Posted by JuJuan Buford, Entrepreneur & Writer @JSBUFORD
I sat down with a fledgling business owner of over 15 years for a short period in the residential/commercial cleaning industry, and at the conclusion of our initial sit down this is the advice I shared.
It was a pleasure meeting with you yesterday. What follows is an abbreviated overview. A more comprehensive one will soon follow, and I will look to set a follow up appointment with you shortly.
A) I encourage you to identify an accountability partner or system to make sure you are hitting your KPIs.
1. How many times daily are you inviting people to learn about your business
2. How many times are people receiving a presentation in person, offline, online, being educated about what you do
3. How many times are you creating happy clients
4. How many times are they referring people to you.
A system does not need to be some grandiose expensive book, or super complex process. A book that I strongly encourage you to read, Pick Up the Fruit, Spit Out the Seed. "Tools of Titans" Tim Ferris. This is a simple system I've adopted https://www.linkedin.
We will speak A LOT more about this.
B) LinkedIn is Where You MUST win, followed by Instagram. In preparation, the following must transpire.
1. I will help you with your profile, and some of your messaging. I'm not a social media expert or guru or personality. However, I secure clients on a regular basis via my social media presence on these two platforms.
2. Acquire testimonies from each of your happy customers. Have them draft them, you type them up, laminate them, and create an electronic copy. And type up a series of positive credibility statements, and have the business owners endorse each copy.
3. At some point, acquire video testimonies (this comes later)
C) No more google decisions. I'm going to refer you to a service that will insure your documents are reviewed moving forward.
D) No more bad financial decisions; compromising your LLC status. I'm going to refer you to a service (the same service as (C)) to help you properly account for your revenues, profits, and income moving forward.
E) Prospecting / Building Your List
1. Produce a lists of restaurants, salons, retail clothing stores, etc. No publicly traded companies. Privately held businesses.
2. Make a list of contractors to subcontract with. They always, always are short on good, reliable professionals. Cover your behind, by insuring that you get as much of money upfront as possible, and make sure you have airtight agreements. Refer to (C).
F) Entrepreneurship is Competition.
1. I want you to be unapologetic about shopping your competition. You're looking for what they are not good at. I want you to see what they are good at, and undercut them on price maliciously. Still earn enough money to cover your income needs, and the expenses of this business.
G) Give yourself regularly scheduled business hours.
1. Exercise the same fidelity, earnest, honest work ethic that you exhibit at the job in your business.
2. Arrive on time for your business.
3. Go in sick and tired for your business.
4. Work your business like a part-time job that you really need, until it pays you like a business.
REMEMBER, Snowflakes turn into Snowballs. Don't try to execute all of this on your own. Or all at the same time. Success requires that you fall in love with process. You eat a hippo, one bite at a time.
I CELEBRATE YOUR SUCCESS IN ADVANCE!!!
#entepreneurshipisempowerment
JuJuan Buford is a Detroit native, a successful entrepreneur, activist, writer, and public speaker dedicated to helping families, entrepreneurs, and business owners establish thriving enterprises, achieve financial independence, and build lives of satisfaction.
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