BRX Pro Tip: Profit First

Stone Payton: [00:00:00] Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, today’s topic, profit first.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:09] Yeah. We’re big believers in the profit first philosophy. We’ve been doing it in our business for a long time. And I think it’s important to periodically go through what that means, and why it works, and why it works for us.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:21] So, typically, a business, historically, I guess, they’ve run where they’re saying sales minus expenses is profit. Which means that anything left over is your profit. And that’s how most businesses operate and they’ve operated for a long time that way.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:38] In our model or in the profit first model, we use the same kind of variables, but we just adjust the order of things. So, in our world, we prioritize paying ourselves first. So, it’s about anything left is the expenses. So then, you cut the expenses before you stop paying yourself, in other words. So, in our world we are taking profit first before expenses. And anything left over are the expenses.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:09] So, we do the adjustment on the expenses side, not the profit side. So, once you’ve determined what the profit percentage you want to have in your business, now you just adjust your expenses so that that profit is there for you when you need it each month.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:25] So, I think that by doing that in our business, at least I can speak for us, is that, we’re in business a lot longer and with a lot less stress because we know that there’s the amount of money coming in that we want to come in each month. So, I think it’s something for a lot of entrepreneurs to consider profit first, go by the book, check out the website, and learn how to implement it in your business.

BRX Pro Tip: The One Percent Method

Stone Payton: [00:00:00] And we are back with Business RadioX Pro Tips. Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, today’s topic, The One Percent Method.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:11] Yeah. You’ve heard a lot of this, a lot of kind of the people out there, the bloggers, the aspirational gurus out there talk about how just get better a little bit each day, a little bit each day. And then, that compounds and, over time, that becomes major change.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:26] And the way they break it down and a lot of people break it down is, if you can improve just by 1 percent each day, just by 1 percent, not get better by 50 percent or 75 percent or 90 percent, just by 1 percent, and 1 percent anywhere, in any of your skills just get better by 1 percent each day. If you do that each and every day, then you will be twice as good in less than 90 days. So, in less than three months you will be twice as good as you are today.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:56] So, if you can be mindful and put some intentionality into this and really get after it, just try to improve a little bit each day, just 1 percent each day. So, ask yourself, what can you be doing each day to get 1 percent better? What can your team be doing each day to get 1 percent better?

Lee Kantor: [00:01:18] One percent is not a lot. But because of that compounding effect, it adds up pretty, pretty quickly. So, don’t try to make major, major changes. Just make small incremental changes, but do it each and every day. Benefit from that compounding effect. And then, in 90 days, you can be twice as good as you are today.

BRX Pro Tip: What To Do If You Are Feeling Burned Out

Stone Payton: [00:00:00] And we are back with Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, you and I and our studio partners are so blessed that I’m almost certain that, you know, 99.9 percent of the time we’re bouncing out of bed, we’re going out, we’re doing our thing. We love our work. And we’re all human. And we could all use a little bit of counsel, I think, on what to do if you’re feeling burned out.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:30] Yeah. A lot of people, especially in today, when you’re dealing with so much chaos that’s outside of your control, you start feeling burnt out or you’re getting frustrated about your situation. And a good place to start when you are starting to feel this overwhelmed feeling or the sense of burnout is get back to your why.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:47] You know, try to remember what got you excited about your business in the beginning. What was it that compelled you to jump into this adventure? What was it that said that this was a problem worth solving? And then, try to really understand and get back to that kind of beginner’s mind where everything was new and all the possibilities were out there.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:08] If you can get back to that and if you still believe that you’re trying to solve a problem that still exists and it still matters, then you should be able to snap out of this feeling of burnout or frustration. But just remember, if you can get back to that why, what was it that got you fired up in the first place? If you can get back there, then that burnout should kind of go away.

BRX Pro Tip: Are You Being Human Enough?

Stone Payton: [00:00:00] And we are back with Business RadioX Pro Tips. Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, today’s topic, are you being human enough?

Lee Kantor: [00:00:10] Yeah. I think with technology, it’s easy to automate more and more things, and that can be a trap. And human beings need human connection. As we’re coming out of this pandemic, it’s becoming obvious. People are hungry for human-to-human interaction, and they’re looking for ways to make that happen, if in all possible.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:31] So, I would think about the things that you’re automating right now and see if it’s possible to, you know, kind of add some humanity back into some of these processes that maybe you’ve automated. And this is especially true if your competitors are leaning too heavily on automation. This is a great way to differentiate yourself from your competitors by kind of doing some of the things that are difficult to scale, this kind of human-to-human interaction.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:57] So, here’s a couple of things that you can try to add some humanity back into your marketing. Number one, just appreciate somebody, reach out to somebody on LinkedIn or reach out to maybe old client, a former client, a prospective client, somebody who you haven’t talked to in a while. Just appreciate them. Let them know that you kind of appreciate them in your life and that they’ve contributed in some manner.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:27] Another thing you can do is to help someone get something that they want. If you see that somebody’s in need, it’s great to reach out and say, “Hey, how can I help?” People are always looking to make those kinds of connections.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:41] And then, be the first person that celebrates someone else’s success no matter how small that is. Everybody does a lot of talking on social media, and maybe people brag about things that they’ve accomplished, but go in there and just celebrate with them. Let them know that you are proud of them, that that was something that they should be proud of that achievement that they made and just try to create a human-to-human interaction if you can. People are hungry for it, and you’ll be able to differentiate yourself from your competition, if you do this regularly.

BRX Pro Tip: Can You Turn Your Sales Funnel Upside Down?

Stone Payton: [00:00:00] Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, with all this talk about a pipeline and a funnel and a sales process, one thing I think maybe we ought to consider is, can you turn your sales funnel upside down?

Lee Kantor: [00:00:20] Yeah. It’s an interesting thought exercise and it’s something that at Business RadioX we do do that, that’s how we begin. But most sales funnels start super wide, and they’re usually using a premise of first I have to generate some sort of awareness. I have to let people know I exist. And then from there, I have to slowly build interest and slowly build trust where I’m eventually getting to a relationship with the buyer who is going to hopefully buy the thing that I sell. So most people, the idea of a funnel always starts wide, and then they trickle down to that buyer who is eventually kind of working their way through this huge funnel.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:01] At Business RadioX, we start with the end in mind. We start with the, who is the buyer and how can I serve that buyer? And, how can I help my clients build as many relationships as possible with their most coveted prospects and their referral partners? And, we do that by obviously showcasing them on shows that we have created, that serve that client, that serve that guest, that spotlights and celebrates their work.

Stone Payton: [00:01:34] Our shows are designed to help our best prospects create great content that can help them get the word out and get more business. And by serving our sales prospects and helping our prospects first, we get to quickly move them through the entire sales funnel. And sales happen a lot more elegantly and a lot faster with our system because we’re starting with the end in mind. We’re starting with relationships with the people that matter most. And then by doing that, we get to accelerate the entire process.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:09] So if it’s – that might be a thing that you can think about in your sales. Is it possible to flip that sales funnel and start with the buyer and building relationship with the buyer first in the elegant manner rather than getting a bunch of people through some funnel and hope that the right person eventually trickles down through it?

BRX Pro Tip: Easy Way to Create Structure

Stone Payton: [00:00:00] Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, I’ve read enough books and heard enough speakers talk about the value of repeatable processes and transferable tools, some version of structure. But is there an easy way to create structure?

Lee Kantor: [00:00:20] Yeah. This is something you can implement today. And if you just leverage your calendar and just put a recurring or repeating task on your calendar and block them, you will just, in a simple way, create the structure to your life. It’s going to really move the needle in your business.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:37] So, simple thing to do is just block these things on your calendar. Invite guests Monday morning at 9 o’clock. Check email only at 8 o’clock and 5 p.m. Pay bills Friday at three. I write these tips Sunday at noon. We have a call on Monday where we discuss how to serve our clients. We’re doing these tips on Tuesday because we meet every Tuesday and Thursday. Write down recurring tasks that move the needle in your business. Block them into your calendar and then just knock them out.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:10] It’s less thinking, more doing. If it’s in your calendar, you’re going to do it. People will – you know, they make appointments and they keep appointments, but they break promises to themselves. So, remember, just put it in the calendar, block it, lock it, knock it out.