Tag: Smallbusiness

One Of These Days…I’m Going To…

Hopefully not cut you into little pieces as the Pink Floyd song suggests, but hopefully something. Anything at all that will get you started doing whatever it is that keeps you saying “one of these days…” about.

If you want to achieve anything in life, remove that phrase from the conversation; the conversation in your head, with your family, friends, and colleagues. Every conversation and instead say “today, I am going to…”

One of these days is like tomorrow; it never really comes and before you know it, it is 2020, you are married, inching closer to fifty and you’re full of regret because you’re doing the same old thing that you swore you were doing for the last time last year. Or, you are in the middle of a global pandemic, stuck at home in quarantine. If you are stuck at home isn’t that the best time to make one of these days today?  

What is holding you back? Why not make the change today? If 2020 has taught us nothing else, it has taught us that life itself is unpredictable. You just never know what is going to happen. Life is too short and precious to spend living in regret and ignoring the things you really want to do.

I have been stuck in that mode many times in my life but I am happy to report that the previous paragraph is not the story of my life. At least it is not the whole story. At some point in my life, I stopped waiting for the right time to show up and I stopped saying “one of these days I’ll…” and I took action. Instead of waiting, dreaming, and talking, I started doing. And, I am so glad I did.

Nothing changes if nothing changes. You will never know what might have been if you keep telling yourself “one of these days…”

Start doing today and find out what’s waiting on the other side.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live

Do It Anyway.

“The cowards never started and the weak died along the way” – Phil Knight

Pacing, panicking, puking…
I can’t do it, I can’t do it, I can’t do it…
I can’t and I won’t, I can’t and I won’t…
I just can’t do it – would if I mess up?
Would if they hate me?
Would if I suck?
Would if I forget the songs?…

Lights out, curtains up, it’s show time…
My guitar intro starts…
Then stops…

If you think you can’t, do it anyway. Can you relate to that intro? I didn’t really puke but I sure felt like I was going to. I am recalling how I felt before the first real gig when I was in a band a long time ago. I was full of fear and anxiety consumed me as show time drew nearer. Then it was show time and I felt good until my guitar went silent. Actually, my amp. Apparently I had cracked a tube in my amp during warm up, transport, or sound check and it decided to go out three seconds into the show.

The anxiety and panic came back. All I wanted to do was run far away and hide. Fortunately, Sarah and Jeff took control of the crowd while I sorted out my technical issue. It was December so they started singing Christmas carols, while my friend got an amp from one of the other bands on the bill. All worked out and we went on to finish the show.

I share that story to illustrate that no matter what it is you want to do in your life, it will not always be easy getting there. You are going to be uncomfortable, you are going to feel sick, you are going to be scared, and you are going to feel like giving up. That is normal. You don’t find success at the end of a smooth road after a pleasant, leisurely Sunday drive. There are always bumps in the road, but you have to keep on that road if you want to get to the other side.

If you want to excel at what you do and accomplish your goals you have to be willing do the things you don’t want to do. These are the uncomfortable things that can make you anxious, afraid, and feel like you want to puke. That is normal, just do them anyway. Do them now. If you don’t do them now you will just have to do them tomorrow. There are always little things that pop up everyday that I don’t want to do. If I put them off today, tomorrow is harder because I have twice as many uncomfortable and undesirable things to do. Put it off a few weeks in a row and you can imagine what happens.

The good news is that the more you do the uncomfortable things the easier they become. So when you think you can’t or won’t, just do it anyway. That is how you push through and find the real you that will meet your goals.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live

CAN YOU DELIVER?

It doesn’t matter what you do or what you sell, all businesses are in the delivery business – they have to deliver value.

Value is a funny thing, right? We all might have a different definition or PERCEPTION of what that means. A seller might think one thing and a buyer another. In any situation it’s the perceived value that matters most. If the buyer does not see the perceived value of what it being purchased to be higher than what it being paid, there is either no deal or a resentful buyer. Resentful buyers do not turn into repeat or loyal customers.

The best policy is to under promise and over deliver. Eliminate any question about the value of your offer. Who wants to be in the hard selling business? Not me. It all boils down to offer creation. How you create, position, and deliver your offer should leave your prospect with no questions, arguments, or resistance. Or should I say, customer? Create the irresistible offer and prospects quickly become customers.

How to do that? That is longer discussion for another time.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W. @Leap272
Owner – Operator

You have to leap if you want to live.

ANY PORT IN A STORM

When the weather is stormy, any port will do, right? I am not a captain of a real ship but I have run businesses for many years. Business climate changes all the time. The environment, the eco-system, and the algorithms of the platforms we advertise on, just to name a few. The one constant in life is change. We are at the mercy of so many factors beyond our control we have to be ready, we have to be prepared, we have to be able to change course and respond quickly to navigate to safety when this happens.

No one person or business can plan for everything, but you need to weave flexibility and adaptability in to the fiber of your business. This helps to ensure that when adversity strikes you can respond. You might not be fully ready or prepared, but you can survive.

Here’s and example; one of our businesses had a unique product. We were/are in a pretty competitive industry but within our niche we were the first to market for all intents and purposes. Having low to no competition with our product, we did quite well. We rode that for quite awhile.

We did have other products in our lineup but the top one accounted for 80% or more of our revenue. We knew we had to mitigate the risk of having all our eggs in one basket. To do so we started improving our other products and creating new, vertical products that served the greater market outside of our little niche.

Well the storm hit. We were almost too late. We had two competitors release products that directly competed with our number one within months of each other.  Fortunately, we had done just enough to pad our basket that we were able to keep the doors open; we found a port. It was pretty rough for the next several years, but we survived.

Weave flexibility and adaptability in to the fiber of your business, so when adversity strikes you can respond.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W. @Leap272
Owner – Operator

You have to leap if you want to live.

Appreciate The Good Times

Business owners know exactly what I am talking about. Just as in life, there are good days and there are bad days. There are good months and there are bad months. There are good years and there are bad years. It’s just part of the game and life as a business owner.

I have found it important to appreciate and celebrate the good times. And, most importantly, be grateful for them. You can do your best to avoid bad times but you can’t avoid them all together. You can plan for everything because there is so much out of our control. Remember the good times and remembering why you are in business to begin with will help you get through the bad times. Celebrating and appreciating them help solidify the memories so they are easier to recall.

Remember the good to get you through the bad.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W. @Leap272
Owner – Operator

You have to leap if you want to live.

AGAIN WE RISE: An Entrepreneur Always Gets Back Up

Again we rise, we do our thing and we fall. Again we rise, we do our thing and we fall. Again we rise, we do our thing and we fall…

Each time we fall we must rise again…
Each time we rise again we must rise higher…

Entrepreneur is a sexy buzz word today that motivates the lazy, entitled, bottom feeders of society. Alright, that’s a bit harsh, but there is some truth to it. There are so many people – wantrepreneurs, looking for the easy way out, the quick fix, and the get rich quick formula. These are the ones giving real entrepreneurs a bad rap rivaling the stigma of the insurance salesman, or the vultures of the used car lot, and, let’s not forget the pyramid scheme pushers. They are the ones that have the 5 easy steps, the 12 hour this, the secret this and the proven never shared before that – all of which will make you rich in no time flat. They are the ones that prey on the weak, the desperate, and the lost.

There is no overnight success. There is no get rich quick anything, except those that took a thousand sleepless nights and countless years to materialize.

You want to be a successful entrepreneur? Get ready to fall and rise again…and again, and again.

The key is to always get up. We all fall down, we all fail, what sets the entrepreneur apart is, we always get back up.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live

Go All In

“The risk of going all in only scary until you do it.” – me

The clichés the mottoes, the personal mantras are everywhere. “go all in”, “go big or go home”, “I am I can and I will.” They are cute. They are nice. And, they are true. If you use them as words to live by and actually do it, that is.

The reality is that if you want to succeed at anything from running a marathon to landing your dream job to running your own business, you have to go all in. You can never reach your full potential running the rim. You have to go big and you to believe that you are capable and that you can and will accomplish what you set out to do. If you don’t you are already starting behind the eight ball; your very own eight ball that can be the hardest one to get around.

There are enough doubters on any path; you can’t afford to be one of them. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that self doubt is part of the process, but you must learn to move through that quickly. You have to be confident. You have to be your number one fan. You need to rally the squirrels in your head to spin the wheels in unison and cheer you on. And, you must go all in. If you don’t you will never really know what might have been. What could have been. And, quite possibly, what should have been.

Don’t resolve to live a life with that thorn gently poking your side, leaving that itch unscratched, lurking below the surface causing a life a regret. Manufacturing those thoughts of “if only…”,”would if I…”, “I should have…”

You’re right. If only you went all in. Would if you had gone all in? You should have gone all in because if you do and you fail, you can’t walk away with your head down full of regret. You can walk away a winner because you tried your best and your mind is open to possibility instead of packed with embarrassment and regret. Your mind is open to the lessons of failure that make you stronger and better, and most importantly, willing to go all in again and again, and again and whatever is necessary to accomplish what you set as your goal.

The risk of going all in only scary until you do it.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live

Can I Say…Something About That?

“Doing The Right Thing Is Always The Right Thing…” – Unknown

I’m not sure who originally said this. I know I have heard Zig Ziglar, Tony Robbins, Russell Brunson, Gary Vaynerchuck, and many others all say similar sayings. I have heard many people use variations of this long before I started following any of these guys.

Now I haven’t asked them personally, but being a follower of them all, I would take a wild ass guess and say that each of them have said it because it’s true and they wholeheartedly believe it. Really, it just seems like common sense to me.

So what’s not to believe? It’s true! Then why is so hard to do? If something is the right thing to do that’s means it’s right and therefore it can’t be wrong. End of story. There isn’t anything to discus, nothing to debate or argue about Just do the right thing now and stop thinking about.

Again I ask why is it so hard to do? Is it just me or are there plenty out there just like me that make decisions harder than they have to be? Decisions that don’t really leave much room for discussion, yet I can burn tons of my energy and waste countless hours of my precious time pondering, evaluating, weighing the pros and cons, looking at all sides, exploring every option, and on and on. When all I need to do is stop thinking about it and just do the right thing. Why do I make it so difficult? Do I just have to make extra sure, one more time? Is it fear? Is it self-consciousness? Is it stupidity? Is it the need for drama or attention because even negative attention is attention. Is it a combination of all these things?

After years of learning the hard way by doing the wrong thing I would love to say I always do the right thing today. That would be a lie, however, but it sure gets easier the more I try. It takes less energy; mental, emotional, and spiritual. It’s like a muscle and the more you exercise your do the right thing muscle the stronger it gets. The stronger it gets, the easier it is to do the right thing next time. You do the right thing then move on and focus on the next right thing. No need to mind trip and worry if you did the right or become consumed with whatever you did, how you did it or how you should have done it. You place all your energy on the present and doing the next right thing today.

So take it from me and the wise guys before me and just do the right thing.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W. @Leap272
Owner – Operator

You have to leap if you want to live.

BRAIN EATERS Part 1: Introduction

“The brain is wider than the sky.” –  Emily Dickinson

Going to the left. Going to the right.
Do this, do that. No, not that.
The voices, the voices, won’t you stop?
Fill my head with constant thought.
he chatter, the banter.
How many of you are inside?

What eats your brain? Hopefully not the creatures that attack the mind, turning you into zombies like the classic film of 1958. But does something? Please say yes as I don’t want to be alone. Of course, I’m never alone with all the voices in my head, but I want more. It’s just not the same.

In this series I am not writing a science fiction horror bit. I am going to let you inside my brain a bit and share what eats at my brain. Take you inside the world of an overactive, entrepreneurial mind. Not too far, though; I don’t want you to get trapped my Land of the Lost in Space.

For me, there is always something eating my brain; good, bad, indifferent it’s always something. Maybe it’s a Pisces thing, maybe an introvert thing, but it definitely a me thing. I have always been quiet on the outside and louder than life on the inside. I am usually the quietest one the room making the most noise; all in my head. I am always thinking, processing, creating, evaluating, writing, playing…Humming riffs, creating riffs, writing songs, writing poems, thinking up headlines and ad copy…Creating strategies, marketing material, benefit bullets, ad infinitum.

The activity just accelerates during a time like the present. As I write this sentence we are ten days into August of 2020 which will definitely become a standout year in the history books, or wherever history is documented in the future. This has been quite a year to date, but the biggest event has been the coronavirus pandemic by far.

We have had mandates, legislative orders, and martial law. We have been quarantined, forced to wear masks, and left toilet paper-less. This is a year for the books indeed. How about we make it an election as well. That really throws fire on the flame. The point is, with so much extraordinary external events in the world today, my brain is ripe to eat me alive.

It does make for some great content. However, if I can just capture it and find a good way to package and deliver it. So much of this activity happens while driving, riding, running, or walking, and most has vanished by the time I get somewhere to write anything down. Maybe I am just forgetful but I believe that these brain eaters have cannibalistic tendencies. Thanks to voice memo apps I can stop and record my thoughts and ideas anywhere. The problem is, most of the time I am so consumed with the brain eaters that I forget to do that. But, successful entrepreneurs are not focused on problems, they are interested in solutions

Don’t leave the table just yet; the next tasty course is on its way…
You don’t want to miss this tasty little treat.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W. @Leap272
Owner-operator

You have to leap if you want to live.

Doubter & Shouters

“I really get motivated when I have doubters.” – Shaquille O’Neal

Have you ever hung up the phone and have the overwhelming urge to scream at it? Walked out of a meeting and all you can think of doing next is banging your head against the wall? Finished a presentation and said to yourself “they just don’t get it.” Left anywhere and said to yourself “I’ll show them!”

That last one is the right attitude.  Not necessarily in a spiteful way, but in a self confident, I believe in what I’m doing kind of way.

No matter what you do or aspire to do in life there will always be doubters. And, the doubters always seem to be the loudest shouters. I have come to the realization that they must be put in our life to test us and make us stronger. They appear in our life at pivotal moments to provoke us and to question ourselves; our motives, beliefs, and convictions which clarify and strengthen our “why.”If, and only if, we do not succumb to the doubts they shout about.

I have also come to believe that we are our own greatest doubters. We have the loudest voice in our head, we have the final say, and we control the volume dial. Self doubt is normal and natural, what is not normal and natural is actually believing what we say and allowing it to drive us. Or paralyze us. Once we begin to believe the lies we tell ourselves, we are doomed.

We cannot and must not take action based on doubt, in my experience, those decisions only lead to regret and unhappiness. Doubt is just a form of fear that we must acknowledge and push trough. It is important to remember that this kind of fear does not exist in the present moment. Fear is something our minds manufacture about something that might happen sometime in the future. Does that sound like solid information that we should base major decisions on?

The best thing we can do is act like Shaq and use the doubters, ourselves included, to motivate us to try harder. The best way to deal with the doubters is to prove them wrong. Put the ear plugs in and just keep moving forward.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what anybody else says or thinks. Can you put your head on the pillow knowing you were true to you and did your best?

If so you past the test…Get up and do it again.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live