Ep 191: The 2 businesses you DON'T want to be in.

Speaker 1 0:03

Well , hello , this is Kimberly Brock , and for over 20 years I've been running my own businesses that have not only been profitable but personally fulfilling to me . So now I'm on a mission to help other new business owners , just like you , make money doing what you love to . Now we're going to have some fun , so let's get started .

Speaker 2 0:24

Well , hello , this is Kimberly it's episode 191 , and I am so glad that you are here today because we are talking about the two most difficult types of businesses to be in . Can you guess what they are ? What do you think they are ? I can't wait to share these with you because I think it's really going to open your eyes and make you think about your business . If you are new here , welcome . I'm so glad that you found this podcast . Each week , i provide you valuable tips and strategies for building a business doing what you love .

Speaker 2 0:55

Whether you're starting a product business , service business , local or online , this podcast is for you . I'm so happy you're here . If you're new , i want to welcome you , so welcome . But I also want to invite you into my private Facebook group . Oh , yes , i have a private Facebook group . It is free , it's made for you . It's called Women's Starting Businesses Doing What We Love . So scroll down right now in the show notes . Scroll down like through an Apple podcast . Go to the notes . You'll see a link to my private Facebook group . Click that . It'll take you over to the group . It'll answer three quick questions there on Facebook and then you'll go into like a holding pattern , just for a bit , and then I will approve you here very soon And you're probably asking why do I need to be in this Facebook group ?

Speaker 2 1:37

Because you do not need to go about the starting a business and building a business thing all alone . You need community And that's why I created this group . That's why I made it free . It's here for you So you can ask all those what you think are silly questions and ask them to the group to get feedback . There's so many amazing women in this group who would love to help you because , heck , we're all in this together . We are all trying to make money doing what we love and we want to support each other . So come in the group , get some help . Finally have a community and I can't wait to welcome you in .

Speaker 2 2:09

And , if you're new to , i've got some free resources for you . Oh yes , i have party favors . Did you know that I have party favors at this party ? We're having a party , aren't we ? It's a podcast party . We're starting businesses . We're celebrating , right ?

Speaker 2 2:24

I have a 16 step checklist for you if you're starting your business . Okay , so if you scroll down again , you're going to see that link for the free checklist . People love this . The new business owners tell me they're so excited . Finally they have this .

Speaker 2 2:36

It really pertains to people who are going to be getting their business together and , most likely , getting online somehow . I don't have all the steps for , like , opening a retail store , but if you're going to have a business where you sell a product or service that you're making or offering or selling , or maybe you're a coach or a consultant , it's perfect Any of those things . So we've got all kinds of business owners and we do have retail business owners too . So shout out to all the retail business owners . Y'all are amazing . So , anyways , make sure you get that 16 step checklist . And if you're kind of stuck in the idea stage , like you got here and you're like , you know , i've got some ideas . I just don't know what type of business I'm really meant to start , like what's going to be the best type for me ? Guess what ? I have a free guide for you , so make sure you scroll down right now to get that free guide .

Speaker 2 3:20

And I wanted to thank all of you that have been my loyal listeners . Y'all are amazing . The listenership on this podcast just continues to grow and grow , and I'm so honored that you lend me your ear every week . It makes me so happy and I'm so glad to help you . I really am . I'm honored And I want to give a shout out to all my grow getters and give a shout out to my binge worthy boot campers And some of you may be going . What are you talking about ? Binge worthy boot campers ? These were my members who were starting a podcast and it's been so exciting . We've been together . Now , gosh , are we going on four weeks , five weeks , something like that ? It's it's flying by . I think it's been maybe five weeks , something like that , flying by And it's been awesome And I'm so excited for their podcast . So , shout out to all my binge worthy members and grow getters and just getting started group members I'm so happy for y'all , i'm so happy and I'm so honored to be a part of your journey . Well , that's it on to the episode .

Speaker 1 4:19

Well , hello everyone . How are you ? How ?

Speaker 2 4:21

is everything going ? I'm dying , dying to hear about your business . I need to know what is shaking , what is going on , what you've done that's bold lately but you've done that scary lately how you've put yourself out there lately and how you're taking action . I'm so excited for you . If you're in my Facebook group , you know we have the weekly posts , like on Monday . We have imperfect action Monday to keep you accountable each week and make sure that you are taking steps imperfectly , to grow your business And we'll actually to start and grow your business . You know , so many people have such a hard time with imperfect action and that's why I promote it , because I realize that a lot of you have trouble getting things done because you don't want to put them out there until they're perfect . Is that you ? Is that you ? If that's you , today , i'm saying listen to me , this is not going to be perfect , but you have to get it going And you can perfect it . I'm going to let you say the word perfect as you go , even though I know nothing is ever going to be perfect , but you can try . You can try if you want . I'm just so happy you're here because we're talking about the two toughest businesses that you could run Like literally the two toughest businesses . Have you even thought about it ? What are the toughest businesses ? I looked up I just happened to look up an article right before I went on this podcast to record it and I was thinking I wonder if they have a list of , like , the most difficult businesses . And here's a list that I found . What is it ? Militarycom . Don't ask me why I ended up on militarycom , but this is where it took me in my Google results . Google is scary . You don't know where you can end up sometimes , but at least this is about the military , which , of course , we all support . So it says here transportation , the big category includes taxis , limos , ambulances , hurses and other vehicles . And they say , gosh , the operators pay a high insurance premiums , they suffer during oil spikes , they have tons of competition . So , wow , transportation industry is super tough . I didn't know that . I didn't know that . It says retail stores are actually difficult because you may have , you know , seasons of buying . So shout out again to all you retail stores . I am so in awe of you . I think it's amazing .

Speaker 2 6:32

I had online boutiques for many years Many of y'all know this And so I was like a retail store , but I was online . In fact , that's what I used to tell people , because when I first started and went online , people thought online businesses were shady . This is in 2003 . They thought they were shady . So I would say I was running an online boutique and they kind of looked at me like what is she doing ? Is she like selling fake goods ? Like nobody understood . And I'm like I'm like a retail store around here , a boutique , but I'm online And that's what I would have to literally clarify that for people , because they didn't get it . They would look at me I'm like little , do you know ? I have a big business over here , but I'm not going to say that . I didn't tell them that . I just said it had been very successful and I was loving it . I loved every minute of it . I did until then . Toward then , when I said I need something new , that's a whole nother story , but anyway .

Speaker 2 7:19

So let's get back to the four difficult ones . This is from this article . These are not the two that I'm going to share with you today , by the way . These are not within those two . This is four that I just looked up and Google took me to militarycom , the other difficult business they set as restaurants . It's very expensive for furniture , liquor , licenses , equipment , passing , health code , all that stuff , staffing You can imagine , i can only imagine .

Speaker 2 7:41

And then it says travel agencies and tour operators Who knew Travel is a do-it-yourself activity these days ? Oh , and they said , sometimes that's hard , you know . In fact I had a friend . I'll have to say this . I think travel agents there's kind of a new little boom of them because I think we all get overwhelmed trying to research and find the cheapest flights and cheapest hotels and all that . And my sister was telling me a friend of hers was starting to be a travel agent and my husband and I he took me to the Grand Cayman for my 50th last year and last summer and we used her and she was so kind . She just helped us to be nice because she knew my sister and knew it was my 50th birthday and got us like a room upgrade and some free breakfast . I was like , okay , this is amazing , i need to use a travel agent . I mean , all I did was say we want to stay here for this many days . What can you find for us ? So it was kind of amazing .

Speaker 2 8:34

Anyway , so that's what's saying is difficult on militarycom , you know there's other sites . I'm sure you can look it up , but I was thinking about two businesses that have failed or product launches that have failed . Okay , and , by the way , if you're new to this podcast , i'm usually not negative And so don't take this episode as negative . I just thought it was fun to kind of explore today what makes a tough business , so that you don't get yourself in to a tough business , right ? But I was looking up these like product flops . Oh my gosh , you'll have to see . I should post this . I'll post this in the show notes . You'll have to see all of these . It's from USA Today . And again , google took me to the site and I'm laughing . I'm totally laughing at some of these product flops . What a phone . I just throw laughing .

Speaker 2 9:27

It was Cheetos flavored chapstick . It's lip balm Cheetos lip balm And they said it just totally flopped . Okay , i was . It just failed to catch on with consumers . I wonder why . I mean dang , i'd probably gained 30 pounds If I put that on my lips all the time . I'd be like addicted to Cheetos . I don't know . It flopped , i don't know . It just totally made me laugh .

Speaker 2 9:52

There is a touch of yogurt shampoo , touch of yogurt shampoo , and it was Clare-All was the brand , but at the time it was a subsidiary of Bristol Myers Squibb And they just thought people wanted . This was 1970s because they were incorporating . A lot of people started incorporating natural food ingredients into their hygiene products , which I would think would be popular day . Is there a yogurt shampoo today ? There might be . Maybe they were just ahead of their time . Maybe they were ahead of their time , i don't know . It said many consumers were apparently confused as to what they had bought , as their reported cases of people eating the shampoo . People do not eat yogurt shampoo . Do not do that . Okay , what was another thing that flopped ? Let me see I'm scrolling down . I just thought it was so funny Cosmopolitan yogurt 1999 .

Speaker 2 10:44

Cosmopolitan Oh , i'm thinking Cosmopolitan like the drink , but it was . Cosmopolitan is a popular women's magazine full of fashion . The magazine's leadership was thinking that they would extend the brand And then they debuted in 1999 . Their yogurt line , a short lived product , was only available for 18 months . Yes , they were reaching too far beyond their brand . Cosmopolitan yogurt . I thought that was interesting . Y'all .

Speaker 2 11:13

This one , i had to giggle . You have to see the picture . Okay , bear with me . Bear with me . Well , i share this one with you . Is made by Heinz . And you know what do you think of when I say Heinz . You think of what ? say it catch up ?

Speaker 2 11:30

They had a catch up called easy squirt , and it came in colors blue How am I saying this with a straight face Blue , purple and green . I'm sorry , blue purple and green , and it shows kids putting it on their onion rings and fries and it's blue Next . We could , we could . If they had just asked us , we could have told them that wasn't going to work . Okay , let me see if there's anything else . That's funny that you need to see Frito-Lay Wow Chips in 1998 .

Speaker 2 12:04

Did anyone remember this Wow Chips ? They did really good the first year , initial success with 347 million , oh and it . But the oh . There were the Wow Chips . They had a Leestra in them . Do y'all remember all the stuff about Leestra ? It was like that fat substitute and it gave you bad tummy . Do y'all know what I'm talking about ? It gave you really bad tummy , abdominal cramping and , dare I say , loose stools . Okay , wow Chips were done by the end of like 2000 . Okay , y'all get my point . There is product flops . I don't think any of you are going to have a flop like this . I really don't . But this gave me some good entertainment . As I was preparing for this episode , i started laughing . I was like , wow , there are some flops .

Speaker 2 12:51

But for you , ladies and gentlemen , who are starting your product and service businesses , what are the toughest businesses that you could be in ? because we want to avoid those , am I right ? You want to avoid those ? You want to have a business that literally , you open and you start getting sales . Right , we would love that , we would all love that . But the minute we like turn our sign to open , there's like a massive line .

Speaker 2 13:15

I think of like Apple computers , like Apple and everything that they have a new iPhone , a new Mac mini , a new MacBook they literally have people waiting for days , waiting in line , camping out . I'm like these are crazy people . They are crazy . I'm an Apple fan , but , dang , they are fanatics . They are fanatics and they wait in line . Don't you wish ? like , imagine right now your business , like you open and you're like this is coming next week and people were camped outside your house or your business . Wouldn't that be amazing ? I think that would be all of our dreams , right ?

Speaker 2 13:47

Well , here's my point That we all have to be smart about the business that we start and about the product or services that we offer . Okay , so maybe you sell multiple products , maybe you have many products , maybe you have a variety , maybe you have one service , maybe you have many services . Whatever is , we have to be smart about it , and we don't want to get into a business that is destined to fail or that's going to flop , that we're going to put a whole bunch of money into and then it's not going to work . Okay , so So today let's have a little conversation about the two . This is what I think . This is my opinion . You take it for what it's worth . I think these are the two hardest businesses to be in , the most difficult , and that people will struggle .

Speaker 2 14:32

Okay , number one offering something that no one wants to pay for . Nobody wants to pay for it , nobody wants to pay for it . Have you thought about the product or service that you have that in terms of does someone actually want to pay money for it ? Now , you can get proof that people want to pay money for it if there's other businesses in the industry that are currently offering it . So that's a good sign If you know there is a market for this , if you know there is a market for this and people will pay for this , then you're golden right .

Speaker 2 15:09

But if you do not think it's something people will pay for , you need to start asking around , you need to start getting opinions , because I do believe that almost anything , you might be able to get at least one person to pay for it . For that , i'm trying to think of an example . if there's anything that I would not pay for , that I don't know If I'm looking outside right now , what would I not pay for ? I would not pay for someone to catch the leaves if they fell off my tree . I don't know , i can't think of anything right now , but I would not pay for someone to do that . Okay , now my husband would say I don't want to pay for a lot of things . He tries to do everything himself . He tries to do electrical work And he does it well , he's learning , he's doing amazing YouTube has helped and he doesn't want to pay for anything . He wants to do it all himself , which I respect . That I think that's amazing . But sometimes you know , we gotta outsource a little bit so that we can get stuff done around here , okay , and then we don't have to redo it . Do you know what I'm saying ? Okay , here's the thing With your business you need to make sure there's proof that people will pay money for it .

Speaker 2 16:09

The most difficult business you will be in as one where you're trying to sell something that people do not want to give up money for . It doesn't work . I've seen people struggle . You've seen Shark Tank . Have you seen Shark Tank where the sharks are like what ? nobody's gonna pay for this ? This is ridiculous . I wish I could think of an example off the top of my head . For some reason I'm having like a brain lapse and I can't think at the moment .

Speaker 2 16:31

But you have to think about in your business what will people pay for ? And if you are , let's say you're a coach , because I think like coaches and consultants couldn't fall victim to this really easily , because you come up with an idea of what you wanna help people do and a lot of people won't pay for it . Now here's one example . I heard another coach saying this to someone else that you can't . I mean people say they're a self-love coach . Do people want to pay for a self-love coach ? No , they may pay for a life coach , but what they don't know is the life coach is gonna help them love themself more . But it's more about life coaching . Does that make sense ?

Speaker 2 17:14

So you have to make sure that what you're selling is actually something that people are searching for . They're actually reaching for this . They're looking online for it . They're looking locally . They're sitting at home wishing they had this solution and they don't . This is how inventions get made , all that . We know it , but some of them flop , some of them don't . But ask yourself right now do I know that this is something that people will actually pay money for ? If you don't know the answer to that , you need to start asking friends , family and even random people .

Speaker 2 17:49

You can post polls on your Facebook group . You can post polls in our Women's Starting Businesses Facebook group . If you're in GrowGutters , if you are in the Just Getting Started group , well , if you're in GrowGutters , you already have a business , so , unless you're pivoting . But if you're in the Just Getting Started group and you're kind of toying around , you've got an idea . You want to know how to start it and you're in that group , posted in that Facebook group . Ask everyone in the group Like what do y'all think of this idea ? You could even post it anonymously if you don't want people to know who you are . You can do it in neighborhood groups . You can do it in women's groups . We have neighborhood groups around here . I think . Use the anonymous option if you don't want people to know who you are , but I think you should ask because you want actual opinions on whether people will pay money for that .

Speaker 2 18:31

If you have a service you want to offer to people , make sure there's either an active industry out there now or that it's such a good new idea that when you tell it to people , they freak out and say yes , can I give you money ? Now , what you don't want is people to go yeah , that's a great idea , and they wouldn't pay money for it . Right , they would not pay money . And it's hard because I think a lot of new business owners can do that and ask around and people go oh yeah , that is a great idea , but when it comes down to it , they won't really fork over their money . So how do you get past that ? Well , you offer the services at a discount . You don't offer them for free . You offer it at a discount and see if anyone will pay you for it at a discount And you can start getting an idea . And if you can't get initial clients doing that , this is before you even officially start your business or anything Like you could do this just offer to help somebody , right , and if you can't get anyone to pay you for it , i think that that's a sign that maybe people don't want it and they're not looking for it . You can search in other groups and see if people have posted about that service or product and see if anyone's been asking , like in neighborhood groups . Right , there's ways you can get around this . So again , ask in one of our , whatever group you're in with me , make sure you ask If you are concerned whether people will pay for your product or service or not that you're thinking of .

Speaker 2 19:49

Okay , to me , the second most difficult and actually these I don't know if these should be in this order one to two . I'm gonna keep them in this order . But here's to me , the other most difficult business to be in A business where you have to convince people to buy . Like you have to dig deep and become salesperson of the year and use every Jedi mind trick to get them to buy . Like you have to throw in the kitchen sink and a car and you'll promise to name your first child after them for them to buy Y'all . This is the worst business to be in One where you have to convince people to buy .

Speaker 2 20:35

Now I could have combined these two Again . The first one was something no one wants to pay for , and two , something that you have to convince people to buy . I could have put those as one , but I actually wanted to separate them . I did it on purpose because I want you to think about this concept . It's actually the same concept but it's in two different ways . And this one is where you have to be super convincing . If you have to go around and tell people and keep telling them and calling them and following up and texting them and reminding them , this is the most exhausting type of business to be in . You should not have to be convincing people all the time to buy anything . You should be providing something that solves a problem . It should solve a problem that they have , okay , and they're willing to pay for it . So it actually takes two . It's solving a problem . Are they willing to pay for it ? That's what you're doing . Otherwise , if you are not solving a problem , then you are having to convince people that they have a problem , and that is so hard .

Speaker 2 21:40

You don't want to hear a funny story . So my husband worked at Dell for 20 years at Dell Computers , and that's where he and I met a long time ago . I used to work at Dell also . If you've been listening to the podcast a while , you know that I started out as an intern and then I moved my way up . I was in sales and I was a sales manager and I loved it , loved my job , but then I had kids and started my own business . So there you go . But anyways , my husband worked at Dell for a long time and he was telling us this when we lived in Colorado . He said you have to see this new cell phone , and I think this is when the iPhone like threes were out . Okay , do y'all know how tiny the iPhone threes were ? They are miniscule . We still have one here at our house that we kept because we're like we have this is like archaic , like this is vintage . We have to look at this and appreciate where we are now . Okay , here's the funny story .

Speaker 2 22:27

So Dell came out with a phone . It was called the Dell streak . It was huge , and when I say huge , it's about the size of my iPhone 13 Max Pro . right now I have a 13 Max Pro . It was about the size . It was ahead of its time . People would see my husband on the phone . He would use it because he worked for Dell and he would go on sales calls and he had the phone And people are like what is that brick that you are carrying ? You were carrying a brick and we would laugh and we're like it's a brick , it's a David was like this is amazing , like you can get apps and you can . And he was showing me like how you can see things on it , you can read the text , you can start getting email , y'all . I don't know the sales on it . I'd have to look it up right now . I think it went for a while and then it faded out in the sunset and it was amazing . And now we still have it and we look at it and we're like it's the same as this iPhone We they had .

Speaker 2 23:21

They had to try to convince people to buy this phone but no one would buy it , not because they didn't want the features , it , just people weren't ready yet , people who are not ready for the Dell streak . And I don't know if it's Apple's magic touch . You know they have the Aber Cadabra on everything and I don't know . I don't know , you know , if that had been Apple that came out with something with , would it have gone amazingness all over the place ? Probably would have . I don't know , i'm making that up . I'm just saying they had to try to convince people and people were laughing and thought my husband was carrying a brick and was like on the hugest phone ever . They're like is that a TV ? What is that ? The thing is humongous . I should take a picture of it and post it in the group . I'll have to do that . I'll post it in the women's starting businesses Facebook group , the Dell streak . You'll have to see it . And you had to convince people to buy it and it didn't work . It's not because it wasn't good . So I want you to remember this today .

Speaker 2 24:16

You may have something that is amazing , but if you are having a very hard time convincing people , either you're not sharing the value effectively and people don't realize the value of it , then they're not going to buy it . Right , if it's something new and upcoming and innovative , right , they're not . They're just they're not going to get it . And sometimes it's just the market isn't ready for that yet . But for most of you I'm seeing that when you start a business was something that you have to convince people why ? usually it's because you just haven't developed your business skills . Yeah , usually the product or service is needed . People want it . It's amazing You just haven't deepened your business acumen and your business sales skills to be able to effectively share the value and use the right words that really make people see how awesome it is and how they can use it in their life , how it's going to make their life better .

Speaker 2 25:14

I could go on and on about this . We talk about this in GrowGetters . So if you're in GrowGetters , you're probably nodding your head because you know that this is a huge part of what we do right And what we develop for your businesses . But just remember , if you're having to convince people , if you're like I'm working so hard to try to sell this to people , something is wrong . Something is wrong . Either they're not ready for it yet , it's too innovative , it's too ahead of the market Think of the Del Stree because people aren't ready , or maybe you're working too much on selling versus actually sharing value and showing the benefits of how it could better their lives , and maybe , maybe it's not something they want to pay for right . That could be the other problem . So I don't know this , because I don't know you or your niche . But if you're in one of my programs , i do know you and your niche And you can always post it in our Facebook group If you're concerned about your product or service , that you feel like you're having to be like real salesy and like trying to convince people and force people to buy .

Speaker 2 26:14

I mean , i wasn't when I had my online businesses . I wasn't forcing anyone to buy anything . I just had a cute website and stuff was cute and people would buy it The right people when they show up to my website . They wanted it and they wanted to get it right . It's just like now with coaching .

Speaker 2 26:27

I'm not over here trying to convince every single person that I need to be the one to help you with your business , like I'm not doing that . I am sharing value . I'm sharing the vision with you on how awesome this is to run your own business . You get to know me and then some of you decide , hey , this is the coach I want to work with , but I'm not over here texting you every day saying you need to join the just getting started group today . You need to get in , grow getters . Right now I'm not doing that . I'm using strategies that are proven and I don't believe in having to convince , but I do believe in sharing value and sharing like-mindedness and making you see that I want this for you as much as you want this for you . I want to help you , right ? We could go on and talk about that . Do you see what I'm saying ?

Speaker 2 27:23

So remember , in summary , from today , the toughest , the two toughest businesses you will ever be in is where , number one , you're trying to sell a product or service that no one wants to give up money for . They don't want to pay for it . And number two , trying to convince people to buy it . Like , if you're selling something where you have to convince people to buy it and you're working extra hard , you're working like overtime . Something is wrong . Okay , that's a tough business . You don't want to be in that business . Okay , if this is you today and you're sitting here going yeah , i think I've been having a hard time Again .

Speaker 2 27:59

You've got free resources from me . You can go to the women's starting businesses group . Post questions . If you're in grow getters or the just getting started group , post questions there . If you're not in my just getting started group or grow getters , make sure you check those out because there is help waiting for you . I'm waiting here to help you . The others in the group are so wonderful . I think the Lord every day that the people that have come into my groups have been nothing short of positive and helpful and amazing . So make sure you check out those groups , because you could be a part of it right now .

Speaker 2 28:29

Get help for your business , get the training you need So you don't have to convince anybody And so you can create a product that people actually want to pay for . So that's it . Y'all . Have a great day Until next time . Bye now . Now this episode may be over , but our relationship does not have to end here . Head on over to Kimberly Brockcom And , yes , you can get more valuable information for your journey And you know what . You don't need to go through this alone . I would love to help you . Thank you so much and have a great day . Bye .