Put yourself out of business if you want to thrive and survive as an entrepreneur.
Why would you want to put yourself out of business to thrive and survive, you ask?
In business and life, that only thing you can count on is change. All day. Every day.
What may be a winner of an idea today may hold you back tomorrow.
Your business success comes from finding painful problems that you’re passionate to solve. The problem is so painful that people are happy to pay you to remove the pain.
But that’s not the end of the story. Instead, my Rockstar entrepreneur, it’s the beginning.
Take it from me. I was that kid who started his EdTech out of school with no money, experience, or team.
The truth is, I had no business being in business. It was my grit that kept me in the game long enough to find success and create a 9-figure exit.
What did I do to create a 9-figure exit?
I mastered the art and science of putting myself out of business.
Why should you figure out how to put yourself out of business, and how do you do it?
There’s only one way to find out.
Keep reading.
If You Don’t Put Yourself Out Of Business, Someone Else Will
Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change – Jim Rohn
When you become an entrepreneur, you set yourself up to change lives and have your life changed.
But what you need to know and respect is this:
If you don’t put yourself out of business, someone else will.
And when you become successful, watch out. You’re now in the crosshairs of competitors whose chief aim is to put you out of business.
Call it survival of the fittest, keeping up with the times, or human nature, it is what it is.
Before you start crying the blues, have a good look in the mirror.
You started your business because you became frustrated with a problem. Your life became better when you solved the problem. I also suspect you were passionate to solve the problem.
Other people who were only too happy to pay you to take the pain away from the problem you solved.
Your passion for solving a problem created a win-win for all involved except one group. The competition.
But the truth is the competition missed the opportunity for any number of reasons.
The reasons don’t matter.
What does matter is that you created an opportunity by solving a problem.
How do you not fall into the same trap as the competition you took out?
Keep reading to learn the four specific things that all successful entrepreneurs do. And so should you.
Put Yourself Out Of Business To Find Your Blue Ocean
In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different – Coco Chanel
Put your out of business by looking for and finding your blue ocean.
What’s a blue ocean?
Let’s answer the question with a story about penguins.
Before a pack of penguins hunt, one penguin enters the water first.
The penguin that goes first either gorges on a blue ocean filled with fish to eat or is eaten by a predator.
If the first penguin doesn’t return, the rest of the flock stay safe on shore.
The first penguin either lives another day after a terrific meal or dies. The remaining penguins must share amongst themselves.
From penguins to business.
If you don’t put yourself out of business with a new blue ocean, the competition will “eat up” your opportunity.
One more story.
My EdTech, Embanet, helped schools improve retention rates for their online programs.
Embanet provided hosting, technical support, and course development. In the early days of the Internet, Embanet was unique.
Embanet solved the problem of retention rates. The new problem and blue ocean was filling the seats with students.
Was it risky?
Yes. Embanet used its hard-earned profit to enter an unproven market with “Embanet 2”.
Embanet 2 could have failed and brought down the company. Instead, Embanet 2 put Embanet 1 out of business. In the process, Embanet 2 made Embanet 1 look like a rounding error.
By finding a new blue ocean, Embanet 2 took the company to a new level of success, and in time, a 9-figure exit.
Put yourself out of business so you can live another day by finding your blue ocean.
If You’re Not Number One, Invent A New Category Where You Dominate And Win
You have to be odd to be number one – Dr. Seuss
People buy on emotion first and justify with logic later.
Read more about this in Everything You Need To Know On The Golden Rule For Selling Your Business.
Buyers want to deal with number one. Period. End of story.
Put yourself out of business by finding problems you’re passionate to solve. The more painful the problem, the more people pay to take the pain away.
While you’re at it, put yourself out of business with a solution that creates a new category. You set yourself up for success by being number one in the new category.
The mission of Embanet 2 was to put Embanet 1 out of business by solving a marketing problem.
Embanet 2 could not be the leader in the category of marketing for schools.
There were already well-established companies.
Embanet 2 created a new category within an already crowded industry.
And it worked brilliantly
Embanet became the “golden child” of online graduate programs.
Embanet’s invented category was “pain relief for your eLearning headaches.”
How?
Embanet fills the seats and keeps them filled on its coin. The university is profitable from the first student onward. Embanet recoups its investment over time through revenue sharing.
Was Embanet the first company do invent marketing for universities or revenue sharing?
No.
Before putting itself out of business, Embanet’s business model sucked.
Embanet reinvented its business model, created a new category, and lived another day.
And you can too when you put yourself out of business.
Put Yourself Out Of Business To Find the 20% Of Activities That Drive 80% Of Your Profits
Find your 20% of activities that create 80% of your happiness for a fulfilled life – Jeffrey Feldberg
What would you say if I told you that 20% of your customers create 80% of your headaches.?
While I’m at it, 80% of your profits come from only 20% of your customers.
Not a chance, you say, this couldn’t be true.
It’s true.
Alfred Pareto, a 19th-century Italian economist, stumbled upon this universal law.
Read and prosper with Why You Need To Simplify For Success To Dominate And Win.
When you put yourself out of business, you have a clean slate. Find out what activities drive profits and results. Stop doing the other activities that don’t get you the results.
A quick story.
Embanet 1 attended trade shows.
Why?
The industry attended trade shows.
As a cockroach startup, I traveled to the trade show, set up the booth, and stood there. For days.
Money saved from the do-it-yourself method looks great on paper. But the reality was that trade shows sucked up precious time and scarce money.
Embanete 2 became a runaway-success without tradeshows.
Put yourself out of business and find the 20% of activities that drive 80% of your results, today. You’ll thank me tomorrow.
Make It Your Mission For Your Business To Run Without You
We accomplish all that we do through delegation – either to time or to other people – Stephen Covey
Whether you keep your business forever or plan to sell it tomorrow, do you know the one thing you must do?
Put yourself out of business, so your business runs with you.
When you put yourself out of business, you do two things. First, you set your business becomes more vibrant and profitable. Second, you’ll enjoy your life.
Read and prosper from Why You’ll Be Happier And Richer When Your Company Runs Without You.
How do you take the “you” out of your business?
Delegate.
Delegate some more.
And when you’re done, delegate even more.
Surround yourself with strong management that
handles the day-to-day so you can get back to doing what you do best.
What’s that, you ask?
Finding the next problem you’re passionate to solve, so you can put yourself out of business.
Looking for success? Find your unique gift and share it with the world.
Want to maximize the value of your business?
Ensure your business runs without you.
Why?
Your future buyers want to protect their investment when you’re not there.
You protest and say that you’ll never leave your business even if you sold.
Yes, tell that to yourself now. It’ll make you feel better.
You’ll be singing a different tune when you have all those zeroes in your bank account.
And believe it or not, the future buyer may not want you around.
Words to the wise. Put yourself out of business so your business runs without you.
Conclusion
To put yourself out of business, on paper, sounds like the craziest thing you can do.
It sounds crazy until someone else does the deed for you and puts you out of business.
Change is scary at best and difficult at worst.
But the only thing you can count on in both business and life is change.
With change comes opportunity. Big opportunity.
When you focus on how you can put yourself out of business, you set yourself up for a lifetime of success.
The first version of my EdTech, Embanet 1, was a rounding error compared to Embanet 2.
Embanet 2 made a bigger impact on the lives of people and the bottom for one reason.
When you put yourself out of business today, you do it to solve a better problem tomorrow.
The better and bigger the problem you solve, the more the marketplace and your business wins.
The lifeblood of entrepreneurship is finding and solving painful problems. The day you stop problem-solving is one day closer to you and your business becoming obsolete.
Take it from me. I was that kid who started his business out of school with no money, experience, or team.
Grit and passion kept me in the game to find initial success. It was the quest to put myself out of business that laid the foundation for what would later become a 9-figure exit.
The great news is that you already have everything you need for success. Right now.
What are you waiting for?
Here’s to you and your success!
Your BIGGEST Raving Fan,
Jeffrey Feldberg
Today, Feldberg's passion is helping you extract your deep wealth. The 90-day Deep Wealth Mastery program helps create a solid foundation for three areas: increasing profits to enterprise value and optimizing post-exit life. Deep Wealth Mastery offers strategies and insights drawn from Feldberg's rich experience. The strategies from the trenches get results. Jeffrey's vision is to increase the social fabric of society one entrepreneur at a time.
Learn more through https://iapdw.com/prosper
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