In this episode, I talked with a very special guest, Mark Matthews CEO, Leader and Visionary owner of ATG-IT in Bromsgrove, UK.  

Mark has an amazing and inspiring story of how he transformed his business using his inspiration from a crisp packet.  

He took his IT business from 0 to £2.8m, making him one of the most successful IT/MSP business owners I know. 

In today’s podcast, you will learn a great deal about the non-technical side of Business. It’s all about leadership, systems, processes and company culture. 

We also talk about how to engage properly with your staff, how to get more out of them, how to step back and use self-awareness to become a better leader and most importantly you will learn how Mark developed his IT and Tech business. 

The purpose of this episode is to explain and share some of the amazing successes that Mark has had growing ATG-IT and how that relates to having a deliberate and systemise growth plan. 

 Mark also shares how a crisp packet changed his life.  

Back in the day, Mark didn’t have a process to lead his business, which probably led him to become a control freak. Spending his time focusing more on money, because everything was all about money and not about the people. 

He said, ATG wasn’t going anywhere, they had flatlined, he’s working 70 hours plus a week, unhappy and not knowing what his purpose was.  

Mark added, since that epiphany, he was gone from being lost with no direction to being clear about his purpose and the professional and personal journey he is on. 

Because he realised, it was him all along.  

 According to Mark, he had never told his staff at work, what GOOD looked like. Therefore, if you don’t explain to your employees what good looks like, then they will just do what they think they should.  

Hence, they will use their own version of what good looks like as a guide and if they do and you haven’t helped them understand what you wanted, then getting it wrong can’t be their fault if you haven’t supported them. 

Mark soon realised that it was his fault then he decided to change the way he dealt with employees. 

He added that having a system is the overall key element to business growth success.  

 Other important things they talked about are:  

• The Traction business model from Gino Wickman 
• The steps they need to define core values 
• The core values of the company 
• How he set boundaries and use “The 5 questions of clarity” Model 

Mark said, having these 5 questions of Clarity can put boundaries for people, boundaries for money and boundaries for time. 

 ITS Quick Fire Round 

If you are to bottle one part of your business journey and sell it. What would it be and why?  

It’s always the owner’s fault – get out of your own way. 

What is your biggest learning / regret about scaling your business?  

 There are so many learning points but for me, it is to develop a system and to work on yourself. 

 What is your favourite app on your phone and why?  

 Waterminder. – It helps me to remind myself to rehydrate as I go through the day. 

Guest Details  

To contact Mark Matthews, connect with him through Linkedin and Twitter or email him at [email protected] or check out his website at https://www.crispleadership.com/ 

If you are looking to scale your IT / Tech Consultancy Business and don’t know where to start, then check out the IT Experts Growth Accelerator on our website http://tiny.cc/ITEXPERTS  

 You can also download the e-book by clicking this link - http://tiny.cc/ITE-Ebook19  

  Quotes  

If you don’t explain to your employees what good looks like, then they will just do what they think they should, using their own initiative based on their own experience and values, and not yours. – Matt Matthews