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  • 3 days ago
Scale Tales From the Ground Up. The Business Infrastructure show Podcast Episode #213 Richard Blank

Curing back office blues. Growth is not a bad thing. But too much growth, too fast presents a set of challenges often overlooked when discussing small businesses. The emphasis tends to center on the marketing and promotion necessary to grow your business, and not on the operations and business infrastructure needed to scale your business in a sustainable manner. These back office operations can make or break your business. The Business Infrastructure show provides solutions and real life stories to owners and operators of fast growing small businesses seeking practical tips for dealing with growth spurts.

A few years after graduating from university, he accepted an offer to conduct training at a call center in Costa Rica. At 27 years old he decided to call Costa Rica home. That was over 20 years ago. And he never looked back. In this episode, Richard takes us on his journey as he leverages his advanced Spanish-speaking skills, business prowess, and emotional intelligence to build and scale Costa Rica s Call Center from a one-seat to a 300-seat operation.

While his friends pursued careers in fields like law, medicine, and technology, Richard Blank went in a completely different direction language. In fact, his love of language and communications led him to study abroad for one semester in Spain. That experience changed the trajectory of his life.

Discover how Richard used a cash-only approach to invest in the business infrastructure required to lay a foundation for sustainable growth, his tips for reducing attrition, and why he urges entrepreneurs to act their wage. Growth is not a bad thing. But too much growth, too fast presents a set of challenges often overlooked when discussing small businesses. The emphasis tends to center on the marketing and promotion necessary to grow your business, and not on the operations and business infrastructure needed to scale your business in a sustainable manner. These back office operations can make or break your business.


https://youtu.be/qw09sFl1DZU
https://youtu.be/Gpq-w_WWdn8
https://youtu.be/Cf1PDpZu67M
https://youtu.be/It9x2zUkxC8
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https://youtu.be/DG1TJ9JcS0k
https://youtu.be/Kg_qKh-mqxU
https://youtu.be/rBmgKSYfl7A
https://youtu.be/yYqbU9t9wm8
https://youtu.be/7MS_otvgGT4
https://youtu.be/nHvXMgWDlBA
Transcript
00:00That's why you do the best interviews, Alicia. Thank you so much. How about this? When I was in
00:06high school and I graduated, most of my friends were going to Ivy League and studying law,
00:10medicine, engineering, and architecture. I myself decided to double down on languages. It was my
00:15favorite class. And at the University of Arizona, once again, being a communication major, I was
00:20able to focus on public speaking rhetoric and nonverbal communication. And so that was very
00:25important for me. Sometimes I kind of felt like a dreamer. And I was almost doing this alone. But
00:31since my great grandparents came from Europe, from Romania, Russia, Germany, and Poland, they came at
00:38the turn of the century. And so when they came to the United States in the early 20th century, and
00:43they learned English and were entrepreneurs, it was pretty much my strongest argument to my parents
00:49on what I was trying to do. Our family were nomads, we were risk takers. And for me, all I know is
00:57that I wanted some sort of adventure. And I know that by learning a second language, it would open
01:02many doors for me. And so my natural progression pretty much got me to where I am today.

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