Knowing your audience can be a force for good or evil.
For good so you can provide the solution that can change people’s lives into their hands.
For evil, like poor Mr Ed….
Regardless, knowing your audience makes it possible to scale your business because they are more likely to listen and buy from you.. that is if you know how and when to speak to them…
Five principles of direct marketing can help lift your business out of a rut by helping stand out and stand up and scale to the next level.
Sometimes Schools can give us the best lessons on how to grow a business outside their classroom. Just look at how they are run…
Being successful in business is about understanding the core desires that drive your customers and providing solutions to fulfill them. We can learn a lot from two very different restaurants – one aimed at impressing clients for business deals, and another for throwing a 3 year old’s birthday – on how to create the right atmosphere, understand customer desires and price accordingly.
By doing this, you can outsmart your competitors and attract the customers you want and charge the prices you want. At the end of the day, it’s not about prices – it’s also about understanding and fulfilling customer desires.
This headline is ridiculous because pairing blue fin tuna sushi with sliders doesn’t have anything wrong with it logically, but rather awkward from an emotional aesthetic point of view.
it’s about atmosphere and how it reflects some of our deepest core desires.
Ever wonder why you go to the restaurants you do?
Do you only go because you are hungry?
If that’s the case why go out and not just deliver?
What restaurant would you take a client to win a critical project?
How about 20 3-year-old children to a birthday party?
Pick the same place? If not.. why?
Ever get a call from a company that only cares about price? it’s like a robber calling you to offer a discount on buying back what he just stole from your house.
“A man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man”
– Vito Corleone
Tips to be a real man or woman and build a business by freeing your time.
As a busiess owner what does it mean to “maximise” your time? There is lots of hype and cliches around.. but here are some practical steps the hero in our story took to maximise his time.
Four quick strategies for business owners to grow and build the value of their business and set it up to sell one day on their price and terms.
Budgets are necessary to control spending, but mindlessly following them is insane when it comes to scaling and growing your business beyond what the budget “allows”. You can be flexible and still grow smart as long as you look at key metrics for growth and allow them to supersede what some arbitratry budget measure says.
When and how do you balance growth while making sure you don’t go nuts on spend?
Your Business can be like a winning horse if you train it well and feed it with steady and growing profits.
On the big race day (the day you exit) it can give you a huge payout.
Have you ever felt really intimidated by an upcoming challenge? Like time I stepped onto a wrestling mat to face “Mr T.”* in the 1980s.
But then something amazing happened: when we got into the middle of the match, I realized he wasn’t so scary after all! In fact, if it hadn’t been for me being pysched out in the beginning and gave up points for nothing, I would have won.
This experience taught me an important lesson: don’t judge a situation by its cover. You never know what lies underneath. So be confident in yourself and take that leap of faith—you may surprise yourself!
*(P.S. It wasn’t the real Mr. T just in case you were wondering…)
As I posted this article on my Linkedin profile, I saw the date 26 January. It’s a coincidence, but it’s extremely relevant (and I’ll explain shortly).
Growing up in Chicago in the 1980s we witnessed one of the best NFL defenses to ever be on a field. It caputed a whole city and people went crazy.. even waiting in hundreds of thousands in 20 below zero to welcome them back after a championships.
Why do I bring them up? Because it’s a cautionary tale. How a system that brings you to the heights can also fail you when it outlives its time.
Like in business, and the system you used to launch can now destroy the value you built ..
As for the date? 26 January 1986 was the date they won the Super Bowl..
As a founder, especially if you were a solopreoneur, you had to do a bunch of things at once.
You had to hustle and find your customers, you had to onboard them, you had to service them, you had to bill them, and you had to collect from them all the while still trying to find new customers and working on the quality of your products and services.
And pay the bills, and deal with the government agencies, etc etc.
But when you are ready to scale and grow your business it’s best to keep in mind the Triangle of Success and the importance of being able to execute all areas simultaneously.
Do you make a sale to acquire a customer or acquire a customer to make a sale?
Why does this matter especially for scaling up your business?
Investing in your customer relationships pays off!
Don’t get so wrapped up in making a sale that you miss the long-term benefits of providing great service and using that sale to build a relationship with the customer.
And whatever you do, don’t ‘rip them off’ or you’ll find yourself out of business before too long.
Are you in business to trade your product or service or invest in your customer base – as an asset to your business?
It’s investment versus transaction and sometimes, as the example from my FX days shows, it’s not so clear cut.
Save money by doing it yourself right?
Wrong
it can cost you your business….
A business parable of how an owner transformed a horrible culture to one that allowed him to grow the business and become free.
Have you ever seen someone making a purchase and then changing their mind last second and leaving?
What can be more frustrating when someone is about to purchase from you, wants to purchase from you, but something is holding them back.
And what is holding them back might surprise you. But if you can figure it out, you can get the window shoppers to come in and the clients who would walk away.. take that deep breath and open your door.
With the New Year, many predictions come in, but they are mostly useless. You can see how useless it is by looking at the 2022 predictions and seeing what came true and what was not only wrong, but woefully so.
Even worse is the hero celebrity worship and blindly following even how they chew gum and walk at the same time.
Of course, thinking of the new year wouldn’t be complete without thinking of the two most annoying sales pitches we’ll have to hear repeatedly in the next 12 months…
Story of how my client had to deal with a most insidious “bunny boiler” before he could finally grow and scale his business.
Part 2 of dumb dog smart dog and how it applies to scaling your business
Ever consider dogs and what they can teach us about growing a business? And no, I’m not talking about going on the rug… or being so excited to see you as you walk in the office that they want to jump on your leg.
It’s about team.. it’s about fit..
and it’s about your freedom to grow your business without being stuck inside.
It is easy to convince business owners about the value of delegation and mentoring. Showing them and training them how to do it is the challenge.
We do it by setting the correct example, imparting the beliefs, and passing the knowledge on to others patiently.
Set high expectations and be clear about what needs to be done and provide adequate support.
Do these and you gain a freedom and a business that is much more valuable than you can possibly imagine.
Fun story from my childhood about mentoring. I’m mentioning it because there are some lessons in there that you can apply when delegating.
Many of us delegate by throwing the cat into the deep pool and letting it swim technique… and of course the cat drowns…
There is a better way.. and many of us have already experienced it in our lives as I did in this instance… and it’s lessons we can pass on..
We all want to live our lives and not be at the mercy of a boss, but owning a business and working for yourself often means having no free time. It feels like you’re always working, with obligations that take up your whole day from morning until night – even when you’re at home!
There is an easier way!
With these three steps, owning a business becomes more enjoyable, as we free up our time and build wealth on top of everything else…
Have you ever tried to explain yourself to someone who is hard of hearing and refuses to do anything about it? Do your customers feel that way when they speak with you?
As a business owner, you wear a lot of hats. You’re the CEO, the CFO, the janitor, and everything in between. It’s a lot of work, and it can be frustrating at times. Here are the most common 5 frustrations I hear—and the solution that solves them all…
A major deal in the wine industry once hinged on a single question: “What am I really buying?”
The answer wasn’t what you’d expect. It wasn’t vineyards, trucks, or facilities—it was something far less tangible, yet infinitely more valuable.
What could it be?
The story behind this unexpected acquisition holds a key lesson for every business owner.
What’s the one challenge most business owners tackle with the wrong tools? It’s not what you might think. Many pour time and money into one thing, while overlooking another that could transform their business.
Ever feel like you’re using a herring when you need a power saw?
Ever wondered what happens when a seemingly perfect deal suddenly unravels? I recently heard a story that might make you rethink your business strategy. An 8-figure offer, a smooth process… until the unexpected happened. It’s a reminder that every day in business brings you closer to an exit—planned or unplanned. Curious to know what went wrong? Dive into the full story to learn more.
Choosing the right team can make or break a deal. I helped a 70-year-old business owner secure a much higher offer for her company—everything was on track. But then, a critical mistake was made that nearly cost her everything. Ever wonder how one “affordable” choice could lead to a million-dollar disaster? This story will make you rethink the true costs of who you hire and what you might actually be doing when you choose “affordable” hires.
Don’t try to be everything to everyone. I recently met an entrepreneur who promised to handle every aspect of marketing. The result? People tuned out. She quickly pivoted careers. The lesson? Focus on excelling in one area, meeting your audience where they are, and delivering what they truly need. That’s how you attract and keep customers. Want to master this? Join our free course to learn how a 60-year-old marketing secret can transform your business.
In business, systems and processes are essential, but they must reflect your values and customer experience. A friend of mine recently encountered a situation where an abrasive negotiator who lacked connection and cultural understanding, disrupted the negotiation. The lesson? Poorly executed systems can harm relationships and outcomes. As a business owner, ensure your processes align with how you want to engage with others, leading to loyalty, predictability, and ultimately peace of mind.
Did you know every day you own your business brings you one day closer to an exit – and often it can be unexpected and sooner than you imagined. So every decision you make is an exit decision – building up or destroying what you are working so hard on.
You can’t control 100% when you exit but you can control being prepared so that you and your family can benefit from what you built whether it’s planned or unplanned (think death, disability, divorce, disease, debt, etc.).
Are you creating or burning you wealth today?
When David and his wife faced hard times with their business, they were struggling to keep afloat without spending more money. Eighteen months later, they achieved a remarkable 30% growth rate without any extra advertising costs. Discover how they transformed their business by focusing on what made them successful in the first place and cutting out distractions. Learn their strategy and find out how you can do the same for your business