Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in business development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Paul Cantrell, Founder & CEO, of The Business Superstars, located in Fishers, IN, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

I help home and commercial services business owners create a robust business strategy and plan to consistently grow their business. Additionally, I teach the owners the critical business skills needed to continue to run and operate the business to achieve their near-term and long-term goals and dreams.

Tell us about yourself

For more than 20 years, I have helped businesses across many industries improve their performance as a management consultant for a large firm. As the pandemic hit and I saw many small businesses struggle, I decided to bring my expertise to this market to help business owners and their families. I like to say I shifted from helping companies to helping people. I have taken the wealth of knowledge, skills, and tools I learned as a business consultant to build a program to help business owners in residential and commercial services turn their businesses into scalable companies that can significantly grow and improve profits. I love helping hard-working business owners in these industries make a better life for themselves and their families. Many of these business owners are experts in their trade and have done well starting their own businesses but may lack some of the business expertise needed to take it to the next level. I love helping people and seeing them make a better life for themselves. As the creator of the Residential and Commercial Services Business Blueprint, I now have a practical and proven program that can help me do exactly that.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Just doing it. I knew for a few years that I wanted to leave the corporate world and do something else. But like many others, I played it safe and stuck with the well-paying, stable job for longer. Finally, making the plunge into the chaotic world of business ownership was a scary and exciting decision. My only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

For me, the hardest thing has been adapting to motivating myself and managing my time better. As an employee, your day is kind of planned out. You have meetings and things that need to be done, and you get them done. As a business owner, you have to make yourself do things that are necessary for the business but aren’t super urgent. Some of this is just time management, but more of it is just mindset. We need to really understand why we want this business to succeed and be ready to do whatever it takes to make the business work.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Set clear goals for the business and for your role as a business owner. And make sure these goals get you excited about the business. Continue to visualize the business hitting or exceeding those goals, so you keep your passion and excitement up for the business.
  2. Decide how you are going to make your business stand out. Especially for home services businesses, many of them all sound the same. When you sound like everyone else, you then have to compete on price and will always feel that pressure to discount. By having a unique expertise or target market, you reduce competition and increase your value, and thus the prices you can charge.
  3. Understand your numbers. Knowing how to read your financial statements and understanding where you need to make improvements is critical to scaling your business and staying profitable

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.thebusinesssuperstars.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paul.cantrell.73/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulcantrell/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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