Micah Johnson and BGBO Co. helps businesses grow in every facet of their operations. From coming up with ideas to updating present items, they can help companies realize their true potential and flourish in the industry.
For his job description, Micah Johnson helps business come up with fresh ideas to shake up the marketplace. According to the company website, BGBO helps “get teams unstuck” thanks to “an outside perspective.” With fresh ideas, you really can’t go wrong. After you work on that idea, BGBO also helps your company become more efficient, because efficiency makes your idea grow without a hitch.
But, without a good marketing strategy, your idea will fall flat. Here’s where Micah Johnson and BGBO come in, again. They will liven up your marketing plans to reach the audience you want. And once your idea or product is out in the world, you will need to update it to keep your clients satisfied. With its dev support, BGBO can help you with that, as well.
Over his 18 years, Micah Johnson and BGBO have worked with over 1,000 companies, worth over $17 billion, in all major industries. They have been with those companies from the start: starting with “bootstrapping, fundraising, merging, advising, founding, and exiting.”
Micah Johnson has become familiar with all sorts of problems plaguing a company. From badly performing dev teams, low profits, stale marketing, internal company conflict and poor decision-making, poor company culture and low worker morale, to lack of experience, Micha has seen it all. This experience is why Micah and BGBO can solve your problems quickly and efficiently.
Throughout his career, Micah Johnson has founded several enterprises. He began his career as a web designer in 1998, and worked his way to become VP of Strategy and Creative for Juice Media in 2006. Since then, he has founded GoFanbase, Inc., the Musician’s Council, and finally, BGBO Co.
Read more interviews with industry leaders here.
Jerome Knyszewski: What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
Micah Johnson: We are very selective of the companies that we work with. We want to enjoy working with them and truly know that we can add value to their business. We aren’t looking to chase down every sale there is, and that is a good place for us to be in and even better for our clients! We realized early on that 80 percent of our time was being taken up by clients that really weren’t a good fit for us. We adjusted from there to make sure every moment we spend on client work is providing real value!
Jerome Knyszewski: Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
Micah Johnson: I know how hard business can be; I have been burnt out before! Now everyday I ask myself, “What can I do to bring myself joy today?” That has helped me slow down and enjoy this journey rather than push, push, push! I think the most obvious thing is also to not try and do everything yourself. Upwork has been a great tool to find experts in areas that can execute quickly on exactly what you need to do. This is especially important when you are a startup and don’t have the resources to hire employees for everything you need.
Jerome Knyszewski: None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
Micah Johnson: My Co-Founder at BGBO Co., Alane Boyd. She and I ran my previous software company together and after exiting started BGBO Co. together (She was also the one that called me out on my hiring practices!). I have been able to learn a lot from running businesses with her, and she really showed me that we all have blind spots and need to let those with stronger skill sets in certain areas lead in those areas.
Jerome Knyszewski: Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of this interview. Delegating effectively is a challenge for many leaders. Let’s put first things first. Can you help articulate to our readers a few reasons why delegating is such an important skill for a leader or a business owner to develop?
Micah Johnson:
- The most important reason and the hardest thing entrepreneurs need to let go of is that you aren’t good at everything! No one is. It is also better to embrace other other perspectives and not just your own.
- Unless you want to be the sole person in your business for the rest of your life, you most likely want to grow and scale. In order to do that, you have to be able to delegate. The best way to do this is to create processes that can be followed by anyone. We like using Asana project management software to create templates, how-tos, and checklists for teams to utilize.
- Save yourself your two most valuable resources: time and money. Your time is valuable and you need to maximize your time by the most beneficial work you can offer your company. Delegating gives you the time to focus on that important work.
Jerome Knyszewski: Can you help articulate a few of the reasons why delegating is such a challenge for so many people?
Micah Johnson: This one made me laugh because, as I was just saying previously, we all suffer from the ego mentality of “no one can do it as good as I can.” This is the #1 reason we hear people say they “can’t” delegate. The #2 reason is the mentality that “it’s just quicker to do it myself than have someone else do it.” With well-designed processes, good hiring practices, and correct starting expectations, you’ll find yourself pleasantly surprised at how much trust can be built through a few simple tasks done right.
Jerome Knyszewski: In your opinion, what pivots need to be made, either in perspective or in work habits, to help alleviate some of the challenges you mentioned?
Micah Johnson: Ask yourself these questions before jumping in and doing a task:
- Should I really be spending my time on this?
- Am I the best person to be doing this?
- Could this be done by someone else?
- Create a how-to on how something needs to be done. This might even be a video showing the steps on how to do it. Employees could even further this step by taking that video and putting it into a templated checklist.
- Have a set of examples on what you have done or others have done so that you are talking abstractly about what your future goals and what it will take to achieve them. For instance, you have data for a case study you want created but need it designed so it looks nice. Before just handing it off to a designer, give them visuals of ones you like and what aspects of them you like the best!
- Have a resources section (we have a project in Asana with tasks of different resources that either link to webpages, knowledge base docs, Dropbox, Google Docs, etc.) that your teams can easily reference. Digging for information is where most team members waste their time and where delegation breaks down before they can even start.
Jerome Knyszewski: +One of the obstacles to proper delegating is the oft quoted cliche “If you want something done right do it yourself.” Is this saying true? Is it false? Is there a way to reconcile it with the importance of delegating?
Micah Johnson: It really is quoted too often! I even referenced it earlier in our interview. I firmly believe that it is false. If you truly feel that way, you are going about things blindly. There is a good trio to always put together for delegating successfully: you communicate clearly what you want and need, you have a skilled person to execute the task(s), and you provide the right tools for them to do the job. For instance, if you delegate a design project to someone not skilled at design, it doesn’t matter how well you communicate because they aren’t the right person for the job. However, if you give them a tool like Canva and have them watch a few Skillshare design videos, they may just be able to pull together something that looks fantastic, saving you hours of work!
You also need to provide constructive feedback to those that you delegate too. It can be hard for people to communicate what they didn’t like about the other person’s work because they don’t want to upset them. However, if a person never knows you weren’t happy with the outcome, then they cannot improve.
Jerome Knyszewski: Thank you for all of that. We are nearly done. You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Micah Johnson: It’s something we are actively working on at BGBO Co, but making sure that everyone on the team is also part of the success of the business. Too often power and rewards are imbalanced in businesses. The reality is that leaders are supporters of the team, and it’s their team that is doing the real value work.
Jerome Knyszewski: How can our readers further follow you online?
Micah Johnson:
Jerome Knyszewski: This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this!
