🐾 Dog Training Business making $131k/yr!

Here’s what we have for you today:

Cool Business Idea: 

Why Are People Paying $40 for Disney Guides?

Confusing Corporate Sayings:

“We’re adding senior to your title, congratulations!”

Professional Translation
“This title change reflects the trust and confidence we have in your continued contributions to the team.“

Corporate Pivot Translation
“It will be more work, but it also comes with no raise in pay!“

Sam’s Perspective (1st Time Buyer)

🆕 Status Update: Learning calls to action (CTAs).

This week, I wanted to experiment with something to boost The Corporate Pivot's conversion rate. We’re starting to build a solid following on Instagram, so I figured it’s time to learn how to create some effective CTAs. You know those popups you see on websites that say, “Sign up for 10% off”? That’s basically what a CTA is—offering value in exchange for an email sign-up.

It’s definitely more of a marketing thing, but I realized if I can figure this out for The Corporate Pivot, I can share what I learn here, and we can all use it in our own businesses or future ventures.

I’ll keep it high level for now, but if anyone wants the exact steps, let me know, and I’ll write them down. For context, The Corporate Pivot runs on WordPress, and there are always a million ways to do things, but I went with a popup plugin. It was pretty straightforward (though I did have ChatGPT help make the formatting and style look cooler with some HTML code). Honestly, they also have presets, so there’s no need to overcomplicate it like I did!

Here’s the gist of what I did:

1. Installed the Popup Maker plugin on WordPress.

2. Designed the popup using a mix of plugin presets and some custom HTML.

3. Set up a call to action that made sense for my audience.

For my case, I focused on what Instagram followers might find valuable. I decided to trade a Google Sheets calculator I use to quickly analyze deals (to see if they’re worth scheduling a call) in exchange for an email sign-up.

Simple as that. Now, I have a popup that, hopefully, converts Instagram followers into newsletter subscribers. The plugin also tracks metrics, so I’ll share an update next week on how well it works!

Tyler’s Perspective (Experienced Buyer)

🚨 Status Update: On the theme of bringing people together, recently Sam and I got some good news woth respect to our quest for more off market leads. We were able to narrow our down to a specific business, in a very specific market. However, the kicker is that we may have an opportunity to have an operator woth experience in such industry, and with contacts in such market. Also, as an added bonus, that operator is willing to help us source the deals and make calls on viable leads. This is huge for us, and will hopefully serve as a test run for what we are hoping to do more of. We are fine tuning our script for talking to potential sellers, and will keep you posted as we test it out on potential sellers. 

💰 Deals < $500k 💰

Business Name: Dog Training Business
Revenue: $341,542
Asking Price: $250,000
Profit: $131,403 (Profit Margin = 38.5%)
Location: Medina County, OH
Established: 2018

✅ Pros:

• Thriving Industry: Pet ownership is steadily increasing, with $10.7 billion spent annually on services like training, positioning this business for continued demand.

• Exclusive Territory: The business benefits from an exclusive franchise zone, minimizing competition within its service area.

⚠️ Cons:

• Owner Dependence: The new owner will require certification and training, which could delay immediate revenue generation.

📈 Growth Opportunities:

• Specialty Services: Adding advanced or niche training classes and hosting paid seminars can attract higher-value clients.

• Partnerships: Building relationships with veterinarians, pet stores, and rescues can create a steady referral pipeline.

💰💰 Deals $500k - $2m 💰💰

Business Name: Business Valuation Consulting Firm
Revenue: $1,050,000
Asking Price: $800,000
Profit: $300,000 (Profit Margin = 28.6%)
Location: Charlotte, NC
Established: 2000

✅ Pros:

• Established Reputation: Over 20 years in the business with stellar reviews, providing a solid foundation of trust.

• Strong Market Position: Located in Charlotte, one of the fastest-growing U.S. regions and a banking hub, which supports long-term growth potential.

⚠️ Cons:

• Dependence on Seller Expertise: Transition may take time due to the seller's key role in operations, despite their willingness to train the buyer.

📈 Growth Opportunities:

• Expand Digital Presence: Developing a comprehensive online marketing strategy could attract new clients and broaden reach.

• New Service Offerings: Adding consulting services for specific industries or focusing on M&A advisory can tap into new revenue streams.

💰💰💰 Deals $2m-$10m 💰💰💰

Business Name: Gas Utility Service Company
Revenue: $3,000,000
Asking Price: $5,000,000
Profit: $1,500,000 (Profit Margin = 50%)
Location: Florida
Established: 2000

✅ Pros:

• Consistent Cash Flow: Over 20 years of steady EBITDA averaging $1.5 million showcases reliability and market dominance.

• Exclusive Client Relationship: ~60% of revenue comes from a 20+ year client, providing predictable income and strong client loyalty.

⚠️ Cons:

• Revenue Concentration Risk: Heavy dependence on one client could pose a significant risk if the relationship changes or the client exits.

📈 Growth Opportunities:

• Develop Online Presence: Establishing a website and online marketing could significantly increase awareness and attract new clients.

• Diversify Client Base: Expanding services to other developers and businesses within the region could reduce dependency on a single client.

**If today is your first day reading, go to Chapter Recaps to get up to speed!

The Lean Startup: Ch. 12 Part 2

Happy Monday! Welcome back to The Lean Startup and we are half way through Chapter 12. Today we’ll be discussing creating a platform for experimentation, protecting the parent organization, rational fears, and the dangers of hiding innovation! 

Creating the platform for experimentation needs a set of ground rules:

1. How to protect the parent organization

2. How to hold entrepreneurial managers accountable 

3. How to reintegrate an innovation back into the parent organization if it’s successful 

Eric brings up a meeting with one of clients. As part of protecting the parent organization they had these meetings to interpret data from the experiment. There was just one large problem, nobody could agree what the data meant. There were many problems with their situation, namely: using vanity metrics instead of actionable metrics, overly long cycle times, the use of large batch sizes, and very little learning (to just say a few). In the end decisions weren’t made base on data, purely based on plausible sounding arguments… as I’m sure you can tell, not a fruitful effort.

At the heart of this company’s inability to move forward (Eric refers to it as a feud) is a rational fear. The company served 2 segments, a business to business enterprise and a consumer segment. Both sides want the company to go in their directions even though they serve and react in complete opposite ways. There was tremendous growth opportunity in the consumer segment but little had materialized. Part of the lack of growth was the current pricing structure, this was for the B2B segment, they would mark up the price and then provide heavy discounts to their favored corporate customers. The consumer segment couldn’t afford these higher prices! The concern that the current customers in the B2B segment would feel slighted if the consumer segment got much better pricing than them. These fears are well founded.

“The imperative to innovate is unrelenting.”

In The Innovator’s Dilemma ever higher profits and margins year after year leads to the sudden collapse of the business. (Shoutout NVIDIA, to the moon baby!!!)

People defend themselves when they feel threatened, and no innovation can flourish if defensiveness is given free rein. Even though there are a few famous examples of developing in an echo chamber, it is very dangerous and could have long term negative consequences. Without a structure within the organization you are doomed to lose the ability to re-create and sustain the culture that led to the innovation in the first place.

Read more at corppivot.com!