Planning and Milestones for Business Growth

This is Building Better Developers, the Develop-a-Noor podcast. We will accomplish our goals through sharing experience, improving tech skills, increasing business knowledge, and embracing life. Let's dive into the next episode. Well, hello and welcome back. We are continuing our series, our season of a series of interviews. At this point, we're talking to Krishna Mohan, and we're going to be wrapping it up in this episode. We talked in the prior episode about companies being an organization, and almost to some extent individuals being ready to grow. This episode, we're going to continue looking into that and talk about planning and how to make it reasonable, how to set the proper milestones, how to achieve those, and how to get ourselves on the right path in a way that's sustainable and builds the proper habits along the way. That being said, I think it's time to dive right into it. So here we go. We'll get right back to our conversation with Krishna. So one of the things that is in your listing of things you do is a business coach. And I'd like to get from somebody that is a business coach, what is, maybe describe what a business coach is or does, maybe in general, and whether that's you or whether you have a specific target that you work with. Sure, sure. A business coach is someone who can help a business owner to reach his goals. When I said goals, they're broad goals. The goal could be, I'm a $4 million company. My goal is to reach $6 million during the next 12 months. That's a very clearly defined goal. I am a $4 million company. I have right now 12 employees. I need to grow this company to 25 employees in the next three years. How can I manage that growth? Where do I get access to capital to increase that? I want to, right now, my business is having 12 active customers. I need to double that down in the next 12 months. How do I get there? So like that, my coaching is more result-oriented. So I clearly define their objectives, clearly define their goals, clearly define the timelines. And I engage with them for that particular timeframe and help them to get to the finish line. And what needs to be done during the next 12 months is what I take care of it. And guide them, coach them, mentor them, teach them, and then navigate them and help them to reach that goal. So that is my style of coaching, which is more result-oriented, not concept-oriented. So I periodically, which is every week, if I schedule a time, I have an hour schedule calls with these business owners. So whatever needs to be done will be done in that call. And then there'll be a follow-up call in the following week. So we don't miss those milestones on a weekly basis. So by the end of month or quarter or the year, there is that predictable growth that comes out of that engagement. That's how I work. So you mentioned a year. Is that sort of your sweet spot of somebody coming to you and saying, this is the one that you want to be in? Yeah. So the reality here is there are two things. My primary style, there are two areas that I'm coaching. One is on the revenues is my specialty. And then I also help them on the business credit building. We have developed an offering called Genius Business Finance Suite. We have a structured program for that to help them to get that. So these are the two areas is my primary focus. I am saying 12 months because you can achieve a small milestone within, at least it takes 90 days to get to a smaller milestones in business realistically. I take it one year because I don't want them to get that little success and then leave them in between the ocean because they don't know how to continue those things that we started. So because we're going to build upon a few things because there's a lot of other marketing activities go behind the scenes. Like I said, other things that are needed to it. But you don't get sale just because we started this initiative. You got to do a lot of other things before you actually get the contract. So those things, if I leave them in after 90 days or after 180 days, then they may not be able to continue. So they may not be able to get the results. So that's why to get to that end result, I take one year as a reasonable time to make sure that works. And then we work more than a year. I'm just saying one year is just to start with because if somebody is getting that kind of results, why would they not work with us? That's the goal. So as part of that, also then particularly when you look at those smaller stepwise goals, as part of that is so that when you walk away that they've continued, they've sort of set some habits in place. So they've got some things that they continue and it's not even after you even with that bigger goal. Yes. One year is a good time. By then, all these things that the systems or processes or including team or all the activities related to marketing are already in place. So the year two growth is based on the $6 million. If we start with $4 million and reach $6 million, the year two, the basis is $6 million. You got to grow from $6 million. So you need to have the foundation. You cannot just grow from six to like seven or even eight. So that's the challenge. That's why if you look at most businesses, their growth is linear. You take 15 years to get to $4 million. You take 20 years to just get $2 million. You have been in business for the last 18 years, but what's your revenue? $800,000. Why is that? That is the thing. You don't need that many number of years to get to these numbers. You can start your company like yesterday and then be $20 million company by the end of these 12 months if you're doing, if you have a right product or a right service. So it depends. So that's why we make sure that they don't skip the right things. Otherwise it will just, it's like Facebook ads. You can spend $1,000 on Facebook ads today. Like if you're running an e-commerce store and then make $2,000 revenue. So who is making money? Facebook, not you. Yeah. So that's not scalable. I don't like that. You need to have an organic growth for yourself, sustainable. Oh, agreed. Now with that in mind, are there customers or I guess potential customers that come to you and you start talking to them and you say, Hey, you're not, essentially you're not ready for me yet. These are some things that you are, where your goals are not reachable based on what, where you're at, where you're going to have to do, you know, maybe the product's not there or the company's not positioned right or whatever it may be. So typically what I do, you know, Rob is that I offer a free strategy session for 45 minutes to these business owners. So during that time, you know, we understand their goals. We understand what's working, what's not working. And then clearly give them a roadmap as to, you know, where they're at, where they need to be, what needs to be done. So then that gives them, you know, a good enough time to understand on what's going on and for them to know what are their options. So that it happens through education. It happens to, it happens through a lot of content that we have. We have a book. And so that is how the business owners come to us. It's not, we don't sell, no, there's no sales pitch. We don't sell anything like that. It happens through education. We try to educate the business owners on these concepts through education. They realize what is it that they need to do? What is it that they're missing right now? So then they'll be in a position to decide whether they want to do it now or they need help or they can do on their own. In business, that's what happens, right? You know, either you take some help or you do it on your own. Sometimes it may take time. Sometimes it will work. So it depends. So are there, what's, is there sort of a target market maybe? Or I guess I'm thinking more along the lines of somebody says, hey, I've got a business. I'm wondering if I have what, if I'm in a position where it would make sense for me to talk to a business coach or there may be some, some rules of thumb or something like that where you'd say, Oh, no, there are different types of coaches out there who specialize on different things. Many of them focus on marketing only, you know, because like I said, they may be specializing on one thing. They may have something that can produce results in the next 60 days and that's all they do. Or they may be doing a few, few other things, you know, like drip campaigns. Some are specialized on social media campaigns. Some are specialized on PR. Some are specialized purely on the branding aspect of it. So I'm seeing different coaches specialized on different things, but my approach is different. Mine is not a piecemeal approach because I don't have much time myself. I'm not only doing coaching because I have three businesses to run myself. And then I'm also into, you know, advisory, M&A advisory, we advise companies on acquisitions, diverse teachers and bigger stuff. So given my time, I wouldn't go for short term engagements. And we are also into acquisitions. I'm also looking to acquire companies. So we have a few other things on the plate. But I do have other coaches part of my team. They might be bringing things like sales training, which is specifically sales training to the table. I have coaches like that. That makes sense. It goes back to the blind spots and know what your strengths and weaknesses are and being able to offset those as needed. So it's sort of a cliched kind of question, but I think it's one that's very applicable to you is based on what you've had a long and storied journey in a sense when listening to your initial summary and how you got here. What's something or maybe a couple of things that you would advise your younger self or somebody that's starting along that path? If they're, you know, a young Krishna somewhere out there, what are maybe some things you would do different or that you did right? And that you say, wow, this is something I underestimated how value this was going to be. I think I underestimated the time to reach to the top. It need not take that much time. Number one, maybe that would have saved another five to seven years for me. And then I also think I should have bigger goals than what I already had because what is possible, what can be accomplished is way too bigger than what I did so far. So that's the greatest realization. So whoever is starting early, what I would suggest is they just need to start thinking big, which is realistically possible. But you just need to have the belief system and surround yourself with the right people who actually did that, who already achieved, who already have gone through that path and then build relationships with those individuals. Guaranteed you'll reach your goals, which I did not do because I don't have that level of guidance and handholding, I would say. But that's all I can say. Thinking bigger than what I thought and expecting things to happen a lot more faster than the way I thought. Those are the two big things in my case. So did you find those leaders or mentors later on, or is it one of those things that by the time you realize what you need to do? I found them. I constantly have those leaders and coaches. But again, let me put it in a different way. It's my own personal goal, which I said was smaller than, was small. It can be bigger. That's all I'm trying to say. So you pick your coaches and mentors based on your goals. I want to do this. So let's say I'm a, let me quote an example. I'm a $10 million company. I need to acquire a competitor so that my revenues will grow to $15 million. So then I'll go and look for someone who can help me to do that. But I'm a $10 million startup, but I'm going to public. And then when the IPO and everything is in it, the company will be valued at a billion dollars. Then I will go and reach out to different coaches. Make sense? Yes. That's where I missed that. That is where I missed in my life. Now you get that. Yeah. So what, one of the things that you focus on, you say that's sort of your niche almost world is finding that is that is growing is basically help them particularly from a financial point of view grow. And then of course the organization requirements to support that growth. What are, are there some things that are sort of, I want to say like low hanging fruit or gimmies or something like that, where it is something that you can look at almost any business and say, here are some things that you can do to help yourself grow. Yeah, I think the low hanging fruits are in a few things, which is partnerships is again, many startups don't consider, which is that you have a specific product. But if you partner with a complimentary product or services in the same industry, then you have access to their customers and they have access to your customers. This is a big one in small business world. Chasing new customers and getting that one new contract versus partnering is a completely different ball game. I think that is a long, low hanging fruit available for almost any business. But you just one need to just explore and then have those conversations with them where you're what you're doing is making a lot of sense to their business. They're making a lot of sense to your business. And both of you guys are making a lot of sense to your customers. That is one which I clearly see on a daily basis. And the second thing is most businesses, when you go to their website, they don't have a proper landing page or they don't have a funnel. So basically, you capture your prospect or the lead and then you nurture the lead by, again, as I said, education, by some reports, by some content, by some thought leadership. I see that many businesses are not doing by doing that, you position yourself as a thought leader, as someone who knows what you're doing as an expert. And then through that approach, eventually, there will be a very high level of conversion. But most businesses are thinking that, OK, I need to do cold calls. I need to go and meet these customers. I'm going to this networking event. That's not enough. These kind of things are very important. And then you have all these social media channels that you have access to. But you need to have the right messaging. Most businesses lack proper messaging. What is your message? What's your brand message? What do you communicate to your customer? And that messaging need to be crafted very well and communicated well. So your ideal prospects, you know, gets that message and they resonate. And that's how your conversions can increase. These are some of the things that I could think of. And there are many, many things that come along with it. Like I said, personal branding is very important for the founders. They need to focus on that in that niche in their segment. Again, the company branding is also very important. One needs to be aware, one need to put effort. Again, you don't see the money when you're doing these things, but you have to do it. There's no the two ways about it. It's extremely important to focus on them. Not always it costs money. One need to again figure out how to do that in a small way, baby steps. Yeah, I think these are a few things that I could come up with. And it's amazing. Those are that falls right in line with it's amazing how many people either listen to or have conversations with in that area, an area of building a business, successful business, growing it is it seems to so often come back to brand and making sure that you get that brand out there and brand awareness and sort of following through with that is doing those doing that work that may not be as sexy, but making sure that those that are out there that will benefit from your business, that you can reach them. And then the niche is commonly referred to as well as making sure that you understand where this sort of goes back to your discussion there about you're not perfect. You're not the best necessarily. But in some cases, you are the funny places where you are the best fit for either a person, a customer, a vendor, whatever it happens to be because of your unique qualities, your business's unique qualities is exactly happens to be exactly what they're looking for and making sure that you connect to that person and let them know that you're out there. That's right. You just need to be a little more patient. You know, you cannot expect results overnight. You have to be consistent in your efforts. That's the key here. Consistency is the key. And then eventually the momentum will pick up. And then that's how you will see traction coming out of your efforts, especially that's how the conversions and sales happen. That's that is a perfect point for us to actually wrap this up. We're getting so close on time, and so I want to respect your time. Is there you have a couple of different places that couple different links, ways to get a hold of you. Is there a preferred method for people if they have questions for you or anything like that? That best way to get a hold of you? Yeah, the best way is to get in touch through my email, which is Krishna at Genius Visionary INC.com. Again, Krishna at Genius Visionary INC.com. If somebody wants to discuss about their business or throw some ideas, I can always offer a free strategy session. They can refer this this podcast, you know, and then write a note to me. I'll be happy to put them on my schedule and then we can go from there. Excellent. Hopefully, this has gotten some people thinking about that, saying, hey, you know, here's where I'm at, and I think I could use somebody to help me to take the help me take the next steps and maybe size it properly appropriately so they know that they're aiming for the right thing and that they have the you know, they're going to be as patient as they need to be, but also as aggressive as they need to be to take those steps. Sure. All right. Well, that will wrap it up then. I will let you get back to it and your busy schedule. I want to thank you again for your time, for spending some time chatting with me and able to I think a lot of the listeners will have gotten quite a bit out of it. Hopefully, they've been taking notes along the way because there's quite a few things that you've provided us to think about, particularly with so many in that entrepreneurial and side hustle world where there's seems like there's always there's a lot of ideas and sometimes it's hard to find enough time to get those things implemented. And so maybe it's chase a few less dollars and spend a little more time thinking through what we're going to do and making that plan work. Yeah, you got it. Well, thank you. You have a good day and we will talk to you again. Thanks so much, Rob. Thank you. And that will wrap it up. I want to thank Krishna for a great series of actually an interview that we turned into a couple of parts there. I think it's important to sometimes look at maybe a bigger goal, a bigger view of your your side hustle, if that's what it is, or your business, if you're in small business or mid-size. And obviously, when you listen to some of the things that Krishna is focused on, his background, it's probably a little bigger, I think, than most of us think about. I don't think most of us consider a side hustle something that could hit seven figures. It could be a million or multimillion dollar business. However, that is definitely possible. There are ways that we can do things that can grow businesses to that. Maybe at that point, I think most of us would be happy if we had a side hustle that was seven figures of income or even revenue. But sometimes those things grow. Sometimes we take something that is working for us that is maybe even more profitable than we expected. And we get to that turning point or that tipping point where we say, hey, this is costing us to go to our day job to not flip the side hustle to be our primary concern. And so some of these things that are longer reaching, longer looking goals and considerations are, I think, worth it for us to consider at times, to think about things like what happens if we start bringing on employees? What happens if we start working on the business instead of in the business? Is this something that maybe we should look at as potentially growing it? And maybe it could grow beyond, in some cases, sort of our wildest dreams, to be a little bit of a cliché. There are several links that I'm including in the show notes. So if you ever want to talk to Krishna and spend a little more time, he did say that he has some initial consulting. He can spend 30, 45 minutes with you talking about things. If you think that's maybe a direction you want to go, that you're a point where you say, hey, I want to grow this thing. I need somebody to help me figure out what that's going to take. What kind of steps am I going to have to take in order to be successful to do this? And those links will be available. I'm sure he'd be happy to say hi and talk to you through things. I hope you figure out, is this really something that you want to do? Is it really something you are positioned to do and you're willing to put in the effort, the time and all of the other things that are going to be involved in helping your business grow? That being said, we'll let you get back to it, growing your business however it is that you happen to be. And we'll come again next couple of episodes. I'll probably take one off here. We're going to revisit a couple of these key items that Chris just mentioned, and then we'll dive into our next interview. But until then, go out there and have yourself a great day, a great week, and we will talk to you next time. Thank you for listening to Building Better Developers, the Developer Noir podcast. For more episodes like this one, you can find us on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon and other podcast venues, or visit our site at developernoir.com. Just a step forward a day is still progress. So let's keep moving forward together. One more thing before you go. Developer Noir podcast and site are a labor of love. We enjoy whatever we do trying to help developers become better. But if you've gotten some value out of this and you'd like to help us, it'd be great if you go out to developernoir.com slash donate and donate whatever feels good for you. If you get a lot of value, a lot. If you don't get a lot of value, even a little would be awesome. In any case, we will thank you and maybe I'll make you feel just a little bit warmer as well. Now you can go back and have yourself a great day.