Welcome to Innovator’s Hangout! Today, we’re thrilled to have Rick English, the visionary entrepreneur and founder of Up Advisors, join us. With over two decades of experience in leadership roles spanning operations, HR, and finance, Rick has seen firsthand the challenges businesses face in achieving sustainable growth.
In 2017, Rick decided to follow his passion for helping businesses thrive by establishing Up Advisors, a consulting firm dedicated to guiding small and medium-sized enterprises toward healthy growth. His unique approach focuses on key pillars like people, processes, products, profit, and customer experience. By conducting thorough business health checkups and tailored analyses, Rick and his team at Up Advisors help businesses identify and implement strategies for success.
Rick’s inquisitive nature and “seek first to understand” philosophy have been central to his success in driving meaningful change and fostering business health. Today, he shares with us insights into his methods, the importance of building a solid foundation for business growth, and his mission to reduce the alarming rate of business failures by creating robust, resilient companies.
Rick, you transitioned from a CEO role to founding Up Advisors. What inspired you to make this leap, and how did your experiences in leadership influence the creation of your consulting firm
After 22 years in leadership roles for other companies I wanted to lead my own company, and I specifically wanted to help small businesses grow successful businesses. When I took the leap, I had a strong belief that my broad leadership and business experience would benefit small businesses across industries. My experience in leading in what I call the 5 buckets of business (people. process. product. profit. customer experience) made taking the leap so much easier and has proven to be invaluable as I work with clients.
Your approach at Up Advisors emphasizes the importance of a “business health checkup.” Can you elaborate on what this entails and how it helps identify opportunities for improvement?
In a healthy business the people, process, product, profit and customer experience components (or buckets as I like to call them) are all working well together to drive profitable business growth. When we engage with prospective clients, we start with a discovery call or a business health check up to get a feel for how the 5 buckets are working together and we identify issues and opportunities. If the client decides to engage with us, we move to a deeper dive into the five buckets, identify as many issues and opportunities as possible, build a prioritized action list and then tackle the items on the prioritized list in a systematic way.
You often mention the significance of people, processes, products, profit, and customer experience in building a healthy business. How do you prioritize these elements when assessing a company’s needs?
Through our business health check up we dig into each of those 5 components of the business and determine if any or all of these buckets needs to be addressed to improve the health of the business.
One of your key philosophies is “seek first to understand.” Can you share a story from your consulting experience where this approach made a significant impact?
I worked with a client who every time we jumped on our weekly Zoom call, I would know within the first 5 seconds what mood they were in that day. After the first couple of calls, I asked for permission to have a personal conversation. Through that conversation I gained an understanding of challenges my client had growing up and that they were currently facing in their personal life. Understanding those challenges enabled me to more effectively coach and consult them going forward.
Small businesses often face unique challenges compared to larger corporations. What are some common issues you’ve encountered, and how does Up Advisors address these specific challenges?
One of the most challenging issues facing the majority of our clients is insufficient working capital. We teach business owners to set working capital goals and track them weekly, we teach them how to read key financial reports, how to do job and project costing, how to manage and reduce expenses and ultimately how to price their services so they can earn net profit that enables them to build their working capital and reinvest in their business
The other issue we hear from our clients is frustration with hiring the right key people. We help business owners get clear on the people they need, the role they will fill, how to delegate effectively so they can elevate the work they are doing in their business. We help them with interviews and even participate in the interview process, like we did yesterday for one of our clients.
You’ve worked with companies in various stages, from those stagnating to those undergoing leadership transitions. How do you tailor your consulting strategies to meet the diverse needs of these businesses?
We don’t just view our role as consultant or coach, we come alongside the business owner as a business partner. So, we really dig in to get to know the business so we can uncover their issues and their opportunities and then we prioritize taking action on the most important issues that will enable them to get back on track or execute their transition and take action on opportunity areas that will drive business growth. So, it is truly a customized experience for each client.
Burnout among entrepreneurs is a growing concern. What advice do you have for business leaders who feel overwhelmed and exhausted? How can they rejuvenate their passion and drive?
We like to start by helping entrepreneurs get clear on their one, three and five-year vision for their business to have a clear vision for where their business is headed. Then we help them realize what they do best and what gives them the most joy and fulfillment in their business. Based on that, we build a plan to enable them to make their vision a reality and to enable them to focus as much of their time as possible doing what they do best. One of my clients was recently showing signs of burn out and through our weekly conversations we realized it was because he was not doing the work that he is most passionate about. So, we put a plan in place to get him to spend more time each week on the work that fills his cup.
The idea of “healthy growth” is central to your mission. How do you define healthy growth, and what are the key indicators that a business is on the right path?
Healthy growth stems from a clear, achievable vision, supported by sufficient working capital to fuel that expansion. It involves adding the right people to the team and empowering owners to delegate effectively, allowing them to focus on strategic leadership. In parallel, processes are implemented, consistently followed, and continuously improved. Innovation and excellence in products and services become daily habits, while data and metrics are closely tracked, interpreted, and used to drive smart business decisions. Ultimately, the company consistently delivers exceptional customer experiences that inspire referrals and foster long-term success.
Given your extensive experience in operations and HR, what role do you believe company culture plays in the overall health of a business? How can leaders foster a positive, thriving culture?
Company culture is of paramount importance to business health. In my work with clients, I refer to it as “the way” we do business across all five buckets. Your culture needs to permeate through all aspects of a business which leads to retaining the right people and pushing out the wrong people, it will enable you to achieve efficiency, drive sales, drive profitable growth and create amazing customer experiences. If I was labeling my company culture it would be the “Up Advisors Way”. It is the way we do things here.
Looking ahead, what trends do you see in the business consulting space, and how do you envision Up Advisors evolving to continue helping businesses grow up healthy?
AI is the overwhelming trend in the marketplace. I believe we have to embrace it or it will likely run us over. So, I am continually looking at my own business and my client’s businesses to determine how we can leverage AI tools to better serve our existing clients, serve more clients and doing the same for my client’s businesses.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
