Welcome in to another edition of the Atlanta Small Business Show. We’re so excited to have with us today Cory Mosley, small business expert, author, consultant, and fantastic speaker to discuss following your entrepreneurial passion in a smart and responsible way.
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Jim Fitzpatrick: Cory, welcome to the Atlanta Small Business Show.
Cory Mosley: Thank you. Always great to be on Jim.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Let’s talk about the things that someone needs to consider and think about prior to opening up a small business.
Cory Mosley: Well, obviously this is a common question that I get. Part of the challenge in our society is, we’re taught to think about our passion all the time. What are you passionate about? The saying’s out there; jumped and then grow your wings on the way down. All that stuff is really great and it’s really aspirational, but jumping and growing your wings on the way down could leave you bankrupt.
So, the first thing I would say to everybody is, you have to discern the idea from passion and revenue. I say, do what you love as long as it pays. Most people forget the monetization strategy. When we work with clients, we talk about something called the HIMM Document; How I Make Money. You have to define these things before you go, just following your passion
Jim Fitzpatrick: If you’re trying to lay out a budget in terms of what you need to open up a business and then also combine that with what you need to live on while the business is growing, oftentimes we put rose colored glasses on don’t we for both of those numbers?
Cory Mosley: They do miscommunicate the idea of what they need. In the HIMM Document, what are your expenses? What do you need to live on? You have to define that number. A guy that I’m coaching, he says, “Great, I’ve got my business going. I’m making 12 grand a month. This was fantastic.” I said, “Great. Now, 12 grand a month, you’re taking that as a 100% salary?” You haven’t protected your business, you have an insured it, you haven’t legally protected it, you haven’t paid a dime in taxes yet. Your business revenue might be projected to be $144,000, but that’s not what you’re going to take home after your expenses.” The only way to figure that out is to what? Know your expenses.
Jim Fitzpatrick: That’s right. How many times do we see individuals that will borrow money against the equity in their home, or they’ll take out a loan only to find out that over six months they’ve spent all that money because maybe there wasn’t the sense of urgency to say, “No, I got to get this company profitable.”
Cory Mosley: It happens all the time. People [inaudible] think about this skillset-mindset equation. Just because you’re a great crocheter, nobody can crochet like you. That doesn’t mean you can make a business out of it. That doesn’t mean you’re prepared for the other things that go along with that.
Jim Fitzpatrick: For the people that are watching this show right now that are on the cusp of just about ready to go into their own business and say goodbye to their current employer and I’m going to go for it, what are some of the tips that you can share to make sure that these people don’t fall into this category?
Cory Mosley: Well listen, one of the things I would do is obviously recommend … This is something I do for free. If you go to fearlesswithcory.com, I have a free webinar that runs five simple strategies to get your business started now. I’m going to talk about mindset, I’m going to talk about execution, I’m going to talk about accountability, and I’m going to talk about how to build a playbook. That’s the 21st century version of a business plan and what should be in your playbook. I’ve talked about all those things in that. It’s about a 55 minute training. It’s completely free, and I would recommend anybody who’s thinking about entrepreneurship because there’s a difference between running a business and having side hustles.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Cory Mosley, we very much appreciate your time. This is why you’re such an expert in small business and called upon to speak to literally thousands of people across the nation. Checkout Cory’s website there, it’s some really, really good material and insight that it will provide to you and we can’t say enough about it. Again, Cory, thank you very much for joining us today on today’s show.
Cory Mosley: Jim, it’s always a pleasure to be with you.
