Is the Price Right?Do you remember the first time you had to set a price for your products or services? The first time you had to share that price with potential customers? I do. I sweated over the price and then ended up negotiating that price down to make the sale. While I was thrilled on the one hand, I was also disappointed. Was that what business was going to be, a constant compromise of my value? It took me a couple of years to realize that my price was not the problem. My target audience was. In any…Keep Reading
Channel SurfingWhat does the word “channel” mean to you in the context of your business? For a lot of entrepreneurs, it’s about marketing and all the different ways they connect to their target audiences and drive awareness and interest. For others, it’s about how they interact and communicate with prospects and customers throughout their relationship. And, for still others, it’s about all the different ways they’re getting their products or services out into the marketplace and in the hands of their…Keep Reading
The Cost of Doing BusinessNow that I’ve talked about Business Models (Model Behavior) and Revenue Models (Making Bank), we need to talk about Cost Structures. Most entrepreneurs I know are stymied by the question, “What’s your cost structure?” Honestly, it elicits blanks stares. Recently, the owner of a small agency told me, “It’s cash versus accrual based, right?” I gave her an A for effort, but cash and accrual are not cost structure options. They refer to accounting and, more specifically, how you record income and…Keep Reading
Making Bank 💰This week, I want to dive into one aspect of your business model that often confuses and confounds entrepreneurs, their revenue model(s). One thing I want to make clear, a revenue model isn’t the same as a pricing model. Even in resources I’ve read by respected business experts and institutions, I have found these two conflated. While they are intrinsically connected, they’re different. Simply put, a revenue model is the strategy by which you will earn money. A pricing model is the strategy…Keep Reading
Model BehaviorTeaching entrepreneurship and working with clients has taught me that the concept of a business model is challenging for many to understand. When I ask someone, “What’s your business model?” I get a lot of blinking and stammering. I get it. I couldn’t have told you my business model for the first several years of my business. If asked, I would have answered, “Making enough money to live comfortably on an ongoing basis?” (Note the question mark.) While that’s a worthy goal, it’s definitely not…Keep Reading
📣 Cheers to YouThis past week one of my very first clients—actually, my second paying coaching client ever—published her first book, Be Your Own Cheerleader. I couldn’t be prouder. When I met Neelu Kaur, she was in the midst of transitioning from a full-time employee to a full-time entrepreneur, looking for a way to combine her leadership training skills with her deep interest in and commitment to ayurveda practices and wellness. Fast forward ten years and she’s a highly sought after speaker and presenter…Keep Reading
Do you remember the first time you had to set a price for your products or services? The first time you had to share that price with potential customers? I do. I sweated over the price and then ended up negotiating that price down to make the sale. While I was thrilled on the one hand, I was also disappointed. Was that what business was going to be, a constant compromise of my value? It took me a couple of years to realize that my price was not the problem. My target audience was. In any…Keep Reading
What does the word “channel” mean to you in the context of your business? For a lot of entrepreneurs, it’s about marketing and all the different ways they connect to their target audiences and drive awareness and interest. For others, it’s about how they interact and communicate with prospects and customers throughout their relationship. And, for still others, it’s about all the different ways they’re getting their products or services out into the marketplace and in the hands of their…Keep Reading
Now that I’ve talked about Business Models (Model Behavior) and Revenue Models (Making Bank), we need to talk about Cost Structures. Most entrepreneurs I know are stymied by the question, “What’s your cost structure?” Honestly, it elicits blanks stares. Recently, the owner of a small agency told me, “It’s cash versus accrual based, right?” I gave her an A for effort, but cash and accrual are not cost structure options. They refer to accounting and, more specifically, how you record income and…Keep Reading
This week, I want to dive into one aspect of your business model that often confuses and confounds entrepreneurs, their revenue model(s). One thing I want to make clear, a revenue model isn’t the same as a pricing model. Even in resources I’ve read by respected business experts and institutions, I have found these two conflated. While they are intrinsically connected, they’re different. Simply put, a revenue model is the strategy by which you will earn money. A pricing model is the strategy…Keep Reading
Teaching entrepreneurship and working with clients has taught me that the concept of a business model is challenging for many to understand. When I ask someone, “What’s your business model?” I get a lot of blinking and stammering. I get it. I couldn’t have told you my business model for the first several years of my business. If asked, I would have answered, “Making enough money to live comfortably on an ongoing basis?” (Note the question mark.) While that’s a worthy goal, it’s definitely not…Keep Reading
This past week one of my very first clients—actually, my second paying coaching client ever—published her first book, Be Your Own Cheerleader. I couldn’t be prouder. When I met Neelu Kaur, she was in the midst of transitioning from a full-time employee to a full-time entrepreneur, looking for a way to combine her leadership training skills with her deep interest in and commitment to ayurveda practices and wellness. Fast forward ten years and she’s a highly sought after speaker and presenter…Keep Reading