How to build a thriving business Ft. Michelle Seiler Tucker with Alex Quin

HOW TO BUILD A THRIVING BUSINESS FT. (MICHELLE SEILER TUCKER) WITH (ALEX QUIN)

Episode Summary:  

In this podcast episode, Host, Alex Quin, sits down with Michelle Seiler Tucker to discuss how to build a strong and successful business. Michelle is a bestselling author and a leading authority on buying, selling, fixing, and growing businesses. 

She and Alex discuss common mistakes that businesses make, how to find your superpower, and the importance of always learning and adapting. They also talk about the importance of having the right people in your corner and how to make sure you're never too comfortable with where your business is at. This episode is packed with useful information for any business owner or entrepreneur.

Wisdom Nuggets: 

1. Don't Have One Income Stream As A Business

The biggest mistake that people make is not having multiple income streams as a business. If you only have one source of income, and that dries up, then your whole business is at risk. The best way to protect yourself is to have multiple income streams so that if one dries up, you’ve got others to fall back on.

For example, during the pandemic, many restaurants had to shut down because people were not going out to eat. However, some restaurants with other income streams, such as delivery or take-out, could stay afloat.

2. Without People, A Business Won't Stay Afloat

A business is only as good as its people. If you don’t have good people working for you, then your business will eventually fail. It’s important to invest in your employees and make sure that they are happy and motivated.

3. Find Your Superpower And Focus On It

Everyone has a superpower, something that they’re really good at. Find your superpower and focus on it. Don’t try to be everything to everyone; just focus on what you do best.

4. Document Everything And Have A System In Place

If you want your business to run like a well-oiled machine, then you need to have a system in place for everything. Document everything so that anyone can do it, and have a system for every task, no matter how small.

Podcast Outline:  

Alex: (00:40) What's up, everyone? This is Alex Quinn, and you're listening to the Hustle Inspires Hustle podcast. On this week's episode, we have Michelle Seiler Tucker, finally back on here after so many tries.

Alex: (01:11) You're an extremely busy woman, so I appreciate your time. I love what you have going on with your business. I love your book.

Michelle: (01:30) I've been in this industry for about 22 years, and before I did M and A, I specialized in franchise sales, franchise consulting, and franchise development.

Alex: (04:04) So you've, you've pretty much compiled your 22 years of experience so far and put it into this book to help people currently running a business

Michelle: (04:22) That right? Yeah. Right. Yes. But here's the deal. You always wanna prepare your business to sell.

Alex: (06:43) So your specialty is to team up with business owners, scaling their business, preparing them for a potential exit, and pretty much handholding them through that whole process. 

Alex: (06:53) Does your book, do you usually give your clients and or partners, however, you may refer to them, your book and, and your systems to read and, and go through before you guys even begin any type of work? 

Michelle: (07:04) You know, that's a good question. So we have a couple of different methods. You know, we sell businesses that are ready to sell. We have a Road to Exit rich program, in which we do require them to read the book first. Mm-hmm. 

Michelle: (07:34) It's my job to tell your baby's not as pretty as you think it is. And it’s nowhere we're close to what you think you want to get out of it.

Michelle: (08:34) And buyers don't give a “you know what” about what you need. Yeah. No, buyers only care about what the value means to them.

Alex: (08:44) Exactly. And what they need 

Michelle: (10:16) If you build your business with the proper infrastructure, what we call the six Ps, and the first P in the six Ps is people. Mm-hmm. Okay. You don't build a company, you build people, and people build the company.

Michelle: (10:32) It's asking the who question, who opens the door? When is marketing, who handles quality control, manufacturing, distribution, legal, and accounting? And the list goes on and on.

Alex: (11:28)  Also, like I get to see a lot of businesses, given that I work in a digital marketing agency, I operate budgets for all types of businesses. And you'd be surprised how many people don't have sales systems, processes, or customer journeys.

Michelle: (13:02) And the number one reason why 70% of businesses are going out of business is lack of aim. The aim is always to innovate, and market business owners become complacent.

Michelle: (14:32) Amazon did this in the eighties, and I said, we're in a book fulfillment business. And then they said, Hmm, what are our superpowers? What's our secret sauce? What do we do better than everybody else? And Amazon said We do fulfillment better than everybody else. That's our superpower. Right? 

Michelle: (15:03) And that really catapulted Amazon to the very next level. And most business owners don't do that.

Michelle: (15:21) And the other most important thing is you have to have congruent revenue streams. You can't just have one way you get paid. That's why the restaurant hospitality industry was affected so much during this pandemic. Because how do restaurants get paid? People come in and eat or take food to go, Right?

Alex: (16:44) Definitely don't wanna put all your eggs in one basket. Sp for me, on the agency side, during the pandemic, it was crazy because many of our clients were restaurants and clubs. So you can imagine how that was; it was just an instant, like turning off the switch.

Alex: (20:07) The only fact is that you gotta wake up every day, have a positive attitude, work hard, don't screw people over, and just keep, keep your business moving, keep helping your clients out. Keep providing a good product or service that solves problems or, you k