ProfitSchool

Mercer, a business growth advocate, and Jeff discuss the balance between learning and doing in business, emphasizing the need to apply new skills. They highlight the benefits of continuous improvement, setting clear goals, and encouraging proactive behavior among team members. The conversation also explores overcoming fears, transitioning from learning to action, and mastering essential skills for business growth.

Learn about the essence of service stacking to strengthen client relationships and ensure repeat business. Discover how transitioning from freelancing to consistent monthly sales is key. Explore innovative pricing strategies to attract clients and increase revenue. Jeff emphasizes the importance of starting with smaller offers and incrementally increasing prices for sustainable business growth. Uncover the art of mastering pricing, project management, and the value of unbundling services for affordability.

Topics Covered In This Episode Overcoming Entrepreneurial Pitfalls: Learn from Mercer and Jeff as they discuss their early business ventures, from running an entertainment newspaper and a bar to owning a nightclub and restaurant. They emphasize the critical mistakes of overworking and under-delegating, underscoring the necessity of building a strong team. Learning from Failures: Jeff and Mercer delve into their failures, including flawed assumptions of success and repeated mistakes. Jeff shares candid stories about ventures such as an ill-fated pool and patio website and a losing dropshipping attempt, highlighting the importance of operational knowledge and recognizing the difference between possible and probable outcomes. Navigating Business and Personal Mistakes: From tolerating soul-draining work to ignoring team warning signs, Mercer reflects on personal and professional errors of judgment.  These experiences underscore the importance of confronting issues head-on to foster both personal growth and business efficiency. The Art of Iteration and Adaptation: Jeff stresses the importance of iteration in business, comparing technical debt to both helpful anchors and cumbersome lead shoes. Mercer and Jeff discuss how constant adaptation and focusing on problematic areas can drive revenue growth and prevent stagnation. Self-Awareness and Entrepreneurial Growth: Mercer sheds light on the crucial role of self-awareness in entrepreneurship and illustrates how self-awareness can drive substantial growth and improvement. Enhancing Employee Management and Decision-Making: The duo share valuable lessons in hiring practices and employee management, with strategies like monitoring productivity and managing expectations from the start. They also explore the significance of emotional and business intelligence in making informed decisions and enhancing partner relations Have a question or feedback about Business Unfiltered. Record an audio message https://s.bcast.fm/business-unfiltered-with-chris-mercer-and-jeff-sauer?episode=q80274x8

Topics Covered In This Episode CFO Mindset for Entrepreneurs: Learn how small business owners can adopt the strategic perspective of a CFO, exploring alternatives like advisors or CPAs to fill this pivotal role, enabling even those without an accounting background to make informed financial decisions. The Pillars of Financial Management: Jeff emphasizes the indispensability of organizing financial records through bookkeeping and the maturity journey of investing in professional financial management to safeguard and grow your business. Outsourcing for Efficiency: Discover how outsourcing bookkeeping can streamline your financial processes, ensuring accuracy and freeing up your time to focus on core business strategies. Defining Financial Roles: From day-to-day financial management by bookkeepers to strategic forecasting and profitability planning with a virtual CFO or business coach, understand the diverse roles that contribute to a robust financial structure. Bridging Roles for Business Growth: Delve into the importance of a financial controller to navigate between the CEO and CFO responsibilities, enhance financial statement management, and avoid knowledge bottlenecks that hinder progress. Harmonizing Risk and Growth: Explore the dynamic tension between the conservative CFO perspective and the forward-looking entrepreneurial spirit, highlighting the need for a balanced approach to risk management and financial forecasting to foster informed business growth. Have a question or feedback about Business Unfiltered. Record an audio message https://s.bcast.fm/business-unfiltered-with-chris-mercer-and-jeff-sauer?episode=28xk6xln

Topics Covered In This Episode Understanding the Importance of Business Insurance: Mercer and Jeff emphasize the necessity of business insurance to shield against financial losses arising from lawsuits or unexpected events, highlighting its affordability compared to potential risks. Hedging Against Risks: The discussion extends to hedging against unforeseen events, stressing the practicality and relevance of various insurance coverage options to provide peace of mind, which is invaluable. Self-Insurance and Cost Management: Exploring self-insurance for specific business costs and the significance of errors and omissions (E&O) insurance, both hosts stressed the importance of understanding policies, negotiating deductibles, and conducting thorough risk assessments. Life Insurance for Business Continuity: Jeff and Mercer recommend life insurance policies for business owners to ensure continuity in operations and debt coverage, urging prudent selection based on necessity and reasonable costs relative to revenue. Tailored Insurance for Service Providers: A detailed understanding of insurance policies is crucial for service-based businesses, emphasizing the need for personalized coverage and maintaining relationships with agents who comprehend their business intricacies. Risk Management and Contingency Planning: Delving into mergers and acquisitions, both underscore the importance of risk assessment, contingency planning, and self-insurance, urging listeners to take control of their insurance spending through education and inquiry. Have a question or feedback about Business Unfiltered. Record an audio message https://s.bcast.fm/business-unfiltered-with-chris-mercer-and-jeff-sauer?episode=489xj2mn

Exploring mergers and partnerships, challenges for brands, benefits for small businesses, embracing growth, personal journeys in entrepreneurship, and a successful merger story. Jeff and Mercer share insights on trust, chemistry, and a methodical approach to integration in their collaborative journey.

Topics Covered In This Episode Mindset's Impact on Sales Growth: Mercer and Jeff emphasize mindset as crucial for business growth, shifting focus from making sales to providing value, highlighting personal journeys from anti-capitalist views to customer-centric approaches. Mindset's Role in Growth: Jeff and Mercer stress mindset's pivotal role in business and personal growth, illustrating with anecdotes how mindset shifts lead to different actions and results, emphasizing its significance over language choice. Ethical Sales and Profit Margins: The discussion delves into long-term business strategies, cautioning against "get rich quick" schemes, criticizing self-serving sales mindsets, and advocating for ethical practices to avoid damaging relationships. Abundance vs. Scarcity Mindset: Mercer and Jeff advocate for a probabilistic mindset, reflecting on an abundance versus scarcity mentality, prioritizing long-term partnerships, aligning business values with models, and incentivizing teams for mutual benefit. Win-Win Negotiations: Exploring win-win negotiations, both emphasize maintaining relationships over short-term gains, exemplifying scenarios where temporary losses lead to future opportunities, and advocating for low-risk, mutually beneficial deals. Business Growth and Mindset Importance: Both hosts stress reinvestment for growth, pipeline management, and skepticism towards short-term profit-focused models, championing consistency, systemization, and a win-win mentality for sustained business success. Have a question or feedback about Business Unfiltered. Record an audio message https://s.bcast.fm/business-unfiltered-with-chris-mercer-and-jeff-sauer?episode=lnqkwp2n

Learn about the importance of crafting effective offers in business, integrating sales and marketing strategies to make them irresistible. Explore the evolution of sales approaches from one-on-one interactions to online processes. Discover tips for creating irresistible offers by addressing objections, leveraging bonuses, and personalizing offers for individual prospects. Gain insights on guidance and implementation assistance for better results in offer creation.

Topics Covered In This Episode Pruning for Profit: Mercer and Jeff redefine expense management as pruning for profit, emphasizing the need for strategic decision-making rather than mere cost-cutting. Balancing Growth and Profitability: The discussion highlights the balance between investing in growth opportunities and managing expenses to ensure sustainable profitability. Investment Strategy: Insights shared include viewing expenses as potential investments with a focus on returns, as well as evaluating tools based on their potential for a significant return on investment. Personal vs. Business Investments: Jeff and Mercer deliberate on investing in personal time-saving measures versus investments directly impacting business profitability, highlighting the importance of discerning value. Financial Discipline: Jeff and Mercer stress the significance of regular expense review and prioritizing cash flow to make informed decisions, even if it means letting go of past strategies or investments. Strategic Expense Reduction: They discuss strategies such as consolidating contractors into employees and prioritizing expenses to align with revenue growth as methods to enhance profit margins. Have a question or feedback about Business Unfiltered. Record an audio message https://s.bcast.fm/business-unfiltered-with-chris-mercer-and-jeff-sauer?episode=58z9x5ln

Learn about the importance of personalized pitches to clients, strategic planning for successful sales, the crucial role of pitch decks, the three stages of pitching, customization based on client feedback, and integrating sales and marketing efforts for business growth.