Small Business Champions

While making a bunch of sticky notes for the canvas today, I had a real Ah-Ha Moment in regards to the “customer segments” portion. Until this point, my partner and I have been making videos for basically any company that wanted to pay us, which is great for now, but I’m really starting to understand the long-term importance of aiming for certain segments and marketing yourself as such. I certainly believe in the value of versatility, but there’s also got to be some clarity and focus. I don’t want to get to a point where potential clients look at our past work and say “I don’t understand what they do...can they help us or not?”

“This course so far is the best investment I have made. Just going through all the material in the first unit made me think why I’ve started my business in the first place, why I want to keep going and what changes I need to make to be successful. It’s only been a week, I can’t wait to learn more tomorrow and in the weeks to come. That is my Ah-Ha Moment of the Week!

I had moments of inspiration and moments of panic this week—-mostly inspiration, because I realized that a business model leading to a business plan will be the major step I need to make my business really work. I’ve been “stuck” for so many years, puttering along in what I do. But this will be a game-changer for me and I’m pretty excited about it.

My Aha moment of the week is having a better understanding of what it means to have a customer-centric business. While I have always looked at things such as pricing and marketing keeping in mind that I am not my target market, there have been many times when I’ve spoken or sold to a client with only my ideas and goals in mind instead of really listening to what their needs and desires are. I think my ability to sell what I think is best has gotten in the way of being able to find solutions for what my clients and customers are really interested in.

I’ve been reading The E-Myth in tandem with my course reading this week and the combination has highlighted the fact for me that I do not want to be a “technician” my entire life. And while I realize that doesn’t mean that I should become an entrepreneur, I know that it is what I want to do, and that doing anything else would not be fulfilling. Discovering how to get to business ownership is why I am taking this course because I can’t do it on my own.