Your Business Growth Podcast

What if your business generated $800,000 in annual revenue, had strong profit margins, and still wasn't worth buying? That's exactly what happened to Roger Magalhães. After spending 17 years building his custom window treatment company, Shades In Place, Roger approached a business broker about selling. The broker's assessment was surprising: despite the company's financial performance, Roger didn't have a business that could easily be sold. He had created a well-paying job that depended almost entirely on him. In this episode of Your Business Growth Podcast, host Jeremy Shapiro sits down with Roger Magalhães, founder of Shades In Place and author of Nobody Told Me That, to discuss how he transformed a founder-dependent operation into a business he could manage remotely. Roger's journey began when he arrived in America from Brazil, speaking limited English and working at a car wash before becoming a truck driver. A chance introduction to the window treatment industry eventually led him to launch his own company. He built his reputation through exceptional customer service, premium workmanship, and hundreds of five-star reviews. But his commitment to quality created an unexpected problem. Roger believed nobody else could deliver the same results. For 17 years, he remained personally involved in nearly every job. When a move from Massachusetts to Florida forced him to reconsider how the company operated, Roger finally began building the team, systems, and pricing structure needed to step away from daily fieldwork. In this episode, you'll learn: • Why an $800,000 business with strong profits was difficult to sell • How to recognize when you've created a job instead of a transferable business • Why Roger spent 17 years believing nobody else could do the work • How premium pricing made it possible to hire and delegate • Why charging more starts with delivering better service • How Roger built a reputation through more than 800 five-star reviews • What a $15,000 mistake taught him about customer trust • How a virtual assistant began handling tasks Roger thought only he could perform • Why training new employees initially creates more work for the owner • How to maintain service quality when you're no longer visiting every job site • Why customer reviews can become a quality-control system • How referral relationships helped Roger expand into a second market • What business owners should do before trying to sell their companies Roger also explains how stepping away from daily operations gave him more time for writing, business partnerships, and new opportunities. If you're a business owner who feels trapped doing everything yourself, this conversation offers practical lessons on raising prices, building systems, delegating responsibilities, and creating a company that can operate without your constant involvement. 👉 Connect with Roger Magalhães • Website: https://www.rogermagalhaes.com/ • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsrogerm/ • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ItsRogerM • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsrogerm • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/itsrogerm About the Host: Jeremy Shapiro is the host of Your Business Growth Podcast and author of Your Business Growth Playbook. Get the book and learn more: https://yourbusinessgrowthplaybook.com/ Subscribe to Your Business Growth Podcast for conversations with entrepreneurs who have overcome growth plateaus and built more profitable, scalable companies. Tags: Roger Magalhães, Roger Magalhaes, Jeremy Shapiro, Your Business Growth Podcast, business growth, business valuation, selling a business, business exit strategy, owner operator, founder dependency, business systems, delegation, virtual assistants, remote business management, premium pricing, pricing strategy, customer reviews, customer service, small business growth, entrepreneurship, scaling a service business, Shades In Place

What if one simple change to your sales funnel could generate millions in additional revenue—without buying more traffic? That's the opportunity Jon Weberg discovered when he helped marketer Frank Kern introduce a $2,500 downsell to prospects who weren't buying an $8,600 service. Within days, the new offer was generating tens of thousands of dollars. Within weeks, that number had grown to hundreds of thousands. And it came from leads the business already had. In this episode of Your Business Growth Podcast, Jeremy Shapiro interviews Jon Weberg, founder and CEO of Profitalize, about the strategies behind lead liquidation, high-ticket consulting, offer stacking, and profitable business growth. Jon began learning digital marketing at age 11, working alongside his father to generate leads and sell affiliate products without an advertising budget. Over time, he helped build a business approaching $10 million in sales before realizing that low-ticket affiliate marketing had limitations. His next move changed the direction of his career. He shifted toward high-ticket consulting, helping established businesses identify missed revenue opportunities throughout their marketing, sales, and customer follow-up systems. Today, Jon works with companies generating tens of millions in annual revenue, helping them improve conversion rates and increase the value of existing customers and leads. In this episode, we discuss: ✔️ Why getting more leads isn't always the answer to revenue growth ✔️ How a $2,500 downsell created a major new revenue stream ✔️ What lead liquidation is and why it matters ✔️ The difference between low-ticket affiliate marketing and high-ticket consulting ✔️ How Jon went from charging $500 to pursuing much larger consulting engagements ✔️ Why your marketing and sales teams might be losing revenue between departments ✔️ How to improve conversions through personalized follow-up ✔️ The five-video strategy for overcoming customer objections ✔️ Why sales funnels need different messages for different customer types ✔️ How upsells and downsells increase customer lifetime value ✔️ Why affiliate partnerships are Jon's preferred customer acquisition strategy ✔️ When human sales representatives outperform AI ✔️ How to decide between increasing ad spend and holding cash reserves The central lesson? You might not need more leads. You might need a better system for converting the leads you already have. If you're an entrepreneur, agency owner, consultant, or business leader trying to increase revenue without continually increasing advertising costs, this episode is for you. 👉 Connect with Jon Weberg:• Website: • Website: https://profitalize.com/partner • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonweberg/ • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/JonWeberg Hosted by: Jeremy B. Shapiro, Host and Author, Your Business Growth Playbook (https://yourbusinessgrowthplaybook.com/) #BusinessGrowth #SalesFunnels #LeadGeneration Keywords: Jon Weberg, lead liquidation, sales funnel, sales funnel optimization, how to increase sales, lead generation, conversion rate optimization, high ticket sales, affiliate marketing, marketing automation, sales follow up, customer lifetime value, upselling, downselling, offer stacking, sales strategy, business growth strategies, customer acquisition, email marketing, Profitalize, Jeremy Shapiro, Your Business Growth Podcast, John Weberg, Jonny Weberg, Weeberg 🔔 Subscribe today to get notified of new episodes, interviews, and shorts when they drop! @YourBusinessGrowthPlaybook

What if buying a business with zero industry experience meant stepping right onto the brink of bankruptcy? Our guest today bought a failing HVAC company generating two million dollars in declining revenue, only to discover it was losing money on almost every job. Instead of chasing more leads or lowering prices, he made a few bold bets that would outperform any marketing or technology. That strategy didn't just save the company—it grew it from under one and a half million to over ten million dollars with a team that now runs the business without him. Welcome to today’s episode of Your Business Growth Podcast. I’m your host, Jeremy Shapiro, author of Your Business Growth Playbook, and my guest today is Rich Ashton!

He gained 4,000 paying customers. Then hundreds demanded their money back—and Stripe temporarily shut down his payment processing. What looked like a breakthrough for Dmitry Dragilev's SaaS startup almost destroyed the company. In this episode of Your Business Growth Podcast, Jeremy Shapiro interviews Dmitry Dragilev, founder of JustReachOut, about his 4x exits, the promotion that nearly ended his business—and the shift that led to a near-million-dollar exit. Dmitry had built a PR software platform that helped entrepreneurs connect with journalists. An AppSumo partnership brought thousands of new customers and an immediate surge in revenue. But many buyers expected lifetime access. When renewal charges started appearing a year later, hundreds of customers disputed their payments. Stripe temporarily suspended processing, the team stopped shipping new features, and Dmitry spent months managing refunds and customer complaints. The solution wasn't another software feature. Dmitry discovered that many customers weren't using the platform because they didn't know how to pitch journalists. They needed someone to help them do the work. He introduced PR coaching and white-glove services, helping the business reach $50,000 in monthly revenue, lower churn from approximately 30% to 7–10%, and eventually sell for just under $1 million. In this episode, we discuss: ✔️ The AppSumo deal that attracted 4,000 customers ✔️ Why lifetime-deal expectations caused a chargeback crisis ✔️ How Stripe's payment suspension threatened the business ✔️ The hidden costs of rapid SaaS customer growth ✔️ Why customers weren't using the product they purchased ✔️ Adding premium services to a software business ✔️ How monthly revenue stabilized around $50,000 ✔️ Reducing customer churn from 30% to 7–10% ✔️ What buyers look for when acquiring a business ✔️ Building and selling four companies ✔️ Using established marketplaces to acquire customers ✔️ Creating businesses around a three-hour workday Dmitry also explains why he thinks about potential acquirers before launching a business, why he prefers bootstrapping, and how delegating operations helps him spend more time with his family. If you're building a SaaS startup, struggling with customer retention, or thinking about selling your business, this conversation offers practical lessons on pricing, cash flow, customer needs, and building a company buyers want. 👉 Connect with Dmitry Dragilev: • Website: https://criminallyprolific.com/ • Dmitry on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dmitrydragilev/ 📘 Hosted by: Jeremy B. Shapiro, Host and Author, Your Business Growth Playbook (https://yourbusinessgrowthplaybook.com/) Chapters: 00:00 Deal Gone Wrong 01:21 From Polls to Google 02:28 Newsjacking for Traffic 05:38 Growth Without Revenue 06:43 Building JustReachOut 08:52 Bootstrapped SaaS Surge 10:41 AppSumo Lifetime Trap 20:05 Renewals and Chargebacks 25:09 Surviving Stripe Shutdown 28:21 Support Chaos and Recovery 30:56 SaaS Plateau Reality Check 32:17 PR Coaching to White Glove 33:59 Balancing SaaS and Services 36:04 Three Hour Workday Ops 39:15 Equity Partner Pitfalls 44:08 Services Boost Exit Value 46:38 Lean Build to Sell Playbook 48:59 New Ventures Distribution Hacks 52:19 Fixing Broken Business Models 54:36 Rapid Fire and Wrap Up Keywords: Dmitry Dragilev, JustReachOut, SaaS business, SaaS startup, SaaS growth, business exit, selling a business, million dollar exit, AppSumo, AppSumo lifetime deal, Stripe chargebacks, payment processing, startup failure, business turnaround, SaaS churn, customer retention, recurring revenue, bootstrapped startup, business model pivot, white glove services, three hour workday, Jeremy Shapiro, Your Business Growth Podcast #podcast #SaaS #Entrepreneurship #businessexit 🔔 Subscribe today to get notified of new episodes, interviews, and shorts when they drop!

What if the person holding your company back is you? In this episode of Your Business Growth Podcast, Jeremy Shapiro sits down with Derek Fredrickson, Founder & CEO of The COO Solution, to break down how Derek built a seven-figure business in its first full year—while discovering that his own strengths were creating a new growth ceiling. Derek spent years as an operator, including a Wall Street career and helping grow his wife’s business beyond seven figures. He knew how to build systems, manage teams, create accountability, and turn ideas into execution. Then he launched his own company and fell into the same trap he warns clients about. Derek was getting pulled into operations and delivery while resisting founder-led sales. He even considered hiring a salesperson early—until his mentors told him he hadn’t earned the right to delegate it yet. He needed more conversations. More knowledge of his ideal client. More firsthand experience hearing objections and understanding what buyers actually wanted. That realization changed how he approached growth. In this episode, we discuss: ✔️ Derek’s transition from Wall Street to entrepreneurship ✔️ Building a seven-figure business in its first full year ✔️ Why being great at operations became a founder bottleneck ✔️ Moving from operator to CEO ✔️ Building a bench of 15 fractional executives ✔️ Why Derek initially hated selling ✔️ Reframing sales from persuasion to problem-solving ✔️ Why founders may delegate sales too soon ✔️ Simplifying marketing to one offer and one primary funnel ✔️ Why 3–4 qualified leads can beat 30–40 weak leads ✔️ Showing pricing before the sales conversation ✔️ Improving an existing funnel instead of chasing new tactics ✔️ Why “you can scale simplicity—you can’t scale complexity” ✔️ Using systems, automation, and AI to reduce founder dependency ✔️ Building a business around the life you actually want Derek also explains “your Paris”—his way of defining the freedom your business is supposed to create. For Derek and his family, that meant moving from Connecticut to Paris for what was supposed to be one year. A decade later, they’re still there. 👉 Connect with Derek Fredrickson: • The COO Solution: https://thecoosolution.com/ • Derek on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derekfredrickson/ 📘 Hosted by Jeremy B. Shapiro, Author, Your Business Growth Playbook ( https://yourbusinessgrowthplaybook.com/ ) Chapters: 00:00 Simplify to Scale 00:30 Meet Derek Fredrickson 01:31 Wall Street to Operator Mindset 03:12 Joining the Wife’s Business 05:54 Finding the COO Zone 10:12 Entrepreneurial Freedom Paris Move 15:26 Building a Fractional COO Firm 19:21 Early Growth Delivery Evolution 22:56 Bottleneck and Sales Resistance 26:10 Bench Over Founder 28:06 Energetic Resistance to Sales 28:52 Warm Leads No Selling 29:16 Sales Call Anxiety 30:30 Conversation First Sales 31:46 Embrace Founder Sales 34:26 Build For Scale Systems 38:10 One Offer One Funnel 39:51 Quality Lead Filtering 41:35 PPC Hiring And Metrics 45:10 Prequalify Before Calls 47:39 No Downsell Stay Focused 49:05 Delegate Sales Later 50:55 Rapid Fire Books Mentor 54:32 Recap And Where To Find Keywords: Derek Fredrickson, The COO Solution, Jeremy Shapiro, fractional COO, fractional executive, founder bottleneck, founder led sales, seven figure business, business growth, CEO mindset, business operations, delegation, marketing funnel, lead generation, sales strategy, business systems, entrepreneurship, operational leadership, business scaling #podcast #BusinessGrowth #Entrepreneurship #FounderLedSales #FractionalCOO #Leadership #businessstrategy Want to be a guest on Your Business Growth Podcast? Send Jeremy Shapiro a message on PodMatch, here: https://podmatch.com/hostdetail/your_business_growth_podcast 🔔 Subscribe for more conversations with founders and entrepreneurs sharing the decisions, systems, and lessons behind building stronger businesses.