Business Therapy: The Secret to Real Business Growth | Brandon Powell Podcast

What if the problem in your business isn’t what you think it is?

In this NuvoDesk Member Spotlight Podcast, we sit down with Brandon Powell, owner of The Business Therapy Firm, to explore a different approach to business growth—one that goes beyond strategies and focuses on identifying the real issues holding businesses back.

Brandon shares how his “business therapy” method helps entrepreneurs uncover root problems, build stronger marketing foundations, and create sustainable growth through authentic relationships and strategic partnerships.

We also dive into:

• Why most business advice doesn’t work
• The importance of real connections over transactions
• How to build a comprehensive marketing strategy
• The concept of the “Loyal Seven” and revenue sources
• Why community and environment matter for business success

If you’re an entrepreneur, business owner, or professional looking to grow, this conversation will change the way you think about business.

Learn more about Brandon Powell:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brandon.powell.300441

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

Linkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/in/therapybp/

This episode is part of NuvoDesk Member Spotlight, a podcast series highlighting the entrepreneurs, professionals, and businesses growing inside the NuvoDesk community.

Learn more about NuvoDesk at:
🌐 https://nuvodesk.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Start with what you want and then work backwards. If you're going to put forth some activity, have you determined the destination? You go out and network and your goal is say, hey, you know what, I'm gonna pass out 50 cards. Well, you're gonna show that in your behavior. And you may achieve your goal of passing out 50 cards, but you don't have 50 connections.

SPEAKER_04 0:19

Right.

SPEAKER_01 0:19

Some of those people have thrown away your card because they can tell that you didn't really care about them and your goals will reflect in your behavior.

SPEAKER_00 0:33

Welcome back to the Nouveau Desk podcast, where our members share their real stories of how they became entrepreneurs and what they're doing now to stay in the game. Today we are featuring Brandon Powell on the show. He is the owner of the business therapy firm, and he is also a member here at Nouveau Desk. Welcome, Brandon.

SPEAKER_01 0:53

Thank you. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_00 0:55

So tell us, where did the business therapy term come from?

SPEAKER_01 0:59

Well, I kind of stumbled upon it. So I've been operating as a uh business owner for about 20 years, and I I did not use the term business therapist right out of the gate, right? So that was not how it started. Uh it was simply um a small business consultant at first. And then I went into more of a business consultant, um just observing how the I felt about the term over the years. And then uh at some point I realized that I had an interest in more than just only listening to the point of oh, there's a package that we can offer you for this. That's more of the consulting side. And so uh I had someone at the time tell me who had gone through actual therapy, and that person had said, you know what, you're an actual therapist. And I was like, No, I'm not, because I I felt I felt so inadequate. I'm like, no, I I know that that's that's a term for someone who's gone to school and done all those things.

SPEAKER_00 1:58

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:59

But she was speaking from a a practical side because I would take time out to listen, and even if I had the answer, it was not about me giving the answer, it's about allowing the person to come to it for themselves.

SPEAKER_00 2:10

And then psychological almost like a therapy.

SPEAKER_01 2:14

Yeah, so that so when she said that I was like, I went from no, it's not, I was like, you know what? I do understand how it's happening, and then of course I went to therapy for myself personally as well, and I was like, oh, I get it now. And so, and then I researched and I realized that that term has not been used. Wow. Um, when I launched the when I rebranded the company uh a few years back, it went from um that to the business therapy firm and business therapists.

SPEAKER_00 2:43

Wow, that's it it's an amazing story. I'm sure there's a lot more detail in between there, but where did that go after you changed your title, after you realized what you are in in the business and corporate world? Uh, how how far have you gone now with the business therapy firm? What are you currently doing um to help business owners and business leaders?

SPEAKER_01 3:02

So from a uh practical standpoint, there wasn't a whole lot that that changed. Um we still were offering the same services, we're full service. So if you think of any kind of uh marketing firm, uh branding, you know, ad agency, we still do all those same things. The the difference is our starting point is different. We care about a different starting point.

SPEAKER_03 3:26

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 3:26

Um and so the market really still appreciated what we were already doing. It's just now I was incorporating the language a little bit differently. Right. Now new people who had no other reference point to who our who our company was before, they did the normal thing with that everybody does. And and I and once I picked up on it, I now usher it in a different way. So if I'm out networking and I say I ask people what they do, and then at some point they say, What do I do? And I say, Well, I'm a business therapist, and I then I shut up.

SPEAKER_00 3:57

Right. You let them speak, right?

SPEAKER_01 3:59

I already know that they're gonna say, Well, what is that? Or they're gonna tell me what they think it is, and so I leave that space as opposed to saying I'm a business therapist, and then I go into a 30-second spill. No, I just wait. I just say it because I already know that most people have never heard of that. And so I think that's the fun part, is now I get a chance to kind of educate the market on what that is, and and then every time I explain it, most people say, Well, we need that. We need that function of that service.

SPEAKER_00 4:28

But there's no real definition for what you do because it is very niche. You have a niche process, you're constantly optimizing and refining, from what I understand. That's wonderful. So when someone comes to you and says, I need help with my marketing, what's usually the underlying issue when it comes to that?

SPEAKER_01 4:46

You know, um, if if I build a sense of safety and trust with the person while I'm out networking, I'll joke with them. Um people say, Well, you know, what do you do? And I'll say, I'm a janitor. That's usually one of my go-tos. Um because I'm taking off the edge, right, of trying to hurry up and demonstrate how smarter I am and why you should do business with me. I don't I don't care. It's like we're still people. So how about I show you that I'm a person and I figure out who you are? And then they say, Well, we need help with marketing. Um and I let them know that we can explore that, but I'm gonna ask questions in that setting. I'm not gonna ask a whole lot of questions, but I'll say we can get on the calendar and our intake process will walk them through they're gonna start experiencing business therapy, whether they know it or not, before we even get to the to the session. And so the starting point doesn't matter, is usually, hey, we need business cards or we need logos or marketing, and you know, I'll listen and but then I'll get back to them as a person because I still want to know who are you as a person. Um more than just our our titles and performance. And so that's really a part of it, is because we we don't feel seen.

SPEAKER_00 5:57

Absolutely. And so so your your model and to our viewers out there, it seems like you really want them to divulge what they need without knowing it, right? Yes. Because we all have an underlying need or desire, but there's also an underlying issue that's stopping us. Would you agree?

SPEAKER_01 6:13

Yeah, I'll give you an example. So, for example, we all can relate to this. If you have a cough, um, that's a symptom. So you if you if it gets bad enough, you'll go to the doctor. And you get there, they're gonna make you wait in the waiting room. You're gonna fill out some forms. Most of it, you say I don't relate with this, but then you get into you see the nurse and then you see the doctor, he or she will come in, and guess what they'll do? They'll check the source of what you said, but then they're gonna check your eyes and ear and heart rate, and you are okay with that. You're not gonna say, hey, stop checking all these other things. I asked about my throat. It's because we expect the other vitals to be checked. We don't expect it in business.

SPEAKER_00 6:58

I do. And that that is very, I will say it again, niche because a lot of people don't have that perception ability. It's it's very much marketing, especially digital marketing, is a very sales-dominated industry, it feels like. And you've put a spin on that that's really, I mean, unique to you and in this area. We actually met at a networking event, right? Um, how often would you say um it's necessary for you to be out there in the public networking? And how do you approach networking that's different than the typical I'm gonna come and meet you? You know, switching it up, like you said, with your when someone asks you why you're there, what you do, you break that ice. And I don't see that a lot at networking events. I attend networking events a lot. So I I want to ask, how much does that help your business or hurt your business with you being out in the public speaking on a daily with these licenses?

SPEAKER_01 7:52

That's a great question. So, because of our business model, and and for those listening, this doesn't suggest that it's the strategy that you should take. It's just from the data. Um, I understand our funnel entry points. And one of our um acquisition points is when I'm out in the field. If I'm in the field or speaking or training or on a panel, I know the the the percentages of how that is. So I made a decision to get back out in the field. I would I still would have my team go out and we have strategy for that as well. But when I do go out, um I really genuinely am interested in just getting to know people. And I don't I don't really care what area uh they may fall in. Uh meaning, if you go out and network and your goal is to say, hey, you know what, I'm gonna pass out 50 cards. Well, you're gonna show that in your behavior. Meaning you're gonna talk to a person only long enough to make sure you don't pass by the other person, and you may achieve your goal of passing out 50 cards, but you don't have 50 connections. Right. Some of those people have thrown away your card because they can tell that you didn't really care about them and your goal will reflect in your behavior. So my goal is I'm looking for good energy. Long as you're not weird, I'll talk to you.

SPEAKER_00 9:01

I don't know what classifies under the definition weird, but I I understand what you're saying. So tell me, what are the five elements? You you mentioned that when we spoke before. Um, what are the five elements of powerful branding and marketing, would you say?

SPEAKER_01 9:18

So there actually are way more than five, but for the sake of um training purposes, I I narrow it down to to five different things. And so uh one of them, and it may not even be on on the initial record that we have, but one of the things that I really pay attention to is having a good solid understanding of the branding foundation. If you don't understand what that is, and it can be subjective, and so having a good understanding of your branding foundation is is key, which are three areas that we we talk about is uh consistency, hospitality, and organization. Though each one of those bullet points I could spend you know six weeks on easily. As much or as little time as Yeah, I really could because they're so important. The the second thing is understanding your actual target audience. Uh I cannot tell you how many times I've had to uh have these conversations, and and most people get defensive because they assume I'm saying, oh, only pick these people because you don't like the others. No, I'm just suggesting basically who consumes the most of what you have to offer in the shortest amount of time? Who is who is that group of people? And doesn't mean you have to turn anyone away, but who are that, who's the category of people that do that? And so then on top of that, understanding how to do you even have an actual uh comprehensive marketing plan?

SPEAKER_00 10:40

Brandon, can you tell me more about when your clients come to you, do they typically have a marketing plan or is that something that you help to counsel them on realizing?

SPEAKER_01 10:51

Sometimes they do. Sometimes they have a marketing plan uh uh that they believe is a marketing plan. What I typically challenge them on, whether they have one or not, is how effective is it? Is it achieving the outcome, right? What are the metrics that you're using to determine that it's working? And what I found the the most common thing is that um it's a principle I teach called start with what you want and then work backwards. And so what that means is if you're going to put forth some activity, have you determined the destination? And I have clients do a weekly uh activity assignment called uh a fueling um report where how much fuel did you actually put into that strategy? If you didn't have enough, it's a fuel inspection report. So if your goal is to market in it, well, if you're doing it to achieve more visibility, well, how much does that translate to? If you're doing it to acquire a certain amount of revenue, well, how much? Because then you need to be able to have a metric to say, okay, well, it's working fit effectively or it's not. Right. And we call it a more of a comprehensive marketing plan. Uh and then it needs to be narrowed down to actually a weekly and a daily uh metric.

SPEAKER_00 12:05

Mm-hmm. And uh you say comprehensive. What separates comprehensive from a normal marketing plan that you typically see out there?

SPEAKER_01 12:14

So comprehensive is gonna consider a whole lot more vantage points. Um if I have a marketing plan, I say, you know what, I want to get on Instagram and I want to post, you know, three times a a day. And I'm gonna make sure that people see me and I'm gonna make sure that my content looks very good. That's a marketing plan. I mean, that's that's great, right? It's gonna take discipline to do that. A comprehensive marketing plan is gonna say, well, I don't know if I I don't know which platforms I should use because I want to look at what's already been working first, and I'm not gonna start with an outcome. I want to make nine, I wanna make over the next nine months, I want to make $150,000. If that's the starting point, then you look at every kind of outcome. You say, Well, I've never used social media. Well, okay, doesn't mean you should, just because everybody is. Right. So now we're gonna look at what have you done in the past. Oh, well, most of my business comes from referrals. Well, now we're gonna study uh this is a term that I teach to clients called the loyal seven. The loyal seven are the seven people or places that have brought you the most revenue.

SPEAKER_03 13:28

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 13:28

So we teach how to analyze that. So that's a comprehensive marketing plan because we're gonna study the areas that cause that more likely will cause that outcome. We're not just gonna just jump in and do Facebook ads and Google ads just because you're calling it a marketing campaign. We're gonna make sure that we maximize what already you have done well, and then we'll test out other areas that may need to be explored.

SPEAKER_00 13:53

Right. Very intentional, um, consultative, not even consultative, but you build a relationship with these people and really know them in and out, correct? The reason I ask what those five essential were because you're actually speaking here at NuvaDesk soon and teaching a lunch and learn. I don't know. If you show up, maybe.

SPEAKER_04 14:10

I hope so.

SPEAKER_00 14:12

So you're gonna be teaching these soon um March 20th, correct? Here at NuvaDesk. Um slight plug there. Um what will you be focusing on? What do you see as a member here at Nouveaux Desk that made you want to speak on that topic specifically for your lunch and learn?

SPEAKER_01 14:32

That's a great question. This is really going to reveal the way that I think as a business therapist. So when I first came here and I chatted with the staff, um, well, I had already come to this location before, so I had a good impression of it when I attended a couple years ago.

SPEAKER_03 14:48

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 14:49

And so I remembered it and I relocated from Addison to Grand Prairie, and I remembered this location. I said, I'm gonna call visit.

SPEAKER_03 14:57

Right.

SPEAKER_01 14:58

And when I did, I had a good time networking. And then from there, I talked with the staff and I said, Hey, I um interested in knowing what is your application process for speakers. Um I didn't say that you should make me a speaker, I said what's your application process? I wanted to honor whatever that process is. Now, why did I decide that? Because I already have a I already have a strategy for this year of how many speaking engagements that we'll do. I've been doing public speaking for 20 years. Most of the time I it's usually we look for a project that has a budget. But if it doesn't have a budget, then I have a different strategy for that. So I was okay, didn't matter either way.

SPEAKER_03 15:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:37

But I asked the staff member, hey, what topics do you guys really want to explore? What's important to you? That's my thought. I want to match, I want to be, I'm I want to be accurate. And so once I shared some of the topics, they said, well, that particular topic is is very important to us. It should be, you know, so much so that we're able to make a pretty quick decision. And so I want to be accurate and I want to be able to um provide the outcomes that you guys are looking for. And so because of that, I made the decision.

SPEAKER_00 16:10

Wonderful. Well, we're very appreciative of that. Well wait until we have the lunch and learn, and then we can say how appreciative we are. But to touch on more about Nouveau Desk, um, I know that you've written books, as you said, you've done many, many speaking engagements, and we're privileged to have you here as a speaker. Um, what made you choose NuveDesk not only as a place to train and coach these business owners and leaders, but to make it your home for your day-to-day business activities?

SPEAKER_01 16:40

Well, it wasn't it wasn't a difficult decision at all because again, um if you've ever heard of the the saying, you know, kill two birds with one stone. I'd like to kill 20 birds with one stone.

SPEAKER_00 16:52

How many rocks do you have?

SPEAKER_01 16:54

Well, you know, one stone, we're just gonna whoop boop, you know, all those little birdies gotta go. Um but strategically, I I saw so many things that would be beneficial for the decision for me. Uh one, the location is is is within range of where um I want I wanted to travel. Um I really, really like the design and layout of the location. Um I I'm a very thoughtful and attentive person with myself, so I tend to like things and environments that reflect the same.

SPEAKER_03 17:23

Right.

SPEAKER_01 17:23

Um the staff, you guys are great, just talking with you guys, very personable. Um the activity. You guys are very uh active. You have initiatives and projects that are in alignment with what I care about. And then on a long-term basis, I'll say, you know what? I have had offices before, some in private, some in mixed use of co-working. Right. I said, this is a space where I can see, uh, where I can interact with the fellow uh entrepreneurs, and I'll but I also can lock in and focus and get work done if I want to. And so, of course, then the speaking opportunity. So I saw it as a a multiple, multifaceted benefit of choosing this location.

SPEAKER_00 18:04

Mutually beneficial for sure. We love having you here. And what would you say, in your opinion, is um the difference between Nouveaux Desk and other private office spaces that you mentioned that you've experienced?

SPEAKER_01 18:18

I think there's always uh a plus when you see staff that have good um soft skills. It cannot be overstated. Having great soft skills knowing how and I don't you I don't like just using the word uh customer service because I have my own terminology of hospitality. It's a it's a it's a different term. But yes, you guys have great soft skills knowing how to interact with people. I my business model focuses on seeing people and caring about people, so I tend to like environments that do the same. And so uh the other unique thing is you guys have uh an additional marketing company of your own that does a great job of bringing in in uh activity, new faces, and so it's always great to meet new people. And so those are very unique things. Some co-working spaces, they are basically the facility. Right. And they may have a calendar event every now and again, but they're they're not really creating, they're not injecting activity and creating community the way you guys do.

SPEAKER_00 19:18

Thank you for that. We we like to be very intentional about not only having business owners and business leaders here, but helping them grow as well. Because at the end of the day, we're all a network. We're a network of people that are just trying to make it through, right? So, Brandon, tell me, um, do you have any upcoming events, upcoming uh books coming out? What what's on the horizon for you?

SPEAKER_01 19:40

Well, you know, I've got this lunch and learn coming up on the 20th that I'm excited about. Um yes, naturally I have other projects. Um, you know, I'm and I'd love to, you know, chat individually. I don't want to bore everybody with everything, but I I I'd like to be very specific for those that are watching. If you want to, uh I'd love to see, you know, whoever can make it out to the 20th. We do have a book, another book number six that I'm working on now called The Art of Strategic Partnership. Okay. Admittingly, I I know the next uh book number six, seven, eight, and nine that we're gonna, the project we're already in development. So um one can say I'm staying pretty busy.

SPEAKER_04 20:20

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 20:21

Uh yeah, March the 20th, I'm looking forward to that lunch and learn. I do have other projects and and events that I host. I have an upcoming workshop in April called the Art of Business series. Uh that's a um April through October series. So anyone that uh wants to learn more, we I'd love to connect with them on Instagram or in person at Nouveau Desk. It'd be a great incentive for you guys to stop by.

SPEAKER_00 20:45

And that is a wonderful, wonderful incentive for you and us. We want new business leaders to come into the facility and we want them to have that structure and coaching from someone that is vetted, established, like yourself. And not only that, but willing to grow and learn as well. We we're all growing and learning, right, at the end of the day. So again, if anyone does want to register for the upcoming event, you can go to nouveaux.com. And if they want to reach out to you directly before the event or after, how can they reach you?

SPEAKER_01 21:17

Well, two ways. If you want, um Instagram. Instagram is a good one. Um you can look me up under therapy firm BP. Okay. And uh, and or uh if you are watching this interview, just so we we know that um you've come through seeing us here, you can text the word um therapy at uh 214 532 9972. And um what I will do, just because I'm honored to be a part of Nouveau Desk, is I will provide a uh continuous um 10% off uh it doesn't matter what you decide or if you decide anything, whatever you decide. To uh take advantage of. It'll be a 10% uh code that'll be sent to you and you can apply it as many you know how you get discount codes and you apply it once and then it's done. This one will be will be continuous. Wow. So but it'll it'll be because you guys watched this and it's my appreciation for those that are tuning in.

SPEAKER_00 22:16

Well, we truly appreciate you, Brandon. I appreciate you coming on the so show, being our sponsor and speaker for the upcoming event, and not only that, but helping our workplace grow. Because we are not just a workplace, we're a growth space. So thank you again. And to all of our listeners out there, please follow, like, and share at the link below. And if you want to hear more about Brandon or Amenides here at Nuvades, please go to Nuvades.com.