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Small Business Support For Those On A Tight Budget

by: StuMcLaren
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Nobody starts on top. You have to find ways to overcome the one obstacle that every entrepreneur has in the beginning.


To get past the obstacle of having a tight budget to begin with you really have to learn how to market yourself creatively by asking yourself some simple creative questions.


Questions such as:


1) How can I


Start with another creative question like:


2) Who could help me with I love that one. Who could help me with


How about:


3) Who would exchange for ?


Or this one:


4) How can I do this faster, with less effort, cheaper? Could I do this for free?


Try and answer this question:


5) What can I substitute for 'X'? Could I substitute 'XYZ' for 'ABC'? Just think about whatever you could, or want to change.


If you answer this question you will really be putting yourself in the mind frame of some of your unique and different customers:


6) How would solve this problem?


Here is an example: How would my wife solve this problem? How would my mentor, child, neighbor solve this problem? By asking yourself this question you really have to look at things from a different perspective.


I've answered these business questions myself and it has allowed doors to open in every direction, propelling my career to new heights and success to be and continued to be achieved.


I'll show you an example of how I used this method of creative questioning to help me.


I decided to become a professional speaker as soon as I was done University. My focus was speaking to college and high school students about the topic of creativity. I focused on creativity because with it I was able to move from a first year failure in University to graduating being named Most Outstanding Male with straight A's. I changed a lot between how I did things in first year to my last year, and I credit a lot of it to learning something I had become very passionate about, creative thinking.


Being a professional speaker and building a profitable speaking business was two things I didn't know anything about though.


To try and learn the ropes I joined an organization called CAPS, The Canadian Association for Professional Speakers.


It was at one of the local meetings were I asked a gentleman, who was doing very well with his speaking career, "What did I have to do to get to where he was?" He replied by saying, "I'll give you three things to get started on. Once you finish those come back and I'll give you some more." He said it would be simple, so I said, "Okay."


"Number one," he began, "You should join CAPS. By surrounding yourself with like minded people in your industry it will help your business grow."


To join CAPS the registration was $200, which was a big chunk of my budget. I remember even asking them if I could pay in smaller payments, which I did. Despite the squeeze, I joined the CAPS organization.


The second thing he said I had to do was, "Get out to the CAPS National Conference." As much as I wanted to go, it was on the other side of Canada, which meant more costs on top of the relatively expensive conference fee. At this point everything was expensive for me as I had no money. To get there I would have to pay for my flight, accommodations and everything else.


It was at this point that I knew I had to start asking myself some creative questions. I knew I didn't have much, but I began looking at what I did have, or could do that perhaps someone else might be interested in.


What I had at the time was time itself. I wasn't speaking very often because I had just started my speaking business, so I had some time on my hands.


It was at this moment I asking myself, "How could I use my time to help someone else?" By answering that question I came up with, 'Help Stu Be Like You,' a campaign to help me get to the National Conference.


But here was the concept and here's what happened. I approached the biggest chapter of the CAPS organization in my province and I asked for 30 seconds in front of the whole group. There were about 75 of them.


This was something new to them, no one had asked for that before. I got up in front of everyone and asked them, "When you started off as a speaker, how many of you had no experience?" With no surprise, everybody's hands went up in the air.


The next question I asked was, "Out of all of you who have your hand up, how many of you have been to the CAPS national conference?" About 75% of the room kept their hands up.


I continued, "With experiencing the national conference, how many of you with your hands up belief that it would be beneficial for somebody with zero experience to go to?" Everyone who had been kept their hands up.


I said, "Great. Because I am somebody with zero speaking experience that you just said needs to get out to that CAPS national conference."


Then I said, "But here's the problem. I don't have any money. But what I do have is time. Here's the exchange I'm willing to make and hope that you are willing to make as well. I've created a campaign called Help Stu Be Like You." And I handed out these little flyers, black and white. Basically what I did was I printed two 8x6 flyers on an 8-1/2 x 11 sheet to save costs, and I just cut it right down the middle and I gave everybody in the audience one.


I said, "Here's what I'm willing to do. I'm willing to do all the dirty work that you speakers don't like doing or don't have time to do. I will make sales calls for you. I will write sales letters for you. I will lick stamps for you. I will cut your grass. I'll even wipe your baby's bottom, if that's what you want me to do, for a financial contribution of your choice."


I could see some of them in the audience were just licking their chops thinking, "Oh my goodness. This is awesome. I'm going to get cheap labor."


I finished up by saying, "Whatever you don't like doing I will do, in exchange for an financial contribution of your choice. Everything I make from this campaign will go directly towards getting me out to the CAPS national conference."


As soon as I finished explaining it, a gentleman at the back of the room stood up, and he said, "Stu, I will pay for your entrance fee to the seminar." Boom. Just like that. Half of my costs basically taken care of.


Immediately following that, another gentleman stood up and he said, "Stu, and I will pay for the cost to get you out there." Boom, boom. Eighty-five percent of all of my expenses were taken care of just like that.


My friends, it's all about being creative.


By asking myself that creative question, I was able to come up with a solution that got me out to the conference and my entrance fee paid for. By the time I got there it had turned into a big story, the national CAPS publication had written a story about me and I had all kinds of people coming up to me asking me questions.


By exploring your creativity ideas will come to you when you need them the most!


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