Hey! This is Misty Kortes, and I want to “officially” welcome you to my world!
Are you a new startup entrepreneur (or one in the making)? You are in the right place, my friend!
Since this is my very first podcast, I thought I would start from the beginning. How to start a business from scratch (in just 5 hours).
You might think it’s crazy.
Unrealistic.
Maybe even a marketing scam to get you to click or listen in – but I assure you it’s not.
I (actually) did it myself. I started a business in just 5 hours with a $20 Staples Coupon and a 30-Day free Wix trial and built a five-figure business in just six short weeks – starting from scratch and zero experience!
Not sure how that’s possible? Well, you are in for a real treat, my friend!
In this episode, I’ll share the exact steps I took to launch my business in just 5 hours – and how you can too!
Here’s a snapshot of this episode:
- [ 2:18 ] – How I Started a Business in Just 5 Hours with a $20 Staples Coupon and a 30-Day Free Wix Trial
- [10:56] – STEP 1: Start With The End In Mind
- [11:13] – STEP 2: Identify Your Perfect Ideal Customer
- [12:36] – STEP 3: Find Your Perfect Ideal Customer
- [13:40] – STEP 4: Offer Something For Free to Capture your Perfect Ideal Customer
- [15:21] – STEP 5: Start Marketing Your Free Resource to Capture Leads
- [16:44] – STEP 6: Start Selling!
Links mentioned in this episode:
READ THE FULL ARTICLE
Hey! This is Misty Kortes, and I want to “officially” welcome you to my world!
Since this is my very first podcast, I thought I would start from the beginning. How to start a business from scratch (in just 5 hours).
You might think it’s crazy.
Unrealistic.
Maybe even a marketing scam to get you to click or listen in – but I assure you it’s not.
I (actually) did it myself. I started a business in just 5 hours with a $20 Staples Coupon and a 30-Day free Wix trial and built a five-figure business in just six short weeks – starting from scratch and zero experience!
Not sure how that’s possible? Well, you are in for a real treat, my friend!
In this episode, I’ll share the exact steps I took to launch my business in just 5 hours – and how you can too!
[START PODCAST]
Hey there! If you are a brand new startup entrepreneur (or have been thinking about becoming one), you are in for a real treat.
In this episode, I will share the (6) steps to starting a business from scratch to help you focus on the most important things to help you capture leads and start generating revenue as quickly as possible.
But. before I dive in, I want to let you know that I have a free resource I’ve created for you. Go to www.yourmarketingcoachonline.com/1 to grab a copy of my Startup Blueprint, a guide to help you get clear on what it takes to start your business and create the fastest path to cash. You can grab it right in the show notes.
Ok, let me share some background about how I started a business – from idea to first sales call in just 5 hours with no money (just a $20 Staples coupon and a free 30-day Wix trial). Oh, and NO EXPERIENCE!
It was October 2012, and I had hit an all-time low, earning only $600 in income that month.
I moved my family from Michigan to Phoenix, Arizona, just two years prior (spending every dime we had to get there).
For (4) years, we struggled financially as a family.
The economy was just starting to see signs of recovery, but I didn’t know how much longer we could hang on.
I’ve been an entrepreneur my entire life. It’s who I am. It’s what I know.
At this point, I was willing to do ANYTHING to support my family. I applied for a seasonal job at Target just to make ends meet through the holiday.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with working retail, but I was 37 years old with a hubby, 4 kids, 2 dogs, and overdue rent. Target wasn’t going to cut it long-term.
I prayed to God that if this were His calling for my life, I’d do it, but I really didn’t want to.
I remember sitting in the Target lobby, watching several teenagers walk out the door phoning their friends and family (excitedly), sharing that they had gotten the job.
Then it was my turn.
The manager called me in, and before I could sit down, she said the most horrifying words I could have heard at that moment. She said, “I’m sorry, but it doesn’t appear that this will be a good fit.”
I ran from her office before I burst into tears. I got to my car just in time to sob like a 2-year-old who thinks it’s the end of the world. And I thought (just for a brief moment that it just might be).
I had a 15-minute drive home and sobbed the entire way. By the time I pulled into the driveway, my fear had turned into determination. To be quite frank – I was PISSED!
I was furious that I had moved my family over 2000 miles away from everyone we know and love. I thought it was “God’s calling” at that time in my life. And at that moment, I was thinking, “You moved us here to throw us in the streets?”. I was devastated, defeated, and embarrassed.
After I stopped sobbing, I walked in the front door and turned to my right to see my oldest daughter opening up a new camera she had just got for a photography class that she was starting in college.
I looked at the camera. I looked at her and said, “grab your camera – we’re starting a photography business!”.
SIDENOTE: My daughter knows I’m (typically) wired to be an over-the-top positive person – I hate naysayers.
So, she slowly said, “Mom, I don’t want to be negative, but neither one of us know how to use a camera.”
I responded, “I don’t care, we will figure it out – we need to make some money and FAST!”.
I spent the next 5-hours creating a simple logo, signed up for a 30-day free Wix trial to build a 1-page basic website (which I had never done before, BTW), and I designed a simple business card and ordered the prints online with a $20 Staples coupon that I had.
…and I was IN BUSINESS and ready to make my first sales call!
I stopped by Staples to grab my business cards and headed to an apartment building just down the street from my house to talk to the on-site manager.
I thought there were roughly 400 families that lived in the complex. Most love to send family photos to loved ones at Christmas. We were going to provide them with their photos!
I walked into the front office and found the manager. I explained that my daughter and I were new to Arizona, and we had a new photography business (I left out the fact that we had just come up with the business idea just 5-hours earlier).
I shared that we were looking to get exposure for our business and that we were wondering if she would allow us to come on-site, set up a “photo studio” (which was essentially us rearranging their furniture in their front lobby). We would provide all of her residents a free 8×10 family portrait that would be perfect for the holidays.
I told her we’d let the residents know she was offering this as a “resident appreciation” gift.
She said, “WOW! You’d be willing to do that?”.
“Yep!”. I then mentioned that if the families liked their portraits, they would be allowed to order more (for a fee, of course).
She agreed, and we booked our first photoshoot!
I walked out on cloud 9! I got to my car and realized that I wasn’t in a position to waste time or money, so I walked back in and asked her if they had other properties that they owned that might also be interested.
She immediately called and booked 26 additional photoshoots over the next several weeks, leading to Christmas.
I was ECSTATIC, to say the least!
But I still wasn’t in the clear. I had to call my mother-in-law to see if I could use her credit card to purchase the free photos, and we still had to learn how to use that camera!
The next several weeks were a whirlwind of excitement and frustration.
By the time the first photoshoot came around, my daughter was the only one with minimal knowledge of how to use the camera.
On top of that, she has an extremely rare auto-immune disease that she battles with that makes it impossible for her to stand too long, bend her knees, or even stretch her body at all.
So, here we are in our photo shoot, my oldest son distracting the families by showing them how to pose while I get a quick rundown from my daughter on how to use the camera in between shots!
We didn’t want anyone to notice that I didn’t know how to use the camera, so it was the perfect setup.
Ultimately, we generated over $13,000 in total gross revenue – not bad for less than a 60-day business (that started in 5-hours).
It was a complete BLESSING. I could catch up on our rent, pay overdue bills, get a few things for the kids for Christmas, and have a little extra as we headed into the New Year.
A couple of crucial lessons that I took away from this business venture were:
- I am (definitely) not a photographer! There’s a skill there that I simply do not have.
- And I was reminded that I am really good at marketing and sales, which gave me the courage to start Your Marketing Coach in January 2013. A full-service marketing agency I still run today that’s helped over 3,000 entrepreneurs (and counting) and allowed me to live the life of my dreams while helping others pursue theirs!
Whew! That’s quite the story, I know!
As I shared my story, I hope that you, too, are inspired to take action on your business idea.
And if doing it quickly appeals to you, here are the exact steps I’d recommend you can take to start your own business from scratch as well.
STEP 1: Start With The End In Mind.
What is the outcome (or result) that you are going to provide to your Perfect Ideal Customer?
In the example of starting our Photography business, we were looking to provide our customers with family portraits they could cherish forever.
STEP 2: Identify Your Perfect Ideal Customer.
Here, you want to identify who is the person that is most likely to buy from you. We call them Your Perfect Ideal Customer.
In my Startup Blueprint, I provide you with a worksheet that you can use to drill down on who your Perfect Ideal Customer is, what challenges they are struggling with, and where you can find them. Don’t forget you can grab it at www.yourmarketingcoachonline.com/1. All you have to do is click the link at the bottom of the show notes.
In our Photography business, we could have targeted “anyone with a family,” but we didn’t. We choose the Perfect Ideal Customer that could lead us to the most opportunities in the fastest time. For our business, that was a young couple that was just starting a family (with 1 – 2 young children), renting an apartment in our local community.
Keep in mind that the Perfect Ideal Customer you choose to start with may change over time. Don’t get too caught up in “all” the opportunities. Choose the one that you can get the fastest results with right away.
As your business progresses, you will likely change and/or add additional Perfect Ideal Customers.
STEP 3: Find Your Perfect Ideal Customer
Now. the Startup Blueprint will help you identify where you can find your Perfect Ideal Customer online. But, I would also suggest that you think about opportunities that may exist offline as well (if it makes sense for your business).
Think about, and jot down where you think your perfect customer is hanging out both online and offline. You’re looking for the easiest opportunity you can take advantage of immediately.
We choose an offline strategy of working with the apartment manager for our photography business. The apartment manager already had credibility with their tenants, so we didn’t have to spend any time nurturing a relationship. The tenants immediately trusted us because we were offering a tenant appreciation gift on behalf of the manager.
This leads me perfectly into…
STEP 4: Offer Something For Free to Capture your Perfect Ideal Customer
Giving away something for free in exchange for your Perfect Ideal Customers’ contact information is the fastest (and easiest) way to grow your leads list.
The free gift you give away is often referred to as a lead magnet.
With our photography business, we gave away a free 8×10 family portrait, but you could also provide:
- A downloadable worksheet, workbook, checklist
- A training video
- Access to an online membership
The key here is that you offer something that your Perfect Ideal Customer will find helpful, valuable, and/or useful. And the resource should be the perfect resource to lead your Perfect Ideal Customer into making a purchase with you.
The 8×10 family portrait was a perfect giveaway that made our Perfect Ideal Customer want more portraits.
One of our free resources (aka lead magnets) that we offer n my marketing agency (Your Marketing Coach) is a free website audit for businesses who know they need to update their website (as another example).
Remember, make sure your resource is helpful, valuable, and/or useful.
STEP 5: Start Marketing Your Free Resource to Capture Leads
Now, it’s time to put your new business before your Perfect Ideal Customer and offer them your free resource.
This step is kind of like fishing.
A fisherman puts bait on their hook, casts the line into the water, and waits for the right fish to swim by and bite.
The right fish are the fish who like that bait and are hungry.
That’s exactly what you need to do!
The bait is your free resource.
The water(s) you cast your line into will depend on where your Perfect Ideal Customer is hanging out. They could be hanging out on:
- In Specific Online Groups
- In Offline Groups
- At Events
You need to figure out where they are hanging out and cast your line.
The last point I want to make is that not everyone will bite on your bait.
You are looking to capture those that find your free resource helpful, valuable, and/or useful (in other words, they are hungry).
STEP 6: Start Selling!
By now, you’ve started capturing your Perfect Ideal Customer, and you’ve delivered your free resource. The time has come to start selling your products/services.
Keep things simple. Pick up the phone and call those people who are on your list. Simply state something like, “you recently requested my [free resource], so I was reaching out to see if there’s anything I can do to help you with [the problem you solve with your products/services].
In Conclusion
And that’s it! The (6) steps to starting your business from scratch.
Some of you may be wondering, what about my website? Don’t I need that before I start my business? And the answer is – maybe.
For our Photography business, we needed a simple website so that we had a place to display the portraits so that customers could choose which ones they wanted to purchase.
For many businesses, you don’t need a website right away. You can actually launch your business with a simple lead generation funnel.
I don’t have time to dive into that topic today. Next week, I’ll share “(8) Strategies to Capture Leads Without a Website”.
If you like what you heard today and you’re excited about receiving free marketing advice each week through this podcast, be sure to join my private Facebook Group, where you’ll be notified as soon as a new episode drops each week. Plus, you get to hang out online with some Extraordinary Entrepreneurs.
Just search Shop Talk with Misty Kortes and request to join.
And with that, this concludes Episode 1. Thank you so much for listening in! I can’t wait to see you next week!
