How To Scale A Company: Proven Leadership, Systems, and Legacy Strategies | Rick Yvanovich

What Happens to Your Business If You Step Away Tomorrow?

Rick Yvanovich has built multiple global companies over the past 30+ years—but his journey started stocking supermarket shelves. In this episode, Rick shares what it really takes to grow a business that can run without you.

From battling long COVID to redefining his role as a leader, Rick opens up about the mindset shift every business owner must make: stop being the bottleneck. Learn why documenting your systems, aligning your team with core values, and stepping back are essential to building a business with transferable value.

You’ll also hear about Rick’s take on the Japanese concept of “Shinais”—businesses built to last for generations—and why personal purpose and culture matter more than most entrepreneurs realize.

If you’ve ever wondered how to grow your company without working 80-hour weeks or how to find team members who actually fit, this episode is packed with insights you can’t afford to miss.

🔍 Topics:
 • How to build business value through systems and leadership
 • Why most small businesses are unsellable—and how to fix that
 • Creating legacy with the “Shinais” mindset
 • Letting go of control without losing your vision

🎧 Whether you're feeling stuck or just ready for more freedom, this conversation will challenge and inspire you to lead differently.

Rick Ynanovich: TRG International, Founder & CEO

Website (Personal): https://www.rickyvanovich.com/

Website (Company): https://trginternational.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rickyvanovich/

Podcast: https://www.rickyvanovich.com/podcasts

Newsletter: https://www.rickyvanovich.com/resources/newsletter

Blog: https://www.rickyvanovich.com/blog

 #RickYvanovich #TRGInternational #BusinessGrowth #EntrepreneurMindset #WorkOnYourBusiness #Leadership #ScaleYourBusiness #SmallBusinessLeadership #BuildToLast #DocumentYourSystems #LegacyBusiness #Shinais #BusinessStrategy #BusinessCoach #SystemsAndProcesses #BusinessValue #LetGoToGrow #SmallBusinessSuccess  #MichaelDMorrison #SmallBusinessPivots #BusinessPodcast #Oklahoma

Chapters

• 0:00 Meet Rick: From Bean Counter to Architect
• 5:47 The Workaholic Trap and Letting Go
• 11:27 Health Wake-Up Call and Business Sustainability
• 17:49 Documenting Systems for Business Value
• 23:10 The Shinais Concept: Building for Generations
• 28:39 Core Values and Purpose-Driven Leadership
• 36:22 Creating a Culture That Lasts
• 44:32 People Feel Before They Think
• 52:16 Episode Wrap-Up and Final Thoughts

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

All right, welcome to another Small Business, pivots, where we bring guests, special guests from around the world, and today we literally have one that's across the world from us here in Oklahoma, and I know that business owners can say their name and their business like none other. So I'll let you introduce yourself. Tell us a little bit about you, where you're from, yeah, thanks for having me, Michael.

Speaker 2: 0:26

Now, before we start, let me first share a core belief that I hold here. I believe that all of us all you listeners as well all of us have the potential to be what I am calling an architect of change. In the era that we're living in at the moment, which is really defined by constant transformation, our task is not just to keep up, but to actively shape the path forward. Now, if you look at me, I started out my career stacking shelves and learning the ropes of people management as a trainee in a supermarket in the UK, which is where I'm from. Then I changed to the more precise world of accounting yeah, I'm a bean counter and later navigating what is now the constantly evolving landscape of tech, but also people, humans. My story really demonstrates the power of transformation and continuous learning and the impact that each one of us can make Every day. I think that all our actions, whether they're big or small, they actually shape our future.

Speaker 2: 1:40

And as we discuss stuff today, michael, I want everybody listening to remember this you are your brand and every single decision you make and not deciding to decide in the face of all of this change that is happening will define your story and, more importantly, your legacy. Okay, it's this belief inspiring each of us to aim for what I call balance fulfillment. It's the cornerstone of my work these days. It's my life purpose. So, as we dive into our conversation today, let's not just think about adapting to change, but about how we can define it. After all, if we can embrace our unique abilities and you all have them that's why you're all business owners listening in you all have them all right and you strive for that personal growth you're not just a participant, you're the catalyst in what I call our ever-changing business as unusual world. So let's get started, michael.

Speaker 1: 2:52

All right, well, let's introduce yourself first, and then we'll introduce the show.

Speaker 2: 2:56

Who am I? Okay, my name's Rick. As you've heard, I'm a Brit. You might hear from my accent, I am from across the water. It you might hear from my accent, I am from across the water. I'm currently standing here in Switzerland, where I spend about 75% of my time, and the other 25% of my time I spend in Vietnam where, until last year, I've been pretty much living there for the last 35 years. Pretty much living there for the last 35 years. Wow, I am an accountant by training. Things have happened and I've gone. You know, I started, I retired back in 1994, which didn't work very well, which is why I'm still working.

Speaker 1: 3:40

Right, this is 2025.

Speaker 2: 3:41

I know.

Speaker 2: 3:44

I know I know, but it's, it's, it's, it's. You know, I'm still working because I'm I'm a converted workaholic, so I used to be a workaholic and I'm trying to kill that terrible habit because it is a really, really bad habit. It is, and that's what it is. It's a habit, a bad one, and and? And I started my own company 30 years ago. Actually, this year will be 31 years for the main company, trg, and I'm a bean counter. Yes, we sell and implement accounting systems all around the world, so I haven't gone too far away from that discipline, gone too far away from that discipline. And recently, about seven years ago, I've pivoted slightly and I now do coaching as well, as well as speaking, and I author a few things like books.

Speaker 1: 4:37

Yeah Well, our listeners need to buckle up because we have two coaches on the show today, but let's introduce our podcast and we'll be right back. Welcome to Small Business Pivots, a podcast produced for small business owners. I'm your host, michael Morrison, founder and CEO of BOSS, where we make business ownership simplified for success. Our business is helping yours grow. Boss offers business loans with business coaching support. Apply in minutes and get approved and funded in as little as 24 to 48 hours at businessownershipsimplifiedcom.

Speaker 1: 5:27

All right, welcome back to Small Business Pivots. My friend, you're a coach. We were talking earlier about coaching people up. Architect of Change, you led off the podcast with some great information. Let's keep that going. So how can we help others as a coach, as a leader, as a business owner in our businesses, so that we're not working in the business, we're not trapped in the business, we can work on it, and a lot of that has to do with our people and our listeners, our small business owners. Many of them are stuck, they feel trapped, they're working in their business countless hours a day and probably don't feel like they're getting anywhere and they want to get somewhere, like you have gone. But that takes a special person to be able to coach the people you need around them. So let's start there, if you don't mind.

Speaker 2: 6:13

Yeah, let's address that. Working in the business and on the business. I was one of those people who started off. You know, one man and a dog, except I didn't even have a dog. You know, start off by myself and I think I could do it all, which is a bit silly because I was an accountant and I know my debits and credits and that was about it. So anything else about a business, that was a bit of a struggle. You know, what do I know about sales or marketing or customer support or or HR and all of that kind of stuff? I don't know. So you learn it the hard way and, having learned it, you're still doing it.

Speaker 2: 6:57

But the mistake I guess that I made, even as we scaled, is failing to let go, and what I mean by that is just because I can do it and I can maybe do some things, or maybe a lot of things. So I thought, better than anyone else, even the people that I hired, that's not your role. If you are the business owner, why are you working in the business? You know that's not your role. If you are the business owner, why are you working in the business? Okay, anything that you can get rid of, because you can get someone else to do it. Get them to do it and focus on either growing your business, you know, really work on it, or, if you really are, you know that subject matter expert and you know it's the unique thing about your business is that unique skill that you have. Okay, fine, just do that, don't do anything else.

Speaker 2: 7:54

So what I found the hardest thing to do was actually letting go. You know, yes, you hired a person to do that HR or whatever but so how come, why are you still involved? Why are you still trying to do it? Or, even worse for me, I'm an accountant. I hire a bunch of accountants to do the accounting of the company and, yeah, I'm all over them, you know. And it just goes on and on, and on and on. So it's either teach yourselves or, you know, grab ourself a coach or a mentor. And you know we need to see that we've got to get away from working in the business. You know we're supposed to be the business owner. All right, it's an investment. Okay, um, get other people to do it. Train, train them, pass all your knowledge to them so they're even better than you are, and sit back and do whatever you want.

Speaker 1: 8:54

How did you let go? Because I think that is the number one challenge for most business owners. In fact, I just talked to one yesterday that said, if I let go and it doesn't happen, I'm the one that has to take the heat from the client. So how does one program themselves or transition, transform themselves to let go systems? You talk about scaling a business and you have scaled an incredible business TRG and others. As you said, how did you go from that mindset of I'm a small business owner to now I can build this empire, but I got to do this, this and this kind of walk us through those steps?

Speaker 2: 9:40

Okay, there, there, there's several, there's several. You say red flags that could come up. All right, I'm going to pick on them in reverse order, all right. Okay, all right, I'm a baby boomer. Okay, I'm a baby boomer, which means I'm supposed to be retired off in a few years. I've got to my sell-by date, right. And you know, when you get to that stage let's say, all right, in the next three to five years, you're just going to stop working.

Speaker 2: 10:17

You look at your business and said, if you walk away in that time period, can it carry on running? Because if you're not going to sell it, can it still continue? Yeah, you can stay on as some kind of advisor or mentor or whatever and still pull some dividends in, but you've got to be able to walk away. So it runs without you, runs without you, okay. So age is one thing, but don't wait until you get to that expiry date before you realize, because you know it might be a little bit too late. Okay, it might be a little bit too late. So, rather than looking forward to really putting your feet up and and and sort of reaping the benefits of what you've built up over the many, many years, you're scrabbling around trying to piece it all together so it doesn't fall apart, okay, so that's an age thing. That's really driven by that.

Speaker 2: 11:16

Another one is you know what we really talk about. There is business continuity. It's no different. You know, irrelevant of your age, you get hit by that truck, okay, and you cease to exist, all right. If that actually happened, will your business continue? All right.

Speaker 2: 11:36

And for a lot of business owners, yeah, okay, you're doing a lot of this for yourself, of course, but you're doing it for your family, right. You want to pass it on, okay, but if you get hit by a truck today, this afternoon, you know, and you are not around, will it still continue? Okay, and I'm not really talking. You know, on the one hand, you can say you should have that, that's business continuity. But I'm really looking at it from the owner's perspective of all the reasons we give ourselves why we shouldn't do it. Hey, I'm still young, don't have to think about that, I'm not going to get hit by a truck. That's silly. Yeah, all right. So that's really two things. What's the third one? A third one is health. Okay, when we're young, we can put up with all sorts of stuff. We're generally a lot healthier. But unfortunately, as we get older, things start breaking down.

Speaker 1: 12:30

Oh, I'm there, I'm there, we don't bounce back as fast.

Speaker 2: 12:37

So the first red flag to me was the dawning realization that, yes, I wasn't young anymore when I started the company. Hey, we're all at 20s or 30, something, you know, everyone was young. 30 years later, well, funny enough, we're older, um, so age was driving me and I had ignored that one, the. I have always ignored the being hit by a truck, um, um, you know more for me. I haven't been hit by anything, which is good, but the. It's the health thing that was the real trigger for me. Um, because, um, when covid came along, um, despite what was happening during covid, I eventually caught covid after about two years you know, it's about 22, uh, and unfortunately I caught long COVID and it did a few things to me. Number one it really messed with my sense of smell and sense of taste, all right, and I literally lost at least half of it, which is a problem, because one of the other businesses I have is I run a coffee chain and it suddenly became we have about two different types of, sorry, two dozen different types of wonderful coffee this is American coffee chain, by the way, pj's of New Orleans, so big shout out to PJ's down South there and it came to the point that you know, with this long COVID, that you could put whatever coffee in front of me that I've known because we've been selling it for years, and I couldn't tell you what it is. So you could give me a hazelnut coffee. You know, beautiful aroma and I couldn't tell you what it is and in fact it doesn't matter what it was. It all tasted revolting anyway, just like water, which also smelt horrible. Water doesn't smell and it tastes revolting. So I had a lot of issues, okay, which maybe tripped up that business a bit, because I was losing interest, like you know, what value can I add if I can't even taste the damn coffee? I can't do a quality check, I can't do anything. I can't even make a cup of coffee anymore because I don't know if it tastes nice or not. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 14:52

But the other thing was this workaholism thing. You know I enjoy work. You know, working 80 to 100 hours a week, I enjoy it. You know that's what I told myself and I don't need to sleep very much. And then I got this long covid thing and I needed a thing called sleep. You know, usually a good night's sleep was your horizontal for six hours, which means you're sleeping for probably only about five. Yeah, with with the long, covid is like. You know that that's a nothing, you know, and even if I was in bed for 12 hours and I slept for like 11 of them, I'd wake up and I'd feel like death, warmed up, okay.

Speaker 2: 15:35

And then there was all the, all the. I think I couldn't, I couldn't think I could hardly string, you know, sentences together that mean anything. Okay, what did it mean? It means I can't run the business. I can't run the business, and so I had to really rely on people to run it. And it was a massive wake-up call that, ooh, I've maybe been abusing myself for some decades. It's maybe I should get into shape and get some sleep and try and get over all of this. Okay, I still need a lot of sleep today, but you know, that was what now, what two, three years ago.

Speaker 2: 16:12

And that was the real wake-up call, the massive red flag that says, hey, you know, you really can actually not feel very healthy, not be very healthy, and therefore, if you are not healthy, how can you possibly deliver properly in your own organization? Okay, you've got to let go, you've got to find people to do other stuff you know. And because I'm not going to work a gazillion hours a week anymore delegate everything, learn how to delegate properly, just it, okay. So that was another red flag. Again, I'm going backwards now. So these are all the really negative things. Right, you're getting old, you get hit by the track, you get unhealthy, so you can't work. So you know that I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Sorry, can't do anything about the getting older. So what else? Another red flag is not having the systems, not having the SOPs, not having the processes. And who has them? You do, they're all in your head. You know them all, backwards, forwards. You know them perfectly and you can explain to anyone. The only problem is it's not you who needs to know them, it's them. Right, good, um, so not only would that be helpful if you're onboarding new people, because all they have to do is read the process and they can teach themselves, rather than you have to do it or someone else have to do it is.

Speaker 2: 17:41

Here's the thing for business owners your business is worth less. It's worth less if you don't have it fully documented, because if someone's going to buy your business, they're maybe okay, buying your brand, brand name, okay, you've been doing good, fantastic. They are buying the people that you have, maybe the knowledge that they have. But the problem is, if the knowledge is locked up in people, there's no guarantee that they will remain there. I mean, just like when you yourself walk away from the business, you retire or whatever you do or decide to do something else, unless you've documented literally all your knowledge and passed it on into that organizational knowledge, all those SOPs and processes, that knowledge has been lost.

Speaker 2: 18:39

So anybody who wants to buy your business, if they can't see that knowledge locked into those processes, why should they pay for it if it's going to walk out the door? And yeah, I've spoken to a few companies who, having had no documented processes and they were trying to sell the company and they couldn't understand why they were getting a terrible valuation wind forward a few years and they built all the processes. They've actually captured that organizational knowledge and then they went for another valuation and they're getting the numbers that they want. It's going to be very, very hard to let go if it's not documented. Yeah, because how is anybody else going to pick up the reins and run with it? Okay, um, now it may be again.

Speaker 1: 19:38

You know, subconsciously, are we deliberately not documenting staff so we can still play in the game, because we don't want to let go what you're talking about is almost like a repercussion if you don't do these things, because, as a you know, we offer business loans, but we offer business coaching support as well. A third of our clients are 55 and older, and the reason for that is because their business is worth nothing. They went to try to sell it. They're looking at retiring soon. This was all they know. This was going to be their nest egg. They're figuring out.

Speaker 1: 20:21

Like you said, it's not worth anything because you didn't do all these things, you didn't prepare. There's no one else that knows how to do the things you do. Your kids don't want it. Uh, mostly because. Or their kids don't want it mostly because they were working the 80 hours a week and they're like I don't want to do that to my kids, so I don't want it. Well, if your kids don't want it, no one else wants it. It's zero value. So, thinking of those repercussions in that, no matter what age you are, as a listener you got to think of I could be hit by a truck tomorrow. It's not. Your business is worth nothing without you if you think about it that way. And so those are all valid points. I like how you worked backwards On that valuation.

Speaker 2: 21:10

it's obviously worth a lot to you as the business owner. You know you've put your heart and soul, your blood, sweat and tears maybe every dollar that you have, into it as well. You know nothing wrong in that. But the thing is if, if your intention was, at some point in time, that is, to realize the value that you've created, so you can pass it either enjoy it yourself or pass it on to your own family or to someone else, or whatever charity that you want to give it to, or or a mix, mix of them. It's not what you think it's worth, it's what other people think it's worth. Yeah, okay, and um, since you're not going to be there, all your knowledge, which is systems, processes, must be captured, because that's what they're buying. It's one of the things that they're buying, okay, um, and and it's not just the processes, it's the people that you've got. So you've got to hire the right people. They've got to understand those processes. They've got to be doing them religiously and doing them well and improving them, because they're not static.

Speaker 2: 22:16

Things change, technology has changed, so what's right today is maybe not work anymore in a year's time, because, hey, that's outdated technology. We have to update that process. When you're trying to sell, people want to buy a going concern. They want to buy something that really exists and will continue to exist. They don't want everybody quitting within a few months okay, because you're no longer there. They want it to carry on. So there's an awful lot that we need to do as a business to ensure that continuity. Now there's a Japanese concept called You're listening to Small Business pivots.

Speaker 1: 23:03

This podcast is produced by my company boss. Our business is helping yours grow. Boss offers business loans with business coaching support. Apply in minutes and get approved and funded in as little as 24 to 48 hours at business ownership simplifiedcom. If you're enjoying this podcast podcast, don't forget to hit the subscribe button and share it as well. Now let's get back to our special guest now there's a.

Speaker 2: 23:31

There's a Japanese concept called shin eyes okay, um, and there are about 30,000 Japanese companies that embrace this and what it means. It's a company that has lasted for a very long time generations, hundreds or hundreds of years and it really comes from passing it down through the generations. Now I've taken that concept and I've tweaked it a bit, because one of the things when I look at organizations and I work with organizations, coaching them or whatever, I like to introduce this concept of the Shinais concept and look at it that we're trying to ensure that our business is sustainable way into the future. So, rather than we're not necessarily handy across to our kids, you know, through the family, because it might not be a family-owned company, all right, it's just pass you on to the next generation. As I said, I'm a baby boomer, okay, I'm going to be retired off soon. I'm not going to be around in 30, 40 years from now, okay, unless something miraculous happens with healthcare and I live into my hundreds or something. You're passing on to the next generation of people who are running the company. You know, maybe, and if you were a startup, you know, you, you attracted all these people because you, you know a young startup, great ideas, wonderful, and they all join and everything is wonderful and great.

Speaker 2: 25:08

And, you know, a decade or two goes by and they get a bit older. You know, are they going to run the? Maybe they want to be running the company. So when are you going to go? When did they have their shot? And then are they able to pass it on to the next generation of people? So that's the longevity of the company. You know, you can only do that if things have been documented and systematized and you've built that culture of pass your knowledge, of growing other people.

Speaker 2: 25:37

You know all that succession planning, who's going to take over whatever role in the company? Okay, so it's really, really resilient. It doesn't matter what happens. Yeah, you know, things happen. People get hit by trucks, people get old, people quit or whatever, for good and bad reasons. You know, can our business sustain it? You know, do we have enough depth of succession planning to cater for that? The stronger that is, the longer your business will last, year after year, decade after decade, maybe into the hundreds of years. That's the shin ice concept and I think we need to think about that, because maybe, yes, you are the business owner and you started the business, but isn't that part of your legacy? You know, a hundred years from now, do people want to remember that you started that company and it's great because of you and your principles and values are still there and they're being upheld by these other people and they're continuing it and expanded on it and grown on it. Is that how you want to be remembered? Or would you rather people saying, hmm, how did that company start?

Speaker 1: 26:49

Many businesses in the US don't last past the third generation. The original founder put in the blood, sweat and tears. It's got the most value. Their kids and tears. It's got the most value. Their kids, if they take over, might run it. Well, about 50% of them don't. And then the grandkids once it gets to the third generation, all they remember is grandpa and grandma had a lot of money and so they're not in it for the blood, sweat and tears, they're just in it for the money and of course that's not sustainable.

Speaker 1: 27:18

So if you don't have these systems and things in place, the company's people dependent and not process dependent. These systems and things in place, the company's people dependent and not process dependent. And so when I say that the businesses have zero value for the companies that have approached us when they're 55 and older, it's because they don't have that stuff, the things that you're talking about. And so when they're gone, no one wants it. No one wants to buy a job. Right, I can go get a job with less liabilities than own a business, have a job and all these bills and responsibilities. So everything you're talking about is well said.

Speaker 1: 27:54

Speaking of architect, is there like a blueprint that you would provide quickly with how to scale a business, kind of like here I'm thinking about starting a business. What are some steps to get you to that level of things that you need to do, in other words, some essentials that you need to have and do? We've already talked about systems, but is there a blueprint of do this, do this, do this Because on your website you've got core values, all good stuff, but how does one? You know, you didn't just come up with all that at once. It was a, it was a process.

Speaker 2: 28:28

Yeah, it's a process. Maybe I learned about it too late. It's really, you know, looking backwards on maybe what I should have done. A lot of it I learned through through my coaching journey. For the individual who wants to start a business is really looking at ourselves, because it's the inner work that needs to be done first. I believe.

Speaker 2: 28:53

What are our core values? We need to understand them, because if you're about to establish a company, you're going to have to put some in that company. Now, are they going to be identical to your core values or are they going to be identical to your core values or are they going to be slightly different? Because that's a company, not you, the person. So that's one thing. What is your purpose? What is your why? That's important, and I'm not talking about a goal. I'm not talking about, yeah, I want a big car, I want a big house, I want to make a lot of money, I want to do this, that and the other. Those are just goals. They're materialistic things, but you know what's the real point of view. Okay, and you're going to be clear on that, very clear on that, because that's a direction, there's a very clear direction to go in and everything you do needs to be going in that direction, because if it isn't, that's when you feel something's a bit off. It's going to prevent you getting in the flow, it's going to prevent you feeling balanced. You're just going to feel something is not quite right and that is not a nice place to be. That is not a nice place to be.

Speaker 2: 30:01

I believe these days that after the pandemic, we had the great reshuffle, we had the great resignation, we had the great insert, whatever words you want, people moving around, and it's still happening. And I feel and that's one of the reasons why I wrote the book that I wrote a couple of years ago called Business as Unusual. I wrote the book that I wrote a couple of years ago called Business as Unusual. It's because it's a lack of alignment of what people's purpose is and in a lot of cases there wasn't one, which really doesn't help. And it's a bit like, you know, alice in Wonderland, right? You know, when Alice is speaking to the Cheshire Cat, it says you know which way should I go? And the cat's saying, well, where do you want to go? She says, well, I don't know, it really doesn't matter where you go. And a lot of people are like that you know. How can you go in a direction, how can you feel fulfilled if you don't actually know where it is? You were going to go in the first place.

Speaker 2: 31:07

So there's a lot of inner work that needs to be done and once we have that, once we have that clarity, oh, that's a very, very strong foundation. That's a really good starting point for that when you establish your company. That, when you establish your company, it also needs a purpose, it also needs values and, yeah, in between those you will have goals from time to time. Okay, so it's nearly the same thing. So you do it for the individual yourself first. You need to make you know you are good and healthy and ready. And you do it for the company as well.

Speaker 2: 31:42

And as you bring people into your organization, you have to teach them the same thing. They've got to buy into the purpose of the company, otherwise why are they there? They've got to buy into the core values. But if they don't know their own purpose and they don't know their own core values, there's a very high risk. The reason why they feel out of alignment with the company and things don't feel quite right is because there's a mismatch between that purpose and between those core values. All right, and you know so.

Speaker 2: 32:18

I think one of the greatest things we can do for people is to help them realize that, to help them establish those core values, help them establish those purpose. So when they make you know if they join that company or they start a company, you know, we already know where we're going to go. You know, we really believe it, okay, and everything we do is going to be in alignment with that, rather than we're doing stuff and it might be out of alignment. And if it's out of alignment, it means that we're hiring the wrong people, and that's a company error, not the candidate error. Amen, okay, yeah, so I'd rather get it right from the start, because it's really difficult if we're bringing in the wrong people, as an organization, we've made a wrong choice. I can't emphasize more that it is up to the company to select the right people, and too many times we select the wrong people and we try and blame the candidate. It's not the candidate's fault, okay, you know. Why would they know? We're supposed to know the company and what we want out of people. Okay, so we should know the type of people that we want. All right, and we need to. You know the onus is on us to make that right decision. Okay, and if we get it right, well then, those people are happy working for you. You know they're very highly engaged. They're probably the people you're going to hand over to right? Yeah, you know, it's all good, it's all good.

Speaker 2: 33:59

So there are other things in the framework. A lot of them are in the book. You know the book Business as Unusual, where I talk about different buildings in my metaphor, which is a castle. Ok, we can all imagine a castle in our heads, right? But you know, I give a name and a purpose to every single building, every single building.

Speaker 2: 34:22

And in order to achieve balance in our lives, just like if we were building our own castle, we need to build it in a balanced way. Just like you're building any building, you've got to build it in a balanced way from the ground up. You can't start with a roof and as we're constructing our castle, it's a lifelong journey. We're laying a brick every single day, and it's consciously, with intent, deciding where to lay it. Which bit of ourselves are we going to focus on?

Speaker 2: 34:59

Okay, to maintain that balance? All right, to maintain that balance. And if we can do that and if we do that, we feel very balanced, we feel very fulfilled. We're going to be in a great healthy state to really do things, rather than to feel empty, to feel unfulfilled, to be unsure if we're going in the right direction and we're hesitating to do things. So we're hesitating to take action, we're unsure if we should be going this way or that way, and the moment that we have that, as a business leader, we're going to lose confidence of everybody else who's even looking at us. Nobody wants to follow someone who is indecisive and doesn't know where they're going.

Speaker 1: 35:48

I love that and it just reminds me of all the business owners I hear say why can't I find good employees? And to me that is a red flag of saying I want to see your mission. Where's your core values? Where's your vision? It's not. There's awesome employees out there, they're everywhere, you're just not ready for them. So for those business owners that have said that or that are listening, that say that I encourage them to hire a coach, like yourself or any coach, and get these things established, because that is your problem. That is the problem why you feel you can't find good employees. They're out there, you just don't know. They don't know what to follow.

Speaker 2: 36:32

At the end of the day, you're not there looking for them. If you get it right, you know, and it's very clear, what your company does and who you are and what you stand for. You know you start to become the magnet. Okay, and a magnet does two things, doesn't it? It attracts people and it repels people, and that's exactly what you and your company need to do. You need to attract the right people, yes, and you need to repel the wrong people.

Speaker 1: 37:06

And the only way to do that is with the stuff you're talking about. Do they align with your core values, your mission, where you want to go? Kind of give them a peek under the hood of what this business is all about. I love that. So is that what's in your book? You kind of walk through those processes Awesome.

Speaker 2: 37:22

Yes, it touches all different things. It shows you how to put together a life purpose, you know. It shows you the importance of being healthy and looking after yourself. It, you know, discusses the importance of networking and collaborating. Okay, so it touches all of these things. For you as an individual, okay, irrelevant if you're a business leader, business owner or not, it's still about people, and you know.

Speaker 2: 37:57

Going back to what you were talking about before, you know, talk about some of the business owners that you've worked with and some of the listeners. I believe it's up to us also to help build the right person. Okay, things are changing so fast that it's going to get harder and harder to have the perfect person, you know, to employ the perfect person, and they know it all. It's not going to happen. You know all of you listening, or, if you're business owners, all the stuff happening today technology-wise. Did you learn that at school? No, it didn't even exist, okay. So even if you take the brightest sparks out of whatever school you want to take them from their stuff, you know the stuff that they need to know. They're not going to know it and it doesn't matter how good the school was, all the knowledge they've acquired is going to be out of date in a few years and the skill sets that they need. If you look at, you know, the World Economic Forum. They do a future of jobs report every couple of years. The last one, if you look at that, the sort of the top 10, 20 skills that people require. They're sort of lacking in a lot of people because they're not taught. A lot of these are soft skills. They're not actually taught in school. Okay, so who's going to teach them? All right, so if you want your people to have those skills, you've got to be prepared to teach them.

Speaker 2: 39:46

So I'm a huge advocate of, as a leader, whether you are the business owner or not, is you've got to be, number one, coachable yourself. And number two, you've got to be able to coach other people because you're there to see in them something that that person can't see themselves. Okay, maybe you see something in them. Hey, that that that person there I, I can see that they can help me run this business in the next five years or 10 years or whatever it is. I know they've just left school, they're in a graduate entry or whatever they are. Okay, they don't know anything, but I see something in them. You've probably seen yourself, yeah, or I see something in them, right, but you're going to have to grow that, yeah, you're going to have to grow that. We have to grow that. You're going to have to grow that we have to nurture it. Okay, and the best way to do that is to be able to coach them, to be able to mentor them.

Speaker 2: 40:48

Yeah when can your book be found? You can find it on Amazon. You can find it on Barnes Noble. Best place to go is to go to my website, because it's got all the links. So if you want to find me, just Google my name, rick Ivanovich, and then say, wow, this guy really knows SEO. Okay, but I'd like to say that, but I'm the only person on the planet with this name, so that's a bit of a cheat, isn't it? Try it, try it, try it. So my website is my namecom.

Speaker 1: 41:26

And we will put the spelling of your last name in the show notes for those that don't know how to spell it. So uh, T R G. What is it that it does, and how does that help people? And then we'll wrap up here, Okay.

Speaker 2: 41:48

TRG. Okay, that's, that's my main company. Um, we, we started off um implementing accounting systems, or you can call it financial ERP if you want to make it a bit sexier. Uh, so it's all about financial systems, accounting systems, which is great, it's very, very horizontal. Systems, which is great, it's very, very horizontal. And we do other related systems as well, like, for example, performance management systems, reporting systems, consolidation systems, all that good accounting stuff.

Speaker 2: 42:12

Treasury systems you know electronic. You know making electronic that procure to pay. You know just email in the invoice, and it all gets miraculously handled by the computer and all the entries are made into your accounting system, no human intervention type of thing. All of that kind of stuff we do, and we do it across all industries, but we have a specific bias, I suppose, to hotels. We've helped thousands of hotels around the world and, yeah, we're pretty good at that, I guess. So that's what the main business does. We also have a boutique offshore development center. This is software engineers for hire. We've been doing that for a while. It's not very big, I think we're about 350 people there.

Speaker 2: 43:09

Another business that we have is I never understood people very well because I'm a numbers person I'm the bean counter, right, I'm the bean counter, right. But then I found out a secret formula to people in psychometrics okay, so that's all the assessments or testing of people, of their behaviors and things, because it tells you all sorts of stuff about a person, all right, and so that's what helped me with people that, yeah, we can use these psychometrics which will uncover certain skills in people. Ok, and so, when it comes to selecting the right people, we can go back to, you know, those sort of children's games, pegs and holes. Each one of us is a unique shape and every job that we have available is a unique hole. Just find the right shape to go into the job hole. So that's very much get the right people on the bus and get them on the right seats. Yeah, it's the same type of concept and we can use these psychometric tests to do that.

Speaker 2: 44:17

And for the you know, I know big comp, a lot of big companies use it, you know. So if there are any listeners who are looking for a job and they're trying to join that great, big, multinational, billion dollar company or whatever, um, you'll probably put through a battery of tests and assessments and things. That's what I'm talking about. Um, that's another one of the companies that we have and it's highly affordable. We've made it dirt cheap because why not? We're trying to help people, yeah. So yeah, we do stuff around that as well. Oh, and I mentioned coffee. We do that.

Speaker 1: 44:52

Yeah, I love it Well for our listeners. If you're curious what good core values look like, I encourage you to go to the website trginternationalcom. Go to the About Us section under core values Very well written. Very well written. You'll have to go check them out if you don't have core values. This is how they should be done. I love the examples that you give. This is what this core value is and this is what it's not. A lot of people forget that part because our translation of what one of yours is passion how I describe passion, how you describe passion are probably similar but different. But you kind of say this is what it is, this is what it's not, and so that's very well written.

Speaker 2: 45:37

Absolutely. Now, there's a reason for that. There's a reason for that. There's a reason for that. Again, people talk about the culture of the company.

Speaker 2: 45:46

Okay, now, as a business owner, you might have done your core values. They may be stuck up on the wall there and you may or may not have, you know, the kind of the depth that we put into it, what we expect and what we don't expect. But the thing is is that it's how people are really behaving. That's the real culture in the company. So how do you, as the organization, the business owner, how do you control that culture? Okay, so, if you've, if you've, come up with those core values, we have to live them. Ok, so, if you've come up with those core values, we have to live them. All right, we have to see if people are embracing them.

Speaker 2: 46:25

So one thing that can be done is periodically, maybe quarterly, something like that, you can gather people together on a voluntary basis and any challenges that they've ever had over the core values, what is it? So you might have had a core value of, I don't know, passion, all right, and people may not. They came across an instance, you know some kind of situation. They thought which of our core values. Is that and what's the right thing to do? Because it's not clear to them? Okay, and you can use that as an example of. They could ask that question and you, the business owner, we handle it like this.

Speaker 2: 47:09

Great, you've just clarified for people how the value is interpreted, how it's applied and maybe the preferred behavior. You want this and not that. That's something that can be added and then, if that circumstance ever happens again, people know how to act. Because what's really happening if we don't make those definitions? What happens on all those exceptions where it's not clear, and you are not there to clarify where it's not clear and you are not there to clarify people maybe just use best judgment and do what they thought was best, which, unfortunately, is maybe not what you wanted and they're going slightly in the wrong direction.

Speaker 2: 47:52

And if you don't detect that and that goes on month after month, year after year, suddenly, hey, what happened to the culture in this organization? It's shifted, it's changed. So the culture is something that's very, very much alive and that's a lot of hard work to keep it alive and keep nudging it in the direction that you want it to be. Don't forget that every single new person who joins the organization is going to change the culture, just like every single person who leaves the organization is also going to change the culture.

Speaker 1: 48:32

Yeah, Well, we've just barely dipped our toe in the water and I assure you that there are listeners that probably want to connect with you, follow you. What social media are you on that they can do that?

Speaker 2: 48:45

Okay, the best thing is, I said, is go to my website. All the the the social media links are there, uh, but again, since I am fortunate to have this unusual and unique name, every single one of my social media is in my name, apart from one of them which I messed up. I had to put a number two on it. I know, on Instagram, I know it's my name. I lost control of my own name, so I recreated it with a number two on the end, and it's just silly.

Speaker 1: 49:17

I've got one of those. I've got one of those. Well, as we wrap up, I always ask a final question, and that is if you were in front of an audience of small business owners, what's a tip, insight, a quote or a book other than your own that you would recommend, that would be applicable to all of them, no matter what size business they have, or industry.

Speaker 2: 49:39

Just a general Okay, there are a couple of things. Um, I really really really like the, um, the the late Maya Angelou quote, which is you know, people forget what you said, people forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. So, as business owners, you are really the heart and soul of the company and you need to make people feel something and if they feel the right way, they're going to love the company right, yeah, they're going to love it. So, you know, although we try and do all these wonderful things okay, it's really can we really connect with the people and can we really make them them feel something? Okay? Um, and let's not forget about ourselves.

Speaker 2: 50:32

So you again, you business owners who are super stressed and like where's my business? Why do people see no value in what we're doing? You know, we've got to feel stuff as well, not just anger or whatever. We've got to feel good, okay. We've got to feel fulfilled, okay. We've got to feel balanced as well. You know, that's what I want everybody to feel, because if you feel like that, you're in a really really good place, and if you're in that feel good, that really strong place, you can achieve so much. You really can.

Speaker 1: 51:07

Absolutely Well. Rick, you're a blessing to many. I appreciate you and your time sharing with our listeners, and I wish you continued success.

Speaker 2: 51:16

Thank you very much, michael. You know, I really want to express my gratitude for letting me you know rant on your podcast.

Speaker 1: 51:26

All great information.

Speaker 2: 51:28

It's been a real fun conversation and I hope our listeners how pressured it is and I look forward to hearing from some of you, learning from your experiences because you've got good experience, you have great knowledge, okay and perhaps having the opportunity to share some more in-depth future discussions. And remember you're not just a participant in this ever-changing world, you are an architect shaping the course of your life, your career and the world around you and the people around you. I encourage you all to embrace change and define it, not just adapt to it. Be that catalyst in our business as unusual world. Thank you again, michael, for this wonderful exchange.

Speaker 1: 52:25

My pleasure. Thank you, rick. Thank you for listening to Small Business Pivots. This podcast is created and produced by my company, boss. Our business is growing. Yours, boss, offers flexible business loans with business coaching support. Yours, boss, offers flexible business loans with business coaching support. Apply in minutes and get approved and funded in as little as 24 to 48 hours at businessownershipsimplifiedcom. If you're enjoying this podcast, don't forget to hit the subscribe button and share it as well. If you need help growing your business, email me at michael at michaeldmorrisoncom. We'll see you next time on Small Business Pivots.