How to Scale your Online Business with Umut Aslan

Ever wonder why some businesses scale with ease while others stall out despite having great products or services? 

In today’s episode of Smarter Online Business, I’m joined by Dr. Umut Aslan, a business strategist, educator, and Certified Scaling Up Coach who’s spent years researching exactly what makes companies thrive. 

From selling his own company to pursuing a doctorate in strategy, to now coaching mid-market companies around the world—Umut blends real-world experience with data-backed frameworks to help you scale smarter. 

We talk about the 4 critical decisions every growing business must master, the underestimated power of strategic networking, and the challenges to expect when you’re ready to grow. 

No matter where you are in your growth journey, this episode delivers clear takeaways from someone who’s done it, studied it, and coached others through it. 

Connect with Umut Aslan

Dr. Umut Aslan is a business strategist, educator, and entrepreneur dedicated to helping organizations achieve sustainable growth. As the founder of the Growth and Success Institute, he leverages more than two decades of entrepreneurial experience alongside a Doctorate in Business Management and Strategy. Known for his 'Standing on the Shoulders of Giants' philosophy, Umut combines discipline-specific theory with real-world application to help business owners stop working in their business and start working on it. 

LinkedIn | Website

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Transcript

Welcome And Guest Introduction

Carrie Saunders 0:00

Ever wonder why some businesses scale with ease while others stall out despite having great products or services? In today's episode, I'm joined by Dr. Amut Aslan, a business strategist, educator, and certified scale-up coach who spent years researching exactly what makes companies thrive. From selling his own company to pursuing a doctorate in strategy to now coaching mid-market companies around the world, Amut blends real-world experience with data-backed frameworks to help you skill smarter. We talk about the four critical decisions every business owner must master, the underestimated power of strategic networking, and challenges to expect when you're ready to grow. No matter where you are in your growth journey, this episode delivers clear takeaways from someone who's done it, studied it, and coached others through it. Let's dive in. Struggling to turn website traffic into real sales, you're not alone and you don't have to figure it out all yourself. Welcome to Smarter Online Business, the podcast for course creators, coaches, and e-commerce entrepreneurs who want their websites to convert visitors into buyers without the tech overwhelm. I'm your host, Carrie Saunders, a website strategist and conversion expert with over 20 years of experience. Each episode delivers simple, proven strategies to help you generate more revenue and make your website your smartest sales tool. Welcome back to the podcast. Today we have a special guest with us, and his name is Amut Aslan, and he loves helping business owners just like you. So just a little tiny bit about him. He is a business strategist, educator, and entrepreneur dedicated to helping organizations achieve sustainable growth. So welcome to the podcast, Amut. So excited to have you here.

SPEAKER_01 1:42

Thank you so much, Kiri. Thank you so much for inviting me, and it's a great pleasure to talk to you.

Amut’s Journey From Founder To Researcher

Carrie Saunders 1:48

So, Amut, I just said just a little tiny sentence about who you are. I'd love to hear in your own words like a little bit more about who you are and how you came to doing what you're doing today.

SPEAKER_01 1:58

So initially, I used to own, if I go back for further in time, I used to live in Turkey and I was working for an executive assistant as a company in Turkey and Istanbul. Then I decided to move to the United States to do my MBA. And while I was doing my MBA for a final project, we I decided to create a business plan with my brother for our transportation company. So my final project was the business plan of our transportation company. So we started the transportation company. It grew up from like one vehicle to 15 vehicles. It started servicing not customers in San Diego, but different parts of the United States and Turkey, Dubai, and England. Then later on I said, okay, you know what? I just want to get out. It's just like I want to do something different. 2020, when I talked to my brother, I said, hey, I'm getting out. But I gave him a few years heads up, saying that, hey, I'm gonna go out, get out of the business and do something different. I didn't know what I wanted to do. 2020 comes in, as you all know, the poet has, and I was trying to purchase a different business and try it. But when the world shut down, I couldn't do anything. And here I was reading business people, and with my wife telling her like that concept and that concept, I guess she got tired of me like listening to me, because I couldn't get out and talk to the other people. She told me, why don't you go to academia? You already have your MBA, you could do your PhD, and maybe talk to your professors and then talk to the students or classmates and share them what you're reading or whatever you studying it. I thought for a second, that is interesting. I like reading. Yeah, she says you like reading it. So I started my doctorate. It took me like four to five years to finish it. Then I decided to do combining with consultants and my experiences of both working back in Turkey and here in the United States. I said I could help the organizations grow their businesses and be more successful. So that's how I came to do what I wanted to do. And it's it's a lot of fun and a lot of learning.

Research Findings On What Drives Growth

Carrie Saunders 4:18

Oh, and it sounds like you've um, I feel like stepped in that role in a more in a very natural way, based upon you know your background and you know how you worked as an executive assistant, and then you know, had your own business with your brother and you know, transformed both of those, I'm sure, in a way. And I love how you took the advice, just went ahead and got your doctorate. Um, actually, fun fact, a lot of people don't know, I actually have my master's and I considered getting my doctorate, but then I was kind of like done with school by that time. But I know what it can take to get your doctorate. My oldest son's getting his his right now. And I know a dissertation is involved, and it's you know, this big long paper, very important paper. And I know you talked about in that, you mentioned to me you talked about the secret ingredients for growth that for a business that you discovered in there. Can you talk a little bit more about what those secret ingredients are, the business owners listing to help them, you know, take that next step and grow their business a bit more?

SPEAKER_01 5:13

Definitely. My research was about like searching the corporate um what factors influence the corporate growth and success, and it's specifically transporting transportation industry. However, that rules apply to all industries. So as a result of the research I did, my my finding were like my findings were okay, one of the key is the organization has to have a solid marketing to bring customers into the door. And I'll explain more in detail what they are. And not only the marketing, but like when they bring the marketing, the customers into the door, or like they have a lead generation system, they also have to be able to deliver the service. But one of the key factors with the deliverance services, not only for the low price, they have to have the right pricing so they continue to sustain their business. Otherwise, if they compete on low price or in a like a more natural world, cheap prices, they'll soon get out of the business. Because another factor also, the companies that to grow, they were diligent about their finances. They constantly kept an eye on it, know how much they were spending, and what the right places to spend their money to get the best results out of the money they put in. And another factor was also in this specifically industry, and also it applies to another industry is that people build a strong connection with the industrial associations and local associations. People or companies who took part in that research were like adamant about being part of the associations, their industry association, also the local associations. One of the reasons they mentioned not only to exchange business and do business, but also to learn from the other people, other companies that they attend to the associations, and that makes it so strong. They could pick up the phone. Let's imagine that you're going to the CEO or like a website and market associations. You could call or like talk or exchange business with other people, or someone that you met, they give you a call, you willingly help them to ask the questions. That's main key factors that help organizations to grow, bring their business from a certain level to the next level.

Strategic Networking That Actually Works

Carrie Saunders 7:40

Well, and I love some of those points you actually brought up because some of them actually, the financial ones and looking at your numbers regularly, I actually just um as a when we're recording it this week is when I actually released an episode about um from a financial advisor about looking at our business numbers regularly. So that is so true that if you want to stay in business, you can't stick your head in the sand for that. Um, and I have also found over the 20 some years of working, you know, whenever I'm doing the networking you're talking about and going to see the other in other industries and seeing other people within my industry and working with them, it just brings out, you know, the best in you, the best in them. And there's such a good collaboration that can happen there, um, whether it's direct business or indirect business. Um, so I think that's something a lot of people forget about doing is, you know, that purposeful networking and connection that you do. Or do you have a suggested um way to find those type of events where you can, you know, make those business connections that make sense? Is there is there a good rule for that?

SPEAKER_01 8:49

There are a few things that any any person or any businesses plan to attend, any networking associations. One of the things that depends on each industry. I'll I'll give an example in the transportation industry. That there are associations, National Limousine Association, is that one is the like the main association. There's also local associations, statewide associations. Like in California, there is Greater California Liverpool Association and uh California Transportation Regulatory Group. There are two associations. And if you go to East Coast, you're gonna find New England Livery Association. But besides of this, this is a great place to learn about the industry and find out new software or new regulations comes in. On the other hand, the business or the person needs to consider the fact, okay, who's my ideal target? Who am I targeting at? If a business is, again, I'll give the examples with the transportation industry. So if the business is aiming for the medium planners or the event or large group movements, another one that would be medium planners international. That that would be a key factor to be there to build the connections. Because we all know the old adage, people like to do business with people they know and they trust. So another thing that they should do, not to go for the only businesses. I'll I'll tell a funny story. When we started the business way back with my brother, that's I said to myself, even though I network a lot in Turkey, and I said, okay, when I go to the business, I'll grab a$500,000 business. That's what we're talking about almost 20 years back. That was unrealistic goal. And that was not a correct way of doing it because you're not just going there to capture a business, you're going there, number one, to learn, number two, to build connections, and as a result of it, to gain some businesses. If you only go with the focus, I'm gonna get a business, okay. One time it's not gonna do it. Because people, when you go there, they already know each other and they have a connection, especially in the limousine industry that the National Limousine Association shows that has people continuously go there. If you go there just one time and expect to grab a business, you might be like it, but it's unrealistic. But if you continuously go and be part of it, either volunteer or continuously go support it by being there, by being present there and helping the people who's new there, that will help you to not only build a great connections, you'll also learn because of that deep connections or strong relationships, plus you'll get business. So the combination of it, and also one has to be prepared not just to go immediately to sell, but also like what makes them different. Why should someone work with that? It may be what we call an elevator speech, but again, the purpose should be to understand the other person and build the connections. When you understand, build the connections, people you will find out if that's the right person to do business or not, or other otherwise, we'll also learn about that person's knowledge, how they do their businesses. And one thing that you can grab and bring it back home and implement it, that may be the key for the success of the business.

Carrie Saunders 12:27

And before we, you know, started recording today, too, we talked about how you're helping business owners, you know, go to these type events and you know, not just go and come back, you know, you can go and like you know, figure out how to implement what you learned as well as you know, follow up with the connections that you've made. Do you have some tactics that you could advise us on on how to do that? Because I know sometimes people will go to like specific types of conventions or you know, local networking events, and then they just come back and basically do nothing and don't follow up with any of those connections. They made it so easy to do because we get back in the grind of everything. So, what are your tactics to make sure those are very purposeful and really help the business?

Turning Events Into Relationships And Results

SPEAKER_01 13:13

Exactly. So many people, as you mentioned, they they go to that event, they build the connections, they spend the money, they come back, and suddenly they are working on the daily things that they need to complete, and they forget all the connections they made or the knowledge they grabbed, and they don't execute it in for their businesses. So, one way to do it, I highly suggest that when you're meeting someone like with a business card, make sure that you write a note what you spoke briefly. You don't have to take like put everything that you spoke. You could just take a note like, hey, I spoke to Carrie about SEO. Ask she recommends this. You could go and you go back, it could be even a nice chat, sending it like, hey Kerry, it was really nice talking to you about whatever the subject it was. I just like wanted to check in and say hi to you. And then you could maybe, if there is like information that given from from you to that person, a phone call or asking it, can you connect and or can you give me an idea of how to implement this? That's tremendous of a another thing that we could do if you're going for the sales purposes and you have the bunch of stack of business cards, at least send an email. Again, the key is whatever you spoke about it, that's to that. For you mentioned that part of it. I'm I may sound old-fashioned, but people now so badly use AI and then they put it on. But don't make it through the AI. Make sure that there is something that's shared during that conversation and put it in that email so people would remind it. Because imagine that how many how many people you're talking, and other people at the same time talking to, if it's not hundreds, hundreds of people to remember to remember you. So taking a note on the business card, what you spoke with a person is that is tremendously helpful. And again, old fashioned, you emailed it. A phone call may help also tremendously as well to build the connections.

Carrie Saunders 15:18

Sorry, I was gonna say I I never had the idea of like putting down a note on a business card. That's actually pretty genius to do.

SPEAKER_01 15:26

Imagine that every time you go to the event, how many people do you talk to? Right. Just like if it maybe not, I spoke to Carrie, she lives in, or anything she has, two kids. I'm just making up, or like she has a dog she loves, or she loves a pie, whatever that conversation is, you could just remember it, or maybe even when you come across like an internet, hey Carrie, I was thinking I that I came across to me today, I just wanted to share with you that helps to build a stronger relationship. And the second thing is that if there is a learning key, learn in it, that try to implement it because one of the reasons people go there to learn, and there are great speakers come to that event, whether local or national, and if you can grab it and try twit twist it to meet your business needs and implement it, that's also gonna help you tremendously in the business. And many people that I speak that they don't do it, they say I'm too busy. And I asked, what's the point of going and spending that much money into the shows if you're not gonna follow up with the people you met or take ideas and implement it?

Carrie Saunders 16:42

So on the taking ideas and implement it, it's definitely a great point because I know there's been times I've gone to a conference, you know, made some notes of things I wanted to implement, and then I got so busy when I came back. What do you and I I know we're all busy, it's just you know, this catch-all thing we all say, we are all busy, but we make time for the things that are really important. So, how do you suggest making that time for that follow-up after the conference or the networking event or wherever somebody's gone to expand their business?

Make Time To Implement What You Learn

SPEAKER_01 17:14

I've worked on a reflection paper or form that is gonna ask specific questions. What is your key takeaways? It's not like a complete yet, but I'll release it in a few months so everyone can take advantage of it. And other things also I recommend to block a time on the calendar, especially for follow-up, and just like dedicate a certain amount of time to be able to follow up with the people that you met, to send them email or to give them a call, even send them if they're on LinkedIn and LinkedIn message.

Carrie Saunders 17:48

And I feel like a lot of the threads that you've said here, and you know, correct me if I'm wrong, is we're really trying to keep that human connection, especially now that we're a bit more, a lot more digital, let's say, than say 10 years ago. But it sounds like, you know, keeping that human connection in all these things that we're doing here, and you know, like writing down that note on that on the business card. I mean, that's just a genius way to remember that person because sometimes business cards don't show their face. So you may not, you might go, well, who is this person? But if you have that note, then you're like, oh yes, now I remember the whole conversation because you have a little uh snip of what you guys talked about. So I feel like you're a lot of your, you know theme here is having that human connection. How do we make all of this um humanized uh so that we can grow from it, remember the people and make that um pure connection with them? Would that be right?

SPEAKER_01 18:46

Exactly. And I recommend to some of my customers or friends, I say, hey, on your business cards, put your picture. Some people like it, some people don't like it. And the reason I suggest that I tell them, look, they're gonna talk to hundreds of people. And when they look at that picture, oh, okay, I remember this guy. I remember him. In my case, they can say, Oh, I remember that bold guy.

Carrie Saunders 19:12

Well, in my case, I'd be like, in my case, I'd be like, I remember that short female. So then we're talking about, you know, kind of alluding to how we scale our businesses. So, and I know you help businesses scale. So, what are some of the challenges businesses face when they're scaling up and trying to grow that business?

Human Connection In A Digital World

Scaling Challenges: Delegation, Process, Finance

SPEAKER_01 19:33

So, one of the things that if you remember, I mentioned is marketing, right? And sometimes I see to these days. I'll give you an example of that. Sometimes some of the business owners don't let it go. Here is an established business, and I'm talking to the owner, and he says, I wake up at 5 a.m. in the morning. And I asked him, How do you do your SEO or like who does that? He says, I do it. I looked at him. Are you serious or joking with me? He said, No, I do it. Like, tell me about it. And he says, I wake up at 5 a.m. in the morning, I work on it. So initially, maybe if the businesses don't have enough resources, I understand that they'll do it to their best ability, unless they go and invest the time to learn the skills of creating a website, building a CEO. But that's a completely different set of skills than managing a business. Like we previously mentioned that one of the key roles of the CEO or the business owner to have the right people in the right set, and then make sure that the company is profitable or there is a return on investment, and people hold his or her people accountable to be successful and not just managing the CEO or the marketing. So, and we say that if you're doing two things or three things, you're not you're doing nothing. So, one of the things I recommend to business owners, okay, after a certain level that you reach, start uh delegating it so you could focus on other things. And to be able to scale, one of the things also to execute it. So marketing has to continuously bring generation. At the moment that stops, what happens? There is no business, there is no customer to start to deliver them services, and delivery of the services is the key. Companies or organizations should have a clear process and they continuously work on to make the process easier, not only for their customers, but also for their employees as well. It should be easy for a customer to make a business with the organizations or the firm. And another factor that processes would help to deliver the service, to deliver the service better than the competitor or anyone else. So customers would come back. And of course the financials. It it is unbelievable that you will see the business owners sometimes, they don't even know their numbers. They should have should have their numbers the first like the fifth or the fifteenth and regularly review it. How the business is operating it. Here's a funny thing. I met with some business owners, and I asked them how often do you review your business financiers? Oh, I don't. And I'm surprised. I said, You don't? And how do you know how the business is doing it? Oh, I don't want to look at the numbers because I don't want to feel bad or feel stressed out. And I said, Okay, how do you know the business continues? Oh, I just look at the bank number, and if if I have enough money, that's fine. That's very dangerous. So that come across sometimes business owners don't want to even look at their numbers because they don't want to see the bad numbers. But the key is to be able to see the numbers and adapt it to prevent any disaster, financial disaster.

Carrie Saunders 23:04

Yeah, because you can't correct something you're not tracking. You know, it's as simple as you can even think of it as like weight loss. You can't lose weight unless you're tracking your input, your, you know, your food as well as the calories that you're expending, whether you're exercising or not. Um, so yes, you can't fix something you're not paying attention to for sure. Um, but I do know a lot of people that do that, that don't even look at their numbers. And I've, you know, I've been guilty of that in the past as well. You know, sometimes things are, especially during COVID, you know, I feel like we all got off kilter and was just trying to survive and weren't being proactive. And I've seen a lot of businesses since then um stuck in that loop of just being reactive and not proactive with like their finances or their website or all kinds of different places in their business. Um, I figure you've probably seen that as well, where they're just getting to this reactive mode and they're trying to not drown and they're not like actually swimming, they're not being, you know, forward motion, they're just kind of stuck in the water.

SPEAKER_01 24:09

They do. They do some of the businesses, they do stay stuck in it, and they try to do so many things. And it's famous saying that that scene is attributed to Peter Dracker. You measure, uh, you manage what you measure. And if you don't measure your numbers or your processes or your marketing, like the website, lead generation, SEO, or Google P ads, then it's gonna be difficult to see where you are, other than just looking at the okay, this is what I have in the bank. It could be satisfactory for the moment, but later on that may cause problems in the future if you if you don't proactively see what's happening.

Carrie Saunders 24:53

So then as we wrap up here, what would be like some of your final thoughts on, you know, some next steps those listening could take? You know, say that say they realize that they're either like not looking at their finances or not looking at their business processes, not networking properly. What are like some action steps you feel like could help somebody take that next step in the area they're they know they're kind of holding their business back with?

From Reactive To Proactive: Measure What Matters

SPEAKER_01 25:20

I think the key factor to look at it to just reflect on what it what is it that I'm doing right now that is not like integrated from for the business perspective. So as a business owner, depending on the size of it, that there are key factors, as we mentioned, the lead generation marketing, this is whether SEO, whether website, website, Google Ads, or networking, and also the processes or the delivery of the services, deliver it better than other competitors, and also looking at the financials or financial intelligence, whether you call it financial savings, that is a key factor to keep in mind. And if one person is not look at it, hey, where I'm missing it, where do I need help or where do I need improvement? And also to look at it as a business owner. Am I doing everything by myself or do I need someone to help me to offload my lot and I can focus on something else? Because other factors also the business owners try to do so many things by themselves, and that's another reason that they're like drawing. There's there's so many things to do, and in these cases, either they could outsource it or get a help, and also look at it what really works for them and now focus on that. What we call a part of the principle, 20 to 80 percent. What we do, 20% of what we do brings to 80% of the revenue, or in another word, 20% of our customers are 80% of revenue, and 80% of the customers bring 20% of the revenue. So to look at it, where is the key factors that I need to focus on? And one concept I'm working on is the OIK OIKR. It's called Objective and Key Results that helps tremendously to focus on the main things. And this concept introduced by Peter Dracker as a management by objectives, another one also Intel and the group, CEO of the Intel user, it was used in Google, it still has been used in Google and other companies that they it helps them to focus on it. But again, in short, to answer your question is basically to look at it in a whole picture. Where do I need to focus my attention and then find out where I can improve it, what section I can improve it and work on it.

Carrie Saunders 27:55

I think that makes a lot of sense. And I think, you know, I I feel like some of the listeners listening, because I've just get have this vibe right now online. They need to not be afraid to do this too. They they need to look at it without judgment. You know, the past is a past. We need to look at where we are now so that we can get to a better place in the future. And, you know, realize things have happened because I I know there's a lot of talk about, you know, I still fall out from COVID and you know the state of the world currently, but we've got to look at it with a fresh new set of eyes, the things that you're suggesting, so that we can move our business forward so that we can be more free, we can be more happy, uh, we can be, you know, financially more free, time more free, um, and not wearing all the hats because I find that a lot of our customers and a lot of people I talk to wear too many hats and are trying to do all the things in their business.

SPEAKER_01 28:49

Exactly.

Carrie Saunders 28:50

So then, Amu, if somebody wants to reach out to you and find a bit more about you and the services you provide or just connect with you, what are some of the best places they can find you?

Practical Next Steps And OKRs

SPEAKER_01 29:00

They could go to my website. It is growth and successinstitute.com. They could send me an email, umut at growth and successinstitute.com, or they could either text me or call me at 619-723-8104, or I'm on LinkedIn. If they type my name as umut aston, they could find me on LinkedIn as well and send me a message by mentioning that the podcast that we we with you, so I could respond their questions.

Carrie Saunders 29:31

Great. I really appreciate having you today, Amut. It's been wonderful talking to you. We're in a a group together with Brenda Miller, who's been on our podcast as well. And it's just been great to get to know you over the past, I think about a year and a half or so now. So I appreciate having you here.

SPEAKER_01 29:47

Thank you so much, Kira. I'm really glad to be here and talking to you. That was a great pleasure.

Carrie Saunders 29:52

I hope this conversation with Dr. Amut Oslan sparks some big picture thinking for you. Remember, scaling isn't just about growth, it's about growing with intention. It's about making strategic decisions around your people, processes, finances, and long-term vision. If you're feeling like the bottleneck in your business or you're stuck working in the business instead of on it, take this as your invitation to zoom out and reevaluate what's really driving growth. You can learn more about Amood's work over at the Growth and Success Institute, and we will include the links in our show notes. And if your website isn't pulling its weight in your growth strategy, you know where to find us over on Facebook. Just go ahead and go to SmarterOnline Business.com forward slash Facebook to join our free Facebook group. And I will see you next week.