DYB Podcast

From reviewing your vision to performing an honest SWOT Analysis to investing in marketing, there are many ways to move your business forward depending on which stage of development you are currently at.

Some key things that are universal across businesses, however, are the preference to outsource and automate and to streamline the budgeting process.

Improvements in these areas will definitely have an impact on one of the most important key performance indicators of your business: gross profit.

(04:16) "If you say want to triple your business in 5 years, there's implications for that vision for your 4, 3, 2, and now, right? So we can't just say we want to be a 3 million dollar business and have 6 painters, right? We know that math doesn't work so the vision helps bring clarity to all aspects of your business."

08:44 "And we find people cannot achieve a company that exceeds a million if they're not willing to delegate and let go because if you're gonna keep it on your plate, your plate is just not big."

12:11 "When you grow over a million dollars, we usually see an increase in investment in marketing. DYB is a total advocate of anything but ads to doing things that are organic and free.

But there's gonna come a point in time when you wanna go from say 900,000 to 1.5 million, you're going to need to put some gas on that fire. So how are you gonna do that? And you need to do an analysis of your current lead flow."

17:27 "A budget's important for several reasons. First of all I want to start at top line revenue. We know from the power of attraction, the science around goals, that to have a goal really activates the brain to achieve it and to get after it.

So if you don't know how much you need to sell for January, how are you going to hit that target? You need to know the target clearly."

19:21 "Really start looking at some KPI's which are some key performance indicators so you know you should be looking at lead to sales ratios. You need to look at backlog. You should be looking at revenue per direct labor hour. Absolutely, gross profit is key here.

We could care less how much money you do in revenue if you're not putting it in your pocket. So we know that we need gross profit to run our business and to pay ourselves."

In today’s episode of the DYB Podcast, Steve welcomes Rick Bruno.

Rick is the head and founder of Bruno Painting, based out in Newport, Rhode Island.

In this podcast, Rick tells his journey of how he got into the painting business, learned from working for companies and eventually built his own, starting from scratch.

He talks about how integrity and hard work helped him generate leads and got Bruno Painting to where it is today.

Rick talks about the importance of company culture and giving back to the community.

Rick also shares his challenges over the years with finances and involvement with the IRS and how he overcame those ordeals.

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• How to get word-of-mouth referrals
• How hiring a coach will grow your business significantly
• The importance of culture in the foundation of a business

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“I remember visiting some of my dad’s job sites and walking through and thinking it was the coolest thing ever.”

“I knew if I could get people’s trust, and work with integrity, they were gonna tell their friends and they were gonna tell their friends and that’s just how the company ran for the first seven to ten years.”

“If you want to grow, hire a coach. So that’s what I did.”

“Culture is everything. To me, it’s the oil of the company, like having a well-oiled machine.”

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3:39 How Rick got started in and grew the business

7:46 Generating leads at the start

11:30 Employment structure and company culture at Bruno Painting

14:31 Books

15:42 On coaching

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How To Make Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking As Stakes Are High by Kerry Patterson

Pipeline Deals

Estimate Rocket

Automate your business with Zapier

T-Sheets

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Show Page Notes

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Enjoy :)

In this episode of the DYB Podcast, Steve welcomes back Nick Lauro of Lauro Painting to talk about perspectives on improving oneself in order to improve one’s business and relationships. Nick shares his own challenges in shifting his character for the better, from being an intense commander to a patient leader.

In the podcast, Nick points out his own shortcomings and what he used to do in certain scenarios. He shares how to effectively approach these situations by pausing and reflecting before reacting. Nick explains how he’s managed to improve communication with his employees.

Nick goes on to share how these habits crossed over into his personal life and points out important realizations he’s had along the way. Nick was the guest on episode 31 of the DYB podcast.

“Work harder on yourself than you do on your business.”

“Something that I try to do every time there’s a challenging situation is that I remember to pause, think or reflect on what it is that’s exactly going on.. and some things you can control, and some things you can’t and then I decide how I’m going to move forward.”

“People don’t remember what you said, they remember how you made them feel.”

“What I like to have is more dialogue and understanding and have them (foremen) be a part of the decision because that’s how they’re growing.”

“I’m not walking into the house on the phone, I’m walking into my home as the father, the husband that’s willing to spend time and be there with them, and I shut everything else out.”

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In this episode of the DYB Podcast, Steve is joined by Scott, April, and special guest, Beth Wilson. Beth is the president of Tax Savers, a company based in Florida that helps businesses move forward by offering simplified accounting and advisory solutions and great tax planning strategies.

In the podcast, Beth differentiates between LLC, S-Corp and C-corp and clarifies which one is right for a given type of business. She tackles tax strategies, the do’s and don’ts of tax preparation, and how to make the best out of a company’s earnings, deductions, and accounting.

Keep listening to the end for her favorite way to help clients reduce their tax burden!

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• Differences between LLC, S Corp, and C Corp
• Tax strategies for your painting business
• The do’s and don’ts of tax preparation
• How to make the best of your Company Earnings and tax deductions

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“If you’re a corporation, you then have a choice to be an S-Corp for taxation purposes where you can make an election or you are taxed as a C-Corp. An LLC is a real chameleon..”

“You need to have a partnership that is only husband and wife or a sole proprietorship that is one parent to be able to pay your children tax-free.”

“The motivation generally has to do with controlling the second tier of tax that most people don’t think about consciously, and that’s social security tax. Your bottom line as a sole proprietor is a hundred percent taxable for social security tax.”

“If you’re an employee, there’s no such thing anymore, under the tax code for employee business deductions.”

“You generally want somebody who’s federally licensed, like a tax attorney or an enrolled agent or a state license, which is a CPA.”

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1:53 LLC, S Corp, and C Corp

6:12 Children as tax deductions

11:29 How should an owner be compensated?

15:01 Tax deductions

24:22 Charity as a business expense

25:56 Reliable tax preparers

Bonus: Her favorite tax-saving strategy that she loves to use!

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“One of the most valuable groups you can join to grow a successful business is rotary.”
“When you get a room full of entrepreneurs and business people, it happens and it happens in a
big way.”
“Unfortunately some people think if they show up at two meetings and something doesn’t
happen and then it doesn’t work for them. It’s the world of instant gratification.”
“Give what you can give and it will come back to you tenfold.”
“As people do their online booking, they atomically get Zapped, their email get Zapped into a
Mailchimp.”

In this episode of the DYB podcast, Steve is once again joined by Scott, Greg, and Ron to talk
about marketing for winter time. They share tools and marketing techniques painting businesses
should consider if they want to be busy during the holidays.

The team talks about different ways to network within a community to generate friendships and
leads. They go over different organizations that may be present in a certain locale and discuss
how to properly navigate through these groups and establish good relations with members.
The DYB team talk about  ways to market a painting business through creative and valuable emails, newsletters, and networking.

1:40 Networking
7:54 Building relationships in organizations
11:40 What are ABA emails and newsletters?
16:35 Managing customer contacts
19:20 Work in medical offices
25:30 Other marketing methods

Thou Shall Prosper by Daniel Lapin [book]
www.infousa.com (information resource)

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In this episode of the DYB podcast, Steve is once again joined by Greg, April, Scott, and Ron to talk about using benefits to build a winning team. They dive into topics like insurance, paid time-off, and special types of benefits such as tool acquisition and training.

The DYB team talks about what should count as a company benefit and how to make sure it is something that carries value, advancement, and opportunity. They share their own business experiences in providing different types of benefits to employees and discuss what’s in store for the future.

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• How to use company benefits to built a winning team
• What should count as a company benefit
• Types of benefits you can leverage leverage

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“People want an opportunity for growth, so showing them a clear path for advancement and tying that up in your hiring ads is critical.”

“These [conferences] cost you money because you have to pay [employees] to go do it, but it can be really helpful and they can come back and train others on the material they learned.”

“Not everyone’s gonna take you up on all of your benefits; you have to find out what’s important to each of your employees.”

“I recommend that we allow people to enjoy some part of their lives without worrying about the paycheck.. what we recommend is that it is an earned benefit..”

“You should tell people, “We offer training!” It’s a benefit and you should put it out there as one.”

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1:19 Insurance and Aflac

8:05 The case of paid time-off

10:52 Tools as benefits

14:46 Training as a benefit

19:03 Credit unions and gym memberships

22:12 Conferences as benefits

26:44 What’s important in the future?

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In this episode of the DYB podcast, Steve, April, Ron, Greg, and Scott talk about how to handle seasonal crush. The team tackles the important things to consider when things are or about to get really busy.

Steve and the gang discuss how to properly plan ahead and focus on priorities during the busy season. They stress the importance of communication, affirmation for employees, having time off and setting boundaries in order to be on top of the chaos. The team also gives some professional advice regarding growth pains during challenging times.

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• How to properly plan ahead and focus on priorities
• Importance of communication, having time off and setting boundaries
• How to keep growing your company even during difficult times

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“Right now we have blinders on, all we’re thinking about right now is the busyness of the season...what we really need to do, as leaders and CEO of our business, is work our plan.”

“Don’t make it your painters’ fault that this happened or that you got here. This is your business; you created this chaos and you have to uphold the culture.”

“If I’m doing something and my phone is ringing off the hook, I will pause and let people leave messages and make sure that I’m focusing on what I’m working on because it can get pretty chaotic this time of the year with your phone.”

“You always need an opportunity for people to make an appointment.”

“There’s so much freedom when someone isn’t tethered to cash flow.”

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1:00 Importance of planning

5:49 Handling appointments

10:10 How do you insulate your team from the seasonal crush?

16:56 How to take care of oneself during the chaos

19:42 How to scale and forecast

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Connect with Scott Lollar on Facebook here

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SUMMARY:

In this episode of the DYB Podcast, Greg interviews John Gallman, of Behr Paints. 

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LINKS & RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

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In this episode of the DYB podcast, Greg brings in Nick Cuttonaro of Link Builders, a firm that works with companies to control and improve their brand narrative. Nick talks about the Link Builders, how it started as an SEO company, and how it eventually transitioned to brand reputation management as its niche.

Nick tackles the importance of online presence, branding, and what is actually visible about a company in social media outlets. He gives some advice on how to take care of online reputation, especially in this world of likes, dislikes, and reviews. Nick also highlights the do’s and don’ts of social media management and gives pointers on how to properly execute a press release.

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• The importance of online presence
• The ins and outs of Link Building
• Branding and brand reputation
• The do’s and don’ts of social media management
• How to Properly execute a Press release.

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“Google your name. What is discovered? Like is there great content? Is there no content? And do that for your brand name as well. I think you’d be surprised...”

“It all revolves around controlling what someone would see on search in social media.”

“Look at the top competitor and your market because, in most instances, a top competitor is doing all they can to be as competitive as possible.”

“You need friends in media because you’re not paying for a press release and so there’s got to be a ‘what’s in it’ for the media company.”

“Most businesses and most business owners are wired this way— they’re wired to give but the hardest thing is articulating what you’re doing to the media or even getting a press release because no one wants to brag or boast.”

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2:38 What is link-building?

5:57 Nick talks about his firm’s services

7:54 Pointers on online presence and brand reputation

16:46 Greg and Nick talk about paid review services

26:13 How press releases work

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