CATCHJSBUFORD

When Do You Go Full Time In Your Business?

 

 

 

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Share Tweet Forward Share WE BELIEVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS EMPOWERMENT.  IT’S FREEDOM. THE FREEDOM TO EXPLORE, SHAPE, AND EXPRESS ONE’S SELF UNABASHEDLY. By JuJuan Buford How a Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) Can Help You Build Your Customer Base    Posted by JuJuan Buford @JSBUFORD You have a proven product or service, your fine tuning your elevator pitch, and  as a result of your prospecting strategies you’ve reached a point whereas the stress of balancing making dials, staying relevant via social media, and meeting the right prospects (I’ll elaborate) is starting to feel overwhelming. At the end of the day, there are so many hours available to spend between making 20, 50, or 100 dials, giving presentations and servicing your customers, and managing all the other stuff that is required to keep revenues coming in.  What you really want is to meet more idea prospects, make them happy clients, and acquire more leads. The aforementioned will allow you upgrade your capacity (hire better people) to offer more or upgraded services, increasing your value proposition, allowing you to increase your prices, ultimately allowing you to enjoy increased cash flow. In other words, create a more system approach to finding and engaging ideal clients.  How can a good customer relationship manager (CRM) help you achieve all of the aforementioned?   A CRM CAN HELP YOU BETTER MINE YOUR BUSINESS  One of the greatest benefits of a CRM is it helps you identify who and where your focus should go. At some point, we have to begin to identify who our ideal customer is, and thus curate our marketing and prospecting strategies to attract our ideal prospect. What do I mean by this?  (A) Prospects = Prospects that are already very much motivated to buy what you're offering; have enough disposable income to easily afford the 5 Star treatment; and appreciate your professional approach. (B) Prospects = Prospects that require some education regarding how conducting business with you can improve their lives; have disposable income; and arrive on time for the appointment. (C) Prospects = Prospects that need or require your assistance, but choose to wait until the the brake pads are whittled down to nothing, the engine light is blinking, the car is spewing steam into the atmosphere before they make a decision. Working with them might cost you more than you're going to earn (it's a non-profit endeavor, almost every time), and their arriving on time would be a good start. In an ideal world, you want to spend the majority of your efforts and resources contacting and engaging your (A) prospects or what many refer to as your buyer persona. If you’re still waking up in the morning and calling from a legal pad, prospecting worksheets, or an email list, after you get beyond 100 contacts it is imperative that you switch to a more systematic approach. Making this transition will also better help you track... (continue reading at Learn How A CRM Can Give You a ROI You Can Count On?) NEED A BUSINESS COACH Business Blog About All Things Business Related. Marketing & Sales Tips. Information About How to Become Investable, Build Business Credit & Acquire Financing. Networking Tips. Create Credibility and Acquire More Clients. Leadership Matters.    https://www.catchjsbuford.com/  Featured Articles!  Cheat Sheet Regarding How to Establish Business Credit    What Questions Should You Ask When Starting a Business?   Important Business Documents   Starting Up An LLC in the State of Michigan  WHEN DO GO FULL TIME IN YOUR BUSINESS?  NEED A BUSINESS PLANNING LAW FIRM About Us   We are a business solutions organization with an international footprint serving professionals who wish to transition into entrepreneurship, and providing guidance and technical assistance to established entrepreneurs and investors seeking to launch, grow, and scale their endeavors from a team of me to a team of we.   JuJuan Buford, Managing Partner 888.549.9689 / jsbuford@thebufordco.com / https://linktr.ee/jujuanbuford Schedule an Appointment  https://bit.ly/SmallBizArchitectureMeetUp IS THERE MORE! WELL.... YES THERE IS. SUBSCRIBE TO LEARN MORE   https://bit.ly/yesthereismore   Copyright © *|CURRENT_YEAR|* *|LIST:COMPANY|*, All rights reserved. *|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* *|LIST:DESCRIPTION|* Our mailing address is: *|HTML:LIST_ADDRESS_HTML|* *|END:IF|* Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. *|IF:REWARDS|* *|HTML:REWARDS|* *|END:IF|*

What Kind of Business Should You Start? You've Lost that Loving Feeling For Your Current Business (GASP!)

 

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Share Tweet Forward Share WE BELIEVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS EMPOWERMENT.  IT’S FREEDOM. THE FREEDOM TO EXPLORE, SHAPE, AND EXPRESS ONE’S SELF UNABASHEDLY. By JuJuan Buford If you find yourself feeling disenchanted with your business, it’s not an abnormal feeling. We’ve all been there. However, when you feel overwhelmed or exceptionally bored with the overhead of being an entrepreneur…   o·ver·head : the boring, monotonous everyday chores like cold calling, checking emails, responding to low priority conflicts, dealing with people who are not ideal clients or prospects, repeated conversations regarding company expectations that you assume your business partners, vendors, and staff would get by now, etc., etc.,      For days at a time, and it reaches a point where you aren’t able to summon the enthusiasm to serve your clients, be what your business requires of you, and grow your enterprise we have a problem.     When I observe these behaviors in established, beta-tested entrepreneurs or I discover an inability or lack of willingness on the part of a new entrepreneur to invest the necessary energies to launch their venture (or the question of “I don’t know what to do.”), it usually boils down to incongruence between a person’s core focus and the work.      We all understand on a base level what it feels like or what it means to be doing meaningful work that fills us with satisfaction, versus the drudgery of toiling at something that doesn’t energize or motivate us. The challenge is most entrepreneurs (gasp!) haven’t taken the time to identify what really matters to them. Most of us are spending our mental energies attempting to be, move, attire, and adorn ourselves in the expectations of others… to a fault.    Too many of us are scared.    But it takes real courage to live a life of satisfaction. The degree to which we live truly happy, fulfilling lives shrinks or expands in relationship to our willingness to live in our values and truths. And very few of us have taken the time to truly define what we truly value. What truly gives us energy. Nice watches, cars, yachts, shoes, or fierce competition may be your thing. You may enjoy helping people and the altruistic desire to help others achieve their utmost potential may drive you. You want to end world hunger or water scarcity. The pursuit of knowledge, skill, and power may empower you. Or you simply desire that every day be an extended vacation in Maui, having fun, sipping wine, and listening to the waves. Do YOU.    The other challenge. It’s tiring. Your brain only comprises 2% of your human body weight but spends 25% of your energy. And very similar to a muscle, the harder you work it the more fatigued, agitated, or frustrated many of us become. Defining your values and your why is a skilled trade and it is a process. However, here are a couple of questions to help you with your journey.    #1. What Are Your Values or What Do You Value? Examples… Make a list and choose only three.  I’m committed to God and country I’m an excellent parent  I believe in education I exemplify excellence and professionalism I’m committed to financial independence and prosperity  I believe community service is how you pay for the blessing of living bountiful society I value freedom, choice, and agency I value enjoying life and having fun I value the earth’s environment I love dancing and being sunshine to others     #2. What is the one thing you could do that would have the greatest impact on the lives of others?    #3. What are the top three things you could do personally that would make the greatest impact in your life?    #4. What kind of person do you want to be? And by extension, what kind of business do I want to build?    #5. What activities have I most enjoyed doing in my professional life?    #6. What are the skills, knowledge, or talents that I possess? What do people say I’m highly effective at?    #7. What is my core focus or the focus of my business? Why does your business exist beyond being profitable? Make a list and choose only three.   To help people live lives of satisfaction through entrepreneurship To help women overcome financial, relationship, & emotional distress To help men adopt & sustain a healthy mindset To serve the best, most smacking waffles ever known To help people achieve optimal physical performance  To use my art to make people smile and forget their worries To help people learn how to forgive and progress through trauma.   The answers to these questions are where your power, your energy, and the best use of your focus and time lie. As you answer these questions you’ll begin to see the same themes, ideas, activities, and subjects emerge.    Remember, answering these questions is a process and people who’ve already performed this exercise numerous times already will need at least a couple of hours to complete it. You may need to seek feedback or converse with a business consultant to help you navigate this process. NEED A BUSINESS COACH Business Blog About All Things Business Related. Marketing & Sales Tips. Information About How to Become Investable, Build Business Credit & Acquire Financing. Networking Tips. Create Credibility and Acquire More Clients. Leadership Matters.    https://www.catchjsbuford.com/  Featured Articles!  Cheat Sheet Regarding How to Establish Business Credit    What Questions Should You Ask When Starting a Business?   Important Business Documents   Starting Up An LLC in the State of Michigan  NEED A BUSINESS PLANNING LAW FIRM About Us   We are a business solutions organization with an international footprint serving professionals who wish to transition into entrepreneurship, and providing guidance and technical assistance to established entrepreneurs and investors seeking to launch, grow, and scale their endeavors from a team of me to a team of we.   JuJuan Buford, Managing Partner 888.549.9689 / jsbuford@thebufordco.com / https://linktr.ee/jujuanbuford OUR GOAL IS TO HELP 100,000 HOUSEHOLDS BECOME EMPLOYERS OVER THE NEXT TEN YEARS.  Schedule an Appointment  https://bit.ly/SmallBizArchitectureMeetUp IS THERE MORE! WELL.... YES THERE IS. SUBSCRIBE TO LEARN MORE   https://bit.ly/yesthereismore   Copyright © *|CURRENT_YEAR|* *|LIST:COMPANY|*, All rights reserved. *|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* *|LIST:DESCRIPTION|* Our mailing address is: *|HTML:LIST_ADDRESS_HTML|* *|END:IF|* Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. *|IF:REWARDS|* *|HTML:REWARDS|* *|END:IF|*

One of the most important questions you can ask yourself is, WHY am I doing this? Why is building this business important to me? How do I want it to serve me, my family, my community, or my goals?

If you haven't answered this question, you won't do what's necessary, but rather what feels good, and then any excuse will do. When your WHY is bigger than your excuses, the HOW doesn't matter.

You want to stay broke and unhappy? Do this all day, every day.

If you continue to spend too much #time being #nonchalant, caring too much about what other people think about you, and treating your #business casually as an #entrepreneur, you'll become a casualty.

At the conclusion of a Metro Detroit Black Business Alliance meeting yesterday, an entrepreneur asked me what I believed the biggest impediment was to African American entrepreneurs scaling beyond being micro-business owners, aside from access to capital.

This response is a quickie or small plate if you will. Comment or reach out to me via https://linktr.ee/jujuanbuford to continue the convo!

#DecideBeDoHave

5 Ways to Make Your Business Investable - Small Plate

Posted by JuJuan Buford, Entrepreneur & Writer @JSBUFORD

 

#1. Attract & Empower Leadership 

If nothing moves unless you move in your business, that is a problem. When monied interests are taking inventory of your business, whether to invest in or purchase, they are looking for assets that can operate independently of you (or them.) 

This advice is not specific to private investors or hard money lenders either. Though this element is weighted differently when seeking capital from a bank or micro-lender, there is a reason why 99% of financial institutions make inquiries regarding your executive leadership. 

If you are the bottleneck concerning every important decision. If you are the sales and marketing team, and the operations system, down to opening the doors in the morning, you’re a self-employed professional with business risks and responsibilities… not a business owner. 

 

#2. What is a Profit & Loss Statement & Why Is It Important 

Just because your business is generating revenues, it doesn’t mean it’s profitable or valuable. 

Imagine being a 100k income earner that spends 120k per year, with 50k in credit card debt, you own absolutely nothing, plus you’re 50 years old (age discrimination is a real thing) with a skill set that is decreasingly in demand like being a greeter at McDonald's. 

You may wear nice attire. Drive a nice vehicle. Spend an hour a day posting your foodie pictures from your favorite restaurant, but you’re on borrowed time. 

If this is your situation, you would be far better off with a job working at Burger King earning 30k per year, paying rent somewhere for $800, plus car insurance, with an extra $500 to spare, finishing up an apprenticeship to be a master electrician. 

Your P&L statement lets a prospective investor know if you’re all smoke and mirrors, or whether there is a real value (future earnings) there. 

It also, lets you know the overall health of your business, and how much margin you have to work with to invest in your business. Breaking even isn’t good enough. The next financial, real estate, emotional, psychological, or physical pandemic is always just around the corner. 

 

#3. Secure Business Financing / Business Credit 

As your sales acquisition and client services operations grow away from you, your business will require you to bring on a virtual assistant, contract worker, or a couple W-2 employees to help you manage the growth of your business. This is when most entrepreneurs realize using personal income and credit to cover expenses is no longer an option. 

If you haven’t established a business profile that allows you to access business loans and credit, your business is not likely to survive an untimely disability, death, departure of a partner or key employee, or a sudden shift in the marketplace forcing you to pivot suddenly. 

Entrepreneurship is like the stock market. It’s going to go up. It’s going to go down. Those who win prepare for both realities. 

 

#4. Understand the Value of your Intellectual Property

In today’s economy, entrepreneurs are marketing and branding companies first. We are service and product providers second. 

Protecting your brand and reputation is more important than ever before because it turns the company's intangible assets into exclusive rights. In other words, your ability to monetize your logo, likeness, and or your digital presence exclusively in the marketplace via merchandising or for the purpose of establishing multiple product lines cannot be underestimated. 

Creating multiple streams of revenue doesn’t necessarily require you to split focus from a successful enterprise. Understanding and protecting your intellectual property rights allow you to increase your revenues where you stand. 

 

#5 Your Network is Your Networth 

This one is a big one. You do not own your social media page/s. If 100% of your client acquisition, servicing, and follow-up is conducted via social media you're going to get fried one day. 

Create a landing page. Or a signup page. And place it in your emails. Make it omnipresent in your social media postings. Collect names, email addresses, phone numbers, birthdates, business anniversaries, wedding anniversaries, industry or occupation, etc, etc., etc., 

If you lose access to your social media account, and you’ve built a database of your prospects, clients, and followers, the situation becomes a mild inconvenience. 

Also, when investors are looking at your business, they are also taking inventory of how much demonstrable market share you’ve achieved. How many repeat customers (very valuable) are you serving. Do you really have an established group of people whom you’ve forged an emotional connection with? Think Elon Musk and Twitter. 

 

#successleavesclues #entrepreneurshipisempowerment #nextopposocial #smallbizarchitect #DecideBeDoHave

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JuJuan Buford is a CEO, Co-Founder serial entrepreneur, writer, and public speaker. JuJuan started his career in the banking and investment advisory industry, transitioned into business ownership, and is enjoying entrepreneurial success in multiple industries: business coaching, real estate, direct selling, business technical assistance provider, ghostwriting, and publishing. 

Phone 👉 888.549.9689 

Need a Business Coach 👉 https://bit.ly/SmallBizArchitectureSurvey

Schedule an Appointment 👉 https://bit.ly/SmallBizArchitectureMeetUp

Stay Connected 👉 http://bit.ly/signuptolearnmoreatcatchjsbuford

Media Kit 👉 https://bit.ly/JSBBSG_MediaKit

Entrepreneurship Is An Extraordinary Feat Requiring Honesty

Posted by JuJuan Buford, Entrepreneur & Writer @JSBUFORD

 

 

#successleavesclues #entrepreneurshipisempowerment #nextopposocial #smallbizarchitect #DecideBeDoHave

_____________________________________________________________________

JuJuan Buford is a CEO, Co-Founder serial entrepreneur, writer, and public speaker. JuJuan started his career in the banking and investment advisory industry, transitioned into business ownership, and is enjoying entrepreneurial success in multiple industries: business coaching, real estate, direct selling, business technical assistance provider, ghostwriting, and publishing. 

Phone 👉 888.549.9689 

Need a Business Coach 👉 https://bit.ly/SmallBizArchitectureSurvey

Schedule an Appointment 👉 https://bit.ly/SmallBizArchitectureMeetUp

Learn More 👉 https://bit.ly/JSBWorryLessBuildMoreProject10000

Media Kit 👉 https://bit.ly/JSBBSG_MediaKit