This document outlines three key small business growth strategies: people, execution, and cash. It emphasizes that hiring the right people who share your core values is critical for success. Execution involves aligning your team around a clear purpose and vision through accountability, feedback, and mutual trust. Maintaining adequate cash flow is also important, and the document provides tips for bootstrapping a business through customer acquisition and optimizing cash conversion cycles.

1. Top 3 Small Business
Growth Strategies
Luke Aulin @lukeaulin
lukeaulin

2. • World Traveler (60+ countries)
• Unfinished Author
• Two-time failed entrepreneur
• Intrapreneur:
$0-$4mm in 2 years
$0 - $9mm in 4 years
• Entrepreneur:
0 - 250 customers, 5 markets in
BC in 3 years
• Purpose Driven Entrepreneur
• CEO (aka “The Mayor”) of RTOWN

3. “Being an entrepreneur is like eating glass and staring
into the abyss of death”
Elon Musk

4. Statistics Canada

5. Small Business Survival Rates in Canada
Statistics Canada

6. 30,000,000 companies in North America

7. Business Success Formula
=
Problem Solutionx x
Execution Teamx x Luck!

8. What About Vision?

9. “1% Vision, 99% Alignment” – Jim Collins
“1% Dream, 99% Execution” – Me

10. Vision Formula
=
Purpose (why) Core Values ( how)+
x
Big Hairy Audacious Goal (where)
=
Your stated desire for the future
Read: Mastering the Rockefeller Habits & Scaling Up

11. Top 3 Small Business
Growth Strategies
People.
Execution.
Cash.

12. Dawn of Social Business

13. People.

14. Read: Topgrading or Who
Your most important decisions
are who decisions
Your most important decisions
are not what decisions
Hire Slow, Fire Fast!

15. Think of everyone on your team
Then ask yourself…
Would I enthusiastically rehire this person?

16. Core Values
Non-negotiable parameters for how you operate
Define & create your company’s culture
Whether you think you have them or not, you do
Clarifying them and codifying them will help you everywhere,
particularly in hiring
Will be alive within your company and felt by your customers

17. RTOWN Core Values
Team over Individuals
Remarkable Customer & Team Experience
Uncover a Better Way
Surplus for Purpose
Trust

18. Family or Sports Team?

19. A players are values aligned and hit targets
B players values aligned, but miss some targets
C players values misaligned and/or consistently miss targets
A players attract A players
C players bring down average more than A players bring it up
B players can become A players (again)
C player? = Free up their future!

20. Diversity of talent is good
Not living your values isn’t
Loyalty is good, but has limits
Patience for A players who temporarily become B players
Great companies temporarily hit rough patches

21. Execution.

22. Purpose
“People don’t buy what you sell; they buy why you sell it.”
–
Simon Sinek, Author of Start With Why

23. Big Hairy Audacious Goal
If it matters, your team will connect to it
If it matters, outsiders will help
make it matter
(BHAG)
Make meaning
Jim Collins

24. BHAG & Purpose
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the
people to gather wood, divide the work and give
orders. Instead teach them to yearn for the vast
and endless sea.”
–
Antoine De Saint-Exupery, Author of The Little Prince

25. “1% Vision, 99% Alignment” – Jim Collins
“1% Dream, 99% Execution” – Me

26. Align your team
so they can all push in the same direction
Encourage discussion
debate makes your stronger
Foster accountability
Starts with leadership. Create ownership mindset in everyone on
your team.
Act on feedback
Two ears, one mouth. Listen and act on feedback. Creates positive
energy toward the future.

27. “If you want to exercise power and
authority over people, join the military or
go into politics. Don’t be an
entrepreneur.”
–
Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote

28. Traditional Org Chart
Out with the old
Functional Accountability Chart
In with the new
Fosters mutual accountability
• Washes away boss/subordinate
• Creates trust, circular accountability and improves everything in
how you execute – clarity on who owns what in which process

30. Cash.

31. Thoughts On Cash
Know your numbers
Measure what matters
Revenue is vanity; profit is sanity
Growth sucks cash
Cash conversion cycle – map your money on a timeline.
Break down the steps.
Find excess to fund growth.

32. Raise or Bootstrap?

33. Bootstrapping = Cash comes from Customers

34. Step 1: Your Ideal Customer Profile
Step 2: Path to acquire them
Step 3: Strategy to deliver to them
Step 4: Define your “Keep” strategy

35. Your Ideal Customer Profile
Demographic and Psychographic Traits
Name them
Communicate this with your whole team

36. What do you do?
Why should I care?
How do I believe you?
Where do we begin?
Customer Acquisition Funnel

37. Social Media + Search
Website + Content
Testimonials + Case Studies
Store front or eCommerce
Customer Acquisition Funnel

38. % of Time Spent in Media vs. % of Advertising Spending, USA, 2015
Mary Meeker, KPCB 2016

39. Organic reach for business dropping to below 1%
Values:
Dawn of Social Business….your employees are an
untapped resource to create awareness
Friends and family first
A platform for all ideas
Authentic communication
You control your experience
Constant iteration

40. Mary Meeker, KPCB 2016

41. Values:
Mobile responsiveness
Focus on the user and all else will follow
Length of time & relevance
Keywords, Blogs
Fresh content
It’s best to do one thing really, really well
You can make money without doing evil

42. Online; your customer values:
Entertainment
Control
Authenticity
Emotions evoked
Education

43. Delivery
Better is how we get bigger
UPOD = under promise, over deliver
See people and execution
Team first, customers second, shareholders
third

44. Pricing
Price is the value your customer perceives
Cost plus
The closer you are to satisfying base
human nature, the higher your margins
Competition
Your ideal customer profile matters

45. It’s not who you know.
It’s not what you know.
“It’s what you DO with who
and what you know!”
– Me