The $100 MBA Show

One of the worst mistakes an entrepreneur can make? Treating mental health like an afterthought instead of a priority. After yesterday’s talk on the importance of mental well-being, it’s time to address one big problem: finding the time. Business founders have tight schedules and heaps of responsibility — especially if you’re side-hustling or have a family. We get that. Today, we share a few thing...

Call it healthy, or call it smart business. Either way, looking after the mental and emotional well-being of your team is critical. Today, we explore how to do that. Year after year, research confirms what we’ve always known: mental health affects the bottom line. A good leader takes an active role in ensuring the internal stability of both themselves and their team — because it’s compassionate, b...

What if Amazon was your garage…and post office? “Fulfillment by Amazon:” If you haven’t heard by now, Amazon offers an e-commerce option for those who prefer to outsource the logistics. From warehousing to shipping and returns, Amazon will handle it all for your business — for a price, of course. Is it worth it? It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’ve got a listener who wants to know if the FBA model is rea...

Can you create an invincible business? Is there any way to make it so that no matter what happens, your business can survive? From pandemics to market shifts to new tech, the dangers to a startup are varied and unpredictable. How can you prepare for the worst-case scenario(s)? Today, we discuss what you can do to be ready. Of course, you can’t prepare your business for literally anything. But you...

Most people build a business to make money. But what if someone simply tried to build a better solution for a certain audience? What if someone’s idea of success is a better, healthier balance between life, work, and one’s impact on an industry? What if profit wasn’t the priority? John O’Nolan was Deputy Head of Design at WordPress. In terms of business, he “made it” by anyone’s definition of succ...

Don’t play catch-up. Get into video marketing now! It’s easier than ever — and probably easier for you than you might think. Whether it’s videos on your website, a YouTube channel, or social content, video is almost as important as written content when it comes to wooing your audience. Today, we discuss how to develop and execute your video marketing strategy. More importantly, we discuss why vide...

Want that “real” office feel — even though your team is remote? Enter the Virtual Office. As a completely remote company since…well, ever, we were looking for ways to keep our distributed team connected long before the pandemic. Recently, we experimented with something new along those lines. And it worked beautifully! Today, we share how we set it up. While we use lots of asynchronous tools and pr...

Anyone can get sucked into the black hole of “never done” — especially when things are going well. It’s Q&A Wednesday! We’ve got a listener who’s seeing success, but finds themselves ensnared by it. As the business gains momentum and the stakes become higher, this listener feels more and more pressure to stay at work, all the time. We need to fix that. Growing your business is not about taking on...

When you think about creating slides, remember ‘Parkinson’s Law.’ It basically states that a task will expand to fill the time you allow for it. Few tasks demonstrate Parkinson’s law better than creating slide presentations! Putting together a great slideshow can take hours — if you let it. Today, we explain how to put some boundaries on the time you spend in PowerPoint (or Keynote, or Google Slid...

Want authority in your space? There’s no substitute for being a great speaker. Of course, being great at speaking is like being great at anything. It doesn’t happen by accident! And you’ll probably need a little advice — maybe even a little coaching. Fortunately, there’s Michael Port. Michael has built a business empire as the go-to speaking coach for entrepreneurs — including our very own Omar Ze...

Every business needs a little capital to get started. But some ways of raising it are better than others! Here’s the good news: Finding that initial seed money is less of an obstacle than you might think. For smart, lean businesses, all you need is enough to start engaging your audience, validate your idea, and create an MVP (Minimum Viable Product).  In other words, you can probably save (or make...

Considering an online company retreat? This might be the episode for you. Last year, we couldn’t have our live team retreat, for obvious reasons. And with COVID not entirely in the rearview just yet, we had to make a decision. The question before us was: go virtual, or just wait another year? In the end, we decided a Virtual Retreat was the right move. Today, we discuss why we think it’s worth the...

Email lists are like houseplants. They don’t grow without a little love. It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’re helping one listener who built a solid list, but just can’t seem to crack the 1,000 subscriber mark. Here’s the good news: once you get your list growing, it gets easier to keep it growing. Fortunately, this listener already did the hardest part — getting from 0 to 3 figures. In this episode, we...

If you build it, they will come. Yes, that’s from a movie, but it definitely applies to today’s episode! When you’re looking for sponsorships, the key is not to chase potential sponsors around. It’s to understand the sponsors’ needs, and create something irresistible. In other words, you have to make sponsorship the easiest possible decision. Whether it’s for content, events, or anything else, get...

This one kept us up at night. No, literally. Omar had to stop reading Derek Sivers ’ How to Live before bed, because it generated so much thought and emotion he couldn’t sleep. Today’s Must-Read is so different from the usual personal development books, we just had to share it. But we can’t share too much. This book takes a walk through some of the most fundamental wisdom — much of which you’ve he...

Marketing is a must. The second you can afford it, hire a marketing professional to get your message out there. But before you do, you have some things to consider. From budget to skill set, your first marketing hire is a decision to make carefully — not lightly. It can make all the difference in the world. Today, we discuss how to set your budget (for more than just salary, btw), and what to look...

Your “To Do” list doesn’t have to be a scary thing. In fact, it should be a relief. Every entrepreneur has to self-discipline. It’s the price of freedom! But when a To Do list gets too long, it can start to seem hopeless. Tasks pile up, and next thing you know, each new addition is just another drop in the ocean.  It’s time to break the cycle. Today, we’ll show you how to make your To Do list a pa...

Controlling the direction of a business you built is one thing. But what if you didn’t build it? It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’ve got a listener in a special kind of pickle. They purchased a business, but it needs to shift gears. The business isn’t doing as well as it could, because it’s trying to please everyone instead of a targeted audience. Can you buy a business and change it without alienating...

File this under “questions we get a lot.” If you want to start a software business, do you need outside money? Well, it depends. Our SaaS business, WebinarNinja, is 100% self-funded. Omar used his own money to get it going, and it’s been running on its own steam ever since. But that doesn’t mean self-funding is the right decision for everyone.  It all depends on your goals. Today, we discuss the u...

What’s the difference between getting someone to make a purchase, and getting someone to tell you the truth? To the human brain…very little.  This one sounds out of left field, but stick with us. Michael Reddington made a career out of getting information from criminal suspects. Along the way, he discovered that the same kind of trust, honesty, and vulnerability required to elicit a confession has...

Sometimes, the best way to find customers is to create them. You’ll hear what we mean! Today, we discuss how entry-level products are the perfect gateway for bigger purchases later. Almost every kind of business can (and should) use this strategy. In this episode, we discuss exactly how. We’ll cover various ways to create versions of your product with a lower barrier of entry. Using examples from...

Just. Get. Started. Sometimes, we spend so much time planning to start a business that we never do it. To get out of “analysis paralysis” and make your business a reality, start here. Today, we discuss the only 3 things you really need to get the ball rolling. From there, you can decide what you need next. But first things first! The best part? These 3 tools cost less than $100 combined. It’s neve...

Does coaching really work? It’s Q&A Wednesday! We’ve got a listener who’s an experienced entrepreneur, but looking to get to the next level. They’ve tried coaches before — more than once. Each time, our listener feels like they’ve wasted their time and money.  The question is…why? Today, we discuss what makes coaching work, and what makes it fail. We’ll explain what you need to do on your end to g...

Struggling to get leads? We think we know why. Or at least, we have it narrowed down to 4 possibilities. Today, we discuss what usually goes wrong with small business marketing. In our experience with marketing fails (yeah, we have some experience with that), the problem almost always falls into one of a few categories.. In this episode, we describe these 4 categories — and help you figure out wha...

Do you hate dealing with numbers? If your eyes glaze over when you think about accounting, today’s Must-Read is definitely for you. Simple Numbers is exactly what the title implies: a no-nonsense, straightforward guide to dealing with your business finances. It’s one of the most valuable books we’ve ever reviewed, especially for people who just don’t enjoy the math of entrepreneurship.  Today, Oma...