Business By The Bay

Small businesses often fail because owners dive into their ventures with a product or service they love, but without a solid business plan. While they may try marketing through channels like social media or online ads, their messaging often falls flat, failing to clearly communicate the value they offer. The key to success lies in creating a strong, market-dominating position that sets you apart and makes it clear why clients should choose you over competitors. Without this, many entrepreneurs fall into the trap of lowering prices to attract customers, which leads to frustration and burnout.The solution is simple: if you are struggling, accept that you need help and talk to someone who can help. One can hire a coach with experience who understands the intricacies of building a market-dominating position. This expert can help you identify what makes your business unique and guide you in taking small, consistent steps toward improvement. Business growth doesn’t happen through giant leaps; it's an evolution, not a revolution. Before diving into strategies like upselling or drip marketing, you must first establish a strong foundation with clear messaging that aligns with your market-dominating position.To find the right coach, seek referrals from others who have used coaches successfully. Pay close attention to their track record and ensure they have a deep understanding of the full business approach, not just individual tactics. Harm believes in continuous learning, emphasizing that expertise in your field is vital for long-term success. With the right coach and a focused strategy, you can build a strong foundation for sustainable growth and profitability.

11/02/2025 • 31:34

Many people invest to secure their future and ensure a comfortable retirement. Denis emphasizes the importance of working with a certified financial planner—someone you trust, connect with, and feel confident will prioritize your best interests. With just over 100,000 certified financial planners in the U.S., finding the right professional can make all the difference. Financial planning involves numerous variables, such as determining the right amount of liquid assets, considering health and life expectancy, and preparing for a secure retirement. Denis advises keeping it simple: hire an expert to guide you toward success.

23/12/2024 • 25:36

Selling a business is not the same as running one, especially for first-time small business sellers. The challenges? Plenty. Small businesses often come with risks that can make buyers cautious. Common concerns include: Heavy reliance on the owner without an empowered second layer of management Revenue concentrated in a few clients High employee turnover Additionally, sellers may have higher valuation expectations, but is the deal easy to finance? This is where the expertise of a seasoned business broker becomes invaluable. A good broker brings: A buyer’s perspective to evaluate the business objectively The ability to close the deal, which is more important than finding the highest offer The experience to educate, communicate, and simplify complex transactions It takes years of relevant experience and closing numerous deals to become a trustworthy broker who can ensure a smooth sale—even for businesses with unique challenges.

09/12/2024 • 27:26

Andrea believes that storytelling enables businesses to forge deeper connections with their markets. Rather than just explaining what products or services do, she emphasizes the need to elevate the brand’s message. She advises engaging with communication professionals who have industry experience, understand market sentiment, and maintain relationships with media contacts—key to getting the right stories placed. Andrea highlights the importance of a cohesive message, warning that inconsistent stories can confuse audiences. Drawing on her journalism background, she understands how to position stories in ways that capture media interest. Andrea assists clients by developing PR strategies, crafting compelling narratives, executing outreach, and securing media coverage.  She also recommends regularly evaluating your messaging to ensure it resonates and considering adjustments as necessary. Building a brand, she notes, is a long-term endeavor, where nurturing relationships is crucial to sustained success.

21/10/2024 • 25:37

Many business leaders, particularly millennials, feel they aren’t receiving the development they need in today’s organizations. A significant leadership gap exists because many companies rely on generic online training or allocate a budget for personal development without proper guidance. Additionally, these organizations often lack a feedback loop and fail to establish a clear vision or foster a culture where teams can thrive. Monique emphasizes that building trust and ensuring psychological safety are essential for cultivating strong leadership and creating successful companies.

14/10/2024 • 26:23

AI can significantly enhance employee productivity by enabling them to work faster and more efficiently. Despite some concerns about AI replacing human jobs, many employees have reported positive experiences with AI in the workplace. For instance, Steve notes that when his company conducts surveys, the overwhelming majority of employees, even those initially skeptical, express that AI has made them more effective, engaged, and productive. Notably, AI is user-friendly for employees of varying technical abilities. Unlike learning a complex programming language, employees only need to learn how to communicate with AI, which they can do in everyday language. However, accuracy is crucial, and one may think of AI as an intern—valuable for streamlining tasks, but still requiring oversight for critical work. Unlike a human intern who may tire of repetitive tasks, AI continuously improves with use. As AI adoption accelerates, organizations must embrace it to stay competitive. Failing to do so could leave them lagging behind their more forward-thinking competitors.

07/10/2024 • 27:46

Arnav and Vallabh, two high school students, have been dedicated to community service from a young age. Through their experiences, they discovered that helping others brings out the best in you. Motivated by this realization, they founded the non-profit organization "Open Arms Refugee" to address the harsh realities refugees face daily. The journey was challenging, as reaching out to refugees proved difficult. Many are hesitant to meet strangers, struggle with English, and lack access to technology. Instead of simply providing short-term aid like food and supplies, Arnav and Vallabh focused on empowering refugees with education and resources for long-term impact. To better understand and assist refugees who have endured trauma, both earned certifications in emergency services and trauma care. They also partnered with other organizations to amplify their impact and raise awareness. During our conversation, Arnav and Vallabh shared valuable lessons they've learned along the way: understand your audience, offer meaningful support, build partnerships within the community, step out of your comfort zone, and experience the joy of serving others.

01/10/2024 • 26:42

Organizations strive to position themselves as trusted partners, aiming to attract and engage their ideal clients. Leveraging the power of storytelling through captivating videos is an effective way to stand out from the competition and showcase core values. Creating high-quality videos is very beneficial; however a well-planned marketing strategy is also crucial to maximize their impact and achieve the best results. Stephanie emphasizes the importance of a solid process in producing compelling videos that feel natural and authentic. She dedicates significant time to preparation before filming to ensure every video aligns with this vision.

17/09/2024 • 26:56

Caleb has worked with many businesses and he says that time is a challenge for business owners as they have too many things to look at. Having the right team to support the management makes it easier. In the initial phase, founders cannot afford an in-house HR person because there is not enough work. At the same time, when you are hiring your first employee or converting contractors to employees or moving beyond the initial core team, it is important to have HR support. Getting outsourced HR help is usually a good solution. For example, hundreds of employees at OneDigital are helping their clients with a variety of tasks like talent acquisition, onboarding, offboarding, being part of leadership meetings to make sure HR is in sync, management coaching, HR platform support, compliance, benchmarking of compensation & benefits, etc. Caleb believes that in order to be successful, it is better to keep messages simple and have conversations keeping in mind what is in it for the other party.

13/09/2024 • 27:08

Vladmir built a 'get the job done and client first' culture from the time he started his outsourced IT company. He mentioned that many small business owners think that 'we are not at risk and one of us can handle our IT environment because we are good enough in using the technology or even have a friend who can help us'. Vladmir says that the important question a business should ask is that what would happen if their data is lost or compromised. If the answer is that it will be a big disaster and they are not confident in securing it internally, it is critical to hire an outsourced IT company.

02/09/2024 • 28:49

Aman believes that there is a CRM available for every business owner. A professional integration consultant can help pick the right one because he or she will have experience of working with multiple CRM solutions. He thinks two common reasons CRM implementations fail are lack of standard operating process and top management not using the system themselves. He also sees that many struggling business owners are self employed and micro-manage most of the tasks. So they don't own businesses in a true sense. He suggests that to be successful and scale, it is better to macro manage.

16/08/2024 • 25:04

Maile Collmer, president of northern California chapter of the National Speakers Association (NSA) was an introvert growing up and today she is an in-demand speaker and helping people become master networkers and generate a lot of referrals. She encourages people to hang around those who can inspire us to become better. NSA provides great environment for people to become better speakers. NSA hosts various events, podcasts and has an academy to provide excellent support to people who want to maximize their speaking potential. One may contact Maile at https://contracosta.asentiv.com/our-team/ 

31/07/2024 • 28:54

Business owners don't know what they don't know. Small business owners try to wear too many hats and there are areas where they are not good at. For example, financial literacy or tax laws are typically not the focus areas of business owners as most of the energy goes into the products or services they are offering. A conversation with an accounting professional is a must at the start because establishing the right business entity will have a significant financial impact. A good accounting professional should act as a trusted advisor, be truthful and should be willing to connect with the right experts in areas where he or she doesn't specialize in, and should also be a good communicator. Joe loves to discuss the possibilities of Section 1202 and R&D credits with his clients because these are great for eligible businesses. He believes that business owners should focus on doing themselves what they are good at. For rest of the things, hiring the right partners will add lots of value to the business.

07/07/2024 • 27:43

When businesses grow fast, many times they don't have a good HR infrastructure in place. People start a business because they love their products or services they are offering, not because they love HR. So things like a good job description, employee handbook, onboarding, performance management, etc. may get neglected. Companies should look into if they are ignoring key HR tasks and even the ones they are doing, are they spending too much of their valuable time on those tasks or not. Outsourcing certain tasks to good HR professionals may save companies lots of problems and can also help employees feel that the management values them. Stacey believes that tenacity, perseverance, consistency and looking for ways to get better help businesses succeed.

17/06/2024 • 28:35

Jeff Katz explained various senior living options for the elderly population. Multiple challenges like physical or mental health issues, loneliness or financial costs may make it difficult for seniors to stay in their homes. Independent senior living, assisted living or memory care communities can be good options and it is not easy for seniors or their families to find the right community. A good senior living coach can help through this process. Jeff believes that for a senior living coach or for that matter any business owner to be effective, it is very important to be a good listener and continuously look for building long term relationships.

09/06/2024 • 25:27

Rene discussed various aspects of HR. Small and mid-size companies struggle to attract the best talent because they don't have deep pockets to compete with the big companies. Then keeping the employees engaged and retaining them can also be very challenging. Rene suggests that looking for soft skills can widen the candidates pool and then specialized skills can be  taught. She suggests that for 100 employees, a company should have a dedicated HR person. For less than that a part-time HR person can be engaged, either in-house or an outsourced professional. It is important to have the right personality as an HR professional who can connect with both the management and the employees. Rene believes that having a mindset of coming up with a creative solution is very important in business because there is always a way to get the job done.

30/04/2024 • 25:53

Neil explained that the majority of the seniors fall in bedrooms and bathrooms. Some of the available solutions provide wearable devices that the seniors don't wear in the bedroom and bathroom. Camera based solutions are also not practical because of the privacy issues. Neil's connected home solution offers the following: Radar based sensors that are installed on the walls or  the ceilings and have no cameras to maintain privacy. AI based learning that notices any change in pattern. Then make use of the remote care coordinators to proactively check upon the well being of the seniors. Use a bed sensor to issue an alert for people who get out of the bed when their health doesn't allow them to walk without supervision. Neil says that having mentors and the ability to listen actively are big factors that have contributed to his success.

21/04/2024 • 27:15

Bryan was a product manager in the tech industry and while recovering from a serious injury, he realized that eating healthy is not easy if you are eating out. Bryan started a restaurant business because he believes that you can be your best self if you are healthy and you can give all the gifts that you have to others if you are healthy physically, mentally and emotionally. Food is the foundation for being healthy and so his restaurant offers hearty meals without using gluten, soy, dairy, peanuts, refined sugar and seed oils. He offered some great suggestions for people who are planning to enter the business world. He said that first think about why you are starting one and when the business would be successful, what your life would be like and is that actually what you want. Secondly, figure out as quickly as possible the most important assumptions if your idea would be successful or not. He also experienced that systems and processes that worked initially may not work when you see a good growth. So having the right leadership with clearly defined roles and outcome is very important.

19/03/2024 • 28:32

CPA Chetan Shah says that most of the businesses come to him because they struggle because of not maintaining clean records. They are good at what they do in terms of products or services, but not necessarily in accounting.  Not having the right advisory team, especially in the beginning when they are very cost conscious creates a challenging situation. He suggests that it is important to hire an accounting firm that has experience in dealing with in the areas you need help. As an example, a CPA focusing on individual tax returns may not be a right fit to support business accounting. He emphasized that it is critical to plan and know where you want to go.

01/03/2024 • 25:25

Debbie Harris mentioned that convenience  and marketing of unhealthy food are two big reasons people gain weight. As we are over scheduled, it is natural for us to pick the food that is easily available and unfortunately junk food is marketed well and is very easy to buy. Debbie explained that she got wonderful results for herself and her clients by balancing the hormones. It helps not only getting rid of the weight, but also ensures maintaining the ideal weight.  Being aware of the food that works for us and having an accountability partner or mentor help people to stay on track. Debbie believes that her love for people and maintaining balance in life are two big factors that helped her achieve success in life.

12/02/2024 • 28:46

Most business owners don't know the health of the business because they are not maintaining and monitoring the financial statements in a timely manner. It is hard to 'do it yourself'' because most of the time is spent on running the business. So it is better to have a good accounting professional helping the business. It is also important to find an accounting professional you can trust and it happens if the values are aligned. Shamal also suggested that it is important to hire well, both in-house and outsourced. 

26/01/2024 • 26:50

Joanthan Pop spoke about how from having a Music and Education major in college, he became a wealth management advisor. He sees that many of the successful business owners  need help when it comes to retention of key employees and tax optimization strategies. He mentioned that if a business owner is looking for a good financial advisor, it is important to make sure the advisor acts as a fiduciary, is in the same space (for example specializes in working with businesses and not just focusing on investments) and is a good connector who has a solid partner network because one person or a team of advisors cannot be experts in every field. He also highlighted that having a written business plan is critical in making sure there are no blind spots and the business can continue to grow in the right direction.

14/01/2024 • 29:19

Deborah Finestone spoke about her journey from being a journalist to starting her social media marketing company. She talked about her group training program, which is to help small business owners and non-profits who are not in a position to hire an expensive marketing agency. She says that quite often such organizations assign the social media marketing role to a young employee thinking that he or she has been active on personal social media and is comfortable with the various platforms. Being an active social media user doesn't mean that the person is also good at marketing strategies. As an example, one has to know the expectations from the social media marketing efforts - brand awareness, coming across as an expert, providing information, becoming likeable to the target market by sharing personal stories, etc. She suggested thinking about what the target market likes and creating content accordingly. Then analyze what types of posts are gaining traction and then consistently engage with your followers.

08/01/2024 • 29:55

Creating compelling visual narratives can feel like a difficult skill to master. Mark Bullock shared his experiences and how he being an introvert with no desire to be in front of a camera has created thousands of videos. Following are some of the valuable suggestions he made: Willingness to learn and coming out of the comfort zone can produce incredible results. We don't need to become a TV news reader. Learn to be yourself because people like authentic people having real conversations. Willingness to be vulnerable can make you authentic. Remember you don't need to be perfect in every video because if you forget to make a point in one video, you can always create another one. 4.If you are willing to learn, share and express yourself, feel free to visit https://videosocials.net/ and click on 'Be Our Free Guest'.

13/12/2023 • 28:31

JJ spoke about retirement solutions available to small business owners. He said that the California state mandate requires businesses with five or more employees to offer a retirement plan, else they will be fined. However, in spite of being a cost in terms of time and/or money, it also allows businesses to attract talent because offering good benefits to employees shows that they care about the employees. Also, there is a Federal credit available for the first three years to compensate for the cost incurred in setting up a new retirement plan. JJ suggests that there are many options available and it is important for the business owners to give time to come on a quick call and evaluate the benefits of going with a private company like Human Interest and compare it with the CalSavers state plan.

23/11/2023 • 30:47

Al Arias outlined various strategies for saving on taxes, emphasizing an integrated approach to tax planning. This involves creating multiple business entities to enable business owners to minimize their effective federal income tax, typically falling within the 12 to 20 percent range. Through the strategic use of trusts and the structuring of business entities, business owners can achieve federal income tax free exit. For instance, Al loves separating the marketing function of a business into a distinct entity, say a C-Corporation. When properly configured, this separation helps avoid the affiliated ownership rules and leads to significant tax savings.

17/11/2023 • 33:32

COBRA compliance: Yvonne described the COBRA compliance requirements and also the best practices for the employers. Do you have 20+ employees with group health plans? If yes, then Yvonne mentioned that there are federal and state penalties for non-compliance. Beyond the fines, non-compliance can lead to civil penalties that may make your company liable for medical payments, legal fees, and more. She suggests that the best time to discuss implementation of COBRA plan is at the time of setting up a group health plan because waiting till a qualifying event happens would result in panic for the business.

09/11/2023 • 28:04

Are you struggling to keep up with the growth that is taking place in your company? Are you closing your books within 7 days or are you really behind with your accounting? Brit Summerill made some very good suggestions regarding best accounting practices and he recommends small businesses to operate with an exit in mind.

22/09/2023 • 26:19

Dr. Shree Nanguneri explains his method to remove or reduce the 3 Ds - defects, delays and deviations from organizations. His team uses the socratic approach to not only fix the problems of his clients, but also train them how to handle issues on their own. They convert defects into delights, delays into 'just in time' and deviations into dollars. Dr. Nanguneri says that one of his keys to success has been having the right mentors.

21/08/2023 • 27:06

Hiring the best talent is challenging, especially in industries where supply is less than the demand. Jason suggested that an employer needs to feed the hiring funnel and then have an efficient process to screen, interview and hire the right candidates. An employer needs to generate interest among job seekers, validate the opening, convince the candidates that the company is a great place to work and then close it.

30/07/2023 • 31:30