How to CRUSH Your Way to a Better Profitability Margin with Sam Varner

business owner content marketing entrepreneurs profitability margin profitable business Mar 30, 2023

Leaving your corporate job and starting your own business might seem like a big challenge. In truth, it's also a huge opportunity. However, starting a business takes time to create wealth. It's a journey filled with setbacks and failures you inevitably must face and overcome. The key is to take risks with a plan and strategy in mind. Your business' profitability margin will only grow if you put something into it.

In this episode, Sam Varner, founder of SHE Collective Biz, joins us to discuss the common mistakes new business owners make that hurt their long-term profitability margin. She sheds light on many starting entrepreneurs' misconceptions and shares some tips for resolving them. Sam also introduces the CRUSH formula to building a profitable business.

If you’re an aspiring business owner looking to really move the needle on your profitability margin, this episode is for you.

Here are three reasons why you should listen to this episode

Learn how to navigate the challenges that come with building a profitable business.
Find out how to take the next step for your business growth when you don't feel ready.
Discover how to implement the CRUSH formula in your business and create a better profitability margin.

Resources

Want to implement what you’ve learnt in this episode? Download the Action Guide, a workbook designed to help you process and implement the knowledge gained from this interview.
Learn more about the Profit with Law Elite Coaching Program here.
Connect with Sam Varner: Website
She Needs Grit Podcast: Audible | Apple | Spotify
Profit First by Mike Michalowicz
The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber

Episode Highlights

How Sam Became a Profit Coach

Sam started in marketing and PR and ended up in finance after her previous agency collapsed.
They moved to Australia from Canada because of her husband's job.
She had to re-qualify for everything to work in Australia, only to find out they had to move to Texas.
Sam's Canadian and Australian qualifications were not helpful in Texas. She decided to start a business that she could do anywhere.
She started money coaching for individuals initially. Because of how she was able to draw in most business owners, she eventually pivoted into becoming a profit coach.

On Revenue Numbers

Sam mainly works with six-figure businesses from a revenue perspective that is just at the beginning and struggling with their profitability margin.

Sam: “The revenue number is almost irrelevant, especially if you don't know the rest of your numbers.”

Many business owners need to be operating with more understanding of their finances or profit numbers.
They recognize they're making more money than they can pull out in their business. However, they need to understand how that is happening.

The Main Challenge Surrounding the Profitability Margin

The number one challenge of Sam's clients is not focusing on profitability while their business is still new.
It's not setting yourself up long-term for successful business ownership.
Other factors are only paying attention to how many clients you get in the door and the amount you charge.
Not charging enough and spending more than you can afford is a problem that goes hand-in-hand with business owners.

Why Do Business Owners Overspend

Business owners often see bigger businesses as an example of what they're trying to be.
They often put money towards massive advertising dollars and hiring without a concrete plan.

Sam: “They look to bigger businesses as the example of what to do before they're quite ready to do it themselves — and that can be so problematic.”

Another thing is the shiny object problem — the idea that a new tool or trick will help the business grow faster.

Moshe: “If you're trying to teach a baby to run before you teach it to walk, it's gonna slow down the process of the baby learning to crawl. That's what happens in businesses. We think that we're accelerating, we're gonna jump some steps, and in doing so, we actually slow the process down.”

Business ≠ Getting Rich Quick

Sam: “There's a thousand different paths you can take to create the same revenue, the same profit number eventually.”

There are many different ways and steps to get to a specific revenue or profit.
You must be willing to try things and fail to get where you want to be.
Acknowledge that you need time to grow and learn as an entrepreneur.
Moshe cites two reasons some law firms experience rapid success right away: they took clients from their previous firm, or it's a lawyer-rainmaker partnership.

The Reluctance to Bring in Help

Business owners are incredibly hesitant to spend money on help.
Then, you start to feel like you're not doing enough. It then forces you to work even harder with no results, hurting your profitability margin.

Sam: “The mindset then becomes, ‘If I just worked harder, if I just worked faster, I can generate that revenue, and I could get to that place, and I could hire that person.’ And I think that that is how we end up with people starting a business to work less hours long term to have more time freedom and never being able to get there.”

We need to understand that there are other ways of investing for growth. Cash in hand is only one of many options.
Listen to the full episode to hear how Moshe accelerated his business growth faster by setting boundaries with your time!

Taking the Next Step When You Don’t Feel Ready

Take time to evaluate your thoughts around money and debt. Taking on debt for growth and with a plan can be highly valuable.

Sam: “The secret and the key to growth is expansion, is more people doing the work.”

If you need money to hire, look at whatever financial ability you have through your business to get some cash flow. It can be through investors, lines of credit, etc.
Don't fear you won't be able to pay it back. Take the pressure to get it done and seek out business.

Sam: "Debt — from a business perspective — at the end of the day, isn't necessarily a bad thing if done with a strategy."

Like setting boundaries with your time, you must also set boundaries with money — especially with a revolving line of credit.
If it is not your strength, having somebody that can guide and direct you can be helpful.

CRUSH Formula

C is for core — your mission, vision, and values.
R is for revenue, knowing your numbers, and regularly making money dates.
U is for utility, which revolves around automation and delegation.
S is for sales and promotion and understanding how good of a salesperson you are. It's your number one job as a business owner.
H is for headspace. Understand where your brain is in this as a business owner.

Sam’s Parting Piece of Advice

You don't have to do it the way everybody else does it.
You can be creative in how you create and structure your business.
Be creative and be willing to look outside your field of expertise for help.

About Sam

Sam Varner, profit coach, business strategist, and creator of the CRUSH Formula, specializes in helping service-based business owners make profit a priority. A conversation with Sam is an opportunity to share a no-bullshit (friend-to-friend) chat about profit, business success and the grit it takes to make success inevitable. She is open and honest about how to achieve business growth well into 6 figures and just how to tap into each individual business owner's hidden potential. She wants your audience to be inspired through their own personal breakthroughs, strategy and grit to surpass their current goals and growth plans.

If you wish to contact Sam, visit her website and listen to the She Needs Grit Podcast.

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Have any questions? You can contact me through Facebook and LinkedIn. To request a show topic, recommend a guest, or ask a question for the show, please send an email to [email protected].