Good Neighbor Podcast: Orange County

From Passion To Practice: How Jericho Group Helps Small Businesses Launch And Grow

• Rachel Fyffe & Erick Gonzalez

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What if the gap between your idea and your first paying customer is smaller than you think? We sit down with Erick Gonzalez, founder of The Jericho Group, to break apart the myth that only high-tech, billion-dollar ideas deserve to exist. Erick shares a grounded path for new and small business owners: build a lean plan, validate demand, secure smart financing, and focus relentlessly on execution. No jargon, no hype—just the practical moves that turn local dreams into real businesses.

Erick’s journey runs through years of nonprofit volunteering and a career in finance and strategy, where he helped friends and founders turn scattered notes into working plans. That experience shaped a consulting approach built on clarity, trust, and momentum. We get into how referrals become the most honest marketing, why relationship-driven outreach beats spray-and-pray tactics, and the small operational wins—cash flow tracking, simple metrics, tight processes—that free owners to grow with confidence.

We also explore the human side of entrepreneurship. Erick talks about the value of rest, family time, travel, and the beach as anchors that keep decision-making clear when the stakes feel high. He even sketches a podcast concept that spotlights entrepreneurs’ journeys, focusing on real-world pivots, funding scrapes, and the kind of collaborative problem-solving that helps founders feel less alone. The throughline is a promise: you don’t need perfection or a massive platform—you need a cadence of action and partners who have your back.

If you’re ready to move from ideas to outcomes, this conversation lays out a 90-day mindset: test one channel, clarify one offer, fix one bottleneck, and track one metric you can influence now. Progress compounds when you work the plan. Visit: https://tjg-g.com/

 If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a founder who needs encouragement, and leave a quick review so more neighbors can find these stories.

SPEAKER_02:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, a place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Rachel Five.

SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Now, if you're an entrepreneur or own a small business and in need of results-driven business consulting, well, you know, that resource is really closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Eric Gonzalez, with the Jericho Group. Eric, how's it going?

SPEAKER_00:

Good morning, everyone. Great to see you.

SPEAKER_01:

Wonderful. Well, gosh, Eric, we're really excited to learn about your business. So tell us about your company.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so um I uh Jericho Group was formed, really focused on helping small business owners launch, get started, and take their ideas and put them into play and um, you know, have their dreams come true as far as owning their own business.

SPEAKER_01:

Wonderful. Well, how did you get into this business yourself?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so it started really uh probably about 20 years ago. Um, I've always had a passion for entrepreneurs or people who really want to um establish their own business and and and you know make a difference and establish a legacy for themselves and their families. So through volunteering with a couple nonprofits, um, helping you know friends and family that had a business idea and needed to put together a business plan or figure out how to source financing or capital, um, I really started noticing that I was very passionate about uh entrepreneurs and small businesses. And then, you know, through a long, long-term career in finance and strategy, um, I felt that it was the time to put all those lessons and experience into play and helping uh small businesses uh expand and or get started.

SPEAKER_01:

Wonderful. Well, what do you think are maybe some myths or misconceptions in your industry?

SPEAKER_00:

I think um, you know, the first thing is that um, you know, you have to be a very uh, although this is great, you have to be a very sophisticated high-tech um company or have a you know a billion-dollar idea that immediately has to come in into play. But I think sometimes the smaller uh type of businesses that we interact with day to day can certainly be very successful and uh very fulfilling uh for those that uh want to put you know the hours and the hard work to make it happen.

SPEAKER_01:

Wonderful. Now we know marketing is really at the heart of every business. So how are you finding your your clients?

SPEAKER_00:

Um great. So I think one of the best testaments that validates kind of what I'm doing is that uh through referrals and through uh friends and and family and contacts that bring people to me that say, hey, you know, so-and-so had this business idea, but they don't know how to get started, or somebody's thinking about establishing operations in a different part of the country, what do they need to know? So thankfully, it's been a lot of uh referrals that I've you know that I've received. Um, I know that's not um always gonna be the case. Uh so certainly um have the marketing and the channel management all ready to go, um, you know, in in terms of the different seasons that will come.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Now, have you ever thought about doing your own podcast?

SPEAKER_00:

Um, I have I haven't really. I think not I I I'm very I don't like to focus just on myself. I think the way I would do it would be uh highlighting those business owners or or entrepreneurs and then coming alongside and talking about the journey and how we partner together to make something happen. So I think it would be very collaborative and not not a solo effort.

SPEAKER_01:

Nice, nice. Now, um, outside of work, what do you like to do for fun?

SPEAKER_00:

I am uh I absolutely love the beach uh and outdoors. So I whenever I can I get myself a good coffee or a book and spend time outside. Absolutely love traveling. Um so you know, wish I could be uh doing more of that. And then uh definitely last but not least is spending time with my family and just seeing them, you know, have a uh kid. So just seeing them grow and and learn and you know figure out life is is one of the best rewards.

SPEAKER_01:

I love that. So uh Eric, please tell our listeners one thing they should remember about the Jericho group.

SPEAKER_00:

I think it would be that um we have your back, we understand you know, the the anxiety or fear or hesitation that you might have. But if you come alongside the right people that will help uh execute on those ideas, and the key word is execution, right? Putting things and moving things forward, even if it's small progress, um we'll help you make it happen.

SPEAKER_01:

Wonderful. Well, how can our listeners learn more about the Jericho Group?

SPEAKER_00:

I would definitely encourage you guys to uh go to our website, uh the Jericho Group Global. The URL is tjg-g.com. Uh try to keep it simple. Um so it's tjg-g.com and send me a note or uh look me up in LinkedIn and uh happy to have a coffee or a video chat and uh figure out how I can help you.

SPEAKER_01:

Wonderful. Well, Eric, I really appreciate you being on the show, and we wish you and your business the really very best moving forward.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you, Rachel, and uh I absolutely love what you're doing through this podcast.

SPEAKER_01:

Wonderful.

SPEAKER_02:

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnporangecounty.com. That's gnporangecounty.com or call 714 941 8 862.