Want weekly payroll & PEO industry insights direct to your inbox? 

I break down payroll industry news and trends every Wednesday. 1000+ subscribers and growing → payrollinpodcast.com

Most payroll bureaus are losing deals to better-resourced competitors while drowning in day-to-day operations.

I've been in the payroll industry for 20+ years. I've closed over $40M in B2B sales. And I've spent two decades learning what separates the payroll companies that scale from the ones that plateau.

The difference? 

They leverage three strategies:

1. Offshore talent to scale without breaking the bank (outsourcedscale.com)

Your competitors are hiring VAs for 70% less than onshore talent. Sales reps, marketing coordinators, customer service—all AI-trained and covering every timezone.

2. Founder-led marketing that actually generates leads (underdogdigital.co)

National firms spend millions on marketing. You don't need to. You need a system that positions you as the local expert and fills your pipeline consistently.

3. Strategic partnerships that add recurring revenue 

Every payroll client is a potential PEO client. Partner with us and earn a handsome revenue share on every PEO deal—without the compliance risk or infrastructure investment.

I break down these strategies every week on the Payrollin' podcast and newsletter.

If you're a payroll bureau owner who wants to compete smarter (not just work harder), subscribe to the newsletter. Every Wednesday, I share one actionable insight you can implement immediately.

👉 Subscribe here: payrollinpodcast.com

My track record:

- 4x Founder (2 seven-figure+)
- Bestselling Author (Ping-Pong is Not a Strategy)
- $40M+ in B2B sales
- 20+ years in payroll

This industry is consolidating fast. Independent bureaus that survive will be the ones who adapt.

☞ Matt Vaadi

📈John Barnes

Pendleton Street Advisors is a financial advisory firm to business owners. Founded in 2013, the firm’s areas of expertise are valuation consulting, succession planning, personal financial planning, mergers and acquisitions advice, and investment management. We specialize in helping our clients work through make-or-break financial issues in their company that have spillover effects into their personal finances.

President & CEO

John Barnes

It’s a long way, but I wouldn’t miss seeing these friends for anything. 

Leaving today for South Sudan 🇸🇸 with Empower One. 

We go to teach, learn, and have fun bringing the good news of the Gospel to a place that is starving for peace, and hopeful for transformation that starts on the inside and works its way outward.

Also thankful for the blessing of a GREAT team at home that allows me to pursue these missions.

Helping business owners get more from their largest investment | CEO at Pendleton Street Business Advisors

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This is why no one will want to watch robots play sports

This was more than a win.

Best use of AI so far for my firm?

Not in writing.

Not in search.

Not in research.

It's in illustration. A complete and total gamechanger. 

Imagine taking a complex Estate planning document provided by a client, and after anonymizing it--uploading it to ask AI to "illustrate" the provisions, and flow of assets in some type of diagram. Mind-blowing, and super helpful to the client.

Imagine taking anonymized financial statements and asking it to illustrate money flow in a blowout diagram that shows the magnitude of certain revenues and expenses.

We're loving the illustrative uses of AI to make more impactful *visuals* that help out clients have a deeper understanding of their own "stuff".

I can't wait to see what else we can come up with.

Made a cold call today. Fr

Disaster rating: 11/10—but I learned two things:

1. Have fun. (I had fun 😉)

2. If you’re a business using an offshored VA for call reception, don’t cheap out and use a service where they sound like they’re talking inside the Holland Tunnel. 😊 
 (maybe they were 🤷🏼‍♂️)

Owners of asset-intensive and capital-intensive businesses need to fall madly in love with reading and understanding and tracking the Balance Sheet of their company.

The Balance Sheet tells the true story of the financial health in your business. Those big revenue numbers on your Income Statement? They are fun to read, but dangerously deceptive.

“I just reinvest everything back into the company.”

I think this is one of the most irresponsible things I hear business owners say:

Cool.
For how long?
And to what end?

Reinvestment without a personal financial framework isn’t discipline.
It’s avoidance dressed up as modesty.

Here’s what actually happens:
The business grows.
The owner’s lifestyle stays frozen in 2014.
Every future reward becomes “next year”.

At some point, reinvestment may not be accretive, and it's probably causing some other stuff to break:
You’re creating wealth… but probably not much of a life.

I think this is just as true for single person as it is for business owners with a spouse and children. 👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 

A real financial strategy draws a line:

This is what the business needs to grow. 📈 
This is what the owner needs to stay motivated, solvent, and sane. 🤩 

If your only win condition is "I'll get around to it,”
you may feel like you're building a company — you’re deferring your life.

The best operators I know don’t starve themselves for optional upside.

They fight for parallel progress.
They work parallel plans for the progress on both sides of the line.

Business wins. 😘 
Owner wins. 🤑 

Both stay in the game. 🤠

taplio

The Battle

☞ Matt Vaadi

John Barnes

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taplio

The Battle

☞ Matt Vaadi

John Barnes

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}John Barnes's LinkedIn Performance

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