Chris Guilbeault
This book is well complemented by:
Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson
Whole life
Les Hewitt, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen
Transform yourself into a brand
Tom Peters
Dream, create, change!
Sarah Lacy
Create and sell
Svetlana Voinskaya
Foreword by the publishing partner
The art of minimalism
CEO of Singularity University Salim Ismail likes to talk about one interesting fact in his lectures. Several decades ago, the cost of organizing a high-tech business in Silicon Valley, a good business with a solid client base, already generating decent income, amounted to several million dollars. And the creation of such a business was a matter of concern and a point of application for venture capital. Now the cost of organizing such a business there, in California, has decreased significantly - to about 100 thousand dollars. It is no longer necessary to look for such money in a venture fund; it is quite possible to raise it yourself using a crowdfunding scheme. Moreover, according to Salim, today this applies not only to Internet and IT startups, for which the threshold for entering the business has always been not too high, but also to projects related to biotechnology. Yes, people manage to successfully engage in biotech in a garage using decommissioned equipment (like the founders of today’s IT giants once did).
Within the boundaries of this trend towards minimalism fit the initial cost of organizing a startup at $100, a company mission in a tweet style of 140 characters, a one-page business plan and a business promotion plan of the same length. These are the parameters that Chris Guilbeault sets in his book “The $100 Startup.”
But minimalism is a great art. Remember, for example, the most striking example of this style in music - Ravel's Bolero.
High art is also required for organization successful business, although for this, as Chris writes, only three elements are enough: a product or service, customers willing to pay, and a mechanism for accepting payments.
Yes, the skeleton of any business project is simple, you just need to correctly combine these three components. Check the viability of your business idea, choose the right business model, and attract the attention of potential clients to it.
As for PR, it can also be done in a minimalist style. The first winner of the “innovative” nomination of the famous PR award “Silver Archer” established by RVC and Rusnano was the company Sun. Not Californian, but Novosibirsk - which started with the distribution of Chinese printers, and then invented its own printing inks - and fell under the wing of Rusnano.
Once Anatoly Borisovich Chubais, representing the company at an investment forum, said: “Oh, these can even print on impossible surfaces.” Journalists picked up this phrase, and it found its way onto the lips of the hosts of the SpotlightParisHilton show. They made a lot of jokes about this and eventually advised Novosibirsk residents to learn how to print on water.
The Sun PR woman came to her developers with this advice. They scratched their heads and actually came up with a way to print on the surface of water. It’s not clear why, but no one in the world can do this yet. Of course, only the lazy didn’t write or report about a printer that prints on water. And these notes again ended up in “ProjectorParisHilton” - the circle is closed. The Novosibirsk company was featured twice on the country's main TV channel, and the budget for this PR project was practically zero.
In general, you can become a successful (and famous) entrepreneur within the framework of minimalism, and without even giving up your hobby. The main thing, warns Chris Guilbeault, is that if you want to call your hobby a business, you need to make money. How? Read Chris' tips and insights.
Editorial Board of the RVC Library
This book is for those who do first steps,
for those who inspire others with their deeds
Manifesto
A short guide to making your wishes come true
Imagine spending all your time doing activities that you enjoy.
Imagine that you are working only on your own projects and you are no longer a cog in a machine that serves to enrich others.
Imagine handing your boss a letter with the following content: “Dear boss, I hasten to inform you that I no longer need your services. Thanks for all. Now I will go my own way.”
Imagine that today is your last day working as an employee. Let's say that very soon - in the not-so-distant and unpredictable future - you start your workday by turning on your laptop in your home office, opening own store, calling a client who trusts you and values your recommendations, or from something else, but from what You want to; You no longer follow anyone's orders.
All over the world, thousands of people do exactly this. They are rewriting employment standards, becoming their own bosses and shaping their own new future. This business model has proven itself well in the example of “accidental” entrepreneurs who never considered themselves as such. There's been a revolution microbusiness, thanks to which you can earn a decent living while maintaining independence and purpose in life.
Some books describing the rise of Internet startups end with praise for venture capital and fantastic stories about gourmet restaurants for employees. Many guides tell you how to write 80-page business plans that no one ever reads and that have nothing to do with the actual business. This book is about something completely different. It is based on two key provisions: Liberty And values. We all strive for freedom, and values are the means to achieve it.
Taste of freedom
More than ten years ago, I began a lifelong journey, and this path, one way or another, was to lead me to opening my own business. I never aspired to be an entrepreneur, I just didn't want to work for anyone but myself. From a cheap apartment in Memphis, I watched other people, trying to analyze their successes. I ended up importing coffee from Jamaica and selling it online because I saw others making money from it. I didn't know much about importing, roasting, or selling coffee beans, but I had tried almost every type of coffee thanks to free "samples."
When I needed money, I didn't think about how to cut costs or find a job, but about how to create and sell a product. That is, he did everything contrary to generally accepted norms, since budgeting usually begins with a search for a profitable niche and an analysis of available opportunities. I did it differently: I started with a list of what I would like to do, and then thought about how to implement it.
My small business It didn’t bring a lot of money, but it allowed me to pay bills and gain something more valuable - freedom. I didn't stick to any schedule, fill out time sheets, write meaningless reports, follow office rules, or even attend mandatory meetings.
Part of the time I was involved in company affairs, but I didn’t let my busy schedule prevent me from enjoying life - for example, cozying up with a book in a cafe or working in the evenings as a jazz musician.
Wanting to give the world something truly beautiful, I traveled to West Africa and volunteered for four years with a medical charity. I got behind the wheel of a Land Rover and delivered medicine to hospitals in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Then I realized that freedom is inseparable from responsibility and I can combine my desire for independence with things that will serve the good of humanity.
Upon returning to the States, I built a career as a writer according to my usual scenario: I started with an idea, and learned everything else along the way. Deciding to travel the world, I visited 20 countries a year and ran my business from anywhere on the planet. At every stage, my constant compass was the desire for freedom.
There are no rehabilitation programs for “freedom lovers”. If you have at least once felt the taste of freedom, then try to live by someone else’s rules - it won’t work.
Doctrine of Values
I dedicated the second part of the book values– this word is often used, although its meaning is rarely understood. Value is generally created when a person does something useful and shares it with others. The people you meet in the pages of my book succeeded because that's what they did. The combination of freedom and values usually occurs when a person enthusiastically devotes himself to something he loves and eventually it turns into a business.
The micro-business revolution is raging all around us. People say to traditional employment, “No thanks,” and choose their own path, building their own future. The idea of micro-entrepreneurship is not new, but never before have so many opportunities been offered at one time and in one place together. Access to information technology has become much easier and costs have dropped sharply. You can bring an idea to market immediately, without waiting months for potential clients to respond to the offer. It only takes five minutes to register with PayPal and receive payments from more than 180 countries.
Moreover, by forming a group of loyal customers, you can anticipate their needs and increase the chances of success, while minimizing investment. The more you understand how your knowledge and skills can help others, the more likely it is that fortune will smile on you.
And probably the most important career question – where is it riskier to work? – now you can answer differently. Previously, you had to choose from an alternative: work quietly in a company or take a risk and open your own business. Today, the first option carries greater risks. So take the safe route and work for yourself.
Suppose you live the way you want, without everything that previously seemed obligatory. Don’t borrow money, but start – right now – without serious investments. You refuse to hire employees and create a business on your own, relying solely on a unique combination of personal qualities and skills. Instead of going to business school (which basically doesn't teach you the basics of small business), you save $60,000 and learn on the job.
Keep in mind that this book is not about how to start a big Internet startup or how to create a regular company, put on a suit and beg for money from the bank. Here is a story about people who managed to realize their dreams and make decent money doing what they are really interested in. Maybe we can try to repeat their success? Let's take it into service overall strategy and we will learn from those who have succeeded.
This is a concrete program, not a chaotic stream of consciousness
In the future I will tell you more about myself, although this book is not about me, but about those who have found freedom, and also about how to repeat their path. During my book tour, I visited 63 cities in the United States and Canada and fifteen other countries, meeting people who had taken the bold step of giving up “working for their uncle” in favor of their own business.
With a small group, I conducted a detailed longitudinal study containing more than 100 questions. Having analyzed piles of documents (more than four thousand pages of questionnaires, hundreds of transcripts of telephone calls and Skype conversations, emails), I have combined the most important points and presented them here for your reference and practical use. Here is a completely real, practice-tested plan for gaining freedom. During the reading process, you can pause at any time and compose your own, corrected version, and then return to reading.
Very few of the people I interviewed are born rebels who have dreamed of freedom since childhood. Majority - ordinary people, who did not intend to turn into businessmen, but some were fired from their jobs, and they were forced to look for ways to pay the bills. (Almost all representatives of this group say something like this: “Losing my job was the best thing that happened to me. If I had not been turned away, I would never have made such a leap.”) Others were prompted to such a decision by other circumstances.
Be careful: the program is not aimed at reducing the amount of work, but at increasing it efficiency. The goal is not to get rich quick, but to create a worthy product that others will be happy to buy. You don't just organize for yourself workplace, you are creating a legacy.
There are no secrets, cheat sheets or other tricks in this book. There are also no visualization exercises. If you think you can make money just by thinking about it, put it on a shelf and meditate. On the contrary, the book contains only practical advice about how to take responsibility for your own future. Read it if you want to create something beautiful on your path to freedom.
Is it possible to change everything, live life to the fullest and do only what you like? Can. Is it possible to make money from this? Yes, and here are the stories of people who succeeded. Is there a way to achieve this? Yes, and he is in front of you. Thanks to him, you will find the long-awaited freedom.
Entrepreneurs by chance
1. Revival
You already have all the necessary skills, you just need to know where to look
On the morning of May 4, 2009, Michael Hannah put on an expensive suit and tie and went to office building in downtown Portland. A 25-year sales veteran, Michael spent his days negotiating, pitching products to clients, and tirelessly answering emails. Having settled into his corner as usual, he decided to read the news and check his mail. The boss also sent a letter asking him to come see him a little later. The morning passed without any special incidents: a lot of letters, calls and plans to get a big client. Michael talked with one of them over lunch, and on the way back he stopped at a coffee machine to refresh himself before new achievements. He returned on time, hurriedly answered several calls and went to the boss.
Michael sat down in front of the director and noticed that he was looking away. “Then,” he recalls, “everything that happened resembled slow motion. I had heard stories before about how this happens, but I always distanced myself from them. I never thought that something like this would happen to me. The director said something about the downturn in the economy, the inevitable loss of valuable employees, and much more. Suddenly, literally out of nowhere, the HR manager appeared and handed me cardboard box – a real box!- for things. I didn’t know what to say, but I tried to save face in front of my colleagues.”
Michael left the office at 2:30 p.m., wondering how to tell his wife and two children that he was now unemployed. Having recovered from the shock, he plunged into difficult everyday life, lived on unemployment benefits and hunted for vacancies. The search was difficult. Yes, he is an excellent specialist, but thousands of the same people end up on the street every day. The economy was not developing, and it would be naive to believe that it would be possible to get a well-paid job and occupy the same position on the career ladder.
One day, his friend, the owner of a furniture store, complained that he had a whole bunch of discounted mattresses lying around in his warehouse, and he didn’t know what to do with them. “You could sell them online in one fell swoop and make a lot of money,” he suggested to Michael. The idea seemed crazy, but there was no change on the work front. Since there was nothing else, Michael decided, he might as well start selling mattresses. He called his wife: “Honey, this is a long story, but do you mind if I buy a dozen mattresses?”
Now we had to decide where to store the goods. After searching around the city, Michael found a recently closed car dealership. The real estate industry has also fallen on hard times, so when Michael called the landlord asking if he could former salon to open a store, he immediately agreed. Information about the store quickly spread thanks to the Internet and word of mouth. But a problem arose: it was necessary to answer questions from potential buyers about the product. “I didn’t have a business plan and I didn’t know anything about mattresses,” says Michael. “I have a strong opinion about these kinds of stores, that they are squalid premises with a depressing atmosphere. I had no idea what kind of interior I wanted to create, but I knew that the environment should be cozy and relaxed.”
After the first good deal Michael decided to take a serious step and began studying the mattress market, communicating with local suppliers. At the same time, he was negotiating with the landlord about leaving the store in the same premises. Marie's wife, Ruth, developed the company's website. News of the cozy mattress store spread throughout Portland. Business took off when the store was the first in the industry to offer mattress delivery on a bicycle. (Michael’s friend, at his request, built a tandem bicycle with a platform for transporting even very large mattresses). Buyers who arrived on their own bicycles could count on free shipping. The offer not only increased customer loyalty, but also the number of enthusiastic videos on YouTube.
Michael never intended to do anything like this, but he ended up creating quite a profitable business and was able to provide for his family. But it all started with a pile of mattresses that no one needed. Two years after his abrupt, unexpected retirement, Michael was rummaging through his closet and came across the same expensive suit that he wore on his last day at work. Over the past two years, he has not worn it even once, as well as other clothes in business style. He put the suit on his bike and took it to the charity, then headed to his store. “It’s been two wonderful years since I was fired,” he says now. - From office plankton I turned into a mattress delivery man. And you know? I've never been so happy."
* * *
Bye new shop mattresses received customers, in a nearby town, aspiring entrepreneur Sarah Young opened a store selling knitting supplies. When asked how she decided to do this in the midst of an economic crisis, with no experience running a company, she replied: “It’s not that I didn’t have experience, it’s just that it was different for me. I have never been an entrepreneur, but I have been a buyer. I knew which store I wanted to go to, but there wasn’t one nearby. I had to create it myself." Sarah's store, which we'll return to in Chapter 11, became profitable within six months and gained loyal customers around the world.
Many people, bypassing the stage of opening a real store, create a virtual business practically from scratch. Englishwoman Suzanne Conway began giving photography lessons just for fun and was surprised to discover that she earned more from it than working as a journalist. (“What did you not foresee when launching a startup?” “I didn’t know I was launching a startup!”)
Irishman Benny Lewis, engineer higher education, never worked in my specialty. He makes money as a linguistics expert, traveling around the world and helping students quickly master foreign languages. (“Is there anything else we don’t know about your business?” “Don’t call it a business! I’m just enjoying life.”)
Welcome to the new unknown world of micro-entrepreneurship, where (despite the fact that it is not mentioned in the business news) Indian bloggers earn $200,000 a year. And companies created by independent entrepreneurs receive $100 thousand on the first day of work, which forces discouraged bank managers to block their accounts.
These unusual companies succeed despite the fact that their owners share their know-how with everyone, and gather legions of fans and followers who also profit wherever they are. “The core of my marketing plan is strategic giving,” says Megan Hunt, who sells handmade wedding dresses and accessories. “Helping others is our number one marketing goal,” explains Scott Mayer. “We conduct trainings, distribute materials and answer any questions by mail completely free of charge.”
* * *
Actually, rebel entrepreneurs who resist the system and work independently are not a new phenomenon. Microenterprises(with one employee) have existed since the beginning of trade. Merchants walked the streets of ancient Athens and Rome, peddling goods. In remote areas of Africa and Asia, most trade is still conducted through small transactions and barter.
Unconventional approaches to marketing and PR have also been encountered in history. Long before it was common practice, one music group figured out how to communicate with fans directly, bypassing the official structures of record companies whenever possible. Her fans felt like they were part of a single community, and not just a crowd of admirers. Musicians relied not only on albums, but also on ticket sales and related products on long concert tours. Today this happens everywhere, but then it was 1967, and we're talking about about the Greatful Dead band.
Nowadays, it doesn’t cost anything to quickly found a company and find a target audience. The process of building a business has become significantly easier and cheaper. Going from idea to startup can now take less than a month and cost less than $100—just ask any of the characters in the book. Entrepreneurship has always existed, but its scope, goals and level of contacts have changed dramatically today. The handyman or remodeler used to post signs at the grocery store, but now advertises on Google to people who search for “kitchen installation.”
This is not an elite club, but a spontaneous movement of the middle class. All over the world, ordinary people are abandoning traditional employment in droves and going their own way. They do not fight the system, but create jobs for themselves - without any training or high costs. These accidental entrepreneurs have turned their passion into income and are living their lives to the fullest.
Maybe you can do it too? Let's imagine that you live according to your own schedule and set your own priorities. There is good news for you: freedom can be achieved. And one more thing: freedom is not something that awaits you in the indefinite distant future. Future it's already arrived.
$100 Startup Model
I have been studying non-traditional companies for almost ten years, and I have even managed some of them myself. Through my work in business and writing, I have seen many examples of startups—profitable companies run by one person with little or no investment in them. I began preparing for a comprehensive study by studying the experiences of friends and colleagues, but did not stop there.
In 2010, I co-hosted a series of seminars on low-cost business with Pamela Slim, author of Escape from Cubicle Nation. After the announcement of their holding, all seats for the first seminar were sold out in an hour and a half. Then we announced another seminar that was planned a few months later, and tickets also sold out by lunchtime. When it became clear that there was a demand for this information, I began to dig deeper.
During the seminars, I emphasized the principle of “follow your passion”, which implies that a successful small business is based on personal passion. I interviewed entrepreneurs around the world and captured their stories for an online course called Empire Building Kit, which in turn inspired me to expand the project and write this book.
I already had plenty of relevant examples, but before I sat down to write the book, I cast an even wider net. I looked for respondents online and offline, collected questionnaires and ended up with gigabytes of information. During a special 63-city tour different countries continued to meet people and collect stories about the strangest random entrepreneurs.
When I finally finished collecting information, I had 1,500 respondents in my arsenal. Moreover, everyone met at least four of the following six criteria.
1. “Follow your passion” principle. People had to build a business out of hobbies and activities that interested them. Later we will understand that not every hobby provides a decent bank account, but the possibility of this has already been proven.
2. Low startup costs. I was interested in a business that would require start-up capital less than $1,000, especially one that would require almost no cost (less than $100) to begin with.
3. At least $50 thousand annual income. I looked for companies whose profits were no less than the average annual income in North America. Their range is very wide, many have six or even seven figure figures on their balance sheets, but the lower level of profit is at least $50 thousand per year.
4. Lack of special skills. Since we were looking at everyday people who have built successful businesses, I was leaning towards startups that anyone can run. It is difficult to define this criterion precisely, but the main difference is this: many endeavors require special knowledge and skills, but these can be easily acquired in a short period of time through training or self-study. For example, you can quickly learn how to roast coffee beans, but, alas, you will not be able to quickly become a dentist.
5. Comprehensive information about the financial situation. Respondents must disclose projected income for the current year and actual income for the previous two years. In addition, they were required to be willing to discuss profits and expenses in specific figures.
6. Less than five employees. I was mainly interested in people who consciously preserved small business. The examples mainly describe companies with one employee, that is, they most clearly embody the principle of personal freedom.
I excluded businesses in semi-legal or adult markets, and almost all examples that require high-tech solutions or special skills. Test question: “Could you explain to your grandmother what you do?”
I really wanted companies from different countries to come into my field of vision. Almost half of the book's characters live in the United States, the rest represent other parts of the world. After all, in other countries people are also establishing their own micro-enterprises, both reproducing the American model and creating something special.
Finally, at the last stage of selection, I gave preference to “entertaining” stories. Not every business is destined to be glamorous or trendy—and most of the ones I write about aren't—but I love stories that have a sense of originality and creativity.
Two years ago, Lisa Selman caught my attention with a story about a dog grooming business. I've never thought about this before. How profitable can such a business be? Lisa did not hide her income: $88 thousand last year and over 100 thousand this year. I am attracted to everything unexpected and extraordinary. How did Lisa achieve these results and what lessons can be learned from her experience?
Each study participant completed several detailed questionnaires about their company, including financial and demographic information, and responded to dozens of open questions. I then asked follow-up questions, wrote letters, called, and met with respondents in fifteen cities around the world. I set myself the goal of deeply studying the topic and finding something in common that unites various groups. The information collected would be enough for a dozen thick volumes, but I tried to leave only the most important.
* * *
Typically, research and books on startups focus on two business models. The first is conservative. The author of the idea convinces the bank to lend him money for business development, or a company is created on the basis of one of the divisions new company. Most listed corporations fall into this category. stock market. The second business model is a start-up with investments, which operates on concepts such as venture capital, buyout, advertising and market share. As a rule, it is created by one person or a group of partners, but it is managed by a team of hired managers who report to the board of directors. Managers are trying to increase the company's value in order to enter an IPO or sell it profitably.
Each of the traditional models has advantages, disadvantages and various features. For each there are many examples of successes and failures. But these models and the stories associated with them have nothing to do with us.
Our story is dedicated to people who open their own micro-enterprises without investments, employees, and sometimes have no idea what will come of it. They almost always get by without a formal business plan, or indeed any plan other than “let’s try it and see what happens.” And the business quickly gets back on its feet. Market research is a work-in-progress process. Any clients? If yes, good. If not, then you can do something else.
Like Michael, who transitioned from office worker to mattress salesman, many of our participants started their businesses by accident after experiencing serious adversity, such as job loss. So, Jessica Saltzman’s husband called from work and said that he would come earlier, and the next day he did not return to his workplace. An unexpected dismissal pushed Jessica, a young mother with a three-week-old baby in her arms, to action. Accounting, a hobby she did at home, turned into a full-fledged business for the family. Tara Gentile opened an office at home to have time to look after her children. The business grew so quickly that her husband eventually quit his job and joined her.
David Henzel worked as a director of the largest British advertising agency. He quit partly because he was bored with his job and partly because he was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, which left him with “chronic director responsibility.” At his new company, Lightbulb Design, he makes his own rules. “I was controlled by the disease for a while,” he says, “but now I control it. Lightbulb was the result of a desire to live and earn money according to one’s own rules. She still works according to my rules, but we gave everyone a hard time!”
We will meet people who organized their projects in completely different ways. Some decided to expand by hiring employees or creating teams of “virtual assistants.” Erica Kosminski, for example, expanded her team of audio-visual transcribers to seventeen people, but contracted them out so she kept the structure free and simple. Tom Bean's handbag factory generates seven-figure income. Maintaining complete independence, Tom rejects offers to sell his brand to hypermarkets.
Some create partnerships that allow each member to do what they do best. Jen Adrion and Omar Nouri, recent design school graduates frustrated with working in design studios, began making custom maps in their apartment. Former competitors Patrick McCrann and Rich Strauss teamed up to create their own community and training program for triathletes. There are also married couples building a joint business.
But many choose the path of a loner in the hope of gaining freedom by working independently. Charlie Pabst was a successful architect and had his “dream job”: designing buildings for the Starbucks coffee chain. But the desire for independence outweighed the usual comfort and free latte. “One day I was driving to work and realized that I couldn’t do this anymore. Called in sick, outlined a plan for the next two weeks and... You know the rest.” Charlie has not changed his occupation, but now works from home and only for those clients with whom he wants to do business.
All these stories will appear before us as an ensemble– a group of diverse voices that together make up an original composition. Analyzing how different people freed from the burdens of office life, the most important thing is to recognize their courage, but not exaggerate their skill. There are few geniuses and born entrepreneurs among them; these are ordinary people who once made decisions that changed their lives. Few of our respondents attended business school, and more than half had no business experience at all. Some dropped out of college, while others never enrolled.
In telling their success stories, I have one goal in mind: to provide a program for gaining freedom, a plan that allows them to extrapolate the lessons described to their own lives. Each case study contains three microentrepreneurship lessons. We will return to them several times throughout the book.
Lesson 1: Convergence
As practice shows, convergence is a process of coming together, the intersection of your favorite activities or what you do best (preferably both), and what might interest other people. The easiest way to think of convergence is as two intersecting circles, one of which is what you are interested in, the second is what others are willing to spend money on.
Take a look at these circles.
Not everything you are passionate about or what you can do is interesting to the rest of the world, and not everything can be brought to market. I love pizza passionately, but no one will pay me for it. No one person can solve every problem or be of interest to everyone, but at the intersection of two circles, where passion or skill meets utility, a micro-business built on freedom and values can flourish.
Lesson 2. Transformation of skills
The projects we will study were founded by people with derivatives skills that do not necessarily have the specific skill required for a given project. For example, teachers know how not only to teach, but also do a good job of communication, adaptation, maintaining order, lesson planning and coordinating the interaction of groups with different interests (children, parents, administration, colleagues). A teacher is a responsible profession, and one’s abilities can also be wisely used when building a business.
You can understand the principle of skill transformation by your own example; it is enough to realize that you cope well with a variety of tasks. German-born Kat Alder was working as a waitress in London when someone once said to her: “You know, you could work in PR.” Kat didn't know anything about PR—not even what the acronym stood for—but she was an excellent waitress. She always received decent tips and praise from customers for recommending dishes they knew they would like.
When Kat left her next temporary job at the BBC, she remembered that conversation. She still didn’t know much about PR, but she found her first client within a month and understood what he needed. Four years later, her firm employed five people, serving clients in London, Berlin, New York and China. Kat was an excellent waitress and learned to use people skills to promote her clients' companies and create a business that was more profitable, more stable, and more interesting than hired work and endless stories about the daily dish.
Contrary to popular belief, success in entrepreneurship is not necessarily associated with being the best at what you do. Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic book series, explains his success this way:
I succeeded as a humor artist with questionable artistic talent, basic writing skills, a mediocre sense of humor, and a tiny bit of business experience. Dilbert comics are a combination of all four skills. There are many more talented artists in the world, smarter writers, funnier comedians and more experienced businessmen. It so happened that all these modest abilities were combined in one person. This is how something worthwhile turns out.
To succeed in a business endeavor, especially if it's on your full attention, take a hard look at your own skills, which ones might be useful to others, and what you'll get when you combine them.
Lesson 3. Magic formula
If you combine the first two ideas, you get a not-so-mysterious recipe for the magical power of microbusiness:
Passion or skills + benefits = success
Throughout the book we will study examples and relate them to this formula. Jayden Hair has gradually worked her way up to becoming the host of Steamy Kitchen, a cooking show and website dedicated to Asian cuisine. It started with a $200 investment and then a combination of passion and usefulness led to cookbooks, TV ads and corporate sponsorships. The recipes that Jaden shares daily with his large audience are simple, healthy and very popular. When I met her at a seminar in Austin, I could barely make it through the crowd of admirers to say hello. (Read more about Jayden's story in Chapter 2.)
Brandon Pierce taught piano and almost fell victim to the administrative side of his job. An amateur programmer, he wrote a program that helps allocate time for students, create a schedule and keep track of payments. “When I worked on this project, I had no intention of turning it into a business,” he says. “But when my colleagues started showing interest, I thought I could make a couple bucks out of it.” A couple of bucks turned into a full-time job and more than 30 thousand monthly income. A native of Utah, Brandon sometimes leaves his second home in Costa Rica to travel with his family on long trips. (Read more about Brandon's story in Chapter 4.)
The Path Ahead: What We Will Learn
In pursuit of freedom, we will analyze all the mechanisms for opening a micro-enterprise using the example of businessmen who have already done this. The basics of starting a business are very simple: you don't need an MBA (save $60K), venture capital, or even detailed plan. All you need is a product, a group of people willing to pay for it, and a mechanism to accept payments. As a result, we get the following components:
1. Product, that is, what you sell.
2. People willing to pay for it, or your customers.
3. Payment acceptance mechanism: a way to exchange a product for money.
If you have a group of interested parties, but nothing to sell, the business will not work. If you have something to sell, but there are no people willing to buy it, the business will not work. And in any case, nothing will work without a simple and easy way for the client to pay for your offer. Combine all three points and accept my congratulations - you have become an entrepreneur!
Here is the skeleton of any project; there is no need to complicate anything. But if you think carefully, it won’t hurt to also have offer– combination of product plus a message for a potential client justifying the feasibility of a purchase. At the initial stage, you will face many difficulties, but once the company starts working, you should take a number of measures that can increase sales and income. Of course, if you want. It would also be a good idea to develop a strategy for generating audience interest, described here as attraction. Showing up one day with your proposal like a jack-in-the-box is not the best idea. Swipe launch event, to get customers dreaming about your products before they even exist.
We will look at each concept in great detail and calculate everything down to the last cent thanks to those who have already done this. My goal is to explain what my respondents did to make their business work and analyze how their experience can be replicated anywhere in the world. All the lessons and examples illustrate the main principle of building a business, which has proven its effectiveness many times over: create what people need and give it to them.
You won't find any fail-safe techniques here, and in truth, failure is the best teacher and motivator. We will meet an artist whose studio roof collapsed under him while he was enthusiastically clearing snow from it. We find out how a seller of extreme tours recovered from shock after hearing that the island in the South Pacific Ocean, where he sent clients, refused to accept tourists.
Sometimes problems arise from doing things too successfully. I'll tell you how one Chicago company got out of a situation where one day two thousand unexpected clients literally fell on it. We'll see how these and other courageous entrepreneurs overcame all obstacles and continued their journey, turning potential obstacles into long-term success.
* * *
The concepts of freedom and values run through the entire study, but hidden in each of them is the concept of change. From his home office in Seattle, James Kirk once ran data centers across the country. But in a creative rush, he loaded his stuff into the Mustang and drove to South Carolina to open his own coffee shop in the land of cookies and ice tea. Less than six months passed from idea to implementation. According to him, when he made the decision, all other options closed for him. “At one point I realized that this is exactly what I want and will do. Like this. Decision is made. I left the analysis for later.”
Later, James seriously began developing a plan, but he had already taken the main step - he made a decision that became a guide to action. He may not have been absolutely ready, but he was committed to serious changes, although they took time. A couple of months later, Jamestown Coffee opened in Lexington. Before this, James and his new employees worked ten hours a day for several weeks in a row. But it happened: the ribbon was cut, the mayor introduced the company to the business community, and a line of people lined up at the entrance to try it out. New Product. The day finally came and the rest was history.
Key points
The idea of microenterprises is not new; they have been around since the dawn of entrepreneurship. But today it is possible to quickly and inexpensively test, launch and expand your project.
Starting a business requires three things: a product, a group of people willing to pay for it, and a method of accepting payments. The rest is optional.
If you're good at one thing, you're probably good at another. Many projects begin with a process of “skill transformation,” where you apply existing knowledge to a new activity.
The most important thing is to combine your passion and skills with something that will benefit other people.
2. Give them fish
How to sell happiness in a box
Catch a fish and you can sell it. Teach a man to fish and you will ruin a great business opportunity.
Karl Marx
We'll return to the Jamestown Coffee Company, as well as the other stories in Chapter 1. But first, let's look at a key principle for achieving freedom: take microbusiness, built on a skill, hobby or passion. You shouldn’t poke around blindly and wonder whether your grandiose plan will interest potential clients. It's easier to figure out what people want and then decide how to offer it to them.
Let's take fish as an example.
So imagine this. Friday evening. After a tiring week of work, you go to a cozy restaurant. While you relax with a glass of wine, the waiter tells you about the dish of the day.
“Today we have amazing salmon risotto,” he says.
“It would be nice to try,” you think and place an order. The waiter writes something in his notebook and returns to the kitchen, while you sip wine and chat.
Everyone is satisfied and happy, right? But suddenly the chef comes out of the kitchen and heads towards your table.
– Didn’t you order salmon risotto?
You nod affirmatively.
– You see, risotto is a complex dish in itself, and salmon must be cooked correctly... Have you cooked salmon before?
Before you have time to answer, the chef is already confronting you with a fact:
“Anyway, I’m going to heat up the olive oil.” Wash your hands and follow me into the kitchen.
I think nothing like this has happened to you, otherwise you would hardly be happy. After recovering from your amazement (does the chef really want me to help him in the kitchen?), you will find his proposal very strange. You know that food in a restaurant costs much more than in a store, and you pay a lot of money for the atmosphere and service. If you wanted to make your own risotto, you would. You go to a restaurant not for cooking lessons, but to relax while others attend to your every whim.
What does the proposed plot have in common with microenterprise and gaining freedom? Here's what. Many companies believe that customers should walk into the kitchen and prepare their own lunch. Instead of giving people what they really need, business owners try to attract them to business because think that they want it. And all because of the ancient wisdom: “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him to fish and he can feed himself for the rest of his life.” This may be a good idea for hungry fishermen, but it's not good for business at all. Clients for the most part do not want to learn how to fish. We work all week and go to a restaurant so that someone can take care of some of the work and feed us. Why do we need to delve into the intricacies of cooking? We don't really like this we want.
Try to give people what they really want. How? Try to understand human nature. Take this simple truth as a basis, and then everything will go like clockwork.
* * *
John and Barbara Varian spent 15 years making furniture on their ranch in California. The idea of an additional source of income came to their minds quite by accident. One day, a group of horse riding enthusiasts approached them with a request to rent a ranch for horseback riding. By the way, they were ready to pay for lunch. John and Barbara agreed.
In the fall of 2006, a terrible fire destroyed almost all of them industrial premises, forcing you to look at life in a new way. They decided not to return to the furniture business and change their field of activity. “We fell in love with horses,” says Barbara, “so we decided to open the ranch for all horse riding enthusiasts.” The Varians built a guest house, repaired outbuildings, and prepared special kits for riders, including food and equipment. John and Barbara opened a new business - a ranch spread over 20 thousand acres of land.
Barbara's story stuck with me because of one phrase. I always ask business owners what they sell and why customers buy it from them, and I always get interesting answers. Many people say they sell something that people need. But the most wonderful answer I heard was from Barbara.
We sell more than just horseback riding. We offer freedom. Our work helps guests forget themselves at least for a few hours and become someone they have never been before.
Do you feel the difference? Most of the ranch's visitors work full time and don't have much time off. Why do they go to the rural hinterland instead of lounging on Hawaiian beaches? John and Barbara's proposal has a very profound message. By helping clients “get lost and become someone else,” they provide something more valuable than just riding. First and foremost, the ranch sells happiness.
* * *
Excellent student Kelly Newsome dedicatedly prepared for a dizzying career. While still an applicant, she knew exactly what she wanted. At the law faculty of her university, she was the best in her class. Then I received high paying job lawyer in Manhattan is the target of a six-year vigil over textbooks. But, alas, Kelly soon discovered that the daily check of company documents for compliance with the Law securities- not at all what she dreamed of in law school. When the euphoria of getting a dream job wore off, and the prospect of becoming a highly paid office rat appeared in all its glory, Kelly wanted a change.
Five years later, Kelly said goodbye to her career as a corporate lawyer and her salary of $240,000 a year and moved to the international charity Human Rights Watch. This job turned out to be not only more interesting than the previous one, but also helped Kelly find herself. Before taking the next step, Kelly paused and set out to travel the world. She has always been interested in yoga, and during her vacation she managed to complete a 200-hour training course, and then taught herself in Asia and Europe. Upon returning to her home state, she opened a private yoga school, Higher Ground Yoga. There were plenty of similar establishments around, but Kelly was targeting a very specific audience: business women from 30 to 45, including those who were pregnant or with small children.
In less than a year, Kelly has created a business with annual revenues of over $50,000 that promises to grow to $85,000. However, it has its drawbacks. During a heavy snowfall, Kelly could not get to school for three weeks and, naturally, suffered losses. Despite the decline in income and the threat of losing clients due to bad weather, Kelly says she still wouldn't go back to her old job. Here's what she says: “When I was a lawyer, I had the opportunity to work with a wonderful masseuse. I once told her that it must be great to make people happy. And now I’m convinced that this is so.” Like John and Barbara, Kelly realized that the key to self-realization in a new business was directly related to the ability to give people a good mood.
Where do ideas come from?
Once you learn to think like an entrepreneur, you will notice that new ideas come from everywhere. In a store, for example, pay attention to the information on the packaging. Study the menu and prices at a restaurant not only to save money, but also to compare them with prices in other establishments. What message is the company trying to convey to customers?
By thinking this way, you will discover business opportunities everywhere. I suggest getting acquainted with the most common sources of inspiration.
Empty market niches. Have you ever noticed marketing mistakes or tried to buy something that doesn't exist? It's very likely that someone else is just as frustrated or is looking for products that don't exist. Offer something that you yourself would like to buy, and those around you will most likely want to buy it too.
New technologies or opportunities. For example, when smartphones appeared, new markets for software developers appeared out of nowhere. But the solution is not always on the surface. Manufacturers of chic diaries and paper notepads also reported an increase in sales, perhaps thanks to consumers who do not want to clutter their lives with various gadgets.
Changing situation. During the downturn of the auto market, Michael, whom we met in Chapter 1, rented his first pop-up store on the cheap. Not everyone would think of putting a mattress store in a former car dealership, but Michael jumped at the opportunity.
A related or side project. One business idea can lead to many others. No matter how well things are going, look for opportunities for side or related projects that can also generate income. Brandon Pierce, for example (we'll get to know him more in Chapter 4), founded Studio Helper as a side project of his main business, Music Teacher's Helper. Now Studio Helper brings in more than $100 thousand annually.
Clue. When choosing from many ideas, do not forget about profit. Get into the habit of equating “despicable metal” with projects. When brainstorming and evaluating different ideas, money shouldn't be the only consideration, but it shouldn't be forgotten either. To evaluate a project, answer three questions:
1. How can I make money from this?
2. How much will I earn from this?
3. Is it possible to earn more from this?
ABOUT financial matters We'll talk more in Chapters 10 and 11.
What are values?
California Ranch and School Higher Ground Yoga – good examples relationship between freedom and values. John and Barbara figured out how to realize their desire to live comfortably in rural areas, and began to invite guests, for whom the ranch became a place of release. And Kelly, although she lost money (at least for now), feels much better physically and does what she likes - a compromise she made with pleasure. Kelly's desire for freedom motivated her to take the plunge, but her key to success is the value she offers to her clients.
Let's pause for a second and consider the concept values– this word is often used without thinking about its true meaning. What is value?
Value- something desirable or valuable, created through exchange or labor.
In our context, the explanation is even simpler. Value means helping others. If your business starts with her, you are on the right track. When you find yourself in a predicament, ask yourself: how can you create more value? Or how else can I help my clients? Freedom and values are closely interrelated. You will gain personal freedom when you offer value to others. We've already been introduced to the concept of convergence and learned that businesses only succeed when they offer something valuable to their customers.
Values are closely related to emotional needs. Many company owners talk about characteristics their projects, whereas it would be more appropriate to talk about benefits that clients will receive. The characteristics can be described, but the benefits affect the sphere of feelings. Let us explain with the examples presented above. The California Ranch helps the guest “to forget and become someone else.” Isn't this more convincing than simply offering horseback riding? Kelly's private lessons help women leaders prepare for the pressures of everyday life in a relaxed environment, offering a more valuable and unique experience than Gym with hundreds of visitors.
The examples briefly described in Chapter 1 can be considered from the same perspective. Without going into too much detail, Jayden Hair (founder of Steamy Kitchen) simply posts recipes on her website. But there are millions of similar resources. Jayden helps people spend time with their families by preparing delicious dishes and eating together. Megan Hunt models dresses, but not only. It also creates anticipation for the holiday among brides, gives them a festive mood and memories of better day in life. Who wouldn't pay for this? The table below shows the difference between the features and benefits.
Similar analysis applies even to trading companies, which seem unremarkable. Michael Hanna (a mattress salesman) recalled once selling a crib mattress. Two years later, this family came again for a mattress, but for their now grown three-year-old child. Stories like this, which Michael happily and often talks about, are much more interesting than conversations about springs or the quality of mattresses.
So, the more you focus on your key benefits, the more clients you will get. When applying the $100 startup model to your situation, consider three strategies.
Strategy 1: Dig Deeper and Uncover Hidden Needs
It seems self-evident to you that a restaurant client does not want to drag himself to the kitchen and prepare dishes himself, but sometimes a person’s true desires do not coincide with his declared ones. Wedding photographer Kyle Hepp is based in Santiago and photographs weddings all over the world. At one time, she realized that she needed to look deeper. Her clients are stylish young people who are attracted to Kyle's original photographs. Sometimes they even say they don't want to no traditional wedding photos. “We’re not some old people,” one couple even said indignantly. Kyle agrees and takes funny and sincere photographs that are sure to appeal to young people.
But that's not all. Kyle knows from experience that clients' words and desires can conflict. In addition, the family of the bride and groom often have different ideas about wedding photos. Here's how she deals with conflicting desires:
On the wedding day, I grab them by the hand and say, “Let’s get the whole family together and take a couple of casual pictures.” The whole process is quick and painless. I make sure everyone smiles and looks good. I don't take terrible pictures where everyone is standing in front of the camera looking miserable. After the wedding, the parents of the bride and groom are delighted with the photographs they sent (if the parents are happy, so are the bride and groom), and the newlyweds eventually admit that they should have refused.
Kyle goes above and beyond what is expected because he gives clients what they really want without even realizing it.
Strategy 2: Make the customer a hero
In India, I met Purna Daggirala, an entrepreneur who “helps you master Microsoft Excel.” This application itself doesn't really interest me, but the financial details of the business caught my attention. In the column “Net profit for the previous year” it was listed as 136 thousand dollars. Such an income would have been impressive in my homeland, but for India this is simply incredibly big money. Moreover, Purna plans to earn $200 thousand next year, although the company has only been in existence for three years. Clients are delighted with him. When I was searching the Internet for information about him, I came across a comment from one user who declared Purna his “friend forever.” How did the entrepreneur manage to win such love among spreadsheet users?
Purna created the site several years ago, but at first he only posted news about his family and life in India. In 2009, more serious information appeared there: step-by-step recommendations and manuals for working with Excel. And most importantly, Purna was not targeting Indian residents, but was looking for potential clients all over the world. He also refused additional income in the form of advertising banners, which few of our heroes dared to do. Instead, he created the products himself, offering digital manuals and online lessons.
Purna also turned out to be a good copywriter. Working with spreadsheets seems like a very tedious task, but instead of focusing on the numbers, he highlighted a key benefit. "Our learning programs make clients heroes in the eyes of managers and colleagues. “Not only do clients make their lives easier,” says Purna, “people around them begin to recognize and appreciate their ability to simplify complex processes.”
Purna left his job as a business analyst when it became obvious that he would earn much more in another field. Despite such a high income for India, Purna and his wife still live very modestly. “We have already secured ourselves for years to come,” he admits. Moreover, every day new customers find it through Google, advertising and hundreds of links. “Even if I wanted to close the business,” he says, “it would be very difficult to do.” There is a lot to learn from Purna, because he even managed to make spreadsheets attractive.
Strategy 3. Sell what people buy
When choosing a property for sale, follow a simple rule: sell what they buy. In other words, find out what people really want, not what you think they need. I hope the story of my ups and downs will help illustrate this principle. Taking my first steps in the field of business, I created a project called Travel Ninja. Since I have visited more than 150 countries and travel at least 200 thousand miles by plane every year, I know almost everything about economical flights. Travel Ninja was intended to be a clear example of savings - how to book tickets for a trip around the world, how to take advantage of airline mistakes, etc.
I polled my audience and received enthusiastic responses. There were many who wanted to get to know this topic better. My previous product sold 500 copies in the first hours of sales. So one fine day early in the morning I posted an update to the site. And he began to wait... and wait. Orders came in, but not as quickly as I expected. By the end of the first day I had only sold 100 copies - not too bad, but nothing to be particularly happy about.
A few weeks passed and I was still puzzled by the low response rate. Feedback from customers who purchased Travel Ninja was almost unanimously positive, but there were so few buyers that I realized that something was wrong with my project. It finally dawned on me: most people don't care about the ins and outs of how airlines operate, they just want to know how and where to get cheap tickets. Technical details and unnecessary details discouraged purchases. Like an over-eager chef, I tried to get customers into the kitchen instead of just giving them the dish they wanted.
Well, lesson learned. A year later, I introduced a new product for travelers - Frequent Flyer Master. I did my best to make it as accessible as possible. And for advertising purposes he referred to his own experience. “Perhaps you are not going to visit 20 countries a year like me, but if you want to visit at least for nothing one, choose any one.”
This product was much more successful: it sold 500 copies on the first day, and by the end of the year I had earned over $50,000 in net profit. The success was a relief, because for almost a year I had been tormented by the question: will travel information sell? Fortunately, yes, if you present it exactly the way customers need it.
Another year later, I used the lesson learned again. Frequent Flyer Master customers who liked the product asked for updated information about air travel. This is how the Travel Hacking Cartel was born, detailing how to benefit from frequent flights. This time the ad carefully warned: don't sweat the small stuff, just do what we say and you'll earn enough miles for free flights every year. This offer turned out to be the most successful - on the first day of sales, more than 3 thousand buyers contacted me. I finally figured out how to give my clients what they wanted.
Just six steps and we're getting started
As the examples of the heroes from Chapter 1 showed, to open your own business, it is not necessary to have a lot of money or undergo long training. All you need is a product, a group of people who want to buy it, and a payment method. Throughout the book we will consider each component in detail, but there is no point in waiting long. You only need to take six steps.
1. Select a product.
2. Create a website, the simplest one possible (there are special platforms for creating free websites).
3. Develop an offer (this is different from a product, see Chapter 7 for more details).
4. Select a payment method (you can start with a free PayPal account).
5. Make your proposal public (see Chapter 9 for more details).
6. Repeat, taking into account previous experience.
Almost all micro-enterprises follow this procedure. Of course, in the future we will discuss the specifics of each stage, but it is better to start right now rather than wait for ideal conditions.
If you already have your own business and are wondering how to use new information, consider expanding your customer base or developing new products. It is these tasks that are most important for business, and not management, control and everything that only takes up time but does not bring either money or benefit to others. If you don't know what to do, answer the following questions:
Can I send it to potential clients? special offer or a discount coupon?
Is it possible to add a new product?
For trainers and consultants: is it possible to work for special conditions with clients offering prepayment?
How to attract new subscribers or clients?
In any case, you just need to do something. Friedrich Engels said: “Even a small step is worth hundreds of theories.” Take this small step today.
What do people really want?
Experience has taught me that the most important thing for a business is to focus on what customers really want. Simply put, we want only impressions more, and others less. The “More” list will include love, money, recognition and free time. We all want this, right? The “Less” column will include such unwanted things as stress, traffic jams, unsuccessful romances. If your business is focused on giving people more desirable experiences or eliminate the unwanted ones (or both), you are on the right track.
Visitors to spa centers feel surrounded by love and care and are relieved of stress. In advertising you can often hear: “We will do everything for you - relax and don’t think about anything.” But what a good restaurant shouldn’t say is: “Go to the kitchen and cook your own lunch.”
Artist and musician Brooke Snow tried to earn money by teaching in her hometown. She had enough to live on, she even managed to pay for college without going into debt, which was not easy. But Brooke constantly had to make ends meet. One day it dawned on her. Why post ads in your hometown of Logan and hope someone will call when you can teach somewhere else?
Changes burst into her life by accident and, as luck would have it, on one of the worst days. “I had to cancel because I was short,” Brooke says. “My husband had just started graduate school, our baby was eight months old, and we still had to pay off the mortgage on our house.” Needless to say, the situation is not the best. She called Mike, one of the few students who had signed up, to tell him classes were cancelled. It turned out that he was preparing a dissertation on educational technologies and specialized in distance learning.
Brooke admitted that, being good photographer and the teacher, she knows nothing about information technology. Luckily, she knew better about bartering, so she offered Mike private lessons in exchange for developing an online course for her. This was ideal dissertation practice, so Mike was happy to help Brooke take her proposal online.
Brooke earned $30,000 a year in lessons for residents of her town. In her first year of teaching online, she received over $60,000. An excellent result! The transition from offline to online played a key role in success, but it was not the only one. Brooke wasn't afraid to share her knowledge. Early in her career, she attended a seminar where someone said, “If your business helps others, you will always have plenty of work.” Here's what happened next:
This statement changed my life. I worked in a very competitive market of photographers who fight for every shot and are in no hurry to reveal their secrets. I got rid of fear, adopted the principle of helping others (I wanted to have “full work”!) and began to teach what I could. Skeptics warned that I was “raising competitors.” But, fortunately, a business built on help pays off every day.
We'll come back to Brooke's story later. I call this approach: free get, free share. If things aren't going well, ask yourself how you can help others.
What In fact do people want? Basically, just be happy. Companies that help their clients become like this have chosen the right path. A ranch in California turns ordinary people into cowboys. Kelly's yoga classes help working moms prepare for a busy day. The restaurant we go to at the end of the work week - unless it sends its clients to the kitchen - allows us to relax, relax with a glass of wine and enjoy excellent service.
In conversations with respondents, we returned to this topic more than once. They all said the same thing: first you need to find out what people want, and then figure out how to give it to them. This is the direct path to success. When developing your own project, do not miss the main thing: you create true value if you give people what they really want.
Key points
The values involve “helping others.” Our accidental entrepreneurs have learned from their own experience that only by putting values first can you create a successful business.
Give people what they really want, not what you think they should have. Give them fish!
The more key benefits you present to the market (instead of the usual list of features), the easier it will be to profit from the project. The key benefits are almost always related to emotional needs.
People want more of some things and emotions (money, love, attention), and less of some (stress, anxiety, debts). Focus on those that can improve the lives of those around you and save you from problems. And... get ready to accept money.
3. Follow your passion... whenever possible.
Make money doing what you love, but balance it with the desires of other people
Like many of us, Gary Leff starts his day by checking his email. As chief financial officer of two research centers in northern Virginia, he stays in touch with colleagues from morning to evening. He likes his job and has no intention of quitting it. But the earliest morning letters have nothing to do with her and concern his part-time employment as a special consultant.
Like me, Gary is an avid traveler who earns thousands of free miles every year through airline loyalty programs. Many top managers also earn a lot of miles using business credit cards. But accumulating miles and spending them on your own vacation are two different things. Managers most often have no idea how to do this and do not have the time to study complex procedures. How many miles do you need to travel? What if there are no seats on the flight? If you don’t know which side to approach, a person gives up and gives up on his idea.
This is what Gary decided to do. For a flat fee ($250 for two passengers on the same route), he will use your bonuses to buy the trip of his dreams. Customers tell us where they want to go, which airlines they earned free miles with, and other important details. Then Gary gets to work: correlates the information received with the availability of free seats on the flight, calls the airlines, using any loopholes for the benefit of the client.
At first glance, it seems unreasonable to pay $250 for something you can do yourself, and for free, but the benefits of the service cannot be overestimated. Trips arranged by Gary cost at least $5,000. He specializes in first and business class travel, sometimes including services on six airlines simultaneously. Do you want to transit Paris on your way to Johannesburg? No problem. Want to spend more time in Frankfurt on your way to Singapore? Please. If the trip cannot be booked, the client does not pay. A business only succeeds when it delivers value to its customers.
In addition to top managers, Gary is also often approached by retirees planning a cruise and couples planning honeymoons - in general, anyone who has accumulated a lot of miles, but does not want to understand the airline bonus system. Things took off when Gary placed an ad in Condé Nast Traveler, an American travel magazine. Apart from calls to airlines, Gary conducts all negotiations via e-mail. This hobby brought him 75 thousand dollars last year, and in the future promises over 100 thousand dollars annually. At the same time, Gary works full time as a financial director and also works on other projects. He prefers not to spend money, but to invest. “I really enjoy it,” he says. Gary travels with his wife using his bonus miles. Sometimes, between financial planning meetings, they take fabulous trips to the Philippines or Thailand.
* * *
Gary's business, like others that we will talk about later, can be called the result of passion. Gary loved to travel and knew many creative ways to enjoy first class flights at a great price. He began helping people do the same, first by volunteering advice on travel forums, then on a blog, and then individually to friends. His fame quickly spread: “Hey Gary, I want to go to Europe with my wife, I have so many miles... What should I do?” And before the answer was ready, more requests accumulated in the mailbox than could be processed.
The next logical step was to charge for advice. Gary created a very basic website and set up a fee-for-service system without any specific plans for the future. Will anyone really pay for such an unusual service? And how! And although Gary is busy all day at his main job and has no intention of quitting it, now he does not depend on it. If something changes in the service, he will calmly live off his own business or even expand it.
Gary's story is inspiring, but there is nothing unusual about it. When I collected data for the study and conducted endless interviews, I even stopped being surprised. For example, I learned that a coupon site run by a single mother was making $60,000 a year part-time. And the production of handmade toys costs no less, 250 thousand dollars a year, and it even uses hired labor.
Instant Consultant
Gary's business is thriving, even though his website looks like it was created ten years ago. Gary doesn't look to anyone for approval or direction. It only takes one day, if not less, to become a paid consultant. Follow two rules:
1. Pay attention to everything unusual and contrary to usual logic. Don't become a business consultant or coach. Think about what original things you can offer to others.
2. There are no consultants who charge $15 an hour, so don't underestimate your services. Unless you plan to work 40 hours a week, ask for at least $100 per hour or a flat fee commensurate with the benefits offered.
Preparing to start a business
I will help clients ____________________ By hiring me, they will receive (key benefit + additional benefit).
I will charge x dollars per hour or a flat rate of __________ per service. This tariff will satisfy both clients and me.
My site will contain the following elements:
1. Key benefit that clients will receive and a description of personal skills. (Remember that skills have nothing to do with education or certifications. Gary, for example, knows how to buy tickets with bonus miles, as he has done this for himself many times.)
2. At least two examples of how your service made someone’s life easier (if no one has paid you yet, help someone you know for free).
3. submit along with the standard rate. Don't force clients to write or call you to find out how much your services cost.)
4. Instructions for placing an order for the service (this should be very simple).
I will find clients through [word of mouth, Google, blog, flyers, etc.].
My first client will contact me on or before [date].
Welcome to Consultants! Now you have your own business.
I met Megan Hunt at her office, part of which she rents out. Megan arrived at work at six in the evening. She prefers to work in the evenings, when she can bring her child with her. Unlike most of our heroes, Megan dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur from a young age. “I started at nineteen, my sophomore year in college. My plans never included hired work, and I never aspired to traditional employment, because I knew that my destiny would be closely connected with art. I worked in a few offices for a little while, but saw it only as a means to earn enough money to open my own business.”
Megan now creates custom wedding dresses and accessories and sells them to brides all over the world (42% of buyers live outside the United States). After earning $40,000 in the first year, she expanded the business and hired two more employees and rented out part of the office. (She is her own boss, so no one complains about her habit of working in the evenings.)
Almost all the entrepreneurs we will meet on the pages of this book have experienced at least one critical situation, when all plans went to hell and the business was threatened with collapse. Megan's biggest misfortune happened on the eve of the 2010 holiday season. After spending 70 hours creating exclusive floral decorations for two clients, she sent them by mail, and... The package was lost in the depths postal service. “It was just a nightmare,” Megan recalls. “I needed to return the money, but I didn’t have it, and the worst thing was the thought that the brides were left without accessories.” But she did everything she was supposed to: she returned the money, apologized, wrote about the story on her blog to warn others, and continued working.
Megan doesn't even think about complaining about the negligence of the postal service. She simply loves her job and does not want to do anything else. “I am inspired by fellow entrepreneurs who work in my office. Every day I interact with clients experiencing the best moments of their lives. I have a little daughter that I can bring to work. My earning potential is limitless, and I am free to invest every dollar I earn in my happiness.”
* * *
It seems simple: choose something you like and build a business on it, like Gary and Megan did. And the money will flow like a river! But is it really that simple? As you might imagine, the answer is ambiguous. Many people can build a business out of their passion, but not everyone can.
There are hobbies that do not fit into this concept. Firstly, you can’t take any hobby as a basis - no one will pay for many of the things you like. Remember the rule of convergence. Just think about how your project will be useful to others and why they will be interested in your proposal. I love eating pizza, but as much as I enjoy it, I doubt you can make a career out of your love of mushrooms and olives. We need to find something more interesting for others.
Sometimes a successful micro-business is preceded by failure. Mignon Fogarty created the QDT Network project, well known to fans of the author's show Grammar Girl. The show almost immediately became an absolute hit, spawning a series of books, projects and earning constant media attention. But before creating Grammar Girl, Mignon made an unsuccessful attempt to gain popularity through podcasting (Internet radio). Here's what she says about it:
Before you launch successful project Grammar Girl, I created a podcast about science called Absolute Science. I loved doing this show, I was just engrossed in it. I spent much more effort on its promotion than on Grammar Girl. And although Absolute Science was quite famous, after a year I realized that it would never generate income that could justify the time spent on it.
Mignon changed course, switching from science to grammar. She didn't give up on her goal, she just combined the right passion with the right audience.
Additionally, successful entrepreneurs who follow their passion understand an important principle that their ambitious (but unsuccessful) peers do not. Don't lose sight of one important point: you are not paid for your hobby as such, but for the help it provides, directly or indirectly. This is the main thing. My writing career began by blogging about my travel adventures, but no one paid me for it. With my business, I have to create value just like everyone else. If you don't do this, no one will pay, and traveling will remain just a hobby (no matter how much I love it).
Let's look at another example. Irish-born Benny Lewis says he gets paid for his love of languages. Benny's story is impressive. He earns over 65 thousand dollars a year, does not depend on anyone, moves around the world and is immersed in different cultures. But that's not all.
I met Benny while waiting for my flight in Bangkok. Benny doesn't drink, which is probably for the best, because he's the most emotional person I know. He talked about himself over a glass of mango juice. Twenty-four years ago, Benny went abroad and lived there for two years. As a child, he spoke only English, planned to become an engineer, and was not at all known as a polyglot. After visiting Spain after defending his thesis and continuing to work with Spanish clients upon his return to the States, he became convinced of the idea of learning Spanish.
After living in Seville for six months, Benny was disappointed. He still did not know the language, since he spent most of his time in the company of foreigners like him or English-speaking Spaniards. Benny decided to communicate exclusively in Spanish for a month. At first he felt awkward and was often embarrassed. He didn't know how to conjugate verbs, so he only used the present tense. If he wanted to explain that something had already happened, he pointed backwards. But the most remarkable thing is that the language was learned much faster this way. After a couple of weeks, Benny could speak Spanish quite well. The month-long immersion turned out to be much more effective than the previous six months, and he became hooked on studying foreign languages. He went to Berlin and mastered German; then to Paris, where he studied French; and in Prague he mastered the very difficult Czech language.
Benny's method has been tested in practice. In two years, he learned seven languages (perfectly!) and regularly tests his knowledge by communicating with their native speakers. From time to time he taught his method, but there was no system in these attempts.
“Benny, you have an amazing skill,” I told him in Bangkok. “Why don’t you seriously think about opening relevant courses?” (To be honest, it didn’t take me long to convince him. Benny was already thinking about it himself. The bar patrons crowded around approved of the idea.)
He immediately suggested a bunch of titles, from which he chose the best: Fluent in 3 Months (“Fluent in 3 months”). Everyone raised their glasses of beer in approval, and Benny took a sip of some juice. As soon as he learns Thai (the eighth language), he will begin to take notes on everything he knows about learning foreign languages.
The idea was great, but there was still a lot of work to be done. Benny worked tirelessly to turn his knowledge and experience into a pile of documents, videos and interviews. He wanted the perfect result... “Finally the edits were made and I put the finished product on display for everyone to see,” he says. The course is now available in eight languages, the same ones that Benny learned on his own.
To promote Fluent in 3 Months, Benny posted a video tour of his apartment on YouTube in five languages (including various dialects). He stood on the streets in national costume and sang songs in the language of the country he was in, and also offered free hugs. When I visited him in Texas, he greeted me wearing a hat and goggles. I asked what they were for. Benny’s answer was symbolic: “I wear them when I travel. When people ask me about glasses, it’s easier to make connections and learn a new language.”
Benny says that he gets paid to study languages, but, as you can see, not only for that. He gets paid to help. Of course, he inspires others, and this is also important (Internet users like his videos and willingly share them with friends). But without offering anything useful, he would simply be a polyglot Irishman, and this, alas, is not a business.
Besides realizing that not every passion can turn into a business, and that a business and a hobby are different things, there is another key point. A person does not always want to combine hobbies with work. If a hobby or passion helps you forget about everyday affairs, why dedicate a full work week to it and turn it into a routine activity? Many people believe that hobbies should be separated from work.
Explore " Control questions to assess reality" and determine whether a passion-driven business is right for you. Benjamin Franklin said about this: “If you are driven by passion, all you have to do is obey it.”
Test questions to assess validity
Self-Assessment Questions
Would you enjoy your hobby if you devoted not only your free time to it, but twenty hours a week?
Do you enjoy teaching someone your hobby?
Do you love all its subtleties?
If you had to devote some time to solving administrative issues related to your hobby, would you still enjoy it?
Market Assessment Questions
Do people around you turn to you for help?
Are they willing to pay for your skill?
Are there similar services on the market (a positive factor), but offered in a different way?
Important! Chapter 6 describes market testing in more detail. If you can't answer questions about the market, keep reading.
When asking random entrepreneurs about the “follow your passion” model, I often received conflicting answers. Almost no one said, “Yes, you should always follow your passion, wherever it leads.” But no one rejected this idea once and for all. There is one caveat: passion + good business sense = real business.
Sometimes passion can be turned into a profitable business. Take a look at the table below. In addition to passion, you need to learn to solve the problems of others. Only passion combined with socially useful skills pays dividends.
Here's how you can think of it differently:
(Passion + skill) → (problem + market) = opportunity
Being important element, passion is just part of the equation. If Gary suddenly forgot how to book free tickets, his passion for traveling would lose its value. No matter how much love Megan has for her dresses, if there are no people willing to buy them, the business will not work.
The next step is to turn your passion into a business. All our heroes used similar models to monetize their project. Let's see how the four projects described turned into full-time income.
Gary For his unusual services he receives a fixed fee (currently it is $250).
Benny sells a finished product (language learning guide) through the website at a fixed price.
Megan also sells finished products (dresses and wedding accessories made to order), but at different prices.
Minion offers listeners a popular podcast for free, making money from advertising and sponsorship.
Each model has its own advantages and disadvantages. Gary receives $250 per order, but then must earn the money by arranging travel for the client.
Benny sells his manual for only $29, but the process is automated and once payment is received from Benny nothing is needed.
Megan sells a variety of products (and also rents out part of her office), so her income is diversified. But the key project - sewing wedding dresses - is very labor-intensive.
Mignon's sponsors bring her a stable and regular income, but advertising to some extent prevents her from freely communicating with the audience.
Despite the differences, the main objective each model – to offer the right product to the right group of people. Otherwise, not a single project would be successful. But the entrepreneur who finds the right formula and chooses the right passion will be rewarded.
Gabriela Redding lost weight thanks to hula hooping and created a million-dollar business from it. She was formerly a tattoo artist and then a restaurant owner. “I’m an artist at heart,” she said in an interview with Forbes magazine. – And artists make good entrepreneurs, since we are constantly racking our brains over how to sell our work. If you don’t sell, you’ll starve, and I don’t want to be a hungry artist.”
Instead of working just for money, it is better to devote yourself to what you love and get paid for it. You just need to choose the right hobby, the right audience and the right business model.
Key points
The examples of Gary and Benny clearly demonstrate that good companies offer solutions to problems: what to do with bonus miles, how to quickly learn a foreign language.
Not all businesses built on a passion are directly related to it. When evaluating various projects, ask yourself, is it possible to make money from this?
Not every hobby can be used to build a business, and not every person wants to make money from their hobby.
You can become a consultant in one day, and the narrower the field, the better.
End of introductory fragment.
Maya Angelou (b. 1928) – professor, poet, writer, memoirist, director, actress, historian, educator and activist civil rights in USA. Note translation
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) - American essayist, poet, philosopher, public figure; one of the most prominent thinkers and writers in the United States. Note translation
Free Hugs is a movement in which participants take to the streets and offer hugs to strangers. Founded by Australian Juan Mann in 2004. Note translation
Chris Guilbeault
Startup for $100. Create a new future doing what you love
This book is well complemented by:
Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson
Whole life
Les Hewitt, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen
Transform yourself into a brand
Tom Peters
Dream, create, change!
Sarah Lacy
Create and sell
Svetlana Voinskaya
Foreword by the publishing partner
The art of minimalism
CEO of Singularity University Salim Ismail likes to talk about one interesting fact in his lectures. Several decades ago, the cost of organizing a high-tech business in Silicon Valley, a solid business with a solid client base, already generating a decent income, was several million dollars. And the creation of such a business was a matter of concern and a point of application for venture capital. Now the cost of organizing such a business there, in California, has decreased significantly - to about 100 thousand dollars. It is no longer necessary to look for such money in a venture fund; it is quite possible to raise it yourself using a crowdfunding scheme. Moreover, according to Salim, today this applies not only to Internet and IT startups, for which the threshold for entering the business has always been not too high, but also to projects related to biotechnology. Yes, people manage to successfully engage in biotech in a garage using decommissioned equipment (like the founders of today’s IT giants once did).
Within the boundaries of this trend towards minimalism fit the initial cost of organizing a startup at $100, a company mission in a tweet style of 140 characters, a one-page business plan and a business promotion plan of the same length. These are the parameters that Chris Guilbeault sets in his book “The $100 Startup.”
But minimalism is a great art. Remember, for example, the most striking example of this style in music - Ravel's Bolero.
Fine art is also required to organize a successful business, although for this, as Chris writes, only three elements are enough: a product or service, customers willing to pay, and a mechanism for accepting payments.
Yes, the skeleton of any business project is simple, you just need to correctly combine these three components. Check the viability of your business idea, choose the right business model, and attract the attention of potential clients to it.
As for PR, it can also be done in a minimalist style. The first winner of the “innovative” nomination of the famous PR award “Silver Archer” established by RVC and Rusnano was the company Sun. Not Californian, but Novosibirsk - which started with the distribution of Chinese printers, and then invented its own printing inks - and fell under the wing of Rusnano.
Once Anatoly Borisovich Chubais, representing the company at an investment forum, said: “Oh, these can even print on impossible surfaces.” Journalists picked up this phrase, and it found its way onto the lips of the hosts of the SpotlightParisHilton show. They made a lot of jokes about this and eventually advised Novosibirsk residents to learn how to print on water.
The Sun PR woman came to her developers with this advice. They scratched their heads and actually came up with a way to print on the surface of water. It’s not clear why, but no one in the world can do this yet. Of course, only the lazy didn’t write or report about a printer that prints on water. And these notes again ended up in “ProjectorParisHilton” - the circle is closed. The Novosibirsk company was featured twice on the country's main TV channel, and the budget for this PR project was practically zero.
In general, you can become a successful (and famous) entrepreneur within the framework of minimalism, and without even giving up your hobby. The main thing, warns Chris Guilbeault, is that if you want to call your hobby a business, you need to make money. How? Read Chris' tips and insights.
Editorial Board of the RVC LibraryThis book is for those who are taking their first steps,
for those who inspire others with their deeds
Manifesto
A short guide to making your wishes come true
Imagine spending all your time doing activities that you enjoy.
Imagine that you are working only on your own projects and you are no longer a cog in a machine that serves to enrich others.
Imagine handing your boss a letter with the following content: “Dear boss, I hasten to inform you that I no longer need your services. Thanks for all. Now I will go my own way.”
Imagine that today is your last day working as an employee. Let's say that very soon - in the not so distant and unpredictable future - you start your workday by turning on your laptop in your home office, opening your own store, calling a client who trusts you and values your recommendations, or something else, but from that , what You want to; You no longer follow anyone's orders.
All over the world, thousands of people do exactly this. They are rewriting employment standards, becoming their own bosses and shaping their own new future. This business model has proven itself well in the example of “accidental” entrepreneurs who never considered themselves as such. There's been a revolution microbusiness, thanks to which you can earn a decent living while maintaining independence and purpose in life.
Some books describing the rise of Internet startups end with praise for venture capital and fantastic stories about gourmet restaurants for employees. Many guides tell you how to write 80-page business plans that no one ever reads and that have nothing to do with the actual business. This book is about something completely different. It is based on two key provisions: Liberty And values. We all strive for freedom, and values are the means to achieve it.
Taste of freedom
More than ten years ago, I began a lifelong journey, and this path, one way or another, was to lead me to opening my own business. I never aspired to be an entrepreneur, I just didn't want to work for anyone but myself. From a cheap apartment in Memphis, I watched other people, trying to analyze their successes. I ended up importing coffee from Jamaica and selling it online because I saw others making money from it. I didn't know much about importing, roasting, or selling coffee beans, but I had tried almost every type of coffee thanks to free "samples."
When I needed money, I didn't think about how to cut costs or find a job, but about how to create and sell a product. That is, he did everything contrary to generally accepted norms, since budgeting usually begins with a search for a profitable niche and an analysis of available opportunities. I did it differently: I started with a list of what I would like to do, and then thought about how to implement it.
My small business did not bring in much money, but it allowed me to pay bills and gain something more valuable - freedom. I didn't stick to any schedule, fill out time sheets, write meaningless reports, follow office rules, or even attend mandatory meetings.
Part of the time I was involved in company affairs, but I didn’t let my busy schedule prevent me from enjoying life - for example, cozying up with a book in a cafe or working in the evenings as a jazz musician.
Wanting to give the world something truly beautiful, I traveled to West Africa and volunteered for four years with a medical charity. I got behind the wheel of a Land Rover and delivered medicine to hospitals in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Then I realized that freedom is inseparable from responsibility and I can combine my desire for independence with things that will serve the good of humanity.
Upon returning to the States, I built a career as a writer according to my usual scenario: I started with an idea, and learned everything else along the way. Deciding to travel the world, I visited 20 countries a year and ran my business from anywhere on the planet. At every stage, my constant compass was the desire for freedom.
There are no rehabilitation programs for “freedom lovers”. If you have at least once felt the taste of freedom, then try to live by someone else’s rules - it won’t work.
Doctrine of Values
I dedicated the second part of the book values– this word is often used, although its meaning is rarely understood. Value is generally created when a person does something useful and shares it with others. The people you meet in the pages of my book succeeded because that's what they did. The combination of freedom and values usually occurs when a person enthusiastically devotes himself to something he loves and eventually it turns into a business.
English The $100 Startup 2012
Reads in 13 minutes, original - 7 hours
Illustration by Crown Business
Stop working your pants from nine to six and become your own boss.
More and more people are abandoning the traditional employment model with its strict rules and chain of command. They do what they love and open their own business. They create micro-enterprises that allow them to lead a free and meaningful life. This form of employment involves running a business individually.
It takes a lot less to start a micro business than you think. The most ordinary people open their own micro-enterprises every day, often without much money, experience, an MBA degree, or even a well-developed business plan.
Example. Two recently graduated designers came up with the idea of selling high-quality travel maps of their own making online. The result: the guys began to earn so much money that after nine months they quit their jobs and devoted themselves entirely to the new business.
A piano teacher wrote a computer program to take attendance, control fees, and schedule lessons. This project became a full-fledged source of income for him - more than $30,000 per month.
There is nothing stopping you from achieving the same success. You need:
- a product (or service) that can be sold;
- customers willing to pay for it;
- payment mechanism.
Don't be afraid to take action. Your own uncertainty and fear can create more difficulties than competitors or external market circumstances. Don't give in to these feelings. Take the plunge.
Enthusiasm alone is not enough for a successful business; We need more clients and relevant skills
Many people dream of making money doing what they like best. But a hobby will never turn into a real business if no one pays for it.
Find an area where your passions, skills, and the needs of others intersect. Offer specific benefits or customer value to customers. Think carefully about how you can benefit other people.
Turning a passion into a business directly is difficult. Master a related field - help others do what you like.
Example. An avid traveler, Gary Leff started his own business booking flights and creating itineraries for people who have accumulated bonus miles and don't know how to put them to good use.
If you lack the skills for your chosen field, use the “skills transformation principle”: you may not have the specific skills needed for a given project, but you may have abilities in related areas. Make the most of your existing talents and at the same time acquire missing abilities.
Example. Kat Alder, who worked as a waitress in London, had a great way of communicating with people. She founded her own PR firm. The girl had no experience in this area, but her communication skills helped her learn the basics of a new business.
Not every hobby can be turned into a business. You can't make money from your passion for pizza. But you can open a pizzeria. Analyze opportunities to meet people's needs using the skills you have.
Identify deep customer needs and develop an appropriate offer
Your product must provide benefits to customers. To do this, you must know who your customers are. Demographic characteristics alone are not enough target audience: age, gender, income. Find the personal characteristics that unite your audience: hobbies, skills, values.
Will your product be of interest to these people? Make contact with potential clients and ask them questions. Use informal conversations or questionnaires. Determine whether customers are willing to pay for the proposed product. Product changes may need to be made. Launch an advertisement for a product - how many orders will you receive? Is this project justified? After such analysis, begin production.
The true desires of clients may not coincide with the declared ones.
Example. Air passengers have been complaining about cramped airplane cabins for years. But as soon as airlines offer more spacious seats, but at a slightly higher price, it becomes clear: people prefer cheaper carriers, even if their cabins are cramped.
Look beyond obvious needs to uncover unspoken desires.
Example. Newlyweds often say wedding photographer Kyle Hepp that they don't want to take regular wedding photos. Despite this, she still takes a few traditional photos, knowing that the bride and groom's relatives will be happy to receive them.
Be creative with your marketing and focus on customer benefits
In your marketing efforts, focus on the benefits you are willing to provide to customers. IN advertising text don't focus on boring things technical details, but focus on key consumer benefits: how exactly your product can make people’s lives easier.
Key benefits relate to the emotions you help your customers experience.
Example. California ranchers say, “We don't sell horseback riding. We offer freedom." A yoga school is not actually selling you lessons on how to do exercises, but helping you relieve stress and relax in a calm, secluded environment.
Be entrepreneurial, minimize advertising costs, be creative in your marketing: network with journalists, collaborate with other companies, write guest blog posts. This is more effective than traditional marketing and is several times cheaper.
“Strategic Giving” is a powerful, unconventional marketing tool. Give your product to a client for free or provide a useful service - he will tell others about your activities.
Example. Unemployed architect John Morefield opened a stall called “Architectural Consultation for 5 Cents” at a farmers market in Seattle. He really gave professional advice for a coin, but clients were so satisfied that they often hired him for additional work at a full rate. John's story even made it onto CNN and other news channels, making him a well-known figure and generating an influx of new clients.
A successful product launch requires careful preparation and the ability to convince customers to buy now
There is nothing worse for an entrepreneur than spending several months developing a product and then not being able to sell a single copy. To prevent this from happening, carefully plan and prepare your entry into the market. The release of a product must be preceded by a powerful advertising campaign, in order to properly “warm up” customers and make them wait impatiently for new items several months before the start of sales.
Before entering the market, create a reliable circle of potential buyers through advertising. Get customers interested long before the actual product launch. Build their anticipation by talking about the project you're working on, emphasizing its benefits to them, and describing details of upcoming sales. When the long-awaited launch day arrives, make the purchasing process as easy as possible.
Launching a product is a very nerve-wracking time for an entrepreneur, and when actual sales begin, he is extremely relieved.
The special price for a product must be valid for a strictly limited time. Remind customers of this as the deadline approaches, encouraging the hesitant customer to buy immediately. Once the agreed period has expired, keep your word and no longer sell the product at a low price.
Business must make money. Don't forget about costs and income
Business must make money. Otherwise it's just a hobby.
Consider financing, costs and income.
Financing
It is not necessary to take out a loan. Your costs can only be buying a laptop and creating a website.
Example. Shelley Vitry started her food tour business in Denver with $28 in seed capital and ended up earning $60,000 a year.
If you need more money, but you can’t get it from the bank, turn to non-standard fundraising methods, such as crowdfunding (collective financing).
Example. Shannon Oakey, who dreamed of opening her own publishing house producing books and magazines on needlework, managed to raise $10 thousand on Kickstarter when the bank refused to give her a loan.
Expenses
Keep costs low. Invest only in things that directly impact sales. A luxury website is only worth the investment if you are confident that it will bring in new customers.
Income
Act proactively, don’t wait until you have to urgently patch holes. Calmly consider how you see the future of your business and customer service. What new products are you working on? How to increase sales volume? Are there long-standing problems that need to be addressed? Monitor one or two key metrics (daily sales volume or average order value) to keep your finger on the pulse of the business.
Establish regular receipts of payments, do not underestimate the price of the product and regularly make adjustments that can significantly affect profits
How to make your business as profitable as possible?
It is necessary to establish a regular flow of payments by developing a subscription program. With only 400 subscribers and a monthly subscription fee of $20, you can earn almost $100 thousand a year. When setting prices, you should rely on the proposed consumer benefits, and not on the cost.
Example. Gary Leff helps clients plan vacations using bonus miles. He charges a flat fee of $350 for his services, regardless of how long it takes him to search for information and order tickets: 5 minutes or 5 hours. In any case, the consumer value is the same.
Feel free to raise your prices periodically. Clients often react to news of a promotion much more positively than one might expect: “It’s about time! You are worth much more than you ask for."
Offer customers a limited price range. Don't set a single price - this way you can further maximize your profits. The overwhelming number of options can be confusing, but there are some customers who prefer the “premium” version. Offer them an improved version of a basic product at a higher price.
Constantly adjust your business to achieve maximum profitability. Pay attention Special attention indicators:
- site traffic,
- share of buyers among the total number of visitors
- average purchase amount.
These factors have a huge impact on your bottom line. Your job is to continually experiment and make small changes to see what brings the most profit.
Choose your own business scale: remain a small entrepreneur or expand by increasing your staff
Each entrepreneur has his own plans for business development. “One-man show”, fantastic growth or something in between - all options are equally acceptable. Ways to develop a business:
- Vertical- expanding the range of services for existing customers. If you are selling software- Offer training courses to the same clients.
- Horizontal- development of new offers for other categories of consumers. One web designer came to the conclusion that custom websites were unaffordable for some clients. She developed several standard design templates and offered them at a reasonable fixed price.
As your business grows, you may not be able to handle all the work alone. The solution is outsourcing, transferring some tasks to third parties. Involve third parties to miscellaneous work: From cleaning the home office and organizing meetings to actually producing the product. The feasibility of outsourcing depends on the type of business and the personality of the manager. If your business is based on working with clients or you have a mania to control everything, outsourcing will only do harm.
If you plan to sell your business in the future, it is important that your business has the potential for development. It must be accessible to development (so that the buyer can, if desired, expand the scale of activity by training a dozen new employees) and be of value to consumers (so that the increase in production volumes is balanced by an increase in the number of customers).
Avoid writing complex business plans so you can focus on real action
Real actions always take precedence over plans. Don't waste time making complicated plans that never come to fruition. Make the plan extremely simple: the business plan should fit on one page and only indicate the direction of development of the enterprise.
- What are you going to sell and to whom?
- Why would these people want to buy it from you?
- How will you receive payment?
- Intended Marketing Actions
- Basic business indicators
Set yourself a clear deadline for launching the project. This is an additional guarantee that the plan will be implemented.
The mission statement of the enterprise should also be simple and concise. Ideally, no more than the length of a Twitter message (140 characters). Try formulating something like this. This exercise will help you clearly express the true purpose of your business.
Example. “I help health-conscious business people plan workouts to stay healthy and fit.”
Beware of unsolicited advice, even if people wish you well. Most of them don't have own business, so their advice is useless and only distracts you from your goal. You don't need anyone's permission to succeed in business. Trust your own judgment and take the plunge.
The most important
It takes a lot less than you think to throw off the shackles of traditional employment and start your own micro-business. Analyze your passions and talents to determine where they intersect with your clients' needs, and get to work.
When developing your product and organizing your marketing efforts, focus primarily on customer value. As your business grows, you can make certain adjustments to maximize profits.
How to start your own micro-business?
- Stop working your pants from nine to six and become your own boss - it's easier than it seems.
- Enthusiasm alone is not enough for a successful business; We also need clients and relevant skills.
- Identify the deepest needs of customers and develop an appropriate proposal.
- Be creative with your marketing and focus on customer benefits.
- A successful product launch requires careful preparation and the ability to convince customers to buy now.
How to make a microbusiness profitable?
- Business must make money. Don't forget about costs and income.
- Organize regular payments, don't underprice your product, and regularly make small adjustments that can make a big difference to your bottom line.
What should be the ultimate goal of a microbusiness?
Choose your own scale of business: remain a small entrepreneur or expand by increasing your staff.
How detailed should a business plan be?
Avoid writing complicated business plans so you can focus on the real action.
This book is about how to live an interesting and meaningful life and at the same time make good money.
Sometimes you can find a combination of pleasure and income without leaving your current profession. However, sometimes you have to work hard to get away from traditional earnings and discover alternative sources of income. In any case, you will need to create a small startup with your own money, devote a little time to it and wait until this company is ripe for serious success in order to reap the fruits of your labor, stop depending on circumstances and start living the way you want.
Who is this book for?
This book is for those who strive for a fuller, more interesting and meaningful life. It will be of interest to those who want to stop depending on circumstances and start living the way they have long wanted. It is definitely worth reading for those who want to stop doing boring, unnecessary things, and start doing something that is both interesting and useful for others.
Why we decided to publish this book
We know how important it is to do what you love. We know how difficult it is to start a new business. We were interested to know how to create real business for real money.
We liked that the author of this book does not limit himself to general recommendations, but provides exact amounts and procedures required in the first months; in addition, he analyzes the mistakes that novice entrepreneurs made in the early days.
Book feature
In researching this book, Chris Guilbeault found 1,500 entrepreneurs who now own businesses that generate $50,000 or more in annual income, even though they started out with very modest investments (in many cases, it was actually less than $100). He then studied in detail the 50 most interesting representatives of this group. Based on the data from this research, a simple and understandable book was written, containing valuable advice from those who know how to turn their work into a source of joy and pleasure. Moreover, Chris does not limit himself to general recommendations, but gives exact amounts and procedures required in the first months; in addition, he analyzes the mistakes that novice entrepreneurs made in the early days.
When I needed money, I didn’t think about how to cut costs or find a job, but about how to create and sell a certain product. That is, he did everything contrary to generally accepted norms, since budgeting usually begins with an assessment of profits and an analysis of available opportunities. I did it differently: I started with a list of what I would like to do, and then thought about how to implement it. My small business did not bring in much money, but it allowed me to pay bills and gain something more valuable - freedom. I didn't stick to any schedule, fill out time sheets, write meaningless reports, follow office rules, or even attend required meetings.
Keep in mind that this book is not about how to start a large Internet startup or create a regular company, put on a business suit and beg for money from the bank. Here is a story about people who managed to realize their dreams and make decent money doing what they are really interested in. Maybe we can try to repeat their success? Let's adopt a general strategy and learn from those who have succeeded.
There are no secrets, cheat sheets or other tricks in this book. There are also no visualization exercises. If you think you can make money just by thinking about it, put it on a shelf and meditate. On the contrary, the book contains only practical advice on how to take responsibility for your own future. Read it if you want to create something beautiful on your path to freedom.
Is it possible to change everything, live life to the fullest and do only what you like? Can. Is it possible to make money from this? Yes, and here are stories of people who succeeded. Is there a way to achieve this? Yes, and he is in front of you. Thanks to him, you will find the long-awaited freedom.
This book is about how to live an interesting and meaningful life and at the same time make good money.
Sometimes you can find a combination of pleasure and income without leaving your current profession. However, sometimes you have to work hard to get away from traditional earnings and discover alternative sources of income. In any case, you will need to create a small startup with your own money, devote a little time to it and wait until this company is ripe for serious success in order to reap the fruits of your labor, stop depending on circumstances and start living the way you want.
Who is this book for?
This book is for those who strive for a fuller, more interesting and meaningful life. It will be of interest to those who want to stop depending on circumstances and start living the way they have long wanted. It is definitely worth reading for those who want to stop doing boring, unnecessary things, and start doing something that is both interesting and useful for others.
Why we decided to publish this book
We know how important it is to do what you love. We know how difficult it is to start a new business. We were interested in learning how to create a real business for real money.
We liked that the author of this book does not limit himself to general recommendations, but provides exact amounts and procedures required in the first months; in addition, he analyzes the mistakes that novice entrepreneurs made in the early days.
Book feature
In researching this book, Chris Guilbeault found 1,500 entrepreneurs who now own businesses that generate $50,000 or more in annual income, even though they started out with very modest investments (in many cases, it was actually less than $100). He then studied in detail the 50 most interesting representatives of this group. Based on the data from this research, a simple and understandable book was written, containing valuable advice from those who know how to turn their work into a source of joy and pleasure. Moreover, Chris does not limit himself to general recommendations, but gives exact amounts and procedures required in the first months; in addition, he analyzes the mistakes that novice entrepreneurs made in the early days.
When I needed money, I didn’t think about how to cut costs or find a job, but about how to create and sell a certain product. That is, he did everything contrary to generally accepted norms, since budgeting usually begins with an assessment of profits and an analysis of available opportunities. I did it differently: I started with a list of what I would like to do, and then thought about how to implement it. My small business did not bring in much money, but it allowed me to pay bills and gain something more valuable - freedom. I didn't stick to any schedule, fill out time sheets, write meaningless reports, follow office rules, or even attend required meetings.
Keep in mind that this book is not about how to start a large Internet startup or create a regular company, put on a business suit and beg for money from the bank. Here is a story about people who managed to realize their dreams and make decent money doing what they are really interested in. Maybe we can try to repeat their success? Let's adopt a general strategy and learn from those who have succeeded.
There are no secrets, cheat sheets or other tricks in this book. There are also no visualization exercises. If you think you can make money just by thinking about it, put it on a shelf and meditate. On the contrary, the book contains only practical advice on how to take responsibility for your own future. Read it if you want to create something beautiful on your path to freedom.
Is it possible to change everything, live life to the fullest and do only what you like? Can. Is it possible to make money from this? Yes, and here are stories of people who succeeded. Is there a way to achieve this? Yes, and he is in front of you. Thanks to him, you will find the long-awaited freedom.
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