Podcast # 7
PODCAST#7 Lean Business Model Canvas
Gary Morton and Frances Schagen talk about Lean Canvas, business models, tools, iterations and hypothesis & testing. Joe joins us this time! He’s starting on the journey of building a business.
Thank you, Joe for sound engineering and editing.
Build your business from your strengths, clarify what your clients (tribe/fans/pals) need and decide how to help them. Then make the offer. Under lean startup principles, the offer is made before the solution is fully built. That way, you aren’t building something no one wants. You aren’t wasting resources on parts that don’t matter. More importantly you are building something that will truly help and be valued.
Gary Morton and Frances Schagen talk about the Offering.
Thanks Joe for sound engineering and the groovy music.
PS Joe is looking for a name for his most recent composition. Have a listen over there and make a comment about how it makes you feel or what it makes you think.
Here we go on an epic journey together to making the best business and the best life we can.
The business owners success club brings business owners together to help each other. Who else do you know who could benefit and who could add to the conversation? http://businessownerssuccessclub.com/
I have a confession to make.
I’m one of those people who can’t work on only one project at a time. My comfortable number seems to be 3. I’ve been that way for years.
I’m also an innovator. You know, someone who craves seeking out new ideas and trying them.
I learn lots. I get lots done. When I do work work, I get paid. When I work on building projects, I don’t get paid.
But I don’t seem to be able to make big headway on any of my projects. I make progress, for sure. I published a book, thank you Joel and Tom. I finally started the podcast here, thank you Joe and Gary. But the need to make money in the short term seems to get in the way of building something for the long term.
I figured I knew the best way to fix that and that’s when I made a big mistake. I stopped doing the paid work to concentrate on my ‘projects’, the current 3. So that I could get one up and running. My words for this year are Epic Projects. These 3 projects (and the 2-3 waiting in the wings) are all potential Epic Projects.
I cleared the time (and stopped making money) and have worked very hard. I am making progress, but I find myself needing to do some work to make some money for the short term. I am doing a series of workshops around Your Effortless Business. That should keep the wolves from the door. It cuts into the time available to work on this project, but that’s part of the balancing act we walk. Your Effortless Business is part of what I bring to this project, so any work in that area, adds to my ability to contribute, here, too. I like it best when things are intertwined like that.
As they say: wherever you go, there you are.
I’m back where I started.
But
With some important changes in thinking.
The Business Owners Success Club is one of the 3 projects.
It’s been one of the 3 on and off for many, many years. I ran it as an off-line group for three years (2006-2009). We met monthly and improved our businesses and ourselves every month. I have 36 mini workbooks and a ton of on-the-ground results. It’s part of the research that went into my book.
Here’s what I learned from that, 15 years of running a bookkeeping business and working with 100’s of business owners:
It takes a community to grow a business.
We are building that community. We are incorporating those lessons listed above.
It’s me, so it will be innovative. Parts will work and some won’t. If you are willing to play along I guarantee, you will be so much farther ahead that when you look back in a year you won’t recognize where you were today.
This is one of my Epic Projects. This is both, an example of how to build an Epic Project and a wildly valuable resource for business owners who want to build their own wildly successful business.
If you are interested in being part of the early development of this community, have a look at our Welcome tab to see what we are thinking. If not, stay tuned to see what happens.
Do you have Epic Project(s)? Is your business your Epic Project? Do you agree that building any successful venture takes continual improvement?
Here we go on an epic journey together to making the best business and the best life we can.
The business owners success club brings business owners together to help each other. Who else do you know who could benefit and who could add to the conversation? http://businessownerssuccessclub.com/
This is a longer podcast, and worth it. Shaun Whynacht of Blue Cow Creative joined us to talk about customer needs and designing a business around that.
Thank you, Joe Schagen for recording, editing and adding your music.
Would you rather work with people one to one or in groups or work alone?
Do you prefer working with words, numbers, sounds or pictures?
What do your best days look like?
What are the days you look forward to?
What days sap all your energy?
Do you like routine or novelty? (think about your best days)
Do you like working at a desk? Outside? On the move?
Do you prefer modern, classical, or comfortable settings?
When your friends come to you for help, what is it they need from you?
What do you do well and easily?
What could you spend all day reading, talking and learn about?
What are you doing when you are in your element?
I spent today alone at my computer researching and writing with a little cleaning and chicken care thrown in.
Tonight I’m headed to a public meeting to discuss Community Economic Development.
Perfect day for me.
What about you? How can you spend your days so you love most of what you do?
Here we go on an epic journey together to making the best business and the best life we can.
The business owners success club brings business owners together to help each other. Who else do you know who could benefit and who could add to the conversation? http://businessownerssuccessclub.com/
We talked about you. Now we’re talking about business models and and building a business around your strengths.
What is it about the hidden talent meme that fascinates us? We get a true thrill when someone pulls out a talent that saves the day. It’s part of the appeal of video games – you choose the talents and skills of your player, in anticipation of the coming challenges.
There’s something almost magical about coming up against a challenge and finding a means we didn’t know we had to overcome it. A gift for writing a persuasive argument; the ability to rally others when the deadline approaches; the optimism to carry on even if the cause looks lost.
Then – oh the feeling of power knowing we can take on anything we want. Tinged with that small amount of regret for the times we let go and didn’t dig in to make it happen.
Always remember you have way more in you than you think you do and you can accomplish much, much more than you think you can.
Here we go on an epic journey together to making the best business and the best life we can.
The business owners success club brings business owners together to help each other. Who else do you know who could benefit and who could add to the conversation? http://businessownerssuccessclub.com/
Gary Morton and Frances Schagen explore what it means to design a business around your strengths. When we don’t, we struggle and you’ll hear how I made this mistake and struggled with my business.
As always a great big thank you hug to my son, Joseph Schagen for sound engineering and for the original music he wrote for this. Get in touch, he’ll make you sound great, too!
I’ve been writing this blog for years and years. Sometimes I write diligently and sometimes my focus shifts to other places. Through it all, I never forget that you are a real person.
I try to make sure that everything I write is for you and helps you in some way.
I want to let you know that I’m thinking about you today, and to say Thank you.
Gary Morton and Frances Schagen talk about their favourite tips to grow themselves and get the important stuff done.
Big thanks to Joe Schagen for sound engineering and the original music.
This is paraphrased right out of my book Your Effortless Business. The whole premise of my book is that business isn’t this thing that needs to be set up in a certain MBA kind of way. It is a living, messy servant to you. The things you work on in your business need to serve you, not some model of what a business should be. We use financial and other data to see where we are, but it’s not about making your business make your numbers work better. It’s about making a business that works for you and by extension your staff, customers, vendors etc.
You don’t need more information. You need:
Passion
I have to have passion for what I am doing because it is hard freaking work. The hardest part is in my head. The clearer I am about what is important to me and the clearer I am about my vision, the better I can align it all and stoke that passion engine.
Optimism
I have to believe. I have to believe that I can take a thought and turn it into a thing. I can choose how I see the world and I choose to see it as a wonderful place full of opportunity. This keeps me from falling into that black abyss of all that can go wrong. It also becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.
Capacity
When I’m maxed, I spend too much time trying to work around. That goes for health, money, time and brain space. I build in as much capacity as I can.
Embrace Change
Change is happening and I, again, have chosen to embrace it. Every time I do, I learn that the sky won’t fall in and that doing it mindfully means I can design the change so it serves me best.
Growth
My biggest growth opportunities come when I travel. Meeting other people from other cultures with other ways of thinking and looking at the world, expands my view of the world. That’s why I love to travel.
Awareness
I maintain an awareness of how I fit into my world. I recognize that others have different ways of understanding and seeing and by being aware of what and how I am thinking and experiencing life, I can monitor and control my reactions and thoughts. For instance; walking down the street I see a friend and wave. If she doesn’t wave back, I can feel hurt, angry, insecure, or baffled. I also have the option of believing that she didn’t see me or she was preoccupied. I prefer to believe that most of the time it has nothing to do with me. I control my reactions and thoughts and I choose reactions and thoughts that serve me.
Optimal Health
I guard my health by getting plenty of sleep, eating well and performing moderate exercise. I prefer to work at my optimum which I can only do if I am at my optimum. this isn’t about not being sick, it’s about being strong, sharp and energized.
Learning
If I want to know how to do something, I can learn how. I’m taking a deep dive into community economic development and designing entrepreneurial ecosystems. My Town is interested in this and it fits with my interests of helping small business owners and entrepreneurs. I’m also starting a HUB here. Rather than wonder how what I do fits in with the larger picture, I’m studying it.
Habits
What I do and how I spend my time will give me my results.
Creativity
I revel in creativity, innovative thinking and sharing ideas. I make as many opportunities to do that as I can in as many areas of my life as I can.
Truth, Beauty, Wisdom and Courage
These are the virtues that mean the most to me, and feel free to choose your own. When in doubt, when I don’t know what to do, I go with these virtues.
Here we go on an epic journey together to making the best business and the best life we can.
The business owners success club brings business owners together to help each other. Pass this along to other business owners you know and encourage them to sign up on the website. http://businessownerssuccessclub.com/