Christopher Doyle is an entrepreneur and business leader with extensive hands-on construction industry experience and a proven record of launching successful startups. He is the founder, president and CEO of Billd, a disruptive payment solution for the construction industry that helps contractors and suppliers grow their businesses with less hassle and risk. Recognizing cash flow hurdles contractors face when purchasing materials, Chris launched Billd to make traditional Wall Street working capital accessible to these small business owners.
Entrepreneurial Role Models:
- Charlie Stewart President of Southwest Construction Services
- Tim Underwood Chief Executive Officer of Southwest Construction Services
When business started difficulties overcame:
“the first customer is one of the biggest. You know you can get your pile of customers lined up but until you have a real product you are stuck. You are in this hey I am going to build this what do you think and you go and do that hundred times and you have some customers lined up and say I would love that. So, you go and build it and then you go and pitch it to them and when you have a product that answer that point is no it can be what did I just do? What am I in for? And I think when you are pitching a product early on like a concept and just doing research it’s great to get that direct feedback but it’s not a binding customer yet. So, getting that first group of buying customers to me is the most difficult part because your product isn’t ready for prime time yet but you are asking for those prime-time dollars. You are asking for a real commitment and that can be very challenging especially if you are getting a lot of heads nodding yes and yeah I would love to do that when you have a product and then you go back and it’s not and you are just kind of outback on the street”…[Listen for More]
Favourite Books:
- How To Become A Rainmaker: The Rules for Getting and Keeping Customers and Clients Book by Jeffrey J Fox
- How To Become CEO: The Rules for Rising to the Top of Any Organisation Book by Jeffrey J Fox
Favourite Quote:
“I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite.” G.K Chesterton
Recommended Online Resources:
MIT OpenCourseWare | Free Online Course Materials. MIT OpenCourseWare is a web based publication of virtually all MIT course content OCW is open and available to the world and is a permanent MIT activity
Best Advice to Other Entrepreneurs:
“it’s a simple exercise, open up Excel and say: how are you going to find this customer? Well first start with what does it cost? What are you going to sell it at? How are you going to find them? And breaking it down into a very simple exercise to see if the economics even work. Because so many times I talk to people that are looking to start a business and we go through that very easy exercise and you are going to know… look you are going to have to do X volume to get there even close. Like this doesn’t make a lot of sense. I think a very simple Excel exercise starting from scratch or you are just starting your business and you are looking at a new product I see so many times people just miss a very simple 15 minute exercise to breakdown the economics to realise that hey that this isn’t going to work”…[Listen for More]
More About Christopher Doyle:
Neil’s Quote at the Beginning:
“I’m in the studio 24 hours a day. It’s true that once you get a certain level of success, you become a target.” Sean Combs
Other Quotes From the Chat with Christopher Doyle:
- “learning is it. That’s the thing. Learning is what’s making you better. So, I think every new business… If you are going to start a second or third or fourth … You are always going to have that evolution of what you are doing well and what you are not doing well. To me it’s a lot more about trusting the process of being committed to making a mistake and quickly changing path’s if you need to. I wish there was a magic shortcut out there but I don’t know that I have one other than just staying nimble”
- “trusting in the process and really subscribing to who is a part of your business and making sure and being fully committed to making sure you have the right team in place. And at some level being very generous there…”
- “Having a highly effective senior team is what makes a business go because that means they are bringing on the right people for their teams, that means they are coordinating directly, that means they are not spending time on non-value add activities like internal politics and things like that. To me that the most important thing”
- “it’s having the confidence and courage to not necessarily listen to what everyone is saying and just go and find your version of that. And that’s what makes a business successful. Really you have to believe in yourself. And whatever advice you get around you, you don’t have to take it”
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