Business
The Business Over Beer podcast welcomes back Iggy Odighizuwa, Chief of Operations at Systems-By-Design, and Head Transformation Coach at Tri-180 Coaching. 2020 challenged, and clarified, Iggy's mission and values. Iggy hired a coach to help him grow his business, which did not help him produce the results he needed. So, he developed his own client acquisition system which was so successful, that the coach he had hired licensed it from him so the coach could use it with his own clients. Iggy shares the story of how that coach then sued Iggy for the ownership rights to the program, which he was able to successfully defend in court, and ultimately led to the launch of his new business, Systems-By-Design. In this episode, we learn that small business success comes from perseverance and fortitude, following your core values, and taking advantage of opportunities as they come up, even if the timing doesn't fit into your overall plan. Prost! The 2 cornerstones of an Entrepreneur Mindset Small Business Ownership can be very overwhelming, especially early on. You have to wear every hat, you have to work inside your business, and find the time to work on your business. Money is tight. Time is even tighter. And it can be very challenging to stay focused on keeping a healthy mindset while still kicking the can down the road. Iggy Odighizuwa, Chief of Operations for software consulting firm, Systems-By-Design, recently joined us on the Business Over Beer Podcast, and he talked about his experience taking those first steps into Entrepreneurship and shared with us the 2 cornerstones of an Entrepreneur Mindset: Impact and Leverage. Impact When developing your business model, any small business owner must be able to answer this question: How can I make the greatest impact on those I am looking to serve? The question is not how can I impact the most people, or how do I satisfy everyone. Having the greatest impact is about understanding your specialty, what is your corner of the market and knowing how you are going to help the people you say you want to help. As a true professional, your impact needs to be focused outward. We often time get caught in the trap of making it all about ourselves and focusing on how it impacts me or my business. Considering "greatest impact" for those you serve requires you to be flexible in how you approach your business model. The delivery system for creating the greatest impact may be different that the one you are using today or what you originally envisioned when you launched your business. But when you clearly define your target market, and commit yourself to greatest impact, then you can use it to maximum advantage: leverage. Leverage For a healthy entrepreneur mindset, a second question every small business owner needs to answer is where do I have leverage or where can I create leverage? Leverage serves as your compass and creates freedom and flexibility. You can leverage your professionalism, your specific expertise, your values as small business owner. The clarity you create around these leverage points helps you draw your ideal customer. When you know where you have leverage, you can determine how you want to use it. Charge a premium price. Acquire more clients. Acquire better clients. Grow your team. Or you can do what Iggy did, and share the leverage. Iggy has a well documented personal training system that gets results for his clients. But as just one person, he has a cap on the number of people he can help. So he could have leveraged his expertise by bringing in a team of other trainers under him to expand his reach. But eventually each trainer would max out and burn out the same way he did. So he had to reconsider greatest impact, which was to take his program online. Doing that leveraged his system and expertise, and differentiated himself from all the unqualified trainers who were corrupting the space. He created leverage for his clients, too, by providing a permanent solution that they could keep coming back to in order to maintain their results. And since the system taught his clients how to do it themselves, Iggy could focus more of his time on bringing in more clients that he could help get healthy. Talk about leveraging your expertise for greatest impact. Now, he is teaching other fitness professionals how to do the same thing, giving them added leverage to create successful business, and as a result, exponentially increasing his impact on those who need help getting healthy. Leverage gives you the freedom to say no to certain prospects or activities. It gives you the freedom to put the proper value on your product or service. And Intentionally applying leverage in the right areas empowers yourself, your team, and the people you serve, creating a better life for everyone your business touches. Angie's Mystery Beer: San Tan Brewing Co. - Chandler, AZ Moon Juice Galactic IPA, 7.3% ABV, 65 IBU "An out-of-this-world IPA crafted with tons of Galaxy and Nelson-Sauvin hops that transcends all Earthly pleasures, emitting an aroma of peach, apricot and tropical fruit." Episode Links: Systems-By-Design Tri-180 Coaching Join The BOB Crew