151: Being Intentional In How You Want Your Business To Grow w/ Ian Murray

I often look at my business and wonder how it exists beyond myself. If we can build our businesses in a way that leaves a legacy for our children to benefit from, then I feel they will reach their most pure and ultimate goal. Today's guest has a business that has done exactly that. Ian Murray is the president of SpotOn Productions and the second generation in a family-owned video production company celebrating 21 years in business. As he puts it, they help businesses solve business problems using video. Today, we talk about recognizing the most important product or service you can offer and not taking your business off-track by pursuing too much. Sometimes we want to offer our clients all sorts of things that really aren't our specialty. Ian shares how he came to the realization that this wasn't good for business and how he refocused. Ian is no stranger to hiring employees. Knowing when to start building out your team and hiring someone to do your sales is tricky. It's very important to have a good project-flow system in place for this. Ultimately, having a dedicated sales staff allows the production team to focus on what they do and make your business more efficient overall. Ian is passionate about the importance of managing finances and cash-flow. Experience has taught him many lessons about making sure that you have the money to properly run your business without accumulating runaway debt. The key to this is getting good financial advisors and a business line of credit. Where do you see your business in 10, 20, or 30 years? Let me know in the comments on the episode page!   In this episode Recognizing the importance of not offering too many different services Using a dedicated sales staff to facilitate growth The undeniable importance of having a process in business Why it's imperative to get finances in order early on The importance of being intentional in how you want your business to grow Using the power of your business to make the world a better place   Quotes "Sales is like fire. If you pour gas on it for growth, the same problems you had when you were small are going to get exponentially worse when you get bigger." [10:31] "We got to that point where we could actually take a week's vacation and the place isn't going to burn to the ground. Stuff is going to get handled. It's an awesome place to get to as a business." [16:31] "If you're just in business to make money, I think you're missing the mark. We all have bills to pay, but how are you making the world a better place with what you're doing." [28:19]  "Follow your passion. It's cliché, but it's what drives you forward." [37:04]   Links Find Ian Murray online Follow Ian on Facebook | Twitter | Linkedin | YouTube Patrick Lencioni Studio Sherpas Academy   Additional Links: Check out the full show notes page Do you have something to share on this podcast? Fill out this form here. Be sure to take the Studio Sherpas survey for a chance to win some incredible prizes (if we do say so ourselves!) Stay up to date with everything we're doing at Studio Sherpas Tune in to our weekly Facebook Lives Follow Studio Sherpas on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram If you haven't already, we'd love it if you would take 1 minute to leave us a review on iTunes!