2091 – Strategies for Sustainable Business Growth with Pinnacle Global Network’s Allison Maslan

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1:05With us right now, it's Alison Maslin. Alison, you are the founder and CEO of Pinnacle Global Network. You're found on the web at PinnacleGlobalNetwork.com. Alison, you're also the author of the book, Scale or Fail? How to Build Your Dream Team, Explode Your Growth, and Let Your Business Soar. Alison, thank you so much for joining us. Oh, I'm excited to be here, Josh. Thank you for having me. Yes, absolutely. Tell us a little bit about what you do and who you serve today. Well, Josh, I have been blessed to be an entrepreneur for over 40 years. I've built 10 companies. And so I pretty much have been an entrepreneur most of my life.

1:49And I love business. I feel like it's the best way to use your creativity to make a difference in the world. And for the last 16 years, my company, Pinnacle Global Network, has helped over 150 ,000 CEOs all over the world to grow and scale their company and really build a team-managed company that can flourish without them there and impact so many people. Yeah. I noticed you used a word, Allison, regarding kind of the entrepreneurial lifestyle. And you shared, having done this for over four decades now, that it allows one to exercise their creativity to make an impact in the world. Do you mind maybe kind of talking about that a little bit?

2:37I don't know if that was intentional or not, but you caught my attention. Well, I mean, we're all born with gifts and sometimes we recognize them and sometimes we don't. And we're good at a lot of things that might be our excellence. But as Gay Hendricks, the author of The Big Leap, talks about is stepping into your genius. And when you can really land on what that genius is, your true purpose, and you can turn that into a business, now you are able to expand that purpose to impact as many people as you want. And you've got your employees and their families, of course, your customers and their families and their communities, whatever, with whatever product or service that you offer.

3:24So. And then of course, in your work, one of the aspects that you, as you're working with your leaders is, you know, building the dream team. And so obviously, you know, that's a part of us being able to fulfill what we really want to do, right? So if we are the visionaries, if we are the creatives, if we're the ones that have this grand plan for getting this done, in many cases, Allison, you know, some of our visions are just going to require more effort than we would probably or possibly do humanly ourselves, right? And so it's just how critical it is to surround yourself with the right people.

4:08Do you mind maybe sharing kind of a, you know, what, if you were to give a TED talk on building kind of this ideal dream team around you, what would you, what kind of key messages do you think you would share? Yeah, I mean, it takes a village to get your big idea out there and make a massive impact. And I love the part of building a team. I know not everybody feels that way, but when you learn as the owner, the founder of your company, when you learn how to shift from being a boss to being a leader, then you're able to inspire others to step up into their leadership. And then you start to build those leaders on your team.

4:56You're empowering those leaders. And then they help everybody else step up in the company. Now you have a force to be reckoned with. And the shift that has to happen is that you have this beautiful vision. You have this idea in your imagination. Of course, when we work with our clients at Pinnacle Global Network, and we work with seven, eight, and nine figure CEOs to help them scale. We help them to tap into that big, beautiful vision and expand it bigger than they ever thought. But then we've got to transfer it to the team because the team has got to then own that vision as if it's theirs. It can't be, hey, it's the Allison show.

5:38You know, we're doing this because of Allison. No, the team has to embrace it like it is their vision and it is meaningful to them. And so that's really the shift that that has to happen. And then ultimately, you end up having a team managed company is what we call it. You want a business that is founder independent, meaning that you can go off to Bora Bora for six months and the business continues to grow without you because you have this powerful team managed company. And the reason that is smart, the reason that you, it's actually better if you're in Bora Bora is that the valuation of your company is going to go way up.

6:22If someone's going to invest in your business or come to buy your business, or you're going to pass it on to your kids, if it's too, if you're too entangled in the business, like most business owners are, then the day you leave, it's going to tank. And so that's why so many companies don't end up selling for much at all. So it's actually going to grow faster when you build this team empowered enterprise. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that makes sense, right? So on an exit, like if the company relies upon you as the founder of the visionary in order to run the thing, that just puts a wrinkle in, you know, so many different exit opportunities, right?

7:05If someone's like, well, shoot, we got to, yeah, we could, but then we also have to hire you apparently like, you know, and I've, I've talked to people who have participated in that sort of a transition or exit and those don't always come around as many often. Yeah. And you know, it's so a few quick thoughts on that is that, um, you know, it's the hardest thing that a business owner is ever going to go through is letting go. It's very scary because it's your baby and you're afraid things are going to slip through the cracks. But, you know, and this is what we help our clients with. It's truly life changing, but you cannot scale a company if you're still involved in the process.

7:47It's not mathematically possible. There's not enough hours in the day. And when you're hiring strategically, then each hire should be bringing in three to 10 times what you pay them. And there's a whole process of that that we help our clients with. We call it hire for growth. So what that means is that every person that you bring on the team should not only pay for themselves, but fuel the growth of the company. If you are very strategic in your hire, you know, not just randomly, oh, I'm stressed out. I'm out of bandwidth. We need to fill this position. Now, you're really hiring based on those KPIs and how this is going to drive your bottom line.

8:32Then you're not overtaxed, you know, or burdened with the overhead of your payroll because this team is actually growing your company. So it's a whole different way of looking at it. And that way you're buying your freedom, but you're also scaling your business at the same time. Yeah. Yeah. And I would imagine that in your work, and also we'll talk about how you work with your leaders here in just a moment, but you probably encounter maybe some pushback from time to time. I can't possibly leave that. I have no one to give that to. No one can do it quite like I can. If I were to interrupt that, it would be incredibly disruptive.

9:19to our, you know, or they might say, I just don't have the cash flow. I don't have the budget to replace myself. And so that then leaves these founders, these leaders stuck, right? Because nothing's going to change. And, you know, if they're just hoping it's magically going to change. Yes. Probably. Nothing will change. Nothing will change. And most people come in that way. Really, Josh, most people come in that way, feeling that way. And we understand that. I've been there, Believe me, in 10 companies, I have been through every kind of, you know, challenge you can imagine. And that's what I used to believe too.

9:56And that, you know, pretty much cost me my life from just the extreme burnout that I was going through. And, you know, so many business owners have health problems, relationship problems, because they've got their hands in every area of the company. They're working 24-7. It's not sustainable. It's killing them. So, and here's the thing, they can do it. And we're not going to bring a client in and go, okay, we're going to take your money and we're going to go like hire these people. That's not what we're doing. We're going to help them to drive the cash flow so that they can bring these people on.

10:37But the thing is, is that you don't pay a salaried employee for the year up front. You divide that by 12, okay? And there is a saying you've probably heard, hire slowly, fire fast. So when you're hiring strategically and you bring someone on for most positions, you're gonna know within a couple months and oftentimes six weeks, whether this person is going to be that superstar that you were hoping for. You're gonna know. And if they're not the fit, it's not a fit for you. It's not a fit for them. Most people do the opposite. They hire fast and hire slow. But, you know, we work closely with the clients.

11:26We are like their board of advisors. And so we help them to make these decisions. And I'll just tell you that the change is so fast. You know, like for instance, a woman came to us, she owns a immigration law firm. Her name is Constance Wanamaker. And she had, you know, a small team. She was making about 2 million in revenue, but she was a revolving door. She was stressed out all the time, her hair on fire. She was working 17 hours a day. And within two and a half years, now she has over 300 employees. she's going to do 50 million in revenue this year she has her team it's just that she's like Allison uh because I was just talking to her the other day I don't personally mentor her we have a team of high level mentors she's like the team is behind the vision the team is running the company she was just named the number one law firm on the Inc 5000 list and it's so if things move quickly We're so stuck and mired in how we've always done it that that's all we see.

12:40But when you open the door to a new opportunity, it's a whole new world out there. It's really exciting. I would imagine a lot of what we've been talking about, Allison, is found in your book, Scale or Fail, How to Build Your Dream Team, Explode Your Growth, and Let Your Business Soar. Do you mind sharing a little bit about your book? And obviously, it's available on Amazon. It's a best-selling book. It's quite popular. But yeah, I'd love to hear more. Yeah. So the book really outlines our proprietary method, which is called the Scale-It method. And it takes the reader, the business owner, through all of the main pillars.

13:21There's five pillars in scaling a company, strategic vision, cash flow, alliance of the team, leadership, and execution. It's really a life-changing book. and you will come to understand how we work and you'll be able to take that book and create some great traction in your business. And then if you want more support and more help, then we kind of bring the book to life when we work with you personally. But I think that's a great place to start. Yeah. I should point out too that, yes, it's available on audiobook, Audible, everywhere, Kindle, so forth. And it's also on your website. Do you want to share?

14:03You are able to give the book away for free. I don't know if you want to share a little bit about that process. Yeah. So if you go to pinnacleglobalnetwork.com, you will see a tab resources and book, and you can go right there. And actually, we will send you the book for free. You pay for shipping, but you will get that within a few days and you can start working on scaling your business. Yeah. Do you mind sharing a little bit about what Pinnacle Global Network is, who you work with? Yeah. Obviously, yeah. Tell us all about it. Yeah. Thank you. What is unique about Pinnacle Global Network is, number one, we focus on scaling.

14:48That is what we are experts at. And we have a team of close to 40 high-level CEO mentors. They've all built very successful companies. Some have taken their business public. Some have had thousands of employees, international companies. And we match a CEO. If CEO comes in to work with us, we assess them. We assess everything about their business and even their personality and the way they work. And we match them to one of these mentors. This mentor becomes their advisor for their business. Like they are there for them, for the journey that they're on. And then we also do masterminding because we have a big global community.

15:37And so you are in a mastermind of five to seven other CEOs that become kind of your confidants and support system. And your mentor is also on those masterminds. and then we lead big events and so forth. But we have clients that have been with us 10, 12 years, Josh, because we really are like the advisor for their company for the life of their business. They don't have to stay that long, but so many business owners do because they just, it's lonely at the top, you know? And it's hard to make all these decisions and have so much pressure on yourself. And so it is such a relief when you feel like, oh my gosh, I don't have to do this alone anymore.

16:25And the net net is, you know, like the story I just shared with you with Constance. We have so many stories like that. And we work with entrepreneurs in all different industries, hundreds of industries, all different business models. And we kind of save you from yourself and help you get out of your own way and build that team managed company and a scalable model. So you get your life back, drive up your profits and make that impact you want to make in the world. Yeah. You have a three day event coming up. You mentioned this. Do you mind sharing just a little bit more like who this is appropriate for?

17:02I'm looking at your website right now. It's coming up soon based on when this is publishing February 13th through the 15th. Yeah, it is called scale it live. And this is our 16th year leading this event. We have hundreds and hundreds of CEOs that fly in from all over the world. It's in Pasadena. We have negotiated a great rate at the Langham Hotel. It's beautiful. And this isn't a typical event, Josh, where you just sit and listen to speakers and kind of passively sit back and get inspired, although it is very inspiring. And we do have some of the top business experts in the world. But the difference is that we're going to take you on a three-day journey to build out your entire scale blueprint for the year.

17:48So we build out your strategic plan, your marketing and sales blueprint for the year, your org chart, your team managed company plan. So it's a working event. And so that's why we have so many people attend this year after year, because just three days and you are set for the year and you know exactly what needs to happen. You can hand it off to your team or you know how to build your team, all of that when you leave. So that's something that we're super proud of. And we've had tens of thousands of CEOs attend this event and really make a massive difference in their company. Well, and you do attract some A-listers in terms of speakers.

18:32Yeah, we've had some incredible CEOs from all over top companies like Orange Theory and Drybar and Zillow. And we've had Magic Johnson. We've had a lot of the Shark Tank people. So we do not disappoint. And we really bring in some amazing people. But you're also surrounded with our high level mentors are there. You get one on one time and deals are made in the, you know, their partnerships are formed. It really is the number one business growth event, but it's for more established CEOs. So it's not for startups. There's lots of support out there for startups. There's not, there are not many events out there for that seven, eight figure CEO that really wants to scale and get their life back.

19:22So you can, you can find all that on my website, or you can also go to scaleitlive.com. Yeah. All right. So Allison, again, your book, Scale or Fail, How to Build Your Dream Team, Explode Your Growth, and Let Your Business Soar. You can find that, again, directly at your website. It's Pinnacle Global Network, along with the upcoming event. And Allison, anything else that you'd recommend in terms of someone that's been listening to our conversation and they want to get to see a little bit more of your world. Anything that you'd recommend? Yeah. I mean, first of all, I just want to say, because I think that when business owners have had their company 10 years, 20 years, you're so mired in the day-to-day.

20:09Yeah. And, you know, often we feel like I should know this, you know, asking for help is a sign of weakness, but at really asking for help is a sign of strength. It's the smartest thing you can do. Um, you know, hands down, I do it. I have a mentor. I've been in business for a really long time. And I just say that you don't have to, you don't have to do it alone, get support, whether you work with, with us or somebody else do it because, you know, you deserve to have your life back. It goes so fast, right? And you want to have a valuable asset at the end of the day, because otherwise, if you can't sell this company or sell it for a decent amount, basically, you've had a job for all these years.

20:59And that's not why you got into business, you know, and that is, it's painful, but it's the truth because only 17 % of businesses actually so. And so anyway, you deserve it. Your dreams are important. You are super important. So do what you can to take care of you. I love it. We do deserve it, Alison. Alison Maslin, founder, CEO of Pinnacle Global Network, and of course, author of the book, Scale or Fail, How to Build Your Dream Team, Explode Your Growth, and Let Your Business Soar. Alison, And thank you so much for this conversation. Thanks, Josh. It was great.

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