Category: Cover Story

Digital Version

With over 30 years of brokerage experience, Karen Simon is recognized as the first woman in Tarrant County to practice industrial real estate and the first female broker to be named the highest industrial producer in the Dallas and Fort Worth area. She specializes in office, retail, industrial and land sectors in leasing and sales.

Running a business and raising children at the same time? That’s concrete tough. Thinking about family first against relocating for better opportunities, adds even more challenges. And end up entering into an industry dominated by men, that’s yet one more hurdle.

But that’s what Karen Leslie Simon has done. Simon is the Managing Partner of Emersons Commercial Real Estate, responsible for marketing activities west of Dallas County. As an expert in real estate, Simon has completed over 900+ transactions encompassing thousands of acres of land and 6,000,000 square feet of building area. She has excelled as the president and managing partner of the Tarrant County division of Emersons Commercial Real Estate.

The Inspiration

Karen Simon earned her Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Texas in Austin and a master’s degree in American history from Texas Christian University and 24 hours above masters from TCU as well. She also participated in the doctoral program at Texas Christian University.

Ms. Simon started her career as a teacher in a community college and after 5 years she was ready to enter the business world. Though she wanted to continue teaching, the opportunity of teaching at a 4-year university was limited even if she completed her doctorate. Texas and TCU were not hiring faculty who graduated from their schools as they promote diversity. So she pursued the opportunity of the federal government. She had the opportunity to be considered as Executive Assistant for the Regional Administrator of The Department of Housing and Urban Development for Region 10, which was located in the Dallas- Forth Worth area. She was selected for the position and began her real estate journey.

The Unexpected Journey

One day an unexpected bulletin crossed her desk that if someone qualified to take the Brokers exam and did not already have a salesman license, they could do so. It was an opportunity for her as a HUD employee, as she was barred from holding a salesman license while employed by HUD because it could be a conflict of interest with the government. After learning she was only lacking 9 hours out of 900, she took a two-week leave from work and did the classwork, took a review class, and took the Brokers exam. To her delight, she passed the exam and began a new chapter in her life.

After 6 months of holding her new license, Ms. Simon accepted a position as head of the Industrial Division for the Henry S. Miller Company in Tarrant Country and became the first woman to be defined as an Industrial Realtor in the metroplex.

Experience Beyond Opportunities

As a Managing Partner, Ms. Simon holds success in real estate in various capacities. From 1983 to 1989, she garnered valuable experience as the senior vice president of the industrial and land division of Henry S. Miller. Between 1990 and 2000, she flourished as the president of the R.E. Group Advisors, Polo Club Enterprises Inc., and the industrial and land division of the Woodmont Company.

Soon thereafter, Ms. Simon was recruited as the executive vice president and managing partner of Bradford Commercial Real Estate Services, a role in which she thrived from 2003 to 2014. From 2014 to 2016, she was active as the president and principal of TIG Real Estate Services Metroplex West. In 1987, she participated in establishing the first women’s organization for women in commercial real estate, the Commercial Real Estate Women’s Organization. 

Establishing the Company

Emersons Commercial Real Estatewas founded in 2004 by Richard Webb, a banker and a real estate agent, and Matt Price, a C.P.A and real estate entrepreneur. The company based initially in Dallas did real estate leasing, sales, and property management. It has since grown to include Karen’s office in Forth Worth, one in Oklahoma City, and one in Houston and Austin.

In 2019, the company also founded along with Priority properties out of St. Louis, a company called 1045. Its primary functions were to manage all of Kroger’s real estate nationwide. It manages more than 80 million Sq Ft. This growth and expansion have opened additional doors for its participants, and the team hopes it will have a continuing positive influence on Emersons itself.

Concrete Services

Emersons is dedicated to providing clients with all of the benefits of an in-house real estate management operation without the typical overhead, expense, and problems associated with employing their staff. Its experienced team offers professional property management services to Tenant-in-Common owners who want to know their investments are in good hands. With expertise in banking, finance, accounting, leasing, development, construction management, property management, and Tenant-in- Common management – it understands the broad dynamic of modern property acquisition, ownership, and management.

From full-service management services, including property management and construction management to single solutions like accounting and financial processing Emersons can design a management program that suits businesses.

Karen Simon’s Achievements

Because of her experience and knowledge, Ms. Simon has been sought out by national real estate publications and local business papers as both a column writer and source for stories about real estate issues. She has also been honored by The Business Press in its “Who’s Who in Business” section as one of the Decision Makers and Heavy Hitters in Tarrant County and was a two-time nominee for the Fort Worth Star Telegram’s Newsmaker Award for Civic Involvement. She was named to the Dallas Business Journal list as the #4 Heavy Hitter in land brokerage and 2001 she was named one of the Great Women of Texas. She was also selected to handle the disposition of the closed Albertsons grocery stores in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. She was recognized as Bradford Companies’ Top Producer in 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2008. In 2007, she was named Business Woman of the Year by the State Women’s Chamber of Commerce. In 2011, she was named as one of the most influential women in Texas by the National Diversity Council.

Moreover, Ms. Simon has been designated as a lifetime member of the Urban Land Institute. Aside from her primary vocational pursuits, she has dedicated her time to the executive board of the Boys and Girls Club and the advisory board of the Adrian College of Texas Christian University. She has likewise participated extensively as a board member and a chairperson of the Jewel Charity Ball, an organization that raises money for a local children’s hospital.

Business achievements

Ms. Simon has a Broker’s license in Real Estate in the State of Texas. In recent years, she completed the sale of 325 acres on the west side of Fort Worth and handled the 93-acre sale to Toys R Us for a distribution facility, as well as many other land sites for both retail and industrial development. She also recently completed the sale of three suburban office buildings and a 300,000 square foot office building in downtown Fort Worth. She was selected to represent CVS properties in their disposition of excess properties in the state of Texas. Notable clients have included Sun Life Insurance, Arcadia Realty Development, Vertex Investments, Woodcrest Capital, and A&G Realty.

Renowned in her field, Ms. Simon has been distinguished among the Top 100 People in Real Estate Magazine and the Most Influential Women in Texas and One of the Greatest Women of Texas. Celebrated as Bradford Companies’ Top Producer, she is incredibly proud of having been honored as the Businesswoman of the Year by the Texas State Women’s Chamber of Commerce in 2007.

Current Scenario

The business has changed in methodology throughout the years. Handheld cell phones with emails and texts changed the nature of the dependence on being in the office to get work done and the use of tablets and portable computers brought us well into the 21st century. But nothing has changed the benefits of hard work, research, and knowledge as means of staying at the forefront of the industry.

Customers still require that their brokers be knowledgeable and available regardless of their schedules and their own needs.

Motivation Against Uncertainties

Covid presented a challenge because tenants struggled, landlords struggled, adjustments had to be made and deals had to be flexible. As agents and property managers they have to make adjustments to payment schedules and conditions as to work parameters.

Emersons encourages hard work with the knowledge that their splits with the company improve with production. Ownership is available at certain production levels, and they support continued real estate education. The company listens to its people if there is criticism, and they attempt to keep disagreements to a minimum. Emersons encourages self-improvement as a means of growing its business.

Is there any industry where women have not been able to make an astounding impact out of their presence? Absolutely, not! Flourishing all over the world, we are witnessing women with indomitable spirits emerging as exemplary leaders, trend-setters, innovators, revolutionaries, and whatnot. In the world of disruptors, female leaders are excelling with their intuitive and inspiring approach that has caused a stir across the business fraternity.

In the profound pool of women entrepreneurs who are transitioning into outstanding groundbreakers, we have brought to you a model turned e-com entrepreneur who helps connect and support people with disabilities and others who are improving their lives. This exclusive cover story depicts the success story of Lexis Noel Serot, Founder and CEO of LittleWins.

Insights into personal and entrepreneurial space

Lexis Serot is a high school graduate from Columbine High School who studied photography at Flagler College. Unable to afford fees, Ms. Serot has to quit college in between and her endeavors landed her to become a model at Ford Models. With 14 years of a successful career as a model, she became a mother in 2013. Sadly her daughter Ava suffered a skull fracture during a c-section delivery. As a result, Ava has triplegia Cerebral Palsy. At the time, as a mother of a child with cerebral palsy, Ms. Serot was shocked at how unprepared she was. She tried to familiarize herself with the many forms of care, equipment, and therapy. She realized quickly, how broken the system was, and became obsessed with trying to find a solution.

The incident shook and triggered her to start a company that can help people with similar uncertainties. Someone asked Ms. Serot in an interview, “why she started LittleWins?” She answered, “because I recognized that life was giving me an ‘at-bat’ to create a better world for my daughter.” It is truly her daughter that inspired her to become the leader she is today. Ms. Serot did not just want to create a better world only for her daughter but for others that also have a disability and to create a community in which they could come together and help each other.

Road to in-depth solution

In the beginning, Lexis Serot interviewed over 175 families and caregivers to see what the common denominators were in their journey to acquiring care, equipment, and therapies. It didn’t matter. Of those 175 people, they had three things in common. Number one, they had medical equipment or supplies they no longer needed but didn’t know what to do with. Two, They needed something but couldn’t get it. What hit the hardest was, number three, they all felt alone.

This is when Ms. Serot started building the LittleWins community so families and individuals could connect. She designed LittleWins.com as an easy-to-use marketplace for people to post used durable medical equipment, browse equipment by category and location, and connect directly with buyers and sellers through the site’s messaging app. LittleWins also provides a community in which people across the nation now have each other for support, help, resources, and experiences.

What makes LittleWins stand apart?

LittleWins was established in 2018, and Ms. Serot began laying the groundwork for LittleWins that year. Since then, she has continually adapted the LittleWins.com website with web and e-commerce developers while directing a marketing assistant and marketing communications agency. She works closely with her legal and financial advisors. She collaborates with regional and national organizations that support people with disabilities. She partners with other women entrepreneurs who offer products and services to her community.

Headquartered at Denver, the discovery process of LittleWins had begun in 2019 and in November of 2019, the website was launched. After launching LittleWins.com in 2019, Ms. Serot began to explore how the site could serve her community’s needs beyond durable medical equipment. She created and posts daily on LittleWins’ online support forum, receiving and providing feedback to help people with disabilities and the families that support them live their best lives. To build the LittleWins brand, she launched a line of LittleWins apparel – beanies, trucker hats, and t-shirts. Serot also has launched a podcast in which she talks about leading a life with a disability.

Lexis Serot believes that access to equipment and supplies should be simple. The mom of four, including a daughter who has cerebral palsy, founded LittleWins.com to connect and support people with disabilities and others who are improving their lives. LittleWins.com harnesses the power of the community to help its members buy, sell or donate medical equipment, get information and connect with others. Members list and browse equipment by category and location on the company’s website. They connect directly with buyers and sellers through the site’s app. They share tips, experiences, and advice on LittleWins’ social pages.

Covid, adjustments, and roadmap

Especially over the past few years with COVID 19, users have been confined to their homes in which they are constantly online. Most users, especially those with medical conditions may make them more vulnerable to COVID. LittleWins has been working hard getting users to join and listings to be posted. Since LittleWins is an online-based community as well, it relies on users to help the online marketplace and provide support for one another. Ms. Serot had started her own blog and podcast to help address questions and concerns by other members of the LittleWins community. She talks about topics that are not typically addressed such as “Sex and Disability”, “Self-Identity”, “CBD”, “Hospice and Palliative Care”, “Adaptive Footwear” and many other topics. Serot has never turned down a requested topic, she goes above and beyond during the research process. She sits down for hours studying each field to bring the most informative, vulnerable, open conversations for those who need it. She finds experts to sit down and have a discussion with and hopes that listeners will connect to these resources.

Lexis Serot also blogs about navigating her daily life. Such as must-have products or services that she has personally tried with her children that help make life easier. Just recently she blogged about summer must-haves that her four children helped decide on. She also talks about the people that she has connected with that have helped her in her journey such as her daughter’s therapists. She has started offering a support system through her community which is not something you find every day online.

Overcoming the challenges

LittleWins is privately funded by Lexis Serot and she wears every hat in the company. Funds for an advertisement to get the word out are limited. Ms. Serot typically chooses to spend funds in ways to serve and protect LittleWins users. LittleWins is constantly looking for more users to upload more listings. Users can also ship items to each other, and premium members on the site can also access a fixed shipping rate with FedEx. Ms. Serot had worked very hard to form a relationship with FedEx. She had spent endless hours on phone calls and emails with many advisors and representatives at FedEx. In hopes to make shipping a possibility for users, She secured a deal in which premium members could access this rate. Though shipping is an available service most users have a hard time finding specific items that they’re desperately in need of. A lot of the time multiple users are interested in the same listings.

If every person had a piece of equipment or supplies that they no longer needed and uploaded it on the LittleWins website, the team would help more users on the site. Another problem the company faces is expanding globally, there are often many inquiries from people located in other countries outside of the U.S. Though LittleWins is available in the U.S. and some parts of Canada it is not available all around the world. LittleWins is a start-up company financed by our CEO. Ms. Serot currently faces many challenges as she communicates with other countries to allow LittleWins to be available globally. She is continuously consulting legal and financial advisors to work through the terms and conditions along with the privacy policies in other countries.

Ensuring optimum customer satisfaction

LittleWins is constantly referring to user feedback and insights. Since it’s a self-started start-up and a community-based platform, LittleWins heavily relies on user feedback and experience. Recently, while launching version 3 of the website itself, Lexis Serot had asked the LittleWins community what they wanted on the LittleWins website. The entire update was spearheaded by the user community. These weren’t just updates to the site which included a premium membership amongst other things but also what people were looking for and in need of. Lexis is always on the lookout for requested equipment to ensure that users can find what they need. With the new premium membership users now have access to our resource list, a discounted rate on shipping through FedEx, and many more things.

A glance over the collaborative services

No company existed that resembled what Lexis Serot wanted to create. No online service was available on a national basis to connect families – regardless of their location in the U.S., their income, or their level of insurance coverage – to help them obtain the durable medical equipment and supplies their kids required. Ms. Serot designed LittleWins.com to go beyond the services provided by local and regional organizations, eliminate the ‘middleman’ and facilitate person-to-person equipment transactions directly between families. LittleWins provides a community in which people across the nation now have each other for support, help, resources, and experiences. Along with the online marketplace, she hosts a podcast in which she starts conversations on living with disabilities and navigating life. She also joined forces with another woman entrepreneur, Hotsy Totsy Haus CEO Christi Leonardi, a deaf single mother, to create LittleWins-branded, natural ingredient bath bombs that are now sold on the LittleWins website.

These bath bombs are made to fully relax your muscles and provide a healing rejuvenating bath. LittleWins also launched a line of compression socks for kids designed by Ms. Serot and her children. These socks offer fun colors and patterns along with a chance to color your socks while providing compression relief to your feet. At the beginning of the year, LittleWins also launched version 3 of the online website, offering a premium membership that allows users access to a list of resources and sponsors it partnered up with and a discounted shipping rate through FedEx. She also helped plan the first music festival for people with disabilities this past summer called SHINE. This festival offered a chance for the community to come together and celebrate each other during these hard times.

Vision to help see the bright future

Lexis Serot is always looking for new ways to help the community and offer products that will provide support and care. Currently, she is working on launching a LittleWins medical supply subscription box. Users can sign up for a monthly subscription of needed medical supplies specifically catered to them. Supplies such as bandages, gauze, antiseptic, hydrogen peroxide, feeding tubes, and other daily supplies are often reordered.

Ms. Serot wants to help make it simpler to gain access to these needed materials at an affordable cost. She has also been working on creating braille labels. She sees the importance of these labels for not only those who are visually impaired but for everyone.

8.1 million people have vision loss due to age-related macular degeneration, as we grow older our eyes grow weaker. Ms. Serot believes that these labels can make everyday life easier for everyone and can help improve navigating your home as you get older. That these new advancements are not only helpful to those with a disability but to the general population as well.

Milestones & Awards

• Top 100 Healthcare Visionary by the International Forum on Advancements in Healthcare, previously known as the Smart Health Conference.

• Award at IFAH Global Healthcare Conference in June 2021.

• Best Companies by the Health 2.0 Conference in Dubai.

• Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas in both 2021 and 2022

• Top 10 Most Influential Women in Business 2022 by INC magazine.

Tips for aspirants

“It doesn’t have to be this way. The great doctor, maybe you’ve heard of him… Dr. Seuss once said; you have brains in your head, feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.

I betcha if we put all our heads together we could kick out some solutions for the things we know to help this system.

Socrates said, ‘The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new’.

For all of my kids.

For the ones who came before us, all those who come after us.

Because, if it’s one of us, it’s all of us.

I’m gonna take that ‘at-bat’

and

I’m gonna swing like hell. I hope you do too.” – Lexis Serot, Health 2.0 Dubai, 2022.

Israel is a very small country – two hours from Tel Aviv you are on the edge of the country. But due to its position as a global innovation powerhouse, investors from major countries are attracted to it. Identified as a hotspot for collaboration, Yasaf, an innovative Israeli entrepreneur helps businesses thrive through effectively integrating technologies in their education businesses.

Yasaf Burshan, Founder and CEO of Team Genius, shares his journey of outgrowing and expanding abroad, connecting people with technology. We at Fortunes Crown got into an interview questionnaire to know more about the company and its impact on ed-tech businesses.

Please tell us about your educational/professional background. Who inspired you to become a business leader? Would you like to mention some of the highlights from your journey?

When it comes to formal education, I’m happy to say that I’ve obtained education in two major fields that I’m very passionate about, Technology and People. I have a BA in business management with a major in Information Technology and I’m a certified project management professional (PMP).

Also, I am a certified Clinical NLP master and a graduate of the Tony Robbins platinum partnership program. This combination allowed me to have a very successful career in the traditional IT industry for over 20 years, in which I held multiple senior roles including the head of IT for IKEA in Israel.

Please brief us in detail about the current scenario of the business. How have the customer preferences changed over the years?

Team Genius’s mission is to inspire and empower creators to make an impact. We work with content and course creators all over the world (majorly in the US, Canada, and Australia) and we help them to unleash their creativity by effectively integrating technology into all areas of their business. Simply put, we keep them in their Zone of Genius, doing what they do best, as we help them create profitable online businesses. As a content creator myself, for my program “Anywhere Boss”, I know first-hand the challenges they are facing, and I’m also inspired by them to become better and better.

While I’m still very much in the “tech zone” my ideal customer has changed from the finance/retail/consumer subject matters to the knowledge commerce business.

What are the unique challenges your company is currently facing? How have they affected your company?

I think that like most other companies these days working remotely and efficiently is a challenge. At the same time, one advantage we have on our side is that Team Genius was founded as a global organization with team members across multiple locations, so this is built right into our DNA. It drives us to be more open in our communications, efficient in the way we do business, and of course, rely on technology, we do for ourselves what we do for our customers.

When was Team Genius established? What are the prominent services/solutions offered by the company?

Team Genius was established in 2019. We are a certified Thinkific agency partner, certified Zapier experts and a certified Evernote partner. In addition, we have partnerships with other major brands like Microsoft and Monday that gives us a unique ability to look at our customers’ tech needs from a holistic point of view.

We help our customers create profitable online courses, products and membership sites and convert sales funnels, but we don’t stop there. We apply automation and make them more efficient and productive in their business. And on a personal level, I also mentor and coach my customers on how to take things to the next level and build a lifestyle that excites them by becoming “Anywhere Bosses”.

What measures do you incorporate to ensure motivation and productivity within the workspace? How do you respond to criticism and disagreements?

I encourage open and honest communication. It is my responsibility as the leader to make sure that everybody gets heard and to recognize what they have to say. Values and culture are the keys here and it starts with me leading by example, and by choosing Team Members that share the same values. Not the same opinions, the same values. Disagreements are inventible, nor they should be ignored. Every member of the team has the freedom to speak freely. Criticism is fine, as long as it is served as feedback that we can build on and improve. My response is always “bring it on, let’s talk about it so we can get better.

What measures do you undertake to ensure optimum customer satisfaction? How much impact does the customer feedback have on the company’s strategies?

Communication is the key. Customer satisfaction is very important for us and it plays a major role in our growth and success strategies. Customer dissatisfaction is most likely to come when there is a gap between the customer expectation and the result or deliverable. So we communicate clearly from the first step what is to be expected, what is included in the scope of work, the timeline and the expected cost. Then we monitor expectations and communication throughout the lifecycle of the project and adjust as needed. We are not afraid to say that we don’t have the answer to something, and if such cases arise we see them as an opportunity to learn something new with a promise to come back with an answer in X amount of time.

Please tell us about the services/products your company is offering? How are they different from your competitors’ offerings?

We are certified Thinkific agency partners, and as such, we offer course creation, site-building and automation services. We also support all Thinkific superpowerups, from general consultation to setup and configuration. As Zapier experts, we effectively integrate technology in all areas of our customer’s business. Keeping them in their “Zone of Genius”, doing what they do best; teaching, empowering, creating, leading, and making sure they have efficient processes that are working for them so they can quickly and effortlessly scale.

The successful partnerships we maintain with industry-leading vendors allows us to be unique by providing holistic solutions that cover all areas and processes of one’s business, and not just knowledge-commerce or automation.

Are you planning to launch any new products/services or advancements to your existing offerings? If so, we would like to know about it.

YES! In the next three months, I’m launching my own program called “Anywhere Boss”, sharing all the lessons I learned and the experience I gained from being an “Anywhere Boss” myself, that is to say – Owning a business that allows me to work from anywhere in the world. It will be a program with weekly added content dedicated to all areas of businesses setting up such businesses and creating a life that excites you. In addition, there will be plenty of online courses covering specific topics like automation, converting skills to digital products, hiring VAs effectively and much more. You are more than welcome to join Anywhere Boss, I’ll be there for you with everything you need to back you up and support you as you make this transition. 

The program will be available here https://anywhereboss.me 

Digital Version

There is nothing closer than your own home, it is a gift you earn and give yourself. It becomes a box of memories of precious moments. Unfortunately, sometimes due to some inevitable disasters people lose their houses beyond restoration. But there are state-of-the-art ways to restore the house environment to its prime historical period.

Nick Zamucen, CEO of Best Option Restoration, is committed to helping those in need after a disaster and returning their homes to their original condition. Recently, Mr. Zamucen is being interviewed to share his experience of restoring happiness in society. Let’s have a look!

Please tell us about your professional background. Would you like to mention some of the highlights from your journey?

I have created four nationally recognized franchised brands. Three of which have been previously sold to private equity companies and now my focus is to build and sell the last one, Best Option Restoration, over the course of the next decade.

I live my life with the want and need to help others. Adding massive value to those around me is my passion. I live to be a good leader, a great friend, and an outstanding business mentor for my franchisees.

Please brief us in detail about the current scenario of the business. How have the customer preferences changed over the years?

The franchised restoration industry has never been in a hotter market. With Billions of dollars in claims being paid monthly from insurance companies, prospective franchise owners want in. Who could blame them? Best Option Restoration is in a fantastic position with its low cost of entry, state-of-the-art thermal drying systems and a management team second to none. We win and will continue to win in this crowded field. This is the industry to be in to build a life-changing business and a substantial income for years to come.

What are the unique challenges your company is currently facing? How have they affected your company?

The challenges we’ve had are actually rather opportunities. We continue to have a ton of new franchisee interest in our company. The hardest thing for us at a corporate level is keeping up with demand. We can only take on many units a month and having to put people on a waiting list isn’t fun for anyone. Most stay on the list and wait their turn, a few we lose to competition because they make a side deal and get in for a lesser price somewhere else. I find in business and life, you get what you pay for. Be very careful making deals with companies and devaluing your position.

When was Best Option Restoration established? What are the prominent services/solutions offered by the company?

Best Option Restoration was established in 2016. We offer Water mitigation, Fire rebuilds, Mold termination, Storm Damage, and Content Cleaning solutions for home and business owners. We’re escalating at our best, hence our name, Best Option Restoration.

What measures do you incorporate to ensure motivation and productivity within the workspace? How do you respond to criticism and disagreements?

We treat everyone like family. Sometimes you’re all on the same page and everyone is happy, sometimes you’re not. The important thing is, not that everyone always gets what they want, but they feel heard, understood, and respected. There will always be criticisms around and negative feedback. All you can do is try to mitigate that as much as possible but always do the best things for the clients. In our case, the clients are our franchisees. Put them first and always do what is right, you can’t go wrong.

Everything takes more time than you think it will and problems are going to happen. People tend to think working for yourself is the ultimate freedom, and it can be after it’s earned. Working for yourself is not normally harder and longer hours than you’ve ever had before. You have to stay disciplined, driven, and self-started… every day, not just when you feel like it.

What measures do you undertake to ensure optimum customer satisfaction? How much impact does the customer feedback have on the company’s strategies?

With our clients being our franchisees, it’s pretty simple to ensure satisfaction because we are in communication with them weekly if not daily. Again, we are a family, we’re a close group. There are many times a franchise will reach out to me just to say hi, ask how I’m doing, and how is my family. This means the world to me because I know they care and in turn, they feel comfortable enough with me to be personal. I know I’m doing my job when my franchises are friends, like family, not just unit numbers.

Please tell us about the services/products your company is offering? How are they different from your competitors’ offerings? 

With our propriety thermal technology drying systems, we are state of the art. We aren’t just another, “man with a fan in a van” like our competition. Best Option Restoration franchises dry structures in literally half the time of anyone else out there. There is truly no comparison to what we do. There are some copycats in the field we noticed lately. I look at that as once again I’m doing my job, I’m changing an old tired industry and bringing it into the new century. A century of technology and focused strategy. We are better because we practice being so. We’re just the “Best Option” in a mitigation and restoration situation.

Tips for aspirants

Problems are going to arise, just out of nowhere, so you must learn to deal with them effectively and quickly. You can’t just ignore problems and think someone else will handle them, not when you’re a business owner, it’s on you…success and failure. The choice is yours.

Digital Version

Israel is a very small country – two hours from Tel Aviv you are on the edge of the country. But due to its position as a global innovation powerhouse, investors from major countries are attracted to it. Identified as a hotspot for collaboration, Yasaf, an innovative Israeli entrepreneur helps businesses thrive through effectively integrating technologies in their education businesses.

Yasaf Burshan, Founder and CEO of Team Genius, shares his journey of outgrowing and expanding abroad, connecting people with technology. We at Fortunes Crown got into an interview questionnaire to know more about the company and its impact on ed-tech businesses.

Please tell us about your educational/professional background. Who inspired you to become a business leader? Would you like to mention some of the highlights from your journey?

When it comes to formal education, I’m happy to say that I’ve obtained education in two major fields that I’m very passionate about, Technology and People. I have a BA in business management with a major in Information Technology and I’m a certified project management professional (PMP).

Also, I am a certified Clinical NLP master and a graduate of the Tony Robbins platinum partnership program. This combination allowed me to have a very successful career in the traditional IT industry for over 20 years, in which I held multiple senior roles including the head of IT for IKEA in Israel.

Please brief us in detail about the current scenario of the business. How have the customer preferences changed over the years?

Team Genius’s mission is to inspire and empower creators to make an impact. We work with content and course creators all over the world (majorly in the US, Canada, and Australia) and we help them to unleash their creativity by effectively integrating technology into all areas of their business. Simply put, we keep them in their Zone of Genius, doing what they do best, as we help them create profitable online businesses. As a content creator myself, for my program “Anywhere Boss”, I know first-hand the challenges they are facing, and I’m also inspired by them to become better and better.

While I’m still very much in the “tech zone” my ideal customer has changed from the finance/retail/consumer subject matters to the knowledge commerce business.

What are the unique challenges your company is currently facing? How have they affected your company?

I think that like most other companies these days working remotely and efficiently is a challenge. At the same time, one advantage we have on our side is that Team Genius was founded as a global organization with team members across multiple locations, so this is built right into our DNA. It drives us to be more open in our communications, efficient in the way we do business, and of course, rely on technology, we do for ourselves what we do for our customers.

When was Team Genius established? What are the prominent services/solutions offered by the company?

Team Genius was established in 2019. We are a certified Thinkific agency partner, certified Zapier experts and a certified Evernote partner. In addition, we have partnerships with other major brands like Microsoft and Monday that gives us a unique ability to look at our customers’ tech needs from a holistic point of view.

We help our customers create profitable online courses, products and membership sites and convert sales funnels, but we don’t stop there. We apply automation and make them more efficient and productive in their business. And on a personal level, I also mentor and coach my customers on how to take things to the next level and build a lifestyle that excites them by becoming “Anywhere Bosses”.

What measures do you incorporate to ensure motivation and productivity within the workspace? How do you respond to criticism and disagreements?

I encourage open and honest communication. It is my responsibility as the leader to make sure that everybody gets heard and to recognize what they have to say. Values and culture are the keys here and it starts with me leading by example, and by choosing Team Members that share the same values. Not the same opinions, the same values. Disagreements are inventible, nor they should be ignored. Every member of the team has the freedom to speak freely. Criticism is fine, as long as it is served as feedback that we can build on and improve. My response is always “bring it on, let’s talk about it so we can get better.

What measures do you undertake to ensure optimum customer satisfaction? How much impact does the customer feedback have on the company’s strategies?

Communication is the key. Customer satisfaction is very important for us and it plays a major role in our growth and success strategies. Customer dissatisfaction is most likely to come when there is a gap between the customer expectation and the result or deliverable. So we communicate clearly from the first step what is to be expected, what is included in the scope of work, the timeline and the expected cost. Then we monitor expectations and communication throughout the lifecycle of the project and adjust as needed. We are not afraid to say that we don’t have the answer to something, and if such cases arise we see them as an opportunity to learn something new with a promise to come back with an answer in X amount of time.

Please tell us about the services/products your company is offering? How are they different from your competitors’ offerings?

We are certified Thinkific agency partners, and as such, we offer course creation, site-building and automation services. We also support all Thinkific superpowerups, from general consultation to setup and configuration. As Zapier experts, we effectively integrate technology in all areas of our customer’s business. Keeping them in their “Zone of Genius”, doing what they do best; teaching, empowering, creating, leading, and making sure they have efficient processes that are working for them so they can quickly and effortlessly scale.

The successful partnerships we maintain with industry-leading vendors allows us to be unique by providing holistic solutions that cover all areas and processes of one’s business, and not just knowledge-commerce or automation.

Are you planning to launch any new products/services or advancements to your existing offerings? If so, we would like to know about it.

YES! In the next three months, I’m launching my own program called “Anywhere Boss”, sharing all the lessons I learned and the experience I gained from being an “Anywhere Boss” myself, that is to say – Owning a business that allows me to work from anywhere in the world. It will be a program with weekly added content dedicated to all areas of businesses setting up such businesses and creating a life that excites you. In addition, there will be plenty of online courses covering specific topics like automation, converting skills to digital products, hiring VAs effectively and much more. You are more than welcome to join Anywhere Boss, I’ll be there for you with everything you need to back you up and support you as you make this transition. 

The program will be available here https://anywhereboss.me