#BTC 30: How Speed Can Kill a Young Business w/ Bill Reed

WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:10.189 Welcome back to another episode of B Tob Growth. This is behind the curtain. 2 00:00:10.470 --> 00:00:14.750 I'm Kelsey Corps and today I'm here with bill read our COO. How's 3 00:00:14.750 --> 00:00:17.309 it going today, bill? It's going well, Kelsey. Thank you, 4 00:00:17.870 --> 00:00:21.350 awesome. So bill is actually here with me today. We are going to 5 00:00:21.390 --> 00:00:26.500 talk about speed and rate of growth within a company. Now I'm a little 6 00:00:26.539 --> 00:00:30.379 bit curious as to why I'm talking to you bill, a Coeo, someone 7 00:00:30.420 --> 00:00:36.250 in operations, versus Logan over and sales. Well, Kelsey, it's a 8 00:00:36.289 --> 00:00:39.770 good question. You would think normally that you would, you're talking about growth, 9 00:00:39.850 --> 00:00:43.850 you would be talking with someone in sales or maybe in marketing, but 10 00:00:43.929 --> 00:00:48.729 you certainly wouldn't think you'd be talking to someone in operations. And here's the 11 00:00:48.810 --> 00:00:52.719 reality with regard to growth. It really requires, in order to grow, 12 00:00:53.200 --> 00:00:58.880 help in a healthy way. It requires a balance between what you just referred 13 00:00:58.920 --> 00:01:03.759 to as speed, so momentum, the pace, the rate of movement. 14 00:01:03.799 --> 00:01:10.909 It really requires a balance between that and some of the controls that are often 15 00:01:10.989 --> 00:01:15.629 lacking in a young business, and that's where I see speed. We've talked 16 00:01:15.709 --> 00:01:19.659 before about the the fact that speed can kill. This is where things get 17 00:01:19.700 --> 00:01:26.260 dangerous, is when it's grow at all costs and some of the fundamental infrastructure 18 00:01:26.340 --> 00:01:32.420 kinds of considerations aren't addressed early in the life of an organization, and so 19 00:01:32.540 --> 00:01:34.849 that's what I wanted to talk about today. How do we grow in a 20 00:01:34.969 --> 00:01:42.769 healthy way and what role does operations play in that scenario? Absolutely I think 21 00:01:42.769 --> 00:01:48.120 that's going to be a great topic. But let's rewind for just a second. 22 00:01:48.239 --> 00:01:53.000 So you have been with sweetfish for about a year and operations, when 23 00:01:53.079 --> 00:01:57.359 you kind of walked in, was an infrastructure that needed a little bit of 24 00:01:57.400 --> 00:02:01.469 guidance. So tell me a little bit more about the two to three areas 25 00:02:01.590 --> 00:02:07.990 that lacked the most control and kind of what you have done to help gain 26 00:02:08.069 --> 00:02:13.110 a little bit more control from that speed sure. Well, those are those 27 00:02:13.110 --> 00:02:19.620 are fair questions and you phrase your your question carefully and very kindly, because 28 00:02:19.699 --> 00:02:23.780 the reality is a year ago at sweet fish, truth be known, there 29 00:02:23.219 --> 00:02:30.250 was not adequate infrastructure. Certainly there was some infrastructure and some work had been 30 00:02:30.330 --> 00:02:35.969 done by some good people that had been really helpful. But, Kelsey, 31 00:02:36.289 --> 00:02:38.810 here's the thing that I often see in businesses, or what I would call 32 00:02:38.889 --> 00:02:44.009 early stage businesses. By the way, sweetfish is not a start up anymore. 33 00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:47.199 It is really what I would call more an early emerging business this and 34 00:02:47.439 --> 00:02:51.240 and what I like to say at the office is, you know, let's 35 00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:55.000 think like a startup. That's I like that, but let's act like a 36 00:02:55.240 --> 00:03:00.990 grown up company. Right. So let's let's approach this thing a little bit 37 00:03:00.069 --> 00:03:05.150 more, maybe I'd say a little more formally and with a little bit more 38 00:03:05.189 --> 00:03:09.629 structure, because in the beginning, sweet fish included, most organizations concentrate on 39 00:03:09.830 --> 00:03:15.419 growth and they concentrate on growing as quickly as they can, and that's where 40 00:03:15.500 --> 00:03:22.979 things eventually if they're successful growing fast, they create another problem on opposite force, 41 00:03:23.060 --> 00:03:28.210 and that is lack of organization and structure. Speaking of structure, let's 42 00:03:28.250 --> 00:03:32.729 talk a little bit more about infrastructures that could be put in place to help 43 00:03:34.650 --> 00:03:42.159 gain more control if you are traveling at a high rate of growth. Sure, 44 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:46.960 well, some of this, Kelsey, is dictated just by the life 45 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:51.039 cycle of the business is it's also determined to a large part by what the 46 00:03:51.080 --> 00:03:55.189 business can handle financially. So in a businesslike sweet fish, at the stage 47 00:03:55.270 --> 00:04:00.750 we were a year ago, you typically find a founder or CEO who is 48 00:04:00.830 --> 00:04:04.150 also wearing other hats. Right, that's not unusual, but what I found 49 00:04:04.229 --> 00:04:09.430 coming into sweet fish is that James, our founder, was not only playing 50 00:04:09.469 --> 00:04:14.580 the role of overall leader and and CEO, but he also, to a 51 00:04:14.659 --> 00:04:18.259 large extent, had several other hats on, one of those being operations. 52 00:04:18.939 --> 00:04:25.209 A lot of the human resources function landed on James Initially, and just some 53 00:04:25.329 --> 00:04:30.810 of the other general foundational practices of the business, that foundational disciplines rolled up 54 00:04:31.209 --> 00:04:35.850 to James. And while James is very capable and has provided some great leadership, 55 00:04:36.209 --> 00:04:40.639 he really in order to make this thing work, he needed to build 56 00:04:40.639 --> 00:04:44.319 a team, need to identify what people's strengths were and, more importantly, 57 00:04:44.759 --> 00:04:48.240 he needed to identify what his strengths were not and then he had to find 58 00:04:48.279 --> 00:04:53.790 good people to put in those places so that while he and Logan were off 59 00:04:54.189 --> 00:05:00.269 selling and growing, he had people back home building infrastructure and the areas of 60 00:05:01.069 --> 00:05:08.100 finance, operations, human resources technology. In our case, we don't have 61 00:05:08.139 --> 00:05:13.139 facility or property concerns because we're remote team, but we do have lots of 62 00:05:13.220 --> 00:05:18.459 other concerns and Logan and James can only be as effective on the girl's side 63 00:05:18.500 --> 00:05:23.490 as we are as a company. On the structure side, it takes both 64 00:05:23.769 --> 00:05:30.410 and a balance of both to make growth successful. Speaking of balance and gross 65 00:05:30.370 --> 00:05:40.360 what are some more tangible ways or tangible experiences that you and James have had 66 00:05:40.600 --> 00:05:46.319 to tackle together as the company is growing and as these infrastructures are being put 67 00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:51.269 in place? Well, I think the biggest challenge, Kelsey, is there's 68 00:05:51.269 --> 00:05:54.509 a dance that we do. So we're talking about balance, but you can 69 00:05:54.550 --> 00:05:58.509 also look at this kind of like a dance, a dance between sales and 70 00:05:58.709 --> 00:06:03.269 marketing on one side and then operations on the other, and there's a natural 71 00:06:03.300 --> 00:06:08.819 gap between those two, between let's just call it, to keep the simple, 72 00:06:08.899 --> 00:06:13.060 between sales and operations. There's a natural gap, or you can call 73 00:06:13.100 --> 00:06:16.060 it a wall a division. Because what is sales want to do? They 74 00:06:16.100 --> 00:06:19.129 want to grow, right, they want to sell. What is operations want 75 00:06:19.129 --> 00:06:25.290 to do? They want to be able to to successfully produce and distribute what 76 00:06:25.769 --> 00:06:29.129 what comes to them, right. So there's the natural tension. Is that 77 00:06:29.490 --> 00:06:31.879 the sales guys out there and man, he'll sell anything, right, and 78 00:06:32.439 --> 00:06:36.680 the people back in the Operations Group are looking at this sin Oh my gosh, 79 00:06:36.839 --> 00:06:40.759 we don't have we don't have capacity for this, or we don't have 80 00:06:40.879 --> 00:06:44.199 the expertise for this. So there's a dance that goes on between those and 81 00:06:44.360 --> 00:06:48.230 really, ultimately, a negotiation that goes on between those. What typically happens 82 00:06:48.269 --> 00:06:55.910 is that, because of the natural tension, they become opposing forces and it's 83 00:06:56.110 --> 00:07:00.310 you know, it's kind of my my thought that the organ station works much, 84 00:07:00.310 --> 00:07:05.060 much better if we turn those opposing forces into courses that recognize in the 85 00:07:05.100 --> 00:07:09.779 end that we're really after the same thing. The folks and operations want growth. 86 00:07:09.819 --> 00:07:13.500 They understand what growth brings to a business, but they also have to 87 00:07:13.579 --> 00:07:16.490 follow through on the commitments sales makes and if you ever been in that position 88 00:07:16.490 --> 00:07:21.089 you know it can be a frustrating shuffle. And so the real key to 89 00:07:21.209 --> 00:07:28.209 success in growth is a balance between the forward momentum, the forward movement, 90 00:07:28.290 --> 00:07:33.120 and then the folks who are responsible for keeping the ship steady, if you 91 00:07:33.199 --> 00:07:39.959 will, kind of like trying to find a positive tension, if you will. 92 00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:46.790 Yeah, so, as a business owner is growing and trying to balance 93 00:07:46.829 --> 00:07:53.629 everything, how do they know when to accelerate versus win to ride the break? 94 00:07:54.670 --> 00:07:57.790 That's a really good question, because if you ask James when's the right 95 00:07:57.910 --> 00:08:03.459 time to take your foot off the gas, he would say do what he 96 00:08:03.500 --> 00:08:07.379 wouldn't understand the question, because his job is to go full steam ahead, 97 00:08:07.379 --> 00:08:09.420 right, and so we've had this debate. Is, you know, is 98 00:08:09.500 --> 00:08:13.889 our job to pull back the reins and of slow things down? I don't 99 00:08:13.930 --> 00:08:16.009 know, Kelsey, I don't know if it is. I suppose, and 100 00:08:16.370 --> 00:08:20.089 in some cases that's the right choice. But, as I told our operations 101 00:08:20.170 --> 00:08:24.970 team, let's do this instead like slet James and Logan and the others go 102 00:08:26.209 --> 00:08:30.800 sell. Let's empower them and bless them to be as successful as possible, 103 00:08:30.920 --> 00:08:35.039 and then let's get our act together and let's get out in front of them, 104 00:08:35.080 --> 00:08:39.039 right, because here's the scenario that usually plays out in the young business 105 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:43.990 sales. They go sell something, everybody's excited. The operations are production team 106 00:08:43.110 --> 00:08:46.870 goes into into motion. And what are they doing? They're trying to chase 107 00:08:46.950 --> 00:08:52.029 down sales, right, they're trying to catch up. And what I'm saying 108 00:08:52.149 --> 00:08:56.700 to our group is let's take a different approach. Let's empower our sales group 109 00:08:56.980 --> 00:09:00.940 but then, as an operations group, let's make sure that we are in 110 00:09:01.019 --> 00:09:05.019 the position where we can build something out in front of our sales group, 111 00:09:05.059 --> 00:09:09.860 that we can anticipate some of that and build something that they can actually move 112 00:09:09.980 --> 00:09:13.490 into instead of having to come behind them and retrofit at all, which is 113 00:09:13.649 --> 00:09:18.169 more expensive and it's not near as much fun to do it that way and, 114 00:09:18.450 --> 00:09:22.169 most importantly, it's not as successful because ultimately what happens in that scenario 115 00:09:22.769 --> 00:09:26.600 is that the tension that we were talking about, the tension that you want 116 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:33.159 to be positive, turns negative and there becomes a non productive tension when, 117 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:37.830 as operations were constantly chasing down the success people are having in sales and we're 118 00:09:37.870 --> 00:09:43.909 trying to build something to suit what they sold. Again, the better option 119 00:09:43.029 --> 00:09:48.789 is to get out in front of it, to anticipate the sales group and 120 00:09:48.110 --> 00:09:54.179 to be ready for when those opportunities comes. It sounds like it's just a 121 00:09:54.419 --> 00:10:01.460 lot of very intricate checks and balances between tensions and infrastrructure and growth. But 122 00:10:01.500 --> 00:10:07.970 I want to point out that you said James Probably won't and shouldn't take his 123 00:10:07.129 --> 00:10:11.370 foot off the gas when it comes to growth. So what are some ways 124 00:10:13.210 --> 00:10:22.200 to respond to control or infrastructure on the operation side without James or any founder 125 00:10:22.440 --> 00:10:26.519 having to take their foot off the gas? Yeah, so here's the thing. 126 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:30.919 When you know, let's play out a little bit more of this analogy 127 00:10:30.960 --> 00:10:33.799 about the picture of a vehicle, right, of a car. When you 128 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:37.110 get a car on a racetrack, the point is to go as fast as 129 00:10:37.149 --> 00:10:41.830 you can possibly go and win the race, right. But the reality is 130 00:10:41.909 --> 00:10:46.190 there are still rules, right, there are still expectations, there are still 131 00:10:46.350 --> 00:10:50.700 limitations, there are still safety measures put into place. So when I say 132 00:10:50.779 --> 00:10:54.659 that James is going to keep the pedal to the metal and he's going to 133 00:10:54.700 --> 00:10:56.299 go as fast as he can go, it doesn't mean he doesn't have any 134 00:10:56.340 --> 00:11:01.220 rules, that he can go do anything anywhere with anyone. So anything, 135 00:11:01.259 --> 00:11:05.610 if we've done our job well, what we've done for our sales group, 136 00:11:05.610 --> 00:11:11.210 because we've defined our capabilities. We defined our capacity, we've given them some 137 00:11:11.370 --> 00:11:16.970 parameters and some boundaries so that what they sell fits within our ability to perform. 138 00:11:18.370 --> 00:11:20.440 And that's what I talked about when I mean get out in front of 139 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:26.120 the sales and marketing group, because they're always going to want to push, 140 00:11:26.120 --> 00:11:28.159 they're always going to want to go faster. But if you were on a 141 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:33.190 you know we're James and I both live in Orlando and we're not far from 142 00:11:33.230 --> 00:11:37.309 Daytona and you know, if you have been to one of those races, 143 00:11:37.149 --> 00:11:39.990 really a race of any kind. You see that there are some very, 144 00:11:41.029 --> 00:11:48.620 very specific guidelines and parameters within which the drivers have to perform. So they're 145 00:11:48.700 --> 00:11:52.980 objective is to go fast, but they also have checks and balances in place 146 00:11:54.059 --> 00:11:58.299 so that they can do so in a safe way and at the end of 147 00:11:58.340 --> 00:12:03.049 the race they have the chance to win. That is so true. And 148 00:12:03.129 --> 00:12:07.169 if anyone knows James, you know that his ideal day doesn't start until noon 149 00:12:07.210 --> 00:12:13.129 and he's usually awake until two a m and texting, probably you bill, 150 00:12:13.370 --> 00:12:18.200 about ideas that he has. So we've covered a lot of good information here. 151 00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:22.480 But tell me what the bottom line is. Well, you know, 152 00:12:22.840 --> 00:12:24.639 hearing you say that, Kelsey might I think my bottom line is thank God 153 00:12:24.679 --> 00:12:30.830 for James Carberry and sweetish and his role. I mean he is very clear. 154 00:12:31.110 --> 00:12:35.990 If there's any one of us here at sweetfish who understands their role and 155 00:12:35.070 --> 00:12:39.590 opportunity, it's James, and that is to grow this business. Why? 156 00:12:41.070 --> 00:12:46.580 Because he wants to provide more opportunity and because he's really passionate about what he's 157 00:12:46.580 --> 00:12:52.220 got to say and how it can help small businesses, really businesses of any 158 00:12:52.259 --> 00:12:54.419 kind, do exactly what we're trying to do, and that is a grow 159 00:12:54.860 --> 00:12:58.129 the qualifier that I add to that, because it's just the hat I wear, 160 00:12:58.809 --> 00:13:03.049 is that that that growth has to be managed. Growth. It has 161 00:13:03.090 --> 00:13:09.289 to be controlled growth, and the better we are as a operations team and 162 00:13:09.490 --> 00:13:13.639 the stronger our infrastructure, the more successful James and Logan and and Dan and 163 00:13:13.720 --> 00:13:18.799 everybody else who is thinking about building this thing can be awesome. If anyone 164 00:13:18.879 --> 00:13:22.360 wants to connect with you, what's the best way for them to do that? 165 00:13:22.919 --> 00:13:26.039 Sure the best way is always linkedin's. You can find me there or 166 00:13:26.440 --> 00:13:31.549 shoot me an email. I'm at bill at Sweet Fish Mediacom. Love to 167 00:13:31.590 --> 00:13:33.070 hear from them. Great. Thanks for hanging with US Today, Bill. 168 00:13:33.190 --> 00:13:39.470 Yep, you bet. Thank you, Kelsey. Is Your buyer a BBB 169 00:13:39.590 --> 00:13:43.740 marketer? If so, you should think about sponsoring this podcast. BB growth 170 00:13:43.779 --> 00:13:46.740 gets downloaded over a hundred and thirty thousand times each month and our listeners are 171 00:13:46.860 --> 00:13:52.340 marketing decision makers. If it sounds interesting, Sin Logan and email logan at 172 00:13:52.379 --> 00:13:52.620 sweetish Mediacom.