Nick Scarabosio with Culture to Cash

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for High Velocity Radio.

Stone Payton: [00:00:14] Welcome to the High Velocity Radio show where we celebrate top performers producing better results in less time. Stone Payton here with you this afternoon and you guys are in for a real treat. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast business coach and co-founder with Culture to Cash. Mr. Nick Scarabosio. How are you, man?

Nick Scarabosio: [00:00:37] I’m good Stone. It’s a pleasure to be on and speaking with you and your listeners today. You know, I love what you guys do and lines up really well with what we do at Culture to Cash. We’re all about performance and business. So excited to be here.

Stone Payton: [00:00:49] Well, you’re looking good. You’re sounding good. I’ve been very excited about this conversation. I’ve got a thousand questions. I know we’re not going to get to them all, but I’m thinking maybe a good place to start would be if you could articulate for me and our listeners mission purpose, what you and your team are really out there trying to do for folks, man.

Nick Scarabosio: [00:01:13] Yeah, absolutely. So the purpose, purpose of culture to cash is pretty clear. It’s we want to create $5 billion in enterprise value and human life value for owner led businesses. What we’re trying to do is show people that revenue, profit, cash, all of that’s important, but it’s not the main reason we’re in business. You know, most entrepreneurs, they started with a dream. They’re just unfortunately stuck in the day to day. They’re a little hamstrung by maybe some people issues or strategy lacking, but it’s all fixable. Like that’s the beauty of it all is don’t quit. Keep going, keep driving. There’s a way out. And usually on the other end of that way out is a life that you not only desire, but deserve.

Stone Payton: [00:02:01] Well, it sounds like a noble pursuit to me, but I got to know the backstory, man. How does one find himself in this kind of role in this arena, serving these kinds of constituents?

Nick Scarabosio: [00:02:13] Yeah. Yeah. So three of us co-founded Culture two Cash, myself, my two partners, Corwin Smith and Matt Blanton. We were all those people at one point or another. So I come from the real estate and property management industries, as well as owning some fitness gyms. And I did everything wrong, you know, on the on the outside, on the outside, everyone would say it was good. It was great, like, you’re doing so well. But I was personally just driving myself into a hole. I was overweight, I was stressed, I was anxious. I wasn’t being the husband and the father that I, I wanted to be. So not only in business, but at home. Personally, I wasn’t taking care of the vows and commitments that I had made. So I started looking for a process out, a system out and went through coaches, went through some consulting, some work, some didn’t, but always learning along the way. And what was really exposed to me is while I was good in those fields, I wasn’t great because I wasn’t being driven by purpose and passion. So, you know, fast forward from that 2004 start timeline to about 2016, 2017 started really saying, Hey, what is this that I’m doing? Because I’m getting a lot of requests for help, but what’s the process I have? And started building a program, building a system. And then I met my two partners right around the same time we were coaching in other organizations. So somebody saw something in us as coaches and consultants. And for a few years we kind of helped each other, played around with some clients together, some not. And then we decided, Hey, this has been a very long engagement for three plus years. Why don’t we get married, launch culture to cash and take what is our purpose, our vision, our passion to other owner led business owners and help them see what took us a lot of bad trials and tribulations to get to.

Stone Payton: [00:04:10] I think that’s marvelous background and foundation because it seems like you could remove some of the friction and maybe shrink the timeline for a lot of the rest of us so we don’t have to make all the same mistakes, Right?

Nick Scarabosio: [00:04:22] That’s it. Yeah. You don’t have to go it alone. You know, there’s we’ve made the mistakes for you. Try to avoid them now.

Stone Payton: [00:04:30] All right, So let’s dive into the work a little bit. Describe for me if you can sort of, I don’t know, the engagement cycle. I’m particularly interested in what happens early on in an engagement. How do you get this thing rolling?

Nick Scarabosio: [00:04:44] Yeah, Yeah. So, you know, an owner led business realizes, hey, I’ve got a viable product here. I seem to have a company that works. I just don’t know how to take it to the next level. So you come to us, the first thing we start talking about, which catches most people off guard, is we remove business. Where do you want to go? Like stone? What are you doing this for? What’s the ultimate end game? What are your life ambitions, your family ambitions, and what are you going to need to support those coming true? So once we have ourselves grounded in what we want, now we bring in business. Okay, let’s talk revenue. Let’s talk people. Do you have a strategy? And we do all this through one on one coaching. We have groups, but we also have a lot of back end systems. So we’re analyzing data, we’re finding out where are you strong because, hey, let’s keep doing that piece. But where are you also missing some major whether it’s systems, processes or people. So once we identify what the gaps are, then we get into the strategic side of it. Okay. Hey, if we could snap our fingers and fix everything tomorrow, we would. We’d also probably be billionaires if we had that capacity. But it does take time. You know, we we say, you know, proper strategy anywhere from 12 to 24 months to implement. But we have to do that in chunks. We can’t do it all at once because you don’t have the capacity. Your people don’t have the capacity. Oh, and there’s this other thing called life in the middle of the way. You still got to take care of all that.

Stone Payton: [00:06:23] I’m sure there are some unique characteristics to every engagement, every business, every individual within the business. And do you find yourself do you see some patterns like you’re in there, you’re starting that engagement and you’re like, if you don’t say it out loud, you say to yourself, Yep, I’ve seen this before. Are there some like common patterns or even maybe I’ll ask a kind of a compound question patterns, but also myths or preconceptions or misbeliefs when a new client is coming in and things that they, you know, that’s not really quite how it works. Joe Yeah.

Nick Scarabosio: [00:06:58] Yeah. I mean, often the first pushback we always get is, but Nick, have you done this industry? And the first thing we have to talk about is. One. We’ve been in a lot. I think we’ve been in, you know, 60 to 70 plus industries at this point. So we do have a lot of background. But if we go to the real facts is business principles are foundational, whether you’re a plumber, an electrician, a chef, a financial services person, the foundations of business are industry agnostic. So what you need to identify is just where am I at? Where do I want to go and what are the gaps I hold now? Are there nuances? Of course, you know, if you’re in the trades, we’ve seen it the last 12 months. There are problems being created well outside of our control by economic conditions, political decisions like those things. They are a part of the equation, but they’re not unique to you. They just are at the moment. Other other industries will go through them in the future.

Stone Payton: [00:08:04] So have you had the benefit? I know the answer to this is yes. I’m going to say it differently. Tell me a little bit about, if you would. I was going to say, have you had the benefit of one or more mentors along the way as you were navigating this terrain of running a, you know, a consultancy or coaching a speaking kind of firm?

Nick Scarabosio: [00:08:26] Yeah, absolutely. I mean, what what led me down this path was ultimately, you know, starting to realize I didn’t know it all. And I think that’s the hardest thing for us as business owners is we get stuck with this hat of leader of owner and we’re expected to have all the answers. Well, guess what? Nobody does. So we’ve got to go seek mentorship. We’ve got to seek peers who are in the same place programs, coaches, consultants. So I went through the industry specific ones and real estate and property management. When we launched our gyms, I went to coaches who could help me with marketing and fitness coaches, who could help me just be a better coach. Then when I was also stuck personally, I found, you know, men’s transformational programs that I thought would help. And the thing that I always tell people in there is no one is a magic bullet. We’re not a magic bullet. Culture to cash is not a magic bullet. We are a part of the solution. So what you have to be open to and it’s probably the one piece holding most business owners back, is just willing to accept that vulnerability of I need help, I need a solution, and this is going to be a piece of the solution. Not all of it at once.

Stone Payton: [00:09:38] Yeah. So now that you’ve been at this a while, what are you finding the most rewarding about the work? What’s the most fun about it for you?

Nick Scarabosio: [00:09:49] Yeah. So. As I had mentioned, we are we’re trying to create value for business owners. We want to see you exit for a massive number so you, your family, your legacy is taken care of financially. That’s great. But we really do focus in on what we refer to as human life value. How are you affecting your people? How are you affecting yourself? Like what are you passing on? That is way more important than money. So if you’re an industry or you’re an organization, whether you’ve got ten, ten employees or 100, you have to realize that it’s probably about 3 to 4 x how many people you have the opportunity to affect. Because we’ve got wives, we’ve got husbands, we’ve got kids, we’ve got future grandkids, we’ve just got communities. So what we really like to do at Culture two, Cash is realize that the impact we can make, yes, we’ll make the CEO’s life better. We’ll probably make them some more money. But that will actually trickle down to an effect across the entire organization, its people and their legacies. So if we can make an impact from top down all the way to the front line and know that, hey, maybe little Johnny 15 years from now has a nugget of truth and gold from his dad that learned it from their CEO, that learned it from us. That’s what makes it worthwhile.

Stone Payton: [00:11:14] What a great way to frame it. Human life value listeners, you’re going to hear that from me again. And I will try to to credit Nick. But what happens to me.

Nick Scarabosio: [00:11:26] It’s I didn’t I didn’t make it up so we didn’t make it up either. That was from one of our coaches and mentors. But it is just, you know, it’s always stuck with us. With us. It’s a big part of our decision making is how are we impacting human life value.

Stone Payton: [00:11:41] I may have mentioned to you before we came on the air, I don’t know if I did or not, but a lot of our listeners know that I came from the sales and marketing arena within the training consulting world. So I have kind of that. I look through a lot of things from the sales and marketing lens, and I am curious how does the whole sales and marketing thing work for a practice like yours in a firm like yours? Do you have to get out there and and shake the trees, or are you at a point where it’s coming to you? Or how does that work for you?

Nick Scarabosio: [00:12:11] It’s a holistic approach. So we’re we’re big believers in you got to have multi marketing going on. So yeah, we have referrals, we have networking, you know, people who we’ve provided a tremendous value to put us in touch with other business owners they know, but we also go the traditional routes as well. We’re doing digital marketing, we’re doing Facebook and Instagram campaigns. Like our whole goal is not to work with the entire world, but it’s to work with the people that are the best fit for what we do to make the most impact. And the only way we can find out if you’re a good fit is to market and have a conversation. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But you come and you have a talk with me. I’m not going to say, Hey, you know, Stone, I don’t like you. I’m not going to work with you. I’m going to say, Hey, Stone, I don’t know if we’re necessarily a good fit, but maybe talk to these three individuals. Maybe they’re going to be a better person for you.

Stone Payton: [00:13:06] Well that fit conversation in that value conversation. I again, I was from the training consulting world, so, so I knew how important it was there. It sounds like everything you’re doing is so grounded in trust and relationship and fit and the value that they perceive. And there must be a really strong educational component to to what you do to even just get to where you can have a substantive conversation. It’s the antithesis of transactional your world, right?

Nick Scarabosio: [00:13:38] Yeah, Yeah. I mean, here’s the reality is that 99% of business owners we talk to when we start our conversation is while I may not be saying these words, what they hear is your baby’s ugly. Because I’m saying I’m saying, hey, like, here’s the gaps we see. Here’s the potential you could have, but you need to make some changes. You’re not doing this right. You could potentially do this better. So this is your your business that you’ve poured your blood, sweat and tears into. It’s your your baby. It’s your single largest asset. And you got some guy, whether it’s in Zoom or in person or some other form of communication telling you it’s not perfect. So if we can get past that, that’s a level of trust where you’re open to the idea, you’re open to consideration for what we have to say. Does that mean you accept everything? Of course not. We’re human beings. We’ve got this thing in between our ears that plays a lot of different stories and, you know, messes with us sometimes. But as long as the trust is there and then we can start to lay out the plan, the strategy, the tactics, then we can make some real impact.

Stone Payton: [00:14:50] So diving back into the work that even the name of the firm is Culture to Cash. So I’m interested in you speaking to that a little bit. And I know culture, at least for me, and I think maybe some of our listeners can be can can be a little nebulous sometimes and we have a hard time getting our arms around it. And yet we all, or most of us, I think instinctively, intellectually understand man, to to whatever degree I can impact the culture, I can really impact results and and home human life value. But speak to that a little bit the focus on culture.

Nick Scarabosio: [00:15:26] Yeah. So the hardest part of being a business owner and growing growing an organization is people. Like we are the most difficult beings on the planet because while we’re highly evolved and we can speak and we have language, we then have to take into consideration that while Johnny’s working at the company, Johnny’s also got a family. He’s also got requirements and vows and commitments he’s got to fulfill. So if he’s not taking care of that, can create issues inside of my organization. Maybe his productivity is off or he’s distracted or he’s disconnected. So what we know to be true is if we can dive into upgrading our people, the results come as a benefit. And when we’re talking culture, while it’s cool with the tech companies do with the ping pong tables and the the free lunches and things like that, it’s yeah, it’s great and those can be fun. But culture is really how do I lead? And if I’m having conflict, how do I handle conflict? How do I improve my people? How do I make sure they’re not only committed to themselves but they enjoy what they’re doing? So thus they’re committed to the organization?

Stone Payton: [00:16:41] What a great checklist of questions that helps you get your arm around culture really quick. Man. You just got to rattled it off. But that’s a man that’s that’s a seminar right there. Probably. All right. I’m going to switch gears on you a little bit before we wrap, if I could. I’m interested to know and I don’t know where you’d find the time, but I get the sense that you would have real value for this. What Hobbies, passions, interests, things that you maybe you have a tendency to nerd out about outside the scope of your work. Like my listeners, they know I like to hunt, fish and travel, you know? But how about you?

Nick Scarabosio: [00:17:18] Yeah. So when we’re not working, I am a husband and father. So I’ve got a 14 year old son, 11 year old daughter. So they definitely keep me busy between high school sports for my son, competitive cheer for my daughter and then for me personally. Um, big fan of Brazilian jiu jitsu train that consistently and then I also love to golf and we happen to be in the awesome state of Colorado now. So when winter hits, try to hit the mountains, get some skiing and snowboarding in. But really it’s just more about do what you love outside of work. Because if you’re not, what are you doing it for?

Stone Payton: [00:17:53] Amen. And I mean, my experience has been I personally need that white space. I need to retreat and sit in a tree for a while. I feel like I’m a better leader when I come back, right?

Nick Scarabosio: [00:18:06] Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, one of the promises we make to clients who sign up with us is within the first 90 days, we cut the time to manage the business by 50% for the owners. And what I always tell them is, hey, I’m going to get you back 50% of your time. Don’t do something stupid like filling it with more minutia. Work. Go enjoy it. Go spend some time outdoors. Go spend some time with your family. Hey, you haven’t had a vacation in six years. Even if it’s only a day. Go take a vacation. Like enjoy life. Because that’s the only reason we should be working is to produce happiness and ability to enjoy life.

Stone Payton: [00:18:44] Yeah. Okay. Let’s leave our listeners, if we could, with a couple of actionable tips, something that they should be doing, not doing reading. Maybe some some dashboard signals that they ought to be paying more attention to some of these topics or maybe even ought to be reaching out to someone and having conversation. Let’s leave them with a couple of things. They can go and listen. Gang. The best tip is reach out and have a conversation with Nick or somebody on his team. But even short of that, you know, some things to think about, begin focusing on maybe.

Nick Scarabosio: [00:19:20] Yeah. So where we start, everybody is start with people. Stop worrying about cash, stop worrying about strategy and tactics. Because if you’re not paying attention to your people, none of it matters. The hardest part of this game is hiring, sourcing and keeping good employees. So start looking at your processes of doing that. We start with function first. Always function first. What’s the role? What needs to be accomplished? Then we go find the people for it. Then we pour our energy and support into them and that’s what helps grow, what’s helping grow teams. So once you have the people part dialed in, then you can start to ask yourself, Where do I want to take this thing?

Stone Payton: [00:20:01] Well, I’m glad I asked. That’s a good set of recommendations. I’ll tell you what, gang, if you want to get some really solid consulting information, knowledge for for free or next to free, get yourself a radio show, man. You meet some fascinating people with a lot of depth. They thank you for that. All right. What’s the best way for folks to reach out and have a conversation with you or someone on your team? Tap into your into your work, whatever. Just leave them some coordinates, whatever you think is appropriate and most productive.

Nick Scarabosio: [00:20:33] Yeah. So culture sitcom all spelled out. That’s our website. There’s plenty of buttons on there for you to book a free discovery call. We are we are three men that truly believe in having conversations with no outcome for us. All we want to do is provide impact for you. So even if it’s 20, 30 minutes and I can leave you with one nugget, that’s a win for me. Social media. You can type in my name. Nick Scarabosio There’s not a whole lot of scarabosio running around this planet, so pretty easy to find. And other than that, yeah, social and websites the best way.

Stone Payton: [00:21:10] Well, Nick, it has been an absolute delight having you on the program this afternoon. Keep up the good work, man. The work you and your you and your team are doing, it’s so important. And we really appreciate you, man.

Nick Scarabosio: [00:21:27] All right. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me on.

Stone Payton: [00:21:29] My pleasure. All right. Until next time, This is Stone Payton for our guest today, Nick Scarabosio with Culture to Cash. And everyone here at the Business RadioX family saying we’ll see you in the fast lane.