We often talk about travel being one of the huge benefits of owning a Small Business. Being able to expand your world with travel is certainly a big part of living the Charmed Life of a Small Business owner.

Today, we get a chance to talk with someone who’s been on the other side of that equation, running travel and lifestyle related businesses. Gilbert Gauteraux has started, built and managed several travel and lifestyle businesses including JustLuxe.com and his latest venture, HotelsVillasDirect.com.

Gilbert has had some significant corporate experience, as well as starting and running his own Small Businesses, so we get a chance to dig deep into the pros and cons of each type of experience to get the show started.

Listen in and you’ll hear how HotelVillasDirect uses content creation to add value to their customers (both B2B and consumers) while driving leads to their website. You’ll also learn how the online travel market works, the multiple layers of information needed to close a sale and why it’s important for a hotel to be in control of the customer service experience directly.

Gilbert also spends time talking about leveraging the customer relationship in as many ways as possible and the challenges of educating investors and partners about what their business model really is, versus the perception of how the market operates.

Join us today for this episode of the Small Business Show with your hosts Shannon Jean and Dave Hamilton. There’s some great insights from this episode that will help any Small Business owner.

After the show, join us at the Small Business Support Group to ask questions, make comments and share your own Small Business story.

Chapters/Timestamps:

• 00:00:00 Small Business Show #210 for Wednesday, February 13, 2019
• 00:00:58 Gilbert Gautereaux from JustLuxe.com and HotelsVillasDirect.com
  • Rob Gautereaux from JustLuxe on Small Business Show
  • RGM Alliance
• 00:05:07 Working on your own vs. Working for someone else
• 00:05:57 Taking notes in the middle of the night
• 00:08:09 Starting HotelsVillasDirect
• 00:12:49 Prioritizing the Customer Service Relationship
  • “One Throat to Choke”
• 00:16:49 SPONSOR: Abby Connect. Get $95 off your first bill at AbbyConnect.com/sbs
• 00:19:00 SPONSOR: TextExpander.com/podcast gets you 20% off your first year
• 00:21:14 Content Creation to Acquire Customers
  • Sojoun Blvd
  • HVD Marketing Inc. – Lead generation platform and travel publishing group
• 00:27:05 Three Pillars: Custom Content, Search Engine, Digital Solution
• 00:29:16 Content for Conversions
• 00:31:07 Making noise is difficult, focus on your business model
• 00:33:14 Try to leverage your customers in as many ways as possible
• 00:36:15 SBS 210 Outtro
  • gilbertg@hotelsvillasdirect.com

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The only constant in business is change. Every Small Business goes through various cycles in its lifetime and you’ll need to learn to adjust your management style, your activities and your attitude to match whatever cycle your are in. How many cycles will you encounter? It really depends on the type of business you are running, but on this episode of the Small Business Show, we’ll be focusing primarily on 5 different cycles.

• Launch – Implementation – Action
• Growth
• Peak
• Maturity
• Decline

Listen and and you’ll learn why adapting your management style and anticipating the next business cycle is critically important for your success as a Small Business Owner.

Your hosts Dave Hamilton and Shannon Jean have owned businesses that have gone through all of these cycles; from the excitement of the Launch, all the way to the misery of decline. During each cycle, there are adjustments to be made and actions to be taken that will steer your business in the right direction. Learn from our mistakes and successes and mix in your own experience to keep your Small Business growing.

Join us for all this and much more on this episode, then visit the Small Business Support Group to share your own tips and to join in on the conversation!

Chapters/Timestamps:

• 00:00:00 Small Business Show #209 for Wednesday, February 6, 2019
• 00:01:20 The Disaster version vs. the Planning Version
• 00:03:09 Constant Change is Here to Stay
• 00:04:10 Don’t Ignore Decline
• 00:06:27 There is no Idea Cycle!
• 00:07:26 It takes action to open the gate
• 00:09:49 Get on the same page, then dispense with the internal paperwork
• 00:11:41 Suddenly… viability!
• 00:13:28 Have an operations person
• 00:14:59 SPONSOR: ExpressVPN – Take back your Internet privacy TODAY and find out how you can get 3 months free, go to ExpressVPN.com/SBS.
• 00:17:35 Don’t fall in love with the numbers!
• 00:18:31 Cash FLOW is King
• 00:21:48 Grow for ONLY good reasons
• 00:22:41 Working IN the business vs. ON the business
• 00:24:39 Expand Your Revenue Stack at Your Peak
• 00:27:07 Your margins are my opportunities
• 00:28:22 Jumping back in!
• 00:29:56 What does maturity look like?
• 00:31:35 Did you embrace change? Let us know at feedback@businessshow.co <https://businessshow.co/facebook>
• 00:31:48 Options in decline: merge, sell, re-partner, close?
• 00:34:27 Nothing lasts forever, even the bad stuff!
• 00:37:40 Just Start!
• 00:39:51 SBS 209 Outtro

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