Interview With Jerry Mills: Take a Break to Be Productive


Jerry Mills of B2B CFOYou might not expect the author of two business books, speaker, contributor, and founder of B2B CFO® to be into yoga and tai chi, but that’s exactly what helps Jerry Mills stay balanced between work and life. He practices regularly and also strives to read nonfiction books:

“I often have my most creative business ideas after I have lost myself for a few hours in a good murder mystery. It seems that the human mind needs a break in order to be most productive.”

And productive he is. His firm, B2B CFO®, provides part-time CFO services to small and midsized businesses. Currently, the company boasts 200 B2B Partners who serve more than 750 clients with combined annual sales totaling $5 billion dollars. In the next five years, Mills expects to have 400 partners and $45 million in sales. It’s no wonder he made the list of Small Business Influencer Champions this year.

Mills attributes his firm’s success to recruiting top professionals, being on the cutting edge of technology and hiring a stellar public relations firm.

Jumping in With Both Feet

Mills was reluctant to start his business back in 1987, but some valuable advice got him moving:

“A man named Roger gave me some good advice. He said, ‘Jerry, the hardest thing you need to do is to make the decision. Once you make the decision, everything else will fall into place about what you need to do to grow your business.’ He was 100 percent correct.”

And while technology is a huge part of B2B CFO’s® platform now, if Mills has any regrets, it’s that he didn’t dive into technology sooner. He says he wasn’t proactive enough upfront about technology, and wishes he had spent more time and money investing in it early on.

Back to Balance

We hear a lot about work/life balance, but few business owners truly practice it. Mills insists that it be part of every leader’s life:

“If every small business owner had an extra hour in their day, they should rotate that time doing two things: (1) exercising and (2) reading good non-business books.”

If reading good books and practicing Pilates will give us the success you’ve got, Jerry, we’re on board.

Jerry Mills was recognized as a Small Business Influencer Champion for 2011. Read more of our Small Business Influencer Champion interviews.

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Susan Payton Susan Payton is the Communications Manager for the Small Business Trends Awards programs. She is the President of Egg Marketing & Communications, an Internet marketing firm specializing in content marketing, social media management and press releases. She is also the Founder of How to Create a Press Release, a free resource for business owners who want to generate their own PR.

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