Business Habitat with Sam Dean

In Episode 124 of The Business Habitat podcast, Sam is joined by Angela Tsai, Chief Marketing Office and CEO, and Cristina Castro, Chief Commercial Advisor of GYBWI – Grow Your Brand with Impact (GYBWI). Together Sam, Angela and Cristina have a fascinating conversation about entrepreneurship, doing work that you love, and finding your identity outside the corporate framework.

With a long career in management consulting and on the fast track for the C-suite, Angela came to realise she’d lost her passion. Through a series of fortuitous events, Angela found herself working in her own business, but with the same time constraints and pressures that she’d aspired to escape. That’s where GYBWI came in.

Angela was joined by long-time friend Cristina, whose own background in big brands and professional services equipped her to work with the team and understand the challenges of shedding the ostensible security provided by big corporate.

Together they are passionate about helping clients find their purpose in a way that aligns with an enterprise that can also make money. In this conversation they discuss with Sam the statistics around business success and failure, and the practical reality of needing to create a business around products and services that are truly in demand.

Sam, Angela and Cristina consider the vulnerability required to understand and develop purpose and identity, and why it’s so important to align with your business model. Working with professionals and experts in their field, Angela and Cristina challenge the mindset of trading time for money, and seek to help their clients create better business models that are both self-sustaining and thriving.

This compelling episode is sure to resonate, as it explores the need for accountability and consistency in approaching any worthy goal. Angela and Cristina share their learnings and the evolution of their business, and provide tangible evidence of the importance of alignment and authenticity in creating an impactful brand.

In Episode 123 of The Business Habitat podcast, Sam is joined by James Rose, Co-Founder of Content Snare, a company designed to help businesses overcome the endless back and forth emails with their clients, both when onboarding and throughout the relationship, and the inevitable data loss that ensues when inadequate processes are in place.

More than just another automation system, Content Snare was initially intended to work with web design clients but then found a high demand for their offering in the professional services, most notably accounting firms. There was wide recognition that accountants were spending far too much time tracking down client information, when their skills could be put to much better use.

In this conversation, James and Sam talk through the early start up days of the business, covering off topics such as funding, and the need for agility to meet client requirements and demand. James explains how Content Snare is designed to provide a single source of the truth, improving efficiency for his clients and improving the reliability of data.

James also explains why he’s not a fan of all-in-one software solutions and gives examples of how systems and processes that have a narrower focus tend to be more effective, particularly when working in with purpose built integration tools.

With practical examples and surprising statistics around how much efficiency is gained with the right programmes, James and Sam deliver a compelling conversation that will have you re-evaluating where you’re spending your time, and how much more effective your team might be with the right systems in place.

In Episode 122 of The Business Habitat podcast, Sam is joined once again by Filip Fucic, Founder of Lift-off, a business designed to work with professionals such as accountants, lawyers and expert freelancers to help them rise their prices closer to the value they provide to the client.

In this conversation, Sam and Filip explore the dollars for hours mindset and discuss whether there has been a shift in thinking in light of evolving work practices in the last few years. They delve into the conundrum presented as experts become more efficient and produce better work in fewer hours, resulting in lower revenue as billable hours decline, and consider the benefits of pricing based on value as opposed to input.

Filip provides great perspective by explaining the origins of dollar for hour pricing, and highlights why experts need to be factoring in their knowledge and experience, and the value they are delivering to their clients, when they determine their charge out rates.

Using his own experience of outsourcing his accounting, Filip talk to how we often underestimate what people are willing to pay, especially when it’s something they don’t want to, or don’t have the skills to do themselves. By using the analogy of a pirate captain searching for treasure, Filip emphasises the difference in being paid for your work, versus being paid for the risk that you take on.

This is a highly practical episode, filled with compelling examples set to challenge your thinking around your pricing model and the value that you are delivering in the work that you do. It’s an episode you won’t want to miss.

In Episode 121 of The Business Habitat podcast, Sam is joined by Founder of Life-Changing Accountants and The Greater Good Publishing Company, Harvee Pene, to talk about purpose-driven businesses, and leveraging your time and experience to generate recurring revenue, so your work can continue to do the work, for you.

Harvee Pene had bought an accounting firm, had just met his wife-to-be, and was halfway through writing his first book, when he was struck down by testicular cancer at the age of 30. Blindsided, and feeling like his world was crashing down, Harvee was faced with the real possibility that his life might end and he was confronted with the question of how happy he was with the legacy he might leave behind.

Harvee not only survived the operation and treatment, he went on to honour his epiphany, building a business designed to inspire and help other businesses stand out from the pack. Today he is a 15 times bestselling author, has spoken at Ted X twice, and encourages business professionals to create ongoing revenue by leveraging their knowledge into a book.

In this inspiring conversation, Sam and Harvee share their life-changing experiences and discuss the importance of creating purpose-driven businesses that attract like-minded and like-hearted people. Harvee describes real life examples of how his team has measured the impact they have on their clients, and how that recognition has motivated them to deliver even greater results.

Drawing on their own experience, Sam and Harvee delve into the many ways in which experts can leverage their own knowledge and intellectual property, whether it be by writing a book or creating a podcast, and how putting in the work upfront can pay huge dividends down the track.

If you think being an author is for other people, or don’t think you have enough to share to get in front of a microphone, (or even if you do), this podcast is for you. Jam-packed with heartening stories and valuable advice, you’re sure to gain inspiration by tuning in to this episode.

In Episode 120 of The Business Habitat podcast, Sam is joined by Maite Grisard, Founder of Marketrotters, a field consulting company that “goes in, shakes thing up, gives perspective, and gets out”.

Today Sam and Maite are talking about data, and how it can help you and your team steer your company in the right direction. More than just a conversation about numbers, this compelling discussion covers the disconnect between business leaders, teams, and the knowledge and information that are inherent in a company.

Sam and Maite delve into how this valuable property can be captured, and the importance of documenting and challenging process in a way that drives the business forward. Maite draws on her experience of consulting with a myriad of companies, and explains how a second and even third set of eyes can give a new perspective on a business, an objective or a new way of doing things.

Maite addresses the value she finds in collaborative tools, and how beginning with the simplest systems is often the most effective way to bring people together and build towards more complicated processes. Together Maite and Sam challenge the listener to be vulnerable and acknowledge the learning opportunity that comes from making mistakes, and understand that doing something is always better than doing nothing, even if it leads to a course correction.

This in-depth conversation is filled with practical insights and commentary on how to best use data and workplace tools in an effective and meaningful way. Challenging traditional metrics such as KPIs, this episode will have you seeking fresh perspective and collaborative input, no matter where you sit in the company structure.