Shows
School for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 708: 100% Consistent w our ThesisThe thesis of all of these segments is that entrepreneurship does not have to be risky that you can do it for under 5 thousand dollars. A lot of times you can do it for even less than that. The idea of the minimally viable product is this software version of that. Same thesis, we 100 endorse this I hope you use it.
2025-05-1701 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 707: Feedback to ImproveThe really cool thing about the MVP is that it allows you to get customer and user feedback immediately they tell you what, they like, they suggest new features. They tell you things that are not working and it allows you to iterate and make a better version 2, version 3, and so on.
2025-05-1701 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 706: Faking OKIf you were raising money and that's why you're building your MVP to show investors, it doesn't even need to work. You can have fake slides. That emulate the website as if it was working and pretend and you can hit the next button and that would actually Advance the slide, not take you to a different place on the website, but be honest about it, tell them this is just our template but this is exactly how the program will work.
2025-05-1701 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 705: Your CoreThe first step in building a minimally, viable product is to identify your core feature, and then build that in only that, I know you have dreams of having 10 really cool functions but to get started and out in the marketplace as soon as possible, you need to identify the core offering and get it and it only out in the marketplace. I worked with a healthcare startup. One time they insisted on waiting until all 10 features were done and they went bankrupt.
2025-05-1701 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 704: MVP DefinedWe are working our way through every single thing. You need to know about starting a low risk business and this week, we worked our way up to the MVP not the sports, most valuable player but something very different. I'll explain what it is. The MVP in the business world came from the software industry where they realized that they could launch a minimally viable product to test the marketplace and to get customer feedback, it didn't have all the bells, and whistles, it had one out of only 10 playing functions, but that's all it needed...
2025-05-1701 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 703: Living DocumentOnce the document is done, don't put it away in a binder and on a shelf use it continue to update it when you make a big sale but that in there and then update how that changes the model. So that if someone asked for it you can say I'll get that for you in 24 hours.
2025-05-1001 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 702: Share and AdviceAt this point, you're going to do two things. One, share the document with as many people as you can. Let everyone read it. Invite input beg people for whatever, advice they can offer. And number two, start executing it, you've worked hard now, go and do the plan.
2025-05-1001 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 701: Everything You CanObviously, the next step is to fill in the template, but you will find questions that you cannot answer, it will be hard, you will have to leave some things blank. It's okay.
2025-05-1001 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 700: TemplateDon't try to write it from scratch, get the help of a template. There are many great templates that you can use. They help Drive the conversation and the text help. You think of things that you would have forgotten. They're all great, Pick one.
2025-05-1001 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 699: Research SquaredThis week is one of the most dreaded topics in entrepreneurship the hated business plan. I've heard every excuse in the world not to write one. No one will read it. It's not that important, it's just a big way of time. Those are out of style every excuse you can think of but no matter how you slice it is still very beneficial for you and will definitely help you be for successful. The research says, you'll actually be 30 more effective this week. I'm going to tell you how to do it, how to sit down and write...
2025-05-1001 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 698: Sleep in Bed Please understand. I've been doing this for more than 30 years with multiple wives, you will sleep in your bed more frequently. If you have a business plan to show or even if she doesn't ask for it.
2025-05-0301 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 697: Cash Flow StudyOne part of a good business plan is the cash flow analysis, it guesses at sales expenses, number of customers, all of those things and if even one of them is off the projection can go wildly crazy. It's so important that you have a good cash flow analysis, it's the lifeblood of your business. Nothing is more important.
2025-05-0301 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 696: Helps See FlawsWriting a business plan will help you think of things you hadn't thought of otherwise it will help you see the flaws in your business plan. It will show you your weaknesses. It will show you that you really don't understand marketing. It's something for you to show around and get other people's opinions on, it's gonna make your business a lot better.
2025-05-0301 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 695: Proven FasterMany, many academics have studied and proven that businesses with business plans, grow some 30 percent faster. Am I personal experience validates that too? When I have written a business plan, I'm better organized. I think of more things, and I just do better.
2025-05-0301 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 694: If You Ever …So far this year every week, I have focused on a different aspect of starting a new business. We are slowly working our way through the entire process, looking at every single thing, you need to do to get your business up and running. This week, I will talk about why writing a business plan is a great idea, even if you don't plan on raising any money, I'll give you my first reason right after this. Let's say the business does very well and you change your mind and decide I might like to go public...
2025-05-0301 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 693: 5K RuleStart selling now, there is no excuse for waiting. Go into the marketplace as soon as you can and find out what the marketplace thinks of your product sell now.
2025-04-2701 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 692: MVPYou must build as soon as possible and MVP a minimally viable product. One of eight features is available. If it's a service product that you're offering, you have a really fancy brochure, you need to do something to get started as fast as possible. Whatever it is so that you can get into the marketplace and get feedback from the customers and absolute must.
2025-04-2701 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 691: Pre-Sales Waitlist Coming SoonAssume your new idea is to have a new energy drink, you need to start talking about it online months, in advance, you need to build your website months in advance. You need to have as much energy as possible. No pun intended, and build the awareness in the marketplace. Everyone needs to be talking about it before you launch.
2025-04-2701 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 690: Run TestsGo on Upwork, one of the gig economy sites in hire someone to run some a Beta testing for you. That's when you set up a fake landing page and you drive traffic to it, and give people a choice, A or B and let the market vote, it's very similar to creating a survey and Gathering feedback which you might want to do as well, but do as much online validation of your ideas as you possibly can.
2025-04-2701 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 689: Talk to PotentialEvery week this year, we have been talking about a different small business topic. How to start your business? How to get an idea how to raise the money this week? Another one, we'll be talking all week about how to validate your business idea and make sure that it's a good one before you spend all that money on it I am in favor of writing a business plan, even if you don't plan on raising any money, even if it's just two or three pages because you can show it to potential customers friends, experts...
2025-04-2701 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 688: Passion for TryingWhat happens if you never try? I if I try and fail at least I have the passion to know that I tried and failed, at least, I can say, I tried, if you don't even try, you'll never know if you're passion was intended to be a dream or the beginning of something really cool.
2025-04-2201 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 687: Furniture MakingLots of people do things that they are good at so that they have more time and money to do things that they are passionate about. For example, if you work really hard as a school teacher, nine months a year that allows you to do what you're passionate about three months a year and to you, that's a great deal passion. Doesn't necessarily come from doing the main job of your life, passion. It may come from the extra benefits that are on the side and that's what you have to rejoice. I love furniture school, two or...
2025-04-2201 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 686: 30kI think many people assume that when you follow your passion, you will succeed and become very wealthy. No, you may succeed and become very happy but money is a different thing. There's a lot of artists that would love to make 30 thousand dollars a year selling their passion art, but that just doesn't happen for everyone. You can't assume that passion will lead to money.
2025-04-2201 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 685: Passion Comes LaterThe business grew to 89 locations. And we soon started getting letters from parents, whose children were smiling for the first time in years. That's when my passion exploded. Maybe your passion doesn't come until two or three years in.
2025-04-2201 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 684: Better than the ManI don't want to work for the man, I want to work for myself and myself only and I'm passionate about that. Think about that until tomorrow.
2025-04-2201 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 683: CTAThe federal government in their infinite, wisdom and desire to help me has now established another step in the legal's framework. They now require that you report, all beneficial ownership information. In other words, who owns the business as part of the corporate transparency act. It is a way of fighting terrorism and money laundering though. A lot of the conspiracy people think it's something else. Anyway, the CTA is your final step.
2025-04-1301 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 682: FEINGo to irs.gov and get a federal employee identification number, and FEIN, it's like a social security number for your business. It's free very, very fast in the way the government will track you.
2025-04-1301 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 681: LLCThe first step at the state level is selecting your business format, it will help determine your tax and liability infrastructure later on. There are many choices. The S Corp the C, Corp a sole proprietorship. I highly recommend though. You take the LLC, the limited liability company that will give you lots of ability to have tax flow through, and still strong protections in case something goes wrong.
2025-04-1301 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 680: LocalOnce you have your corporate notebook ready find out what local licenses you will need that's at the city or county level. Find out online and Pay the necessary fees and you will get your license in under a day.
2025-04-1301 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 679: PaperworkWelcome to the school for startups minute, with Jim Beach. This year we have been going through every single step you need to do to start a successful business and I hope you can do a low risk startup. Meaning you spend under five thousand dollars to test and validate your new idea. This week, we will go through all of the legal things you need to do to get up and running and you may notice. This is pretty deep in the series. We've been going a couple of months now. And I'm just now, bringing up the...
2025-04-1301 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 678: Online CommunitiesThe last place to look online communities like looking to partner up and Founders list. So, great resources, lots of places to find a co-founder, but consider this just because you give them the title. Doesn't mean you have to give them that much Equity. Sometimes you satisfy their ego with the title, that's really all they want. And so giving them a bunch of equity is not necessarily part of the equation, see if you can give them the title and only 10 percent.
2025-04-0901 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 677: IRL!I've already mentioned that you should use your personal network. When looking for an entrepreneur, the problem with that is, you'll probably end up with a friend and that's not ideal. Instead, go to entrepreneur classes, networking events, University events, where other entrepreneurs are, and try to make a new friend and a co-founder
2025-04-0901 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 676: Matchmaking SitesIf you're considering a tech startup this is definitely the method for you. There are several platforms that have great subgroups for finding co-founders. One is the YC co-founder matching platform and another is the co-founders lab. great places to look for technical co-founders.
2025-04-0901 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 675: Social NetworksMy second idea for finding a co-founder is to use your social networks, like Twitter and Linkedln. And Reddit.com has a great subgroup devoted to this exact topic.
2025-04-0901 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 674: Personal NetworkThis year we are going through every single step that you need to take to start a successful business. We've worked our way up to discussing co-founders, whether you should have one or not. Today, I'm going to start a series on how to find your co founder. I'll start with the first tip right after this. The first way to find a co-founder is the old-fashioned way through your personal Network, simply by telling your friends asking around. Telling people that the chamber that sort of thing, maybe a friend from church, by very first business, I...
2025-04-0701 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 673: Copy!The best way to get a new business idea is to copy it, read a magazine, find someone that's doing something you like and do it yourself. Of course we're not going to copy any trademarks copyrights or patents, but copying is the best way to get started and Jeff Bezos. Never had a pest collection.
2025-04-0401 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 672: Solve Own ProblemI sort of gave it away. When I mentioned problems, twice in the introduction to find a new business idea, solve one of your own problems. So many businesses have been founded on this principle, Jeff Bezos supposably started Amazon so he could sell his Pest collection.
2025-04-0301 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 671: Network IntersectionOne way to get a new business idea is to study your existing Network and skill set. So for example, if you go on Linkedln and find out that you have a hundred connections with purchasing managers, And you have strong experience in purchasing and Logistics, you should probably start some sort of purchasing and Logistics business. Now it may not sound fun and exciting to you. But it will be when you've made that first million dollars.
2025-04-0201 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 670: Gold RushWho made the most money off the California Gold Rush. It wasn't the miners. It was Levi Strauss, in the people that sold shovels. Using that model today. We should study the existing Marketplaces and look for air areas that we can provide support, backbone, infrastructure, things that don't go away. Even when a boomer bust cycle might, let's call this technique support the Gold Rush.
2025-04-0101 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 669: Passion So far this year, we have been going step by step through everything you need to do and think about to start a new business. The model that we have been following is a low risk model where you try to start your business for under 5 000 this week. We're going to talk about perhaps one of the most important pieces. The creativity, how to get a new business idea. I'll save the best one for Friday, but will work our way up. I'll give you the first one right after this. One way to g...
2025-03-3101 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 668: CredibilitySkills and a great Network, a good co-founder can also bring credibility to the table. I once did business with a retired two-star General. He was colon Powell's Chief of Staff and I have never seen anyone as good at getting meetings and getting into places that had previously been closed. Apparently, lots of people want to talk to and meet a retired General. Credibility can do a lot to help you grow your new business
2025-03-2101 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 667: Tech star or siteWe've talked about bootstrapping during the last couple of weeks because it's such an important idea. It is starting a business with as little money as possible, it allows you to test your idea. Hopefully, for under 5 thousand dollars, one of the Lynch pins of that is having someone on the team that can build technology for you can build your website's for you. Perhaps even do product design that person deserves to be a co-founder. So I highly suggest bringing on your Tech person as a co-founder to reduce costs.
2025-03-2101 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 666: Balance skillsAnother big consideration with co-founders is whether they bring a new skill set to the table or whether they balance your personality and your skill set. I had a co-founder with my very first business because I was too shy to make telephone calls and he was great at telephone calls that worked out really well for a while
2025-03-2101 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 665: Bring connectionsAnother reason you might bring on a co-founder is because of their connections or their Network sometimes that's worth more than the money.
2025-03-2101 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 664: Bring moneySo far this year, we have been going through all of the things you need to do and consider before starting a new business. I want you to have thought about every single thing so that you don't make any mistakes and your successful in your new startup. Remember we believe in low risk startups, meaning that we're gonna try to do everything we can for under 5 000 dollars this week. I want to talk about co-founders, should you have one? Is it a good idea? What are the long-term benefits and problems. You should only have a c...
2025-03-2101 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 663: Equity and ControlWhen you bootstrap, you do not go raise money from outside sources. That's just definitional. And so you maintain much more Equity and control in the long term. Getting that money early on May seem like a Panacea, but the consequences long term you lose equity.
2025-03-2101 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 662: RicherThe opposite of bootstrapping is raising Capital either through angels or Venture capital. The media loves that story. It's really a sexy headline, new firm raises 12 million dollars in Venture funding. What they leave out is that the entrepreneur probably had to give away 70 or even 80 percent of the business to get that money. If you bootstrap, you maintain all of the equity and in the end, you end u a lot richer.
2025-03-2101 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 661: Customers ShapedWhen do you bootstrap, you are desperate to get those first sales or you go out of business so you listen to your customers so much more, their feedback is so much more critical because you are desperate for their money and because of that your product gets so much better. The process of talking to the customers is the best thing you can do.
2025-03-2101 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 660: FrugalWhen you have a lot of money, you spend it in stupid ways. So you're better to bootstrap where you're forced to be frugal. I raised millions of dollars about 20 years ago and bought four of those laser logo projection systems that project your logo onto the wall zero Roi. I just thought it was cool. I was stupid. When you have money, you waste it. You're better to boost strap and be frugal.
2025-03-2101 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 659: Customer fundingThis week we are going through every single thing you need to do to start a business, even if you have no money and no idea this week, we are going through bootstrapping. We talked a little bit about it last week and this week, we're going to dive into the why the benefits of bootstrapping. To refresh bootstrapping is the process of starting a business with as little money as possible. One of the ways we recommend doing that is to get customer funding, to have your first customers. Give you some of the startup capital o...
2025-03-2101 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 658: Equity not ExpenseIf you're new businesses web-based, giveaway, the equity instead of hiring an expensive programmer, make a deal. Instead, I'll give you 10 or 20 percent of the business. If you build the website for free, it'll be harder to find someone, but you will.
2025-03-0801 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 657: TradeWhen you were starting a new business, the most important thing is to develop some momentum. You need to have projects coming in the door to help build your portfolio and to get some name recognition in the marketplace. The best way to do that is to probably give away your first three or four projects for free. To develop leads testimonials and Market awareness. Don't be afraid to give away a little bit at the very beginning.
2025-03-0801 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 656: No OfficeI'm at an entrepreneur at a chamber event and he asked me to help him build his business. I agreed and he gave me his business card and a shirt with his logo on it and invited me to his office. He didn't know yet what business he was going to start, but he already had an office and a logo and a shirt. Don't spend money if you don't need to no office, no shirts, nothing until you're making profit. It's that simple.
2025-03-0801 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 655: Service not ProductUnfortunately, product-based businesses are very expensive to start. If you want a bootstrap, you should probably start a service-based business. It's 70 of the economy. Anyway, it's a good place to be.
2025-03-0801 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 654: Keep Day JobLast week, I talked about the five traditional ways to get startup Capital when you're building a new business and I rather firmly announce that bootstrapping was by far. The best way to do it bootstrapping is when you reach into the mud, you pick your foot up with your shoelaces and move your foot forward using your hands. The mud is that deep, describes a long hard process of starting a business with no money, but it's by far the best way to do it this week. I'm going to show you five ways to bootstrap and get...
2025-03-0801 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 653: Bootstrapping The best way to get money to start your new businesses to bootstrap. It means reaching down into the mud, picking your boot up out of the mud with your shoelaces and plopping your foot forward. And marching ahead one step at a time that way, that's where the term comes from. I'll spend all next week, helping you understand ways to bootstrap. But bootstrapping is the winner. The best way to start your business for under 5 000 is to bootstrap.
2025-03-0301 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 652: VCsVenture Capital VCs are the things you will read about in the paper. And in the magazines, that's where one percent of one percent of businesses do get their startup Capital. They're almost always connected to Silicon Valley or to the Venture capital community in the first place. It's just not a realistic for us common man.
2025-03-0301 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 651: AngelsMany successful, entrepreneurs, love to give back both with their time, education advice. And with money, the ones that want to help with money are called Angels. It's like they come from heaven with their money to help your business. Almost every city has a network or a club of Angel Investors type in the name of your city. And then angel investors, you'll be surprised with the incredible helpful results that come up.
2025-03-0301 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 650: BanksWhat about Banks? You would expect a bank would give you a loan. That's what they're in business for, right? No, not if you're a small startup business, you cannot expect a bank to give you any kind of loans. Until you are three or four or five years in business and have predictable income. And even then it's a long shot, so we're not going to count on a bank.
2025-03-0301 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 649: F and FThis year, I'm going to talk about every single thing. You need to know to start a business and this week we're talking about the five traditional ways to get startup Capital. I'll tell you today's way right after this. Almost 90 percent of entrepreneurs start with this method for financing their business. It's the F and F and maybe even another F stands for friends fools and family. Yes, you get your startup capital originally from your friends, the fools that, you know, and from family and 90 95 of startup capital does come from that. The problem is...
2025-03-0301 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 648: TrademarksThe final step is to check with the trademark office and make sure that your URL is available. If it is, you're good to go and off to the races with your great new business name.
2025-02-2301 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 647: Socials The next step is to take the two or three best recommended URLs and test them on the social media account. Is that name available on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, the social media places that you care about. If the social handles are not available, you do have a real problem. Maybe a competitor that you didn't know about. If on the other hand, the social handles are available, there's only one more step to go.
2025-02-2301 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 646: URLsI think the most important thing about your name is how well it Googles. So you take those 10 words and go to a website like godaddy.com that allows you to buy URLs. Type in combinations of two or three of those words dot-com at a time and see what comes up. See what's available. Play around it might take two or three hours, but you will find a great URL that way.
2025-02-2301 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 645: SEOSEO - Search engine optimization. How well does Google find you? Do you come up number one or are you on the 10th page? This is so critical to your new business. So you need to take those 10 words that you put on the list and find out which words are Googled the most, and put together a combination that will be something that someone is actually looking for. For example, Detroit Christmas lights.com will Google really well in Detroit.
2025-02-2301 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 644: 10 WordsThis year, we are walking through every single part of starting a successful small business, especially assuming that you have very, very little money. This week we're talking about how to name your new business. I'll give you our first step right after this. My process for coming up with the new name is very different from most people. Most people start with the trademark and work from there. That's my last step. What I want to do first is make a list of about 10 to 12 words that are related to your product. So for example, if y...
2025-02-2301 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 643: StarbucksGreat company names come from all sorts of places like history, place names, and literature. I love to go to Einstein's Deli. I order from Amazon, all of the time and Starbucks blatantly stole their name from Moby Dick. The chief mate in that famous book was named Starbucks. The company thought that it would give a sense of exploration to the brand.
2025-02-1601 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 642: SlackAn acronym is sometimes a great way to name your business, slack stands for Searchable Log of All Conversation and knowledge. It's a shared email and project platform for companies it's a great great product and they stole their name from the abbreviation of what they do. Great idea.
2025-02-1601 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 641: NikeIn 490 BC, Athens defeated the Persians in the city of Marathon, Pheidippides was tasked to run back to Athens and announced the Great Victory. He ran into town yelling. We won. We won. And then promptly dropped dead. That run became the marathon. And of course, he was yelling, "Victory, victory", which translates into Nike . Isn't that the perfect story for that company? I love it.
2025-02-1601 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 640: KodakYour company name needs to have a story, In Kodak, is a great example of that, the founder George Eastman thought that the sound "ka-ka" sounded like a camera, a traditional camera taking a picture young people may have never heard that noise. And from that sound "ka-ka", he developed Kodak trying to sound just like the sound of the camera. The lesson learned just have a story behind the name.
2025-02-1601 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 639: Haagen-DazsThis week, I'm going to walk through all of the aspects of starting a business. Absolutely everything you need to know. I've already done a couple of weeks on how to start particular business models with, absolutely no money. Make sure you check the archives to listen to those this week. I'm going to continue and talk about where to get your business name from, I'll start off with one of ice cream's most famous brand names Haagen-Dazs ice cream does not come from Denmark. It comes from Brooklyn New York, they chose the name because it...
2025-02-1601 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 638: RepeatA shampoo bottle says, "Apply shampoo, rinse, and repeat", And if you take the instructions, literally, you had never stop the same as true for your growing business. Once you've had some paying customers, spend 10 percent of your income on marketing and grow slowly. It will be easier than you. Think your fifth customer is so much easier than your first.
2025-02-0801 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 637: MarketStep #4, once you have gotten some paying customers, probably from connections with your friends, it's time to go outside into the general public. Go on websites like upwork where other businesses post their design needs. Bid for those projects it'll be hard at first but soon you can make an entire living just doing upwork accounts.
2025-02-0801 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 636: Ask FriendsOnce you have your own business website, the next step is to go, get some leads, tell your friends what you're doing, show them the website, go on Linkedln and make sure everyone knows your new business start social media and start bragging about your new business, two or three of your first, paying customers will come from connections with people. You already know that is so important. Your first customers will come from people you already know.
2025-02-0801 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 635: Build PortfolioSo step #2, once you've gotten good at building websites and have a portfolio of eight or nine websites that you've built for other people. Build a website for yourself, give yourself a company name, build a website for that. Company showing the websites that you've built for other clients.
2025-02-0801 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 634: Get good at WordpressLast we talked about how they build a product based business with verylittle money, you know, for a physical product, like a skateboard or an airplane engine or something like that. This week, we're going to talk about how to build a service based business, like an architecture firm or a web design company. You're providing a service, 70 percent of the United States, economy is service bass. So let's learn how to build one of those. With very little money. I'll give you the first step right after this. Let's assume you want to build a web...
2025-02-0801 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 633: Grow InventoryIf you set your price correctly on your GoFundMe account, that campaign should have generated 100 commitments, but enough Revenue to buy 200 or 250 units of your new product. You sell those extra units on Amazon and develop more Revenue to buy more inventory in repeat.
2025-02-0201 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 632: Launch – GoFundMeToday, You have everything figured out but you don't have the money for your initial inventory. That's when a good GoFundMe campaign is your best strategy have all of your friends commit to buying a product, maybe even two start, a great aggressive social media campaign to drive awareness of your campaign drive as much attention, get as many pre-committed sales as you can and that's the way to buy the inventory with someone else's money.
2025-02-0201 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 631: Price, Packaging, PeopleThere are many different versions of the three PS, but today I'm going with price packaging and people, you know, your sales and production costs. Now you need to figure out what you're going to charge for the product. How you're going to package it? What it's going to look like, is it going to be in a big shiny box? And then finally, the third P is the most controversial we're going with people. How are you going to deliver it into their hands?
2025-02-0201 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 630: Long Term Sales ChannelThe next thing is to figure out your long-term sales Channel. How are you going to sell it? How do people buy it? Obviously, you'll sell on Amazon. That's the easy first step. And it could be a complete step, many great successful. Businesses only sell via Amazon. There's no problem with that. That's a great strategy, but take it. A step further, probably also they can buy directly from your website, so eventually your website will need to support that and then we'll go into other places late
2025-02-0201 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 629: Design and ProductionA couple of weeks ago, I talked about businesses that you could start with very, very little money this week. I want to go step by step and show you how to start a product based business with as little money as possible. It's not going to be zero, but as little as possible. The first step in starting a product based business is to actually design the product itself figure out what it's going to be and how is it going to be made? If you're going to start a clothing company, you can easily find...
2025-02-0201 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 628: BasicsYou will not get the benefits of neuroplasticity unless you take care of the basics. Exercise eight hours of sleep. Lots of water. I take vitamins and supplements and there are amazing Strauss naturals products for whatever your body needs. The most important thing. You need to build a foundation with the rest of your life so that the other things we talked about this week will actually happen. Go to school for startups.com minutes to hear all of the ways that you can continue to get smarter, no matter how old you are.
2025-01-2801 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 627: Challenge ViewsOne of the best ways to continue to getsmarter is to always challenge your views, your perceptions, our brains work overtime, trying to convince us, that we are always right in talking to other people learning their ideas. Having polite. Disagreements is one of the very best ways to create new connections. New synapses in our brain, that is actually making us smarter. The neuroplasticity can happen when you challenge your views and talk to people you disagree with.
2025-01-2801 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 626: GenerationsOne great way to continue to be smarter. No matter how old you are, is to spend time with people of different Generations, particularly much younger people. If you can talk to someone 30 or 40 years younger than you, I promise you will be blown away. By the way, they think I have two kids in their 20s and every time I talk to them, my brain gets smarter because I'm exposed to their crazy ideas.
2025-01-2801 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 625: ExperiencesOne great way to make your brain smarter is to grow new synapses new connections by literally making new connections, interact with more people, learn what they are thinking about what their interested in and be exposed to all new ideas, go to more events, hang out at a bar more, join a group, or a club, take a class, join the Masons do anything where you can go and meet new people be exposed to new ideas. Expand your knowledge base and continue to be smarter.
2025-01-2801 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 624: New IdeasI'm going to talk about neuroplasticity neuro! brain!, plasticit! plasti! The idea that we can really truly make ourselves smarter not better educated, but smarter, every day this week, I'll give you a new way to achieve that. It's just like a stroke victim learning to talk or walk. Again, I'll have my first suggestion right after this. First way to get smarter no matter how old you are seek new Pursuits. Lorna language, learn chess, take music lessons, learn how to do some art. Anything you're doing. That is new because new creates new connections. New...
2025-01-2701 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 623: WordPressStart a web design business build websites using an app called WordPress. It is so easy to learn. You can learn it under two hours, watching YouTube videos, and then you can charge thousands of dollars for amazing websites. Some of the best websites in the world are built using WordPress and you can learn it under two hours.
2025-01-2401 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 622: PalletsToday, My friend goes around to shipping receiving centers places like Costco's distribution, warehouse and picks up all of the old wooden pallets that they have some places pay him to take them away. Then he goes and sells those palettes that he got for free at a huge profit. Brilliant.
2025-01-2301 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 621: Next Door YourselfJoin the website nextdoor and start looking for jobs in your neighborhood. You will be amazed at everyone around you needs help with taking out the trash in their garage, or fixing a broken door, or painting a deck. All of these jobs that almost anyone could do, are sitting there begging for someone to come and do them make some money, go on next door.
2025-01-2201 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 621: JanitorialStart a commercial cleaning business, it requires the broom that you already own and maybe a mop, and then a client go and call churches parking. Lots Supermarkets anywhere that has a lot of customers and say I will clean your parking lot. You're outside inside. Also, I will clean your building every night and then offer them a price. You make enough calls, you will get a customer. All you have to do is spend some time building the business.
2025-01-2101 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 619: ShareEvery week, these segments are devoted to trying to give you some tips, to make you a better person, a happier person, and to fulfill your dreams. Many of you are dreaming of starting a business, but see it as a complete impossibility. Probably, because you don't have any money or maybe even a good idea this week. I'm going to give you five business ideas that you can start with zero money in the next week and get up and running and make money. Idea #1, be a part of the sharing economy, share your boat your R...
2025-01-2001 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 618: Jedi WatchThis product is for all you Apple watch wears. Imagine using your computer without actually touching it using your mouth without touching it because you have your Apple watch on a new product from Double Point called Wow Mouse, Interprets your hand signals in the air, just like you were touching the computer screen. So cool, It's almost like your Harry Potter with a wand.
2025-01-1301 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 617: Talking PicturesSamsung has just released a new $250 Frame. That's right, It's a picture frame. It's also a speaker. It's one of those slideshow picture frames that also has music built in. It's called the Monar Canvas speaker and it's the hit of the show.
2025-01-1301 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 616: Coffee RobotA Japanese company is released a product called the Nekojita. It's a tiny little blower that you put on your coffee cup and it blows the coffee for you to help cool it down. It cost $25, I said all of the products were cool. I didn't say that all of them were necessary or a good idea though.
2025-01-1301 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 615: Robot Support DogA company called Tom Bot has invented a new lap dog robot, it's a lap dog, you sit it in your lap, you pet it and the robot responds. If you tickle its stomach, the robot dog will wiggle like a normal dog. It's an amazing new product at CES this year more later this week.
2025-01-1301 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 614: Closed CaptionsIt never stops, it never ends. It is already time to go Christmas shopping. It is consumer electronics show week in Las Vegas. CES as it's known is the premiere display of all of the new cool toys gadgets and things that we will be buying for Christmas. This coming November and December. Close caption are the words that the bottom of the TV that tell us what the actors and actresses are saying, wouldn't it be cool if you could do that in real life? If life came with closed caption it can now with Xander's g...
2025-01-1301 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 613: Share with OthersSolutions fail because they don't have an accountability partner someone to hold them accountable but also to praise them when they have success and to help encourage them when they need a little bit of a push, find an accountability partner, find someone that you can be honest with and say, hey, ask me. Am I running every day? And if I didn't do my daily run, I want you to get upset with me.
2025-01-0501 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 612: Take Week OffSome of that New Year's motivation and excitement. You need to plan when your first break or holiday is going to be. If your motivation is to walk every other day, you need to plan. I'm going to take the third week of January off, or say, whatever it's below, 32 degrees. I don't have to do it. Plan some breaks!
2025-01-0501 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 611: Plan a RewardThere are some tricks that we can use to maintain that motivation that will help us push our resolutions and goals through completion. One of them is to give yourself a little reward if you achieve your goal. Say if I walk every other day for the next week for the next two weeks, I get to take three days off and that's my goal or I get to eat an ice cream sundae Having a reward makes it easier to work hard.
2025-01-0501 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 610: Re-GoalThere is nothing wrong with re-resolutioning, or re-evaluating your goals that you had set and saying maybe that wasn't realistic. Maybe I should rethink it and set a new goal. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that and maybe this is the week to do it. Don't be afraid to say, you know, I can't walk every other day as I had thought I could maybe every third day is more realistic.
2025-01-0501 minSchool for Startups MinutesSFS Minute 609: Forgive and start againThe parties are over the celebrations are done. It is time to get back to work and that is what we are going to do this week. I am talking about how to maintain your motivation how to live up to all of the promises that you've made. How to live up to some of the resolutions. Today most of us have already broken one of our New Year's resolutions and were only a week or so in Or do you give up? Do you quit? Are you done or do you forgive yourself and start again? S...
2025-01-0501 min