becoming immersed in t...

Sofía Benedicto is on a mission to make the world a better place. As the co-founder of Nodalab, a podcast production company, she's providing a platform for independent creators in the Latin American (LATAM) market. She's also our guide during our visit to Mexico as the next stop on our 12-country audio tour this season.   No topic is off the table! In this episode, Sofía shares what makes Mexico,...

Next up on our 12-country tour this season is Poland, a country with a population of 37 million situated in Central Eastern Europe. Hosting us is Ben Esmael, a Libyan-born entrepreneur who has proudly called Poland home for the past seven years.   After working as an accountant and project manager for companies like IBM and Heineken, Ben started his own business with a mission to provide much need...

We're headed further east to Bali, Indonesia as the next stop on our 12-country tour this season. Our host here in this Pacific paradise is a chemical engineer turned "million-dollar sales guy," Desmond Dixon. When he made the decision to leave behind a lucrative STEM career and instead venture into the world of high-pitch sales, Desmond did not know where it would lead him. But one thing he knew...

Germany – it's the next stop on our 12-country tour this season. Here to greet us and tell us all about how to start a business or partner with an existing business in Germany is the "Connectpreneur" himself, Jens Heitland.   Considering their membership in the European Union, you may find what Jens reveals about doing business in Germany shocking. What's not surprising is hearing him describe Ger...