The Business of Running A Home Studio Business (Part 1)

Brian Hood (0:00)

This is the 6 Figure Home Studio Podcast, Episode 5

Hello, and welcome to another episode of the 6 Figure Home Studio Podcast. It seems like we're on a pretty good rhythm now. We had an episode come out last week, we have an episode coming out this week, we have an episode coming out next week, and this week, we're actually starting a series. It's a series called The Business of Running a Business. And this series is for those of you who don't quite understand the business aspects of running your business. We talk about things that may bore some people, but realistically, if you want this to be a business, you want this to be a real deal business for you, you have to understand this stuff. So we talk about business entities, we talk about sales and marketing, we talk about all sorts of fun and not so fun things, but all important. But this is part one of a two or maybe three part series. But before we get into today's episode, I also want to let you know that right now there's a workshop, a free workshop going on that I just released. It's a four video series, and I think two of the videos are out right now. And the series is called The Business Accelerator Workshop Series. And this series is going to be basically the next step after listening to this episode. It talks about some of the things you need to know when it comes to sales, when it comes to marketing, when it comes to referrals, when it comes to building your snowball up into a sustainable career. So if you have a small client base right now and you're trying to grow that, you can just head over to the sixfigurehomestudio.com/workshop, and that'll get you where you need to go. So without any further delay, let's head into episode five of the Six Figure Home Studio podcast.

So I'm a brand new studio right now, and I want to become a legitimate business.

What is the first thing I should do to be legit?

Chris (1:51)

Oh, man, you got to get a business card, three-ply all the way, you know, one of those ones with black, white, black on the edges. The thicker it is.

If you only hear one thing we say, the thicker your business card is, the more successful you will be every time.

Brian Hood (2:07)

In all seriousness, business cards, like we all, that's like our default thing to do when any entrepreneur starts a new business.

We get two things. First, we get a logo and then we get a business card.

Chris (2:16)

That's so dumb.

Brian Hood (2:18)

I'm not going to lie, I've I've fallen into the trap of like in the past, getting business cards for my business.

And the business had no revenue, we had no customers, we had nothing other than business card and logo. I've looked into like getting really cool business cards that were like made of metal.

Chris (2:34)

If you got the hologram on the business card, you would have been successful on that launch.

Brian Hood (2:37)

First of all, what are we doing when we buy business cards first off in a new business? What are we really doing there?

Chris (2:42)

We want to show it to our mom.

Brian Hood (2:44)

No, we're procrastinating.

Chris (2:45)

Exactly. Look mom.

Brian Hood (2:47)

Showing it to your mom is yeah, that's also procrastination. We feel validated when we have business cards. We feel validated when we have a logo. We have all of these other things in place to become a legitimate business.

It's just procrastination, and it's avoiding what really matters in business. So what are we avoiding, Chris, when it comes to what are we procrastinating away from?

Chris (3:07)

I think we make a list of things that are easy and sort of fun that we think we need to do to start a business or to take a business to the next level. And what we're ultimately procrastinating is one thing. It's the scariest part of business, and it's sales.

It's getting out there, it's talking to people and saying those terrifying words, I'm better than the next guy.

It's just awkward, man. You don't meet a friend, make friends at a bar or meet some of the opposite sex or whatever, and say, well, I'm better than the next guy, and here's why. It's awkward. It's not a social thing that we do, but it is the thing that drives every single other aspect of your business. Can you close a sale?

Brian Hood (3:53)

And I actually say it's a little different than just saying I'm better than the next person. It's just like with a relationship with a girl, you don't just go for the kill, first of all. There's a little dance. There's a little game you play. There's a little bit of a give and take you do. And what do you do as far as going about the sales process? Tell me back, actually, to one of your earlier memories of what did you do to get past that initial fear of selling yourself? And how did you go about getting your first several sales or your first sale or whatever comes to mind?