Resource Library - Unlocking Business Growth: Mindset Matters

Summary

In this episode of the Koyoti Small Business Podcast, host Thomas interviews business growth strategist Steve Walsh. They discuss the importance of mindset in scaling small businesses, the significance of financial literacy, and the role of marketing in growth. Steve shares his journey from a farm boy to a private equity expert, emphasizing the need for entrepreneurs to overcome fears and ego that may hinder their progress. He introduces his DNA success formula and highlights the importance of personal well-being alongside business success. The conversation also covers finding the right investors and preparing for a successful exit strategy.

Takeaways

• Small businesses often limit themselves with their mindset.
• Scaling requires a shift in perspective and finding mentors.
• Financial literacy is crucial for understanding business health.
• Marketing should be smart and measurable, especially in tough times.
• Bringing in outside capital can accelerate growth if done wisely.
• Ego can hinder strategic decisions; entrepreneurs must be open to change.
• The DNA success formula includes discipline, no excuses, and action.
• Fear of scaling often stems from a lack of vision or support.
• Finding the right investors is essential for long-term success.
• Personal well-being is as important as business success.

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Transcript

Thomas (00:03.15)

Hello, hello, and welcome to another episode of the Koyoti Small Business Podcast, a resource library to help with your small business. We've got with us today a very special guest. His name is Steve Walsh, and he's a business growth strategist. And that's the thing with small business owners, know, we're quite often, you know, doing our very, very best. But at the same time, we get to a point where we don't

We can't get further for some reason. so hopefully Steve can help us with a little bit of that. He's also the author of a book, Make the 10x Leap. Steve, welcome, welcome.

Steve Walsh (00:46.119)

Hey Thomas, thanks a lot for introducing me. You know, when you say small business, the really the one thing I always say, especially when it comes to small businesses, they're only small because they think that way. You know, a lot of times when you look at a business, a small business, you know, company, I always look at companies

I look at companies that $2 million to $20 million to $30 million is really where my sweet spot is in private equity. One of the things I look at is how can I scale these companies? A lot of companies say they always give this answer as I don't have enough people, I don't have capital, all the things that they tell themselves as a small business. Quite frankly, it's the mindset that starts first.

It's a matter of like, how do we get out of that idea that we're only a small business and we're only going to stay a small business? I feel that the opportunity is there.

Thomas (01:45.952)

Right. So I love that you're talking already about mindset because that was the first thing that I wanted to get to. And we've talked about that your company is called Bison Equity and you have that lovely, lovely picture of the Bison pushing through the storm rather than running away with it and how it's like really central to your brand. And because the thing is many small business owners

Steve Walsh (02:07.479)

Great.

Thomas (02:14.218)

few do feel that they are constantly in that storm struggling with time and scarcity. So what is that mindset shift that an entrepreneur needs to make to stop from just surviving the storm and pushing through it toward massive scale?

Steve Walsh (02:31.82)

You know, I think the thing I look at is you're not alone. know, there is a lot of people that have done the same thing that you have that scaled their business. And so it's a matter like, I think the idea is that they can do it, but the picture has to, they have to see the picture. Meaning they have to see that if they want to go from let's say 3 million to 30 million,

they gotta see that maybe there's a path to see that. So it's a matter like it's that mind shift shift that they have to do is that it is possible. People have done it all the time. And quite frankly, find people that actually maybe have done it or maybe not in their industry, but in a different industry. I always say it's great to find mentors. It's great to find coaches.

Because if you're going to do that mind shift, you're probably not going be able to do it on your own. So that's going to be the first thing is look at it is, hey, I know I I I need to go to the next direct, the next step, but I can't do it by myself. And so that's where, where I come into play is, is okay. Do you need a coach? Do you need a mentor? Do you need, what is it that you need to get to that next level? But we need to figure out.

the picture. Let's say I always look at that I'm I always look at a bigger picture than they do. They say if they're at three they want to go to ten I say why not thirty? Why not fifty? But and then start backwards. Start at fifty and then work backwards from there. It's a matter of like what do you need people, systems, because really the systems are to be a lot different than where you're at fifty than you are now. And then capital.

And then do you need, what types of capital do you need? And the other thing is too, when I had, like I always say, the push through that storm, because for the other side is a lot nicer when you're pushing through that storm, a lot nicer. And so.

Thomas (04:40.109)

You

I'll bet, I'll Yeah. And it's funny you mentioned the other day I was, just happened to catch something on social media and it was a woman who, her business was at $100,000. She wanted to join this program, but they were like, oh, you need to be at a million. She was like, you know, next year I would be lucky. I would be happy if I was able to get to,

150,000 and then so get to him getting to a million like that's ridiculous but then she went to the she went when she got to the light into the lobby and before she exited the the building she started scratching out on a piece of paper all the things that she needed to do to get to the 150,000 that she was kind of hoping to get to next year and then after that she started thinking and she's like you know what she flipped over the piece of paper and then she wrote okay if I wanted to get to a million next year

What are the things that I have to do? And she essentially scratched out all the things that she needed to do to get to 150 and focused on those. And that next year, she still didn't get to that million, but she got to 800,000 in a year.

Steve Walsh (05:54.269)

Isn't that amazing? It is the shift that really needs to be is, but I always say work backwards from where your goal is going to, you want to go to. You know, typically I always say is find somebody that's done it a lot, you know, a lot bigger than you. But also if you think it's going to be, if it's, if it's a 10 million, I would say really look at 10, why not?

50 because the thing is all it really is is you're doing some of the bigger heavier lifting but it's a matter of finding the people that you need to bring him in into the company because I guarantee you the people that you have there now let's say you're at three million may not be the people that going to get you to that 50 so you because you're all your employees have to believe it too it's it's a matter like if they're on board

Thomas (06:43.138)

Mm.

Steve Walsh (06:51.711)

you're on board, gonna get to the next, they wanna get to the next level, what's that look like? And the other thing is too, a lot of times, entrepreneurs burn themselves out, they're spending like 80 hours a week. They don't need to do that. That's the other thing is too, find people to replace yourself. If you're doing all the work inside the business, the

Thomas (07:14.861)

Thank

Steve Walsh (07:20.255)

The founder needs to get themselves that they look into the business, not being in the business. And so they can do a lot of things. When you look into the business, there's so much more that you can see the problems, the bottlenecks, where we need to scale, what are the things that we need to get in place. Those are the things that they can do once they see into the business. A lot of times when they're in the business, it's tough to see it.

Thomas (07:48.558)

Right. Yeah, absolutely. And thank you for that. I 100 % agree. And I do want to dive more into what you were just talking about. But before that, let's kind of explore the path that you took to become an authority on scaling investment. Where are you from? Where were you born?

Steve Walsh (08:08.234)

So I was in a small town, small town, talking, I was a farm boy, Bernard, Iowa, and one of the things I started was, I was 15, 15, think, right, 14, 15, I started working on motorcycles. That's my journey is I started doing is working on motorcycles and selling motorcycles. So I was an entrepreneur when I was younger. But the other side of it too is as an investor, I also

read the Wall Street Journal when I was in high school. And so that's where I started as an investor. started that really very young from there. So that's where I started. And then from there, it's a matter of like, OK, what are the things that I needed to do? Which I didn't know. I still had mentors, which I didn't know they were mentors back then. I had a big reading problem. I had a great teacher.

that helped me through that. Now I'm a... I love to read. And I would say a lot of it is because of him. So even when I was young I had mentors. And that's really, I think, really what helped me to get to the next level. And so from there on top of that is I went to college at UNI, which is a university here in Iowa. And I got my CPA right out of college.

One thing I did learn though, love the numbers. I just hated doing accounting. And so it was one of the things I stepped away from that and became a true investor and looking at companies and investing in publicly traded, mainly publicly traded stuff. And then also a lot of real estate. And I did a lot of real estate and then private companies too.

Thomas (10:03.925)

Amazing. Now you talk, you were talking just now about, working on, on motorcycles and fixing things. did that influence you in terms of your view, how you view operational resilience, resourcefulness, or was it, you know, you look back on it and it's, you know what, it was, it was a good, it was a good hobby while it was, and I made a little bit of money, a high five.

Steve Walsh (10:16.634)

it

Steve Walsh (10:30.992)

Right. I think it was a lot to do with that, but I think it was a lot to do with the resilience that I had started when I was young. And it was a matter of like going through some of the problems that I had back then, reading things like that. I think it really built that for me. And so that resilience, but then along the way, I saw really good mentors that also had that resilience.

And that helped. That helped along the way. So it was that matter of like, I'm not going to give up, you know, type mentality. And that's carried me forward all the way through my life is that that mentality of, know, that I see a sometimes I see a bigger picture. And so that that is the one thing I would look at is resilience for me started when I was young and it's carried forward all the way through.

Thomas (11:26.763)

Amazing. Now you also mentioned that you started reading the Wall Street Journal in high school and that you had mentioned to me previously that your mentor and one of your teachers had got you into it. But as a teenager, as a high schooler in a town of 300, as a farm boy,

Steve Walsh (11:34.384)

Right.

Thomas (11:53.126)

What was the draw from it? what did you, what gravitated? Because, you know, teachers can get you to, to, to say, you know, you need to read this, you need to read that. But for you to actually gravitate to it and be like, I want to sink my teeth into this thing. What was it about the Wall Street Journal that made you want to sink your teeth into it?

Steve Walsh (12:07.677)

Yeah.

Steve Walsh (12:11.428)

I think it was I saw something that you know I saw a lot of interesting about companies You know about publicly traded companies and what was going on in? Investing you know he had my teacher had showed me about what it was about investing and then how you can make money Doing that and that was always a big push for me is okay How do I make money and you know it started when I was young selling motorcycles?

doing things like that. That was the thing is when I got into reading the stuff, the Wall Street Journal, that was really what it was about is how can I make money reading this, you know, this paper every day. And so that was really what I got into is following stocks that I really was interested in and kind of ideas and it's carried through throughout my life is how can I get

information and really you know there I'd say is it was it back then I look at it is I just did it you know wasn't like one of those things where I thought it was I thought it was something that just pulled me towards it and it just kept doing it you know

Thomas (13:29.197)

Amazing. Amazing. so you, you also just mentioned just now that, you got into accounting, but you kind of actually kind of hated it. so why did you get into it in the first place? I mean, you could have gotten it, just gotten a business degree or you could have gotten it, gone, gone to a finance. What made you want to choose to do accounting and get your CPA?

Steve Walsh (13:55.859)

You know, thing is, I was a computer science major and I figured there was going to be a big push back even back then that computers were going to become popular, but I hated computer science. So I moved over to the next thing is, you know, accounting. And accounting was, for me, it was just I looked at the opportunity, I looked at it as companies. You know, we would do a lot of these case studies.

and I looked at how important it was for in accounting to really look at the numbers. And so that's really stuck with me when I was young like that is that these companies, you know, that they do reporting based on accounting principles. And so it really resonated with me until I got into wanting to do accounting. And it was more so that wasn't the fun part. The fun part was

looking at companies, seeing how they tick, and then going from there is, what can I use this information for? That was the thing. Not so much, I want to be the person that puts the numbers in and then spits it out and it's on the balance sheet or income statement. That was not going to be me. But I do like reading an income statement or a balance sheet.

Thomas (15:16.149)

Right. And I'm sure that, you know, with that training and with the experience, and probably gave you quite a deep insight into understanding what the numbers actually really mean. And the thing is, like, you find you find a lot of business owners and especially those that are visionaries, they kind of start struggling because they don't they don't even look at their numbers. So how

Steve Walsh (15:31.622)

Mm-hmm.

Thomas (15:45.88)

How crucial is it for small business owners, especially those that want to scale or are preparing to scale to master their financial statements? And are there any immediate red flags that you would look for in a balance sheet?

Steve Walsh (16:00.388)

Yeah, mean a lot of times if you're not really paying attention to your numbers, you don't know how your company's running. You know, it's kind of like looking at income statements on, I would say, or balance sheets. What's your inventory levels? Are you carrying too much inventory? What's your debt levels? A lot of the things that they don't follow, they continually make things.

And if they're not following the numbers, they may miss what's going on, you because they may be disconnected. If they're a visionary, a lot of times they're kind of in the clouds, I say, a lot of times, and so they're not in the trenches. And so if they're not paying attention to what's going on, you know, they're continually building, widgets. And if their sales guys aren't selling, they got high inventories, their sales are down.

And if they're not comparing from like year to year, that's the other thing is too. If we're not growing, you know, we're staying the same from year to year, then it's like, okay, what's the problem? What are we doing? You know, is our marketing right? Do we have great marketing? You know, the things that I look at is you can really look at what departments are performing really well, and then you can look at the numbers based on, okay, we have great sales,

But our, I would say, our gross margins really low. So then you gotta look at is, okay, are we making money on every product? That's the other thing is too. A lot of times these entrepreneurs have these so many different products, but they're not making money on every product. And so they have to look at it and say, okay, we're making, really making money on two products and then the rest of them, we're losing money.

So look at the numbers because of that.

Thomas (17:57.122)

Yeah, no, that reminds me what my my my my part growing up my family had a were important wholesalers and there was a line of of wedding accessories that it was hot for a time, but they had been sitting in the warehouse for near 20 years. And when I got involved in the business, I kept trying to get my dad to get rid of it. And he just got him saying.

It's money you you don't understand how different but at the same time, he's also the one that said, you know, it's generally inventory that kills important importers and wholesalers. and then for finally, we I was able to convince him to get a liquid or just get rid of it. But it was sitting there. I was there for 10 years. It was sitting there for eight of those 10 years. And it was sitting there like another 15 years before I had even joined.

Steve Walsh (18:50.051)

you

Thomas (18:50.541)

So it's funny that you're talking about inventory because I know, I know exactly what you're saying there. Now you're talking about marketing and you're coming from a money background. And I wasn't going to, I wasn't going to get into this just yet, but you just, this conversation has peaks, peaks my interest. Now I'm not going to say it from my perspective because I want to hear it from yours, but, in, marketing, we kind of have, you know, if you're looking to sustain your, you you should have,

percentage wise what your top line should be for marketing. If you want to grow or if you want to scale, then you should be spending X percentage of top line for marketing. Now from a financial perspective, do you have any recommendations or are all those just buckets that people in marketing just use to try and sell their wares?

Steve Walsh (19:45.386)

No, think here's the two things I always say. Innovation and marketing. Everything else is a cost. So I look at is how do you get the marketing out there? The other thing is too, it's gotta be smart marketing. You have to be able to measure it. A lot of times people will say, well I'm gonna do a radio show. Or radio, I'm gonna do some advertising radio. If you're not measuring it, it's not gonna be worth anything for me. I look at it as if

If I'm going to do marketing and I truly believe that the thing is, especially in down markets, in down economies, marketing is so much more important. And I believe that if they're not paying attention to that, your competitor probably is. You know, they're going to be the ones out there outperforming you. They're the ones doing all the marketing. If they're spending money on marketing, because that's one of the first things that they usually cut back on, I say,

double up. Do more marketing. Do a lot more marketing because the thing is when you come out of it you're gonna be way ahead of the game and that's where I look at spending money but you have to spend it smart. You know the thing is when you're just throwing money at marketing thinking I'm gonna do social media I'm gonna do all this. If you don't really understand who your customer is and don't really understand what's happening

you know with your product with your customer it becomes like you're throwing it at a dartboard you're not really making a target and so that's where I look at is the customer comes first you really got to understand who your customer is and then for that how do we market to that person you know where they where they're to be you know the thing is people I say well we can go social media are they on social media

what social media they use. Those are the things to look at. look at, sometimes the people look at their marketing towards a 58 to 75 year old. And they're gonna be a different spot than the 20s, the 20 year olds. So you really gotta think about who you're marketing to, how you're marketing to them, and get your message there. then also is, how do they look at your company?

Steve Walsh (22:09.318)

as your product, how do they use it, what do they think of your company. That's where you come down to interviewing your clients. What it comes down to is how important that is to you as a business. You really need to dial it in to what your customer really wants.

Thomas (22:30.285)

Amazing. I'm so glad we're recording. But we are getting off on to a tangent. and OK, so getting back to what we're talking about, you've spent over 25 years as a financial planner, with high net worth clients and doing angel investing. So what made you?

Steve Walsh (22:33.462)

Hahaha!

Haha

Thomas (22:56.557)

what motivated you to leave that comfortable path and transition fully into private equity?

Steve Walsh (23:03.522)

So I was seeing, know, a lot of the things I looked at, I looked at, I've always invested in companies, real estate companies, public or private companies, loved it, loved it. But the one thing I kept on seeing when I would invest in some of these companies is some of the pieces that they were missing. You know, as private equity, I can come in, bring capital in, but also too, I can bring in systems, I can bring in people.

and I make my investors money by doing a lot of the heavy lifting. So I help these entrepreneurs. And that was one of the things I looked at is when I was doing a lot of angel investing, things like that, I didn't have the control I have now. Now I can bring in systems, I can bring in people, capital, I have a lot more control. And then the other thing is too, I can really help that.

entrepreneur grow his business and I love it. I love working with entrepreneurs that want to grow. The one thing I always look at when I look at a business, do they have a growth mindset? Do they have a learning mindset? Do they want to be, do they want to learn, do they want to be to the next, go to the next level? That's really the thing I look at. If they're not willing to do, you know, some of the things, it's not rocket science. It's just a matter of just

doing the things that need to be done to get to the next level. And that's one of things I look at is I'll bring as much as they need, it's matter as long as we are on the right page. If we're not on the right page, it doesn't work. And that's why I talk to entrepreneurs all the time, they're always saying, well I need capital, I want to raise capital. And I say, that's great, let's see if we match. If we don't match,

it's not going to be a great fit. And it's not going to be fun for them, it's not going be fun for me. I always look at when they're looking at grazing, making sure that the investor they are working with is the right one for them.

Thomas (25:17.581)

So let's get into your book a little bit here. You detailed a situation where a founder's attachment to an expensive high-end product caused him to underprice a faster selling product because it was his baby. And you had said that it was stalling his company. So what practical advice can you give a small business owner who struggles with that ego control or attachment when facing

like these kind of strategic pivots because that's part of that. That's part of, think it was your, your ego lit test. think it is. Yeah.

Steve Walsh (25:54.688)

Yes. Yep. Yeah. So I always do that. You know, when I talk to an entrepreneur, I really want to see where they're at on their ego. You know, if that, like I said, do they have a learning mindset? And that is one of the things I look at, you know, that company you were talking about, there was two founders and then the CEO. And the problem they had is this, is there was one founder that was controlling the whole thing. And it wasn't

It was, he was very intelligent. He really knew what was going, he loved his products, but he had one high end product and that's the one he wanted to sell the most of. There was another product, wasn't as sexy, but he could sell it all day long. It was a product that he could, it was under priced, but he could sell it all day long. But he didn't really want to do anything with that product. The problem he ran into is he had investors that wanted to make money.

And when you have investors that want to push to the next level and the founder is saying, Hey, I want to sell this product. The sales process was a lot longer for that product. was, it was a probably a nine to 10 month versus the other one was you could do that probably within 30 days. And so it is really, it is a matter of that's where it comes out to be.

looking into your business you know bring yourself out looking into your business and seeing really what's going on that's really what happens and if you can learn something from somebody you know the idea is when I went in there I was brought in by investors to look at the company and the one thing I did is I do this what's called the Eagle Lit Test and it really does is

gives me an idea of what type of person they are and who they are. And then from there, it's a matter of like, okay, is this somebody I can work with? And I found out that we weren't gonna be able to work with each other. It just wasn't gonna happen. But it did give the investors a really good idea of what problems they were running into. And it was all about ego. so the one thing I would say is if an entrepreneur can really understand about

Steve Walsh (28:22.109)

what their market place is, why they're not making money in certain areas, and then kind of pull themselves out and look at, okay, look into your business. Really look into your business and understand how some of the decisions you're making is affecting it.

Thomas (28:40.991)

Right. Amazing. In chapter one of your book, you introduce the DNA success formula. And you have the discipline, no excuse mindset and action. Can you break these things down? And how does it apply to small business owners trying to break free from those self-imposed limitations?

Steve Walsh (28:49.907)

Yeah.

Steve Walsh (29:07.903)

Yeah, you know, this DNA came from a trainer that I had. I was working out with him and he kind of created it for a discipline about really about anywhere you really want to grow as a company. I don't care if it's personal or if you want to grow as your company itself, but it's that discipline that you have. If you have that discipline that gets to the next level.

you've got to really understand is how do I work? What is it that I do that's really probably messing up my company right now if maybe I'm not doing the disciplines I should be doing? I always say when it's discipline, it's a matter of like what disciplines do I need in my personal life and what do I need in my business life? Those are the things to look at because there's a lot of ways to look at your, I think a lot of times when you're

Personally not doing it, maybe you're not doing it the same thing in your business life too. And that's in your company also. So I would say, and then no excuses. There's no excuses about, I can't do it this way, we can't raise capital this way, we're struggling, our company's different. Those are the things, they keep on throwing excuse after excuse, excuse. The idea is, no, everybody's

has some sort excuse, you gotta push, there it goes again, with pushing through that storm, about getting past those excuses. And then from there, it's take the action. What actions do you need to take to get to the next level? That's where I go back to, going from the 50 million going backwards, what are the actions I need to take? What capitals do I need to raise? What people I need to get in place? What systems?

Those are the things I look at.

Thomas (31:07.575)

You also talk about that a lot of founders especially encounter a fear of scaling that prevents them from action. Can you talk more about that? What is that fear? What prevents them from wanting to scale or prevents them from actually going through with scaling?

Steve Walsh (31:32.158)

I think a lot of times it's matter of they just don't think they can do it. know, comes down to is they don't see the path. A lot of times it's a matter of like, they've been in the business so long, they just don't see the path. They don't see how they could scale it, how they can do it. And they, you know, like go back to, they keep on putting, you know, this is, our company's different or we can't do what they did, you know. All the things that they've said themselves.

they keep on telling themselves that same story. So they gotta get out that loop. You gotta get yourself out of that loop. And a lot of times it's not gonna be you that's gonna get you, it's gonna be somebody else that helps you get out that loop. And that's where I say mentors and coaches, very important when you want a scale company to get to the next level is get to that mindset of I can do it, our company is capable of doing it, we can get to the next level.

This is how we're going to do it. And then just have those and then the action. The action is really important because a lot of times you get into the weeds and you're like, man, this is hard. This is really hard. You know, we can't do it. You know, my employees, you know, they, they just don't understand or our competitor is doing it, but we're not be able to do it. You know, we're different. All the things that they tell themselves all the time and

But it's a matter like that mindset, you gotta push through that mindset of getting past there. I always say, if you find people that have done it, or get a coach, get something, get to the next level. Because every business, like I said, small business, can scale. I don't care what it is. They can scale.

Thomas (33:26.557)

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Have you ever encountered a business where, because, you know, I hear stories, never know if they're actually true or not. But have you ever encountered situations where, you know, they're at a point where, you know, what, they're growing nicely and, you know, it's time to bring in some outside capital.

Steve Walsh (33:27.91)

So.

Thomas (33:54.818)

They just can't bring themselves to do it. Is there any pushback? I I would love more money in my business, wouldn't you?

Steve Walsh (34:03.164)

Always, know, thing I think a lot of times what it is, it comes down to control. A lot of times they're so afraid of giving up any control, they want to bring in outside capital, they don't know what type of capital they want to bring in. A lot of times they don't want to bring in debt. You know, that's that old school idea that, you know, that's, you know, we just don't want debt on our books or they don't want an investor coming in, things like that. It's the...

I go back to the same thing. It's the mindset of, hey, we understand we want to grow. We understand we've to bring in capital. Bring in smart, I always say bring in smart capital. What is the investor going to do for us? Is it somebody that's going to be able to help us scale? Is it somebody that's going to be able to bring in, let's say they bring in customers, maybe they can bring in not just customers, maybe they can bring in systems. Maybe they can bring in employees to us.

You know, the things like that. So it is a matter like bringing in smart capital is what I look at is when you want to raise capital. bring, think of an investor as a partner. A partner is somebody that you want to work with. They want you to grow just as much as you want to grow. You know, they're there to help you grow. And if it's just capital you're bringing in,

it's probably not going to work. It's something that you want more than just capital. want capital, but you want to bring ideas. You want to bring in a lot of the things that maybe you don't have. And so that's where I look at it. Get past that mindset of, know, we want 100 % of the control. We want 100 % of the profits. You know, if you bring in an investor,

a lot of times you can scale a lot quicker. Look at all the companies, I don't care if it's publicly traded or private, they have scaled and they brought in investors to help them scale.

Steve Walsh (36:09.509)

You know, the billionaires out there, they didn't do it on their own. They brought in outside investors. They didn't do it on their own.

Thomas (36:17.451)

Yeah, just watch the social network. Now you've also stated that, we, I've spoken with another guest and we talked a lot about exit strategies. And I love that you have that in mind as well. Talking about preparing for your 10X exit.

Steve Walsh (36:20.324)

Right.

Thomas (36:46.285)

And you've talked about that a sellable company is one that the company can run without you. Are there a couple of maybe two or three practical steps that an entrepreneur can take right now to ensure that their business stops relying solely on them?

Steve Walsh (37:08.27)

Well, I think a lot of times it looks at bottlenecks. Look at where the areas that you really think, for instance, if your company is solely relying on you all the time, it's not a saleable company. So the thing is, you've got to look at is on some of the areas, where do I need to get myself out of basically the day-to-day operations? A lot of times, entrepreneur,

will say, you know, can't bring myself out. Well, yeah, you can, because you can find people that are smarter than you all the time. And that's what happens a lot of times. Entrepreneurs say, I can't find somebody that can do what I do. That's not true. It's a matter of getting that, and I go back to the same thing, the mindset. I'm going to find somebody to replace me so that I can work on bigger things. Those are the things to look at as twos.

If I'm continually doing the day-to-day stuff, I can't work on big things. And those are the things I look at is, how can I bring somebody like, I would say, bring in an employee that's going to take over maybe operations or things like that, so they can get themselves out. Because once you free yourself up from that, the ideas start flowing a lot easier. And so that's really one of

when you want to scale and you want a sellable company, it is bringing yourself out of the, getting yourself out of the day to day operation. And then it's a matter like from there, it's a matter like the bigger ideas you can work on. And every day it's going to be different.

Thomas (38:51.701)

Right. So for founders that are looking for help, be it Bison Equity or somebody else, is there something that they should be looking at in terms of, in terms of finding this type of a partner or, or, or is there, is there any red flags that they should be looking out for that, you know what, I should not be working with this type of

private equity firm.

Steve Walsh (39:23.706)

I think it's a lot of times it's a kind of a partnership marriage. You know, got to look at it see is it going to work? Do we have line values? Is our values of the company going to be the same as what the investor wants? You know, if the investor is looking for income and the entrepreneur wants growth, probably not going to work. So you really got to look at is are we aligned? And that's a matter like looking at

what they want and what the company wants. so it's a matter of, it's doing as much interviewing as I would say the investor is. You know, if you're not in line with the values, it's gonna be an uphill battle. And so that's where I think is, and then look at, I always go through a predictive index. I run them through a predictive index. So that way I know who I'm talking to. But they also do is same thing.

they can run a predictive index on me so they actually know who I am. And so a lot of times, those are the things that, just the basic things like that, that in the interview, interview me, talk to them. If I'm not willing to share things, it's probably not gonna be the good fit. And so that's one of the things I look at is, and that's where it's, like I said, it is an interview process.

It is a partnership and you really say, hey, what is it that you're going be able to do for us?

Thomas (40:58.359)

Yeah. Yeah. And you know, that also reminds me of something that I was told many years ago that, you know, when it comes to finding partners, it's much more, it's much easier to find somebody to join you than it is to ask them to leave. And so, you know, and so, you know, this is, this is as founders, you are, this is your, this is your baby. This is your, right. You, you brought it to this point and you're trying to find people to help you to bring it to a bigger point.

Steve Walsh (41:13.516)

Right.

Thomas (41:27.701)

But if you've got somebody who's going to end up, you know, making things go sideways for you and you know, you're not comfortable working with them or they're, you know, they work, do things that are rather unscrupulous and it's going to make you uncomfortable. You know, that's, it's going to be so much more difficult asking them to leave. So absolutely doing that due diligence is so important.

Steve Walsh (41:53.467)

Yeah, I would say, know, the thing I've seen working with entrepreneurs as bringing in capital in or bringing in people, systems, or if we just need to do some strategic planning. If we're not aligned in what my thoughts are and what their thoughts are, you know, if I want to go to that 50 million,

they're still thinking I want to just get the 20. It's not going to work because I'm gonna get I'm gonna get frustrated they're gonna get frustrated because they're I'm trying to get them to the next level and they want they just want to be at 20 million. So it's a matter like those are the big important things to ask. It's the all the hard questions you ask up front and then it's a matter like don't be afraid to ask you know questions when you're talking to investors.

anything's open, you know, it's a matter of like, cause I tell you what, down the road, if you bring an investor in and you're not happy, it's going to be a downhill battle. You know, it's so it's a matter. And then the other thing that's where, where I come in, cause what, what I shield, what I shield entrepreneurs from is investors. Because I bring in capital, I, the investors are behind me.

So what happens is I'm kind of the gatekeeper. And so that really helps them. If we are online aligned, it really helps. Because the one thing they don't want is a bunch of investors calling them up and saying, hey, where's our financials at? What's going on here? Why are we not getting communications? A lot of things is going on. So they have one contact. They can talk to one person. And then

it's a matter of like what can we do for that.

Thomas (43:50.274)

Right. Right. So at what point should a business start thinking about, you know what, I should be thinking about, about, I want to, I want to grow this business now. At what point should I start looking at maybe finding some partners for, for as investors for outside.

Steve Walsh (44:11.383)

I always say do it before you even need it. Do it way before you need capital. If you know you're going to scale the company, if you understand that, yeah, I want to get to the next level, do it before you. Start thinking about it way before you're even thinking about scaling. I would say that if you're thinking, let's say you're at that 3, 10 million mark and you know you want to get to 50 to 100,

think about really seriously, think about raising capital before you need to or you want to, I should say. that's one, it's easier, me, one, because you really don't need the capital right now, but you may down the road, you know you're going to scale and you want to get the capital in place. And then also two is you're getting used to it. You're getting used to raising capital. You're getting used to working with investors. You're getting

Thomas (44:48.94)

Why is that?

Steve Walsh (45:11.08)

All the things that you need, you know you're going to get to that, you need to get to a hundred million and you want to bring in capital. The thing is, it's better to look at it earlier than later.

Thomas (45:20.257)

Makes sense, makes sense. So are there any, for Bison Equity, are there any industries that you guys specifically do or are there any industry or who's a good fit for you guys?

Steve Walsh (45:36.928)

So I love manufacturing and I love software. Two very scalable industries. love working in those areas. I love working, know, software is really scalable. And then obviously manufacturing is scalable too. I love working in those areas. So it's not, I wouldn't say niche-y, but it's industries that we love to work in. And then from there it's a matter of like, okay, what is it that we can do for this?

this company.

Thomas (46:08.461)

Amazing. We've covered a lot. We've talked about many different things. Is there anything that we've not talked about that you think that small business owners should be thinking of?

Steve Walsh (46:19.317)

You know, I think the one thing I always say on business owners, I look at too is personal. Your personal life too is just as important as your business life. And I look at is, you know, if you're looking at, if you're looking at, if you want to scale your company, what is your mindset like? Are you doing things to improve the mindset health wise? So those are the things I look at is very important.

I really harp to all the entrepreneurs I work with is that. That idea is like getting in there, working out, going to the gym, doing meditation. What is your family life like? What's going on in that? Things that may affect your business. So your personal life is just as important as your business life. So that's the thing I look at too is what are you filling your bucket up on that side?

So that's one thing I would say is really important for me when I'm working with entrepreneurs. It's not just business, but it's also the personal side.

Thomas (47:26.923)

Amazing. Yeah, 100 % agree. And what are you working on right now? What's next for you?

Steve Walsh (47:34.08)

So right now, working on another book. I'm trying to get that out. This is going to be for investors. We're working on that. I should be, I'm hoping to have it done in the next couple of weeks. We'll see. know, books always take longer, a lot longer than you expect. And it's like anything else. And also too, is just growing my, I would say, working with entrepreneurs. I love working with entrepreneurs. Just getting to that next level with them.

It's fun to do. And so it's a matter like, what is it that they need? And then for me, it's about pushing myself too. I'm all about that. I'm all about pushing myself to get to the next level on certain things. I find mentors and coaches are really important for me. I drink the Kool-Aid. I do believe in both. You find the mentors and co-

I would say coaches too. And do as much as you can with that health wise and then also too is what is important when it comes to that. then yeah, so I work on myself just as much as I can as I work on with businesses and with entrepreneurs.

Thomas (48:56.237)

So I've taken up a lot of your time. thank you for it. I appreciate it so much. But before we go, where can people find your book? Make the 10x leap and what's the best way for them if they have questions to get a hold of you or Bison Equity Group?

Steve Walsh (49:01.299)

Yeah.

Steve Walsh (49:14.728)

Yeah, so if you want to reach out to me at steve at bisonequitygroup.com, you can find me on LinkedIn. Bisonequity.com, can find my book on there or go to Amazon, one of the two. But those are the things I'd love to just reach out to me. If you have questions, I'm willing to answer questions. But just what I would say is those are the two areas that I would say try to find me.

Thomas (49:42.049)

Amazing. Thank you so much. will have all that information in the show notes. Steve, this has been wonderful. I very much appreciate not just your knowledge, but you're willing to share that knowledge. That's incredible. Thank you so much.

Steve Walsh (49:56.574)

Thanks Thomas, it was great, it fun. Thanks.