The $100 MBA Show

Maybe you were just getting ready to sell when COVID-19 hit. Maybe you’re thinking about getting out because of COVID-19. Either way, it’s a bit of a buyer’s market generally, so selling a business during this crisis must be approached with caution and careful analysis. So how long should you hold out? How long can you? Whether your business has been hurt by coronavirus, unaffected by it, or (as i...

This corona thing is gonna be with us for a while. The question is: how long is a while? More importantly, what can you do about it as an entrepreneur or small business owner? It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’ve got a listener with a question that’s surely on many, many people’s minds. Trying to plan around this pandemic, with the news and the rules changing by the day (and by location) can be maddening...

Rebranding – is it worth the trouble? Sometimes, the answer is yes. But we have to stress the key word here: sometimes . Rebranding can be a lengthy, difficult, costly process that only moves your business forward in very specific circumstances. Do your circumstances fit the bill? Let’s find out. If you rebrand in the wrong way, or at the wrong time,it can backfire and create a net loss to your bu...

Customer service is your difference. It’s one of the best ways for a small business to stand out from competitors and build a loyal following. You don’t have the marketing and advertising budgets of bigger operations, but you can devote a larger portion of your resources to making sure your customers aren’t just happy — they’re evangelists. Today, we have an expert who knows exactly how to do that...

You sold merchandise IRL in a brick & mortar store or public marketplaces. Now you can’t. There is a way forward. Today, we’re not just discussing how to start selling your physical goods online. We recognize that this is a business emergency, and you don’t only need a way to do it effectively, or with the right strategies.  You need a way to do it now . So this lesson prioritizes speed above all...

Sometimes, the best way to find your audience is to borrow someone else’s. Content swapping is a classic, tried-and-true method of growing your brand awareness. It’s so well-established, it doesn’t even feel right calling it a “hack.” But whatever you call it, it works. Today, we’ll explain how to execute this smart, efficient way to boost your profile with a little help from a friend. The first s...

Not everyone is binging Netflix during this quarantine. As COVID-19 forces countless people to learn new ways of doing business, some companies and entrepreneurs are suddenly inundated with inquiries, new customers, and…just work.  How can we handle it all? It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’re helping one listener whose plate is too full for comfort. While new business is a blessing — especially in times...

Online advertising is cheaper than ever. Cost-per-Click is down, and the whole world is moving their business to the web. It’s a very noisy Internet right now. Should you stand out from the competition by calling out the competition? Today, we’ll discuss what’s to be gained from taking on your competitors directly. When your marketing and advertising blatantly throws down the gauntlet, what are yo...

As you might be able to tell by the title, this week’s Must-Read is, um…direct. That’s the best thing about it. Keith Cunningham’s The Road Less Stupid isn’t blunt for blunt’s sake. It strives to be practical, immediately applicable, and just as useful as possible. Read it, and you can pretty much take action right away. The general premise? Bad decisions have a massive impact. More massive than y...

COVID-19 is cratering the economy. But not everyone is losing business. Just ask Netflix, Amazon, or your local takeout place. Even if your business isn’t naturally quarantine-proof, you can still find a way to thrive. By identifying and partnering with businesses better suited to ride this thing out, you can find a way forward. There’s always an opportunity somewhere. Today, we’ll discuss what ki...

He’s been stuck in the house for 14 days. At first, it seemed like an inconvenience. So he turned it into an opportunity. We just came back from some time abroad. During the COVID-19 crisis, that made things a little awkward when we touched back down at home. By law, our intrepid host Omar wasn’t allowed to leave the house for a full two weeks. But that couldn’t stop him from finding new ways to r...

Price doesn’t matter. Value does. When it comes to sales, the only thing that a high price changes is the amount of trust you have to build in order to convey the real value of the product. It might take more time or effort, but if the value is there, the sale makes sense. That’s why webinars are perfect for high-ticket items. It’s Q&A Wednesday, and like many of you, one of our listeners is sudde...

For your business to be stable, your revenue stream needs a minimum level of predictability. That’s where smart, proactive cashflow management comes in. As a small business owner or entrepreneur, you have to have a plan for the ups and downs, for all the circumstances outside your control that can affect your business. And the better you utilize the ups, the less damaging the downs will be. Corona...

A qualified accountant is a clutch hire, no matter the size of your business. If a penny saved is a penny earned, a penny well-managed is just as valuable. CPA (Certified Public Accountants) don’t just count beans – they increase the bean count, and make sure the beans you have are creating beans of their own. But enough about legumes. If you think you can’t afford an accountant, listen to today’s...

Nothing is “just business.”  Feelings affect everything we do, no matter how calculated or logical we think business is. It’s time to stop trying to separate emotions from business, and instead learn to navigate the emotions around business.  Pretending our feelings don’t affect our performance or our decisions is delusional. But if we work on being aware of our emotions and their influence, we ca...

Just before the corona-crisis descended, our intrepid co-founders Omar and Nicole headed to Japan for 10 days of decompression.  It wasn’t a business trip, just pure travel for the fun of it. But as they explored this new culture for the first time, they couldn’t help but  learn a few things. Now, it’s time to apply those things to business. Visiting a surreally different place can break you out o...

Let’s tackle the most FAQ about business in the COVID-19 era. It’s Q&A Wednesday, and one of our listeners (actually, make that a ton of our listeners) is suddenly forced to run a team remotely. How the heck do you manage people who are nowhere near you? We definitely have this one covered. Our company has always been remote. We currently have about two dozen employees spread across 4 continents,...

You knew this episode was coming. During the coronavirus pandemic, so many people suddenly have to work from home. When your kitchen table becomes your office, how can you keep from losing your grip? How can you protect your home and personal life —  not to mention your mental wellbeing — from your job? For many, bringing work into the home can feel like an invasion. Today’s episode is not about p...

Where does innovation come from? What about the greatest game-changers lets them see opportunities the rest of us miss? What is genius? Walt Disney is a perfect case study. Neal Gabler’s Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination is the most detailed, exhaustively researched portrait of Mickey’s creator ever written. It takes a deep dive into the personality that saw things as they were,...

Virtual assistants can be invaluable – but exactly how valuable are they? Having a dedicated person to handle administrative tasks online is a massive advantage for small business owners. We’ve used a VA since the early stages of our business, and she’s worth every cent. But just how many cents makes sense, business-wise? Let’s do the math. Today, we’ll discuss average rates for VAs from different...

Professional development is key, no matter what you do. As a small business owner, how much of your team’s development is your responsibility? How much training, resources, and opportunities should you provide? No matter how big or small the team, it’s a question we all should answer. You can’t be the only one who continues to learn and grow. Today, we’ll discuss what happens to employees in the a...

Are you being served? Most of us use shared servers for our websites, at least at first. Whether you’re on WordPress, SquareSpace, Weebly, or another host, you’re probably sharing server space with a few hundred “roommates.” So when is it time to leave the apartment and buy your own house? Like so many things in business, it depends. It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’re helping one listener decide if it’...

Does someone need to take the wheel at your website? Stop right there: this is not an episode only for the technologically…disinclined. Your website doesn’t have to be a mess for you to consider an outside expert. In fact, if your business and website are doing great, it might just be the right time. Especially considering how much a good web manager can boost your business. Today, we’ll discuss w...

Are you getting the best from your team? If they’re not psychologically safe…probably not. In order to perform to their potential, employees have certain work environmental needs, aligned to commonly understood human needs. If that all sounds a little academic, it’s because we’ve got an eminently qualified guest teacher this week: author, entrepreneur, and Oxford doctor of social sciences Timothy...

This episode isn’t about your health. Well, it’s about that, too. But this is a business podcast, and here’s the bottom line: stress doesn’t only hurt your body and mind. It can destroy your business. It can make you think you’re “working hard” when you’re really just working against yourself. De-stressing isn’t a luxury. It’s a strategy. To prove it, we’ll explain how stress has done more than gi...