Description:
In this episode, Al Wagner joins me to talk business and networking. Al has built a sizeable payroll business called TruPayroll – they are located in 24 states. He's certainly an authority on building businesses and, the topic we'll talk a lot about, networking. A bulk of his business stems from his networking efforts.
Like we do with all our first-time guests, we start with his journey and what influenced him to become an entrepreneur. He also shared how he built his practice and how his payroll business grew out of that – hint, networking helped! On the topic of business networking his talks about the best way to approach it to maximize your results. Building relationships first is a big part of that. Tons of nuggets in this one and some great takeaways. Enjoy!
Albert Wagner
Albert Wagner is a faith-based entrepreneur, an influencer, a team builder, a visionary, and the founder of TruPayroll, LLC. He started his professional career as an Accounts Payable Clerk and became a licensed CPA in 1994. After spending several years working with firms, his independence and entrepreneurial aspiration materialized when he opened his own CPA practice in April 1999.
His path then lead him to consulting and after those engagements, he realized that consulting was NOT for him. So he went on a journey to find a new income stream which lead him to discover a wholesale, white-labeled payroll platform. After testing it for a few years via volunteers and through some convincing by a customer, Al's accounting firm started offering payroll processing.
In a few years, the payroll processing service increased in size and scope to the point where he eventually made the decision to focus 100% of his attention on building TruPayroll, LLC. Now, they already branched out to serve their growing customers covering 24 states.
If you would want to connect with him on LinkedIn, be sure to tell him you listened to this podcast (so that he knows it is not a random connection invite.) You may also check out his Accounting Business, TruPayroll, LLC.
THE MEAT OF IT!
- Intro
- Shiny objects to.. His first practice
- Found his way to Florida
- Failures .. learning the lessons and on to the next
- Who or what inspired him to become an Entrepreneur? Or to not give up.
- Working for a company vs for yourself
- Rebuilt a practice .. took time. Wasn’t skilled at networking yet.
- Someone walks into his life and talks him into doing payroll too.
- TruPayroll was born – became a big success – 24 States and lots and lots of causes..
- Defining moments
- Creating situations/businesses that run without you.. even when we’re sleeping.
- Building a business where if you disappear it can carry on .. ensuring continuity
- NETWORKING
- Fear – False Expectations Appearing Real
- Just handing out cards doesn’t work.. leading with what you do.
- Building relationships in the context of business .. is networking. Not what can o get out of a ‘thing’.. what can I give ‘in’
- Give value first
- Gave up at one point on Networking ..
- until a networking event he attended .. that changed everything .. completely new experience
- Your job is to be “A Connector”
- people become tools in your toolbox ..
- “Do you know someone..?”
- Creating disciples
- Planting seeds – timeframes
- Building a business via your network
- Build during the bull .. so you can survive the next bear.
- Putting the fear aside .. getting rid of the false expectations
- How I see it happen in my business
- “Contacts in our phones” .. you’re not just losing me
- Focusing on level 2 and 3
- Our experiences.. no business, but a friend for life
- 90% of his business is based on referrals
- He’s in a hugely competitive space.. how are you going to differentiate and get known?
- Building relationships.. worked.
- Video conferences have become more popular and have opened up more opportunities.
- Positioning yourself as a ‘Connector’
- Final takeaways
Check out these related Episodes:
- Episode 34: Mohammad Nafisi – His Journey, Business, Startups, Community & More!
- Episode 33: Wilson Mattos – Biz Lessons, Climbing the Corporate Ladder to Becoming an Entrepreneur
- Episode 32: Vova Feldman – His Personal Story, How He Built Freemius & a Discussion About Business!
