Business Coach: How To Avoid Self-Employment Traps

In this transcript, Deedra Determan (Award-winning publicist) and Clay Clark (Business Coach and U.S. Chamber National Blue Ribbon Quality Award Winner) discuss the importance of avoiding self-employment traps on Thrive15.com, the best sales training program.

Clay:    My name is Clay Clark and I’m the visioneer and COO of Thrive15.com and business coach.  Today we are joined with momprenuer Deedra Determan.  We’re going to learn how to avoid getting stuck in that self-employment trap. Everybody out there who’s self-employed has found themselves at one point of another, in a trap, and today we’re going to work with Deedra Determan to learn how to avoid that self-employment trap and how to move beyond that to create a successful business that can actually work without us.

Let me tell you from a business coach, If you’re a contractor, if you’re a baker, if you’re a builder, if you’re any kind of business owner out there and you find yourself being a self-employed person where you own a job and not a business, today’s episode could be worth millions and millions of dollars to you. Otherwise today’s episode will be more meaningless than a Starbucks next to another Starbucks.

We’re here with Deedra Determan and myself, experienced business coach. I  have the honor of harassing you here for a while. Deedra is a very renowned PR/Marketing consultant. Has clients all over the country and has started a couple businesses and has subsequently sold those and is just, lot of energy, lot of wealth and knowledge. I’m excited to just try to drain your brain of some great info here.

Deedra:    Well I’m excited to be here.

Clay:    Today we’re talking about avoiding the self-employment trap.

Deedra:    Okay.

Clay:    Always building a business model that is scalable and duplicatable. The only reason for building a business, in my mind, is to solve a problem for the customer in a profitable way, so that you can make enough money to achieve your dreams. I’m going to repeat.  The only reason for building a business is to solve a problem for a customer in a profitable way so that you can make enough money to achieve your dreams. Being poor because you have a stupid business model is nothing to be proud of. Example, I’ve done this. If you start a business you want to take your big idea and ask yourself, “How many transactions will I have to do on an annual basis to hit my goals?” You can learn sales training at Thrive15.com.

Deedra:    Right.

Clay:    So I’m going to, real quick, draw a dysfunctional business on the board and the I just want to point out this, okay? I’m going to pick on a guy that… it’s based on a guy I know, but we’re going to call him Greg. Greg has this box. We’ll call his business box. Greg is a graphic designer and so what Greg does is Deedra calls and says, “Hey, how much are your business cards?” Greg wants to get every deal so Greg says, “Well I’ll do a business card for you for $25.” You’re going, “Well all right. Yeah.” The Deedra buys the cards from Greg.

Then Clay is cheap. I’m cheap.  I come in and I say, “Hey friend. Do you know of anybody that can build business cards cheap?” You’re like, “Yeah, Greg.” You refer me to Greg. I’m going to Greg now. Then what happens is I’m having a good old time, I’m working with him and then he charges me $25. Well then my good buddy, he’s pretty intense, my website optimization buddy, Clarence. Clarence comes in and Clarence says, “Clay, do know of anybody that can make cards cheap?” I say, “$25.” He says, “No. I’m talking about cheap.” I said, “Well, okay I’ll see.” So Greg says, “I’ll do it for $20.”

Well now we start telling each other and telling other people and now we have hundreds of humans all over just going to Greg and we’re like, “Greg’s the boss. I’m paying $20. Those are great.”  Now Greg, in here, is working eighty hours a week. This guy is not sleeping. He looks like this in the mirror. He’s just so tired. He’s looking upset and he’s not making any money because he’s only making $20 per card. He’s working eighty hours a week and, maybe Greg is only paying himself, right now after paying everybody, he only pays himself $15 and hour.

Now our main Greg is making $1200 bucks a week, he’s not sleeping, and he has built himself a trap.

Deedra:    Right.

Clay:    So let’s see if Greg gets out of the trap. Greg says, “Deedra, we’re going to have to raise prices.” You wouldn’t say this. This is what you’d say.  You’d say, “I can understand that and I’m happy for you Greg. I’m going to go ahead and pay.” You go ahead and you go up to $50 now. You tell me. I’m like, “I’m out Greg. You were Greg’s cheap cards. You’re going to change your little website on me? What else you going to change on me Greg? I don’t even know you anymore.” Then Clarence says, “I’m peacing out. I’m done.” This guy says, “No Greg. Boo.” People go online and write, Greg is lying about his pricing. No we’re stuck with just Deedra and we have to redo our whole customer marketing thins again.

Deedra:    Right.

Clay:    What I’m trying to help you do. What we’re trying to help you do is making sure you don’t build this trap where you get stuck inside this business. Because, I’m telling you, I’ve done it and when you get stuck in that repeat cycle of funk it’s a bad deal.

Deedra:    Yeah.

Clay:    Today what we’re going to do is we’re going to go through and teach people like Greg how to avoid… and I guess we’re going to stick on the line of a graphic designer. We’ll just kind of focus on the graphic design business. First off, step one, to avoid building the business model that is not scalable and duplicatable is one, you want to do the math. This business coach says to do the math.