If I Started a Business Again Today, I'd Do This

Summary

This video introduces a new series on building a 'feel-good business,' emphasizing personal fulfillment, meaningful work, and a positive customer impact. The host outlines the philosophy, contrasts it with traditional and startup business models, and shares a five-step framework for creating a lifestyle-oriented business. They also discuss common mistakes to avoid, like ignoring market validation and scaling too quickly, while promoting a balance between work and personal life for sustainable growth.

Takeaways

• 📘 The video introduces a series called 'Business Class' aimed at sharing insights on building a profitable yet stress-free business known as the 'feel-good business model'.
• 🛠 The 'feel-good business' is defined by its focus on personal fulfillment, meaningful work, and a positive impact, alongside financial success and a balanced lifestyle.
• 📋 The 'Feel Good Business Charter' outlines principles for creating a business that prioritizes enjoyment, autonomy, diversity in clientele, slow growth, small team size, profitability, flexibility, and meaningful work.
• 🔑 The difference between traditional businesses, high-growth startups, and feel-good businesses is highlighted, with the latter emphasizing fun, freedom, flexibility, and lifestyle over rapid growth and high capital requirements.
• 💡 The speaker emphasizes the importance of market validation and aligning business ideas with personal passions to create a sustainable feel-good business.
• 🚀 A five-step framework is presented for building a feel-good business, starting with identifying a skill and passion, choosing a business model, creating a minimum viable product, scaling sustainably, and re-evaluating and pivoting as necessary.
• 💼 Shopify is mentioned as a valuable resource for starting and scaling businesses, offering tools and platforms to make e-commerce accessible without extensive technical knowledge.
• 🔄 The video discusses common mistakes made in building feel-good businesses, such as ignoring market validation, scaling too fast, and neglecting work-life balance.
• 💡 The importance of periodically re-evaluating business direction is stressed to ensure alignment with the owner's lifestyle goals and passions, even if it means reducing profits for a better quality of life.
• 🤝 The video concludes by inviting viewers to share their thoughts on the series and what they would like to learn more about regarding the feel-good business model.
• 🌐 A call to action is made for viewers interested in the tools used to grow the speaker's business, directing them to another video for an in-depth look at specific apps and strategies.

Q & A

What is the main theme of the 'Business Class' series?

The main theme of the 'Business Class' series is to share insights on building, growing, and scaling a profitable business that is relatively stress-free and provides a lifestyle that the owner enjoys, which the speaker refers to as the 'feel-good business model'.

What are the three parts of the video content as outlined in the script?

The three parts of the video content include: 1) Discussing the differences between traditional business, high growth startup, and the feel-good business model. 2) Presenting a high-level five-step framework for building a feel-good business. 3) Sharing common mistakes made in the journey of building feel-good businesses.

What is the 'feel good business charter version 0.1'?

The 'feel good business charter version 0.1' is a set of principles that the speaker and his team are trying to follow in growing a feel-good business. It includes prioritizing personal fulfillment, meaningful work, and a positive impact on customers, team members, and the audience, among other principles.

What are the key differences between a traditional business and a high growth startup according to the script?

A traditional business has a steady and moderate growth orientation, focuses on profit with sub-20 margins, and has a formal and hierarchical structure. A high growth startup, on the other hand, aims for rapid and exponential growth, often requires high capital investment, and is known for poor work-life balance and a flexible organizational structure.

What are the main characteristics of the feel-good business model?

The feel-good business model prioritizes fun, freedom, flexibility, and lifestyle of the owner and team. It often has high profit margins beyond 40%, requires little to no capital, and emphasizes work-life balance with a small and manageable team size.

How does the speaker describe the process of building a feel-good business?

The speaker describes a five-step process: 1) Identifying a skill you're passionate about and market validating the idea. 2) Choosing a business model and generating leads. 3) Building a minimum viable product to get feedback. 4) Scaling sustainably and optimizing for balance. 5) Periodically re-evaluating and pivoting the business.

What is the role of Shopify in the speaker's business journey?

Shopify is mentioned as a resource for starting and scaling a business, providing tools for creating an online presence, selling online and in-person, and across social platforms. The speaker uses Shopify for their stationary brand and for selling online courses.

Why did the speaker decide to pivot away from running live cohort courses?

The speaker decided to pivot away from running live cohort courses because they realized it was not aligned with their ultimate goal of building a feel-good business. Despite the courses' success, the speaker wanted to focus on work that brings joy and aligns with their lifestyle priorities.

What are some common mistakes made when building a feel-good business, as mentioned in the script?

Some common mistakes include ignoring market validation, trying to scale too fast too soon, and forgetting about work-life balance. These mistakes can lead to stress and detract from the enjoyment and lifestyle that a feel-good business aims to provide.

What is the importance of re-evaluating and pivoting in the context of a feel-good business?

Re-evaluating and pivoting are important to ensure that the business continues to align with the owner's lifestyle goals and passions. It helps to avoid burnout and maintain the 'feel-good' aspect of the business by making necessary adjustments based on changing circumstances and personal preferences.

How does the speaker suggest finding a balance between work and personal life in a feel-good business?

The speaker suggests setting rules for oneself, such as not working on weekends after a certain point, and making time for health, relationships, friends, family, hobbies, and joy. This approach helps to maintain the balance that is a key aspect of the feel-good business model.