Latest / The SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson / No Resolutions with Melinda Emerson

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No Resolutions with Melinda Emerson · The SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson

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  Three, two, one, zero.
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  Ignition.
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  Lift off.
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  Ending small business failure.
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  Welcome to the Small Biz Chat podcast with the number one small business expert, Melinda
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  Emerson.
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  Melinda's goal is to end small business failure, and she'll give you the information
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  you need to succeed and live the life you dream of.
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  Now here's your host, the small biz chat lady herself, Melinda Emerson.
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  Have you subscribed to the small biz chat podcast?
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  Well, it's time.
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  Every Wednesday, we offer listeners bite sized actionable tips to start and grow a successful
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  small business.
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  In just twenty minutes or so a week, you can get a ton of insight and resources to propel
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  your business forward.
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  Be sure to subscribe to the Small Bitch Chat podcast today.
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  Hi, everybody, and welcome back to the Small Biz Chat podcast.
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  I'm Melinda Emerson, the small biz lady, your host.
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  I am America's number one small business expert, and it is my distinct pleasure and
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  honor to welcome you to my Small Bitch Chat podcast.
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  This is our first podcast of 2026.
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  So you guys know the first Wednesday of the year is the first.
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  So I'm so excited to bring you guys this brand new podcast kicking off the year.
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  And let me tell you what this podcast is called.
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  No resolutions.
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  It's all about resolve, and that's what we're gonna be talking about today.
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  I really want to give you a message that I think every small business owner needs to hear.
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  We're not doing resolutions this year.
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  We're choosing resolve.
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  Resolutions are wishes.
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  Resolve is a decision.
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  And so I think resolutions rely on motivation.
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  Resolve really relies on discipline.
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  And so it's easy for people to make these resolutions and then three weeks later, they
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  ain't in a gym, they back to eating donuts, whatever.
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  Look, I don't want your resolutions.
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  I want your firm commitments and decisions.
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  So that's why I'm talking to you guys today about resolve, because here's what I know.
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  Resolutions fade by February, but resolve will carry you through December.
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  So if you are a corporate refugee, a former government worker, if you are over 45 and
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  trying to figure out what your legacy is going to be, I really do hope that this episode of
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  the Small Bitch Hat podcast is a wake up call for you because this year, the reward will go
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  to those with clarity, with systems, with sales systems, and not those who are hoping things
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  will magically improve.
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  They won't.
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  You gotta be intentional about it.
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  So I'm gonna break down what I think the five commitments that everyone should make to
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  themselves and their business to have an amazing 2026.
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  Does that sound okay?
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  Alright.
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  Well, let's jump in.
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  The first thing I want everybody to do is to resolve to commit.
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  Not wish, commit.
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  Most resolutions fail because they're based on hope and not structure.
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  So if you say, I wanna grow my business.
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  I wanna get more clients.
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  I wanna work less.
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  Yeah.
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  These are wishes.
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  So I want you guys to resolve to fix these issues in your business.
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  So here's how the resolve works.
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  I commit to one business outcome that matters, and I'm gonna align with it every week and take
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  action around it.
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  Now, one of the things that I do every year at the beginning of the year, I create three goals
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  for myself.
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  Two business goals and one personal goal.
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  And the reason why I do this is because it helps me align around my goals.
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  So whenever people ask me to do things or I'm asked to speak at conferences or asked to
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  sponsor this or asked to partner with this, I always can evaluate that decision based upon my
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  three big goals.
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  And if they don't align, it's a quick no.
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  So the first thing I want to invite you to do is to make your three big goals.
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  And I like two business ones and one person one because we ain't just living to work y'all.
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  I want you to use your business to generate the revenue so that you can build your dream life.
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  And you're not gonna be able to do that if you don't start with yourself as the top of your
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  priority list.
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  So I want you to pick one that will put you in a better position twelve months from now.
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  Personally, I want you to pick one for your business and I want you to pick one for like
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  your business operations, like something you need to do to get yourself out of the way.
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  Because all of us as business owners, our goal should be to get ourselves off of our own org
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  chart.
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  Right?
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  You're gonna have two exits from your business, one from your org chart, and then later, if you
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  actually decide to sell your business.
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  But we'll we'll get to that in a minute.
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  But I want you guys to think about one thing you can do, two things you can do that are
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  gonna better position your business twelve months from now.
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  Very important.
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  The other one I want you guys to think about is resolve to sell.
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  A lot of you guys are struggling in your business because of poor sales systems.
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  And let me be clear.
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  Revenue can fix a whole bunch of problems in a business, and hoping for more clients is
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  absolutely not a strategy.
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  So how are you gonna commit to mastering sales this year?
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  What are you gonna do to build a business where your customers come to you, first of all, that
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  you have a consistent lead generation system.
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  And when you get them, you have tight follow-up systems so that you can review a full pipeline
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  weekly.
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  Then you can work on fixing your follow-up.
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  Then you got to tighten your offer.
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  And then you got to build repeatable sales systems.
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  And then you got to track your metrics.
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  You're not going to be buying ads that you're not checking if the ads are working.
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  Well, all the other marketing stuff you do needs to be looked at the same way.
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  Are you looking at your Google Analytics every month to see what is actually sending traffic
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  to your website?
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  Guys, you're out here doing social media and you don't even know if social media is moving
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  the needle for you.
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  All of these things are a problem.
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  So you want to make sure that you are tracking your metrics, your lead volume, your number of
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  discovery calls, your close ratios, your sales cycle time.
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  All of these things are metrics you guys have gotta be tracking around your sales in your
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  business to make sure you're doing things that are actually moving the needle.
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  Sales is not about being pushy.
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  It's about being clear.
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  It's about being confident and being compelling and really understanding that when you are a
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  seller, you have the ability to change things for people.
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  And so you have to position yourself for the change, for the transformation, because that's
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  what people really want.
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  Now, three on my resolve list is resolve to systematize your business.
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  Please, please, please, this year, I want you to stop running your business like an employee
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  and start running it like a CEO.
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  That means you need systems because systems create freedom.
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  If you have systems, then you have a way to train new employees.
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  If you have systems, when one person leaves, it's no problem.
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  You can pick right up and train the next person and keep it moving.
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  So you wanna create that.
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  Systems also remove chaos from your business.
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  If you feel like your hair is on fire or worse, your behind is on fire in your business, that's
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  because you don't have enough systems.
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  You don't have things documented.
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  You're not looking at your financials every month.
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  You're waiting until tax time to figure out whether or not your business even made money.
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  Like all of these things are you playing in your business as opposed to being about your
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  business.
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  And your systems also make your business sellable.
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  The more systems you have, the less dependent your business is on you personally.
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  And that is the only way you're ever going to build a business that you can sell one day.
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  And so I want you to start this year with CEO energy.
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  And really, I want you to do a CEO audit.
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  Ask yourself, what can I eliminate?
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  What can I automate?
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  What can I delegate?
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  I want you to document your processes.
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  Stop.
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  Stop.
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  Stop winging it.
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  Please stop winging it.
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  I want you to build consistency so that your clients have an amazing experience every time
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  they interact with your business without you burning out.
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  This business should not be beating you to the ground.
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  And if it is, you don't have enough help or you don't have enough revenue to get the help you
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  need.
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  But something's gotta change.
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  You cannot go into 2026 making the same mistakes you made in 2025.
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  You just can't.
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  So, I want you to systematize your business so that you can protect your peace and scale your
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  profits.
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  Now, number four is resolve to own your value.
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  Underpricing is literally the silent killer of women owned businesses.
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  You cannot build legacy wealth being the cheapest option.
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  You really can't.
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  So this year I want you to resolve to raise your prices and refine your offers to reflect
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  the transformation that you provide.
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  I want you to stop pricing based on fear.
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  Instead, price your services based on value and use this simple math.
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  What is the financial, emotional, or operational transformation that your services
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  provide?
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  Multiply it by 10, then price accordingly.
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  People don't pay for your time.
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  They pay for your expertise, your results, and your shortcuts that you can teach them and show
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  them.
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  So what I want you all to do is resolve to own your value and speak your value and charge your
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  value.
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  Now, number five on my resolve list, and this is a big one.
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  I want you to resolve to prepare to exit your business someday.
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  Every entrepreneur must build a business that can run without them because a business that
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  can run without you is a business that can be sold one day.
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  Then that doesn't mean you need to sell next year.
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  Usually, if you are in a business, you should know how you want to exit your business.
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  But you usually have to start planning your exit three to five years before you do it,
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  which is why now is a great time for those of you like myself who've been doing it a long
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  time.
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  You need to be thinking about exit, but you have to put a lot of different things in place
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  for that to happen.
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  First of all, gotta make sure you got a real business with repeatable revenue.
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  And so, and then you also want to transition to really treating your business like an asset.
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  So this year, I want you to figure out what it would take for you to get off your own org
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  chart.
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  I want you to hire strategically smart people who can think about how your business makes
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  money other than you.
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  I want you to set clear performance expectations for yourself and for your senior
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  team.
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  Build KPIs and accountability.
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  It might be time for you to hire a coach to help you with this.
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  Listen, I have coaches.
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  I am a coach, but I have people that coach me.
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  So nobody is too good for coaching for sure.
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  I really want you to think about your quarterly revenue and your team growth.
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  You should be talk if you have a salesperson, you should be talking to that salesperson every
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  day about their job.
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  Even if it's a fifteen minute huddle, you should be talking to them about how they're
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  gonna hit their goals, how many calls they're trying to make a day.
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  All that stuff is really, really important.
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  Don't let it go a week.
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  Talk to your sales folks every single day.
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  This business depends on you and your job as a leader in your business.
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  You are an asset to your business, and your business is your best asset and your best
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  opportunity to generate wealth for yourself and for your family, your children, and your
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  children's children.
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  So it's really important for you to get out of hustle and get into structure.
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  Let 2026 be the year that you choose resolve.
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  No more vague resolutions.
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  No more wishful thinking.
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  No more waiting for the right moment.
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  You are the moment.
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  You are the strategy.
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  You are the CEO.
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  So with this, in order for this to be the year you take control of your sales, your system,
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  your pricing, and your growth, you're not too old, you're not too late, you're not too
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  behind, you're perfectly on time as long as you move with resolve.
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  Thank you guys so much for tuning in to the Small Biz Chat podcast.
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  I'm Melinda Emerson, the small business lady, your host, America's number one small business
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  expert, and it is truly my pleasure to give you my thoughts on how you can rock 2026.
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  Now if you have enjoyed this podcast, please share it with another great entrepreneur and
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  leave me a review only if you like it.
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  Don't give me no hate mail online, please.
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  Please give me a review on Apple Podcast or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast.
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  And I just wanna leave you with don't forget, January is the next ACCE CEO Summit.
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  It is my three day virtual conference for women teaching you how to buy an existing business or
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  franchise.
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  It is going to be amazing.
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  Tickets are still on sale.
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  Head over to smallbizladyuniversity.com forward slash Next Act CEO Summit.
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  Grab your tickets today.
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  Look.
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  These VIP tickets are gonna are really going fast.
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  We just have a limited number.
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  We're so excited that Verizon Small Business Digital Ready is our presenting sponsor of this
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  conference.
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  We do wanna make sure that you all are there and so you get all the information because
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  everyone should be able to benefit from all of the inventory that's out here right now for
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  people to purchase.
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  So I just wanna leave you with this.
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  You never lose in business.
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  Either you win or you learn.
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  God bless everybody.
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  See you next time.
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  Thanks for listening to the Small Biz Chat podcast with Melinda Emerson.
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  Subscribe to this podcast wherever you listen to podcasts, and join us next Wednesday for
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  more fantastic information and interviews.
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  You can find more sources and small business success strategies by visiting Melinda's
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  website, succeedasyourownboss.com.
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  Thanks again for listening, and we'll see you next week.