We, humans, do
the same sh*t over and over.
The path the US is on
right now,
for example?
It has been taken
hundreds of times
at least.
We can predict
what happens next.
Predicting what happens next
WILL benefit
ourselves
and our growing businesses.
Knowing the next steps
allows us to prepare,
to survive,
to prosper.
Learn history.
Because it DOES repeat
and you SHOULD
be prepared.
Don’t be surprised
by predictable events.
The average adult person’s
attention span
is
8.25 seconds.
That’s less than
a goldfish’s attention span.
And it is decreasing
every dang year.
In the book world,
in the past,
we’d ensure we had a hook,
an attention-grabbing statement
or question
that pushes readers to continue reading,
at the end of every chapter.
Now,
we place a hook
at the very least
at the end of every page.
Keep this in mind
when creating ad copy
or videos
or any other type
of selling/marketing material.
Hook them quickly
and continue to hook them
or you WILL lose their attention.
With many regulatory controls
having been rolled back,
the number of product recalls
is increasing.
OUR business might rigorously
monitor quality.
But our suppliers likely
aren’t as protective of our customers.
That means
if we resell products
made by other companies
or
we use materials
made by other companies
in our own products,
we need a way
to inform customers
of recalls.
Costco is skilled
at doing this.
They track purchases
through membership numbers
and they will automatically
send emails or text messages
to members
that have purchased a recalled product.
This is all done by their systems.
Ensure any point of sale system
you purchase
has this notification ability also.
Recalls will increase.
Design your business
to easily handle them.
My neighbor rakes his leaves
and sends them
to the city
for composting.
I have expanded my garden
this year
and I know
I won’t have enough leaves
to cover it
over winter.
My soil would greatly benefit
from that natural fertilizer.
So I asked my neighbor
if I could rake
and keep his leaves.
He’s an older man
and was happy
to let me do that.
For me,
leaves are priceless
forms of fertilizer.
I would PAY for them.
For him,
they are a nuisance
and garbage.
He’s giving them away
happily
for FREE.
THIS is the type of business
you ideally want to build
– one where the inputs
are seen as garbage,
as something to be
given away,
but can be turned
into a product
other people will happily pay for.
Look for that type of business.
Hobbies don’t have
to be businesses.
We don’t have
to monetize
EVERYTHING
we do.
Some activities
can just be
fun.
You might think
this is a strange comment
to make
on a site
dedicated to building businesses.
But taking a hobby
and converting it
into a business
is a lot of work
and
that might not be worth
the effort and other resources
involved.
We are likely
better off
using those resources
to build businesses
that DIDN’T start as hobbies.
If you didn’t have that hobby,
would you still start a business
involving it?
If the answer is no,
think long and hard
before going that route.
Hobbies don’t have to be
and often SHOULDN’T be
businesses.
You stocked up
on Halloween candy,
both to give out to customers
and to give out to trick-or-treaters.
You didn’t give out
as much candy
as you expected to do.
Halloween is over.
What do you do
with the leftover candy?
You COULD continue
giving it to customers
but some of them
will view the candy
as being leftovers or ‘old’
and that isn’t something
you likely want associated
with your business.
I give our leftover candy
to the food bank.
Needy people enjoy treats also.
It makes them feel good.
And that puts more badly needed positivity
out into the world.
Change the world
or A world.
Donate your leftover Halloween candy.
Today is Halloween.
Some of your customers
are likely to be
HUGE Halloween lovers
(like myself).
They will dress up
in costumes
or in orange and black
or in Halloween-themed shirts
to shop in your business.
They might dress their pets up.
They might bring their kids
in their costumes.
Ensure you have treats
to give them.
Hide them under the counter
if you wish
and bring them out
‘as a surprise.’
It will delight them.
It will delight others.
They are more likely
to show up in costume
next year.
AND it creates an ‘event’
for you.
It creates buzz.
It creates happiness.
Give the Halloween lovers
treats today.
Everyone needs someone
to tell
their secrets to.
If you’re that someone,
you are in a powerful position.
You can’t
tell anyone else
those secrets
If you do that,
no one will ever tell you
their secrets again.
But the secrets
can often benefit you.
You have insider information
no one else has.
Better than that,
however,
you have that person’s trust.
Be a secret holder.
I can’t believe
this has to be said
but…
here we are.
You need to have hard copies
i.e. print copies,
preferably laminated,
of your emergency procedures.
The odds are huge
that,
during an emergency,
you won’t have power
and
you definitely won’t have
internet access.
Those emergency procedures
saved to the cloud
or your hard drive
won’t help you then.
You need to have access
to emergency procedures
when the power is out.
Print emergency procedures
and preferably laminate
or waterproof them in some way.
Kill a tree
to save your people.
This could save lives.
I love eating asparagus.
When I first looked into
growing it,
I found out
it would take
4 years
to get to the point
where I could harvest it.
I thought that timeframe
was way too long.
I didn’t plant the asparagus.
That was well over
20 years ago.
If I had planted the asparagus
when I had first thought about it,
I could have been harvesting it
for over 16 years
by now.
Yes, it will likely
take a while
for your new business
to be profitable.
But that time will pass
whether you’re building your business
or not.
And you have the choice
now
of doing something awesome
with that time
and
making your goal a reality,
or
squandering it.
Don’t look back
in 5, 10, 15 years
and wish you had started
your business earlier.
Start today.