How to Grow Through a Recession Without Losing Control | Mitch Russo

Send us Fan MailCan you grow through a recession without surrendering control of your company?Mitch Russo built Timeslips from his garage into an eight-figure software business and ultimately sold it to Sage. He achieved that growth without venture-capital funding, carefully measuring expenditure and maintaining control over the company’s decisions.In this episode, Peter Boolkah talks to Mitch about the principles that helped him build the business, navigate difficult economic conditions and turn early mistakes into a scalable commercial model.Mitch explains why creating an excellent product was only the beginning. Timeslips initially advertised to the general computer market and generated almost no sales. When the company discovered that lawyers were its strongest customers, it rebuilt its marketing around that specific audience and created an acquisition model it could scale.Peter and Mitch also discuss why an outside adviser can see what the founder cannot, how recessions create opportunities for businesses prepared to adapt and why an unsuccessful idea only becomes a failure when its owner refuses to learn and pivot.You’ll discover:Why Mitch initially chose control over outside investmentHow financial constraints created greater operating disciplineWhy every advertisement was measuredHow identifying the right customer transformed TimeslipsWhy trying to market to everybody becomes prohibitively expensiveHow founders can adopt an expansion mindset during a recessionWhy changing customer behaviour requires businesses to reconsider where their value liesHow a coach or trusted adviser can operate inside the founder’s blind spotWhy good businesses are usually built steadily rather than through uncontrolled spendingHow to turn a failed initiative into useful commercial learningThis conversation was recorded in 2021 and contains a short discussion of the political and cryptocurrency issues current at the time. Its central lessons about product quality, customer focus, financial control, independent advice and adapting through adversity remain highly relevant.CONNECT WITH PETER BOOLKAHWebsite: https://www.boolkah.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/boolkahInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/pboolkah/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BoolkahX: https://twitter.com/boolkahABOUT PETER BOOLKAHPeter Boolkah is a business coach, author and speaker who has spent more than 20 years helping business owners build stronger, more valuable businesses that do not depend on them for everything.He is the creator of The Hamster Wheel Trap® and author of Your Business Sucks: Build a Business That Works Without Destroying Your Life.Peter works with founders and leadership teams on the issues that ultimately determine whether a business creates freedom or becomes another job: leadership, founder dependency, people, profit, execution, scaling, exit readiness and enterprise value.His approach is direct, practical and built around one simple question:Do you own the business, or does the business own you?Learn more at https://www.boolkah.com