Building a Business That Outlasts You (David Grau Sr.)
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
And now, Escaping the Drift, the show designed to get you from where you are to where you want to be. I'm John Gafford, and I have a knack for getting extraordinary achievers to drop their secrets to help you on a path to greatness. So stop drifting along, escape the drift, and it's time to start right now. back again back again for another episode of like it says in the opening the podcast that gets you from where you are to where you want to go and today beaming into the studio from lexington kentucky i have an awesome guest if you are somebody that is a business builder you're trying to build a business you're thinking about building a business this guy has got you cold he is the founder and ceo of grouse esquire law group a national healthcare law firm representing physicians and healthcare founders that was his previous life
And then he kind of fell in love with becoming a consultant for small business and teaching you how to build a business that is going to last or outlast you anyway. He has published many books, including The Stewardship Advantage, Building with the End in Mind, and Acquiring Your Future Through a Succession Plan. We are lucky to have him and can't wait to learn from him. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the program. This is David Grau, Sr. David, how are you?
Pleasure. Thank you for having me. What a great way to end the week.
Yeah, a great way to end the week. So yeah, I've got y'all hyped up now. So obviously you were early in life, an attorney by trade. That's what you did. Tell me about the end of that career and pivoting into the new one.
Well, so I came out of college in the Midwest, and I was an English major. And from day one, I wanted to write books.
What is the Founders Treadmill and how does it impact entrepreneurs?
But, you know, we're not all Stephen King. And I realized I also needed to make a living. And so I chose a profession that I thought would give me a chance to do a lot of writing. And I went to law school. And so I ended up... in the securities trade. I was a securities regulator right out of law school. I graduated past the bar and eventually opened up my own securities law practice and not not a lot of writing, certainly nothing creative in that line of work. So I got into the law and, you know, I made a good living, started my own small business, and I was a sole proprietorship, which is kind of my dream come true. My dad and my grandfather, you know, they were all sole proprietors in their life. So I had to do it.
But lo and behold, I kind of stumbled into a consulting business where I worked with independent financial advisors. Think, you know, the advisors under, you know, Charles Schwab, Fidelity, TD Ameritrade, or, you know, Ameriprise. But I started working with them and really enjoyed the work. And obviously my securities law background, you know, parlayed into a really good meeting of the minds. And so what I did is I started a consulting business, you know, when we opened it late 1990s, I thought of it as eHarmony for financial advisors. You know, we were going to be the company that matched them up using this newfangled thing called internet. And And that worked well enough. But I liked the consulting.
I came to love teaching. And so during that career, I got up on stage a thousand times. I actually tracked them. And I got to teach what it was I did to the people in that audience. And most of the people I talked to They were sole proprietors, too. And if they weren't, they thought like sole proprietors. And so what I did is I learned how to help them think long term. So why build a business that dies with you? Why build a small business that statistically will last 10 years and then fade out of existence? Let's build it right. Let's build it to last. And let's take care of everybody that that small business touches. And so little by little over the last 30 years, I became an expert at building and rescuing small businesses.
And it's what I love to do.
So when you walk into a, let's say you walk into a small business, and to me, I'm of the opinion that all businesses kind of run the same.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:04–1:46
2
What is the Founders Treadmill and how does it impact entrepreneurs?
1:46–6:39
3
How can a solopreneur transition to a CEO mindset?
6:39–20:26
4
Why are most small businesses considered non-investable?
20:26–27:20
5
What steps can be taken to create a succession plan?
27:20–35:55
6
How does hiring a bookkeeper contribute to business freedom?
35:55–41:56
7
What are the common mistakes small business owners make?
41:56–50:13
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from Escaping the Drift with John Gafford
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