1508245322
Profit Answer Man: Scaling with Profit First & Beyond

Advertise on podcast: Profit Answer Man: Scaling with Profit First & Beyond

Rating
★★★★★
4.9
from
36 reviews
This podcast has
345 episodes
Language
English
Publisher
Rocky Lalvani
Explicit
No
Date created
2020/04/16
Latest episode
2026/10/27
Average duration
45 min.
Release period
7 days

Description

Hi, I'm the Profit Answer Man! The Profit Answer Man podcast is a weekly show hosted by Rocky Lalvani, a business coach and Certified Profit First Professional. In each episode, Rocky shares his expertise on how to scale profit and cash flow for 7-8 figure businesses. Episode 1 is the why, 2 - is Mike Michalowicz, and 3-13 are Rocky's take on each chapter in the book. The Profit Answer Man podcast is designed for small business owners, entrepreneurs, and anyone else looking to improve their financial management skills. Rocky covers a wide range of topics, including how to prioritize profit, manage cash flow, and grow your business. One of the things that sets the Profit Answer Man podcast apart is Rocky's engaging and entertaining style. He uses anecdotes, humor, and relatable examples to make the concepts he's discussing easy to understand and apply. If you're a small business owner looking for practical advice on how to improve your financial management and increase profitability, the Profit Answer Man podcast is definitely worth a listen. Whether you're just starting out or have been in business for a while, you'll find plenty of valuable insights and tips that can help you take your business to the next level. Sign up to be notified when the next cohort of the Profit First Experience Course is available! http://bit.do/profitblueprint More about making profitability simple: http://profitcomesfirst.com/ Profit Answer Man Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/496018144624882/ My podcast about living a richer more meaningful life: http://richersoul.com/ Any financial advice is for educational purposes only and you should consult with an expert for your specific needs.

Unlock Profit Answer Man: Scaling with Profit First & Beyond podcast Email contact info,
Listeners & Audience details

Email contact information

Direct podcast contact details

Listeners

Audience numbers & engagement insights

Audience details

Podcast Insights

Social media

Check Profit Answer Man: Scaling with Profit First & Beyond social media presence


Podcast episodes

Check latest episodes from Profit Answer Man: Scaling with Profit First & Beyond podcast


Scaling Marketing Before Cash Is Fixed Ends in Bankruptcy with Draye Redfern
2026/10/27
Scaling Marketing Before Cash Is Fixed Ends in Bankruptcy with Draye Redfern   Find Rocky Lalvani @ www.ProfitComesFirst.com  or email him at [email protected] Make more, work less video: https://youtu.be/   You had a good quarter. Maybe your best quarter. Leads came in, the ad spend was working, and somewhere around week three you looked at the bank account and felt the same tightness you felt during the bad quarters. That's not bad luck. That's a structural problem, and it's the one Rocky and marketing expert Draye Redfern dig into this week. Draye has built and sold two companies, including an insurance agency that insured 8,700 law firms a year, exited to a Berkshire Hathaway company. He now runs FractionalCMO.com, giving businesses doing $500K to $15M in revenue senior marketing strategy without a six figure full time hire. His client list includes Shark Tank investors, New York Times bestselling authors, and publicly traded companies. This episode is not really about marketing. It's about sequencing. Rocky and Draye dig into why the marketing lever isn't always the lever to pull first, and what happens to a business that scales lead generation before its gross profit and cash timing are fixed.   In This Episode: Why most businesses have a "lever cranker" instead of a strategist, and what that actually costs Why pouring marketing spend into a business with the wrong cash structure grows the problem, not the business What happened to marketing agencies right after ChatGPT launched, and why clients are quietly coming back Two concrete website fixes (schema markup and an llms.txt file) that determine whether AI search tools can even find you Why Cloudflare's default settings may be silently blocking the AI crawlers your future customers are using The flood of AI generated marketing content, what it's doing to buyer trust, and why live events and live content are making a comeback Why Draye still pays for multiple AI platforms rather than betting his business on one   Key Takeaways: Fix gross profit and cash timing before scaling marketing spend. Otherwise growth accelerates the bleed. Add schema markup, an llms.txt file, and a robots.txt file to your website so AI search tools can read and recommend you. Check whether your security settings are quietly blocking AI crawlers from finding your business. Use AI as a thought partner you direct, not a decision maker you defer to. Don't build core business infrastructure tied to a single AI platform. The leaders shift every few months.   About Draye Redfern: Draye Redfern is a leading authority in direct-response marketing with a proven track record of business success, including two successful company exits — one of which was acquired by a Berkshire Hathaway company owned by Warren Buffett. Known for driving exceptional results, Draye's client roster spans Sharks from ABC's Shark Tank, New York Times bestselling authors including Robin Sharma, Chris Voss, and Dr. Benjamin Hardy, and publicly traded companies — with over 1,500 engagements across businesses ranging from mom-and-pop shops to Wall Street firms. As the founder of FractionalCMO.com, Draye offers strategic marketing leadership that helps businesses achieve sustainable growth without the commitment of a full-time executive hire. This approach provides growing companies with expert-level guidance precisely when needed, enabling efficient scaling and strategic development. Draye is also the founder of Redfern Media, a marketing and consulting agency that transforms traditional marketing efforts into client-focused strategies through systematized, automated, and streamlined processes — enhancing engagement, improving conversions, and turning satisfied customers into passionate "Raving Fans."   Links: Websites: https://fractionalcmo.com   https://drayeredfern.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drayeredfern/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrayeRedfern/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drayeredfern/   Profit Blueprint Calculator I Profit Comes First: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/profitblueprintcalc-page   Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@profitanswerman Sign up to be notified when the next cohort of the Profit First Experience Course is available! Free Copy of the Profit Blueprint Book: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/landing-page-page  Monthly Newsletter signup: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/newsletter-signup Relay Bank (affiliate link): https://relayfi.com/?referralcode=profitcomesfirst Profit Answer Man Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/profitanswerman/ My podcast about living a richer more meaningful life: http://richersoul.com/ Music provided by Junan from Junan Podcast Any financial advice is for educational purposes only and you should consult with an expert for your specific needs.
The $10 Price That Killed a Business with Bryan Weisberg
2026/10/20
The $10 Price That Killed a Business with Bryan Weisberg   Find Rocky Lalvani @ www.ProfitComesFirst.com  or email him at [email protected] Make more, work less video: https://youtu.be/   You are staring at your price list wondering if ten dollars less would finally bring more customers back this month. Bryan Weisberg's grandparents made that exact call on a pair of kids' shoes, and it closed their store. The brand name shop across the street that held its price is still open decades later, selling that same shoe for around a hundred dollars. This episode is about the moment cutting your price feels like the safe move, and isn't. Bryan spent roughly thirty years building e-commerce businesses, including StyleClick, before opening a gift store with his wife and launching Merchwise AI to help independent retailers fix their product data and merchandising. He and Rocky get into pricing psychology, real omnichannel retail, and why your online store might be quietly costing you customers you'll never hear complain.   In This Episode: How Bryan built demand for a brand new product category from zero, using three competing websites under different names The pricing decision that closed one family business, and the one that saved another Why eighty four percent of retail spending still happens inside a physical store, and what "research online, purchase offline" means for your website Why your online price and in-store price might not match, and why that silently costs you trust Why Sears, Kmart, and Hallmark stopped listening to the customers who built them How Merchwise AI is using data to solve product onboarding and merchandising for small retailers on Shopify, Square, and Lightspeed The three ways every retail customer now expects to be able to buy, and what happens when one of them breaks   Key Takeaways: Raising a price, paired with a real quality match, can save a business that discounting would have killed. If your online storefront doesn't match what's on your shelves, you lose the sale to a competitor the moment someone searches and doesn't find it. Most retail sales still close in the store, but the decision is increasingly made online first, so your website is doing sales work even if it never processes a checkout. A price mismatch between your website and your register erodes trust quietly, with no complaint to warn you.   About Bryan Weisberg:   Here is a number most people in retail have never heard: 84%. That is how much of U.S. retail spending still happens in physical stores. Bryan Weisberg spent forty years building businesses at the edge of what was coming next, then opened a gift store with his wife and discovered firsthand why so many independent retailers are struggling despite that number. His book, The Future of Main Street, and his company, Merchwise AI, are both built around the same idea: the independent retailer is not dying. They just need a better playbook.   Links: Website: https://merchwiseai.com/ Page for your listeners: https://merchwiseai.com/start/ Social: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryanweisberg/   Profit Blueprint Calculator I Profit Comes First: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/profitblueprintcalc-page   Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@profitanswerman Sign up to be notified when the next cohort of the Profit First Experience Course is available! Free Copy of the Profit Blueprint Book: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/landing-page-page  Monthly Newsletter signup: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/newsletter-signup Relay Bank (affiliate link): https://relayfi.com/?referralcode=profitcomesfirst Profit Answer Man Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/profitanswerman/ My podcast about living a richer more meaningful life: http://richersoul.com/ Music provided by Junan from Junan Podcast Any financial advice is for educational purposes only and you should consult with an expert for your specific needs.
Why Looking at Your Numbers Feels Unsafe with Arron Bennett
2026/10/13
Why Looking at Your Numbers Feels Unsafe with Arron Bennett   Find Rocky Lalvani @ www.ProfitComesFirst.com  or email him at [email protected] Make more, work less video: https://youtu.be/   Two clients started with Bennett Financials the same year. One is still stuck at $2.5 million three years later. The other is on pace for $45 million. Same starting line. Same amount of time. The only real difference: one of them refuses to look at his own close rate, his own lead flow, his own numbers, because he doesn't want to know what they'll say. If you've been avoiding a number in your own business for the same reason, this episode is going to feel uncomfortably specific. Arron Bennett, founder of Bennett Financials, joins Rocky to break down the 60/15/15 framework: a benchmark of 60 percent gross margin, 15 percent sales and marketing, and 15 percent G&A, which nets out to a 30 percent profit margin most businesses never come close to. They get into why "I need more leads" is usually a disguised pricing problem, why a close rate above 40 percent is a warning sign and not a compliment, and why holding too much cash in reserve can be almost as costly as holding too little.   In This Episode: Why Arron built the 60/15/15 framework as a layer on top of Profit First.  The two-client comparison: same start, wildly different outcomes, one variable.  How close rate reveals a pricing problem before your P&L does.  The labor efficiency ratio and Greg Crabtree's "salary cap" concept.  How Arron helped a client cut a roughly $3 million tax liability down to about $750,000.  Why six months of reserves is the target, not "as much as possible".  Why the habits that prepare a business for exit are the same habits that buy an owner their time back.    Key Takeaways: If gross margin is under 60 percent, fix delivery first, not marketing. A close rate above 40 percent usually means your prices are too low. Real tax planning shows up as cash this year, not a smaller number on next year's return. Six months of reserves is the target. Past that, idle cash has a real cost. The same operational discipline that prepares a business for sale is what lets an owner step back, whether or not they ever sell.   About Arron Bennett: Arron Bennett grew up in Australia selling steel. Then a pulmonary embolism nearly killed him, and he used the reset to build something he actually believed in. He retrained in accounting, moved to the US, and spent years managing books for hundreds of clients before noticing a pattern: most service business owners doing $2M to $20M weren't losing because they lacked revenue. They were losing because they had no idea where the money was going. That observation became Bennett Financials and the 60/15/15 framework: a financial operating system benchmarked to 60% gross margin, 15% sales and marketing, and 15% G&A. On average, clients eliminate $402K in tax liability in a single year. One client scaled from $14M to $22M in six months, netting $5M. Collectively, his clients have saved over $105M in taxes. Featured in Forbes, Business Insider, and USA Today, Arron built his firm around one question: is this business scalable?   Links: Website: https://bennettfinancials.com/   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arron-bennett/  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Bennettfinancials/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arronbennettcfo/   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@arronbennettCFO  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cfoarronbennett   Profit Blueprint Calculator I Profit Comes First: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/profitblueprintcalc-page   Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@profitanswerman Sign up to be notified when the next cohort of the Profit First Experience Course is available! Free Copy of the Profit Blueprint Book: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/landing-page-page  Monthly Newsletter signup: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/newsletter-signup Relay Bank (affiliate link): https://relayfi.com/?referralcode=profitcomesfirst Profit Answer Man Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/profitanswerman/ My podcast about living a richer more meaningful life: http://richersoul.com/ Music provided by Junan from Junan Podcast Any financial advice is for educational purposes only and you should consult with an expert for your specific needs.
Profitable Tax Strategies with Luis Corrales
2026/10/06
Profitable Tax Strategies with Luis Corrales   Find Rocky Lalvani @ www.ProfitComesFirst.com  or email him at [email protected] Make more, work less video: https://youtu.be/   You hit a revenue number you have been chasing for years, and it feels like proof you finally made it. Then someone finally runs the real math, and you find out that number has been quietly costing you money the whole time. That is exactly what happened to one of Luis Corrales's clients, a construction company owner who grew his business to $40 million in revenue and found out it actually cost him $41 million to get there. Two years later, after deliberately cutting revenue to $10 million, he was taking home three times the profit with far less stress.   In This Episode: Why the entity structure your CPA set up when you started your business may be the wrong one now S-corp vs. C-corp vs. entity stacking, and how each one affects what you keep at a sale The Qualified Small Business Stock exemption, which can shelter the first $15 million of gain from capital gains tax Real estate tax strategies for owner-occupied property, including cost segregation studies and the grouping election Why revenue growth and profit loss can happen at the exact same time, and how to catch it before it costs you a year Paying yourself a real salary plus a separate profit distribution, instead of one number that tries to be both How a portfolio line of credit lets wealthy owners access cash without selling assets and triggering capital gains tax   Key Takeaways: Entity structure should match your actual end game, whether that is adding partners or exiting for a specific number, not whatever your CPA defaulted to at founding. The QSBS exemption can shelter up to $15 million in gain if you have been a C-corp for five-plus years with under $65 million in asset value. It is possible to grow revenue and lose money in the same year. Most owners will not catch it without someone forcing them to look. You are owed a market salary for the work you do and a separate profit distribution for owning the business. Treating those as one number costs you clarity. Deal structure at sale, asset vs. stock, cash vs. rollover equity, changes what you actually keep after tax more than almost any other decision in the process.   About Luis Corrales: Luis Corrales is the Founder & CEO of Corrales & Co., a boutique multi family office that helps entrepreneurs and high net worth families navigate the biggest financial decisions of their lives. A specialist in exit planning, tax strategy, and wealth management, Luis helps business owners prepare for successful exits, reduce tax drag, and preserve wealth across generations. He is also the Founder & CEO of PineTree Asset Management, a multifamily real estate investment firm focused on acquiring and managing properties across South Florida. Originally from Peru, Luis combines decades of experience with a practical, relationship-driven approach to advising entrepreneurs before, during, and long after a business sale. His mission is simple: help founders keep more of what they build and create lasting financial legacies for their families.   Links: Website: https://corralesco.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luis-corrales-7056365/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/luis.corrales.908 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theluiscorrales/   Profit Blueprint Calculator I Profit Comes First: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/profitblueprintcalc-page   Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@profitanswerman Sign up to be notified when the next cohort of the Profit First Experience Course is available! Free Copy of the Profit Blueprint Book: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/landing-page-page  Monthly Newsletter signup: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/newsletter-signup Relay Bank (affiliate link): https://relayfi.com/?referralcode=profitcomesfirst Profit Answer Man Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/profitanswerman/ My podcast about living a richer more meaningful life: http://richersoul.com/ Music provided by Junan from Junan Podcast Any financial advice is for educational purposes only and you should consult with an expert for your specific needs.
AI Won't Fix Your Chaos, It Will Amplify It with Jeff MacPherson
2026/09/29
AI Won't Fix Your Chaos, It Will Amplify It with Jeff MacPherson   Find Rocky Lalvani @ www.ProfitComesFirst.com  or email him at [email protected] Make more, work less video: https://youtu.be/   You just spent real money rolling out an AI tool because every advisor and every LinkedIn post said it would save you time. Instead, your team is more confused, your process feels messier, and you're starting to wonder if AI was oversold to you. It wasn't oversold. It was just handed to a business that hadn't been standardized yet, and nobody warned you that AI amplifies whatever is already running underneath it, good or bad.   In this episode, Rocky sits down with Jeff MacPherson, co-founder of Cloud37 and a three-time tech founder who built the first Instagram DM automation platform (processing over a billion messages) before a legal battle with Facebook ended that company. Jeff has spent the last several years helping coaches, consultants, and service businesses standardize a core process before automating it, so the technology scales what already works instead of accelerating what's broken.   In This Episode: Why AI accelerates chaos instead of fixing it when the underlying process was never standardized The difference between raising the ceiling (your best people) and raising the floor (everyone else executing at that level) Why roughly 95% of businesses have no real infrastructure for AI to plug into Why team adoption of a new system typically takes 18 to 24 months, and how to plan around that instead of fighting it Why collecting more data doesn't make your business more valuable once patterns and data are commoditized What actually keeps a client once AI can replicate almost any deliverable   Key Takeaways: Standardize your inputs, your process, and your outputs before you automate anything. The real bottleneck is usually waiting on people and process, not effort. Close that gap first. Plan for 18 to 24 months of adoption time, don't expect a fast flip. Data without a defined use case is a cost, not an asset. Retention comes from accountability, relationships, and community, not the deliverable itself.   About Jeff MacPherson: Jeff MacPherson is a three-time tech founder and co-founder of Cloud37. He built the first Instagram DM automation platform, processing more than 1 billion messages for clients including Tony Robbins, Nelk Boys, and Atlantic Records before Facebook shut it down and later released competing functionality. He later became a top creator on Crypto.com, launching an NFT project that generated $2.5 million in under 14 days with zero ad spend. Today, Jeff helps coaches, consultants, and service-based businesses transform their expertise into AI-powered Expert Studios that create scalable client experiences, recurring revenue, and lasting business value.   Links: Website: http://www.cloud37.ai Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jeffmacp/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeff.macpherson/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffmacai/    Profit Blueprint Calculator I Profit Comes First: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/profitblueprintcalc-page   Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@profitanswerman Sign up to be notified when the next cohort of the Profit First Experience Course is available! Free Copy of the Profit Blueprint Book: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/landing-page-page  Monthly Newsletter signup: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/newsletter-signup Relay Bank (affiliate link): https://relayfi.com/?referralcode=profitcomesfirst Profit Answer Man Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/profitanswerman/ My podcast about living a richer more meaningful life: http://richersoul.com/ Music provided by Junan from Junan Podcast Any financial advice is for educational purposes only and you should consult with an expert for your specific needs.
The Real Reason Selling Your Business Won't Be Enough with Justin Goodbread
2026/09/22
The Real Reason Selling Your Business Won't Be Enough   Find Rocky Lalvani @ www.ProfitComesFirst.com  or email him at [email protected] Make more, work less video: https://youtu.be/   You've told yourself you take home $250,000 a year. On paper, that's true. But once you count the car, the travel, the phone, the health insurance, and everyone on the family payroll running through the business, the real number is closer to $350,000 to $500,000. It never feels like spending, because none of it hits a pay stub. It just feels like $250,000. Justin Goodbread has built, scaled, and sold seven companies, and he's spent the last several years showing owners exactly where that gap comes from, and what it costs them the day they try to sell.   In This Episode: Why the average owner's real business spend is nearly double their stated take-home income The $10 million enterprise value number most owners never hear until they try to sell The four stages every business moves through: hustle, systems, automation, leverage Why Justin eliminated every sales call in his own company, and grew revenue and client quality anyway How AI search is now recommending competitors to people looking for your exact business The five-priority framework (faith, family, friends, fitness, finances) that changed how Justin scaled   Key Takeaways: Add up every personal benefit routed through your business before trusting your stated take-home number. The real retirement math is enterprise value, not income, and for most owners that number lands near $10 million. Growth requires different things at different revenue stages: systems from $360K to $1M, automation from $1M to $3M, leverage from $3M to $10M. Removing yourself as the sales bottleneck, through content and friction rather than fewer prospects, can raise revenue and client quality at the same time. If your business isn't niched and documented, AI tools may already be sending your next customer to a competitor.   About Justin Goodbread: Justin Goodbread is a globally recognized business strategist, keynote speaker, and founder of Relentless Value Coaching, a membership and advisory program that equips service-based business owners to scale their companies to $10M+ enterprise value—without sacrificing their faith, family, or freedom.   Over the past two decades, Justin has started, scaled, and sold seven companies, including an RIA that reached eight-figure value in under four years. He built, scaled and exited seven different companies for  7-, 8-, and 9-figure values across industries, leveraging a proven framework of value acceleration, leadership development, and strategic delegation.   Links: Website: https://www.justingoodbread.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justingoodbread/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/justingoodbread Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingoodbread/   Profit Blueprint Calculator I Profit Comes First: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/profitblueprintcalc-page   Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@profitanswerman Sign up to be notified when the next cohort of the Profit First Experience Course is available! Free Copy of the Profit Blueprint Book: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/landing-page-page  Monthly Newsletter signup: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/newsletter-signup Relay Bank (affiliate link): https://relayfi.com/?referralcode=profitcomesfirst Profit Answer Man Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/profitanswerman/ My podcast about living a richer more meaningful life: http://richersoul.com/ Music provided by Junan from Junan Podcast Any financial advice is for educational purposes only and you should consult with an expert for your specific needs.
Why Your Sales are Inconsistent and How to Fix It with Steve Heroux
2026/09/15
Find Rocky Lalvani @ www.ProfitComesFirst.com  or email him at [email protected] Make more, work less video: https://youtu.be/   You've fired the driver three times. New salesperson, new promise, same three months later, and then the same conversation with yourself about whether it's time to fire another one. Steve Heroux has sat across the table from companies at every size having this exact problem, including a $500 million construction company whose entire leadership team could not answer one basic question: who owns sales? Not who sells the most. Who owns it. They couldn't answer who owns onboarding either, or coaching. Five hundred million dollars, running on hope. Steve is the founder of The Sales Collective and creator of the System of Selling, an operating system built specifically for sales, something most business operating systems leave out entirely. He talks with Rocky about why revenue gets inconsistent even at seven and eight figures, and why the fix almost never starts with the person you're about to hire.   In This Episode: Why "hope-based selling" is the real reason revenue is inconsistent, not the salesperson The go-kart and race car analogies that explain why companies keep replacing drivers instead of building the car Why a $500 million company couldn't answer who owns sales, onboarding, or coaching The difference between a lagging indicator (a closed deal) and a leading indicator (a quality at-bat) Why almost 90 percent of top performing salespeople are intrinsically motivated, and what that means for your comp plan How to hire for "will to sell" instead of training for it The single best current use of AI in sales coaching   Key Takeaways: Consistent revenue requires defined entrance and exit criteria for every sales stage, not talented people improvising. Track the inputs (prep, calls made, roleplay done) instead of only the outcome (the closed deal). Comp plans should match how the individual salesperson is actually motivated, not a single default structure. Will to sell can't be trained. Skill can. Hire for the first, train the second. Building the sales system is the owner's job. It doesn't happen by accident, and it doesn't happen because you hired someone new.   About Steve Heroux: Steve Heroux is the founder of The Sales Collective, author of The Sales Contrarian, and the creator of the System of Selling, an operating system built for sales that helps companies replace inconsistent, hope-based selling with a structured, repeatable process that drives predictable revenue. His core belief is that most companies do not have a salesperson problem. They have a system problem. And until that system gets fixed, no amount of training, hiring, or motivation will move the needle. He's also the founder of The Million Veteran Mission; a nonprofit committed to teaching one million veterans how to sell the right way as they transition into new careers, and all veterans get access to Steve's content for free, for life.   Links: The System of Selling Website: https://www.thesystemofselling.com/ The System of Selling Overview: https://proposals.thesalescollective.com/The-System-of-Selling-Engagement-Overview-D9uGscqqTHCO LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveheroux1/   Profit Blueprint Calculator I Profit Comes First: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/profitblueprintcalc-page   Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@profitanswerman Sign up to be notified when the next cohort of the Profit First Experience Course is available! Free Copy of the Profit Blueprint Book: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/landing-page-page  Monthly Newsletter signup: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/newsletter-signup Relay Bank (affiliate link): https://relayfi.com/?referralcode=profitcomesfirst Profit Answer Man Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/profitanswerman/ My podcast about living a richer more meaningful life: http://richersoul.com/ Music provided by Junan from Junan Podcast Any financial advice is for educational purposes only and you should consult with an expert for your specific needs.
The Bottleneck in Your Business Has Your Name on It with Ari Meisel
2026/09/08
Find Rocky Lalvani @ www.ProfitComesFirst.com  or email him at [email protected] Make more, work less video: https://youtu.be/   A professor at Wharton once told a C-minus undergrad: don't ever be irreplaceable, because if you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted. That undergrad is now Ari Meisel, founder of Less Doing and creator of the Replaceable Founder framework, and he's spent fifteen years proving the same rule applies to founders. Most owners wear "nobody else can do this but me" as a badge of honor. This episode makes the case that it's actually the ceiling on the business. Ari and Rocky get into exactly how an owner gets out of that seat: the order of operations for deciding what to fix, automate, or hand off, the twenty-task inventory Ari uses to force real change within a year, and the specific dollar numbers behind doing it, including replacing a $235-an-hour bookkeeper and finding $140,000 in grants a nonprofit never had the capacity to chase.   In This Episode: Why being indispensable is a ceiling, not an achievement The exact order: optimize, automate, then outsource, and why skipping steps backfires The Ultimate KPI exercise: twenty tasks in, sixteen gone within a year, four that are actually yours Why most failed delegation is a failed instruction, not a broken system How Ari runs twenty-six AI agents across five organizations, and what each one replaced The verification habit ("pokayoke") that keeps delegation, human or AI, honest   Key Takeaways: Being irreplaceable isn't safety. It's a ceiling. List the twenty things you spend the most time on, and commit to eliminating sixteen within a year. Fix the process before you automate it, and automate it before you hire it out. Every delegated task, human or AI, needs a built-in check that it actually happened. Staying the bottleneck has a real cost: banks, buyers, and your own household can't tell what the business is worth if nothing works without you.   About Ari Meisel: Ari Meisel is the founder of Less Doing and creator of the Replaceable Founder framework — a system that helps entrepreneurs build businesses that run without them. After being diagnosed with Crohn's disease at 23, Ari became obsessed with optimizing, automating, and outsourcing everything — first his health, then his business. Today he works with founders to eliminate operational bottlenecks, reclaim their time, and build companies that scale without sacrificing their life. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Forbes, and Fast Company. He's the author of Less Doing, More Living and hosts the Less Doing podcast.   Links: Website: www.talktoari.com.    lessdoing.ai    Profit Blueprint Calculator I Profit Comes First: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/profitblueprintcalc-page   Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@profitanswerman Sign up to be notified when the next cohort of the Profit First Experience Course is available! Free Copy of the Profit Blueprint Book: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/landing-page-page  Monthly Newsletter signup: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/newsletter-signup Relay Bank (affiliate link): https://relayfi.com/?referralcode=profitcomesfirst Profit Answer Man Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/profitanswerman/ My podcast about living a richer more meaningful life: http://richersoul.com/ Music provided by Junan from Junan Podcast Any financial advice is for educational purposes only and you should consult with an expert for your specific needs.
You Don't Have a Business. You Have a Glorified Job with Joe Rockey
2026/09/01
Find Rocky Lalvani @ www.ProfitComesFirst.com  or email him at [email protected] Make more, work less video: https://youtu.be/   You had a good year on paper. The cash still feels tight, and you can't point to why. Joe Rockey has built 29 businesses and says the leak is rarely one big mistake. It's a stack of small decisions made while you were handling something else, the kind of thing that costs a business a couple thousand dollars a year and nobody notices until someone finally does the math.   In this episode, Joe walks through the "glorified job" test: if your business could not survive without you physically in it, you don't own a business, you own a job. He explains why he splits every sales role by personality type instead of hiring generic salespeople, why commission plans work best when they reward two measurable outcomes per person, and why a Gallup stat showing under 30 percent employee engagement means most owners are paying for 40 hours and getting about 12. He also explains why AI can mirror your personality back at you but can never answer the two questions every business actually depends on: your relationship with your clients, and your relationship with your employees.   In This Episode: The "glorified job" test for whether you actually own a business How a couple thousand dollars a year quietly leaks out through unwatched decisions Why splitting sales roles by personality type beats hiring generalists Commission design that creates accountability without adding managers Why money is a weak motivator past a certain point The real reason sales teams check out every slow season Why AI cannot fix your relationship with clients or employees   Key Takeaways: Money usually leaks through small, unwatched decisions, not fraud or one big mistake. A business that can't survive your absence is a job, not a business. Commission plans work best with two measurable outcomes per role. Money stops motivating past a personal threshold. Belonging and recognition matter more. Structured incentive cycles that reset every six months prevent the seasonal drop-off owners usually just accept.   About Joe Rockey: Joe Rockey is an entrepreneur, author, and impossible problem solver who builds businesses around challenges most people assume cannot be fixed. As Founder of Elite Business Cruises, Joe is focused on the systemic trap facing nonprofits: the pressure to spend today's money on the mission in order to protect tomorrow's funding, even when that cycle prevents long-term financial strength from ever being built. His work combines business strategy, fundraising innovation, institutional problem solving, premium experiences, and long-term thinking. University athletic departments are a flagship application because they experience this pressure at exceptional intensity, but the underlying problem exists throughout the nonprofit world. Joe brings a direct, practical perspective to conversations about leadership pressure, entrepreneurship, fundraising, donor engagement, business model innovation, and solving complex problems without ignoring the human cost carried by the people inside them.   Links: Website: https://elitebusinesscruises.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joerockey/ Podcast: Father and Joe   Profit Blueprint Calculator I Profit Comes First: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/profitblueprintcalc-page   Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@profitanswerman Sign up to be notified when the next cohort of the Profit First Experience Course is available! Free Copy of the Profit Blueprint Book: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/landing-page-page  Monthly Newsletter signup: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/newsletter-signup Relay Bank (affiliate link): https://relayfi.com/?referralcode=profitcomesfirst Profit Answer Man Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/profitanswerman/ My podcast about living a richer more meaningful life: http://richersoul.com/ Music provided by Junan from Junan Podcast Any financial advice is for educational purposes only and you should consult with an expert for your specific needs.
The Real Reason You Still Can't Pay Yourself with Craig Dacy
2026/08/25
The Real Reason You Still Can't Pay Yourself with Craig Dacy   Find Rocky Lalvani @ www.ProfitComesFirst.com  or email him at [email protected] Make more, work less video: https://youtu.be/   You billed more this month than you ever have, and you are still moving money around to make payroll on Friday. If that combination makes no sense to you, it is not because something is wrong with your business. It is because nobody ever showed you the gap between doing the work and getting paid for it, and that gap is quietly running your cash flow instead of you.   Craig Dacy, a Certified Profit First Professional who left a decade of teaching fourth grade to coach small business owners on money, joins Rocky to break that gap down using physical therapy practices as the proof case, where insurance pays 60 to 90 days after the visit while staff get paid the same week. The mechanics apply just as directly to net-30 invoices, retainage, and progress billing, wherever you are financing your own payroll out of pocket without realizing it.   In This Episode: Why insurance-based and delayed-payment businesses feel cash-poor even when they are profitable The real cost of paying staff $35 to $40 an hour against a reimbursement that has not landed yet Why most owners price payroll against the wrong number, and what the loaded cost of an employee actually includes The utilization-rate trap that happens when a percentage-of-collections pay structure moves to salary The "new zero" method for redefining the account balance that should trigger action How a float or insurance-hold account absorbs a 60-to-90-day payment gap The Keep, Cut, Trim exercise for reviewing expenses without waiting for perfect books A real example of a seasonal irrigation company that added snow plowing and Christmas lights to survive a 3-to-4-month zero-revenue winter   Key Takeaways: Track bank balances monthly to catch a shrinking or growing trend before it becomes a crisis. Build a float account specifically to absorb the delay between doing the work and getting paid for it. Redefine your "zero." A padded baseline triggers a decision, not a scramble. Small trims compound. $30 to $50 a month across five to ten line items adds up fast. Price using the fully loaded cost of an employee (wage, benefits, PTO, employer FICA), or you are systematically underpricing your own labor.   About Craig Dacy: Craig Dacy, owner of DACY Financial Coaching, has helped hundreds of small businesses, with a focus on Physical Therapists, find confidence and clarity in their finances. After spending over a decade as an educator, Craig combines his knack for small business and love for teaching to help make the overly complicated concept of business finances incredibly simple to understand. Craig lives in Austin, TX with his wife and 2 kids. When he's not spending time with his family, he can be found reliving "the good old days" as the lead singer and bass player for his 90s cover band, Zoodust.   Links: Website: www.dacycoaching.com Book: www.pf4pt.com   Profit Blueprint Calculator I Profit Comes First: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/profitblueprintcalc-page   Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@profitanswerman Sign up to be notified when the next cohort of the Profit First Experience Course is available! Free Copy of the Profit Blueprint Book: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/landing-page-page  Monthly Newsletter signup: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/newsletter-signup Relay Bank (affiliate link): https://relayfi.com/?referralcode=profitcomesfirst Profit Answer Man Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/profitanswerman/ My podcast about living a richer more meaningful life: http://richersoul.com/ Music provided by Junan from Junan Podcast Any financial advice is for educational purposes only and you should consult with an expert for your specific needs.
Half Your Business Is Unprofitable, Which Half? with Jay Bourgana
2026/08/18
Half Your Business Is Unprofitable, Which Half? with Jay Bourgana   Find Rocky Lalvani @ www.ProfitComesFirst.com  or email him at [email protected] Make more, work less video: https://youtu.be/   You closed out a strong month. Revenue was up. And somehow cash still felt tight, and you couldn't fully explain why. If that sounds familiar, you're not alone, and it's not bad luck. It's a visibility problem, and it's more common than you think. In this episode, Rocky sits down with Jay Bourgana, an operator who has built, run, and exited businesses across real estate, manufacturing, and data, and now advises companies doing $10M to $150M. Jay makes a claim that should stop every owner listening: roughly half of what a typical company does is unprofitable, and the owner has no idea which half. Not because they're careless, but because they're managing off averages and aggregates instead of real numbers broken down by client and product.   In This Episode: Why the accounting system is a 60 to 90 day lagging report, not a decision-making tool Why roughly 50% of typical business activity is quietly unprofitable How top operators build a designed hiring system instead of a reactive one Why being the best salesperson in your own company can lower what it's worth Why AI speeds up whatever you already have, chaos included What Elon Musk and Sam Walton do differently with constraints and pattern recognition   Key Takeaways: Track leading and mid-cycle indicators, not just accounting data that's already 60 to 90 days old. Break profitability down by client and product. Averages hide the unprofitable half. Build a documented ideal talent profile for every key role and recruit against it continuously. Find the actual bottleneck before adding AI or any new resource. Speed exposes weak systems fast. Constrain resources on purpose. Tighter budgets force better decisions than more spending does.   About Jay Bourgana: Jay Bourgana is an operator, investor, and founder of Acquisition Collective, where he helps entrepreneurs buy and scale cash-flowing businesses. After years building, operating, and acquiring companies across multiple industries, Jay now teaches first-time buyers how to source deals, evaluate risk, negotiate with sellers, and think like real operators, not spectators.   Links: Website: https://acquisitionscollective.biz/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jay-bourgana/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jay.bourgana Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jay_bourgana X: https://x.com/JayBourgana YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AcquisitionCollective TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@acquisitioncollective   Profit Blueprint Calculator I Profit Comes First: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/profitblueprintcalc-page   Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@profitanswerman Sign up to be notified when the next cohort of the Profit First Experience Course is available! Free Copy of the Profit Blueprint Book: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/landing-page-page  Monthly Newsletter signup: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/newsletter-signup Relay Bank (affiliate link): https://relayfi.com/?referralcode=profitcomesfirst Profit Answer Man Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/profitanswerman/ My podcast about living a richer more meaningful life: http://richersoul.com/ Music provided by Junan from Junan Podcast Any financial advice is for educational purposes only and you should consult with an expert for your specific needs.
Why $2M to $5M Is Where Owners Lose the Most Cash with Brad Sugars
2026/08/11
Why $2M to $5M Is Where Owners Lose the Most Cash with Brad Sugars   Find Rocky Lalvani @ www.ProfitComesFirst.com  or email him at [email protected] Make more, work less video: https://youtu.be/   You just had your best revenue month ever. And somehow, this morning, you were still moving money between accounts to make sure payroll clears. If that describes your week, you're not bad at business, and you're not alone. You're standing in the exact stage almost every growing owner hits somewhere between two and five million in revenue, the stage where cash and profit are supposed to show up and instead go missing. In this episode, Rocky sits down again with Brad Sugars, founder of ActionCOACH, to break down why the instincts that built your first million become the thing that caps you at three or four. Brad has spent over 30 years building and coaching businesses through exactly this transition, and he lays out, in plain language, what actually has to change structurally, not personally, for growth to keep going.   In This Episode: Why cash and profit disappear specifically between $2M and $5M in revenue The five stages every business owner moves through: technician, operator, manager, leader, owner How to build the three managers that get a business from $1M to $10M What separates a documented process from a true operating system Why AI amplifies chaos in a business instead of fixing it The real percentage of businesses actually paying for AI tools versus just claiming to use them Why paid marketing gets a 90-day ceiling, not a 12-month one   Key Takeaways: The dead zone between $2M and $5M is a structural stage, not a personal failure. Build three managers: sales and marketing, finance and admin, operations. Score every manager on two things only: competency and productivity. A weak team score is a management score. AI cannot fix an undocumented process. If it isn't written down step by step, AI just moves the mess faster. Roughly 70 to 80% of businesses claim to use AI. Only about 3% are actually paying for it. Give every paid marketing effort a 90-day ceiling. Most of it shows signs of working inside 48 hours.   About Brad Sugars: nternationally known as one of the most influential entrepreneurs, Brad Sugars is a bestselling author, keynote speaker, and the #1 business coach in the world. Over the course of his 30-year career as an entrepreneur, Brad has become the CEO of 9+ companies and is the owner of the multimillion-dollar franchise ActionCOACH®. As a husband and father of five, Brad is equally as passionate about his family as he is about business. That's why, Brad is a strong advocate for building a business that works without you - so you can spend more time doing what really matters to you. Over the years of starting, scaling and selling many businesses, Brad has earned his fair share of scars. Being an entrepreneur is not an easy road. But if you can learn from those who have gone before you, it becomes a lot easier than going at it alone. That's why Brad has created 90 Days To Revolutionize Your Life – It's 30 minutes a day for 90 days, teaching you his 30 years experience on investing, business and life.   Links: Websites: actioncoach.com     bradsugars.com   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradsugars/ Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-%24100m-entrepreneur-podcast/id1660990356 Previous Ep 129 90 Days To Revolutionize Your Business with Brad Sugars: https://youtu.be/OV7jswZfKDE    Profit Blueprint Calculator I Profit Comes First: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/profitblueprintcalc-page   Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@profitanswerman Sign up to be notified when the next cohort of the Profit First Experience Course is available! Free Copy of the Profit Blueprint Book: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/landing-page-page  Monthly Newsletter signup: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/newsletter-signup Relay Bank (affiliate link): https://relayfi.com/?referralcode=profitcomesfirst Profit Answer Man Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/profitanswerman/ My podcast about living a richer more meaningful life: http://richersoul.com/ Music provided by Junan from Junan Podcast Any financial advice is for educational purposes only and you should consult with an expert for your specific needs.
Why Your Business Won't Let You Go - Letting Others Take Ownership with Jason Henneberry
2026/08/06
Why Your Business Won't Let You Go - Letting Others Take Ownership with Jason Henneberry   You have hired good people. You have tried to step back. And yet, every time something important goes sideways, it still lands on your desk. Jason Henneberry says that is not a people problem or a systems problem. It is a dependency problem, and it has a specific structural cause. Jason is the founder of Dependency Design, a senior partner in a national Canadian mortgage brokerage with more than 600 professionals, and the author of "Why Your Business Won't Let You Go," which you can download free at dependencydesign.com. He built and sold a technology product to Rocket Mortgage, nearly went bankrupt in 2008 after committing a full consumer marketing budget into a market that was about to collapse, and has started from scratch at least twice. He knows what the trap looks like from the inside.   In This Episode: Why handing over a task and handing over accountability are two completely different acts The moment you step in to fix something, what you actually teach your business The blast radius principle: how to let your team fail safely and build real ownership Jason's three C's framework: Clarity, Capacity, and Commitment How to design compensation so salespeople, administrators, and leaders each care about what they actually control Why launching a new product line before your core is stable is a structural trap, not just a strategic mistake What Jason learned from losing nearly everything in 2008   Key Insights: Every time you rescue your team from a problem, you teach the entire business that you are the solution. The rescue and the trap are the same act. Real delegation means handing over the outcome, not just the task, including the outcome of failure. Before branching into anything new, ask honestly: could I generate the same return by doing five to ten percent more of what I am already good at? Compensation alignment is structural. Sales on revenue, administration on task fulfillment, and leadership on gross profit creates a team where everyone cares about what they control. Starting over with hard-won knowledge is not losing. It is compounding.   About Jason Henneberry: Jason Henneberry is the founder of Dependency Design and the author of Why Your Business Won't Let You Go. He has built and operated multiple successful companies, serves as a senior partner in a national brokerage with more than 600 professionals, and has spent 30 years leading founder-driven organizations. Jason works with producing team leads, small business owners, and operators who feel the weight of growth but cannot clearly see where it's coming from.  His work challenges the common advice to simply delegate more, work harder, or install better systems. Instead, Jason helps leaders see where responsibility has quietly settled inside their organization. Through his structural lens, founders learn to distinguish between chosen dependency and accidental dependency, reduce invisible fragility, and build businesses that grow without getting heavier. His approach is observational, practical, and grounded in real operational experience, not motivation or hustle culture.   Links: Website: https://dependencydesign.com/    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonhenneberry/    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jasonhenneberry/    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JasonHenneberry      Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@richersoul Richer Soul Life Beyond Money. You got rich, now what? Let's talk about your journey to purposeful, intentional, amazing life. Where are you going to go and how are you going to get there? Let's figure that out together. At the core is the financial well being to be able to do what you want, when you want, how you want. It's about personal freedom! Thanks for listening! Show Sponsor: http://profitcomesfirst.com/ Schedule your free no obligation call: https://bookme.name/rockyl/lite/intro appointment 15 minutes If you like the show please leave a review on iTunes: http://bit.do/richersoul https://www.facebook.com/richersoul http://richersoul.com/ [email protected] Some music provided by Junan from Junan Podcast Any financial advice is for educational purposes only and you should consult with an expert for your specific needs.
Why 88% of Companies Leave Money on the Table with Per Sjöfors
2026/08/04
Why 88% of Companies Leave Money on the Table with Per Sjöfors   Find Rocky Lalvani @ www.ProfitComesFirst.com  or email him at [email protected] Make more, work less video: https://youtu.be/   You ran the math on a price increase once. It worked on paper. You still didn't pull the trigger. That hesitation is not a character flaw, and you are not the only owner who has frozen at that exact spot. Per Sjöfors, the Price Whisperer, has spent decades studying why owners who clearly should raise prices behaviorally cannot, and what it costs them every month they wait. In this episode of Profit Answer Man, Per and Rocky get into the behavioral science underneath pricing: why eighty-eight percent of companies leave money on the table, why a small discount does far more damage than owners realize, and how to stop letting a random competitor or a nervous sales rep set your prices for you.   In This Episode: The McKinsey data: why a one percent price increase can produce a six to twenty-one percent profit jump The brutal discount math: discount five percent on a thin margin and you have to double your sales volume to stand still Why you should pay salespeople on gross profit, not revenue The "paradox of price": raising price, volume, and customer satisfaction at the same time How excellent customer service becomes a pricing lever (the Apple support example) The three-tier product method: unique, in-between, and commodity, each priced differently Why AI can analyze your old prices but cannot tell you what to charge tomorrow   Key Takeaways: The flinch is behavioral, not financial. You already know the number. Fixing the behavior is the work. Discounting is more expensive than you think. On a ten to eleven percent margin, a five percent discount forces you to double volume for the same dollars. Pay your sales team on margin so protecting profit is their job, not yours alone. Sort your products into unique, in-between, and commodity, then price each on its own logic. This alone can double a company's margin. AI is backward-looking. It is useful for analyzing history, useless for setting tomorrow's price.   About Per Sjöfors: Per Sjöfors, also known as The Price Whisperer®, is a distinguished American and Swedish national renowned for his expertise in pricing strategy. He is the best-selling author of "A Holistic Approach to Pricing Power" and serves as a member and thought leader at the Forbes Business Council and the C-Suite Hero Club. Recently, Per Sjöfors was recognized as one of the "10 Most Visionary Leaders Making a Difference in 2025" by Inc. Magazine and was also named among the "Top 50 Global Thought Leaders in Sales" by Thinkers360. Notably, CEO View Magazine honored his company, Sjofors & Partners, as one of the Top 50 Most Innovative Companies in 2025. As a prominent public figure, Per Sjöfors frequently appears on podcasts and business radio shows, often providing insightful commentary and quotes in the press. His expertise is widely recognized by publications such as Forbes, Fortune Magazine, Inc. Magazine, Industry Week, Business Insider, and the Financial Times. Per Sjöfors's teaching philosophy centers around empowering executives to propel their companies forward through the application of behavioral science specifically tailored to pricing and go-to-market strategies. His company, Sjofors & Partners, offers intensely practical advice that consistently leads to a doubling of sales growth and a 25% to 40% increase in margins. By providing the necessary growth resources, Per Sjöfors enables companies to reach new heights. Prior to founding Sjofors & Partners, Per Sjöfors dedicated 35 years to executive management, primarily as CEO. During his tenure, he successfully grew companies from inception to eight- and nine-figure revenue in four countries (the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Sweden). Additionally, he organized joint venture firms in three other countries (Japan, Taiwan, and Korea) and engaged in business operations across more than forty nations. Further details can be found on their website at https://sjofors.com.   Links: https://www.persjofors.com/ Previous Ep 137 The Price Whisperer, A Holistic Approach to Pricing Power with Per Sjöfors: https://youtu.be/Wvkaslsnepo    Profit Blueprint Calculator I Profit Comes First: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/profitblueprintcalc-page   Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@profitanswerman Sign up to be notified when the next cohort of the Profit First Experience Course is available! Free Copy of the Profit Blueprint Book: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/landing-page-page  Monthly Newsletter signup: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/newsletter-signup Relay Bank (affiliate link): https://relayfi.com/?referralcode=profitcomesfirst Profit Answer Man Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/profitanswerman/ My podcast about living a richer more meaningful life: http://richersoul.com/ Music provided by Junan from Junan Podcast Any financial advice is for educational purposes only and you should consult with an expert for your specific needs.
Problems Scale Faster Than Revenue. Here Is the Fix with Nick Avaria
2026/07/28
Problems Scale Faster Than Revenue. Here Is the Fix with Nick Avaria   Find Rocky Lalvani @ www.ProfitComesFirst.com  or email him at [email protected] Make more, work less video: https://youtu.be/   You hired people so you could step back. Instead, you are more in the weeds than before, the business feels harder to run than it did at half the size, and profit is somehow lower despite the growth. That is not a people problem. That is the missing middle, and it has a structure, a cost, and a fix. Nick Avaria has bought and sold seven agencies, all profitably. He has watched founders hit this wall time after time at $3M, $5M, even $8M. And in this episode, he breaks down exactly why growth makes things worse before they get better, and what to do about it in the right order.   In This Episode: Why treating profit as a leftover instead of a design choice is the most expensive mistake in the $2M to $10M range The founder's premium: why you close sales at 10 to 20% higher rates than any salesperson you hire, and why delegating sales too early destroys revenue The missing middle: why scaling without a management layer sends businesses backward from $12M to $6M and costs 12 to 18 months to recover The specific order to replace yourself in your own business (and why most founders get it backwards) Why marketing is the hardest function to hand off and what a 3 to 9-month handoff really looks like Why the best executives do not work for founders, and what it takes to become the kind of leader they will work for AI as a win-more button: why it amplifies great people and makes mediocre work worse at speed   Key Takeaways: Profit must be designed in at the start. It is never a leftover. Your close rate as the founder is 10 to 20% higher than any professional salesperson you hire. That gap has a dollar value. Problems scale faster than revenue. A structural flaw at $2M is more expensive at $4M and potentially catastrophic at $8M. The delegation order: admin first, delivery second, marketing third, sales fourth, leadership last. The best managers and executives will not work for you while you are still operating as a founder. That shift is on you.   About Nick Avaria: Nick is a serial agency entrepreneur who has scaled multiple companies to 7- and 8-figure success, buying and selling seven agencies along the way. With firsthand experience merging leadership teams and cultures, he now helps agency owners escape burnout and build highly profitable businesses that empower their teams and clients—without sacrificing their lives in the process. Still in the trenches as an agency owner himself, Nick brings real-world insights on scaling, leadership, founder burnout, and creating systems for sustainable growth.   Links: Website: http://www.agencyacquisitions.io    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickavaria/   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nick_avaria/   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AgencyAcquisitions   Profit Blueprint Calculator I Profit Comes First: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/profitblueprintcalc-page   Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@profitanswerman Sign up to be notified when the next cohort of the Profit First Experience Course is available! Free Copy of the Profit Blueprint Book: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/landing-page-page  Monthly Newsletter signup: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/newsletter-signup Relay Bank (affiliate link): https://relayfi.com/?referralcode=profitcomesfirst Profit Answer Man Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/profitanswerman/ My podcast about living a richer more meaningful life: http://richersoul.com/ Music provided by Junan from Junan Podcast Any financial advice is for educational purposes only and you should consult with an expert for your specific needs.

Podcast reviews

Read Profit Answer Man: Scaling with Profit First & Beyond podcast reviews


4.9 out of 5
36 reviews
★★★★★
Giuseppe Grammatico 2026/06/03
Practical, clear, and focused on profit
Rocky does a great job making business finance and profitability easy to understand. I really appreciate the practical advice, real-world examples, an...
★★★☆☆
not happy psss off 2025/05/21
Slow and boring
Title says it all.
★★★★★
MatthewStafford 2025/02/13
Great Conversation!
Had a fantastic time on the Profit Answer Man podcast! Grateful for the opportunity to share insights on scaling profits, overcoming mental blocks, an...
★★★★★
Sharpen the spear 2024/06/28
Great podcast!
What a fantastic exchange. Super enjoyable to be a guest on the show and we hit awesome points and I'm sure the audience will receive exceptional valu...
★★★★★
Vcortez! 2023/10/06
Priceless information
Such a valuable podcast, it’s great information for everybody to benefit from. Thank you
★★★★★
Deirdre Tshien 2023/09/06
A great listen
Diving into this podcast gives a fresh perspective on finances, making the intricate world of profit feel a tad more approachable. It's a solid compan...
★★★★★
A gift to All Entrepreneurs 2023/08/22
Great educational show!
Great show with great guest. I love the first hand experiences and deep level of thought shared on this show.
★★★★★
Polkaguy6000 2022/09/23
Gets to the heart of the matter.
Rocky does a good job of cutting through noise to get to the heart of the matter.
★★★★★
Sparkymarkey 2022/05/04
Direct and to the point
Rocky is a great interviewer. He helps ensure his guest provides the most appropriate content that is relevant to his audience. It was a pleasure bein...
★★★★★
Ace Investor 2022/04/13
Great information!
Love Profit First and love Rocky’s Informative and consultative approach to spreading the profit first message. Outstanding show!
check all reviews on apple podcasts

Podcast sponsorship advertising

Start advertising on Profit Answer Man: Scaling with Profit First & Beyond relevant audience podcasts


What do you want to promote?