10 Low Cost Purchases Under $200 That Changed My Business

No child deserves to go hungry, especially at school. But right now, some politicians are cutting funding to programs that help kids access free meals at school while handing out tax breaks to billionaires. Hungry kids can't focus and learn. The National Education Association is made up of 3 million educators and allies across the country dedicated to making sure every child has the support they need to thrive in the classroom. Help the NEA keep hungry kids fed at school. Learn more at NEA.org/nutrition. As a small business owner, you wear many hats. You're the owner, you're the marketer, you're the seller, you're the hire. I remember in the early days I was doing pretty much everything. I was writing, I was bookkeeping, I was selling, I was marketing. I was doing a lot, but lucky for you, you have LinkedIn. They have the tools to help you boost your visibility, find prospective customers, and find the best team for your small business. All in one place. So while LinkedIn can hang up all of your hats, it makes it easier to wear them all. Learn more at linkedin.com/mbashow. Today I'm gonna share with you 10 purchases that have directly made me more money in my business than anything else. Not my team, not my studio setup, not the computers I use or any kind of equipment. These are specific purchases, books, apps, subscriptions that genuinely change how I think, how I work, and how much I make. And the total cost of all 10 combined is under $400. So none of these cost more than $200, and some of these cost less than a cup of coffee. Pretty crazy. And every single one of them have made me more money than it costs. And that's a huge understatement. If you take even 3 of these and actually use them, your business is going to start looking differently by the end of the month. Let's get into it. Welcome back to the $100 MBA Show. I'm your host, Omar Zenhom, where I deliver practical business lessons 3 times a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to help you start, grow, and scale your business. If this show has helped in any way, it would be amazing if you could drop us a quick review on whatever app you're using to listen to this podcast right now. It helps me and my team bring new episodes every week and more importantly, more entrepreneurs will be able to discover our podcast so you can help someone else start their journey. Thanks so much. Purchase number 1: this book, How to Get Rich by Felix Dennis, costs around $15. Probably if this book costs $1,000, I would buy it. This book is the most important book I've ever read. I've reread this book more than any other book, and it's for good reason. First, I want to be clear that this title sounds a little gimmicky. But it's actually not a gimmick. Felix Dennis, the author of the book, was a British publishing mogul. He had a huge media empire worth over $750 million, and he started from nothing. No college degree, no inherited wealth, no connections, nothing. He wrote this book in his 60s, and he held nothing back, and he— because he really had nothing to lose and nothing to gain. He already made it in life and in business. The core idea that really rewired how I think about business is ownership. Ownership is not the most important thing. It's the only thing in business. If you want to build real wealth, you must own the thing that you are building. That single idea was burnt in my brain by this book, this idea of ownership, and it shaped every single major business decision I ever made, whether it's getting funding, whether it's getting a business partner, whatever it might be. He also says something that every entrepreneur who has ever sat on a good idea needs to hear. Execution is 1,000 times more important and more valuable than a great idea. Great ideas are dime a dozen. They're in the air. They're everywhere. But execution is what matters. Stop waiting for the perfect moment and start executing. Get busy getting rich. It's $15 on paperback. It's even cheaper on Kindle. Read it this weekend. You will not regret it. It's actually one of the funnest reads. It's comical. There's some poetry. It's a lot of fun. I really enjoyed every time I've read it. And finally, why will this book make you money? Well, it reframes your mind and your relationship with ownership, with risk, with speed of execution, and it will make you faster, bolder, and allow you to make better decisions after reading it. Purchase number 2, YouTube Premium. Now, a lot of people don't pay for YouTube Premium because of the cost. It's $16 a month. It's not cheap, but it's also not super expensive. And I know what you're thinking, Omar Zenhom, YouTube Premium, isn't that just so they don't have to watch ads? Yes, because YouTube Premium for me allows me to make YouTube my learning infrastructure. It's an investment where I can use it to learn anything. One of my favorite features of YouTube Premium is background play, where you can play a video and just listen to it even when your phone screen is locked. So when I'm at the gym, for example, I can listen to YouTube the same way most people listen to podcasts but instead I'm learning really deep stuff because some of these things I'm watching or listening to are an hour, 2-hour long while I'm exercising, while I'm driving, while I'm getting ready in the morning. The best business education in the world is out there, okay? Through interviews, through free courses, through case studies, through breakdowns, through tutorials. If you want to get into anything, into AI, into a new type of business, in investment, and you have no idea where to start, YouTube is a good place because you can learn the basics really quickly. And by having YouTube Premium, it makes it a lot more enjoyable. There's no interruptions. Again, the background play feature is amazing and the learning compounds. The version of you that absorbed 50 more hours of relevant business content per month is a different decision maker than the one who hasn't. And decision making is the highest lever that you can pull in your life and in your business, because the better decisions you make, the more impact you'll make in your business. For less than the cost of a business book, you can get unlimited education a month. Think about all the time you're wasting on ads. All those minutes add up to hours and days. So why will it directly make you money? Well, better decisions come from better knowledge. Like I mentioned, this removes every friction point between you and the best business content on the planet. And I got to say, it's a great entry to get free high-level education. That also is flexible so that you can listen to it wherever you go. Purchase number 3, Google Workspace. This is probably one of the best bang for your bucks in terms of tools for your business. It's $7 a user per month. I know this looks boring on the surface, but by having a Google Workspace account, you get Gmail, you get a business email, you get Google Drive, you get Google Docs, you get Google Calendars, you get Google Meet, you get Google Slides. You get all these softwares that you can use to amplify your business. Now you're probably already using some version of this for free with whatever@gmail.com with an email like that. But here's what you're paying with Google Workspace specifically that changes for your business. You get a custom domain. So for example, sally@100mba.net instead of sally@gmail.com. That's not vanity. It's credibility. I mean, you're going to trust somebody with an actual domain email to be a credible business. The moment you have a professional email address, you have a different category of business in the mind of your client, of your customer, of a partner, of a collaborator. Now, beyond that, as you start growing and adding team members, you have your entire team in one integrated suite with shared drives, with shared calendars, with collaborative documents that allow people to work on it at the same time, like a spreadsheet. Everyone's working in the same systems. Files are never lost. Documents are always the latest version. Meetings are scheduled back and forth and you see what's on everybody else's calendar. So you know who's busy and who's not. It's super amazing. At $7 per user per month on the starter plan, this is the most cost-effective legitimate infrastructure purchase that you could buy for your business. It'll allow you to level up very quickly for very little. So why will this directly make money? Well, professional email builds instant credibility, number one. Number 2, it's a shared infrastructure that eliminates any kind of operational friction between you and anybody in your business, and it kills wasting time. It increases your productivity and allows you to start spending your time on the things that make you revenue. Whether you realize it or not, so many customers slip through the cracks if you don't have a system. Missed calls, follow-ups that never happen. It all adds up fast. That's why today's episode is brought to you by Quo, spelled Q-U-O, the business communication system built so you never miss a call. This is the system you need so that you don't miss those precious customers. With Quo, calls, texts, voicemails, transcripts, and contact details are all in one clean view. So your team always has the full picture and can show up for every customer conversation, ensuring a seamless and more personalized experience. This is what excellence looks like. Everyone on your team sees the full thread, replies are faster, and customers actually feel taken care of. And QWO works wherever you are, right from your phone or computer. Keep your existing number, add teammates in minutes, sync your CRM, and let the call routing handle itself as you scale. Money's on the line. Always say hello with QWO. Try QWO for free, plus get 20% off your first 6 months when you go to qwo.com/mbd. B-A. That's quo.com/MBA. This episode of the $100 MBA Show is brought to you by Booking.com. If you're looking to grow your vacation rental business, this is the place to be. Booking.com is one of the most downloaded travel apps in the world, and for good reason. Since 2010, they've helped over 1.8 billion vacation rental guests find places to stay. But here's the thing, most vacation rental hosts don't even realize they can list their properties on Booking.com. And if you're not on the platform, your rental is basically invisible to millions of Booking.com travelers worldwide. After all, they can't book what they can't see, right? I book all my travel, personal and business, through Booking.com, and it's for good reason. I love their Genius program. So because I'm loyal and I use Booking.com, I'm a Genius Level 3. Yeah, I say it with pride because it gets me the best prices. I also love the fact that they give you all the details about all the hotels or the apartments that you're booking, so I know exactly what I'm getting before I check in. Does the place have a gym? Does it have a hair dryer? Does it have a fridge? What about a washing machine? I know because the listing is always accurate and their app is easy to use. So when I'm dead tired after a long flight and I'm trying to check into my accommodation, it's super simple. Just pull up my booking and show it to the host. So if your vacation rental isn't listed on Booking.com, it could be invisible to millions of travelers searching the platform. Don't miss out on consistent bookings and global reach. Head over to Booking.com and start your listing today. Get seen, get booked on Booking.com. Purchase number 4, Claude Pro costs $20 a month and it's worth every penny. I use Claude for countless things. Okay, I use it to refine my ideas. I use it to research. I use it to analyze. I use it to stress test decisions before I make them. I also use it to plan events, holidays, all kinds of stuff. Now, the thing that separates Claude from every other AI tool from my specific use is that it learns my voice. The more you work with it consistently, the more it outputs something that sounds like you, not like generic AI. Shorter sentences, direct delivery, the rhythm of how it communicates with you. Is amazing. My writing time is down by a third. I'm talking about literally sending WhatsApp messages or even messages to my team where I just blab it and it will make it concise and then boom, put it into the message. For any business that produces content, proposals, emails, pitches, documentation, Claude is a multiplier. $20 a month is bonkers. Incredible value. Why it directly makes you money faster. Better communication equals dollars. It impacts sales and it impacts retention. It impacts how your brand is perceived. One well-written proposal or email can be worth thousands. Purchase number 5, Spotify Premium with audiobooks. This is something a lot of people don't know. Spotify Premium, depending on what plan you're on, could be $11 to $16 a month. But Spotify's not just music. You get audiobooks now with Spotify Premium and combine that with your podcast library. It's one of the most complete learning platforms available anywhere. By the way, How to Get Rich is an incredible audiobook. I— it's one of my favorite audiobooks. The narrator is a master. Incredible. Here's the discipline I apply when I'm working in my office and I have my headphones in. I actually listen to music while I'm working. It kind of motivates me, helps me. Some people don't like music with words. It doesn't really bother me. It doesn't mix me up, but I like to listen to business books, biographies, interviews while I'm not working, while I'm in the car, while I'm commuting while I'm at the gym working out. Any moment that used to be kind of just dead is now time for me to improve my brain. I've absorbed so many books on Spotify. In fact, I'm going over another book. I'm listening to this book. I read it first time. Now I'm listening to it. It's called No Rules Rules. It's Reed Hastings' book from Netflix, and it's an incredible book. For me, the audiobook addition to Spotify Premium is a no-brainer now for Spotify Premium. No ads, endless music, like all the music in the world ever invented. That's crazy. Podcasts. And there's more coming down the line. So why is it directly making money? Well, the entrepreneur who reads and learns wins. And if it's easy for you to learn, you will consistently win. Where are your great ideas going to come from? Where are you going to cultivate the perspective you need to make the right decisions? Love this purchase. If this episode's serving you well and you're loving it, then I highly recommend you subscribe to the channel because I have an upcoming episode I can't wait to share with you. It's called Don't Make These Mistakes When Starting a Business from Home, which is where a lot of people start their businesses. But there's some things that you can really do to damage your potential of success. So you want to make sure that you steer clear from these things so that you can have the best chance of winning in business. Hit subscribe so you don't miss it. Purchase number 6. This is an iPhone app. It's called Dual Shot app. It only costs $10 and it's a one-time fee. You don't pay every month. And it changed the quality of my content overnight and my productivity in so many ways. Well, what is Dual Shot? It's a very simple app. And what it does, it allows you to shoot both vertical and horizontal videos at the same time. Meaning if I'm shooting a video, like I'm traveling and I'm not sure if this video's gonna be used for social or for a podcast episode, for long form, meaning 16:9, being wide, or it's gonna be tall for Instagram or TikTok or whatever it might be, or, or YouTube Shorts, then I just use this app and it shoots both of 'em at the same time. And it works for back cameras and front cameras. So when I hit record, it actually captures 2 videos in my camera roll. So then I have both of 'em. I don't need to worry about, Changing or shooting twice and changing the angle or using two cameras at the same time. So brilliant. $10 once saves you time, saves you energy. Why is this making you more money? Better content drives more views, more engagement, and more audience growth. This allows you not to be lazy and say, oh, I, I don't know if this is gonna be, you know, Instagram video. I don't know if this is gonna be something I'm gonna use as B-roll later. Uh, too hard bucket. Not gonna do it today. No, it just gets you to shoot everything with this app. And you have two files that you can use at all times. And what I do is just upload it to my G drive. So my team has it so they can use it for anything they need to use it for. Purchase number 7, Stripe. Ooh, I love Stripe. Stripe is absolutely free. You only pay when you make a sale. They take a percentage of the sale. And for the most part, it's a very reasonable percentage, 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction. I think that's the standard rate for most areas. But what do you get with Stripe that costs nothing every month? Without Stripe, you can't get paid. What's great about Stripe, it handles everything. You can start selling subscriptions, one-time payments, invoices. You could just send an invoice. It gives the customer a button, they click it, they can just pay with their credit card. Done. Automatic receipts, payouts, schedules. It has all the financials in there. Tells you your data, your financial metrics, how much money you're making every month. If you're still using PayPal or manual bank transfers, you're making things difficult not only on the customer but yourself. Stripe is one of the best products ever invented in the last 30 years, and that is no exaggeration. Why? Because Stripe removes friction, and friction at checkout is one of the most expensive things that you can encounter in your business. So make it easy for your customers to buy from you, and Stripe makes it easy. Why does it directly make money? It literally enables you to make money online. It removes the checkout friction. Directly by increasing conversions. Setup takes literally an hour. Okay. From start to finish. If you know your way around software and you're kind of techie, it could take about 20 minutes. It takes me about 10 minutes because I love Stripe so much and I use it so much, but we literally use Stripe for everything. We sell our programs through Stripe. We sell our products. We sell our tickets to our events. It's brilliant. Purchase number 8, Kit, formerly known as ConvertKit. It's an email marketing software and it's absolutely free to get started. Your first 1,000 subscribers are free, and your email list is the most valuable asset in your business because it allows you to build a relationship directly with your customers and make them offers. The internet is a busy place. Social media, YouTube, ads, they're everywhere and they're distracting people. So people's inboxes are still the most sacred place in their digital world. So if you have access to that space by giving them a newsletter, you are able to access them and be able to build that relationship. An email list subscriber is a whole lot more valuable than a social media follower, than a podcast download, than a YouTube subscriber, because you can go back and forth. What's great about your email list is that you don't have to worry about an algorithm. There's no platform dependency. There's no risk or rule to change the, the way you do business or wipe you out overnight. If Instagram disappeared tomorrow, I still have my email list and I still have that relationship with my audience. Kit is a great way for you to manage that email list, to communicate with people, to send out your newsletters. They have templates for landing pages. They have templates for you to collect emails. They have templates for your newsletter layout, all kinds of stuff. And the founder of Kit, Nathan Barry, who's been on the podcast, is an old friend of mine. And I know that it's built on integrity and the software just works. And this is what I love about it. And that's why I've been a customer for so long. Why is it directly going to make you money? Well, email is the highest converting marketing channel that exists. That's what the data shows. That's what my experience tells me. Every subscriber on your list is directly a line to you, meaning a line to becoming a customer. So you can build that asset over the years, that email list, and it compounds forever. And you can continue to build that relationship and cultivate those relationships so that you can then turn people that are just casual observers of what you do to thriving customers that are getting a lot of value. Purchase number 9, Basecamp. Basecamp is a project management tool. It's only $15 a user per month. The moment you have more than one person working for you, which is yourself, you're going to have a communication problem and you're going to need a way to collaborate with people. And Basecamp is my favorite tool for that. Not because it has everything, not because it has every feature under the sun, but because it's simple and it works. Listen, the reason why I'm recommending Basecamp is because you're going to actually use it and it's going to help you stop missing deadlines, allow you to make sure the tasks don't fall between the cracks. It allows you to manage any kind of project, like publishing a YouTube video. That's a project. Like writing a book, like launching a new product. And it has built-in team communication tools designed to be simple enough that everybody actually uses it. In fact, when we hire new team members and we just added new team members, when we introduce them to Basecamp, it's so intuitive they don't need a tutorial. What I love about Basecamp is that it has all the tools you need instead of you having several tools and several logins. You don't need chat separate, you don't need Slack, you don't need to Google Docs separate. Everything's integrated so that way you can just go to one place to get everything done. And for $15 per user per month, this is a no-brainer. Now, why will this make you money directly? Well, operational efficiency is revenue. Every hour you lose on miscommunication or disorganization, is an hour not spending on making money that grows the business. Okay? You don't want to waste time on things you don't need to waste time on. You need a well-oiled machine so the machine is available for your customers. Purchase number 10, Whisperflow. This is one of my favorite softwares ever. I saved this one for last because it's a multiplier for everything that you do in your business. Whisperflow is an AI voice dictation tool that works in every app on every device. You speak, it types instantly. It's perfect. You know, the dictation app that you have native to your phone, for example, it's rubbish compared to Whisperflow. Why? Because Whisperflow just listens to everything you have to say. You let go of the button and all of a sudden the AI comprehends what you're saying and cleans it up and makes it perfect. No filler words, no mistakes, no formatting errors or typos. I'm the king of typos, so I love it. And the oh my God moment for me was when I realized I no longer need to type a single word in my workday. I just I just use Whisperflow constantly. I can use it on my computer. I could use it on my phone. I could use it just to literally do a brain dump and a to-do list for myself. Like, hey, I gotta go to the ATM before I go to the office. Uh, when I get to the office, I gotta open the door for the contractor who's gonna put up the sound panels in our sound studio. That's gonna happen at 11 o'clock. And I could just have a stream of consciousness and it will make the list. And I don't just use it to make a to-do list. Everything I do, every prompt in Claude, is dictated with Whisperflow. Every email I reply to is dictated by Whisperflow. Every WhatsApp message, every Basecamp update, every single note is dictated with Whisperflow. And I wanna be clear, Whisperflow is not coming up with any new words. It's not kind of changing anything other than just doing the cleanup of your speech. Now what this effectively means is that Whisperflow quadruples the speed in which I can interface with every app. This is not a small gain. It compounds across a full workday, across every day. I get so much more done with BrusforFlow, and it's only $15 a month. It's a steal. So why does it directly make you money? Well, speed is leverage. 4 times faster input means 4 times more done in the same time. This multiplies the ROI of every other tool on the list. So every tool I mentioned today, It just gets better and better because of Whisperflow. So there you have it. 10 purchases under $400 combined. Every single one of them directly tied to making you more money. None of them more than $200. Amazing. The best investment in your business is not always the expensive one. Sometimes it's the small things that make a big difference. And sometimes only like $15 can change everything. Like Whisperflow, for example. If this episode was valuable to you and you want more valuable business lessons, then I highly recommend this episode that we recently published called The 5 AI Tools That Replace a $60,000 Employee. Whatever app you're using right now, you can just scroll back up and you can find this episode. I worked really hard on this one. I did an incredible amount of research so that it's on a silver platter for you so you know exactly how to combine these tools to save you time and money and be more productive. If you found today's episode helpful and you want more practical business lessons to help you start, grow, and scale your business, the best thing you could do is subscribe to this podcast. Hit subscribe or follow on your favorite podcast app, the one that you're using right now, whether it's Apple or Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. By hitting subscribe, you get our next episode automatically, and it's the best way to support the show. It's absolutely free, and it's a way for you to commit to growing your business. And now that you've subscribed, I'll check you in the next episode.

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Ah!

Me to a human, him to a bird.

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