There’s an old saying “Good, fast, and cheap – pick any two.”
Do you know it? Have you ever experienced it? I have one more for you, and it can help you grow a hobby into something more or a business into an even bigger one:
Money, time, and talent – you need any two.
Sure, we prefer our clients have all three. It’s how we’ve helped owner-operated companies across the US and Canada grow not only by percentages, but some by multiples.
But, if you’ve got two… you can grow most anything…
As a favor to an old friend, I had lunch yesterday with a wife-and-husband team starting a business. Usually, picking my brain costs far more than lunch, but I enjoyed my time with them.
They have everything they need to be successful except a financial marketing budget.
They’re good enough to succeed. They have the talent.
They’re starting up. They have the time.
If you can give me two, I can help you negate the limiting factor of the third.
Even without a large marketing budget of cash, they can invest their time and talent into growing their customer base. After listening to them for 45 minutes, I was able to give them a strategy that they could execute using the assets they already have.
You can do the same.
Do you have time and talent but no money?
The price you’ll pay—in lieu of cash—is sweat and brainpower. Beware the social media magic bean sellers who promise somethings for nothings. You can grow without money, but it takes time and talent. Grow your platform (the number of people who know you and know of you). Build your credibility. Learn about content marketing and how to do it well. Share your expertise and offer free samples of your product or service. Speak to groups about the problems they have and how you help solve them. Get the little things right.
Do you have money and talent but no time?
Invest in people – real or virtual – to give you margin. Make sure you identify your specific talents and hire people to do all the other stuff for you. Free up your bandwidth to play to your strengths. Also, figure out if and how your talents scale… can you automate or find the right people to whom you can outsource even that?
Do you have money and time but no talent?
First, get down on your knees and give thanks. Then, if it moves you, become an expert. Take classes. Attend conferences. Find the experts and hire them to teach you. Or become an angel investor for people with talent and time but no money.
As we left our lunch yesterday, I felt a tremendous sense of satisfaction knowing they could swing the hammer. It’ll be fun to watch them grow.
Let us know if we can help you do the same.
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