“Take nothing out of the business that doesn’t need to be taken out of. Reinvest it back into the company, and not into yourself. Initially in the first 5 years that’s where we got our growth. We were seeing 100% growth year-on-year and it was because of that. We kept throwing everything back into marketing and growth.” – Rory Boyle
“I can’t recommend enough immersing yourself around entrepreneurs. I didn’t really start to learn until I put myself around people who were ambitious. You rise with the tide.” – Rory Boyle
“Every single person, when I was running my business as CEO, every person on the first day I would take them through the vision as the first thing that we did. I wanted to see the light in their eyes; is this something that excites them or is this something they think is hard work. I would say that every people decision in the business is based on our core values and that my job is to get the right people in the business and the wrong people out because we wanted to create a strong culture, an engaged culture, not a negative culture. So highly recommend building a great culture through the use of core values.” – Steve McLeod
“A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week. I see so many businesses that are planning and planning and planning and planning. Sometimes it is better to start, break a few things, and fix it along the way. Set some big goals and start taking action towards it.” – Steve McLeod
“One of the numbers that I’m obsessed about in my business is how many current clients or prospective clients [do] my team go and see each week. I know that if we’ve got a team of 12 and they’re in front of 120 existing or prospective clients each week, the business will grow.” – Steve McLeod
“I mentored a young woman a few years ago and she had a chocolate business. She said, “I want to sell my business in a few years’ time so that I can go have kids and take a break.” The first question I asked was, “How many hours per week are you spending meeting with prospective clients?” to which she replied, “Two.” I said, “Two is not going to get you the growth you want. I will mentor and help you if it is at least 15 hours every single week; not one week can you be less. In two years her business tripled because we worked out what was the activity we needed to drive, had the relentless discipline to do it week after week after week.” – Steve McLeod
“When it comes to business sometimes you’re so focused on getting the job done you just expect people to follow you and it doesn’t happen that way.” – Andrew Hardwick
“The best way to engage people is to make them feel part of it. Let them have some autonomy. Let them make their mistakes. Let them have their input into our direction and where we’re going. I can categorically say everyone in our business has that ability to do that. And once they realise it, it’s funny the shift in their engagement in what we’re doing.” – Andrew Hardwick
“At the start I found a niche and I leveraged the shit out of it. I found what no one else was doing and tried to work with that because then I could use it as a branding strategy, a marketing strategy, and to bring in clients. I just find areas that are pain points for the customers that I want to work with, and I leverage them.” – Joe Woodham
“The best way to find a solution to a problem is to ask people who have done it before.” – Joe Woodham
“When I started out, as weird as it sounds, I went straight to one of my competitors and I got their advice. As weird as that might seem to people, they were open with the information. I’ve always gone and spoken with my competitors, because as much as they are my competitors, they are my biggest allies as well.” – Joe Woodham
“I thought I knew something about business, and [then] went out and [learned that I] didn’t really know anything. [I] had no experience really. If you’re not exposing yourself to outside influences then you’re not growing, and you’re not learning.” – Andrew Hardwick
“There has to be some sort of plan that’s founded with a truth about the business, about yourself, that there is something that you have proof points against, [and] to have a brand value proposition that has meaning and substance behind it.” – Andrew Hardwick
“Having a story, knowing your why, is so very important not just from an external point of view but from an internal point of view. If you don’t personally engage and relate to what you’re doing and how you’re doing it, you’re probably not going to do very well.” – Andrew Hardwick
My life goal is to make a lastÂing and posÂiÂtive conÂtriÂbuÂtion to this world by always lisÂtenÂing, always learnÂing and helpÂing peoÂple reach out and touch and inspire the lives of othÂers from all corÂners of the globe. Continue reading biography.
