MBA1552 Should Your Business Publicly Take a Stand? + Free Ride Friday

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Hey, today is Free Ride Friday so make sure you hang on to the end of the episode to hear who won this week's Free Ride. Every Friday we give away a lifetime membership to one of our programs. We're giving away Easy Course, our threaded course on how to build your own online course. It retails for $500 over at EasyCourse co. Or you can win it for free. Just leave us an itunes rating and review and you enter our weekly random draw. Listen in on Friday just like today to see if you won. It's that simple. It's our way to say thank you for showing us love on itunes. All right, let's jump into today's episode. Hey Welco. Welcome to the $100 MBA show, the business podcast that gives you a ROI every single day with our daily 10 minute business lessons for the real world. I'm your host, your coach, your teacher Omar Zenholm. I'm also the co founder of the $100 MBA, a complete business training and community online. And in today's lesson you will learn should your business publicly take a stand. A lot has been going on recently in the world, but let's get real for a moment. A lot is always happening in the world, whether it's 2020 or 1920. But the question we want to Explore today in today's lesson is if something significant is happening in the world where you want to take a stand, should you as a business. Recently, a lot of businesses around the world have taken a stand with the Black Lives Matter movement. I've heard from many entrepreneurs that when things like this happen, this is non negotiable. You got to do it, you got to speak. But I also have heard from other entrepreneurs that say, this is not my place, my business and my personal beliefs are totally different. And I really don't think I want to bother my customers with this matter. So which one is it and which one should you choose for your business? That's the question at hand and that's what we're going to get into in today's episode. So let's get into it. Let's get down to business. This is a very sensitive topic that we're going to be talking about today. And whatever I say today, you may agree with something things I say or you may disagree with things I say. And I'm approaching this episode knowing that that is normal, okay? Not everybody's going to agree with everybody on every single thing. The value I want to add is to give you some perspective, to give you some options, give you something to think about when you're making this decision. I also want to say that whether you choose to take a stand or not take a stand, it will have an impact on your customers either way. Some people think if I speak out, send a newsletter, say that, hey, we're with Black Lives Matter, I'm going to lose subscribers, I'm going to lose customers. But the same is true if you don't. People will leave you if they don't feel like you share their values. Some might think, well, I'm out of sight, out of mind, maybe it won't affect me. I would ask you to reconsider that belief. It depends on every situation. Some situations are very political or religious, but some situations have very little to do with any of that and has to do with human rights or has to do with any kind of universal values. For example, endangered species, right? How many people are going to argue that you shouldn't kill off endangered species? It's just the right thing to do. Now I'm going to allow you to make the decision. What are some of those universal topics that everybody could agree on? And if it's one of those topics and it's one of those things, you should take a stand, I believe so, because there is no reason why you shouldn't. One of the Things that people don't tell you about entrepreneurship is that it's a responsibility. As an entrepreneur, you have a platform, you have a voice, you have an audience. You have leverage. And if you want to bring awareness to something that is really important in the world at certain times, whether it's saving the whales or building schools for impoverished communities or for racial injustice and police brutality, it can't go both ways. A lot of us as entrepreneurs, we want to enjoy the benefits, but don't want to take on the responsibilities. Meaning you get the benefit of being somewhat famous in your community, being listened to, being a leader, and people listening to your advice and your recommendations. And that goes a long way, whether it's for affiliate commissions or sponsorships or getting on stage or selling books, that all benefits you. But what about the responsibility of being somebody that people listen to? I want to take it a different direction. This is the direction I came from when I was faced with this question, when it came with the Black Lives Matter movement. Do you consider yourself a leader in your market? Are you a leader in your industry? Do people listen to your advice? Are you interviewed? Are you asked for your presence at conferences and on stages? Do you consider yourself a leader within your organization, your own employees? If you do, Leaders have responsibilities. I have a responsibility as a leader of my team, as a leader of my community. One of the leaders. People listen to me. People ask me to speak on stages. People ask me to get on their shows. I'm referenced as a thought leader, right? All that kind of stuff. That's fine and dandy for SEO and traffic and for my business. But a leader has to act when it's not comfortable, when it's not convenient. Okay? That's your responsibility. Whether you like it or not. That's what you signed up for. So that's why I'm sharing the thought process I went through. You know, I said to my team and to Connor, our content writer, we need to take a stand here. We need to make sure that people know that we don't think this is okay, that we stand with this movement. We stand with making sure that people understand there is inequality. And we want to make sure we get better at this, right? That we improve the situation. And I actually asked our subscribers to do a few things to help improve the situation, whether it's to support people of color and their businesses, whether it's to hire people of color. And that's my approach. And yes, some people unsubscribed. Some people canceled their subscriptions and asked for refunds. That's just part of the game of business. You're actually hitting a nerve. That's a good thing, by the way, when you resonate with people. We got a ton of emails, people saying, thank you, thank you for being a leader in this community. Thank you for saying these things, for encouraging us, giving us practical advice on how to, you know, do something in this situation rather than feeling paralyzed. And to be completely honest, how could I show up to work every day when things like this are going on, when I have minorities and people of color on my team? I want to remind you, all your team is watching you. They're watching what you're doing, they're watching what you don't do. And whether they voice it or not, they're taking note. And you can't just say, oh, you know, I do believe in this, but, you know, you keep it to yourself or you keep it just within the team. For most of you listening, you're probably not surprised. You know, I'm an Egyptian American, I'm brown, right? I'm a minority. I grew up feeling discriminated against. Whether you may not perceive that, but that's just the truth of the matter. When you grow up as a minority, you feel different. So this movement actually resonated with me because I understand how hard it could be for a black person or anybody that is being discriminated against. And I wanted to do something to help. I wanted to do something with the platform I was given that I have. You may not agree with that, and that's the beauty of entrepreneurship. It's your business. You can do what you want. It's your business. The decisions you make will affect how well you do, how you feel about the business and your legacy, but you get to make the choices. That's the beauty of entrepreneurship. You don't have to agree with me, but you're going to have to deal with the choices you make, whether they're positive, whether they're negative, whether they're short term or long term effects. I always respect people, even when we disagree, because that's how you progress. When there is respect, then we can find out why. Why do they think this way? Why are they this way? Why do they believe in this? We can have an understanding and that's how we grow as people, as a community, as a human race, and whether you recognize it or not, as a business owner, as somebody who affects many people every day and their businesses and their lives, by the things you provide, you're a big part of change. You're a big part of how the world changes, you have leverage that the individual doesn't have. Even if you have a small business that serves, let's say, 500 customers a year, you're 500% more powerful in terms of influence than somebody who is an employee at a company. So just think about that. Think about your responsibilities. Think about the fact that hey, inaction or action has consequences, has results. And understand that what you do and don't do is a part of your brand. It's a part of how people will describe you. It's what you're going to be known for. So make decisions based on that. So if you ask yourself the question, should I take a stand? Well, is taking a stand the kind of brand you want to have or is not taking a stand the part of the brand you want to have? That's a real question and that's the reality of running a business. Running a business has challenges and tough decisions. This is one of them and one of the best techniques to know if you're making a good decision or not. Use a rocking chair method. When you're old and gray and you're 8590 reaching 100 in your rocking chair, will you regret more taking a stand or not taking a stand? Your business, your legacy, your life. It's really one thing. Gas, snacks, tolls. This trip is draining my wallet.

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To wrap up today's lesson, you need to make the choice whether to take a stand or not. But make a choice. A conscious choice. Don't be passive. I walked you through why I made the choice to take a stand and also showed you that not taking a stand is a choice as well. That has its consequences and its effects. A business is a personality. It's a brand, but it's also a personality. It's an idea in the consumer's mind. When people think of brands like Sony or Tesla or Amazon or Walmart or Coca Cola or Nike, they have ideas in their head, right? They have an image of a personality. The same goes with the corner store, the mom and pop. Those ideas are formed based on what you tell them, right? Through your marketing, through your branding, through your messaging, through what you take a stand for and what you don't. So if you want to inform that image, if you want to inform that idea of your business and take control of that image, then you need to voice it. You got to voice what you want to be known for. So if there's an issue now or 10 years in the future that you want to be aligned with as a brand or not, you need to make that choice. Thank you so much for listening to the $100 MBA show. I hope this was helpful. Hope by sharing and just being honest and open about this topic has helped you have a clear understanding of what effects it has on your business. Today's episode's not over though. It's free Ride Friday. Every Friday we give away a lifetime membership to one of our programs. We're giving away easy course, a 30 day course on how to build your own online course over at EasyCourse Co retails for $500. But today somebody's gonna win it for free. You can win it free too. Just leave us an itunes rating and review and then listen in on Friday. Just like today to see if you won, we do a weekly random draw. It's that simple. Today's winner is Jafito22. Jafito22 says:5 stars. Awesome. I've never really been keen on podcasts. However, that all changed when a friend recommended this show to me. Not only does it teach you really interesting stuff, but you'll also have an amazing time while learning 100% recommended. Thank you Jaffito22, for that awesome review. Your mission is to email me over at omar100mba.net so I can hook you up with the lifetime membership. Too Easy course. It's that simple guys. Leave us an itunes rating and review and you enter our weekly random draw on Friday. Thanks so much in advance for doing that. Before I go, I want to leave you with this. As the leader of your business, your responsibility, your job is to make decisions. That's all you do all day long, making decisions. Some big ones, some small ones. This is just another decision you need to make. But some decisions have a greater effect on its outcome. So the decision you make will impact your business more significantly than other decisions. So just keep that in mind that it's your responsibility to make a decision. So go ahead and do it. Thanks so much for listening and I'll check you in Monday's episode. I'll see you then. Take care.

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