Ep 46: You Never Want to be the Smartest Person in the Room

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“You can be the greatest visionary or innovator, but the challenge is you often need someone to look at your problems from a different perspective to truly understand how to fix the issues you may be experiencing.” – Andrew Morello

At just eight-years-old pumping petrol at his dad’s service station on Pascoe Vale Road and Buckley Street, Andrew Morello discovered the value of work ethic, customer experience and world-class service. Fast-forward 25 years and these findings have transcended into every business venture Morello has taken on.

Starting in the back streets of Moonee Ponds, awarded entrepreneur, investor, author and first winner of the first Australian Apprentice, Andrew Morello’s CV is extraordinary, but he credits much of his success to being surrounded by a talented group of people.

“We need to be hiring people that are better than us, because not only does it push us to be better, but it also makes it easier for our business to kick goals.” – Andrew Morello

Join Andrew Morello and our host, Robert Tadros

From heading up business development at Mark Bouris’ newest business venture, Yellow Brick Road to starting the Entourage movement that has changed the world through a new kind of business education, Andrew Morello has cemented his reputation as a serial entrepreneur.

Morello and Tadros go way back, and have come a long way since then. The two talk entrepreneurship, the importance of people and culture, being a self aware leader, and the importance of being there for your team.

“Whether you are a startup or have been around for four years, there are two things that enable growth for small businesses: marketing and sales. Other challenges small businesses may face when they are expanding include, product and market fit, operations, finances and people and culture.” – Andrew Morello

The conversation covers:

Morello’s entrepreneurship journey (2:00)
You don’t want to be the smartest person in the room (3:30)
Starting career at a young age with Mark Boris (5:00)
Tapping into the bigger picture (7:00)
Working collaboratively and trends in resilience to succeed (11:00)
Play to your strengths, but work on your weaknesses (12:15)
You don’t need to reinvent the wheel – real estate is king (14:00)
Self awareness as a leader is critical (16:40)
What does the Entourage do and how is the business making strides in the space? (18:00)
You can’t be a prophet in your own home (22:00)
The four minute mile concept: When you see people are doing something great, it encourages you to achieve the same (26:30)
The importance of creating a community that’s always there for each other (28:00)
You don’t need to be a jack of all trades (32:00)
Trends in challenges that small businesses are facing during the growth phase (36:50)
Maintaining your people and culture is the core of every growing business (40:00)
Never burn your bridges (47:00)
Top pieces of advice with any entrepreneur who is looking to scale or grow but have hit that ceiling (52:00)

For small businesses looking to scale or grow, get in touch

With decades of experience in assisting small businesses reach their fullest potential, Andrew Morello is an active member of Australia’s entrepreneurial and real estate communities and is committed to helping other entrepreneurs succeed no matter how big or small their business.

If you want to chat further, schedule a strategy session with the man himself here, or reach out via email at morello@the-entourage.com.au or on LinkedIn or Instagram.

“Let go of the outcome. It’s important to do goal setting, but what happens is we’ve created a culture in ourselves that we could have done this or that. You need to become content with never being content. Because when you let go of the outcome you can say it’s all about the journey.” – Andrew Morello