The business your customers see isn't always the business that's determining your success.
In this episode, Sharon Galluzzo introduces the concept of becoming a "behind-the-scenes business builder" and explains why the systems, processes, habits, and decisions operating beneath the surface are what truly drive long-term profitability. While websites, social media, and marketing often receive the attention, it's the operational foundation that determines whether a business can grow efficiently and consistently.
She encourages business owners to think like CEOs by stepping back from the daily chaos and intentionally strengthening the systems that support both the business and the customer experience.
Using practical examples and relatable analogies, Sharon explains why successful businesses require regular maintenance, updates, and continuous improvement. Rather than waiting until problems become overwhelming, she shares how entrepreneurs can improve one behind-the-scenes process at a time, creating a stronger foundation that supports sustainable growth, better customer experiences, and greater profitability.
Key Takeaways:
- Behind-The-Scenes Systems Drive Success: The work customers don't see is often what determines long-term profitability.
- Surface Problems Usually Have Deeper Causes: Marketing, sales, and pricing challenges are often symptoms of operational weaknesses.
- Strong Foundations Create Better Customer Experiences: Consistent systems improve service, communication, and trust.
- Small Problems Become Big Problems Over Time: Ignoring operational gaps allows minor issues to grow into major obstacles.
- Think Like A Ceo: Business owners should focus on directing and improving the business instead of constantly reacting to daily tasks.
- Growth Magnifies Weaknesses: As visibility and customers increase, weak systems become even more noticeable.
- Continuous Improvement Is Essential: Like software updates, businesses need regular improvements to remain healthy and competitive.
Unlock the Secrets to Building a Resilient and Profitable Business at the Profit Connectors Club - https://profitconnectors.club/
About Sharon:
Sharon Galluzzo is a Profit Growth Strategist, founder of Profit Connections, and creator of the Positioned for Profit System®. Known as the Behind-the-Scenes Business Builder, she equips entrepreneurs to strengthen the systems, strategy, and structure that drive sustainable growth. Drawing on more than two decades of entrepreneurial experience, Sharon helps business owners build the business behind the business so their talent can translate into consistent profit and long-term success.
https://www.facebook.com/sharonagalluzzo/
https://www.instagram.com/sharon_galluzzo/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharongalluzzo/
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Profit doesn't happen by chance; it happens by
Sharon Galluzzo:design. Let's dig in. I don't know if you realized it, but
Sharon Galluzzo:there is a truth out there that a lot of business owners,
Sharon Galluzzo:founders, entrepreneurs are may not even be aware of the
Sharon Galluzzo:business that everyone sees isn't the business that
Sharon Galluzzo:determines your success. I'm so excited about our topic today
Sharon Galluzzo:because we are going to be digging into the business behind
Sharon Galluzzo:the business, the one that really makes the difference. The
Sharon Galluzzo:one that really turns around what you're doing in your
Sharon Galluzzo:business and determines how successful you can be in your
Sharon Galluzzo:chosen endeavor. I've been doing a lot of work on how I'm
Sharon Galluzzo:messaging and talking about myself, and I have come up with
Sharon Galluzzo:a new title that I think really, really is illustrative of what I
Sharon Galluzzo:do, and that is the behind-the-scenes business
Sharon Galluzzo:builder. I help you with what people can't see in your
Sharon Galluzzo:business. So the visible parts of your business are the parts
Sharon Galluzzo:that honestly get all the credit. Right? They're shiny.
Sharon Galluzzo:They're they're very easily fixable. They're clear to
Sharon Galluzzo:identify, right? They're your website, your social media
Sharon Galluzzo:marketing, but your the things that actually support all of
Sharon Galluzzo:those visible things are the systems and the processes and
Sharon Galluzzo:the habits and the decisions that actually turns what you do
Sharon Galluzzo:into a profit, or keeps you stagnant, or actually keeps you
Sharon Galluzzo:in the place where you're losing money. So it's really important
Sharon Galluzzo:that we focus on that part of the business that no one else
Sharon Galluzzo:sees. See, every business has two versions. It has the one
Sharon Galluzzo:that your customers experience, and then it has the one that you
Sharon Galluzzo:actually run and operate every single day. If you're doing
Sharon Galluzzo:things really well, your clients maybe don't even see what's
Sharon Galluzzo:going on behind the scenes. If you're really good at customer
Sharon Galluzzo:service and you're really good at what you do, then your
Sharon Galluzzo:clients may not ever experience some of the struggles that come
Sharon Galluzzo:whenever you have an incomplete foundation, when you have gaps
Sharon Galluzzo:and weaknesses, when the systems running your business are
Sharon Galluzzo:running like a proverbial squirrel on a on a hamster
Sharon Galluzzo:wheel. I'm putting the squirrel on there because they run faster
Sharon Galluzzo:and they're bigger and they take up more room. And the hamster
Sharon Galluzzo:wheel doesn't actually fit them, right? That's how it feels
Sharon Galluzzo:sometimes when we are running our business that way. So if
Sharon Galluzzo:we're doing a good job, then the customer experience doesn't
Sharon Galluzzo:really see that. However, there are times when things are
Sharon Galluzzo:falling apart behind the scenes that you can't keep it away.
Sharon Galluzzo:That they will see it. They will experience it in some way, even
Sharon Galluzzo:if it's just vibrationally. So, having your systems and and your
Sharon Galluzzo:your behind the scenes business operating at peak efficiency,
Sharon Galluzzo:operating in a way that makes you feel like the CEO that you
Sharon Galluzzo:want to be in your business, and that gets the things done that
Sharon Galluzzo:you want to get done with the least amount of effort and the
Sharon Galluzzo:most amount of profit. That is the that's the place we want to
Sharon Galluzzo:get to. However, some businesses are somewhere in between there,
Sharon Galluzzo:right? Some businesses are really doing okay, and their
Sharon Galluzzo:customers can't see it. Some businesses, things are falling
Sharon Galluzzo:apart in front of the scenes as well. So we want to get your
Sharon Galluzzo:business to the point where you're actually having the
Sharon Galluzzo:ability to have the things work behind the scenes, so that your
Sharon Galluzzo:customer experiences a solid and full and healthy business, and
Sharon Galluzzo:not just I'm holding it all together where people can see
Sharon Galluzzo:it, and as soon as I close the doors, I burst into tears. I
Sharon Galluzzo:have lived that experience to be so on for the clients and to be
Sharon Galluzzo:right there and to be the face of the business. Meanwhile,
Sharon Galluzzo:behind the scenes, everything feels like it's crumbling, and
Sharon Galluzzo:and sometimes maybe it's not as bad as that, and there are
Sharon Galluzzo:things falling apart and falling between the seams, between the
Sharon Galluzzo:cracks, when we have weak systems, when we have things in
Sharon Galluzzo:the background that are not working, that is when we are
Sharon Galluzzo:most likely to have things go wrong, things to fall between
Sharon Galluzzo:the cracks. We didn't return a customer's email.
Sharon Galluzzo:Or we were unresponsive whenever somebody needed something, or
Sharon Galluzzo:our vendor situation is not good because we're not communicating
Sharon Galluzzo:well with them because we don't have a system in place to make
Sharon Galluzzo:sure that we're following up with them in a timely manner.
Sharon Galluzzo:All of those tiny, tiny pieces can create a tsunami effect in
Sharon Galluzzo:the background if you don't pay attention to it. So when your
Sharon Galluzzo:customer-facing persona and your backstage persona are different
Sharon Galluzzo:when they are not in alignment, then you have struggles in your
Sharon Galluzzo:business. Then you have disconnect. Then you have all of
Sharon Galluzzo:these pieces that make the business more work for you, more
Sharon Galluzzo:difficult, more what is that? You know, you just you just feel
Sharon Galluzzo:like you're constantly spinning around the same five things, and
Sharon Galluzzo:you're not making any progress, and you're not getting the
Sharon Galluzzo:things done that you want to get done, and that is one of the
Sharon Galluzzo:reasons why I have seven pillars of profit in my framework when I
Sharon Galluzzo:work with my customers. Because every area of your business
Sharon Galluzzo:needs some attention in that way. When we take the time to
Sharon Galluzzo:fill in those gaps and do the behind-the-scenes work, then it
Sharon Galluzzo:actually all works together, and it will you will put forward not
Sharon Galluzzo:just the image of being successful, but the reality and
Sharon Galluzzo:alignment of being successful. Most business problems don't
Sharon Galluzzo:really show up in your business wearing the name that the
Sharon Galluzzo:problem has. Whenever something is going wrong in your business,
Sharon Galluzzo:you might experience it as a marketing issue, or a sales
Sharon Galluzzo:issue, or a pricing issue, but that's actually not the root
Sharon Galluzzo:problem. It is the symptom. It is showing up in your business
Sharon Galluzzo:because something deeper, something behind the scenes,
Sharon Galluzzo:isn't quite right. So it's very important that we pay attention
Sharon Galluzzo:to those marketing issues and sales issues and profit issues
Sharon Galluzzo:in terms of the entire picture. Yes, this marketing issue is
Sharon Galluzzo:happening. Why is it happening? Is it happening because I am
Sharon Galluzzo:inconsistent when I'm posting on social media? Is it happening
Sharon Galluzzo:because I'm not regularly updating it? Is it happening
Sharon Galluzzo:because I put the wrong or I I put the right date on it, but
Sharon Galluzzo:it's three weeks old, and customers are going. Oh well,
Sharon Galluzzo:that's not that it's not a plot. That does not apply anymore.
Sharon Galluzzo:That's not available to me because that was three weeks
Sharon Galluzzo:ago. So all of those things can be fixed behind the scenes, that
Sharon Galluzzo:is setting yourself up for success in every single area of
Sharon Galluzzo:your business. So we need to pay attention whenever those things
Sharon Galluzzo:happen, and not just fix the surface symptom, but fix the
Sharon Galluzzo:actual cause. Every time I think of this, I think of the Rocky
Sharon Galluzzo:Horror Picture Show. If you if you're familiar with it, if
Sharon Galluzzo:you're not, that's okay. But Frankenfurter offers to help
Sharon Galluzzo:Brad and Janet, but he tells them he will remove the cause
Sharon Galluzzo:but not the symptoms, which is actually the opposite, but
Sharon Galluzzo:you'll still experience all of the things that you're going to
Sharon Galluzzo:experience. But I'll take away what's causing it. So that
Sharon Galluzzo:always makes me laugh. We actually want to remove the
Sharon Galluzzo:cause, which will in turn remove the symptoms. But sometimes when
Sharon Galluzzo:we just focus on that surface level, when we focus on what
Sharon Galluzzo:people can see out here, and forget about what's going on
Sharon Galluzzo:behind the scenes. That's when we can get into some real
Sharon Galluzzo:trouble, and that is what causes stagnation. That is what keeps
Sharon Galluzzo:you stuck, and that is what's going to cause your business to
Sharon Galluzzo:not be the business that you want. That's going to keep you
Sharon Galluzzo:in that wearing all 447 hats as a business owner and not
Sharon Galluzzo:stepping into the role of CEO, I know sometimes people are like,
Sharon Galluzzo:"Well, I don't want to be a CEO. It's not necessarily that that
Sharon Galluzzo:you want to be the CEO energy, and maybe you do. So either way,
Sharon Galluzzo:it's fine. But if you're in the role of the CEO, the that role
Sharon Galluzzo:is more of the director or the producer, you know, saying what
Sharon Galluzzo:goes on in everything in your business instead of you're the
Sharon Galluzzo:one who's sharpening the pencils, right? So we want to
Sharon Galluzzo:elevate you, put you in a position where you're actually
Sharon Galluzzo:running the business. You're making decisions about the
Sharon Galluzzo:business and not getting lost in the everyday minutia because you
Sharon Galluzzo:just didn't have the behind-the-scenes stuff in
Sharon Galluzzo:place.
Sharon Galluzzo:And then, whenever you are building your business, and say
Sharon Galluzzo:you're doing a really great job at marketing, and you have a lot
Sharon Galluzzo:of visibility, a lot of people looking at your stuff, a lot of
Sharon Galluzzo:eyes, a lot of customers, a lot of people coming to you. As you
Sharon Galluzzo:grow more visible, the things behind the scenes that are not
Sharon Galluzzo:okay, that haven't been put in place for your success, will not
Sharon Galluzzo:go away. In fact, those things will actually magnify and get
Sharon Galluzzo:worse. So as you're building, you don't have to wait till you
Sharon Galluzzo:get there. But as you're building, start working on
Sharon Galluzzo:what's going on in the behind the scenes of your business. Be
Sharon Galluzzo:in those places, fix those things. Get your behind the
Sharon Galluzzo:scenes foundation, clear and solid, so that as you grow, what
Sharon Galluzzo:you're magnifying is a solid, firm foundation. You're not
Sharon Galluzzo:magnifying those little cracks that are going to become chasms
Sharon Galluzzo:if you don't pay attention and get those things taken care of
Sharon Galluzzo:before you grow. And in my opinion, the very strongest
Sharon Galluzzo:businesses are intentionally built. They don't accidentally
Sharon Galluzzo:grow. And what I mean by that is, whenever you have a really
Sharon Galluzzo:strong, successful business, someone has taken the time to go
Sharon Galluzzo:in and fix all the things that are going on. Whenever you buy
Sharon Galluzzo:or a cell phone, a smartphone, a computer, or have an app or
Sharon Galluzzo:anything that's electronic these days, you will get it and it
Sharon Galluzzo:will be operating. And then sooner or later, they'll go.
Sharon Galluzzo:Hey, here's an update. Here's a fix. We're getting rid of some
Sharon Galluzzo:bugs. We're getting rid of some things that didn't work. So
Sharon Galluzzo:think about your business in real time, like an electronic,
Sharon Galluzzo:where you they're operating. They sold it to you. You bought
Sharon Galluzzo:it, and it's not perfect. They're still fixing things.
Sharon Galluzzo:They're still repairing things. They're still coming in and
Sharon Galluzzo:updating what you you got initially. So with your
Sharon Galluzzo:business, think of it that way. That when you are working on the
Sharon Galluzzo:seven pillars of profit in your business, when you're building
Sharon Galluzzo:out your foundation, it's kind of like an update. It's an
Sharon Galluzzo:update to your software. It's an update to your firmware. It's a.
Sharon Galluzzo:It's a bug fix. It comes in and it fixes the things that are
Sharon Galluzzo:going on, and that happens simultaneously to the running of
Sharon Galluzzo:your business. So it is entirely possible to build your
Sharon Galluzzo:foundation as you grow, and that is the way most businesses are
Sharon Galluzzo:built. That is the way successful businesses are built.
Sharon Galluzzo:However, they aren't just built by accident. They have an eye to
Sharon Galluzzo:what needs to be improved. What do we need for the next update?
Sharon Galluzzo:What things need to be tweaked and adjusted, and maybe even
Sharon Galluzzo:completely thrown out and refixed and presented again. So
Sharon Galluzzo:use that kind of mindset when you're thinking about the
Sharon Galluzzo:building of the behind the scenes of your business, because
Sharon Galluzzo:the strongest businesses are built behind the scenes, and if
Sharon Galluzzo:you are a really good actor, you can go on stage and put a really
Sharon Galluzzo:great show out to the public, but if you know that behind the
Sharon Galluzzo:scenes everything is falling apart, that's going to be a
Sharon Galluzzo:struggle. That's going to make you feel out of alignment and
Sharon Galluzzo:inauthentic. And it's okay to still have that professional
Sharon Galluzzo:presentation to the public, that that that persona out there, and
Sharon Galluzzo:and you do want your customers to have a great experience, so
Sharon Galluzzo:they want to come back again. But just know that you are going
Sharon Galluzzo:to take care of that stuff that's back there, and you're
Sharon Galluzzo:not going to pretend that it doesn't exist, and you're not
Sharon Galluzzo:going to say, "Oh, I'll deal with that later someday. Do a
Sharon Galluzzo:little bit every day, every week, every month. Be looking at
Sharon Galluzzo:what can I improve in my business. How can I make it
Sharon Galluzzo:better? Yes, this is working great. Maybe we don't touch it
Sharon Galluzzo:right now because there's a greater need over here. But when
Sharon Galluzzo:we have them all, you know, to the point where they're all
Sharon Galluzzo:working really good, then you can look at upgraded. How can I
Sharon Galluzzo:make this easier for myself? How can I make the experience better
Sharon Galluzzo:for my clients? So remember, behind the scenes business
Sharon Galluzzo:building, building up that strength and that foundation of
Sharon Galluzzo:the things that people can't see is actually the primary key of
Sharon Galluzzo:success for business.
Sharon Galluzzo:So this week, I want you to think about your business and
Sharon Galluzzo:how can you grow your business by thinking about one
Sharon Galluzzo:behind-the-scenes item that needs strengthening. Just one
Sharon Galluzzo:thing that you can do better behind the scenes, that you can
Sharon Galluzzo:systematize, that you can upgrade, that you can put a bug
Sharon Galluzzo:fix in for. Just pick one thing this week and work on that one
Sharon Galluzzo:thing in the business, because what happens behind the scenes
Sharon Galluzzo:of your business determines what happens in front of it. When we
Sharon Galluzzo:have we have our foundation in place, we have our backstage in
Sharon Galluzzo:order. Then, what we are producing is in alignment. The
Sharon Galluzzo:customers feel it. The marketing is better. Everyone is on the
Sharon Galluzzo:same page, and you're growing your business in a more
Sharon Galluzzo:authentic, lovely, joy-filled way. So, this week, take a look.
Sharon Galluzzo:Just one thing: don't overtax yourself. One thing that you can
Sharon Galluzzo:improve in your business this week behind the scenes. Thank
Sharon Galluzzo:you for joining us today. If you would like to take advantage of
Sharon Galluzzo:my profit growth audit, I will. I make that available to you. It
Sharon Galluzzo:is available in the ProfitConnectors Club community.
Sharon Galluzzo:It's ProfitConnectors.club. That's the web address,
Sharon Galluzzo:ProfitConnectors Club. You can go in there. You can get access
Sharon Galluzzo:to the Profit Growth Audit. It's free. It'll take you through the
Sharon Galluzzo:seven pillars, and you can see where your weaknesses are. Where
Sharon Galluzzo:are you doing really good? Where are those behind the thing,
Sharon Galluzzo:behind the scenes things that you need to focus on? In
Sharon Galluzzo:addition to my free gift, you'll find links to all of the podcast
Sharon Galluzzo:episodes, also all of the guests who have been on, you'll get
Sharon Galluzzo:their contact information, and they also have some of them
Sharon Galluzzo:given gifts as well. So there will be links to their gifts in
Sharon Galluzzo:the Profit Connectors Club community. I invite you to go in
Sharon Galluzzo:there and check out all of those resources. And this week, think
Sharon Galluzzo:about one behind the scenes thing that you can work on in
Sharon Galluzzo:your business this week. Remember, build with clarity,
Sharon Galluzzo:lead with purpose. Thank you for listening. I'll see you next
Sharon Galluzzo:time.

