The Small Business Safari

Send us Fan Mail Are you running your business like plumber Bob?... Plumber Bob runs his business with sticky notes! This is his CRM system. Here's a hint. This is not the way to run your business! Maybe it's ok but, when you want to scale your business you need a robust system. Last episode Nabeel Rehman talked about scaling a business and Vonigo helps you do that. I have used them for...

Send us Fan Mail Struggling with scaling? Nabeel has the tool for you! They invite guest Nabeel Rehman, the first employee of Vonigo! The adventure begins when Nabeel gets out of college and started working for IBM. Then he took a quick break and got married. Fortunately, she didn't mind he didn't have a job. Shortly after he had the opportunity to take a chance on Vonigo. Vonigo provide...

Send us Fan Mail Are the holidays a bad thing for business?... Maybe not so much when people get "tippy"! In Chris's handyman business, his guys get significantly more tips just showing up during the holidays.  Business during the holidays is hectic for everyone. Managing it is even harder when you aren't ready. Alan says you, as a business owner, should start planning for the...

Send us Fan Mail Biltong beef is a staple for Craig Jooste... Craige Jooste is our guest for this episode! He has a South African background (hence why he loves biltong) but is from Canada! He is the co-owner and CEO of the local HandyMan group. He created the model, brand, and franchising systems. The local HandyMan group is a handyman and home repair home-service franchise that supports their fr...

Send us Fan Mail What is the temple of ted?... We kick off season two with a great one! Our first guest, Ted Asbury, is your guide to all things marketing. He currently is the president of Think Big Brands and has been in and out of the corporate world. Some of those roles were vice president of marketing at Honey Baked Hams and Arbys. With all this experience he opened our eyes to the secrets of...

Send us Fan Mail All Hail the Temple of Ted... Chris and Alan come soaring in for season two of the Small Business Safari! They invite Ted Asbury to share his business experiences! Ted is your all-in-one social media marketing expert. He currently is the president of Think Big Brands and has been in and out of the corporate world. Some of those roles were vice president of marketing at Honey Baked...

Send us Fan Mail The ultimate guide to season one! After a long adventure through the entrepreneurial wild, season one is coming to an end. Chris and Alan discussed some great topics that should surely set you up for your own adventure! Let's recap some of the best episodes. Episodes one through three are all about Chris and Alan's upbringing and how they decided to dive into the world o...

Send us Fan Mail Nope, we're not talking about disc golf... The DISC profiling tool is a great way to understand the behaviors of people. Chris uses this to his advantage within his small business. How? Well understanding the behaviors of your customers and employees can give you the leg up. Applying some of the knowledge to hiring employees helps but also can help place them more strategical...

Send us Fan Mail Analyzing your employees' and customers' behaviors requires just a little research... Chris and Alan wrap up the first season with analyzing behavior. "What does that have to do with anything for my business" you may ask. Well, actually a lot! Using the right tool helps. In Chris's case, he uses the DISC Profile. This assessment has a series of questions a...

Send us Fan Mail Implementing your culture and exceeding expectations is actually easy?... Chris highlights a big chapter from his book. The three secrets of the customer. Overall these are expectations of the customer that you need to fulfill. The last episode exemplifies that idea of expectations. You need to set them so you can exceed them. Passing these ideas down to your employees is essentia...

Send us Fan Mail Why is training your employees so important? You would think it would be obvious but to some maybe not so much. Jumping straight in, Chris starts describing his culture and how he handles his training. His training is not so much technical. An example would be he doesn't teach people how to put up drywall. Instead, he has a "wolfpack". What this means is he lets the...

Send us Fan Mail You need to use the right bait! Not only do you need to sell your customers on your business but you also need to sell your employees on it too! Building your culture within a small business is essential. Within culture you need to have a story and as Chris says "If you're a small business your story is you (an employee) gets to impact and help the company grow". Ha...

Send us Fan Mail You can't cast a line anywhere... This applies to hiring your employees and scaling your small business too! Scaling begins with hiring. There are a lot of wrong ways to grab your future employee's attention and casting a wide net isn't always the best idea. You need to go grab their attention and really just sell your business to them. Getting through hiring is jus...

Send us Fan Mail You gotta love Google... As you know, most of your reviews come from Google. You have to capitalize on them! Looking at them and acting on them is key. That may be commenting back as the business owner or giving them discounts. But if you listened to the last episode, you'll know you need to be careful giving out too much. The gold nugget in these episodes is setting up that...

Send us Fan Mail Measuring your customer satisfaction is necessary to expand your business... We know how to provide great customer service or maybe you have an idea but how do we measure it? The biggest way is looking at your Google reviews. Reading what people like and don't like about your business is key.  Obviously, you can see the ratings and comments but how can you improve them? Reach...

Send us Fan Mail Do you know the Nordstrom way? If you know the Nordstrom way you understand how outstanding their customer service is.  They are the business you want to study to develop that loyal fanbase.  Chris also expands the chocolate chip cookie analogy. This is where you want to leave your customers with the experiences you would have when you eat a freshly baked cookie. But then on the o...

Send us Fan Mail Would you want the extra protein? Chris and Allen touch on some great stories regarding customer service and how you should react as a business owner. Hearing them is great but practicing the idea is hard. Having the mindset to give back to the customer or even just recognize the issue will ensure customer loyalty. Creating an understanding between you and the customer is key. You...

Send us Fan Mail There is only so much you can do as a business owner when it comes to customer service... You need to hire those stars! People that are eager to learn and represent your business. It's all about having that team and building them up.  As Chris quoted in the episode, "Sometimes you have to go to war with the team you have and not the team you want to have in the future&qu...

Send us Fan Mail You're not going to win the Kentucky Derby with a donkey... The boys kick off the second part of the customer service series on hiring! You can't hire donkeys and expect them to grow and be the best they can be. What you can do is hire a person with charisma! The person that may not be the best experience-wise but is willing to grow. In a small business, it is essential...

Send us Fan Mail Do you have poor customer service? When you start to think about your customer experience one of the first things you need to make sure has to happen is having that frontman. Whether it's the person greeting you in the store or over the phone the first touchpoint is the most important! People come back for customer service rather than just the product you're selling. Lis...

Send us Fan Mail He was a nice guy but... When it comes to customer experience in your business, you need to make sure it is 110%. In this episode, Chris and Alan share some great stories and the lessons from them are valuable. Being consistent, setting expectations, and being honest can go a long way in customer experience. One gold nugget from this episode is under-promising. What that looks lik...

Send us Fan Mail Networking is not an all about you thing... When you want to jump into the world of networking you have to think of others instead of you. Yes, you could get some great returns but it isn't about you. Just getting out there and having coffee with someone is a great way to network. Giving other businesses value may ultimately return back to you. Listen to the full version of t...

Send us Fan Mail Don't be the leg humper... When it comes to networking you don't want to be the guy that just wants to sell. This episode is dedicated to the world of networking. You never know what could come out of a networking relationship. A lot of good could happen if you do it right. Doing it right is getting involved in your local community and be a giver rather than trying to re...

Send us Fan Mail Scaling highlights your constraints... Chris goes into detail on what those constraints may be. Within his home services business, you need good people, processes, and technology to scale. With those in mind, you need to look at your goals. Chris suggests considering the best case, worst case, and expected case scenarios when looking at your goals. Maybe you need to bring in some...

Send us Fan Mail It takes balls to scale... Things pick up fast after the first year and scaling is a part of it. Sometimes you scale because you have to or you actually planned to! Growing your business has many factors you need to consider. In Chris's case, he needed to figure out how many employees he can support, how is he going to pay for gas and materials, and how much to spend on marke...