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Learn MoreStarting Your Business from Scratch
Rating: 4.7 out of 54.7(17 ratings)
122 students
Starting Your Business from Scratch
Learning Six Basic Building Blocks for Any Successful Business
Created byJeff Schuster
Last updated 4/2020
English
What you'll learn
- Learn how to create a business money mindset that is different from managing your personal finances.
- Learn the basic accounting principles and how to read standard business financial statements
- Learn how to fund negative cash flow in your business with investment or debt
- Learn how to set the optimum price for your product or service that will maximize profits
- Learn how to create a short-term and long-term financial forecast
- Create a solid marketing message that resonates with customers who need your products & services
- Learn a proven 4-step formula to create winning marketing strategies that work every time
- Learn advanced and traditional marketing tactics that you can start using right away to attract leads to your business
- Learn how to limit marketing and sales spending to maximize profits
- Learn how to become a sales person who educates instead of manipulates
- Learn to formulate a repeatable sales process for your product or service
- Create a compelling personal and business vision that motivates you and your employees
- Learn how to prioritize and manage your time to meet reasonable business goals
- Learn how to use the Life Wheel to create balance in your business and personal life
- Learn the advantages and disadvantages of each type of business legal formation
- Understand basic tax liabilities and you pay taxes for your business
- Learn how to be a successful employer with employees who love working for you
- Learn how to create a simple and effective business plan
- Learn how your mindset can either create or sabotage your business
- Learn how to execute a successful business plan that creates personal wealth and alleviates personal stress
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Course content
6 sections • 68 lectures • 9h 12m total length
- Introduction2:17
Congratulations on creating a priority out of planning your business finances. I promise, you don't need to be a math wiz or a business expert to become a financial expert with your small business. However, you do need to establish a successful business mindset, understand a few basic accounting principles, and know how to forecast and manage your company's money.
This training series will teach you how to do all it takes to be a financial pro when it comes to understanding managing finances in your small business.
- Money Mindset - 3-Money Mindsets1:37
What is Money Mindset? Why does it matter to every entrepreneur to establish a solid thought pattern about how your business must make a profit?
Having a poor money mindset is one of the largest obstacles for most startup business owners. Making money is a key ingredient to business success and most new business owners have no clue how this is done. I have witnessed business owners who hoard money not wanting to invest in their success; and have witnessed foolish business owners who frivolously spend money with no plan of getting a return on their investment. This training module will help you understand what mindset will create the business success that you desire.
- Money Mindset - Creating Personal Wealth with Your Business10:24
Some new business owners don't understand how important it is to make money. Others who know how important profit is cannot seem to make enough money to keep their business afloat. How a Business Creates Personal Wealth will teach you how businesses make money and why profit is so important to your business survival.
- Money Mindset - Review1:49
Let's review what you've learned in the Money Mindset module of the Finance training module.
- Accounting - Introduction2:05
You will be introduced to the four topics you will learn in the accounting training module.
- Accounting - Understanding Your Financials13:26
Understanding how to create and use a profit and loss statement and balance sheet will be critical in order to understand your business's financial performance. The Financial Statements or Accounting Basics training module will help you understand basic accounting principles and how to use them when creating budgets, financial forecasts or speaking to others about the financial performance of your business.
- Accounting - Systems10:16
Most accounting software will take care of most of the heavy lifting for you, but you still need to understand which systems to use, which accounting professionals can help you, and how to use accountants and book keepers so they don't cost you a bundle.
- Finance - Investment & Debt11:32
In order to grow your business, you will need investment or debt. This finance training module will teach you how to fund cash needs of your business startup; and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various approaches.
- Pricing Your Products and Services8:25
Understanding what price you can charge a customer in order to keep your business afloat while also attracting value-minded customers is an art, not a science. However, to the degree that it is a science, you will learn how to set your prices in this training module so that you can make a reasonable profit while beating your competition.
- Accounting - Review1:45
Let's review what you've learned in the Accounting training module so far.
- Financial Forecasting - Introduction4:07
- Financial Forecasting - The Process6:24
You will learn a step by step process to creating and adjusting a financial forecast for your business.
- Financial Forecasting - Your Price List4:55
The first step in the financial forecasting process is creating a price list. You will learn how to create a price list including direct costs for each one of your products and services.
- Forecasting Tutorial - Your Price List6:58
This is the first six tutorial videos that show you how to use the Mechanics & Mindset Business Coaching Financial Forecasting Tool to complete your own financial forecast. I will show you how I entered data for Joe's Plumbing. You will follow along and enter data for your business by watching me. By the time you're done with all tutorials, you will know how to create your very own financial forecast.
- Financial Forecasting - Revenue3:05
After pricing, you must now decide how many of each type of product and service you expect to sell in a given time period. This training module will show you how to combine your price list and your quantity forecasts into a financial forecast of revenue.
- Forecasting Tutorial - Revenue5:54
After you have completed your price list, the next step is your Revenue Forecast. In this tutorial, I will show you how you can plan quantity sales of various services on a monthly and yearly basis. The financial forecasting tool will combine this forecast with your price list to calculate your monthly and annual revenue.
- Financial Forecasting - Direct Cost5:17
- Forecast Tutorial - Direct Cost5:19
Now that you have your revenue forecast, it's time to forecast the direct costs associated with that revenue. The financial forecasting tool will take care of the material cost forecast with some simple math. However, the labor is a little tricky. In this tutorial, you will learn how to calculate the direct cost labor for your revenue.
- Financial Forecasting - Expenses5:54
Expenses will either zap any chance you had at a profitable business, or they can serve to grow your business. In either case, it's important that you create a viable expense budget and you stick to it. You will learn how to create an expense budget and incorporate it in your financial forecast.
- Forecast Tutorial - Expenses10:14
You will learn how to add your expenses to your financial forecast using the financial forecasting tool.
- Financial Forecasting - Marketing & Sales Costs6:10
If you want to create a viable business, you must invest in sales and marketing in advance of receiving revenue. In this video, you'll learn how to create a sales and marketing budget out of your marketing and sales funnels.
- Forecast Tutorial - Marketing & Sales Costs5:53
You will learn how to use the financial forecasting tool to predict sales and marketing costs you will need to gain the revenue results in your financial forecast.
- Financial Forecasting - Cash Flow6:28
We have followed Joe's Plumbing through his entire forecasting journey. Now it's time to see what kind of profit we have forecast, what cash we will need to make this business work, and what we will have to pay in taxes.
- Forecast Tutorial - Cash Flow4:46
Now that you are essentially done with the revenue, costs and expenses, it's important to understand how to interpret your results, what asset purchases may mean and what you can expect to pay in income taxes. You will learn how to use the financial forecasting tool to do just that for your business.
- Financial Forecasting - Review6:16
Now that you've walked through the long and arduous process of creating a financial forecast, it's important that you understand how to tweak and adjust your forecast when things don't go as planned. You will learn how to adjust your forecast in this training video.
- Marketing Foundation - What problem do you solve?8:14
Many want to start a business because they have a cool idea, but can't clearly articulate what problem they solve. This means they make up a problem, then create a solution to a problem many people don't think they have. It's critical that you identify a problem that you are solving. Otherwise, your company has no reason for existing, and a very weak marketing foundation.
- Marketing Foundation - Who do you serve?13:53
In order to create effective marketing messages, you need to get inside the head of the person you want to help. Speak their language, think their thoughts, understand their pain and you will be able to successfully advocate for your solution. This training video will help you discover your avatar which is critical in creating your marketing foundation.
- Marketing Foundation - Revealing Value8:16
The exchange of genuine value is what makes the free-market economy work. Unfortunately, many new business owners are either lacking in their ability to communicate value; or lacking in their ability to provide value for their customers. This video will teach you how to speak value to prospective customers in a way that will compel them to want to learn more about you, your product and your company.
- Marketing Foundation - Speaking to your avatar14:39
You've carefully crafted your marketing foundation by articulating WHAT you do, WHAT problem you solve, WHO you serve, and HOW you provide value. Now, it's time to condense all of this great information into an elevator speech, a brand and a website. This video will help you create meaningful communication from your marketing foundation that will speak directly to your target customer.
- Marketing Strategy - Introduction13:35
Marketing strategies will change depending on the type of market you're in. If you call on public sector clients, you will be restricted to certain legal boundaries. If you call on other businesses, you will be expected to sell to specific buyers. If you want to attract consumers, you will need to employ a broad marketing strategy. This video will teach you the nuances you need to pay attention to for your specific market and customer segments.
- Marketing Strategy - Tactical vs Strategic7:17
Customers may or may not be aware they have a need for your product or service. Establishing a winning marketing strategy requires that you understand the level of education your customer needs and the time they need to be educated enough to buy from you. This video will teach you how to take sufficient time and use either a strategic or tactical marketing strategy to attract prospects to your company.
- Marketing Strategy - 4-Step Process21:47
Regardless of how you need to customize your marketing strategy to fit your target customers or market, you must employ the 4-Step Marketing Process to Interrupt, Engage, Educate and make Offers to your prospective customers. This process has proven successful for digital, mass-media, print and radio advertising and is a critical tool for all small business owners. This video will teach you how to implement each of the four steps in this process to allow you to successfully attract customers to your business.
- Marketing Tactics - Introduction2:58
- Marketing Tactics - Networking11:09
Networking is a marketing tactic that works well for people who need to create human connection with their prospective customers. This video will teach you how to find and participate in networking groups to gain leads and referrals for your business. Networking is a great way for you to polish your marketing message, make friends and create your own free sales force at the same time.
- Marketing Tactics - Webinars5:57
If you've decided that your target customer needs a bit of education before they are ready to buy what you're selling; then webinars are a great tactic to give them the education they need. The key is that they must value the webinar and the education you're offering. This video will teach you how to implement a successful webinar marketing tactic for your business.
- Marketing Tactics - Squeeze Pages5:59
The problem with most websites is that we have too many options and calls to action for our prospects to choose from and they are confused. A squeeze-page gives your prospect sufficient education and engagement and a specific call-to-action. This helps guide anyone who wants to business with you down the right path for them and you. This video will teach you how to implement a successful squeeze-page marketing strategy using the 4-part marketing process that you learned in the Marketing Strategy training module.
- Marketing Tactics - E-Mail Signature3:26
We send out several emails on a daily basis. What if you included a simple and tasteful advertisement with each of your emails? By creating a simple tag-line and link on your email signature, you can continue to keep your company, product and service names in front of people you communicate with on a daily basis. This video will teach you how to alter your email signature to gather leads you may be currently missing in your marketing efforts.
- Marketing Tactics - Lost Leader4:02
What if it cost you less money to give away samples of your products than to pay for advertising? If this is the case for you, then a lost-leader marketing tactic may be for you. This video will teach you how to implement a lost-leader marketing tactic without diminishing the value of your products and services.
- Marketing Tactics - Blogging4:55
If expertise is your product, then blogging may be a good marketing tactic for you. When you write, others can gain insight into your ability to help them with problems that relate to your blog posts. By writing blogs you are demonstrating a level of familiarity with the problems and solutions your prospects need. In addition, blogs are a great way to improve the Search Engine Optimization of your website and increase search results. This video will teach you how to implement a successful blogging marketing tactic.
- Marketing Tactics - Market Surveys5:33
If you're like most of the human race, you hate cold-calling. And yet, your prospective customers need to hear your voice. How can you communicate with prospects you've never met without it sounding like a telemarketing call? It's called a Market Survey. Market surveys allow you to do market research, learn more about your prospective customers and connect with them in a way that is much more friendly than a cold-call. This video will teach you how to engage in a market survey and gain leads for your business.
- Advanced Marketing Tactics - Introduction1:21
There are some creative ways to dramatically increase your leads and profits by implementing some advanced marketing tactics that are proven, but rarely implemented by rookie business owners. You will be introduced to five advanced marketing tactics in this video and subsequent videos in the marketing tactics training module.
- Advanced Marketing Tactics - Bundling6:40
What if there was a way that you could give your customers discounts without sacrificing profit? Bundling helps you increase sales, decrease customer costs and increase customer value. It's truly a win-win-win. This video will teach you how to bundle instead of discounting to maximize profit for your business while maximizing value for your customer at the same time.
- Advanced Marketing Tactics - Joint Ventures8:09
Do you have colleagues who are targeting the exact same customers as you? What if you combined your marketing efforts in a Joint Venture to reduce your marketing costs and double your marketing leads? This video will teach you how to identify your power partners and then set up joint venture relationships with them to dramatically increase your ability to attract customers to your company while helping your friends.
- Advanced Marketing Tactics - E-Mail Drip Campaigns8:42
You spend so much time gathering names and email addresses. What are you supposed to do with all of these contacts that don't buy from you? If you understood the concept of "sales persistence", you will understand how extremely valuable an email drip campaign will work in combination with your email list-building campaign. This video will teach you how to implement a successful drip email campaign that will gain you more customers than your initial campaigns.
- Advanced Marketing Tactics - Upselling5:07
I'm sure that you've been to a restaurant when your server asks you if you want desert. Right? This server is upselling you. What you may not realize is how much additional profit you could be making by simply providing your customers with an improved product or service. This video will teach you the value of upselling to you and your customer; and teach you how to create your own upselling marketing strategy to improve sales and profits.
- Advanced Marketing Tactics - Downselling5:33
I'm sure you've heard your prospect say, "I just can't afford it!" What if you had a product they could afford? How can you sell your prospective customer something they can afford without devaluing your premier product? This video will teach you how to offer customers less of a product for less price so they can achieve a benefit for now and possibly buy your premier product when their finances improve.
- Digital Marketing Tactics10:05
Most prospects will try to solve their problems by searching on the internet. If you don't have a way that people can find you online, then it's like you don't exist at all. This video will teach you tactics that will help search engines find your website and also help you create compelling online advertising that works.
- Marketing Budget11:10
You know that you have to market, but you can't afford to pay for advertising. How can you create a reasonable marketing budget that won't land you in the poor house? This video will teach you how to create a marketing budget that fits your business plan and spends only what you can afford.
- Introduction to Selling5:45
Many entrepreneurs shy away from selling because they don't want to be that annoying, pushy sales person they loath. This image of selling can prevent you from achieving the sales performance that you need for business success. Whether you're the sales person, or you hire sales people, you need to understand that creating a healthy view of selling is critical to becoming a great sales professional.
- Sales & Marketing Integration9:21
Sales and marketing are two different functions in your business. While this training is purely on selling, you will learn the importance of providing your sales force with qualified leads through relevant marketing tactics. You will learn how to create a sales funnel and setting your sales & marketing budget.
- Create Your Sales Process20:20
It doesn't matter how complicated or simple your product or service is, you must have a sales process that all your sales staff follows. Otherwise, you will become a victim to the personality of each sales person you hire. This video will teach you the basic elements of a strong sales process and show you good and bad processes in action. You will have a chance to create your own sales process in your assigned homework using the Sales Workbook.
- Selling Yourself3:26
The most important aspect of a sale to a customer is the person they're talking to. This means you need to learn how to sell yourself, then your company, then your product, then price and then arrange logistics of your sale. This video will teach you the priority that buyers make a buying decision and what you need to do in order to successfully complete a sale.
- Selling Benefits12:22
Most rookie sales people go on and on about features of their products and forget that customers buy based on benefits. This video will teach you how to use benefits language to communicate what your products and services will accomplish for your customers.
- Role Playing9:00
Learning about selling is certainly helpful. However, until you practice what you've learned, you will struggle to become the sales person you were meant to be. This video is yours to make. You will create videos of you selling in key sales calls for your sales process. It's important to use all of the sales disciplines you've learned so far, and then watch for any mannerisms you'd like to fix before you go live with a prospective customer.
- Where are you going?4:32
Do you ever fee like you're spinning your wheels and going nowhere? What if you are already where you need to be, or you need to head in a different direction? Wouldn't you like to know this before you continue to work so hard to go in the wrong direction? In this introductory video, I'll share the story of the Mexican Fisherman with you so that you embrace where you are, before you head off on your life's journey.
- The Life Wheel15:14
Do you ever fee like you're spinning your wheels and going nowhere? What if you are already where you need to be, or you need to head in a different direction? Wouldn't you like to know this before you continue to work so hard to go in the wrong direction? In this introductory video, I'll share the story of the Mexican Fisherman with you so that you embrace where you are, before you head off on your life's journey.
- Creating a Compelling Vision9:50
Many people get caught up in their busy lives, and rarely take even a few minutes to truly contemplate where they're going. You will learn how to create a sensory experience of the place you want to go, and then translate this vision into a practical personal vision. You will then learn how to bridge your personal vision to your corporate vision to influence customers and employees to grow your company. This corporate vision is critical to your staff and it has to link to your personal vision to be effective.
- Setting Goals6:34
This video will teach you how to make SMART goals that clearly identify where you want to go. You will then learn how to break down your goals into either habits or projects. Habits are great for narrowing the gaps in your life wheel; while projects are amazing for creating forward momentum on long-term objectives that matter most to you.
- Time Management Systems5:39
Vision is clarifying. Writing down goals that help you achieve your vision are great. Projects and Habits can help you break down your goals into manageable chunks. But, time management is where you will actually get things done on a daily and weekly basis. In this time management video, you will learn great techniques on time-blocking, and time management systems that will help you move your habit and project tasks into your weekly calendar.
- Accountability9:49
It's one thing to plan out your goals. It's quite another to actually accomplish the tasks that you planned. This is where accountability comes in. You can either hold yourself accountable or connect with a friend or coach to help you live up to the grand plans you've made in this vision training. The key about finding an accountability partner is picking someone who knows you well enough to help you be authentic, not someone who scolds you for failing to achieve your goals. You will learn what true authenticity in this final training video of the Vision Training module.
- Introduction6:42
There are so many things to consider when deciding on what type of business your new business ought to be. In this introductory video, you will learn how each type of business formation will be different depending on which phase of growth your small business is in. You will also learn the agenda for the remainder of the Business Formation video training that will walk you through legal formation, taxes, personal liability, licensing, intellectual property, employment, and other topics that every new entrepreneur should know about forming a business.
- Which legal business formation is right for me?14:23
Deciding whether you should be a Sole Proprietor, LLC, S-Corporation or C-Corporation can be daunting. You will learn the pros and cons in simple terms in this training module. You will learn what each legal formation is, how it will or won't protect your personal assets, the type of taxes you can expect to pay and how complex each one is to operate. If you still haven't made up your mind, don't worry. There is a simple assessment at the end of your Business Formation training that can help you decide.
- Basic Business Law12:33
When forming a business, there are a few legal imperatives that are important to understand before you launch your business.
The first is maintaining the integrity of the separation between you and your business. Otherwise, you will pierce your corporate veil and expose your personal assets to the whims of corporate lawsuits.
The second is ensuring that you have the proper permits and licenses to practice your business in your particular jurisdiction.
And the third is protecting your ideas with patents, copyrights and trademarks.
You will learn how to cover all these bases in this training video. While these legal considerations are important. Other topics like contracts, lease agreements, confidentiality agreements, hiring & firing, and other legal topics are also important. While this training video doesn't cover these other topics, we highly recommend that you consult your attorney for wise legal advice.
- Becoming an Employer16:19
Whether you will start with employees or hire them as you grow, at some point, you will need to hire employees. You will learn some basics about taxes, benefits and other considerations when you hire people to work for you. Many new business owners underestimate the amount of taxes and other costs it takes to hire people. It's best to know all of this in advance so that you can make viable financial plans as you grow your small business. Failure to plan for the transition to employer ends with employees who have no benefits and high turnover rates that can kill your small business.
- Business Taxation8:52
I know this is as boring for you to watch as it is for me to write, but it must be said. This videos includes some important tax information. You've already heard about the taxing benefits of incorporating, but I thought it would be best if you see a firsthand example with two people who make the exact same amount of revenue with one getting soaked with taxes while the other dramatically reduces their tax burden.
You will learn how to actually pay all of your taxes so that you don't get into trouble with taxing authorities.
Finally, you will learn how sales taxes may or may not apply to your products and services as you sell them to public and private customers.
- Business Formation - Review6:06
You've been exposed to a lot of information in this business formation training module. This review video will help you collect all of this knowledge into a cohesive, step-by-step approach to forming your business.
A PDF assessment is included to help you decide which type of business formation will work best for your business.
- Business Planning20:27
Creating a business plan is a must for any small business owner who is serious about becoming a success. This training module will help you write your own business plan using Mechanics & Mindset Business Coaching's proven skeleton business plan template. We have used this same plan for over 20-years and it has resulted in successful and profitable business execution every time when it's followed.
You will learn six sections that should be included in every business plan: executive summary, marketing plan, sales process, financial plan, staffing plan and execution plan. This plan is not made to sit on a shelf, and it's not a plan you can put together with little thought. After all, this is YOUR BUSINESS and a large part of YOUR LIFE.
- Business Action15:18
Writing a business plan is a major step in the right direction. But, just because we write something down on paper, doesn't make it so. What if you could execute your business plan or immediately adapt when you find your business plan lacking? There are scores of people out there who can and will help you succeed in your business, if you know how to find them. Creating a successful business mindset can also make all the difference.
This training module will show you techniques and resources you can use to make sure you execute your plan instead of letting it languish.
Requirements
- Basic knowledge of mathematics
- Beginner level understanding of Microsoft Excel spreadsheets
- Beginner level understanding of editing Microsoft Word documents
Description
You don't have to get your Masters in Business Administration (MBA) to start, grow and sell a successful small business. However, you do need to learn some business fundamentals in order to be successful. Starting Your Business from Scratch is a video training course that will teach you everything you need to know to start and grow any small business successfully. I will teach you how to manage your finances, create marketing programs that attract leads, how to convert those leads into high-paying customers, and everything else you need to know in order to make money doing what you love. If you want to leave your day-job, or you are stuck in a business startup and want to do things right, Starting Your Business from Scratch is for you.
Who this course is for:
- Anyone who wants to start their own business
- Startup small business owners who are overwhelmed