Dan Lok

3 Ways To Expand Your Business Without Sacrificing Margins

There is a prominent myth about business. People think businesses run on huge margins that leave the owners rolling in cash. But that isn’t the case. Margins have to be decent to account for the unforeseen costs of running a business. But they are often smaller than people think.

The hidden costs of owning and operating a business would astound the public. And when it comes to expanding your business, it can be impossible to sacrifice those margins. But you can expand your business without sacrificing your profit margins.

There are a few key things you can do that will need your time but not at a large monetary cost. Or you could trade one cost for another. 

These steps will allow you to expand your business while keeping your margins intact.

Ultimately, they will set you on the path to take your business to the next level. You’ve worked hard to get your business where it is. But what got you here will not take you where you want to go. 

So you need to learn how to put in place these skills. You will not only better your business but improve your presence in your industry.

The first step to this future is simple: use what you already have.

Expanding Your Business With Tools You Already Have

Why invest in something new if what you have is more than enough? This is the first step to expanding your business without sacrificing margins. You don’t have to create new long-term expenses. Instead, invest your time in evaluating what you already have.

There are two things every entrepreneur with an enterprise has: human capital and a process.

Your human capital is your team and any freelancers or agencies you use. Your process involves what you do to make your product or service happen.

If you operate any business at scale, you have these two items at some level. They helped you get your business to your current level, and they can help you go further. 

But they need to be adjusted if you are going to expand your business

expand your business through your team

Evaluating Your Human Capital

To expand your business, you need to build a powerful team. When operating a business at scale, your team will represent you to the industry. 

You will not be able to have a hand in every part of the process. So every time your team interacts with someone, that reflects on you. 

Conquering your industry requires recognizing that your role in the business has changed. Instead of handling day-to-day tasks, you need to operate at a higher level. 

You need to focus on your industry. 

This is one way to expand your business, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

As you are no longer part of the day-to-day operations of your business, you need a high-caliber team. You are most likely operating with a team already. So expanding your business without sacrificing your margins requires examining your team. Ask yourself:

  • What is your team structure?
  • Could they be more effective? 
  • Are they driven by your business’s culture
  • Do they represent your best interests? 
  • Are they costing you money with mistakes?

Being loyal to your team is an excellent trait, but you also need to be loyal to your business. That means acknowledging when a team member is no longer necessary. Or when they are costing you more than they contribute.

Employees are human. They make mistakes and need time to learn. But to maximize growth, reevaluating your team and its structure is important. 

Are there people on your team who have hampered your business’s growth?

Or could you encourage your team more to expand your business?

Does your team know you appreciate them through your wellness initiatives?

Is Your Team Happy?

There are several management styles. Knowing yours will help you better understand how you relate to your employees.

If you’re a very people-oriented manager, you may be in tune with your team’s happiness. But you may have difficulty restructuring your team because of your loyalty.

If you’re a more numbers-focused manager, you may not recognize if your team is happy. But you’re ready to restructure for growth.

But all the restructuring in the world won’t expand your business if your team isn’t happy.

Happy employees are more loyal with higher engagement levels. And engagement levels are very significant. A Gallup study showed businesses with engaged employees had 59% less turnover. 

Plus a 21% increase in profitability.

Wellness initiatives in businesses are not cheap. But asking your employees how they want to feel appreciated could reveal solutions. 

For instance, offer more flexible work hours. Adjusting work hours to fit employees’ lives would not impact your margins. Yet it would increase employee engagement. 

It would take time and a process to change the schedule. But there would be long-term benefits.

So investing in your human capital does not only mean restructuring your team. It also means evaluating their happiness. 

What are the little things you can do every day in your business to encourage your team’s engagement?

Do Your Employees Have Hidden Talents?

Another way to keep your employees engaged is to take advantage of their hidden talents. Allow them to express what they’re passionate about outside of their job description. Then, use those talents.

Keeping your team small and agile will help your business expand in the future. But that means everyone has to have multi-faceted jobs. While you do need to define those jobs clearly, people will still need to have roles.

So get to know your team. Find out what they are good at. 

An accountant might have a knack for photography. Or a salesperson may be a grade-A social media manager. 

And that brings us to an important question:

Are you outsourcing work that in-house employees could do more effectively?

There is a time and a place for outsourcing. Some positions need a highly-skilled person who does not need to be employed full-time. For instance, copywriting is often outsourced. 

If you are outsourcing and plan to continue doing so, ask yourself this:

Can you outsource more effectively?

Take a look at your external team. Are their services worth what you are paying? Are their offerings effective? 

This is part of examining your team as a whole. These contractors are not directly part of your team. But they are a piece of your external team, so they impact your business.

Therefore, you need to see their role in your business.

optimizing your process

Evaluating Your Process

The next step is diving into your process. You most likely have many processes. These could include marketing, production, distribution, accounts payable, and more. 

These processes all have a few things in common: they take time and they’re powered by something. Whether they are powered by humans or money, they require something to make them function.

Are you making them function?

Are you too involved in each process? Are you personally involved in processes you don’t need to be a part of?

If you truly want to expand your business, you need to delegate effectively. But you need to be sure that your process is streamlined for your team, so they are not wasting their time. Or your money.

Your processes should make use of technology and humans to the fullest extent.

Are You Up-To-Date With Technology?

We live in a world full of constantly changing technology. What was top-of-the-line tech five years ago is now deeply outdated.

When was the last time you examined your technology?

If your last evaluation of your tech was several years ago, it’s time to review your technology. This includes processes from payroll to production to lead acquisition. 

Software often makes up the foundation of these processes. Software companies will come up with updates for the software you are using. So make sure to check you are updating your software automatically.

And alternative options or solutions may have become available. So it’s important that you continually research and remain open to ideas. 

There will be switching costs. But they may be low in comparison to the switch off.

Or alternatively, you may find an all-inclusive software. If you are using a separate invoicing and bookkeeping system, you could find a service that does both. So you can consolidate your needs into one bundled solution.

Make sure to view your process with an open mind. You might also find ways to streamline by using technology less or differently. Pieces of tech you once considered critical may not be required anymore. 

But the key is approaching this evaluation with a very open mind. You need to be ready to change. This includes humans.

Are You Using Too Many Humans?

The process of evaluating your team and your process should happen at the same time. So you will know, when you go through your process, how your team will be impacted.

Because you have to ask yourself a harsh question: are you using too many humans?

Is there something you are paying for that technology could do?

If you are a people-oriented manager, this question will be really difficult to answer. And if you decide to keep people on your team that are doing jobs a computer could do, that’s up to you. But you have to recognize you could more efficiently expand your business in other ways.

One of those ways could be capitalizing on your people-oriented attitude. Not every business can say they are loyal to their employees.

But 87% of employees expect their employer to support their work-life balance. This is a large portion of the population who cares about how companies treat their employees. 

So if you are unwilling to replace humans with computers, capitalize on that market. 

Acknowledge that you may need to sacrifice some margins. It will not be as fiscally efficient to expand your business. But you do have a market that you can tap into without changing your business.

expand your business through additions

Expanding Your Business With New Additions

While you can use what you already have, you could also make additions. 

Depending on your business, this may involve new investments in people or technology. Replacing older technologies with new ones will create a short-term expense. If you replace technology, you may be able to make the process more affordable.

But the long-term ramifications will save you money.

Hiring someone to help with your evaluation could help, too. It would be an additional expense but with long-term benefits. A fresh set of eyes and open mind could help you identify areas to improve.

But there are other steps you can take to expand your business that involve you specifically.

As we mentioned, your role in your organization has to change to expand your business. If you want to take your business to the next level, you need to invest in your industry.

This is why it is so important you trust your team to delegate to them. And you trust your process to make sure your business is running according to your standards. 

Once you have those two factors in place, you will be free to explore your industry further. Take the opportunity to network with your peers and establish yourself as an authority. 

Collaboration With Peers

Networking with peers is fundamental to expanding your business. Knowing others in your industry will allow you to better understand your competitors. It will also help you capitalize on best practices in your own organization.

Can you honestly say right now that you know the standards for your industry?

The internet has made researching an industry easy. But nothing will replace gaining wisdom from those who are currently succeeding. That’s why finding the right mentor is so important. 

And networking with those in your industry around the world will help you to establish yourself as an authority. What are the benefits of being an authority with a recognizable brand? You will be top-of-mind when they need your services.

But networking with peers extends outside your industry. It includes similar industries or ones with which you work. And if you network correctly, that allows for collaboration. You could find new products or services to offer based on people you connect with.

This is why networking is so important to expand your business. Your business will be able to grow so much more when you keep an open mind to learning from others. Plus, you will give your business opportunities by being open to collaboration.

Networking takes time and social skills but virtually no large investment. It’s an excellent way to give your business opportunities without sacrificing margins.

Are You Networking Correctly?

The internet has given plenty of networking opportunities. LinkedIn is a great example.

But you need to know how to fully utilize the platform.

If you are attending an industry event, find out beforehand who is going to be at the event. Send them a connection with a note about attending the event. That way, at the event, you can re-introduce yourself but with research.

You know their job history, current responsibilities, and projects they’ve worked on. You can determine if collaboration would be a good option.

But even if you are not able to attend events in person, LinkedIn is still a good option for virtual networking. 

Don’t be afraid to connect with and message others in your industry. You can respectfully and professionally encourage them in their endeavors and introduce yourself.

Make sure to brush up on the proper way to connect with powerful people in your industry. They are busy professionals, and there is a proper way to go about it.

Even if you aren’t reaching out to others, you should post a few times a week about your own business and projects. If people know what you are doing, they can collaborate. Additionally, you should interact with peers’ posts, so they become familiar with you.

expand your business with networking

Expanding Your Business Through Networking

Ultimately, to expand your business without sacrificing your margins, you need collaboration. Collaborating has several benefits. Namely, you will establish yourself as an authority in your industry. Plus, you will learn best practices while setting industry standards.

”You have to put yourself in connection with other entrepreneurs who are seeking the same growth as you if you want to expand your business.” - Dan Lok Click To Tweet

Dan Lok’s S.M.A.R.T. Challenge is an excellent example of entrepreneurs coming together to build unbreakable and sustainable businesses and growing their networks at the same time.

The S.M.A.R.T. Challenge is only run a few times each year, and with every challenge, business owners see phenomenal results.

Being a relatively short but impactful implementation program is what sets the S.M.A.R.T. Challenge aside from other business-scaling challenges.

How Do You Know If Your New Business Idea Will Actually Work?

So you’ve got a big business idea. It could be something you’ve been stewing over for several years. Or it’s a spur-of-the-moment idea you feel you could actually commit to. 

Regardless of the stage of your idea, you may be asking: 

  • Am I willing to quit my job to pursue this? 
  • Do I have to sacrifice any money to make this work? 
  • Do I have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? 

Many times, these fears can be summed up in one question: 

  • How do I know my new business idea will actually work?

Life isn’t built on certainty, and the variables of success are too many to count. If you could ensure your ultimate success early in your entrepreneurial journey, wouldn’t you?

Of course you would.

These steps aren’t part of a mindless checklist. They require intensive research and effort. They’ll also call for a dose of introspection and plenty of thinking time. So if you’re looking for an easy checklist, you’ve come to the wrong place. 

But if you’re willing to put in the work to follow through on your business idea, these action items are for you.

The first step is asking the right questions. If you can channel the questions you have in an effective way, you’ll learn to better understand yourself and get a stronger grasp on your business idea. 

The second step is putting your business idea to the test. Technology enables you to test the concept behind your business before you go all-in. Using social media and other channels to test your business plan will let you know if you can succeed in the “real” world.

In this article, we’ll hand you the keys to both of these action items. First, we’ll cover some questions you should ask yourself as you think through your business idea. Second, we’ll share some of the best ways we’ve seen entrepreneurs put their ideas to the test. 

5 Questions to Ask About Your New Business Idea

1. Why do I want to start this business?

We’re not talking about your business plan here. We’re talking about your why.

The biggest success factor for your new business idea is you. - Dan Lok Click To Tweet

Now is the time to realize if you care about the business or if you’re chasing something else – fame, money, or approval. Fame, money, and approval aren’t bad in themselves. But if you make them your focus, you’re digging a hole for yourself and the business. 

Uncovering your “why” —your core business motivation —will be an advantage when you hit tough times. Your “why” will guide you through the challenges every entrepreneur is bound to face. 

Take a look at the mission statement for the Disney company: 

The mission of The Walt Disney Company is to entertain, inform and inspire people around the globe through the power of unparalleled storytelling, reflecting the iconic brands, creative minds, and innovative technologies that make ours the world’s premier entertainment company.

Everyone surrounding Walt Disney knew that he was an incredible optimist and a master storyteller. These core motivations haven’t changed since the company’s early days. They impact every movie Disney releases and add the spark of magic people experience at Disney World. 

As the founder of your company, this is the same kind of impact that you can have on the lasting legacy of your business.

walt-disney

2. Am I willing to do whatever it takes to make this happen?

Successful businesses rely on a leadership team with total commitment to the company vision. 

If you’re not willing to sacrifice a great job, free time, social life, or other things that are important, you may not be ready to launch your business. 

There was once a man passionate about duck hunting. He was so passionate that he actually turned down a career in the NFL to follow his vision. He ended up inventing several duck calls, and that’s the beginning of the story of the Duck Dynasty. That man was Phil Robertson, and he and his sons still run this hugely successful company. 

Does your business idea have to be your biggest passion? No. 

But do you need the inner resolve to push through the hurdles that are sure to come your way? Unquestionably, yes. 

Where there’s a will there’s a way, and this resolve increases the chances of your business succeeding.

Phil-robertson

3. What is the problem my business idea solves? 

Let’s face it: not having a problem you can solve with your new business makes success less attainable. We call these pain points. Unless your customers see a way your product can improve their lives, they won’t buy it. Simple as that. 

If you don’t know the problem you’re trying to solve or the way your company is making the world a better place, you’ll have no selling point for your product.

If your company is groundbreaking, there’s a chance you’ll have to show people a problem they didn’t know they have. Take Ford Motor company, for example. Henry Ford is famously known for saying 

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”

Another example of a company that solves a huge problem is GrubHub. The company was started by two developers working for Apartments.com. Working late, they were frustrated with the lack of food options and the constant issue of having to give credit card numbers over the phone. 

So they built Grubhub—a directory for restaurants plus a service that allowed people to order food from the comfort of their homes. 

This is a problem most busy people had, but everyone just dealt with it. Grubhub posed a solution to a previously unsolved problem for many Americans. 

grubhub-maloney-evans

4. How big is the market my business could reach? 

Ask questions about the market you want to reach. This approach is simply an extension of the question “What is the problem my business idea solves?” 

Let’s take it a little further:

  • Is this problem something only a certain group of people have? 
  • Is this problem affected by where my customers live? 
  • How many people have this problem? 
  • Will my product be something anybody can access, or does the amount of money they make come into play?

Simply asking these questions means doing substantial market research. 

Wouldn’t you want to dive into the research if it meant more money?

There are two ways to make a lot of money:

  1. Sell a high volume of products at a reasonable price.
  2. Sell fewer products at a higher price.

If your target market is small (i.e. entrepreneurs in Chicago with a net worth of over $2M) then your product needs to be worthy of and sell for a higher price point. 

On the flip side, if the potential market for your company is large, you’ll need to find some way to convince that market of the value of your product. 

5. What strengths and weaknesses do I bring to the table? 

What do you think is the most important factor of success in your business?

YOU.

Start now and do some serious self-assessment. You won’t want a personal downfall to mean the demise of your business later on. 

When it comes to entrepreneurship, many founders are really good at one or two things. Yet they lack ability in several others. 

For example, some entrepreneurs are great at marketing and sales but are chronically disorganized. It pays for them to recognize this and to hire other people to manage the company operations. 

Others may be technically skilled but have no concept of how to pitch their product. 

If you correctly analyze your business strengths and weaknesses now, you'll do yourself a favor in the long run. - Dan Lok Click To Tweet

The success of Apple had to do with partners who complimented each others’ strengths and weaknesses. Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs met while working a summer job. 

At the time, Wozniak was building a computer. Jobs, on the other hand, saw its potential to solve a global problem. 

Without the insight and business sense Jobs brought to the table, Wozniak probably would never have put the computer on the market. And of course, Jobs would never have had a product without Wozniak’s analytical and technical abilities.

apple-jobs-wozniak

6 Ways to test your New Business Idea

Now that you have gone through the big questions, it’s time to put your big idea to a potential test.

1. Use social media to test your ideas.

Isn’t it funny how one simple post asking a question on Facebook can get hundreds of comments? How quick are people to share their opinion on Twitter?

These are opportunities.

Start sharing the problem you’re solving with your friends. Ask them directly if they would buy the product you’re trying to sell. See if they’re willing to share details about the company you’re trying to build. Ask for their feedback on potential business models or marketing ideas. 

If you’re extra adventurous, try starting a Facebook page and running some simple ads to a landing page that explains the product you want to develop. 

Chances are if you can get engagement on social media around the idea you’re building a product around, there will also be people who want to invest money in it. 

Social media is also a great way to get an idea of other perspectives as you build out your business plan. Just remember to take everything with a grain of salt: not everything people say on social media should be taken to heart. 

2. Start a newsletter.

A newsletter about your business idea will have so many benefits. First, you’ll be able to test whether people are willing to make a commitment to your business.

An email is one of the most valuable things you can have when it actually comes time to launch your business. Email gives you direct access to a potential customer who is already invested enough in your idea to give you personal information. 

Finally, it’s going to be incredibly valuable to you to regularly share the progress you’re making on your business as you figure out how to build it. You’ll be able to stay accountable to potential customers and get continual feedback as you test and implement your product. 

3. Get yourself in front of investors. 

What’s one of the best indicators of success? When someone is willing to commit to and invest in whatever you’re building. 

You can look for potential investors by networking. You may have already been keeping your eyes open for potential partners in this business venture. If so, offer to take these people out for coffee or pay for their lunch and ask for their advice and ideas. 

Use LinkedIn to pitch investors who have been involved in companies similar to yours. Make a point to connect to these people. This way, when you’re ready to ask for investments, you will have a network of people who already know and trust you. 

If you don’t want to go the route of traditional investors, you could try crowdfunding. Kickstarter, SeedInvest, and Patreon are several options if you’re going for smaller investors.

Finally, maybe the best option for you will be to create an MVP (a minimum viable product) that you can test on the market for a lesser price than what you eventually want to charge. 

This way, you’re already accountable to the market while you’re bringing in the first bit of money you’ll need to grow your business. 

Regardless of how you choose to get your initial funding, the basic idea still stands: you won’t know your business can be successful until someone can put their money where their mouth is. 

4. Create a survey. 

Are you looking to do more market research and understand a bit more about your potential customers before you raise money? No problem. 

You can create a quick survey using SurveyMonkey, Typeform, Google Forms, or FormAssembly where people can give you their true opinions about what you’re building. 

Ask family and friends to complete the form as a favor to you. You’d be surprised how much they know about you! Then market your survey to a broader group of people.

5. Get an understanding of the financial side. 

Do you have any idea how much it’s going to cost to create your product? Or if it’s even reasonable to think you can make money off of it? 

How much of the work will you need to outsource? How many employees will you need st a minimum and how experienced do they have to be? 

If you don’t feel equipped to do the research on this yourself, flesh out the idea with someone who can give you good advice.

If you can’t make money, your business will ultimately fail.

And it’s better to find that out now rather than to run into a hiccup you could have avoided by doing the proper legwork in advance. 

6. Do some background research. 

Most people like to call this “researching the competition.” 

Know your competition and their successes. The time you invest in this research will be valuable when you’re assessing how to build your business.

Besides, it will let you know if your potential market is saturated or if you have the potential to create a true win. 

Here are several tools you can use to research your competition:

  • Social media profiles. What does a product similar to yours do for an Instagram page? How active are the founding members and C-level employees on social media? Do they run ads on Facebook or Twitter? 
  • Google. Search “Products for (Problem You’re Trying To Solve)” or “(Industry Name) Companies”. Take some time to assess the top pages that come up during your searches. Is your competition spending time creating content around the problem you’re solving? What are they doing to get noticed?
  • Keyword Tools. Want to know how your business can succeed? Study what people are searching for in your target industry. Keyword tools like Ubersuggest or Ahrefs allow you to study the analytics of certain search terms in your target industry. With these tools, you can see who consistently ranks for keywords in the space you’re targeting. The companies who are ranking for your target keywords are the ones you should begin to study.

If you’re interested in diving deeper, Dan goes into more detail about the idea in this video.

Wrapping it all up

In the end, you can’t determine the profit of your business by doing the same thing as another entrepreneur. You won’t have a guaranteed path to success by following a set of rules. 

Your business will succeed because of your hustle. It’s going to make money because of your determination to keep going.

Finally, your business will power through difficulty with your ability to research, test, and adapt. You can start the process while your business is still in the idea phase.

If you start the process of research today, you’ll set your business up for long-lasting success.

The Reason You’re Not Scaling Your Enterprise

 

You’ve invested countless hours and dollars into your business. You’ve found some success. But now you’ve plateaued.

There is a point in business where it feels impossible to break a certain marker. And it’s easy to get complacent at that point. Being an entrepreneur who is scaling an enterprise is not easy. If it was, everyone would do it. But there is a reason you’re not scaling your enterprise. And once you learn it, you will be able to overcome it and take your enterprise to the next level.

You need to operate in a Business 3.0 world.

Is your enterprise operating in a physical location? What does your online presence look like? How does your team work together? What location do they work from?

Mid-pandemic, these answers will most likely look a lot different than they did a few months ago. But the reality is that the pandemic just accelerated what was already coming.

And that is Business 3.0.

You need to learn how to operate in a Business 3.0 world as an agile organization. So you can adapt to any situation. Then, you can scale your business in the face of pandemics, world crises, and economic meltdowns.

Because the world is not a stable place.

All throughout history, there have been wars, famine, world superpowers rising and falling, technology changes, and more. 

In short: there has always been uncertainty. But there have always been businesses. Some businesses have survived more than others because they learned how to adapt.

For instance, did you know Nintendo is 130 years old? They have learned how to take advantage of coming obstacles and be flexible with changes. So they survived. Before the coin was even termed, they were operating under the foundations of Business 3.0.

scale your enterprise in the future

What Is Business 3.0?

To understand Business 3.0, you have to understand what came before it.

Business 1.0 organizations operate in traditional offices and brick and mortar retail locations. Their move towards the online world has been slow and ineffectual. Has the pandemic and impending economic downturn already killed your business? It very well could in the near future if it hasn’t already. If this is the enterprise you want to scale, you need to act fast.

Business 1.0 organizations are doomed in the coming world.

Businesses who took advantage of the early internet are also suffering. These are Business 2.0 organizations.

Did your business jump on the internet right away but is now stagnant?

Business 2.0 organizations were quick to recognize and implement trends originally but have since become bloated. They have heavy infrastructure and massive overhead costs. With these hindrances, they cannot quickly adapt to the changing world. This leaves them stuck. They often only sell to a customer once. They have difficulty acquiring new customers and clients.

Business 2.0 organizations will also suffer in the coming world.

But Business 3.0 organizations are agile. They adapt to changes and take full advantage of modern internet and technology. We’ll dive into what exactly a Business 3.0 organization looks like in a moment. But first there has to be a deep understanding of what exactly Business 3.0 is to capitalize on it.

Business 3.0 is the era of social media, the internet, technology, and international teams. From here, businesses will be able to navigate and adapt to the ever-changing world. 

So what does a Business 3.0 organization look like?

A Portrait of a Business 3.0 Organization

A Business 3.0 organization is one that is constantly adapting. They stay so nimble because they avoid the bloat of high overhead costs and infrastructure. And they dive deeply into the world of technology to stay on top of the changes in the world.

These businesses use social media to their advantage. So they can drive millions of free visitors to their websites each month. They use multiple platforms and generate engaging, educational content that capitalizes on a solid content marketing plan because they recognize people do not respond to outdated marketing tactics and require a new approach.

They also realize people don’t work like they used to. So they have fully remote teams or at least have their team spread out in clusters throughout the world. To scale an enterprise, this is crucial. By keeping your team spaced out throughout the world, you will keep your team working twenty-four hours around the clock.

And this continuity of work combined with properly utilizing social media leads to regular, repeatable, and recurring revenue. Their content marketing strategy helps them remarket. So they don’t have to constantly try to gain new customers. Instead, they capitalize on relationships they’ve already built by retargeting and remarketing.

Lastly, they combine all the above best practices to create systems that allow them to scale. Largely and quickly. 

When you see a Business 3.0 organization, you know it. They adapt constantly to the new world, keeping their products and services relevant. 

Benefits Of Scaling Your Enterprise As A Business 3.0 Organization

Business 3.0 organizations are built to scale at a large level. You will be utilizing multiple social media channels with millions of followers. Through these platforms, you will be able to generate leads and traffic. Additionally, you can more accurately retarget and remarket to your current audience.

Most importantly, you will be able to scale your enterprise with ease because your business will be nimble, agile, and adaptable.

By operating as a Business 3.0 organization, you are designing a business built to survive. With multiple streams of marketing, less bloat, and small teams working well together, you are setting yourself up to thrive. But what is still a threat?

Poor business planning is one of the top reasons businesses fail. So you need to give yourself the tools to keep your business strong. With a solid plan on how to pivot into a Business 3.0 organization, you will be giving yourself the business plan to scale. And if you’re not sure how to go about pivoting to Business 3.0, will show you the tools to do so in a bit.

Beyond your plan, you need to make sure you have a solid team working together to execute this transition. Your team is the sum of how well your business operates. And they are a critical part of your Business 3.0 transition and operations. 

scale your business with virtual teams

Is Your Team Helping You Scale Your Business?

40 years ago, a business would post a job in the newspaper or on billboards around town. Maybe they would give the listing to a local agency. People in the surrounding areas would apply for the job. If someone from a different state or town heard about the job, they would travel to the business to interview. And if they got the job, they would relocate.

There are a few assumptions in that scenario. First, the business owner would just hope the best candidate for the job would find the listing. Second, the new employee needs to be willing to relocate. Or the business owner would have to negotiate for them to move. 

But that’s not the way business has to be done in this day and age

Even before COVID-19 required most businesses to go virtual, many organizations were already exploring the idea. These businesses were embracing Business 3.0 best practices before they were forced to. So when the unexpected happened, they were able to adapt and survive. Whereas many Business 1.0 organizations suffered or failed when faced with this pandemic.

Beyond having the flexibility to survive trying times, working with global, remote, small teams gives your organization access to talent all over the world. You are not hindered by only hiring talent from the surrounding areas or finding someone who is willing to relocate. 

Additionally, having small teams worldwide increases the diversity on your team while keeping you working twenty-four hours a day. This diversity will help you avoid cultural mistakes. And having a twenty-four hour work cycle keeps your team productive.

But most importantly, your team has to work together to help you scale your enterprise with ease. 

How do you know your team is working with you to scale your enterprise? There are five key points that let you know if your team is working well for you.

#1: Makes The Business Omnipresent

Consumers need to see your brand five to seven times to remember it. With the prevalence of social media, however, that number will most likely go up. Consumers are inundated with brands every single day. Each time they open their phone, they see hundreds of brands staring back at them. 

So your team needs to make your business and brand omnipresent.

What does it mean to be omnipresent?

Your brand needs to be everywhere.

”If your brand is not on every social platform, adding value to people’s lives, your business will suffer. Make yourself omnipresent.” - Dan Lok Click To Tweet

This omnipresence reinforces your brand and keeps your business at the forefront of your current customers’ minds. And retargeting is absolutely key in Business 3.0. 

Why is retargeting so important?

Because acquiring new clients is somewhere between five and twenty-five times more expensive than retaining customers. 

Not only will your loyal customers help you increase profits but they will give you the social proof to position your business at the top of your industry.

#2: Positions The Business Well

It is critical that your team is keeping your business omnipresent. But they also need to be positioning your business at the top of your industry.

As the executive, you have the opportunity to position yourself well. But if you put in the effort to get yourself to the top of your industry, you need your business to back you up. When someone works with your business, they need a top-of-the-industry experience.

And if you’re scaling your enterprise, then you’re going to have a team. This means working with your business is working with your team. Your clients won’t necessarily be working with you, so your team needs to represent your brand.

Thus, you need a team that is ready to position your business as you position yourself. They need to be ready to offer top-notch service and products.

Have you received consistent complaints about a certain area of your business?

Maybe this portion of the business seems small to you. So you haven’t addressed it in the past. But this gaffe could be indicative of a gap in your team. If you want to scale your enterprise, investigate why this is a recurring issue. How could you improve the process?

scale your business by generating leads

#3: Generates Leads

Another sign of a team that is working well for you is consistent lead generation. And a Business 3.0 team is not finding clients through old and outdated marketing techniques. Instead, they are operating and maintaining a system that consistently brings in new clients to you.

”If you want to truly scale an enterprise, your acquisition tactics have to work without you.” - Dan Lok Click To Tweet

It may sound oxymoronic to say that your business needs to succeed without you. But if you need to have a hand in every process, your enterprise will never scale to a large level.

This is why it is crucial that your team continues to operate a system that works to bring in new leads without you. Learning to establish this system is crucial. But we’ll get to that.

#4: Closes High-Ticket Sales

Are you not only generating all the leads for your business but also closing all the high-ticket sales? 

This ties closely with lead generation. An effective team is not only generating the leads but also closing them. And this is not a simple task. Not every team can do this.

But if you want to scale your enterprise, your team needs to be an expert at closing high-ticket sales.

Whether your chosen form of sales is one-to-one or one-to-many, your team needs to be effective at closing these deals without you. Once again, being too involved in every process of your business will hinder your growth.

Is your team closing effectively for you?

If this is an area where your team is suffering, you should invest in making sure you are adept at closing high-ticket sales. With this skill, you will be able to pinpoint where your closing process is suffering. You will be able to establish a closing process and team to scale your enterprise.

#5: Helps You Scale Your Enterprise With Ease Through Adaptable Practice

Finally, you need to make sure your team is helping you scale your business with ease. This may seem like the most obvious step to making sure your team is helping you scale. But it’s critical.

In a Business 3.0 world, change happens fast. Sometimes without warning. And what worked before will not work again. 

Does your team cling to what used to work?

Change is hard. And not everyone is ready to embrace it. Especially not as often as is needed in a large business scaling in a Business 3.0 world. 

You need a team that is ready to adapt and change. A team that will stand behind you in challenging times with recommendations on how to improve. Because they are always looking at what is to come, not dwelling on what has happened. 

If you want to know if your team is helping you scale your enterprise, this is a simple but painful question you have to ask: is my team ready to change?

Are you ready to change?

Are you ready to do what it takes to scale your enterprise in a Business 3.0 world?

scale your business in a business 3.0 world

How Do You Learn How to Scale Your Enterprise In A Business 3.0 World?

If you are reading to scale your enterprise in a Business 3.0 world, then you’ve made the first step. You have acknowledged that something in your business needs to shift to survive, thrive, and scale. 

Now, you need to take the next step. You need to learn from someone who has already done the hard part. It is crucial you find a mentor who has learned from their own experience how to scale an enterprise. 

The good news is that there are entrepreneurs who have done that. And there is an entrepreneur who shares the secrets he has learned with an exclusive group of executives who are ready to scale their enterprises.

Dragon 100™ is an exclusive program run by Dan Lok that helps executives take their organization from an ordinary business to a scalable enterprise. If you are chosen to be part of this limited advisory board, you will work with other executives to build flexibility, scalability, and high profits. 

This is a rare opportunity. Why? Because Dan Lok has been there. He has built empires from the ground up. And it’s not every day that an entrepreneur who is still actively building multiple enterprises shares their secrets. 

But for the first time ever, this opportunity is available for applications. 

So what’s stopping you?

If you have the drive to build an enterprise and the mindset to make it happen, then the only thing holding you back is the knowledge you can gain from Dan Lok in the Dragon 100™.

So take the next step in scaling your business into a flexible, adaptable Business 3.0 organization built to thrive. The future is yours for the taking.

How Publish Your Own Book For The First Time

You always wanted to publish your own book, but the thought of it terrifies you. Perhaps you played with the idea for some time now, but you don’t know where to start.  If writing is your passion, thinking about writing and publishing your own book for the first time can be extremely overwhelming. 

Writing a book takes an incredible amount of time, energy, and skill. You probably did your homework and explored the do’s and don’ts of publishing a book, but all the different advice and tips can be confusing. How do you decide what makes sense for you? 

While learning how to get your ideas out into the world is easier than it ever was before, figuring out what ideas to get out is a little harder. The truth is, you can write a book easily, but writing a successful book is more difficult. You can publish your own book easily too, but you have to be strategic about reaching the right audience. 

To help you avoid some of the most common pitfalls of first-time authors, we will share with you helpful tips for finding the right formula for a successful book.  

Why Publish Your Own Book?

There might be a number of reasons why you would want to publish your own book. Regardless of what reason moves you most, one of the main purposes of your writing should be to establish yourself as an authority in your field.

Think about it, when someone says “I am an author” or “I wrote a book” what are the thoughts that come to your mind?

“Oh! She must be an expert in that field!”,

“She has a lot to say about the subject! That means she’s good at it!”,

“I know celebrities who have written books, maybe she is a celebrity too.”

“It would be great to work with her.”

“I want to know more about her.”

These thoughts label someone as an expert in your mind immediately. If you publish your own book, you will also be perceived as an expert almost instantly. 

It’s a bit like when you go see a doctor. Without seeing his qualifications, you already perceive him as an expert. And you trust him instantly. This is the power a book can create for you. 

Like many successful doctors, writing smaller pieces prior to writing a book helps establish that authority you want. If you start with blogs, copywriting, and videos, you create a following. Dan Lok developed his career with short pieces before launching his successful books. 

Now, let’s look at the key steps for writing and publishing your own book for the first time. 

1. Write With Purpose 

“Successful people write a book with an end in mind.” Click To Tweet

This is one of the first principles of copywriting that Dan Lok teaches all his students – have a clear goal for your written piece, and your message will be heard. If you send a sales email to someone without a clear purpose, do you think it will prompt them to action? Probably not. 

The same is true for a book. If you publish your own book, that’s an achievement in itself, but it’s not enough. If you write a book with no purpose, you are going to fail. As a matter of fact, you might even fail at finishing the writing itself if you don’t have a clear purpose. 

If your purpose is to use your book as a marketing tool, then it would be a different type of book. This goal might affect not just the content but also things like the length of your writing. To start the marketing process, you might want to write a short book. 

Students in Dan Lok’s High Income Copywriter® Program always learn how to research the audience before writing even a single word. If you miss this step, you risk writing something that your ideal reader won’t notice. Pay attention to the type of writing they read and think about your purpose to determine the length. 

So before you even set out to begin writing, make sure you are clear on the purpose of your book. Setting a clear purpose and intention for it will allow you to define the type of book you should write. 

2. Keep Your Reader in Mind 

Have you ever heard of the term “Psychographics”?

This is a concept that Dan Lok teaches all his students in the High Income Copywriter® Program. It is one of the most important things that successful writers implement in their work consistently. Dan Lok team relies on it to get all our messages across. 

In short, psychographics is about understanding the personality of your audience. It’s about understanding what your audience does, how they do it, and why they do it. 

Most first time authors tend to write based on their own perspective. They write books based on their understanding of the subject. But successful writers write with their audience in mind. What do we mean by this? 

Let’s suppose you are writing a book about getting a six-pack. You start writing your book and provide 10 very effective exercises that helped you get your six-pack. Let’s suppose that your book only included these exercises.

What do you think will happen? Well, by only writing about the exercises, your book would miss 2 very important steps to getting a six-pack: strong mindset and good diet. 

You see, all copywriters know that writing from your personal perspective and about yourself doesn’t resonate with people. If you do this, you make a lot of assumptions. In the example above, the author assumes that the readers have the same mindset, making the method in the book unsuccessful for those with a weak mindset and a bad diet. 

So if you want to write about getting a six-pack, it would make more sense to first research and think about the people who would want a six-pack. Think as a copywriter:

What do they struggle with? 

Can you identify their needs and desires? 

How can you really help them? 

Thinking like this helps you focus on your audience’s needs, which will lead to more sales.

Meet Your Readers Where They Are

As you think about your audience, think about where they are on their personal journey. If your book does not meet your readers where they are, they will not benefit from it. They might try your exercises, but they will also give up quickly because they are not seeing results fast enough. Unless you educate them on the importance of having the right mindset and pushing through the pain, they will not see value in your book. 

This is why it’s important that you use the right language. In his High Income Copywriter® Program, Dan Lok teaches all his students how to research their audience and find the best way to speak to them. Without this, your book could go entirely unnoticed. 

Your book should match the language that your audience will understand. Using complicated words that might look good to fitness experts will do a disservice to your readers. They will not understand your points and won’t take the right actions.

3. Write About What You Love

One thing is for sure, writing your first book is going to be hard

For that reason, we suggest that you choose something that you are passionate about. There are a few reasons for this.

A. Never Give Up 

Like anything in life, everything you do for the first time is hard. If you are not passionate about the subject of your book, you will give up quickly. 

Think back to the first time you drove a car. Or the first time you skied. It was hard. If you did not like these activities, you would have given up. In the same way, if you don’t love what you are writing about, you will give up quickly because it is too hard. 

However, if you are passionate about your subject, you will push through the pain phase. You might even complain about it. But because you love this subject, you will push through and complete the book. And when you write about something you are passionate about, it does not feel like work. 

This is why Dan Lok says that he never feels like he’s working: his life and work are perfectly integrated because he does what he loves. This is what your book should be to you too – pleasure. Publish your own book by making sure you love working on it. 

B. Become an Expert 

When you are passionate about your subject, you will most likely be an expert at it. This is because you most likely consume countless videos, articles, and books about your subject. In the process, you will most likely learn a lot that you can share with others. 

As more and more people read your book and get value from it, your status in your field elevates. You become someone people recognize for their knowledge and expertise. 

When you write a book as an expert, you will do so faster too as you already know your subject matter inside and out. The words will flow to you naturally and it will be a more enjoyable experience overall. 

C. You Know Your Audience

When you write something that you are passionate about, you are your audience. So you know exactly what they’ve been through as you’ve been through the same journey. For example, if you achieved a six-pack after years and years of trying various things, you know the frustrations that your audience is going through because you are that audience. 

You will know your ideal readers’ psychographics. You could simply look back a few years, remember what you used to do wrong, and what you had to change to achieve your results. This will allow you to create a book that your audience will want to read and that they will benefit from the most.

This is one of the most valuable things that Dan Lok offers through his High Income Copywriter® Program – the lessons he learned on his own journey. The lessons resonate with his students because he was once an inexperienced beginner in copywriting. He knows exactly how to motivate and move them in the right direction. 

 4. Use the Power of Persuasion 

If you want to write a book, you must do so in a way that allows you to sell your ideas. But no matter what your book is about, your reader needs to be persuaded by you. They need to believe in your ideas and concepts for the book to really resonate with them. 

Dan Lok always teaches his copywriting students –  what you think and feel transports to paper. If you don’t fully believe what you write – your audience will sense that. 

Going back to our exercise example, your readers need to be sold on your ideas and concepts in order to implement them. Once they are sold on these new ideas, they can take the right action and finally get the results they want. Therefore, if you are not selling your ideas in your book, you just wasted your time writing.    

Dan Lok teaches all his students about the importance of selling through written words.

“No matter what the goal of your writing is, being able to persuade your readers is the key.” Click To Tweet

Here are 3 ways that can help you better sell your ideas and concepts to your audience.

A. Sell Your Main Concept – The Hook

The reason we suggest that you make sure you understand the purpose of your book first is to be able to write a good hook. You see if you already know your ideal reader and you have a clear purpose in mind, then you have to have a hook to attract your reader too 

Without the hook, people will walk past your book at the bookstore without stopping. Without the hook, your book will be invisible. No one will pay attention to it, and it will be lost in the sea of books lined up on shelves.

However, with the right hook, your audience will feel attracted by your book, even if they are not looking for it. The hook is what gets the reader interested. People will feel the urge to share it with their friends and family even before reading the first page.

Benefits Hook

To achieve this effect, make sure the hook mentions the most important benefit that the reader will get from reading your whole book. It must be so compelling that it draws your audience’s attention from afar.

The hook is usually in the title of the book. Let’s take for example the book The 4-Hour Work Week, by Tim Ferriss. This book has such a compelling message and value that it sold more than 2.1 million copies worldwide in 40 languages.

As for Tim Ferriss’s book, the main goal his audience is after is working 4 hours a week. This is why this is such a successful book.

Similarly, if you want to write a book that will sell, you want your title to be as compelling. Determine the purpose of the book as discussed in step 1. Then, identify the keywords that will relate most to your audience as discussed in step 2.  Use these to create your title.

B. Sell Your Chapters 

The same way you create a hook for the title of your book, you want to create a hook for each chapter. Having compelling titles for each chapter will keep the reader wanting more.

Here are a few examples of chapter titles used in another bestselling book, How to Win Friends And Influence People, by Dale Carnegie.   

      “The Big Secret of Dealing with People”

        “Do This and You’ll Be Welcome Anywhere”

        “A Simple Way to Make A Good First Impression”

        “If You Don’t Do This, You Are Headed for Trouble”

As you can see, these titles are all offering very compelling promises. Many of them are digging into people’s desire to learn “a secret” or giving them “a simple way” to achieve something they need.

Even though you don’t know what is in these chapters, you want to read them. Wouldn’t you agree? This is the same feeling you want your readers to experience when going through your table of contents.

C. Sell With Stories

Even if you’re not writing novels, you should always have compelling stories in your book. The fact that you write about something technical or business oriented doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be relatable and memorable. Quite to the contrary actually. 

One thing that Dan Lok always teaches his students is that stories sell. Why? Because they are memorable and pull people in. This is especially true for well-crafted stories. The guiding principle behind copywriting is to establish an emotional connection because people act on their emotions.

So whatever your book focus might be, make sure you include memorable stories. Stories are filled with emotions. Using a story, you can explain your concepts and ideas and make them relatable and interesting to the reader too. 

Why are stories so important?

It is rather simple. From the start of time, humans have always loved a good story. Even in ancient times, people assembled around a fire to tell stories to entertain each other. Stories are also great ways to share wisdom or to teach a concept while keeping the audience engaged.

Simply including some stories in your book will bring life to your ideas and concepts. Stories are also key to allow the reader to feel present and part of the journey you share through your book.

Stories also help the reader experience some of the concepts and ideas that may seem vague or abstract. They allow the reader to visualize the scene and feel the emotions. A story can inspire a new decision that can be life-changing. 

5. How to Publish? 

So you wrote a book – what now? You finally accomplished your life long dream of becoming an author and finished your manuscript. But where do you go next? 

A few years ago, the most popular way to publish a book was through a publishing company. That has changed

Traditional Publishing

For this to happen, the aspiring author had to call as many publishing companies as possible. And their chance of being published was minimal. For example, the original Harry Potter book was rejected 12 times by publishing companies. 

Apart from the fact that it might take weeks to a year before you get an accepted offer, there is a lot more that happens after a publishing company accepts to publish your book. From drafting and negotiating contracts, to royalty conversations, there is a lot more behind publishing a book than meets the eye.

Fortunately, things have dramatically changed. Amazon has given the ability to anyone to write and publish their own books. 

Self-publishing

Self-publishing means publishing one’s work independently and at one’s own expense. 

The cost of publishing your own book varies greatly from $100 to $2,500. The potential costs you might want to incur include editing, cover design, formatting, marketing, and more. One of the most popular self-publishing companies for authors is Kindle Direct Publishing

By following the steps on the platform, you could publish your book within days. This includes providing you with the right book template to use based on the purpose of your book. Kindle Direct Publishing also gives you ideas of cover design you might want to use. 

Most importantly, Kindle Direct Publishing shows you the step-by-step process to have your book listed on Amazon so you can start selling your book online.

6. Promote Your Work 

Listing your book on Amazon will increase your chances of having your book read by more people. However, just having your book out there is not enough. You still need to sell your book.

Most authors who self-publish think that their book will sell just by being available. Unfortunately, it does not take long for them to realize that no one is interested in paying to read their book unless they are convinced this is a good investment. 

What these authors are doing wrong is this – they are not proactive. It is true that they have done a great job to finish their book and get it published. However, the work does not end there. They have to sell the book. This is why it’s important to have a copywriting mindset and a sales strategy.  

There are 2 main ways to effectively sell your book at a minimum cost.

Become An Amazon Best Seller

This method involves good planning. Usually you start the book launch 14 days before the date of the actual launch. At this point, you want to start building the intrigue about this new book that you have written, and it’s the launch date. 

Over the 2 weeks period, prepare a series of content about your book, ready to go out to your social media audience. Make sure you use all the networks you have at your disposition from email lists, customers, business partners and even friends and family. You want to make sure as many people as possible are aware of your great book launch.

It is relatively easy to become a bestseller on Amazon. The bestseller award is given based on a 2-hour window. If your book is sold more than other books in the same category within the first 2 hours after launching, your ranking improves and could be ranked #1. 

Testimonials and Endorsements

Another great strategy is to perform interviews with various influencers where you get the chance to promote your new book. Throughout the 2 weeks process, you want to spread out content about your book. You want to keep the intrigue around the content, while also selling the benefits the book will bring to your audience’s lives. 

Grow Your Book Sales

Now, another very important step to take to make sure you have a successful book launch is to create a highly converting sales page

What does “sales page” mean? 

The sales page of your book is the description of your book. The reason some books do not sell as well as others is that authors of successful books use all possible ways to promote. 

As you can see in The 4-Hour Work Week book example, Tim Ferriss successfully used the description of his book as the sales page. 

To create a highly converting sales page you want to use all the strategies we shared in this article and those that Dan Lok shares in his High Income Copywriter® Program

Write Your Way To Success

As you can see, the process of writing your first book and getting it published is rather simple. What is hard is to make sure as many people as possible get their hands on your book and benefit from your work. This process involves a lot of selling in print. Unfortunately, this highly valuable skill is not taught at school or at university. Still, it is the most important skill for every writer and entrepreneur.  

Knowing how to “read” your audience, persuade your reader, and promote your writing is the key to a successful book. If you want to discover all the secrets of influencing and selling in print, then you might want to check out Dan Lok’s High Income Copywriter® Program

As the author of 13 bestselling books, Dan Lok decided to put together this webinar that teaches you how to take your writing skills to the next level and generate reliable income with any writing project you chose. Register to the webinar for this free webinar by clicking here now. 

How To Start A Successful Consulting Business

Thinking about how to start a successful consulting business? You’re not alone. The consulting business industry has been growing for the past several years. In 2017, the global consulting market was forecasted at around 262 billion U.S. dollars. The number of management consultants in the U.S. reached 709,750 in 2019. But how do you start a successful consulting business that stands out from the crowd?

There’s a secret to going from zero to $100,000 to making a million dollars a year. Dan Lok shares these strategies with his students in the High Ticket Closer® Certification Program. In this program, Dan shares all of his lessons learned over the past twenty years. To help you start off in the right direction, we will share one of the most important secrets with you in this article.

Watch this video about successful coaching and consulting secrets.

Relationships, Not Transactions

When thinking about how to start a successful consulting business, you first have to be clear about what it actually takes. What do you think consulting is? You see, consulting is not about transactions and your sales of services. One thing far more important than selling a service is relationship management. Your relationship with the client and how you make them feel is as important as what you sell.

Dan Lok always tells his students – people buy because of what you sell, but they stay with you because of who you are. This means that you need to nurture and strengthen your relationships with clients. This is what distinguishes you from your competition. It’s all about how you made them feel. Often it has way less to do with the quality of your work and much more with the quality of the relationship you built. 

If you base your relationship with the clients on the transaction only, you will have a hard time generating consistent income. Money exchanged for service should not be the only thing connecting you with your client. You have to make your clients feel good to make sure they return and recommend you to others. If you only exchange your service for money, how will they get to know you? How will they connect with you?

How to Connect

If you want to know how to start a successful consulting business, you must cultivate transformative relationships. What does that mean? It means that you’re not being seen as a commodity where the client leaves the money and you do the work. Having a transformative relationship means enhancing the business in some meaningful way.

People buy because of what you sell, and they stay because of who you are. -Dan Lok Click To Tweet

But what if you provide technical support and your relationship is mostly transactional? Well, let’s imagine that you help people set up their automated webinars in their funnels. You provide the service and help them with the webinars. All of your interactions are business-related and online or over the phone. But how do you know if the relationship is transactional or transformational?

The tricky part is that you can’t communicate this difference. You can’t ask your client if they experienced a transactional or a transformational relationship. But let’s say you do a good job, and they pay you because they’re satisfied with the service. It’s a pretty good transactional relationship. But what would make this relationship transformational?

Well, as we already said, it’s how you make the client feel that changes the relationship. And how do you affect your client’s feelings? Create an important positive change in their business. If you transform their business in some significant way, you will transform their life and make them feel good.

Transforming A Man Using A Suit

A transformational relationship starts from day one. The first step is figuring out how you view what you do. What does this mean? Well, let’s take a look at a custom suit business.

Let’s imagine a customer comes into your store to get a custom made suit. You take measurements, choose the fabric, and make a suit. This is a very transactional process. However, you could do the same amount of work and get a different result.

Observe your client. Does your client show confidence? Or is there a strong sense of low self-esteem? If a man comes in with low self-confidence and low self-esteem, imagine what a good suit could do for him. You measure him, understand his personality, find out what he does and who he really is. If you do this, you can help bring out his best qualities through your suit.

If you know your client, you can choose the right shade of colors that match his skin tone to give him confidence. You could find the best fit for his form that makes him look confident. Ask him what occasion is the suit for. Is it for a meeting? Paint a picture of a successful meeting for him, and help him see himself differently. Use your experience and expertise to show him an image of his success and confidence in a new suit. 

Now, think about what a good suit that makes him feel good could do. Maybe it will help him get promoted in his company? His confidence changes his performance. Your suit could change that man’s life in many other ways, too.

Attract People You Resonate With

It’s the same suit as the one you just measured and made, but this time, you changed someone’s life. You did not just give him a suit – you gave him an opportunity. 

Do you see the difference? You don’t want to just make a suit and take the money. What you want to do is change your client’s life or business in some way. If you do this, you will also get a very different type of client. You will attract the people with whom you can resonate.

When thinking about how to start a successful consulting business, think about how you position yourself: are you a commodity or someone who can change a life and transform a business?

Changing Your Mindset

Let’s go back to setting up a webinar for a moment. If you’re setting it up for your client, it is likely transactional. But say that you don’t just set up a webinar. By making it automated, you are saving the client’s time. By saving time and helping the client to make more money, you also give them more time to spend with family or doing something else. This is likely life-changing.

It’s the same if you’re a realtor. You could sell a client a two-bedroom condo near parks and a school and hand over the keys to the new owner. Or you can sell a home – a place where the new owner can watch their kids grow up. It’s a different kind of responsibility to your client.

You see, you don’t even have to do anything different to create a transformational relationship. Your service can stay the same. But your attitude is different. You change your mindset and your belief about your own work.

When you’re still figuring out how to start a successful consulting business, your mindset is the key. In his High Ticket Closer® Certification Program Dan Lok dedicates the first few classes exclusively to mindset. This is because he knows that a person without the right mindset always stays a salesperson and never evolves into a powerful closer. If you don’t have the right mindset, you will not create the success you desire. 

How Do You View What You Do?

So what you really need to do is to take a closer look at how you view your own work. How do you feel about what you do? Are you bored with making one suit after the other because it doesn’t make a difference? You might be tired of showing houses to endless potential customers. You could also just be bored with your daily routine and the type of client you work with. 

If you feel uninspired, you are most likely forming exclusively transactional relationships. But when you have a different mindset, your client will sense the difference. As a service-based business, you want a long-term relationship, and your clients will sense that. They will feel that you care, and it will shift their attitude towards your business as well. 

If you are a lawyer, for example, you’re aware that you don’t just offer trademarking services while filling out a bunch of paperwork. You’re actually protecting the client’s brand. As a realtor, you’re not just helping a client buy a house, you’re helping them find a future for their family. This is the mindset we talk about.

Painting The Picture

So as a transformational consultant, you demonstrate to your client that you care about them more than about money. Your focus is not profit alone. You’re interested in a lifelong relationship. You are interested in positive transformation and making a difference. 

As a transformational consultant, you want to impart knowledge to your client, so they get the results they desire. This demonstrates that you care while being unattached to the transactional outcome of your relationship. This will also allow you to set healthy boundaries and not to take it personally if the client doesn’t respond as you imagined. 

But how do you actually do this? One simple way that Dan teaches his closers to do this is by painting a picture. This would be the picture of improvements in their business and life after a certain solution is implemented. To figure out what picture to paint, you have to talk less and listen more. Listen to their needs and pain points. Help them imagine what their business will be like if you do something for them. 

As you do this, make sure you distinguish between caring about your client’s progress and being attached to the outcome. There are many factors that contribute to their success or failure, and you cannot control that.

Many people can learn from the same mentor, yet each person will have different results. Everyone progresses at different speeds and different levels even if they are learning the same lessons from the same person.

Final Thoughts On How To Start a Successful Consulting Business

It’s easy to charge money for a product or service. That’s what most people do. But to make a high income from consulting, you need to build relationships and offer transformations.

Your client won’t have a transformation if you measure him and then bill him for the custom suit you just made. But if you take the time to make a suit that changes his confidence and changes his life, then you’ve opened the door to a lifelong relationship. You didn’t just create a suit, you created a feeling.

Start by changing your mindset. Show that you care about your client more than the product or service you are selling. When you can offer a transformation, the ripple effect will go beyond your service – it will impact your client’s personal and professional life.

To learn more about starting a successful consulting business, you should consider Dan Lok’s High Ticket Closer® Certification Program. This program is for people interested in evolving into transformational closers and leaders in their field. If you’re serious about creating change in your client’s lives and starting a successful business of your own, click here now.

How To Negotiate Profit Sharing Once The Deal Is Closed

How can you approach profit sharing after having closed a deal?

Maybe you made a deal with a business partner, individual contractor, or another professional – you agreed to work together and share the profit. Or maybe you hired employees and want to motivate them to work harder by offering them a profit share.

But now you might be wondering: how exactly should you negotiate profit sharing? How big of a share is considered fair and ethical? Which structure should you choose?

One thing to keep in mind is that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to profit sharing. What works best completely depends on your business’s specific situation.

Profit sharing depends on your business model, current income, and many other factors.

The thing is, every deal is a deal and therefore, can be negotiated. Which system you choose for profit sharing will depend on many factors.

That’s why, in this article, we’ll go over how and why you want to do profit sharing as well as how you could do it and which system might fit best for your situation.

What Is Profit Sharing?

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Profit sharing can take on a variety of forms. Usually, we’re talking about an allocated share of the profit of a business before taxes.

Some businesses choose to use a part of annual profits and pay out the profit share once a year. But there are also models where the profit share takes place twice a year, quarterly, or monthly.

There are different ways to parcel out the share accordingly. We’ll go deeper into those strategies below.

What’s important to note is that profit sharing is usually determined and negotiated after the business estimates their annual profits. If the business fails to make accurate predictions,  the profit share could be affected.

This system has many advantages, but it’s only for successful businesses who can estimate how much money they’ll make. If you are currently in the red, profit sharing might not be your best option.

However, sharing the profit is also a great way to motivate employees. If the business’s profit has an immediate impact on how much money employees make, then they feel motivated to bring in more money.

If your business is in the red but close to making profit, offering a profit share to your employees might be exactly what you need. Their increased efforts will help you make more money.

What Profit Sharing Is Not

Some companies and businesses pay out a section of their annual profit in addition to regular salaries and bonuses. They do so without tying the profit share to profitability.

They treat it more like an extra bonus for employees and pay it out to motivate their workforce.

There is nothing wrong with being generous and sharing profit with your employees, contractors, or business partners: just be aware this is not actually profit sharing.

Things To Consider

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There are a few things to consider when estimating profit sharing. You want everyone to get paid in proportion to their efforts and according to the results they bring in.

One thing to definitely think about is how fast the money will come in. Do you already have a marketing campaign that generates leads and sales regularly, or are you building everything from scratch? If you have accounts receivable, how fast do they pay?

The reason you want to consider how long it will take for money to flow in is that profit share implies that everyone will get paid only after you make some money. Use your estimate to set the right expectation from the beginning.

If you promise your business partners or contractors that they will get paid within one week when, in reality, your marketing requires three weeks to produce results, they will get impatient. Morale shrinks if you nourish the wrong expectations with regards to the profit share.

So be honest about the situation from the get-go. How soon can the other person expect to make money? Is your shared profit their only source of income? Address possible concerns early, and avoid disappointment later.

You also want to have a backup plan in mind in case the numbers used to calculate the profit share turn out wrong. Maybe you predicted a certain profit, but unforeseen developments in the economy undermined your plan. What will you do if you can’t meet the expectations of employees, contractors, or business partners?

Worth

One more thing to consider is if the matter is worth a negotiation at all. There can be instances where profit sharing isn’t the best approach. Sometimes, it’s better to offer business partners or contractors a fixed payment. Then there are also circumstances where it’s best to just name your rate and don’t negotiate at all.

Timing

The timing of the negotiation is also something you want to consider.  In many cases, you’ll actually estimate the rate before a deal is closed.

But your business partners or contractors might also want to re-negotiate later. If they keep bringing great results, there is no harm in offering them a better rate for their efforts.

In fact, if they have proven to work hard and get you consistent results, it’s great if you can pay them a bit more than the industry standard. They will love you for it, stay on your team, and continue to put in their best efforts.

So when it comes to profit sharing, set the stage before you make a deal. Set expectations and be fair. If someone turns out to be good, don’t be afraid to re-negotiate with them.

Now, how can you actually approach profit sharing?

Approach 1: Commission Structures

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A very popular way is to pay commission. The person you are partnering up with or taking on as a contractor gets paid a certain percentage for certain results.

For example, if you hire a closer to close deals for you, you can pay them based on how many sales they make. A common way is to pay the closer 10-20% of the sale.

If you work with a business partner who is putting in equally as much time, effort, and investments as you do, then you likely will split the profit in half. Half of the money goes to your business partner, half goes to you.

In the case that your business partner is doing less, then you can also do 40% and 60% or 30% and 70% profit share.

You want to use commissions when you have a team that is focused on results. Your employees have incredible skills that help you make money. If it fits their personality type, reward them with a profit sharing system.

The great thing about paying for money-making services on commission is bringing in more revenue without extra cost for your business. If you pay a closer to close deals for you and they don’t, they don’t get any money. Meaning, you only pay them if they make you money.

A possible downside of commissions is that your competition might try to hire your people by offering them a bigger commission. Definitely make sure that your commission structure is fair, and you should have nothing to worry about.

Approach 2: Monthly Retainer

Some business owners approach profit sharing this way: the person gets a monthly fixed payment but can earn more if they reach a certain quota.

Depending on your business model, the retainer can be high or low. The advantage of offering a fixed rate is that everyone’s income is secured. No one has to worry about getting their basic income, and everyone can fully focus on the work.

This works well for people who need security but who are also motivated by the opportunity to earn more if they achieve certain results.

Approach 3: Contribution Levels

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Creating a profit sharing plan based on contribution levels means that not all employees or contractors get the same amount. Instead, you base the percentage they get on their role. An account executive or manager might get more than an assistant.

This means you have to determine the amount each position gets paid. Usually, the employees who perform tasks that help you generate more money should get paid more.

Pay attention to the sales and marketing teams who are responsible for generating revenue. Also, consider managers and team leaders who might not do sales directly themselves but lead their teams in doing so.

When you choose to do profit sharing based on contribution levels, be careful not to accidentally de-motivate some of your employees. No one likes feeling like their work is worth less compared to others.

If you choose to discuss openly how much of the share goes to whom, make sure everyone understands why they get what they get. Keep a great business culture that doesn’t emphasize unhealthy competition or foster envy among employees.

Make Your Profit Sharing Easy To Understand

There are all kinds of formulas to calculate profit sharing. You can adjust them to your situation or come up with a completely new way to do it.

No matter what you choose to do, make sure your employees, partners, or contractors understand HOW they get their share. If they have no clue how their pay is put together and how they can increase it, morale will go down.

In the book Extreme Ownership, the authors Jocko Willink and Leif Barbin talk about earning bonuses, but the lesson may be applied here.

Willink and Barbin headed out to help a business that had recently introduced a new way for employees to earn bonuses. The problem was, hardly any of the employees ended up taking this new opportunity to earn more money. After inspecting it, Willink and Barbin found out why: the system was so complicated, the employees had no idea what to do to get their bonuses.

So, make sure you use a way that your employees, partners, or contractors understand; they will be more effective if they know how to potentially earn more.

How To Negotiate Profit Sharing?

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The amount of the share is usually determined towards the end of a compensation negotiation. In the first part of the negotiation, you want to see if the person is the right fit for the position you had in mind.

You investigate their strengths and weaknesses and how invested they are in working with you. What results can you expect from them based on their past experiences?

There is no point in talking about money and payments if these points aren’t ticked off. So save the profit negotiation for the end of the conversation.

Now, how do you determine how much of the profit you want to share with an individual employee or contractor? If you do profit sharing often, you might want to have fixed rates.

Let’s assume that, for example, you are working with a team of closers. Some of them are doing outbound calls, dealing with cold prospects, and therefore usually have the harder job. The others are inbound closers, dealing with warm prospects and having an easier time closing.

The outbound closers have a harder job, and they bring in new customers, so you’d normally want to pay them a bit more than the inbound closers. Your outbound closers might get a 12% commission, while the inbound closers get 8%.

If a person thinks that they have an outstanding performance and should get paid more, they can always approach you for a re-negotiation.

According to Jim Schleckser, CEO of Inc.com, a profit share of 8% is enough to motivate someone to perform better. So that’s a great place to start.

A profit share of 8% increases employee motivation. Click To Tweet

If you can do more than 8%, however, it’s a good idea to do so to get ahead of competition and to increase the loyalty of your employees or contractors.

Advantages of Profit Sharing

Using profit sharing and commissions instead of regular salaries or bonuses has some advantages.

As we mentioned before, one of the biggest reasons to go for profit sharing is to motivate your employees or contractors.

If your workforce benefits from making you more money, then they will find efficient ways to do so. They are more invested in the success of the whole business.

In a company where everyone gets a salary, it’s easy for employees to do just the minimum –  they are getting paid anyway. Paying them based on results prevents that.

So profit sharing improves the culture of the whole business. Employees are happier, they are actively looking for solutions to bring in more money, and they are motivated to perform at their best.

What’s more, if you are in a niche where profit sharing is less common, this can really make you stand out. Any time you are the only one who can offer something, you should. It will give you and your business an edge.

Implementing a profit sharing plan can also strengthen your team as everybody is working on the same goal: to generate more profit.

Possible Pitfalls

Advantages of profit sharing aside, there are some things to watch out for. The first thing, as we’ve already mentioned, is that your workforce has to understand how they get the share. What’s the system and how does their effort impact their pay?

The second thing we briefly touched on is to ensure your profit sharing system remains fair. If some employees or contractors feel undervalued, they will be less motivated to perform at their best. In the worst case, they might even leave your team.

If you choose a system where only parts of the profit are eligible for profit sharing, you want to be able to explain how you calculated it. For example, if you make 2 million dollars in profits a year, you might want to share 10% with your employees.

You, then, determine which person gets how much. And while you do so, you want the breakdown to be simple enough for your team to understand.

Profit sharing should also be measurable. If every team member at any time can calculate how much their efforts benefit them, then you did well. They are aware of their impact and their results.

Want More Next-Level Business Advice?

On the Dragon 100 advisory board, Dan Lok coaches and mentors top-level entrepreneurs on how to scale their businesses.

Every stage of your business comes with unique challenges. In Dragon 100, you profit from Dan Lok’s 20+ years in business experience and from being in a high-level business environment.

Profit sharing plans are only one of countless examples of what you can learn from Dan Lok.  Business models profiting from Dragon 100 are as diverse as their owners.

If you think that you and your business would profit from Dragon 100 and be of value to other Dragon 100 members, learn more about the Dragon 100 advisory board here.