Scaling Up Business Podcast

In this episode, Bill introduces a comprehensive approach to talent assessment aimed at enhancing team performance and fostering a positive work environment as businesses grow. He emphasizes the critical importance of assembling a team that not only performs well but also aligns with the company's values and culture. Bill introduces the concept of a talent assessment tool and process that focuses on two main criteria: fit with the company's values and performance in their current roles. This straightforward assessment provides a clear strategy for managing team members, highlighting the need to nurture high performers who embody the company's ethos and reconsider the fit of those who don't, regardless of their performance. Bill delves into categorizing team members into A players, B players, and those who neither fit the company's culture nor meet performance expectations. He suggests actionable strategies for each category, including training for B players to enhance their performance and making the tough de

Does dignity in the workplace really matter? Plenty of companies seem to get by without upholding dignity, but with over 40 years of experience and $60 million in annual sales, today’s return podcast guest knows there is a better way.   Ari Weinzweig is the co-founder of Zingermans Delicatessen. Ari, alongside his co-founder, Paul Saginaw, started Zingerman’s in 1982 as a restaurant and specialty food retail space. Now the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses has 23 partners, employs over 750 people, and generates over $60 million in annual sales from ten separate businesses. In countries and companies alike where dignity is the norm, progress can happen. Companies that are run by tyrants limit growth and eliminate progress. Dignity has been central to the success of Andy’s 42-year business partnership with Paul Sagen. Together they built and expanded a community business that has provided people with a place to connect. Ari reflects on his vision and approach to successful business scaling. Ten years in, he

In this episode, Bill explores the crucial concept of process accountability as a key driver for company growth and efficiency. Focusing on the interplay between team engagement, performance, and the seamless integration of various business processes, Bill sheds light on the importance of defining and managing core processes distinct from functional responsibilities within a company. He emphasizes that processes like the transition from lead to customer experience involve multiple departments and, without clear accountability, can lead to missed opportunities and inefficiencies. Bill delves into the idea that while functions such as sales, marketing, and operations have clear leaders, cross-functional processes often lack a defined ownership, leading to potential issues in the handoff between departments. By identifying core processes and establishing metrics and ownership, companies can mitigate risks and improve overall performance. Bill encourages listeners to map out their business processes, identify whe

In this insightful episode, Bill dives into the critical importance of fostering a culture of learning and development within businesses to fuel growth and ensure talent retention. Bill emphasizes the necessity for every team member to contribute effectively and how investing in employee development significantly enhances job satisfaction and loyalty. He shares practical advice for companies, especially those operating with limited resources, on how to cultivate a continuous learning environment that benefits both employees and the organization. Bill outlines actionable strategies for integrating learning into the company's fabric, highlighting innovative and budget-friendly approaches such as "lunch and learn" sessions and leveraging tools like Trainual for efficient learning management. He stresses the positive outcomes of becoming a learning organization, including improved employee performance, increased value, and stronger retention rates. Tune in as Bill unpacks the steps businesses of any size can take

Are you working at a job, or are you working at building a business that will be worth enough to sell someday?   Michael E. Gerber is the author of the NY Times mega-bestseller for two consecutive decades, The E-Myth Revisited, and nine other worldwide best-selling E-Myth books. For over 40 years, Michael has been impacting the lives of small business owners as one of the world's most renowned small business thought leaders. With 34 books in his name, Michael is a rockstar author who describes his success with The E-Myth Revisited a complete accident. He knew how to sell encyclopedias, and he quickly learned how to sell systems for any company. The true product of a business is the business itself, and therein lies the secret of success. Instead of trying to reinvent everything all the time, the basics of business are the same across the board. Companies succeed when they have their basics covered. Michael shares the success of McDonald’s, what he calls the most successful small business in the world. It’s

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by unsuccessful attempts to grow your business, you may be too focused on the systems. Growth happens when the focus shifts to addressing the systems, not the symptoms, of your company.   Today’s guest is Dave Newell, CEO of Evolve Leadership Consulting. Dave works with small business leaders to implement the Five Facets of Business — a small business operating system — to optimize processes and foster team alignment around culture, strategy, operations, story, and finances. When systems and behaviors are aligned, the magic can start to happen. In the early days of Dave’s work, he quickly realized that every business is a series of systems that not only have to interact with each other, but they have a major impact on each other. Dave highlights a $750,000 company that had the goal of scaling up to $20 million. Their operations were a nightmare, the CEO had unrealistic goals, and the team was uninspired and stressed out. The systems — not the symptoms — were the root problem th

There is power in meaning, especially in your marketing, and it may be the ticket to achieving the growth that you are seeking.   Pete Steege is the CEO of B2B Clarity. With over 30 years of marketing experience with a wide range of B2B technology and manufacturing businesses, Pete helps companies manage and scale their businesses by using meaning in their marketing to scale their businesses. In the early days of his career, Pete realized that marketing focused on sharing intellectual information while entirely missing the why behind the message. Marketing is supposed to be about relationships, and relationships are built on meaning. Companies grow when clients can clearly see why you can help them reach their goals. Pete shares the factors that create meaning behind these relationships, including authenticity. Tell the truth about why you are here in a transparent and authentic way. Focus on the work that you care about rather than trying to meet the needs of a too-broad spectrum of clients. The trust tha

A great tool for reinforcing your strategy over time and embedding it in your company’s culture is the manifesto. An effective manifesto can be read daily, or at least weekly, shared with your team like a manifestation, and provides the opportunity to reflect on its relevance today. When reflected on often, a manifesto encourages people to apply its truths to their day-to-day actions and goals.   There is a simple formula for developing your manifesto. First, identify the purpose. What is the “why” of the work you are doing? Next, consider your values and brand promises. Then, turn to your BHAG to round out your manifesto. Bill’s manifesto is clear and gives him purpose in the work he does each day. Over time, your manifesto will become deeply ingrained in the decisions that you make and pull everyone on your team toward the company’s core strategy. Resources: Growth Navigator Coaching Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.) Bill on YouTube Recruiter.com

There are plenty of ways to grow your business, but until you’ve worked out your strategy, it can be really hard to scale. One strategy makes funding growth much easier — franchising.   Joining the show today is Lance Graulich. Known as the “King of Franchising,” Lance is the CEO of ION Franchising, an industry-leading franchise consulting and development group that represents over 800 franchise brands and business opportunities in every imaginable category. He’s also the host of the Eye on Franchising Podcast. Lance has helped over 1,000 people go from “Wannabe” Entrepreneurs to Franchise owners with his work and has helped Franchises such as TGI Fridays grow to over $225 million in revenue. Franchises, and optimized businesses in general, aren’t about the business, they’re about the people. Successful leaders look for the people who know how to get the job done and build a great business up from there. From the bald guy who owns hair salons to the garage door franchisee who just exited for $98 million, fra

Sometimes the littlest things are the hardest things. Many people really struggle with their one-phrase strategy. The one-phrase strategy distills everything your business offers down to your competitive, profitable advantage over everyone else.   The way you do business, your customer advantage, or the way you deliver goods or services all could become your one-phrase strategy. It’s generally operational, and it gives you a great competitive profit advantage. After you’ve figured out your brand promises, your core customer, and your differentiating activities, you need to look for the thing in all of that that can become your one-phrase strategy. When you find it, you’ve got the key to being profitable and competitive over time. Resources: Growth Navigator Coaching Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.) Bill on YouTube Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup) Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (

Every company wants to grow faster, but what is the point of scaling up if you can’t retain the employees and customers you’ve already got? You have to deliver exceptional customer experience so that the growth you’re working on actually matters.   Ali Cudby is the Founder and CEO of Alignmint Growth Strategies, which delivers consulting and training so you and your team know what to do to prevent customer churn before it starts. Ali knows customer experience is not a department — it’s cross-functional. She is the author of the #1 best-selling book on customer retention, Keep Your Customers. Straight out of business school, Ali was staffed on a project with the call center at the New York Times. She saw firsthand that the company was not engaging with its call center employees in a way that aligned with its global brand. She quickly learned that the way you engage with your team has a huge impact on the way that they engage with your customers, and that means the customer experience really matters. The acti

Profit per X is a strategic KPI that indicates the potential of the unit of measure that is most constrained in your business.   As an independent coach, Bill’s most constrained thing is the number of days that he can work or profit per day. A laundry delivery service may deal with profit per truck or profit per stop. When you identify and optimize the number of profit per your X, it may be per customer, per product, per transaction, or per job, but whatever it may be, if you can optimize it, you can make a meaningful difference in your growth. Consider the pros and cons of optimizing your per X, and then focus on the one that will lead to the greatest growth. Strategic decisions about how you lead, grow, and scale will come more easily as a result. Resources: Growth Navigator Coaching Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.) Bill on YouTube Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup) Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for S

Nothing significant happens when you’re working alone. If you want to do anything big, you’re going to need a powerhouse team.   Return podcast guest Mike Michalowicz founded and sold two multi-million dollar businesses by his 35th birthday. He is the bestselling author of Profit First, The Pumpkin Plan, Clockwork, and Fix This Next. He has built two additional multimillion-dollar companies and has become one of the world’s most popular speakers on small business topics. His new book is All In: How Great Leaders Build Unstoppable Teams. The vision you may have for your business is not necessarily the same vision for the entirety of your team. Leaders often work in their own self-interest, but powerful leaders work to help their team realize their dreams as well. As you as a leader prioritize their vision, they will begin to prioritize the vision of the company. What do your people want? Why should they perform to the best of their ability? Effective leaders prioritize recognition, create traditions in the w

Your X-factor is the thing that gives you an advantage in your marketplace. It is your secret sauce to being better and standing out from your competition. It’s the key to growing faster than anyone else.   It’s not easy to figure out your X-factor, and when you do, you have to keep it a secret that you can use for as long as you can because it doesn’t last forever. A truly great X-factor will expire as it is figured out by other people. You can figure out your X-factor by determining if your obstacle to growth is more about supply or demand. Identify the key barriers to meeting those supply or demand needs, and then figure out which one you are going to solve in a unique, innovative, or sexy way. That is your X-factor. Resources: Growth Navigator Coaching Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.) Bill on YouTube Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup) Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly G

Safety is at the core of the culture of every business. Sometimes it’s in direct ways, sometimes in indirect ways, but safety is always at the core of the work people do.   Apolonia Rockwell is the Founder and CEO of True Safety Services, a company that specializes in on-site safety consulting and in helping employers with Safety/CDL Training local to Colorado, as well as nationwide. With a front-row seat to the dangers and harsh realities of hazards in the workplace in her childhood, adult Apolonia was fascinated and relieved to learn about federally mandated safety requirements. She now works to bridge the gap between a company’s safety director and the employees they work to protect. As a strong female in a male-dominated field, Apolonia has taken an effective approach to getting employee buy-in, connecting with the unspoken leaders, and using curiosity to invoke respect. Safety is often disregarded or minimized, but effective safety practices always start with leadership. Effective cultural change can

If you asked people to pick three or four words to describe you and your business, what would they say? Would your customers and partners recognize your clear identity, or would they stumble?   The words that you want to own in the future are the words that you invest in over time, starting now. Bill wants to be known as The Scaling Coach, and he has focused years and hours of effort on making that a reality. The key to identifying the words that you want to own is by talking to other people about their perception of you. Try Googling your business and asking your peers. Invest in the marketing that will secure your identity in the way you want to be known. The more specific you are, the easier it will be for you to own those words. Resources: Growth Navigator Coaching Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.) Bill on YouTube Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup) Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coache

How can you get out of your business so that it can actually grow and thrive? Chances are, you’ve had days when you wished you could fire yourself. In reality, when it’s time to exit, you need to be the first person out the door.   Jeff Russell is a best-selling author, renowned speaker, and accomplished entrepreneur. As the founder of many successful businesses and author of his latest book, Fire Yourself First, Jeff is an expert in helping business owners break free from the daily grind. Get ready for an insightful conversation as we delve into his proven strategies for achieving business success and living a life well-balanced. Once Jeff decided he wanted to work just 10 days a month, he focused on finding a way to build up his businesses so that they could run without him. By hiring and training people who could run the business without him there, he essentially built an ATM for himself. His book underscores a four-step program that transforms an overbooked life into a 10-day-a-month work program. Wise

What is your guarantee? When you put your money where your mouth is, you lock in your brand promise. A guarantee can also serve as a catalytic mechanism that keeps your team focused on the right things and rewards the right behavior.   Whether it’s a money-back guarantee or rewards for improvement, your strong guarantee serves as a bounty for the promise you have made. Make it big and make it strong to make it effective. Bill’s guarantee is that if you are unhappy with his team’s work at any point you can apply a credit on your next invoice and leave the program that you’re in. A guarantee is a powerful tool that lets people know that you are serious about their satisfaction. Resources: Growth Navigator Coaching Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.) Bill on YouTube Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup) Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing co

How many of your strategy problems could be solved if only you knew what your customers have to say about your business?   Mark Allen Roberts is the CEO and Founder at OTB Solutions, a Certified Scaling Up Coach, and a data-driven sales growth expert with over 37 years of experience in helping manufacturing CEOs and business leaders strategically drive explosive growth in revenue, profits, and shareholder value. Once Mark tasted the satisfaction of finding and solving customer problems — and turning a 10 million dollar business into a 300 million dollar sale as a result — he was hooked. As a scaling coach, he has helped myriad companies solve their problems by doing one simple thing. Too many salespeople focus on their generic sales pitch when really, they need to be asking better questions and figuring out how to solve their customers’ problems. Talking to the customer about brand promise generalities is not enough. Effective problem solvers identify the needs that their customers have and then highlight t

What are your differentiating activities? Differentiating activities are the operation-side things that you do differently than anyone else. They also help you achieve your brand promises over time. How are you able to deliver different results and, ultimately, a superior value to your customers?   Start by identifying your brand promises, then look at the unique ways that you are operating. What is unique about your products and services, your operations, your team, and about the way you execute your promises? Think across strategy, across marketing, and the economic engine of your business. What is different about you? Next, consider your key competitors and what they have to offer that is different from you. Then identify up to seven key unique things about your operations that you can emphasize and invest in. For Bill, a podcast, online learning, and a focus on scale set him apart from his competitors. The internal, operational ways that you fulfill brand promises will create a unique, valuable company