Episode76: Jim Spurlino - Author of Business Bullseye: Take Dead Aim and Achieve Great Success
Today Brad speaks with Jim Spurlino, Founder of Spurlino Materials, a supplier of construction materials. He is also the author of Business Bullseye: Take Dead Aim and Achieve Great Success, a guide to establishing, scaling, managing, and creating an exit strategy for small- to medium-size businesses.
Listen in as Jim describes the “three legs of the stool” that make up a successful professional in the construction industry, as well as the unique complexities of being a concrete supplier. He also shares how he, in his first entrepreneurial venture, was able to finance three brand new concrete plants and 45 brand new concrete trucks on day one.
Jim dives deep into how he builds and retains company culture, especially when setting up remote locations and hiring out. He explains what it means to work on your business as opposed to just working in it, via the idea of “knowing your bullseye”—a concept he writes about at length in his book.
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Topics Discussed
[02:46] What inspires Jim as an entrepreneur and how he fell into his current career path
[07:18] How Jim came to start his own firm
[11:51] The complexities of being a supplier in the concrete industry and Jim’s edge
[16:51] Motivating the team, especially when they need to work through the night
[19:31] How Jim dealt with finances and logistics when he started his new venture
[27:51] Setting up remote plants for mobile work
[37:24] Keeping track of and evaluating leadership and team members in remote plants
[41:56] What company owners should prioritize
[44:06] Keeping company culture intact when hiring out
[45:36] What it means to “know your bullseye”
[52:14] The importance of developing a close relationship with your banks
[56:55] The pros and cons of owning a private company as opposed to a union company
[01:01:05] Does Jim have an exit strategy?
[1:05:44] Why Jim decided to enter politics at one point
Key Quotes from Episode:
I’m inspired by the possibilities—what could be. It’s the challenges, the potential, and particularly the chance to be the best. That’s what always drove not just me, but the company.
If you and, particularly, your folks aren’t very much attuned to how important it is to stay focused on that bullseye—maximum profits, maximum capacity, maximum quality—you’re going to start to lose. I’ve seen lots of companies go broke because they lost that focus.
If you’re going to be competitive—if you’re going to be a successful business in this world today, you’d better have a good relationship with your employees. You’d better be striving to be the employer of choice in your market, in your industry. If you’re not, you’ve got bigger problems than just a union coming in trying to get you to pay better wages and benefits.
