The $100 MBA Show

This is your year…unless it isn’t.We all hit January wide-eyed and full of big plans. But why do some entrepreneurs hit the goals they set, while others don’t? Why do some businesses actually make the progress their founders envision, while the rest of us keep dreaming? What’s stopping us?Today, we’re discussing a few things that get entrepreneurs off track. Year after year, a few common pitfalls derail all the would-be could-be independent business people, leaving them right where they started come December. The good news? You can neutralize these notorious derailers pretty easily.We’ve got some almost shockingly simple steps you can take to preempt interference from these business-killers. With some basic mental adjustments, you can get on course, stay on course, and end 2020 with milestones reached — not wished for.Don’t wait ‘till February to make these adjustments. Start 2020 on track, and keep it that way. Click Play!SUBSCRIBEYouTube | Apple Podcast | Spotify | Podcast Feed Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Your co-founder wants in. You need them out.This is awkward.It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’ve got a doozy. One listener co-founded a business a while back, but the co-founder in question took a back seat — only just maintaining their involvement while they pursued other things. Now, said co-founder wants to commit full-time to the business, and expects a full-time salary.The problem? The company can’t afford it.Business has no shortage of uncomfortable situations with conflicting wants and needs. Navigating such situations fairly, professionally, and productively takes finesse. Today, we’ll help our listener work it out with their co-founder in way that considers everyone’s needs — and those of the business. It’s easy to work with your team when things are going great, and there’s enough to go around. It’s the difficult situations that make or break an entrepreneur. Tune in, and learn how to talk openly and fearlessly about that ugly necessity of business: money. Learn how to prepare for a conversation with multiple possible outcomes, and find the sweet spot between personal interests that don’t align. Click Play!To submit your questions, visit 100mba.net/q.SUBSCRIBEYouTube | Apple Podcast | Spotify | Podcast Feed Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

To rebrand or not to rebrand? That is the question. Today, anyway. If you feel like you chose the wrong name for your business, or something about your business name is holding you back, it might be time to rechristen. But you can’t do so without considering the costs — and not just in terms of dollars and cents. Sometimes, it can be better to keep a…less-than-ideal name, especially if you’ve already sunk a certain amount of time and resources into it. It all comes down to a simple cost/benefit analysis of how a name change would affect your budget, your online presence, your overall marketing, and more. Spoiler alert: rebranding involves more than a redirect from your website URL. Today, we’ll discuss all the arguments for and against rebranding. There are several examples of rebranded businesses out there, some more successful than others. There’s even one that turned back, un-re-branding itself when they realized the price was too high. If you’re considering a fresh handle, do the research first. Make sure that whatever you decide, your business can move forward no matter what you call it. Click Play! SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS Stitcher | SoundCloud | Podcast Feed | How To Subscribe Give us a Rating & Review Today’s Sponsors Amazon Logistics Amazon Logistics has a new program for leaders who want to build their own full-time package delivery business. Get access to Amazon’s logistics training and technology, and start building a team of motivated drivers in your community. To learn more about becoming an Amazon delivery service partner, go to logistics.amazon.com. Fundopolis Investing: it seems complex, intimidating, and impersonal. With Fundopolis, it doesn’t have to be that way. Fundopolis is where people and money come together to support businesses they care about. Investing shouldn’t just be for industry insiders; it should be for communities and individuals trying to grow something they’re passionate about. Head to fundopolis.com/podcast for an enjoyable, personal investing experience. The post MBA1429 Why You Should or Shouldn’t Change Your Brand Name appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Skills don’t matter, without the right mindset. There’s a ton of advice out there about what to do if you want to start and run a business. But there’s not enough about how to be, mentally and emotionally. If your frame of mind isn’t optimized, it doesn’t matter how great your product idea, marketing strategy, or SEO is.  Call it woo-woo if you will-will. But there’s no substitute for an entrepreneurial mindset. Kenneth Aldrich has built multiple companies, and financed dozens more. Some have succeeded — wildly. Others, not so much. You might think his decades of experience are his single greatest asset, but he might argue otherwise.  He might argue that his mindset is what made all of it possible. Today, he’ll explain exactly where your head needs to be, and how to get it there. There’s a million ways to be successful, but all successful entrepreneurs have the mindset in common. It’s one of the fundamental differences between entrepreneurs and people with normal jobs — and it’s the foundation of any independent business’s success. Of course, you don’t just stumble onto the right mindset. You cultivate it. Mental conditioning for business is like physical conditioning for athletes. It’s something you choose to do every day. On today’s episode, Aldrich offers some “exercises” to get you there. It might sound philosophical, practicing the right mindset is as necessary to entrepreneurship as building an email list. Tune in, and learn how. Click Play! SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS Stitcher | SoundCloud | Podcast Feed | How To Subscribe Give us a Rating & Review Today’s Sponsors Fizzle Let’s be honest: entrepreneurship can be lonely. You’ve got a million questions about your business, and few people to ask. Get the knowledge and support you need with Fizzle. Fizzle can help you earn a living doing something you love, with training, tools, coaching, community, and their famous Roadmap. Join Omar and thousands of other entrepreneurs on Fizzle — Get a free 14-day trial at fizzle.co/omar now! Talk Money with Mesh Lakhani Uncover the story of your money. On Talk Money, Mesh will follow paper trails, chat with experts, and break down complex ideas to bring clarity to the financial world. These sharply produced, complelling stories cover everything from BitCoin to student debt and everything in between. Learn how to spend, invest, and earn in today’s world. Subscribe to Talk Money with Mesh Lakhani today. Show Links The Dream Toolbox by Kenneth Aldrich The post MBA1428 Guest Teacher: Kenneth Aldrich – How to Create an Entrepreneurial Mindset appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

SaaStock rocked — and we brought back some lessons for you. This annual convention for SaaS (Software as a Service) businesses is a magnet for startups, freelancers, thought leaders, and entrepreneurs from around the globe. This year, our intrepid host Omar was invited to speak at the Sydney version of this multi-city international get-together.  The “Disneyland for SaaS professionals” did not disappoint. As a speaker and attendee, Omar found loads of valuable lessons for any kind of business, of any size. Most of them had to do with the incredible value and potential of well-run professional conferences, and why every entrepreneur should try to be a part of them. SaaStock proved beyond a doubt what many independent business owners already suspect: a great conference is filled with the kind of personal, face-to-face opportunities that no other networking forum has. Whether you speak, or just buy a ticket, conferences like SaaStock are a must. Hear what we learned, and what you can expect if you plan on making SaaStock in 2020. Click Play! SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS Stitcher | SoundCloud | Podcast Feed | How To Subscribe Give us a Rating & Review Today’s Sponsors Podia Easily sell Online Courses, Memberships, and Digital Downloads to your audience. With more than 10,000 creators on the platform, Podia is the easiest way to earn a living teaching what you know. Create a beautiful storefront in minutes and start selling your digital products. No technical knowledge needed, and no third-party plugins required. Check out podia.com/mba now. Axos Bank Want a bank that moves your small business forward? Axos’ basic business checking account is crafted for business owners with solutions to meet your needs. It’s simple, convenient, and hassle free. Axos is 100% digital, with lower overhead that eliminates the need for maintenance fees, minimum balances, or domestic ATM fees. Access your money anytime, anywhere. Axos will give you $100 just to try it out: use promo code 100MBA at axosbank.com/100mba. Show Links EasyCourse The post MBA1427 5 Takeaways From SaaStock Aus 2019 + Free Ride Friday appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

SWOTing: it’s not something you do to flies. It’s a simple but powerful exercise anyone can use to refocus their business and plan for whatever comes next. A SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis lets you look around the bend to the future of your business. It’s an easy way to assess exactly what your business has going for it, what it lacks, and how you can improve.  In other words, a SWOT analysis is the first step in crafting (or re-crafting) your business strategy. Today, we’ll explain exactly how to conduct a SWOT analysis, and what to do with the information you get from it. We’ll help you take a moment, look up from your laptop, and plot your course for the medium-to-long-term future.  With nothing but a piece of paper, a pen, and an hour or so, you and your team can position your business for growth, not just continued existence. We recommend conducting a SWOT analysis once every quarter. Learn how — Click Play! SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS Stitcher | SoundCloud | Podcast Feed | How To Subscribe Give us a Rating & Review Today’s Sponsors Fizzle Let’s be honest: entrepreneurship can be lonely. You’ve got a million questions about your business, and few people to ask. Get the knowledge and support you need with Fizzle. Fizzle can help you earn a living doing something you love, with training, tools, coaching, community, and their famous Roadmap. Join Omar and thousands of other entrepreneurs on Fizzle — Get a free 14-day trial at fizzle.co/omar now! Fundopolis Investing: it seems complex, intimidating, and impersonal. With Fundopolis, it doesn’t have to be that way. Fundopolis is where people and money come together to support businesses they care about. Investing shouldn’t just be for industry insiders; it should be for communities and individuals trying to grow something they’re passionate about. Head to fundopolis.com/podcast for an enjoyable, personal investing experience. Show Links WebinarNinja Blog The post MBA1426 How To Perform a SWOT Analysis & Stay Ahead of Challenges appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Business draining you? Feeling exhausted? You’re not alone. But you have to fix it. It’s Q&A Wednesday, and one listener is simply out of gas. The freedom of entrepreneurship has a cost, and that cost is a workload and mental burden that few of the conventionally employed ever experience. How can we cope? How can we maintain our energy? We’ve been there. Our intrepid host Omar knows what it means to live in a state of near-constant burnout. Until he decided to prioritize his health and well-being, he was on the fast track to nowhere good. By neglecting his health, Omar wasn’t helping his business. A fatigued entrepreneur can’t reach their full potential.  Exhaustion is not a sign of dedication. It’s a liability. Today, we’ll discuss some specific things you can do to make sure you have the energy to stay at the top of your game. Some are very simple, some require a little work and investment. But all of them will help your business by helping you perform. Click Play! SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS Stitcher | SoundCloud | Podcast Feed | How To Subscribe Give us a Rating & Review Today’s Sponsors Podia Easily sell Online Courses, Memberships, and Digital Downloads to your audience. With more than 10,000 creators on the platform, Podia is the easiest way to earn a living teaching what you know. Create a beautiful storefront in minutes and start selling your digital products. No technical knowledge needed, and no third-party plugins required. Check out podia.com/mba now. Amazon Logistics Amazon Logistics has a new program for leaders who want to build their own full-time package delivery business. Get access to Amazon’s logistics training and technology, and start building a team of motivated drivers in your community. To learn more about becoming an Amazon delivery service partner, go to logistics.amazon.com. The post MBA1425 Q&A Wednesday: I’m exhausted all the time. What do I do? appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You’re missing a huge marketing opportunity. That’s the case for most entrepreneurs with a business website, at least. Statistically, the “About” page is one of the most visited pages on a given website — second or third behind the home page, usually. And yet…so few people take advantage of this. “About” pages are almost never optimized for marketing. And that’s a gosh-darn tragedy. So often, we think of the “About” page as something fun and personal. It’s a place to share our story and a little bit of ourselves. But what we forget is that our story — our selves — are the heart of our brand. The “About” page is an honest-to-goodness conversion tool that we’re just not using.  Our story isn’t just a story. It’s a lead magnet! In today’s marketplace, consumers want to know about you. That means traffic. It means SEO. It means an opportunity to grow your email list and leverage the fun, personal stuff into sales. Today, we’ll discuss how we’re changing our own “About” page to reflect that, and how you can, too. Don’t be afraid to shine. Learn how to optimize your “About” page, and actually utilize this hidden asset. Click Play! SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS Stitcher | SoundCloud | Podcast Feed | How To Subscribe Give us a Rating & Review Today’s Sponsors Podia Easily sell Online Courses, Memberships, and Digital Downloads to your audience. With more than 10,000 creators on the platform, Podia is the easiest way to earn a living teaching what you know. Create a beautiful storefront in minutes and start selling your digital products. No technical knowledge needed, and no third-party plugins required. Check out podia.com/mba now. Fundopolis Investing: it seems complex, intimidating, and impersonal. With Fundopolis, it doesn’t have to be that way. Fundopolis is where people and money come together to support businesses they care about. Investing shouldn’t just be for industry insiders; it should be for communities and individuals trying to grow something they’re passionate about. Head to fundopolis.com/podcast for an enjoyable, personal investing experience. The post MBA1424 Improving Your About Page appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What is company culture, why does it matter, and how can you build it? The answers to that and more come from one of Omar’s favorite business books ever: What You Do Is Who You Are by Ben Horowitz. Horowitz is a venture capital legend whose wisdom and experience is grounded in a street-level, practical approach.  But for all the actionable nuts and bolts, this book puts it all in a big huge-picture context. With tested strategies and philosophy from history, business, and beyond, this company culture manifesto is deep, yet straightforward. It’s thoughtful, but focused on action. Horowitz seamlessly weaves broader business philosophy into the book’s central argument: that every one of your actions sets the tone for your business. Omar loved this book so much that he actually included it in his “Best of 2019” list before he finished reading it. Now that he’s gotten to the end, we can take a closer look. “Culture” can be hard to define for a small business. We don’t all have to take the Google approach with napping pods and on-site masseuses. But we do have to purposefully, intentionally foster a culture that fits our brand and mission.  That starts and ends with you. Learn how to envision, embody, promote, and instill the right culture for you business, no matter how many people that includes. Hear the key takeaways from this gem of a book, and see if you might just need a copy. Click Play! SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS Stitcher | SoundCloud | Podcast Feed | How To Subscribe Give us a Rating & Review Today’s Sponsors Fizzle Let’s be honest: entrepreneurship can be lonely. You’ve got a million questions about your business, and few people to ask. Get the knowledge and support you need with Fizzle. Fizzle can help you earn a living doing something you love, with training, tools, coaching, community, and their famous Roadmap. Join Omar and thousands of other entrepreneurs on Fizzle — Get a free 14-day trial at fizzle.co/omar now! HoneyBook HoneyBook is an all-in-one business management platform for creative small businesses. They make it easy to streamline your process with client and calendar management tools, plus custom branded proposals and contracts. Save hundreds or thousands of hours a year. Get 50% off your first year at HoneyBook.com/MBA. Show Links The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz  What You Do Is Who You Are by Ben Horowitz Free Book on Audible Top 5 Books of 2019 The post MBA1423 Must Read: What You Do Is Who You Are by Ben Horowitz appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Online courses: more popular than ever. A great source of revenue. A perfect way to monetize your expertise or passion. And yet… So many courses bomb. For every course that thrills its students and grows the business, there’s a ton that go nowhere. Our intrepid host Omar has created many, many courses over the years, and there’s a reason his usually succeed. It’s because of his background in education. Before Omar struck out into the world of entrepreneurship, he spent years honing his craft as an educator at the high school and university level. That experience is exactly what led him to the $100 MBA Show: the desire and ability to teach.  Courses were a logical extension of that.  As more entrepreneurs get into the course game without an understanding of teaching and learning, though, common mistakes were revealed. Today, we want to shine a light on those mistakes, so you don’t make them. We’ll help you improve results for your students, and for you.  There are so many ways to build courses incorrectly. Know what they are, and design courses that’ll set you apart as a reliable online “educator,” even if you’ve never even held a piece of chalk. Click Play! SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS Stitcher | SoundCloud | Podcast Feed | How To Subscribe Give us a Rating & Review Today’s Sponsors Podia Easily sell Online Courses, Memberships, and Digital Downloads to your audience. With more than 10,000 creators on the platform, Podia is the easiest way to earn a living teaching what you know. Create a beautiful storefront in minutes and start selling your digital products. No technical knowledge needed, and no third-party plugins required. Check out podia.com/mba now. Axos Bank Want a bank that moves your small business forward? Axos’ basic business checking account is crafted for business owners with solutions to meet your needs. It’s simple, convenient, and hassle free. Axos is 100% digital, with lower overhead that eliminates the need for maintenance fees, minimum balances, or domestic ATM fees. Access your money anytime, anywhere. Axos will give you $100 just to try it out: use promo code 100MBA at axosbank.com/100mba. Show Links EasyCourse 30 Day Automated Webinar Challenge The post MBA1422 Why Online Courses Fail + Free Ride Friday appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.