Key Strategy III: MVP - Most Valued Program

I feel that as part of my overall strategy to become the Million Dollar Business that I will require a real estate investment at some point. There is something appealing about owning the property where you run your business.

To discover more about Real Estate investment, I purchased some books on the subject. The first one, I read, was Trump University Real Estate 101: Building Wealth with Real Estate Investments by Gary W. Eldred. He talks about making your property the MVP or Most Valued Property in the area.

If you watch house flipping shows, this is exactly what they do to properties. They purchase a property and add a few upgrades - granite counter tops, paint, expand a bedroom, etc. Then, they sell the house for a profit. The house flipper, in a sense, increase the value of the property.

MVP - Most Valued Program

I adapted this strategy to apply to my business. I call it the MVP or the Most Valued Program. Instead of competing with other programs for a market share of students, you attempt to increase the perceived value of your program.

The idea is to become the most valuable program and set your tuition accordingly regardless of what your competitors are charging.

Ways to Making Your Business an MVP

1. Create a Fantastic Sales Presentation - A great sales process highlights the benefits of your program. To maximize it's value, paint a picture of what your program will provide them.
2. Crisp and clean environment - Make sure your business is the cleanliest around.
3. Develop a top level curriculum - Your curriculum should address not only the basic moves but also should act as a personal development tool.
4. Provide superb student services - Follow up with the students consistently.
5. Systematize everything - People love consistent service. Systematizing assists you to provide great service while saving you time.

These are just a few ideas for making your MVP business. With a little imagination, you can indefinitely continue to improve your systems.

Pearl S. Buck Charity and Creating Abundance for yourself

We kicked off our Pearl S. Buck Sponsor a Child Program. Christopher Grasso from Pearl S. Buck International spoke to our students about the children they sponsor in Asian countries and their lifestyle.

To demonstrate the effect that one dollar per day can have on these childrens lives, he took a dollar bill and ripped it into four parts. Each part represents the four basic needs that one dollar provides Food, Education, Medical Care, and Social Needs. Its amazing how kids start paying attention when someone starts ripping a dollar bill. Some of the children told me afterwards that they thought he was crazy for ripping the dollar bill.

As part of our fundraiser, Ester and I decided to donate $25 per new enrollment. Giving to charity brings up an important question.

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Why do most wealth-building experts agree that giving part of your earnings to charity actually creates wealth?

From David Bach, the Automatic Millionaire, to T. Harv Eker, Secrets of the Millionaire Mind, to Jack Canfield, Chicken Soup profess the value of tithing. I noticed the same effect in Ester and my life. Every time we donate, whether it was to the Alabama project or giving stuff to the Womans Place, afterwards, we experienced a windfall of good fortune.

So whats the secret? Is it Karma maybe, but I think the answer lies in a change of mindset. Donating your time and/ or money puts you in an abundance mindset. Yes, thats the key. Nothing will assist you more than maintaining that abundance mindset than giving.

It makes sense. Think about it. The reason people do not give is that they feel they cant afford it. This thinking is a scarcity mindset. Truthfully, our school goal means that if everyone in our school donates $1 and convinces one other person to give $1, we meet our goal. I dont know many people that cant afford $1 and if anyone does feel this way, I believe that this scarcity mindset is hurting them more than you can believe.

Create an abundance mindset for yourself today and donate to a good cause. If not money, donate your time and start the abundance process for yourself today.

Click Here to donate and stimulate your abdundance mindset today.

Turning Problems into Opportunities

Yesterday, I got the all-to-familiar call from the parent of a student. They were asking to cancel their membership. In the past, this phone caused huge levels of stress for me. Understand that I put a lot of time into each student and feel a personal connection with them and their family.

How did I change my perspective?

Now, I view these phone calls as opportunities. You see, I realize now that in most cases the reason for quitting is more then the student becoming dissatisfied. Most of the time, it’s that their life situation has changed and they are reaching out for help. They are looking for a solution.

By offering them a solution, you not only re-gain a customer but you also increase their loyalty.

Take 3 steps to turning problems into opportunities.

Active listening – Be attentive and completely listen to them. Ask questions that get the customer or student to talk through their problems.
Focus on Solutions – Once you completely listen to the customer, offer solutions that solve the problem.
Resell the benefits – Sometime a customer forgets why they started receiving a service. Ask questions that prompt the customer to talk about the benefits they’ve received so far.

Using these three steps assists bringing the customer back to you. What happened during my call? The student decided to stay. Another touchdown for the home team!

Website Automation

I completed my QuickBooks integration. They had to teak the system slightly but all in all the process went great. This integration will save me at least 12 hours of work per month.

This week, website automation hits the top of my priority list. I want website inquiries to opt-in to my services and the prospect information entered directly into my contact management system. Once I complete this, prospects that opt-in will receive a series of e-mails to lure them into inquiring further about our school.

I started writing e-mails that the opt-in prospects will receive. I completed three e-mails so far. I have the first day, two week, and one month completed. I want to add a three day and one week e-mail.

The American Millionaire and the Fisherman

I just finished a book called The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss. After reading this book, I realize that Americans work way too hard for our paycheck. Our buying habits and thinking makes us almost prisoners for the American way of life. Did I mention that we live this life at the expense of our poorer countries in the world?

The book relays a great story that really hit home for me.

The American Millionaire and the Fisherman

An American businessman took a vacation to a small coastal Mexican village on doctors orders. After a phone call from home that upset him, he walked out on the dock and saw a single fisherman in a small boat with several large yellow fin tuna. The American complimented the fisherman on the catch.

The American inquires, "How long did it take you to catch the fish?"

The Mexican answers, "Only a little while."

"Why don't you stay out longer and catch some more fish, returns the American."

"I have enough for my family and to give to some friends," the fisherman said as he unloaded the boat.

"Then what do you do with the rest of your time?"

He smiles and says, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, and stroll the village in the evening while I sip wine and play guitar. I have a full and busy life, senor."

The American laughs. "Sir, Im a Harvard M.B.A and can help you. You should spend more time fishing so that you can buy a bigger boat and hire a crew. Before you know it, you can buy more boats and increase the haul."

He continues, "Instead of selling to a middleman, you could sell directly to customer,then you could expand the enterprise.The best part is that you could eventually sell the business stock as an IPO and become a millionaire."

The fisherman asks, "How long will that take?"

The American replies, "15-20 years, 25 tops"

"Then What?"

"Then you would retire and move to a small coastal fishing village, where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife, and stroll the village in the evenings while you sip wine and play guitar with your Amigos..."

The moral of the story is living your life now, not for some long-term goal that may or may not happen.

This book gives very practical advice on how to reduce the number of hours you work and still enjoy the same salary. I think its a-must read for everyone working too hard for the American Dream.

Integration from Contract Management Systems with QuickBooks

This month, I said the theme of this month is automation. I made my first step in automating my systems by integration my contract and contact management system with QuickBooks.

The service costs about an extra $81 per month, but I feel this is well worth the cost.

Why?

Because… Currently, I am entering everything into QuickBooks myself. This takes at least 12 hours of time every month. Now, I hit a button and my system synchronizes with QuickBooks and bam, I’m done. The alternative would be to pay an accountant to enter the data. My books were getting more and more complex so I think that I eventually would have needed an accountant to sort out everything. Therefore, the integration was a wonderful and relatively inexpensive solution.

I save time, money, and heartache all in one.

Next Automation Project

My next step in automation is to write ten letters that I can e-mail on a weekly cycle to new prospects. I started to discipline myself to ask new prospects for their e-mail address.

Why do I like e-mail campaigns better than mailed campaigns?
1. I write the e-mail once and my contact management system sends them automatically. For mailed campaigns, there is prep work and expense each time.
2. E-mail allows the prospect to opt out. Opting out is a great indication that the prospect is not interested in your service any more. Mail generally does not give that kind of feedback.

Okay, I am off to writing.

October Results and November's Theme

Our October results were great. We set a goal of $9,000 and we exceed it with a final tally of $10,041. Our goal is to sustain this amount for November.

Monthly Themes

I decided each month to work on a monthly theme to remain focused. November’s theme is AUTOMATION. I am going to work on anything that will automate my daily tasks. I already have many ideas for automation and will speak about it through the month.