Season 3, Episode 16. The Entrepreneur’s Journey with CEO, Bryan Clayton
Welcome to Innovation Meets Leadership! I’m your host, Natalie Born. In this episode, Bryan Clayton started by mowing his neighbor’s lawn as a side hustle and ended up founding a multimillion-dollar lawn care business. From customer-centricity to self-improvement, he joins us to share his secrets to success.
Bryan Clayton is CEO and co-founder of GreenPal, an online marketplace that connects homeowners with local lawn care professionals. GreenPal has been called the “Uber for lawn care” by Entrepreneur magazine and has over 200,000 active users completing thousands of transactions per day.
[00:20] From Lawn Mower to Building a Business with 20M a Year in Sales
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Bryan’s first experience as an entrepreneur
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Selling his landscaping company and taking some time off
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Why he got back in the game and started GreenPal
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What it’s like to invent a product from scratch versus going the traditional business route
[05:13] Putting the Customer at the Center of the Business
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The power of listening to customer feedback
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How to use it to your advantage
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Why founders should get direct, unvarnished feedback
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Closing the gap between customer logic and company logic
[09:20] Strategies to be a Successful Entrepreneur
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Bryan’s take on seeking venture capital
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Why you should create a product for the customers, not the investors
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Until you are 100% ready, do not raise capital
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Stop using “no capital” as an excuse not to move forward
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Getting the skills you need to go to the next level
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Take the time to work on yourself
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Being good at different aspects of the business can help you make better hiring decisions
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Make use of free resources online to learn everything you need to learn
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[20:28] Closing Segment
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Connect with Bryan!
Key Quotes:
“I think starting a business is one of the best things you can do with your life. It's one of the best things that can cause you to live an interesting life." - Bryan Clayton
“Funding a business off of its own revenues forces you to stay focused on the customer.” - Bryan Clayton
“Bad hiring can be chalked up to you just didn't know what the hell it is that you were hiring for. And so it was kind of your fault as the founder, manager, or leader.” - Bryan Clayton
“As a founder, you're doing three things at once at all times. You're working in the business. You're trying to develop some kind of systems, processes, and routines. And then you're working on yourself.” - Bryan Clayton
Resources Mentioned:
Connect with Bryan
Website: https://www.yourgreenpal.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bryanmclayton
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