Page 195 - The $100 Startup_ Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love

members. After every $1,000 milestone in Eleanor Mayrhofer’s stationery
business, she makes a special dinner for her husband, who helps out with
bookkeeping and programming. Nathalie Lussier mentioned that hiring a
housecleaner made a big difference in her productivity. “Although that might
seem trivial,” she wrote, “it was actually key to realizing how important it is not
to try to do it all myself all the time.” Jonathan Pincas wrote in with a last-
minute correction to his earlier comments on outsourcing: He wanted to note that
his mother gets the mail twice a week in England and then scans it to forward it
electronically.

The Business Audit
However it is structured, a good business needs nurturing and continuous
improvement. As your project grows, take some time to look at each aspect of it,
especially any public communication that customers review while making a
purchasing decision. Answer these questions and think about how you can
improve. The goal is to (1) fix little problems and (2) identify small actions you
can take that will create significant results over time.

“WHERE DO YOU MAKE MONEY?”

Once a business gets up and running, it’s very easy to get trapped in all kinds of
things that have nothing to do with making money. The solution is simple: Focus
on the money. In the audit, you’ll want to look at where the money comes from
and determine what you can do to keep it coming. Sometimes new opportunities
present themselves; sometimes there’s an easy fix you can make to turn on
another tap. If you have a range of projects, products, or activities, it’s almost
always better to devote your efforts to the strong performers than to try and pull
up the weak ones. Most people do the opposite, but if your goal is for everything
to be average, that’s the best you’ll ever get.

“HOW GOOD IS YOUR MESSAGING?”

The marketing materials you use, whether online or offline, probably involve
some use of words, known as copy. Go back to the beginning and read the copy
carefully. Review each page of the sales material slowly and then read it out
loud. Does it still present the message that you want? What information should
be culled or revised?