Dylan Howard Of EvolPro On How To Take Your Company From Good To Great

Peace of mind is always better than more money.

As part of my series about the “How To Take Your Company From Good To Great”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dylan Howard.

Dylan Howard is the Founder of EvolPro, a premiere business development company focused on helping new entrepreneurs and businesses take the necessary steps to create successful businesses. Dylan also gives back to communities through his nonprofit Unity Community Initiative and is the host of the motivational, fun, and podcast Too Cool 4 School.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

Growing up, my parents owned a car business and my dad would always teach me lessons, even as a kid. I remember going to work with my dad as a kid, entering other dealerships, and listening to him joke around with the other businessman, and then the conversation would change to numbers, cars, and paperwork. After all that my dad would take me to lunch and say the success of a business is twofold: First, it’s not what you know, but who you know. Second, sales, sales, sales.

As I grew up I began making relationships with people who I knew would be an asset to me and vice versa, whether it was someone who made stickers, shirts, or even restaurant owners. In high school, I taught guitar, drums, and bass, For every individual I taught I first found out their interests, and goals, and made sure they knew I was their friend and there to support them. The type of relationships I built with my clients led to referrals and more clients. Eventually, as I went to college, I did what most college kids do, door-to-door sales. This was a strenuous, difficult, and extremely rewarding experience. I learned about rejection, perseverance, and how to land a sale.

However, through all of these experiences, I knew I didn’t just want to do sales and meet people. I wanted to become an entrepreneur, moreover, I wanted to make a change in people’s lives and businesses. After graduating from college, I took a job on a whim. I lucked out as I worked directly under the CEO and he taught me numerous things and I absorbed everything I could. However, the work culture was awful. Every day I dreaded going to work and it was the only thing on my mind when I got home. Eventually, I left that job and found another in the publishing industry where I got to work with some pretty amazing individuals, authors, and influencers in the PR division. After some time there, when my wife and I had our child, we decided it was time for us to move on and look for a fresh start. It was at that moment that I not only had the opportunity to begin my own business but had the need to provide for my family.

Can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey? Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?

When you begin your entrepreneurial journey, most of the time it is going to be an uphill battle. Very rarely does it blow up overnight and become an extremely successful business. For any business to reach success, you need clients and unless you know how to get them, I hate to tell you, they won’t magically appear. However, when I first started my journey, getting clients wasn’t the difficult part.

When I began my journey, I had the mindset that most entrepreneurs have, “I am going to work hard day and night, no matter the cost”. Little did I know that this mindset leads to more problems rather than solving them. I always had the talent to determine when someone was going to be more work and trouble than necessary. However, because of my determination to be successful, at the beginning I took on clients that I knew were going to be more trouble than their worth. Even though I knew that the desire to grow my business and make money out beat my better judgment. This led to over-servicing clients on an extreme level to keep them happy, working long hours, stressful work days, and anxiety. At one point I looked at myself and asked, “Is this worth it”? The simple answer was no. Peace of mind is always better than more money. This shouldn’t be confused with stress or a difficult work day or week. Rather, this is something that is constantly in your mind and won’t allow you to sleep, relax, or simply enjoy life because you are so focused on these individuals. This difficulty taught me that valuable lesson and as I made it to the other side, was something that allowed me to properly analyze potential new clients and decide whether to take them on or not.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that?

I remember when one of my clients was getting ready for a business event pre-COVID and I was helping them prepare. They had high-profile business individuals going to give keynotes, and share advice, amongst other things, then those in attendance were assigned a day when they would go on stage for 30 seconds to share who they are and what they do (essentially a sales pitch to get clients from the crowd).

When it was their turn, the audience would receive a piece of paper with their bio, services, and successes. She asked if I could create it and I said sure. Once I handed her my draft she said she wanted more and then told me she wanted the whole page covered. She had so much content that she wanted to stack it on one page it looked unreal. After talking to her and telling her it wasn’t a good idea she persisted with the idea. Eventually, I caved and did it for her.

When she returned and I asked how it went, she said her speech went great, but that everyone seemed confused by what she does and how she could help. You see, her expertise was in finance, however, she also wanted to have the title of a business coach. With those two things, it was hard to narrow down what she does, and with so much content, potential clients passed because they needed just one specific thing. I chuckled as I saw this happening before it did but like so many clients do, they don’t listen. In the end, it gives me a story to share with future clients.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

There are two primary things that make a company stand out, work culture and management. During my years as an employee before starting my business, I quickly realize that I am going to spend most of my days and life at work. When the majority of your life is spent working, you hope that the company you work for and its management are great, that they care about you as an employee and individual, and that you are not fueled by stress and anxiety every day.

With that said, ironically most businesses know this but actually don’t care about it. They try to give the appearance that they do through a random “pizza party” every now and then (as if the employees don’t have the money to go get a pizza themselves) or doing an escape house as a team for fun. This is simply one aspect of it. Work should be fun and exciting to go to every day. There should be incentives and things to look forward to. When work is done, you should be able to relax at the end of the day and not immediately be stressing about tomorrow. Employees should not have to feel concerned about their jobs because they made a mistake, called in sick, or whatever else.

No employee should be scared to go to work, talk to their boss, be miserable during the work day, and overall miserable. As I said earlier, we spend most of our life working, so if that is the way it is going to be, it should be something to enjoy. That isn’t to say that they get free passes, that there won’t be stressful and difficult days, having to let employees go due to budget cuts or they broke rules or company policy. Life isn’t always fair. However, businesses and managers should have a strong desire and focus to create a company work culture and environment where employees want to work hard because they feel cared for and they want to see the success of the company, rather than constantly finding the next best job. Do this and you will see your company stand above many others.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

I have found most of my success comes from being someone that my clients enjoy talking to and working with. Being upbeat, happy, and having a positive attitude while at the same time doing everything in your power to bring them success is all anyone can ask for. Obviously, you need to have the basics, the technique, experience, and some success. Apart from that, my clients stay because of the energy I bring and work ethic, and my desire to see them succeed. Not because of a name, fancy words, or well-written copy.

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?

This may be cliché, but honestly, my dad has been my number one supporter, resource, and help. He gave me advice in difficult situations, picked me up when I was down, and told me to keep going. I think one of the best things he ever told me was that work is not supposed to be easy or fun all the time. It is difficult and necessary. So, when I have a bad day, hard week or even month, bad experience, or whatever it is, I just remember that it isn’t always going to be sunshine and rainbows and that at times you have to weather the storm.

My wife also played a huge part. Not only does she support me with my clients offering a helping hand where needed, but she is also the one who assures me that everything will be okay when things don’t always go as planned. Being an entrepreneur, there are a lot of ups and a lot of downs. You have to learn to ride the waves, but it sure helps to have someone by your side so you don’t have to do it alone.

Apart from my father, there are numerous individuals who have helped me get where I am. Wrestling coaches from when I was a kid, professors in college, and even former bosses and managers who I did not get along with or treated me awfully. Experiences and individuals help shape who you are, so thank you to all of you.

Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of this interview. The title of this series is “How to take your company from good to great”. Let’s start with defining our terms. How would you define a “good” company, what does that look like? How would you define a “great” company, what does that look like?

Let’s start on a simple level. A good company is one that is successful financially. They successfully created a business or product, executed a strong marketing plan, and at minimum, have made a profit and career from their business. A great business has accomplished everything a good business has but has also created a positive and productive work environment, takes care of its employee’s well-being to the best of their ability, and make it a place where individuals want to work instead of going to sleep dreading having to wake up the next day. This will not only create further financial success for the company but will help them become a company everyone wants to work for.

Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things one should know in order to lead a company from Good to Great? Please share a story or an example for each.

1. Do not get comfortable as a business. Oftentimes, many businesses get extremely comfortable with where they are at financially. This can be because their income can increase depending on certain actions and strategies. For example, if you are selling a product, you can have a great month and think you are improving, then the next month has awful sales. You need to look further. Can you improve online sales? Do you run ads? Have you invested in PR or SEO? What aspects of the business have you not invested in yet? It is about figuring out where your business has not invested to take you to the next level.
2. Invest in your employees. When you’re starting out as a business, it is extremely hard to take care of employees the way they deserve. But for those who stick with you through thick and thin, when the day comes that your business becomes great, make sure your employees know you are grateful for their work. This goes beyond a ping pong table and the occasional work lunch. We are talking about salaries that provide a future. A fun and positive work environment, benefits, etc. There are many companies with massive income but have extreme employee turnover which prevents them from reaching the highest levels.
3. Take a break. There is more to life than working. I know some people live to work and it is all they want to do. However, most people work to provide a good life for themselves, family, and others. In that pursuit, you will work so much to create a successful business that you will burn yourself out. At one point, you will be filled with fog, ready to go home, but the need to work will impede that. Make sure you relax, it is okay if your schedule is off a little bit, or you take a day for yourself. Life is meant to be enjoyed, so make sure you enjoy it!
4. Be willing to learn from others. Every great business is willing to learn and listen to others for guidance. Usually, there is a board of directors that discusses issues, new ideas, programs, and so on and they all give their thoughts and advice. After a discussion and making a mutual decision, the company moves forward. You can’t be a one-person show forever, there is only so much you can handle by yourself. If you feel the need to control everything yourself you will quickly cap your business’s success.
5. Do not compare your business to others. It is very common for businesses to compare their business to the success of others. How come I am not as big as them? What am I doing wrong? Am I a failure? These are just a few of the questions that will probably pass through your mind. Let me start off by saying enjoy the ride! Every entrepreneur’s journey is different. Some may become the next Steve Jobs, or the biggest firm in your industry, and others may just be generally successful but aren’t Tesla or some other major company. The point is to enjoy your journey, or even journey’s for the serial entrepreneurs!

Extensive research suggests that “purpose driven businesses” are more successful in many areas. Can you help articulate for our readers a few reasons why a business should consider becoming a purpose driven business, or consider having a social impact angle?

Passion and excitement are a powerful drive to not only create quality work but are a great foundation for creating a powerful non-toxic work environment. By finding like-minded individuals who have the same goals, and enjoy the type of work you are doing, you can create a powerhouse business where employees are providing their best work, are happy, and in turn, your business will ultimately thrive internally which will help it externally.

What would you advise to a business leader who initially went through years of successive growth, but has now reached a standstill. From your experience do you have any general advice about how to boost growth and “restart their engines”?

As the saying goes, desperate times call for desperate measures. Here’s the thing, when you find something that works for your business and you see growth, it is working for that point and time in the market. When things peak, or the market changes, you have to change and find what works. You can only use the same thing for so long, you need to look for unique strategies and tactics that you haven’t tried before. Here’s a tip, there is more than just social media ads (and much more beyond Facebook and Instagram), much more than just PR, and unique thinking needs to go into finding clients.

Generating new business, increasing your profits, or at least maintaining your financial stability can be challenging during good times, even more so during turbulent times. Can you share some of the strategies you use to keep forging ahead and not lose growth traction during a difficult economy?

At one point or another, most businesses will go through challenging times. Of course, the leaders will do everything they can to keep the business alive and employees will do everything they can to generate new business. The first thing I recommend is to look at unnecessary spending (like most businesses do), while it may seem simple, many businesses will continue with team lunches, activities, and continued spending for their employees in order to keep morale up. However, it is vital that you are upfront with your employees, let them know the situation, and give them the opportunity to act accordingly and allow the business to save money.

Lastly, warm networks are often overlooked by many businesses. As most businesses know, you will have three different types of buyers, cold, warm, and hot. If someone is ready to buy, you strike while the iron is hot, if it is a warm lead, you nurture them until they are hot, and if they are cold, you put them on the back burner and wait until they are warm and ready to move forward. It’s critical you identify these individuals as oftentimes there is gold in this network that will help keep your business moving forward.

In your experience, which aspect of running a company tends to be most underestimated? Can you explain or give an example?

Leadership, and here is why. Employees are necessary to make a business run and be successful. However, oftentimes, the way leaders treat employees is much like a tick-and-flick. Please do this, please complete that, where is this and where is that? And before you know it, your employees are overloaded with work, overworked (that may or may not be paid), stressed out, and then the next thing you know you’ve lost employees because everything is just handed to them.

Leadership is more than just making sure work gets done, it is also making sure your employees are okay all around. What is their workload? Their mental health? Is everything okay at home which may impact their work performance? Are you building them up or only pointing out the negative? Yes, making sure productivity is up and work is getting done is important, but making sure your employees are happy and well goes into all of that.

As you know, “conversion” means to convert a visit into a sale. In your experience what are the best strategies a business should use to increase conversion rates?

In my experience, conversions happen very differently for every type of product or service, but I have first found there are a couple of general rules that help land those conversions!

First, if you are offering a service such as preparing taxes, marketing, etc., 9/10, people make their decisions based on who they are working with. Selling yourself is key. You need to find a way to make potential clients feel comfortable and trust you at the same time. From there, sharing how things work on a general level instead of withholding information until they sign.

If you are selling a product, in 2022, testimonials are key along with videos of how they work. Potential buyers now focus on the honest opinion of other buyers. Be sure to focus on gaining testimonials and reviews, as well as a display of how your product works.

Of course, the main way to increase conversion rates is to create a trusted and beloved brand. Can you share a few ways that a business can earn a reputation as a trusted and beloved brand?

Becoming a potential beloved brand has a few key aspects. First, you need customers. Finding enough long-term customers to become a popular and beloved brand is different for every business, however, turning a customer into a loyal customer comes from quality products/services and great customer service that comes from truly listening to the consumer.

After that, PR plays a huge part in building trust by being published in reputable publications. This is almost like creating a seal of trust for new potential customers.

Great customer service and great customer experience are essential to build a beloved brand and essential to be successful in general. In your experience what are a few of the most important things a business leader should know in order to create a Wow! Customer Experience?

Over my years of experience, these are the necessary traits when creating an amazing customer experience: High energy, perceptive, funny, knowledgeable of your product/service, and most of all patient!

You must have high energy to create an exciting customer experience and show that you actually care. Your tone and energy can immediately set the tone of the experience for customers. You must be perceptive to a customer’s personality and adjust yours accordingly. Laughter is one of the best ways to make individuals feel relaxed and comfortable and to build trust. Having an in-depth knowledge of your product/service is necessary in order to answer any questions a customer may have. Making a potential customer wait for an answer because of an untrained employee, can cause them to lose interest or make them feel like you don’t care about training your employees. Last, and probably most important, you need to have patience. You may have customers who have a dozen questions, may ask the same thing over and over, may have a bad attitude, or complain about a bad experience and be skeptical due to past purchases. Having patience will allow you to overcome numerous hurdles that will come your way.

What are your thoughts about how a company should be engaged on Social Media? For example, the advisory firm EisnerAmper conducted 6 yearly surveys of United States corporate boards, and directors reported that one of their most pressing concerns was reputational risk as a result of social media. Do you share this concern? We’d love to hear your thoughts about this.

Social Media used to be key for businesses, but now, there are numerous businesses thriving without the use of social media. As a matter of fact, many businesses don’t even have social media, or a very small following and are thriving. However, this is very different when it comes to creating a litigious company that has garnered the respect of thousands or millions of individuals. At this point, social media is indeed a key aspect of relaying information and news, sharing updates, etc. Depending on your goals, social media may be on the back burner or a key tool to your business.

What are the most common mistakes you have seen CEOs & founders make when they start a business? What can be done to avoid those errors?

Many new CEOs and Founders when starting their business often try to go faster than they are prepared to go because they are excited (which I totally get). This could be launching a product before it is ready, opening the doors before you have enough employees, not having all the details figured out, etc. When creating your business, it is best to slow down and make sure everything is set, and ready to go instead of jumping the gun because you are excited, want to make a profit, or whatever the reason may be. This should stay with you throughout your entire career, don’t try and rush something just to check a box, excitement, etc.

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. :-)

I want to emphasize that working and making money is necessary in order to live and pay the bills, lifestyles, and so on. However, If I could start a movement, it would be to help individuals enjoy the things that life has to offer. Many individuals believe that a successful life is working their way up the corporate ladder, starting and creating a prestigious business, and being idolized by friends and family for their career success.

However, how many families have suffered due to this success? What experiences were missed in order to make a deal happen? The world is beautiful with countless places to visit and how many were never visited? Being an entrepreneur has the ability to create wealth and freedom, but what use is that wealth and freedom if it is never used?

How can our readers further follow you online?

You can find me on the following platforms:

My website

Not Too Cool 4 School podcast

My nonprofit Unity Community Initiative

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this!

Thank you so much for having me, it has been a pleasure!