76: Larry Petretti on Doing Big Business & Giving Back Big Time

Want to know how to start and run a $75,000,000 company, and how that success can allow you give back?  

 

Today we’ve got a very special guest on the show who has done just that through his company, Petretti & Associates, and the organization Pencils of Promise.

 

Larry Petretti has spent his entire adult life in the contraction business.  He started at the bottom and worked his way up to running a $50 million dollar company as CEO, then in 2010 started his own company.

 

When Larry started his company, he had a clear philosophy, “We were never looking to be the biggest.  I told the boys, let’s be the best.”

 

“Exceptional service.  Period. That’s it.”, is how Larry treats all of his clients.

 

One key to the success of Larry’s company was that he was incredibly specific about his niche and value proposition. He wasn’t taking on any and all construction projects.  He wanted to do corporate interiors for fortune 500 companies.

 

Many people have heard the term, “success leaves clues”.  Narrowing your niche is a common theme with successful people.

 

Another clue we can take from Larry is that he spends about 75% of his time meeting with clients and potential clients, which is the highest and best use of his time.

 

Way too many entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs waste 80, 90, or even 100% of their time in lower-level activities like managing email or doing technical work that could be delegated to someone else.

 

It’s actually very simple to determine what you should do in your business and what you should delegate.  You should do what ONLY you can do.  Everything else should be delegated.

 

After having been in business for quite some time, and having been approached for all kinds of fund raising activities, Larry was introduced to Pencils of Promise.  

 

And, after meeting the people who ran the organization, he gave them the largest donation they had ever had at that time, $1,000.

 

This was eye-opening for Pencils of Promise and completely changed the way they looked at fund raising.

 

Fast forward to today, as we shot this interview, we’re sitting in Guatemala with Larry meeting the children we have committed to help and seeing the schools we have committed to build, and for Larry, that experience was one of the most touching and memorable of his life.

 

It is a rare experience to meet the recipients of your charitable donation face-to-face and to personally receive their gratitude, not to mention getting your hands dirty and actually helping with the mission.  

 

For Larry, and for us, that was the most impactful part of our experience as donors.

 

What an amazing inspiration Larry is, both as a business man and philanthropist! 

 

Interested in finding out how you can help?

 

Just go to http://lifeonfire.com/76 for more info!

 

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