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As Business owners we often make the mistake of thinking complexity equals quality and overpaying on complicated solutions that have no chance of success but which are sold to us magic solutions. Protect youself by going back to the basics.
PIA (Pain in the A**) Pythons – these creatures latch onto a business owner as a normal customer and then they squeeze the owners dry by immobilizing them with complaints, questions, issues so they monopolise all their time and energy until the owner pretty much loses the will to live or gives in on price and other demands. Customers are not always right and you should never have to be stuck with a Python.
Shame can keep us from doing what is best for us and often lead us to disastrous paths as a character in a movie I saw recently experienced. When you speak to your customers are you identifying where they might be too embarrassed to ask for help and so making it comfortable for them to do so with you… and finally have the solutions they so desired.
We are often passionate and very knowledgeable about what we provide. It’s good to know what we are doing but it can be major trap when we fall into the curse of knowledge and assume our audience knows as much as we do, or are further along the journey than they really are. Overcome this curse and see your conversions begin to skyrocket.
Snake Oil Branding Bats are a scourge for modern entrepreneurs as they manipulate and sell them worthless solutions around vanity measures that do nothing for the underlying business. Read in this article to see what one of these “rebranding” victims look like.
Accountability and measuring employee performance is critical but when do you take it too far and it becomes a liability that threatens the business itself. Read this example.. based on a true story but details changed and some light literary license taken.
False Messiahs and Slick Salemen are the expensive vampires hunting each business owners and looking to sell them the dream of a quick fix or solution regardless of whether it will work or is even appropriate. You’ll save countless hours and money in knowing how to identify and avoid the false messiahs who will do all they can to try to stick their claws in you and convert you.
Can we learn from depraved moments in history. In fact we can. What is scary is what allowed ordinary people to become professional killers and how they rationalized it away. This Rationalisation mechanism is what we have to identify and address when it comes to our business. Because often it traps us in routines and practices that at best keep us stuck and at worst set us up for failure.
Once again we see the finest in cold emails form people actually getting paid to deliver this crap. I’m being nice and not revealing this person’s full name and company but the email is his. And for someone whose promise is to give me tailored content…. It’s generic and plain stupid.
The cliché getting hit by a bus may be in need of getting hit by a bus itself. Only 6,000+ people have bene hit by bus in 20 years. Divorce on the other hand claims nearly 50% of all marriages where there is an entrepreneur. So it makes sense not to prepare for divorce but have a business that is prepared at all times – for every opportunity or D challenge.
Often opportunities are once in a lifetime event. Some business owners had their life changing opportunity in their hands but were not ready when it came and now it’s gone, if not forever, for years. All it may take to be ready.. have your financials and records in order.. starting from today.
It’s easy to get trapped and lose the spark in loving your business and forgetting why you started it in the first place. There are some practical steps you can take but it all starts with the right mindset and the right playbook. Reginite the spark and you will enjoy not only running your business again but owning an asset that puts more money in your pocket and is attractive to investors and customers.
A stupid open in a Linkedin Email illustrates the epidemic ravaging our inboxes and some unaware Entrepreneurs – huckster salesmen promising leads but delivering S**t. See a perfect example inside.
The Best businesses, the ones with the most profits and which give owners the lifestyle that many others envy are businesses that understand the difference between focusing on making a sale or focusing on making and deepening a customer relationship. Walk with me as I finally meet a printer who addresses an immediate need but does it in a way that makes it a long term relationship with me.
My friend’s client was beside himself with the disappearing stationary in his large business that was costing him every September. Find out what he did the implications for your business.
Ever been “assaulted’ in a networking meeting by inane drivel and someone desperate to all at all costs. I experienced it this weekend and it reinforced how now to try to stand out to attract customers or investors to your business
As the story goes, Eve was tempted by a Serpent and brought death to the human race. In our businesses we are often tempted by Serpents who promise easy and seductive solutions to our problems but which only end up lightening our wallets and doing nothing to bring us success.
: The Marketing Wizard returns with one of his automated follow up emails that proceeds to award me a fictitious certificate. It’s a cautionary example of even an apparently successful business trying to take a short cut and having it blow up in their faces.
Who are these time spiders that are trapping you and holding you back in your business and from living the life you want? Find out in the post below.
You can learn a lot by how a spider hunts its prey by realising we run our business day to day as if a spider has us as its prey. Instead of a web of silk we are trapped in web of time wasters and others who trap us and keep us from owning the business and living the life we want.
Lots of hype around AI but if you blindly follow templates and send out hundreds of inquiries.. well the results can be very funny to say the least..
Pricing is not easy but it’s so important to get right. You want to avoid leaving money on the tale on the one hand and being uncompetitive by offering too little value for what you price on the other. So though it’s not easy, it’s critical to tie it in with the solutions you provide. As a potential cleaning entrepreneur discovered over a 10 minute coffee conversation.
Pay in Peanut get Monkeys. The reverse of this saying is also true.. Pay your people peanuts and they will be no better than monkeys when dealing with your clients. And that will kill your bottom line or severely crimp your growth.
A Delivery company is facing the stress of rapid growth with concerns about future staffing and capacity and not overdoing it. A sellability / equity mindset will help them cut through the fog and make the decisions that will build both their income and wealth. And give them much better peace of mine while they continue growing the business.
Savvy restaurants will often ask you for your birthday. Why do they do this? Because they know you are likely to celebrate it with your family and friends and so gives them an opportunity to offer you a deal you can’t refuse and to celebrate with them. It’s also a clever way for a business you’d think is a fully retail “eat what you kill” sales type fo company to be able to add predictable and more “recurring” types of sales.
A wow personal experience in an optical shop shows the mindset of a business that puts customer first and which will pay them dividends on their 10 minute time investment – not only by me but by countless others who become referred to them.
I help business owners make their companies sellable but they often are not ready to act on sellability today. But here’s the thing. Starting today on sellability brings you 9 life changing benefits to your business that empowers you to dominate your competitors and make your business much more lucrative and easier to run. How many of these 9 benefits are you currently enjoying today
Many business owners fly blind when it comes to their companies and have little to no idea of how the business is performing daily, weekly or even monthly. They rely solely on bank statements or quarterly financials which can hide dangers that can crash the business.
Ever seen someone who hasn’t really grown up. You can often spot them with the bad style and ill fitting clothes. A business that doesn’t put in paths of growth often looks like one of these people who never grew up. And it’s not very attractive in either case.
Swiss Army knives are the epitome of practicality and a must have when going on a camping trip. But for business owners, trying to be a solution for everyone by offering a bit of everything is a recipe for disaster. You often end up offering nothing to anyone. Read more and find out where the real riches are.. If you know the cliché you know the answer.
You don’t need more features.
You need more freedom.
As Robert Skrob pointed out in an email he sent out this morning…
What clients really buy — and what founders really want —
Is transformation.
Here’s what that looks like in your business…
And how to make it happen before Q4 ends.
The mall was dead today.
First day of school — but no parents, no buzz, no business.
Why?
The parking fees went up.
Now everyone’s gone.
One tiny short-term decision is destroying long-term value.
Are you doing the same in your business?.
Most founders overcomplicate their business and chase low-value customers. Discover how to simplify, systemize, and scale your business for profit, positioning, and exit — even if you’re stuck in the grind today
“Just pick a dress!”
That’s me this morning — negotiating like a hostage negotiator with a 4-year-old who couldn’t decide what to wear.
What would have worked much better? A uniform. A hard system (which she will be required to wear starting next week Tuesday).
And that’s when it hit me —
Most founders don’t have uniforms in their business.
They’ve got chaos, decisions, firefighting… every single day.
Here’s the wake-up call (and the solution)
“Why are you grabbing their shoes?”
My wife wasn’t wrong — and her comment hit harder than I expected.
Because I’ve seen too many business owners make the exact same mistake — and stay stuck for years because of it.
Read on and see if this common life and business killer looks familiar and what you can do about it.
“I didn’t want the business. I just wanted my dad.”
A reader sent me that after my last post — and it remined me of the song Cat in the Cradle.
His father built a profitable company from nothing.
But it took everything from him.
Time. Health. Connection. Life.
When he finally offered it to his son —
the answer was no.
Not because the business didn’t make money.
But because no one else could survive it.
Founders, if you’re building something no one wants to inherit…
Maybe it’s time to change what you’re building
He built it for his son.
His son didn’t want it.
And now the business is gone.
Founders — your legacy only matters if someone actually wants it.
Let me show you how to make sure it’s worth passing on — or selling for millions.
I haven’t trimmed my beard in two weeks.
Not because I’m lazy.
Because the only guy I trust is out of town — and I’d rather look like a werewolf than let the wrong hands touch my face.
That’s loyalty.
And if your business doesn’t have customers who feel that way about you — you’re leaving a goldmine untapped.
Let me tell you why the best clients are the “wolfmen”…
(And why you never, ever let them go.)