Inspiration and Wisdom

You must Use Things and Love People. Many people Use People and Love Things.

Personal and Business Finance

Budgeting is looking out the windshield, while a P&L is looking at the rearview mirror.

Starting and Scaling Your Business
You are ALWAYS Branding

The 6th Absolute of starting a business is Your Brand and What It Signifies to People. You are branding from the time you select your name, logo, and slogan to the day you write your creation story and mission statement. When you pick your company colors and paint your new space to reflect them, pick out your internal menu boards and exterior signage, when you put potted plants on the sidewalk outside your business, and when you train your team members to say certain words and take certain actions when greeting customers you are branding. In short, you are ALWAYS branding and the question you need to ask yourself as a manager or owner is this one: Did our brand increase in value or decrease in value today?

You are ALWAYS Branding

Tech Talk
Building an App - Should you invest in developing an App for your company?

CONS

• It won’t happen overnight.

• It won’t be free or cheap. It will take a financial commitment and that money won’t have any ROI for many months.

PROS

• It will make your company appear very professional and larger than you are.

• It will set you apart from your competition.

• It is an advertising platform for you.

Research the competition. Figure out the other companies that have apps in your niche and download their apps. See what they're all about and look for issues that your app can improve on.

Want to do it yourself? Here’s how:

1. Establish a team.

2. Conduct competitive research.

3. Outline core features.

4. Create mockups.

5. Plan app security.

6. Begin coding.

7. Perform multiple tests.

8. Gather and implement feedback.

9. Launch in the app store.

Want to have it done, and cheaper than normal?

• Go on 99Designs, Fiverr, and Upwork and look for app developers.

• See examples of their work.

• Select a designer.

• Or - let us handle that for you - we provide Done-For-You Services.

Building an App

Spotlight on a Business
Airbnb

One of the most wildly successful (and profitable) startups, Airbnb, was created by Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia to provide a different kind of lodging experience — one that was less expensive and more accessible.

The company started in 2008 and was originally called AirBedandBreakfast.com. It started with the duo purchasing cots and air mattresses to rent out in their own dwelling and grew to the $100 billion company it is today that provides homeowners the opportunity to make supplemental income through short-term lodging.

Similar to Uber, it allows people to make extra money using assets they already own. The basic thing they did was take a huge industry-rental housing-that lacked innovation and look for a way to apply technology to innovate it. Specifically, they created a website and an App that created a marketplace and scheduling center, to modernize the short term and vacation housing industry.

Airbnb

Marketing Magic
Guerilla Marketing - Guerilla Marketing Defined

Guerilla Marketing is innovative, unconventional, and low-cost marketing techniques aimed at obtaining maximum exposure for a product.

Guerrilla Marketing Pros & Cons

Guerrilla marketing has some advantages and disadvantages. Take both into consideration before choosing to move forward with a campaign.

Pros of Guerrilla Marketing

• Cheap to execute. Whether using a simple stencil or a giant sticker, guerrilla marketing tends to be much cheaper than classic advertising.

• Allows for creative thinking. With guerrilla marketing, imagination is more important than budget.

• Grows with word-of-mouth. Guerrilla marketing relies heavily on word-of-mouth marketing, considered by many one of the most powerful weapons in a marketer’s arsenal. There’s nothing better than getting people to talk about your campaign on their own accord.

• Publicity can snowball. Some especially noteworthy or unique guerrilla marketing campaigns will get picked up by local (and even national) news sources, resulting in a publicity powerhouse effect that marketers drool over.

Cons of Guerrilla Marketing

• Mysterious messages can be misunderstood. There’s often an air of mystery to guerrilla marketing campaigns, and while it’s this sense of mystery that can often propel a campaign’s attention and notice, the lack of clarity can also skew audience interpretation.

Guerilla Marketing

The Boss Sauce - Managing
Golden Three

In Business You Have to Do the Golden Three

1. Have Fun

2. Help People

3. Make Money

If #1 is missing, you’ll go out of business SLOWLY.

If #2 is missing, you’ll go out of business FASTER.

If #3 is missing, you’ll go out of business QUICKLY.

You have to be asking at all times how the company can have more of the Golden Three.

The Last Word

Live What You Want to Receive

Make a list of the values you want to find in your team members, then go out and actually embody those values yourself. You can't hope to attract a set of values that you yourself aren't embracing. You are the number one example of what you want to see in your business. Do you want to see smiling faces? People hustling? Unselfishness? If so, you have to demonstrate those characteristics for your team members to emulate.

Live What You Want to Receive

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

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