TES 031 - Build a Profitable Business Model

Hey there, real quick before we jump into the episode, listen, if your earnings treadmill hasn't set you free yet, running faster won't either. Listen, hustle without principles just going to burn you out. So here's what I want for you. I want you to join me for my money machine experience live. It is three free trainings. Deep dive into how to escape the treadmill and build a money machine that actually works for you. All right, grab your spot here by going to moneymachinelive.com and I'll see you in the free training. Hey there, Mel Abraham here, the author of the number one best selling book the Entrepreneur Solution and the founder of Business Breakthrough Academy where we teach you to design a business and create a life. A life of financial freedom and peace of mind. And welcome to this episode of the Entrepreneur Solutions show. Real excited to continue our journey, continue our discussion about business models. In the last episode we we talked about what they are and why they're important and gave you tried to raise the awareness of where the problems are and what it can do to your business. In this episode we're going to dig deeper and talk about specifically what is a business model, what are the elements of it? What are the things you need to consider? And I'm going to give you my framework, my six piece framework for business modeling and coming up with your business model that is optimal or viable for your business. So right after this brief introduction we'll jump right into it. And just like all my episodes, they typically come with some sort of tool, template, workbook, guidebook, something to bring this stuff to life for you. And the way to get that is to go for this episode to go to melabraham.com session031. If you happen to not be at your computer right now and you're either at the gym or you're driving or you just can't get to the computer, go ahead and text, text mylegacy. One word, no spaces to 38470 so you can get the guide that goes along with this episode. And I'll see you back here right after this brief introduction. See you soon. Bye.

Welcome to the Entrepreneur Solution where highly successful entrepreneur Mel Abraham becomes your entrepreneurial mentor. Here Mel reveals his business building strategies and even gets a chance to answer your questions. Mel Abraham, a CPA by education, but an entrepreneur by exhilarating and a true believer in the entrepreneurial way of life. It's through entrepreneurship that we create community, support society and live our dreams.

It's where possibility meets reality again. And you can have the life and lifestyle you want. One of freedom and peace of mind. Welcome to this episode of the entrepreneur solution where it's time for you to be bold, dream big and live life your way.

Hey there and welcome back. I'm Mel Abraham, the author of the number one best selling book, the entrepreneur solution. And welcome back to this episode. You know, in our last episode, we started the discussion about business models and I talked about the business model ladder and what happens, you know, when you don't have a business model, you don't really think about it and you just end up with a model or you adapt something from an industry that's antiquated, that doesn't work and the struggles that it creates and the problems that it creates. And I know, I mentioned that, that I believe that most business successes are successes of business models and most business failures are failures of business models. I gave you the four e's that cause business failures. In the context of business models, things like it's extraneous, it's a.

It'S trivial to your customers, they don't value it, they don't find it very helpful, they don't find it very meaningful to them. In the process, it could be that you've got the wrong business model. It's erroneous in the process, you've got the wrong business model in place. And so you need to change it, shift it, switch it and do things. There could be external factors that come into play, either legislative changes, technological changes. I talked about Blockbuster Video, we talked about how Gmail and the postal service and Amazon and bookstores and Apple and how it affected tower records. All those things that changed external factors that can cause your business model fail if we don't focus on it. And then the one piece that I think is, is really one of the largest reasons that business models fail is lack of execution. So we talked about all of those things and we said, here's the elements of a business model. Now let's dig in, let's look at things so you understand.

The concepts are the things that need to be implicit and considered in your business model and designed in your business model. And the key is in everything that I do is not about, hey, this is the way I do it and it's the only way and this is the right way. It's actually about what's right for you. Now, there are certain business principles that I think that are universal so they ought to be followed. But by the same token, when we talk about your success, when we talk about your life, when we talk about the kind of business you want to build, when we talk about those kinds of how much is enough, that's stuff that's defined by you. The key is not what's right for me, the key is what's right for you and that you do it intentionally in the process. And when you design your business model, part of that is what's the intention behind it for your own business as you move forward. So that becomes really important. So let's start to take a look at things and look at what I, you know, it's my six piece framework that I look at. What are the things that a business model needs to consider. Now in this framework that I said, there's six pieces of this framework, but we look at things in two different categories. One is internal and the other is external. So the internal elements, there's three, three internal elements that I want to consider which is internal to the organization, internal to me, internal to, to our community, if you will, that is moving the product or service forward. And then the second is external. External is to the customer, the marketplace, the, the team, and those that are external potentially to the organization. When we look at, when we look at what it is we're dealing with, there's three aspects that I need to consider in my business model. So I've got, remember the six factors. So we've got three internal, three external. So let's just look at the aspects of it. One is who are the players, what are the strategies and what are the outcomes? So each of the six will fall into these. And this is helpful if you download the guidebook because you'll have the graphic there in doing that. But let's start with the very first thing we're going to deal with, the external first and that is who, when we talk about who this is really about, who we serving, who's our customers, who's the marketplace? You know what it is it that, that we're looking at and there's two elements that we can dig down. Now when we do this, when I do this in a workshop, we really design and we dig down, we roll up our sleeves and we really go into a lot of detail that I can't go on here. But this will give you the primer, this will give you the fundamentals for you to consider and start thinking about in your. And when we're talking about who, it's about our customer, but it's about the segment of customers, how are they being served, but also the profile. And when I say profile, what I want you to do is define a specific customer, a single customer, not a customer group per se. But if I can get the identity of a single optimal customer and then I extrapolate that identity to marketplace, it works a whole lot better. And when we talk about identity, I want to understand the geographics, I want to understand the psychographics, I want to understand the demographics of it, I want to understand what they're thinking, I want to understand what they're feeling, I want to understand all of these things. And like I said, we go into this in a much more detail to really design this and research it when we have the time to do it. But right now I want you to think about do I really know a customer profile? Do I really know who my customer is? Do I know what their name is? I know what their feel, what they wear, what they eat, where they hang out? Do I know that? Do I know that? If the you know what customer segment, how they're segmented, are they in the mass market, are they in a niche market, are they in a segmented market? All of those things come into play in defining the who in the process. And we flippantly, you know, we sometimes flippantly go out and say, anyone that I'll buy. And I can tell you that if you go out into the marketplace saying let me just find anyone that'll buy, no one's going to buy, you'll be doomed to failure. So let's find your optimal customer. Let's define who they are, where they are and how we can get to them. That's the who in the business model framework. And then the second is how. So who and then how. How is, how do we give them, how do we deliver to them what it is we're trying to deliver them? It's about the connection and the channels and it's what kind of relationship we're going to create with a customer. What kind of relationship are we going to create with the people that are associated with our business? Is it going to be this intimate personal relationship? Is it going to be something that is more.

Self service? What kind of connection are we creating? And then how are we going to deliver the products or services? What channels are we going to use to deliver the products or services or the experience to the customer, to the client that we're talking about? Then the last on the external row is this outcome, which is what? Well, this is really about what. What is it we're giving to them? It's the value we create. And what is it that we're Giving to them, products, services, experience, all of those things. And I want it to be holistic. We talk about holistic. I talk about holistic. Entrepreneurship is really about serving everyone. It's about serving your customer, it's about serving a marketplace, about serving the community, it's about serving society, it's about serving your team, and it's about serving you. When we do that. Entrepreneurship is about everyone winning. It's not about someone has to lose for someone to win. So really, that's what the, what is, what's the value you create? It's not about giving them a product. What's the value create in their life through transformation. Then we go to the internal, and that internal is about team. The first piece is about team the players. Remember, it's about the players. Who's the team? Who are the partners that are going to be in this battle with us? Who are the ones that are going to champion the cause, that are going to cheerlead the mission and the vision for us? And what roles do they play? Who do we need? Now, these may be internal organizational folks, they may be outsourced people, they may be contract people, but who's the team? Let's define the players in an internal basis. Once we understand the team, we then need to understand what are the actions we need to take. And the actions are built on the activities and the resources. There are certain things that we're going to need to do to move this forward. There are certain things that we're going to need to have to move this forward. Define the activities, define the milestones, define the timelines in which these things are going to work, define the resources you need and look at where those resources are going to come from, which could come from the partners, from the team, the outside partners, and that type of thing. But we need to understand specifically the actions. Those of you that know me, that have worked with me, that mentored and worked with on a one, on one basis or in group, you know, I use this 9090 rule. I try to do things in 90 minute blocks and 90 day blocks. I think that those are manageable timelines. And I put things into those 90, 90 perspectives to really start to drive things. Then the last piece, is this about results? This is about revenues and costs. I have to know. I have to know. In order for my business model to be sustainable, in order for me to grow, in order for me to continue to provide the value to the experience and the shifts and the transformation in people's lives that I want to provide, it has to be Profitable. You know, I know some people want to be really.

More difference makers and gosh, don't want to talk about money. But without the money, it's not a bad thing. It's just a vehicle. But it's without the money, your cause just can't go anywhere. So we need to make sure that it's going to make money. How's it going to make money? What are the costs associated with generating it? And it needs to be profitable in the long term. In other words, I need more revenues than it's costing me in the long term to make it happen. So this is really the fundamentals of your business model. Ask yourself the questions, who are we serving? How are we serving them? What are we serving them with? Who are the players on the team? What are the actions I need to take and what are the results that I expect or that I need to go for to allow this to grow? That's doesn't get any more complicated than that. We dig into it deeper, we design it very intentionally and there's a lot of little pieces that go into play. But when it comes down to it, we're answering those six things. It's the who, it's the how, it's the what, it's the team, it's the actions and it's the results. I hope that you found this of help to you. I hope that you'll take this and use it as a checklist and use it as a vehicle for you to start to evaluate your business. If you're already in business and say, do we have this straight? Do we have this right? Do we have this clear? Or use it as the design mechanism. If you're just starting out in business to sit back and say, let me make sure that we don't make the mistakes that others have made, that we don't fall by the wayside because we didn't consider all these things and use this as the design mechanism, the map for your business to design who it is, how it is, what it is, the team, the actions and the results. So remember, if you haven't done so already, download the guidebook, download the information, the tools, the templates that go along with each of these episodes. For this episode, you can Download it at mel ape abraham.com session031 or you can text. If you're not at your computer, text mylegacy one word to 38470. We'll send you the download link right away so you can get access to the tools and start designing your business. Start changing and shifting the way you do things, start getting more clarity in your business so you can accelerate your success. Remember from the last episode, it's about putting yourself up at the optimal business model so you can be leveraged, you can have cash flow at a high level, you can have efficient systems and working for you for accelerated success. And if you found this of value, do me a favor. Just do me a favor and share it with a friend. Share it with someone to give them the tools to give them access to bringing their entrepreneurial dreams to life. This is the mission for me. It's about creating these micro economies of entrepreneurs out there that realize that they have the ability to have their life. To have to have their life by their own design and by their own hands, to create something that's intentional and directed by them and not waiting for someone else to give it to them. Not dependent upon the government, not dependent upon handouts, not dependent on anything else like that. And if you haven't done so already, subscribe so you can get access to these tools on a regular basis. This is my way of giving back. This is my way of being your entrepreneurial mentor through this process. And I hope that this serves you. I hope that you found it of value and I look forward to helping you out on your journey, on your epic journey. And if you have questions in the process, do me a favor. Just go to askmelnow.com and you can leave me your question. We'll make sure we get it answered on one of these upcoming episodes. So in effect, you have me in your back pocket until we get a chance to see each other on the next episode. May your vision be grand, your journey epic, and your legacy significant. See you soon. Cheers. Bye.

We hope you enjoyed this episode. Make sure you subscribe so you get access to all of Mel's business and success tips. And if you like this episode, share it with a friend. If you have a specific business or success question, you can ask it at www.askmelnow.com. remember, it's all about being bold, dreaming big, and living life your way because the world needs you. Until the next episode, may your vision be grand, your journey epic, and your legacy significant.

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