Diane Helbig, Helbig Enterprises

[00:00:00] Sanjay Parekh: Welcome to the Side Hustle to Small Business podcast powered by Hiscox. I'm your host, Sanjay Parekh. Throughout my career, I've had side hustles, some of which have turned into real businesses. But first and foremost, I'm a serial technology entrepreneur. In the Creator Space, we hear plenty of advice on how to hustle harder and why you can sleep when you're dead.

On this show, we ask new questions in hopes of getting new answers. Questions like, how can small businesses work smarter? How do you achieve balance between work and family? How can we redefine success in our businesses so that we don't burn out after year three? Every week, I sit down with business founders at various stages of their side hustle to small business journey.

These entrepreneurs are pushing the envelope while keeping their values. Keep listening for conversation, context, and camaraderie.

Today's guest is Diane Helbig, the founder of Helbig Enterprises and the host of the Accelerate Your Business Growth podcast. Diane is an expert in business growth. So today we'll be discussing business growth for small businesses with limited resources, common mistakes, and ideal systems and practices.

Diane, welcome to the show. So I'm excited to have you on because growth is one of those things that we all talk about when we're running a small business. But before we get into that give us a little bit about your background and what got you to where you are today.

[00:01:31] Diane Helbig: Thanks for asking. So I've always worked in small business either in leadership or sales and took a lot of lessons from that my father was a business person and he and I would talk a lot about business I worked in his business for a little while and so life happened and about 20 years ago, almost 20 years ago, my father passed away suddenly and it was just a life changing I like to call it my midlife crisis where I said, you know what?

I think I need to be doing something else. And this, you know what I'm doing now with advising and training was it I knew the minute I found it. This was exactly what I was supposed to be doing.

[00:02:16] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. I'm sorry for your loss on your father. But what a an amazing thing to use and move you into this kind of next stage. I gotta ask did your father have a business that he was still running at that time?

And what happened with the business?

[00:02:30] Diane Helbig: Yeah, so he was a real estate broker. And he had a couple real estate agents under him, and he had a very different process where he didn't take commission. They, I think they paid him, a monthly fee or something that was very small, and he just educated them and built them up and whatnot. When he passed away. It went away. That was it. Yeah.

[00:02:56] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. But what a what an incredible gift and way of approaching business that your dad had and the impact that he made on the lives of so many others who I'm sure are still in the business now and giving back to others that come after him, so that impact, continues to be felt, which is amazing.

So you had this change, you started the business. Was there anything that, this is a different thing, you'd seen an entrepreneur, you'd lived with an entrepreneur and helped an entrepreneur, but doing it on your own for the first time is, a different ordeal. Was there anything that made you nervous about doing that?

[00:03:33] Diane Helbig: Oddly enough, when I did it, I wasn't nervous at all. It's a weird thing. A lot of people ask me that question, you must've been nervous. My husband was nervous that I was doing it, but I felt I, what I said back then was I was channeling my father. I was totally calm. I knew this is what I was supposed to be doing.

I knew I had that the knowledge and the skills and whatnot to be able to actually launch. and I had some buffers, so I changed the relationship that I had with the company I worked for. So I became a independent contractor for them. So I was still earning while I was building my business. So if that hadn't been happening, there probably would have been some serious nerves.

[00:04:21] Sanjay Parekh: That's an interesting thing. And that's a special thing too. I think because most companies, most business owners are not willing to do this, with their folks. But I think it's a great thing to do because look, there's a lot of people you can employ out there. If you help somebody else, they're going to only think good things about you.

So is that how it turned out for you? Do you still deal with that previous business?

[00:04:44] Diane Helbig: I know them, the owners sold their business, since then and, have moved. But I'm still friends with them. Initially they didn't want to do it and I was in sales for them and I really good relationships with the clients.

And I said, then I'm giving my notice. Like I knew this was what I was doing. And so then they backed up and said, okay, hang on a second, let's take a look at this. So it worked. Yeah, it was great. And then, and as I built my business, I got to a point where I went back to them and said, you need to give these accounts to someone else because I'm not addressing them the way they need to be addressed.

And so that, that's what we did.

[00:05:26] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. Okay. So let's move into kind of the things that you do think about, and talk about with business owners, talk to me about like how you think about sustainable growth for businesses, regardless of the industry they're in and like, how do you drive that for a business and how do you think about driving that for a business?

[00:05:45] Diane Helbig: Yeah. So I firmly believe in systems and structure, and as an entrepreneur, it's hard because we're chasing it, we're doing it, we're going, we have all these ideas. And we get in our own way and we end up struggling in ways. I think we don't need to. So there has you have to have systems around the various aspects of your business and you have to have goals, but you got to back them up to an actual action plan.

Coming all the way back to right now, what steps do I need to take right now? My viewpoint is, especially with sales, it's linear, so you have to do this step before you can do that step before you can do the next one. So it's really about plotting those out and putting them on a calendar. So there are appointments.

So you do them, right? And if something comes up and you can't, then you move it. Real structure.

[00:06:49] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. So when you're talking about systems. Is it like a plan on a paper? Is it some software that you, how do you think about this in terms of actually implementing it for a business owner or a sales team inside of a business?

[00:07:04] Diane Helbig: Yeah. So it is such a great question. It's a plan on paper. So what I do is I sit down with them. We talk about what they're, what they want to do, what hasn't worked, what has worked, what makes sense. We create the plan together, and then so it's pen and paper, actually, and then I convert it to a PDF and it's got the steps on it.

And then they go ahead and they implement and we were doing touch points throughout that process. To say, okay, how's it going? What's working? What isn't I believe in real time review. Because you can change things in real time, right? Let's hit it and let's know. What were we expecting? Did it happen?

What do we need to change? What are we doing moving forward?

[00:07:52] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. For a lot of people sitting down and doing that plan, it's hard because you don't have all the resources that you want to have to prioritize that growth and be able to really feed that monster, right? If I had unlimited resources, like it's easy to grow, I could just throw resources at it.

So how do you deal with that reality for almost all small businesses? I'm going to say a hundred percent of small businesses that don't have the resources that they need to actually prioritize growth and, how should they think about that to make sure that growth continues to happen?

[00:08:32] Diane Helbig: So I feel like what they need to do is they need to say, this is the first and I'm going to say easiest, even though it's not really easy, of all of these things, this is the thing I need to do first.

That will help get me there. Because when we talk about resources, money really allows us to pull in resources, outsource or hire, whatever it is. So we have to say, okay, what do I need to be able to grow bigger? I need to be able to be realizing a decent profit, right? It's not necessarily about the, revenue that comes in.

It's about the profit that you have most really small businesses. Don't have a lot of overhead. Getting to profitables easy, but they have to be building that. So that's what we focus on 1st and then as they're building that, and they're feeling that comfort zone, then it's okay. What is the next thing that they need?

That they could give away and have someone else do or some more or AI, some sort of automation. There's so many ways these days that you can gather resources without a huge investment.

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[00:10:14] Sanjay Parekh: Okay, so I want to ask you something that's actually the counterintuitive of, what we've been talking about. Okay? We've been talking about growth and, small businesses and all that, but what about the time when, honestly, like a business shouldn't grow anymore? Like the owner doesn't want to grow.

They just want to keep going. Like, how should they think about that? How should they justify that to themselves, to their significant other, their family, whatever it is. Because a lot of people, when you've got a business, it's all about growing it, it's got to get bigger.

No, it doesn't. Sometimes it's big enough. So how do you think about that?

[00:10:51] Diane Helbig: Yes. So I'm all about that, actually. I have this thing about you do not have to be the next, jumping into the six figure one if you don't want to, right? The great thing about being an entrepreneur is that you get to decide what does this thing look like?

And if it looks like what it's been and you, I don't want employees. My business is only going to get so big because I can outsource some stuff, but there's, then it's me. And I love that. I'm all about that. Our needs are being met. We're fine. Interestingly, though, you still have to have those sales systems and those processes in place, so that you're at least maintaining because customers are going to come and go and you have to make sure that you're paying attention to where you are and what you need and that you're continuing to work those steps to get there.

[00:11:43] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. Let's, let's talk about mistakes then, and common mistakes that these business and business owners have, around, let's actually do it on both sides of, Hey, I want to just maintain what I have and what are the mistakes around that. And then wanting to grow and maybe growing too quickly. What are the mistakes around that?

[00:12:02] Diane Helbig: Okay. I think a mistake everybody makes is they take whatever money comes. They're like, okay, I just need revenue just, and they end up with bad clients who actually end up damaging their growth or their sustainability, whichever it is, it's bad, right?

On a lot of levels. So that is something I see everybody do. Now, honestly, when you're first starting out and you need revenue, you're going to do it. I'm not going to say you're not. We all did. The key is to learn from it and get away from it as quickly as possible because those bad clients get in the way of you getting good clients.

So, you have to really be aware. The other thing I think people do, especially people who, are growing and they're growing too fast is. They don't take a step out and make sure that they have standard operating procedures in place. And that they've got written manuals and they have the, because they're busy just doing right.

But then when they want to bring people on, they say, I don't have time to train somebody. I don't know what you're going to do about that. Because right, and there are ways around it. What I do with people is I say, okay, listen, you need to train somebody haven't sit right next to you. You either can record on recorder, the steps that you're taking while you're doing something.

And have them transcribe it. Or, you can have them sit right next to you and shadow you, watch you do it, have them take the notes, and then you review the notes. Because that way you'll know whether they're actually getting it or not, right? And you'll figure out the stuff you forgot to tell them because you know it so well.

But you got to do something. people grow really fast. They don't bring on the resources that they need and they end up, falling off on the performance side and damaging the relationship they have with their customers because they're only 1 person. So I think those are the heavy hitters.

[00:14:12] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. Yeah. It's funny you mentioned that because that is a very common issue with entrepreneurs and business owners of, I need people, but I don't have time to train them and it's just quicker if I do it myself. And it's, like you're, prioritizing the right now for the future at that point.

And I think it's hard for a lot of entrepreneurs to get out of that trap. Do you have a trick or, do you just beat people over the head? How do you get somebody out of that trap?

[00:14:44] Diane Helbig: Oh my gosh. So I, just did this with, one of my clients. and what I do is I figure out what their goal is, right?

Everyone has a goal either for themselves or their business. And if it's for themselves, the business is feeding that goal. So figuring out what that is and then just being really honest with them and saying, okay, how do you plan to get there? What I do is get them to be thinking about, to embrace the idea that they have to change something, right?

Because until they get to that point, they're not going to, and I can say anything I want to them. I love to use the, God forbid you get hit by a bus and you're not dead, but you're in a coma for 30 days. What happens to your business? They get it intellectually, but, they have to own it.

They have to embrace. I do actually have to make, so we have to talk about what are their fears about delegating to someone else?

[00:15:49] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah.

[00:15:49] Diane Helbig: What do they think their vulnerabilities are? How can we overcome those? How can we make sure that we're, doing it in a way that keeps them calm? How do we monitor it?

And I got to tell you, when they do it, this is the best part. They just look at you and go, wow, this actually, this works. Yes, it does. And then they want to do more. once you get over the first one, it's easy to be open to other ideas.

[00:16:20] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. So let's talk about, one of the things that a lot of businesses get into of, expanding into new markets, right?

So a lot of times you'll be in a place, and now you're trying to figure out, okay, is it time to move into a new market or focus on the ones you already have? How should a business owner think about that and decide when it's a good time to jump. Yeah, not necessarily jump and leave the market that you had before. But right now, accept the challenge of a new one.

[00:16:52] Diane Helbig: Yeah. I tend to think so, we get to a point in our market where it's pretty much saturated. We feel like we've really gotten the market share. We're going to get in this particular area. And that's a time to start exploring the danger is to decide.

This is what business owners do. We decide there's a need instead of going to find out if there's a need before we shift because for us. It's a no brainer, right? It makes perfect sense. This market should need this thing. maybe, but maybe not. Maybe that market's too small. Maybe we need to tweak our product or service a little bit so that it does fit that market.

So really what people need to be doing in my opinion is doing their research, really checking out, okay, who else does this help? Could this help? And let me go see if that's actually a thing before I invest all that time and energy.

[00:17:59] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. Alongside of that, I think is something. So I just, it's funny because just earlier today I was talking to a founder, and she was talking to me about how she's built this business.

That's, mid, single digit millions in revenue. And it's consistently there. She's doubled in growth, in the last year. Or a couple of years, but she's it's hard to, you can't keep doing that for her. You can't double growth every year based on the business she's in.

But she made this comment to me and she was like, I find it amazing and interesting. And she's I can see how I could take a business from zero to 10 million in revenue. But she's I don't know how. I would be able to take a business from 10 to a hundred. And it's amazing that people are able to do that.

And to me, my response was like, I think you can do it. I think, when you didn't have a business that was any revenue, it was probably hard to imagine running a business that was five. And yet you've been able to do it. So how do you, I'm sure you hear this from people. How do you do with that and get them comfortable with their own abilities?

Even if it's a lack of ability right now to be able to achieve those levels of revenue and growth in their businesses.

[00:19:13] Diane Helbig: So the easy answer is we have to take a look at what is required. What, are the skills and the resources that are required to go from 10 to more because it's going from being a founder to being a CEO and that head space and relationship is totally different that those two things are different.

And so part of the reason why she can't see it is because she's thinking about it like a founder. And so she has to understand this, is the role that she would have to play or someone would have to play. Might not be her. She might stay in a certain area where it, that is her brilliance.

[00:19:54] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah.

[00:19:55] Diane Helbig: And she might have to hire someone to be the CEO and president.

So it's really taking a look at what is needed to get the business there. And then who's got those skill sets and where are the gaps and wherever the gaps are, they got to be filled.

[00:20:11] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. I think one of the underlying things here is being comfortable with giving away responsibility and the things that you want to be involved in to make sure that they're always done.

There is this underlying comment, I think, and we talked about it a little bit. For the people that you work with that think they want to go from being the founder and entrepreneur to being the CEO of the large thing. How do you work with them to get them comfortable with that, that ability of being able to give away that responsibility to other folks?

[00:20:48] Diane Helbig: We slow walk it actually, so it's, finding something that isn't as threatening that they can give away. So you know, I like to go through with my clients and say, okay, what are all the things that you do and why are you the one doing them, right? And then when they list all of that, then we find that, then I say, what are the things that only you can do?

Because then there's everything else. Okay, then we look at that and say, okay, what is something that you would feel comfortable giving away? And so we do it that way, because the more they do it with the things that don't make them crazy, the more they realize the need to do it. With other areas of the business and for me, my job is to help them understand that it doesn't diminish them, but these are skills they don't have.

So they have to find someone who does if this is really what they want for their business.

[00:21:54] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah, that makes sense. okay, let's change gears just a little bit because there is actually something that's underlying a lot of this stuff and I think a lot of founders and entrepreneurs are very bad at this is thinking about their own health and wellness, in relation to a lot of this stuff and, getting sometimes a little bit too crazy about the business that they don't think about their own wellness. How do you think about this, in two parts about it for yourself, but also for your clients? And what do you think about, for them in terms of how do you manage, their abilities or their schedule to, to make sure that they're taking care of themselves?

[00:22:34] Diane Helbig: So I'll start with me. I realized that I was expanding my day, right? Because when you're an entrepreneur, as my CPA used to say, it means you can work any 12 hours a day you want, right? And so I believed him. But then I realized I wasn't being productive that way. And I was, there was no harmony. I don't believe in work life balance.

I believe in harmony. There's times when you're going to have to work more. And there's times you're going to have to play more. But what I have learned for me is I have to work it into my calendar. I have to say I am doing this and no matter what. Like exercising, right? So I don't and I don't know if you can tell, but I'm standing up.

So I had so I got 1 of those things for the top of my desk. That's a standing desk thing. So I can lift it, lower it. And I try and make sure that I'm standing. For that, I'm not just sitting all day long. I also, which you can't see, I have an under the desk treadmill next to me. So I can just jump on it, do a quick 10 minutes, right?

Get my heart rate up and then get off. And so then I don't feel guilty that I'm taking time away from my business, but I also don't feel guilty in my business that I'm not taking care of myself. And then, there really is like putting a time limit on your day for most days so that then you are living your life.

The truth is that a lot of entrepreneurs don't realize is the more time you spend in your business, the less effective you are in your business. So having those breaks, having that stop actually refreshes you as a human, opens up your brain and gives you the opportunity to look at things and think about things.

In a fresher sort of way. So you're not, diluting the impact of, what you're doing, that's me. But having said that, then that's what I do with my clients as well. It's what can they do? And once again, it's little steps. I say to all my clients, do not try and change wholesale because it will not work and you'll give up on it.

Let's just do tomorrow and then let's do the next day and then let's do the, until they get into a routine and a habit and they realize they're not losing anything in their business. Then it's okay. Then they get that.

[00:25:03] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. Yeah. That's interesting. And I think there has been definitely research that shows that when you exercise, you're increasing blood flow, you're increasing blood flow to your brain, which helps you be more creative.

Problem solving. I don't know about you when I exercise, it's this usual entrepreneur founder thing, right? You're always thinking about the business. It's always there in the background. And I can't tell you how many aha moments I've had either while I'm working out where I'm driving somewhere, listening to music, or getting ready in the morning.

Like these things just happen because you're not actively thinking about the problem that you're facing. It's just percolating the background. And then all of a sudden you have that aha moment. So let me ask you this. So you've been doing this for a good stretch now, 19 years.

Is there anything that in those 19 years that if you could go back in time, you would go back and do differently now that you know what you know now?

[00:26:04] Diane Helbig: Oh, yeah. One of the things that I would do differently is I would not get into partnerships with people who I didn't know well enough to know whether it really made sense.

It was the excitement of it and turned out that it was not good and it hurt my business and and I stayed in it too long. That's the other thing. I should have pulled the Band Aid off, but there were you know, I had games. I was playing with myself about why I had to stay.

[00:26:36] Sanjay Parekh: So yeah, and that's, I think that's a common human thing to write.

There's a lot of people, I'm sure people that are listening to this right now that have somebody in their organization that they know that doesn't fit, doesn't work, is not a good, team member. And yet they're reluctant to fire that person because it's that hard conversation. And as humans, we tend to avoid having those hard conversation.

I can't tell you how many of these discussions I've had with other business owners or, people running, in management and we talk about somebody in their business and they're like, I'm hoping it'll get better. I'm like, what has it ever gotten better on its own like that? And they'll sit and think, no, it's, never gotten better.

And everybody knows that this is not a good fit. You've probably hit upon this too with business owners. How do you counsel them to do something? Because you've experienced it yourself. Yeah. You've been the reluctant one. How do you translate that into advice for others?

[00:27:38] Diane Helbig: Yeah. So one of the things that I tell them is, is we go through what is this person's contribution actually, right?

So we do a T chart. What is their contribution? What are their detractors? And we have a conversation around how do you weigh those? Because a lot of people will say, they're a great performer, but they're toxic to the culture. Okay. Then I don't care how great of a performer they are, you got to get rid of them.

But, what I know is, especially with business owners, they have to come to that realization. And they have to understand, one of the things I tell them is that person's not happy there and you're actually doing them a favor. By having that conversation with them and releasing them to go someplace else.

And you can work with them on that. You can say to them, this really doesn't seem like this is where you should be. So let's figure out a plan for you to go interview and find something else. While we find someone to, take your place or you can go now if you want, but if you don't, we can figure out this plan because the business owner, I think feels.

Like guilty, letting someone go and all of a sudden they don't have income. So you don't have to do it that way. there's different ways of doing it, depending on how they don't fit. I say, some people you just have to let go, but I really try and walk them through what is the contribution?

What is the detractor? And remind them that everyone in the company knows. Exactly what's going on, and they're interpreting it. The longer you let that person stay, what you're saying to everyone else is, I don't care about you enough to fix that. And they don't look at it that way. So my job, I feel like, is to help them see the whole picture of the impact that this problem is generating so that they feel more they understand. They really just have to do it.

[00:29:43] Sanjay Parekh: I think you hit the nail on the head right there of the message that it sends when we as business leaders, its founders, its entrepreneurs don't deal with these hard things. And honestly, that's the reason why we're in the position that we're in. It's our responsibility to have those hard conversations and make those decisions. Diane, this has been a fantastic conversation. I hope it's been helpful for our listeners that are running small businesses. Where can our listeners find and connect with you online?

[00:30:13] Diane Helbig: So they can go to my website, Helbig Enterprises, and everything is there. I'm on the social platforms too, mostly on LinkedIn. So connect with me on LinkedIn; always open to hearing people's situations.

[00:30:26] Sanjay Parekh: Awesome. Thanks so much for being on the show today.

[00:30:28] Diane Helbig: Thank you

[00:30:33] Sanjay Parekh: Thanks for listening to this week's episode of the Side Hustle to Small Business podcast, powered by Hiscox. To learn more about how Hiscox can help protect your small business through intelligent insurance solutions, visit Hiscox.com. And to hear more Side Hustle to Small Business stories, or share your own story, please visit Hiscox.com/side-hustle-to-small-business. I'm your host, Sanjay Parekh. You can find out more about me at my website, SanjayParekh.com.