Greg DeSimone - Strategy Simplified

Welcome to the Exit Coach radio show, the show for baby boomer business owners who are looking for cutting edge information as they plan their 3 to 10 year business succession and exit. Every week we interview top professional advisors for their best tips, strategies, and precautions so you can be well planned. And don't miss our one minute exit coach. Tip of the day on exit coachradio.com. And now here's your host, the exit coach, Bill Black. Welcome and thanks for listening. This segment of the show is brought to you by JK Murphy Advisors and features Greg DeSimone, who is joining us from Focal Point Business coaching in Mansfield, Massachusetts. And Greg, welcome to the show. Thank you for having me, Bill. It's a pleasure, and we're gonna talk about uh Uh, the title is Strategy Simplified, which intrigues me and, and we all like simple, simple strategy. So we're gonna talk about that in a second, but Greg, before we get into that, we always like to start by getting to know a little bit about our guests. Can you share a little bit about your background with us? Sure, uh, I am a recovering CPA. I started my career at a big 4 accounting firm. Uh, it was big 4 the year I started the year before was Big 6. Um, I thought it was a primarily in the audit and management functional side, uh, moved into corporate accounting and finance and spent most of my career, uh, running finance departments for VC backed firms and public accounting firms. Uh, until Sarbanes Oxley came around, it was a really exciting and fun job to have. I was an internal business partner with the each of the organizations I was with, helping them implement plans, grow their plans, diligence, acquisition, integration, but Sarbans actually turned my role primarily into a more into a comp a compliance role versus a business partner role or a value added partner role, and at that point I decided to um. To go off on my own, of course I did it during the world's worst time during the recession of 2008, 2009, but I did it and I started this practice and what I, what I've done is build a coaching practice, leveraging all the skills that I used during my corporate financial background and brought that to small businesses and applied other managerial concepts to help them grow their business and start to think strategically and get off the treadmill. Now, when you say start to think strategically, um, how do you, how do you help businesses to start to think strategically and, and what kind of strategies do you deal with? Really, I, when I talk I talk about simplifying it is everybody that I deal with is has been reasonably reasonably successful in their careers. They basically, it's a family, they typically family run businesses, they found some kind of niche in the marketplace that they were able to exploit and and to grow a business out of, but they basically built it, they basically were in technician mode and they, they basically leveraged all of their skills to get to a certain point and it may be. The million dollar mark in revenue might be $5 million. It might be a little bit higher than that. But at some point they grow to a point where they can't go any further, and they have to get out of tech technician mode. They can't just put effort into it. They can't just put more time into it because they've run out of that. What I do is step back and say, OK, let's look at all your different options. Let's look at your priorities and then systematically assign what the value of each of those priorities are. And determine which ones should be, should go first, which ones to go second, which ones should be shelved because they're just not gonna create enough of return over time. So business owners that. A lot of business owners start as a result of being a technician, like you say, and then they get to a point where there's this big wall in front of them, they can't get over that wall. So you come in and say, well, we're gonna need either a ladder, a shovel, or a stick of dynamite, but we're gonna break through this wall, and, uh, sometimes it's organic growth, but a lot of times it's, it's uh maybe uh buying small competitors or, or rolling up other companies or things like that. So what you do sounds like is you, you, you help them get through that wall. Exactly. And the analogy used with all the different tools is is exactly what I do. It's not the same tool for each person because they they have different skill sets, they have different desires. Some people want to keep growing and become an industry leader. Some just know that there's more opportunity. They instead of being able to pocket net 250,000 into the year, they should be, they should be netting 400, 500, 600,000. But they don't need to be an industry leader. They just don't want to leave money on the table that they know they could get if they just streamline their operations or or acted more strategically and more productively. And your background sounds like it's really prepared you well for being able to be a great resource to business owners. There's a lot of ways that businesses can grow these days, aren't there? I mean, the technology's brought a lot of different new Ah, ways to get financing and things. So, how do you keep up with everything? Uh, one is I, I, uh, I'm a lifelong learner. I, um, I just, I just enjoy professional development, personal development. I also, the reason I do what I do is I really, I believe in business, I believe in the value it brings to the community. I, I, I don't believe running a business and being a business owner and making a profit is a bad thing. I see the value that the business leaders and and great businesses bring to the to the community. I also just enjoy figuring out why certain businesses succeed and others don't, and why people, how people find these simple ideas. Like I, I have a friend of mine or actually one of my daughter's teachers, her husband. Um, started a broom company and I was intrigued by this, and, uh, which basically was street sweeper brooms, and I started talking to him more and more as I was volunteering with my daughter's class, and I learned that this guy has about a $150 million business and that's about 1.5 million to $18 per year, and I was. Just astounded by, there's people out there killing themselves trying to find the next great technology idea or working for these big high tech companies trying to get load up on, on options, trying to work for the next Google. And uh here's a guy that says, hey, there's a Those things that are on the street sweepers, someone's got to make them while I make them, he's turned it into a $15 million business, and that's about 5 years, and I just find those kinds of stories fascinating and I'm, I'm always looking to to talk to people like that and figure out what they do and how they do that and using just those those conversations, those experiences helps me um add more and more resources to my To my toolbox because there's lots of different ways companies find those niches. I love that story, you know that I'm the same as you. I find it fascinating after talking with hundreds and hundreds of business owners, how many, um, how many kind of very basic business models there are out there that work real well. It doesn't have to be sexy, it doesn't have to be the next great technology breakthrough, uh, pushing, uh, building a room that somebody can push is will get the job done. It's fascinating. Yeah. And so when, when you approach situations, of course, when you're working with businesses that are starting by technicians, a lot of them really aren't, uh, big thinkers when it comes to strategic planning. So sometimes what can appear probably very simple to you might be a real aha moment for that business owner, right? Yeah, it, it's, uh, it's a good, it's a big ego boost at times because uh I haven't gone through this thing, these, these procedures and these practices, um, many times in my career, both in my corporate life and now in my, my, uh, business, or my business coaching life, it is, it is fun sometimes where I think something, it's second nature it's easy, and I keep forgetting that common sense isn't always common because people are too busy trying to get things done to step back and just logically look at what's the right thing to do, what's the next. What's the easiest thing to do that will get that will solve this problem versus just um waking up and doing the job and working hard and uh uh so it is fun, fun when I'm able to walk through logically and use common sense and And occasionally get a get the pat on the back saying wow, you're a genius when when it really isn't that. It's just a matter if I've been exposed to it because I, I, I talk to a lot of people, but it is an eagle boost when you when you hear that every so often. Well, it's, it's your toolbox and your, your tool kit. I, I keep myself in check by realizing that if I tried to do what that business owner was doing, I'd probably mess it up in a hurry. So that's exactly, I use that analogy all the time. I said, uh, I, I look at it as um looking at it like a golf pro. He's the golf pro now a couple of times. I said when I, when I drive by, uh, walk by the driving range with the um. with the golf pro up there, and I, look who's taking lessons and who's practicing, and it's always the really good golfer who's at 75 and wants to get to par, the guy that's at 82, 83 and wants to start to break 80. Those are the people that hired the, the golf pro, and those are the guys that are putting all the extra practice in. And the other thing I noticed is that the kids that come through here, they're going to college and they're using the pro even more than those guys trying to become scratch. And it's interesting. The golf pro is a little bit older now. He's in his 60s. He can't beat most of these guys that are shooting scratch or these college kids, but he, without a doubt, can help them get better because he can see things that they can't see. He can get inside their head. He can give them a different perspective to say, hey, this is what you're supposed to be doing. You may know you're supposed to be doing this, but that's not what's coming across. It's not what you're actually executing. And that's kind of what I do with business owners. I don't have to be. A smarter than them in all aspects of business. I just got to be able to help them think about their business differently, find the blind spots, and give them a different perspective so they're not falling into a trap of just into into a trap of just falling into a habit or routine and missing great opportunities that they have. I think that's a great analogy and a great explanation about the importance of business coaching, and Greg, we're going to take a short break and then when we come back, we're going to ask you to share a couple stories and some tips, ideas and precautions our listeners can use. So we'll be right back. Business succession and exit planning is hard, and everyone says you should start early, but where can you hear a lot of ideas from a lot of professionals so you can decide what's best for you? At Exitcoachradio.com, we're interviewing over 150 advisors for their best tips, ideas and precautions. We upload new one minute tips every day. Exitcoachradio.com. Come listen for a minute. Hey everyone, it's Bill Black, the exit coach. Hey, we all know we've been talking about how important it is to increase your sales, decrease your time issues, get more operational time and increase your personal time. It's all about time. It's all about your team, your money, and your exit strategy. You need to work smarter, not just harder at focal. Business coaching, they take pride in being highly trained professional business consultants and mentors. They'll work with you to get coached on how to work smarter, not harder. For more information, call Greg DeSimone at 508-618-4575. Again, that's 508-618-4575. Call today. Welcome back friends. Just a reminder that we've interviewed dozens of advisors on a wide variety of topics, and you'll find all of their interviews and highlights online at exacoachradio.com or on iTunes at iTunes.exaoachradio.com. I'm talking with Greg DeSimone, and we're having a, a I think a very good discussion about the importance of business coaching. And the fact that the business coach isn't always going to be a uh a person who can do what you do, but they can see what you do and they can help you do it better and they've been there before. So Greg, let's talk about some of the success stories that you've had. Um, tell us a client's story about someone that you worked with recently and, and what was your situation before you came along and how did you help? Sure. Um, one of my favorite ones is, is, it's about a little over 1.5, 2 years ago, was a, a manufacturing company making, um, Fishing tackles, specialty fish, fishing tackles within the uh fishing market, uh, fishermen market they or angler market, they, they had a very good reputation, but they weren't growing. The owner, um, had a business background, banking background, but when he's now in the business, kind of got stuck in the, in the details and got stuck in the, the every part of the operation and really couldn't figure out how to grow this business to get a return on his initial um investment. And as we started going through, I just asked a bunch of questions and asked him who was his key markets, who was his target market, how do you differentiate himself in within those markets, and then I got a bunch of answers and then as we pulled out his, his um his financials, we start, I asked him to go kind of go through an 80/20 analysis or a pray principal review. And to figure out where, where, where was it true that 20% of his business was creating 80% of his value and actually it was the case, but when we looked at who he said his key, his key customers were and all and his key demographic, they were all on the bottom of his list. If I added up all of his his ideal customers as he described them to me, they basically accounted for 7 to 8% of his business. But he had 5 or 6 clients that were more uh they were all like fishing tackle, small fishing tackle companies that were really talking to the, to the fishermen themselves. But his real money was coming through distributed networks and distributed relationships and really um having a, a cut down, scaled back um product offering. So we went through and looked at how to readjust his focus on how to develop distributor networks and distribute relationships to get a bigger presence and bigger sales presence for his, for his business. One of the things that that was holding him back was that he had over 250 SKUs, and a lot of them were the same type of um a lure but uh just 3 or 4 different sizes, and he was also selling components. So we went through the same, we went through the same analysis. What's the 80/20 analysis 80/20 analysis, where was, what SKUs are driving all the revenue? Was there a way to consolidate different skews, and by doing that, we actually cut his skews in half and we were able to even create everything where he wasn't having to pick and pack and he wasn't having to sell components. He was selling only full packages, full boxes, and by doing that, it allowed him to get out of the operational review because it was a more systematic process. It allowed him to get out of the Distribution and packaging part of it because it was all full boxes now being shipped and allowed him to focus solely on developing distributed networks. It got to the point where he, he really was so frustrated he wanted to sell the business, but by implementing all these, these aspects, we actually, uh, he actually grew his business when I was working with him about 30-40%. I think since I've left, since I've stopped working with him, I believe he's still growing another 30 or 40%. And he's working now only 32 hours a week and he's actually doing speaking, teaching other other manufacturers how to streamline their process and how to, how to get out of their own way. So that's one of my favorite stories is because it was really matching what he thought was his his his key deliverable, his key differentiator and see if that really was what was translating in his financials and it wasn't. We, we found a mismatch and we were able to realign. His efforts to where the value in his P&L was. What a great story. So you took a lot of assumptions and turned, turned them into realities, which is what a lot of this planning is all about. And in the process, you created a simpler business model that was more profitable and probably gave him back a lot of extra time to work on other ways to grow based on this, those those new facts. Yes. That's fantastic. I mean, that, that's what it's all about, right? When you can come into a situation and say, I know you're busy, you've got a lot going on, but let's really analyze it and turn these assumptions into facts and then look at and see, can we simplify and, and um that's how you grow. So that's a great example. So yeah, that, that's always it's a key with with any client. All there's a variation that with all my clients is like you said, test the assumptions like a lot of people go with their gutter they fall into habits and a habit is just something that helps you create a shortcut to be more efficient, but what people don't understand is that when you create that initial habit was to solve a certain problem and over time, Facts and circumstances change, and maybe not enough that you will want you to totally reevaluate your thought process, but over time those small little changes can invalidate your initial assumptions, your initial habits, and it's a good practice to really stress test those to make sure that your activity and your beliefs are aligned with what's actually creating value. A great, Greg. We're learning a ton from you. Can you share a few tips, ideas, or precautions with our listeners today? Sure, one of the things I, uh, There's a few things I do work with clients consistently, the need to really step back at least once a year and clarify your business mission, your vision, the goals of where you're trying to go. Systematically and periodically assessing your progress against that each, whether it's at least biannually, but I, I like to do at least quarterly. The reason I think that's important is it gets you off of, gets you out of technician mode and actually forces you to look at your assumptions. It forces you to determine what's important to you and that's and and where that really manifests itself is when you got multiple competing priorities. You can always, you can leverage back, you can leverage that planning times. OK, here are my two priorities, which one is most aligned with my, my planning process? Which one's tied to my vision, which one's tied to my core mission and my value prop, which one's tied to my, my core values that I personally want that people that see out of my company? And it helps to break a lot of ties or it helps to decide, OK, I only have $10,000 to spend and I have $20,000 worth of ideas. That planning process a lot helps break those ties, helps you benchmark those decisions, and that's where a lot of people get struggle. They, they don't go through this process, so every decision seems important, but if you have nothing to benchmark it against, uh, it's, it's hard to, uh, to make those right decisions. You, so you're talking about creating a process whereby you, you're kind of using both sides of your brain, not just your emotional side to jump right to a, a solution, but you really think through and make sure that you're aligned with your values, your mission, your customer's values and needs, and then you get to tasks and, and the, and make your decisions, right? Exactly. And that way when you get to the middle of the year and You've got 3 or 4 new opportunities or 3 or 4 things on your plate, you're like, right, I don't have enough time to do all this. Well, you can evaluate which one's going to create the biggest return, but another way is which one's going to help me achieve this goal, which one's going to help me fulfill this this mission, which one's going to solve this client niche? If you've gone through that planning process already, you're just applying that you're speeding up this decision making process because you've already. That work. You just got to match up the opportunity to which one aligns to that to that to your mission and your goals. Well, Greg, I've never said this before, but after listening to you, I'm glad that Sarbanes Oxley came along because I think the world is a better place with you in the in the business coaching world. You bring a lot to the table and thanks very much for sharing it with our listeners today, and I hope we can talk again. Sometime soon and go deeper into some of these things cause I, I got a lot out of your, your discussion, your interview. So thanks for joining us today. How do people get in touch with you? I guess I should end with that. How, what's the best way for people to get in touch with you, Greg? Uh, you can go to Greg DeSimone.com. It's G R E G D E S I M O N E dot com and there's a contact me, um. Tab, just put in your information, that will come right to me or you can call me directly at 508-618. 55. And you have a strategic planning review that people can take advantage of if they go to that site and maybe get a questionnaire in advance so that so that it's a, it's a good use of everybody's time, right? If yeah, if you, I do a one hour strategic planning review with anyone who's interested, uh, you do need to fill out a questionnaire so that we don't waste time that we're, we're focused on, on, um, key elements of the plan, uh, but that's part of my process is um. is to go through with everyone a free, a free consultation and it's, it, it's, uh, serves my curiosity. I, I love figuring out what people are doing. That's my way to, to get in front of more business owners and figure what people are doing and what's working and not. Well, I, I think, uh, our, uh our listeners got a ton of information and they should definitely take advantage of that, uh, just to get to know you a little bit better and, uh, and take their problems and solutions and figure out whether it's gonna be a ladder, or a stick of dynamite or a shovel. To get through these issues. Greg, thanks very much again for joining us. Thank you very much for having me. I've been talking with Greg DeSimone of Focal Point Business coaching. We're going to take a short break, so please stay tuned. You're listening to Exit Coachradio.com, the information station for age 50 plus business owners, where we're interviewing over 250 top advisors for their best tips, ideas, and precautions so you can be well planned. We upload new one minute tips every day. Exitcoachradio.com. Come listen for a minute. Thank you for listening to Exit Coach Radio.