As I reflect on the shift from 2023 to 2024, I find myself immersed in the critical questions facing opportunity makers amid evolving economic and political landscapes.

This isn't just about how these changes are reshaping our businesses; it's a deeper dive into the unique challenges for those of us not yet at the pinnacle of exponential growth.

Join me as I navigate these transformative times, strategizing on where we may need to adapt and how we can plan for a successful 2024 in this dynamic and ever-changing environment. 

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, come on in. Come on in. So glad to have you here for another awesome episode of the opportunity makers, podcasts. And again, as we're moving through the end of the year and transitioning to the new year, the focus is so what thoughts are we having? What thoughts are you having as an opportunity maker, as somebody who creates opportunities for yourself and others, what things might be good to be having top of mind as we are closing one period and moving into another especially with all that's going on in the world today. So I'm Jim pedia. As always your guide your host through this opportunity makers journey, and I am the founder of gain the edge This episode is brought to you by gain the edge and we specialize in helping companies who are scaling with sales system sales strategies, sales events, and sales teams and our pure our mission is to ensure that you're making sales every day, and that you're getting more buyers from the same number of leads and more sales from the same number of buyers, quality strategies quality offers quality, lifetime journeys, so that you are doing the things to make a revenue regular, instead of a monumental process. So if you're interested in finding out more, please others, there's always information in the show notes connect with me, I want to find out what's going on and how what is happening with your journey and what we can do to provide some connective connecting dots to be able to help you get your journey together, get your get your missions together, get your if you'll see if you're operating in multiple different silos, multiple different businesses, we want to make sure that you have a clear path and a clear plan towards accelerated revenue in all fronts. So as we are talking about, you know, it's wrapping up 2020 23. Again, I want to make sure you check the previous episode, we're talking through this right now, what are the things you should be thinking about? One of the things we're seeing, as the year end wrap up here? And especially as we're moving to 2024? Because it is it's a bit of a unique year? Well, I guess every year is unique, right? in its own right. But with all this going on in the economy and the political landscape, in real estate, at the gas station, wherever, even though as an opportunity maker it does, it's probably not impacting you as much, right? Because people who are, are successful people who are winning a bid in business, where it'll as long as you have some revenue, or not feeling the pinch, but it's the people who are on a fixed paycheck, people who haven't figured out how to make some exponential growth happen, that are really feeling the pinch. And those are the things those are people you have to be thinking about. Right? Where did the opportunities lie for you? And then of course, where do where are the opportunities that you get to create for other people, because as an opportunity maker, you have generated your success by helping people. And in times like this, we're always looking for the opportunities that we could come in and say, Okay, this is a great opportunity for us to be able to capitalize on and, you know, and get some extra, some revenue, get some increased market share, market penetration, you know, things we've seen is with all the things going on, in in the marketing landscape in the business world today, it puts a lot of people on equal footing, you know, everybody's kind of at the same starting line. And then it's just who's got the greatest amount of skill? Will desire and connections, right? Who's in your network that you're gonna be able to pull in to make this stuff all go like? Who is your who? Who's your who? So, where are your opportunities are you looking for, and in so doing, what opportunities are being created for others, right, we are really sold out to ensuring that we're creating opportunities, we create sales, collaboration opportunities, we create events, and campaigns that provide opportunity for a network of sales experts. So we're always providing opportunities for salespeople and sales leaders in our world. And and then we're always pulling together, of course, all of our network of partners, so that we're always looking for ways to serve our clients and provide for other people. And of course, you know, it compensates us throughout so that we get the reward of that too, financially. But at the end of the day, it's all about navigating, mapping out what's the ideal journey for your client or for your network of clients or the businesses that you're that you're growing or your network of businesses that you're pulling together. You still want to be looking at this as an entity and what is the journey that we're on and what is 2020 for going to pivot what are the areas that your journey is going to shift or add on what things you want to curb and get rid of? What things are we going To add, excuse me as we, as we embrace the new year, and all the opportunities that are there. So who's your who is something that's always on our mind? And always rings my bell with with Elizabeth Purvis, who was previous episode interviewed here on the podcast, but she's always who's your who? Who is your who is something we have to be thinking about all the time? So here's a couple of quick things that oh, that I want to put on the table for you to to consider. One again, what is what is the scalability, right? What's your scalability? And the way that I'm thinking about as it just jotting down some notes for each of these categories? Scalability right, for a business that's pursuing exponential growth, which is what you are right, scalability and systems, processes and infrastructure is vital. Right? What do we got to do to make sure that that is all dialed in. As the business expands, right, you must ensure that technological operational capabilities can expand seamlessly to accommodate to increase it to increase the demand. And so where is your Where are your capabilities? What is the what is the thing you need to focus on? What is it? What is the skill set? What is the one thing you need? What gap that you have to close as a leader? As a strategists as a visionary as, as a solution provider? Is there any one of your businesses or offerings that needs the greatest amount of attention? Because it doesn't have to be creating something new, it's just what's what's the degree that we work, can we add just a little bit of fine tuning and improvement, that's going to exponentially get to that increase? Right, it's where we're going to be able to put a small amount of effort, that's going to give a greater amount of outcome, or something that might require a little bit greater outcome, or excuse me greater effort, but it's going to be exponential outcomes. Hey, you know, thinking through the future needs of your resources, you know, what, what

are the technology platforms that are going to be that you're gonna be working with? I mean, that's something that's the question is always there, you know, touched on in the last episode, it's something that comes up every single day, what are the tech opportunities that are there, and as an opportunity makers, that it's not just finding a 10 bucks, hack opportunity that's going to come in to your company that is a source and a resource and a solution for your company? But what is the tech solution that you can bring in that can be a resource to all of your clients? Right? Are you? Do you have something to offer in that? Like, we're, excuse me? You know, we're we're constantly in discussions with company with with tech platforms, AI platforms that are that are it CRMs, etc, that are always there's there's they're serviceable, they're useful to the people that we serve in the scaling journey. And so where do we play the sales partner? Where do we play the growth partner? Where do we plug in, that we can be be useful and be a very powerful part of that marketing arm? Where can we play a part so that there's an up there's an upside? Alright, obviously, it's not aside from just affiliate marketing, where are the opportunities that you can bring to any technology platform, because one thing that I've seen with a lot of the tech companies right now is they're all fighting for a foothold, they're all fighting to grab a piece of visibility and viability in the marketplace. And if you can add to that piece, you can help them grow that visibility, that market penetration, right, instead of looking at just even on a consulting basis. What if you are what have you become the key factor in the growth that they are having, so that you now become part of the equity play? Right? I know, this is again, preaching to the choir here. But what are the places? And what are those ones that you're looking at? What are the companies that you're looking at? And how are you evaluating them? What are you looking at? What's the what are the key decisions that you're making around bringing other people into the table? Because right now, there are new companies that are popping up every single day, especially in the tech space, and overwhelmingly in the AI space? And how are you determining who to what what things need to be tested, what things need to be implemented, what things need to be absolutely taken advantage of? Because there are some ideas that are set or superseded, that are that are completely blowing up in the market right now that are jumping to the front of the line. And there's a lot of other people that are throwing a wall, throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what's sticking. And how what decision makings processes are you putting in place to evaluate that? You know, everybody's got a different approach. But just make sure that you are you're thinking those pieces and those things through and who what partners are there for you to play? I mean, if you're a tech person, that's great, right? There's a lot of people that are tech savvy, that are code writers that really understand it, and other people just need to make sure you've got all the right who's on board. Right. Make sure that you have the right people in your world so that you have all the ideal relationships are the people that are developing all of these tech opportunities as they come and go, Hey, they're coming and going as fast as a lot of them are going as fast as they come in, and then disappear, but it's everywhere right now. So I know you're aware of that. Just how is it? How's it going to assist you with your market penetration, your growth opportunities and things that you're thinking about? Where it's in when you're doing that? How does that provide more opportunities for other people, you know, always be thinking about thinking this through, I just want to encourage that because again, I know I'm preaching to the choir, because you're already on that node. But if you're constantly thinking of what are the opportunities that can be created for other people, on the in the ventures that you're putting together in the solutions that you're bringing into, into the marketplace, then it's not just about solving problems for the clients, but it's about creating opportunities for other people to grow your mission and your brand. And, you know, those are things that need to be looked at every single day, because there are a lot of people right now, one of the biggest challenges for most entrepreneurs, is that online to find business. They don't know how to generate visibility, they don't know how to be how to position themselves with the authority and the credibility that's necessary. And they're great at what they do. There's a ton of business, there's millions of businesses out there that are very, very good at what they do. They just need help getting clients, they need help with viability. So what role can you play in that and as as the market gets more questionable, by the average person standards, people get more fearful and they started looking for, they're looking for ways to either get a little bit of financial security by finding an undervalued opportunity to sell what they're doing, or finding somebody that can give them some sense of confidence and assuredness that their product can continue to be sold. And so you this is a great opportunity to be able to collaborate partner with these businesses, and then put other operators in place because there are other people who can help facilitate their executors and implementers. Again, I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but who are those people in your world right now, this is something you should be taking inventory of consistently. And make sure that make sure that we're constantly looking at this as as as an option for you to grow your network. And I think that's the biggest piece right now. It's not just about growing businesses more growing the network. And as a byproduct of growing the network, businesses, business and opportunities fall into place right now is a big time to be able to build your network by putting other parts other people together, and start putting together your own portfolio company, your own network. You know, as we're calling our GT e network of businesses, which will be our GT E, you will gain the edge portfolio. And, you know, in then, what are the common? What are the crossover opportunities so that you create your own ecosystem, where everything is buying, everybody's buying from each other and promoting each other inside of those networks? You know, I know not saying anything revolutionary, it's just put keeping it top of mind, because those are things that it's my job to ask those questions, my job to keep those front and center so that those are the things that we're doing. And then when you're doing that, what's the talent acquisition? Right, who's who are the people that you have to develop? Are you looking to get a underpriced talent that you can develop? Or are you looking for? Is your stage of growth that you're in?

Now's the time to acquire top tier talent, who's going to elevate and accelerate the growth opportunity? Right? So what that really depends on your own your skill set and your timelines, of course, but these are questions that you got to be asking, as you're pulling people together, you know, are you what's, what's the investing, what is the opportunity for you to invest in training and development of quality leaders, and there's no limit to that, because you can have people who are good quality leaders, that you want to make world class leaders, and that you can trust to be able to grow inside your brand. And that can help you pull together all of your network opportunities and be able to run your network of companies. And so there's many different leadership opportunities with world class leaders, many of you are such such as World Class leaders, many of the people that we've had here on the opportunity makers podcast, pick your pick your poison, there are so many there are world class leaders that exist that have done amazing, amazing things. And will make sure you have access to all of those. If you any of you need introduction to any of those people, if you have something worthwhile to put in front of them, please reach out to me and happy to make an introduction if we can put a great case together so that we're really positioning it well and positioning you well for the right opportunity for them. And and then of course, looking at capital investments, like what are the thing? Where are the capital opportunities for you to be able to acquire, like, what are the opportunities? What are the things you're looking at? Where are the places for you to be able to say, Man, this is a great opportunity for me. And whether it's the place to park funds that you have, or if you're looking for Capital Partners, because obviously there's a lot of people right now who there's a lot of people who are interested also in the growing marketplace in building a portfolio, a portfolio network of companies, and they're looking they they need Trust Your people like you, people, people like us who have connections to all of these other business opportunities. So it's, you know, because a lot of people with VC money, of course, are just getting pitch left and right, we're clear on that you might be as well. And so it's they need a lot of times, it's they're banking on people who have access to quality networks, and a trusted relationships. So they know that when you say this person's rock solid, then they trust you in that in that lane, because there's too many people pitching them cold all the time. So no, typically, the investor right now is absolutely nowhere near short, on any of opportunities to invest, what they are, what they, what they can use is quality relationships that can vet these opportunities. So you started understanding whenever I get something from this, like, whenever I bring a partner opportunity to an investor in our network, it's they know that is a scalable opportunity. So somebody who's ready for hockey stick growth, that is now at a place where they know that sales and sales systems and predictability in the sales, growth is what they're looking for. So they've got everything else in place. And now it's time to start accelerating the revenue. Right? That's not always the circumstance, for every company, a lot of company or people are needing seed capital, a lot of people aren't even developing capital. So you always have to be really clear about the type of network that you're building and so that you are you so that you have a signature around, who are the kind of people that you bring into your network. So therefore, when you're going to when you have the opportunity to elevate them and escalate them. There's, it's clear what you stand for. And there you have a track record of that success. So I just think it's time to be really evaluating that stuff. Ya know, and I'm always curious to what you were doing to determine that, you know, where are you if you're looking for investment, money, and capital? What kind of investment? Are you? You know, if somebody wants to pour their capital into you? Are you somebody who's going to peel off dividends? As you're going? Because you have a massive revenue opportunity? Is it something that's going to go into r&d? So it's going to have a longer rate of return? And so this is something we're going to sit, sit on for a while? Are you is this something that's going to be very, very risky for them, right, but there, but the payoffs, the upside is huge if it if it wins, or you have to how are you positioning these opportunities for yourself? And what is the back what's the growth was thought process so that people can make you a viable, a capital X, you know, capital investment? We've been, you know, we've been invested in, in the past. And, you know, and, you know, we've been made whole, and it's, we've worked with a lot of people on that realm. And so try to find the right word here, I just want you to be thinking of yourself as an investable opportunity, right? We're spending a lot of our focus on helping companies be viable, because there's too much movement, there's too much chaos in business, right? And everybody is running around with a business that is that is effective, and on running, but is it a viable business where your business systems onpoint and dialed in? Are you do you can you sit like a pilot in a cockpit and know which buttons to push at which time to, to execute on which systems inside your company's based on the time your need, what's going on in the market, where you're with your client, with with your clients, and what is the accelerated what's the rate of growth you're looking for. Because if you're not, then there's just work to be done. And then that gives you more valuable because from once you are viable, then we want to accelerate you so you can become viable. And that's part that is our mission is everybody here is, is you have viable businesses that are that can be that can be accelerated to viable, because when it's a viable business, then it's beautiful, right? Everything works, everything runs, everything's in place, you're much more attractive, which means you also have a much more enjoyable business to run, even if you don't want to sell. But then you also can attract people who just may want to be able to support you with with additional capital for growth. If that's a that's an environment you're looking and I feel like I'm rambling here, it's all good. I'm just gonna just have a new stream of consciousness thought here. But, you know, what are the things you're thinking about? And where do you want to go? And what quote, what acquisitions are you looking to make this year? I'm curious to know what what acquisition networks you're part of as well, because that's becoming a thing that never used to be a thing. It was a very small percentage of the market, it still is, of course, but now there's, there's networks available for you to be able to learn and grow about to become an m&a expert to be somebody who can contribute on either side of that right and will be connective tissue, which is what I love to be I love to be able to pull buyers and sellers together and pull opportunities together and for people who are ready who are on the journey wanting to become a buyer or a seller, though what are the pieces that are missing out and we infuse inside of that So we can help make sure that the systems, the strategies and the revenue are on point. And so that you're living in the right lane and that you are becoming attractive and that you're easily, easily easily accessed, whether somebody wants to pour capital into you, or acquire your company, or just be part of your network of companies, it should be easy access and easy entry. And many times it's not, it's a lot more complicated than necessary. And we specialized in that for years, we spent years being extremely complicated. And so it's very hard to integrate with our companies. And that's been the point of emphasis and big point of focus for us. And a lot of what we've been doing for the last few years is just simplicity, and effectiveness, and delivering world class results. So just raising your standards, and then doing whatever you can to ensure that those standards are achieved, and done. So simply, and I can't again, impress upon you enough that the emphasis on simplicity, that's necessary, and that we have seen, be able to be very responsible for a lot of a lot of our growth and effectiveness. And the complicated nature of what we do, the complexity that we've brought to our business has led to a lot of failings and a lot of failure points. So keeping all of that in mind, so that you're not just moving and grooving and looking for the next conquest, like what are the things you have to reinforce? As we're moving into the next, the next stage of growth? How are you getting more visible? Are you visible as a leader? Are you working with your leaders, in your networks, in your team in your company in your organization's Are you how much time effort or energy are you putting into developing them so that they stay with you long term. And that's, you know, we've pared back many times. And then we re strategize. And I used to think that it's still true that there are certain people in personnel that are only designed to go certain legs of the journey with you. But the more you can develop them, then the longer they can grow with you. And so it's not just based on who they are, when they come, it's who they're willing to become, as they're growing with you so that people can stay with you through that journey. Because the longer people have knowledge of who you are intimacy with who you are, what they trust about you, the more they know about you long term, then the more resourceful they're going to be for you, as your business grows, and as your network of businesses grow. And that's the conversation that we're in right now is this constant look of who are the people that we can really grow with, and who are the people that we can evolve and develop an uplevel with talent, so that is a pure gift to them. And we really be able to capitalize on the skills that they're bringing, and the opportunities that they can, that they can bring, and that they can see and that they can take advantage of themselves, because we want everybody capitalizing on the opportunities within the business and within the marketplace. So

I'd love to know what you're thinking, and let me know get in the show notes. You go gimpy three sixty.com. There's a link inside the show notes for that. It'll be able to access me on any of my social medias, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, wherever you're at. And and I'd love to know what's going on? What are the what are the areas you're looking at for growth and acceleration? is building a network of companies? Where are you at on that journey? Is it something that's old hat to you? Is this something that you're starting to explore? Is portfolio companies working for you? And if so, then let's talk about what how are you co branding and CO creating with your portfolio of companies so that they are doing a lot of the lifting, just by Nate by by, by nature of the structure of the companies? So are you putting them together in a manner in building networks of companies together so that they truly support each other and can leverage each other's opportunities really well. It's the I think this is the way that business has to be go as you move forward. I think it used to be an optional a nice to have. And I think that as we move forward is going to be what's necessary for exponential success and without compromising quality. And hopefully, I landed on a couple of points that make sense to you. If you have any questions around this, please reach out to me, let me know GMP three sixty.com. Go to the contact button shoot me a text message and you reach me personally I want to get I want to build relationships with you. I'm here I'm looking to grow people. I'm not looking to just hand you off to people to see I want I really want to find out our mission here right now I got several, but we our emphasis is a highly high volume of touchpoints and personal relationships with the marketplace. I want to get to know you. I want to know what you're doing and how we can help who we can connect you to and you know how what else can we share to support you on the journey that you're on? Where do you fit maybe you're a possible fit for the podcast too. If you have, you have great stories of growth and scale and the exits and you're looking for exponential growth yourself. And you've done some great things to break through. I'd love to hear what that is and see if We might not be able to talk about it here on the podcast. But but make sure that you're really leaning in and taking that time to, to focus on what shifts and changes that you're going to need to make as you enhance the market opportunities that exist as we move into 2024. So there'll be another episode coming on this one more solo episode, before we wrap up, as we transition into the end of the year, because there's some some some things some touch points that I want to hit on that I think will be really beneficial for you as, as you're as you're laying down your framework, and doing the groundwork on exponential growth in 20/24. So Thanks for trusting me, thanks for being here with me. I know you could be anyplace else and and I really appreciate the time, the trust to be here and be part of your success team. So share rate review and subscribe. Make sure that you get notified if anybody is if there's new episodes come out and and give us a thumbs up or like and where you're listening. And we'll talk soon