How do I get customers to pay?

You need to target customers who can pay you, otherwise you could be doing a lot of great work, but you're not going to be able to pay your bills and you're going to have to go back and get a job. Hi, I'm Evan Carmichael. I believe that hungry entrepreneurs deserve help. And today I'm answering a question from a newsletter reader, Edith, who wrote in to say, "Thank you so much for all the advice you keep giving me. It's really been invaluable." At some point you encouraged me to do something that I really like, so I started a daycare because my heart was so much into it. It's a long email, so I'll just kind of cut it short. First time I had 4 kids, this is the second time I have 15 kids. The only constraint is that the mothers are finding it hard to pay. How do I overcome the challenge of non-paying mothers? They are poor yet needy. So thanks for the question, Edie, and hey, congrats! I'm excited that my advice was able to help you launch a business, do something you're passionate about, and build it from 4 students already up to 15 and hopefully a lot more beyond. Here's the thing though, here's the truth. You have to target people who can afford to pay you. Having 4 kids to 15 is great numbers, is great growth. Hopefully it's a lot bigger as you keep going, but it doesn't mean anything if the people aren't paying. That's actually costing you money. You're losing money on these people because you have to feed them, you know, have staff, have a location. That all costs money. You have to go after mothers who can afford your service. And if they can't, it may be heartbreaking, but you also have a business to run. It's important to be nice to people and to want to help. I can feel that in your email. It sounds like you really want to help these people, and that's great. That's the foundation of a successful business. But if, if you just give everything away, you won't be in business very long. You won't be able to help even more people. You have to get paid. And that comes from targeting customers who can afford to pay you. If you give too much away to the wrong clients, you're not gonna be able to build your business. You're gonna have to close your doors. You're gonna run out of money. If you really want to support these needy families, which is a great goal, have a scholarship or have a bursary program where you give 1 or 2 spots away per semester that people can apply for. Where it's free or at a really discounted rate. And so you can see which, which mothers you really want to help out. You can hear their stories and you can still feel like you're helping people, helping the needy people who can't necessarily afford you. But otherwise, the rest of the people, they have to pay. If they don't pay, you don't eat, right? Like, it's critical. They have to pay you for what you do. It'll help you build a bigger business and have a bigger impact and help more people. It's so common that entrepreneurs undercut their prices, give things away for free, do too much work for free because they love the work, they feel guilty, they love the clients. But if you don't get paid, one, you may have to close down your business and go get a job, and two, you won't be able to have a bigger impact. It's great to help 3 people or 5 people or 14 because you're volunteering your time, But if you want to help hundreds, thousands, millions, you have to figure out how to get paid. I face a similar challenge with entrepreneurs. I have a weak spot for entrepreneurs. I love helping entrepreneurs. I wake up every day and I want to help entrepreneurs. Most of the time I don't get paid because entrepreneurs can't afford my services. Why am I making this video? Because, Edith, I want to help you and I want to help all the other people who have the same problem as you. As far as I know, I'm not getting paid for this. If there's a check on the other end, let me know. But I do it because I love doing it. But I still have to find a way to get paid. I've built up my business to the point where I can afford to give back on an ongoing, repeated basis, make videos like this, help entrepreneurs one-on-one, on videos, online, in person. I do a lot of work helping entrepreneurs, but they don't have money. I do it because I want to help them. I do it because it helps my brand, I guess, but mostly because I feel good doing it. I get energy doing it. I feel passionate doing it. I would do this even if I wasn't getting paid, which is the case most of the time. But you have to figure out a way to get paid. If you're doing this as a business, you have to make money. Bottom line. And maybe it's a scholarship or bursary program for a few people who can apply, and you still feel good about it. But the other people have to pay you. And it may mean firing your clients and going after better ones. And that's an evolution a lot of entrepreneurs go through. They start the business taking any, any clients they can just to bring money in, but as you grow, you work with bigger clients, you work with people who can afford you more, people who value your service more and will pay you for it, and you often have to fire your other clients as a result. The ones who aren't paying, the ones who don't respect you as much, the ones who aren't trusting the value that you're bringing and are willing to pay you for it. Good luck, go get paid, go get the right clients. For those of you watching and you like the video, please give it a thumbs up below. It makes me wanna do more for you and I want to hear from you. Please leave a comment under the video about this video or something about your own business, a question you have that I can answer for you. I really read every comment that comes in, trust me, and I try to respond to everybody personally. So I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you guys, and I'll see you soon.