How I would start a business (if I could start over)

The video is about how to start a business from scratch, emphasizing the importance of learning multiple skills and finding a pressing problem to solve rather than just picking a niche and selling a single skill as a service.

This video by Daniel Fazio was published on Aug 7, 2023.
Video length: 09:04.

The video is about how to start a business from scratch.

The speaker, who runs a successful consulting and software business, explains that simply learning a high-income skill and selling it as a service is not enough. He emphasizes the importance of having a wide range of skills and knowledge in order to run a successful business. He shares his own experience of starting a web design business that eventually turned into an advertising agency. He also discusses the importance of identifying a pressing problem that people have and finding a niche based on that problem.

The video provides insights and advice on how to approach starting a business effectively.

• Learning a variety of skills is crucial for running a successful business.
• Having a spider web of different skills is more effective than focusing on just one skill.
• Understanding peripheral skills is necessary to sell a high-income skill as a service.
• Finding a pressing problem is more important than picking a niche.
• Identifying a real and urgent problem allows for the creation of a valuable solution.

How I would start a business (if I could start over) - YouTube

Section 1: Learning a High-Income Skill

• The typical advice is to learn a skill and sell it as a service to other businesses.
• However, this approach is flawed because if you only focus on one skill, such as building websites, but neglect other important aspects like generating traffic, your website won't be successful.
• In order to run a successful business, you need to learn a variety of skills.
• Having a pretty website is not enough if you don't know how to write compelling copy, drive traffic, close sales, hire people, create SOPs, and communicate effectively with clients.
• Learning multiple skills and understanding how they all work together is crucial for success.

Section 2: The Spider Web Approach

• Instead of just focusing on one skill, you need to have a spider web of different skills.
• For example, if you start with learning how to build a website, you should also learn about advertising, copywriting, generating traffic, closing sales calls, hiring, creating SOPs, and client communication.
• By understanding the interconnectedness of these skills, you can run a successful business.
• What may have started as a web design business can evolve into an advertising marketing agency by expanding your skill set.
• Learning how to generate traffic organically, such as through organic Instagram marketing, can lead to success.

Section 3: The Importance of Multiple Skills

• Having a minimum viable competence in multiple skills is necessary to sell one of those skills as a service.
• Simply learning a high-income skill and selling it as a service is not enough.
• You need to understand all the peripheral things that are necessary to facilitate your skill, such as building a funnel, accepting credit card payments, creating video sales letters, copywriting, collecting email addresses, and using organic content and cold email outreach.
• Neglecting these peripheral skills will prevent you from making your business work.
• Having a broad range of skills allows you to adapt and solve various problems for clients.

How I would start a business (if I could start over) - YouTube

Section 4: Finding a Pressing Problem, Not Just a Niche

• Instead of picking a random niche and trying to force a high-income skill onto it, you should focus on finding a pressing problem that people are currently facing.
• For example, rather than targeting plumbers for Facebook ads, you may discover that plumbers actually need more employees and would be more interested in a recruitment offer.
• Pay attention to the ads you see constantly on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, as they indicate that the business running those ads is getting a return on their ad spend.
• By identifying a real and urgent problem, you can create a business that offers a solution and meets the needs of your target audience.
• Understanding the problem and providing a valuable solution is more important than simply picking a niche.

Importance of Learning Multiple Skills

• Need to know what offers are selling in the market to understand what a good offer looks like.
• Watch and investigate ads to see what offers are actually selling and what pain points they address.
• Click on ads, opt into them, and provide real contact information to see what they offer.
• Don't aim to create a VC-backed startup, but rather build a sustainable business that solves real problems for a specific market.
• Use the skills you have learned to create an offer that solves a real problem for a real group of people.

Building a Sustainable Business

• Once you have a client and successfully solve their problem, you can create case studies and sales assets to attract more clients.
• Continuously learn new skills to solve new problems for your clients and gather more case studies.
• Prospect for new clients by identifying their problems and offering solutions.
• Minimally viably competent in a variety of skills to facilitate different forms of offers.
• Formulate your skills into a value proposition that a market would be interested in.
• Watch a video on offer formulation to learn how to create an offer that people will actually buy.

Watch the video on YouTube:
How I would start a business (if I could start over) - YouTube