If maintaining positive cash flow is keeping you up at night, this is the conversation you need to hear. Once you’ve got cash figured out, everything runs more smoothly. &nbsp; Peter Kingma works with multinational clients and leads EY Working Capital services in the Americas. Corporate leaders entrust him to help liberate cash through operational improvements, which help in reducing costs and improving service quality. His new book, Cash Is King, discusses why your company’s cash position should be on an equal footing with sales, cost, and service, and how to make that happen. &nbsp; Positive cash flow is all about timing. When the receipts coming in parallel with the disbursements going out, the results are simple. So is Peter’s advice — collect faster, pay slower, and don’t hold onto as much inventory. &nbsp; His new book offers a novel-like approach to a company that is getting cash flow all wrong, and the tactics that can turn everything around. Peter highlights experiences he has had that prove that while every dollar of cash has the same value, not every dollar of cash deployed offers the same rate of return. Positive cash flow is only achieved when businesses focus on the favorable terms that actually benefit the company. &nbsp; Interview Links:  &nbsp; Resources:   (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)   &nbsp;  is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail. &nbsp; Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth. &nbsp; We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits. &nbsp; Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

Managing a Positive Cash Flow with Peter Kingma

&nbsp;         In this episode, Bill delves into the significance of creating a powerful and positive company culture as a foundational strategy for scaling businesses effectively and sustainably. He likens the ideal company culture to a "good cult," emphasizing the need for intentional, cult-like qualities within a company to foster unity, commitment, and shared values among team members. By drawing parallels with companies like Disney and Apple, known for their strong, cult-like cultures, Bill outlines how such a culture can significantly contribute to a company's success by enhancing teamwork, shared responsibility, and overall satisfaction within the organization. Bill provides practical advice on building a company culture that resonates deeply with employees and guides the organization towards its goals. He stresses the importance of defining clear and meaningful core values, purpose, and brand promises that reflect the company's essence and how it operates at its best. Bill encourages embedding these cultural elements into every aspect of the company, from recruitment and onboarding to daily operations and external communications. Through rituals, traditions, and consistent reinforcement of these values, leaders can cultivate a unique and vibrant culture that not only distinguishes their company but also supports its growth and the well-being of its people. Moreover, Bill suggests incorporating various methods to keep the company's core values visible and top-of-mind, such as utilizing visual reminders in the workplace, incorporating values into employee recognition programs, and even integrating them into personal accessories or digital wallpapers. By rewarding adherence to these values and holding everyone accountable, companies can ensure that their culture remains strong and pervasive. This episode serves as a guide for leaders looking to build a cohesive, values-driven environment that propels their company forward while making the journey enjoyable and fulfilling for everyone involved.

Culture, creating a strong one

In this episode Bill emphasizes the significant impact of crafting a company manifesto as a foundational tool for embedding cultural elements deeply and swiftly into the organizational fabric. This manifesto should articulate the company's purpose, its emotional core, the vision for the future, the values guiding its operations, promises made to customers, and a long-term transformational goal, commonly referred to as a "big, hairy, audacious goal" (BHAG). By doing so, a manifesto provides a comprehensive overview of why the company exists, its direction, how it plans to get there, the intended experience for its beneficiaries, and a specific target to achieve. Bill outlines a practical approach to creating such a manifesto, starting with defining the company's purpose and detailing its aspirations, operational values, customer commitments, and a visionary BHAG. He suggests integrating this manifesto into daily business operations through various means such as printing, office displays, recitation in meetings, and ongoing dialogue about its relevance and challenges. This integration process transforms the manifesto from a static document into a living, breathing aspect of the company's culture. By fostering regular conversations around the manifesto, businesses can ensure it remains a central, dynamic element of their identity, significantly easing the challenges associated with scaling and growth.

Ingraining Culture with a Manifesto

In this episode Bill contrasts the job scorecard's effectiveness with traditional job descriptions, which he finds overly bureaucratic and filled with generic language. The job scorecard, with its clarity and simplicity, provides a structured framework for outlining the responsibilities, expected outcomes, and key performance indicators (KPIs) for a role, making it an invaluable asset in evaluating candidates and managing employee performance over time. Bill outlines the key components of a job scorecard, including the job title, reporting lines, a succinct headline describing the role's main function, specific outcomes the role is accountable for, and a set of KPIs to measure these outcomes. He emphasizes the importance of setting clear performance standards (green, yellow, red levels) for each KPI, facilitating objective performance evaluations and discussions. By employing the job scorecard in regular one-on-one coaching sessions, managers can effectively guide employees towards improved performance, ensuring regular feedback and action plans are in place. This approach promotes continuous performance enhancement and avoids the pitfalls of traditional, less frequent performance reviews.

Job Scorecards for Hiring and Performance Coaching

Our focus is on transforming the hiring process to make it more manageable and predictable for businesses looking to grow and scale. Bill shares innovative strategies and practical tips for improving hiring practices, emphasizing the importance of creating a large candidate pool and moving candidates through the process efficiently. He advocates for treating the job posting like a product launch, complete with marketing efforts to attract a wide array of candidates simultaneously, rather than waiting for them to trickle in. This approach allows for a more dynamic selection process and ensures that companies don't miss out on potential hires by waiting too long for more applicants. Bill also discusses the need to sell the company first by highlighting its unique qualities, values, and vision, making the job opportunity stand out to prospective candidates. He suggests using screening techniques like phone interviews or meet-and-greets to quickly assess a large number of applicants. Furthermore, Bill touches on the importance of deep diving into candidates' backgrounds through methods like top grading and the threat of reference check technique to weed out dishonest applicants. Additionally, he recommends asking candidates to translate job requirements or company values in their own words to ensure understanding and alignment. Lastly, Bill advises on discussing salary expectations early in the process to ensure candidates' expectations align with the company's budget, thereby streamlining the hiring process and saving time for both parties.

Hiring Process Redesigned

In this episode the emphasis is on the need for a yes response to our investment pitches, sales, hiring, and project assignments. Bill highlights the crucial need for hearing "yes" more frequently to facilitate growth and scaling in business. He introduces a simple, transformative approach to increase the likelihood of getting affirmative responses without necessarily changing one's appearance or demeanor. The key, according to Bill, lies in focusing on and addressing what the other party wants. Bill elaborates on the strategy of tailoring pitches and proposals to align with the interests and desires of the person you're engaging with. He advises speculating about the other person's wants and framing your proposition around how it fulfills those wants, thereby making the conversation more about them and less about you. This approach fosters a more connected and meaningful dialogue, increasing the chances of a positive outcome. Bill underscores the importance of listening deeply and showing genuine interest in the other person's perspective, suggesting that this mindset shift towards empathy and understanding can significantly enhance the effectiveness of your interactions and negotiations, ultimately leading to more successful business ventures.

Listening for Yes in what THEY want

Bill emphasizes the importance of approaching others with expectation of hearing "yes" rather than bracing for rejection. He points out that expecting a "no" can negatively affect one's demeanor and the way proposals are presented, potentially leading to self-sabotage before even fully articulating the pitch. To counteract this, Bill advises focusing on the potential "yes" by considering and speaking to what the other party might want or find beneficial, thereby crafting a more compelling and engaging proposal. Moreover, Bill delves into the psychological barriers that fear of rejection can create, suggesting that this fear can significantly impede one's ability to secure affirmative responses. He recommends acknowledging and setting aside this fear to focus on why the proposition could be appealing to the other party. If the fear of rejection is deeply ingrained, seeking external help or therapy might be necessary to overcome these hurdles. Ultimately, the aim is to move beyond the fear, speculate on potential wins for both parties, and present a pitch that is both compelling and attuned to the interests and desires of the other person, thus improving the chances of hearing "yes" more frequently in business endeavors.

Stop Worrying about NO

Neel Patel breaks down the chaos of product building with practical tips and strategies to help you turn your ideas into a reality. Whether you’re starting from scratch or leveling up your idea, he’s got the insights to help you get it right from day one.

Curious? Watch till the end and get inspired! 
Check out: https://docubaat.com/ and follow us on our socials (@docubaat) for the full episode release!

How do you build products???

In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, host Anthony Sapountzis hosts Mark Christian Lim, CEO and Co-Founder of Magnetic Alliance. Mark shares his journey of building a unique business growth consultancy that specialises in tackling high-risk challenges and delivering tangible results. With over a decade of experience, Magnetic Alliance has supported clients across 150 industries, adding more than $2 billion in revenue to their collective growth. Mark discusses the importance of scalable systems, long-term planning, and embracing expert help to drive sustainable success. This conversation offers actionable insights for business owners and leaders looking to overcome growth bottlenecks and unlock their full potential.

Mark reflects on the origins and evolution of Magnetic Alliance, a consultancy designed to bridge the gap between strategy and execution for small and medium businesses. By focusing on hands-on implementation rather than theoretical advice, Magnetic Alliance has built a reputation for solving complex problems that many other firms avoid. Mark’s experience spans over 13 years, during which the company has worked with clients in over 150 industries, collectively driving $2 billion in revenue growth. He attributes their success to a deep commitment to helping businesses not only grow but also navigate the hurdles that arise along the way.

Mark shares how his corporate experience, which required managing diverse responsibilities across legal, marketing, operations, and finance, prepared him for entrepreneurship. Recognising the struggles small businesses face due to a lack of structured support, he co-founded Magnetic Alliance to provide end-to-end solutions. Mark recalls the early challenges of defining their services and pricing, but through perseverance, the company established its unique value proposition. He highlights the importance of patience, effort, and a long-term approach in building a sustainable business.

The discussion delves into the challenges of scaling businesses, especially those with strong sales but operational bottlenecks. Mark explains how inefficiencies, capacity constraints, and misaligned processes can stifle growth. He emphasises the importance of creating scalable systems and aligning teams to prevent overcommitment, which can lead to quality issues. Anthony adds that inefficiencies often amplify at scale, underscoring the need for streamlined processes and well-integrated software solutions to sustain growth.

Mark recounts a cautionary tale about a $90 million software project that failed due to undefined processes and unclear requirements, resulting in significant losses and internal disruption. He contrasts this failure with the deliberate, long-term investments Magnetic Alliance has made in building robust systems. Mark advises business owners to resist quick fixes and instead focus on laying strong foundations through detailed process mapping and thoughtful planning. These steps, he argues, are critical to achieving competitive advantages and long-term success.

Throughout the episode, Mark advocates for a mindset shift among small business owners, encouraging them to seek help and focus on their strengths rather than trying to do everything themselves. He addresses the common hesitations around outsourcing and explains how delegating tasks to experts can unlock efficiencies and drive growth. Both Mark and Anthony agree that sustainable success requires resilience, openness to learning, and a commitment to building systems that can support future growth. This conversation offers practical strategies for overcoming growth challenges and scaling effectively.

Mark Lim on Turning Challenges into $2 Billion in Revenue | Ep 197 | DevReady Podcast

Ace Biz Hacks with Assim Ishaque delivers no-nonsense insights into the real challenges of entrepreneurship—because building a business isn’t all success stories. Discover lessons from the 60% of entrepreneurs who don’t make it past five years, with raw, practical advice from an experienced founder and mentor.

In each episode, Assim tackles critical startup challenges—like cash flow struggles, marketing flops, and business pivots—sharing his own hard-won insights and actionable hacks. With over 20 years of experience launching ventures, raising capital, and mentoring founders, he delivers straight talk and real solutions for entrepreneurs at any stage.

Subscribe to Ace Biz Hacks and get real-world business tips to overcome obstacles, avoid common pitfalls, and fast-track your success.

🎙️ Hosted by Assim Ishaque
📢 Sponsored by The Entrepreneur’s Trust (www.entreust.org)

🔗 LinkedIn: Assim Ishaque
📸 Instagram: @asimbrix

Ace Biz Hacks Reboot – Real Talk for Entrepreneurs

"Rise and Grind" by Docubaat is a dynamic podcast that explores diverse topics ranging from business and education to mental health, offering fresh insights into often overlooked issues. 

Tune in for in-depth discussions and expert perspectives that shed light on untouched topics, inspiring personal growth and success for you!

Ace Biz Hacks podcasts is all about the ‘reality’ of the innovators journey, where we talk about the challenges, obstacles and solutions to help entrepreneurs survive the sad fact that over 60% of startups fail. 
Created by a serial entrepreneur, business coach and speaker Assim Ishaque, who has gone through many failures of his own and now on a mission to support 10,000 innovators through the tough, rough and dangers along the way. 
Connect via Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/assimishaque/
Follow on Instagram @asimbrix
Podcast website : www.acebizhacks.com
Want to know more about The Entrepreneurs Trust? - go to https://www.entreust.org/

We started the DevReady podcast to help non-techs build better technology. We have been exposed to so many non-techs that describe the struggle, uncertainty and challenges that can come with building technology.

The objective for the DevReady podcast to share these stories and give you the tools and insights so that you to can deliver on your vision and outcomes.

You will learn from non-tech founders that have invested their time and money into developing technology. We will discuss what worked, what didn’t and how they still managed to deliver real value to their users.  These stories are inspirational – demonstrating the determination, commitment and resolve it really takes to deliver technology.

Throughout the DevReady Podcast we also invite subject matter experts to the conversation to give you proven strategies and techniques to successfully take your idea through to delivery and beyond.

Enjoy the Podcast, it will challenge you, inspire you and provide the tools you will need to deliver real value with technology.

New tracks tagged #scalingup