3 Tips On Starting a New Business From A Start Up
- By Tony Kereluke
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- 21 Jun, 2017
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Top Shelf Franchising - Start Up Tips
Our team of seasoned entrepreneurs have been involved in over 7 successful start ups. Yes all successful! It's one thing to start a business then it's a hole other kettle of fish to transition the start up to successful levels.
3 Steps of Recommendation when firing up a business:
1. Surround yourself who has done it before and sponge around other entrepreneurs who have tasted success. As too many know it all or have their opinion however many people have never tasted success as an entrepreneur. So try and be around others within this fashion.
2. Feel the streets and marketplace of your place of business. Spend time at the local star bucks and watch who is coming and going and do this for weeks. Drive the area with determination to learn and feel the vibe of the market. Talk to other business owners and others who live in the area and get their feedback. Keep in mind that not all will say good things and could be that they are not in a good place so take the feedback with a grain of salt.
3. Keep it lean and get quotes from other vendors to compare pricing. Many do not shop around enough and hustle and then essentially the start up costs rise due to not being aggressive on this front.
Tony Kereluke
tony@topshelffranchising.com - Feel free to contact us for a free 30 minute consultation.
Being able to take Friday afternoon off should always be important in one’s life. This is why I became an entrepreneur. To have this ability to say hey it’s Friday afternoon. I am going to network with colleagues/associates and friends. To take the time to build the business to the next level. Where you do not have to answer anyone, or anything is truly something special and rewarding. It really comes down to how you use this time that is there for you is the golden key. This focused time of social & dialed in time gave me an opportunity to build up and foster relationships with new and old associates. This focused energy on how one can set themselves free was very critical in starting out my entrepreneurial journey. Some can take time they have to be lazy, or not focus on much progress and pretend you are being productive. Others can put on that focused productive hat on and dial in on what you need to do to build up more opportunity for yourself. Others just don’t have much time at all to focus on building up their personal development towards success.
I spent a good 5 to 7 years every Friday afternoon networking & connecting as much as I could, and meeting as many new contacts as possible. Many of these relationships still exist today. Relationships take work and they are not going to build up for yourself by doing nothing or the bare minimum. You and only you have to nurture your relations. Whether its approaching someone to shake someone’s hand and look them in the eye and introduce yourself. It is also important to have a niche to offer them. If you don’t have an established niche, then it can be an uphill climb in promoting your services that you have to offer. So, try and establish a niche or identify what your niche is first then you can focus on building up that niche product or service.
Quick story I visited a trade show & franchise show in Calgary, Alberta Canada in 2019 and walked up to a franchisor who owned a successful senior care franchise at the time. I introduced myself and gave him my card and shot the breeze with the founder for 5 minutes. I circled back with an email a few days later to say very nice meeting you and look forward to talking more with you. I wanted to remind him I had several buyers interested in his brand and could be a win win for us together. Fast forward since then I have sold his senior care corporate territory in Vancouver for 1.4 million and have sold many senior care franchise territories for this brand as the years went on. This one introduction and approach coming in cold and introducing myself produced over $250k in revenue today for my company and is still re-occurring.
One card, one handshake and one introduction. Years later this initial prosperity keeps on continuing. So why not go out and build up what you have to offer? First and foremost, find a niche and promote your business or franchise. As not one single person is going to do it better than you or even do it all.
Using technology to network and connect with new customers is another source and stream to connect with contacts. It is a source of new age networking and connecting as well. I am a big fan of doing both networking old school and using tech to do so.
Try and ask yourself how can you service someone you approach or look at doing advertising towards your reach of a customer? Ask yourself what is your target market? Identify this and focus then attack and approach those areas. Dial in on what is important not what looks good so much.
Key Areas to Focus on your entrepreneurial journey:
· Build up relationships and relations with many new people and existing people.
· Go on the offense to build up your niche and business and franchise.
· Establishing a Side Hustle can be a nice way to entry point as an entrepreneur
· Hand out your card – Oh you don’t have any well get some as they are still important and who cares if others say they aren’t used anymore. Those people who say this many have never built up a business.
· Use tech to build and connect with others in your customer base or field.
· Go after your target market, who is your target market? Establish then go after this and invest in approaching your target market or customer base.
· If you are not willing to build up your own business on your own. Then one should focus on a franchise where one embraces the franchise systems and then takes the systems that are there and grow it further. This is often a good approach pending on your situation and needs.
· Just because you purchase a franchise now. Often owners think marketing is left to the brand to build my business for me. Your franchise territory and location are yours and yours only, we all need to build up and foster relationships in the community. Waiting on someone else to do it for me is not the best mindset for success. Many franchisees themselves focus on the head office and what others are doing. Where one should focus on what you can do and understanding your market to make your business better. Then connect with customers and community to allow for a fruitful situation to take shape.
· Join Canadian and local associations and go to events where your clients and business interest lie. Do these values line up with your brand and your business. If they do then go to these events, shows, online groups, etc.
· Try and read as many entrepreneur books as you can. I read 4 to 5 a year of entrepreneurs and which motivates you further. The 4 hour work week was a game changer for me by Tim Ferris.
In the end, to finish in closing. No one is going to bring success for you in your life. Not one person and not the government either. You have to be a go getter and go out there and get it done as an entrepreneur and franchisee. Entrepreneurs & franchisees have to have thick skin and hearing no has to be ok and not fall apart if you hear no. This should motivate you further each time you hear no. So go out there and build up something special as you are special in your own way. Only the strong survive mentality is where we are in life and be the strong one who shoots through the clouds.
Tony Kereluke
Top Shelf Franchising
Why are all these Canadian buyers looking to come in and invest into a business & franchise now say versus a year ago?
A strong case could be is that the world fiat paper currencies globally are potentially heading for a challenging time ahead. Central banks all over the world purchased a record number of physical gold holdings in the past year and one should wonder why? (Public Knowledge) Don't bankers and central banks know a lot about what is coming and what to do? Then we should follow you would tend to think.
A great deal of smart money knows that one should diversify away from currency holdings and financial instruments, in addition to paper assets and stocks. Just ask Warren Buffet who has been selling millions and millions of his stocks off lately and is front running of what potentially is coming. Jeff Bezos and many billionaires are off setting their stock positions and liquidating & selling and diversifying into other assets. The warning signs are there but many are not paying attention. The smart money is front running things, and I talk to a lot of smart money people daily.
Physical hard assets are growing in demand as gold and silver are running hot with strong increases as supply decreases and demand picks up globally. In addition to commodities are gaining strong returns as of late. While I am not a financial advisor and do not give out financial advice. However you may want to look at other alternatives from what you are used too. It's a different market and world out there today.
Small businesses & franchises that produce cash flow is another asset class is where one should consider owning into 2024 and 2025. Especially as currencies potentially weaken and more and more government debt build's up in our communities, municipalities and countries further. When counties decide to print money by way of a click of a button it creates inflationary periods and weakens currencies further and reduces our purchasing power. Just Argentina or Venezuela or in Mexico in the late 90's how that worked out. Well it didn't work out well after printing and printing and pilling up debts. Then the currencies collapsed and government's added more zeros to their paper dollar and what you had in the bank became watered down with this decrease of purchasing power.
Allocating some capital into small business cash flow is a new trend that will continue to grow and safeguard your wealth further. Here at Top Shelf Franchising we have over 110 options to choose from coast to coast in Canada. We are a company designed to present you options so you can get into business or diversify into another business.
The answer is that many do not try or even entertain paying yourself first in Canada or buying your own freedom is because they are in too much debt or have too much monthly overheads. I have seen many clients sell it all and clean the desk right off and start their own business. Many have chosen to start fresh with a clean slate as they noticed with their overheads being so high one can never start a business unless you run into a lot of cash and purchase an existing business. Their is nothing wrong with clearing it all off the desk and starting fresh and creating a new business model for your own self. As its a sense of a reset in your own life and tends to be very liberating when you do. I have done many desk clearings myself and fortunately worked out well. It recreated a new freedom life multiple times over and allowed one to not be trapped by someone else.
After the largest money printing episode of all time has come to an end. We now the people must pay the price which is what it looks like here moving forward. Wages are not keeping up and inflation the almighty (SECRET TAX) is being manipulated heavily by taking out gas, heating, lodging and food out of the inflation equation percentage numbers that is being disclosed to us.
Then we are communicated it`s high at 6 to 7%. It`s more like around 12% to 15% in Canada when you factor in gas, heating & energy and food and lodging.
Moving forward we must focus on earning & becoming a better earner. By earning and by earning multiple sources of revenue streams this will be your key to the gate that opens up for a better tomorrow. One must combat this attack on our wealth that we worked so hard to save and have. We must face it head on and say I am going to earn and even if that earning means 100 to 300 a month. It’s a start and every cent matters more than ever. We are not taught how to earn or how to manage our money on all levels. Even in schools we are taught to bake a high quality white sugar cake instead and given a credit card with a 19.9% interest rate. Congratulations you qualify! The system is rigged against you on all fronts and sides. It has always been this way it’s just now a lot more aggressive than before.
The question is what are you going to do about it and when?
Here are a few ways to become an Earner:
1. Create a side gig online
2. Go work part time on the side as there is lots of jobs out there to work on the side
3. Purchase a side business
4. Acquire a business
5. Start a business or start one with several partners
6. Sell your assets while they are high and restructure your deck of assets
7. Sell your goods online and sell things to people to create revenue
8. Find some buyers for a product you have and create a niche
9. Buy & Invest into real assets & businesses
It’s a nasty world out there and no one is going to help you. So one must take the nature approach and be a survivor and find a way in this nature world to survive and earn and get ahead.
#business #entrepreneurs #startabusiness #ownafranchise #ownbusiness #smallbusiness
Entrepreneurs are not born and created on their own. Most are made and created by making moves in their lives. Only they and you can decide to live a life in a different way and to take some some small chances and calculated risks to start off with.
Making a move isn`t a bad thing. Its actually healthy in most cases and gives you energy and life to look forward too. Each week I make a cluster of very small moves to make my future better and better. My wife and I are constantly making moves to improve ones life for the better. Making a move doesn`t have to be risk it all situation or put the family farm on the line. A small move can go along way and inches you forward to more and more successes.
A calculated thought out move of what to do next and how you will succeed from this move is a great way to think week to week. Try and shift your thinking to make some moves and see the outcomes arising in your mind. This mindset will become contagious of what you want to do, and how you want to feel and go in your life. Don`t necessarily follow the narrative's all the time. Be a leader and a move maker and a strategy thinker. This is very common in successful entrepreneurs.
I have read many books on successful entrepreneurs and one core value they have in common is thinking outside the box and constantly making a move and planning their next chapter. So why don't you start thinking like this more often and watch what happens?
Try not to go through the week without making a small move to improve and see progress & successes arising. This doesn't have to be related to money all the time. As when you chase the money around it tends to not follow you back this way. Don't say its been a hard week and didn't have time. Yes you do as you can make a move of a single thought a priority.
Tony Kereluke
CEO & Founder
Top Shelf Franchising
1-855-816-1743
www.franchiseopportunitiescanada.com
Today and tomorrow freedom is becoming a more important quality that ever before. Flexibility, lifestyle and the ability to make choices is what it is all about now. We all have choices to make in life. However many are stuck with barriers and limitations that in many ways are self-created. Try and remove these barriers as a next step.
Our freedoms are being stripped away a little more than ever before. Creating freedom for ourselves is up to you and us and not anyone else. In fact no one will give us freedom and lifestyle. The same goes for that no one will put food in our fridge either. So we need to find ways to earn and generate revenue for ourselves in different ways, and look at being more self-sustainable. In addition to finding the freedom & flexibility lifestyle backed behind it.
Did you ever notice we are
not taught in school or post-secondary or at any level to understand, and master
the ability to earn, and generate multiple revenue streams. Nor are we taught to
understand food and nutrients and how to cook and feed ourselves with
nourishing foods. The system is often rigged so you do not know how to
earn and then find ways to pay less taxes as an entrepreneur.
The stone cold facts is that
no one wants you to know become an entrepreneur especially in Canada. You should work hard pay
40% to 50% taxes and pay off your student loan. This is a broken model and
creates a massive barrier to remove. Then with easy debt loans taken out one
has even more barriers in the way.
We can all make choices with
action and purpose to become an entrepreneur which gives you freedom,
flexibility and in many cases a lifestyle.
Don’t follow the money.
Follow a passion and a dream and create a niche. When you start carving into these
things then the money comes. It may take time however you need to give yourself
time and remove the barrier of time. If you need a reboot don’t be scared,
and if you are financed up and this barrier is in the way then one might want
to consider selling it off and rebooting things.
Keep dreaming and its ok to
say I want to be an entrepreneur to have lifestyle and freedom out loud or in
the mirror. As someone might help you and your mind will listen to
yourself as well.
Baby Boomers across Canada are looking to retire more so
than ever these days. Backed with less
jobs available than in recent history, more and more people are turning to
entrepreneurship with a strong goal of becoming truly self-reliant on ones
future. These baby boomers are selling their businesses, entering the
entrepreneurial space and it is starting to show. Being on the ground as a
franchise broker in Canada, we are speaking to both buyers and new
entrepreneurs entering the space on the daily. We speak to sellers many who are
set to retire or move on at low evaluations.
I really see this moving shift as a great time to enter the business
owner world and maybe not so much if you are looking to sell right now. That
being said there are many great entrepreneurs who I have sold their businesses
for that weathered the storm and kept their overheads light and are doing just
fine.
Today as of October 30/20 there is no better time to enter than now. Why? Costs and evaluations are low and opportunities are high. When the world weathers this storm in the world, one should have a better position in life than they had before. Making a pivot and a move will not just happen for you or fall in your lap. You are the only one that can make a move. No one will do this for you. It’s go out and do it mentality. Do not rely on anyone or anything to live your dream as an entrepreneur.
It’s time to pivot your life and business for today and tomorrow. One thing that Covid has and should teach us all is that relationships are worth more than any currency. Your word is your personal currency in life. When you have your word and excellent fruitful relations backed with new seeding relationships, you will be successful as a business owner in time.Tony Kereluke
Top Shelf Franchising
CEO & Founder
www.topshelffranchising.com
From to time to time I find myself having a tiny struggle to relate to most humans on the daily.
To be honest I find myself wondering why many choose to not fully satisfy ones purpose and journey in life. Why one chooses to give in and not try another way to be free in life. Entrepreneurs find a way and don’t make excuses. This is very noticeable when dealing with entrepreneurs week to week. When they hear no they don’t fold up and shut it down. Entrepreneurs find another angle or seek out another stream to swim down versus hearing no and not even thinking about another way.
This cannot be explained only out of respect that they tried to go another path and others simply did not make this choice.
Why do so many go with the daily grind. All for what to pay the bills and be in traffic or not enjoy the job? It is understood that many have families to provide for and simply cannot quit there day job to start and become an entrepreneur. This may be true however there is not much of an excuse of trying some moonlighting or having a side hustle on the side. To test the waters and chum the waters if this entrepreneur side is for you. Who knows the side hustle could turn into something really solid and real. So why not try is the question of it all?
Could it be that Belief and Will is dead inside?
The Belief inside of many has been taken away from our human ways. Just like when we were kids our creative ways are at the highest peak. Then society of living and structure to do this and that takes over these creative ways. Then that creativeness slows and disappears or fizzles off. Well don’t let that belief fizzle. Keep that burning desire to try different ways and things! Why not try a side deal and what do you have to lose by trying a side hustle? Why not learn from other entrepreneurs and find a mentor? These entrepreneurs will share their time and story only if you ask and don’t think you know it all.
When you’re trying you are living. It’s that simple! When you are not trying well you might not be living like you want. So go out and hustle and create some side music for yourself. You might like it! Then watch what seeds and stems from there. You might learn a few things too.
Tony Kereluke
Founder Top Shelf Franchising
www.franchiseopportunitiescanada.com
Often times in life we all need to take a risk or two to really strive forward to a next level. Taking a risk does not mean one has to risk the family farm and hopefully it works mentality. There are business and calculated risks one can look at, and a risk can simply be leaving a job that you do not like or are overworked at and changing a new path. That is a calculated risk that one must look at from time to time in life. Try and say to yourself when feeling fear of even taking a small risk that it is ok to feel this way. Ask yourself what is the worst case scenario and will the whole house come crashing down if this doesn't work? Fear is often the reason why people do not succeed. As they let this fear take over versus blowing right through the fear or telling it to go away.
Let me ask you have you ever met a successful person in Canada or around the globe that didn't take any risks? or let fear control them on making a decision? There really isn't many and would be hard pressed to find one around.
A few suggestions to combat fear and risks:
- Avoid watching the negative news on TV. It is fear being planted inside your mind and one suggestion is to read the newspaper as then you can choose to read the information you wish to read.
- Try and embrace change and fear and let it be known that it is there and then choose to run through it. Then once you do that you are on the other side of fear and you run it now.
- Try not to live in the wish i could have world or i wish i should have. Be a doing and not a wisher.
- Get out a dream road map. Write down where you want to go and read it over and keep on updating it. Have you ever met a successful person that did not have dreams and goals? ZERO around so start one today.
- Make sure you invest your hard working money & savings into something you are controlling daily. Give consideration if you will be managing your cash to determine the success or failure of the business. This is on your hands and don't let anyone else be in control of your hard working money. As know one cares about your bank account like you do.
- Staying on the offense at all times is very key as a entrepreneur. If something isn't working do not get discouraged. Try scoring an immediate goal as goals win games in sports. Life is very similar in this retrospect. Keep trying for more goals is key then it is just a matter of time before you score a big game goal.
- It is fine to own 25% of something rather than 100% of nothing in business. This is how I got started as an entrepreneur in Calgary, Alberta. I joined partnerships that were win win for both sides. We carefully laid out roles within the partnership. This gave us a defined way of where we needed to go and be day in day out.
- Plan out and forecast for storms that come into your world, and ride out windy days as an entrepreneur. Have operating cash flow set aside as you will often times need to dip into this and then can replenish later.
- Consistently market yourself and always be promoting your business at all times. To often people open a business and then expect customers to walk through the door. Life and business does not work this way. Don't be afraid to get out there and let then entire community know what you do each month and stick with this mentality.
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