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MBA1517 How To Move From Working In Your Business to Working On Your Business + Free Ride Friday May 01, 2020

Show notes

You’ve built a business. Congratulations! Now, it’s time to stop building it.

Seriously.

One trap entrepreneurs fall into is failing to take Marshall Goldsmith’s old advice: “What got you here won’t get you there.” In this case, it means hanging on to responsibilities that shouldn’t be yours anymore — things you handled at the beginning, but only because there was no one else.

In other words, it’s time to let others work so you can lead.

Today, we’ll discuss what tasks you should be handing off to your team. Your role as founder has to be sharply defined, or you’ll end up being sucked into endless day-to-day stuff that keeps your business running, but doesn’t move it forward.

If you’re not ready to expand your team accordingly, that’s ok too. We’ll discuss alternatives, as well as how to map out a long-term plan for making the right hires. The goal: to have everyone in your company — including you — doing only what they’re best at, not just what needs to be done.

Plus, we’ll offer a few tips on where to turn for even more help, inspiration, and advice for finally, truly taking the lead. Click Play!

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MBA1516 How to Manage Support Coverage During Holidays Apr 30, 2020

Show notes

What happens to your company’s Customer Support during holidays?

More importantly, what happens when it’s a holiday for some of your employees or customers, but not for others? It’s a global economy, and if you run a global business like ours, this becomes an issue. With a couple dozen employees and thousands of customers scattered around 4 different continents, the holidays can be a puzzle..

Fortunately, we like to experiment.

We’ve tried different ways of handling the whole holiday thing over the years. Most recently, we tried a new approach this past Easter. Frankly, we were a little scared to try it. But in the end, we learned something pretty valuable.

As our team and user base grow, it’s becoming more challenging to accommodate everyone. It’s also becoming more necessary.

Today, we’ll discuss everything you should consider when plotting out your holiday strategy. By doing a little homework, strategizing, and communicating clearly, you can keep your business functional while respecting everyone’s culture and downtime.

Customer Support can be your company’s biggest differentiator. Make the effort to get it right, and it will pay off. Click Play!

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MBA1515 Q&A Wednesdays: I need to make some layoffs. Should I do it slowly or all at once? Apr 29, 2020

Show notes

If you’re anxious about letting employees go, you are not alone.

Unemployment rates are at absurd levels, as company after company is forced into mass layoffs. Small businesses are no exception. The only difference? Axing team members can hurt more when the team is small.

Timing can make a huge difference. When you let employees go affects how you let them go, and the difference can be life-altering.

It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’ve got a listener who’s considering two options: rounding everyone up and laying them off at once, or staggering the layoffs to keep some people for as long as possible. Both options have their ups and downs.

But one may be the lesser of two evils.

Tune in, and we’ll discuss the arguments for and against both approaches, and share our recommendation. Learn how to layoff in the most ethical, damage-mitigating way possible — because things will be normal again some day, and how you treated your team during COVID-19 will matter long after the virus is under control. Click Play!

To submit your questions, visit 100mba.net/q.

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MBA1514 Why Now Is The Best Time to Create More Content Apr 28, 2020

Show notes

Whether you blog or vlog, work in words or graphics, it’s time to turn the content machine up to 11.

Like, now.

It’s not just a way to pass the time while we’re all cooped up inside. For all the downsides, the current lockdowns aren’t just a way to save lives — they’re a business opportunity no entrepreneur should ignore. You not only have time to create more content; your audience has more time to consume it, engage, and take action.

Of course, you should have a plan.

Today, we’ll discuss how to create a production schedule that keeps you consisten, and build up your content marketing asset stockpile. We’ll identify 3 reasons it’s so crucial to ramp up content production now, and how the effects of doing so will last long after the pandemic is over. Click Play!

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MBA1513 Must Read: Stillness Is The Key by Ryan Holiday Apr 27, 2020

Show notes

One of our favorite authors is back with another mindset-altering book we can’t wait to share with you.

Ryan Holiday’s Stillness Is The Key is required reading for anyone looking to be their best in business and life. No, it’s not a meditation instruction manual. It’s a guide to addressing the overwhelm and anxiety common to running a business, and finding the calm you need to make the right calls.

In other words, anxious minds make anxiety-driven decisions.

This book is profound, but accessible, wide-ranging but practically applicable. Today, we’ll discuss how its lessons can help entrepreneurs and small business owners specifically.

It’s not about being falsely stoic or emotionless. Rather, it’s about finding an internal stillness that allows you to navigate crazy situations — timely, no? It’s the perfect guide for dealing with the high stakes of independent business, and a sobering reminder of focusing on what truly matters most. Click Play!

Stillness Is The Key by Ryan Holiday

Discover all our must-read book reviews at https://100mba.net/bookreviews.

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MBA1512 3 Must Do Online Security Tips + Free Ride Friday Apr 24, 2020

Show notes

Cybersecurity has never been more important, as COVID-19 forces more and more business online. As we learned from the Zoom debacle, leaving your business vulnerable can lead to some serious losses, potentially losses you can’t recover from.

Let’s protect your baby.

There are three online “gates” cyberjerks can hack their way through, if you let them. We’ll discuss each way in, and how to properly secure it before nefarious actors have a chance to strike. No matter what kind of business you run, cybercrime can happen to you — and it’s kind of a booming business right now.

In the early days of our business, we learned the importance of cybersecurity the hard way. We’d prefer to pass those lessons on to you before you have a crisis of your own.

The good news? Getting solid security in place isn’t that difficult or time-consuming. By investing a few hours of your life, you can make sure that all your hard work isn’t compromised. Click Play!

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MBA1511 Is Now a Bad Time To Sell a Business? Apr 23, 2020

Show notes

Maybe you were just getting ready to sell when COVID-19 hit. Maybe you’re thinking about getting out because of COVID-19. Either way, it’s a bit of a buyer’s market generally, so selling a business during this crisis must be approached with caution and careful analysis.

So how long should you hold out? How long can you?

Whether your business has been hurt by coronavirus, unaffected by it, or (as is the case in several industries) actually helped by it, do your homework before selling. Today, we’ll discuss what factors to consider, and where to turn for help in making this literally life-altering decision.

Selling your business is a major event in any climate, let alone the completely unprecedented situation we’re in now. Be sure to approach it dispassionately, and get advice you can trust from those who aren’t emotionally invested. It just might save your financial future. Click Play!

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MBA1510 Q&A Wednesdays: How long should I plan for COVID-19 to affect my business? Apr 22, 2020

Show notes

This corona thing is gonna be with us for a while. The question is: how long is a while?

More importantly, what can you do about it as an entrepreneur or small business owner?

It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’ve got a listener with a question that’s surely on many, many people’s minds. Trying to plan around this pandemic, with the news and the rules changing by the day (and by location) can be maddening. What plans can we even make that COVID-19 won’t throw a monkey wrench into?

There is a way through this.

Today, we’ll explain how it’s possible to plan when you don’t have all the variables. There are flexible, adaptable strategies that can help you bring in revenue now, but still allow you to go back to normal when…well, when things go back to normal.

Let’s establish what we know, what we don’t know, and decide how best to adapt to social distance for as long as we have to put up with it — however long that is. Click Play!

To submit your questions, visit 100mba.net/q.

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MBA1509 Things to Consider Before You Change Your Brand Name Apr 21, 2020

Show notes

Rebranding – is it worth the trouble?

Sometimes, the answer is yes. But we have to stress the key word here: sometimes. Rebranding can be a lengthy, difficult, costly process that only moves your business forward in very specific circumstances. Do your circumstances fit the bill?

Let’s find out.

If you rebrand in the wrong way, or at the wrong time,it can backfire and create a net loss to your business. If your current brand is even remotely well-established, don’t change your name before considering everything that goes into it.

Today, we’ll discuss all the work that goes into an effective rebranding, and the situations where it can be appropriate and effective. What’s in a name? Everything.

Be careful before you choose to throw a good name away. Click Play!

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MBA1508 Guest Teacher – Clay Staires – How to Create Repeat Business and Customer Service Experiences That Wow in the Digital Age Apr 20, 2020

Show notes

Customer service is your difference.

It’s one of the best ways for a small business to stand out from competitors and build a loyal following. You don’t have the marketing and advertising budgets of bigger operations, but you can devote a larger portion of your resources to making sure your customers aren’t just happy — they’re evangelists.

Today, we have an expert who knows exactly how to do that.

Clay Staires is a mindset master and professional inspirer who specializes in creating customer experiences that translate to growth. If anyone understands how to build something from very little, it’s Clay, who went from literal homelessness to entrepreneurial success.

Clay is here to show us how to instill the kind of customer service that can define a brand. With a little intention, you can create an experience for customers that will echo, and bring more business your way.

Tune in, and learn how to get some serious word of mouth going. Click Play!

Clay Staires/Leadership Initiative

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