Don’t Put All Your Eggs In One Basket

This age old saying refers to the farmer that went to collect the morning eggs and put them all in one collection basket only to have the handle break and have the entire contents crash to the ground losing everything. 

As entrepreneurs we do that very same thing, only not with real eggs or baskets but with various aspects of our business. 

Are you currently protected against catastrophic events? What can we learn from this farmer or even current events happening right now? Fortunately for the farmer he only lost the profits of that morning's work. He may have eggs stored up. Or even the income from previous days and weeks. 

What are you doing to either reinforce your handle or even better, get more baskets?

Too many times we stick with the proven thing, or the big idea way too long. It reaches its maximum effectiveness and we don’t have a game plan for when the well runs dry. 

Or, we have a really great idea. It really takes off and we’re grinding out products or services, grinding, grinding, grinding and then the crank falls off the machine. Do buyers wait for a new crank? No, in this age they go look somewhere else.

Here are a few things to think about to remedy these situations even if you are a solo entrepreneur you need to have “what if’s in place”. What if the handle breaks, what if the chicken gets sick, what if I suddenly have too much/not enough business, what if traffic to my business runs dry?

 

Where Can You Save? 

As recent events have shown us we need to make sure we have a nest egg put back. Even if it’s $20 a week, start putting money in savings, do it first before anything else comes out. This nest egg will come in handy to replace that crank, or cover lost time due to situations.

Review your bank accounts, what subscription services are you not really using? What resources have you bought that are no longer needed can they be turned off? Put on hold until you’re ready? 

I recently went through some of the services I use and called customer service and asked can you review my account and see if there are any savings or offers I can take advantage of. For example my home and auto insurance. I’ve always used the same company and had wondered why my premiums had creeped up to the price they were. By calling for a review I greatly reduced my monthly payments. Same with our internet and cable. A quick call reveals they have a promotion running that will reduce my monthly payments $50 a month for the next year. Between just those two calls I can either save that money or use it to grow elsewhere.

 

Where Can You Make More?

I’m seeing people being more resourceful. I’ll use a local business I know for an example. They have a grocery business that is open to the public, but their primary business is delivering produce and food items to local restaurants. Already they’re serving two different customers. Right? Business to consumer and business to business. 

Here’s where thinking outside the box comes in. They have their own delivery trucks obviously to service customers. They have a team of mechanics that service those trucks. Well what do those mechanics do when there is no mechanical issue to fix? Instead of cutting their hours or putting them on call they created demand. They offered their maintenance services to other companies that have trucks but no maintenance team. Bingo, another source of income.

What could you be doing to offer another source of income? Is there another service you’ve not thought about that you can add to increase your services? Maybe you provide a service. Have you thought about coaching? 

For example I create websites but many solo entrepreneurs like to do it themselves these days. So, I offer coaching to show them how they could do something on their website or online business better. 

For many of us time is limited so coaching one to many is another option. Record training videos for your topic and put them in a members area and sell that as a monthly subscription and you have another source of income.

Do you have add on products or upsells? McDonalds made “do you want fries with that” famous. What are your fries? I’m adding several upsells myself and finding some, just want that service now. 

What can you offer as a bundled service? 

 

How Can You Get More?

The proverbial eggs in one basket applies to getting traffic too. Face it, you know you have that one go to method that is good for a few more leads. But what if that service goes away or changes policies and doesn’t meet your needs anymore?

I see a lot of people put all of their advertising budget in one method. For example Facebook. Yes, it’s a great place to advertise because of the targeting. But have you considered if that’s the optimal place to reach your biggest targets? 

Have you thought about Google ads, Microsoft Bing ads, etc. Have you considered SEO (search engine optimization) on your website? Tested conversion on ads, website, emails etc. 

Multiple streams of traffic also bring multiple streams of income. Income from areas you’ve not reached yet just because you’ve not considered other alternatives. 

Here’s something to consider, people buy from those they know like and trust. Right? Advertise yourself! Not in the forms of running ads above but to make yourself known. People are more likely to buy your products if they know who you are. Get involved in online discussions, write articles for your site or even guest posts for others websites. Make use of social media. Self publish a book. All of these will bring traffic. People will like what you have to say and see you have something to offer. Plus, these various methods will create traffic to your website which is one of the main goals.

 

The Biggest Thing to Remember

Don’t rely on one source of anything. Backup plans and fail safes are a good idea. It’s good to have your niche but how can you best utilize the resources you have to reach the goals you have set. Not just physical resources, but also mental resources. Mastermind with like minded people. Some of the best ideas come from two little words. “What if”.