WEBVTT
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:06.160
If I'm honest, it probably took me the first 10 years of our business to understand that.
00:00:06.400 --> 00:00:06.719
Right.
00:00:06.959 --> 00:00:13.679
And now it's probably nearly more important than just growing the day-to-day operations of the company.
00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:28.239
If you're out on your journey as an entrepreneur and you're wondering what constraints you're going to be facing and how to overcome them, then this conversation is for you because I'm going to be talking to one of the world's best business coaches.
00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:37.359
Joining me in the studio is Bruce Campbell, who is the co-founder and CEO of a company called the Entrepreneurial Business School.
00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:52.240
Bruce is normally based in Queensland, but he's in London and he's agreed to come into the studio to share with me and you the secrets to success and overcoming those constraints that you and me and every entrepreneur will face as we build our business.
00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:53.600
Bruce, welcome to the show.
00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:55.119
Thank you so much, Jim.
00:00:55.520 --> 00:01:03.600
Why is it, do you think, that most people start a business and then fail to grow and certainly fail to exit a business?
00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:05.599
Because that's really the common story, isn't it?
00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:14.079
If you think about it, most people who get into business, I would say 99% of them, didn't actually ever have any formal training on actually how to run a business.
00:01:14.239 --> 00:01:19.359
So, you know, they're technically good at what they do, they inherited the business, et cetera.
00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:23.040
And then they have to then learn through trial and error.
00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:24.879
And there's lots of errors.
00:01:24.959 --> 00:01:31.599
And what that's what we call dumb tax, which is the tax that business owners pay when they do something dumb.
00:01:31.760 --> 00:01:36.560
You know, it could be wrong hire, it could be wrong marketing strategy, and then they pay the price for it.
00:01:36.799 --> 00:01:39.680
You've had the entrepreneur business school for over 20 years, I think.
00:01:39.760 --> 00:01:47.920
And so we're going to talk about the entrepreneurial business school, but we're also going to talk about some of the solutions, I think, that you've helped people to implement.
00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:54.799
Bruce, what would you say is maybe the number one reason that people pay dumb tax?
00:01:54.879 --> 00:01:58.640
And what do you think we can do to cut down the amount of tax we pay?
00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:01.599
Well, I think for me it comes in two areas.
00:02:01.920 --> 00:02:13.360
Number one, education is, you know, for me, that's one of the highest forms of leverage is to actually have education and to learn those skills that they they need to know.
00:02:13.439 --> 00:02:17.599
Everything from marketing to finance to how to grow teams.
00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:22.400
You'll never scale a company if you don't work out this thing called leadership and management.
00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:24.159
You've got to understand that part.
00:02:24.400 --> 00:02:26.479
So there's an education piece.
00:02:26.719 --> 00:02:34.639
And then I think the other piece which our business is formed on is actually having a coach and having a mentor in your corner.
00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:36.159
Let me give you an example.
00:02:36.400 --> 00:02:46.000
Every publicly listed company on the planet to by law have a board of directors sitting over the CEO and the senior management, right?
00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:49.120
That's a legal requirement in any country on the planet.
00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:51.360
So we expect it in corporate.
00:02:51.599 --> 00:02:58.879
And then if you think about sport, right, every professional sporting team, it's mandatory to have a coach.
00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:02.960
You know, you wouldn't ever get any of the teams around the world not having that.
00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:05.759
And it's interesting, you know, I've got four kids.
00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:07.840
My youngest is Charlie, right?
00:03:07.919 --> 00:03:11.919
He's 12 years old now and he's been playing rugby since he was five.
00:03:12.159 --> 00:03:16.319
And even for a five-year-old, we expect coaches on the sidelines.
00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:27.759
So it sort of gobsmacks me in this day and age where business owners, their primary source of income, Jim, is their business, yet they don't have a coach looking in to give them a hand.
00:03:27.919 --> 00:03:31.520
Yeah, when you talk about that, it really makes you wonder why people don't get a coach.
00:03:31.599 --> 00:03:43.199
So tell us a little bit about the entrepreneurial business school and the kind of coaching that you do, and then we'll talk about why people maybe see their kids getting coaching at school, but not take coaching for themselves.
00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:47.039
So look, I mean, we've been coaching businesses for 21 years.
00:03:47.360 --> 00:03:52.240
We do it in one-on-one, we do it in groups, which we find are very uh important.
00:03:52.319 --> 00:04:05.280
We've actually got, I know I mentioned the board of directors for public list companies, but we've do the same thing, but it's small and medium-sized businesses where it's also peer coaching, which brings amazing community.
00:04:05.439 --> 00:04:09.439
And the results that we get when people do the push-ups is amazing.
00:04:09.599 --> 00:04:13.120
It transforms their business and it transforms their life, right?
00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:17.199
Because they're more empowered and they're better human beings on the planet.
00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:23.199
There's a whole personal development side to it, not just learning the numbers as an example.
00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:25.199
Why don't we take it through that then?
00:04:25.360 --> 00:04:40.319
What are some of the challenges that an entrepreneur or someone who wants to be an entrepreneur faces as they grow from being owner-operator to one day having a business that might operate without them, which is the ultimate freedom, isn't it, what entrepreneurship can offer?
00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:42.160
Would you take us through those steps?
00:04:42.639 --> 00:04:45.040
We coach something called the cash flow ladder.
00:04:45.199 --> 00:04:54.480
So if your listeners and viewers can imagine a good old ladder, we all start at student, be it high school, university, trade college, whatever that is.
00:04:54.720 --> 00:04:56.560
Most people then go and get a job.
00:04:56.720 --> 00:04:59.839
Some people skip that rung on the ladder, but most don't.
00:04:59.920 --> 00:05:03.600
You know, I got a job back 25 years ago, etc.
00:05:03.839 --> 00:05:05.600
So most people do a job.
00:05:05.839 --> 00:05:12.079
And then some people who do that rung of the ladder, then say, I don't want to do this anymore.
00:05:12.160 --> 00:05:16.480
If I had my own business, I'd make more money and I'd have more time to enjoy it.
00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:16.720
Right.
00:05:16.879 --> 00:05:21.439
And I say that with a bit of humor in it because then they get into, oh, hang on.
00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:26.800
Furthermore, Jim, they'll say, he or she who I'm working for is an idiot.
00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:30.319
Therefore, I'm going to go and work for a different idiot being myself.
00:05:30.560 --> 00:05:30.800
That's right.
00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:30.959
Right.
00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:32.959
Of course, we when we start, we don't think we're an idiot.
00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:34.720
We think we must know more than anybody else.
00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:37.040
We've seen the business make its mistakes.
00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:37.360
Yeah.
00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:39.839
And then we think, well, I wouldn't make those mistakes.
00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:40.480
Yeah, yeah.
00:05:40.560 --> 00:05:44.879
And then you go to a run called self, where you're working for yourself.
00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:57.439
And then this is from a mindset point of view, you get humbled in that first few years because you don't know like the tax and cash flow forecasting and team, et cetera.
00:05:57.519 --> 00:05:59.279
And there's more to it, right?
00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:13.839
And then if you're good at doing it by yourself, you go to the next rung, which we call manager, which is you've got helpers, team members, maybe subcontractors, but the business doesn't fundamentally work without you.
00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:19.120
And I normally say on that rung, a good rule of thumb is holidays, right?
00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:25.519
Is that most times at that rung of the ladder, you cannot go away from the business more than about two to three weeks.
00:06:25.759 --> 00:06:28.000
I hear them when they come back from a break.
00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:37.199
A lot of the time they'll say, sometimes I wished, I wondered why I even went on the holiday in the first place based on all the brain damage I had to do when I got back to the business.
00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:42.480
Well, and often for entrepreneurs, a holiday is quite stressful because one, you're not making any money, but you're spending it.
00:06:42.639 --> 00:06:42.800
Sure.
00:06:42.959 --> 00:06:51.439
But as you say, if it's a successfully run business, I should be able to leave that company and someone's running it for me and I can return to a well-operating company.
00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:52.639
But how do you do that, Bruce?
00:06:52.800 --> 00:06:54.560
Because that's the barrier to growth, isn't it?
00:06:54.639 --> 00:07:01.199
For most people, you get into that loop as well, where you think you can't afford to employ anybody to run it for you.
00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:02.319
So you keep running it.
00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:04.480
And that treadmill can last for years.
00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:07.920
Well, I would even say for a lot of people, it's their whole career.
00:07:08.079 --> 00:07:11.839
You know, they'll go to their grave in that in that position.
00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:18.000
And look, and this is where we come in, is we help people go to the next rung, which is owner.
00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:21.360
And that's defined as the business works without you.
00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:26.800
Doesn't mean you can have a six-month holiday and expect the business to be still there when you get back.
00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:35.279
But the business has got my probably one of my favorite principles and laws, which is the law of leverage, more with less.
00:07:35.519 --> 00:07:41.439
And so forms of leverage that help people get there would be systems.
00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:46.480
Is the business systemized enough so that it's not all just a people-based system?
00:07:46.959 --> 00:07:51.120
Do I have the right people that care for the company and want to take it?
00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:54.399
Or have I got a bunch of terrorists running around that I employ?
00:07:54.639 --> 00:07:58.959
Does the business have the right optics and dashboards and numbers?
00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:09.519
So all of these, like there's more I could go on with, but that all of those, that's where we do a lot of coaching to get the owner and the entrepreneur to that level.
00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:11.279
So for me, that's how you do it.
00:08:11.519 --> 00:08:16.160
So one of the challenges seems to be that as an entrepreneur, you have to see yourself differently.
00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:20.879
How do you help entrepreneurs that are kind of in their comfort zone?
00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:29.120
They're almost in flow in that I'm needed position, so that they transition out of that into being a business owner.
00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:32.240
Well, for me, that that's the big mindset shift.
00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:38.799
When people go, I'm the best one and the only one who knows how to do this part of the business.
00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:42.159
So a lot of the time they have to trust.
00:08:42.399 --> 00:08:48.799
And we've got a principle that says when control goes up, growth goes down.
00:08:49.039 --> 00:08:49.279
Right.
00:08:49.440 --> 00:09:04.559
When the business owner says I'm okay to empower someone or a team, let's go and find on the seven odd billion people that are on the planet someone who's better technically on what I think I'm actually great at.
00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:05.039
Right.
00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:06.639
Let's go and get a better person.
00:09:06.720 --> 00:09:12.159
I think uh Steve Jobs said that you know you should be employing people smarter than you.
00:09:12.399 --> 00:09:15.759
So this is where that I think there's a huge mindset shift.
00:09:15.840 --> 00:09:21.120
And when people allow that control to be tapered, they grow the business.
00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:30.159
How much of that reluctance to let go is not only the I'm the best at it, but also if I'm not doing it, someone might steal my business.
00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:31.759
I think that's part of it.
00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:37.039
I think the other big challenge is people's upbringing, right?
00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:45.840
And I get a sense of guilt that if I'm not slaving away 40 to 80 hours a week, it's it's like a self-worth point.
00:09:46.159 --> 00:09:49.360
For me, you know, I'll speak from a place of eye.
00:09:49.600 --> 00:09:54.159
I came from a farming off sheep and cattle stations in Australia.
00:09:54.399 --> 00:10:00.159
You know, if you're not out working, there's a whole mindset that that's your identity, right?
00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:14.960
So I think for a lot of people, particularly people who have grown up in similar, not necessarily farming, but working class, there's a whole identity piece to it with I'm not doing the hours, you know, then I've got guilt.
00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:18.000
It's just what we would maybe call the Protestant work ethic, right?
00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:23.919
That you put in a good day's work or a good week's work, and then on Sunday then you can rest and then you're getting stuck back into it.
00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:24.720
Correct.
00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:34.159
When someone changes their mindset and then they believe that they can employ someone better than them, what do they need to have in place for that business to run?
00:10:34.320 --> 00:10:35.360
You talk about systems.
00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:38.879
Let's talk a little bit from a practical point of view, Bruce.
00:10:38.960 --> 00:10:47.120
What do they need to have in place so they can feel confident that the business is being run properly so they can step out of it?
00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:51.759
What are some practical, if you like, tools or systems that you help people to put in place?
00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:53.840
I would say good CRM system.
00:10:54.159 --> 00:10:58.000
CRM being a customer relationship manager management system.
00:10:58.399 --> 00:11:00.320
So, you know, and there's plenty out there.
00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:03.679
In actual fact, that's all, you know, choosing the right one.
00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:11.840
You know, I've I've seen hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars being put down the gurgler because they didn't they didn't do the research.
00:11:11.919 --> 00:11:14.080
So they they chose the wrong system.
00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:18.879
Six months of work went in and then they had to, you know, turf it and start again.
00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:20.240
So I think that's a big one.
00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:25.519
The right accounting system, the right, you know, CFO, chief financial officer system.
00:11:25.600 --> 00:11:26.799
That's what we do actually.
00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:43.200
We've got our own proprietary software and and people to take uh the entrepreneur business owner's numbers and then put it in a format that's nice and easy to read so that you and your coach can be talking science uh at in the coaching sessions, you know.
00:11:43.279 --> 00:11:53.120
You know, if I give you an example there or an analogy, you know, if I go to the doctor, right, and the doctor's about to do surgery on me, I want them doing tests.
00:11:53.440 --> 00:12:00.240
They got to do blood tests or x-rays or whatever I'm in there for, not just going, I think you've got this, I'll go grab the scalpel.
00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:00.720
Right.
00:12:00.879 --> 00:12:03.039
So we need evidence-based decisions.
00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:10.799
And I think that's a big part that I think is, you know, a real big competitive advantage of uh of us, is we've got a lot of those.
00:12:11.039 --> 00:12:11.200
Yeah.
00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:29.279
So with EBS, then you're actually helping your clients not just to rely on their own, whether it's zero, for example, or Sage, their own bookkeeping, you actually have all the numbers with your own team so that your consultants can go in and give consistent report against some metrics.
00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:33.519
So that that's also part of the benefit of having a coaching program, isn't it?
00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:33.919
Yeah.
00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:50.240
And look, you know, while whilst we're staying on systems and the pieces that help people get to that more leveraged owner rung on the ladder, I think another one is a hundred percent around the team.
00:12:50.480 --> 00:12:50.960
Right.
00:12:51.360 --> 00:13:09.039
I would say any of the clients where there's more than five to ten team, right up to 500, it's this probably the most single handed choke point is that they don't have any real systematic way to recruit, select.
00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:13.759
So they're doing it on gut feel, and he or she's gonna work out here, right?
00:13:13.919 --> 00:13:17.759
So we put people through a huge amount of system to do that.
00:13:17.919 --> 00:13:24.480
Also psychometric testing, because I want to know the person that I'm gonna employ and have to deal with.
00:13:24.639 --> 00:13:26.080
I got to know that all up front.
00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:32.320
I have to have some of the tough conversations before they sign the dotted line and walk through the door.
00:13:32.559 --> 00:13:37.519
Another piece, and there's plenty of stats on this one, Jim, is onboarding.
00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:49.120
So the stats of onboarding a new team member in that first six months, the stats are atrocious for the person not performing or not staying.
00:13:49.279 --> 00:13:54.000
And another one for you viewers and listeners is the younger they are, right?
00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:57.679
So in the 20s, those stats are even worse.
00:13:58.000 --> 00:14:11.440
I say for a bad hire, depending on where they are in the organization from a hierarchy, for some of the junior ones, you're going to write a check for 10,000 pounds, dollars, euro, et cetera, right?
00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:11.759
Yeah.
00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:19.039
And for the major hires, like middle of the organizational chart or even higher, it's one to two hundred thousand.
00:14:19.200 --> 00:14:25.679
Yeah, it's amazing, Bruce, isn't it, how much time we put in to finding those people, how little we put into actually the onboarding.
00:14:25.840 --> 00:14:28.000
There's a very good book by Dan and Chip Heath.
00:14:28.399 --> 00:14:36.399
It's called Moments, and it talks about how when people join, the importance of making it a welcoming experience and also the training.
00:14:36.799 --> 00:14:41.679
One of the things that comes to mind, we're saying about business not growing.
00:14:42.080 --> 00:14:45.279
And really, we've talked a lot about systems and about people.
00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:50.399
What about innovation, Bruce, and the need for product and market fit?
00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:52.080
How do you help people with that?
00:14:52.240 --> 00:15:07.440
Because systems are important, but there's also the glamorous side of making sure that whatever people are building, developing, and supplying to customers remains relevant, especially in the kind of changes that we're having now, whether it's with AI or trade supply challenges.
00:15:07.759 --> 00:15:11.039
What challenges do you see there that are stopping people growing?
00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:23.279
The one that I run into regularly is because the people or the owner at the top of the organization are so far in their business, they're on the tools.
00:15:23.679 --> 00:15:32.240
They don't have the time and they don't have the critical think time to even be able to go to an innovation uh mindset or place.
00:15:32.720 --> 00:15:54.320
This is again why coach is so important, because once a month or quarter or whatever the frequency we coach on, we literally drag the business owner out of the weeds and say, let's go and have a think about what's going to be the innovation, what's the biggest risk facing your company, all these type of questions that allows them to get out of it?
00:15:54.559 --> 00:15:57.600
The ability to take a step out, but also a guided step.
00:15:57.759 --> 00:16:06.000
Let's just talk about the entrepreneur that has a business with their partner, know that you with the entrepreneur business school, you know, you set that with your or your partner and your wife.
00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:16.960
What are some of the challenges that you think people face when they're starting a business with a partner, be it a spouse or another person they've met, maybe they've co-developed a product.
00:16:17.919 --> 00:16:20.159
Well, I think Warren Buffett says it the best.
00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:34.480
He says, of all the decisions you make in your life, making the right one on the home front or business partner is one of the most crucial decisions you make and you stuff it up, you you're gonna pay a big old dumb tax on that one, right?
00:16:35.519 --> 00:16:40.320
And it's not just the monetary, it's the emotional side to the whole thing as well.
00:16:40.639 --> 00:16:58.159
So for me, I spoke about this before, but I'll really kind of put it on a bumper sticker now, is that if you're not aligned with your either life partner, spouse, or business partner, it's nearly impossible to grow.
00:16:58.399 --> 00:16:58.720
Right.
00:16:58.799 --> 00:17:05.839
So a lot of the time, Jim, at the front end of when we coach, we'll be working on the personal development side.
00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:09.200
What are the rules of the game that we need to work on?
00:17:09.759 --> 00:17:17.759
There's a scientific reason that you're butting heads because I don't know, one person's stubborn and the other one doesn't like conflict, right?
00:17:17.839 --> 00:17:20.160
So of course we know how that one's going to play out.
00:17:20.319 --> 00:17:22.400
One avoids it, one doesn't, sort of thing.
00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:32.480
So whatever the psychometric profile of the people are, knowing that at the front end of a coaching relationship is beautiful because now I can get you into synergy.
00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:42.000
And a lot of the time, the coach I find on that front is the referee because they're neutral, right?
00:17:42.079 --> 00:17:48.240
And we can call it and say, no, you're being a dick, excuse the French, stop, pull your head in, sort of thing.
00:17:48.319 --> 00:17:51.200
And then, of course, now I've got more synergy and alignment.
00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:57.920
So you've been working with your wife and you've built this global business now into the entrepreneur business school.
00:17:58.160 --> 00:18:04.720
What would be the piece of advice that you'd give to anyone that has a business with their marital partner?
00:18:04.880 --> 00:18:09.200
Because there's a dynamic where you've got the work and you've got the home environment.
00:18:09.359 --> 00:18:13.039
And that creates a huge amount of tension, especially maybe if your cash is not coming in.
00:18:13.200 --> 00:18:15.359
What would be your guidance to help people to get through that?
00:18:15.599 --> 00:18:23.200
Well, if I can just use my wife and I, we were together for 10 years before we get started entrepreneurial business school.
00:18:23.359 --> 00:18:25.839
So we had to do a lot of this work, even though we were married.
00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:28.480
I'd already signed up for the job, if you know what I mean, right?
00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:30.079
Same with the kids as well.
00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:39.359
And the and and the interesting part too, Jim, is our major growth cycle in our particular business is when the kids were young, right?
00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:50.799
So there's breastfeeding, there's late nights, there's lack of sleep, yet we're still working on ourselves, we're still uh engaging with our coach and and running the companies as we grew them, right?
00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:56.160
And I look back to those days and sometimes my wife and I actually say, How did we do it?
00:18:56.319 --> 00:19:03.680
Like, you know, like it uh it's easier now because they're sort of adults and you know, teenagers, more self-sustaining.
00:19:03.759 --> 00:19:05.920
But, you know, it's a it's interesting looking back.
00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:10.400
And there's an is a good course that I would do called Money and You.
00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:11.119
Right.
00:19:11.200 --> 00:19:15.200
It's been it's the oldest personal development course on the planet.
00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:20.000
They do run it in Australia, Malaysia, US, etc.
00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:21.839
And I think that's a must.
00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:26.240
And if you get some of the concepts in that course, it's uh it'll change your world.
00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:37.039
Great, because if you are a married couple and you and your source of wealth is the business, it going well or badly impacts your ability to look after your family and or to retire.
00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:44.880
So it's really a key relationship, and working on that relationship as opposed to just kind of letting it happen seems to be really, really important.
00:19:45.039 --> 00:19:55.440
What you what you've managed to build with the entrepreneurial business school has created a lifestyle and a business for yourself and for hundreds of other people around the world.
00:19:56.079 --> 00:19:57.599
What do you do next?
00:19:57.759 --> 00:20:00.559
Because you've obviously attained a great deal of success.
00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:07.680
Where do you go from the business success as an entrepreneur and as a member of the global community, Bruce?
00:20:07.839 --> 00:20:12.640
A mentor of mine once said people with better choices have a better life.
00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:19.839
And so that's fine to a certain extent, but the success will get you here.
00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.079
But the word I normally like to use is fulfillment, right?
00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:27.839
And fulfillment normally comes from helping other people.
00:20:28.079 --> 00:20:34.720
If I'm honest, it probably took me the first 10 years of our business to understand that, right?
00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:42.480
And and and now it's probably nearly more important than just growing the day-to-day uh operations of the company.
00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:48.480
And I was given an amazing opportunity in Perth in 2018 in the March.
00:20:48.720 --> 00:20:58.640
So that basically some friends in the business coaching world that I know and respected were getting out of that world and they did an act of abundance.
00:20:58.799 --> 00:21:04.720
And what happened is they rang me and said, We're getting out of business coaching, we've got all this client base.
00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:08.559
We're uh we we're gonna give them to you like for free.
00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:10.559
Like, no, no, no money down.
00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:13.920
And I was like, oh my, you know, that's an active abundance, isn't it?
00:21:14.160 --> 00:21:14.880
It's a huge abundance.
00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:20.400
So I had to fly over to Perth to meet the new clients, tell them about what we do.
00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:23.440
I was getting a nighttime flight back to Brisbane.
00:21:23.519 --> 00:21:32.240
I was the last on the airplane that night, and there was a guy and a kid about nine years old, and he said, What are you over here for?
00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:34.960
And I told him, and I said, What are you here for?
00:21:35.119 --> 00:21:37.200
And he says, I'm here for an operation for the kid.
00:21:37.279 --> 00:21:41.039
And I was like, You don't normally hear that, you know, getting on an airplane.
00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:45.920
I got on and bid him farewell, and the plane, it's never happened to me.
00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:47.839
I've taken thousands of flights.
00:21:48.079 --> 00:21:54.559
The plane goes out to the runway and right at the last minute turns back and goes back to the terminal.
00:21:54.799 --> 00:22:00.880
And the captain said, We've got one of our crew members has become violently ill from a terminal to the runway.
00:22:01.119 --> 00:22:05.440
You all got to get off because we've now not got the right um amount of crew.
00:22:05.759 --> 00:22:13.039
So back I go to the lounge, having a drink, and basically about three meters in front of me, here's this guy.
00:22:13.200 --> 00:22:21.200
And I don't normally talk to people in airports, but I thought I'm gonna go over and ask about the operation that he'd told me 20 minutes before.
00:22:21.440 --> 00:22:28.799
So I go over and said, Look, you know, I can't help but remember you told me about the kid's operation.
00:22:28.960 --> 00:22:30.000
And I said, When is it?
00:22:30.079 --> 00:22:31.680
He says, Tomorrow morning at 7 a.m.
00:22:31.839 --> 00:22:33.119
And I said, Have you got any flexibility?
00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:34.960
He said, No, it's then or never.
00:22:35.119 --> 00:22:41.359
And I said, Look, I don't know you from a bar of soap, but we'll probably have to move planes or airlines or whatever.
00:22:41.680 --> 00:22:45.920
I'm happy to pay for your flight and the kids' flight to get you to the destination.
00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:48.000
He said, So abundant of you.
00:22:48.160 --> 00:22:52.319
And he said to me, I'm a CEO of a charity in Uganda.
00:22:52.640 --> 00:22:55.680
And he goes, What do you know about witchcraft?
00:22:55.920 --> 00:22:57.599
And I'm like, nothing.
00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:02.079
And he says, What do you know about something called child sacrifice?
00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:05.440
And I said, I've never heard those two words in the same sentence.
00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:07.599
As one would hope, yeah, to be honest.
00:23:07.839 --> 00:23:09.119
And I said, Well, tell me about that.
00:23:09.200 --> 00:23:22.799
And he says, Well, in Uganda, there's still pockets of witch doctors who, for their paying clients, do everything from killing a chicken right through to killing humans.
00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:26.400
And I was just, I was, well, I just couldn't get my head around this.
00:23:26.480 --> 00:23:29.759
And I said, So where why are you going to Brisbane?
00:23:29.839 --> 00:23:43.759
And he said, Well, Benson, who is the the the nine-year-old, him and his father were uh kidnapped by a witch doctor, and the father was decapitated, and Benson's had his penis cut off.
00:23:44.400 --> 00:23:46.640
And I was just like, Who does this?
00:23:46.799 --> 00:23:52.079
Like I was crying, you know, still kind of makes me making squirm.
00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:52.400
Yeah.
00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:53.359
Listen to it.
00:23:53.759 --> 00:24:06.799
So I once we got that and we got the plane sorted, got him to there, and and I said to him, There's a reason that you've met an entrepreneur who's got a huge community of abundant people.
00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:14.640
And so you fast forward, we've now donated over four million dollars to those two charities in in Uganda.
00:24:14.720 --> 00:24:18.880
We take, you know, 40 people uh annually on humanitarian trips.
00:24:18.960 --> 00:24:21.759
I've just got back from one about a month ago.
00:24:22.079 --> 00:24:26.480
And uh, we've now got our own kind of world vision, if you will.
00:24:26.799 --> 00:24:31.759
So, but unlike a lot of other charities, we give 100% of every dollar donated.
00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:36.960
If so, if you want a kid, 100, 100 pounds, 100 a month, and you can change life.
00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:48.079
So I look at now what that alone has, the the impact that we've had on those communities a generational impact.
00:24:48.240 --> 00:24:55.279
You know, we've put a water bore down, which, you know, in the slums of Kampala, which is the capital of Uganda.
00:24:56.000 --> 00:24:58.960
You know, when we first went there, you know, everyone was sick.
00:24:59.039 --> 00:25:03.759
They were all drinking out of the sewers, you know, cholera, typhoid was rife.
00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:07.279
We've now got 5,000 people who drink clean drinking water.
00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:09.839
We've eradicated all those waterborne diseases.
00:25:10.160 --> 00:25:23.279
What's special about that is that is the business has got to a stage where it runs without you in the best possible way, because you put the systems in and you've got clients and you've got amazing teams around the world working with you.
00:25:24.079 --> 00:25:32.880
But rather than sort of drifting off into buying more of things, the sense of purpose has given you even more reason to grow the business, hasn't it?
00:25:32.960 --> 00:25:37.440
Because now you're in Europe expanding the team, and I guess you're going to grow internationally.
00:25:37.759 --> 00:25:51.119
So, Bruce Campbell, what would be the one piece of advice that you'd give to my friend who's listening who's thinking, I want to accomplish in the same way that Bruce has, build a business that enables me to accomplish something and then to serve others?
00:25:51.519 --> 00:25:52.240
Great question.
00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:55.680
My answer is you can't do it by yourself.
00:25:55.839 --> 00:26:02.240
And anyone out there who thinks that they can do it all by themselves, for me, I've not seen it yet.
00:26:02.400 --> 00:26:06.720
I've had heaps of coaches and mentors over the years.
00:26:07.039 --> 00:26:17.200
And for every dollar or pound that I've put into that education has paid me back like 10 times, probably more than that.
00:26:17.359 --> 00:26:22.000
So for me, I'd just say to the viewers out there, you gotta have someone in your corner.
00:26:22.079 --> 00:26:23.519
You can't do this by yourself.
00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:27.759
Bruce Campbell, thanks for joining me in the studio of the Unnoticed Entrepreneur.
00:26:27.920 --> 00:26:31.680
Thank you for joining me today and sharing your story about the entrepreneurial business school.
00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:36.400
And also we have a link which I'll put in the show notes for a free diagnostic.
00:26:36.640 --> 00:26:37.920
So do check the show notes.
00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:44.079
We'll put that in there for you that you can have a free guide and consultation with Bruce and his team.
00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:47.359
Bruce Campbell, thanks again for joining me today on the Unnoticed Entrepreneur Show.
00:26:47.599 --> 00:26:47.839
Thank you.
00:26:48.160 --> 00:26:55.119
Tremendous conversation with Bruce Campbell there, who's the co-founder and CEO of a company called the Entrepreneurial Business School.
00:26:55.279 --> 00:26:57.920
One of the key takeaways was the importance of systems.
00:26:58.160 --> 00:27:05.920
It doesn't matter so much what you're selling, but the business systems that you have to help you to grow the sales and the team.
00:27:06.079 --> 00:27:07.680
That's perhaps the first lesson.
00:27:07.920 --> 00:27:10.559
The second lesson is one of abundance.
00:27:10.880 --> 00:27:13.519
Actually, there is enough business for everyone.
00:27:13.680 --> 00:27:17.279
And the third is the importance of purpose for Bruce.
00:27:17.359 --> 00:27:25.279
Now that he's built a global company, it's his work in Africa that is really giving him huge amounts of energy and life force.
00:27:25.359 --> 00:27:33.839
And that's actually also bringing passion to the people that work with him, be it the clients and the employees that he has at the Entrepreneur Business School.
00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:50.160
Now, if you'd like to touch base with Bruce, you can go to ebs.org and they will do a free diagnostic test on your business to help you find out where you're at, and they can help you build your business so that you can live a life of wealth and abundance too.
00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:52.559
So go to ebs.org.
00:27:52.880 --> 00:27:54.079
My name is Jim James.
00:27:54.160 --> 00:27:54.720
I'm your host.
00:27:54.799 --> 00:27:58.559
Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of The Unnoticed Entrepreneur.
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:06.160
If I'm honest, it probably took me the first 10 years of our business to understand that.
00:00:06.400 --> 00:00:06.719
Right.
00:00:06.959 --> 00:00:13.679
And now it's probably nearly more important than just growing the day-to-day operations of the company.
00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:28.239
If you're out on your journey as an entrepreneur and you're wondering what constraints you're going to be facing and how to overcome them, then this conversation is for you because I'm going to be talking to one of the world's best business coaches.
00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:37.359
Joining me in the studio is Bruce Campbell, who is the co-founder and CEO of a company called the Entrepreneurial Business School.
00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:52.240
Bruce is normally based in Queensland, but he's in London and he's agreed to come into the studio to share with me and you the secrets to success and overcoming those constraints that you and me and every entrepreneur will face as we build our business.
00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:53.600
Bruce, welcome to the show.
00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:55.119
Thank you so much, Jim.
00:00:55.520 --> 00:01:03.600
Why is it, do you think, that most people start a business and then fail to grow and certainly fail to exit a business?
00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:05.599
Because that's really the common story, isn't it?
00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:14.079
If you think about it, most people who get into business, I would say 99% of them, didn't actually ever have any formal training on actually how to run a business.
00:01:14.239 --> 00:01:19.359
So, you know, they're technically good at what they do, they inherited the business, et cetera.
00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:23.040
And then they have to then learn through trial and error.
00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:24.879
And there's lots of errors.
00:01:24.959 --> 00:01:31.599
And what that's what we call dumb tax, which is the tax that business owners pay when they do something dumb.
00:01:31.760 --> 00:01:36.560
You know, it could be wrong hire, it could be wrong marketing strategy, and then they pay the price for it.
00:01:36.799 --> 00:01:39.680
You've had the entrepreneur business school for over 20 years, I think.
00:01:39.760 --> 00:01:47.920
And so we're going to talk about the entrepreneurial business school, but we're also going to talk about some of the solutions, I think, that you've helped people to implement.
00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:54.799
Bruce, what would you say is maybe the number one reason that people pay dumb tax?
00:01:54.879 --> 00:01:58.640
And what do you think we can do to cut down the amount of tax we pay?
00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:01.599
Well, I think for me it comes in two areas.
00:02:01.920 --> 00:02:13.360
Number one, education is, you know, for me, that's one of the highest forms of leverage is to actually have education and to learn those skills that they they need to know.
00:02:13.439 --> 00:02:17.599
Everything from marketing to finance to how to grow teams.
00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:22.400
You'll never scale a company if you don't work out this thing called leadership and management.
00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:24.159
You've got to understand that part.
00:02:24.400 --> 00:02:26.479
So there's an education piece.
00:02:26.719 --> 00:02:34.639
And then I think the other piece which our business is formed on is actually having a coach and having a mentor in your corner.
00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:36.159
Let me give you an example.
00:02:36.400 --> 00:02:46.000
Every publicly listed company on the planet to by law have a board of directors sitting over the CEO and the senior management, right?
00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:49.120
That's a legal requirement in any country on the planet.
00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:51.360
So we expect it in corporate.
00:02:51.599 --> 00:02:58.879
And then if you think about sport, right, every professional sporting team, it's mandatory to have a coach.
00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:02.960
You know, you wouldn't ever get any of the teams around the world not having that.
00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:05.759
And it's interesting, you know, I've got four kids.
00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:07.840
My youngest is Charlie, right?
00:03:07.919 --> 00:03:11.919
He's 12 years old now and he's been playing rugby since he was five.
00:03:12.159 --> 00:03:16.319
And even for a five-year-old, we expect coaches on the sidelines.
00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:27.759
So it sort of gobsmacks me in this day and age where business owners, their primary source of income, Jim, is their business, yet they don't have a coach looking in to give them a hand.
00:03:27.919 --> 00:03:31.520
Yeah, when you talk about that, it really makes you wonder why people don't get a coach.
00:03:31.599 --> 00:03:43.199
So tell us a little bit about the entrepreneurial business school and the kind of coaching that you do, and then we'll talk about why people maybe see their kids getting coaching at school, but not take coaching for themselves.
00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:47.039
So look, I mean, we've been coaching businesses for 21 years.
00:03:47.360 --> 00:03:52.240
We do it in one-on-one, we do it in groups, which we find are very uh important.
00:03:52.319 --> 00:04:05.280
We've actually got, I know I mentioned the board of directors for public list companies, but we've do the same thing, but it's small and medium-sized businesses where it's also peer coaching, which brings amazing community.
00:04:05.439 --> 00:04:09.439
And the results that we get when people do the push-ups is amazing.
00:04:09.599 --> 00:04:13.120
It transforms their business and it transforms their life, right?
00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:17.199
Because they're more empowered and they're better human beings on the planet.
00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:23.199
There's a whole personal development side to it, not just learning the numbers as an example.
00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:25.199
Why don't we take it through that then?
00:04:25.360 --> 00:04:40.319
What are some of the challenges that an entrepreneur or someone who wants to be an entrepreneur faces as they grow from being owner-operator to one day having a business that might operate without them, which is the ultimate freedom, isn't it, what entrepreneurship can offer?
00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:42.160
Would you take us through those steps?
00:04:42.639 --> 00:04:45.040
We coach something called the cash flow ladder.
00:04:45.199 --> 00:04:54.480
So if your listeners and viewers can imagine a good old ladder, we all start at student, be it high school, university, trade college, whatever that is.
00:04:54.720 --> 00:04:56.560
Most people then go and get a job.
00:04:56.720 --> 00:04:59.839
Some people skip that rung on the ladder, but most don't.
00:04:59.920 --> 00:05:03.600
You know, I got a job back 25 years ago, etc.
00:05:03.839 --> 00:05:05.600
So most people do a job.
00:05:05.839 --> 00:05:12.079
And then some people who do that rung of the ladder, then say, I don't want to do this anymore.
00:05:12.160 --> 00:05:16.480
If I had my own business, I'd make more money and I'd have more time to enjoy it.
00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:16.720
Right.
00:05:16.879 --> 00:05:21.439
And I say that with a bit of humor in it because then they get into, oh, hang on.
00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:26.800
Furthermore, Jim, they'll say, he or she who I'm working for is an idiot.
00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:30.319
Therefore, I'm going to go and work for a different idiot being myself.
00:05:30.560 --> 00:05:30.800
That's right.
00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:30.959
Right.
00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:32.959
Of course, we when we start, we don't think we're an idiot.
00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:34.720
We think we must know more than anybody else.
00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:37.040
We've seen the business make its mistakes.
00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:37.360
Yeah.
00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:39.839
And then we think, well, I wouldn't make those mistakes.
00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:40.480
Yeah, yeah.
00:05:40.560 --> 00:05:44.879
And then you go to a run called self, where you're working for yourself.
00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:57.439
And then this is from a mindset point of view, you get humbled in that first few years because you don't know like the tax and cash flow forecasting and team, et cetera.
00:05:57.519 --> 00:05:59.279
And there's more to it, right?
00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:13.839
And then if you're good at doing it by yourself, you go to the next rung, which we call manager, which is you've got helpers, team members, maybe subcontractors, but the business doesn't fundamentally work without you.
00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:19.120
And I normally say on that rung, a good rule of thumb is holidays, right?
00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:25.519
Is that most times at that rung of the ladder, you cannot go away from the business more than about two to three weeks.
00:06:25.759 --> 00:06:28.000
I hear them when they come back from a break.
00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:37.199
A lot of the time they'll say, sometimes I wished, I wondered why I even went on the holiday in the first place based on all the brain damage I had to do when I got back to the business.
00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:42.480
Well, and often for entrepreneurs, a holiday is quite stressful because one, you're not making any money, but you're spending it.
00:06:42.639 --> 00:06:42.800
Sure.
00:06:42.959 --> 00:06:51.439
But as you say, if it's a successfully run business, I should be able to leave that company and someone's running it for me and I can return to a well-operating company.
00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:52.639
But how do you do that, Bruce?
00:06:52.800 --> 00:06:54.560
Because that's the barrier to growth, isn't it?
00:06:54.639 --> 00:07:01.199
For most people, you get into that loop as well, where you think you can't afford to employ anybody to run it for you.
00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:02.319
So you keep running it.
00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:04.480
And that treadmill can last for years.
00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:07.920
Well, I would even say for a lot of people, it's their whole career.
00:07:08.079 --> 00:07:11.839
You know, they'll go to their grave in that in that position.
00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:18.000
And look, and this is where we come in, is we help people go to the next rung, which is owner.
00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:21.360
And that's defined as the business works without you.
00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:26.800
Doesn't mean you can have a six-month holiday and expect the business to be still there when you get back.
00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:35.279
But the business has got my probably one of my favorite principles and laws, which is the law of leverage, more with less.
00:07:35.519 --> 00:07:41.439
And so forms of leverage that help people get there would be systems.
00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:46.480
Is the business systemized enough so that it's not all just a people-based system?
00:07:46.959 --> 00:07:51.120
Do I have the right people that care for the company and want to take it?
00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:54.399
Or have I got a bunch of terrorists running around that I employ?
00:07:54.639 --> 00:07:58.959
Does the business have the right optics and dashboards and numbers?
00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:09.519
So all of these, like there's more I could go on with, but that all of those, that's where we do a lot of coaching to get the owner and the entrepreneur to that level.
00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:11.279
So for me, that's how you do it.
00:08:11.519 --> 00:08:16.160
So one of the challenges seems to be that as an entrepreneur, you have to see yourself differently.
00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:20.879
How do you help entrepreneurs that are kind of in their comfort zone?
00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:29.120
They're almost in flow in that I'm needed position, so that they transition out of that into being a business owner.
00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:32.240
Well, for me, that that's the big mindset shift.
00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:38.799
When people go, I'm the best one and the only one who knows how to do this part of the business.
00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:42.159
So a lot of the time they have to trust.
00:08:42.399 --> 00:08:48.799
And we've got a principle that says when control goes up, growth goes down.
00:08:49.039 --> 00:08:49.279
Right.
00:08:49.440 --> 00:09:04.559
When the business owner says I'm okay to empower someone or a team, let's go and find on the seven odd billion people that are on the planet someone who's better technically on what I think I'm actually great at.
00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:05.039
Right.
00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:06.639
Let's go and get a better person.
00:09:06.720 --> 00:09:12.159
I think uh Steve Jobs said that you know you should be employing people smarter than you.
00:09:12.399 --> 00:09:15.759
So this is where that I think there's a huge mindset shift.
00:09:15.840 --> 00:09:21.120
And when people allow that control to be tapered, they grow the business.
00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:30.159
How much of that reluctance to let go is not only the I'm the best at it, but also if I'm not doing it, someone might steal my business.
00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:31.759
I think that's part of it.
00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:37.039
I think the other big challenge is people's upbringing, right?
00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:45.840
And I get a sense of guilt that if I'm not slaving away 40 to 80 hours a week, it's it's like a self-worth point.
00:09:46.159 --> 00:09:49.360
For me, you know, I'll speak from a place of eye.
00:09:49.600 --> 00:09:54.159
I came from a farming off sheep and cattle stations in Australia.
00:09:54.399 --> 00:10:00.159
You know, if you're not out working, there's a whole mindset that that's your identity, right?
00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:14.960
So I think for a lot of people, particularly people who have grown up in similar, not necessarily farming, but working class, there's a whole identity piece to it with I'm not doing the hours, you know, then I've got guilt.
00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:18.000
It's just what we would maybe call the Protestant work ethic, right?
00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:23.919
That you put in a good day's work or a good week's work, and then on Sunday then you can rest and then you're getting stuck back into it.
00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:24.720
Correct.
00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:34.159
When someone changes their mindset and then they believe that they can employ someone better than them, what do they need to have in place for that business to run?
00:10:34.320 --> 00:10:35.360
You talk about systems.
00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:38.879
Let's talk a little bit from a practical point of view, Bruce.
00:10:38.960 --> 00:10:47.120
What do they need to have in place so they can feel confident that the business is being run properly so they can step out of it?
00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:51.759
What are some practical, if you like, tools or systems that you help people to put in place?
00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:53.840
I would say good CRM system.
00:10:54.159 --> 00:10:58.000
CRM being a customer relationship manager management system.
00:10:58.399 --> 00:11:00.320
So, you know, and there's plenty out there.
00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:03.679
In actual fact, that's all, you know, choosing the right one.
00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:11.840
You know, I've I've seen hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars being put down the gurgler because they didn't they didn't do the research.
00:11:11.919 --> 00:11:14.080
So they they chose the wrong system.
00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:18.879
Six months of work went in and then they had to, you know, turf it and start again.
00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:20.240
So I think that's a big one.
00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:25.519
The right accounting system, the right, you know, CFO, chief financial officer system.
00:11:25.600 --> 00:11:26.799
That's what we do actually.
00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:43.200
We've got our own proprietary software and and people to take uh the entrepreneur business owner's numbers and then put it in a format that's nice and easy to read so that you and your coach can be talking science uh at in the coaching sessions, you know.
00:11:43.279 --> 00:11:53.120
You know, if I give you an example there or an analogy, you know, if I go to the doctor, right, and the doctor's about to do surgery on me, I want them doing tests.
00:11:53.440 --> 00:12:00.240
They got to do blood tests or x-rays or whatever I'm in there for, not just going, I think you've got this, I'll go grab the scalpel.
00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:00.720
Right.
00:12:00.879 --> 00:12:03.039
So we need evidence-based decisions.
00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:10.799
And I think that's a big part that I think is, you know, a real big competitive advantage of uh of us, is we've got a lot of those.
00:12:11.039 --> 00:12:11.200
Yeah.
00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:29.279
So with EBS, then you're actually helping your clients not just to rely on their own, whether it's zero, for example, or Sage, their own bookkeeping, you actually have all the numbers with your own team so that your consultants can go in and give consistent report against some metrics.
00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:33.519
So that that's also part of the benefit of having a coaching program, isn't it?
00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:33.919
Yeah.
00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:50.240
And look, you know, while whilst we're staying on systems and the pieces that help people get to that more leveraged owner rung on the ladder, I think another one is a hundred percent around the team.
00:12:50.480 --> 00:12:50.960
Right.
00:12:51.360 --> 00:13:09.039
I would say any of the clients where there's more than five to ten team, right up to 500, it's this probably the most single handed choke point is that they don't have any real systematic way to recruit, select.
00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:13.759
So they're doing it on gut feel, and he or she's gonna work out here, right?
00:13:13.919 --> 00:13:17.759
So we put people through a huge amount of system to do that.
00:13:17.919 --> 00:13:24.480
Also psychometric testing, because I want to know the person that I'm gonna employ and have to deal with.
00:13:24.639 --> 00:13:26.080
I got to know that all up front.
00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:32.320
I have to have some of the tough conversations before they sign the dotted line and walk through the door.
00:13:32.559 --> 00:13:37.519
Another piece, and there's plenty of stats on this one, Jim, is onboarding.
00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:49.120
So the stats of onboarding a new team member in that first six months, the stats are atrocious for the person not performing or not staying.
00:13:49.279 --> 00:13:54.000
And another one for you viewers and listeners is the younger they are, right?
00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:57.679
So in the 20s, those stats are even worse.
00:13:58.000 --> 00:14:11.440
I say for a bad hire, depending on where they are in the organization from a hierarchy, for some of the junior ones, you're going to write a check for 10,000 pounds, dollars, euro, et cetera, right?
00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:11.759
Yeah.
00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:19.039
And for the major hires, like middle of the organizational chart or even higher, it's one to two hundred thousand.
00:14:19.200 --> 00:14:25.679
Yeah, it's amazing, Bruce, isn't it, how much time we put in to finding those people, how little we put into actually the onboarding.
00:14:25.840 --> 00:14:28.000
There's a very good book by Dan and Chip Heath.
00:14:28.399 --> 00:14:36.399
It's called Moments, and it talks about how when people join, the importance of making it a welcoming experience and also the training.
00:14:36.799 --> 00:14:41.679
One of the things that comes to mind, we're saying about business not growing.
00:14:42.080 --> 00:14:45.279
And really, we've talked a lot about systems and about people.
00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:50.399
What about innovation, Bruce, and the need for product and market fit?
00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:52.080
How do you help people with that?
00:14:52.240 --> 00:15:07.440
Because systems are important, but there's also the glamorous side of making sure that whatever people are building, developing, and supplying to customers remains relevant, especially in the kind of changes that we're having now, whether it's with AI or trade supply challenges.
00:15:07.759 --> 00:15:11.039
What challenges do you see there that are stopping people growing?
00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:23.279
The one that I run into regularly is because the people or the owner at the top of the organization are so far in their business, they're on the tools.
00:15:23.679 --> 00:15:32.240
They don't have the time and they don't have the critical think time to even be able to go to an innovation uh mindset or place.
00:15:32.720 --> 00:15:54.320
This is again why coach is so important, because once a month or quarter or whatever the frequency we coach on, we literally drag the business owner out of the weeds and say, let's go and have a think about what's going to be the innovation, what's the biggest risk facing your company, all these type of questions that allows them to get out of it?
00:15:54.559 --> 00:15:57.600
The ability to take a step out, but also a guided step.
00:15:57.759 --> 00:16:06.000
Let's just talk about the entrepreneur that has a business with their partner, know that you with the entrepreneur business school, you know, you set that with your or your partner and your wife.
00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:16.960
What are some of the challenges that you think people face when they're starting a business with a partner, be it a spouse or another person they've met, maybe they've co-developed a product.
00:16:17.919 --> 00:16:20.159
Well, I think Warren Buffett says it the best.
00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:34.480
He says, of all the decisions you make in your life, making the right one on the home front or business partner is one of the most crucial decisions you make and you stuff it up, you you're gonna pay a big old dumb tax on that one, right?
00:16:35.519 --> 00:16:40.320
And it's not just the monetary, it's the emotional side to the whole thing as well.
00:16:40.639 --> 00:16:58.159
So for me, I spoke about this before, but I'll really kind of put it on a bumper sticker now, is that if you're not aligned with your either life partner, spouse, or business partner, it's nearly impossible to grow.
00:16:58.399 --> 00:16:58.720
Right.
00:16:58.799 --> 00:17:05.839
So a lot of the time, Jim, at the front end of when we coach, we'll be working on the personal development side.
00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:09.200
What are the rules of the game that we need to work on?
00:17:09.759 --> 00:17:17.759
There's a scientific reason that you're butting heads because I don't know, one person's stubborn and the other one doesn't like conflict, right?
00:17:17.839 --> 00:17:20.160
So of course we know how that one's going to play out.
00:17:20.319 --> 00:17:22.400
One avoids it, one doesn't, sort of thing.
00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:32.480
So whatever the psychometric profile of the people are, knowing that at the front end of a coaching relationship is beautiful because now I can get you into synergy.
00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:42.000
And a lot of the time, the coach I find on that front is the referee because they're neutral, right?
00:17:42.079 --> 00:17:48.240
And we can call it and say, no, you're being a dick, excuse the French, stop, pull your head in, sort of thing.
00:17:48.319 --> 00:17:51.200
And then, of course, now I've got more synergy and alignment.
00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:57.920
So you've been working with your wife and you've built this global business now into the entrepreneur business school.
00:17:58.160 --> 00:18:04.720
What would be the piece of advice that you'd give to anyone that has a business with their marital partner?
00:18:04.880 --> 00:18:09.200
Because there's a dynamic where you've got the work and you've got the home environment.
00:18:09.359 --> 00:18:13.039
And that creates a huge amount of tension, especially maybe if your cash is not coming in.
00:18:13.200 --> 00:18:15.359
What would be your guidance to help people to get through that?
00:18:15.599 --> 00:18:23.200
Well, if I can just use my wife and I, we were together for 10 years before we get started entrepreneurial business school.
00:18:23.359 --> 00:18:25.839
So we had to do a lot of this work, even though we were married.
00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:28.480
I'd already signed up for the job, if you know what I mean, right?
00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:30.079
Same with the kids as well.
00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:39.359
And the and and the interesting part too, Jim, is our major growth cycle in our particular business is when the kids were young, right?
00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:50.799
So there's breastfeeding, there's late nights, there's lack of sleep, yet we're still working on ourselves, we're still uh engaging with our coach and and running the companies as we grew them, right?
00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:56.160
And I look back to those days and sometimes my wife and I actually say, How did we do it?
00:18:56.319 --> 00:19:03.680
Like, you know, like it uh it's easier now because they're sort of adults and you know, teenagers, more self-sustaining.
00:19:03.759 --> 00:19:05.920
But, you know, it's a it's interesting looking back.
00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:10.400
And there's an is a good course that I would do called Money and You.
00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:11.119
Right.
00:19:11.200 --> 00:19:15.200
It's been it's the oldest personal development course on the planet.
00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:20.000
They do run it in Australia, Malaysia, US, etc.
00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:21.839
And I think that's a must.
00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:26.240
And if you get some of the concepts in that course, it's uh it'll change your world.
00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:37.039
Great, because if you are a married couple and you and your source of wealth is the business, it going well or badly impacts your ability to look after your family and or to retire.
00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:44.880
So it's really a key relationship, and working on that relationship as opposed to just kind of letting it happen seems to be really, really important.
00:19:45.039 --> 00:19:55.440
What you what you've managed to build with the entrepreneurial business school has created a lifestyle and a business for yourself and for hundreds of other people around the world.
00:19:56.079 --> 00:19:57.599
What do you do next?
00:19:57.759 --> 00:20:00.559
Because you've obviously attained a great deal of success.
00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:07.680
Where do you go from the business success as an entrepreneur and as a member of the global community, Bruce?
00:20:07.839 --> 00:20:12.640
A mentor of mine once said people with better choices have a better life.
00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:19.839
And so that's fine to a certain extent, but the success will get you here.
00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.079
But the word I normally like to use is fulfillment, right?
00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:27.839
And fulfillment normally comes from helping other people.
00:20:28.079 --> 00:20:34.720
If I'm honest, it probably took me the first 10 years of our business to understand that, right?
00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:42.480
And and and now it's probably nearly more important than just growing the day-to-day uh operations of the company.
00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:48.480
And I was given an amazing opportunity in Perth in 2018 in the March.
00:20:48.720 --> 00:20:58.640
So that basically some friends in the business coaching world that I know and respected were getting out of that world and they did an act of abundance.
00:20:58.799 --> 00:21:04.720
And what happened is they rang me and said, We're getting out of business coaching, we've got all this client base.
00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:08.559
We're uh we we're gonna give them to you like for free.
00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:10.559
Like, no, no, no money down.
00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:13.920
And I was like, oh my, you know, that's an active abundance, isn't it?
00:21:14.160 --> 00:21:14.880
It's a huge abundance.
00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:20.400
So I had to fly over to Perth to meet the new clients, tell them about what we do.
00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:23.440
I was getting a nighttime flight back to Brisbane.
00:21:23.519 --> 00:21:32.240
I was the last on the airplane that night, and there was a guy and a kid about nine years old, and he said, What are you over here for?
00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:34.960
And I told him, and I said, What are you here for?
00:21:35.119 --> 00:21:37.200
And he says, I'm here for an operation for the kid.
00:21:37.279 --> 00:21:41.039
And I was like, You don't normally hear that, you know, getting on an airplane.
00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:45.920
I got on and bid him farewell, and the plane, it's never happened to me.
00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:47.839
I've taken thousands of flights.
00:21:48.079 --> 00:21:54.559
The plane goes out to the runway and right at the last minute turns back and goes back to the terminal.
00:21:54.799 --> 00:22:00.880
And the captain said, We've got one of our crew members has become violently ill from a terminal to the runway.
00:22:01.119 --> 00:22:05.440
You all got to get off because we've now not got the right um amount of crew.
00:22:05.759 --> 00:22:13.039
So back I go to the lounge, having a drink, and basically about three meters in front of me, here's this guy.
00:22:13.200 --> 00:22:21.200
And I don't normally talk to people in airports, but I thought I'm gonna go over and ask about the operation that he'd told me 20 minutes before.
00:22:21.440 --> 00:22:28.799
So I go over and said, Look, you know, I can't help but remember you told me about the kid's operation.
00:22:28.960 --> 00:22:30.000
And I said, When is it?
00:22:30.079 --> 00:22:31.680
He says, Tomorrow morning at 7 a.m.
00:22:31.839 --> 00:22:33.119
And I said, Have you got any flexibility?
00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:34.960
He said, No, it's then or never.
00:22:35.119 --> 00:22:41.359
And I said, Look, I don't know you from a bar of soap, but we'll probably have to move planes or airlines or whatever.
00:22:41.680 --> 00:22:45.920
I'm happy to pay for your flight and the kids' flight to get you to the destination.
00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:48.000
He said, So abundant of you.
00:22:48.160 --> 00:22:52.319
And he said to me, I'm a CEO of a charity in Uganda.
00:22:52.640 --> 00:22:55.680
And he goes, What do you know about witchcraft?
00:22:55.920 --> 00:22:57.599
And I'm like, nothing.
00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:02.079
And he says, What do you know about something called child sacrifice?
00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:05.440
And I said, I've never heard those two words in the same sentence.
00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:07.599
As one would hope, yeah, to be honest.
00:23:07.839 --> 00:23:09.119
And I said, Well, tell me about that.
00:23:09.200 --> 00:23:22.799
And he says, Well, in Uganda, there's still pockets of witch doctors who, for their paying clients, do everything from killing a chicken right through to killing humans.
00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:26.400
And I was just, I was, well, I just couldn't get my head around this.
00:23:26.480 --> 00:23:29.759
And I said, So where why are you going to Brisbane?
00:23:29.839 --> 00:23:43.759
And he said, Well, Benson, who is the the the nine-year-old, him and his father were uh kidnapped by a witch doctor, and the father was decapitated, and Benson's had his penis cut off.
00:23:44.400 --> 00:23:46.640
And I was just like, Who does this?
00:23:46.799 --> 00:23:52.079
Like I was crying, you know, still kind of makes me making squirm.
00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:52.400
Yeah.
00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:53.359
Listen to it.
00:23:53.759 --> 00:24:06.799
So I once we got that and we got the plane sorted, got him to there, and and I said to him, There's a reason that you've met an entrepreneur who's got a huge community of abundant people.
00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:14.640
And so you fast forward, we've now donated over four million dollars to those two charities in in Uganda.
00:24:14.720 --> 00:24:18.880
We take, you know, 40 people uh annually on humanitarian trips.
00:24:18.960 --> 00:24:21.759
I've just got back from one about a month ago.
00:24:22.079 --> 00:24:26.480
And uh, we've now got our own kind of world vision, if you will.
00:24:26.799 --> 00:24:31.759
So, but unlike a lot of other charities, we give 100% of every dollar donated.
00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:36.960
If so, if you want a kid, 100, 100 pounds, 100 a month, and you can change life.
00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:48.079
So I look at now what that alone has, the the impact that we've had on those communities a generational impact.
00:24:48.240 --> 00:24:55.279
You know, we've put a water bore down, which, you know, in the slums of Kampala, which is the capital of Uganda.
00:24:56.000 --> 00:24:58.960
You know, when we first went there, you know, everyone was sick.
00:24:59.039 --> 00:25:03.759
They were all drinking out of the sewers, you know, cholera, typhoid was rife.
00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:07.279
We've now got 5,000 people who drink clean drinking water.
00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:09.839
We've eradicated all those waterborne diseases.
00:25:10.160 --> 00:25:23.279
What's special about that is that is the business has got to a stage where it runs without you in the best possible way, because you put the systems in and you've got clients and you've got amazing teams around the world working with you.
00:25:24.079 --> 00:25:32.880
But rather than sort of drifting off into buying more of things, the sense of purpose has given you even more reason to grow the business, hasn't it?
00:25:32.960 --> 00:25:37.440
Because now you're in Europe expanding the team, and I guess you're going to grow internationally.
00:25:37.759 --> 00:25:51.119
So, Bruce Campbell, what would be the one piece of advice that you'd give to my friend who's listening who's thinking, I want to accomplish in the same way that Bruce has, build a business that enables me to accomplish something and then to serve others?
00:25:51.519 --> 00:25:52.240
Great question.
00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:55.680
My answer is you can't do it by yourself.
00:25:55.839 --> 00:26:02.240
And anyone out there who thinks that they can do it all by themselves, for me, I've not seen it yet.
00:26:02.400 --> 00:26:06.720
I've had heaps of coaches and mentors over the years.
00:26:07.039 --> 00:26:17.200
And for every dollar or pound that I've put into that education has paid me back like 10 times, probably more than that.
00:26:17.359 --> 00:26:22.000
So for me, I'd just say to the viewers out there, you gotta have someone in your corner.
00:26:22.079 --> 00:26:23.519
You can't do this by yourself.
00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:27.759
Bruce Campbell, thanks for joining me in the studio of the Unnoticed Entrepreneur.
00:26:27.920 --> 00:26:31.680
Thank you for joining me today and sharing your story about the entrepreneurial business school.
00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:36.400
And also we have a link which I'll put in the show notes for a free diagnostic.
00:26:36.640 --> 00:26:37.920
So do check the show notes.
00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:44.079
We'll put that in there for you that you can have a free guide and consultation with Bruce and his team.
00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:47.359
Bruce Campbell, thanks again for joining me today on the Unnoticed Entrepreneur Show.
00:26:47.599 --> 00:26:47.839
Thank you.
00:26:48.160 --> 00:26:55.119
Tremendous conversation with Bruce Campbell there, who's the co-founder and CEO of a company called the Entrepreneurial Business School.
00:26:55.279 --> 00:26:57.920
One of the key takeaways was the importance of systems.
00:26:58.160 --> 00:27:05.920
It doesn't matter so much what you're selling, but the business systems that you have to help you to grow the sales and the team.
00:27:06.079 --> 00:27:07.680
That's perhaps the first lesson.
00:27:07.920 --> 00:27:10.559
The second lesson is one of abundance.
00:27:10.880 --> 00:27:13.519
Actually, there is enough business for everyone.
00:27:13.680 --> 00:27:17.279
And the third is the importance of purpose for Bruce.
00:27:17.359 --> 00:27:25.279
Now that he's built a global company, it's his work in Africa that is really giving him huge amounts of energy and life force.
00:27:25.359 --> 00:27:33.839
And that's actually also bringing passion to the people that work with him, be it the clients and the employees that he has at the Entrepreneur Business School.
00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:50.160
Now, if you'd like to touch base with Bruce, you can go to ebs.org and they will do a free diagnostic test on your business to help you find out where you're at, and they can help you build your business so that you can live a life of wealth and abundance too.
00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:52.559
So go to ebs.org.
00:27:52.880 --> 00:27:54.079
My name is Jim James.
00:27:54.160 --> 00:27:54.720
I'm your host.
00:27:54.799 --> 00:27:58.559
Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of The Unnoticed Entrepreneur.
