Q 1. Kindly give our readers an introduction to your business. Please include what your business is all about, in which city you are located and if you have offices in multiple locations/ cities.
Ans: Insight CXO works with small to mid-market companies who are having growing pains, have flat line revenue and need to create a breakthrough strategy, or need help getting full team alignment to maximize results. We are based in Charlotte, NC and have clients from Washington DC to Florida.
Q 2. Kindly give us a brief description about yourself (it should include your brief educational or entrepreneurial background and list some of your major achievements).
Ans: I started my first company while still in college and have been an entrepreneur since. While a student at NC State University majoring in Accounting, I started a computer and networking company called Synetron. I exited the company in 2000 and went on to co-found AvidXchange, a successful Software as a Service company with over 400 employees currently. In 2003 I co-founded Integra Staffing and Search which one numerous awards such as multiple INC 5000 listings, Best Places to Work, Fast 50, NC Top 100 and many more. I was also named one of Charlotte Business Journal’s 40 under 40 recipients.
Q 3. What inspired you to (start a new business venture) or (to make significant changes in an existing business)? How did the idea for your business come about?
Ans: I have started several companies and I think the reason I have been success each time is I look for problems and try to create viable and sustainable solutions. Too many times I see new entreprenuers create sophisticated solutions and then go out and try to find prospects with problems. My vision in starting Insight CXO was to create proven methodologies in creating growth strategies and also following through with a process and structure to execute on the plans.
Q 4. What three pieces of advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs?
Ans: Number one is to really define and get to know who your core customer is and what their significant and hard to solve problems are. Then developing a Brand Promise that they can not refuse. Second is focus on strategy and activities that produce cash as you grow. Most companies are self funded and getting the cash component right from the start prevents pain cash shortfalls in the future. Third is the company with the best team wins. Establishing strong core values, dialing in hiring and onboarding practices, and investing in learning are all critical things to keep scaling the business.
Q 5. What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur?
Ans: Number one is a problem solver. Entrepreneurs get hit with all kinds of issues daily. Being able to navigate and overcome need to be a core competency. Number two is being a learner and teacher. You can’t scale a company by yourself. Taking the time to share thought process, experiences, best practices, with your team is imperative so you can pass your DNA on to others. And third, you have to go to the ball vs waiting for the ball to be thrown to you. In other words, you have to go out and make things happen. Have a huge bias for action. Waiting for the world to respond to the company you created will not get you the result you are looking for. You have to have the mindset of being a play maker.
Q 6. How many hours do you work a day on average?
Ans: My work weeks and work days vary considerably. Entrepreneurs should not relegate themselves to an 8 to 5 schedule. I operate under the philosophy that there are 24 hours in a day and I can use and leverage them however I want. I can pull a 14 hour day focused 100% on work, I might work 3 hours and go for a long bike ride (to let my creative side of my brain do some deep work), or spend a full day just getting life stuff taken care of so I can have really productive focus days that drive the business forward.
Q 7. To what do you most attribute your success?
Ans: My best attribute is having a life long student mindset and really being able to solve complex problems and creating roadmaps for success for others to follow.
Q 8. How do you go about marketing your business? What has been your most successful form of marketing?
Ans: My most successful form of marketing has been leveraging my personal network and brand that I have created over the years. With the book launch this year, my plan is to expand on that by becoming an authority figure when it comes to business and professional growth.
Q 9. Where did your organizations funding/capital come from and how did you go about getting it? How did you obtain investors for your venture?
Ans: I have self funded start ups on a shoe string and also leverage outside investors. First step with outside investors from my experience is to start with a small friends and family round.
Q 10. What is the best way to achieve long-term success?
Ans: The best way to achieve long term success is to have strategy that gets you excited and a plan to get there. I see many instances where entrepreneurs get so tied up in the day to day whirlwind that they stop planning for the future.
Q 11. Where you see yourself and your business in 5 – 10 years?
Ans: My personal brand and my business are closely connected. In 5 – 10 years we will have helped hundreds of company create extreme amounts of value for themselves and their employees. I’d like to capitalize on that and continue to create content and programs to help thousands of company’s learn and grow.
Q 12. Excluding yours, what company or business do you admire the most?
Ans: I’d have to say IKEA. Not for the customer experience, but for the business model they have created. They own 70% of just 7% of the market and by being hyper focused on their core customer, they are the largest furniture retailer in the world.
Q 13. How important have good employees been to your success?
Ans: I have a saying, “grow your people, grow your business”. And I’d go further and say it’s the great employees that propelled me the furthest.
Q 14. What motivates you?
Ans: Solving complex problems. I’m a heat seeking missle for problems. I believe this is where true growth comes from. As a pro level mountain bike racer, I learn more from the races I screw up than the one that I win.
Q 15. How do you generate new ideas?
Ans: In my book, The BreakAway Move, I list many strategies to come up with game changing ideas. But they all require open thinking, open discussion, letting ideas get a little crazy at times. I’m always surprised how a crazy idea spawns another idea that helps the company break away from the pack.
Q 16. How do you build a successful customer base?
Ans: I have a personal brand promise that has helped me launch several companies and its pretty simple. My goal is to be 100% referable. That means every client has to think of me as being referable. And this sometimes means realizing that a prospect may never be that and its probably a good idea on both sides not to engage on a project together. 100% means 100%.
Q 17. What do you feel is the major difference between entrepreneurs and those who work for someone else?
Ans: Most entrepreneurs are hard wired to focus on building something unique and better than before. Most employees are more focused on implementation and execution. BOTH are critical for success.
Q 18. In one word, characterize your life as an entrepreneur.
Ans: Insightful
Q 19. If you had the chance to start your career over again, what would you do differently?
Ans: I would have practiced public speaking and turned my number one fear into a strength.
Company Detail :
Company : Insight CXO, LLC
Contact : Robert Fish
Address : 508 West 5th Street, Suite 100
City : Charlotte
State : NC
Zip : 28202
Phone : 704-593-6515
Email : robert@insightcxo.com
