Wayfinding Growth

"We were talking about keggerators and beer and bean bags and a nice open-air office. We still have those things. But when did those things years ago, the reason was for 'culture.' Now we're doing things to make people more comfortable."Dan and Remington pull back the curtain and talk about what culture means to Impulse Creative, how a brand maintains it, and how it looks for a hybrid team.Tune in Tuesday morning 7:00am eastern for the full episode on your podcast player of choice. www.wayfindinggrowth.com/207

The King of Clarity, Steve Woodruff

Steve Woodruff helps business owners, leaders and others discover their fit if they’re in charge of a business or brand, and are asking these kinds of questions:

1. With all this stuff that we could be doing, where should our strategic focus be?
2. How can we differentiate in the marketplace?
3. Do we have a core message that our customers are grasping and remembering?

Steve does this through something he calls Clarity Consulting. He says it's like a combination of personalized strengths-discovery, strategic brainstorming, and targeted branding. The goal is simple: Discover Your Fit. Then, he  helps you craft the words that become your verbal business card. Words that lead to the ultimate business advantage – referrals.

Sound like a plan for growth?

Today’s Sponsor is Impulse Creative’s Video Marketing Masterclass - George B Thomas built out an 11 module On-Demand Course on how to leverage Video in your Business. He covers everything from how to choose the right equipment, to what you can do videos about in your business. Check it out at impulsecreative.com/vfm and preview 2 modules for Free.

Clarity is: Identity, Focus, Message

Every company needs to be crystal-clear on their identity. What's your mission? You vision? Who are you really? #identity

Where do you fit in the marketplace? Who do you reach? #focus

How do you tell people about what you do and who you are? #message

Steve has found that many companies that come to him are lacking in at least one of these areas, more commonly two or three. 

When you don't know who you are, you don't know who to go after, and you don't know how to say what you do. 

This work, Steve says, really has to be done by the people running the company. Founders, C-level executives... the leaders of the brand who set the vision. If you don't have the captain of the ship using a compass, you're sunk!

Clarity Leads to a Simple, Memorable Message

Steve describes his original consulting gig in the pharma world as the "eHarmony of Pharmaceutical Training." It's a great way to give people a quick picture on who he was. This is the goal of your clarity exercise: get your message to people in a simple-to-understand way. 

This symbol, or metaphor, is the pinnacle to clarity. It's the most powerful way to portray who you and what you do in a matter of seconds. Take everything you've uncovered, your who, your what, your why... and distill it down into symbolic language. A word picture, an analogy. That's the goal.

Navigational Tool to Growth: Your Network of People

One of the most powerful tools for navigating your growth you have, and may not even realize, is your network. Steve learned that as his happy clients became his ambassadors, having a clear message helps tremendously in empowering them to help you grow. 

This network should be full of people you can help, who can help you, and where you can be mutually beneficial when it comes to things you need like input and mental support.

Sometimes Your Niche Has More to Grow

You can't be everything to everyone. Find your niche, and explore it deeply. Steve works in the world of pharma training, which one would think gets tapped out quickly with only a few big players in the industry. What he's found, even in his own work, is that he's "barely scratched the surface." 

Like many entrepreneurs, Steve faces the risk of shipwrecks due to lack of focus. Some call it shiny object syndrome. He found that over time he'd want to branch out and find clients in other industries. But diluting his message and chasing clients outside of the industry in which he's well known slowed down Steve's growth. Instead, focusing on his niche and digging deep gave him more ideal clients and more business.

Connect with Steve

• Steve's website
• Steve on LinkedIn
• Steve on Twitter
• Clarity Wins the book 

Other Helpful Links

• Forging an Ironclad Brand by Lindsay Pederson
• Whiskey Nate

Subscribe for New Episodes Every Week

Be sure to subscribe on your podcast player of choice (or the email notifications below) for new episodes every week, Tuesday mornings at 7:00am EST. Wayfinding Growth is the go-to podcast to inspire entrepreneurs, business owners and leadership. “For better or worse, in richness and in want” may be for weddings, but it’s also for businesses. We will be your navigator in this journey, no matter your level.

Love what we're doing? Leave a review wherever you listen!

The quickest way into someone's mind is an analogy or a metaphor... Can you do that with your business's message? On the next episode of Wayfinding Growth, The King of Clarity Steve Woodruff breaks down how clarity will help your growth journey.Be sure to subscribe on your podcast player of choice (or the email notifications below) for new episodes every week, Tuesday mornings at 7:00am EST. Wayfinding Growth is the go-to podcast to inspire entrepreneurs, business owners and leadership. “For better or worse, in richness and in want” may be for weddings, but it’s also for businesses. We will be your navigator in this journey, no matter your level.

What Does it Look Like (and Feel Like) to Transition to a Distributed Team

Impulse Creative hasn't always been a partially remote team. Before adding distributed team members, we were a completely in-house team totally headquartered and housed in Fort Myers, Florida. 

A few years ago, Impulse Creative faced a challenge. 70% of the team left the company all at once during what Remington called "a poaching by another agency." In that moment, Impulse needed to hire new talent and quickly. Co-founders Remington and Rachel considered remote workers to fill that need of "getting a butt in the seat, fast."

Today’s Sponsor is Impulse Creative’s Video Marketing Masterclass - George B Thomas built out an 11 module On-Demand Course on how to leverage Video in your Business. He covers everything from how to choose the right equipment, to what you can do videos about in your business. Check it out at impulsecreative.com/vfm and preview 2 modules for Free.

Being able to have an employee, no matter where they are in the country, pivot to your business quickly, can make the difference between two weeks and four weeks (or longer) for a new team member. Sometimes a need drives change that benefits your business in the long run.

Remington and Dan dive deep into what it "feels like" for an owner/founder to realize that the traditional "if your business is healthy, you're increasing office space and building a team you can see" is changing. You may not be able to point to your team in person, but you can include worldwide talent as part of your team instead.

It's also a common concern that with remote workers, collaboration may go away. You have to combat that with technology, culture, and a focused effort.

Technology has made it so your business can grow beyond local talent. You no longer have to move someone (and potentially their family) if you hire someone from across the country. That may feel uncomfortable for some business owners or leaders, but it's something Remington says is freeing as well. 

Hiring That First Remote Employee

It's not an easy thing to make the transition and hire that first remote employee. For Impulse Creative, that person was Danielle. She's still with the company. But it wasn't a simple road for either side. 

Remington honestly lays out the early conversations, where he told Danielle that this was a new direction for the company, that it won't be easy, but if both sides are willing to learn, it could be exciting. He says open dialogue and candor are critical to the success of this transition.

In-House Team Benefits

Over the course of the conversation, Remington talks about benefits to having a team in-house. This may mean you'll want to have a mix of in-house and remote, or it may mean that you'll need to consider how to encourage some of this for your distributed team. Or you might end up finding a new way to encourage these benefits.

Passive Communication

When your team is all together, they get a feel for their coworkers and what's going on with them. Maybe one person hears two others talking about an issue they're trying to fix. That third person overhears it, and drops in to offer a quick thought that solves it. That passive communication doesn't naturally happen when miles separate the team.

This also means that when your team isn't in the same room, things like recognizing mood or making personal connections may not happen as easily. When people are together every day, they get to know each other through interpersonal, non-verbal communication. A distributed team has to find a different way of coming together.

Empathy and Awareness

"It's harder to identify when someone is struggling, when they're not right there," Remington says. As a leader, manager, or business owner, you're probably in tune with your team. You can tell when they're struggling with a task or a project. You may even be able to tell when they're having a bad day.

"You can hear their sighs. With the in-house team, when someone makes a sigh in a certain way, I know they need help even if they don't ask for it."

When you're with them in-person, empathy and awareness are more natural and easy. 

Distributed Team Benefits

With a distributed team, comes specific benefits. Here are a couple the guys cover in the conversation. 

Talent Pool

Relocation happens when you find talent outside of your geographical area. But that can add expense, it can increase risk for both the company and the employee, and it takes time. Remote workers can be up and running faster, they get to stay where there home already is, and you don't need to pay for relocation. With a distributed team, your talent pool expands.

Flexibility

When you have team members who can work from anywhere, they can work... from anywhere! At the time of this recording, our graphic designer Jeffrey (lives/works in northern Florida) was working while traveling. He was in southern California, where he's from, on a personal trip. He was able to take some time off during the trip, but also work to save some of the time off. 

If your team member has to travel but can still work, they're able to have more flexibility for themselves and your business. 

Some Tools to Help Your Distributed Team

From software to hardware to cultural focuses, the tools you put into play for your distributed team are critical. Here are a few we cover.

15Five

This helps with performance and engagement of employees by continuously asking questions and starting the right conversations.

Video First Culture

Video helps connect us. Instead of standard phones, we go right to video. It helps with non-verbal communication and face-to-face connection.

Slack

Instant communication. Also, random conversations. We have channels like #random, #gifgab, #music and others. 

Asana

Having a productivity tool is key to any team. It's even more critical for a remote team. It helps with communication, accountability, and more. 

Tettra

Documentation is key. Where can employees go to find past learnings, processes and more? We use Tettra. A ton.

Purposeful In-Person Gatherings

Whether it's an annual event or monthly visits from different team members, it's critical to include your distributed team in events at headquarters. 

Work from Home Test

Build empathy and test the system. Impulse Creative put a test in place for the in-house team - a work from home week. Hear about that experience at 20:30 into the conversation. Remington learned a lot about himself in this one...

"Donuts"

Dan and Remington explore the journey from an completely in-house team, to a 50% distributed team in the latest episode of Wayfinding Growth. Tuesday morning at 7:00am on your podcast player of choice!

Nelson Joyce, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer

Tettra is an internal wiki tool, built to help companies of all sizes document their processes. It's an integrated SaaS, that helps growing teams grow strategically, methodically, and with wisdom. Rather than keep all of the knowledge in one person's head, Tettra helps teams build knowledge bases.

Nelson Joyce is co-founder and Chief Product Officer. Previous to founding Tettra with co-founder Andy Cook, Nelson was with HubSpot, as a UX designer and product entrepreneur. Growth is in Nelson's core values, and he opens up about his journey.

Early on in the conversation, in talking about starting Tettra, Nelson says "One of the biggest risks in starting a company is can you even work with the person or the people you're starting it with?" Figuring that out is a critical step in a growth journey for a startup.

Today’s Sponsor is Impulse Creative’s Video Marketing Masterclass - George B Thomas built out an 11 module On-Demand Course on how to leverage Video in your Business. He covers everything from how to choose the right equipment, to what you can do videos about in your business. Check it out at impulsecreative.com/vfm and preview 2 modules for Free.

Tettra's Shipwreck

Tettra's leadership decided to be authentic and vulnerable from an early point. Nelson talked about how honest they've been along the way. 

The biggest shipwreck for Nelson and the team was almost running out of money and having to lay people off. In the startup world, most just starting out raise money through venture capitalists (VC money), but Nelson and Andy didn't like that model. 

While disrupting a well-known business model may seem brave and cool, it really came down to Nelson and Andy needing to go raise money to pay employees and keep the ship sailing, but they weren't good at it. So it wasn't working and they had to cut salaries and lay people off.

The experience taught them they weren't a "usual" hypergrowth, venture backed startup like so many around them in the Boston tech world. Instead, they decided to find a way to run the company in a more authentic, sustainable way for them.

Nelson explains that while so many founders see VC investment leads to less risk, but he sees it as more risk. Inside of HubSpot, Nelson and Andy saw the "good side" to VC investment. Unfortunately, that's not what most companies see. There's a risk to taking money from investors, and it wasn't something Tettra leadership wanted to do.

When a VC firm invests in multiple companies, they can work the numbers so if 80% of those businesses fail, they'll reap the rewards of the hypergrowth 20%. But for those businesses, failure is final; they have that one chance to beat the 80% stat. 

This decision essentially positions Tettra as an anti-startup, and gives the company freedom to find different measures of success.

"Growing slowly is a superpower. People can get used to the system and the system scales naturally without breaking. Going the VC route or hiring really fast is the equivalent of taking steroids to get ultra strong super fast. You're able to do it, but as soon as you stop taking the steroids, your body deteriorates."

It's the Swings That Kill You

A tool Neslon is grateful for in his wayfinding growth journey is resiliency. He says keeping your emotions in check, not getting too low when it's low and not to head-in-the-clouds when things go well is critical to sustainable growth. 

Sometimes you'll close a big deal with a profitable customer, which you'll want to celebrate, then you'll lose a client by surprise and you'll want to quit it all. 

Nelson says you want to keep an even keel and realize that growth has its ups and downs. You can't control that, but you can control your reaction and your emotions. 

Document Your Growth, No Matter Your Size

From its inception, Tettra team members have used their own system. Even as a very small startup, Nelson says they documented everything. The benefit is that every step is written down so you can go back, slow down, and think through why a decision was made. 

Putting systems in place and documenting them increases efficiency. Tettra is 7 people, but they get work done like their much bigger. And Nelson attributes a lot of that to using their own tool.

Connect with Nelson and Tettra

• Nelson on LinkedIn
• Tettra
• Tettra on Twitter
• Tettra on LinkedIn

Subscribe for New Episodes Every Week

Be sure to subscribe on your podcast player of choice (or the email notifications below) for new episodes every week, Tuesday mornings at 7:00am EST. Wayfinding Growth is the go-to podcast to inspire entrepreneurs, business owners and leadership. “For better or worse, in richness and in want” may be for weddings, but it’s also for businesses. We will be your navigator in this journey, no matter your level.

Love what we're doing? Leave a review wherever you listen!

Hear from Tettra co-founder Nelson Joyce coming up on the next episode of Wayfinding Growth."Growing slowly is a super power.""Going the VC route is like taking steroids. You'll grow... at a cost."

Can You Really "Control the Message" in Today's World?

When Impulse Creative made the move from Fort Myers to Babcock Ranch, we moved into a smaller office space. For most companies, that's a red flag that things aren't going well. In this episode of Wayfinding Growth, Remington and Dan discuss how they planned the messaging around the move to ensure everyone understood the reasons behind it. In essence, they wanted to "control the message" so people wouldn't think the worst. 

But the question is: In today's social media world and hyperspeed communication culture, can businesses still control a message? Or is it more influence? 

Today’s Sponsor is Impulse Creative’s Video Marketing Masterclass - George B Thomas built out an 11 module On-Demand Course on how to leverage Video in your Business. He covers everything from how to choose the right equipment, to what you can do videos about in your business. Check it out at impulsecreative.com/vfm and preview 2 modules for Free.

Make a Proactive Plan

Communicate internally as much as possible, so no one fills in the story they're not hearing. When we don't hear the story, we tend to fill it in with negativity. 

Then make sure you're influencing the public communication. First, you have to simply let your customers know you've moved so they don't go to the wrong location. Remember, just because you're there every day doesn't mean they are!

Remington pointed out that in addition to that, we need to ensure people in the world aren't making assumptions. We want to have a plan to proactively inform people of a move so they're not caught off guard.

This is why we created an exciting, upbeat video announcing how excited we were about the move, the positives to it, and welcoming our network to our new home. You can check out the Welcome to the New Impulse Creative Headquarters here.

Spin vs. Authentic Influence

"I don't want people to think of it negatively," said Remington of the word spin. "Our job as marketers is to worry about the optics of a situation." 

A business could be moving locations for all the right reasons - cost savings to make the business more profitable, finding a great location with modern amenities, reducing space due to a growing distributed team - and you could have one person speak out and say you're doing it for the wrong reason. Too often that single voice with the negativity is the one that gets the attention. 

So you have to understand that your goal is to influence and manage the communication in an authentic, honest manner so you're guiding the discussion. This helps you to mitigate the risk of negative perceptions. You can think of it less as spin, and more of an authentic influence.

Marble Floors vs. Talent

Dan asked Remington about the perception of moving into a bigger office space versus a smaller footprint, and what that means in the business world. The new HQ is smaller in part because a growing distributed team means people working from home, talent around the country, and less need for "marble floors and big offices." 

In considering the message, Remington wanted to offer the public the pros to our move including making the agency more profitable. That leads to hiring more talent, continuing to grow, and sticking around for years to serve our clients. 

Part of that positive message also included highlighting the fact that the new HQ is in a brand new town that's the first completely solar powered community in the US. We're working to ensure our footprint on our Earth diminishes while our business grows. 

Lessons Learned from Past Experience

Remington recounts a lesson learned from a past experience, where Impulse Creative decided to upgrade furniture. Standing desks have become a popular option for allowing team members to move during their work days. It's better for health, and a great move for any business that can do it. 

Of course, with new furniture comes the need to get rid of the old. In this particular case, Remington simply offered the old furniture to the public, which led to a ton of questions like "Is everything okay?" and "Are you going out of business?" This time Remington knew that we'd want to head off those kinds of questions with a proactive message.

So while you may not be able to control the message as a business, you can certainly work to influence perception through planned, authentic, proactive communications. 

Subscribe for New Episodes Every Week

Be sure to subscribe on your podcast player of choice (or the email notifications below) for new episodes every week, Tuesday mornings at 7:00am EST. Wayfinding Growth is the go-to podcast to inspire entrepreneurs, business owners and leadership. “For better or worse, in richness and in want” may be for weddings, but it’s also for businesses. We will be your navigator in this journey, no matter your level.

Love what we're doing? Leave a review wherever you listen!

Launching a Franchise, Using Empathy to Make Decisions, We All Face Shipwrecks

Parallel industries can teach us so much. In this episode of Wayfinding Growth, Remington walked away with several "aha moments" from a coffee franchise that sparked ideas for our agency. We hope you'll do the same.

Today’s Sponsor is Impulse Creative’s Video Marketing Masterclass - George B Thomas built out an 11 module On-Demand Course on how to leverage Video in your Business. He covers everything from how to choose the right equipment, to what you can do videos about in your business. Check it out at impulsecreative.com/vfm and preview 2 modules for Free.

Bob Fish, Biggby Coffee

Biggby Coffee (pronounced Big-Bee) is a privately owned coffee franchise business based in East Lansing, Michigan. There are close to 250 locations across 8 states, each locally owned and operated. Bob Fish and Michael McFall are the co-CEOs of Biggby Coffee. 

Bob, along with co-found Mary Roszel, launched the company in 1995 near Michigan State University. Franchising started in 1999.

"My Harbor is Littered with Shipwrecks"

Bob says you can't have success without shipwrecks. Growth takes risk. 

He recalled how his first store in East Lansing opened "with a resounding thud." It took grit and tenacity and a dream to make it happen through those shipwrecks. In fact his biggest shipwreck was about 5 years into the life of Biggby. Bob and his partner decided to buy a small coffee chain in Toledo, Ohio.

The plan was to buy and flip the brand. They went to a vendor for a loan, a bank for a loan, and put their own money into the venture. As life moved forward and they thought it was going well, they hit their first major obstacle. 

The bank came to the business and said they were shutting their loan down. Bob and the leadership team discovered they weren't keeping their balance sheet in the "right ratio" for the bank. 

Bob says the lesson was conquering hubris and arrogance, because he hadn't read the fine print in the contract and taken it seriously. On the precipice of bankruptcy, Bob and his partner had to then show up to the rest of the world with a positive attitude. 

Empathy and Branding

Biggby didn't start as Biggby. The brand actually started as Beaner's Coffee. In late 2007, they changed to Biggby Coffee. The idea behind the original name was a reference to coffee beans. The team wasn't aware of the other meaning of the word. “Beaner” is often used as an ethnic slur for people of Mexican heritage. So Bob and partner Mike McFall agreed that they wanted to voluntarily change their name.

Founded on the principal of being the friendly coffee community and loving everyone, the pair wanted people to know that the organization was open and accepting of all nationalities and people. The name “Biggby” was chosen as it was the vocalization of the black and orange “big B” logo that already existed. Biggby became a fun name, and the first store opened under the name Biggby Coffee on October 29, 2007, in Westand, Michigan. The name change was completed in all stores by January 31, 2008.

The successful name change is attributed to the Biggby corporate entity making the decision to shoulder the entire cost of the name change. From exterior building signs, PR, and a myriad of other expenses, Bob and Mike felt it was only right to cover the costs for franchise owners. Bob said the cost added up to about $1 million. And it was worth every penny.

In December 2007, Biggby Coffee was awarded MBC Global's 3rd Quarter Multicultural Achievement Award for completing the name change on a completely voluntary basis.

Get to Know Bob and Biggby

• Biggby Coffee website
• Biggby's B-Happy Lounge
• Biggby on Twitter
• Bob on Facebook
• Bob on LinkedIn

Be sure to subscribe to Wayfinding Growth for more insight into growing your business.

Listen every Tuesday morning at 6:00 on your podcast player of choice. If you learned something, please share with others. And if you love what we're doing, leave a review wherever you listen to Wayfinding Growth with Remington Begg and Dan Moyle.