TIM411: Answering Your Entrepreneurial Questions

5 Pillars Of Mind Management by Tim Conley

Today on TIM411, Tim answers the question, "I F'd up. What should I do?" “It takes a lifetime to build a good reputation, but you can lose it in a minute.” ~ Will Rogers Integrity and strength of character will save you from many of your own mistakes. Listen in to learn how to own up to your mistakes and then fix them.

Tim answers a question from "The Danish Entrepreneur", "How can I transition from consulting to products?" Tim doesn't go directly at the question with a step-by-step answer on how to turn consulting intellectual property into a product -- both are a form of transferring knowledge and experience. Instead, Tim focuses on why. Why make the switch? If you think it'll be easier then you'll probably be unsuccessful at switching to products. If you want to add to your revenue and reach a bigger audience, then you'll probably succeed.

Today on the show, Tim answers the question, "How Can I Acquire Short Term Debt For Inventory?" Tim has limited knowledge in this space, but does his best to answer with sources (outside of a line of credit or credit card) to buy inventory for a fast growing company.

A question came in asking, "How Can I Know What Information I Need To Succeed?"

In this episode, Tim answers the question, "How do I get all the work done?" It's a matter of vision of the future and the priorities needed to get there. Tim covers the steps to getting there by setting your goals, priorities and delegating to your team.

TIM411 is back with season 2 -- now a video podcast, too. You can watch episodes on my FB page here: http://bit.ly/timconleyfb In this week's episode, AJ Silvers asks, "Do you hire ahead of the curve or wait until you are absolutely swamped with work?" Inside you'll learn when to hire by using the 85% Capacity Rule.

Today on TIM411, Tim answers the question, "Some employees say they want to move to the next level, but then they procrastinate. Any ideas?" You have to stop treating employees as an entrepreneur. If your employees signal that they want to level up, you need to sit down with them to help build a plan. Listen in on how to help them grow into the team members they desire to be and you need them to be. Find out how to run your business and team for rapid growth at http://timconley.co/bootcamp

Today on TIM411, Tim shares an insight from a conversation with a prospective client. "I can't do anything if I can't do everything." Too many entrepreneurs, even Tim, are perfectionists and let the huge scope of a project interfere with accomplishing it. Listen in to learn how to overcome your procrastination.

Today on TIM411, Tim answers the question, "When should I set a lower price point?" Tim is famous for saying "add a zero" when asked about pricing. He wants you to find a way to add so much value that customers would be willing to give you ten times more than they do now. But not all markets, not all products can have a price increase without losing sales. So when should someone lower their prices? How best to do so? Listen in and get Tim's advice on lower price points.

Today on TIM411, Tim answers the question, "How to lead my small team when I have most of the business knowledge in my head?" This is a really good question as it is a problem many entrepreneurs face this problem all the time. Tim shares how you can have your team do their jobs well and help grow your company without needing to take tons of time to get all your knowledge out of your head. I'm looking at you, Melanie! To learn how to run your team, get free training at http://TimConley.co/bootcamp/

Today on TIM411, Tim answers a question from Maciej Godlewski from Fired Up Digital. Maciej wants to optimize his team structure so he asks if switching from skill set silos where for example all SEO experts get all clients who need SEO to a model where a team of experts handle a set number of clients. He wants to know if making this change will help his company grow. Listen in to learn how to better structure your team for greater scale.

In this episode, Tim recommends you go back to the source material. One of the best thinkers on management was Peter Drucker. He was the godfather of modern management and many people have reused his ideas in their management books ever since. If you've not read the great book by Peter Drucker called The Effective Executive you can get it here: http://amzn.to/1TUAkjX

Today on TIM411, Tim answers the question, "If we're not ready or capable to bring on new customers, how do we stop marketing, but not dry up the sales pipeline?" This question is really about flattening the feast-famine cycle that many B2B service providers get into. It also happens in product businesses when they sell out of product, months go by before new stock comes in and then they have to build up demand again. This episode talks about how to forecast and handle those down times. Join The Forge http://bit.ly/entertheforge How To Scale Your Business Training If you want to get in-depth training on operating and scaling your business check out The Bootcamp: http://TimConley.co/bootcamp/

Today on TIM411, Tim answers the question, "What should my gross margins be?" This is probably the most important metric to measure in your business. Listen in to find out how to make a fortune by fixing your margins. Join The Forge http://bit.ly/entertheforge How To Scale Your Business Training If you want to get in-depth training on operating and scaling your business check out The Bootcamp: http://TimConley.co/bootcamp/

Today on TIM411, Tim answers the question, "I made a few really bad hires and now I have to fire them, but still need to work to get done. What do I do?" You need to know why you think the employee is a bad hire. Find out if there is a better place for the employee in the company. If not, you must do the mature thing for the good of your company and fire the bad hire. But you still have to get work done. So listen in on how to handle this tricky situation.

Today on TIM411, Tim answers the question, "I'm working 12 hours a day, barely see my family, have no free time, make little money, and I reinvest everything back into my business. What should I do?" This is a common problem with most entrepreneurs. When you look around online it seems like everyone is crushing it. They probably aren't. Listen in to learn how to gain 'balance' in your business and life.

Today on TIM411, Tim answers the question, "Should I pay myself or my employees first?" As entrepreneurs we take on the risk of business in exchange for future reward. Employees trade future reward with limited risk today. So employees get paid first. But the reality behind this question is why is it being asked in the first place? Typically a business owner asking this question has a gross margins problem because ultimately both should be getting paid at the same time. Listen in to learn how to fix this problem.

Today on TIM411, Tim answers the question, "Can a referral-based business reach $1 million in revenue?" He also answers the second part of the question, "Is it sustainable?" Referral-only businesses need solid systems for getting referrals. Your referral network will be your only source of income so you must increase the reach of that network. That's why Tim recommends that you don't rely solely on referrals. You should have multiple sources of customers so that you can control your growth, predict future revenue and expenses. But the biggest reason to have multiple ways of getting clients is that any source of customers can dry up and fail you. If you have additional sources of customers outside referrals, you'll rapidly increase the reach of your referral network.

Everything you know about passive income is wrong. Today on TIM411, Tim tackles the holy grail of Internet business -- passive income. The people telling you that you can earn passive income while managing a business are either ignorant of what it takes to run a company or they are lying to you to sell you something. In this episode, Tim will share how to actually gain passive income from a business.