How I Grew My Small Business

I am a small business owner.

I started with nothing and grew my company to a $50 million/year company with 200 employees — without any investors or capital.

(Okay, I did max out a $5,000 credit card in the beginning… and a few others, too, if I’m totally honest!)

People ask me all the time: HOW THE HECK DID YOU DO THAT?

Of course, there are a lot of answers to that question, but one trumps them all.

However, small business owners DON’T LIKE the answer. They hear it and instantly dismiss it as something that doesn’t apply to them. It’s uncanny!

I did a little research — I wanted to see if other small businesses did the same thing as I did. Was it just me? Or is this something just not talked about a lot?

By now you probably want to know what it is, but if I just blurt it out, you’ll roll your eyes and not even believe me.

Read on and I’ll share it!

I have talked about “how I did it” and talked about it and talked about it — and I’m going to talk about it again in the hopes that some of you reading this will take heed!

It’s almost like I can see on a small business owners face what they’re thinking when I tell them this — “That doesn’t apply to me.” BUT IT DOES — I’m sure of it now.

Back to my research:

I interviewed one of my clients, Dr. Amit Khanna, who took a flat-lining dental practice and grew it to the point where now he has a few dentists working for him and he’s making millions.

And guess what?

He did it exactly the same way I did! There are tons of dentists near his practice but he keeps growing and growing like he’s the only game in town!

The owner of Dance Expressions moved back into her parents’ house so she could open up a small dance studio six years ago. She followed the same strategy, and now there’s a waiting list to join her classes and she’s looking to expand!

Lakewood College did it, too — they went from making $120,000 per year to $2.3 million per year.

I hope you’re paying attention, because I really, really love small business owners. You bust your butt like nobody else, and I want you to grow, win and be able to relax a little!

So here comes the boring truth:

When I was small, I marketed my business WAY MORE than any sane person thought I should. I spent more — a LOT more — on marketing than I paid myself. (I still do!)

I marketed much, much more than any other business I saw, except for the ones that were already huge — and they were doing it, too!

Like Bed, Bath & Beyond with their 20% off coupons that constantly came to my house…

Or those insurance companies with their constant barrage of TV commercials…

Or Pepsi and Coke and Nike and all of those GIANT companies that we’ve all heard of.

Now you might be asking:

How did you do that if you didn’t take any capital?

Well, in the beginning, sending out 2,500 postcards every single week cost me a little less than $1,000 per week. That’s a salary, folks! (Mine!)

I paid myself very little — enough to get by. I took a pay cut to increase marketing more than a few times!

Here’s a funny story:

After I’d been in business for about five years, I decided to buy myself a Mercedes convertible.

Before that, I’d been driving a Pathfinder. I loved it and, even better, it was PAID FOR!

Look… that’s a pretty nice car, right?

Pure luxury, am I right? (That’s not MY car in the photo, but it is the same car!)

So I get the new car (and keep the Pathfinder because I had two little kids then) and drive it to work.

One of my staff members comes up to me and says, “Thank goodness you got a new car.”

I ask, “Why?! My other car is awesome!” (Even though it was 6 years old.)

He says, “I thought you had bad credit or something!”

Because I drove an older car?! What the heck? I thought that was hilarious!

As my company did better and better, it became important that I “look the part,” but I waited until we were already pretty big and successful before doing that.

My point is…

It takes sacrifice to be a successful small business. Do you REALLY want to grow?

Yes?

Then you have to spend on marketing — not on luxuries.

I bought a building for PostcardMania before I got myself a new car. I took the down payment out of my personal home.

Here’s what I’m saying:

You have the money. What you spend it on is up to you.

And if you don’t have it? Well, you take loans for other things I bet — things that don’t give you an amazing return!

What sacrifices have you made for YOUR small business? Tell me in the comments below, or email me at Joy.Gendusa@PostcardMania.com.

Call my marketing experts at 800-628-1804 to talk about how you can grow your business — the consultation is 100% cost- and obligation-free!

Best,

Joy