Outgrowing Yourself: The 3 Cs to Scale Fast with Pat Alacqua

Ideas are great, but it's all about execution, right? Ideas are great. I don't want to minimize them obviously, but man, if you can't execute it, what good are they, right?

Today we're joined by Pat Alaqua, a seasoned entrepreneur with decades of hands on experience across multiple industries. From starting a concrete business straight out of high school to building a powerhouse in the trade show industry and later guiding visionary leaders through the growth pains of scaling their own companies.

Pat's practical wisdom is distilled from a career spent turning obstacles into opportunities, which he now shares through his coaching in his new book and online resources. In this episode, we dive deep into the pivotal lessons Pat learned on his journey. How impatience and abiace for action fuel the success, why self awareness and mindset are critical for entrepreneurs, and the five key phases every business must navigate to achieve sustainable growth.

You'll hear Pat's actionable framework for managing competing priorities and how to emotionally transition from being a doer to an effective leader. Whether you're trying to get a business unstuck or ready to scale to new heights, this episode is packed with invaluable insights that you won't want to miss. As always, if you found value from this content, please like and subscribe. All right, Pat Alaqua, welcome to Beyond Fulfillment. Thanks Dave, appreciate it. Looking forward to it.

Absolutely, absolutely. We appreciate you taking the time to be here. So Pat, how did your early experiences shape your approach to building and then scaling business? I guess, you know, in my early experiences was when I, when I was, when I was growing up, I sort of saw, I grew up in a situation where my grandfather was, ran a small grocery store, okay, before the big stores ultimately put them out of business, the big supermarkets. And I sort of grew up around that.

We didn't have a lot of money. You know, my parent, great parents that gave me, it gave me, gave me so much. But you know, we didn't have a lot of money. But, but, but I watched business from how my grandfather ran this little grocery store and I always said, hey, you know, I, I, you know, I think I want to go into my own business, right? So you know, in, I think growing up through that, I was always in a hurry to get out into the business world and to try something.

So I graduated high school, I never went to college and I was too much in a hurry to get out and get something started and I started a little concrete business with a cousin and I had an uncle at the time that was sort of in that business and he sort of mentored us. And in trying to help us identify and understand that we didn't know what we didn't know. Right. How often does that come up? And he gave us a lot of insight. And, you know, we started out small.

And through that, that's where I sort of cut my teeth on learning how to start something out small. And then I guess when I moved into a. I left that and had an opportunity to get into the trade show business. Okay, Dave. And. And I was able. We started a business at the time that actually grew very quickly, and I had to learn real fast what it was like working, as people say, working on the business, or I should say working in the business versus working on it. Right.

Because it grew so fast and, you know, you sort of can't scale the hustle. Right. So we had to figure out real fast how we were going to manage that growth. And that's where I really got my first inclination of what scaling was and how you had to grow beyond yourself. And I didn't know what I didn't know, and I just had to start trying to figure it out. But I really learned that concept of what working in a business is versus what's working on it. And I enjoyed the heck out of working in it.

And I. And I had to quickly learn what what working on it meant and. And got my first lesson in what. What it was like to try to figure out what scaling a business was. And I don't even know whether I knew what that term was back in the day, you know. Okay, so a whole lot to unpack there. All right, so you're always around business, growing up, and, you know, you saw your grandfather, admired what he was doing, and you said, you know, I want to go into business for myself.

And it sounds like you had some impatience there. You were very much in a hurry to just get out and get something started. So, you know, so often we see successful entrepreneurs that have that type of ready, fire, aim approach. And, you know, on the flip side, we see so many people that want to start something or they have an idea, but there's something inhibits them from taking that action, which ultimately, you know, they never get it going.

So, I mean, do you think that bias towards action and even that impatience really has been critical to your success as an entrepreneur? Absolutely. Absolutely. But, you know, Dave, one of the things I've learned is, you know, and I'm sure you can relate to in your own experiences, not only in business, but in life, that sometimes your greatest strength can become your greatest weakness. Right. And I am so impatient.

Okay. You know, and, and I believe in ready, fire, aim, because I think the only way sometimes you can get stuck is to get started. Right? And then you got to learn how to pivot from there. Right? And I think those are two important things. But, but I, but I also think that I've been at times, you got to know when to slow that impatience down. I obviously don't, I obviously don't believe in, in that paralysis analysis versus, you know, ready, fire, aim, if you will.

There's a fine balance to that, right. And I'm a control freak. I've learned how to manage that. I'm a perfectionist. Okay. And, and, and I think my impatience helped me manage that at some level. Okay, but, but, but I truly believe that that impatience gives you a bias towards action, right? Because especially there's so many things that are uncertain and you can just get stuck in the uncertainty. So without a doubt, my impatience helped me.

But you know, I think there are times in life and, and in business where, you know, you can move a little too fast. I remember there were oftentimes, myself and my partner in our trade show business were very successful. But one of the things that I think our impatience hurt us with, we were always, we were always the pioneer, right? We're always out front and, and, and yeah, that's great. But sometimes the pioneer gets all the arrows and sometimes it's good to be that fast follower. Right?

Sort of like Apple gets the credit for today. They sit and watch everybody do things and then they move into that market faster. So again, I, I, I, I can go full circle on that. Yes, Impatience was one of my greatest strengths and I think it has helped me as an entrepreneur and create my bias for action and get around the fear of the unknown. But I also think I had to learn to manage that because it made me at times move too fast.

Okay. Yeah. And I'm hearing a lot of self awareness there, which I'm sure comes with all your experience and the wisdom that comes along with that. So you talk about having to manage that impatience, right? So it doesn't, you know, like a strength overused becomes a weakness, you know, is, is, is the saying. So like what? Because I'm sure a lot of our listeners can relate to that exact thing, right? They have that impatience. They want to get going. It's ready, fire, aim.

And like you said, if too much of that or if it gets out of control, that can hurt you. So what are some of your strategies to manage that? Great question, Dave. You Know, having gone through it over and over. Right. At different times throughout my career, I created a process that's very simple, and it's. I call it my three Cs. And it's something that I try to use whenever I'm trying to tackle any challenge. And it's what I teach leaders today as I try to help them build their businesses.

And the three C stand for clarify chart and co align. Right. Clarify your challenge, chart your course, and co align your team so that you can start moving toward and through successful implementation. So the first C clarify is sort of. Okay, step back. You might think you got the all the answers. Okay, but none of us have all the answers. So start learning how to ask the right questions. Right?

So. So in that process, okay, again, not, as I alluded to earlier, not leaning towards paralysis analysis, but slow down enough. Clarify what the challenge really is. Right? And so often we can do things in a vacuum. There's so much we can do. Right? But when we face that next challenge, we can't forget the fact that there are a lot of other things going on. I call them competing priorities. Right? So even if I've got that challenge clarified, I got to figure out, what else do I got going on?

Because as entrepreneurs, we can sometimes, you know, chase the flavor of the month, as the old term says, right. Or the latest new idea. And ideas are great, but it's all about execution, right? Ideas are great. I don't want to minimize them, obviously, but, man, if you can't execute it well, what good are they, right? So it's important for me, it was important to step back and learn how to get that challenge clarified.

I sort of look at it in a way where it's like, you know, you know where you want to go. You think you see how to get there. But like a good whittler, let's try it. You got that vision. Let's try to whittle that wood piece of wood down. Let's carve out the stuff that doesn't belong so that I got clarity right. On what I want to do. And then all of a sudden, priorities become clear, especially if you have to shift amongst some other things you're focusing on, and then you're also start.

You're ready to start communicating with the people around you and your team on. Okay, now how do we chart this path to get there? Right? So the thing for me in managing that is step back, take a little bit of time, and just get clarity and then start taking your action. All right? Now also in your Work.

You outline the five distinct growth phases of a business. Can you talk more about those and why it's so important for entrepreneurs to be aware of those? Absolutely. Dave. You know, every business, I talk to people in many different industries, right? And we all think that the, the business that we're focused on is so different from one in another industry, right? And, and yes, it is, but so much of it's the same, right? And every business goes through these phases, right?

And it's termed in a lot of ways. But you go through that phase where you have an idea, right? You have a, you have an idea, then all of a sudden you've got to develop that idea into a concept and move it into a startup. Then, then you move from startup into a growth phase, right? Then you move into that maturity phase, right? Where okay, we've met, we're coming through growth, we're settling down. Now it's time to build that sustainable business, right?

And, and that's, and that maturity phase, when you're out of growth and you're moving into that maturity phase, two things can happen. You can build that sustainable business or. Because you didn't recognize something, okay? And it's that one thing, in my opinion, you have to recognize at every single phase that you're moving through, you could actually decline, right? So you go from startup to maturity, I mean, from startup to growth to maturity to sustainable or decline, right?

And then that's where turnarounds and reinvention come in, right? And every business, that's a path that's before you, and you can make choices on how you manage or navigate that path. And I think the biggest thing to recognize, there's so many challenges we face, as you know, in managing and navigating that path. But the biggest thing that I find in managing that is to recognize that what got you there, what got you here, will not get you there.

So it's one just to understand those different phases and the characteristics that may go along with those phases, but then to recognize that the success that got me here is not going to get me through that next phase. So how do you stay focused on what you're doing now, but anticipate that next phase in a way that you're ready to make that transition. And the first step is to recognize that just because of what I'm doing has been successful doesn't mean it's going to keep being successful.

And if it's not, it's not because of failure, it's actually because of success, right? And, and don't Beat yourself up when you start facing those growing pains, because those, when you don't make that transition effectively or you don't notice it, you face growing pains. And people look at those things as problems, and they're really not. They're actually come from success.

So in answer, in coming full circle, to quickly answer that question, after I've been long winded through it, it is recognize the phases and then recognize that what got you here will not get you there to the next phase. If that makes sense. Dave. Yeah, makes sense. And in a way, it's almost cliche these days because we hear a lot of people in the personal development world saying that too, in terms of evolution. And what, what got you here is not going to get you to the next level.

So, and, you know, so much easier said than done, right? Particularly when you've had success and you've reached a certain level and then, you know, like you said, what got you to that point is not going to get you to that next, you know, that next level you're trying to attain. So what, you know, you talk about being aware and then being able to, I guess, transition or evolve into that, that next version that you need to be.

So what are some strategies entrepreneurs can use to do that given that, you know, they're going to have to make a change from what got them to their current level of success? I think there's many. I think one core, one for me and that I try to, you know, sometimes it's, sometimes it's about exactly how you do something. Dave. Right. Sometimes it's about the mindset.

You know, how do you, you know, I always try to say you have to think differently, you have to plan differently, and you have to execute differently. Now, those are very broad terms, right? But I think at the foundation of managing that change, those three things are always at the foundation. And I think for an entrepreneur, I faced this, quite frankly, I made the transition late. It was very stressful, very painful emotionally.

But it was making that transition from that entrepreneurial company where I was the doer and I got all my satisfaction out of getting everything done right and had to, and had to manage that transition to where I got things done through others and we had to put systems and processes in place. So I always call it, you know, one without the other. You can't be successful.

You got to have a great blend between entrepreneurism and management systems or this or the quote, unquote, professional management term, right? And, and, but you can't throw away the entrepreneurism that, that attitude of Getting things done, I'm going to climb the mountain. All the energy and the satisfaction of results, but in making that transition from doer to. To leader or to manager or to getting things done through other things or through other people.

And I think the biggest thing is people start throwing systems at you, right? You gotta do this, you gotta do that, whether it be an MBO system, whether it be a KPI's, right? Whether it be all these different things that are out there, right? The EOS system. And quite frankly, I get them. I don't understand all of them. I mean, I understand all of them, but I couldn't speak to all of them.

But I think what's missed is no one helps us as entrepreneurs understand the psychological or the emotional shift that we have to make. And it's three things that we have to help. And we're not psychologists, so we can't coach people through that. But I think just staying focused on these three things, it helps us find our way. And that is one. We got so much satisfaction out of the results that we produced in how we felt about ourselves, right?

I got really excited because I accomplished this, okay? Or I really enjoy being in control. And when I'm in control of things, I feel good, okay? And that's what's responsible for my success, right? And then there's that third thing where we all need validation at different times from different things, right? Everybody to some degree wants to feel liked. They want to feel like people like them. And how we manage that inner game is so important in making that transition for the how, okay?

And everyone talks about the systems because how too, especially in today's world. There's so much knowledge thrown out of us at us, right, Dave? And what's actionable knowledge. So we're always looking for the checklist. We're always looking for the next thing to do, which is all important. But I think the mindset shift in making that change, okay, in how to think differently, plan differently and execute differently is so important.

And I try to help leaders because I had to go through this myself because I am. I'm still a control freak, okay? But I've learned to manage that, right? And knowing those three psychological issues or mental mindset issues can do wonders because it can help us manage that adjustment emotionally. Because then all of a sudden we'll act differently. That old stories. We are that old cliche. We are what we think, right? So we have to learn how to do that.

And then all of a sudden we'll say, oh, heck, I gotta step back I gotta ask more questions instead of having all the answers. Right, okay. Because the questions, quite frankly, are more important than the answers than the answers as we grow a business and move through those phases. So making the transition from doer to leader or manager, and those are two different things in my mind.

Manager and leader. Right. But making that transition away from the doer and getting it done through others is so critical. And the way to do it, I think, is more mental than it is systematic. Even though, yes, we need the systems, they're critical to scale ourselves. Okay. All right. And now you also just released a new book, Obstacles to Opportunity. So what made you decide to write that book, and what do you hope that readers will take away from it?

So many reasons I decided to write the book. I. You know, Dave, I remember back in. Back when I started my trade show company, NTH Degree, and of course, we sold that after a number of years. But I always. My partner and I always talked about, we. We got. We got to write a book someday, right? Because we were in an industry, we were early stages of the niche in our industry, and. And we faced a lot of different challenges, internal and external, in growing that business.

And we said, geez, we gotta write a book someday. So the germ of that idea sort of started way back in the beginning of that business. But then when I got through that business and started thinking about what's next, and then started my next business, which I bought a youth sports academy, and I started learning that it was more important to me to help others create and grow their business and help them reach their purpose than it was for mine.

And in that, I started, you know, I started seeing the importance of the people that helped me get to where I got to. Whatever that was, whatever my level of success is, I'm happy with my. With where I am today. And I'm.

And I'm pleased with my success, and I'm really pleased with, frankly, all the failures and what I learned from, because I'm a lifelong learner, right. So in that process, there was so many people that I could thank, and I couldn't even put them in the book, quite frankly, because there's so many, and without them, it would have been so much harder. So I said, how do I do that?

So it's one of the reasons I created my online platform and I put it in the format of a book because I wanted to start making mentorship or stories accessible to others, because that was my journey. And I think it's. I really think it's any entrepreneur's journey. Because as an entrepreneur, let's face it, we don't. We don't. We all don't have the answers, but we have to learn how to fill the gaps of knowledge, skills, and bandwidth. Right? Because the buck stops with us. Right.

And we can't afford to go out and pay for all that talent. Right. So whenever. We always have to figure it out. So how do we figure it out? I found that out by going to people who had been where I wanted to go, and they paid it forward. So my book, quite frankly, is my way of trying to pay it forward. Forward. Okay. And. And in that, it's why we created a lot of how to. It's filled with a lot of. A lot of good stuff. And I'm not selling the book right now.

I'm trying to really give a framework to it, Dave, where there's stories in it. And, and, and, and it's. It's of people that either I've worked with or have been people that I know that have been wanting to pay it forward with me. And they allowed me to pay. Pay their store, tell their story, and play it, and pay it forward. Right. So I added some of my own thoughts, and I included many others because it was my journey.

So this book is sort of my path to entrepreneur, to enterprise, or obstacles to opportunity, if that makes sense. And, And I wanted to include a lot of smart people because the people that I work with, there's a lot of smart people, but we all get stuck, and we just need to know sometimes how to get unstuck and how to pivot. So why did I write the book? It was sort of my way of saying to people, you're not alone. There's a better map. And the leaders in this book, they're not superheroes.

They just learned how to turn the hardest parts of the journey into leverage. And maybe we can help you do it, too. Yeah, love that. Love that. We could all use advice on that, for sure. Okay. So, Pat, if people want to find out more about the coaching that you're currently doing your book, or just reach out to you for any other reason, what's the best way people can get in touch with you? Dave? I guess there's two easy ways.

You can go to my website, patalaqua.com, p A T A L A C Q U A dot com, and on there, you can, you know, everybody. There's a lot of. There's a lot of free content, just like a lot of the models out there today. Right. Dave, you can get some good free content on the topics we've talked about today. I've got some premium stuff, some master classes, some online courses, and there's also ways of that people can access me if they want to explore how maybe we can personally work together. Right.

And also on LinkedIn, just, you know, look up Padalaqua. I try to spend some time on there. I put a lot of free content on there. My journey today is learning, and it's all about collaboration, Dave. So I'm always looking to talk to people that are facing challenges because I always like to say I don't want to be the smartest person in the room. I'm not the smartest person in the room. I love it when there's people that have. And my definition of smart is intelligence.

I mean, it's not intelligence. It's the experiences that we've had. Right. So I'm always looking for people with other experiences that I can add value and I can continue to learn from. So those are probably the two best places, my platform and LinkedIn. And love to talk to people that are trying to figure out how to get unstuck and get through that next challenge. Okay. All right, we'll link all that in the show notes for everyone so they could check it out.

Okay. Well, Pat, thank you so much for taking the time to be here and sharing all this valuable wisdom from your journey with our audience. We greatly appreciate it. Thanks, Dave. Thanks for your time. I really appreciate. All right, and that's all the time we have for now. We will see you next time.