Heavensent Massage Clinic 1012 W. Hebron Pkwy Carrollton TX, 75010 (972)-939-0000. All 1 hour massages are $50.
"JUST KEEP GRINDING" That's what I tell myself every single day. In all honesty I truly have learned what real hard work is. Being an entrepreneur has taught me that. It's a 24/7 365 day commitment. I remember everything my dad used to tell me and everything he did when he was a business owner. I remember the long hours he worked, how tired he would be everyday and always telling me with a slight laugh "If it's not one thing its something else." It's funny because I now catch myself doing the same exact things. I laugh at myself because I've turned into my dad and I fully understand everything he meant with those words. I won't beat around the bush being an entrepreneur is not easy. It's so far from easy. It's very stressful a lot of the times. Every month, every week, everyday issues come up and it gets very frustrating. It truly is if it's not one thing it's something else. It's not like oh I got to get these reports done by a deadline or I got to finish this marketing plan for my boss. Your responsible for every aspect and the most important factor is it's your money on the line. It's not like a job where your money is 100% guaranteed. You mess up as an entrepreneur its very likely your screwing up your personal money.
Some of the things I've had to deal with was the Fire Marshall came in and did his inspection and I thought it would be a simple process boy was I wrong. We had to get a new exit sign, we have to do some construction modifications in 2 of our rooms now. That inspection just cost my partner and I a lot of money. Not too mention overhead costs, payroll, rent etc..... On top of that trying to increase our marketing budget so we can expand, We just got out of the clear from spending a ton of money on our sign for the building and now we have to spend more unexpected money. It's constantly 'If it's not one thing it's something else."
Not a day goes by where I'm not stressing over something from the business, while still working at my other job, and personal life issues that everyone deals with. It's tough it's not easy but it's the life I chose because I have a goal I wan't to reach. If it was easy than everyone would be doing it. If you look at the backgrounds of so many successful entrepreneurs such as Damon John (Fubu), Mark Cuban (Dallas Mavericks Owner), Master P (No Limit Records) they all had humble and tough beginnings but look at them today. All that hard work was worth it. That's my goal and I want to reach it. Which is why no matter how stressful, how tough, or how frustrating it gets I wake up every morning thank GOD for another day and tell myself "JUST KEEP GRINDING"
Also a great article about what being an entrepreneur is really like check it out
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/187294
Saturday, December 5, 2015
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
My First Six Months On My Entrepreneurial Journey.
Well six months have gone by and past since my business partner and I have started our business Heavensent Massage Clinic 1012 W hebron Pkwy Carrollton, TX 75010 www.heavensentmassageonline.com. My first six months being an entrepreneur has been an up and down experience but one I wouldn't change one bit. The past six months there's been success, stress, grinding, just about as much of a roller coaster there is lol!!!
You know to do something extraordinary in life you have to work hard and have a mindset that's outside of the norm. Now there's nothing wrong with doing the norm, which is for most people graduate high school, attend college, get a degree, start their career, and move their way up. Again there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. But my mindset has always been a little different because it's what my dad instilled in me. My father was a former Senior VP for Pro-line Corporation which was founded by one of the most successful entrepreneurs I ever had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know, the late Comer J. Cottrell. My father eventually went on to become CFO for African Heritage Network based in NYC. After my dad left there he started his first of 2 business which was a movie theater in Carrollton, Texas. Eventually moving forward from the movie theater he opened up a restaurant in Garland, Texas. When my dad started his business I was only 14 years old. I took it all in. I was just a 14-15 year old kid but I was well beyond my years in grasping the process of business operations. How many 14-15 year old kids know about marketing, organizing payrolls, gross revenue, net profits. My dad molded the mindset I have. by time I was 16 I knew I wanted to own my own business. I always remember my dad telling me "There's nothing wrong with getting a good job making six figures that's a blessing and you can have a great life doing that. But remember no matter what job your doing if someone is paying you six figures for a job its because their making seven figures off your work. To get that next level of success you either have to be a star pro athlete lol or a successful business owner." Once my dad told me that I already knew what I wanted down the road.
When my partner and I decided to get this business off the ground I was very excited. From what my dad went through I already knew it would take a lot of work, time, money, and sacrifice. Getting it off the ground at first was a good learning experience for me because even though I've seen it with my dad, actually going through the process yourself is still different. Starting everything from scratch from my partner negotiating the lease agreement, from me applying for the LLC license, getting the occupancy license, Massage business license, applying for the EIN its not a simple process especially in the state of Texas lol! Not to mention the sign for our building. (The sign process was a very stressful, and strenuous process that cost us a lot of money and stress. I'll get into detail about that situation in the future down the line in another blog post. ) It took us about 2 months from the moment we first discussed the business to the day we actually opened it.
Now mid June came around and we officially opened our doors. the first few weeks were obviously slow mainly because were a new business and we haven't fully executed our marketing campaign. With the business infrastructure we had in place I knew we had something that would work. Our infrastructure had already been proven it worked as my partner had a massage clinic in Hawaii for 7 years. I knew with the prices and profit margins spa's and massage clinics had ours would be good. We offered one flat fee for all of our massges $50. With that price infrastructure we had a service that was better than our competition that was cheaper than our competition. I knew the only obstacle we had to cross was just aggressively market our business the right way. To aggressively market the way we needed to we need a bigger marketing budget which was our immediate obstacle.
We had to hustle in the very beginning handing out flyers and having friends and family use word of mouth. We also used our great location to our advantage as were right next door to a Just Fitness gym. We met the GM and owner of the gym and they allowed us to give out chair massages to their gym members during peak gym hours. Which was a great marketing tool for us. We really appreciated Just Fitness management for allowing us to do that. That is what got us started having a first flow of clients walk through our doors. We than started using Groupon. Groupon was a great marketing tool that really worked but the disadvantage of it was because their back end percentages were so high it cut into our margins really hard. We made little to no money using Groupons as a marketing tool. We eventually terminated that campaign. But what was really crazy was after we told the account executive weeks in advance we needed that campaign terminated it got re-activated which caused a little bit of a mess. It angered me because we had discussed a new campaign with Groupon. Once everything was cleared up I told our account executive lets roll with the new campaign than he tells me its no longer available. It took a lot of energy to not go off. Once that convo ended I knew he did that because he messed up and must've gotten in trouble with his bosses. So as of right now we are currently not working with Groupon at the moment.
As time went on we started growing. Each month during our first six months being in business our gross number have increased. Which shows me the exact thing I already knew. Our infrastructure will work. We did get our first big break that will truly open doors for our business. We got a contract to do chair massages that will give us a guarantee cash flow. Not only will this contract put our business in the black but will allow my partner and I to have more money to re-invest into our business and expand on marketing. Once we organize our marketing and execute our strategy with a bigger budget we can really focus on increasing our clientele. Our goal is to get to the point where were damn near fully booked every day. I know we can get there.
During the first few months it was really a struggle. Mainly because my partner and I was putting in so much time, energy, and money into the business while still working at my other job. It really got tough to balance both because with any new business your not making money right away it takes some time to get to that point. I still had bills to pay so I couldn't just up and leave my job. There were a lot of days were I got up at 7am got to the massage clinic at 8:30 am would work there until 2-2:30pm and go to work at my job for 3:30 and work until possibly 1am than do it all again the next day. My partner was doing even more than that. It was very stressful and tough at times for the both of us. But all of the work will pay off in the end.
The first six months of being an entrepreneur has been a roller coaster I've learned a lot about myself. my biggest weakness is that I'm a very laid back easy going person. I had to learn to be much more assertive and aggressive being a person in charge. That was out of my character but I had no choice. I had to develop that skill which I'm still working on now. I always knew that businesses fail for a number of reasons but I learned that they all go back to one thing REVENUE. Simply put it business succeed or fail simply because your business did or did not create enough revenue. When it comes to marketing I had to learn not to look at marketing as a business expense but as an investment. I really had to look at marketing as I'm going to spend money to get more money in return not as I'm just spending money to get clientele. There is a big difference.
The last thing I didn't have to learn but I already had in my mind was VISION. Without vision you can't succeed. From the very first day I got involved my partner was telling me how much she made in Hawaii which was very good and highly successful. But my vision was bigger than that. My vision was to not just run a successful small business but to grow this business into a million dollar franchise. Also not just stop there but to form a capital group Kev/Jon Capital group that will be the entity over the Heavensent franchise and expand into owning and investing into other franchises and business. That's my vision. I know the obstacles in my way and the risks that I'm taking but life in general is a risk that we take everyday so why not take the same risks in business. God has opened a door for me at a young age and I don't intend to waste it. I have major goals and plans for this business. I just have to put in the time and sacrifice to get there. The one piece of advice I would give to any new entrepreneur especially a young one that's just starting out. Be prepared its going to be a big struggle at first it will get to a point likely where you will second guess if you even made the right decision. But don't give in because if you beat the odds it will all be worth it.
You know to do something extraordinary in life you have to work hard and have a mindset that's outside of the norm. Now there's nothing wrong with doing the norm, which is for most people graduate high school, attend college, get a degree, start their career, and move their way up. Again there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. But my mindset has always been a little different because it's what my dad instilled in me. My father was a former Senior VP for Pro-line Corporation which was founded by one of the most successful entrepreneurs I ever had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know, the late Comer J. Cottrell. My father eventually went on to become CFO for African Heritage Network based in NYC. After my dad left there he started his first of 2 business which was a movie theater in Carrollton, Texas. Eventually moving forward from the movie theater he opened up a restaurant in Garland, Texas. When my dad started his business I was only 14 years old. I took it all in. I was just a 14-15 year old kid but I was well beyond my years in grasping the process of business operations. How many 14-15 year old kids know about marketing, organizing payrolls, gross revenue, net profits. My dad molded the mindset I have. by time I was 16 I knew I wanted to own my own business. I always remember my dad telling me "There's nothing wrong with getting a good job making six figures that's a blessing and you can have a great life doing that. But remember no matter what job your doing if someone is paying you six figures for a job its because their making seven figures off your work. To get that next level of success you either have to be a star pro athlete lol or a successful business owner." Once my dad told me that I already knew what I wanted down the road.
When my partner and I decided to get this business off the ground I was very excited. From what my dad went through I already knew it would take a lot of work, time, money, and sacrifice. Getting it off the ground at first was a good learning experience for me because even though I've seen it with my dad, actually going through the process yourself is still different. Starting everything from scratch from my partner negotiating the lease agreement, from me applying for the LLC license, getting the occupancy license, Massage business license, applying for the EIN its not a simple process especially in the state of Texas lol! Not to mention the sign for our building. (The sign process was a very stressful, and strenuous process that cost us a lot of money and stress. I'll get into detail about that situation in the future down the line in another blog post. ) It took us about 2 months from the moment we first discussed the business to the day we actually opened it.
Now mid June came around and we officially opened our doors. the first few weeks were obviously slow mainly because were a new business and we haven't fully executed our marketing campaign. With the business infrastructure we had in place I knew we had something that would work. Our infrastructure had already been proven it worked as my partner had a massage clinic in Hawaii for 7 years. I knew with the prices and profit margins spa's and massage clinics had ours would be good. We offered one flat fee for all of our massges $50. With that price infrastructure we had a service that was better than our competition that was cheaper than our competition. I knew the only obstacle we had to cross was just aggressively market our business the right way. To aggressively market the way we needed to we need a bigger marketing budget which was our immediate obstacle.
We had to hustle in the very beginning handing out flyers and having friends and family use word of mouth. We also used our great location to our advantage as were right next door to a Just Fitness gym. We met the GM and owner of the gym and they allowed us to give out chair massages to their gym members during peak gym hours. Which was a great marketing tool for us. We really appreciated Just Fitness management for allowing us to do that. That is what got us started having a first flow of clients walk through our doors. We than started using Groupon. Groupon was a great marketing tool that really worked but the disadvantage of it was because their back end percentages were so high it cut into our margins really hard. We made little to no money using Groupons as a marketing tool. We eventually terminated that campaign. But what was really crazy was after we told the account executive weeks in advance we needed that campaign terminated it got re-activated which caused a little bit of a mess. It angered me because we had discussed a new campaign with Groupon. Once everything was cleared up I told our account executive lets roll with the new campaign than he tells me its no longer available. It took a lot of energy to not go off. Once that convo ended I knew he did that because he messed up and must've gotten in trouble with his bosses. So as of right now we are currently not working with Groupon at the moment.
As time went on we started growing. Each month during our first six months being in business our gross number have increased. Which shows me the exact thing I already knew. Our infrastructure will work. We did get our first big break that will truly open doors for our business. We got a contract to do chair massages that will give us a guarantee cash flow. Not only will this contract put our business in the black but will allow my partner and I to have more money to re-invest into our business and expand on marketing. Once we organize our marketing and execute our strategy with a bigger budget we can really focus on increasing our clientele. Our goal is to get to the point where were damn near fully booked every day. I know we can get there.
During the first few months it was really a struggle. Mainly because my partner and I was putting in so much time, energy, and money into the business while still working at my other job. It really got tough to balance both because with any new business your not making money right away it takes some time to get to that point. I still had bills to pay so I couldn't just up and leave my job. There were a lot of days were I got up at 7am got to the massage clinic at 8:30 am would work there until 2-2:30pm and go to work at my job for 3:30 and work until possibly 1am than do it all again the next day. My partner was doing even more than that. It was very stressful and tough at times for the both of us. But all of the work will pay off in the end.
The first six months of being an entrepreneur has been a roller coaster I've learned a lot about myself. my biggest weakness is that I'm a very laid back easy going person. I had to learn to be much more assertive and aggressive being a person in charge. That was out of my character but I had no choice. I had to develop that skill which I'm still working on now. I always knew that businesses fail for a number of reasons but I learned that they all go back to one thing REVENUE. Simply put it business succeed or fail simply because your business did or did not create enough revenue. When it comes to marketing I had to learn not to look at marketing as a business expense but as an investment. I really had to look at marketing as I'm going to spend money to get more money in return not as I'm just spending money to get clientele. There is a big difference.
The last thing I didn't have to learn but I already had in my mind was VISION. Without vision you can't succeed. From the very first day I got involved my partner was telling me how much she made in Hawaii which was very good and highly successful. But my vision was bigger than that. My vision was to not just run a successful small business but to grow this business into a million dollar franchise. Also not just stop there but to form a capital group Kev/Jon Capital group that will be the entity over the Heavensent franchise and expand into owning and investing into other franchises and business. That's my vision. I know the obstacles in my way and the risks that I'm taking but life in general is a risk that we take everyday so why not take the same risks in business. God has opened a door for me at a young age and I don't intend to waste it. I have major goals and plans for this business. I just have to put in the time and sacrifice to get there. The one piece of advice I would give to any new entrepreneur especially a young one that's just starting out. Be prepared its going to be a big struggle at first it will get to a point likely where you will second guess if you even made the right decision. But don't give in because if you beat the odds it will all be worth it.
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
Shark Tank
For people who are interested in being an entrepreneur one day you should definitely watch the show Shark Tank. I absolutely love that show so much. It shows the different ideas, business, and concepts people come up with on a daily basis. Watching Shark Tank you can see the good and flaws in people as entrepreneurs throughout the show. The main reason I love the show is because I want to see who are truly the good entrepreneurs on the rise and how the successful guys perceive them. That's really my favorite aspect of the Show how Mark Cuban, Daymond John, Kevin O'Leary, Lori Greiner, Robert Herjavec, and Barbra Corcoran look at the entrepreneurs and their pitches.
First let me talk about how I either like, dislike, and perceive each shark when it comes to reacting to pitches and their methods of negotiating. The first guy I have to talk about is Kevin O'Leary aka "Mr. Wonderful". I won't lie he's the one shark I'm not a big fan of. To me he comes off as a complete asshole, which sometimes you have to be in business but he seems to be an asshole 90% of the time. His negotiation methods are selfish, horrible and downright bad a lot of the times. Why do I think his methods are so bad? He always wants a royalty when negotiating with an entrepreneur that is pitching a manufacturing product or business. The sad part about it is so many of these entrepreneurs that come on this show actually entertain his offers that include royalties. That shows me how some of those people aren't ready enough when coming to the table. Always remember Rule #1 "All money isn't good money" No deal is better than a bad deal. The reason why royalties are just terrible for small businesses is that it's counter productive. They cypher out necessary cash flow that is needed to grow a small business. When growing a small business cash flow is CRUCIAL. The last thing any growing business needs is a royalty on their books that's cyphering out 2%-10% of the cash flow that could and should be re-invested into the business. Kevin O'Leary makes horrible offers because he's a blood sucking leach that only cares about getting his money back and yielding a return with as little risk as possible at the cost of potentially bleeding the business dry. For Kevin royalties mitigate his risk by guaranteeing him money while increasing the risk of the entrepreneur. I hate Kevin's methods of negotiating its like he completely forgot how small businesses operate.
Robert Herjavec and Mark Cuban are my two favorite sharks on the show. Robert you can tell is a very compassionate guy who actually cares about helping these entrepreneurs grow their company and being successful while also making smart decisions when he does try to close a deal on a pitch. Even when Robert is not trying to close a deal he still gives a lot of the entrepreneurs advice from his experiences. He's also very straight forward and honest but in a very respectable way. He understands and considers the obstacles these small businesses go through and always consider that.
Mark Cuban is the guy who stays in his lane. He's has a technology background starting from his days of starting MicroSolutions and Broadcast.com. So the technology sector is what he mainly stays in when trying to close deals on the show. He will branch off occasionally but he stays in his lane. The one thing he always says which I take to heart is "The money isn't the most important issue when I'm investing, its my time because no matter what I do I can never get back the time lost." Mark Cuban understands his strength and weakness as a business man and he smartly sticks to his strengths and what he's good at. This is why I like Cuban on the show.
Now when it comes to the next guy Daymond John I don't want this taken out of context and I'll explain why. But of all the sharks I think he's the least when it comes to book smarts and business savvy. Now not by any stretch of the imagination is he dumb because you just don't develop a $200 million dollar brand in FUBU and be dumb absolutely not. Damon is a hustler, the type of entrepreneur that just knows how to work the system and hands he's dealt to make the most of it. I personally knew an entrepreneur like this the late "Comer Cottrell" Now Lets be honest the main reason his clothing line grew so much originally was because he knew and had connections to LL Cool J and hustled his way to convincing him to wear his shirts in his music videos. When LL Cool J and other rappers were wearing his clothing line he was still making shirts and hats in his basement. He's quoted on record that at one point everyone thought he was this major clothing line when in reality he only had 10 shirts hanging in his basement and was still selling hats out of his car while working at Red Lobster. Daymond John hustled his way to the top. So when it comes to negotiating it seems a lot of the times the other sharks don't quite give him the same level of respect as in they know were smarter than you. Damon Johns background is mainly in manufacturing but he does branch out and diversify which is a risk because you could be getting into a business sector your not too familiar with. which is also why I think he does a lot of joint deals with other sharks. His mentality is so much different than the other sharks which can be a gift and a curse.
Now what separates the good entrepreneurs from the bad ones on the show? Well the good ones understand the most important rule when it comes to getting investors. What is it? It's very simple one word NUMBERS. What do I mean by NUMBERS? (I'm going to capitalize NUMBERS every time to show its importance.) What I mean is "Women lie, Men lie, NUMBERS don't" NUMBERS is the only thing that matters. Does your product or service provide good margins, are the overhead or manufacturing costs low, is their a legit market for your business, are your sales NUMBERS good. Those are the most important things that separate good entrepreneurs on shark tank from bad ones. So many times people have came on this show with a product and the sharks are like no way. As soon as he spills the NUMBERS and their really good all of a sudden the sharks eyes pop open. Your NUMBERS speak for themselves. At the end of the day your in business for one reason only to make money. a VC or investor can't make money with bad NUMBERS.
Shark Tank is a good show for people who want a solid understanding of investing, business, and what makes good entrepreneurs. I absolutely love the show I'm savvy enough to know which entrepreneurs are legit and have a legit business and the ones that don't know what the hell they are doing. (An arcade game with a built in beer keg SMH c'mon that was maybe the worst thing I've ever seen and their NUMBERS were awful.) But if your interested in business in any shape or form watch this show.
First let me talk about how I either like, dislike, and perceive each shark when it comes to reacting to pitches and their methods of negotiating. The first guy I have to talk about is Kevin O'Leary aka "Mr. Wonderful". I won't lie he's the one shark I'm not a big fan of. To me he comes off as a complete asshole, which sometimes you have to be in business but he seems to be an asshole 90% of the time. His negotiation methods are selfish, horrible and downright bad a lot of the times. Why do I think his methods are so bad? He always wants a royalty when negotiating with an entrepreneur that is pitching a manufacturing product or business. The sad part about it is so many of these entrepreneurs that come on this show actually entertain his offers that include royalties. That shows me how some of those people aren't ready enough when coming to the table. Always remember Rule #1 "All money isn't good money" No deal is better than a bad deal. The reason why royalties are just terrible for small businesses is that it's counter productive. They cypher out necessary cash flow that is needed to grow a small business. When growing a small business cash flow is CRUCIAL. The last thing any growing business needs is a royalty on their books that's cyphering out 2%-10% of the cash flow that could and should be re-invested into the business. Kevin O'Leary makes horrible offers because he's a blood sucking leach that only cares about getting his money back and yielding a return with as little risk as possible at the cost of potentially bleeding the business dry. For Kevin royalties mitigate his risk by guaranteeing him money while increasing the risk of the entrepreneur. I hate Kevin's methods of negotiating its like he completely forgot how small businesses operate.
Robert Herjavec and Mark Cuban are my two favorite sharks on the show. Robert you can tell is a very compassionate guy who actually cares about helping these entrepreneurs grow their company and being successful while also making smart decisions when he does try to close a deal on a pitch. Even when Robert is not trying to close a deal he still gives a lot of the entrepreneurs advice from his experiences. He's also very straight forward and honest but in a very respectable way. He understands and considers the obstacles these small businesses go through and always consider that.
Mark Cuban is the guy who stays in his lane. He's has a technology background starting from his days of starting MicroSolutions and Broadcast.com. So the technology sector is what he mainly stays in when trying to close deals on the show. He will branch off occasionally but he stays in his lane. The one thing he always says which I take to heart is "The money isn't the most important issue when I'm investing, its my time because no matter what I do I can never get back the time lost." Mark Cuban understands his strength and weakness as a business man and he smartly sticks to his strengths and what he's good at. This is why I like Cuban on the show.
Now when it comes to the next guy Daymond John I don't want this taken out of context and I'll explain why. But of all the sharks I think he's the least when it comes to book smarts and business savvy. Now not by any stretch of the imagination is he dumb because you just don't develop a $200 million dollar brand in FUBU and be dumb absolutely not. Damon is a hustler, the type of entrepreneur that just knows how to work the system and hands he's dealt to make the most of it. I personally knew an entrepreneur like this the late "Comer Cottrell" Now Lets be honest the main reason his clothing line grew so much originally was because he knew and had connections to LL Cool J and hustled his way to convincing him to wear his shirts in his music videos. When LL Cool J and other rappers were wearing his clothing line he was still making shirts and hats in his basement. He's quoted on record that at one point everyone thought he was this major clothing line when in reality he only had 10 shirts hanging in his basement and was still selling hats out of his car while working at Red Lobster. Daymond John hustled his way to the top. So when it comes to negotiating it seems a lot of the times the other sharks don't quite give him the same level of respect as in they know were smarter than you. Damon Johns background is mainly in manufacturing but he does branch out and diversify which is a risk because you could be getting into a business sector your not too familiar with. which is also why I think he does a lot of joint deals with other sharks. His mentality is so much different than the other sharks which can be a gift and a curse.
Now what separates the good entrepreneurs from the bad ones on the show? Well the good ones understand the most important rule when it comes to getting investors. What is it? It's very simple one word NUMBERS. What do I mean by NUMBERS? (I'm going to capitalize NUMBERS every time to show its importance.) What I mean is "Women lie, Men lie, NUMBERS don't" NUMBERS is the only thing that matters. Does your product or service provide good margins, are the overhead or manufacturing costs low, is their a legit market for your business, are your sales NUMBERS good. Those are the most important things that separate good entrepreneurs on shark tank from bad ones. So many times people have came on this show with a product and the sharks are like no way. As soon as he spills the NUMBERS and their really good all of a sudden the sharks eyes pop open. Your NUMBERS speak for themselves. At the end of the day your in business for one reason only to make money. a VC or investor can't make money with bad NUMBERS.
Shark Tank is a good show for people who want a solid understanding of investing, business, and what makes good entrepreneurs. I absolutely love the show I'm savvy enough to know which entrepreneurs are legit and have a legit business and the ones that don't know what the hell they are doing. (An arcade game with a built in beer keg SMH c'mon that was maybe the worst thing I've ever seen and their NUMBERS were awful.) But if your interested in business in any shape or form watch this show.
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
What running a new small business is TRUTHFULLY like.
What's it really like running a new small business? Most people see the successful businesses, the millionaire or billionaire owner, see their humble beginnings and look at it as that's how you get rich. They look at it as only if I had the money or resources to start a business I will be rich down the line. To put it into laymen terms people say they have a great idea or plan for a business and immediately see dollar signs as if it will make them rich. Which TRUTHFULLY is not the case at all.
Running a new small business is HARD, DIFFICULT, STRESSFUL. It's not what it seems like. people don't see what happens behind the scenes in the daily operations of the business. You could be walking into a store, restaurant, or bank that from the outside looks great but behind the scenes is a struggling new business that's trying to survive. 75% of new small business fail within 3-5 years. Running a new small business is a 24/7 365 job. You have no days off, you have to be fully committed, and be willing to make ultimate sacrifices.
When running a new small business the first thing is going to be the start up capital. The average income for an adult in the US is roughly $30K-$35K a year. Which should tell you the majority of the population doesn't have a ton of money for start up capital. So lets start this in the eyes of the average person who's starting a new business. First of all kind of off topic, for me personally I'm highly against business loans when it comes to getting capital for a business. You have so many uncertainties in the business that the one thing that has to be certain is paying back that loan. Regardless if your business is successful or not you have to pay that loan back. Also you want little to no debt on your books when you start a business. Now the person puts thousands of dollars of their own money into getting the business off the ground. Pretty much everything they had and used all of their resources that now that person is broke or has very little personal money left. But now its congratulations you have a business up and running now your doors are officially open so what's next?
Now comes the possible struggles that majority of new small business owners run into. First issue that a TON of owners run into is that they have to build up a clientele for the business. Without customers and clientele you have no business. The first step into building clientele is an obvious one MARKETING. But marketing costs money, UH OH that's going to be a problem now. You've spent 100% of your money and resources in the start up capital just to get the business off the ground that you have zero money left over for a marketing budget. Damn what do you do? I have little to no money. My business is in the early stages not to mention the monthly overhead costs, payroll, and I still have bills at home that have to be paid. This is what we call BLEEDING MONEY. Your business is in the early stages so you have to grow the business for it to be in the black. The issue is your business doesn't generate the necessary cash flow yet so every month your pouring hundreds if not thousands of dollars of your own money into the business just to keep it afloat. Your business is constantly bleeding money. This is the #1 issue that kills and destroys new small business.
The first 6-months to a year of opening and running a new small business is going to be a struggle. Unless your very fortunate to have a business that immediately becomes successful and you start to net a profit within months (which is very rare) its going to be very difficult. Generally within the first year even if your in the black your just making back all the money you put into the business. There are so many issues and difficulties that come about behind the scenes.
The difference between successful business owners and non successful are the ones who understand their market and who know how to work around their issues. The #1 issue is marketing with a small to no marketing budget. My advice is to develop a marketing strategy or platform that is paid for on the back end. Groupon is a marketing platform that does this but be careful with Groupon because if your profit margins aren't wide enough it will eat up into your profits too much. So you will be put in a position where you'll have customers walking into your doors but you will only be making 50%-60% of the money generated from Groupon on an already reduced price. If your business has very wide profit margins that can handle that I highly recommend Groupon as a marketing platform in this situation. Now you can also develop a marketing strategy which will require some hustle on your end. let your customers market for you that is called C2C (Customer to Customer) marketing. Develop a very lucrative incentive for customers if they refer people to you. In doing this your spending no money up front while your customers market the business for you. Also everything is paid on the back in by just eating into your profit margins a little that's it.
Running a business is time consuming. Your going to run into serious issues, its going to put you in a financial bind early on. The stats say that you have a 75% chance of not even running a successful business. Its scary, stressful, hard but its what all business owners from humble beginnings deal with starting a new small business. But if you succeed you will look back on it and say I grinded everyday and it paid off.
Running a new small business is HARD, DIFFICULT, STRESSFUL. It's not what it seems like. people don't see what happens behind the scenes in the daily operations of the business. You could be walking into a store, restaurant, or bank that from the outside looks great but behind the scenes is a struggling new business that's trying to survive. 75% of new small business fail within 3-5 years. Running a new small business is a 24/7 365 job. You have no days off, you have to be fully committed, and be willing to make ultimate sacrifices.
When running a new small business the first thing is going to be the start up capital. The average income for an adult in the US is roughly $30K-$35K a year. Which should tell you the majority of the population doesn't have a ton of money for start up capital. So lets start this in the eyes of the average person who's starting a new business. First of all kind of off topic, for me personally I'm highly against business loans when it comes to getting capital for a business. You have so many uncertainties in the business that the one thing that has to be certain is paying back that loan. Regardless if your business is successful or not you have to pay that loan back. Also you want little to no debt on your books when you start a business. Now the person puts thousands of dollars of their own money into getting the business off the ground. Pretty much everything they had and used all of their resources that now that person is broke or has very little personal money left. But now its congratulations you have a business up and running now your doors are officially open so what's next?
Now comes the possible struggles that majority of new small business owners run into. First issue that a TON of owners run into is that they have to build up a clientele for the business. Without customers and clientele you have no business. The first step into building clientele is an obvious one MARKETING. But marketing costs money, UH OH that's going to be a problem now. You've spent 100% of your money and resources in the start up capital just to get the business off the ground that you have zero money left over for a marketing budget. Damn what do you do? I have little to no money. My business is in the early stages not to mention the monthly overhead costs, payroll, and I still have bills at home that have to be paid. This is what we call BLEEDING MONEY. Your business is in the early stages so you have to grow the business for it to be in the black. The issue is your business doesn't generate the necessary cash flow yet so every month your pouring hundreds if not thousands of dollars of your own money into the business just to keep it afloat. Your business is constantly bleeding money. This is the #1 issue that kills and destroys new small business.
The first 6-months to a year of opening and running a new small business is going to be a struggle. Unless your very fortunate to have a business that immediately becomes successful and you start to net a profit within months (which is very rare) its going to be very difficult. Generally within the first year even if your in the black your just making back all the money you put into the business. There are so many issues and difficulties that come about behind the scenes.
The difference between successful business owners and non successful are the ones who understand their market and who know how to work around their issues. The #1 issue is marketing with a small to no marketing budget. My advice is to develop a marketing strategy or platform that is paid for on the back end. Groupon is a marketing platform that does this but be careful with Groupon because if your profit margins aren't wide enough it will eat up into your profits too much. So you will be put in a position where you'll have customers walking into your doors but you will only be making 50%-60% of the money generated from Groupon on an already reduced price. If your business has very wide profit margins that can handle that I highly recommend Groupon as a marketing platform in this situation. Now you can also develop a marketing strategy which will require some hustle on your end. let your customers market for you that is called C2C (Customer to Customer) marketing. Develop a very lucrative incentive for customers if they refer people to you. In doing this your spending no money up front while your customers market the business for you. Also everything is paid on the back in by just eating into your profit margins a little that's it.
Running a business is time consuming. Your going to run into serious issues, its going to put you in a financial bind early on. The stats say that you have a 75% chance of not even running a successful business. Its scary, stressful, hard but its what all business owners from humble beginnings deal with starting a new small business. But if you succeed you will look back on it and say I grinded everyday and it paid off.
Who Am I?
My name is Jonathan I'm a 27 year old African American man who loves sports and business. I played college basketball at a small school in Minnesota as well as studied business marketing and finance at the University of Texas at Arlington. I recently made an investment and partnered in a massage clinic business venture. In June 2015 my business partner and I officially opened Heavensent Massage Clinic www.heavensentmassagonline.com. I invested in this business because my partner owned a massage clinic in Hawaii for 7 years. I loved the infrastructure that was already put in place and is proven that it works. The main objective was marketing it the right way to build up our clientele. Ever since I was 14 years old when my father opened up his first business I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur and business owner. My father is a former CFO (Chief Financial Officer) and senior vp for 2 corporations.
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
What is the Business of REAL?
What is The Business of REAL? It is (Real Entrepreneurial Advice & Lessons) my personal blog about my journey as an entrepreneur. I will be letting everyone join me in my journey starting from scratch and hopefully growing my business from the ground up into something special. I will be posting a lot of things from behind the scenes with my partner and I running our business. I will also be posting tips, things I learn along the way, as well as the mistakes I make. This will be everything every entrepreneur has to deal with. My journey will be shown so others who want to know what it takes to be an entrepreneur can learn from my experiences.
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