When do you stop saying yes to all customer types and all jobs for those customers when aspiring to grow?

Should you niche down, or stay broad? Can you keep scaling if you niche down on a key customer type?

How do you get yourself out of the way if you’re no longer the best person to run the business operationally? Will your ego cope with that?

These are precisely the kinds of challenges that Chris Eldridge from 4Impact has overcome to grow the company from 0m to 20m in the first 15 years, then from 20m to 40m in the last 5 year. That’s quite a journey!

HERE'S WHAT WE COVER IN THE EPISODE....01:57 – The 4Impact Business Model

05:53 – How Our Focus Changed Over Time As We Scaled

07:22 – What were the key technologies you mastered?

09:36 – Growth Metrics

12:25 – The Systems and Processes That Were Holding Us Back

17:11 – The Highs and Lows of Co-Founding and Business Partnerships

19:49 – What did you learn from that experience?

23:29 – Why did you take on an Advisory Board and how did it help?

29:54 – Reflections on How We (and I’ve) Changed Since Establishing an Advisory Board

32:50 – How We Funded Our Growth

36:46 – Managing Your Cashflow

37:37 – Who was your first key hire and what value did they create?

39:22 – If you had your time over again, what would you do differently?

42:37 – Work From the Customer’s Problem, Backwards

42:45 – My Biggest Mistakes

44:54 – What will the business look like in three years?

43:01 – The Communication that Matters to Your Team

46:30 – Chris’ Three “Above All Else’s”

48:13 – Acknowledgement

48:51 – How to follow Chris


IF YOU GOT VALUE FROM TODAY'S EPISODE, PLEASE REMEMBER TO:1. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts

  1. Register to be the first to know when new episodes drop and free tools are published at www.scaleupspodcast.com, or

  2. Drop us a question about scaling using Speakpipe on the website, or email questions@scaleupspodcast.com.

Follow us on your favourite socials:

  • ScaleUps Podcast on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scaleupspodcast
  • ScaleUps Podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scaleupspodcast/
  • ScaleUps Podcast on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scaleupspodcast
  • Watch the full episode at ScaleUps Podcast on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLlvcqAuqJMYBVUBoiixChQ

You can connect with Chris from 4Impact and Business Balance Sheet via:

  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherpeldridge/
  • LinkedIn 4Impact: https://www.linkedin.com/company/4impact/
  • Website Business Balance Sheet: www.businessbalancesheet.com.au
  • Website 4Impact: https://www.4impact.com/

or you can reach out to connect with Sean directly via:

  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seansteeleprofile/
  • Website: www.seansteele.com.au