Aug 1, 2019
What does integrity mean to you? Why is integrity important? And how do your business systems and your team members support the integrity of your business? These are some important considerations that determine the success of our businesses.
Today Dr. Sabrina interviews Andre Ong. Integrity is key to building trust in today’s business environment. While many of us entrepreneurs are mindful of our own integrity, we may not be paying enough attention to the important role our systems and team members have in supporting the integrity of our company. Gaps in our systems can inadvertently undermine our company’s integrity with our top clients and customers.
Andre is a huge advocate for sharing The Pumpkin Plan and Profit First with entrepreneurs. Dr. Sabrina asks Andre to reflect on what he’d have done differently if he’d been introduced to these two books early on as an entrepreneur. Andre shares some hard-hitting school of hard knocks lessons from his experience. Andre and Sabrina also discuss what it's like to partner with your spouse in running your business, and what Andre has learned that enables his wife and him to work together successfully. Tune in now, to hear Andre's words of wisdom.
Andre Ong is a serial entrepreneur with no hope of breaking the habit. He and his wife, Angela, have worked together since 2001 when he offered to help her pass her Real Estate exam because he needed an angle to date her. They were married in 2002. Having both been previously married, Andre now has four children, technically step-children, but he's not a very technical sort of guy. He also has seven grandchildren, ranging in age from four months to thirteen years.
Past endeavors include managing foreclosures, managing and
supervising maintenance for rental property, and working with real
estate investors (which is sort of like being an agent with Men in
Black). He was a military chaplain while working into financial
services, where he currently focuses his energy, but because of
compliance, we can’t say much more than that. He and Angela also
founded a non-profit to work with Service members and autistic
children (they have an autistic grandson) along with Diverse
Management Solutions, a company that allows them to provide
services and wisdom to other entrepreneurs.
He and Angela have fully gutted and renovated 3 homes. The first
one was renovated while they slept in a tent on the deck for a few
months. He’s also a horseman and has incorporated equine assisted
learning as part of his work with Service members.
Oh, and he has 2 masters degrees. So he’s a nerd, too. He brings
together a scholarly nature (inherited from his father, a nuclear
and chemical engineer) with his experience in the trades and
business to the people he assists today.
Show Highlights:
Links and resources:
You can find Andre on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/andreong
Books: Never Lose A Customer Again by Joey Coleman
Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott
Fierce Leadership by Susan Scott
The Pumpkin Plan by
Mike Michalowicz
Profit First by Mike
Michalowicz