The IGNITE Podcast with Josh Stone

In today’s podcast episode we explore: - What to do when clients ask you to lower your rates. - Your self-worth is reflected in your pricing. - The conversation that happens in your head when you're toying with increasing your rates. - Why you should charge more for the results you get for your clients. - Don't just automatically drop your prices when a client asks you.   PS: If you’re intere...

In today’s podcast episode we explore: - Spending money on the things that will save you time and make you more money. - In order to grow to that next level, you can't keep doing everything on your own. - Looking at the lost opportunity cost of time and where you're currently spending it. - Think about all the high-value things you could be doing with your time if you have others doing the low-val...

In today’s podcast episode we explore: - What to do when you feel stuck and unmotivated. - How to get out of the weeds & stop feeling like every day is a grind. - The importance of rebasing and reconnecting to your longer term goals & vision. - If you don't have a plan & a strategy, you can't be taking the most effective action everyday. - You can't grow if you don't have a plan. PS: I...

In today’s podcast episode we explore: - How to create a great culture where your team live and breathe the vision. - Dealing with team vs business owner disconnect around business direction. - There is nothing more formidable than an entire business working towards a common goal. - Why you want your team to be aligned with your vision. - How to run a vision, strategy and direction workshop with y...

In today’s podcast episode we explore: - How to raise your prices & get paid what you're worth. - The importance of choosing a niche. - Stop working for C & D Grade clients. - Playing the generalist game won't help you build a successful business. - Go an "inch wide - mile deep".   PS: If you’re interested, here are 4 ways I can help you right now: 1. Join the Leaders In Engineering &...

In today’s podcast episode we explore: - The Week In Review process to determine where your time is actually going. - How to know whether your time is being spent on high-value or low-value activities. - If you got honest with yourself about where your time is being spent, you could get WAY more done. - You're probably holding yourself back from growing right now by doing tasks in your business th...

In today’s podcast episode we explore: - Why most want to rush the sales process (which is a sabotage). - Most view sales in a negative light and don't want to be seen as a salesperson. - Every step in the sales process is purely just selling the next step. - Sales is a value exchange. You have to highlight the value you can bring to your client's world. - Realise and understand your client's buyi...

In today’s podcast episode we explore: - The importance of taking ownership over where you spend your time. - Wasting time is like sleeping on a pile of gold. - We only have a certain amount of hours in our days to do all of the things that we love and enjoy (business is only one of these). - We have to set boundaries with those around us, otherwise we'll spend all of our time doing what other peo...

In today’s podcast episode we explore: - How to get your staff to go above and beyond on projects. - If your team don't have context, they won't go the extra mile. - If you can't get your team performing well - it affects all areas of your business - clients, project outcomes, profit margins etc. - If your staff know the importance of what they're working on, they'll work harder and more diligentl...

In today’s podcast episode we explore: - The importance of building your business around your strengths and the things you're good at. - Get clear on the activities you enjoy and that make you the most money. - Do a "week in review" every week and look at the common tasks you're doing that you don't enjoy. - Make a plan for getting some help and delegating the activities you're not good at and are...

In today’s podcast episode, we explore: - Why profit is the true indicator of your business's health. - You need to know what your profit margins are every single month - not once a year! - A focus on revenue growth, without a focus on profit is a recipe for disaster. - Create a simple business dashboard so you can track your profit margins regularly. - You need to know what activities you're doin...

In today’s podcast episode, we explore: - Only working with A-grade clients who value you, your team and your services. - Get rid of C & D-grade clients who are sucking your time, attention and profits. - Exit the race to the bottom. - Pick and choose the clients you work with. - Getting paid more for doing the same amount of work through only working with high-value clients. PS: If you’re int...

In today’s podcast episode we explore: - Why I can't stand the hustle & grind culture. - You need to build a business that actually supports the life and the lifestyle that you want, not hinders it. - There's more to life than working 80hrs per week. - Work out what's important to you and build your days and your weeks around this. - It's your business, no-one else's. Stop trying to please eve...

In today’s podcast episode we explore: - There are different stages of growth that all businesses go through. - Don't beat yourself up when you're in plateaued growth - the next upward trend is just around the corner. - If you can plan for your next growth plateau - you'll move through it much more quickly. - Systems, processes & strategic hiring can help move through plateaus more easily. - P...

  In today’s podcast episode we explore: - Doing one task, takes you away from doing another. - Are you clear on where you're spending your time? - Do you know what your High Dollar Productive Activities are? - Are you aware when you get pulled back into doing Low Dollar Productive Activities? - Train yourself to feel good about yourself when you're working on the longer-term strategy & v...

In today’s podcast episode we explore: - Why you need to think through the whole process, pros & cons, before offering an incentive model. - You need to think about an incentive model that will increase the profitability & performance of the business, not just your revenue. - Why it's important to look at everyone's skillsets on your team and renumerate accordingly. - Profit share can be W...

In today’s podcast episode we explore: - Why you need to think about and plan for exiting shareholders now. - The process needs to be easy and well thought through. - The importance of financial planning and mapping out the process so that everyone is aware of what's coming. - Having the 'hard' and open discussions now with all current and future shareholders to save yourself pain down the track....

In today’s podcast episode, we explore:  - The different multiple ranges you can anticipate for your business. - The higher the revenue & profit margins - the higher the multiples. - The better the clients you have - the higher the multiples. - Past years of trading will also impact (positively or negatively) the multiples you receive. The other factors you need to consider if you want th...

In today’s podcast episode we explore:   - How to create a 12 month business plan. - Why these types of business plans need to be granular and measurable - not high-level and waffly. - Why it's important to get clear on and revisit your broader business vision & strategy first, before starting on your 12 month plan. - The 9 x areas you need to explore and understand when setting up your b...

In today’s podcast episode we explore: - Time is a choice - how do you use it? - We all have the same number of hours in a day - some people use their time well, others don't. - If you keep telling yourself "I'm too busy" - you'll stay "too busy". - If you allow other people and their priorities to run your days - you'll never build the business that you want. - You need to make business strategy...

In today’s podcast episode we explore: - How next generation shareholders help you grow faster. - Incentivising others help spread the business growth load. - Next generation shareholders help with your succession planning and exit from the business. - A number of different ways of structuring your offer. - You need to make sure the offer is as appealing as possible. Easy to buy in, easy to sell....

In today’s podcast episode we explore: - Not enough business owners know their numbers - they're just kind of winging it and hoping they turn a profit. - Without a business dashboard, you are simply flying blind and are constantly reactive, putting out fires, instead of being proactive and on top of things. - You need to know the numbers in your business. - Not all the numbers - just the key numbe...

In today’s podcast episode we explore: - There are a number of key factors which, if you implement and focus on in your business, will allow you to get way more for your business. - These key factors that business buyers & valuers consider when looking at how much to value your business for are as follows. - Key person risk - is the business totally reliant on you running it? - Leadership team...

In today’s podcast episode we explore: -  When it comes to your exit strategy from your business, too many business owners leave it too late or don't plan for it at all. - It's important to decide on your exit strategy now (even if it changes over the coming years) and start working towards it. - If you leave it too late or don't plan for it, you'll never get what you want for your business t...

In today’s podcast episode we explore: - Your inability to make decisions or to make them quickly is actually costing you the growth of your business. - Decision fatigue is real - but not in the way that you think. - Your decision making power goes down when you have too many decisions to make. - You need to recognise when you're feeling overwhelmed, its actually because there are too many unmade...