The $100 MBA Show

Every business is different. So why assume that what works for some businesses will work for yours?It’s pretty standard practice in most industries to ramp up sales for the holidays. After all, it’s the most wonderful time of the year — to generate revenue. The big holiday sales push is so commonplace, we just assume that it’s a smart, effective strategy.Let’s stop assuming.For some kinds of businesses, it might be smarter to consider something different. Something outside the box. Something downright radical: taking the holidays off.Crazy, right? In retail, suggesting we take a holiday break would be enough to get you pilloried. But for small service businesses, a little holiday hiatus is not just harmless; it could actually increase your profits.  A strategic holiday shut-down is an opportunity to retool your product, push for a pre-holiday sales boost, and recharge your whole business.It’s counterintuitive, but that’s what makes it so brilliant.Great entrepreneurs don’t chase the crowd. They find the underserved market, they seek the niche, they go where other businesses aren’t going. And while most companies are decking the halls for the holiday sales explosion, lean, smart, small-time entrepreneurs think differently.On this episode of The $100 MBA Show, we’ll discuss how to plan and execute a strategic holiday sales break. We explain exactly why this strategy works, how to determine if your business would benefit from it, and how to execute it. We detail the exact steps you should take to temporarily shutter the sales end of your business, and quietly prepare to come roaring out of the gate in the new year.Our experience building small businesses has taught us the value of thinking differently. Bucking the holiday trend of pushing for sales might sound like anathema, but we’ve seen it work. By closing your doors for a bit, you can start the new year with a burst of activity, well-rested and equipped with a fresh influx of new customers.This holiday season, let’s think outside the tastefully-wrapped box. Learn how a little downtime can create an upward trend. Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksTotal Recall: My Unbelievable True Life Story by Arnold SchwarzeneggerEntrepreneurs On Fire$100 MBA Free Idea Validation CourseThe post MBA903 Not Selling During Holidays? 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.

Is it time to hire?As your business grows, this can be a tough question. As entrepreneurs, we all want to be proactive. Why wait ‘till tomorrow when you can do it today? But when it comes to personnel, it’s not quite so simple. Growing your business is about many things, not the least of which is timing.No one can hire the people they need at the exact moment they’re needed. So the question is: should you hire late or early?Is it better to have the people you need in place before the work rolls in? Or should you save the capital until the investment is absolutely necessary (not to mention guaranteed to pay off)? What’s worse: spending money you don’t have on people you don’t need, or scrambling to handle the workload with inadequate staffing?What’s the lesser of two evils?We’ve been entrepreneur-ing for some time now, and we’ve got pretty strong views on this topic. Today on the podcast, we’re weighing the pros and cons of both early and late hiring, and explaining why we consistently choose one path over the other. While no two businesses are alike, we think our reasoning can help any entrepreneur, whichever policy they prefer.It’s advice worth hearing.To help you with your hiring plans, we discuss all the factors that go into this important decision. What positions are truly necessary? How much momentum and revenue is required to make a new hire a safe bet? How much work is too much for a solopreneur or small team? Most importantly, how can you establish a new position in a way that lets your new employees hit the ground running?Whatever you spend on your team, it needs to be money well spent. On this episode, we’ll teach you how to project timeframes, analyze the cost/benefit ratio of every new hire, and scale up while keeping your business lean.We’ll help you hire with the timing and finesse every entrepreneur needs to make strides without losing ground.There’s a risk in every decision. Nowhere is that more true than when it comes to the timing of your hires. Tune in, hear how we’ve dealt with this deeply important policy question, and decide if our logic applies to your business. We offer detailed insights, plus practical exercises you can use before you decide to hire.Make sure that every investment is a worthy one. Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksFree guides for building your business from The $100 MBA: 100mba.net/guidesThe post MBA902 Better to Hire Early or Late? 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.

Are you addicted to social media?More importantly, is social media having a negative impact on your business? There’s lots to love about Twitter, Facebook, and all the rest. For business owners, social media is an undoubtedly useful tool for outreach and marketing. But many independent business people — myself included — think there’s a fine line between useful and necessary.I’m not the only one who thinks that (depending on the business) social media is often wildly overrated. Its power to grow your audience and generate leads is far more limited than many new entrepreneurs realize. While there are those who’ve built their followings primarily through social media, those are exceptions, not the norm.I like to say that your business isn’t done on Facebook, or Snap, or any other social media platform. It’s done on your webiste, in your store, in the space you create.To really take this principle for a test run, I made what some would consider a pretty radical decision: I quit social media. Indefinitely. For the last several weeks, I’ve suspended all my social media accounts. And you know what? I can’t say I miss it.Again, I’m not here to bash social media. It’s valuable, it’s useful, and its effects on society are better discussed by sociologists than business people. I may even return to social media once this experiment has yielded all its results. But I’ve found that since I kicked the habit (and it is a habit), both my business and personal life have demonstrably improved.Today on the podcast, I discuss what exactly was behind my decision to quit social media. I describe my motivations and inspiration for this experiment, and what I hoped to get out of it. I also discuss what I have gotten out of it so far, from increased emotional well-being to greater focus and productivity.In fact, I’d argue that leaving social media has actually helped my marketing efforts, by allowing me to focus on marketing strategies with far greater ROI.Social media is a boon in many ways, but it is undoubtedly a habit, one with the potential to create addictive, distracting patterns of behavior. In this episode, I even propose a short experiment for you, the listener, to decide if backing away from social media could be beneficial. Maybe a social-free life isn’t for you, but it could be worth finding out.Tune in, hear my 3 specific reasons for giving social media a break, and consider my results. A healthier, more focused, balanced approach to work and life might just be the outcome. Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksDeep Work by Cal NewportCal Newport: Quit Social Media TEDx TalkBuffer.comNoah Kagan on Social MediaThe post MBA901 Why I Quit Social Media 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 do you want?It’s the most basic of questions, underlying the motivations behind everything we do in life and business. What’s it all for? Why are we striving to make our businesses successful? What’s the point of profit?For all of us, the money isn’t the answer. It’s the means to achieve the answer.That said, we shouldn’t abandon all thoughts of quantifying our personal definition of success. No, money can’t buy happiness. But it can give you the freedom and resources to do whatever it is that does make you happy. That’s a quantity worth calculating. How much money, exactly, do you need to live the life you want?Do you want to travel? Support a family? Drive your dream car? Order the appetizer? Whatever it is, there’s a number attached to it. The life of your choosing can’t be defined by money, but it can be enabled by a concrete number.On today’s podcast, Omar introduces a life/business planning exercise by which you can nail down your personal number. Using this simple but thoughtful process, you can legitimately determine what the life you want will cost— and start moving towards it.This isn’t about dreaming. This exercise is an act of doing.By quantifying the key to your goals, you enable yourself to take concrete steps towards attaining them. In fact, after you do the math, you may find that your goals aren’t as far off as you think!Too many people define their life goals to broadly, carrying nebulous ideas of how much money they need. Yes, we all want to be “wealthy” or even just “comfortable.” But we can do better than that. We can define what specifically we want, and work out a realistic price tag.Doing this exercise can radically alter your approach to business. By defining your personal goals in terms of exact numbers, you can focus your business goals on achieving those numbers. The number is a bridge between your dreams and your reality. By seeing your business is the means to cross it, your focus intensifies.It’s not about making the most money; it’s about making the right amount. By plotting an actionable path to your goals, you can achieve what too many people in business forget about: working to live, instead of living to work. Find out how.Special thanks to all our listeners as we celebrate this, our 900th episode! It’s a good one: Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksI Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit SethiThe post MBA900 How Much Money Do You Need? 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 to say about Steve Jobs? He’s the first person that comes to mind when you think of the word “entrepreneur.” He changed the world we all live in, by virtue of his commitment to a business vision. Much has been written about, by, and for him. What can you, as an entrepreneur, learn from the legend?Now, we have the ultimate guide to his life and career: Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, the most complete, relevant biography for any entrepreneur who wants to take lessons from the life of the iconoclast.Isaacson’s biography is the latest addition to our Must Read list, and the subject of this week’s podcast. With so many books about business and entrepreneurship (not to mention about Apple and Jobs specifically), we like to highlight the ones that can best impact your growth as a business person. In this episode, Omar breaks down the key takeaways from this incredible (and incredibly long) book.It’s a page-turner, and good thing — there are quite a few pages to turn. This fascinating biography paints a narrative of struggle and innovation, of idiosyncrasy and vision, of controversy and perseverance. Despite how close the biographer was to Jobs, his access didn’t spoil his objectivity. This is no work of flattery, but an honest, revealing exploration of what made Jobs so…Jobs.Innovators don’t happen by accident. They build and define themselves as they create and grow their businesses. Jobs may reign as the greatest example of that spirit of his generation. None of us will ever be Steve Jobs, but all of us can benefit from the fearless dedication to innovation that drove his life, through all its ups and downs.To learn those vital lessons, we highly recommend this book. For a succinct breakdown of those lessons, tune in to Omar’s synopsis. You’ll be glad you did. – Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow Links$100MBA Free Idea Validation CourseAudible.comSteve Jobs by Walter Isaacson on AmazonThe post MBA899 Must Read: Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson 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’s the best return on investment? What’s the most valuable thing an entrepreneur can gain from any expense?Time.Time is the greatest ROI. Some say time is money, but money pales in comparison to the value of time, the one resource you can never replenish once lost. A goal of every entrepreneur should be to free up as much of their time as possible: time better spent innovating than managing, moving forward rather than treading water, or even just spent living and enjoying the freedom entrepreneurship offers.So how can we get more time? Outsourcing.The smartest, boldest thing you can do as an independent business leader is to get things off your own plate. Spend your money to free up your time by zeroing in on the most time-consuming tasks best left to others. Not only will this allow you to focus on the leadership aspects of your business, it may significantly improve the quality of your product. Why be the jack of all trades when you can hire a master of each?On today’s episode, we discuss the top 5 tasks you should consider outsourcing. By utilizing team members, freelancers, even affiliates, you can stop working and start leading. Free up time, headspace, and personal resources to make yourself more effective than ever. Minimize stress and focus on the creative, exciting parts of running a business. Through outsourcing, you and your business can become more agile than ever.What about the cost?That’s the best part: today’s global marketplace is teeming with talent, available to work remotely from all over the world. With the prevalence of skills in everything from content to accounting, it has never been more affordable to outsource.This is especially important as your business grows, and your success forces you to scale up. As your business gains momentum, your leadership will be far more important than your labor. Not only that, but the odds are that for each of these 5 tasks, you can find someone who can do it better than you can!That’s been our experience, anyway. These 5 areas aren’t just tasks we recommend outsourcing, they’re tasks we’ve outsourced ourselves! It’s worked for us, and it can work for you. Find out how- Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksXero Accounting SoftwareiDevAffiliate Affiliate Tracking SoftwareThe post MBA898 The Top 5 Tasks to Outsource 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.

For a predictable revenue stream, nothing beats the subscription model. Customers sign up to pay a fixed rate, monthly or annually. The business owner gets to map their budget and growth goals with greater confidence and stability. Everyone wins. But unfortunately, this model doesn’t work for regular old e-commerce…or does it?Typically, the subscription model applies to services, especially of the SaaS (Software as a Service) variety. The SaaS model is all the rage, one of the most lucrative ways to harness the Internet for a passive revenue stream. Wouldn’t it be great if e-commerce businesses could enjoy the same benefits?Impossible, you say. I don’t sell a software, or a service. I sell clothes, or shoes, or hamster grooming products. My business just isn’t SaaSy enough for this model.Think again.You can convert your e-commerce to the subscription model, and enjoy all the stability of a SaaS business. You simply have to sell, package, and deliver your product like a service. You wouldn’t be the first. Great subscription services deliver physical goods to customers around the world every day— from Dollar Shave Club to Amazon Prime to Blue Apron.This isn’t just a trick to gin up some extra income from your customers. It’s a way to reward your best customers by offering them something valuable: membership. Membership is a whole ‘nother level of brand loyalty, one that customers enjoy. More than ever, consumers like to identify with brands to which they’re loyal, especially small-business brands that declare their unique and discriminating tastes.People love the extra personalization of membership, and they love having products curated for them, rather than just buying them. It’s a service in the truest sense: you not only provide the product, you essentially do the shopping!On this podcast, we teach you exactly how to move your e-commerce business into the SaaS model. It’s not for every business, but so many purveyors of physical goods can use this method to substantially increase revenue. We discuss how to implement the service, market the service to your current customers, and integrate the revenue into your budget.This model can work, as a replacement for a-la-carte shopping, or as a valuable supplement. Tune in to our in-depth lesson, hear how it’s done, and see if you might give it a try. Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow Links$100MBA Free Idea Validation CourseThe post MBA897 Turn Your Ecommerce Store into a SaaS 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.

Most people think that being an entrepreneur means starting a business. But there’s another option, an alternative path to independent success: buying a business!We don’t often think of this option, but with some capital and a smart purchase plan, it can be the right move. Pre-owned cars and homes can be great investments, so why not businesses? So much of the work that goes into building a business is done already. And while there is other work to be done when buying as opposed to building, that completed work represents a huge advantage.So what does it take to be a successful business buyer? That’s the topic of today’s deep-dive lesson. We begin with the two essential questions every would-be entrepreneur should consider before they reach for their checkbook. First, is buying the right option for me? Second, what’s the right business to buy?We detail where and how to find businesses with great potential, how to evaluate them, and how to determine what they’re worth. We walk you through the essential steps of identifying the right business, assessing what success you can reasonably expect, and calculating a fair price based on those expectations.Whether you want the freedom and independence of profiting on your own terms, or the intrinsic creative joy of building a new brand and forging independent success, purchasing a pre-established business might just work for you. People are selling businesses every day, for reasons that don’t necessarily reflect a lack of success. Even failing businesses can make fantastic investments, if you’ve got the skill set the seller lacks!All told, it’s worth considering.The infrastructure is there. The overhead is established. The initial customer base doesn’t need to be chased down. Even if you plan on making drastic changes, starting with all the established baselines of a pre-owned business is a massive advantage. With today’s lesson, we’ll help you determine what a business is worth, what it should cost, and how much you should have in the bank when you take the reins.Entrepreneurship is all about possibilities— especially the ones that people overlook! Tune in, learn how to evaluate the possibilities, and see if this entrepreneurial alternative is right for you. It just might be! Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksThe post MBA896 Should You Buy a Business Instead of Starting One? 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.

So you want to be an entrepreneur. Honestly, who doesn’t? Who hasn’t occasionally dreamed of that freedom and self-determination? Who isn’t intrigued by the thought of making their own living on their own terms?Of course, dreaming is one thing. Doing is another.That’s what we’re here for: to help you become one of the “doers” who actually takes concrete action. And that’s why this week’s special guest teacher is here: to share her incredibly valuable experience on the subject of breaking into entrepreneurship.Dorie Clark knows more than most about transitioning from conventional employment to entrepreneurship. She literally wrote the book on it, and she’s written another one that hits the shelves this week. Today, Clark offers a special preview of Entrepreneurial You: Monetize Your Expertise, Create Multiple Income Streams, and Thrive. Her years of studying independent success and profiling great entrepreneurs has given Clark unparalleled insights. She’s here to share them.On the podcast, Clark discusses 6 specific principles that make the difference between considering entrepreneurship and actually doing it. These 6 strategic concepts allow you to hone in on what actually creates independent wealth. With so much to know, being able to focus on what really matters is crucial. These 6 things are the pillars that can turn the desire for entrepreneurial freedom into something real, feasible, and sustainable.These are not hacks. They’re not tricks. They are instructions. Honest, practical, actionable instructions that you can apply today. With Clark’s extremely well-informed advice, you can start laying the roadmap for your own success right now. Clark has found success over years of study and experimentation. She’s lived the trial and the error. Now, let her experience increase your chances of making it.Stick around after Clark’s lesson for two fantastic bonuses: Our host Omar offers his own tips on building and sustaining entrepreneurial momentum— after all, he knows a thing or two about independent success himself! And, Dorie Clark would like to offer all of our listeners a special free download, one that can jumpstart your journey to entrepreneurship today.That’s right: Free Gift!There are no shortcuts. As Clark and Omar detail in this lesson, entrepreneurial success is earned, not taken. We’re not here to sell The Dream, and neither is Dorie Clark. What we can offer is the truth about exactly what it takes to do business— your business, your own way. It’s not easy, and it’s not quick. But it is possible. With some honest effort and the right guidance, you can do this.Tune in. Hear Clark’s advice and Omar’s analysis. Get your free gift. Go forth into the future you make for yourself. Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow Linksdorieclark.com/entrepreneurThe post MBA895 Guest Teacher: Dorie Clark – Practical Steps to Taking the Leap Into Entrepreneurship 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.

Worst. Boss. Ever.We’ve all had a terrible boss. As entrepreneurs, we never have to have one again. But as our independent business grows, how can we avoid becoming one? That’s the topic of this week’s deep-dive lesson, and it’s one worth exploring. Do you have the courage, the honesty, and the wisdom to ask yourself the question:Am I a terrible boss?Right off the bat, let’s be realistic: you’re probably not. But just as realistic is the probability that you could be a better one. We could all improve, in whatever we do. But it’s especially important for entrepreneurs to stay on top of their personal development as leaders.Your business depends on your ability to lead your team. As we expend our mental capital on product development, marketing, budgeting, and all the rest, we can forget this. We can neglect a skill that’s just as important to develop as salesmanship or technical expertise. We can forget to strive to be the best boss we can be.Our team suffers as a result.When our team suffers, the work suffers. When the work suffers, the business grinds along at a fraction of its true potential. It’s incumbent upon every entrepreneur to give their customers the best experience possible— but it’s just as incumbent upon them to give their employees the motivation they need to create that experience. There are ways to achieve this. There are strategies to ensure it.We’re here to share them.Fortunately, being great at bossing is just like being great at anything; you can learn how. You can practice. You can consciously develop the ability you need to lead. On this podcast, we explain how to evaluate and develop your leadership skills. We share our experience as bosses, and offer specific, actionable tips on how to be better.We discuss the biggest pitfalls common to new bosses, the balance between high expectations and empathy for your employees, and how to be open to improvement. We offer examples of bosses to emulate, and reflect on the unique position of company founders.When you’re the boss, the stakes are high. Tune in, and learn how to maximize your potential as a leader. Learn how to earn the loyalty and dedication from your employees that gives your business the edge. Boss “like a boss!” Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksMust Read: Total Recall by Arnold SchwarzeneggerMust Read: Shoe Dog by Phil KnightMust Read: Elon Musk by Ashlee VanceThe post MBA894 Are You a Terrible Boss? 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.