On this episode of The Small Business Radio Show…
We first talk to one of my favorite entrepreneurs and guests, Guy Kawasaki, on life lessons he has learned from 62 years on earth, as one of the Apple employees originally responsible for marketing the Macintosh computer line, founder of his own software companies and venture capital firm, and brand ambassador for companies such as Canva and Mercedes-Benz.
Then, we discuss the two factors that may spell the demise of professional service workers in the next 5 years: 1) The barrier to start your own service business is very low since freelancers are easy to identify and secure. This means everyone has a side hustle, and 2) artificial intelligence is automating everything, and what’s worse, you can talk to these apps with zero interface using your voice. We show you what things you need to be doing extremely well in order to keep your job.
Finally, how do you grow a business that lands on the INC 5000 six years in a row? Todd Palmer shares what he’s learned in the most important area of running a successful business: people. He shares how to retain and motivate people on a daily basis, how to get everyone in a company rowing in the same direction, and more.
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Segment 1: Guy Kawasaki is the chief evangelist of Canva, an online graphic-design tool. He’s also a brand ambassador for Mercedes-Benz and an executive fellow of the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. He was previously the chief evangelist of Apple. His 14 books include The Art of the Start, Enchantment, Selling the Dream, and The Art of Social Media. He is the author of the new book “Wise Guy: Lessons from a Life”.
1:15 – What’s “Wise Guy” about?
2:45 – Lessons on paying it forward: How Guy’s uncompensated support for brands helped him build the relationships that led to his success with companies like Mercedes-Benz.
6:45 – Lessons on adding value to people’s lives.
10:45 – The best leaders are humble: Richard Branson once polished Guy’s shoes to encourage him to fly Virgin Airlines.
14:30 – Why you’re never too old to learn something new: Guy took up surfing at age 62!
Segment 2: Chinwe Onyeagoro is the CEO of PocketSuite. She served as president of Great Place to Work, and previously worked for McKinsey & Company, The Monitor Group and Pritzker Realty Group. She serves on the boards of private equity firms and lending institutions that have invested over a $1 Billion in small and medium enterprises that create good jobs in communities.
20:45 – If I’m a professional services worker, should I be worried about job security? Why?
21:45 – As a professional services worker, how do you compete against freelancers and AI?
23:45 – Every solopreneur needs to do these 3 things really well (Hint: they involve automation)
26:30 – What role will AI play in professional services moving forward? How will it help?
32:15 – What tool do you recommend for solopreneurs and professional services providers to help them integrate their data, automate their business, and run it on the go.
Segment 3: Todd Palmer is the collaborative business advisor and CEO of Extraordinary Advisors (EA). As the CEO of a 6-time INC 5000 company, Todd knows that business success begins and ends with people. He is the author of the popular book “The Job Search Process: Find & Land a Great Job in 6 Weeks or Less”.
37:45 – A great business starts and ends with people. Why?
38:30 – How do you retain and motivate people on a daily basis?
39:30 – How do you get everyone in a company rowing in the same direction?
43:00 – Why Todd fired his entire company in one day to start over.
47:00 – The importance of pausing to celebrate the small, everyday victories.
50:00 – Why don’t more small businesses look at their data? Where do they start?
Sponsored by Nextiva, Corporate Direct and LinkedIn
