- Everyone wants to be on the top of the step
but they don't wanna do the work to get there.
And this really annoys me, you know.
You just need to make a start.
You need to get things over the line.
Don't look for perfection on day one
'cause it ain't ever gonna happen.
It just doesn't happen.
Hey guys, in this video I'm gonna tell you
all the things that you don't need
when you start a business.
They're the things that you think you need
but I guarantee you don't need them.
And I'm gonna back it up with facts
evidence, and real life stories of my business life journey.
Today I, on a Facebook message
I think it was maybe even a linky dink
I got a message from someone
that's finishing their business
and they've put down a list
of all the things that they think should have done
for their business to stay in business.
There was one or two things I absolutely
wholeheartedly agree with and I'm gonna share them with you.
Most of the cases I complete disagree with them.
One of their points was "our website wasn't good enough".
I've built businesses that have turned over
half a million pounds in their first year
and we didn't have a bloody website.
Don't think you need some great website
to get your business going.
Now look, don't get me wrong!
I think a website is hugely important in 2019, 2020
to have for your business, but it isn't the thing
that's the biggest driver of your business
because here's the crucial point that people forget.
They spend thousands of pounds on a website
but then they don't drive any traffic to it
so no one's seeing the bloody thing.
Hey, if I was sending products
I wouldn't be thinking about a website first
I'd be thinking about how to get it on Amazon
how to get it on Shopify, how to get it on eBay.
Because I would want to leverage off of
Facebook's already got eyeballs on there
and set it on Facebook Marketplace, for example
because they've already got the traffic.
So traffic comes before the website.
You gotta think about how you're gonna
get the eyeballs on your website.
I mean, gone are the days when you can just shove something
on t'internet and everyone's gonna see it.
Your real plan is how do we get people to see what
we're putting on the internet.
So this is the big thing that I think
startups and established businesses have.
They think that if they've got the best website
they're all of a sudden gonna get loads of customers.
Wrong, wrong, wrong, I've learned it the hard way.
Next thing is branding, they'd just say
"Oh, I don't think our brand looked good enough."
Oh come on, have a day off, please!
I started my Jimbo The Partyman brand,
which I was a kids' entertainer, no brand
no brand, full booked within 12 months
because I done a good product
and I promoted that product using PR, back in the day
newspapers, being on radio shows, going to schools.
I went out and I got customers.
This is the difference, guys.
It's not some fancy brand.
I mean yes, I also agree, like website and great
but I love branding, guys I mean it's all around me.
I get heavily involved in all our branding.
Yeah I really like it, but not at the actual detriment
to the core message of actually
getting customers for the business.
Yes, you don't need the best branding
in the world when you start off.
You don't even need a website
when you start off because there's
you could have a mini website called Facebook
where you can actually get eyeballs
seeing your stuff for free, for example.
People go "Oh, our CRM, we couldn't invest
"in the best software or have unique-made software".
Come on, guys, there's free software
that you can literally pull off the shelves right now.
You know, you can get MailChimp
Excel is a great way of starting off.
I mean, yes, obviously it's not convenient
it's more time that goes into it
and it's a botch job.
But, here's the thing that I always
look for in our business, I'm like
"Guys, let's just make a start
"and then continuously improve".
Best location, here's another thing that people say.
"Oh, we didn't have the best locations".
Yeah, don't get me wrong, if you've got the best locations
where people are gonna see you
that's obviously gonna help.
But hey, my first business, we started
in an industrial estate where no one knew where it was.
So we went out there and got customers
and told people about it
'cause we couldn't afford the great locations.
But it's about steps in business, you know
everyone wants to be on the top of the step
but they don't wanna do the work to get there.
And this really annoys me, you know.
Yeah, you want the best branding, brilliant!
But actually if you've got some customers
and you've got some cash flow then you can invest
some of that cash in to get the best branding
to get your ideal customers.
And this is the thing, gang, this is the thing.
This is gonna wrap up what I really wanna talk about.
Everyone wants their ideal scenario
their ideal customers, their ideal website
their ideal branding, their ideal CRM
their ideal staff, their ideal locations from the off
and it just don't happen, gang.
It just doesn't happen.
You need to look for what can you do at ease, you know
what's the stuff that you can do easy
build up some experience.
Disney's most customers are people that
consume their content, Google's most customers
are the people that search on Google for free.
But because they've got tons and tons of most customers
what that allows them to do, which is actually
their marketing, it's their entry-level stuff
Google Search and Disney content
i.e films, TV shows, is marketing that's allowing them
to shop for their ideal customers.
And now, here's the great thing, guys
the SME can do that too.
You can write books easier than
you ever thought possible now
you can make podcasts, you can do stuff like I'm doing
put out great content.
We've got Partyman TV, it's our YouTube channel
for our play centers which is just great, fun content
for kids so that people can start immersing themselves
for free into our brand and then they're gonna
come to our sites and pay us some money
which is more of an ideal customer
then go to our nurseries which is
even more of an ideal customer.
And that's the process that you need to go through, guys.
You just need to make a start
you need to get things over the line.
Don't look for perfection on day one
'cause it ain't ever gonna happen.
Let me tell you a little fact about this
when Disney World, who is probably
the perfection of perfection companies now
that's 100 years old, but when they started
and opened the first Disney World
people were walking in, the tarmac wasn't dry
people's bloody shoes were in the ground
and they couldn't get them out
they were stuck to the ground, the queues were all full
people complained about the food.
But they made a start
and when you make a start, perfection happens.
So don't think you need websites
don't think you need the best branding
don't think you need the best locations or the best team
or the biggest and the best when you start.
Because you don't, you need to make a start
and you need to focus more on getting customers
than operations because if you get customers
you're gonna stay in business.
And with that, I'm gonna round it up.
Let me know in the comments what you think
'cause I wanna have a little war on this.
'Cause I'm sure there's gonna be some people going
"Well, James, I completely disagree
"you need a website when you start".
I don't think you do, I think a website's great
I think branding is great
I think having a best CRM is great
I think having the best locations is great.
I think all those things are great
but I don't think you need them to start, I didn't.
See you real soon, bye-bye.
Thanks for watching the video, really hope you enjoyed it
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