Webinar notes:

* Video and podcast recorded versions of this webinar can be found at the bottom of this page.

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How to choose a business to get started

·        Diff between product and service – real-time required to implement

·        What problem do you want to solve?

·        What would you do for free? Only do products for the money, services are hours

·        What are you good at that you also enjoy doing and would like to improve on? How can that be used to improve other peoples lives?

·        What can you do that would minimise effort for others?

·        Start a new category (eg dance fusion) or overtake a current category (eg std yoga). Or,add your twist to a current category, eg. BROJO. Doing something unique allows you to dictate pricing (eg coaching) whereas other things will require some market adjustment (eg guitar lessons).

·        Examples:

o    Trades and crafts

o    IT solutions

o    Consultancy/coaching/training/teaching

o    Advocacy/brokering/mediation

o    Entertainment/art

o    Promotion/marketing/sales

What starting actually means in terms of action

·        You don’t need to register, advertise or build a website yet, just find one person to help

·        Do a few “as practice” for free – friends, family, associates (maybe cover costs)

·        Then find another and charge money for helping – first $1 is the hardest

·        Do this until it makes sense to make it legit – keep increasing prices with each positive review

·        Be flexible and adaptable – you might change your mind

·        Always just look for one more person to serve – this is the whole business model (build upto 1000 true fans)

How toget started without taking major risks

·        Until someone is paying you for your service, you don’t have a business, so relax and take pressure off

·        Dedicate X amount of hours per week, just to practice and experiment without requirement to succeed

·        Minimal investment – forget websites and anything that isn’t directly required to provide your service – ignore the fancy stuff for now (you’ll be tempted to waste your time) – just keep finding another person to serve

·        Do it on the side of another job so money isn’t a problem, or get a loan that you’re willing to lose out on

·        Take care with conflict of interest while an employee – doing it for free nearly always solves this, you can charge later once you’re established – or you can usually just declare it once you’re making $10k + per year

·        No need to make a commitment until you feel 80% ready – do it as a fun experiment at first

·        From there,work within your income – leave big purchases to last needed minute –coaching/mentorship is the only exception (for service based businesses)

·        Budgeting is super important, especially if you’re an employee until now – now matter how much comes in, for first couple of years spend like you’re about to have 6months without sales

·        No advertising or anything – your first clients will be from effort not investment

How toget your first few clients and understand the basics of authentic sales/marketing

·        Always keep service in mind as priority, money as secondary

·        Services businesses are built on personal relationships – the whole thing can be done with reaching out and referrals, no need for ads, websites etc

·        Track every single contact, and maintain regular contact over time, keep trying to serve even if they don’t seem likely to buy right now, though focus on those who benefit most and are more likely to be ideal clients

·        Show them it’s worth it instead of selling – demos, trials, samples, free sessions –limited but enough to give them a taste

·        Your first$1 is the hardest, once that’s established you can incrementally increase prices

·        Scrape your network clean before even considering advertisement or other marketing

o    Friends, family, referrals, Facebook, email list, hobbies

·        Start a community (like BROJO) when you’re ready, where they get your support for free or cheap, then from there create clients – your support will do the selling for you

·        Chase No’s –try to get 100 No’s before even thinking about trying to get a Yes

·        Ask them what they want and deliver it, rather than promising what you can do or guessing what they need

·        Keep refining your ideal client description based on how you feel working with people, and carefully examine the difference between high paying clients and low or no paying clients

Constantly read.Business books. Philosophy books. Books related to your field of expertise.Keep levelling up. Keep trying new things. Keep learning.

Dedication. 5 years ordie trying. Ignore the overnight success stories, they’re not representative.

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