Setup For Success
                     Setup For Success
This month, we sat down with successful entrepreneur, 
Richard Bell. He is currently CEO of Little Zak’s 
Academy with over 300 staff, and the Founder 
of Business Leaderz Group and received Sydney’s 
Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the Finance 
category in 2020. Each year he mentors 20 businesses 
on a monthly basis – we asked him about what makes 
the difference to surviving versus thriving in the current 
market conditions…
Rich, what are your thoughts on what small business 
owners are going through right now?
Covid has been challenging for a lot of us. It’s probably 
challenged your ideas about life, ideas about business, 
your goals, your values, how you think about things, 
but don’t let it change your course. It’s so easy to get 
thrown off by something external whether it’s a global 
pandemic, economic downturn, massive change in 
trade rules or government policy… it’s important that 
you as the business owner stay true to your course and 
your vision of when you started this thing in the first 
place – whatever it is.
1. “Business success does not happen by accident, it is 
planned and executed”
Get your bearings right and identify what true north is 
for you and your company. Think about every aspect 
and almost do a full day strategy and planning session 
where you look at; do you have the right people on 
your team, are you positioned properly within the 
market, are you actually solving a problem currently, 
does the current trajectory of the business point 
towards where you actually want to be? What do you 
need to start doing, stop doing, do more of, do less of?
2. “A successful business is the outcome of 1000 small 
things done well. Not one big seismic win or failure. It’s 
every decision, detail, process, plan and strategy that 
counts.”
Once you identify what direction the business needs to 
be heading in, it’s then time to map it all out, put a 12-
month operational plan together, make sure you have 
the right people on the bus, you have clearly set the 
rules for the game (your company values) and everyone 
is pulling in the same direction. Map out every key 
project with the actions and who is responsible for 
completing those and get to work.
3. “Your business growth is directly proportionate to 
your level of thinking as a leader.”
Nobody in this world is perfect, we all have our 
strengths and our blind spots. But to be a leader, you 
need people who believe in your vision, your passion 
and your skillset to lead them to where they want to 
go. And for some people, this means upskilling in order 
to get that certainty. I would be lying if I said I managed 
to accomplish everything I have by myself, I’ve had 
multiple mentors and coaches that have influenced me. 
I’ve learnt that business growth is directly correlated 
with your ability to surround yourself with the right 
people.
What is the message you’d like to leave small business 
owners with?
I know of hundreds of businesses that have had to 
pivot, close, change their entire business plan 
completely during the last one to two years, me 
included, but what hasn’t changed is the commitment 
to the course.
As we start to come out of COVID, I want to leave a 
message to all the business owners that your vision still 
matters and that you still have that fire inside of you. If 
you have a business think about what you can do over 
the next 6-12 months to turn things around, to move 
the needle; rewrite your business plans, hire new 
people, raise more funds, expand, grow… don’t let the 
last two years throw you off what may be for some of 
you a 10-20 year plan.
Stay the course, you’ve got enough passion, you’ve got 
enough grit, you started this thing make sure you finish 
it.
Rich run’s Leaderz Club for businesses that are looking 
to have their best year in business yet. If you would like 
more information about Rich’s Leaderz Club, you can 
see more information here .
https://www.ikeep.com.au/