Purpose & Profitability

Sometimes what holds us back from starting or growing our business is ourselves. If you’re a perfectionist like me, all your i’s must be dotted, t’s crossed, business plan checked and rechecked and on and on it goes. Guarantee of success is what we perfectionists need. But we all know that nothing is guaranteed no matter how solid the business plan appears. This episodes will look to help cure perfectionism so that you can move your business forward. Take a listen!

Lack of capital seems to be a common barrier for many who want to start a business. This week, we discuss a variety of ways for businesses in a variety of industries to start with what they have. In fact, many of the largest companies around have started by bootstrapping their business. Tune in to hear who they were and how they did it.

Why do so many people dread Mondays? The start of the work week. Imagine what would happen if people looked forward to Mondays? I believe we’d be happier and more productive as individuals. And as business owners, you’d infect your staff with that same productive attitude. Let’s start a revolution. Let’s start a Monday Mindshift! Tune in and get on board.

Yes, you do have something valuable in your business to protect whether you realize it or not. Take a listen to my interview with Jerome Fogel of Fogel LLP as he discusses the ins and outs of intellectual property and how an I.P. strategy can help build your brand and increase its value.

Many businesses are looking to improve sales, profits, organizational models, etc. which likely means making some meaningful changes. The question then comes up, when will we see results? Great question that I attempt to answer on this episode. Warning: Don’t quit too soon.

The need to access capital to start or grow a business is a common issue I hear for many businesses. It’s the thing they need to start or go to the next level. In this podcast, I discuss the sure fire way to get the capital your business needs to start or grow. Tune in.

Entrepreneurs are always faced with making tough business decisions. Some work out, some don’t. The decisions that don’t work out are often made out of fear. Fear of failure or fear of success. Knowing when your decision is being made out of fear and what type of fear it is vs one made out of peace will make a big impact in future decision making. Tune in to find out how to Fear Not!

Having customers that love doing business with you is obviously great for business. Repeat customers are the lifeblood for most any business. So how do you do it effectively? A great product and service is a good start but you don’t always have to have the best product out there if your customer service rocks. Listen as Eric and I discuss simple ways to build customer loyalty.

As you’re building your business, one of the hardest things to do is make a plan and stay the course. When you don’t see a quick return on your investment and marketing dollar, most are quick to change course. Being impatient and changing course too soon can cost you thousands of dollars in lost revenue and increased expenses. So how do you know when to stay the course and when to make a change? Tune in as I discuss.

We always hear how we should always be improving our business by fixing what's not working. How do you do that if you don't work on our weaknesses? Listen as my co-host Eric Yun and I discuss how to grow your business without fixing your weaknesses.

How do you effectively (re) brand your business? Some make it pretty complicated by spending hours on customer research and ideation. It really shouldn’t be much simpler than that. Tune in to listen to our conversation where Eric and I lay out some simple and intuitive steps to help you build an effective Brand.

Believe it or not this title does have a lot to do with growing sales for your business. Many times, businesses spend a lot of time, money and/or resources acquiring new customers. But there is one area of marketing that is often overlooked that can grow sales with less time, money and effort. Click to listen in to this week's conversation.

For many consultants, coaches and other types of service based business, showcasing your expertise is an important aspect of your marketing activity to gain clients. This usually involves giving some free advice. But how much is too much? Many times, those you give free advice to will take it and run with it and not engage with you as a consultant or coach. Listen as we discuss how to not give away all your secrets. Or is that the right way to even think about it?

Every business owner would like to close more sales deals. A successful sales call is relatively simple but many tend to complicate the process for a variety of reasons. Listen as I chat with my co-host, Eric Yun of Standout Marketing, on how to close more sales deals with less effort.

Marketing That Builds Trust. Conducting a marketing strategy that is authentic to the business and builds trust with your customer is the key to success. Too many times marketing becomes manipulative and transactional in order to get customers in the door. This does little to build long term trust with the customer so therefore no real connection or relationship is built. Developing a marketing approach that builds relationship will result in creating repeat and loyal customers. Listen in to hear how you can Keep it Real.

In this episode, we share some insights into marketing and sales that any small business can implement today. A mix of examples and practical tips to help your business grow.

This is the second part of last week’s “How much should I charge?” episode in which we discussed value based pricing. Charging what you’re worth as opposed to guessing what your customers are willing to pay. Determining your true value can be highly subjective and that is what makes it hard for many business owners to determine. Listen to my conversation with co-host Eric Yun of Standout Marketing as we give illustrations and case study examples that will help you determine what your product and service is truly worth.

How much should I charge? - with co-host Eric Yun by Robert Fukui

Doing marketing well requires thoughtful planning and execution but the most important thing is to have the correct frame of mind and expectation. It requires a mindshift! Many businesses look at marketing as a quick fix or a sprint but it really should be looked at as a marathon. Something that takes careful planning, training and dedication to the long haul. Listen as I chat with guest co-host Eric Yun of Standout Marketing about how your business should approach marketing.

Join me with my guest co-host Eric Yun of Standout Marketing, as we discuss some of the common blindspots in marketing that many businesses overlook. The good news is that these blindspots can be easily fixed and you’ll witness a tremendous benefit once you address it...and it often doesn’t cost you anything except time.