How I Built A 200-Person Company With ZERO Systems - Graeme Holm #142

Every business coach says you fall to the level of your systems. Graeme Holm runs a 200 person business and says he does not run to systems at all, has no routine, and has tried three CEOs who all failed. His alternative is a general manager with skin in the game.

Graeme Holm is the founder of Infinity Group, one of Australia's largest independent finance broking businesses. This is his third appearance on the show.

What you will learn:

- Why he says hiring an incentivised general manager beats hiring a business coach, and the test he applies to any coach

- The operating expense buffer he asks every business owner about, and how few can answer

- Why he deliberately outsources accounting, legal and financial planning rather than bringing them in house

- Why three attempts at handing over the CEO role never worked in a private company

- The forecast that his industry would fall 30 to 50 percent, and what his business did instead

Chapters

00:00 Making the money does not make the problems go away

01:11 Running a 200 person business without systems

05:09 A theme park closed privately, and what the party is actually for

06:41 The couple who would not sell it back for what they paid plus a dollar

10:15 When to step back, and the risk of holding on too long

13:27 Three CEOs, and why none of them worked

16:43 What five years of a real partnership actually looks like

20:05 If the partnership fails, half of that is yours

23:16 Hire an incentivised general manager instead of a business coach

26:36 Who is smarter, you or the donkey

29:38 Why money is more taboo at a barbecue than health

33:15 The claim from the stage that started the partnership

36:41 Two jobs, sixty hour weeks, and the toasted sandwich

40:22 The Art of Thinking Clearly, and the chapter he rereads

43:42 A forecast of a 30 to 50 percent fall, and what happened instead

46:56 Partnering with people already on the ground

50:12 Fee for service instead of commission

53:17 Forty eight states, and the two he will not touch

56:30 Phase one in America, and dying wondering

1:00:31 Nine people in accounts, and software that could not keep up

Graeme Holm runs 200 people without a system, because the model carries itself. Property should work the same way.

Most properties only make money if the market does. The ones that pay for themselves from the day you settle are bought differently, and it comes down to four points.

Get the free guide: https://go.bothsides.au/score

Follow Graeme Holm:

◼️ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/graeme_holm/

◼️ Infinity Group - https://www.instagram.com/infinitygroupau/

Bothsides:

◼️ The weekly email - https://bothsides.au

◼️ Bothsides Buyers Agency - https://www.bothsidesbuyersagency.com.au

◼️ Dan - https://www.instagram.com/daniel_beardall/

◼️ Watch on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@bothsidespodcast

General information only. Not financial, tax, legal or credit advice. Bothsides is not a mortgage broker or credit provider.