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Guest: Ryan Iwamoto, President and Co-Founder of 24 Hour Home Care. Ryan’s company has been on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing companies for nine consecutive years. In 2017, Ryan won EY Entrepreneur of the Year, Los Angeles.
Overview: A scrappy entrepreneur who works hard and has a clear vision can take a company far. But he can only get the company to BIG if he learns how to scale his skills and the skills of key team members as the business continues to grow.
On today’s show, Ryan Iwamoto explains how he and his business partner bootstrapped their company for 13 years, navigated a profitable sale, and remained President and CEO under the new owners.
Ryan Iwamoto on going from $0 to $1 million:
“It was all bootstrapped. We started the company back in 2008, really right in the heart of the recession. We sort of had that blind ambition. I think it actually worked to our advantage because we didn’t really know any better, what can hurt us and what can help us. We ended up getting a family investment of $160,000 to start the company. And for the first 13 years, that was the only outside capital that was invested into the business. All the profits were reinvested back into growth. That really kept the culture of being disciplined with our expenses and making sure that we were very diligent in how we run the company. Put one step in front of the other and work extremely hard. They often say the first million’s the hardest, but it came pretty quickly to us. In our second year, we were able to hit our million-dollar mark.”
Ryan Iwamoto on creating leaders within your company:
“It’s going from being sort of the genius or the hard worker to the genius creator. The best leaders are the ones that create new leaders. Can you build other entrepreneur-like individuals in your company that are going to own it and grow it to the level that you want? And maybe they won’t be able to do it at 100% of what a founder can do, but if you can trust them to grow it at maybe 80% or 90% of what you can do, or maybe even better than you, then you can trust in having them own it and you can focus on other areas of growing the business. You’re going to be in a much better place than you just trying to do it all yourself. I really believe in the concept of going away from being the genius, the one person that runs everything, to now creating many geniuses around the company.”
Ryan Iwamoto on how coaching took him and his company to the next level:
“I think there’s a reason why a lot of entrepreneurs get to a certain point where, as the company starts to scale, the entrepreneurs aren’t going on with that second chapter of the journey. The biggest change for me is taking a step back and understanding that the same skillsets that got you from $0 to $10 million are not going to be the same skillsets that get you from $10 to $40 to $100 million. I would really tout finding someone that can get me out of my comfort zone and hold me accountable. And I found that in Sheldon Harris of CEO Coaching International. I think the biggest cost to a business or you personally is what you don’t know. You carry this ‘ignorance debt,’ and if you can get a coach that can help you pay that ignorance debt down faster you’re going to accelerate faster and reach your goal faster. And I think that’s exactly what CEO Coaching International did.
Links:
Connect with Ryan Iwamoto on LinkedIn
4 Keys to Pivoting Away From Survival Mode and Back to BIG Growth – During his previous appearance on our podcast, Ryan Iwamoto reflected on how he kept his company on track to hit his revenue goals during the pandemic, including lessons that can lead a company through any crisis.
Say Goodbye to “Failure to Communicate”– Ryan Iwamoto’s CEO coach, Sheldon Harris, shares his strategy for turning internal communications into a scalable competitive advantage.
About CEO Coaching International
CEO Coaching International works with CEOs and their leadership teams to achieve extraordinary results quarter after quarter, year after year. Known globally for its success in coaching growth-focused entrepreneurs to meaningful exits, CEO Coaching International has coached more than 1,000 CEOs and entrepreneurs in more than 60 countries and 45 industries. The coaches at CEO Coaching International are former CEOs, presidents, or executives who have made BIG happen. The firm’s coaches have led double-digit sales and profit growth in businesses ranging in size from startups to over $10 billion, and many are founders that have led their companies through successful eight, nine, and ten-figure exits. Companies working with CEO Coaching International for two years or more have experienced an average revenue CAGR of 31% (2.6X the U.S. average) and an average EBITDA CAGR of 52.3% (more than 5X the U.S. average).
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