Gene sits down with Patti Cotton, President of the Cotton Group , a company engaged in the area of leadership and organizational development.  Patti is an expert  in these two functional areas. During the show Patti  shares her  thoughts on how small business CEOs can reach the maximum potential of their businesses. Patti has an impressive list of former clients of all sizes  consisting of but not limited to: Harvard University, Coca Cola, Amazon, Apple, Oracle,  Google, Microsoft,  Verizon...

Gene sits down with Janet Dabek Steiner former CEO of Thoro Packaging, Inc. and currently a motivational key note speaker.  Thoro  packaging was formed by her father Macy Dabek in 1968 after he moved the family away from the cold winters of New Jersey to Anaheim, Ca. Thoro  was engaged in  the short run folding carton business.   After graduating  from high school , Janet took a few accounting colleges and  began helping  her dad with  the company books.  Macy could not afford to pay his...

Gene sits down with Wayne Slavitt, president of the Primemark  Group. Wayne is an expert in the area of maximizing business value and exit planning . He earned his designation as a certified Exit Planning Advisor by the exit planning institute. In addition he is an extensive public speaker and author.  He recently penned a new book called "Run It Like You'll Sell it . Wayne shares expert tips on the dos and dont's of exit planning  and business valuation.  Very informative show , dont miss...

In honor of National Hispanic Entrepreneur month , Gene shares his story  as to how he made his dream of becoming a successful coach/consultant a  reality . Genes parents Edward & Consuelo immigrated from Mexico  to southern california in the late 20's and 30s. Gene's family was poor. Gene attributes his success to the grace of god, having a mentor, his education and working hard with passion.   Gene also  shares  9 business  lessons he learned   during his 40 yr plus entrepreneurial ...

Gene sits down with  Angy Lopez, CEO of Angy's Angels Cleaning Service Angy's story is truly inspirational and motivational Angy  was a divorced  mother  with four children who immigrated to the US in 2013 for a better life for her kids. At the time she spoke no english.  She went to a community college to learn english and worked three jobs to support her family.  In 2014 she started her own company and 5 years later was honored as an  entreprenuer of the year for the Inland Empire. Today...

Gene sits down with Jonathan  Palacios-Avila, co-founder &  currently VP of Marketing  and  Research of  Stratos Fuel Inc.  Jonathan of Mexican heritage,  founded the company  8 years ago along with his father John who provided   guidance and initial capital . Jonathan was only 25 years old  at the time. He  started thinking  about his  business idea when he was only 13 years old! Stratos Fuel is a very successful company that produces hydrogen for  a variety of industries and purposes....

Gene sits down with  Javier Vazquez, CEO of  highly successful Miguel's Mexican Restaurants  which  was formed by his  Mother &  Dad over 50 years ago . There are now 22 location,  21 quick serve and 1 sit down  with  locations in the Inland Empire & Orange County ( 4). Gene discussed with Javier  a variety of topics including ; The benefits of working in a family owned business How Miguels  dealt with Covid , which wreaked havoc in  the restaurant  industry How the Company has...

Gene sits down with Tony Reyes who is an expert in the 24 billion dollar thrift store industry and is now the CEO of the Thrift Store Consulting Group, a company that provides services  to meet various social needs such as kids at risk and the homeless.  Tony has 35 years experience in the industry Born in Pomona, Calif,  as one of nine children , Tony's rise to become a highly successful for-profit CEO before he started his consulting is a remarkable journey.   The fundamentals to make a...

Gene discusses  general population numbers as provided by The US Census,  (2019)   and the breakdown of small businesses owned by women, all minorities and veterans. This information can be used by  listeners to create  better sales and marketing strategies and reveals a large disparity of representation  by minorities. Also discussed are podcast listeners broken down by gender and  ethnicity  and finally  Gene's October podcast schedule which will include five successful  hispanic business...

Gene interprets a quote of Albert Einstein , " Logic Will Get You from Point A to B. Imagination Will Take You Everywhere " In order for a CEO  to be super successful they must spend  much of their time imagining what they want their businesses to become in the future. Another term is vision. While logic and processes are important to  get the work out today  it is imagination that and creative ideas that will ensure that a CEO's  business will realize long term sustainability. Link -...

Gene sits down with Shelly, CEO of Luminary leaders who started her own business five years ago   after a distinguished 25 year banking  career. Shelly shares her entrepreneurial journey and best practices which has resulted in a very successful business today.  Shellly Harrison, CEO 909-519-3712 [email protected] link: https://ceotorainmaker.buzzsprout.com Support the show

With cyber attacks on the rise and losses mounting, Gene sits down with Chris Hodson a professional commercial insurance broker who gives  a general overview of this subject matter and if this risk is insurable and what the cost might be.  chris hodson  1949-287-5667 [email protected] Link: https://ceotorainmaker.buzzsprout.com Support the show

One part of being a certified rainmaker is that you have to speak rainmaker language or lingo. Gene outlines twenty five key words and terms  and also provides  the definitions in the form of a test .  Terms discussed included  but were not limited to : barriers to entry; boot strapping ; business angels; licensing  and vertical integration .  This is a fun episode to build your rainmaker vocabulary on.  ceo2rainmkr.com 909-2300024 [email protected]  Link;...

Gene sits down with Brad Trangsrud, Associate Director of the Alliant Group. The Alliant Group is a Houston based national tax consultancy firm with over 20 offices in the US. Brad is an expert in the Employee Retention Credit field. Brad has helped small & mid-size businesses claim more than $250MM in credits. Brad provides information on ERC, PPE Loans and what the IRS and congress's goals are.  He also discusses how you apply for an ERC and reveals how simple it is.  Finally, he cites...

Gene, quotes Thomas Edison  who said " I have not failed I  have just found 10,000 ways that do not work!' Gene interprets the quote that todays CEO will be  bombarded with failure but the key is how will they respond to those experiences? [email protected] 909-2300024 www.ceo2rainmker.com  Link : https;//ceotorainmaker.buzzsprout .com Support the show

Gene  briefly discusses  six internal ways you can grow " organically" or "  from within . "  1) create a new product/services 2) add new features & benefits to existing product/services 3) sell to different target markets 4) create a more aggressive sales & marketing plan  5) make it easy for customers through technology to pay you  6)  consider exporting  The  external way to grow is through acquisition or  to buy another company, which is not the focus of  this...

Gene sits down with Dr. Mike Stull who heads up The  Inland Empire Entrepreneuership Program  at California  State  University - San Bernardino. Mike and his staff have created a new  50 hour educational program called The Catapault Business Network . The program targets CEOs  who operate small businesses that want  to grow . In addition to the "How To " aspects of the program   their is a peer group element  where CEOs can learn and network from a group of other CEOs who are not...

Gene   sits down with Ed Fixen a   Certified Business Appraiser and Broker who is the CEO of Business Quest Brokers. Ed is an expert in the field of Business Valuation. He has sold and appraised over 200 businesses covering a variety of industries .  Ed shares the three analytical ways a business can be valued and discusses various ways  a  business can gain or lose  value.  He also outlines other purposes why a business should be appraised other that preparing to sell it.  Contact...

Gene sits down with Michael Ocasio, CEO of the Small Business Development Corporation of Orange County. SBDC-OC operates under the state's public municipal bank called " IBank"  ( the California Infrastructure & Economic Development Bank)  The  SBDC provide many  business financing assistance programs including but not limited to financing or guarantees for NON-PROFITS, a venture capital fund and a direct micro loan program .  The SBDC's  main activity  is to  issue loan guarantees to ...

Gene introduces a new  entree to his podcast menu.  The name of these episodes is entitled "Brief Insights From The Rainmaker Coach". These episodes are very short , no greater than 4 minutes and the content covers a variety of business education topics. When you have your morning coffee think of them as your  "Business Danish or Dougnut". The initial episode deals with the subject of ideas.  Tune in their fun!! [email protected] email 909-2300024- text www.ceo2rainmkr.com- web Support...

Gene sits down with negotiations  expert Aaron  Silva . Aaron is the founder and owner of Paladin-fs, LLC  a firm that provides negotiation services for executives of large companies all over the US.  Info covered includes;  does every negotiation have a winner or loser?what is a haggle?How important is time ?when you should walk away from a negotiation and why ?What is game theory?CEOs of small businesses  who improve their negotiation skills will see their businesses improve...

Gene quotes wisdom from Sun Tzu  a famous Chinese general  and military strategist  around 500BC. Using an analogy  of being at war  with being at "War" in business., Gene discusses the need of a battle plan . The Battle Plan in business is a  " competitor  analysis" which  can be accomplished  through the creation of a simple  one  page  competitive grid.  [email protected] [email protected] 909-2300024 Support the show

Gene sits down with young entrepreneur, Mike Cachat who stated his current company Jenson USA  when he was 16 years old out of his garage  with out a formal business education. Some twenty five years later  the company is a leader in its industry. The company sells high end bicycles and parts mostly on line  . Mike lists four reason for his success, 1. Loyal, quality employees 2. Mentors & advisors 3. knowing the numbers of his financial statements 4. changing his self talk from negative...

Gene sits down with Robert & Kay Lee Fukui who consult married couples to help them achieve better balance between work and home. The Fukui's reveal during the episode that setting boundaries and conducting weekly planning sessions are two of the key ways for couples to achieve that elusive balance.  This is a must listen to episode.  The Fukui's contact info: 1626- 422-6628 [email protected] Couples By...

Passion is a key ingredient   in the Rainmaker CEO 's emotional tool  box.   In this episode Gene  itemizes  five reasons  why,  which includes but not is not limited to, the ability to learn, work hard,  handle rejection  and  develop persistence and perseverance. http://. ceo2rainmkr.com Support the show