Business Owners & Entrepreneurs Podcast with Peter Boolkah | Business Coach | The Transition Guy®
You didn’t start a business to become its hardest-working employee.
But that’s exactly where a lot of successful business owners end up.
The business grows. The team grows. Revenue grows. The problems grow.
And somehow, instead of creating more freedom, you find yourself working harder, carrying more responsibility and becoming increasingly essential to the very business that was supposed to give you choices.
That is The Hamster Wheel Trap®.
I’m Peter Boolkah, business coach, author of Your Business Sucks: Build a Business That Works Without Destroying Your Life, and for more than 20 years I’ve worked with business owners and leadership teams around the world.
This podcast is about one thing:
Building a business that works without needing you at the centre of everything.
We talk honestly about the issues most business owners eventually run into, founder dependency, leadership, people, culture, sales, profit, cash, scaling, management, exit readiness and what it really takes to build a business that someone else would actually want to own.
Sometimes that means challenging the way you think.
Sometimes it means admitting that the thing holding the business back is you.
And sometimes it means recognising that a bigger business is not necessarily a better business.
Along the way, I sit down with entrepreneurs, authors, thinkers and leaders from around the world, including people such as Chris Voss, Mark Divine, Verne Harnish, Brad Sugars to name a few, to unpack the lessons, decisions, mistakes and experiences that shaped the way they think about business, leadership and life.
This is not a podcast about hustle.
It is not about vanity revenue.
And it is definitely not about pretending entrepreneurship is easy.
It is about building a stronger business, becoming a better owner and creating something that gives you more options not fewer.
Because eventually every business owner has to answer the same question:
Do you own the business, or does the business own you?
Business Owners & Entrepreneurs Podcast with Peter Boolkah | Business Coach | The Transition Guy®
Understanding Business Diversification: Insights from UAE and Apple
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Join us for an intriguing discussion on the art and strategy of diversification, taking inspiration from the efforts of the UAE and the journey of Apple Inc. This episode of our podcast delves into how the UAE, particularly its flagship city, Dubai, is tactically planning for a future not solely dependent on crude oil, and exploring sectors like agriculture, infrastructure, construction, services, tourism, aviation, telecommunications, and aluminum production.
Similarly, the tale of Apple, a company that has effectively expanded its product offerings and market reach over time, offers invaluable lessons. We'll discuss Apple's early struggles, its strategic diversification, and how it ascended to become one of the world's most valuable companies.
Both the UAE and Apple show us that change, agility, and adaptation are key to business survival and growth, especially in today's volatile economic climate. Just as these entities diversified to reduce risks and uncover new opportunities, your business too can benefit immensely from such a strategy.
Join us in this enlightening discourse on diversification in business.
CONNECT WITH PETER BOOLKAH
Website: https://www.boolkah.com
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ABOUT PETER BOOLKAH
Peter Boolkah is a business coach, author and speaker who has spent more than 20 years helping business owners build stronger, more valuable businesses that do not depend on them for everything.
He is the creator of The Hamster Wheel Trap® and author of Your Business Sucks: Build a Business That Works Without Destroying Your Life.
Peter works with founders and leadership teams on the issues that ultimately determine whether a business creates freedom or becomes another job: leadership, founder dependency, people, profit, execution, scaling, exit readiness and enterprise value.
His approach is direct, practical and built around one simple question:
Do you own the business, or does the business own you?
Learn more at https://www.boolkah.com
Hi Peter Balker here and welcome to today's edition of the Transition Guide. Now today's episode is going to be slightly different. I'm actually out in Dubai and really what I found was I'm actually pleasantly surprised by the region. Contrary to what a lot of people say in the press about the region, the diversity policy or the whole UAE is fascinating. And actually, since I've been out here, I have been amazed at what they are trying to achieve. I mean, talk about a country that's been highly progressive. You think about it, 50 years ago, what you see behind me, that was desert. Alter, obviously, you've got the Persian Gulf, but it was pure desert. In fact, in theory, nothing should be here. Nothing should be able to live here. Look at it, in the last sort of two decades, unbelievable development. Anywhere you go within the city, there's development and they're continuously looking to expand. And the plan for the future is unbelievable. And actually, when you look at businesses, countries are no different than businesses, really. You take Apple, I mean Apple and their ability to diversify actually allowed them to grow as a business, survive and evolve. And actually with Dubai and the UAE, it's no different. You take the UAE, it has a GDP of approximately 421 billion, and actually is the fourth largest economy in West Asia, and the second largest economy in the Gulf state. And you think about that for a moment. The second largest economy in the Gulf Corporation, and the fourth largest economy in West Asia, and a lot of those other countries within Western Asia are far more established than this region. And when you look at the country's economic growth, although it's been largely driven by oil since its discovery back in 1962, in yeast in recent years, the UAE really has focused on diversifying its economy. When you look at it, it has approximately 200 different nationals here, 200 different countries working in the UAE, all in sort of services, financial sectors, you name it, they got it, just so that they can reduce their dependence on oil. And look, you wouldn't necessarily associate the region with agriculture, yeah, it's huge in agriculture. Infrastructure, first class, construction, brilliant. I mean the services here are just unreal. You've got so many people coming here to work, it's like it's slowly becoming the next Singapore. You've got tourism, I think in 2022, it had its best year ever for tourism. You've got aviation, telecommunication, aluminium production, etc. And if you take Abu Dhabi's economic vision, 2030, Dubai Strategic Plan of 2015, and the UAE's 2021 vision, they're all key in implementing diversification policies across the region. Now the UAE has taken several sort of measures to attract foreign investment and really kind of foster business growth. Now what kind of things have they done? Well, number one, they've allowed 100% foreign ownership in certain sectors. They introduced the 10-year golden visa, the green visa, and freelancers visa, and actually organizing the Dubai Expo in 2020, and actually that in itself was absolutely remarkable. The country's leadership has focused on advancing entrepreneurship and innovation, making the UAE a global economic player. Even cryptocurrency is playing a huge role right now in the UAE. And Dubai is proactively strategizing for the future. They're reorganizing the importance of not depending solely on a single income source. As they know that actually with the move towards electricity in a way from fossil fuels, it's not sustainable in the long run. And they clearly grasp the significance of diversification and are making efforts to pursue it. Whether their diversification policies prove to be the right ones, well, that remains to be seen over the next 10 to 15 years. But they're doing something about it. So what are the key factors to consider when deciding to diversify a business, and how can business owners determine if diversification is the right strategy for their company? Well, I'll give you a prime example of a business that has successfully diversified, and that is Apple. And you think about Apple, it has significantly expanded its product offerings and market reach over time. I mean back in 1976, Apple was founded by both Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, and in fact, little do people know, Roland Wayne. And it initially just focused on personal computers with the launcher of Apple I. And the company gained quite early success with the Apple II, but soon faced challenges as competitors entered the market, namely Dell. And in the early 1990s, Apple really did struggle to compete against the growing popularity of Microsoft's Windows operating system and IBM compatible PCs. Now to combat these challenges, Apple started to device, well they started to diversify its product lineup, venturing into areas like printers, digital cameras and portable CD players. And as we all know, many of these products failed miserably to achieve any significant market share. And actually the company's financial situation continued to deteriorate. I mean it was absolutely dire. Now the turning point for Apple came when Steve Jobs, on his second coming, returned to the company in 1997 after a 12-year absence. What he did, he refocused Apple's efforts on a few key products and initiated the development of the iMac, which in fact helped revive the company's fortunes. What was interesting about Jobs though, he understood the importance of diversification but also recognized it had to be strategic and aligned with the company's core strengths. So in the early 2000s, Apple expanded into the digital music market with the launcher of iTunes and the iPod. And for them, this move was that total game changer. And it not only created a new revenue stream, but also helped saw Apple establish themselves as a consumer electronics powerhouse. And Apple can sort of continued the strategic diversification with the launch of the iPhone in 2007, which totally revolutionized the mobile phone industry, and became the company's primary revenue driver. Now think about it, the iPhone success propelled Apple to become one of the most valuable companies in the world. Apple's strategic diversification played a crucial role in transforming the company from a struggling computer manufacturer to a global technological leader. By focusing on innovation and identifying opportunities in new markets, Apple managed to overcome challenges and flourish in an ever-changing industry. And you can see that today, I mean the landscape within that whole sphere is continuously changing. Apple continuously dominates. So when you're thinking about diversification, what questions could you be considering? Well, one of the first ones I would consider is what key factors do you need to decide on when diversifying a business, and actually, as business owners, how do you know whether diversification is the right strategy for you? Now you're not always going to know that, but you take someone like Blockbusters. Here's the challenge with Blockbuster. Blockbuster had the opportunity to buy Netflix, but it wasn't in its strategy. Streaming wasn't in its strategy. By the time it actually decided to make the change, it was too late, it was dead in the water, and Netflix went. You look at Peloton right now, Peloton's in a really interesting place. During lockdown, Peloton's strategy was solid. People were at home, they didn't know what to do with themselves. Exercise was actually really popular. People bought all the bikes, they subscribed to the online training. Why? Because actually it was convenient, they couldn't get out to the gym. Post-lockdown, Peloton has seen its revenues absolutely plummet. So people are selling off their bikes, they're losing subscribers, so they've had to look at more of the hard hardware space and big part of their strategy going forward is diversifying, moving, not moving away from sort of bikes and treadmills, but adding to it where they're starting to bring in the smart rower as well as a number of other products where they're aiming to have the complete gym at home. Now, when you look at it, if you then got the sort of subscription across a number of different machines, perhaps that value offering is going to be a lot better and a lot more palatable for users. So here's a couple of examples where diversification and change is necessary. And as you as entrepreneurs, because that landscape is changing, you've got to start thinking, okay, what is it I need to be focusing on as a business? Where is the puck going to be, and how can I take advantage of that? Now if you're struggling and thinking, okay, well, where do I start? If you've never read Scalin' Up, read Scaling Up by Vern Heinisch, it's really good, and it's got this thing called the Seven Strata, which helps you sort of focus on the strategy of the business. That would be a great tool for you to have a look at. The tools are available for free on scalingup.com so you can go download them, have a play. At the end of the day, you may find it a little bit overwhelming because a lot of people do. If you want some help in sort of going through the tool itself, explaining how you can use the seven strata to really make sure that your strategy itself is solid and fairly bulletproof going forward. You can head over to bulka.com and get in touch. I'd be happy to have a conversation with you to look at your business, the seven strata, and how you can use that to really make sure your strategy in terms of diversification is solid enough for you to have sustainable growth over the next five years. Well, I hope you've enjoyed today's episode. As I said, it's a little bit different. If you like today's episode, please like it. We like we like likes because it helps us with our rankings. Share it with others so they also can benefit, and most importantly, subscribe so you don't miss any future episodes. And remember, failing to learn is learning to fail. Please stay safe.