Starting your own business can be lonely. To be your own boss, you sometimes have to start with a one-man team. You’ll probably end up doing everything yourself just like what happened to Russell Johansen of My Paper Cups.
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An Entrepreneur Wears Many Hats
Russell’s company provides branded paper coffee cups to large corporates and SME’s for special functions and events, giving them that edge and increasing brand awareness.
Can you imagine handling sales and operations, then being client liaison without a production manager? Russell was also doing client management and organising deliveries too. The list of roles is dizzying enough and the amount of tasks Russell had to perform each day is astounding.
Russell realised very quickly that his business was never going to grow while he was the only person doing everything. He realised the skillset he had wasn’t where it needed to be for the business to go where he wanted it to go.
When The Student Is Ready, The Teacher Appears
Russell knew that in order to achieve the high level of success that he had mapped out in his goals, he would need to have the right structure, the right systems and someone who had been there before and had the knowledge to help him achieve these goals. He needed a mentor.
The My Paper Cups founder wasn’t looking for just any mentor. There had to be a perfect fit. Russell had several specifications in mind and knew it would be hard to find someone who ticked all his boxes.
“I was looking for someone who could guide us as to what are the steps we need to take,” he shared. Russell also emphasized the need for his mentor to be able to coach him what he needed to do and show him how including providing all the resources and tools he would need.
He found exactly just that at Business Blueprint when he met Dale Beaumont.
Business Blueprint Appeal
When Russell joined Business Blueprint, he found himself enjoying the membership benefits including 4 annual live conferences, bi-monthly interactive webinars, and access to business consultants he can contact anytime for support. He also had access to an online library with step-by-step training videos and resources he would need for his business. Best of all was the community that cheered him on and supported him.
Russell was excited to implement the same systems that Business Blueprint had in place. He knew if he incorporated those systems into his business, he could finally move forward to the next phase of his business growth.
Two weeks after the systems were outlined and laid down, they were running Russell’s business.
“It’s fantastic!” he exclaimed.
A Business Transformed
In the beginning, Russell’s business was taking over his life with the sheer amount of hours and work he had to pour into it. But after systems were implemented, it experienced great growth in both revenue and profit. It was a business transformed. It even allowed Russell to branch out and launch My Plastic Cups.
“We now have a business that we operate and we manage as opposed to it managing our lives,” he said. He added that most of the business runs without him being involved. “I love that,” he gushed.
In just twelve months, the change has been phenomenal and Russell credits Business Blueprint for making it all possible. He appreciates having access to people who are that smart and generous with their time, even bouncing ideas off each other and getting feedback.
“That’s excellent for us,” he affirmed.
