‘Business is all about the people and the execution of your idea.’
Barry Moltz is a small business expert. With 20 years of experience in small business ownership, he helps stuck business owners get unstuck by unlocking their forgotten potential. Tune in for tips on how to get your company moving and growing again.
‘Hire an attitude, not an aptitude.’
Is something keeping you from fulfilling your business success story? Barry can help you identify the problems in your business and make sure you have the key success factors for your business to thrive.
For more business tips to success and pointers about taking care of your business, listen to previous episodes.
Connect with Barry here:
Personal Website: https://barrymoltz.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barrymoltz/
John: Thanks for listening today, don’t forget to subscribe and share this episode. My guest today is a small business expert Barry Moltz, with 20 years of experience in small business ownership. Barry helps stuck business owners get unstuck by unlocking their forgotten potential. Thanks for joining me today Barry.
Barry: John, thanks for having me.
John: So, I’m excited to hear about this 20 years of experience that you have in small business ownership and also how you got started. So, if you don’t mind sharing to the audience members a little about yourself.
Barry: When I graduated college a very long time ago nearly 80’s I got a job with IBM, and I thought I was gonna be the president of IBM cause I really dug the white shirts, the blue suits and the red ties, and then I ran into a boss where he used to have sales contest where first prize was lunch with him. So, I always ask what’s the second prize? Lunch with you? What’s second prize? Two lunches with you? And so, I decided to go off and start my own businesses uh, in 1990 and the first business went out of business. The second business I was kicked out by my two partners about two weeks before my first son was born started my third business two at two weeks after my first son was born and I was lucky enough during 1999 during internet bubble to sell that business payback the bank the 1.3 million dollars I owe them and my wife tells me I got her back just about the same time. But as part of that deal was, I couldn’t start any more businesses cause we have been through too many ups and downs. So, I started angel group for five years and now over the last 15 years I’ve been helping small business owners get unstuck and really meet their full potential.
John: That’s amazing to hear about that journey that roller coaster, right? So, tell me a little bit about that IBM first kinda job that you had right? like what really motivated you to start your own business and what kind of role in position that you have in that organization.
Barry: You know we have to remember in the 80’s the IBM was really the equivalent of google or Facebook right, it was really the place to be and I learned a lot about working in business and building culture and things like that but I got frustrated working at large corporation so I want to go off and start my own things, and I realized working in a small business John is very very different, because one example is when I was in IBM everyone would turn my phone call because I was representing IBM when I went of my own business no one would turn my phone call because who are you in your own business. So, I think that transition was really difficult and also creating your own culture I think is really difficult. It’s not like I had 75 or 100 years of culture to lean back on like we did at IBM.
John: So, if you don’t mind extracting a little bit about some of those early businesses that you had.
Barry: Yeah.
John: What went wrong? What were they? And how long did you endure it? and maybe share with the audience members a little bit about that?
Barry: Yeah, I mean I really believe that you know when you’re in a hole the first thing you have to start digging. So, in my failed businesses we only did it for a year or two years and then we realized it wasn’t gonna work so my first business it was, it was a predecessor to grubhub right this was really before the internet. We had a book a small book that we gave out free of all the places in Chicago that delivered and we thought it was a great idea been done other cities and one problem was, was that a lot of restaurants who had poor cash flow didn’t wanna pay after their ad came out so, that was really problematic we also couldn’t afford to hire full-time employees so people were just doing a commission basis and they weren’t that dedicated. The second business, I was in where we sold voice activated computing systems. The mistake I made there, was I met my two partners in a classified section of the local newspaper now if you wanna buy a boat or a house or anything like that in the classified section it’s probably okay but not a place John where you should find your business partners and these were not good business partners and so, year later they kicked me out. However, I’m happy to report that a few years after I left the business went out of business but I’m not revengeful at all.
John: So. What, if you don’t mind sharing that successful business where you exit.
Barry: Yeah, no yeah yeah we, we sold our last visit in 99 we started in 93. We had a mail order catalog that sold scientific and technological software and you got to take yourself back to early 90’s. The only people that we’re really selling software was really either with a computer manufacturer or places like egghead software. There was all this computing and techno software like from math and engineering that there wasn’t a centralized place to get that because they were created by university professors or national laboratories. So, we had a catalog and people understood those products and we sold it through this mail or catalog in the mid, in the mid to late 90’s we converted over to an internet catalog and of course if you had anything to do with the internet in the late 90’s you could sell it for million of dollars.
John: That’s very interesting. So, I wanted to ask you like where did you get this entrepreneurial bug of yours? Because you did work in corporate and obviously you didn’t enjoy that whole corporate environment. Like, what made you venture into entrepreneurship?
Barry: You know I had, when I left IBM I went to work for one of my customers as the director of sales for a company was probably doing about 20 million dollars a year, and I saw how, although I didn’t agree with his culture. I saw he created his culture and I wanted my hand at doing the same thing. I had read a book called growing a business which really talked about you know what you can get from having your own business, and from that culture and I thought that’s the really the way that I was gonna make difference in the world was creating my own business and managing people the way that I want to manage them. Now, I realized later on John that the most difficult part of any business that continues today is managing the people inside your business.
John: And then, if you don’t mind sharing like did you go to school for business as well like your background?
Barry: Yeah, I did, I did.
John: Your parents as well, like did your parents have any?
Barry: My parents were both teachers. I mean I did go in the early 80’s, IBM paid for me to go to Northwest University to get my MBA, but I will tell you getting an MBA and working at a large corporation does not train you very well to be in a small business. However, it did help me with one thing and IBM when you became a manager, they sent you to management school a month long. They said charm school teach you how to be a manager and I think that really helped me in growing my businesses because I understood how to be a manager and a lot of small business owners today John have absolutely no idea.
John: And, I think working in a corporate structure and you can grasp different departments how interconnected everyone is and the way people communicate and if you’re end consumer dealing like you’re face to face with sales then you also have that barrier and you understand like what customers want and also what is demanding from corporate structure as well. So, learning that, gives you an edge when you’re going into business yourself.
Barry: But there’s so many things in a large corporation that you don’t have to deal with like, like HR, like insurance, like you know all sorts of different things and of course as the business owner you got to do it all.
John: Yeah, so if you don’t mind sharing with the audience members so, the last 20 plus years doing this consulting, coaching of yours. Tell us a little bit about who you work with, what, how has it transitioned now you’re an author and you also are an expert in this field. If you don’t mind sharing with the audience members.
Barry: Yeah, so you know before the pandemic I did a lot of speaking in front of business audiences and most of these were trade conferences for small business owners are sponsored by large corporations like AT&T or NetSuite or something along those lines who are trying to show value for small business owners. I then have a small set of private consulting clients that I help out on a monthly basis and I’ve also written seven books and in this last couple years I’ve gotten a lot more involved in mergers and acquisitions helping entrepreneurs sell their businesses when the time is right and getting a maximum return.
John: That’s amazing. So, what do you find fulfilling? Because it seems like you’ve been doing a lot of work in the small, medium sized business space and now you’re trying to help people exit. What is the most rewarding aspect of what you’re doing today?
Barry: Yeah, the most rewarding aspect is to try to get people to look at their business from a slightly different viewpoint. Hopefully when they hear me speak, they watch my writings if I talk to them. I’m not gonna rapidly change their view but if I can shift it five percent to the left to the right maybe we can come up with a different solution. I also help people and this I’m coming out with a new book about how to make changes you already know you need to make, how to actually make changes in your business especially if you’ve been doing it for five or ten years, because those type of things are difficult and usually people have had some success but there’s something in their business where they’re stuck that’s holding them back that’s not enabling them to have more success.
John: And that’s very interesting because now you’re an expert in this un-stuck getting people unstuck right? And that’s positioning yourself as a expert that’s unique in the whole world of this SMB space. How did you come up with that idea? And that, that kinda niche going.
Barry: You know it’s really kind of funny because I couldn’t think of what my brand was going to be so, I work with my friend Mike Michalowicz who’s a prophet first fame and he helped me come up with the brand of getting people unstuck because again I think a lot of people are stuck they don’t know how to do sales so they’re not doing marketing or they don’t really know how to create a management team or they can’t be productive or they don’t know how to manage their money or they’re giving their customers a really poor customer experience and they don’t move forward. You know, listen your brain for survival wants to keep doing the same thing over and over again and Albert Einstein said the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again expect to get different results. So, making those changes are really hard and I think until there’s an outside change agent who makes suggestion that you’re able to internalize, people have a really difficult time making any kind of change because as we all know the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t know. People have a lot of fear around it and understandably so.
John: That, that’s amazing and thank you for sharing that. I wanted to also ask you this journey of writing books. How has that helped positioned you as a leader in the space? And maybe share with the audience members like if they are running a small medium sized business. Does it help them becoming an author as well?
Barry: Yeah. I mean in my opinion most books have already been being written. However, they have been written from your point of view. Why do you write a book? You write it because you have a point of view and you have something to say. I wrote my first book back in 2000 about it’s called you need to be a little crazy the truth about starting and growing your own business, and I wanted to write my point of view on that starting a business wasn’t to get rich quick scheme you got to be crazy, there’s a lot of ups and downs but in the end it’s really worth it, and now my last book which is coming out this winter called change masters how to make the changes you know you need to make that was born out of frustrations where I would go into a company they pay me all sorts of money. We diagnosed the problem we come with solutions the president would agree these are the solutions that had to be done, we put together all the steps and then nothing happened. So, why are small business owners so resistant to change. I want to figure that out from a biological standpoint and from an emotional standpoint and come up with own method about how people can actually make the changes they wanna make. So, mostly I see a problem in the marketplace that I’m passionate about and then I go write about it from my point of view. I think it’s also a good business card for you, I mean if you can be still today if you write a book for better for worse John you’re seen as an expert in that area.
John: And it’s all positioning right and it’s all branding and its great that you mention perspective because you’re unique just like a business owner that goes into any kinda array of venturing into entrepreneurship. Everyone has their story, everyone has their own perspective and the way you do different new business is different than anyone else. So, understanding that and putting it out there I think that’s one of the biggest fear. People are afraid of what other people are gonna say about them but you on the other hand are doing it.
Barry: Listen, people are gonna criticize you right? I mean I love conference that, that old quip that says be yourself everyone else is taken but when you put yourself out there and you have a point of view people are gonna criticize you, I mean I’ve gotten hate mail right and a keep saying “you don’t know me well to hate me” right? There’s something that I’ve written about that touches off something inside of you that you don’t like, right? So, you know the hate is kinda misguided but you know if you’re a public figure people are gonna be not so nice to you and then of course that’s balanced out with the people that are wonderful to you and write you and say you know I really appreciate this, this really helped me in my life and my business.
John: Yeah, I think getting to the point where you don’t care anymore of what other people think right? Because you’re living your life. Be in control and doing something that you feel would be positive and making impact. So, how do you change that perspective? Because you were a business owner early day to now being more of a coach mentor and author, and expert.
Barry: Yeah, I think that you have to realize that what my job is, I want people to feel something and take action. If they do it because they really like me, great! If they do it because they really hate me, that’s okay. I just don’t want people to film milk toast about me because then you haven’t really made an impact.
John: Yeah, and, and that’s the hardest thing right, like how do you touch the board where they’re gonna take action and do something and therefore, you know that whole relation tips making sure that they are sticky. They like touch, you’re authentic, you’re genuine, and they really feel like you’re wanting to help them. That’s the, the I guess heart of every SMB like if you’re able to build that strong enough relationship with people then you’re helping make an impact right.
Barry: And I also think you have to the way that why people relate to what I’m trying to talk about is that whatever they’re going through, I’ve been there before. You’ve had your partners leave you, I’ve been there before. You’ve had your employees sue you, I’ve been there before. You didn’t pay your employee taxes and the government came after you, I’ve been there before right. I mean I’ve been wherever you have been and so, so I think that helps people you know relate to your experience.
John: Yeah and it’s perspective right because you can relate and people want to someone to save them time, shrink time and go through the same challenges they’re going through so that you can save them aggravation, stress, and failure and all that other regret right so I love that you’re sharing that. So, what’s in store for you? Because you’ve been doing this for many many years and you still sound like you’re as passionate, devoted, and committed, and you’re enjoying the, the process. So what’s next for you?
Barry: I’m just trying to reach out to as any small business owners I can because I really believe in that old biblical expression that says “he who saves a single soul changes the entire world”. So if you can just help one person at a time, to me that’s good enough and I have to tell you the small business owners stories especially coming through this pandemic is there’s nothing you know, anything you can make up doesn’t compare. People have had incredible experiences of resiliency and patience and it’s great to help people through the other side and now I really, I really believe John that we’re gonna head into the roaring 20’s and the roaring 2020’s this time not back in the 1920’s and I think in the next couple of years it’s really a time for small business owners to capitalize on a market that’s gonna have a lot of consumer money out there there’s already 2.4 trillion dollars in consumers savings account small business owners gonna have to figure out how to spend some of that money.
John: And, and as an entrepreneur it’s all about figuring out where the gaps are the problems, understand there’s a challenge people are willing to pay for and fulfill that need right and that’s sales one on one for you and we’re not understanding why you’re in business and you’re not solving someone’s problem that’s urging enough that people are willing to pay for it then you’re not doing yourself okay as well, right.
Barry: Yeah.
John: So, is there any tips that you may wanna share with some of the listeners in terms of like what you would have done differently, how you would have shrink time or anything in.
Barry: There, there’s two things. One is we have to understand that business is basically about people, it’s not about the idea right? And whatever idea you have in business everyone’s had that idea, it’s about the execution of the idea and remember execution is all about the people, so who you go on to business with and what kinds of employees you bring in that fit into your culture that’s important. Always hire an attitude, don’t hire an aptitude. The second thing is, we have to understand that every business goes out of business for the exact same reason and that’s because they run out of cash flow. Make sure that you understand how to read your financial statements especially the cash flow statement because you gotta know at the end of the month John you have more cash or less cash at the end of the month and most small business owners don’t look at that and if you don’t have cash you can’t run your business.
John: And especially there’s this pandemic right, making sure that you have a sustainable recurring revenue model or some sort of base to support yourself during times of you know turmoil or you know things that not, not expected right?
Barry: Exactly.
John: So, thanks a lot. I really appreciate those tips. Last final couple of questions I wanna ask you. So, tell me a little bit about like what does success look like for you?
Barry: Sure.
John: And, you know what are some of the pillars that you look at in terms of your life today as supposed to 5, 10, 20, 30 years ago?
Barry: You know one thing that my father taught me a long time ago, he was director of engineering was making a lot of money selling i mean doing a communication systems and he was really unhappy so, he left there to become a college professor and making a third of what he was making and what he taught me was, “whatever you’re doing you gotta enjoy doing it” so that really played into my definition of success because my definition is how can I being able to support my family it’s something i love doing. That is success, the financial part of it’s certainly important it’s the way that a lot of us keep score, a lot of us have bills to pay but at the same time if you enjoy it that really means that you’ve been successful because you can make money as something you really like.
John: And it’s so critical to understand the need hierarchy right like if all you needs are met and you’re still enjoying what you’re doing, how much more do you need? Right. Everything else is more stuff and a lot of people get stuck with this influence marketing and social marketing and ads everywhere on what you really perceive, perception is everything right like what do you think people need? Really people are just happy spending time with each other. Relationships, people, experiences versus stuff.
Barry: Let’s hope so, let’s hope so. I’ve always mean the folks that know me every two years since my kids are 8 years old and now their mid to late 20’s we’ve taken them every two years on some trip somewhere in the world because I wanted to have different experiences and I’ve always spent my money on experiences rather than stuff and I will tell you today our kids say some of the best times their memories from those trips. So I encourage you if you have some extra income invest in experiences not just stuff you won’t remember the stuff .
John: That’s so. That’s true to my heart because I’ve always done it with my team right, like I don’t just give them a bonus I’d rather take them on a trip together and because they’re not gonna pay for it if I was to just give them money they’ll buy stuff, their new phone, their new whatever device right if I give them a trip that’s memorable that will last a lifetime they’re gonna share those memories, photos with their friends. This is so powerful, the mind right? So that’s why I’m all about experiences as well. Well, thanks a lot Barry for sharing this,
Barry: Thanks John.
John: Great insight, great knowledge, and life experiences that you have. If you don’t mind sharing with the audience members ways they can reach out to you, message you or contact you.
Barry: Sure. So you go to my website which is “www.barrymoltz.com” and if you want some free early chapters of the book that are scheduled to come out this winter you go to “www.barrymoltz .com/changemasters” and you can contact me on all the social media sites, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram, I don’t do Tiktok.
John: Well, Thanks a lot Barry it’s been my pleasure to have you on as a guest. Hopefully you had fun as well because I know I did and I’m gonna share all the show notes on the podcast so that people can reach out to you as well but I do wanna thank you for your time. Thanks a lot Barry.
Barry: Thank you.
