Joe France

How to start a business, even when you don’t have cash or a great idea… Yesterday I posted a poll asking: "What's the single biggest thing holding you back from starting your own business?" 157 people responded. The biggest blocker was: "Don't have money to start." (39%) Second was: "Don't have a good idea." (37%) The good news is, there is a way to start your own business now. Even if you don’t have a lot of cash or a business idea. Here are 5 steps to get you started: 1. Now or never... Knowing what to work on is the hardest part. It takes time to work out, so start now. If you wait until you have money to invest, you’ll still have to go through the long process of finding your idea. Then testing it… Starting is one of the biggest hurdles. The longer you wait, the harder it gets. 2. Productize yourself Most people think finding a business idea means identifying a new trend or a gap in the market. They believe it’s hard. They don’t have the skill needed. But the thing you should work on is much closer than you realize. The best business ideas are connected to something you already know. Your specialist knowledge. • What’s something your friends or family compliment you on? • What do you obsess over? • What feels like play to you, but work for others? The best part about your own business is working on something you love doing. 3. Money is a distraction Trust me. When you’re starting out, money is a hindrance, not a help. You end up wasting money on things you don’t need, because you haven’t worked out what to do yet. Test your ideas first on a shoestring budget. Growing your business from the revenue you earn is a discipline that will take you far. Investing money is for when you’re ready to scale. By that stage you will have a business idea and a proven revenue model. It’ll be much easier to raise money if you need it. You may find you never need it. 4. Learn to promote yourself from the start The thing you’ll find once you have a great idea, is it’s really hard to get enough people to know about it. Marketing is the biggest challenge for all new entrepreneurs. The good news is that you can combine finding and testing your ideas with promoting what you’re doing right from the start. When you’re a business owner, you are the brand. Connect your personal story to what you’re doing and people will want to know more. • Talk about why you’re obsessed with your idea. • Why it’s important... • How it helps to solve an important problem. Most entrepreneurs don’t allow time to improve at what they do. Start now and by the time you’re ready to scale your business, you’ll have the marketing skills you need. 5. Use free technology to get going. 20 years ago when I was starting out, starting a website was expensive. You had to pay for server hosting—recording video was out of the question. And back then, no one would pay for anything online. Today, you have everything you need to start with the phone in your pocket. Paypal, Stripe, or even Gumroad make it easy to collect money. The Internet is presenting you with the opportunity of a lifetime. It’s the steam engine and the gold rush rolled into one. If you wait till someone gives you a business plan and a truckload of cash, you’ll miss out…

@thisiskp_ I can only imagine what you're going through, KP. Wishing you and your family all the best at this testing time.

An emotionally charged week I’m trying my best to stay strong and focus on positive emotions of gratitude, awe and love The recent roller coaster has been nothing like i’ve ever experienced in my life ICYMI: On Aug 8, we had two baby boys (twins) They were ~ 6 weeks early and had to be in special care in NICU Good news is my wife had an amazing recovery from her C section surgery and has joined me in making hospital visits to see the babies One of the babies (Theo) is perfectly healthy, came home successfully the other day and is growing steadily (pic on the left without cords) The other one (Liam) has been diagnosed with a rare genetic heart condition called HLHS — hypoplastic left heart syndrome The doctors say they will need to do an open heart surgery on him tomorrow called Norwood Sano He’s been a brave little boy already and has given us lots of hope and a strong mission to root for He’s currently in the cardiac ICU (pic on the right) and is getting ready for the big day I’m sure any parent can understand what a test of your belief in God and the Universe this is But I’m focusing on the blessing he’s already been to us, the spiritual awakening he has kindled in me already and how grateful I am to be his dad and to witness the next chapter Send your best vibes and love to our little lion cub: Liam 🙏❤️

@SaveYourSons Congratulations, Harrison. Great photo. We have 3 under 5—all teenagers now. It does get easier. They can become a unit, play together and look after each other. Enjoy the time now, mate. I sound old, but man it goes fast, lol.

It’s been 2 months since our baby girl joined us, making us a family of 5 I asked my cousin (dad of 3) if he had any advice for parents of 3 under 5 He half joking said “no advice, it’s basically just impossible” And that’s pretty accurate. It’s definitely impossible to be anywhere close to perfect. And it gives me even more respect for my friends who have 4, 5 or even 6+. I saw a guy on here recently who was expecting his second baby with his wife. He asked something like “how do you make room to love more than one child?” I asked the same question at that stage. You feel so completely devoted to your first baby. It’s hard to imagine capably loving another one the same way. For anyone else asking that question, here is what happens: Your heart just keeps getting bigger. That’s it. You can’t explain it, but you can always trust it.

@AndrewWriteCopy @DarrellLerner A rule of thumb I use when selling is there's a finite number of words you can use before someone stops listening. So make them count.

@DarrellLerner No, I get too many and it's not worth it.

I get too many DMs that say something like: “Can I ask you something?” Don’t ask to ask. Just do it.

@thesamparr I owned a 1962 beetle at college. They have a unique smell of oil and upholstery. Like you said, so fun to drive. Get a 1600cc engine at least.

I'm looking at getting a new toy. Am considering an old Beetle. Why: - Easy to work on so I can tinker myself - Wont break the bank so if I screw up while learning, all good - Driving slow things fast is more fun than fast things slow. Anyone own one? What's your experience? When I was 16 my dad owned one for like 6 months. It was so fun to drive.

@jackmoses0 Take care, mate. Hefty road roll every day...

Ripping a motorbike through the mountains of Thailand has got to be one of the most liberating things I’ve ever experienced.

Great question. Most of us want to be understood, but seldom ever are. People usually assume I'm conservative... But I quit law school and did door-to-door sales for 2 years. Packed a bag and moved to Japan and lived there for 6 years. Then moved to another country for love. Co-founded startups. Made and lost a million. I just prefer to be understated, so most people don't know the real story.

What do people wrongly assume about you?

@unkonfined Skiing fresh powder. Nothing like it.

What’s better than sex?

It's easy to work on the sexy parts of the sales funnel. • Social media bio • Posts • Email lists • Sales pages No one wants to work at the bottom of the funnel. • Sales calls Even though that's where the money is actually made...

@Chadmoneymatter Simple when you look at it like that, Chad.

Its extremely difficult to save $7,300 in a year Its very hard to save $3,650 in 6 months Its tough to save $1,825 in 3 months Its difficult to save $600 in 30 days But it's only an inconvenience to save $20 per day...

@gen__wealth So important. Your relationship with money determines your quality of life. Take control. Great work, Colton.

@ImJoeFrance Joe your story is too common What separates you from others is you acknowledged the opportunity and did something about it That's what I'm trying to encourage others to do

How would you break the broke mindset?

@jspujji Entreneurship is an intentional process that can be learned. But it's also a lifestyle commitment. It's hard for someone who's used to the comfort of a salary and a role to get used to.

Can entrepreneurship be taught?

The way you talk to yourself matters... We're usually our own harshest critics. It's easy to get caught up in negative narratives, replaying them over and over in our heads. Go easy on yourself and stay positive. Be the hero in your own story.

@SalesIsAnArt Thank you. Kind of you to say. Likewise, respect for all your doing. Cheers

@ImJoeFrance Your results speak for themselves - so not crazy, just resilient 🥂

Door-to-door sales is brutal and will humble you like nothing else. This is why I think everyone should do it at some point in their life.

@SalesIsAnArt I thought I was going to be a millionaire (multi level marketing). 2 years, 40k doors. Helped me get there later on. Admit, I must have been a bit crazy to stick at it for so long, lol.

@ImJoeFrance Two years doing it is a long time - most people last much less (including my 20 yo self 😂) - respect!

@jspector Sales call expert—I show coaches and freelancers how to sell their offer for $2-5k, even if they've never done sales before.

Explain your business model to me in a sentence.

@jspujji 💯 Jesse. I learned selling door-to-door. Which helped me in startups. Then it helped me sell to investors. The confidence you get from understanding sales is priceless.

Recruiting is sales. Fundraising is sales. Marketing is sales at scale. Sales is the #1 skill for any startup, VC or bootstrapped.

@jarrylew Not sure if one exists, Jarek. When I was getting started, I had a sales skill and lots of time. I took a low salary in return for sweat equity. I had a million dollar exit 5 years later. I won't go into what I did after, though...

Has anyone written a book about the importance of equity and/or profit share? Mind blowing to me that people still willingly trade their time for a fixed wage alone in 2024. I will write one if it doesn't exist.

@thepatwalls If you are going to dick around though, Wimbledon is as good a way to waste time as any.

How to have a successful day: 2 hours of deep work. Every day. Even if you dicked around all day watching Wimbledon. Still get it in.