#SmallBusinessStrategy

Should You Stay a Solopreneur? - The Definitive Guide to Deciding Whether to Scale or Not to Scale Your Service Business in Under 1 Hour

Should You Stay a Solopreneur? - The Definitive Guide to Deciding Whether to Scale or Not to Scale Your Service Business in Under 1 Hour

“Should I stay a solopreneur or should I build a full-fledged firm (or an agency or a company)?

This is a $100K question.

Why $100K?

As I’ve explained in my previous post, “The Ultimate Roadmap: How to Instantly Reduce the Amount of Uncertainty in Your Entrepreneurial Journey,” you can make up to $100K without a solid business model or structure or even a clear long-term vision.

You don’t believe me?

Well, all I can tell you is that I’ve seen countless amounts of people who have done it. Either you take my word for it, or don’t believe me. Your choice.

But here is the thing. Once you reach this revenue mark consistently for more than 2 years or so, possibly up to $200K, you will have to face a question like this one to gain clarity on “where to go from here?”

The good news is this is great timing to ask yourself this question for 3 reasons:

1. You have enough confidence at this point that your business generates revenue. In other words, you have your proof of concept down.

2. It’s unlikely that you are in a dire, survival mode, so you can spend some quality time making a sound business decision.

3. It’s not too late to clean up your business that grew organically, without a massive cost, to mold your business into your desired version.

To top it off, I’m making this outlandish claim that you will be able to make this decision in under 1 hour after reading this post.

Yep, you heard me. Under 1 hour.

Any successful entrepreneurs you may look up to will tell you this, your business growth is heavily dependent upon how fast you can make sound business decisions (and take required action accordingly.)

It’s because being stuck in the space of indecisiveness is the silent killer of all businesses as it causes stagnation. Money, in case you didn't know, loves speed and hates stagnation. This is why I’ve designed this post to ensure that you will be able to make a quick but solid decision for your business.

Here’s the spoiler alert:

Abundant Selling: How to Fill Up Your Pipeline Without Selling Like the Rest Pt. 2

Abundant Selling: How to Fill Up Your Pipeline Without Selling Like the Rest Pt. 2

Many of you seemed to love the “Abundant Selling” approach that cuts sleaziness & awkwardness out of your sales process. Not only that, you feel truly inspired to get out there and talk about what you do with full confidence.

Today, I’m jazzed about bringing you part 2 of this concept so that you can continue building up your customer pipeline.

By the way, the juiciest part of this post will be my 3 secret tips at the end, so don’t forget to check that out!

In case you haven’t read “Abundant Selling Pt. 1,” go there first (link) & come back to this because if you don’t start off right, the rest of the steps won’t add any value to your effort. Trust me on this one.

Just to recap, the entire cycle of the Abundant Selling framework looks like this:

Be Seen (Cultivate Curiosity)

Invite (Extract & Learn)

Offer Possibilities (Offer Beyond Their Desires)

Part 1 was all about “cultivating curiosity” by executing the S.O.S. method. I don’t care if you are an extrovert or introvert. Increasing your chance of being seen is the most optimal way to avoid coming across as sleazy or awkward. And, there are many “introvert-friendly” business activities you can do to protect your energy level.

Through the S.O.S. Method, you are basically doing your part by simply showing up while allowing people to decide whether they want to know more about how you help others through your business.

That was part 1.

The next step, the step we are going to cover today is Invite. As I previously outlined, even here at this stage, you don’t have to feel obligated to sell or make an offer.

Instead, consider this step to be the Intel-Gathering stage by extracting information from people you are interacting with in more of a focused setting such as video conferencing, calls & meetings as opposed to being at conferences and/or networking events.

The core objective of the Invite stage is to:

One Thing that Gets Your Prospects to Say “Yes” Faster: Closing the Gap Between Value and Perceived Value

One Thing that Gets Your Prospects to Say “Yes” Faster: Closing the Gap Between Value and Perceived Value

There is one lighthearted question I wish I could have asked my grandmother who passed away a few years ago, at the age of 103, just for giggles.

“Hey, grandma. Did you know that young people nowadays don’t mind paying $12 - $14 for a big bowl of quinoa salad? They even eat millet, willingly. Mind you, willingly. What do you think of that?”

Yeah, I didn’t get to ask her this, but I’m not too disappointed because I know what she would have said (although it would have been a treat just to see her reaction).

My guess is she would have said something like this:

“Why in the world would you want to eat QUINOA when you can eat bowls of pearly white rice?! Feed that to birds!”

Bear with me for a few more seconds. There is a point to this story, and it is related to how you can make your prospects say “yes” to your offer faster. I promise. 

Quinoa was never a trendy health food until now, especially from where I am from, Japan. 

Back in the old days, commoners couldn’t afford highly processed white rice, so they ate brown rice. When they couldn’t afford rice - any form of rice - then they would eat barley mixed with quinoa, millet & other hardy grains that didn’t taste as good as white rice.

Even if you are not of Asian descent, you get the idea by just replacing white rice with white bread and how people in the old days would kill to trade their whole wheat bread for a loaf of white bread. 

OK, getting back to the story.

So to older generations, having to eat quinoa is like a punishment. For the rest of us, eating quinoa is a symbol of “I’m taking good care of myself.” 

Punishment vs. A Status Symbol. What a stark contrast! Right?

So what changed? 

Suck at Leading and Managing People? Follow These 3 Quick Steps to Become the Boss Even You Would Want to Work For

Suck at Leading and Managing People? Follow These 3 Quick Steps to Become the Boss Even You Would Want to Work For

I’ll get right to it. Most of us spend our early career focusing on sharpening our crafts. Unless you have been specializing in HR (human resources), chances are, you were never properly trained to be the boss that people would want to look up to.

To make it even more challenging, the reality is that most of us have experience working for a toxic boss or working in a toxic work environment before. And, most of us swore to ourselves right then & there that we would never do what they've done to us.

In other words, we are aware of what NOT to do from our own experience, but many of us don’t exactly know how to go about breaking the vicious cycle and what to do instead as a business owner.

That’s not all. Now that you are running your own business, all eyes are on you. You are ultimately responsible for leading your team, regardless of whether or not you have a management team right below you.

This is why today I want to check in with you to see how your people management skills stack up. Becoming an aspiring business leader isn’t fluff or an ego-driven wish; it’s a lifeline that can make or break your business.

Why?

Simple. Being a crappy leader costs an enormous amount of money in your business due to the deadly chain reaction of a high turnover rate with wasted training time, causing low productivity among employees resulting in piled-up, missed business opportunities.

If you don’t want anything to do with this chain reaction (I certainly do not), then just follow the quick steps I’m sharing here to fast-track your people management skills.

Even if you are reading this thinking, "I think I'm pretty OK at this," I still want you to read it to become self-aware of some pitfalls you may not even have considered before.

So, here are the 3 steps:

How to Pick Your Perfect “Word of the Year” that Will Help You Finally Achieve Your Massive Business Goals in the New Year

How to Pick Your Perfect “Word of the Year” that Will Help You Finally Achieve Your Massive Business Goals in the New Year

Drum roll, please! Finally, I have my Word of the Year for the new year.

Here we go. Ta-da!!!! 

It’s “Limitless.”

Now, I don't want you to think I randomly picked this because..."It kinda sounded good." 

Wrong! 

I've stewed my brain over this for a few weeks. Then I observed my entire process. 

The good news is you don't have to stew your brain like I did. What you get here is the cleaned-up, efficient version of it so that you don’t waste any time.

See, I always think of you.

By the way, we'll come back to my new word of the year a little later to uncover my thinking process after we go over the why & the how so that you can get started.

Sound good?

First, we're diving into why this is NOT some kind of cute thing to do to avoid doing real work in your business. 

This is real work with a real purpose.

So, I hope you take this seriously if you have big plans for your business in the new year.

Beyond Handwritten Cards: 3 Types of Thoughtful Holiday Gifts that are Guaranteed to Wow Your Clients

Beyond Handwritten Cards: 3 Types of Thoughtful Holiday Gifts that are Guaranteed to Wow Your Clients

Just the other day over on Twitter, someone asked for suggestions for gift-giving ideas for her clients. She wanted to thank her clients by coming up with thoughtful and affordable gift ideas, but she didn’t know where to start.

“What good timing!” I thought. I was just planning on writing a post about this topic, so I immediately bullet-pointed my suggestions to test my ideas. Turns out my suggestions were well-received.

So, here I am today to share the same suggestions but more in-depth in hopes of making your life easier.

For all of us, it seems to get awfully hectic once we get into the holiday season. We have gifts for family members, friends & peers to worry about while we plan out our travel logistics and holiday-themed events to attend.

Before we know it, shipping deadlines are just around the corner & the last thing we want to agonize over is…what to give to our clients! Right?

But I don’t want this to stop you from moving forward with this. The benefit of gift-giving outweighs the bit of prep work required, which I will explain in this post.

The good news is that what I am about to share will help you avoid the “deer-in-the-headlights” situation. I know you will thank me later. So, let’s begin.

 

Before Diving In… The Objectives!

The question here is, “Why would you want to give gifts to your clients?”

With anything you do in your business, you want to develop muscles to get super clear on why you should do something before taking actions so that you will use your precious time wisely. This is no exception.

The Ultimate Roadmap: How to Instantly Reduce the Amount of Uncertainty in Your Entrepreneurial Journey

The Ultimate Roadmap: How to Instantly Reduce the Amount of Uncertainty in Your Entrepreneurial Journey

I'm sure you agree that we all have the tendency to hold on to what's familiar to us, even if that means we remain sitting still in discomfort.

Ahhhh, the comfort of certainty!

I'm going to be flat-out honest with you. The entrepreneurial journey is filled with uncertainty regardless of where you are at in your business. There's no way around it.

But is "predictability" a lot better than "giving a shot at something that's loaded with new possibilities"? 

See, holding on to certainty can delay your progress in growing your business. It's because you are perpetuating the status quo. 

Think about your own experience for a sec. You might have delayed quitting your job just because you didn't have enough evidence to support the idea of you making the right decision.

You might have held off on going on your own because you weren't sure if you could hack it & ended up keeping your side hustle as a side hustle for the longest time.

You might have stayed on the job you passionately hated because, at least, you knew they weren't going to fire you any time soon & your paychecks were guaranteed.

Looking back, is it safe to say you feel like you should have done it a lot sooner? 

That's the point. 

"Well, I wouldn't have known what I know now back then. If I did, I would've done it much sooner!" 

If you just said this to yourself, that's an indication that you are in the right place. Today, I'm going to map out the typical journey of an entrepreneur in the service business from 2 perspectives: revenue & time.

This will help you understand that the experience you are about to go through isn't at all like driving on a highway during a tropical storm. Instead, you'll see your runway clearly without the help of a fortune teller.

Abundant Selling: How to Fill Up Your Pipeline Without Selling Like the Rest Pt. 1

Abundant Selling: How to Fill Up Your Pipeline Without Selling Like the Rest Pt. 1

Did you like math when you were in school? If you did, you are my hero.

I hated math as a kid. I loved reading & drawing. The place I wanted to live in forever was a fantasy land where fairies existed & I could use magic.

Naturally, daydreaming was my jam and daydream I did. But it all had to change when I was at a halfway into junior high.

I was sick of the public school I was attending because of the many meaningless rules & restrictions that came with it. Stupid rules made me feel worthless as if I didn't know any better on how to conduct myself. I hated it. With a passion.

Then I learned about how getting into a prestigious high school would grant me more autonomy because all teachers cared about was how many students would get into…prestigious universities & nothing else mattered--like how I modified my school uniform, how I did my hair, how I wore non-white socks, or whether or not I wore makeup.

My mom may have lied about this. But I bought it. I bought it HARD.

One problem - I had to nail both math & science exams in order to get into the one I had chosen...the best in the region. My teacher begged me (and my parents) to reconsider. He said I had lost my mind & it was virtually impossible with my grades even if I aced all 5 subjects with perfect scores.

You probably know how this story ends. So, I will fast forward it for you. I learned to LOVE what I hated by gamifying everything. I aced. I got in. People cheered witnessing the impossible becoming possible. End of story.

“Selling” is kinda like math in business. Many despise it. But business needs to sell. No getting around that.

So, what do we do?

My friend, Lisa, coats meds with peanut butter before giving them to her dogs. Clever, I thought. 

Can sales be like that? Can we put peanut butter on it? Then we close our eyes & swallow our pride?

5 Super Effective Tips on Setting Boundaries Without Sacrificing Relationship Building-While Still Providing Exceptional Experience

5 Super Effective Tips on Setting Boundaries Without Sacrificing Relationship Building-While Still Providing Exceptional Experience

Have you ever felt ‘a little off’ when interacting with would-be clients, peers or anyone you met in your circle before?  I have. 

Something about their boundaries that give us wrong signals, but they are so subtle that we just let them slide… Then later on, we realize that we engage less and less with them somewhat subconsciously.

The question of the day is, “What if the way you communicate your availability boundaries is hurting your business?”

Don’t get me wrong.  We can all agree that setting boundaries is key to the longevity of our businesses.  They help us streamline and avoid spending hours on time-consuming (and low value) tasks that keep us away from providing meaningful work.

Dilemma!  I know. 

So, how do we go about maintaining a healthy level of boundaries that won’t hurt the quality of interactions you offer to people in your business?  Is it even possible? 

It is.  Totally possible.

Today, we are going to explore:

1.     Why some boundaries give us the wrong impressions?

2.     Identifying your fears that are messing up your communication about your boundaries.

3.     5 super effective tips to help you implement this successfully.

Before diving in, I want to clarify that this post is going to focus mostly on “time & availability boundaries.”  We are not going to cover privacy, security, and special treatment (favors) boundaries.  These will be another lesson for another day.

The Anatomy of a 7-Figure Entrepreneur’s Mindset

The Anatomy of a 7-Figure Entrepreneur’s Mindset

I have a question for you.

"What would you ask if you could get the chance to sit down with a few entrepreneurs who have built their 7-figure businesses with no outside funding?"

This was the motivation behind my recent live panel discussion event, “How I Built My 7-Figure Business with No Funding.” I wanted to provide the opportunity for my members to hear directly from 7-figure business owners what they have experienced throughout their journey building one.

Here's the thing, many dream of running a multi-million dollar business. You might be one of them. But what people may not realize is that we are talking about gross revenue. It's not like you get to sit on the entire revenue. If you are visualizing having a bank account with 6 zeros as the available balance, that is not really the case.

Not only that, there are a set of challenges to scale a business beyond the first million, such as building a team, weighing what to risk for greater rewards, what to say no to (that you used to say yes to), etc.

My thought process was, "What do I want aspiring entrepreneurs to know about scaling up?" Because making a million in business gets way too glorified--especially online--I felt the need to get the right message out there.

So, the game was on. I started to reach out and see if anyone would be interested in sharing their stories. Soon, I was introduced to a few ridiculously successful entrepreneurs - Lucky Gobindram from Cemtrex, Karen Morales from Marketing Magnet, Mel Pharr from MelissaPharr.com & Luisa Zhou from LuisaZhou.com.

I can't tell you how many golden nuggets they openly shared. I mean, there was a lot that made us all think on a deeper level.

In this post, I'm going to feature the most memorable concepts they revealed that you are going to absolutely want to take on so that you can tackle building a multi-7-figure business by being level-headed.

Oh wait, one more thing... At the end of the post, I'll also share my behind-the-scenes thoughts you would be glad to know (because these are the things not often shared as key to becoming a successful & happy multi-7-figure business owner!) 

Don’t Make These 6 Critical Mistakes When Carving Out a Profitable Niche for Your Service Business

Don’t Make These 6 Critical Mistakes When Carving Out a Profitable Niche for Your Service Business

Hello, multi-faceted creative entrepreneurs with mad skills! 

 

If this is you AND your desire, vision & mission is to build a high-functioning, profit-generating business, then you’ve just landed on a gold mine. I am about to share 6 deadly mistakes that many creative service business owners make while they are on the hunt to discover a profitable niche that they can then double-down on.

 

There are many articles out there that cover steps (usually anywhere between 5 to 7 steps) to find a profitable niche. They are helpful, but no one really talks about the pitfalls that come with the process.

 

You may have already entertained the idea of niching down your wide range of offers before. Perhaps you may have tried by yourself, but it didn’t work out. That’s totally OK.  In this post I will show you why some attempts fail. These mistakes can be avoided so long as you are aware that they exist.

 

Just in case… if you are wondering why finding your profitable niche is so vital to your business, I’ve got you covered as well.  Before reading this post, start with “How to Niche Down Your Services When You Have So Much to Offer pt.1” (link).  This post explains 6 major reasons why it helps you grow your business exponentially.

 

OK, one more thing before diving in, allow me to clarify a bit about who this post is for. Better yet, let me explain this post is not designed to help those who:

1.     have not yet started a business and are looking for one to start

2.     are wanting to find a niche product to sell online, i.e. Amazon FBA

3.     are searching for a profitable affiliate marketing niche

These require a completely different set of playbooks. Instead, this post is particularly designed for multi-faceted service business owners who have existing offers that are generating revenue but want to narrow down (niche down) and redefine their profitable niches.  

Without further ado, let’s dive in.  

Everything You Need to Know About Hiring a Business Consultant for Your Service Business: Questions You Didn't Even Know You Had... Sorted!

Everything You Need to Know About Hiring a Business Consultant for Your Service Business: Questions You Didn't Even Know You Had... Sorted!

I’m almost afraid to ask, but I’m going to ask you anyway:

What’s the first thing you think of when you hear the term “business consultants”? 

You might think of Ryan Bingham from the movie “Up in the Air” who travels around the country to help businesses restructure & downsize by firing people. 

Not a particularly good impression.

Or you might think of MBA’ers, whose #1 goal is to get hired by top management consulting firms like Bain, Boston Consulting, McKinsey, Accenture, etc. 

OK, another not-so-great impression, especially if you are a creative business owner.

In a way, these are stereotypical descriptions of business/management consultants.  But, in reality, they can help you find solutions to various business challenges faster. 

From my own experience communicating with small business owners, they often don’t consider hiring a business consultant because of these objections:

1.     It’s too expensive

2.     Their business is not big enough in size to hire a consultant

3.     They feel they need help in other areas in their business

It’s a shame because they may be missing out on spectacular growth opportunities by not teaming up with a business consultant.  Later in this post, you will see why these are just misconceptions about what business consultants can bring to the table. 

So, think again if you thought hiring a business consulting firm or a business consultant was a privilege only available to major brands and corporations. 20 years ago, maybe.  But in this day & age, it isn’t.

This post is a comprehensive overview covering the basics of how to find out whether you need to hire a business/management consultant for your business. 

Let’s Address the Elephant in the Room

Because I do roll my eyes when I see a blog post about why we need to hire an accountant on an accounting firm’s website and/or a guest-post about why it’s important to hire a social media strategist written by a social media strategist on an online business publication, I get why you might be rolling your eyes reading this post right now.

It’s a bit cheesy.  I agree.

How to Craft Brand Messaging that Resonates & Converts (Without Bashing Your Head Against the Wall)

How to Craft Brand Messaging that Resonates & Converts (Without Bashing Your Head Against the Wall)

Getting your messaging right is the first step to convert leads and prospects into buyers.

Why? 

It’s because your brand messaging can act as a conversation starter.  You probably have heard many marketers use this dating analogy when they explain the concept of know, like & trust, which helps turn spectators into buyers.

“You don’t just ask him/her to marry you on the first date.”

If you have your brand messaging down, this serves as the first date that goes really well so that it will lead to the 2nd, 3rd and 4th date to develop know, like & trust between you and your leads.

Sadly though, many business owners don’t allocate enough time and energy to crafting their brand messaging.  This became apparent through local Meetup events I host in NYC.

There are 3 types of not-so-ideal messaging I’ve picked up on while listening to the event participants introduce themselves to the rest of the crowd. 

1.     Too generic as for what they offer & who they are, i.e. social media strategist, accountant, SEO specialist.

2.     Too clever with flashy words but unclear as to who they help or what problem they solve.

3.     Only list what they sell.

There is absolutely no need to beat yourself up if you are guilty of these.  Trust me, I can speak from my own experience that crafting good brand messaging for your business is no small feat.

This is why I invited Zach Messler, a.k.a. “Messaging Guy”, as the guest speaker for my May Meetup event in Brooklyn to get to the bottom of this messaging challenge we all face.  He is the master of helping business owners identify what to say and how to say it so that they make a bigger impact on the world and their wallet.

When I met Zach earlier this year, I immediately liked the way he breaks down the process of crafting messaging that resonates and converts with simple steps.  After checking out his website, it was a no brainer for me to have him for one of my events.  

In this post, I am excited to share his framework and how you can improve your brand messaging to generate measurable results without bashing your head against the wall.

So, let’s dive in!

Want to be an Opportunity Magnet? 9 Secrets I Found by Observing Successful Entrepreneurs

Want to be an Opportunity Magnet? 9 Secrets I Found by Observing Successful Entrepreneurs

“I always wonder how in the world (insert a name) gets so many offers and opportunities, like speaking at XYZ conference or getting an invitation for ABC.  No one understands what he is selling.  Frankly, when it comes to credentials, I am a lot more qualified… I network a lot, too!  I just don’t understand what he does differently.”

Have you ever wondered about the same thing? 

Then, you are in luck.  This is NOT one of those articles you find online about networking & creating reciprocity.  Here, I am going to share the secrets I found from successful entrepreneurs by closely observing what they practice (most of the time subconsciously).

The reason this post is different from other “how to identify & attract business opportunities” articles is I am going to touch on some facts that not many discuss publicly.  You won’t find this on social media timelines. It’s because what I have here is the result of many “behind closed doors” conversations. 

To be honest, as a revenue & growth strategist (link), I was a bit hesitant to even talk about this, as none of these are “strategies.”  But at the end of this post, I will tie it all together.

And…there is more.  As a little bonus, I am going to share one thing the entrepreneurs I observed would NOT do at the end of the post.  This is going to help you assess whether you’ve been growing your business the right way or not.

Curious?

But wait.

Before diving in, let me define what “successful” means in this post since it’s a pretty broad & subjective term.  Let’s start with what it’s not.  Here, I don’t define successful entrepreneurs as simply those who generate a specific amount of revenue, i.e. 7 figures, 8 figures, etc.  Rather, they satisfy these 3 things that are essential to be a confident and fulfilled entrepreneur:

 

1.     Always generating leads (by being an opportunity magnet)

2.     Taking care of themselves & their people (their team, family, vendors, friends & peers) to be happy

3.     Having future-proof strategies

 

These are the only 3 jobs CEOs are responsible for. The ones I know who are doing great also have one more thing in common: they receive various business opportunities at all times.  If you like the way I clarified the definition of “successful entrepreneurs,” you are in for a treat!

Now that that’s sorted, let’s unlock the secrets!

How to Handle Collections & Refund Requests: The Secret for Keeping the Money & Keeping Your Customers Happy

How to Handle Collections & Refund Requests: The Secret for Keeping the Money & Keeping Your Customers Happy

“Maiko, there was a client who just called up the office really angry, demanding a refund.  He was really angry & rude yelling at me the whole time...  What do we do?!!!  I didn’t know what to say, so I just told him someone will get back to him… He wasn’t happy to hear that…”

 

Clearly, the person who took the call was caught off guard and was shaken up by what she had to go through.

Before going any further, let me paint a picture here.

In this particular case, the person who called angry isn’t my client.  That is my client’s client.  Nonetheless it is a huge deal.

Why?

Because here, we aren’t talking about a mere $195 refund.  If it were, I would be saying, “Please don’t waste my time with it.”  How about 100x that?

Yep, try $19,500.

What if this happens to YOU?

What would be your first reaction?

Let me guess, right about now there are hundreds of scenarios running through your mind a mile per second. Am I right?

 

“How do I NOT refund this guy?  What are my options?”

“How much would I be able to keep?”

“What if we don’t have any choice but to give the money back?!!! We don’t have any room for this!”

 

If this happened 10 years ago, this kind of news would put me in a panic attack for 5 min. My heart would be racing with an immense amount of stress. Since then, I’ve handled countless non-payment and refund cases over $30K+ per pop. 

So nowadays, my usual response is:

“Alright. Get me all the intel about him.”

See, ideally no business owners should get to this point without doing due diligence to consistently weed out clients from hell. At the same time, though, even with the best intention & strategy, we aren’t completely immune to this kind of incident from time to time.

Here we are.  What's done is done.  There’s no going back. 

So, what do we do now?  What would YOU do?!

13 Tried and Tested Unconventional Creativity Boosters for Non-Creative Business Owners Who Need New Ideas Right Now

13 Tried and Tested Unconventional Creativity Boosters for Non-Creative Business Owners Who Need New Ideas Right Now

“I am not a creative person like you.”

I get this a lot from small service business owners.  The funny thing about it is that I don’t consider myself a creative person in the way they describe.  But as a business growth strategist, providing various perspectives to my clients is my job.  Because of this, I am definitely intentional about keeping my mind open for new ideas.

There is bad news & good news associated with this story of “I’m not creative.”  So, if this is you, read on!

By the way, I call this statement a *story* because they are the ones who made a decision to label themselves as such based on…really no scientific or logical reasons.  It’s just a thought backed by nothing. More on that later.

Let’s start with bad news.

News flash: Trying to grow a business without being creative & resourceful, especially when you need to solve problems, will end up costing you in the long run.

Why? 

There are many problems that can be easily solved by using what you already have.  But because you feel you are inadequate to do creative problem-solving or to come up with new ideas to take your business in the direction you want to take it to, you end up relying heavily on outsourcing.

If it works out, great.  Most of the time though, the process of having others do the job requires some trial & error unless you are driving those projects.  This eats up your time, and you have to pay money for their work if the arrangement is not results-based, meaning you only pay for the results they are bringing in. 

The bottom line is, if you want to grow your business, it is your job to expand your way of thinking.

Now the good news.

I have 3 pieces of good news for you.

1.     Being creative doesn’t mean becoming the next Picasso.

2.     Small actions you can take will make a huge difference.

3.     None of the tips I will share in this post cost much.

7 Signs Why Going Hyper Local & Offering Super High-Touch Interactions Are the Ultimate Future-Proof Strategy: The Hidden Business Gold Mine You May Be Overlooking

7 Signs Why Going Hyper Local & Offering Super High-Touch Interactions Are the Ultimate Future-Proof Strategy: The Hidden Business Gold Mine You May Be Overlooking

As a kid growing up in Japan, I used to daydream about what might be out there waiting for me beyond the ocean lines. 

Because I lived in an island nation, my excitement for the unknown and the future was that much more intense. Unlike living in Austria or Bolivia, islanders are truly isolated by oceans. We simply have no concept of “just crossing the border.”  In other words, living abroad is very foreign to us.

I had all sorts of romantic & wild notions about the idea of living abroad & how different and special my life could be.

Fast forwarding 10 years to when I found myself in the US as an exchange student, I realized it wasn’t all that I imagined as a kid. Right then & there, I realized I took so many things for granted when I lived in Japan, especially things my parents had provided for me. 

This was a priceless lesson in my teenage years:  Appreciate everything; do not take things for granted, however small they may be. How ungrateful I must have looked in their eyes, dying & rushing to get out of where I was, all just to be let down by reality later on?  Like a deserter tumbling down the sand dunes, I ran towards a flowing spring of water, only to discover it was a mirage.

Wanting to rely on getting easy leads online is a lot like this story.  Many of us often romanticize what it would be like to get online prospects into our sales funnel semi-automatically by offering free, downloadable cheat sheets, check lists, webinars, video trainings, etc.  Heck, we can even invest a little in paid ads.  How wonderful it would be!

Now your brain will go haywire with all kinds of expectations.

“No more networking.  No more cold calling.  No more selling.  No more RFP’s.  I don’t even need to leave my house.  Better yet, I can sit by the beach with my laptop & WIFI… I’ll hire help remotely.  People will just buy my stuff online… One-to-one is so yesterday.  One-to-many is the future!”

How to Treat Your Business Like a Business: 5 Valuable Lessons from My Time in the Show Biz You Might Want to Steal

How to Treat Your Business Like a Business: 5 Valuable Lessons from My Time in the Show Biz You Might Want to Steal

Do you find yourself having a hard time setting boundaries for your business?  Do you feel like there is no clear distinction between your personal life and your business?  You may be thinking you are too close to your business, and it’s nearly impossible to let go of some of the duties. Or maybe you feel hesitant to publicly declare what you do as a legitimate business.

Many of us start a business by pursuing a passion and/or what we mastered as a working professional, and then we grow it organically from there.  The downside to this is the line gets blurred between our personal life and our business. This also makes us feel like our business is an extension of ourselves, a part of our identity.  At times, it gets too personal because of this.

If you want to scale your business, you have to start treating your business like a business. 

A large part of this is because you are not going to do everything by yourself. You are going to need a team. If you deploy a team, then you need to systematize your processes.  In order to systematize your processes, you need to pull all of them out of your brain and start documenting.

So, what can you do immediately to start treating your business like a stand-alone, profit-generating machine?

Just like many of you, I was once living a corporate life.  Someday though, I knew I was going to leave this life, so I leveraged everything I could learn on the job.  I was consciously “intrepreneurship’ing” within all organizations I worked for. 

It was much later in my life I realized how fortunate that experience was and how much it impacted my business, which enabled me to skip most of the rookie mistakes. In a way, the experience allowed me to get right into making many more of the ‘other’ mistakes, but that is a story for another time.  At least, I did not have to start from complete scratch, so I’d say I was fortunate.

7 Surprisingly Easy Steps to Handle Difficult Conversations with Ease

7 Surprisingly Easy Steps to Handle Difficult Conversations with Ease

As a business owner, you will face conversations that you perceive as "difficult" or "confronting" from time to time.  Some of you may have more experience than others by holding a managerial position at a corporation.  But even then, having rather unpleasant conversations as a business owner is a whole other category, as you are the face of the company.

There are no other bosses to blame.  There is no brand name to hide behind and say, “They made me do it!  I’m just a messenger!”

As your business grows, your responsibility of looking after your business as a whole and assessing the overall well-being of it also grows significantly. 

It could be about firing one of your employees, especially when you break my golden rule- "No family or friends for hire."

It could be about unhappy customers demanding to speak to you.

In some cases, it's about your customers wanting a refund.

It may be that you need to tell vendors you want to stop working with them.

Or, you want to fire your client. 

 

They all sound unsavory, don’t they?

How would you say you feel when realizing you may have to handle these business matters?

Dreadful?
Heavy?
Depressed?
Exposed?
Confronted?
Conflicted?

Is your immediate reaction:

Wanting to avoid it at all cost?
Defensive?
Apprehensive?

 

What if I told you, by the end of this post, you may look forward to having these conversations because you have just acquired a new perspective? 

How to Niche Down Your Services When Your Business Has So Much to Offer Pt. 1: The Fine Dining Menu Strategy

How to Niche Down Your Services When Your Business Has So Much to Offer Pt. 1: The Fine Dining Menu Strategy

Who says you can’t learn anything by just watching Netflix?  You can.  If you pay attention, that is.


The Netflix series, Chef's Table, is a secret obsession of mine.

The show is about the stories of highly regarded fine dining chefs who take you through their journey by candidly sharing their anguish, failures, creative process, adversity, breakthroughs, desire, resistance, recognition, and perfecting their craft as a chef as well as a business owner by finding their own voices through food.