INspired INsider Podcast: Effective Delegation As the Company Grows with Brian Goulet Co-Founder of Goulet Pens

Effective Delegation As the Company Grows with Brian Goulet Co-Founder of Goulet Pens

Dec 15, 2016

Effective delegation is a skill any founder has to learn or the company will not grow. Brian Goulet co-Founder of The Goulet Pen Company learned the lesson of delegation in the trenches. He and his wife Rachel run an online retail store focusing on fountain pens, ink, paper, and other tools for the writing enthusiast. They have grown it from a mom-and-pop startup from their dining room table to a multi-million dollar operation with over 40 team members and a 12,000+sf office/warehouse space.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

[0:10] Jeremy’s introduction of today’s guest, Brian Goulet.
[1:33] The signature way Goulet Pens packages their products.
[5:29] The ideal customer that Goulet Pens serves.
[12:38] What Brian learned from Dave Ramsey, Gary V, and Seth Godin.
[14:20] The biggest challenge: moving from a one man show to a team.
[17:48] Brian’s background growing up with an entrepreneurial Dad.
[22:25] The biggest challenges in delegation.
[24:31] How Brian determines what things to delegate and what to keep.
[26:48] The meetings the Goulet team holds and how they conduct them effectively.
[41:26] How Brian teaches his kids in light of his experience with his Dad.
[46:27] Why Brian turned down a great job offer after college.
[51:00] How a woodworking job led Brian to make pens for a living.
[1:06:20] What helped Brian get a huge following on YouTube: Persistence over time.
[1:11:40] What works for selling their products via social media.
[1:14:00] Major milestones for the company.
[1:22:10] Brian’s lowest moment in business: Balancing family and business.
[1:26:00] The proudest moments in business.

In this episode…

Learning how to effectively delegate as your company grows is difficult, to say the least. You’re used to being a solopreneur and have to begin passing along tasks and roles to others. If you don't, you’re going to smother yourself and the company. Brian Goulet of Goulet Pens shares how he has had to learn the art of delegation while maintaining high quality in his company, on this episode of Inspired Insider.

Too often the founder of the company becomes the bottleneck that chokes the overall growth of the company. He/she does this by refusing to delegate tasks or hand over roles to other members of the team. Brian Goulet is an ultra-competent CEO who is committed to quality, and he found the task of delegation very hard to learn himself. On this episode, he shares how he overcame his hesitation and began to delegate effectively.

Often, the excuse for not delegating is that it’s easier not to. The amount of time it takes to adequately train a person to take over high priority tasks is immense. But if the CEO continues to do those tasks he/she will be prevented from doing things that only he/she can do - the things that truly grow the company. Brian Goulet knew that pain himself and had to step out in faith as he brought on and trained team members to take over things he held dear. Find out how he did it on this episode.

Too many companies are poised for explosive growth and miss it because of an ineffective delegation of tasks. The potential clients are there. The staff is there. But the systems and procedures are lagging behind because the founder or CEO has not seen the importance of setting aside time to build them and teach others to use them. It’s a time-consuming task but it has to be done if the company is to grow. You can hear how Brian Goulet of Goulet Pens overcame that hurdle in his company, on this episode.

One of the hardest points in any business is when the needs of the family seem to be in conflict with the needs of the company. For Brian Goulet, that moment came as his co-founder, his wife - experienced ever siring levels of anxiety almost weekly and the company was poised for explosive growth. How did he handle the pressure? You can find out by hearing his story, on this episode.

Resources Mentioned on this episode

Sponsor for this episode

Our sponsor today is www.Rise25.com where entrepreneurs of 6,7, and 8 figure businesses come together live and in person every few months to solve their biggest business challenges through this high-level Mastermind group. Each member leaves each week with lifelong friendships and actionable steps to take their business to the next level. Check out Rise25.com - a group run by myself and cofounder John Corcoran. Rise 25 is application only.