Today, I’m excited to introduce you to Tshombe Brown, the amiable and talented solopreneur behind Your Signature Coaching & Consulting and The Magnetic Entrepreneur.


I apologize ahead of time for some feedback that was coming in on my line. I couldn’t edit it out, but don’t let this stop you from getting the great information that Tshombe shares. Fortunately, there isn’t any feedback on Tshombe’s line.


Tshombe discusses some off the things that are common mistakes for starting a solopreneur business as well as key reasons why people struggle with sales. So listen in.


The interview is roughly 38 minutes.


You can listen here or click on the link and download the MP3 TSG Interview Tshombe Brown 021111 .


To get in touch with Tshombe to learn more about him and his coaching programs to improve your sales, go to his sites listed below. His contact information is on both.


Signature Coaching & Consulting
The Magnetic Entrepreneur
Tshombe Brown


All the Best,


Doug Dolan
The Solopreneur’s Guide

If you’ve ever wondered about the true benefit passion plays in helping you in your business, here’s just 3 key payoffs:

1. It creates a sustainable drive to succeed that can’t be replaced by any other incentive.
2. It opens up your creativity.
3. It pays you off in more ways than just the money it puts into your bank account.

 
One person that I know that exemplifies passion for a purpose is Jim Holden, founder of an amazing non-profit organization, Fish for Life.


Fish for Life creates a uniquely rewarding experience for special needs kids and young adults combined with fishing. Today’s post has an audio interview, roughly 30 minutes long, with Jim.


In the interview, Jim discusses how creating Fish for Life was his “calling”, and how that “calling” helped him successfully launch a non-profit and raise donations (during the worst economy in 70 years), and helped him inspire others to get involved. His is a truly inspiration story.


Listen here.


Or download here:
Interview Fish for Life


And if you are inspired to do so, go to the Fish for Life web site and get involved.


Fish for Life
Jim Holden, Founder


All the Best,


Doug Dolan
The Solopreneur’s Guide

If you’ve been a faithful solopreneur reader here at The Solopreneur’s Guide (thank you!), you know that I’ve done interviews with other successful solopreneurs in the past as a way to give you some insight to what they went through to create and grow their businesses to give you inspiration for your journey. And in some cases, I chose people to interview because they had valuable information, products or services that can benefit you.


If you’ve missed them, here’s just a couple of the past interviews:


Joseph Lizio, CEO – Business Money Today (interview Part 1 & Part 2)

Greg Digneo, Founder – Cloud Marketing Labs (interview)

Diane Griffin, President / CEO & author – Security First & Assoc. (interview)


Since I’ve received positive feedback that these interviews have been helpful, I will have a series of additional solopreneur stories in February. I’ve lined up some great solopreneurs and know that you will get some great insight from this latest group.


You asked, and I want to give you what you want.


All the Best,


Doug Dolan
The Solopreneur’s Guide

Today, I’m starting a two-part interview with Joseph Lizio, CEO of Business Money Today. Through my solopreneur consulting and participation in online business forums, one of the top topics for discussion is “How can I get money to start (or grow) my small business?”
 

My focus here at The Solopreneur’s Guide is helping people with finding the right business idea for them; helping them start, restructure and grow their small business. Finance, I leave to other pros. And as you will see from his insightful answers, Joseph is the person to talk to regarding this issue.


I broke the interview into two parts because although I had only 10 questions, Joseph provided a wealth of information.


DD: What is your professional background and what inspired you to start Business Money Today?

JL: I have a MBA in Finance and Entrepreneurship from the University of Oregon as well as a BA in Business Administration from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. I have spent the majority of my career in commercial lending with organizations like Silicon Valley Bank and Wells Fargo Bank. I even held a position as a bank examiner. Further, after graduate school, I spent some time as a Senior Financial Analyst with Intel Corporation.

In my last position, prior to starting Business Money Today, I was the Executive Director of a Business Incubator in Texas. It was here that the ideas for Business Money Today began to materialize. One of the hardest issues we had with our incubated businesses was finding them capital sources. Thus, in my research for traditional and alternative business financing sources for my clients, I gleaned a tremendous amount of knowledge about different financial resources for businesses regardless if they were start-up or established entities.


DD: When did you start Business Money Today?

JL: I start Business Money Today in the summer of 2007 after spending approximately a year teaching myself how to program html, php, and javascript. I taught myself these programming languages as I wanted to 1) keep my cost low thus program myself and 2) so that I would better understand what was happening in the online industry as Business Money Today is a strictly online business.


DD: I still hear from quite a few people trying to start a small business that they are struggling to get approval for a loan or find investors. How would you describe the financial environment for small businesses today?

JL: Most financial gurus or those that think they understand business financing will tell you that this is a hard market. But, that is not entirely true. Yes, it may seem harder to find funding today than it was a few years ago, but, the financial industry has really just reverted back to where it should be – a return to equilibrium.

Accessing capital should be hard for new businesses – those without a track record or adequate collateral or cash flow. The reason is not that it protects the banks and their depositors or investors but it is good for new entrepreneurs to struggle a bit and find unique and innovative ways of overcoming their own obstacles instead of just throwing money at a problem. Not only will this struggle make the entrepreneur a better business owner and manager, but it will help the business be better positioned to weather any future storm that may materialize – like another financial crisis.

Businesses that understand how to operate lean and mean (even during good times) are the ones that will survive the next financial disaster, as well as be the company that squeezes the most out of the assets and processes that it employs (that is the goal of business – to generate the greatest return possible for the set of assets the business has to deploy and as a note, cash or capital is just an asset to used in a business – it does not make or break a business).


DD: Do you find a common mistake or assumption that most small business owners make when they are trying to get a loan or other lines of credit?

JL: There are really three common mistakes that business owners make when seeking capital. The first is the assumption that they only need an all-inclusive loan – one loan that they can use to buy equipment, pay rent, use for working capital or to pay employees. The error here is that not all capital (especially in obtaining that capital) is the same. One of the first questions that most bankers or lenders will ask is what are the funds for? This question matters because there are different rules for different uses of capital.

Think about this way – when you go out to play golf, you don’t bring a baseball bat with you even though that baseball bat can hit a golf ball. It is just not the right tool for the job – the same is true when seeking capital. Find the right capital source and type of capital for the job or need – example, short-term financing like lines of credit should not be used to purchase long-term assets or used for long-term needs – but, time and time again, new business owners waste valuable time and money seeking out a line of credit for all their financing needs because someone told them that was the cheapest way to go.

The second mistake most new business owners make is that their personal credit histories do not matter. But, it matters more than they think. If you have shown that you cannot or are unwilling to pay past creditors, then why would a future creditor think you can change? Plus, if you are unable to manage your own life and your own credit situations, then why would a lender think that you will be able to manage a business.

Further, most lenders are looking for the big and easy deals. Thus, one of the first things they do is credit screen. If you fail this measure – they move on and move on quickly as they don’t want to miss the next big deal fighting for your deal with bad credit – a deal that has almost no chance of making it through a credit committee or credit review.

The third mistake most business owners make is that they fail to understand the lender – be it a bank or private lender. Lenders look for two major items when approving a deal.

1) The ability of the borrower to repay a debt. That means, does the borrower have the capacity to repay (at time of application – not what they think they can make in the future). Thus, the borrower must have either personal or business cash flow to service the debt payments (NOW) or adequate collateral (adequate to the lender) that covers the entire loan in the case of default.

And, 2) the willingness to repay the debt which is simply shown by credit history. All the other stuff that people hear about a loan is really just fodder. If you are strong enough in cash flow and credit history – your banker or lender will go to the mat for you – regardless of the rest of the deal (provided it is legal).


DD: If someone was interested in starting a small business in the next six months to a year, and they were planning to apply for some form of funding, what should they start doing now to prepare?


Sorry to cut the interview short, but the complete interview is just too long to have in one post. I want to make sure that you absorb and remember the great insight that Joseph is sharing here.

To get the answer to the last question and more, check back on Monday for Part 2 of this series on funding for small businesses.


In the mean time, if you wish to learn more about Business Money Today or need their help with finding your small business funds, here is their contact information:

Joseph Lizio, CEO
Business Money Today
www.businessmoneytoday.com


And if you need help with creating a business idea, performing marketing research, or creating a business plan, I’m here to help.


All the Best,


Doug Dolan
The Solopreneur’s Guide

Today, we’re catching back up with Judy Schramm, CEO of ProResource, LLC. You can check out the first interview with Judy here. If you recall, Judy is a seasoned outsourcing pro – both as a customer and a provider. ProResources teaches how to avoid the potential pitfalls associated with outsourcing for predominately solopreneurs and small businesses.

Let’s see what she has to say about what’s new with ProResource, and how this can help you if you are think about or if you are in the midst of an outsourcing project.

TSG:     I know your New Year includes some new changes. The first striking change is the “Help Without Hiring Toolkit” posted prominently on your home page. Can you let the readers here know what the tool kit covers?

JS:     There sure are a lot of changes. Thanks so much for asking about them! The Toolkit is designed to help small business owners – particularly solo business owners – to bring in people to help them in their business. That might be an assistant, like a virtual assistant, or freelancers – or it might be someone local – possibly a neighbor who has agreed to help out or a student working part-time.

We’ve got 50 templates, checklists and worksheets that we have been using for years, along with some new materials we created just for this purpose. They’re all focused on making it easier for the business owner to start delegating work.

They help with the 4 steps the business owner needs to go through:

1. Figuring out what to outsource (where to start),  
2. Finding the right person to do the work,
3. Getting them productive quickly,
4. Making sure the work is done right.

TSG:     If an interested person clicks on the kit graphic or the “Learn More” and “Preview” buttons on the home page, they will notice I gave a testimonial on the right side of the linked page. Yes, I did review all 50 templates, checklists and worksheets included in the package and believe there is real value in the kit. This wasn’t a paid quote or one solely for publicity sake.

With that said, let’s talk about the Creative Brief for a moment. It’s one of my favorite documents in your kit. Do you think a business can effectively engage in an outsourcing program if they can’t answer all the questions in this document?

JS:     Well, yes, I do. The Creative Brief is designed for marketing projects. I know that’s your area of expertise, and I think you and I have a deep appreciation for how valuable this information is for anyone who is doing marketing. When a business owner can provide that level of insight into their business and their target market and what they want to achieve, it becomes so much easier to deliver really good results for them.

Plus, a Creative Brief helps you get organized for a project because it gives you a list of all the information you are going to need to provide to a freelancer or agency who is handing the project for you.

But it is certainly possible to outsource effectively without it. For example, if you are outsourcing something other than marketing – such as hiring a virtual assistant or a bookkeeper – then you wouldn’t need to give them the Creative Brief. Or if you are doing very small, simple marketing projects, you might not need it.

That’s why we have both the Creative Brief and the About My Company templates. The About My Company is shorter and simpler. It’s kind of a Creative Brief Lite. It has the information you want to share with anyone who works for you but it only takes about an hour to fill out.

Thank you very much for the testimonial, by the way. It was very nice of you to share that with us.

TSG:     Over my career, I’ve done hundreds of interviews for hiring employees, temp works, and outsourcing partners. My philosophy was hire hard – meaning take more time upfront to find the right freelancer or company and it makes the rest of the work easier with better results. According to your “Avoid 13 Common Mistakes People Make When They Outsource”, it sounds like you would agree, correct?

JS:     Yes, I do agree. And I think most hiring experts would agree with you. It’s hard-won experience for all of us, I suspect.

It does make sense to invest in getting the right person, even if it takes a little longer up front, because you have a much greater likelihood of successful results, as well as a lot less aggravation and frustration.

If you think about it … if you just hire the first person off the street, odds are they won’t work out, and you’ll be looking for someone again down the road – after you’ve lost time and opportunities. You might as well do it right the first time.

We’ve taken our experience and a lot of tricks we’ve learned and built them into the toolkit, so business owners can spend a lot less time and get to that right person faster.

TSG:     The other thing I appreciate about the “Avoid 13 Common Mistakes …” document is it sets appropriate expectations for people considering outsourcing as an option. From my own extensive experience, I think you nailed the key issues. In your opinion, does the burden for establishing realistic expectations fall on the customer or the outsourcing provider?

JS:     I would say it probably falls primarily on the outsourcing provider, because outsourcing is a core competency for them – it’s what they do for a living – so they are better positioned than the average business owner to know what it takes to make it work successfully.

But there are a lot of freelancers, consultants and virtual assistants who don’t educate their clients. Sometimes they just want to start work and they don’t take the time up front to make sure each new client fully understands what to expect and what it will take to get successful results.

TSG:     Another cool tool included in the kit is the ROI Calculator. When quoting copywriting or consulting rates to customers, I find in a high percentage of responses, customers have a preconceived price in their head based upon something they heard somewhere about what it should cost instead of deriving a budget based upon the expected results. Do you find this to be true as well?

JS:     Yes, yes, I do. Sometimes that number comes from other vendors they have talked to. Sometimes it is something they read somewhere which may not have any applicability to their situation. But a lot of people also have no idea what price is reasonable for a particular type of work and level of experience.

Again, I think it falls to the outsourcing provider to explain what their rates are and to show that the business owner gets value at that rate.

But the main purpose of the ROI Calculator is not to provide rates as much as to encourage business owners to have a realistic understanding of what outsourcing will cost, and a plan for increasing revenue by more than that amount.

TSG:     If a customer were to ask you whether they should pay an outsourcing partner by the hour or by the project, what would you advise them to do?

JS:     I typically prefer paying by the hour. I have just seen far too many projects where both sides agreed to a fixed price and then the scope of the project grew but the price didn’t. Then they end up stopping work at some point because they are no longer making money. That’s annoying for everyone.

The reality is that most outsourcing providers are really bad at pricing. They estimate how long a project will take based on an ideal situation, and then when it turns out not to be ideal (which is at least 2/3 of the time), they lose money.

To be fair, many business owners are not particularly good at explaining what they want. So projects always evolve, and you have to keep the pricing in line with the amount of work that is being done.

That’s why most of the good outsourcing providers either quote an hourly rate or put a limit on how many changes they will make before the price goes up.

For what it’s worth, project pricing can work well where the project is fairly stable and fixed in size. It is also useful where the outsourcing provider truly dislikes keeping track of their time. Sometimes the convenience of not having to worry about timekeeping is worth the risk of not getting paid for all the hours you put in.

TSG:     Do you still offer the Outsourcing Fundamentals course?

JS:     Yes, we do. In fact, we’re just wrapping up the January course. The February one starts February 10. We’ve got it down to 4 weeks now – it’s nice and tight – packed with useful information that helps people learn how to put outsourcing to work in their business.

TSG:     Does the “Help Without Hiring Toolkit” and Outsourcing Fundamentals course overlap or do they work in conjunction with each other? Is there a difference between the course and the toolkit?

JS:     That’s a good question. The Toolkit is the full set of templates. The course walks you through how to use the templates, and it helps you develop a roadmap for getting started with outsourcing in your business.

TSG:     Are you seeing any change in the types of businesses looking for education on outsourcing? For example, are you seeing more solopreneurs enter the market looking for services or are there more small to medium sized businesses downsizing staff in favor of outsourcing?

JS:     Well, our target market has always been solo businesses. You’re right, there are more solo businesses today than ever before. Technology has made this a viable option for just about everyone, and a lot of people are taking advantage of that to live their dreams.

I do have to say that we are seeing small businesses interested too. I think everyone is doing more with freelancers these days.

Outsourcing just makes sense on so many levels. It lets you be more responsive to the needs of your business, and it helps control costs. Plus you can get great people with amazing depth of experience, who you could never afford otherwise, but you only pay for the amount of their time that you use. It’s a win-win.

Thanks, Judy, for letting us catch back up with you.

As I mentioned earlier, I was fortunate enough to have reviewed ProResources new Help Without Hiring Toolkit. As an experienced outsourcing provider for small business consulting and copywriting services, I think it is a wonderful package and an excellent value for the price, without a doubt.

If you want to get a hold of Judy or purchase the Help Without Hiring Toolkit or ProResources Outsourcing Fundamentals training, here is the contact info:

ProResource, LLC
Judy Schramm, CEO
5911 Skyline Heights Court
Alexandria, VA 22311
P: (703) 824-8482
W: http://www.proresource.com/

All the Best,

Doug Dolan
The Solopreneur’s Guide