Let's Talk small Business with Mitchell Wilson

What if your next big business breakthrough literally came out of thin air? In this episode of Let’s Talk Small Business, Mitchell Wilson sits down with Jeff Szur, founder and CEO of Altitude Water. Jeff shares his journey from running restaurants and trading natural gas futures to manufacturing cutting-edge technology that harvests pure drinking water directly from humidity in the air.

From navigating a multi-generational business partnership with his 88-year-old dad to giving long-term factory workers equity in the business, Jeff gets real about what it actually takes to scale a mission-driven manufacturing brand in the US. They dive deep into overcoming category-building hurdles, surviving harsh supply chain realities, and why true business resilience is about leaving a legacy, not just watching profit margins.

Ready to identify your biggest business bottleneck and map out your next smart move? Book a free breakthrough session with Mitchell and the Coachbirds team at coachbirds.com/breakthrough.

What happens to your business when everything breaks down? In this episode, Mitchell gets real with crisis management expert Keith Erwood, co-founder of the Erwood Group. Drawing from his profound background as a New York City EMS responder on the frontlines of 9/11, Keith now authors business continuity plans protecting more than a billion dollars in annual revenue. Forget the boring corporate jargon—we dive straight into the brutal reality of operational downtime, the scary trap of co-insurance, and why standard policies leave most small businesses completely exposed. Keith shares a dead-simple resilience habit you can implement today for absolutely zero dollars to protect your cash flow before disaster strikes. If you think your business is safe just because you tick a few safety boxes, this conversation is your ultimate reality check. Ready to stop crossing your fingers and start building a bulletproof operation?

Book a free breakthrough session with Mitchell and the Coachbirds team here: www.coachbirds.com/breakthrough

What does it take to build a seven-figure photography empire, lose it all overnight, and rebuild smarter from the ground up? In this episode, host Mitchell Wilson sits down with Scott Proposki, founder of the Camera Focus Method. Scott went from photographing events at the White House and National Geographic with a 52-person team to seeing his entire operation evaporate in 2020.Instead of walking away, Scott used the collapse as a masterclass in business design. He breaks down why high revenue without high profit is a trap, how to shift from a overworked technician to a true CEO, and why 10x growth is actually easier than 2x. Whether you run a creative agency or a service business, Scott shares practical strategies to fix your client attraction, price for real profit, and build a system that runs without you.Ready to spot your biggest business bottleneck and map out your next move? Book a free breakthrough session with Mitchell and the Coachbirds team at coachbirds.com/breakthrough.

When your business is growing, how do you know if you're actually scaling or just piling on expensive tech debt? In this episode, host Mitchell Wilson sits down with global SAP heavyweight, serial entrepreneur, and tech expert Chris Carter.

From his early days hustling plastic business cards in high school to managing major enterprise software and launching half a dozen Shopify stores (including his latest coffee brand), Chris has seen it all. He breaks down how small businesses can transition to SAP or the cloud without getting burned, where companies throw away the most cash on tech, and how to spot the difference between genuine AI value and total marketing fluff.

If you want to make smart tech decisions that actually support your growth instead of complicating it, this is the episode you need. If you're ready to identify your own business bottlenecks and map out your next smart move, book a free breakthrough session with Mitchell and the team by visiting coachbirds.com/breakthrough.

Starting a business is exciting. Running one? That’s where things get interesting.

Welcome to Let’s Talk small Business, the podcast where host Mitchell Wilson gets real with the people behind the businesses. From tradies on the tools to billionaires in the boardroom, we dive into the stories, lessons, wins, and “wish someone had told me that sooner” moments that come with running a business.

Expect practical advice, honest conversations, a few laughs, and plenty of takeaways you can actually use. No corporate jargon. No sugar-coating. Just real people talking about what it really takes to build a successful business.

Whether you’re chasing growth, trying to get your weekends back, or simply looking for ideas from people who’ve been there and done it, you’re in the right place.

So grab a coffee and Let’s Talk Small Business.

Many business owners run themselves ragged chasing higher revenue, only to wonder why their bank accounts aren't reflecting their hard work. In this episode of Let’s Talk Small Business, host Mitchell Wilson sits down with Jung Chung, a seasoned business coach and "profit hunter." With over 14 years of experience analyzing thousands of profit and loss statements, Jung breaks down the critical difference between accounting for tax purposes and accounting for actual business growth.

The duo dives deep into the reality of the Kiwi small business landscape, exposing how under-optimized systems, miscalculated gross profits, and holding the business entirely in your head can paralyze decision-making. Jung introduces his powerful "Four Flows" framework—Lead Flow, Sales Flow, Work Flow, and Cash Flow—and explains how minor, scientific adjustments to pricing and technician labor tracking can instantly unlock hidden margins. If you are tired of running a "busy job with overheads" and want to turn your operation into a well-oiled, asset-building machine, this episode serves as your direct roadmap to fast financial wins.

Ready to stop wondering where your money went? Don't let your profits stay hidden in the numbers. Book your free breakthrough session with Mitchell and the Coachbirds team today at coachbirds.com/breakthrough to identify your biggest bottleneck and map out your next smart, profit-focused move.

Are you chasing vanity metrics that look good on paper but leave your bank account on life support?

In this episode of the Coachbirds podcast, Mitchell Wilson sits down with Scott Miller—a seasoned global sales executive with over 40 years of hands-on experience driving revenue and scaling high-performing teams across the US and Southeast Asia. Scott pulls back the curtain on the brutal lessons he learned in the trenches, starting with a trucking company that hit its massive $100k revenue milestone, only to realize it cost $112k to get there. 😏

Mitchell and Scott break down exactly how small business owners can break free from the solopreneur trap and adopt a "big business mindset" without drowning in corporate fluff. They dive deep into the dangers of over-relying on AI tools at the expense of raw sales skills, the power of simplicity when building usable SOPs, and why true marketing means selling the feeling and result rather than just a list of commoditized features.

If you are a service-based business owner in NZ/AU looking to scale past the $1M barrier, survive economic downturns, and build a business that runs smoothly without losing operational control, this masterclass in execution is for you.

• The Only Number That Matters: Why your net margin, EBITDA, and free cash flow must always trend in the same direction as your top-line growth.

• The AI Sales Pendulum: How tool dependence is eroding modern sales skills, and why the human element of communication still converts the pipeline.

• Bite-Sized SOPs: How to create lean, actionable operating procedures from Day 1 that your team will actually use, rather than giant manuals that sit gathering dust.

• The Omnipresence Playbook: Scott’s 90-day strategy for home service and service-based businesses to ramp up prospecting activity, target low-hanging fruit, and dominate their market when competitors pull back.

• Lessons Over Failures: A raw look at surviving recessions, financial crises, and why there are more millionaires created in economic downtimes than in the good times.

If you want help identifying your biggest operational bottleneck, cleaning up your sales strategy, and mapping out your next smart strategic move, let's chat.

👉 Book your free Breakthrough Call with Mitchell and the Coachbirds team today!

🔑 Key Takeaways from This Episode:🛠️ Ready to Scale Your Business?

Ever feel like you’re throwing hard-earned cash at marketing just to buy "things" rather than investing in real business growth? In this episode, Mitchell sits down with Zachary Rischitelli, founder and managing director of Fig Advertising and Marketing. With a fascinating background in psychology and anthropology, Zachary breaks down the deep emotional needs and cultural triggers that actually drive human buying decisions. We dive into why some agencies over-promise and under-deliver, the reality behind balancing your funnel, and why a raw iPhone unboxing video can completely outperform a $10,000 polished corporate production. Plus, Zachary shares a masterclass on how to actually calculate a marketing budget that protects your cash flow and why business owners need to learn to delegate to their agency instead of dictating to them. It's a real, no-nonsense look at what makes marketing actually work. Visit Zach's website for more details: https://www.figadvertising.com/

Ready to identify your own business bottlenecks and map out your next smart move? Book your free breakthrough session with Mitchell and the Coachbirds team today! https://www.coachbirds.com/breakthrough

Ever feel like your business has hit an invisible glass ceiling you just can't seem to smash through? In this episode, Mitchell sits down with Rik Schnabel, Australia's leading "brain untrainer," six-time international bestselling author, and mindset pioneer with over 39,000 hours of transformational client work. Rik flips traditional business coaching on its head, revealing why adding more strategies won't save you if your underlying identity, money blueprint, or deep-seated fear of humiliation is secretly running the show.

From surviving schoolyard bullies in the library psych section to shifting his own poverty mindset to match a million-dollar commission run, Rik breaks down the profound "logical levels" of human behavior. He reveals how to diagnose whether you're facing a strategy block or a mindset block, why "know-it-all" owners trap themselves in small patterns, and how structuring a dedicated "on-the-business" day can completely reset your vision.

Ready to stop self-sabotaging, uncover your biggest business bottlenecks, and map out your next smart move? Book your free breakthrough session with Mitchell and the Coachbirds team today! https://www.coachbirds.com/breakthrough

Ever wonder what a lifelong banker actually thinks about entrepreneurs? In this episode, I sit down with Chip Higgins, who spent over 35 years in the trenches of the US banking world before transitioning to helping small businesses from the outside. Chip shares his unique journey—from dreaming about banking as a teenager (while everyone else wanted to be in the NBA) to managing major executive resources for local economies. We dive into the profound lessons Chip learned from auditing, funding, and partnering with thousands of small business owners. He breaks down the authenticity, diversity, and humility of the everyday entrepreneur, while giving us a rare, behind-the-curtain look at how the banking industry shifted from personal community relationships to automated, streamlined underwriting.

If you are ready to identify your own bottlenecks and map out your next smart move, click here to book a free breakthrough session with myself and the Coachbirds team.