You should never start a business!

You shouldn’t even think about starting a business. Get a job, be smart about the way you use your money, and live happily ever after. Enjoy each moment, eat, travel, and have as much fun as you can.

Starting a business is one of the worst ways to invest your time because more than 95% of businesses fail. Why waste so much time and energy on something that has such a low success rate? 

Imagine going to a martial arts class and asking the instructor to use you for all the demonstrations while making it as real as possible. And also letting all the students practice on you. And hitting yourself sometimes too. Being an entrepreneur can feel like that. 

It is like willingly going into a dark tunnel without a flashlight… without anyone else… without even knowing if there is a way out. 

You have to be a bit crazy to want to be an entrepreneur! 

But what if you go to that martial arts class every day, take a beating, and you survive?  

What if you start getting tougher? Maybe you even start to learn how to defend yourself. Maybe the students will get tired of fighting you because you just don’t give up. 

I have to confess that Matt and I are a bit crazy. We haven’t just started one business… we’ve started many!  

If you are reading this it’s because you are a bit crazy too. Don’t fight it or deny it. Embrace it and use it to your advantage!

Something magical happens after you start to embrace the darkness instead of fighting it or complaining about it.

Today, we want to invite you to be part of an experience that we have created to help you find the light… or at least embrace walking in the dark.

You Can Do Anything But Not Everything

As an entrepreneur you have to wear many hats and this can get overwhelming.

You can do anything but not everything!

For this reason, you have to focus and double down on your strengths. At the same time, you must identify your weaknesses and seek help to cover these.

Finance, accounting, operations, marketing, human resources... Big companies have all these functional areas because they know it takes different skill sets to be successful at each. Yet, as an entrepreneur and small business owner you might not have the luxury of having such a big team to take care of the different areas of your business.

So what can you do?

There are many sources of valuable information that you can use to tackle all these challenges and grow your business. You can:

• Attend business conferences

• Read business books

• Listen to business podcasts

• Attend workshops about the specific skills you want to build

• Get an MBA

• Learn through trial and error

• Get a mentor

Yet, at some point all these sources of information might be a bit too general and you are looking for clear and specific guidance to help you take the next step.

We know because we’ve been there. Matt and I have been through all of these sources of valuable information that we mentioned.

These are some of the steps we take to stay at the top of our business game:

• Read an average of 80+ books a year,
• Every week we listen to podcasts such as The Tim Ferriss Show and How I Built This,
• Attend business events as speakers
• Develop & conduct professional development workshops
• Give guest lectures at the Bauer MBA program
• We both graduated at the top of our respective MBA classes

We are constantly searching for more tools and resources that can help us grow, and we are going to share all of these with you.

Wasting Time & Money Is Painful

Spending time and money on things that don't generate results can be a devastating blow for a business that's building it's foundations.  

How much money have you spent on things like these:

• Events or trade shows

• Membership to different chambers of commerce

• Business cards

• Business networking groups

Don’t get me wrong, at some point you will need to invest in business cards and join chambers of commerce. Yet, these might not be the right investments for the position you are in.

When you are starting, every dollar counts! You must make the right investments and the right time.

We didn’t buy business cards until after the third year of business and we still haven't joined any chamber of commerce or business networking group. Yet, Elisha Consulting was profitable since day one, this year we’ve grown every month, and are projecting a YOY 3X growth.

How do we do this? By making sure that every dollar counts towards creating a return and by using our time efficiently!

We will share with you some of the big mistakes we’ve made, so that you can avoid these, as well as our big wins so that you can replicate these.

Testimonials

Cut Through The Noise & Get Things Done

The One Day Accelerator (ODA) will give you the necessary tools to cut through the noise and get things done. We’ve simplified our marketing strategy and execution process in such a way that even if you are a one-person company, you will be able to function as if you had a marketing team.

It is all about doing “less but better”. All of our past clients have seen an immediate growth in their digital marketing efforts, which has led to revenue growth.

You will leave this day with a clear step-by-step process on how to get to the next level. Also, you will join the ODA alumni network, which means that we will be here to help you move forward.

Our engagement doesn’t end at the end of the day we meet. That is just the beginning! We will stay in touch to push you and keep you accountable, as well as to answer any questions you might have.

For us, the One Day Accelerator is a success only if it leads to your success.

What You Get With The One Day Accelerator

On the day of your ODA, we will meet for 8 hours and together we will create the foundations and tools that you will use to execute and take your business to the next level.

But don’t let the name fool you! Although we only meet for a day, there is a lot that goes on in preparation for that day.

To maximize our time with you we will take several steps before we meet, which may include:

• Market research: this will help us understand the industry in which your business is competing while discovering the best practices and benchmarks within that space

• Digital assets audit: we will go over your website, social media channels, and any other digital assets to be able to make recommendations for improvement (UX, website sitemap, etc.)

• Branding audit: while we go over your digital assets, we will keep an eye out for possible improvements for your branding (logo refreshment, brand positioning statements, copy edits, etc.)

• Marketing tools: we will create templates, guides, and calendars that will simplify the creation and execution of your marketing campaigns

• Process guides: you will receive tailored guides where we share the details of the processes that Elisha Consulting uses when we work to create value for our long-term clients

During our work day, together we will go over:

• Business model: we will review all the areas of your business to identify opportunities for improvement and design plans to fill those gaps. This could include pricing, business development processes, event management, and customer service management

• Marketing strategy: we will create a high-level strategy that will help have a clear focus on what you need to do to grow your revenue

• Brand identity: we will explore the what, how, and especially the why of your business, so that we can clearly communicate the way in which your business is creating value for its audience

Meet Your Consultants

The fundamental piece of the ODA will be marketing. Yet, we will also cover all the fundamental areas of business because, in essence, we are problem-solvers.

We rely on our backgrounds in anthropology and economics to identify opportunities for improvement and point your business in the right direction.

• Matt Avery, MA, MBA

• Alejandro I. Sanoja, MBA

One Day Accelerator Alumni

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