Issue #5: How to create a profit multiplier for your business (and what that even means)

 

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I’ll start by saying thanks to everyone who was able to check out my new podcast, Launch Your Business. It’s only been out for a few days but is now ranked #122 on Apple Podcasts in the “Entrepreneurship” category.

For the first episode I was joined by Pat Flynn, a podcast host and Wall Street Journal best selling author. He expertly broke down his signature “Will it Fly?” framework which helps you understand if you have a good business idea, or if you need to make some tweaks.​

So, thanks again. I appreciate your support!


Today at a glance:

​Thought: Avoiding distractions and focusing on impact

Time-saver: A faster way to help your clients

Tactic: Discovering your Profit Multiplier

Read time: 4 minutes

Thought: Avoiding distractions and focusing on impact

In The ONE Thing by Gary W. Keller and Jay Papasan they eloquently described the ONE thing you should be focusing on at any given moment to grow your business; the most important thing.

They call this process “Goal Setting to the Now” and it’s an extremely powerful planning tool.

You first start with your “Someday Goal”. What is something major you want to accomplish someday? And you might be thinking “Terry, when is someday?”

Well, that’s up to you, what you want to accomplish and your unique circumstances. My someday goal is based on when my youngest child turns 18, which is 2039.

From there you determine your five year goal. And this is where the model becomes so powerful. You stop to ask yourself “Based on my someday goal, what’s the ONE thing I can do in the next 5 years?”

You then proceed to ask yourself “Based on my 5-year goal, what’s the ONE thing I can do this year?”

​You’re probably starting to get the point and you can see how it continues below.
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Goal-Setting to the Now

Someday Goal – What’s the ONE thing that I want to do someday?

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5-Year Goal – Based on my someday goal, what’s the ONE thing I can do in the next 5 years?

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One-Year Goal – Based on my 5-year goal, what’s the ONE thing I can do this year?

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Monthly Goal – Based on my one-year goal, what’s the ONE thing I can do this month?

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Weekly Goal – Based on my monthly goal, what’s the ONE thing I can do this week?

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Daily Goal – Based on my weekly goal, what’s the ONE thing I can do today?

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Right now – Based on my daily goal, what’s the ONE thing I can do right now?

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I love this model because at any given moment it allows me to check in and review whether or not I’m doing the ONE thing I should be doing in order to live in the vision I have for my business and family. If I’m not, I stop and pivot to the ONE thing.

Now keep in mind, this doesn't mean you should always be hustling. If you planned on watching Netflix, go for it. But if you planned on doing something more productive, Netflix isn’t the ONE thing you should be doing at that moment.

So fill out all your goals and then keep yourself on pace this week by stopping once in a while to ask yourself;

“Is this the ONE thing I should be doing right now?”

Time-saver: A faster way to help your clients

If you offer training or consulting services you can save a lot of time by pre-recording your core content as an online course.

This way your clients can learn at their own pace, then meet with you live to answer specific questions. As a result you’ll have more meaningful conversations and they’ll be much more attentive.

Leveraging this approach is much more effective and efficient when working with larger groups of people as it eliminates much of the scheduling that can slow progress and decrease the impact of your work.

I used this process to nearly double my income in 2020 while working less hours. That said, all my kids were home - all day - so all those extra hours were immediately claimed.

You can build your content on sites such as Teachable or Kajabi. And as a heads up, there’s no need to get fancy with this. The value of your content is far more important than production value. Simply talking over slides is enough to deliver on your promises.

​Tactic: Discovering your Profit Multiplier

You get paid in direct proportion to the problems you solve. So, if you want to increase your revenue, you need to solve more expensive problems. The easiest way to do that is to create a profit multiplier for your business.

Your profit multiplier will be an extension of your overall business model, so let’s address each step before skipping to the big bucks.

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Tripwire:

This is much more passive and helpful than it sounds. It’s the marketing practice of offering people a low-cost product with the intention of selling them a more expensive product down the line. It could also just be a way to serve individuals who can’t afford or don’t need your more expensive services.

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Core Product:

Your core product is most likely where it all started for your business. This is the solution to your audience’s high-impact problems, and you’ve developed a repeatable - yet customizable - process for implementation.

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Profit Multiplier:

This is your high end solution that makes it easier and faster for clients to get their desired results. It could include more hands-on implementation, deeper analysis or other services that are added to your core product.

You can also increase your profit without drastically expanding the scope of your core services, you just need to offer them in a different context. My favorite way to change the context is to offer a core product at scale.

For example, instead of training one person on LinkedIn Marketing, I’ll train an entire consulting firm.

I’ll use my friend and Sleep Health Educator, Soda Kuczkowski, as an example of how this works.
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Tripwire: Soda has a training program that helps teachers get more restful sleep.

Core Product: She teaches that same training program to all teachers at the same school.

Profit Multiplier: Soda secures a deal with the school district, she trains every teacher in the entire district.

Notice, she’s using the same program across all levels, she just changes the context.

Here are a few more examples.

I know making this leap can be intimidating, but the worst thing that can happen is hearing “no” from a prospective client.

Guess what? That’s going to happen regardless of what you offer. The power of your profit multiplier is the massive impact a “yes” can have on your business.

Landing one or two of these per quarter can radically grow your business, and give you the lifestyle freedom to explore your personal interests.

So spend some time thinking about it this weekend and let me know what you come up with.

I hope you found this valuable (please let me know) and if you did please consider sharing it with a friend. They can sign up here.

I’ll see you again next week!

Want to receive The Solopreneur's Shortcut every week? Subscribe here. We'll send one thought, one tactic, and one time saver straight to your inbox. No fluff, just proven techniques for growing your business.

Megan Dohm