Business Ain't Rocket Science

By Matthew Grisafe

Matthew Grisafe, owner of AV Programming Associates, offers insights from his 20-year journey in business ownership. Grisafe is no business guru. He’s a regular guy who had a business idea and went for it. Along the way, he learned some important lessons about networking, managing employees, working from home, maintaining great relationships with clients, and more, which he shares in this approachable guide to business ownership.
In this book, you won’t find slick catch phrases or empty promises of success. Instead, you’ll find stories, examples, and actionable advice that’s applicable to business owners in any industry.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Matthew Grisafe
• Release date: Aug 25, 2021
• ISBN: 9780998507880

Book preview

Contents

FOREWORD

ADAPTING TO CHANGE

BUILDING A NETWORK

ACTIVATING YOUR NETWORK

TELL PEOPLE WHAT YOU’RE DOING

RUNNING A BUSINESS FROM HOME

REMOTE WORKERS

MANAGING PEOPLE AND PARENTNG ARE BASICALLY THE SAME

WORKING AS A TEAM... WITH OTHER TEAMS

TALKING ABOUT MONEY

RELIGION AND POLITICS IN THE WORKPLACE

SEVEN THINGS BUSINESS OWNERS THINK THEY NEED... BUT MAYBE DON’T

...AND ONE SIMPLE THING YOU DO NEED TO DO

NOTE TO READERS

ABOUT MATTHEW GRISAFE

ABOUT AV PROGRAMMING ASSOCIATES

FOREWORD

BY MATTHEW SMITH

MODMACRO CEO

Everything I needed to know about Matt Grisafe I learned in the first 30 days of working for him. I was his first hire. On day one, he gave me a huge programming manual and a sample project to work through. For the next month, he let me work and learn on my own, while still being extremely available to answer my questions. He didn’t micromanage, and he gave me all the tools I needed to succeed. He trusted me, believed in me, and supported me, and continued to do so for all of the years I worked for him.

I have an immense amount of respect for Matt as a business owner. His company, AV Programming Associates, has outlasted many of the programming companies that started around the same time. Matt’s dedication to integrity and his natural desire to forge lasting, genuine relationships has fortified his company, and may be the cornerstone of its success.

Over the past 20 years, Matt has weathered three national economic crises, completed more than 2,000 projects, and created a trusted brand that customers continue to use over and over again. He’s developed a culture that attracts highly talented team members who then choose to stay year after year, and an environment in which everyone wants to do their best work.

In the 17 years I’ve known Matt, I’ve had the opportunity to both see and feel the effects of his personal approach to business—his fairness, thoughtfulness, and respect for clients, end users, and his team. As a business owner myself now, I often mimic things Matt did as a boss. Things like celebrating the wins (even the small ones) and telling and showing employees how valuable they are to the company.

Matt is wise when it comes to business, but still down to earth. You won’t hear a lot of buzzwords or abstract business theories from him, which is why you won’t find them in this book either. Instead, you’ll get actionable advice that is based on real-world experience from someone who has a business record that backs up his words. He takes a mentorship approach to management, but probably wouldn’t ever call himself a mentor. He’s just being himself. He cares about people and wants to see them succeed in whatever they’re doing.

This isn’t a how to book, but more of a how I did it book. Take note of his approach to building and maintaining relationships and how he manages projects. You will undoubtedly find his people-first attitude toward business to be both refreshing and enlightening.

If you’re looking to start or grow a small business, regardless of industry or market, I’m confident you’ll find valuable ideas here that you can immediately begin to implement and that will improve your business.

"In life… and business…

you have two options:

make excuses or make changes.

Which one is going to get you closer to where you want

to go?"

-CHRISTINA M. DEBUSK

|1|

ADAPTING TO CHANGE

The business you currently operate is dying. That may sound dramatic, but hear me out. If you continue to do things exactly as you are doing them today, your business will eventually die.

Things are constantly changing and if you don’t change with them, it will mean the end of your business. It probably won’t be overnight—especially if you already have an established business—but the day will come when the phone stops ringing or orders stop being placed. On the other hand, if you are able to effectively adapt to things like changing customer demands, new technology, and additional government regulations, your business could be one that thrives when others are forced to fold. It makes me think about the quote Morgan Freeman made famous in The Shawshank Redemption: Get busy living or get busy dying.

It wasn’t always this way. There was a time when businesses could stay the same for long periods of time and still see success, but not anymore. Things in our world are changing too quickly.

I’m not a fan of change just for change’s sake. However, I am open to changing aspects of my business when it makes sense. I tend to adapt only when it’s necessary or when I see an opportunity that I can’t pass on. In other words, if I think it’s a smart move for my business, I’ll pivot—even if it’s uncomfortable, or if I might be making less money for a time.

I’m not just talking about changing the products and services your business offers, either. You also need to be open to changing the way in which you conduct your business if you want to thrive in today’s marketplace.

MARKETING

The way you market your business is a big one. If you’re old enough to remember the Yellow Pages, you know that’s pretty much how everyone used to find local businesses. Businesses spent a lot of money taking out large print ads in the Yellow Pages, and for some, it was the only marketing they did.

I don’t know if the Yellow Pages even exist anymore. Companies that relied solely on the Yellow Pages for marketing probably don’t exist anymore either.

My company used to attend a lot of trade shows back in the day. It was pretty much expected that all of the top programming companies would be at the big shows every year. We spent a ton of money making our booth look great and flying several of our employees out and putting them up in hotels for the week. Eventually we realized that attending these shows just didn’t make sense from a marketing perspective. Sure, we were networking, making connections, and having a good time while we were there, but there was no return on the investment. We weren’t getting any work from trade shows.

We decided to stop attending them and instead used the money on other types of marketing that had a much better return on investment. We got some pushback from others in the industry, but we stuck to our guns, and it turned out to be a great move for us financially.

We took some of the money we saved and invested heavily in our website because we determined that’s how the majority of our customers were going to find us.

When we first launched our company, we had a simple, one-page website. That’s pretty much all anyone had in the early 2000s—it was all that was expected. That’s not the case anymore. Today’s consumers want to be able to do extensive research online before they contact a company. They don’t just want to know what services your company provides. They also want to know about your company and about you personally—what you stand for and what your values are. To compete in the marketplace, you need to have a comprehensive website that tells people what they want to know.

When it comes to marketing, you have to make sure your company is visible where your potential customers are looking—and those places are always changing. If you’re not sure where you should be marketing your goods or