MK: Bryan, we would like to hear your story. What inspired you to follow an entrepreneurial career and how did you get to where you are today? Leave no detail out.
BM: Everyone’s failure around me lead me to be an entrepreneur.
Growing up in Pennsylvania mostly with my mom and her side of the family, I watched my mother, grandfather and uncle struggle to become an entrepreneur or have a successful entrepreneurial business. So, I decided it’s not IF I become an entrepreneur, it was only when because I wanted to change the legacy of my family.
So, my whole career I looked for and excelled in positions that were entrepreneurial in nature. The only non-entrepreneurial job I had was my first job out of college and it was selling for a packaging distribution company. I did well but a “corporate” job wasn’t for me. So much so, that at my 1 year anniversary they gave me a raise on Monday and I quit that Friday. Corporate life just wasn’t for me.
So, every “job” after that was one where they gave me a desk, phone and said call me when you need help. I would go on to grow new revenue and searched out mentors and coaches that could help me get 1% better every day. Along the way, I would spend time with my referral network because they wanted me to share with them my approach to sales because they felt comfortable using the strategies, tactics, and frameworks because they were “anti-sleazy-salesperson”. This culminated with a person in my network becoming my 1st coaching client. He wanted me to help him go from a banker to a wholesale broker in the financial markets. I knew I had something with coaching my sales approach because the person I just referenced was in the top 3 of every metric the sales organization kept in his 1st 6 months and was on a path to make $500k his first year.
After growing revenue for multiple companies and helping my 1st coaching client to success, I was approached by my business partner Jeff to help him start onPurpose Growth and that’s all she wrote. The entrepreneurial journey with onPurpose Growth has been the most challenging and rewarding thing I have ever done, outside of raising my kids.
MK: Having a successful career, starting a business and raising kids, you seem to like big challenges! Speaking of which, what were the obstacles you experienced when you started onPurpose Growth?
BM: The journey hasn’t been smooth and I think most entrepreneurs can relate. Even though we had a successful framework and training, we didn’t have market awareness. So, our first 6 months was just building that awareness. We also began to realize that what we did was not really for salespeople, it was sales and revenue growth training for entrepreneurs or sales professionals who operate like entrepreneurs. It was a mistake that made the start slow and the process we used to refine this is something we share with our clients today.
MK: If you had not taken action early it would have been a challenge to get enough feedback to find your ideal audience. It sounds like those first 6 months sparked an “aha” moment that catapulted onPurpose Growth and helped shaped the solution you share with your clients. Tell us more about what onPurpose Growth is about.
BM: onPurpose Growth is a coaching and consulting firm that serves entrepreneurs with ambitious yearly or multi-year revenue goals actually fulfill their ambition. Clients tell us that when they learn and apply the strategies, frameworks and tactics, they are assessed as rare by their prospects and clients thus their offers are more readily accepted by their prospects and clients.
We are known best for being the “anti-salesy” and “anti-traditional” approach to sales. Meaning, our sales tactics are based in superior communication skills and our sales strategies, frameworks and process are based in things like, “Theory of Constraints”, “Continuous Improvement”, “Lean Six Sigma” and “Agile/Scrum”.
Clients come to us because they don’t want to subscribe to the “hustle mentality” because they know “more work” isn’t the answer to growth and scale. They realize that effectiveness and efficiency is what they want. So, strategies like figuring out ways to go from 100 cold reach outs a day to 200 reach outs a day isn’t a real strategy to them and is more of a “common” approach to sales. Thus, they feel that a “common” approach to sales isn’t something they want.
MK: And how would you define success?
BM: Success is bringing on and keeping clients I not only enjoy working with, I also create results with them. As long as I am focused on this, my business will hit its goals every day, year and 3 years and I will lead the type of life I desire.
MK: Last but not least, what are some of your influences?
BM: My best influences have been the entrepreneurs that have coached me along the way that haven’t written any books or have big names. They had a mission to help me serve people instead of selling them and I owe everything to them. They live under the radar and are focused on making a meaningful impact in the world and have empowered me to do the same.
Today’s Featured Guest:
Bryan McDonald
Partner
onPurpose Growth
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