I recently went one on one with Fred Joyal. Fred is the co-founder of 1-800-DENTIST and the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Superbold: From Under-Confident to Charismatic in 90 Days Kindle Edition.

Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth? 

Fred: The biggest mistake we made was not building is significant enough war chest. We paid ourselves too much and over-invested in too many side projects and it left us without enough cash in critical moments. Once we stopped behaving that way, life got a lot easier.  Also, we created a great work environment, but we didn't tell people what we expected in return. We assumed they would work hard because of what we provided. We were wrong. We changed that, and let people know that we expected them to bust ass and constantly get better at their job if they wanted to continue to enjoy our fantastic culture.

Adam: How did you come up with your business idea? What advice do you have for others on how to come up with great ideas?  

Fred: We were successful for one simple reason—we had a very powerful marketing tool, our phone number, 1-800-DENTIST. All the business formulation was based on that. If you’re starting a business, be clear on how you’re going to tell your specific customer avatar why they should want your product and where they can get it. Don’t just hope they’ll find out about your brilliant idea on their own, or you won’t sell anything.

Adam: How did you know your business idea was worth pursuing? What advice do you have on how to best test a business idea?  

Fred: When it comes to your business concept, don’t believe what your friends, family and early adopters say. You need to find out what the true, unbiased customer thinks, especially what they don’t like about your product. Also, don’t believe when they say they like your product. Believe when they buy your product. And if they return it or cancel it, find out why. That’s how you get a product refined for your audience. And then you need to determine if that audience is big enough. Also, don’t wait until your product is perfect in your own mind. Launch as soon as humanly possible, and find out what your customer really wants, really likes, and really doesn't care about. 

Adam: What are the key steps you have taken to grow your business? What advice do you have for others on how to take their businesses to the next level? 

Fred: Two factors built our business. One, we were in 200 square feet for the first two years. We heard everything being said on the phones and refined every aspect of the business. Second, we didn't have much money, so we solved problems by being smarter. Just as many businesses fail because they have too much money as those that don't have enough. If you have too much investment capital, the natural tendency is to throw money at your problems. If you are tight on money, you find better solutions. Self-fund as much as you possibly can. 

Also, understand that the faster you grow, the more the people you have now will not be the people you need to get you to the next level. Be hypervigilant about people who reached their competence level and can’t handle the growth.  Every person you add, every single person, should be accretive, that is, they are better than the people already working for you. If not, you’re averaging down your talent pool and your growth will stall.

Adam: What are your best sales and marketing tips? 

Fred: I’m a big believer in relationship selling. If the customer genuinely believes that you are there to help them, not sell them, they become happy, referring clients. And they also allow you to fix a mistake, rather than just dropping you. When it comes to sales, sometimes the best thing to say is, “I’m not sure our product is right for you.” Often the customer will then try to convince you that it is. 

When it comes to marketing, just understand that your advertising is making a promise, and you are much better off over-delivering on that promise than disappointing the customer. And, for God’s sake, be unique in your branding and messaging. Distinguish yourself by being playful or some other specific style. And realize that you are not marketing to yourself. Think only about your audience and what matters to them.

Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level? 

Fred: I came late to the idea of having coaches and mentors, and it really slowed my growth as a leader. Have advisors as early as possible and listen to them. You will have limiting beliefs and counterproductive behaviors—we all do—and you need to root them out.  A truly effective leader is humble enough to know they can always get better. And they are also generous with appreciation and don’t worry about taking credit for any of the successes of the business. Look at your job as growing leaders, making people achieve more than they saw themselves capable of. 

Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading and managing teams? 

Fred: Follow these simple steps: Retrain, Repurpose or Replace.  Sometimes you have a good employee who just needs to improve their skills because they slipped into bad habits, or the position evolved. Retrain them. Get them the training they need. Or, sometimes you have a good employee, yet their failing in their current role. Repurpose them. Try to find out where else they would thrive in the business. For example, we’ve often moved an average salesperson into the role of customer service, and they excelled. Finally, if neither of these work, or aren’t appropriate, fire the person as soon as you realize it. Replace them.

Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives and civic leaders? 

Fred: 

1. Always think of your primary role as a leader is to grow more leaders. 

2. Micromanaging tells people that you don’t trust them. Team members need to be allowed to make mistakes in order to improve. 

3. Praise in public, critique in private. You will need to boldly communicate feedback to your people in as close to real time as possible. Annual reviews are nearly worthless.

Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received? 

Fred: Half of what you think got you to this level of success is what’s holding you back from reaching the next level. Take a really hard look at yourself, and get some 360 reviews to help you see who you really are.

Adam: Is there anything else you would like to share?

Fred: The harder your business is, the more grateful you should be. Hard means there’s a huge barrier to entry for competitors. If it’s easy, then it will commoditize fast and you will be surrounded by competitors and your margins will shrink unless you improve faster than them.