Is your business engine broken?

Summary

Justin Jackson enfatiza la importancia de un motor financiero sólido para los negocios, especialmente para los emprendedores que buscan mejorar su vida. Comparte su experiencia con negocios fallidos y cómo reconocer un motor financiero débil. Aconseja dejar de lado los negocios con motores financieros débiles y buscar oportunidades con márgenes de beneficio altos y demanda existente. Aboga por negocios que no requieran esfuerzo constante y sugiere que los negocios deberían recompensar el esfuerzo y la inversión del emprendedor.

Takeaways

• 🔧 Un negocio tranquilo no puede tener un motor financiero que no funcione bien.
• 💡 El motor financiero de un negocio se define por sus ingresos (combustible), costos (gastos) y utilidades (energía restante).
• 🏠 La importancia del motor financiero es crucial para que los empresarios puedan mejorar su vida.
• 🚗 Comparación con un vehículo antiguo que requiere constante mantenimiento para funcionar, similar al esfuerzo constante en un negocio con un motor financiero débil.
• 🛒 Intentos desesperados por mantener un negocio a flote, como agregar productos o servicios adicionales, pueden ser signos de un motor financiero insuficiente.
• 🤔 Reconocer y admitir que el motor financiero de su negocio no funciona bien es uno de los desafíos más difíciles para un empresario.
• 💼 Si el negocio no proporciona margen financiero suficiente, es hora de dejarlo atrás sin vergüenza.
• 💰 Un motor financiero saludable debe sentirse como una máquina de dinero que produce utilidades de manera consistente y confiable.
• 🚀 Busque negocios con márgenes de beneficio saludables para tener un margen de error y una vida mejor.
• 🌟 Priorice oportunidades de negocio que no requieran un esfuerzo constante y puedan funcionar sin su presencia constante.
• 🔍 Construir productos o servicios que la gente busca activamente y que tengan una demanda latente o pent-up puede reducir el esfuerzo de búsqueda de clientes.

Q & A

¿Qué es un motor financiero para un negocio según Justin Jackson?

Un motor financiero para un negocio es el sistema que genera ingresos, gasta en costos y deja un margen de beneficio. Este margen de beneficio es lo que impulsa el negocio y proporciona el poder para el dueño.

¿Por qué es importante un motor financiero sólido para los empresarios que comienzan un negocio pequeño?

Es importante porque permite a los empresarios tener una vida mejor, brindándoles un margen financiero que les permite pagarse bien, tomarse vacaciones y disfrutar de sus esfuerzos.

¿Cuál fue la experiencia de Justin Jackson con su minivan y cómo es similar a manejar un negocio con un motor financiero débil?

Justin tuvo que llenar diariamente de aceite a su minivan y también tenía fugas de anticongelante. Esto le causó ansiedad y la necesidad de mantenerlo funcionando, lo cual es similar a tener un negocio que requiere un esfuerzo constante para mantenerlo a flote.

¿Qué estrategias intentó Justin Jackson para salvar su tienda de patinetes y snowboards cuando el motor financiero no funcionaba?

Intentó construir una rampa de patinaje dentro de la tienda, se convirtió en distribuidor, intentó fabricar su propia ropa, trajo nuevas marcas, comenzó una revista, creó una campaña de compra local y organizó concursos de patinaje.

¿Cuál es la recomendación de Justin Jackson si el motor financiero de tu negocio es débil?

Si tu negocio tiene un motor financiero débil y no te está dando el margen financiero que necesitas para tener una buena vida, es tiempo de dejar ese negocio atrás.

¿Cuál es la diferencia entre un negocio que requiere esfuerzo constante y uno que funciona como una máquina de dinero?

Un negocio que funciona como una máquina de dinero produce beneficios de manera consistente y confiable sin necesidad de un esfuerzo constante por parte del dueño, mientras que uno que requiere esfuerzo constante puede ser agotador y no proporcionar la misma recompensa.

¿Cuál fue el tiempo que Justin y su socio necesitaron para que su plataforma de podcasting generara ingresos suficientes?

Le tomó aproximadamente un año y medio a Justin y su socio para que su plataforma de podcasting generara ingresos suficientes para ambos tener un salario decente.

¿Qué consejo le dio el mentor de Justin Jackson sobre su tienda de retail que no funcionaba?

El mentor le aconsejó que si el negocio no funcionaba, era mejor dejarlo y moverse hacia adelante en lugar de invertir otros 3 años intentando hacer que funcione.

¿Qué tres principios clave menciona Justin Jackson para encontrar un negocio con un motor financiero saludable?

1) Deja ir los negocios que no funcionan, 2) Busca negocios con márgenes de beneficio saludables, y 3) Busca oportunidades donde no tengas que ser superhumano y estés en constante modo de esfuerzo.

¿Por qué es importante construir productos que la gente quiere y que ya están buscando, según Justin Jackson?

Porque si la gente ya está buscando o comprando productos similares, significa que hay una demanda latente y potencial, lo que hace que sea menos propenso a tener que buscar clientes activamente, ya que los clientes vienen a ti.

Outlines

00:00

🚗 Motor Financiero para Negocios

Justin Jackson enfatiza la importancia del motor financiero en un negocio, comparándolo con el motor de un vehículo que necesita constantemente mantenimiento. Explica que el ingreso de una empresa es el combustible, los costos son donde se consume parte del ingreso y lo que queda es el beneficio. Este beneficio es lo que impulsa el negocio y da la capacidad de mantener el negocio en marcha. Jackson comparte experiencias personales con negocios que tenían motores financieros débiles y sugiere que si un negocio no está dando los márgenes financieros necesarios para una buena vida, es hora de dejarlo atrás.

05:03

🏆 Negocios Sanos y Beneficios

En este párrafo, Justin discute cómo un negocio sano no debería ser un esfuerzo constante cada día. Comparte su experiencia con la empresa 'transistor.fm', una plataforma de alojamiento de podcasts, y cómo tomó aproximadamente un año y medio para que el negocio fuera rentable. Jackson sugiere que si después de un año o dos el negocio no está dando resultados y el dueño se siente agobiado por el esfuerzo constante, es momento de considerar un cambio. Aboga por la necesidad de dejar de lado los negocios con motores financieros débiles y buscar aquellos con márgenes de beneficio saludables.

10:04

🔍 Encontrar Negocios con Motor Financiero Sano

Justin proporciona consejos para encontrar negocios con motores financieros sanos. Primero, insta a dejar ir los negocios que no funcionan. Segundo, sugiere buscar negocios con márgenes de beneficio altos. Tercero, busca oportunidades donde no se necesite un esfuerzo constante y finalmente, insta a construir productos que la gente quiere y está buscando. Jackson enfatiza la importancia de que los clientes busquen activamente tus productos o servicios, lo que significa que no tendrás que gastar tanto esfuerzo buscando a los clientes.

Keywords

💡ingenio financiero

El 'ingenio financiero' es un término clave que se refiere al mecanismo que impulsa económicamente un negocio. En el vídeo, se menciona que el ingreso de una empresa actúa como combustible para este motor, mientras que los costos son donde se consume parte de ese combustible, dejando el beneficio como el resultado. El nivel de beneficio generado diariamente, semanalmente, mensualmente y anualmente determina el impulso que tiene el negocio. Este concepto es central en el vídeo, ya que se discute cómo un motor financiero sano puede proporcionar un estilo de vida mejor para los empresarios.

💡ingreso

El 'ingreso' es la fuente de financiamiento de un negocio y se menciona en el vídeo como el combustible del motor financiero. Es el dinero que entra a la empresa a través de ventas y servicios, y es esencial para mantener el negocio en funcionamiento. El vídeo enfatiza la importancia de tener un flujo de ingresos estables para asegurar que el motor financiero de un negocio funcione correctamente.

💡costos

Los 'costos' son mencionados en el vídeo como los gastos que una empresa tiene que cubrir para operar, como el personal, suministros y otros gastos generales. Estos costos 'queman' el ingreso, y el balance entre ingresos y costos determina el nivel de beneficios que una empresa puede generar. El vídeo sugiere que un motor financiero eficiente manejará estos costos de manera efectiva para maximizar los beneficios.

💡beneficio

El 'beneficio' es el resultado que queda después de que los ingresos de una empresa cubren sus costos. En el vídeo, se argumenta que el nivel de beneficio es un indicador de la salud financiera de un negocio y proporciona el 'poder' para impulsar el negocio hacia adelante. Un alto nivel de beneficio también indica un mayor margen para los errores y la capacidad de proporcionar un mejor estilo de vida para los dueños de la empresa.

💡momentum

El 'momentum' se refiere a la cantidad de impulso o movimiento que tiene un negocio. En el vídeo, se sugiere que el nivel de beneficio generado por un negocio determina cuánto 'momentum' puede tener, es decir, cuán lejos puede llegar o cuán rápido puede crecer. Un motor financiero fuerte proporciona un mayor momentum para el crecimiento y el éxito del negocio.

💡anxiedad

La 'ansiedad' se menciona en el vídeo para describir la sensación de estrés y preocupación que sienten los empresarios cuando su motor financiero no funciona adecuadamente. Se compara con la experiencia de conducir un vehículo con un motor defectuoso que requiere constante atención y mantenimiento, ilustrando la presión y el agotamiento que pueden sentir los empresarios.

💡margen financiero

El 'margen financiero' se refiere al espacio financiero que tiene una empresa para manejar sus finanzas y operaciones. En el vídeo, se argumenta que un negocio con un motor financiero débil no proporciona el margen financiero necesario para que los empresarios vivan una vida buena. Un margen financiero saludable permite a los empresarios pagarse bien, distribuir dividendos y disfrutar de tiempo libre.

💡rendimiento

El 'rendimiento' es el nivel de éxito o ganancia que una empresa obtiene. En el vídeo, se sugiere que un motor financiero fuerte debe ser capaz de producir rendimientos consistentes y confiables para el dueño de la empresa. Un rendimiento bajo o inestable indica que el motor financiero del negocio no está funcionando adecuadamente y puede ser una señal de que el negocio no es sostenible a largo plazo.

💡movimiento local

El 'movimiento local' se menciona en el vídeo como un esfuerzo para impulsar las ventas en una tienda minorista que estaba teniendo dificultades financieras. Se trata de un esfuerzo por parte de los empresarios para crear una comunidad y fidelidad entre los consumidores locales, lo que ilustra la necesidad de innovar y adaptarse cuando el motor financiero de un negocio no está funcionando bien.

💡mercado

El 'mercado' se refiere al lugar donde los productos o servicios son intercambiados o vendidos. En el vídeo, se sugiere que los empresarios deberían buscar oportunidades de negocio donde hay una demanda fuerte en el mercado, lo que significa que hay personas buscando y dispuestas a pagar por los productos o servicios que están ofreciendo. Un mercado sólido puede ayudar a garantizar un motor financiero más saludable para el negocio.

Highlights

The importance of a well-functioning financial engine for a business

The analogy of a business's financial engine to a car engine that requires constant maintenance

The definition of a financial engine for a business involving revenue, costs, and profit

The significance of profit as the driving force and momentum for a business

The struggle of running a business with an insufficient financial engine

The personal experience of running a retail store with a weak financial engine

The anxiety and effort required to keep a struggling business afloat

The realization that a calm business requires a strong financial engine

The difficulty of recognizing and admitting a weak financial engine in one's own business

Advice on leaving behind a business with a weak financial engine

The experience of building a software company with a healthy financial engine

The timeline for expecting a business's financial engine to start producing sufficient revenue

The need to move on from a business that isn't providing a good life after three years of effort

The concept of a business that should pay back the entrepreneur for their risk and effort

The first principle of letting go of businesses that aren't working

The importance of looking for businesses with healthy profit margins

The idea of finding business opportunities that don't require constant effort

Encouragement to build things that people want and are already searching for

Invitation to share thoughts or stories about having a strong financial engine in business

The call to action to sign up for Justin Jackson's newsletter

Transcripts

Justin Jackson: I think if we're pursuing a calm business, we

can't have businesses that have a financial engine that just

isn't working well. You're just in your business and you're

cranking and cranking and cranking. And eventually, you

can get it going, but then the next day you have to wake up and

you have to crank that engine again. And the next day you have

to wake up and crank that engine again. In the past few months,

I've been thinking a lot about the financial engine that drives

a business and how important it is, especially for entrepreneurs

who are starting a small business to give themselves a

better life.

Narrator: The mortgage on his house is on its way to being

paid. And someday, it undoubtedly will be.

Justin Jackson: Let me start off by defining what a financial

engine for a business is. So your business has revenue.

That's the fuel for your engine. Your business also has costs

where some of that revenue gets burned up. And what's left over

is profit.

And in business, profit provides the power. The amount of profit

you're producing every day, week, month, and year determines

how much momentum your business has. How far is your business

going to carry you? And there are so many examples I can think

of when I've started a business or my friends have started a

business, and the financial engine of that business hasn't

been sufficient. It's kind of like in college, I bought this

old minivan, but this minivan's engine was not in good shape.

It needed constant oil. You had to fill it up with oil almost

every day. You it was also leaking antifreeze. It would

often need a boost, especially if it was too cold out. Many

times I drove it to school in the Canadian winter and then had

to get a tow truck to come and boost me just so I could get it

back home.

And I think that feeling of anxiety and running around and

trying to keep things running and, you know, trying to keep

enough oil in the tank and trying to just keep an engine

that's not very healthy running is so similar to running a small

business where the financial engine of the company is just

not running well. I had a similar experience when I

started this retail store, this skateboard, snowboard shop,

especially near the end when we were starting to get frantic. We

were realizing there wasn't enough revenue coming in the

door, and so we just started adding all sorts of things on

top of the business flailing, trying to keep the business

afloat. We we built a skateboard ramp inside the store and tried

to get people to pay to ride the ramp. We tried to get into

product distribution.

So we became a not only a retail store, but a distributor. We

tried to start making our own clothing. We brought in all

sorts of new brands that we thought might, you know,

generate more sales. We started a magazine. We tried to start

creating strategic partnerships with other local businesses.

We created this whole shop local movement. We started running

skateboard contests. It was just like thing after thing, and it

felt very similar to me trying to keep that old vehicle engine

running, you know, filling it up with oil and antifreeze and

boosting it. And it the the feeling of flailing and

thrashing and trying to keep this thing going was so similar.

I think if we're pursuing a calm business, we can't have

businesses that have a financial engine that just isn't working

well.

And I think the most difficult part of this as a business owner

is recognizing when your financial engine is not working

well, and then admitting it. I think the best advice I can give

you is if your business has a weak financial engine, it's not

giving you the financial margin that you need to have a good

life, then it's time to leave that business behind. And

there's no shame in moving on from a business with a weak

financial engine. There's no shame in that. And once your

financial engine is running, it should feel like a money

machine.

It should feel like the engine is consistently and reliably

producing profits for the owner. Not that it should always feel

easy, but I believe a healthy business doesn't feel like a

grind every day. And if you're coming home every day and you're

just wasted from having to crank this engine and keep it going

and keep all the plates in the air and keep all the employees

paid and do all the things, and you're not getting a

commensurate amount of benefit back, like you're not paying

yourself very well, you're not getting profit distributions,

you're not able to take lots of time off, It might be time to

look at a different business. For example, in the current

business I'm running, transistor.fm, which is a

podcast hosting platform, so a software company, my partner and

I, John, it took us about a year and a half of cranking that

engine before it was producing enough revenue for us to both

have a pretty good salary. And even then, that in retrospect,

that happened pretty quickly.

You know? It's a year from from launch to to full time. But at

the time, we we were struggling. Like, the we were cranking that

engine just like when's this thing gonna start running?

Because we were tired and getting burnt out.

And but I think we've learned enough by that point that if if

we had not gotten to 30, 40 k in MRR by, you know, a year or 2

after launch, I think we would have ejected pretty quick and

and switched to something else. A year and a half, 2 years. I'm

not sure about 3 years, but 1 to 3 years, we'll say. 3 years max

is a reasonable amount of time for you to be cranking that

engine, working hard, grinding all of the things that we equate

to entrepreneurship. But if it's been longer than let's say 3

years, but even 3 years is a little bit too long.

If it's been longer than 3 years, and you still go to work

every day, and you still feel like you're cranking this

engine, trying to get the engine going, trying to get some money

out of this machine, and it's still not working, and your

bills are stacking up, and your credit cards are maxed out, and

you have a line of credit, and you're distressed about money

all the time, it's time to move on. There are small independent

businesses you can start that have a healthy financial engine,

that produce healthy profit margins, that don't require

just, superhuman effort every single day to make them work.

Eventually, your business should pay you back for all of that

risk and effort and investment that you put into it. And my

worry for so many entrepreneurs is that they're investing all of

this time and energy and money, and the business isn't paying

them back anything because the financial engine of that

business is just never going to work. So the natural question

is, how do I find a business with a healthy financial engine?

Now it's not easy. If it was easy, everybody would be doing

it. I think the first key, the first principle is you have to

be willing to let go of businesses that aren't working.

The best thing I did when I owned my retail shop and I and

it wasn't working is I went to a mentor, and I was stressed that,

you know, bills everywhere. We had just been audited.

Our our bank loan is coming due. All of our suppliers are over

here. We've got employees that need to be paid, and everything

seems to be falling apart, and we've been cranking on this

forever. And my mentor said, listen. This business isn't

working, and you've just gotta move on.

Don't spend another 3 years trying to make this work. It's

just not going to work. It's time to move on. And we had

given it a good effort, and that was the best advice he could

have given me at that point. So first principle, move on from

bad business ideas.

Number 2, look for businesses with healthy profit margins. So

if your profit margin is 10%, that's also your margin for

error. Meaning, you order the wrong thing, you overpay a

supplier, you have an unexpected expense, your margin for error

is in that 10%. But if your margins are 30% or 50% or in the

software business, you get margins in the 80 to 90%, you

have a higher margin for error as well. So if something

unexpected happens, but your margins are 70%, well, it's a

lot easier to still make a profit.

And this profit margin is also the margin that's going to give

you a better life. Out of that profit margin, you're gonna be

able to pay yourself really well. You gonna be able to give

yourself dividends. You're gonna be able to hire people and take

time off. So if you can, look for businesses, industries,

categories where there's the potential for high profit

margins.

Number 3, look for business opportunities where you don't

need to be a superhuman, where you don't need to be on all the

time, where you don't need to be in constant hustle mode. I think

all of us business owners can identify with this feeling of,

you know, I'm just going to make this happen with my own sweat

and effort and energy. I'm going to lift up this business and

make it work. I'm gonna dig deep. I'm gonna work extra

hours.

I'm gonna do whatever it takes. And, again, you need some of

that energy at the beginning of any enterprise, but it's

seductive. Once you get on that hamster wheel, once you get in

the habit of cranking that engine just to make it run,

you're never going to find the margin you need to have a good

life. So you need to look for opportunities where, yes, it

might take some energy to get it going. But once it's going, it's

like a flywheel where you crank it, and the energy from you

cranking it produces its own momentum, and the business can

run without your constant effort and presence.

You want a business where you can step away and take a

vacation. Step away and have evenings and weekends. Step away

and still be making money while you sleep or while you're away

from the business. And then 4th, I would really encourage you to

think about building things that people want and are already

searching for. It's gonna take some work at the beginning.

But most, I think most of any entrepreneurial success has to

do with the market. It's the market you choose. And when I

say market, I mean, how many people are out there in the

world searching for this right now? How many people are out in

the world buying this right now or something similar? How much

pent up demand or how much latent demand is there for this

thing?

Instead of always trying to push your products and services on

customers, and you're just always trying to promote

yourself and push, you want a situation where customers are

coming to you, where customers are already actively searching

for a solution. They're already actively paying for a solution,

and they need either an alternative or something better.

They're already in motion. And that's gonna mean you won't have

to spend as much energy going out and trying to find

customers. Instead, the customers are coming to you.

They're showing up at your door. If this, video resonated with

you, this idea of having a strong financial engine, I'd

love to hear your thoughts or your story in the comments

below. Thanks. Thanks for watching that video. If you do

one thing for me, I'd love for you to go sign up for my

newsletter, justinjackson.ca/newsletter.