As a business owner striving for success, you’ve probably found yourself wondering what makes some businesses thrive while others fail. (I consider myself a life-long student of business.) My WorkBetterNow (WBN) co-founder, Andrew ‘AC’ Cohen, and I have built several businesses before starting WBN, and we can say without question that WBN has been the most successful. 

Our approach to building WBN has been recognized as a key driver of our success, and we’re pumped to have been ranked No. 114 on the 2024 Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in America.  

What has made this venture such a success? In this post, I’ll share some of the things that we have done at WBN that are different from our previous businesses. These are not secrets or hacks, but rather strategies and tactics that have helped us grow our business, serve our clients, and create a great work culture. 

Use an Operating System

One of the things that we have done differently with WBN was to implement the Entrepreneurial Operating System® (EOS), a comprehensive toolkit that aligns vision, strategy, and execution, among other things. EOS® helps you establish a meeting rhythm, a scorecard of KPIs, an accountability chart, and a list of issues that need to be solved. 

EOS® has been instrumental in helping us run our business more efficiently and effectively. We have clear goals and priorities (for the company, department and at the individual level), and we track our progress and performance regularly. We have a structure and a discipline that keeps us focused and accountable, along with a common language and a shared vision that unite us as a team. As a 100% remote company, the EOS® framework has been a game changer. 

Separate the Visionary and Integrator Roles

Another thing that contributed to WBN’s success was the adoption of the visionary/integrator model, which is another component of EOS®. The visionary/integrator model is a way of dividing the leadership roles between two complementary types of people: the visionary and the integrator. The visionary has the big ideas, vision, creativity, and passion. The integrator is the one who brings the vision to life and makes it a reality. The visionary and the integrator work together to balance each other’s strengths and weaknesses, which drives the business forward. 

AC and I have embraced this model. I am the visionary, who brings the innovation, the inspiration, and the direction. AC is the integrator, who brings the implementation, the operation, and the integration. As co-founders and partners, this model enables us to divide up roles based on our unique abilities and to focus on the areas where we excel. 

Build a Great Team (and Let Them Do Their Thing)

While I have built some terrific teams in the past, I never really appreciated how the right hires, combined with an operating system (such as EOS®) can ignite a company’s growth while the owners can have much less stress. 

Among the things that we have done in this regard is hiring more slowly (and firing more quickly) to ensure a cultural fit as well as a skills fit. 

With our EOS scorecard (KPIs), we can see if a department is on or off-track, which lets us go deeper into a potential problem without micromanaging. Our own company is powered by over 80% of Latin American talent, coming from the same talent pool we utilize to serve our clients. Their dedication and passion for learning have been a major factor in our – and our clients’ – success. 

Develop Core Values and (Actually) Live by Them

Another thing we have done differently from our other businesses is that at WBN, we identified our core values early on and ran the business with them.  

We have defined our core values as follows: 

• – Put our talent first
• – Work with integrity and transparency
• – Work with an ownership mentality
• – Have a growth mindset
• – Work with an excellent attitude
• – Pursue excellence

We made our core values the foundation of our culture and our brand. We hire, fire, reward, and recognize based on our core values. We communicate, collaborate, and celebrate based on our core values. We live and breathe our core values every day. I know it sounds quite abstract, but I firmly believe that our core values (which took some time to assemble) are a big part of our success. 

Intentional Business Strategy 

Building on the lessons from our past ventures, both successes and mistakes, we made sure to develop a solid strategy right from the start. Our core values played a significant role in this, but our strategy also included some key decisions: 

• –Committing to providing top-notch talent. While this might sound obvious, it comes with its own set of challenges. We were willing to accept the time and cost of thoroughly screening approximately 100 applications to find just 1-2 candidates who meet our high standards and could be introduced to our clients. 
• – Implementing payment terms that eliminate accounts receivable.
• – Offering a no-contract model. Unlike many firms that lock clients into 4-12 month commitments, we believed in earning our clients’ business every day. If our partnership isn’t working, clients should have the freedom to walk away at any time. Among other things, this helps reduce perceived risks of trying something new. 

Timing: Lucky or Good?

There is one more thing that WBN did differently, and that is having some luck with timing. When we started in 2018, there were a small fraction of small and midsize businesses that regularly hired remote workers, much less offshore workers. While we knew that this trend would continue, we had no idea that we would have a worldwide pandemic that would force almost every business to go remote. This led to a huge jump in business in 2021 that hasn’t slowed down since. 

Whether due to luck, planning or experience, AC and I are extremely grateful for WBN’s success. This post is a great opportunity to thank everyone that makes it happen: our incredible remote professionals, the WBN team, our clients and our partners. Together, we are fulfilling our mission to help awesome talent and companies fulfill their dreams and potential by expanding their capabilities. 

A huge thank you to everyone who’s been part of this journey with WorkBetterNow. To my family and Andrew’s family, your unwavering support has been everything. Andrew, I can’t thank you enough for jumping into what seemed like a crazy idea without a second thought—your belief in this vision has been invaluable. 

To the entire WBN team, I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve built together. Special shout-outs to Jessica, Silvana, Gaby, and Denuar, along with their outstanding teams—you all drive our success forward. To our amazing remote professionals, you’re the heart of this company, and our success is because of you. To our clients, your trust in us as your talent partner keeps us going. Special shoutout to Larry Zogby, one of our biggest advocates—your support means the world. 

A big thanks to Jack Daly and Norm Brodsky—your drops of wisdom have deeply influenced our leadership, keeping us focused on what truly matters every step of the way.