Help! My Business is Growing

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Team meetings are an integral part of every business. They're a venue for your employees to bond, exchange ideas, and collaborate to help hit your business goals.

They also give you, the founder, a transparent platform to share news, updates, and plans about the business and your industry, and to give and receive feedback.

But sadly, not everyone is excited to attend team meetings. Many employees whine and gripe about how meetings are often boring, unnecessary ("this meeting could have been an email!"), and a black hole sucking their time and productivity into oblivion.

When done wrong, "bad meetings" can lead to feelings of isolation, lower employee morale, or even a big drop in sales.

So what do you need to do to get meetings right? What skills should you have as a leader, and what structure should be in place to ensure that you'll have productive team meetings that will motivate your team?

In this episode of Help! My Business Is Growing, our guest Danny Hadas breaks down the importance of team meetings and how to structure them to the benefit of your growing business.

We'll discuss how holding meetings will not only foster a sense of collaboration, teamwork, and camaraderie amongst your employees but also have a direct effect on your business finances as well.

Danny Hadas is an entrepreneur and former advisor to the world’s most iconic brands. He is also a #1 best-selling author, and his work has impacted millions of people across 500+ companies worldwide, including Disney, BMW, and AT&T. As the founder of The Emovation Project, Danny teaches service-based small businesses how to double their revenue without doubling their effort using Minimalist Leadership.

In this week's episode, we discuss:

03:03 What happens in businesses that don't have regular team meetings?

04:22 How often should you have team meetings?

06:40 How do you effectively communicate to your team that there will now be regular meetings so they see it as a good thing versus feeling micromanaged?

09:19 What is the best way to structure your team meetings? Is there an optimum or best time to hold them?

14:39 What is the second item or step on the meeting agenda once you're done revisiting the company brand, values, and mission?

16:43 Is it possible to overshare KPIs or financials?

18:57 What is the third item on the agenda now that you're done sharing KPIs and how the business is doing?

21:16 What happens if no one shares or contributes - how do you solve this issue?

22:53 After revisiting the vision/mission, sharing KPIs and wins and challenges, what should be the fourth and final item on your meeting agenda?

25:34 Can you break the rules of these four-step meeting items and change their order?

27:08 What's the best way to wrap up the meeting?

30:39 How do you structure meetings with a larger number of employees? Is a meeting with 100 people the same as 30 or 50?

33:56 For one-on-one meetings, how long and how often should they take place?

34:48 Should you follow the same structure of team meetings when conducting a one-on-one meeting?

36:20 What is one tangible step business owners can take this week to get closer to getting into the habit of hav

Is your growth causing financial headaches? Sales up, but profits lagging? Financial practices stuck in entry level mode?

Don't worry, it's not you—it's your financial setup.

Introducing NextGen Finance Blueprint by NewCastle Finance. This CFO-led roadmap: • Brings fuzzy finances into focus • Gives you a clear money picture • Creates a step-by-step action plan

Ready to level up? Visit newcastle.finance/blueprint

Comments? Suggestions? Text the show here!

When running a business, you're busy keeping an eye on its finances, ensuring stable production, and implementing your sales and marketing campaigns for its continued growth. This approach makes complete fiscal sense, and it focuses on aspects of the business that will keep it healthy and sustainable.

But what about your Human Resources (HR)? Is it something you're also looking at and actively working on? Sadly, despite it being an essential and crucial foundational piece of any business, it often falls behind and is not prioritized.

HR is every person working for your company, and it is also the department that will manage them. It is payroll, benefits, compliance - and finding and keeping the right people. It will also have a lasting negative impact both operationally and financially on your business if you don't have a long-term HR strategy and don't set up the proper HR infrastructure.

So how do you develop an effective and scalable HR infrastructure for your growing business?

In this episode of Help! My Business Is Growing, our guest Milly Christmann and I take a very deep dive into the importance of establishing an HR infrastructure for the success of your business.

She'll discuss how having a comprehensive HR Infrastructure can help you attract and retain top talent, support your company's operational and financial plans and align resources to help you hit your business objectives.

Milly Christmann is a Fractional HR Leader and owner of Marathon Growth Management, a Human Resources consulting business that supports small to medium-sized businesses. Recognized for collaborating with leaders to achieve their business goals by unleashing the power of an engaged workforce, Milly uses process improvement, technology, and strong, passionate people skills to attract, develop, and retain top talent, driving change that matters.

In this week's episode, we discuss:

03:48 What are the signs that it's time to plan and implement an HR infrastructure in your business?

06:29 What does a "people plan" look like in planning and growth for your business?

14:50 Should you start thinking about having a dedicated HR professional on your staff when you hit the 50+ employee mark, or is a fractional HR service or an outsourced provider enough to help you manage?

18:25 How are business owners not maximizing their payroll company to its total capacity. What are some examples, and what does this look like?

22:12 What is the scope of a Fractional CHR professional's role in your business? Are they able to provide leadership coaching and advise the CEO on change management?

25:21 What about smaller businesses with less than 50 employees? What HR structure should they implement? Do they need it for compliance and beyond? What is that process like in their space?

30:29 What is one tangible step business owners can take this week to get closer to having an efficient and effective HR structure?

Resources:

Milly Christmann, Fractional HR Leader and Founder of Marathon Growth Management:
https://www.marathongrowthmgt.com/

Is your growth causing financial headaches? Sales up, but profits lagging? Financial practices stuck in entry level mode?

Don't worry, it's not you—it's your financial setup.

Introducing NextGen Finance Blueprint by NewCastle Finance. This CFO-led roadmap: • Brings fuzzy finances into focus • Gives you a clear money picture • Creates a step-by-step action plan

Ready to level up? Visit newcastle.finance/blueprint

Comments? Suggestions? Text the show here!

Struggling with poor performance in your business? Whether it's employees always running late, missing deadlines, or failing to meet expectations, it’s stressful and will eventually affect your bottom line.

So, what's causing all the chaos? Is it a communication breakdown? Are there gaps in your onboarding processes? Or are your leaders not stepping up?

Discovering the root causes of poor performance is key to implementing meaningful changes.

But how do you identify and address these challenges?

And what are the steps you need to take to foster a culture of success in your business?

In this episode, Barbara Mason shares her insights on how to identify poor performance and what you need to do to turn it around to protect your growing business.

Barbara Mason is a renowned career coach and HR insider with a passion for helping develop career-oriented teams that will help your business’s growth and workplace culture. She has a remarkable track record in positioning professionals and CEOs for significant business and career growth.

We discuss: (timestamps)

01:50 - Reasons for poor performance in business

04:09 - Employee accountability for performance improvement

06:40 - Addressing the causes of poor performance

08:58 - Managing excuses and repeated performance issues

11:21 - Importance of documentation in performance management

13:17 - Established processes for handling poor performance

15:36 - Dealing with performance issues when there are no clear expectations

17:39 - The impact of hiring and onboarding processes on performance

23:29: - Avoiding micromanagement in improving performance

25:45 - How poor performance affects finances

26:13 - Financial challenges vs performance management

28:48 - Actionable steps to take when addressing an employee performance issue

Resources:

Barbara Mason, CEO, Career Pathways Consulting
https://careerpathwaysconsulting.com/

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/careerpathwaysconsulting/

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/yourhrinsider/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/careerpathwaysconsulting

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/careerpathways7

Kathy Svetina, Fractional CFO:
https://www.newcastlefinance.us/

Blog post | Overcoming Employee Performance Issues
https://www.newcastlefinance.us/listen/overcoming-employee-performance-issues/

Is your growth causing financial headaches? Sales up, but profits lagging? Financial practices stuck in entry level mode?

Don't worry, it's not you—it's your financial setup.

Introducing NextGen Finance Blueprint by NewCastle Finance. This CFO-led roadmap: • Brings fuzzy finances into focus • Gives you a clear money picture • Creates a step-by-step action plan

Ready to level up? Visit newcastle.finance/blueprint

Comments? Suggestions? Text the show here!

Ever found yourself drowning in the tedium and mundane tasks of running a business, wondering if there's a way to escape and get your life back?

What if we told you that, "Yes! there is a way!" And that it's absolutely possible to lead a fulfilled life while working fewer hours, whether you're managing one successful business or multiple ventures.

Does it sound too good to be true? It's not!

In this episode, our guest Jeff Russell shares his journey of building multiple thriving businesses across different industries.

He brings his businesses to new heights of success through a combination of strategic hiring, implementing systems and processes, and mindful business evaluation.

His insights and experiences are gold and will help you sidestep getting lost in the relentless hustle and busyness so you can live the life you want while building the business of your dreams.

Jeff Russell, is a best-selling author, renowned speaker, and accomplished entrepreneur. As the founder of many successful businesses and author of his latest book, ‘Fire Yourself First,’ Jeff is an expert in helping business owners break free from the daily grind.

We discuss:

02:27 Introduction to Jeff Russell

07:17 The differences between organizational charts and role charts

09:39 Jeff’s shared service model for marketing, financial management, and operational roles

14:43 Why stepping back from day-to-day operations to focus on long-term strategy is vital

18:15 Transitioning from owner-operators to true owners by implementing systems & processes

24:47 Jeff's 11-step hiring process outlined in his book "Fire Yourself First"

33:58 Importance of reading, listening to podcasts, and attending conferences for self-education

39:34 Actionable steps to be like Jeff: not just an owner operator but a true owner

Resources:
Jeff Russell Best-Selling Author, Speaker, Serial Entrepreneur, and CEO, Oakridge Financial Group
https://www.fireyourselffirst.com/

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/thejeffrussell/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088397692719

Twitter:
https://www.twitter.com/jeffrussellsays

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/fireyourselffirst

Author of “Fire Yourself First”:
https://www.fireyourselffirst.com/book-jeff

Other Resources Mentioned in the Episode:

Dan Sullivan:
https://www.strategiccoach.com/

Storybrand:
https://storybrand.com/

Dawn Fotopulos: Accounting for the Number Phobic
https://www.amazon.com/Accounting-Numberphobic-Survival-Business-Owners-ebo

Is your growth causing financial headaches? Sales up, but profits lagging? Financial practices stuck in entry level mode?

Don't worry, it's not you—it's your financial setup.

Introducing NextGen Finance Blueprint by NewCastle Finance. This CFO-led roadmap: • Brings fuzzy finances into focus • Gives you a clear money picture • Creates a step-by-step action plan

Ready to level up? Visit newcastle.finance/blueprint

Comments? Suggestions? Text the show here!

Growing your business is on every entrepreneur's mind. Maybe you're eyeing new markets, or you've set your sights on doubling revenue in the next few years. Sounds exciting, right? But if your business isn't ready for that growth, it can backfire fast.

What happens when you're not prepared? Production delays start piling up. Your team burns out. Worse, you start losing the customers you worked so hard to get.

So, how do you know if your business is ready for rapid growth?

What steps should you take to prepare your operations?

And how can you do it all without causing your team or your resources to burn out?

In this episode, Joey Iazzetto and I break down what it takes to achieve real, sustainable business growth. He walks us through the five critical areas you need to master—covering everything from capacity and customer insights to financial strategies and optimizing sales channels for success.

Joey is a national marketing leader and the Chief Growth Officer of ICG Marketing, specializing in driving revenue growth and maximizing ROI through strategic business planning.

With a deep understanding of business strategy, he leverages customer and competitive insights to deliver significant financial gains for privately held businesses. His proven track record showcases measurable results by seamlessly integrating sales, marketing, finance, and operations to enhance overall business performance.

We discuss:
02:28 – Understanding exponential growth challenges

[04:27 | 07:53 | 15:11 | 30:28 | 35:50] – The 5Cs or critical areas of business growth

11:55 – Conducting effective customer research conversations

20:33 – How market research reveals positioning opportunities

21:53 – Managing customer response to new messaging

40:19 – Why sales and marketing drive easy growth

44:18 – Actionable steps to achieve healthy exponential growth

Resources:
Joey Iazzetto, Chief Growth Officer, ICG Marketing
https://www.icgmarketing.com/

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joey-iazzetto-8741361/

Kathy Svetina, Fractional CFO:
https://www.newcastlefinance.us/
Blog post | Growth Without Breaking: The 5 Cs for Sustainable Growth
https://www.newcastlefinance.us/listen/sustainable-business-growth-newcastle-finance/

Is your growth causing financial headaches? Sales up, but profits lagging? Financial practices stuck in entry level mode?

Don't worry, it's not you—it's your financial setup.

Introducing NextGen Finance Blueprint by NewCastle Finance. This CFO-led roadmap: • Brings fuzzy finances into focus • Gives you a clear money picture • Creates a step-by-step action plan

Ready to level up? Visit newcastle.finance/blueprint