Born to a family of Entrepreneurs, his Aunt owned a Ziebart business (franchise) and his parents owned a restaurant, Jim is no stranger to what it takes to run a business. He found himself at an early age, when other kids were out playing sports, pulling up his sleeves and getting to work, helping wherever he was needed, much like how he operates today.
After seeing his father being laid off numerous times from factory jobs and start a business so that he could have more control over his life and his family's future, Jim and his two brothers started to understand the plight of the small business owner. The life of a small business owner is one that requires risk with the possibility of no reward, courage when facing the unknown, and strength to endure when faced with what some say is impossible. Yet no matter what challenges they face, they continue to persevere through the muck and mire of countless hours, limited resources, and self-doubt, all for the sake of a dream and an insatiable desire to make a difference.
After the passing of his father, he began a mission to help small business owners build better businesses so that they can have better lives for themselves, their families, and their communities in honor of his father and the life he never got to enjoy. He spent all those long hours away from the family just to be able to live a better life “someday”—a day that never came.
Jim has been on this mission now for 20 years. All the while studying business, and learning what it takes to be successful and what it takes to overcome failures.
During this journey, thousands of small business owners have listened to Jim speak, taken one of his programs, or engaged in private consulting. With Jim's help their businesses stopped controlling them and were thriving, but the most important part-they started to enjoy life again. Jim always believed that owning a business doesn't have to be grueling and self-sacrificing. It can be fun too.
"I believe that people are dying in their business every day, just as my father had at the early age of 62. He never got to enjoy the full fruits of his labor and I see the same pattern arising in many of the business owners I consult with. The challenge is that we get so caught up in the "doing" of our business that we rarely take the time to look up and see that the "serving" side of our business has been pushed to the wayside. My goal is to cut through the chaos of owning a business and get you to become laser beam focused on the things that really matter in running a business so that you can enjoy your life, your income and your impact NOW." --Jim Roman
In 1999 he moved to Richmond, VA to change the way the world does business by growing one of the most successful and biggest business network organizations of its time. He grew it from 0-1600 members in less than 6 years. He developed 65 chapters, 20 within one year, earning him a spot in the organization's hall of fame. He then went on to build a very successful consulting practice, helping companies grow on average over 30% year after year-which is unheard of in the industry.
Jim's timeline:
- Raised in the restaurant business at age 13
- Served his country at age 19
- Became General Manager of a fine dining Italian Restaurant at age 24
- Started his first business at age 25
- Had his first successful business at age 28
- Built a very successful BNI franchise at age 37
- Helping companies go from Micro to Millions™ while having a LIFE at age 55+
- Live with Purpose and Passion to do God's work, ongoing!
If you're serious about taking your organization/business to the next level