Inspiration and Wisdom

A Few Words from James Clear

"One of the most critical skills in life—and yet never taught in school—is choosing where to direct your attention. After graduation, the valedictorian will often get lapped by "average" people who better invest their time.”

"Money plays an important role in life, but it can't be the only filter for how you decide to spend your time. Nobody will ever pay you to go on a date with your spouse or take your kids to the park or grab coffee with your parents.”

A Few Words from James Clear

Personal and Business Finance
YOU CAN BE POOR AT ANY LEVEL OF PAY

How? By committing high percentages of your pay to debt. This often happens in America. Someone comes out of high school and goes to college on student loans. They graduate and get their first good job and soon celebrate by buying a new car. They use their credit cards to pay for their wedding, vacations, clothes at the mall, and video games.

Net Income $5,000

Student Loans $ 750

Car Payment $ 750

Credit Card payments $ 750

Rent $1,500

Utility Bills $ 750

Food and Eating Out $ 500

TOTAL EXPENSES $5,000

INVESTMENTS $0

EMERGENCY FUND $0

YOU CAN BE POOR AT ANY LEVEL OF PAY

Starting and Scaling Your Business
The 8th Absolute to Starting and Scaling Your Business is Your Offers.

What are your offers? They are the things you promise to deliver-goods, services, or both-for the money you receive-before, during, and after the sale.

If you aren’t grossing enough top line money, you may have an offer problem.

If your margins are too small, and your business is starving for cash because of it, you most likely have an offer problem.

If your customers try you once, but don’t come back you may have a disconnect between your offer and your delivery on that offer, which can be an offer problem.

In 1987 business author Tom Peters introduced the concept of “Under-promise and over-deliver” and it has been a key business concept for decades now. The idea is that the only surprise a customer should ever get is one in their favor, giving them more than they think they paid for.

Are your offers competitive, both in terms of price and quality, with your competitors? If not, you have an offer problem.

Do you have a perceived value and a current value in your offers? Do you also have a Call to Action that creates a sense of urgency? “Normally $29.99, but right now until Friday they are $21.99.”

Do you offer a guarantee or warranty? Either strengthens the offer.

The key elements of your offer are:

• Aimed at your specific customer. Not at “all people.”

• Visuals - pictures or artwork.

• What the customer would get if they accept the offer-goods, services, or both.

• What problem it would solve or need it would satisfy-how it would make the customer’s life better.

• Quality claim - why the thing you are selling is high quality.

• Value claim - what the thing you are selling should normally sell for.

• Reduced Price

• Urgency or call to action deadline.

• Guarantee or Warranty

You have to analyze your offers before you open and from time to time, because offer problems slow your growth and reduce your profitability.

The 8th Absolute to Starting and Scaling Your Business is Your Offers

Tech Talk
AI

The potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is that it can empower small businesses to automate routine tasks, enhance decision-making, improve customer experiences, and operate with unparalleled efficiency. It has the potential to transform the way small businesses operate, allowing them to better serve their customers, increase productivity, and achieve cost savings. From chatbots providing instant customer support to data analytics tools that uncover hidden trends, AI opens doors to countless opportunities.

How should a small business get started if they want to implement AI in their business? As with all things you layer onto your business infrastructure, it has to earn its way. There are no free rides in a micro (1-10 employees) or small (11-500 employees) business. I strongly urge you to start with free use, like the ChapGPT free version.

Have yourself or someone eager to learn it begin to use it for things like writing advertising copy. Create a newsletter or blog and have AI write the copy. Have AI create warranty or guarantee copy. In other words, start to test it and then rely on it as it proves it can contribute in positive ways to your business. Now that it has proven itself in one area, you can check on other areas, like using AI to do customer service after hours chats with customers when normally you wouldn’t be open. In all these ways, humans are still running things and AI complements and adds to the business in small but positive way.

AI

Spotlight on a Business
Food Trucks

There are many ways to start in a food business. A food truck or trailer is one of those ways. In this video we hear from a very experienced immigrant owner who talks about things he has learned from over 20 years in the food truck business.

$54K/Month Food Truck Business (What Did It Cost to Start?)

Food Trucks

Marketing Magic
What’s In It For Me?

All consumers, and I mean all consumers of any age ask one simple question subconsciously when they are deciding whether they want to buy something or not.

That question is: What’s in it for me?

The consumer has limited dollars. They want to carefully use those dollars in an attempt to give them more pleasure, contentment, security, a better appearance, or some other type of benefit that makes their life better.

Often, marketers talk about features. That is a mistake. Benefits close sales. Answer the consumer’s question. “You want to know what’s in it for you?” You ask. “I’ll tell you! You will get amazing………… and that will make your life much better by………..?

All consumers vote with their dollars, and they cast their votes after they have found out “What’s in it for me?”

What’s In It for Me?

The Boss Sauce - Managing
Priorities

“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”

- Stephen Covey

Sometimes when running a business, it can feel like you, the owner, are being swept along in some invisible tide, just trying to “get everything done” every day, and all of your tasks, vital and minor, are mixed together and you are just “knocking them out” as if they were all equal.

This will not lead to long term success, and it will lead to burnout.

You have to take the time to visualize your business. Organize it in your mind into departments or major areas-like operations, manufacturing, and marketing & sales. Next, decide what areas of responsibility aren’t yours, and meet with those that have responsibility in those areas to make sure you understand and agree with what they are working on. You should see that they have prioritized key leverage points in their areas of responsibility.

Next, it is your turn. What are you responsible for? Within each of those areas, you will need to put things into Stephen Covey’s 4 Quadrants:

Then you will decide which Quadrant I and Quadrant II tasks need to be done and create a prioritized list of those tasks. Once that is done, you work on those tasks in the order you set, getting help when needed and delegating to others when you can. In this way, you won’t feel like you have been swept away with the tide.

Priorities

The Last Word

“It is often the small steps, not the giant leaps, that bring about the most lasting change.”

HRM Queen Elizabeth II

If you're ready to start your business - let us help you! We have many affordable coaching options: Business Coaching

Already started a business but growth has stalled? Don't worry, we can help you with that as well: Scale Your Business Coaching 

We're excited to announce the launch of our latest self-paced course, "How to Start a Business," and to celebrate, we have an extraordinary offer just for you!

Limited Time Offer: First 10 Registrants Get an Unbeatable Deal! In celebration of our latest course launch, we're offering an extraordinary deal to the first 10 registrants. Experience our comprehensive $799 course for the exclusive price of just $99. It's a one-time offer to experience top-tier education at an unbeatable value.

Don't Miss This Opportunity! This exclusive offer is available to the first 10 registrants only. Secure your spot now and embark on a journey of learning, growth, and entrepreneurial success. Click here and enter code ZT8EKN3 at checkout to receive your discount! Hurry now! This is only open to the first 10 registrants. If you receive an error with the code that means the 10 spots have been taken! Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.

We can't wait to see you start this journey!

Thanks for reading The Hub, your source for small business knowledge!