The entrepreneur is essentially a visionary. But there are visionaries who say they came "from another planet" sometimes. Those who see far, much further than most. Those who have crazy courage to take risks, without caring too much about the consequences, the stake being the vision.
Nimrod is exactly like that. I admit, it took me a few sessions to put all the nuances of his vision on paper and really understand what he does and what he wants to do in the next 10 years. But it's inspiring to talk to him.
So, I invited Nimrod to a discussion among wiseleaders, to be inspired by each other. I couldn't decide which I liked more: the cool and practical ideas he provided or the inspirational way he communicated.
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Nimrod, you are one of the most effective visionaries I know. "See" so clearly and easily the direction of a business. What exactly helped you get to this level with this skill? What do you think really influenced you about this role?
Being a visionary is a calling. I have resonated with this since childhood. I was always the boy who didn't accept the world as it was. I always had a "different" idea that I managed to sell to the people around me.
But I didn't know that until I began to explore what my calling is on this earth. I developed a close relationship with God and discovered that I have a higher calling.
After that came learning, how to use this skill. Since then I have been learning every day, be it from books, classes or coaching sessions. I believe this is the secret that has given me the ability to be more than a dreamer. Learning .
And speaking of vision, tell us briefly, what is your relationship with robots? What is your current business vision?
When I entered the industrial painting business, I noticed the conditions in which our customers worked. I could not accept that I was contributing to the destruction of those people's health. The fact that they all their lives inhale spray paint, which in most cases causes cancer at an older age.
At that time we were selling pumps and hand spray guns. We still do this…
But then I started looking for a solution and came across painting robots. They actually found me. One day someone messaged me on LinkedIn asking if I had heard of painting robots and if I would like to partner with them in selling robots. The collaboration with that man turned out to be a failure, but I started on a path that opened a whole horizon for me.
Robots to me mean a world where every dyer on this earth has a chance to do their job in healthy conditions. A world where you don't need a PhD in engineering to program a robot, but every simple worker can do it.
A new perspective on the industry was also opened for us and we saw that simply nothing is impossible. The turnover of 50 million is no longer a utopia, but has become a measurable and achievable goal. The market being over 500 million euros, we only need a smart enough strategy to reach 10% market share.
In business, the greatest success comes when the focus is not on the product or profit, but on the impact your service will have on the world. This is exactly what we saw in robots. The company's mission became clear: to get as many workers as possible out of the paint booth. And we can only do that by selling intelligent robots to as many companies as possible. In the DACH market in which we operate, there are tens of thousands of companies that sooner or later will use a robot. And we want to be sure that the majority will have it from us.
In the short term, and here I mean the next 3 years, the vision is to become the company that sells the most painting robots in the DACH countries. In the long term, we want to develop our own robots and our own systems to digitize the industry in which we operate.
If you were talking to a good friend, an entrepreneur, who is stuck in long-term thinking and is afraid to step into the role of visionary, what would you say?
Imagine having all the money in the world to scale your business to the level you want.
What would you do? What would the business plan look like to scale the business to at least 10 times what it is now?
Write exactly what you would do. What people would you hire? Which market would you enter? How to generate cashflow and profit. What would your company's organizational chart look like and the strategy by which you operate. How would you set monthly goals for workers, etc
In other words, describe how you would take your business to the level you dream of if you had all the money in the world.
After you have the plan written on paper, put it on the wall and see which actions from that plan you can do today without needing money for them. After that, see what actions you can already support with your current funds.
You will probably start studying the market you want to enter. You want to make sure there is a big enough market to support your dream.
Test the plan, refine it, and study it every day until you feel in your body and soul that you fully resonate with it. From that moment you will know how to raise funds, because you will have clarity.
This world is full of funds and people who have funds and are looking for an entrepreneur to multiply them. Your responsibility is to clarify your vision, then present it to the world.
Only in this way will you be able to create the world you dream of for yourself, for your team, for your customers, for your investors and for society.
Think how big your impact can be.
This is the job of a visionary and a leader.
What was the biggest challenge in business, which led you to turn to an external consultant?
The lack of order in my thinking was clear. No one knows the solutions in my business as clearly as I do. But I needed someone to help me organize my thoughts and decisions in a smart way.
I could practically not control the team, set performance indicators and achieve the proposed objectives. I didn't have an effective delegation system, and I wasn't getting to deal with the things that mattered for growth.
I could see the direction, but I was stuck on the practical part. I didn't know "how to make things happen". There was a gap between vision and business. With Diana we managed to build a bridge over this chasm.
How was this process for you? So far, what is your biggest takeaway from being an entrepreneur?
Michael Gerber says that in business there are three roles that we assume as business people: the technician, the manager and the entrepreneur. I am clearly the entrepreneur. I needed someone to teach me how to be the manager. How to think systematically, how to make decisions based on an objective evaluation system and how to manage the team more effectively.
By far the biggest benefit is that I manage to switch between the role of entrepreneur and manager in a conscious way. In the long term, however, every minute of coaching translates into profit, goals achieved, and happy people around me and in my team.
What were the best decisions you made in business?
The best decisions were the ones that hurt the most in the moment. Firing employees or ending a collaboration are things I don't like. But the fact that I was able to think objectively in crisis situations gave me more long-term benefits than a momentary compromise.
Another good decision was to look to hire the best advisors and partners I know. I work with Lorand, with Diana, with Monica Ion and others from Switzerland in terms of coaching and advisers.
And on the part of partners, I try to conclude strategic partnerships with the strongest companies and people in my field, even if that often means less profit in the short term. In the long term, these are assets you can't mess with.
My philosophy is as follows: better 10% of a 20 million business than 100% of a 1 million business.
What were the worst decisions you made in business?
Hesitation and fear. Too often I didn't believe in my vision myself. I thought that the team did not collaborate and did not believe in the direction proposed by me. I often felt like firing them all.
But I realized one very important thing: they are my mirror . I hired them, I keep them in the company and I give them direction. And if they don't collaborate, it's not because they don't believe in the vision, it's because I don't believe in the vision. I think that's why I made the most mistakes. I've lost people like that.
I was afraid to launch a well-thought-out campaign or invest more money in people I saw as capable. I did not believe in my vision, in the inspiration I received from God at the moment and I hesitated, looking for solutions and logical answers to some things that are quite difficult to define logically.
In business you have to know when to be cautious and when to trust in things and situations that may seem strange, but something tells you to move forward.
What are those hard-to-spot traps that an entrepreneur can fall into? And what advice would you give him to avoid them?
There are many pitfalls to avoid, but the biggest pitfall is thinking you can avoid all pitfalls.
Some you won't be able to avoid. And that's fine. The important thing is how you get out of them. Pitfalls and failures are the best teacher. So far I have lost everything I had built 3 times. Sometimes I got up quickly, other times the wounds were deeper.
But if I didn't lose so many times, I wouldn't be here today, exactly the way I am.
I love all my past failures. Some I look back on with tears in my eyes. At others, they laugh at me for how "clever" I was.
So here's my way of avoiding the pitfalls. I accept them that they can be there and that they will come. I look closely at failures in either sales, HR, or investing and see how they served me. What did God teach me from them and I make sure I learned my lesson. Because if not, I know God is good enough to bring them my way again until I learn my lesson.
Many times I sit down at my desk and write on a piece of paper the biggest fear I have at the moment. After that I try to search, to see what my benefits would be if my fear actually became a reality. I firmly believe that behind the greatest fear lies the greatest opportunity. I could talk all night on this subject.
I don't think I know the right answer to your question. Probably no one knows him. But it is a universal answer: education, learning. It doesn't matter how big your business is or how many years you've been in the industry. You need to grow, you need people to support you in your calling and last but not least, a bit of madness to make things happen.
