Measure Success Podcast

Latest Episodes:

How to build a cash flow system to sustain business growth with Profit First Co-founder Ron Saharyan Sep 20, 2022

Show notes

The majority of entrepreneurs who try to build and grow a business will eventually fail. And too often throughout that process, they're barely making any money themselves either. But what if there was a system that could change that? That could help entrepreneurs ensure their own well-being, and put their businesses on the path to growth and success?

Our guest this week is Ron Saharyan, one of the co-founders of Profit First. Having built multiple companies in the staffing industry, Ron leads Profit First Professionals' membership of world-class accountants, bookkeepers, and business coaches who guide entrepreneurs to the highest degree of profitability. He has over 15 years of experience in managing organization growth, is a thought leader in business cash flow management, and is a popular speaker on profit.

Tune into the full conversation for more on the Profit First system, how it can help entrepreneurs grow their businesses sustainably (and pay themselves what they deserve), what a "cash flow system" is, how to build one, and more.

Here's a Glimpse of What You'll Learn:

More about what Profit First is, and why its system is important to business owners
Why there are so few successful entrepreneurs, and how to use the system that can help reverse that trend
What "real revenue" is, and why it's more important than the typical idea of revenue
How entrepreneurs are neglecting themselves, and how it keeps them in the cycle of just getting by—or worse, the business failing
Why a "cash flow system" is king when it comes to growing your business for the long haul
Why it might not actually be beneficial when your CPA comes to you and says they can help you save money on taxes—and what to do instead
The lightbulb moments that often happen for entrepreneurs after going through the Profit First certification
What entrepreneurs can learn from the "envelope system" of money saving
"Parkinson's law," and how it relates to building a business
What makes the Profit First system different from accounting and bookkeeping
The backstory behind how Profit First got started in the basement of Mike Michalowicz's house
The KPIs that Profit First pays attention to, plus how Ron measures his personal success

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Profit First website
Ron Saharyan on LinkedIn
"Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine" by Mike Michalowicz
Email carljcox@40strategy.com for a copy of "Profit First"
"Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win" by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
40 Strategy
Contact 40 Strategy
Carl J. Cox on LinkedIn

How to make business growth easier, no matter what stage you're in, with Matthew Pohl Sep 13, 2022

Show notes

Have you ever felt like growing your business is a little like climbing a mountain… with a backpack full of rocks? The truth is, it doesn't have to be that hard. And easier growth could be as simple as aligning your strategies with your timing.

Pinpointing which stage your business is in can help you unlock insights specific to that stage—and help you sustain growth. Because even if you have the right answer, if you're using that strategy at the wrong time, you're only making growth harder on your whole organization.

Our latest guest, Matthew Pohl, is Principal of the ReWild Group. He's spent nearly two decades as an entrepreneur and business owner, and has personally experienced the impact of the ReWild methodology when it helped his business value grow 10X in three years. He currently advises business owners on building resilient organizations through leadership, infrastructure, strategy, and culture.

Listen to the full episode for our conversation on the 7 stages of growth a business goes through, which rules apply to which stages, why business owners and organization leaders plateau, and more.

Here's a Glimpse of What You'll Learn:

The 7 stages of business growth according to Matt and the ReWild Group
The most difficult stage of growth where leaders commonly get stuck
More about the ReWild Group, and how it helps small to mid-sized businesses identify the stage of growth they're in, and what rules to follow depending on the answer
Why business owners plateau, and why the rules for growth are constantly evolving
How to shift from owner-centric to enterprise-centric, and why that transition is important
More of Matthew's personal story, including when his own business got "stale," and how he helped move his organization out of that rut
How Matthew measures success at ReWild Group, both quantitatively and qualitatively, plus which lagging and leading KPIs the organization keeps track of
The personal rules by which Matthew lives that keep him grounded and help him measure success in his home life
Matthew's book recommendations for business owners

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

- ReWild Group
- Matthew Pohl on LinkedIn
- "Navigating the Growth Curve" by James Fischer
- Matthew's books for each growth stage
- "Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You" by John Warrillow
- "Brand & Core Values: Keeping promises to the market and the team (Organizational ReWilding: Elements of an Exceptional Business)" by Matthew Pohl
- 40 Strategy
- Contact 40 Strategy
- Carl J. Cox on LinkedIn

Growing out of the "adolescent" stage of business, with Nick Cramp Sep 06, 2022

Show notes

Just like with human beings, businesses also must move from birth to adolescence to maturity.

But it can be easy to get stuck on the way to becoming a fully "mature" business, and it's important to avoid a few common pitfalls on your journey. Our guest this week is an expert on that evolution, as well as someone who has coached hundreds of business owners on moving past that "adolescent" phase.

Nick Cramp is a business coach and author, with more than 30 years of business experience. Through his work, he's gained a wealth of knowledge about how to both approach the challenges and reap the awards of day-to-day work. He's also the author of "Better Before Bigger: Rethinking Business Success."

Listen to the full conversation for more on Nick's six steps for a business to move from adolescence to maturity, what business owners should "let go of" on that journey in order to scale their company, some of the common traps that ensnare founders when trying to grow their business, and more.

Here's a Glimpse of What You'll Learn:

What it means to be in the "adolescent" stage of business, and some of the problems associated with that phase
Nick's recommended first steps for business owners to transition from manager to shareholder, and why it's so important for them to articulate what their "ideal" role is as a leader
How Nick helps business founders let go of billable work and move on to other ways of adding value to their organization
The biggest trap that business owners often fall into, and the mindset shift they need to make in order to avoid it
How Nick thinks business owners' leadership should "evolve" as their company grows
Some of the biggest insights Nick has gained from his book-writing process
The 6 components for businesses to move from adolescence to maturity—plus which one founders most commonly get "stuck" on
Why client retention is one of the most important standards for Nick's consulting business, as well as some of the other ways he measures success, both in his professional and personal life
The habits Nick has integrated into his life to be at his best, both physically and mentally

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

"Better Before Bigger: Rethinking Business Success" by Nick Cramp
Nick's website
Nick Cramp on LinkedIn
"Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game" by Michael Lewis
40 Strategy
Contact 40 Strategy
Carl J. Cox on LinkedIn

Predicting (and stimulating) business growth through a quality sales strategy, with Enginuity CEO Dan Ducote Aug 30, 2022

Show notes

Plenty of businesses measure their growth (or lack thereof) after the fact, via a profit and loss statement. But what if you could measure potential growth before it even happens? That actually is possible — with a high-level sales strategy, in which a company focuses on leading indicators like "quality" sales calls (not just calls).

Our guest this week has built his company using one of those strategies, and he shares details of that process in this episode. Dan Ducote is the CEO of Enginuity Global, a member of Entrepreneurs' Organization and the American Academy of Entrepreneurs. He's also a shareholder of the Green Bay Packers and an owner of a 2020 Kentucky Derby horse.

Tune into the full episode for more about how Dan used his background in sales to build his business, why he's taken business lessons from "The Rookie," advice for recruiting (and keeping) top talent, and more.

Here's a Glimpse of What You'll Learn:

More about Dan's company, Enginuity Global, and why its inception was relationships-based
What it means to be "fiscally smart" and why that was so important when Dan was growing Enginuity
The story behind the significant growth of Dan's company, despite the "worst economic times" Dan had ever lived through
Why Dan's dad was so disappointed that his son was getting into sales—and how Dan got him to change his mind
How Dan's sales background has played such an integral role in his business growing as much as it has, plus more about his company's sales program
The strategy for determining whether a sales call is "quality" at Enginuity
Dan's advice for attracting and retaining top-notch talent
The business lesson that Dan took from the Dennis Quaid movie "The Rookie," and how that philosophy has been integrated into his workplace
How Dan measures success in his business, including the deeper metrics beyond just revenue and profit
The power of positive intelligence, and how Dan has developed the skill in his own life

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

"Give a Damn!: The Ticket to Cultural Change" by Mark Lewis
"The Dream Manager: Achieve Results Beyond Your Dreams by Helping Your Employees Fulfill Theirs" by Matthew Kelly
Enginuity Global
Dan Ducote on LinkedIn
40 Strategy
Contact 40 Strategy
Carl J. Cox on LinkedIn

What business owners should do in a recession, with Forbes Contributor and Economist Dr. Bill Conerly Aug 22, 2022

Show notes

"Recession" is one of the hottest words in economics right now—and it (rightfully) has many small business owners worried. But the good news is there are steps you can take to prepare for whatever is coming. They just might not be what you would expect.

This week's conversation is with Bill Conerly, a second-time guest on the Measure Success Podcast. He's a senior contributor at Forbes, and a consultant who connects the dots between the economy and business decisions. He has the unique combination of a Ph.D. in economics from Duke University and over 30 years' experience helping companies adapt to changing economic conditions.

Tune into the full episode for more on how to prepare for a potential recession, some of Bill's forecasts for what's coming next, when and why small businesses should raise prices, and more.

Here's a Glimpse of What You'll Learn:

What's surprised Bill the most about the economy from Q4 of 2021 to now, plus what he thinks about the Federal Reserve
Where Bill thinks short-term interest rates are headed, and what he believes about a potential recession
How it's determined whether or not the country is in a "recession" — and why that decision isn't actually as helpful as people might think it is
What Bill has encouraged businesses to do when it comes to determining their "creditworthiness" (even if they're not currently taking out loans from a bank)
The advice Bill would give businesses who are just treading water right now, amid higher labor costs, inflation, interest rate fluctuations, and more
Why it can be helpful to be a little pessimistic when it comes to planning against potential recession
Whether small businesses should be raising their prices right now, and why
What Bill thinks is coming for home and rent prices, plus what he thinks is the "fundamental rule" for buying a house
Where Bill believes gas prices are headed, plus the lesson we can learn from fuel price fluctuations that can apply to any "capital-intensive" business
Bill's most important lesson about the economy for small business owners

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Conerly Consulting
"The Flexible Stance: Thriving in a Boom/Bust Economy" by Bill Conerly
"Businomics From The Headlines To Your Bottom Line: How to Profit in Any Economic Cycle" by Bill Conerly
40 Strategy
Contact 40 Strategy
Carl J. Cox on LinkedIn

How to overcome fear to take your business to the next level Aug 17, 2022

Show notes

Did you know that only about one-third of businesses will survive a decade or longer?

The good news: there are a few tactics any entrepreneur can use to grow their company, take their revenue to the next level, and ensure their business survives.

The bad news? Fear—and analysis paralysis—holds many company leaders back from doing so. In this episode, 40 Strategy founder and CEO Carl J. Cox outlines the three ways that entrepreneurs can move past that fear and scale their company, no matter the outside circumstances.

Tune in for more on those three strategies, the power of elimination when setting goals, how to plan and execute strategic "sprints," and the specific ROI you should be aiming for when you begin a new strategic initiative.

Here's a Glimpse of What You'll Learn:

The percentage of businesses that fail in the first year, first 5 years, and first 10 years of existence
The 3 ways an entrepreneur can shift past fear and take their business to the next level
Why focusing on fewer ideas — not more — actually creates more momentum
The power of a 10-week strategic plan, and why this timeline works so well for business owners looking to grow and scale
The component that could be the most important to include in a strategic plan (which most entrepreneurs and business owners miss)
A crucial leadership lesson from the book "Good to Great", and how it can help you hold your team accountable when it comes to executing your strategic plan
The ROI numbers you should be shooting for when thinking about key strategies
Why "starting" (and planning) is the most important part of the CAPTAIN strategy
How to increase your "luck" as a successful business

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

"The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals" by Chris McChesney
"The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months" by Brian P. Morgan
"Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…And Others Don't" by Jim Collins
"Start.: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, and Do Work That Matters" by Jon Acuff
40 Strategy
Contact 40 Strategy
Carl J. Cox on LinkedIn

Entrepreneurial lessons learned, with Fireflies.ai CEO Krish Ramineni Aug 10, 2022

Show notes

As an entrepreneur, there will almost always be fires to put out. But prioritizing which ones get your attention—and when—is a huge component to growing and scaling companies (and not burning out as a CEO).

In this episode, we revisit our most popular interview to date, with Fireflies.ai co-founder and CEO, Krish Ramineni — with a few new updates, including why Krish found himself on the phone at 4 a.m. with his team recently to put out one of those fires. We also revisit our conversation from a few months ago, where Krish shared some of the biggest lessons he's learned along his entrepreneurial journey.

Krish Ramineni is the co-founder and CEO of Fireflies.ai, an AI meeting assistant that helps transcribe, take notes, and complete actions during meetings. After graduating from UPenn, Krish started as one of the youngest product managers at Microsoft, where he also led projects around customer voice and growth engineering. He's previously guest lectured at Stanford on deep learning and ML and now serves as an early-stage startup advisor.

Tune into the full conversation for more on the evolution of Fireflies.ai, the advice Krish got as he was founding the company (and the advice he ignored), the ways in which customer satisfaction can measure the success of a company, how to know when to say no as an entrepreneur, and more.

Here's a Glimpse of What You'll Learn:

An update from Krish on how Fireflies has progressed and what's changed at the company since he recorded his initial interview with the Measure Success Podcast
How to know which fires to put out and why that prioritization is such an important piece of the entrepreneurship journey
More about what Fireflies.ai is, and how it can help business owners
The backstory of how Fireflies.ai started and developed over the past few years
The value of Fireflies.ai, and why that value extends to such a variety of people and functions across industries
How the Fireflies.ai tool can help to eliminate or reduce conflict and confusion in business
Some potential future features you could see from Fireflies.ai
How Krish measures success at Fireflies.ai, including the benefit of simplicity when it comes to customer satisfaction
The benefit of experiential knowledge — and why it's not always necessary for entrepreneurs to learn lessons from a textbook or class
How Krish and his Fireflies.ai co-founder actually went against some of the common advice they received as they were starting the company — and why that paid off
What Krish thinks is one of the most important things an entrepreneur can learn if they want to succeed

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Fireflies.ai
Fireflies.ai on LinkedIn
Krish Ramineni on Twitter
"Blitzscaling: The Lightning-Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies" by Reid Hoffman
"Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future" by Peter Thiel
"The Art of War" by Sun Tzu
40 Strategy
Contact 40 Strategy
Carl J. Cox on LinkedIn

How to set goals, values, and strategic plans for success as a CEO, with Mark Lewis Aug 02, 2022

Show notes

Shifting from working "in" a business" to instead working "on" it is one of the most common (and sometimes most difficult) challenges CEOs and entrepreneurs face. They're used to doing a little bit of everything, and it can be hard to zoom out for a bird's-eye view. But if business owners want their companies to reach their full potential, making this shift is one of the most important changes a CEO can make.

Our guest this week is an expert on helping entrepreneurs do just that. As a former IBM employee, a multiple successful entrepreneur, a nonprofit technology executive that helped Louisiana become one of the fastest growing technology states in the country, Mark coaches and consults entrepreneurs and small businesses for success by moderating multiple CEO Roundtables each year.

Tune into the full episode for more on how Mark guides CEOs and entrepreneurs on growing their business, some of the most common challenges he sees small business owners face as they try to scale their companies, how to develop a strong company culture that people want to be a part of, and more.

Here's a Glimpse of What You'll Learn:

More about what Mark does, including what the CEO Roundtables are, and how they help CEOs develop their leadership
The structure behind Mark's CEO Roundtable, and the step-by-step approach he takes participants through in order to grow their businesses
The one paradigm shift Mark says CEOs need to have in order to give their business the best chance at success
One of the most common stumbling blocks that CEOs experience
How to define your company culture
The exercise Mark often uses to help CEOs develop the core values of their company
The challenges Mark sees companies experience as they try to set goals for the business
The difference between leading and lagging indicators, and why they're so important for setting goals
Why Mark says so many strategic plans end up failing
More about the CEO Facilitator Playbook, and why Mark put the program together
Why Mark doesn't believe in work-life balance, and how he still manages to measure success in his personal life

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Mark Lewis LLC's website
"Give a Damn!: The Ticket to Cultural Change" by Mark S. Lewis
"Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't" by Jim Collins
"The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth About Extraordinary Results" by Gary Keller
"The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph" by Ryan Holiday
40 Strategy
Contact 40 Strategy
Carl J. Cox on LinkedIn

How to Identify and Leverage Your Strengths for Growth, with Darren Virassammy Jul 26, 2022

Show notes

As the co-founder of 34 Strong, public speaker, and someone who is obsessed with seeking personal greatness through connection with nature, I am uniquely positioned to help those in corporate America and individuals reach the potential they desire. I work hard on my own personal development through my hobbies, passions and personal life. As a husband, father, avid bassist and black belt, I believe our down-time is just as important as our work time.

https://natureadvantageshow.com/media-kit
Website: https://34strong.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/strengthsfinder
Other links: https://natureadvantageshow.com/

We all have our own strengths and weaknesses. But when it comes to business, leaders who understand their own — and those of their teams — can often grow their companies faster, more sustainably, and with less stress for everyone involved.

Our latest guest is an expert on identifying those strengths and harnessing their power: Darren Virassammy is the co-founder of 34 Strong, public speaker, and someone obsessed with seeing personal greatness through connection with nature. He helps both those in corporate America and individuals reach the potential they desire.

Listen to the full episode for more about how companies can use their employees' individual characteristics and strengths to build a strong team culture, why it's so important to understand your own strengths and weaknesses, and what Darren says has been the "greatest training" for being an entrepreneur.

Here's a Glimpse of What You'll Learn:

What makes the Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment different from other personality tests, and how people can use it to develop both professionally and personally
How to be in tune with your own strengths — and what that can teach you about your weaknesses
Why it's important for an organization's culture to understand its employees' strengths, so they can be put in positions where they're most likely to succeed
More about Darren's company, 34 Strong
How Darren measures employee engagement at his own organization, and why that's such an important indicator
Why Darren chose to go back to martial arts, and how it's helped him in his own entrepreneurship journey
What gets missed when people fall into the "just check the box" mindset, in business and in life
How the concept of understanding your specific strengths applies outside of the workplace, and to family life as well

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

34 Strong website
Darren Virassammy on LinkedIn
Nature Advantage Show
"Incredible Parent: Discover Your Parenting Strengths and Raise Your Kids with Confidence" by Analyn and Brandon Miller
40 Strategy
Contact 40 Strategy
Carl J. Cox on LinkedIn

How to reduce waste and maximize profits at your organization Jul 19, 2022

Show notes

In This Episode:

Many CEOs believe that a slowdown (or decline) in profits is simply because of a lack of sales, not enough hard work, or outside economic forces. But the truth is, many profit plateaus can be traced back to one thing: waste.

Time wasted is also money wasted. But figuring out where that bloat is, and developing an action plan for reducing it, can feel overwhelming or confusing to many business owners. Luckily, there are a few simple strategies (and some very simple math) CEOs can use to reduce their organizational waste — and turn bigger profits.

Tune into the full episode for advice on how to evaluate waste in your organization, how to measure your "cycle time" and "process time," and a deep dive into the math you need as a CEO to measure your ROI and potential for more profit.

Here's a Glimpse of What You'll Learn:

When a CEO should think about making process improvements
The rule of thumb for evaluating the ROI on decisions you make as a CEO
How to calculate the cost of delaying major decisions within an organization
The difference between a company's "process time" and "cycle time" — and how to measure waste between the two
What CEOs can learn about value (and how to make money) from hospitals
The power of "lean thinking" and how it can help CEOs 3x (or more) their ROI

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

If you're a business owner, can you relate to any of the following?

Tasks have been sitting at your employees' desks for weeks with no progress
Your team is still using spreadsheets for everything
You're experiencing hang-ups with closing your accounting books after period end
Profits are plateauing or declining year-over-year

If so… well, you're not alone.

And secondly — it does NOT have to be this way.

When you experience these symptoms (especially for longer than 3 months in a row)...

It could be time for some significant process improvements within your organization.

But how do you know which processes to focus on? How do you measure what's working — and what's keeping your profits from growing?

I talk about all that and more on this week's episode of the Measure Success Podcast. Tune in for more tips on how to reduce waste in your organization, how to measure your "cycle time" and "process time," and a deep dive into the math you need as a CEO to measure your ROI and potential for more profit.

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