Profitable Mindset

Get My Free Training to Manage Email with Ease:  http://www.3cowmarketing.com/zero Last week’s episode of The Profitable Mindset Podcast was all about attracting and hiring high-quality employees. This week, I've covering how to manage those high-quality employees so you have an outstanding team. When you listen to episode 46, you’ll learn: How to set and communicate clear expectations (this will make work so much easier for you and your employees) The one thing you must regularly do in order to help employees do their best work How to make sure your team is focused on solutions and helping the business thrive One of the worst mistakes you can make as a business owner (and what to do instead) How to figure out what to pay your employees and when to offer bonuses Plus, I’m sharing some of my top tips for how to make sure your employees feel appreciated so they love working for you. And while we’re talking about managing employees, we’re really talking about stepping into being the CEO of your business and being a leader. In this episode, we’ll also cover some of the mindset shifts that will help you step into this role and expect greatness from yourself and your employees. Whether you already have a team or are thinking about hiring your first employee, this episode will help you successfully build a team to take your business to the next level.  Take a little time to listen to episode 46 of The Profitable Mindset podcast now! Much love, Charlotte

Schedule your FREE strategy session here: https://3cowmarketing.com/strategy  This is one of the most powerful episodes I could ever offer, as we’re talking all about attracting and hiring high-quality employees. Even if you don’t think you’re ready to hire yet, I hope you’ll take some time to listen. If you want to build a profitable, sustainable farm, you’re going to need to scale and that means that at some point, you’re going to need to hire employees. In this episode, I’m sharing ideas and information that took me years to learn.  Hiring correctly can help you build a profitable business with ease, whereas hiring wrong can be a nightmare. Today’s episode is going to help you get started the right way, helping to ease the hiring process so that you can successfully hire the best employees for your farm. In this episode, you’ll learn: The very first step you need to take before placing an ad How to create an ad for your job that attracts higher-quality candidates Where to share your ad to quickly receive applications (This is going to save you so much time!) How to avoid the crucial mistake I made in my ad that attracted criminals!! The key questions to ask in interviews and what to do after the interview (I’m sharing my best practice for ensuring I hire candidates that are in it long-term.) I’m also sharing some essential mindset shifts to help you step into your role as CEO. When you apply these ideas to your business, it’s going to make it so much easier to hire employees (perhaps sooner than you think you can) who are the ideal fit for the help you need right now. Whether you’re ready to hire now or know you will be someday, take a little time to listen to episode 45 of The Profitable Mindset podcast now! Much love, Charlotte

Learn to maintain an empty inbox & organized mind with my free "Inbox Zero" training: http://www.3cowmarketing.com/zero When you started your farm, did you have a plan for cash flow? I didn’t, I just knew I wanted to start a farm. Now I ended up picking something that was great for cash flow. With dairy, I would milk the cows in the morning and by the end of the day, I would literally have a box of cash. This was back in the days when people picked up milk on their own and put money in a box. We were open seven days a week, and it was the best cash flow plan I could have dreamed up. I was lucky, because I didn’t intentionally have a plan for immediate cash flow. Depending on what you’re producing, there are times when you need to invest some of your outside money in your farm and times when you’re making more from your product sales. Lack of cash flow is another big reason many farmers go out of business, and so on today's episode, I'm talking about 3 ways to have more consistent cash flow on your farm. If you're in the first year or two of your business, you’re going to have a lot of start-up expenses as you’re building the infrastructure of your farm. With this understanding, you’ll want to have a lot of working capital either with a big bank account full of money or a day job that allows you to keep investing in your farm. Beyond these first years, we’re talking about money coming into then is going out of your business, and simple changes you can make in running your business so that you have consistent cash flow and don’t have to keep using credit cards or taking out loans in order to run your farm. In this episode, I’m sharing one of the best changes I made on my farm and how you can make this simple change today to help with a cash flow problem. I’m explaining why this change is a win for your business and your customers, and how to convey these benefits so that customers are happy to pay. We’re also taking a look at assets and liabilities, as I explain why I think one commonly considered liability is actually an asset in business. I’m sharing how this asset contributes to the profits on my farm and how you can do the same. When you listen to this episode, you’ll discover what might be the most valuable asset in your business and what to focus on in order to have a positive cash flow, and a profitable, sustainable business. If you're ready to increase your cash flow, listen to the newest episode of Profitable Mindset now! Much love, Charlotte

FREE Inbox Zero Training - Get Control of Your Email Inbox & Your Time: http://3cowmarketing.com/zeroWhen I started my farm 11 years ago, I was a one-woman show.  This lasted for about a month. After all, I had a dairy and was milking cows twice a day, seven days a week. With three kids at home, I realized I needed help. I have a lot of farmers who come to me for help and part of the reason they’re overwhelmed is that they’re arguing with the reality that they can’t do all of the work and run the business. No matter where you are in business - if you’re just starting out or if you’re five years in and wondering why you’re struggling so hard, this week’s episode is going to help you. Now, when we first start our farms, we DO need to be the employee and the boss.  When I first started my farm, I would go out and milk the cows, 5:00 to 7:00 AM. Then I'd come in and get the kids off to school. Then I'd shower, sit down at my desk and do two, three hours of office work and make sure my store was set and ready for customers. So I moved between both, and often, when you first start out, you are going to be both. However, in order to be profitable, you're going to have to step more and more into the role of being the boss and learn those skills in order to move the business forward.  And if you’re going to scale and build a profitable business, you need a team. Even if you’re just starting out and don’t feel you can afford to hire support, it’s crucial to your success to be able to differentiate your role as boss vs. your role as an employee. When we blur these roles together, we often end up doing tasks that seem important, but we’re not actually moving the business forward. Blurring these roles together is the reason why many people go out of business. In this week’s episode of the podcast, we’re talking about the differences between your role as the owner of your business and your role as an employee of your business. I’ll walk you through creating job descriptions, responsibilities, and expectations for each role. This process will help you move forward in your business whether you’re doing it all or are ready to hire employees. Along with sharing practical tips that can help you start moving your business forward this week, I’m sharing the mindset shifts I work on with clients that will help you in each of these roles. Plus, I’m sharing the very first thing you need to do if you want to hire employees but don’t think you can afford to yet. If you’re ready to take your business to the next level, listen to the newest episode of Profitable Mindset now! Much love, Charlotte

Get My Free Training - Master Your Email: http://www.3cowmarketing.com/zero Do you have a business plan? If not, don’t worry, you’re not alone. In fact, many of the farmers I work with avoid business plans or business models because they feel overwhelming. Complicated. Tedious. Plus, most of us started our businesses because we love the land and the animals, we want to share the bounty and make some money. In this week’s episode of the podcast, we’re going to talk about how to choose a simple business model to help you make money. The truth is, just hoping you’ll make money won’t help you reach your goals. You need to have a target to work towards in order to make a profit. In this episode, you’ll learn the common mistake I see many business owners make that’s keeping them stuck and overwhelmed, and the counterintuitive solution that will help you build a successful, profitable and sustainable business. As you work through this process, you’ll learn how to start thinking like the CEO of your business, so that you can make smart business decisions, and step into the role of a visionary leader in your business. When you join me for this episode, we’ll take a look at your big picture plan and help you see beyond the present moment struggles so that you can easily see the solutions and next steps needed to reach your goals. Let’s choose a simple business model and help you build a profitable business!   Listen to the newest episode of Profitable Mindset here! Much love, Charlotte

Get the free INBOX ZERO training: 3cowmarketing.com/zero     Book your free strategy session here:  https://calendly.com/csmith3cow/strategy-session?month=2020-07 Just the other day, one of my coaching clients set a goal of reaching a million dollars in sales! How does that sound to you? I’m so excited for her and know she’s well on her way to reaching this goal. This is part of what I love about coaching; it’s so fun to help someone come up with a goal and then coach them each step of the way until they reach it. Whether you’re working toward a million dollars in sales or you have another goal in mind, marketing is an essential piece of your success. Now stay with me here - I know you might not love marketing, but I do - and in this week’s podcast episode, I’m sharing the one thing you need to do to be really good at marketing. When you do this, you are going to be very successful very quickly and it’s likely that you’ll also find marketing to be more fun than you ever thought it could be. In episode 41, I’m teaching you how to make your marketing and subsequent sales super easy. You’ll learn the mistake many business owners make when it comes to marketing and what to do instead so that buying becomes a no-brainer for your customers. I'm teaching you the strategy I use to make sales enjoyable (instead of icky feeling) because you feel so good about helping your customers. Plus, I’m sharing real-life examples from our farm and ideas you can use to start marketing your products or services today. When you learn to market and sell the way I’m teaching you in this episode, it feels like you’re helping people and marketing begins to feel easier and more enjoyable. Are you ready to learn what you need to do to be really good at marketing?   Listen to the newest episode of Profitable Mindset! Much love, Charlotte

Book a free strategy session: https://3cowmarketing.com/strategy 15 years ago we started drinking raw milk, and as soon as we started drinking it, I noticed that my kids’ eczema (that they’d had for years) went away.   Then about a year later, our raw milk farmer just up and quit. He went out of business and his customers were left scrambling to find another raw milk source.   In talking with him, he said he just couldn’t make it work financially. Now I was paying $6 a gallon at the time, but I easily would have paid double. I asked, “Why didn’t you increase the price?”   He teared up and said he didn’t think he could charge more and he just didn’t feel right asking his customers to pay more.   I share this story with you because I hear this story all the time. Whether it’s in private messages or emails, or posts in one of my Facebook groups, I keep hearing that you don’t enjoy pricing your products for a healthy profit. You feel bad. You feel guilty. Some of you have even said you feel bad taking money for your products.   I want to help you because obviously, you won't have a business if you don't make a profit.    And if you don't feel good making that profit, then you're more likely to give up. I don’t want you to give up on your dreams or your business, so in this week’s podcast episode, I’m talking about the value you offer your customers and I’m sharing a 3-step formula to help you intentionally design and market this value.   We’re really talking about business basics. You go into business to create something of value that people will gladly pay money - which also has value - for. This is how our economy functions.   If you're going to build a profitable, successful, sustainable business, you've got to consider the value exchange and stop making pricing and selling mean anything about you.  You’ve got to realize that you are in business to exchange value for value. Take you out of the equation.    If you’re not sure of the unique value you offer customers or you feel bad charging what you need to, join me for episode 40 of the podcast. When you listen to this episode, you’ll learn how to feel clear and confident in the value you offer, and even better, you’ll know how to market that value so that buying your products becomes a no-brainer for your customers.   When you figure out the value you're offering to the right people-- and the solution you provide with your products that you are selling-- and you communicate that solution, people are ecstatic to be able to pay you money for that product.  I promise you.   Listen to the newest episode of Profitable Mindset! Much love, Charlotte

Schedule your FREE strategy session here: https://3cowmarketing.com/strategy When I started my business, I winged it at first… I didn’t understand that I’m the one who decides how much money I make.   It really wasn’t until year 2 or 3 when I started to create a plan. And guess what... when I started planning, I knew exactly what steps to take in order to reach my goals.   Now if you’re still in the first few years of your business, the thought of creating a 10 year plan might feel overwhelming.   I understand, I know how much there is to learn and do as you’re starting out. At the same time, I know that if you take the time to create a 10 year plan, it’s going to be so much easier to reach your goals and to know exactly what to focus on in your business right now.   The truth is that most people fail in the first couple years of business. Most people aren’t prepared for how difficult or expensive it can be to build a business.   And while there will be challenges and failures, there will be frustrations and moments of doubt, it is absolutely possible for you to build a profitable business that you love.   I know you have big goals for your business and I want to help you reach them, so on this week’s episode of the podcast, I’m starting out by talking about four things to focus on in your first year of business for a much better chance of success.    If you’re a little further along, you’ll also want to listen in because I’m talking about some of the most common mistakes I see business owners making that keeps them from building a profitable business. It might be that making one of these changes is all it takes for your business to be more profitable and to flow with greater ease. Finally, we’re talking about how to create a simple 10 year plan that supports your vision and makes your goals seem more do-able. While it doesn’t take much time to create this plan (I’ll walk you through every step on this episode), having this plan is going to help you know exactly what to prioritize and focus on each year of your business.   When you join me for episode 39, we’re going over practical steps as well as key mindset shifts that are going to support you in building your profitable business.

Schedule your FREE strategy session here: http://3cowmarketing.com/strategy   Confidence. Something we all want more of. Say you hire a new employee and they start showing up 10 mins late every day. So annoying and disrespectful and you shouldn't have to tell them to be on time! What do you say? How do you handle it? Are you willing to have the difficult conversation that’s required or do you give them the benefit of the doubt over and over again because you're desperate for the help? Do you raise your prices knowing you need to make a profit or do you stay competitively priced, but you’re losing money month-after-month? All these decisions require the ability to create unlimited confidence in your business and life   Most people come to me wanting to get to confidence so they can have those difficult conversations and do the difficult work of increasing prices. But, the way our brain is wired, you can't just jump to confidence or wait for confidence - it's an emotion that takes a few steps to create. Once you learn the skill of creating confidence and having it readily available for you anytime you need it, YOU are unstoppable.   Today’s episode of the Profitable Mindset you’ll learn the 4 steps you need to create unlimited confidence. Confidence is needed in every aspect of your life and it could help to have a little more throughout the day, don't you think?

Schedule your FREE strategy session here: http://3cowmarketing.com/strategy April came to me for coaching last week to get help with feeling hopeless because the local slaughterhouse canceled her processing appointments for her cows and hogs. She confirmed and reconfirmed with the butcher so I can understand why she was feeling terrible. As a result of this hopeless feeling, she had looping thoughts like "I should've done a better job" and "why am I even doing this" and generally tearing herself down for this bad news. She needed help getting past these looping thoughts because she was not getting her other work done on the farm, she was snapping at others and feeling crappy for days on end. We never go into business expecting to fail — yet 80% of us will fail by year 2. IF you make it through the first 5 years of your business, your chances of surviving increase significantly for the long term. But here's the deal - success NEVER happens by chance. It's a choice and a mindset that you create!   Today’s episode of the Profitable Mindset is all about how to plan ahead for the inevitable rejection, confusion, fear, and doubt that you're GUARANTEED to experience in the first few years of business. With only 2% of small businesses making it to the 5 year mark, you’re going to want to go ALL IN on planning with intention and how to handle certain failures and challenges. Listen to the full episode here!