clarity

0

Advice On How To Start a Business

Posted on by Jason Kanigan

Some further advice on how to start a business: there is no "one right way". You have to make your own choices. Are there client fields that are likely to give you a better chance for success? Sure. But nothing is guaranteed.

Every business, and I mean every single one, does have a few specific things.

The person asking for advice who prompted this post said they had a budget of $500 for starting their business. Your budget does not matter. Put that money away, use it to pay for living expenses so your business can "stay alive". Don't get distracted by that money.

First you need to choose who you are helping, and what problems you are helping them solve.

These are also called your niche and your offers or services.

No one can pick these for you. There are no magic bullets on how to start a business. If you pick a popular niche, you get a lot of competition. If you pick a niche that not many other people are in, there's probably a reason--like the people in it don't understand why they need marketing help.

entrepreneur, startup, how to start a business

How To Start a Business: Picking a Niche

I look for niches with good cash reserves, a quick payment cycle from their customers, a high offer price, and a topic I understand and like. That will make me automatically enthusiastic. It keeps me away from realtors (estate agents), engineering firms and pie sellers and moves me towards trades like electricians and roofers. Can you see why?

Realtors = long payment cycle, they get their money a month from now. Not good. Pie sellers = low offer price, which doesn't support my service cost. Trades = good service price, and they get paid today or close to it.

Now what services can you offer that you're confident in delivering?

A popular agency growth program I represent teaches you how to hire competent subcontractors, so you can find the customers and manage the projects, but these subcontractors actually do the work. And they do it at a lower price than you're charging, if you follow the directions, so you make money.

In the beginning I would not try to offer many services. Do not try to be all things to all people, or take money because it is waved in your direction. Choose one or two things you can get good at.

The Importance of Competencies In How To Start a Business

You need to develop COMPETENCIES in a number of areas to be successful in business. Delivery of services is one of these areas. Others are:

  • Lead generation
  • Qualification (sorting leads for the good ones)
  • Closing (turning some of the qualified leads into buyers)

and as I said above, Fulfillment or delivery of services, so you can give clients what they paid for.

What I said may sound dull but you might be astonished by how few people understand what they're getting into with a business, including an agency business...and how even fewer can explain how they're doing these four things in plain language.

Can you write down in plain language how you are doing each of these four things?

How are you generating leads?

If you can't explain this, I guarantee you do not have a business.

And continue doing this for the other three areas.

Getting Clarity When Starting a Business Is Critical

These are exactly the same things I'd ask you to explain, or or with you to develop, in a paid consultation so you get clarity.

Choose a method, and write it down. Email? LinkedIn messaging? Facebook ads? Phone calls? How are you going about generating leads?

If you can't explain it, you don't know what you're doing or how you're doing it. And if you don't know those things, you sure can't delegate it to someone else.

The agency business is a series of choices. We will work with these people, but not those. We will offer these services, ie. solve these problems, but not others. We will charge prices at this level, thereby solving the problems at this particular magnitude, but not others.

Where I see people struggling with their agency business is in their trouble making these choices. They sit there hoping someone else will give them the "one right way", the magic bullets. No. You have to choose. You must develop those competencies. There aren't many of them, really...less than a half-dozen. And the faster you choose and get to work, the faster you'll develop them.

If you pick a leadgen method, as an example, and after a few weeks determine it isn't working for you, you can erase what you wrote and pick a new approach. If cold email didn't work, you can change it to phone outreach.

How People Lose In Starting a Business

But what I've seen is people giving up on methods without having really tried them. They made four phone calls and say, "Cold calling doesn't work for me". Of course it doesn't! You didn't do it! You didn't develop any competency at it. Or they send 100 emails and give up, saying "Cold emails don't work for me". You can't truthfully say that: you didn't do the work. It takes far more than 100 emails to get anywhere, unless you're lucky.

So understanding the scale of what is required is necessary for success here.

One final thing: I see people get into programs for agency founders and give up. They say they're "overwhelmed" and when I ask them, "Why didn't you talk to a coach?" they tell me: "I didn't know I could do that".

I don't believe you if you say that. You gave up.

And I have to tell you the harsh truth: Giving Up is not the sign of an entrepreneur. If you give up so easily, you're probably not cut out to be a business owner. Sorry if that hurts, but it's the truth. Not everyone should be a business owner.

I have talked to people who didn't do much in a program, but didn't give up and when they spoke to me they decided to keep fighting. That's the sign of a true entrepreneur. Finding things out for themselves. Not taking No for an answer. Not getting "overwhelmed" and saying to themselves, "This is too hard. I'm stopping".

If you will learn, and keep going when the going gets tough, you might be a real business owner.

>> Jason Kanigan is a conversion expert and sales coach. Book a consultation with him here. <<

0

Salesperson Success: A Clear Picture of What It Looks Like

Posted on by Jason Kanigan

Salesperson success provided as a clear picture to sales staff is what’s missing in most organizations. What the poor salesperson normally gets is this:

  • No targets
  • No coaching
  • No managerial involvement
  • No feedback loop
  • Just a “Here’s your desk, your phone, your computer, the product manuals and the price list… off you go!”

I’ve seen it for over 20 years.

A salesperson is not like a cactus—you can’t simply put them in a corner, feed them leads like water from time to time, and expect them to succeed.

However, as a salesperson it will be most helpful for you to understand you’re running a mini business-within-a-business. You have the same issues as any founder, and you need the same systems working for you.

cactus without leads picture of salesperson success

Photo by Taryn Elliott from Pexels

The Systems of Salesperson Success

The place for you to begin is developing a revenue target.

Whether you know it or not, even if you’re on straight salary, you have a money target. This target must be met every month and it well exceeds what you are paid. Even if your employer hasn’t really thought about it...which is dangerous. And if you have a commission portion of your income, this is even more important.

Thus, to have a chance to achieve and exceed this target, you need to know your numbers.

You also need to be supported by the same four systems every business needs.

The first system is lead generation.

The second system is qualification.

The third system is conversion.

And the fourth system is fulfillment.

As a salesperson, just like a founder because you’re running your own mini business-within-a-business, you need to pay attention to these four systems.

The Four Systems Salespeople Need To Handle

Consider: how many leads need to come into your view so that you have a chance of success... which means hitting your revenue target?

Do you know?

Does the company provide you with that number of leads?

Or is it insufficient flow, and you need to figure out a way to drive leads on your own? (This is not such a bad situation as it may seem, since at least one other key system is taken care of for you: fulfillment. As long as the capacity is available and your employer is competent, you do not have to worry about delivery of the result your offer promises. This is a great relief and one reason to not start your own business.)

Is it clear how to separate those people the organization would prefer as customers from those who they would rather not get into a relationship with?

Is the process of turning some qualified prospects into buyers written down and understood? Is it put into practice the way it is documented?

And can you trust that the orders you take will be delivered upon in a high quality and timely manner? (As an example, I once took an order in the construction industry based on a specific delivery date requirement. I had gone to the production manager and asked to ensure this date was possible. Weeks later when the date came and went, I was the one who received the angry blast from the disappointed customer who was now badly delayed by our failure. The production manager shrugged when confronted. I quit soon afterwards as I could no longer trust their fulfillment system.)

Clarity On The Picture Is Key for Winning As a Salesperson

Getting clarity on and belief in these four systems is critical to your picture of salesperson success. You will hold this picture up as the standard by which to guide your actions.

Don’t have enough leads coming in from the company to hit your revenue target? Now you know you need to do something to get them.

Unsure how to qualify good prospects from bad? Now you know you need to do some information interviews inside your company to find out.

Struggling with converting qualified prospects into customers? Now you know you need some sales training and coaching.

Taking orders without being certain your employer can fulfill them in a timely and high quality fashion? Better get that taken care of.

Imagine the sense of personal power you’ll have when you absolutely know these four systems are handled. Every month, right on schedule, the right number of leads enters your funnel. You or your automated system (hint) filters them so the majority of your effort—remember the 80/20 Rule—goes into speaking with qualified prospects and converting some into buyers. You do this in full confidence and harmony with the fulfillment departments of your employer, who you trust to deliver a great experience and outcome for the buyer.

This is the picture of what salesperson success looks like, and the four systems that combined are the engine to support it.

>> Click here to book a consultation with Jason Kanigan <<

0

How Will You Go Into 2021 As A New Business Owner?

Posted on by Jason Kanigan

Blind or with Vision?

The new business owner often flies blind.

You see this in the questions. "What's working?" "What tool should I use?" "How do I do this?"

These are the wrong questions.

Oh, it's likely that someone will be nice enough to offer you a suggestion in answer. But even if you apply what they say, it probably won't work for you as a new business owner.

Q: "What's working?"
A: They probably spent a lot of time and effort focusing on making their recommendation work. But you think the thing is going to make you money right out of the box. Nope. You'll give up fast and never get there.

Q: "What tool should I use?"
A: Not relevant to your situation. A fit for theirs, perhaps. And they spent the time getting through the learning curve, which I'll call syntax. You won't. Your eyes will cross seeing the thing on the screen, and you'll leave.

Q: "How do I do this?" (eg. How do I use the forum?)
A: Its an experiential thing. You have to invest time and develop your 'ear'. Discernment. My market is not your market. Your market is not their market. Those other, more experienced business owners, have skills, interests and opportunities you do not: what works for them probably won't work for you.

new business owner focus clarity idea picture

What To Expect As A New Business Owner

So what should you be doing as a newbie, then? As we go into 2021, what perspective will best serve you?

1. Be in it for the long haul.

Expect that this is going to be a journey. You are going to have to develop several different skills and learn many things. There are no magic bullets or push button wonders. This is a job like any other, and you are going to have to learn how to do it.

2. Focus on an audience.

Your audience. Who are these people? Know them in detail. What do they want? What do they hate? What do they watch?

If you don't know, or what you offer is 'for everyone', you're sunk.

And most importantly: where are they? Where is your audience, where can you find them? You need to encounter them somewhere, and then work to bring them from there to your own turf.

If you don't understand what I mean... consider the possibility that your audience is on Facebook, in a large group. You have to get your target audience members out of there. Otherwise, you'll eventually (or sooner rather than later) get banned by the group owner. So your job is to make an initial connection in a non-sleazy way, and then interest them into connecting with you personally... and from there, get onto your email list so you can continue to market to them.

3. Have a picture of your business.

So many newbies go blank when they think about a picture of their business. If you can't imagine it, or can't draw it, it doesn't exist. You don't have anything.

A business, every business, has only three main pieces. Draw these out. Fill them in for your situation. Expect that it will take a little time to get clarity on these things (see point #1), but have doing so as a target.

Traffic

Conversion

Fulfillment.

Key Focus Points For You When You're New In Business

Just those three things. If you spend the first few months of 2021 focused on figuring out and being able to clearly draw a picture of your business with those three things, I guarantee you'll be much better off than if you just try to float through and magically get somewhere.

Who's your audience? Where do they come from? That's Traffic.

How will you turn some of your audience into Buyers? That's Conversion.

Conversion can be a sales letter, a video sales letter (VSL), a sales conversation on Zoom or by phone, or any other thing that helps turn an audience member into a buyer.

How do you deliver the result you've promised? That's Fulfillment.

For some people, this is a downloadable .zip file.

For others, it's a membership site.

Some do it by personal or group coaching.

Others go away and design or copywrite or do some other task that has a deliverable at the end.

If you don't have clarity on these, and a resulting picture of your business, you're in deep trouble. You won't know how to focus, and on to what. Everything will seem of equal importance to you, and that is the kiss of death my friend.

If you're planning to be an affiliate marketer, consider the picture:

Traffic is your problem. That's what you're bringing to the table. Where's the audience?

Conversion is the sales letter of your Clickbank seller you've affliated with. Probably a good idea to warm the audience up with an email sequence prior to sending them to that sales page, but there's the main Conversion tool.

Fulfillment is their problem. That's the thing you affiliated with to offer. Up to you to vett that this seller provides what they say they'll provide.

Note that Conversion and Fulfillment are not enough. They are not a business. Yet we see people every day who have set up a Clickfunnels account and page, or got approved for an affliate offer, and think they have a business. No. They have next to nothing. The AUDIENCE (Traffic) is key and that's why I've stressed it here.

Keep these three things in mind, keep striving to learn more and get greater clarity on them, and you'll build a great business going into 2021.

It's not about "what's working"--because what works for you is something you'll figure out as you go, and it'll be a combination just for you.

It's not about "what tools should I use"--because what's relevant to them is probably not relevant to you. And there are no magic bullets.

It's not about "how do you do this"--because, again, you're going to have to figure out your own way. There's no such thing as a Business In A Box. The map is definitely NOT the territory. Get your mucking boots on and get into the marsh yourself. You can't go there by only looking at the map.

Get started on developing that picture. Questions?

>> Jason Kanigan is a business strategist and process improvement expert. Book a time to consult with him here <<