#300: What Does Intentional Growth Mean? An Update After 300 Interviews

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You’ve risked and sacrificed a lot to build your business, and we believe you should get rewarded for your hard work. 

In this special 300th episode, Arkona partners Matt and Pat join Ryan to discuss the takeaways after 300 interviews with some of the top minds in business. Their conversation is full of stories that tie their personal experiences of running, growing, buying, and selling businesses to their mission of helping business owners clarify a path to a more valuable business so they can turn their vision into reality.

Ryan, Pat, and Matt talk about how to use your business–and the Intentional Growth™ Mindset–to enjoy work, create wealth, and make an impact. They use examples to explain why this mindset helps business owners clarify what they want and why, how to view their company as a financial asset, and what it takes to track–and make progress toward–the long-term vision you have.

// WATCH THE INTERVIEW ON YOUTUBE: Intentional Growth™ Podcast

What You Will Learn

• Why it’s so important to enjoy work, create wealth, and make an impact.
• The three levers every business owner must be in control of.
• Why a lack of education is often the root cause of anxiety, frustration, and a lack of progress
• Why viewing your business from a buyer’s eyes can help you focus on creating a valuable business.
• How business owners should track their progress toward their vision.
• Why the CFO is uniquely qualified to be a trusted guide for business owners.
• What the qualities of a good CFO are and how they are different from other financial roles a business owner might be used to (controller, CPA, etc.).
• How a business owner should organize their financials so they can see the story of their business and view it as an asset.
• The one line on the cash flow statement that tells the story of the whole business. 
• The one question to ask employees who have ideas on how to improve the value of their company.
• An introduction to the newest partner at Arkona and a recap on how Arkona came to be, as well as an update on the Intentional Growth™ Training and Fractional CFO services.
• The mission behind Arkona and how that ties to Matt, Pat, and Ryan’s WHY.

// USE YOUR FINANCIALS TO CLARIFY A PATH TOWARDS A MORE VALUABLE BUSINESS: Intentional Growth Financial Assessment

Interview Quotes:

01:28 - “There’s something about being an entrepreneur where we have this desire for more and to get to this vision we have for our business and our lives.” - Ryan

02:25 - “We want to help people understand what they want from the business and why.” - Ryan

12:10 - “Matt came on board and it was exactly what we needed: a new perspective, point of view, someone with different skills than what the rest of the leadership team had.” - Pat

21:51 - “Everyday Matt would get a cup of coffee and walk around the office and connect with the employees. He would literally sit there and ask them about their lives, everyday for a half an hour. Everyday. He’s there trying to lift people up.” - Pat

23:55 - “When you’re not enjoying your work, life’s not good. And they want to create an impact” - Pat

29:18 - “Impact, what does that actually mean to you? What does have fun mean to you? What does wealth mean to you?” - Ryan

34:32 - “The owners put so much burden about taking care of the associates. Not just their families, but for the associates as well. And they haven’t taken time to carve out what it’s going to take to get from A to B.” - Matt

37:07 - “You know when you don’t know and that’s where the anxiety comes from.” - Ryan

40:43 - “It’s something drastically different to look at a business from a buyer’s viewpoint than an owner’s viewpoint.” - Matt

45:32 - “The owner doesn’t have to be a financial expert. But they do have to have a certain level of education to understand it.” - Matt

Links and Resources:

Arkona Website

The 5 Intentional Growth™ Principles (5 Videos to Help Clarify Your Vision)

Intentional Growth™ Financial Assessment

Fractional CFO Services

You can also reach out to me via email at [email protected], or on my LinkedIn.