Systems Simplified

Brooke Lively is the Founder, CEO, and President of Cathedral Capital (CathCap), which empowers entrepreneurs to achieve their financial goals. As a CFO and profitability strategist, she helps business leaders in fast-growing companies turn their organizations into profitable, thriving businesses. Brooke has been named Top 25 Women to Watch from 2016-2020, Diversity Journal's Women Worth Watching, and Fort Worth’s 2016 CFO of the Year. 

Some business owners want to grow their companies enough to retire early. This requires understanding cash flow and making data-driven decisions. How can you boost profitability to offboard yourself from your business?

As a CFO, Brooke Lively says businesses must analyze each service to determine production costs and profit margins. This allows you to identify ideal marketing and sales efforts and give team members a strategic direction for the company. Brooke recommends implementing the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) to empower team members to follow data-driven processes and move the company forward. 

In today’s episode of Systems Simplified, the Founder, CEO, and President of Cathedral Capital, Brooke Lively, joins Adi Klevit to discuss small business growth and profitability. Brooke explains why small businesses should acquire a CFO, how to delegate tasks using EOS, and a CFO’s roles and responsibilities.

Damion Lupo is the Chief Investment Officer and a board member at FrameTec™, a manufacturing and framing services provider. He provides strategic advice and guidance for the company’s national rollout. As a 35-year veteran entrepreneur, Damion has started over 70 companies in private equity, real estate, and finance.

Retirement plans are top of mind for many entrepreneurs, but a profitable plan requires a stable and thriving business. How can you invest in your business to yield long-term results?

Having written the playbook for profitable retirement, Damion Lupo advises building a business around a market need to create, educate, and empower a community of customers. This requires systemizing the company according to market dynamics and developing consistent processes that can scale with current trends. Damion emphasizes that creating a service-based culture increases profits, allowing you to build a profitable business that will culminate in a robust retirement plan.

In this episode of Systems Simplified, Adi Klevit hosts Damion Lupo, the Chief Investment Officer and a board member at FrameTec™, to discuss generating a business model for retirement. Damion talks about his lucrative retirement process, his experience starting and scaling a home construction company, and how to take control of your entrepreneurial endeavors.

Benjamin Moróne is the Founder of Zabota, a recruitment agency for European and Latin American English-speaking talent. He is also the Founder of VA Tasks, which outsources tasks to virtual assistants. Before founding Zabota and VA Tasks, Benjamin was one of the first employees at a rapidly growing tech startup. 

With global and remote businesses becoming standard, hiring overseas talent allows entrepreneurs to complete tasks and scale their businesses at accelerated rates. Yet, differing time zones, frequent internet outages, and communication and cultural differences can make working with global talent a challenge. How can you collaborate with these individuals effectively to build a thriving workforce?

Talent specialist Benjamin Moróne eliminates potential knowledge and communication barriers with global workforces by developing systemized playbooks and documenting processes. This streamlines the onboarding and training process, allowing entrepreneurs to focus on business growth. Before hiring global candidates, you must assess the role’s KPIs and align them with larger organizational goals and culture requirements. 

In this week’s episode of Systems Simplified, Adi Klevit talks to Benjamin Moróne, the Founder of Zabota, about creating a hiring process for global workforces. Benjamin shares how to attract international candidates to your organization, how to collaborate effectively with global talent, and the benefits of working with overseas individuals.

Jen Hamilton is the Founder and Fractional COO at Hamilton COOs, a professional service firm for small business owners and COOs. As a CPA turned fractional COO, she advises CEOs and COOs to empower and grow small businesses through strategic leadership. Jen has over two decades of experience helping companies achieve their visions.

Many small businesses lack an efficient human capital system as they struggle to place the right people in the right seats. An effective system requires organization-wide process documentation and implementation. How can you obtain company buy-in to systemize your business?

As a fractional COO for business leaders, Jen Hamilton maintains that companies should embed processes into every stage of their operations, from hiring and recruiting to sales and bookkeeping. Yet, it’s not enough to simply document the processes; leaders and team members must adhere to them and make updates regularly. This requires demonstrating organizational value and communicating expectations to encourage process adoption and accountability from the top down. 

Join Adi Klevit in this episode of Systems Simplified as she sits down with Jen Hamilton, the Founder and Fractional COO at Hamilton COOs, to discuss how COOs and other leaders can adopt and implement processes. Jen explains the difference between a full-time and fractional COO, how she ensures process follow-through, and how she became a fractional COO.

Jessica Gomez is the Founder and CEO of Rogue Valley Microdevices, a full-service company specializing in MES and biomedical device fabrication. With experience in semiconductor processing and product management, she has worked with visionary companies in the automotive, biomedical, agriculture, military, aerospace, and industrial markets. Jessica is a member of the SEMI Board of Industry Leaders and the Oregon Business Council and is Chairman of the Board for Rogue Workforce Partnership.

During economic uncertainty and financial distress, it can be difficult for entrepreneurs to maintain composure. Yet sustaining growth requires resilience and strategic action. How can you navigate your company through turbulent times?

Biomedical device pioneer Jessica Gomez maintains that inaction during a crisis is the worst mistake entrepreneurs can make. During the 2008 recession, Jessica laid off her entire staff, forcing her to restructure her company’s growth trajectory. She implemented robust hiring systems and expanded her service capabilities to reach a broader customer base. When developing a hiring process, Jessica recommends establishing a culture and hiring individuals who can uphold the company’s vision and values.

In the latest episode of Systems Simplified, Adi Klevit talks with Jessica Gomez, the Founder and CEO of Rogue Valley Microdevices, about how she propelled her company forward during a crisis. Jessica shares how implementing systems helped her overcome growth barriers, the characteristics of her company’s culture, and the future of her business in its dynamic industry.

Max Friar is the Managing Partner of Calder Capital, LLC, a nationally recognized M&A firm. Having entered the M&A space in 2005, he began his career as the Director of Marketing for a Midwest M&A firm. Max has also invested in, bought, and sold closely-held businesses, serving as a Partner and Co-founder at Weinkauf Plumbing & Heating, Inc. and Small Business Deal Advisors. 

It’s rare for small businesses to document standard processes and procedures, let alone job descriptions. However, this is essential for growth or to sell the company. How can you develop sound processes to attract ideal buyers?

According to M&A expert Max Friar, implementing and documenting systems presents small businesses as organized and operationally efficient, making them more attractive to potential buyers. Investors and buyers look for businesses that can operate independently of their owners, so having repeatable processes increases your company’s value in the market. By transferring your knowledge into comprehensible systems, you can grow your company for an eventual exit.

Tune in to the latest episode of Systems Simplified as Adi Klevit welcomes Max Friar, the Managing Partner of Calder Capital, to discuss developing processes to sell your business. Max shares his go-to automation tools, his system for attracting buyers, and his definition of lower-middle market businesses.

Dan Pfister is the Founder of WinBack Labs, which helps companies win back lost customers. He has generated over 50,000 customers, allowing him to work with brands and notable figures like Fidelity Investments and Tony Robbins. With over 20 years of marketing experience, Dan generated 57x ROI from his first win-back campaign.

Customers leave for many reasons, and it’s not always because they’re unsatisfied. Businesses often acquire new customers rather than winning back churned ones, believing they’re a lost cause. However, these customers hold the highest ROI potential. How can you reengage them before it’s too late?

Customer retention marketer Dan Pfister leverages a proven system to win back lost customers. It involves identifying why your customers left and whether it’s profitable to reengage them. You can accomplish this through qualitative and quantitative surveys. Once you have a list of customers you want to retain, Dan advises determining their needs and creating additional value through personalized offers. You can also prevent churn by communicating with your customers consistently and encouraging them to provide feedback.

In the latest episode of Systems Simplified, Adi Klevit talks with Dan Pfister, the Founder of WinBack Labs, about winning back lost customers. Dan explains how he leverages data systems to reengage customers, why customers leave, and how to prevent them from going.

Pat Mancuso is the CEO of Mancuso Consulting Group and a highly recognized thought leader dedicated to helping CEOs, business owners, and entrepreneurs maximize their potential through coaching and consulting. Having spent over 30 years working with company owners, leaders, and sales teams, Pat has over 25,000 hours of coaching and consulting experience. 

As a serial entrepreneur who has launched multiple successful companies, Pat understands how to scale a business sustainably. He helps businesses improve their leadership and performance through a proprietary system, RSTMM® (Recruit, Select, Train, Manage, and Motivate), which enables companies to select, train, manage, and motivate the right people in the right positions.

The three most substantial roadblocks in an entrepreneur's journey involve hiring, finances, and sales. Business owners may make rash hiring decisions they regret later, mismanage their finances, or lack a steady lead generation system for sales. How can you align these fundamental aspects to reach the next destination in your business?

Business consultant Pat Mancuso has developed a proprietary system for eliminating roadblocks and developing a clear path for growth. He maintains that businesses must first acquire a third-party manager who can provide objective guidance. Entrepreneurs can then implement a behavior-based hiring system that aligns leadership candidates’ behaviors with role responsibilities and identifies their career trajectories. A manager can also encourage business owners to review their balance sheets, align them with future business goals, and develop a process to measure ROI on sales initiatives. 

In this episode of Systems Simplified, Pat Mancuso, the CEO of Mancuso Consulting Group, joins Adi Klevit to discuss optimizing your business for future growth. Pat shares how his first real estate business shaped his career, how to avoid common business pitfalls, and the lessons he learned from his first partnership.

Nathan Baar is the Founder and CEO of HealthBar, which offers custom health services provided by skilled clinicians. He is also the Co-founder and Partner of DecentraCare, a healthcare staffing company, and the Board President at Nurses Saving Nurses, an organization empowering nurses. As a registered nurse, Nathan combines business and clinical healthcare.

Disrupting a long-established business model is a huge undertaking, especially in industries resistant to radical change like healthcare. How can you execute a new business model effectively?

Having enabled access to preventative healthcare, Nathan Baar says that the key to initiating a revolutionary business model is to acquire early adopters. This involves guiding businesses or clients through a test phase and using the results for widespread education and implementation. Nathan also cites the role of strong processes in a new model’s long-term performance, emphasizing the importance of repeatable systems.

In today’s episode of Systems Simplified, Adi Klevit chats with Nathan Baar, the Founder and CEO of HealthBar, about how he subverted traditional healthcare models using sound systems and processes. He describes how to market a new business model, how he navigates the burden of entrepreneurship, and how a patient received lifesaving care from HealthBar.

Jonathan Small is the host of the Write About Now podcast and the author of the book of the same name, which is based on the podcast. In 2020, he launched Strike Fire Productions, a podcast production company offering full-service production and consulting to high-profile clients, including the Screen Actors Guild and Purely Elizabeth. Jonathan has worked as a multimedia storyteller for top media companies like The New York Times and Hearst. He is also a Chief Content Strategist at Maverick Public Relations. 

Most entrepreneurs struggle to differentiate themselves or their businesses in the market at some point during their journey. Yet every entrepreneur has a unique origin story that distinguishes them from their competition. How can you convey your story to bring value to your business and customers?

Passionate about storytelling, producer and journalist Jonathan Small identified podcasting as the ideal medium to convey origin stories. He maintains that these stories allow you to communicate authentically with your audience. Jonathan’s narrative system involves identifying a hurdle you overcame in your business and sharing it as an inspirational story for others. You can also determine and convey your purpose for launching your business and conquering challenges, making you more relatable to your audience. 

Tune in to the latest episode of Systems Simplified as Adi Klevit sits down with Jonathan Small, the host and author of Write About Now, to talk about the process of storytelling in entrepreneurship. Jonathan explains the value proposition of an entrepreneur’s origin story, how he wrote a book based on podcast interviews, and how to convey your purpose.