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An advanced business training that helps entrepreneurs scale their small business to a viable enterprise
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Expand Now is third stage of the Act Now program, and the next big step towards scaling your small business. As you work through this stage you will learn how advance your business to the point where you can hire an employee, or expand in any other applicable way.
Each stage of Act Now begins with the training sessions and follows action plans that move you towards the milestone of that stage.
Training
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The Grow Now Training a _____ day program puts your good habits to the test. The main purpose of the training is to help individuals scale their own business by increasing revenue. No additional seed money or investment is required to participate.
Action Plan:
Small and Simple Goals
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You can continue to build on your Small and Simple Goal that you established in Grow Now, or you can set a new goal if you met your previous one.
Here are the nine categories of Small and Simple Goals that we have come up with:
Badges:
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These are the individual tasks associated with the 25 Rules of Thumb required to complete in order to complete each stage. Each badge has a set of "to-do's" to be completed.
Salary Tracking:
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You will continue to track your salary at the beginning of every stage. This will help you track your business growth along with your self reliance. This information will not be viewable by any member or leaders in country, and will only be viewable by The Academy HQ.
Chapter Attendance
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You should continue meeting with your Chapter regularly throughout this stage, as your participation will help you solidly your understanding and application of the 25 Rules of Thumb for continual improvement.
Milestone:
Be able to hire at least one employee (or other applicable expansion)
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Once you have completed all of the badges in Grow Now you should have been able to expand your business to the point where you are generating much more revenue. This can come from expanding into new markets, or more sales within your current market.
Each of the 25 Rules of Thumb applies at every stage of Act Now, but to learn how you can apply the rules in the Start Now stage look to David as an example.
Manuel: Online Retail | Expand Now
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Manuel has a thriving online retail business based in Bolivia. He has progressed from stage to stage with The Academy and is now taking the Expand Now training. He currently has one employee and plans to hire another in the next few months.
Manuel has the Small and Simple Goal of making enough money so he can stop working weekends and spend more time with his family.
David's Applications of the 25 Rules of Thumb
Start Small; Think Big
Start Small; Think Big
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"I only grow as fast as I can keep up."
Hires only one employee at a time
Never buys more merchandise than he can pay for in cash
Personal Salary is enough to meet his needs, but not excessive
Sell What the Market Will Buy
Sell What the Market Will Buy
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"I am at a point where I need to invest in knowing what my customers want."
Performs deep research into customer preferences and purchasing habits to validate products
Sets a minimum sale number on all products and eliminates products that don't pass the minimum
Always seeks to find new products that are popular
Focus, Focus, Focus
Focus, Focus, Focus
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"I have a lot of people trying to get me to do many different ventures, but I know that I have to stay focused or my business will fly off the rails."
Doesn't get distracted by other people's ideas
Focuses on continual individual and business growth
Keeps working on his original business
Use Suggestive Selling
Use Suggestive Selling
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"My best strategy for higher profits has been to give 10% off when you spend $60 or more in the online store."
Made promotional pricing for larger purchases
Promoted higher quality items to customers with cheaper items in their online cart
Made targeted online ads to previous purchasing customers
Practice Separate Entities
Practice Separate Entities
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"I realized that it was very important that my business also did not steal from my personal money unless I had planned on investing in my own business."
Gives personal money to the business as an investment, but never takes from personal money for business expenses
Has separate credit cards for business and personal use
Kept good records of how much money the business has and how much he personally has
Pay Yourself a Livable Salary
Pay Yourself a Livable Salary
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"I still pay myself a salary because I am still an employee of the business."
Still works to meet salary goal each day
reinvests all of remaining profits to business so it keeps growing
Slowly increases salary to be able to assist others
Keep Good Records
Keep Good Records
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"My entire business strategy depends on good record keeping. We specialize in always having in stock the most popular items, and we couldn't do that without good records."
Keeps records in QuickBooks for accuracy
Generates detailed reports from records
Strategically makes decisions based on records
Turn Inventory Often
Turn Inventory Often
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"It is important that I don't buy more than I can sell, because then I have money tied up in products that are just collecting dust and going out of style."
Only purchased what he knew he could sell quickly
Used records to know what to buy
Would use promotional pricing to offload product that sell too slow
Don't Eat Your Inventory
Don't Eat Your Inventory
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"Not eating your product is just about practicing separate entities. The product belongs to the business, not to you."
Sets a good relationship between his own goods and those of the business
If he wants a product from the business he purchases it
May give a family discount, but never gives away product for free
Practice Kaizen
Practice Kaizen
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"Improvement is critical. In business, all of your competitors are all trying to take your customers, and if you don't fight to be better, they will beat you out."
Understands why he has to improve
Finds new opportunities as he looks for them
Sees kaizen as a way of life, not just for his business
Buy Low; Sell High
Buy Low; Sell High
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"My primary business model is to buy goods and resell them, so it's pretty critical that I buy low and sell high."
Understands and maximizes the sales cycle
Makes a profit on every product
Makes a profit on every sale
Inspect More, Assume Less
Inspect More, Assume Less
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"The only assumption that you should make is that you don't know everything that is going on."
Uses his records to track all of the details
Keeps a log of employee performance
Discusses openly with his employees his expectations of them and their performance
Be Nice Later
Be Nice Later
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"The thing is, when your business gets bigger, so do the requests. You have to be wise with how much you can help out."
Does say "yes," to reasonable requests
All product that he give away has been purchased from the business by himself
Still maintains business assets and personal assets separate
Work on Your Business 10 Hours a day, 5.5 days a Week
Work on Your Business 10 Hours a day, 5.5 days a Week
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"My business is my job. I wouldn't show up late to my job because than I'd get fired. If I don't work hard in my business I will get fired because I wont make enough money to live."
See his business as an employer
Works roughly 50 hours a week
Is starting to be able to take more time off
Make a Profit Everyday
Make a Profit Everyday
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"If you don't profit daily, you wont profit weekly; if you don't profit weekly, you wont profit monthly... get the idea?"
Does what he has to in order to profit everyday
Calculates his profit point each day and hits it
Value Your Customers
Value Your Customers
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"I don't have to sell truckloads of vegetables...yet."
Started with one small plot of land that he can manage by himself
Started with just three different kinds of crops
Bought only the minimum tools that he needed to get the job done
Hire Slow, Fire Fast
Hire Slow, Fire Fast
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"I don't have to sell truckloads of vegetables...yet."
Started with one small plot of land that he can manage by himself
Started with just three different kinds of crops
Bought only the minimum tools that he needed to get the job done
Work on Your Business, not Just In Your Business
Work on Your Business, not Just In Your Business
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"I don't have to sell truckloads of vegetables...yet."
Started with one small plot of land that he can manage by himself
Started with just three different kinds of crops
Bought only the minimum tools that he needed to get the job done
Buy on Credit, Sell for Cash
Buy on Credit, Sell for Cash
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"I don't have to sell truckloads of vegetables...yet."
Started with one small plot of land that he can manage by himself
Started with just three different kinds of crops
Bought only the minimum tools that he needed to get the job done
Use Multiple Suppliers
Use Multiple Suppliers
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"I don't have to sell truckloads of vegetables...yet."
Started with one small plot of land that he can manage by himself
Started with just three different kinds of crops
Bought only the minimum tools that he needed to get the job done
Purchase in Bulk
Purchase in Bulk
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"I don't have to sell truckloads of vegetables...yet."
Started with one small plot of land that he can manage by himself
Started with just three different kinds of crops
Bought only the minimum tools that he needed to get the job done
Have Written Agreements
Have Written Agreements
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"I don't have to sell truckloads of vegetables...yet."
Started with one small plot of land that he can manage by himself
Started with just three different kinds of crops
Bought only the minimum tools that he needed to get the job done
Increase Sales; Decrease Costs
Increase Sales; Decrease Costs
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"I don't have to sell truckloads of vegetables...yet."
Started with one small plot of land that he can manage by himself
Started with just three different kinds of crops
Bought only the minimum tools that he needed to get the job done
Write Down Daily and Weekly Goals
Write Down Daily and Weekly Goals
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"I don't have to sell truckloads of vegetables...yet."
Started with one small plot of land that he can manage by himself
Started with just three different kinds of crops
Bought only the minimum tools that he needed to get the job done
Differentiate Your Business
Differentiate Your Business
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"I don't have to sell truckloads of vegetables...yet."
Started with one small plot of land that he can manage by himself
Started with just three different kinds of crops
Bought only the minimum tools that he needed to get the job done
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