How to Build a Million-Dollar Business

Here's one way.

You're in the computer service business. You're providing a biweekly computer newsletter filled with industry tips and tricks to keep business owners productive.

You charge a measly $25 per month.

The Week 1

1. Your first week, you snatch 1 whole client.
2. $25/month for 12 months = $300 per year.

"I can't survive on $300 per year!" you tell yourself.

1. Slap yourself.
2. You're not content with being S-U-C-K.
3. You're a crazy mofro who would steal dinner from 4-year-old little orphan Billy, who has one leg.

The Week 2

1. "I talked to 100 clients last week and got 1 client."
2. "Let's try for 500 clients this week. 100 clients per day is more than doable," you tell yourself.
3. At the end of the week, you get 5 clients.

You're up to 6 clients this week ($1,800 recurring revenue per year so far.)

Week 3 Starts

1. "I'll up my calls to 150 per day, and direct mail the rest to reach 2000 contacts this week."
2. 2000 contacts produces 20 new clients.

You're up to 26 clients this week ($6,240 recurring annual revenue).

BAM!

1. You know that you convert 1 customer for every 100 business owners you pitch.
2. 1 customer = $300/year. "To achieve a recurring million-dollar business with the biweekly, my company must have 3,334 clients."
3. You set The Goal: "My company must pitch to at least 334,000 prospects in [whatever time frame you desire]."

Instead of having an ambigously-weak-sauce X-dollar goal to guide you, you have a super concrete goal to get you on your way:

• Pitch to 334,000 prospects.

(~25M businesses in US alone, and millions more inside large companies. ~300M peeps. 334K - itzy.)

That's it. That's the goal. Concrete like a muffin.

(And of course, if you have a solid product, you'll get referrals -- which drastically cuts down on the number above.)

You can reach your concrete goal through an infinite number of ways depending on your time frame; for instance, using your Week 3 strategy above of 2000 pitches/week will get you there in 3 years.

SOONER!

Some super generic ideas to give you some ideas:

• Industry ads = BAM. You ad pitches to thousands.
• Business conferences = thousands more.
• Hiring folks/firms = BAM. You multiply productivity by X to reach ridiculously more.
• Helpful online posts in business message boards that displays your pitch at the bottom? A bunch-bunch-bunch more.
• Raise funds = Expand your reach infinitely more.
• Partnering up with Firm A to get your promotional ads in its packaging boxes = BAM. Freakish thousands.
• Entrepreneur Magazine cover story? OH NOES. WE CAN'T KEEP UP WITH ORDERS. OH NOES.

(Results-oriented marketing experts/consultants with proven results in your industry = GEMS. Seek/hire them to help you.)

The Steps

1. Define your product.
2. Price it. Pitch it.
3. Determine the average ^ of pitches it takes to generate 1 customer.
4. Then, determine the ^ of pitches you need to get to $1M, based on the $ value of a customer.

(And for those shouting: "Oooooh. We reached $1M fifteen years ago. OOooooOOh hooo hoooo. Doesn't apply to US!" - the same model applies even if you're trying for a $1B product.)

Pitches. Pitches. Pitches.

If you enjoyed How to Build a Million-Dollar Business, get a complimentary subscription to our freshest articles through email or through your feed reader.