The business your customers see isn't always the business that's determining your success.

In this episode, Sharon Galluzzo introduces the concept of becoming a "behind-the-scenes business builder" and explains why the systems, processes, habits, and decisions operating beneath the surface are what truly drive long-term profitability. While websites, social media, and marketing often receive the attention, it's the operational foundation that determines whether a business can grow efficiently and consistently.

She encourages business owners to think like CEOs by stepping back from the daily chaos and intentionally strengthening the systems that support both the business and the customer experience.

Using practical examples and relatable analogies, Sharon explains why successful businesses require regular maintenance, updates, and continuous improvement. Rather than waiting until problems become overwhelming, she shares how entrepreneurs can improve one behind-the-scenes process at a time, creating a stronger foundation that supports sustainable growth, better customer experiences, and greater profitability.

Key Takeaways:

• Behind-The-Scenes Systems Drive Success: The work customers don't see is often what determines long-term profitability.
• Surface Problems Usually Have Deeper Causes: Marketing, sales, and pricing challenges are often symptoms of operational weaknesses.
• Strong Foundations Create Better Customer Experiences: Consistent systems improve service, communication, and trust.
• Small Problems Become Big Problems Over Time: Ignoring operational gaps allows minor issues to grow into major obstacles.
• Think Like A Ceo: Business owners should focus on directing and improving the business instead of constantly reacting to daily tasks.
• Growth Magnifies Weaknesses: As visibility and customers increase, weak systems become even more noticeable.
• Continuous Improvement Is Essential: Like software updates, businesses need regular improvements to remain healthy and competitive.

Unlock the Secrets to Building a Resilient and Profitable Business at the Profit Connectors Club - https://profitconnectors.club/

About Sharon:

Sharon Galluzzo is a Profit Growth Strategist, founder of Profit Connections, and creator of the Positioned for Profit System®. Known as the Behind-the-Scenes Business Builder, she equips entrepreneurs to strengthen the systems, strategy, and structure that drive sustainable growth. Drawing on more than two decades of entrepreneurial experience, Sharon helps business owners build the business behind the business so their talent can translate into consistent profit and long-term success.

http://sharongalluzzo.com/

https://www.facebook.com/sharonagalluzzo/

https://www.instagram.com/sharon_galluzzo/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharongalluzzo/

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Profit doesn't happen by chance; it happens by

design. Let's dig in. I don't know if you realized it, but

there is a truth out there that a lot of business owners,

founders, entrepreneurs are may not even be aware of the

business that everyone sees isn't the business that

determines your success. I'm so excited about our topic today

because we are going to be digging into the business behind

the business, the one that really makes the difference. The

one that really turns around what you're doing in your

business and determines how successful you can be in your

chosen endeavor. I've been doing a lot of work on how I'm

messaging and talking about myself, and I have come up with

a new title that I think really, really is illustrative of what I

do, and that is the behind-the-scenes business

builder. I help you with what people can't see in your

business. So the visible parts of your business are the parts

that honestly get all the credit. Right? They're shiny.

They're they're very easily fixable. They're clear to

identify, right? They're your website, your social media

marketing, but your the things that actually support all of

those visible things are the systems and the processes and

the habits and the decisions that actually turns what you do

into a profit, or keeps you stagnant, or actually keeps you

in the place where you're losing money. So it's really important

that we focus on that part of the business that no one else

sees. See, every business has two versions. It has the one

that your customers experience, and then it has the one that you

actually run and operate every single day. If you're doing

things really well, your clients maybe don't even see what's

going on behind the scenes. If you're really good at customer

service and you're really good at what you do, then your

clients may not ever experience some of the struggles that come

whenever you have an incomplete foundation, when you have gaps

and weaknesses, when the systems running your business are

running like a proverbial squirrel on a on a hamster

wheel. I'm putting the squirrel on there because they run faster

and they're bigger and they take up more room. And the hamster

wheel doesn't actually fit them, right? That's how it feels

sometimes when we are running our business that way. So if

we're doing a good job, then the customer experience doesn't

really see that. However, there are times when things are

falling apart behind the scenes that you can't keep it away.

That they will see it. They will experience it in some way, even

if it's just vibrationally. So, having your systems and and your

your behind the scenes business operating at peak efficiency,

operating in a way that makes you feel like the CEO that you

want to be in your business, and that gets the things done that

you want to get done with the least amount of effort and the

most amount of profit. That is the that's the place we want to

get to. However, some businesses are somewhere in between there,

right? Some businesses are really doing okay, and their

customers can't see it. Some businesses, things are falling

apart in front of the scenes as well. So we want to get your

business to the point where you're actually having the

ability to have the things work behind the scenes, so that your

customer experiences a solid and full and healthy business, and

not just I'm holding it all together where people can see

it, and as soon as I close the doors, I burst into tears. I

have lived that experience to be so on for the clients and to be

right there and to be the face of the business. Meanwhile,

behind the scenes, everything feels like it's crumbling, and

and sometimes maybe it's not as bad as that, and there are

things falling apart and falling between the seams, between the

cracks, when we have weak systems, when we have things in

the background that are not working, that is when we are

most likely to have things go wrong, things to fall between

the cracks. We didn't return a customer's email.

Or we were unresponsive whenever somebody needed something, or

our vendor situation is not good because we're not communicating

well with them because we don't have a system in place to make

sure that we're following up with them in a timely manner.

All of those tiny, tiny pieces can create a tsunami effect in

the background if you don't pay attention to it. So when your

customer-facing persona and your backstage persona are different

when they are not in alignment, then you have struggles in your

business. Then you have disconnect. Then you have all of

these pieces that make the business more work for you, more

difficult, more what is that? You know, you just you just feel

like you're constantly spinning around the same five things, and

you're not making any progress, and you're not getting the

things done that you want to get done, and that is one of the

reasons why I have seven pillars of profit in my framework when I

work with my customers. Because every area of your business

needs some attention in that way. When we take the time to

fill in those gaps and do the behind-the-scenes work, then it

actually all works together, and it will you will put forward not

just the image of being successful, but the reality and

alignment of being successful. Most business problems don't

really show up in your business wearing the name that the

problem has. Whenever something is going wrong in your business,

you might experience it as a marketing issue, or a sales

issue, or a pricing issue, but that's actually not the root

problem. It is the symptom. It is showing up in your business

because something deeper, something behind the scenes,

isn't quite right. So it's very important that we pay attention

to those marketing issues and sales issues and profit issues

in terms of the entire picture. Yes, this marketing issue is

happening. Why is it happening? Is it happening because I am

inconsistent when I'm posting on social media? Is it happening

because I'm not regularly updating it? Is it happening

because I put the wrong or I I put the right date on it, but

it's three weeks old, and customers are going. Oh well,

that's not that it's not a plot. That does not apply anymore.

That's not available to me because that was three weeks

ago. So all of those things can be fixed behind the scenes, that

is setting yourself up for success in every single area of

your business. So we need to pay attention whenever those things

happen, and not just fix the surface symptom, but fix the

actual cause. Every time I think of this, I think of the Rocky

Horror Picture Show. If you if you're familiar with it, if

you're not, that's okay. But Frankenfurter offers to help

Brad and Janet, but he tells them he will remove the cause

but not the symptoms, which is actually the opposite, but

you'll still experience all of the things that you're going to

experience. But I'll take away what's causing it. So that

always makes me laugh. We actually want to remove the

cause, which will in turn remove the symptoms. But sometimes when

we just focus on that surface level, when we focus on what

people can see out here, and forget about what's going on

behind the scenes. That's when we can get into some real

trouble, and that is what causes stagnation. That is what keeps

you stuck, and that is what's going to cause your business to

not be the business that you want. That's going to keep you

in that wearing all 447 hats as a business owner and not

stepping into the role of CEO, I know sometimes people are like,

"Well, I don't want to be a CEO. It's not necessarily that that

you want to be the CEO energy, and maybe you do. So either way,

it's fine. But if you're in the role of the CEO, the that role

is more of the director or the producer, you know, saying what

goes on in everything in your business instead of you're the

one who's sharpening the pencils, right? So we want to

elevate you, put you in a position where you're actually

running the business. You're making decisions about the

business and not getting lost in the everyday minutia because you

just didn't have the behind-the-scenes stuff in

place.

And then, whenever you are building your business, and say

you're doing a really great job at marketing, and you have a lot

of visibility, a lot of people looking at your stuff, a lot of

eyes, a lot of customers, a lot of people coming to you. As you

grow more visible, the things behind the scenes that are not

okay, that haven't been put in place for your success, will not

go away. In fact, those things will actually magnify and get

worse. So as you're building, you don't have to wait till you

get there. But as you're building, start working on

what's going on in the behind the scenes of your business. Be

in those places, fix those things. Get your behind the

scenes foundation, clear and solid, so that as you grow, what

you're magnifying is a solid, firm foundation. You're not

magnifying those little cracks that are going to become chasms

if you don't pay attention and get those things taken care of

before you grow. And in my opinion, the very strongest

businesses are intentionally built. They don't accidentally

grow. And what I mean by that is, whenever you have a really

strong, successful business, someone has taken the time to go

in and fix all the things that are going on. Whenever you buy

or a cell phone, a smartphone, a computer, or have an app or

anything that's electronic these days, you will get it and it

will be operating. And then sooner or later, they'll go.

Hey, here's an update. Here's a fix. We're getting rid of some

bugs. We're getting rid of some things that didn't work. So

think about your business in real time, like an electronic,

where you they're operating. They sold it to you. You bought

it, and it's not perfect. They're still fixing things.

They're still repairing things. They're still coming in and

updating what you you got initially. So with your

business, think of it that way. That when you are working on the

seven pillars of profit in your business, when you're building

out your foundation, it's kind of like an update. It's an

update to your software. It's an update to your firmware. It's a.

It's a bug fix. It comes in and it fixes the things that are

going on, and that happens simultaneously to the running of

your business. So it is entirely possible to build your

foundation as you grow, and that is the way most businesses are

built. That is the way successful businesses are built.

However, they aren't just built by accident. They have an eye to

what needs to be improved. What do we need for the next update?

What things need to be tweaked and adjusted, and maybe even

completely thrown out and refixed and presented again. So

use that kind of mindset when you're thinking about the

building of the behind the scenes of your business, because

the strongest businesses are built behind the scenes, and if

you are a really good actor, you can go on stage and put a really

great show out to the public, but if you know that behind the

scenes everything is falling apart, that's going to be a

struggle. That's going to make you feel out of alignment and

inauthentic. And it's okay to still have that professional

presentation to the public, that that that persona out there, and

and you do want your customers to have a great experience, so

they want to come back again. But just know that you are going

to take care of that stuff that's back there, and you're

not going to pretend that it doesn't exist, and you're not

going to say, "Oh, I'll deal with that later someday. Do a

little bit every day, every week, every month. Be looking at

what can I improve in my business. How can I make it

better? Yes, this is working great. Maybe we don't touch it

right now because there's a greater need over here. But when

we have them all, you know, to the point where they're all

working really good, then you can look at upgraded. How can I

make this easier for myself? How can I make the experience better

for my clients? So remember, behind the scenes business

building, building up that strength and that foundation of

the things that people can't see is actually the primary key of

success for business.

So this week, I want you to think about your business and

how can you grow your business by thinking about one

behind-the-scenes item that needs strengthening. Just one

thing that you can do better behind the scenes, that you can

systematize, that you can upgrade, that you can put a bug

fix in for. Just pick one thing this week and work on that one

thing in the business, because what happens behind the scenes

of your business determines what happens in front of it. When we

have we have our foundation in place, we have our backstage in

order. Then, what we are producing is in alignment. The

customers feel it. The marketing is better. Everyone is on the

same page, and you're growing your business in a more

authentic, lovely, joy-filled way. So, this week, take a look.

Just one thing: don't overtax yourself. One thing that you can

improve in your business this week behind the scenes. Thank

you for joining us today. If you would like to take advantage of

my profit growth audit, I will. I make that available to you. It

is available in the ProfitConnectors Club community.

It's ProfitConnectors.club. That's the web address,

ProfitConnectors Club. You can go in there. You can get access

to the Profit Growth Audit. It's free. It'll take you through the

seven pillars, and you can see where your weaknesses are. Where

are you doing really good? Where are those behind the thing,

behind the scenes things that you need to focus on? In

addition to my free gift, you'll find links to all of the podcast

episodes, also all of the guests who have been on, you'll get

their contact information, and they also have some of them

given gifts as well. So there will be links to their gifts in

the Profit Connectors Club community. I invite you to go in

there and check out all of those resources. And this week, think

about one behind the scenes thing that you can work on in

your business this week. Remember, build with clarity,

lead with purpose. Thank you for listening. I'll see you next

time.