✴️ How I'm Making... #2

In today’s issue, I need your help with a business decision! Read to the end to see what’s going on. We will cover…

• Relearning the same thing again and again…

• Offer crafting

• Help me pick an offer for my startup!

📈 The “Groundhog Day” Syndrome

I seem to spend most of my time as an entrepreneur in a loop:

1. Make a mistake

2. Learn a painful lesson

3. Make the same mistake again, in a slightly different context.

Here’s why this happens for me:

Lizard Brain Takes Over

I've faced 1000+ rejections at this stage in my career, both on date nights and pitch calls 😅.

Even though I know to expect a "no", I still need a second to adjust my reaction every time I get rejected.

Human beings are pattern recognition machines. If you’ve ever had déjà vu, you know what it’s like to feel your brain slot into a pattern. It’s a powerful tool that allows us to make faster decisions. However, we are even better change detection machines. This is a part of our survival instinct, and we need to manage it actively. (If a branch is out of place, it could mean a predator is nearby)

Level Up - The Rules Change

Imagine a single-stage game like rock paper scissors. In this game:

• There is a single set of rules

• The rules never change

• There is always a winner and a loser.

This is an easy game to master - Partly because luck plays a large part, but also because the rules never change. Entrepreneurship is not a single-stage game.

For example, I used to only work 1-1 with clients. This made sense because my offer was for a high ticket bespoke service. Imagine you paid for personal training, then showed up to find out it was actually a group class. You would ask for a refund. In this stage of the game, 1-1 is better than 1-many.

But, with GOM Venture Club, the main offering is a community. Here, having more people is actually a benefit. So for GOM Venture Club, 1-1 is worse than 1-many. Imagine a Crossfit class, or a club night, where you are the only one that shows up. People don’t like feeling out of place - even if they put themselves there.

So the rules can change, depending on what stage of the entrepreneurship game we are playing.

Control the Controllable

What do we do about all this? We have to accept that we are human beings, learn the new refined lesson, then move on. Mistakes are a leading indicator that you are breaking new ground.

🔗 The Best Way To Craft Your Offer

• Offer Crafting Checklist by Hormozi

In my previous business, I was struggling to give away what I knew was a high-level, bespoke service for free. I messaged over 700 people, offering them my services for free, but no one wanted to work with me.

In my experience, cold outreach fails for one of 3 reasons:

• Problem with targeting (wrong audience)

• Bad job at building trust

• Bad offer

Of the three, I’ve found that fixing the offer is the most powerful lever you can pull.

If you have an incredible offer, you actually don't need to worry about the other two problems. People will refer you their friends who they think you could help, and give you a shot even if they don't trust you.

Fixing The Offer

So, how do you fix the offer? For me, the simplest and most intuitive method is to frame the outcome we deliver as a timed challenge.

The beauty of this is, it works with every industry. For services, you might have…

• laundry pickup service - Get your laundry done in 1 hour without planning your day around it. $10 per load for your first week.

• Massage service - Get rid of neck pain from sitting in the office without sacrificing your lunch break. Smoothie & massage meal deal for the same price as your lunch.

For an app, you might see…

• Meditation app - Get your life back on track in 10 weeks without relying on pills or expensive therapy. First month free trial

• Video editing - Edit your next viral hit in 5 minutes without your laptop. Free tier for all basic features

Last one. For a B2B SAAS, you could have…

• Email Marketing - Marketing tools to help you win more new and repeat customers immediately. Sign up for Free.

• Automation software - Automate routine tasks with the power of AI and simplify your workflow immediately. Free to try forever.

From my personal experience, the offer went from:

To:

That was how I got started, then I got testimonials, referrals, and started selling the exact same offer for $1350.

What’s Next?

Over the next week, I’m going to be launching and testing my new offer. I need your help!

I am working with first time or early stage founders that are passionate, eager to make an impact, but don’t want to take on outside capital - either because they don’t want to report to investors, or because they don’t want to give up 7-10% of their company for some measly $15k investment (most accelerators fall into these numbers).

If you are new to the startup space, and aren’t planning on taking on pre-revenue funding, then help me answer this question!

Small favor to ask you.

If you enjoyed this newsletter, I’d be grateful if you sent it to 2-3 friends right now.

We need to spread the word about optimism and progress for entrepreneurs.

That’s all for now!

I hope you have a great week - remember everyone starts from the beginning!

Cheers,

Ben

Founder: GOM Venture Club

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