Welcome to another episode of Founder Focus with Steve Greenfield, a CBT series that focuses on the journeys of some amazing founders. In this segment, Greenfield sits down with Jim Flint, founder of Local Search Group.
Flint’s digital marketing agency, Local Search Group, has won numerous awards and recognition, including being ranked by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest-growing ad agencies in the nation. Flint has a real passion for the industry and has even written a book on how to be a successful car dealer called Car Dog Millionaire: How to Sell Cars and Make Money at Your Internet Dealership.
During Flint’s earlier days working with Toyota, he says he very much had the entrepreneurial mindset even then, but one of the things that he learned there was the principle of kaizen, which is a Japanese term that means continuous improvement.
He says, “I was the guy who was like, ‘Well, wait a second, this internet thing, it’s going to be really big. And if we did this and we did that and we did the other, we can make these things happen.’”
Initially, this principle was intended only for dealer growth strategy, however, Flint realized that this concept could be applied anywhere. Flint’s parents also had a significant influence on him as well.
“My mom was very creative and she said, ‘You can do anything that you can put your mind to,’ and my dad was very stoic and worked for the Air Force for 25 years. So anything I made a commitment to, it was about sticking to the commitment.” explains Flint. “I think what probably separates me from many, not most, not all, is the idea that once you get into it, that you stick with it and stay to the finish.”
Additionally, the 08′ recession ended up being a major turning point for Flint. There were macroeconomic factors that were creating a crush on the automotive industry, and Flint had already been in the business at that point for 15 years. He knew that he wanted to stay there, and that there were going to be opportunities up ahead. In that moment at the bottom, Flint was able to identify was the opportunities out in front of him.
