The How of Business - How to start, run & grow a small business.

Navigating growth while minimizing chaos in your small business, with entrepreneur Garrett Delph. Show Notes Page: https://www.thehowofbusiness.com/541-garrett-delph-navigating-growth/ In this episode of The How of Business, Henry Lopez chats with serial entrepreneur Garrett Delph about how to navigate growth while minimizing chaos in your small business. Garrett shares his insights on streamlining operations, defining roles, and building a culture that fosters employee retention and sustainable growth. Learn how to scale your business without letting chaos take over! Garrett Delph advises that minimizing chaos in a small business requires mindful planning, clear role definitions, and effective delegation. He stresses that chaos often results from disorganization, reactive decision-making, and the lack of proper operational structures. To combat this, business owners should create clear job descriptions, define values that guide decision-making, and establish processes that support growth without overloading employees. He highlights the importance of hiring the right talent, creating growth paths for employees, and ensuring responsibilities are balanced. Garrett also emphasizes that chaos is not inevitable and can be managed with the right frameworks and proactive leadership. This episode is hosted by Henry Lopez. The How of Business podcast focuses on helping you start, run and grow your small business. The How of Business is a top-rated podcast for small business and entrepreneurs. Find the best podcast, small business coaching, resources and trusted service partners for small business owners and entrepreneurs at our website https://TheHowOfBusiness.com

Is your small business competitive? Whether you are starting a business, or running and growing a small business, you must be able to beat the competition in your selected market for your business to remain viable. Show Notes Page: https://www.thehowofbusiness.com/540-is-your-business-competitive/ On this episode Henry shares his thoughts and tips on remaining competitive in your market or expanding and shifting into new markets in order to remain competitive. While the business idea is the "what" of the business, the business model is the "how." Your business model is how you will run your business to make a profit, have the ability grow, and remain competitive. Staying competitive is essential for long-term growth and success of your business. Being competitive starts with understanding your Competitive Landscape. Who are the competitors in your market? What is their position? Are they dominant or is there truly an opportunity to compete or displace them? If it’s a new competitor, are going to be able to leapfrog you unless you change something? Topics covered on this episode include: What it means to be a competitive small business. Blue Ocean Strategy. Signs Your Business is NOT competitive. How to help your small business remain competitive. Staying competitive isn’t just about competing—it’s about innovating, understanding your unique strengths, and focusing on your customers. Remaining competitive in business requires offering unique value, understanding the competitive landscape, and using strategies like differentiation and the Blue Ocean Strategy. A small business can lose its competitiveness because of stagnant innovation which ultimately results in declining profits. A small business most remaining competitive, including refining a unique value proposition, exploring new markets, and continuous innovation. This episode is hosted by Henry Lopez. The How of Business podcast focuses on helping you start, run and grow your small business. The How of Business is a top-rated podcast for small business and entrepreneurs. Find the best podcast, small business coaching, resources and trusted service partners for small business owners and entrepreneurs at our website https://TheHowOfBusiness.com

Achieving small business success requires personal sacrifice. What are you willing to sacrifice to launch and grow your small business? Show Notes Page: https://www.thehowofbusiness.com/r239-personal-sacrifice/ This is a re-release of Episode 239 of The How of Business podcast with additional new content and edits. Outline of this episode on the personal sacrifices required to achieve small business success: Definition and Meaning of Sacrifice: Henry Lopez, host of The How of Business podcast, defines "sacrifice" in the context of small business success: Sacrifice is defined as the destruction or surrender of something for the sake of something else. Henry Lopez emphasizes that sacrifice is essential for small business success, particularly when launching a new business. Willingness to Make Sacrifices: A major obstacle to business success is the lack of willingness to make necessary sacrifices. Aspiring small business owners often struggle with giving up their current lifestyle, free time, or comfort in pursuit of their business dreams. Examples of Sacrifices: Sacrifices might include giving up hobbies, free time, sleep, and even time with friends and family. Henry explains that launching and growing a business often requires significant dedication and effort, sometimes at the expense of personal life. Financial Sacrifices: Aspiring business owners must have their personal finances in order to start and sustain a business. Henry highlights the importance of reducing debt, improving credit scores, and being financially prepared to go without a paycheck during the early stages of business start-up. Actionable Advice: Henry encourages listeners to list 2-5 specific things they are willing to sacrifice and allocate the time saved toward starting or building their business. He stresses the importance of being honest with oneself and remaining focused on these sacrifices to achieve long-term business goals. Sacrifice - what are you willing to personally sacrifice to become your own boss and start your first business? If you are already in business, what are you willing to sacrifice further to grow it? On this episode of the top-rated podcast for small business, Henry Lopez shares his thoughts on the kind of sacrifices that, based on his entrepreneurship experience, you must be willing to make in order to succeed as a small business owner - particularly when launching your first business. The questions to ask yourself include: What are you willing to sacrifice to realize your dreams of becoming your own boss? Are you willing to sacrifice your quality of life today for something more in the future? Are you willing to give up hobbies, free time, family time and friend time all to devote to your business? Are you willing to work harder than you ever have at something? This episode is hosted by Henry Lopez. The How of Business podcast focuses on helping you start, run and grow your small business. The How of Business is a top-rated podcast for small business and entrepreneurs. Find the best podcast, small business coaching, resources and trusted service partners for small business owners and entrepreneurs at our website https://TheHowOfBusiness.com

Is your small business Scalable? How do you know if you are ready to scale, and how do you grow your business to the next level? Show Notes Page: https://www.thehowofbusiness.com/539-is-your-business-scalable/ How and when do you plan to scale? Particularly, when will you be able to scale past just yourself? On a previous episode of The How of Business podcast, episode 532, Henry Lopez addressed the higher-level question: Is Your Business Model Broken? How can you tell, and how do you fix it? A strong and healthy business model supports a business that is consistently profitable, can scale and remains competitive. Then on episode 537 Henry Lopez focused on Profitability. This episode help you determine if Your Small Business is Scalable. Topics include: What is Scaling? Signs Your Business is Ready to Scale. Why Should You Scale Your Small Business? Common Fears or Concerns. How Do You Scale Your Small Business? It’s fine if you simply want to be a solopreneur. But if you want to grow a business that is completely or somewhat owner-independent, if you want to be an entrepreneur, and perhaps be able to exit your business, then you need to scale to the next level. This episode is hosted by Henry Lopez. The How of Business podcast focuses on helping you start, run and grow your small business. The How of Business is a top-rated podcast for small business and entrepreneurs. Find the best podcast, small business coaching, resources and trusted service partners for small business owners and entrepreneurs at our website https://TheHowOfBusiness.com

The Five Pillars of Leadership to help you lead a high-performing small business, with Brian Gottlieb. Show Notes Page: https://www.thehowofbusiness.com/538-brian-gottlieb-5-leadership-pillars/ Brian shares his entrepreneurial journey and introduces the five foundational pillars of leadership. Executing on these five leadership pillars allows you to develop a high-performing organization. And help your managers get out of crisis mode so they can effectively lead their teams. Brian Gottlieb is an inspirational business leader who in 2009, founded Tundraland Home Improvements on a plastic folding table with $3,000. Twelve years later, when he sold the family of businesses he created, they had diversified products, expanded across multiple states, grown to 600 employees, and neared $1 billion in lifetime sales. The company was recognized by INC 5000 as one of the fastest-growing companies in America. Brian’s leadership principles are simple: Have a well-defined strategy, empower your teams, provide world-class training, and execute with consistency. He believes that if you want to build a business, you must commit to building people. This clarity of focus created a meaningful culture, making his company the best place to work in his home state. Brian’s book “Beyond the Hammer: A Fresh Approach to Leadership, Culture, and Building High Performance Teams” is being published by Forbes and will be available September 10, 2024. This episode is hosted by Henry Lopez. The How of Business podcast focuses on helping you start, run and grow your small business. The How of Business is a top-rated podcast for small business and entrepreneurs. Find the best podcast, small business coaching, resources and trusted service partners for small business owners and entrepreneurs at our website https://TheHowOfBusiness.com

Is your small business profitable, and is the business consistently and sufficiently profitable? Show Notes Page: https://www.thehowofbusiness.com/537-profitable-small-business/ And if you’ve not started your business yet, when do you plan to be profitable? On a previous episode of The How of Business podcast, episode 532, Henry Lopez addresses higher-level question: Is Your Business Model Broken? How can you tell, and how do you fix it? A strong and healthy business model supports a business that is consistently profitable, can scale and remains competitive. On this episode Henry Lopez shares additional thoughts on Profitability. Because generating a consistent and sufficient profit is the primary reason we are in a for-profit business! This episode is hosted by Henry Lopez. The How of Business podcast focuses on helping you start, run and grow your small business. The How of Business is a top-rated podcast for small business and entrepreneurs. Find the best podcast, small business coaching, resources and trusted service partners for small business owners and entrepreneurs at our website https://TheHowOfBusiness.com

Creating Exceptional Customer Experiences in your small business with customer service expert Samantha Irwin. Show Notes Page: https://www.thehowofbusiness.com/536-samantha-irwin-customer-expereinces/ On this episode we discuss how to create consistently exceptional experiences for our customers. Samantha Irwin is an entrepreneur, speaker, and the founder of Kaizen Small Business Solutions. She is inspiring and educating teams to create exceptional Customer Experiences that foster loyalty and advocacy, driving both financial success and heartfelt service for brick-and-mortar businesses. With over 25 years of experience in leadership, Samantha's dual background in middle school teaching and boutique hotel ownership has uniquely positioned her to empower and educate business leaders and their front-line customer service staff. This episode is hosted by Henry Lopez. The How of Business podcast focuses on helping you start, run and grow your small business. The How of Business is a top-rated podcast for small business and entrepreneurs. Find the best podcast, small business coaching, resources and trusted service partners for small business owners and entrepreneurs at our website https://TheHowOfBusiness.com

Accounting and tax considerations for small business with Jessica Zoraida, the Founder and CEO of Big Picture Results. Show Notes Page: https://www.thehowofbusiness.com/535-jessica-zoraida-accounting-tax/ Jessica shares her inspirational journey and tax and accounting tips and guidance for small business owners. Jessica Zoraida is an entrepreneur, speaker investor in women and person-of-color owned companies, and the CEO of Big Picture Results Inc., an Accounting and Tax company that helps small to mid-sized businesses bring more to the bottom line. Over the past 25 years, Jessica has learned hands-on best practices across Corporate Banking, Government and Small Business. Question topics addressed in this episode include: What are your recommendations for small business owners as to when and how to leverage the knowledge and expertise of a Bookkeeper and CPA? When should I hire a bookkeeper or CPA for my small business? What should I expect from a good CPA firm? How do I find a CPA for my small business? When should a small business owner consider engaging a Fractional CFO? What are one or two common mistakes small business owners make that keep them from being able to potentially realize tax savings? What’s a common mistake small business owners make that could potentially result in getting in trouble with the IRS? If my small business financials are a mess, where should I start? This episode is hosted by Henry Lopez. The How of Business podcast focuses on helping you start, run and grow your small business. The How of Business is a top-rated podcast for small business and entrepreneurs. Find the best podcast, small business coaching, resources and trusted service partners for small business owners and entrepreneurs at our website https://TheHowOfBusiness.com

You need a Marketing Strategy before you spend on marketing or advertisement for your small business. Show Notes Page: https://www.thehowofbusiness.com/534-before-you-spend-on-marketing/ Henry Lopez, host of The How of Business podcast for small business, shares his tips and guidance on how to develop an effective marketing strategy before you spend any money, or any more money, on marketing or advertisement. The primary goal of marketing is to generate interest in a company's products or services, attract new customers, retain existing ones, and ultimately drive sales and profitability. Marketing helps businesses understand their customers, build strong brands, and create value both for the company and its customers. This episode highlights the 7 components of an effective marketing strategy for your business: Define Your Avatar or Ideal Client. Understand their Pains or Aspirations (that you can help them with). Describe the transformation you will help them achieve. Explain how your product or service will help them. Develop your Branding. Create and execute a Marketing Plan. Measure performance and adjust. This episode is hosted by Henry Lopez. The How of Business podcast focuses on helping you start, run and grow your small business. The How of Business is a top-rated podcast for small business and entrepreneurs. Find the best podcast, small business coaching, resources and trusted service partners for small business owners and entrepreneurs at our website https://TheHowOfBusiness.com

Experiences and insights from operating her successful Travel Consulting small business and working with her spouse and other family members in a small business. Show Notes Page: https://www.thehowofbusiness.com/533-pam-lopez-travel-consulting/ Pamela Lopez is a small business owner, and her latest business venture is L3 Destination, a custom travel consulting business she started in 2014. Over the past 10 years Pam has successfully helped her travel clients to create custom voyages around the world. From European trips to adventures in Alaska and Antarctica, and Crises to all parts of the world – Pam has helped hundreds of individuals and families realize their travel dreams! Pam started her work career as a flight attendant with American Airlines, and after 14 years with American she took an early retirement package to stay home and raise her daughter Makena. Her first small business experience came when she helped Henry with Old World Salons, a salon suites business we bought, owned for six years, and then sold in 2014. Pam was responsible for the back-office operations, including accounts payable and banking, and managed the front-desk staff. A travel consulting small business specializes in helping clients plan and book their travel experiences, whether for leisure or business. It offers personalized services that may include creating customized itineraries, booking flights and accommodations, arranging tours, and providing travel advice. This small business often focuses on niche markets, such as luxury travel, adventure travel, cruising, or specific destinations, allowing consultants to provide expert knowledge and tailored recommendations. This episode is hosted by Henry Lopez. The How of Business podcast focuses on helping you start, run and grow your small business. The How of Business is a top-rated podcast for small business and entrepreneurs. Find the best podcast, small business coaching, resources and trusted service partners for small business owners and entrepreneurs at our website https://TheHowOfBusiness.com

Is Your Small Business Model Broken? Show Notes Page: https://www.thehowofbusiness.com/532-broken-business-model/ Is your small business model broken? How can you tell, and how do you fix it? And what do I mean by a Business Model? The Business Idea is WHAT you do, and the Business Model is HOW you do it. And how you do it must result in profits and the ability to scale. A strong and healthy business model supports a small business that is consistently profitable and that can scale. How do you know if I have a strong or viable Business Model? Ask yourself these three questions (whether you are starting a business or running an existing business): Are you making a profit? Can you scale? Can you compete? On this episode Henry Lopez helps you determine if you have a solid business model, whether you are starting your first business or already have an established small business. This episode is hosted by Henry Lopez. The How of Business podcast focuses on helping you start, run and grow your small business. The How of Business is a top-rated podcast for small business and entrepreneurs. Find the best podcast, small business coaching, resources and trusted service partners for small business owners and entrepreneurs at our website https://TheHowOfBusiness.com

How to grow a Medical Practice with Dr. Ramesh Rao. Show Notes Page: https://www.thehowofbusiness.com/531-dr-rao-growing-medical-practice/ Dr. Ramesh Rao shares his immigrant and entrepreneurial journey and his insights and experience with growing a medical practice. Dr. Rao also shares his insights on how he has helped his wife build her successful practice. They now work together to continue growing Prima Medicine. Dr. Rao came to America as a student 33 years ago, with $200 in his pocket, and the US has been his home ever since. He earned a master’s degree in Neuroscience from Rutgers university, and subsequently did Postgraduate Medical Training for almost seven years. He is a Physician with board certification in Radiology and in Nuclear Medicine. Until recently, he was a partner at a large radiology practice in the Washington DC Metro area for 21 years. His wife, Dr. Chethana Rao, started her own medical practice 12 years ago. In recent years that practice has grown significantly, and Ramesh’s is now focused on helping his wife build Prima Medicine. They are now on the path to building a local network of Primary Care and Urgent Care centers in the Virginia Suburbs of Washington DC. Ramesh played an instrumental role in launching their 1st Urgent Care center in Fairfax, Virginia. Over the past couple of years Prima Medicine has introduced new lines of service, including Concierge Medical Care, and Bariatric Medicine. This episode is hosted by Henry Lopez. The How of Business podcast focuses on helping you start, run and grow your small business. The How of Business is a top-rated podcast for small business and entrepreneurs. Find the best podcast, small business coaching, resources and trusted service partners for small business owners and entrepreneurs at our website https://TheHowOfBusiness.com

How to make Complex Decisions in your small business. Show Notes Page: https://www.thehowofbusiness.com/530-complex-decision-making/ Learn more about Complex Decision Making with co-hosts Henry Lopez and David Begin. How do you make those critical or complex decisions that significantly impact the success of your business and your life? Henry and David dive deeper into the topic of Complex Decision Making. They explored everyday Decision Making on episode 526, and on this episode, they share their techniques and recommended method for complex decision making. Small Business Owners must make decisions. Big decisions, small choices; all day, every day! While you can and should delegate most of the day-to-day decisions, as the CEO of your business you remain responsible for the big complex decisions that must be made. And often, there may not be an obvious or “right” answer. Making big decisions can be daunting for small business owners, but following a structured approach can help ensure the best possible outcomes for the bigger decisions. And then over time, you develop the habit and ability to make big decisions more effectively. The 4-step decision making structure we propose includes the Decision Matrix Analysis (also known as the Weighted Decision Matrix or Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis). This tool helps you systematically evaluate and compare different options based on a set of defined criteria, allowing for a more structured and objective decision-making process. This episode is hosted by Henry Lopez. The How of Business podcast focuses on helping you start, run and grow your small business. The How of Business is a top-rated podcast for small business and entrepreneurs. Find the best podcast, small business coaching, resources and trusted service partners for small business owners and entrepreneurs at our website https://TheHowOfBusiness.com

How to build a Multi-Six Figure Etsy Business with Dylan Jahraus. Show Notes Page: https://www.thehowofbusiness.com/529-dylan-jahraus-etsy-business/ Etsy is the global marketplace for unique and creative goods. Etsy offers 100M+ items for sale, 9M active sellers, 96M+ active buyers, and people buying and selling in nearly every country in the world. Dylan Jahraus is a seasoned e-commerce entrepreneur with 10+ years of experience who transitioned from corporate e-commerce into scaling e-commerce entrepreneurs. Her e-commerce acumen fueled an Etsy venture, propelling her shop to over $1M in profit within 6.5 years. In 2022, Dylan launched the Multi-Six Figure Etsy Blueprint. She fosters a vibrant community of 60,000+ YouTube subscribers and a top Etsy podcast, "Etsy Seller Success with Dylan Jahraus," with 400,000+ downloads.  This episode is hosted by Henry Lopez. The How of Business podcast focuses on helping you start, run and grow your small business. The How of Business is a top-rated podcast for small business and entrepreneurs. Find the best podcast, small business coaching, resources and trusted service partners for small business owners and entrepreneurs at our website https://TheHowOfBusiness.com

How to become a Home Service Business Millionaire with Tommy Mello. Show Notes Page: https://www.thehowofbusiness.com/528-tommy-mello-home-service-millionaire/ Tommy Mello shares his inspiring entrepreneur journey, how he went from $50,000 in debt to a $30 Million+ business in seven years, and his experiences and insights on home services businesses. Tommy is a highly experienced and successful home services industry entrepreneur. His current service business is about to cross the $220M mark in revenue with over 700 employees in 20 states. But Tommy understands that we all must start somewhere. Overcoming tremendous challenges early in his life gave him the motivation to help other business owners succeed just like he did. And that’s the main reason he created the Home Service Expert brand, and he shares so many learning resources like the Home Service Expert podcast, and events like the Freedom Event. Tommy has been published in top publications like Forbes, The Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, and Inc. Magazine, and is the author of the best-seller books “Home Service Millionaire: How I Went from $50,000 in Debt to a $30 Million+ Business in Seven Years” and “Elevate: Build a Business Where Everybody Wins.” This episode is hosted by Henry Lopez. The How of Business podcast focuses on helping you start, run and grow your small business. The How of Business is a top-rated podcast for small business and entrepreneurs. Find the best podcast, small business coaching, resources and trusted service partners for small business owners and entrepreneurs at our website https://TheHowOfBusiness.com