Libsyn Directory

Ep 304 From Bankruptcy at 24 to $35M: Building Profitable Business Through Discipline and Purpose with Mike Chaput

Profit Answer Man: Scaling with Profit First & Beyond

Release Date: 01/12/2026

Ep 309 How to Scale a Business Without Killing Profit and Cash Flow with Aaron Trahan

Profit Answer Man: Scaling with Profit First & Beyond

How to Scale a Business Without Killing Profit and Cash Flow with Aaron Trahan Find Rocky Lalvani @ or email him at Most businesses don’t fail because they can’t grow; they fail because growth exposes weak priorities, sloppy execution, and fragile cash flow. In this episode, Rocky Lalvani talks with Aaron Trahan about why revenue can be a “vanity metric,” how companies “grow into insolvency,” and what to install so scaling improves profit and cash not just topline numbers. Rocky Lalvani interviews Aaron Trahan, a seasoned...

Ep 308 Contractor Cash Flow Fix — The 4 Numbers Every Subcontractor Must Track with Dustin Young

Profit Answer Man: Scaling with Profit First & Beyond

Contractor Cash Flow Fix — The 4 Numbers Every Subcontractor Must Track with Dustin Young Find Rocky Lalvani @ or email him at Pay-When-Paid Cash Flow: How Subcontractors Survive Long Payment Terms Subcontractors and GCs don’t usually go broke because they don’t have work—they go broke because cash timing, contract terms, and decision-making lag quietly squeeze them until payroll becomes a crisis. In this episode, Rocky Lalvani sits down with Dustin Young, a fractional CFO who works specifically with...

Ep 307 Outgrowing Your Team: The Loyal “Mike” Problem Every Business Owner Faces with Kurt Wilkin

Profit Answer Man: Scaling with Profit First & Beyond

Outgrowing Your Team: The Loyal “Mike” Problem Every Business Owner Faces with Kurt Wilkin Find Rocky Lalvani @ or email him at “Every growing business has a ‘Mike’—the loyal early employee who quietly becomes your biggest bottleneck.” Most entrepreneurs don’t fail because they lack hustle. They get stuck because the team that got them here… can’t get them there. In this episode of Profit Answer Man, Rocky Lalvani talks with Kurt Wilkin—entrepreneur, former founder of HireBetter (a recruiting...

Ep 306 Hourly Billing Is Nuts: How to Boost Profits with Value Pricing with Jonathan Stark

Profit Answer Man: Scaling with Profit First & Beyond

Hourly Billing Is Nuts: How to Boost Profits with Value Pricing with Jonathan Stark Find Rocky Lalvani @ or email him at Most business owners don’t realize the hidden cost of hourly billing. It’s not just that it can feel annoying. It’s that it can cap your income, misalign incentives, and create friction and distrust with clients—especially when estimates blow up. In this episode of Profit Answer Man, Rocky Lalvani sits down with Jonathan Stark, former software developer and author of Hourly...

Ep 305 Mid 8-Figure Exit Lessons: How to Avoid Millions in Taxes and Regret After the Sale with Nathan Collins

Profit Answer Man: Scaling with Profit First & Beyond

Mid 8-Figure Exit Lessons: How to Avoid Millions in Taxes and Regret After the Sale with Nathan Collins Find Rocky Lalvani @ or email him at Most business owners think the hardest part of selling a business is the deal. But the real danger often shows up after the sale: the taxes you didn’t plan for and the identity shift you didn’t expect In this episode of Profit Answer Man, Rocky Lalvani sits down with , a former CEO who sold his business for a mid-eight-figure exit—and then realized he wasn’t personally...

Ep 304 From Bankruptcy at 24 to $35M: Building Profitable Business Through Discipline and Purpose with Mike Chaput

Profit Answer Man: Scaling with Profit First & Beyond

Find Rocky Lalvani @ or email him at From Bankruptcy at 24 to $35M: Building Profitable Business Through Discipline and Purpose with Mike Chaput What if the worst business failure of your life became the foundation for 26 years of unbroken profitability? At 24, Michael Chaput bought a business that went bankrupt. At 50, he runs a $35 million company that hasn't had a single unprofitable month in 26 years—not through 2008, not through COVID, not ever. In this episode, Michael shares the hard-won lessons from hitting rock bottom and how financial discipline, tough...

Ep 303 How to Legally Pay Less Tax as a Business Owner with Former IRS Agent Carlotta Thompson

Profit Answer Man: Scaling with Profit First & Beyond

How to Legally Pay Less Tax as a Business Owner with Former IRS Agent Carlotta Thompson With Former IRS Agent Carlotta Thompson Most business owners believe high taxes are just the price of success. They’re wrong. In this episode of Profit Answer Man, Rocky sits down with former IRS agent turned tax strategist Carlotta Thompson to reveal how the tax system really works, what actually triggers audits, and how profitable business owners legally keep more of what they earn. This is not about loopholes or risky moves. It’s about understanding the rules well enough to play the...

Ep 302 The Financial Model Every 7–8 Figure Business Needs for Predictable Profit with Salvatore Tirabassi

Profit Answer Man: Scaling with Profit First & Beyond

The Financial Model Every 7–8 Figure Business Needs for Predictable Profit with Salvatore Tirabassi Most business owners don’t lack data. They lack clarity. They have a P&L, a balance sheet, maybe even a dashboard. But when a real decision shows up—Can I afford this hire? Should I scale marketing? Why did margins drop again?—the numbers don’t give a clear answer. That’s where growth starts to feel chaotic. In this episode of Profit Answer Man, Rocky Lalvani sits down with fractional CFO and former private equity investor Salvatore Tirabassi to unpack...

Ep 301 How to Build a Business Fortress: Liquidity, Cash Flow, and Exit Readiness with David Barnett

Profit Answer Man: Scaling with Profit First & Beyond

How to Build a Business Fortress: Liquidity, Cash Flow, and Exit Readiness with David Barnett Build a Business Fortress: Why Liquidity Beats Leverage and Most Businesses Never Sell Most owners assume the big payoff will come when they finally sell the business. The hard truth is that roughly 80 percent of small businesses listed for sale never actually sell as going concerns. The real payoff is in the years of ownership: the cash flow you extract, the wealth you build outside the business, and the resilience you create so you can survive the next punch in the face. In this...

Ep 300 The Referable Client Experience with Stacey Brown Randall

Profit Answer Man: Scaling with Profit First & Beyond

The Referable Client Experience with Stacey Brown Randall Most business owners say they want more referrals. Very few are actually drowning in them. The default strategy is to do good work, hope people notice, and maybe ask for introductions when things get slow. In this episode of Profit Answer Man, I sit down again with referral expert and author Stacey Brown Randall to talk about why that approach does not work and how to build a truly referrable client experience. Stacey has spent years helping small business owners generate referrals without asking, without incentives, and...

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Find Rocky Lalvani @ www.ProfitComesFirst.com or email him at rocky@profitcomesfirst.com

From Bankruptcy at 24 to $35M: Building Profitable Business Through Discipline and Purpose with Mike Chaput

What if the worst business failure of your life became the foundation for 26 years of unbroken profitability?

At 24, Michael Chaput bought a business that went bankrupt. At 50, he runs a $35 million company that hasn't had a single unprofitable month in 26 years—not through 2008, not through COVID, not ever. In this episode, Michael shares the hard-won lessons from hitting rock bottom and how financial discipline, tough decisions, and the right philosophy about profit built a business that never bleeds red.

In this episode, you will learn:

Why "caring too much" kills deals: How poor due diligence and bad leases destroyed Michael's first business and the bankruptcy lessons that changed everything.
The 17% margin discipline: How Michael uses peer benchmarking to spot expense ratio problems (like rent at 20% vs. industry standard of 3-6%) and maintains profitability every single month.
Why keeping poor performers is cruel: The science of play vs. economic pressure and why letting underperformers go is the kindest thing you can do for them and your team.
Profit as constraint, not purpose: Michael's philosophy that profit is like staying in bounds in basketball—necessary, but not the point of the game.
How operating systems create alignment: Using Rockefeller Habits and EOS to turn vision into action and inspire "play" instead of toil.
The 1,000-book advantage: Why reading one business book per week for 20 years built the foundation for every major decision.

Key Takeaway:

Profitability isn't luck—it's discipline and hard decisions made quickly. Michael Chaput's 26-year track record without a single red month proves that success comes from three non-negotiables: (1) knowing your numbers cold (benchmark expense ratios, target specific margins like his 17%), (2) making tough calls fast (letting poor performers go is kindness, not cruelty), and (3) treating profit as a constraint, not your purpose. Bad deals have long tails, so care enough to walk away. Build a clear vision that inspires "play" instead of just paychecks. And never stop learning—Michael read 1,000+ business books over 20 years. That's how you build a business that never bleeds red, no matter what the economy throws at you.

Bio:

Mike Chaput bought his first company at 24 with borrowed money and no experience, a move that led to early failure and bankruptcy, but also ignited a lifelong drive to understand what makes businesses succeed. He took those hard-won lessons and built a new company from the ground up, scaling it to $35M in revenue with 140 employees, best-in-class margins, and a values-driven culture. With degrees from Columbia Business School and UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, Mike blends top-tier strategy with real-world execution. As a founder and the CEO of Endsight, as well as a board member and trusted advisor to multiple high-growth companies, Mike brings a grounded, operator’s perspective to leadership, sustainable growth, and building resilient teams with purpose.

Links:

Website: https://www.endsight.net/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelchaput/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thechaputperspective/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thechaputperspective

Conclusion:

Michael Chaput's journey from bankruptcy at 24 to building a $35 million company with 26 years of unbroken profitability isn't just inspiring—it's a masterclass in what separates businesses that thrive from those that merely survive. The lessons are clear: financial discipline beats hope, tough decisions beat comfort, and a uniting vision beats just working for a paycheck.

If you've been struggling with profitability, tolerating poor performers, or feeling like you're constantly firefighting, this episode gives you the blueprint to break free. Start by knowing your numbers, set your margin target, benchmark against your peers, and have the courage to make the hard calls. Remember: profit is necessary, but purpose is what makes the game worth playing.

#ProfitAnswerMan #Profitability #BusinessGrowth #Entrepreneurship #SmallBusiness

Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@profitanswerman

Free Copy of the Profit Blueprint Book: : https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/landing-page-page

Monthly Newsletter signup: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/newsletter-signup

Relay Bank (affiliate link): https://relayfi.com/?referralcode=profitcomesfirst

Profit Answer Man Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/profitanswerman/

My podcast about living a richer more meaningful life: http://richersoul.com/

Music provided by Junan from Junan Podcast

Any financial advice is for educational purposes only and you should consult with an expert for your specific needs.

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