Episode 14
# Episode 14
# Topics - Tom Delicati
3:21 What was the ramp-up to the decision to become an entrepreneur?
The E-Myth - Gerber
“The entrepreneurial seizure”
It happened at the end of summer 2016, “Could think about doing this”
Leadup was organic
User community involvement
Giving back to the community
Presentations and sessions
The high of helping other people
Tom gives the example of a Shipping & Receiving Project that made a real impact.
Nick shares his memory of the projects and how the volume continued to increase as the department added value.
The more successful projects they completed, the more Tom wanted to share it with the community.
Some current clients saw him do a user-group presentation 4 years earlier
Those presentations were focused on merely giving back.
Tom presented at Epicor’s national conference for 8 years straight.
From time to time, he got asked to moonlight.
Other consulting orgs tried to recruit him
Tom loved his organization and had no desire to work for someone else / start over at a different org
Tom knew there was no “next step” for him to take in the business
This realization was the entrepreneurial seizure
Input from friends / family / trusted advisors only confirmed going out on his own was the logical next step
13:07 John’s observation about IT Operations aligning with the business and articulating impacts
Selling the good ideas the right way
Tom emphasized the person who is often hardest to convince but perhaps the biggest decision maker is the CFO
John thought of IT as below the line as opposed to above the line dollars
Tom stressed the idea of thinking like a manufacturer because of his client base
18:29 What challenges were helped by IT skills
Tom stresses that technology isn’t always the answer.
Can the organization and the people involved handle the amount of change being proposed?
The 95% solution might be simpler than the 100% solution
Edge cases can be complex
A business focused on process orientation is better than relying on people as experts.
An analog process for an edge case can be better than a tech solution
At the core, how creatively can you solve this problem?
Tech solutions can be
Too expensive
Too time intensive to implement
Too much of a change in process for the people involved
24:06 Knowing what you know now, what skills were you missing? “What would you do differently?”
Better plan for mentorship in starting a business
Working in a business helped with understanding how businesses work, and it seemed like figuring things out along the way was a workable solution.
Stepping out on his own was challenging
Taking on the responsibility to do all the work was overwhelming
Freedom in being an entrepreneur, but corresponding stress
He started with 2-3 big clients
Word spread quickly without active marketing
10 years of user group involvement paid off
Didn’t want to say “No”.
Wanted to be all things to all people
The right advice would have helped
Did you take on too many projects too quickly?
Fear: What if the work isn’t here tomorrow?
Fear: Can I say “No” now and go back to them later?
Fear drove decisions that led to being overloaded.
Needed help
He needed to manage expectations with clients (especially speed) differently than with internal customers at his former employer.
Home runs vs. Base hits to Tom are not the same as customer perception
Definitions and Sustainability
Clients aren’t inside your head
He’s not inside their heads
Customers value how well you communicate with them.
33:50 Lessons applicable to the internal IT department
Communicating with a business unit
Scope
Success definition
Communication
The luxury of figuring out things as he went evaporated when making the move to his own business
- Asking the right questions to scope the project early on are critical.
Tom focuses on helping clients make the right decisions to produce desired outcomes, even if detrimental to his own company’s revenue
The trust from these type of relationships with customers is priceless
Example of a client’s laser focus on process improvement for accounts payable when the data that showed diminishing returns of improvement in this area
41:23 Scaling the business
Trial and error and better mentorship would have helped
Tom started with a vision for the company and was distracted from it due to volume of work
The vision wasn’t a one-person, independent contractor
How Tom scaled the business by focusing on the end game
Relinquishing control of processes when delegating to others wasn’t easy
Tom weighs in on learning to trust
John’s book recommendation for Tom – Corp Business
Corps Business: The 30 Management Principles of the U.S. Marines
David Freedman
Tom mentions his commitment to continued personal development
A popular response from Tom when asked for advice - “I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”
Listen for Tom’s mic drop moment. Do you agree?