4 Reasons Investors Struggle to Grow with Gary Harper, Ep. 737
·43 min·4 clips
Gary Harper reveals the four reasons investors fail to grow, starting with fear.
Host Jon Kasmon interviews Gary Harper, CEO of Sharper Business Solutions and creator of the RISE Business Framework. Harper begins by sharing his background, starting in corporate America where he was executive of the year nine out of ten years at a Fortune 500 company. He entered real estate investing to offset taxes, building a portfolio that led to a property management company. The 2008 economic downturn, combined with a local tax reassessment in Northwest Indiana, caused his properties to go underwater, leading to bankruptcy. Harper then faced Lyme disease, which forced him out of corporate work. His brother-in-law, Wayne Schaefer, encouraged him to return to real estate, leading to a wholesaling business doing 300 deals a year by 2016. Harper transitioned to business coaching, merging his corporate and real estate experiences. He identifies four barriers to growth: fear, a closed mindset focused on statements over questions, lack of strategic connections, and inadequate systems. Harper explains the RISE framework, which guides businesses through five growth stages via four quadrants: Resources (time, money, people), Inspire (vision, values, leadership), Systems (processes, policies, KPIs), and Engagement (expansion). He emphasizes that entrepreneurs often skip to expansion without proper systems, causing burnout and failure. Harper discusses the importance of ethical behavior, sharing how he continued paying his lender during bankruptcy to maintain his reputation. The episode includes rapid-fire questions where Harper recommends his books 'The Rise Business Framework' and 'The Purpose to Rise', the book 'The Dream Manager', the tech tool Asana, and the habit of Wim Hof breathing. He concludes that success depends on getting the right people around you.
