3 Challenges of Entrepreneurship
- 20% of small businesses fail within the first year, and 70% of businesses fail within the first ten years.
- Cash flow management is the universal CHALLENGE for all business owners, no matter how large your company is.
- Successful Entrepreneurship requires radical honesty. Find people you can trust to help you with your business (mentors, coaches + consultants)
SMALL BUSINESS STRUGGLES
(…an excerpt from my entrepreneurial story)
Often as entrepreneurs we feel isolated and alone. We think we’re the ONLY ones who suffer with cash flow & money management issues. The truth is, cash flow is a universal problem that plagues all business owners, even the large corporations. Many small business owners are walking on a razors edge and embarrassed to ask for help because it requires radical honesty.
My first co. was founded in 2004. I never graduated college and barely made it through high school. I offer this backstory to show you that I didn’t know what I was doing when I started my co. at 24 years old.
My business account and my personal account were 1 in the same. Reconciliation of my books was a nightmare and I was in fact fired by my book keeper for liability issues. Make no mistake about it, I was the liability.
At that time in my life, I was uncoachable, unpersuadable and unreasonable. I was so stubborn I made a mule look reasonable.
I used my overdraft protection like a line of credit and could never stay ahead of the 8 ball. I lived in the red for YEARS. Honestly, I don’t know how I made it, but I think a lot of it had to do with complete naivety that I was the owner of a failing business, after all, I was always working, people loved me and I had great reviews on yelp. (a fluffy way of deflecting & stroking my ego rather than addressing the real issue: I didn’t know how to run a business)
It wasn’t until 2019 when I waved my white flag & exercised radical honesty. I was in so much pain and so beat down that I found the courage to ask for help and got teachable.
I’m creating content to help you get on track if you’re struggling (FREE worksheets, tips + tricks). If you’re struggling, I hope you find the courage to ask for help and find support from those who have walked this path before you.
I have yet to meet a successful entrepreneur who hasn’t wanted to pay it forward. It’s what we do, because it’s what others did for us.
It’s an honor and my absolute pleasure to share the ins, outs, ups and downs of this entrepreneurial game.
As a business owner, I’m sure you remember what it’s like to get the word out about your product or service. Please share this publication with anyone you think would find value in its content. We’re doing this grass roots style and would be so stoked to see the word get out simply because you find this material helpful.
In Todays Email, you’ll get deeper resources on:
- Market Watch: pay attention to the trends and position yourself accordingly
- Vicious vs. virtuous pricing: how price can make or break your business
- The offer: Your offer = their solution (You may have a great offer, but are you in the right market?)
YOUR NEXT MOVE
Pay attention to your industry in 2024 & beyond
I’m using industry updates that are relevant to Wylder Space but I encourage you to research your own industry and how it’s applicable to your business in the coming years.
I've noticed a lot more links to email newsletters from influencers on X, Instagram, and YouTube. I think this year, influencers will start pushing their newsletters before products.
VICIOUS CYCLE OF PRICING
What Most People Do….
1. Look at the market place
2. See what everyone else offers
3. Take the average
4. Go slightly below to remain “competitive”
5. Provide what their competitors provide & offer “a little more”
6. End up with a value proposition of “more for less”
In other words, you’ve got shit loads of overhead, very little profit- and you’re working like this dickens, trying to keep your head above water.
1. Look at the market place
2. See what everyone else offers
3. Take the average
4. Go slightly below to remain “competitive”
5. Provide what their competitors provide & offer “a little more”
6. End up with a value proposition of “more for less”
In other words, you’ve got shit loads of overhead, very little profit- and you’re working like this dickens, trying to keep your head above water.
Dangerous Side of Price
➡️ For your clients:
- If you DECREASE price, you lower their emotional investment, perceived value & perceived results.
- You’ll INCREASE the demanding-ness of your client ( the people who pay you the least are the biggest pains in your butt)
- The revenue for fulfillment per customer ends up going down.
➡️As a business:
- If you decrease your price you decrease your profit
- You decrease your value of SELF (you don’t feel worthy enough of making money)
- You decrease your value of impact. (Because you’re lowering your price you don’t feel like you have anything of value to offer)
- Your level of service drops because you don’t have money to pay people (which means you can’t provide the level of excellence that you want to provide)
- You lose conviction in being able to sell your product or service because you don’t believe your product or service is worthy enough to be sold.
Virtuous CYCLE of Price
➡️For your clients:
- Because your clients pay more, you can literally spend more money to give them an exceptional experience.
- They get the results that they want, which gives them an increased perceived value of what you offer.This is the beauty of virtuous pricing. It’s a self fulfilling cycle of abundance.
➡️As a business:
- If you increase your price, you increase your profitability.
- You’ll increase your perceived value of self.
- Your level of service increases because you have money to reinvest in your business & talent that you bring on board to work with you.
- You’ll believe in yourself.
- You’ll believe in your product.
- You’ll believe in what you’re selling which in turn will help you sell more without it feeling pushy.
- You’ll KNOW that the value you’re offering far surpasses that of your competitors & you’ll fee like you’re making a positive impact on the world- which is the reason you started your business in the first place.
The Offer
How to make offers so good, people feel stupid saying no
The Offer: The starting point of any conversation to initiate a transaction with a customer. What you are literallyproviding them in exchange for money.
The power of changing the offer
You may have a great offer, but you may not be in the right market.
Here’s how to pick the right market.
➡️3 levers of success
Market ✅> Offer✅ > Persuasion
Find something that’s growing and make a really compelling offer so that you don’t need to work so hard on persuasion.
The power of changing the offer
You may have a great offer, but you may not be in the right market.
Here’s how to pick the right market.
➡️3 levers of success
Market ✅> Offer✅ > Persuasion
Find something that’s growing and make a really compelling offer so that you don’t need to work so hard on persuasion.
➡️4 Variables When Picking a Market Place
Pain 😒(choose something your customer absolutely NEEDS)
+
Purchasing power 💶 (do the people you’re selling to have money?)
+
Are they easy to target? 🎯 (if you’re trying to sell to sell to a specific group of people, are you advertising in the right places?)
+
Growth 📈 (try to find a market that is continually growing and if it isn’t, change your market)
Pain 😒(choose something your customer absolutely NEEDS)
+
Purchasing power 💶 (do the people you’re selling to have money?)
+
Are they easy to target? 🎯 (if you’re trying to sell to sell to a specific group of people, are you advertising in the right places?)
+
Growth 📈 (try to find a market that is continually growing and if it isn’t, change your market)
PROBLEM
Make them an offer they can’t refuse.
Problem:
If you are trying to sell a product or a service & you’re having a hard time making money, then adjusting your offer is usually the issue.
You may not be charging the right price
Make sure you provide so much value for that service or product that your customers come back or refer you, time and time again.
Option 1: (Hard Way) Lower the price
Option 2: (Easy Way) Increase the value- more importantly, “the perceived value”
If you are trying to sell a product or a service & you’re having a hard time making money, then adjusting your offer is usually the issue.
You may not be charging the right price
Make sure you provide so much value for that service or product that your customers come back or refer you, time and time again.
Option 1: (Hard Way) Lower the price
Option 2: (Easy Way) Increase the value- more importantly, “the perceived value”
Why is this important?
The offer is going to be the #1 driver of success for your business.
What does it do?
It allows you to sell inside a vacuum, “ a category of one” and forces customers to make a VALUES based decision instead of aPRICED based decision.
The offer is going to be the #1 driver of success for your business.
What does it do?
It allows you to sell inside a vacuum, “ a category of one” and forces customers to make a VALUES based decision instead of aPRICED based decision.
What does this mean?
- Customers are going to shop around and compare you to other service providers that offer similar things.
- The goal is to make them an offer that they can’t refuse, so that they don’t even focus on the price.
- They focus on the VALUE you can provide them.
Translation: More leads, more sales, higher prices/ profits
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