In this special episode of our podcast, we are moving beyond our usual focus of interviews to take a unique look at opportunity-making from the perspective of exponential leaders and service providers in 2024.

I'll share insights from my experiences as an entrepreneur myself and the lessons learned from those changing the world at scale.

If you are looking to learn more on how to navigate and leverage the challenges and changes in the global landscape, including economic turmoil and global events so that you can turn these into opportunities for growth and success this is the episode for you.

Let’s get started…

About the Host:

Jim Padilla is the founder and CEO of Gain The Edge - a done-for-you provider of industry-leading sales systems and unicorn sales professionals which he co-heads with his wife and entrepreneurial partner-in-crime, Cyndi Padilla.

Through their unique blend of laser-targeted selling systems, inspirational team-building expertise, and 60+ years of combined sales experience - Jim and his wife have generated over 1/4 bn in sales for a long line of high-level, visionary entrepreneurs.

Jim’s mission is to help purpose-driven thought-leaders untangle themselves from the day-to-day minutiae of seeking leads and sales for their business so they’re free to amplify their impact.

When Jim’s not making dollars rain down from the sky, you’ll regularly find him at the driving range - hitting a bucket of balls. Jim credits his time on the driving range as the main source of his best ideas.

Recently relocated back to California, Jim & Cyndi are immersing themselves in family time with their three daughters & four (soon to be five) grandchildren.

Connect with Jim at https://jimp360.com

If you want to see more great content like this, make sure to subscribe and ring the bell so you will get notified whenever we post a new video. And don't forget to rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts.

Hey, welcome back to another episode of opportunity makers. And I want to take a minute here to, to go a different direction, we're gonna make a little pivot, we're going to spend a little bit of time here, just talking about having some some thoughts from opportunity makers perspective, as we approach the end of the year. And as we're moving into the next year. And for those who've been following along our sales team ready podcast, this is not duplicate. This is a different perspective, that is all about sales and scaling. This is about creating opportunities as an exponential, elevated leader, and service provider, and opportunity maker, someone is a game changer. There's certain things we want to be thinking about as we're moving into the next year, as you're aligning your business and your network. And the opportunities that you are taking advantage of and creating for others, that there's some thought processes that we want to be addressing, there's just things that we want to be cleaning up, buttoning up, preparing for moving. And so I'm going to share what I see and what I have gained. And based on, you know, being a very blessed entrepreneur, service provider, somebody who's done some things at some elevated scale, and been around awful lot of people who are doing things at a tremendous pace and a tremendous scale, doing things that are changing the world at scale. And so just giving you my summation of, of what that all will do. And so you can take you have some good takeaways, some great, some great nuggets here, some insights, some things to think about, hopefully, some different some ways to think differently. And so, all of everything up to this point is aside from the first couple of episodes for the opportunity makers, has been interviews. And again, I love to do the interviews, because I feature so many amazing people. And I've been blessed, you know, the opportunity makers podcast is centered and focused around people that are scaling people that are exiting companies, people that are acquiring companies, people that are rolling public, people that have had some exponential opportunities, and the main focus has been so that we can bring you some, some hope, some encouragement, you know, that whatever is going on in the world, and Washington, in the Middle East, in Ukraine, whatever else, you know, as we are approaching the end of 2023, and all the wars and all of the chaos and the craziness and the inflation and you know, the good, bad and the ugly, what's happening in the world, this stuff is really affecting the marketplace and the economy. And its impacts how a lot of people think, and we just come across so many people that are doing everything we can to circle the wagons and protect that we're not leaning in to take advantage of all of the opportunity that exists when you are in a sea of challenges and problems and hurdles and obstacles. When the the people who are winning the people who take advantage of life, the people who seize the moments are the people who see all of this as opportunity, they see those as dots to be connected, to be able to pull into great things that can occur. And so those are the those are the interviews that you know that we bring in, I want to replicate my you know, repeating myself too much on all this stuff. But you know, those interviews are important. And I'm going to continue to bring them I have so many amazing people that I've had, I've been very blessed financially and strategically in so many ways, I'm going to continue to bring them to you. So that you could see just so many different ways to be able to think bigger, differently, more expansive, and be able to, you know, narrow the focus, and increase the outcomes for all you're able to do. And that will continue to be a theme. But what I'm going to do also is insert more, more solo episodes more my thoughts for what is going on, because that is some of the feedback that we're getting, we get people who reach out and say, Hey, Jim, this is great. I love the interviews, but we didn't want to hear where you are your thoughts about these things. And so I do appreciate that, that we're getting the feedback in the comments, say, Hey, I would love to hear about this and even to hear what you think about this. And so make sure that you're always doing that, please be sure to rate review and subscribe as we're here. Because the more you do, the more it gets favored and the more it gets put in front of the right people and then you know the opportunities just even better. And and I'm loved. If you're appreciating what we're sharing, then I would love to get more of it out to you. And if there's anything specific that you want to hear a specific challenge that you want to address, then let me know and we'll we will address it or we will bring an expert in who will who can who can have a great interview around it. But right now for these next couple of episodes, what we're going to do is as we're transitioning through the end of 2023 and into 2024. So no matter where you're listening to this, think about period change, not just not just year change could be going from one quarter to the next one month to the next one season to the next. One event to the next. Or end of 2024 going into 2025 Doesn't matter wherever it is. As you move through transitions, these are some of the things that I want you to be that one encourage you to be thinking about, from an opportunity makers perspective, somebody who's moving and shaking, it's not so much transaction focused, right, and the sales team ready podcast, we talk a lot about, about strategies and processes and systems and ways to, to scale your company to grow and make increased transactions and, and get more leverage out of whatever you're doing. From the opportunity makers perspective is, it's you know, the difference with with the sales team, right podcasts is their sales team ready perspective and approach is how are we getting you ready to grow your company? How are we getting your company ready to make more sales and serve more people? Whereas from the opportunity makers perspective, the company is really the product. So how are you? How are you leaning in and leveraging your business as the mechanism to solve a problem? Is your business part of something bigger? Is a are there other companies that fit in acquire into your business that, you know, are you do? Is there a portfolio opportunity? Is there a network of businesses that you're putting together? Are there things so so basically looking at instead of you know, there's in the business on the business and above the business, and Roland Frasier first place I heard that, and in the business is when you are creating the transactions on the business is your How are you dialing in the business to be able to do the transactions? And above the business is how is your business? The transaction? Think how are you acquiring businesses to support what you're doing? How are you acquiring new revenue streams? How are you building new partnerships and strategic alliances that help grow your business that help that add value to the business and to the opportunity to the to it to make your business more valuable and viable and viable? As a result, because you now have other things that can plug and play? And so that's what a lot of that's really the difference in the flavor between the two. I've had people ask me, you know, what is that they're both about exponential thinking exponential growth. But that's really the big difference is, instead of growing the business, how are you using the business to grow? Your mission, your vision, your network, your empire? Okay, so we're gonna talk a little bit in these next couple episodes about, you know, what are the trends? Right, here's some things that you want to be thinking about, right? What are the trends that you're seeing in the marketplace? or for your business or similar businesses? What are you seeing in form of a technology? What's happening in the scalability landscape? How do How are businesses put together so that they can snap together more, more functionally, right, that it happens so much more frequently, now that people are starting to design a business that is that is ready made to have somebody else's business bolt in bolt on its, you know, as an opportunity maker, many times we think about mergers and acquisitions, in terms of acquiring our constraints, acquiring the things and the businesses out there that can have somebody rather than spending time effort energy to create a solution to a problem. What if you just acquire it? Right, and you're acquiring? I know, this is, you know, this is the the conversation that you're already having, or at least be thinking about, as you scale? Instead of just what is your company doing? What are the what is the opportunity for your network of companies, your partnership network? You know, where are the investors and the buyers and the people who could plug into what you're doing and, and make that go? So the thing is, that we want to address here and next, in this episode, specifically, in next couple episodes is, what are the things to be thinking about, as you're making those decisions? Right, so it's not just how do I continue to grow? But how do I effectively change so that I'm moving closer towards my greater impacts? Right? What are the things that I want to accomplish? And is my portfolio of businesses my network of business already structured to to, to, to feed that? Or is is what's happening inside of my network of businesses inside of my companies? Is it or is it at a place where because it's, um, putting so much focus on that is really keeping me from being able to drive to my next level of growth? Is there something here is am I should I now be looking at getting about selling or piecemealing, my, my, my portfolio, my as my companies, right? Because a lot of times we think just acquire, acquire, acquire, and I know I've been caught up in this that perspective, it's exciting at times to be like, Hey, I'm building an empire here. Let me keep continuing to grow and grab all these opportunities. And as we spent in the last couple of years, dividing up our company into divisions, and those divisions into entities and then partnering with other people. So where there's other people fulfilling on our products and services and solutions, that it's easy to get caught up in though then all of a sudden, that becomes the business that you're running. Instead of really looking at you know, maybe it's just time to let go with some of those things, maybe selling them off, or just, you know, are just no longer running them. They're, you know, separating from a partnership, etc. It's

like, where are you going and what is what are the things that are going to cause drag for for you, right? So, super quick reminder for you, for those who don't know, gain the edge, you know, it's our company, I'm Jim pedia and my wife, Cindy. And we spend our time scaling companies, you know, as a transactional company, people hire us to provide sales teams and then to come in and plug and play as a sales team or provide sales people for for campaigns, events, challenges, launches, and projects. And, and then in so doing, we also create strategies, systems processes, offers anything related to scaling the company, making sure that revenue is happening every day sales are happening consistently. And so what we then we've been building a network of, of solutions and companies that are supporting the service based entrepreneur in this scaling journey, so that we can bring partners in to be able to solve those problems. And we want to be a one stop shop, and really leaning into you know, where, where are the mergers and acquisitions, opportunities that are coming? And where are? Where are the portfolio opportunities, where we are? Where is it so we can be providing greater solutions for people who are really doing things at a big bigger level, people were thinking exponentially, people are changing the world at scale, and helping other people see that it's not so hard, it is not so far away. And you know, here's the one thing that I do want to make sure you are seeing as well is that you know, the people that are bringing you, they're all awesome, every single person in these interviews, we are going to bring, there's many more that are in the can that are ready to come out as we move into next year. But I'm not discounting anybody's brilliance here. There's a lot of really smart, amazing people. But more than anything, they're driven. And they're goal focused, and their visions are clear. They know what they want. They know who they are, they know who they're wanting to become. And they're laser focused on it. So they're really good at saying no, they're really good at preparing the right opportunities, and seeing is this going to help me, you know, exponentially grow towards that vision. Because the more success you have, the more opportunities that come just the way it works. Like what you know, I am a magnet for opportunities. The more things that we do well, the more opportunities that show up. And the IB find that the greatest decision making you have is not how you put the right strategy in place. But how do you know what to say no to? Right? How do you know what to push away? How do you know what to delay and put on the shelf? So maybe it's not a no, it's just not right now. But it might fit later down the road? Right? And then who else comes into play to make these things happen? So some of the questions you want to be looking at is, you know, what are the trends that you're seeing in the industry that you're in? Or in which industries that you are supporting? And what are you expecting to happen as a result of those trends? Right, here's, here's here's a questioning format that I use for a lot of things. And whenever we see something, a bump in the road, or an obstacle or something that's not working, so what what are we seeing? What are we doing about it? And what do we expect the outcome to be? After we do? The thing about it? Right? So what are we seeing? What are we? What are we doing about it? And what do we expect to be the new result or outcome after we do after we make the change? And so that way, you can constantly be evaluating everything that's happening? Is this working the way we want it to? What are we seeing? What do we expect out, here's a change that we see that we are going to put into play. And here's the effect of that change that we anticipate happening. And then everything else is starting to build in that direction. So start looking at that for yourself, what trends, what limitations are starting to occur, what things are no longer going to be in play? Because AI has shifted technology, you know, something we think about a lot is, you know, because of AI and we have colleagues and and friends that are building of so many AI solutions in the sales and appointment setting and call center environment. And so you know how much how much effort, energy and resources do we want to be putting into optimizing our call centers and our outbound strategies, technologies? Or to where do we acquire and or partner with companies that are already starting to do that? So then we can plug and play say, Where does the technology in the humanity begin? Right? So that you're always going to be looking at that because the technology, here's my, my, my take on it. And every conversation that I've had is that technology is not here to replace humanity. It is here to enhance humanity. And for some people, it will replace them. And for some industries, it'll be replaced but there's always a way to see around the corners, the more thought process you put into what is it going to what is it going to eliminate so by So eliminating, what is it going to create? I have not seen any scenario where something that that one problem gets saw All that doesn't create a new problem, every solution comes inherent with it more problems at a higher level. And so the more you can be forward thinking about that, the more questions you can ask and the more seating you can put in place. So you can start seeing, here's what's going to be necessary. And here's how I can play into that. Here's how I acquire it, here's how I partner with it, here's how I move through it. And, you know, or is it something you're going to sit out, and if you're gonna sit out, then you know, have you thought through what that looks like sitting it out means not being able to take advantage of the opportunity, or it means you know that there's something coming around the corner, that will be a culmination of these activities. And you want to plug into that. There's, there's a lot so I, you know, I like I'm not a technology guy, I'm smart. You know, and I understand I'm a power user. But I'm not a programmer, I don't program stuff. I don't write code, to create technology. But I find ways to be able to be useful and valuable, relevant, and be able to tap into those technologies to be able to build further our companies, our solutions and our partners, and really good at being able to partner with people who are those people so that I am valuable to them and have an added resource in the solution. And I want you to consistently be thinking about that. Don't just think this isn't for me think how can it be for me? What what is necessary? How do I become an ally to this solution? Right? What's going on in the poll in the in the political arena? Right, what's going on in the political arena and in the economy? And in your industry? Just you know, be asking answering those questions, be thinking about that, as we're moving through this what what is going on in Washington, or at the capital of your state or at the city hall of your city, there's decisions being made, and all three of those levels that are affecting you and your business, your economy, how you acquire how you, you know, whether everything from capital gains tax to how you acquire how you recruit in to how you recruit, and retain people to how you pay them to what kind of you know, everything is moving in the in regulations on a regular basis. And something that we're a want to plant a seed for you to be thinking about is what are the what, who are the political and media alignments that could be carrying your flag? Right? What what politician is all for your industry is all for entrepreneurship is all for the people that you serve, that you can then get them onto your shows, get him on your podcast, get him into your immediate environment? What media personalities speak to, or promote the things you do? Are there business journalists, are there industry specific industry related media personnel that are that are on your side that are waving your flag that would love to be able to sprite more about what you're doing? And how are you aligning with them as partners so that you can then bring content to them and through them, so that when you're ready to, in when you are doing a PR campaigns, these people are already on your side already in your camp already waving your flag by so you want to think about that what's going to happen in 2024, start aligning, start planning those allies and those alignments now, so that you're poised and ready for whatever acquisitions, or launches, product launches and knowledge bases that you're going to be putting out in the coming year. So don't wait till then to start scrambling for what PR is, for what PR is out there and available and necessary. Start thinking about right now who those people are and start getting them in your camp and are working through those alliances and you'd be stunned at how many people will Did you can mend your ear with again, with special weather, you can just go to local city hall, or your governor's capitol and you know, in your state or the White House, there are a lot of people who they just need a clear vision, they need to be clearly shown until what's at stake, if they have this this particular solution, bending in their direction and what does it mean to their communities that they support and the voters in their communities and the tax base in those communities, the revenue? What are those things it's your job as the entrepreneur is your job as the opportunity maker as the person who is the gatekeeper the vision caster for the for the mission that you are a part of, it's your job and solely yours, to ensure that the message is being carried out that is being put in front of the right people that it's being received the right way. And that is clear that what you bring to it so they know why they want to align align themselves with you and in your camp. Right. So

I would love to have a conversation with you and whenever you whatever thoughts you're having about this anything you're thinking about the exponential stage you're looking at about acquiring anything here, you're looking for some exponential opportunities that can really materialize for you in this next year, I'd love to brainstorm around any of that with you, and get you on the podcast. And we'll talk about it. Right. But here's a couple of things we're gonna talk about in the next couple of episodes that come up here. As we're moving through the end of the year, and the end of the period into the next one is going to be we're talking about scalability, right? What are what are the things that you what are the things that are going to be easier to scale than they have been? Innovation? Right? What are the pieces of what are the things that you're going to be innovating versus not just technology, but in strategies and systems and processes? There's a lot of change that's coming through coming that's on the horizon, as we move into 2024? market penetration? Where are you increasing your presence? And in the market? Where are you able to penetrate greater because of the technology because of two way your network your business? Your businesses are aligned. And then it's talent acquisition and development? What kind of talent is available right now, that hasn't been? What kind of Talent is not a good idea to be moving with? And what do you need to be do to be to be thinking about having that be a ready made solution for you? And then of course, capital investment? Where are your capital resources? Who are the people that are ready to buy into what you're doing? And where are the places that you need to be thinking about being ready to be able to invest in solutions, and opportunities as they occur? So and then, you know, the last couple of pieces that were that are that are planned to talk about, as of this moment is customer focus? What is the customer? What is the customer base that you're that you best serve, not just from company, company, company to company perspective, but the way that we determine an ideal buyer beware, we call a qualified booked appointment in a lot of our roles is like, how do we how do you find the buying network, the buyers, that the buyer, the networks of buyers, excuse me, that are designed to buy all of the things you sell in all of your companies? Right. So when you're structuring your business networks, that way, your portfolio companies that way? Which, again, I know I'm preaching to the choir, a lot of you are already thinking this way. But it's not just acquiring those businesses of what are you doing to acquire businesses that can put people on a conveyor belt of solutions, right, they move from one to the next. And there's so much cross pollination within those companies that it just makes sense for people to be served and supported in your world. And then once they do, they recognize your brand, your feel your flavor, and they decide that they just want to park here and camp here and get their solutions met. With you sitting at the table with you sitting inside of your network is no, I got this, and I've got this and I got this, I can get all the things that I want that. And there's some great examples that I'm gonna share a couple in the next episode that we're doing. But I again, I know, you're already thinking about a lot of this stuff, I just want to see what I can do to help shake some things up and implant some, some different thoughts in your mind. Right. So the next is, of course, you know, again, operational efficiency, you know, what streamline processes that we need to be putting in place? What things you know, I have seen a trend in people in companies that are optimizing things that maybe you should just be eliminating, right? Why are we optimizing things that right now are just extra

steps, extra cost? Extra, just extra resource

simply because that's how we've always been doing it. And and there's big opportunities to be gained. For people who are who can build solutions that become the glue between you between multiple companies, like I said, Where can you where do you build an opportunity that has an open, so I like Legos, if you're building an opportunity to have some place for somebody else, to literally plug their business right into yours. And then or something that you can acquire and plug in, right away. There's so much more of that than I'm starting to see on the landscape. And, you know, those are open discussions that I want to share. A lot of this is just brainstorming and brainstorming with you. And other things. I'm sharing specific examples of what I'm seeing, I would love to see hear what you're seeing as well. Right? And then of course, risk management, you know, we got to be thinking about risk management consistently, as we're moving forward, because everybody's got different tolerance, of course of risk for risk. And then we got to be thinking about what is what is, you know, what do we do? What can we do to mitigate the, the downside, right, of all the things that we're doing, because there are so many good opportunities out there. And I do find that the people who are able to take advantage of the of the opportunities that show while mitigating the risk of the people who are going to are going to win and it doesn't mean mitigating all the risk. It means mitigating the immediate risk that that will get by you some time and help you see around some corners until you start getting the actual growth in the end, the readiness that you are seeing in the other areas so that you can continue to mitigate risk. You know, and right now I think we've had a higher number higher risk tolerance than has ever been experienced in the business world before because things change so fast. So there's things where you maybe would not invest in a company or take on an opportunity, because a decade from now might not, might not be the right thing, or is right now, you know, maybe you maybe you acquire something for the short term, right, maybe you have a short term acquisition strategy that will get you through the next season, while you're building something different or working to acquire a more longer term solution. So it's just, man, I get so excited about it, cuz there's so much opportunity, so many things going on. And every conversation I have with other powerful business leaders and people that are just changing the world and kicking ass and taking names, it's just, I'm stunned and amazed at all of the ideas and all of the opportunities that just keep coming. And more than if nothing else happens here. Besides you getting excited about the possibilities, just know that these are not for the big guys, this is how you become the big guys. Right? You can acquire your way to exponential growth, you don't have to get there and then start buying companies. There's a lot of ways to look at how can you have How can you have pieces of other companies? How can you have a powerful solution that isn't just reliant upon the things you do inside of your business to be able to feed you? Right? How many things how many ways can you be diverse, and powerful, and a huge service in demand and humble and desirable, and salt problem solving man just there's, there's so every one of you is great, great, that person with a great opportunity. There's nothing no matter where you are sitting, if you're within earshot, or watching this podcast, there's opportunities, all you got to do is reach out and touch one. And hopefully will give you some more inspiration to do so. And between these these, with these couple of episodes that we're going to be rolling into what things should you be thinking about what things can be doing to be looking around corners, so that you can set yourself up to be able to win in a down market in interesting economy where there's a lot of fear, a lot of speculation, and excuse me, and set yourself up to win. And we're happy and honored to be part of that journey with you. You know, so make sure you check out the show notes. There's some some resources and ways to connect with me. There's also again, more information about our sales team ready podcast, and other ventures that we have coming up. But more than anything I thank you for for being here along with us on this ride. Thanks for being part of our allowing us to be part of your success team. And, you know, I just I'm really humbled by all the opportunity that exists and for what is possible for you. So go out and make a big difference. Make a lot of money changed a lot of lives and let's go make some things happen.