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Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months Book Giveaway · The SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson

• 0:00
  3, 10, 1, 0, ignition, liftoff,
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  Ending small business failure.
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  Welcome to the Small Biz Chat podcast with a number 1 small business expert Melinda Emerson.
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  Bolinda's goal is to end small business failure, and she'll give you the information
• 0:21
  you need to succeed and live the life you've dream of.
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  Now here's the small biz lady herself.
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  Melinda Emerson.
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  Hi, everybody.
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  This is Melinda Emerson, the small biz lady.
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  Welcome to Smallbiz chat podcast.
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  I am so excited to record this.
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  This is my very first diary podcast of 2021 and I cannot be more thrilled to be back with you
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  all.
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  You know, we have been through so much Boyd, you know, 2020 was ugly.
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  I don't know about you, but I was super glad to see it go bye bye.
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  And just just so much has been going on, but I am so grateful for a new year, a new day, a new
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  opportunity to serve you as America's number one small business expert, and just I want you
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  all to know that it is my heart's joy to be your small business lady.
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  And so I am so excited because I have a huge announcement today.
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  Like, huge.
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  Like, something I have never ever done in my entire career, and I am so excited to be able
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  to announce it on the small business chat podcast.
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  I want you all to know that I have heard you.
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  I have gotten your email messages.
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  I have your voice mail messages.
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  I have gotten your emails, your DMs, your connections on LinkedIn asking for help, asking
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  for guidance, trying to figure out what to do.
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  Your pandemic pivot didn't quite work out, or if you're still struggling through it and you
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  need some pain medicine.
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  And here's what here's what I'm gonna do.
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  Me and my team got together, and we said, what could we do to serve my small business
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  audience?
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  And here's what I decided to do.
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  I'm gonna give away a 1000 copies of my book.
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  Become your own boss in 12 months for free.
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  All you gotta do is pay shipping.
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  And and I'm gonna do it while supplies last.
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  We're launching the campaign this January.
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  I'm so excited about it.
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  And what I want you guys to do is if you are interested and a free copy of become your own
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  boss in 12 months.
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  You know, my book has been in print for 11 years.
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  I first wrote it in 2008, but you guys remember what happened in the great recession.
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  They bought my book.
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  So my book actually never came out until March of 2010.
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  And so that book has been in print for 11 years, and we updated it in 2015.
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  It's got all the great social media and content marketing stuff in it.
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  And you know what?
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  I want to give it as a guide.
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  If you If your business is in ashes and you're trying to rebuild, this will help.
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  If you're still trying to dig your way out of the pandemic, this is gonna help.
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  If you are scared, that you're gonna lose your job, or you think you just wanna have another
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  stream of income, this book is gonna help.
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  So it's become your own boss in 12 months.
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  Look, you can go buy it, you know, on Amazon if you want to, but I have a 1000 copies.
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  I'm giving away free.
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  If you guys want a copy of the book.
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  All you have to do is go over to beginmybiz.com/freebook.
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  Again, it is beginmybiz.com.
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  Slash free book, and we are giving away a 1000 books, a 1000 books.
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  Are you guys and here's what and here's why I'm doing it because I've been so blessed.
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  That book has sold a 100,000 copies.
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  I mean, in in multiple languages around the world, it has helped so many people, so many
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  places I've gotten hundreds of letters from people who, you know, over the years from all
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  over the world who've been blessed by that book.
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  And now what I wanna do is bless all of you.
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  I wanna support you.
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  You know, this book is my it's my manifesto.
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  It's my life's work.
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  It is the tools to transition from having a job to starting a business, but it's also if you're
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  it's you're trying to reinvent.
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  If you're trying to turn things around in your business, the same system will apply.
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  Because at the end of the day, you guys, if you are in business, if you wanna start a business
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  or you're trying to reinvent a business, the first thing you have to do is figure out what
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  you want and why.
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  Because sometimes the reason why we wanna start a business is almost like everybody wants to be
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  a boss until they actually have to be 1, you know, because when you're a boss, that means
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  you have agreed to make all of the hard decisions.
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  That means you've agreed to go without a paycheck so that your staff can have a
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  paycheck.
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  So you've gotta make sure that this is really what you want that you're really willing, to do
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  all of this hard work.
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  And we break it down for you.
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  So the first thing we talk about in in in this book is life planning.
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  It's like, what, you know, what do you want?
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  What is your end game?
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  Because I want you to think about your end game So that you can think about building the right
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  business for you and your family and your lifestyle.
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  And certainly, you know, once we talk to you about life planning and helping you really get
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  clear about what you want and why you want it.
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  If starting a business is still it, then, okay.
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  The next thing we're gonna help you figure out where you're gonna get the money to start your
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  dream business.
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  Because here's the deal, guys.
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  Banks don't loan money to start at businesses.
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  They barely loan it to existing businesses as we've all seen demonstrated.
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  So I want you guys to know that this book will help you figure out where your money is.
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  Like, what capital do you have on hand?
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  How you can cut back, how you can save money so that you can start your dream business.
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  And I break all of that down so that you can get clear about your credit, and your credit
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  capacity and looking at your debt and your credit cards and all this stuff because you
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  guys, the money to fund your business is gonna come from you.
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  It's gonna come from your right or your left pocket.
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  So you really have to get clear about whether or not you're willing to sacrifice like that.
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  And then here's the thing.
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  You gotta go talk to your sweetie.
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  You gotta go talk to your partner or your spouse about are they on board?
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  Because here's the deal, guys.
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  An unsupportive spouse can kill a business faster than a bad marketing plan.
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  So you wanna make sure that everybody in your household, but particularly your life partner
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  is is into it, is willing to support you, is willing to to take over the lion's chair,
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  maybe, of the bills, or the health insurance, or whatever you got going on, before you are
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  going to start this business.
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  And so you've gotta get really clear about the money and the plan for the money.
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  And the other thing you've gotta get clear about is with your partner or your spouse is
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  how long you're gonna chase this business because you guys know I've been teaching this
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  for forever.
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  It takes 18 to 20 months, 24 months for a small business to break even.
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  Let alone replace your corporate salary.
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  So you basically gotta ask your partner for 3 years of support for you to kinda get this
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  thing going, maybe even 4 years before you can take a regular paycheck that would even come
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  close to replacing your corporate salary.
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  So you've gotta get really, really, really clear with your partner about what's gonna be
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  involved, how much money it's gonna take.
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  And look, if you know you're married to somebody that's highly risk averse, treat them
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  like they are the bank, come at them with a full power port presentation, break down the
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  numbers, break down the opportunity, show them the competition, show them how you're gonna
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  defeat the competition.
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  I mean, you you've really gotta do your homework so that you can get people behind you,
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  but your life partner is the number one person that you need to have behind you.
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  And so you wanna make sure that you've done your homework so that they say yes, so that
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  it's not even a decision.
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  Like, it's like, maybe if this is what you wanna do, I support you.
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  And so that is the thing that you also have to think about when you're thinking about the
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  money.
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  You gotta think about the the where the other money is gonna come from.
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  And then you gotta figure out your time because your new business is gonna become your baby.
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  Right?
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  So you really have kinda think through.
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  Alright.
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  Well, not only is my partner gonna have to pick up the slack financially, but then you're not
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  gonna be able to be as available to that person because your business is gonna start soaking
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  up, you know, your extra time, especially if you're still working a full time job, which by
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  the way, I would highly suggest that you do.
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  I I'm not a big fan of telling people to quit jobs to start a business.
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  I'm I'm super not a fan of that.
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  So I want you guys to know that you're gonna be working a full time job, trying to get this
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  business off the ground, and you may have a partner and children.
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  Right?
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  And so and kids don't understand.
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  Mommy's gotta work on Saturday.
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  They are looking at you like, Mommy, I need to be dropped off at whatever.
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  Right?
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  You know, so You've gotta make sure that everybody understands, have a family meeting.
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  Talk to your kids.
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  Like, get them involved.
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  And as soon as you can, give them a little job in your business.
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  Like, I make sure that my son understands that I am the small business lady and what that
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  means, and how I support people around the world and give people tools and advice.
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  And it's so funny because I overheard my son one time telling somebody, well, you know my
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  mom is a small business lady.
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  You know, she saves small businesses every day.
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  And I thought, wow, my child has been overhearing some of these interviews and
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  podcasts, the things I've been doing, He knows what mom what his mom does, and that and that
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  makes me really excited.
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  But you've gotta make sure that your kids know what you're due.
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  That your partner is bought in because it's just gonna be too hard because the world's
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  gonna tell you, no.
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  The last thing you need is your family telling you no to or your family going on strike.
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  So make sure that you carve out some time for them.
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  Try at least one day a week to not work all night.
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  You know, give them some of your time.
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  Give them some of your energy.
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  Schedule it so that you so and make it a sacred time on your calendar.
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  Maybe it's every night you make sure you have dinner with them, or maybe Sunday is a day that
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  you don't touch work.
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  Whatever it is, make sure that you carve out some time for the family so that they don't
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  think you've abandoned them for this business, you know, sometimes your your business can
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  become, you know, your your mistress.
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  So you wanna make sure that you're focused at least once a week completely on your family so
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  that they don't feel like you've abandoned them to that spare office in your the back of your
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  house or down in your basement to your dungeon office.
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  You know, you wanna make sure that they know that you still care and that you're paying
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  attention to their needs as well.
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  So once you get kinda through the finances and talking to the family and getting everybody
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  bought in, the next thing you gotta do is really look at this business concept and really
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  be like, okay, Do I have a business here?
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  And one of the great things about my book become your own boss in 12 months, which I am
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  giving away for free, if you didn't hear me at the beginning of this podcast, I'm giving away
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  a 1000 copies for free.
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  If you go over to begin my biz dot com slash free book, you can get your copy and they're
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  only gonna be available while supplies last.
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  So once you kinda go through the life planning, the financial planning portion, and really
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  kinda having that honest conversation with your family.
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  The next thing you gotta do is really figure out, do you actually have a business here?
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  And and when I say that, I mean, I think a lot of times small business owners will go and talk
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  to their friends and family.
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  And, like, that's their representative sample for whether or not they a good idea.
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  Listen.
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  Hear me say this clearly.
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  That's not a big enough group of people to talk to.
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  You need to go talk to some strangers.
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  And figure out will they pay you for your product or service.
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  And one of the awesome things about social media is you can go out on your personal
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  Facebook page today and say, hey.
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  I'm working on this thing.
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  I would love to have twenty people giving their honest feedback and offer to give them
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  something, whether it's a $10 Starbucks gift card or if you have a product based business,
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  you can offer to give them free product, but you need feedback.
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  And so the best way to get it is from potential customers.
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  So go out to your network.
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  Not people that you talk to every day.
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  They're just your cheerleaders anyhow, but I'm talking about, you know, associates.
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  Go reach out to a group of associates, 15 to 20 of them, and ask them, show them the thing,
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  show them your offer, and and get their honest feedback as to whether or not your product and
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  or your marketing message about your product resonates with them.
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  Or if you let's say you're writing a book or you've got an online course or something like
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  that, it all works the same way.
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  You've gotta talk to some people who could potentially pay you.
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  So get their feedback as to whether or not they would.
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  You know, to me, seeing if you can generate sales is the greatest test you can do to test
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  your business concept and to test your business idea.
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  So if people are willing to give you money, that's a great sign that a whole lot of other
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  people will to but you have to get a big enough representative sample.
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  Your best friend, your mom, your auntie, mm-mm, that not them.
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  They love you.
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  And they may lie to you.
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  So you go get some people that would not lie to you that would tell you the truth.
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  That is what you need to do to really validate Your business concept.
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  Hi.
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  This is Melinda Emerson, the small biz lady host of the small bizchett podcast.
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  I want to serve you.
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  This pandemic has been so hard on America's small businesses and on just America in
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  general.
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  If you're ready to start your dream business boy do I have a great offer for you?
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  I am giving away 1000 copies of my best selling book.
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  Become your own boss in 12 months.
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  Over a hundred thousand people have this book.
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  It has been printed in multiple languages around the world, and I wanted to find a way to
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  serve America's small businesses in this pandemic.
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  And so I am giving away a 1000 copies of my book.
• 13:44
  All you have to do to get your copy is head over to begin my biz.com/freeoffer to, you
• 13:51
  know, sign up for your copy.
• 13:52
  All you have to do is pay shipping, and we will mail one out to you I am so excited about this.
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  I wanna serve you, grab your copy today.
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  The other thing you wanna do is make sure you have some business experience like in the
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  business that you wanna start.
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  Please don't start a restaurant because you like to eat.
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  Right?
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  I want you to go work in a restaurant.
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  Just because you bake great cakes doesn't mean you need to run a bakery.
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  There's 2 completely different skill sets.
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  I want to make sure that you have some experience.
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  So go work for a business like the one you wanna start, or maybe you do work for a
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  business like the one you wanna start right now, which is fine, but you obviously have to
• 14:29
  realize that if you're gonna start a business that could compete with your day job, you're
• 14:33
  gonna have to leave that day job.
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  So you gotta kinda figure that out but you definitely want to make sure that you're going
• 14:40
  into a business that you have some experience in or that if you are buying a franchise or
• 14:45
  something like that, find out how good their training is, but not they're just there
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  training for you as the owner, but how much training is there for your workers you wanna
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  make sure that their program is really as turnkey as they say.
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  And so you wanna make sure that you kinda talk to at least 3 or 4 other owners in that
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  franchise to find out how they really treat you.
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  You wanna make sure that you've got a great location and things like that.
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  But you want to know about their training.
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  And do they train you once?
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  Do they have ongoing training?
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  Is it in person?
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  Is it online?
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  What is it?
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  You wanna make sure you know and that it's well defined and that they've got takeaway materials
• 15:24
  that you could follow-up on, but you wanna make sure that there's information out there for you
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  to learn this business that you're going to start.
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  Now the next thing you've gotta figure out after you've get all of this information.
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  So let's recap for a second.
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  You figured out what you want and why.
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  You figured out where you're gonna get the money.
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  You've had this meeting with your partner, your life partner spouse or whoever your sweetie is
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  and talked to them about it and they're supportive.
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  Okay.
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  You've done some research about your industry.
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  You've tested it with some sample customers.
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  You know that you have something that people are willing to pay for.
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  And you've kinda preliminarily tested maybe your marketing messages a little bit to see if
• 16:00
  people are interested.
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  Now it's brass tax time.
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  The next step in in the system that I break down in becoming your own boss in 12 months is
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  really figuring out who you're paying customers.
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  You really need to develop a detailed target customer persona.
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  You need to figure out who this woman is How much education she has?
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  Where does she live?
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  Does she have kids?
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  Does she have disposable discretionary income?
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  And where does she buy things?
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  And how often does she buy them?
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  You need to know a lot of information about your customer.
• 16:30
  The more information you know about your customer, the better off you're gonna be.
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  So how can you find out information customers before your business is even open.
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  Well, there's lots of information out here on social media.
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  There's all kinds of groups that you can join.
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  Private groups or open groups that you can join and just start asking some questions.
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  You know, the it no one will jump on you for asking questions.
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  People jump on people in social media for being overtly promotional.
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  But if you're just trying to get information and if you're offering something in exchange
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  for that information, I don't think it should be too tough, but you definitely want to find
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  your tribe, find your people, and find them before you start your business.
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  The last thing you wanna do is start a business and then go looking for customers.
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  You need to have a preliminary relationship with your customers or start building a
• 17:16
  relationship with your customers prior to opening your business.
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  And so you want to do as much research upfront.
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  Look at what they're buying now.
• 17:26
  For your category.
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  Everybody buys shoes.
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  So what are gonna make them buy your shoes?
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  So you gotta figure out what your angle's gonna and what your unique value proposition's gonna
• 17:36
  be.
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  That's gonna be key because nobody's looking for a me too business, and nobody's looking for
• 17:41
  a product that is just okay.
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  So you gotta make sure that you've got a great product and that it's something people actually
• 17:47
  want.
• 17:48
  Cause I I all the time, I I hear from entrepreneurs who wanna start businesses that
• 17:51
  people need.
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  You know what?
• 17:53
  People need to eat more vegetables and drink more water.
• 17:57
  Yeah.
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  Exactly.
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  So my point is you need to make sure it's something people want.
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  The people that sell donuts, no.
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  They sell things people want.
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  No.
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  They're not healthy.
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  But they're doughnuts.
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  So I think you've gotta think about how you can become from a need to a want because people buy
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  things they want.
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  Sometimes they buy things they need, but they definitely buy things they want.
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  So how can you get what you sell to the want category?
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  You've gotta find out what your customer's pain is.
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  You gotta really know how you can solve their problem and how you can uniquely solve their
• 18:32
  problem as opposed to how your competitors are solving it.
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  That's really what the name of the game is.
• 18:36
  You guys, when you think about competition, competition is about strategy.
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  And strategy is about figuring out how you can produce your product in a way that adds value
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  that is not easily duplicatable by your competitors.
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  I'm gonna say that one more time because I want you guys to hear me.
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  Competition is about strategy.
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  And your strategy should be to figure out how you can add value to your customer in a way
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  that is not easily duplicatable by your competitors.
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  Because at the end of the day, providing great customer service is something any business can
• 19:13
  do.
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  So that's really not special.
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  You've gotta figure out something else.
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  There's another level to this that you gotta go to figure out how you can support your
• 19:24
  customers better.
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  So you've got to figure that out because that's gonna be the key.
• 19:29
  If you're selling purses, anybody can do that.
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  So you've gotta figure out how are your purses unique?
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  Are they made in a different kind of fabric?
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  Are they is it an African print Is it a unusual shaped purse?
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  Are you using upcycled materials?
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  What is it?
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  I don't know, but you gotta figure it out.
• 19:48
  Because if you're just selling a person, if you're literally going to the rogers of the TJ
• 19:52
  Maxx and buying purses and selling them on Amazon, honey, you are in trouble.
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  Because anybody can do that.
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  And if anybody can do that, you can be put out a business over price.
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  And being competing on price is a dangerous dangerous business model because you can get
• 20:09
  put out of business by somebody with a bigger, better business than you, and it's really,
• 20:13
  really that that simple.
• 20:14
  So you wanna make sure that you are not falling victim to that, that you actually have
• 20:21
  something unique and special about how you do your thing that you do that really makes you
• 20:25
  stand out to your target customer.
• 20:28
  It's about pain, but sometimes it's about aspiration.
• 20:31
  Who do these people wanna be?
• 20:34
  If they drive your car, do they feel like they're more successful?
• 20:38
  If they use your makeup or they wear this certain brand, how does that make them feel?
• 20:44
  So you've gotta figure out people's emotional, psychological drives for why they buy things.
• 20:49
  If you really wanna penetrate and figure out how you can be positioned differently than your
• 20:55
  competitors.
• 20:56
  And then you gotta write a business plan.
• 20:58
  I know that there's been all this conversation out here about, you know, lean plans and all
• 21:04
  this kind of stuff.
• 21:05
  Look, I don't care if it's two pages or forty pages, you need a plan.
• 21:09
  Right?
• 21:10
  You gotta plan for success.
• 21:11
  Success is not going to just happen to you.
• 21:14
  I don't think you need a forty page manifesto, but I do think you might need 10 good pages
• 21:19
  that's gonna explain how your business is gonna run.
• 21:22
  How are you going to get the phone to ring?
• 21:24
  And what are you gonna do to follow-up once the phone rings?
• 21:28
  How are you gonna deliver the service?
• 21:29
  And then what's gonna be the follow-up after the service?
• 21:32
  Because you guys let me tell you something.
• 21:34
  The follow-up after the service is how you get the repeat business.
• 21:40
  So you've got to make sure that somebody's talking to that customer.
• 21:44
  Somebody's sending an email to that customer saying, hey.
• 21:47
  How did you like us?
• 21:49
  Would you like to order again?
• 21:50
  Somebody's gotta say that to your customer because you can't assume that they're just
• 21:54
  gonna come back and reorder from you.
• 21:56
  They may or they may not.
• 21:57
  But you they certainly won't be they'll be far less likely to do it if you don't ask.
• 22:03
  Right?
• 22:04
  You have to ask for the business.
• 22:06
  And you have to ask for the follow-up business, but if you get follow-up business, that is how
• 22:11
  you create a sustainable business because here's the deal, guys.
• 22:14
  Anybody will buy something once.
• 22:16
  You need to get them to buy it over and over again from you.
• 22:20
  And the only way to do that is to ask them.
• 22:23
  Follow-up.
• 22:24
  Super, super easy.
• 22:26
  Your fortune is in your follow-up, literally.
• 22:28
  And then lastly, I'm a big fan of launching while working.
• 22:31
  If you can, a lot of us have you know, businesses have gone under or people have
• 22:36
  gotten unemployed, and I get that.
• 22:38
  But if that's not you, if you have the luxury to keep working, baby, keep working because I
• 22:44
  don't want you to cut those paychecks off prematurely.
• 22:48
  You gotta figure out what you're doing.
• 22:49
  You gotta figure out what your co who your customers are.
• 22:52
  You wanna make as many mistakes as you can while you're still getting a paycheck from
• 22:55
  somebody else.
• 22:56
  Because once you cut your paychecks off, they are off.
• 22:58
  And in this day and age, being without health insurance and stuff like that is really, really
• 23:02
  more scary than ever before.
• 23:04
  So you wanna make sure that your front and your back is covered.
• 23:07
  And you do that with a business plan.
• 23:09
  And then you do that by launching your business while you're still working if you can because
• 23:14
  you wanna save up as much money as you can because Listen, when you start out in business,
• 23:19
  your 1st year of operating capital, that's coming out of your right or left pocket.
• 23:23
  So you've gotta figure out how you're gonna tighten your finances get your credit score
• 23:27
  higher, all these things you gotta do before you start.
• 23:30
  And the best way to do that is why you still have regular paychecks coming in so that you
• 23:35
  can tighten up some of your debt and save some money, put it to the side so that when you're
• 23:39
  ready to launch your business, you have the resources in place to do that.
• 23:43
  And listen, I wanna help you.
• 23:44
  This pandemic has been hard.
• 23:46
  It's been hard on a lot of people.
• 23:47
  50% of businesses have gone under, and that does not have to be you.
• 23:51
  The greatest thing about a failure in a business is how much smarter you're gonna be
• 23:56
  the next time you do it.
• 23:57
  And I wanna give you some pain medicine.
• 23:59
  So I'm giving away a 1000 copies of my book.
• 24:03
  Become your own boss in 12 months.
• 24:05
  For free.
• 24:06
  You just have to pay the shipping.
• 24:08
  If you head over to begin my biz.com/freebook, You get everything you need.
• 24:15
  So listen.
• 24:17
  I'm Melinda Emerson.
• 24:18
  I am the small business lady, and I'm so excited to be able to serve you So please head
• 24:23
  over to begin my biz.com slash free book.
• 24:26
  I'm only giving away a thousand copies when they're gone this program will be over.
• 24:31
  Done.
• 24:32
  Fanito, petite, gone.
• 24:34
  So I really wanna make sure that you guys are aware of it and that you can take advantage of
• 24:39
  it.
• 24:39
  You're my loyal podcast listener, so I wanted to make sure that you guys had the opportunity
• 24:45
  to know about this offer as soon as possible.
• 24:48
  So again, head over to begin mybiz.com/freebook, and you will get a chance
• 24:54
  to get your copy All you have to do is pay shipping.
• 24:57
  Once you get your shipping, we'll pop it in the mail to you.
• 25:00
  And I'm just so excited.
• 25:02
  I can't wait to hear about the feedback that you guys have for me, once you get a chance to
• 25:08
  get your hands on this book, if you don't already have it.
• 25:10
  And if you do, Get a free book to give to somebody else.
• 25:13
  You know, all your friends wanna be a business owner just like you.
• 25:16
  So grab a free book for them.
• 25:19
  I just wanna do this as a service to the community, and I'm so excited about it.
• 25:23
  Me and my team have been working on it for, gosh, two and a half months trying to figure
• 25:28
  out what we could do to serve, how we could serve.
• 25:31
  And so I want you guys to head over to begin my biz.com/freebook and get your copy or get a
• 25:38
  copy for a friend.
• 25:39
  And that way, we will all lift everyone together.
• 25:43
  I wish you guys well.
• 25:44
  Have a wonderful 2021.
• 25:47
  I wanted to be the best year ever in your business, and we're gonna get it kicked off
• 25:51
  right.
• 25:52
  Again, I'm Melinda Emerson, the small biz lady.
• 25:54
  You're listening to the small biz chat podcast.
• 25:56
  See you next time.
• 25:58
  Thank you for listening to the Small Biz chat podcast with Melinda Emerson.
• 26:03
  For more resources and small business success strategies, visit succeed as your own boss.com.
• 26:10
  Subscribe to this podcast wherever you listen to podcasts and join us next Wednesday.