Hiya Steppers! Kurt here again from Shoestring101. In my last guest post here on Growmap, we talked about 7 Reasons to Start Your Business on a Shoestring.
The reason I pointed that out was to talk with you TODAY about this trap most small business starter-uppers fall into:
It’s called “PLAYING business”.
“Playing Business” – A Slippery Slope
Say you have an idea for a business. What do you do next?
Some folks would think of a catchy name. Okay, fine… I’ll GIVE you that one. It’s nice to name a business idea because it starts to feel more “real” after you do.
But after the novelty wears off and we start thinking about “getting serious”… making our fledgling business into a living breathing, profit making animal… what do most people do next?
You guessed it:
- They have a logo designed
- They order business cards
- They get a domain name
- And pay for website hosting
- They have polo shirts made
- Or pens
- Or refrigerator magnets
Maybe they even register a trade name or get legal documents drawn up; they incorporate or get an LLC or something.
Then what? Now they try and get a loan. Or partners. Or investors. So, million dollar question: did you notice what all those “trappings” of being in business had in common?
Not a single one of them, by its own virtue, makes sales.
Think about that for a minute. We’ve only just had an IDEA. And now we’ve spent nearly a thousand dollars… or MORE… before even making a sale.
Forgive my English, but that’s bass-ackwards.
Question: how do we even know
if this business idea is any good?
In my book, “Get Paid TODAY: Structure Your Small Business to be Profitable from DAY ONE”, I talk about how to test your small business idea for free and actually make sales with it BEFORE buying business cards or any other unnecessary expenses.
Who Needs Business Cards Anyway?
There’s a story in there from my actual experience: as I was going through a painful divorce in 2002, my martial arts studio was being restructured as part of the proceedings. I needed to replace a full time income immediately.
I had an idea about starting a window cleaning company. But how could I know if it would be a success?
Between you and me, I think it was God that rescued me from this seemingly hopeless situation. I distinctly remember having the impression that I should wash the windows at a local coffee shop.
For free.
So… I DID.
The squeegee, buckets, stripwasher and solution I already had; with 3,000 square feet of retail space in my karate studio, the piles of mirrors and windows facing the street needed constant attention.
As I was putting the finishing touches on a the coffee shop’s door, a fella was leaving and complimented me on the job. “Nice work!” he said. “Tell me, do you do residential?”
“Uh… YES sir, I do…”
“Give me your card.”
I reached in my pocket for my wallet. I was going to give him one of my cards for my martial arts studio; at least that would look kind of professional.
But I didn’t have one in there. I had given my last one out.
“Never mind,” he said. “Here’s MY card.”
I called Gary R. later that day and set up my first window cleaning job: $243 for a day’s work. Can I tell you a secret? I NEVER DID get business cards printed up for that window cleaning company.
Because that day I realized a secret. Giving out MY business card was a crapshoot… it relies on the CUSTOMER to keep track of the card and remember to call me. I don’t like taking chances like that.
I built that business into not only a full-time income for myself, but also created a number of jobs for others. It’s almost completely built on free methods of advertising. Employees are trained that, if they are approached by a potential customer…they ask THE CUSTOMER for THEIR contact information.
That info goes into our database and WE contact THEM. Makes sense, right?
Now I know… it does make sense at some point for most business owners to have cards. I’m just saying that it’s not necessary at first.
Nowhere NEAR as necessary as making a few sales… FIRST… to know for certain whether you really even HAVE a business. I hope this is making sense to you.
On the blog at http://www.shoestring101.com I have a neat little story about Noah Kagan, a trainer of entrepreneurs that took quite an impressive challenge:
Noah boasted that he would be able to go from
ZERO to one thousand dollars profit in 24 hours.
That’s concept to one grand in profit in ONE DAY.
Wanna be amazed? He actually pulled it off.
I’m sure that the “Sumo Jerky” company has business cards now… but Noah didn’t have time to print ’em up
during that first revolution of the planet.
He just barely had time to put together an awesome system for selling, of all things… a subscription for beef jerky. Read the whole story here: http://bit.ly/1gakWJM
Look forward to chatting again soon! ‘Til then,
Keep Stepping,
Kurt
Latest posts by Kurt Frankenberg (see all)
- 7 Reasons to Start Your Business on a Shoestring - February 25, 2015
- Why It’s a BAD Idea to Order Business Cards #SmBiz #FAIL - January 15, 2014
Very interesting blog. Alot of blogs I see these days don’t really provide anything that I’m interested in.
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Hello,
Very useful post indeed. Thanks for writing this useful post and sharing with us. Now a days business cards have become very less useful for offline businesses as well since most of the things have become online and people can have much better profile online as well. thanks fro sharing this post!
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Nice and awesome blog post you done and i really like your post because i also want to earn money…
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I think business card must be used by professionals who meet lot of people offline and they could forward them. by the way this is really helping article
Wonderful and awesome article about money and its investment thank you so much.
And i also love the way you write the post for making a proper planning of our blog.
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I suggest to stay calm and focused on earning a smart income. without it, one should not spend their hardly earned money.
It is always a good thing that you never spend your money before you start earning some passive income. Thanks a lot for this wonderful article 🙂
Hey ! Thanks for sharing great ideas for starting to success business. it helpful to grow my business. domain name is play big roll of the business.
I am so glad to come here and got useful information, I’ll follow your tips in my life. Thanks a lot
Hey Thanks for Share some useful information about business. it help me a lot to grow my business.
This is indeed a nice read. Thanks for sharing this article. It got me thinking of a lot of things.
Hello, Well established article. I enjoyed while reading. Thanks for the great information management of Money. I gained great knowledge. Thanks again.
Excellent post. that’s the right strategy to archive your goal in a better way.
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BEFORE MY REPLY to \”Donald Quixote\”, a quick apology to Gail and to everyone that was kind enough to leave a comment: I\’ve been MIA the last several weeks. Thanks so much for reading and even more for your interaction; I\’m going to go down the list now and reply to everyone.Now to you, Donald..!Yes, it is true that having business cards helps you look established and gives your customers and prospective customers a generally accepted way to get in touch with you. I just believe that rather than printing them up straight away, it makes sense to make a few sales first to see if you even HAVE a viable business. So go ahead and be a firm believer in having business cards; there\’s nothing wrong with it. I just caution new biz owners against making unnecessary investments too early… it might take two or three or TEN tries before coming up with a business idea that really clicks. Why take the time, money, and energy to have those cards made up before you know it\’ll work…Thanks for the feedback.Keep Stepping,Kurt
Hi Kurt,
No idea why your comment was waiting for approval. Authors can approve their own comments. What I want to point out is the genius in your idea that YOU get THEIR card – so you are able to follow up. If we are too quick to offer our own cards, we may not get that benefit. If you have cards, I would ASK FOR THEIRS FIRST and then maybe give them one of mine.
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I see your point about the business cards and how they may seem a little pointless because you want to be able to follow up with the customer and not the other way around, but I am a firm believer in having a business card. I think it makes you more professional and is a quick way to get your name out there.
Its really an amazing information. Whereas the design of business cards is concerned, it should be different from others. This feature will make your visiting card unique and loving.
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Its one of the best ways to get in the market and establish yourself.
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Good post, Kurt. It\’s the difference between wantrepreneurs and entrepreneurs, in my books. Validate the idea, get out there and sell, THEN figure out the other stuff (provided your idea is viable). Great advice!
Thank YOU, Claude! Please stop by any time. I like to hear feedback, even when it\’s negative.Keep Stepping,Kurt
Business Cards are still a part of business world.It do helps in generating leads offline.
Article is good and i find it very helpful too. Sometimes you just need some motivation to start site. I agree if you earn something than and than you spend in it.
Lack of bussiness card can ruin possibility of making a success? Nonesense.. When you do not have your own card what is the problem to write down the number and name on normal paper?
Ofcourse it looks nicer and more professional. But when you are starting a bussiness you should think about other, more important factors and issues then some “stupid” cards. When everything is working well then you can start producing your marketing materials 😉
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What a great strategy. I am in residential real estate sales, and I constantly am told to hand out business cards. But people want to hand theirs out just as bad if they have a business that could use some marketing as well. It is a vicious cycle, but I would rather break it and just acquire numerous cards for other people to add to my database. Brilliant!
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Very interesting article. It glued me right till the end. Yes!!!There are expenses, huge expenses incurred at times, before any penny received. But that’s how business has traditionally started. May be now, we look at it from a different perspective.
Ignorance is the key in these issues where one does not have the information of patents or copyrights. The best and effective way is to create images oneself but will it really help is something questionable.
The idea of making sales & doing business, even before spending huge money and other things, is very interesting. Thanks for sharing your story.
Wonderful article, I think business card must be used by professionals who meet lot of people offline and they could forward them. Otherwise it’s waste to use business cards.
Thanks
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A very interesting article. This is indeed a nice read. Thanks for sharing this article. It got me thinking of a lot of things.