Top 3 Small BusinessGrowth Strategies

Luke Aulin @lukeaulinlukeaulin

• World Traveler (60+ countries)• Unfinished Author• Two-time failed entrepreneur• Intrapreneur:

$0-$4mm in 2 years$0 - $9mm in 4 years

• Entrepreneur:0 - 250 customers, 5 markets in BC in 3 years

• Purpose Driven Entrepreneur• CEO (aka “The Mayor”) of RTOWN

“Being an entrepreneur is like eating glass and staring into the abyss of death”

Elon Musk

Statistics Canada

Small Business Survival Rates in Canada

Statistics Canada

30,000,000 companies in North America

Business Success Formula=

Problem Solutionx x

Execution Teamx x Luck!

What About Vision?

“1% Vision, 99% Alignment” – Jim Collins

“1% Dream, 99% Execution” – Me

Vision Formula=

Purpose (why) Core Values ( how)+

x

Big Hairy Audacious Goal (where)=

Your stated desire for the future

Read: Mastering the Rockefeller Habits & Scaling Up

Top 3 Small BusinessGrowth Strategies

People.Execution.Cash.

Dawn of Social Business

People.

Read: Topgrading or Who

Your most important decisions are who decisions

Your most important decisions are not what decisions

Hire Slow, Fire Fast!

Think of everyone on your teamThen ask yourself…

Would I enthusiastically rehire this person?

Core ValuesNon-negotiable parameters for how you operate

Define & create your company’s culture

Whether you think you have them or not, you do

Clarifying them and codifying them will help you everywhere, particularly in hiring

Will be alive within your company and felt by your customers

RTOWN Core Values

Team over IndividualsRemarkable Customer & Team ExperienceUncover a Better WaySurplus for PurposeTrust

Family or Sports Team?

A players are values aligned and hit targetsB players values aligned, but miss some targetsC players values misaligned and/or consistently miss targetsA players attract A players

C players bring down average more than A players bring it upB players can become A players (again)

C player? = Free up their future!

Diversity of talent is good

Not living your values isn’t

Loyalty is good, but has limits

Patience for A players who temporarily become B players

Great companies temporarily hit rough patches

Execution.

Purpose

“People don’t buy what you sell; they buy why you sell it.” –

Simon Sinek, Author of Start With Why

Big Hairy Audacious Goal

If it matters, your team will connect to it

If it matters, outsiders will help

make it matter

(BHAG)

Make meaning

Jim Collins

BHAG & Purpose“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the people to gather wood, divide the work

and give orders. Instead teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.”

– Antoine De Saint-Exupery, Author of The Little Prince

“1% Vision, 99% Alignment” – Jim Collins

“1% Dream, 99% Execution” – Me

Align your team so they can all push in the same direction

Encourage discussion debate makes your stronger

Foster accountabilityStarts with leadership. Create ownership mindset in everyone on your team.

Act on feedbackTwo ears, one mouth. Listen and act on feedback. Creates positive energy toward the future.

“If you want to exercise power and authority over people, join the

military or go into politics. Don’t be an entrepreneur.”

– Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote

Traditional Org ChartOut with the old

Functional Accountability ChartIn with the new

Fosters mutual accountability• Washes away boss/subordinate• Creates trust, circular accountability and improves

everything in how you execute – clarity on who owns what in which process

Cash.

Thoughts On Cash

Know your numbers

Measure what matters

Revenue is vanity; profit is sanity

Growth sucks cash

Cash conversion cycle – map your money on a timeline. Break down the steps.

Find excess to fund growth.

Raise or Bootstrap?

Bootstrapping = Cash comes from Customers

Step 1: Your Ideal Customer Profile

Step 2: Path to acquire them

Step 3: Strategy to deliver to them

Step 4: Define your “Keep” strategy

Your Ideal Customer Profile

Demographic and Psychographic Traits

Name them

Communicate this with your whole team

What do you do?

Why should I care?

How do I believe you?

Where do we begin?

Customer Acquisition Funnel

Social Media + Search

Website + Content

Testimonials + Case Studies

Store front or eCommerce

Customer Acquisition Funnel

% of Time Spent in Media vs. % of Advertising Spending, USA, 2015

Mary Meeker, KPCB 2016

Organic reach for business dropping to below 1%

Values:

Dawn of Social Business….your employees are an untapped resource to create awareness

Friends and family firstA platform for all ideasAuthentic communicationYou control your experienceConstant iteration

Mary Meeker, KPCB 2016

Values:Mobile responsiveness

Focus on the user and all else will follow

Length of time & relevanceKeywords, Blogs

Fresh content

It’s best to do one thing really, really wellYou can make money without doing evil

Online; your customer values:

Entertainment

Control

Authenticity

Emotions evoked

Education

Delivery

Better is how we get bigger

UPOD = under promise, over deliver

See people and execution

Team first, customers second, shareholders third

PricingPrice is the value your customer perceives

Cost plus

The closer you are to satisfying basehuman nature, the higher your margins

CompetitionYour ideal customer profile matters

It’s not who you know. It’s not what you know.

“It’s what you DO with whoand what you know!”

– Me