Scaling a Book Club Business: Lessons from Zach Rubin's Entrepreneurial Path

The episode kicks off with Zach Rubin explaining the unique concept of Professional Book Club Guru - managing online book club programs for large organizations like companies, alumni associations, and libraries. He provides an overview of their service offerings, revenue model, and how they facilitate engaging literary experiences virtually.
Alan and Zach then explore the company's origins, starting as a side hustle book club Zach ran at his old engineering firm. They discuss the pivots, iterations, and the two-year bootstrap journey before it became viable as a full-time business. Zach opens up about the mistakes, dead-ends, and lessons learned along the way.
The conversation shifts gears as they analyze the different revenue streams - corporate book clubs, author talk series for public libraries, and the rapidly growing school programs. Zach shares insightful growth numbers, employee counts, key metrics, and how the dynamics vary across these verticals. They also examine the unique sales processes and marketing strategies employed.
Looking ahead, Zach reveals the significant potential in the school market space, expressing his passion for inspiring children's love for reading and writing. However, he grapples with the constant tension of exploring new opportunities versus maintaining an intense focus on a single path for maximum acceleration.
Throughout the dialogue, Zach showcases an impressive drive for lifelong learning, continuously upskilling himself and his team. He emphasizes the importance of reading, sharing book recommendations, and picking the right people who embody a growth mindset.
Episode Highlights:
• [2:43] Overview of Professional Book Club Guru's services
• [6:12] Early days bootstrapping the business as a side hustle
• [15:20] Breaking down the different revenue streams
• [22:10] Sales processes and marketing for different verticals
• [27:45] Massive potential in the school market for growth
• [33:25] The constant dilemma of new opportunities vs focus
• [39:17] Zach's passion for inspiring kids' love for reading
• [42:30] Emphasis on continuous learning and a growth mindset
Quotes:
• "We've tried many, many, many different things and sort of the lifelong learning, professional development space. We don't really do anything where there is, like a lot of existing services."
• "Why do we even hire people? We hire people to do something to produce some kind of output. And if you're hiring a contractor that's defined in the scope of work in the contract, and that's the definition of an output. But when you're hiring an employee, we often just say, Well, you get good people on the bus and everything is gonna be fine. But what does that mean?"
• "If you can be in more places, there is the opportunity to seize more things if you can staff it."
Episode Resources:
• Zach Rubin on LinkedIn ( / zachrubin )
• Professional Book Club Guru Website (theprofessiona...)
• Alan Pentz on LinkedIn ( / alanpentz )
• Corner Alliance Website (www.cornerallia...) The Small Business Podcast is handcrafted by our friends over at fame.so (fame.so/?...)