I help business owners scale past $1m/year by installing a predictable client acquisition system. Join my newsletter as I share my journey and lessons learned from entrepreneurship.
argued with my friend about "business models"
|
Wassup folks. Feel like writing tonight before sleeping... So here's one for you in case you miss my writing 😂 2 days back, I invited a couple of good friends over to my place for ice cream. If you don't know, there's this very popular ice cream account on ig called @onebyoneicecream Very popular ice cream. It has a 2 year wait list, and his ice cream sells out in seconds. I managed to get his FFF (fastest fingers first) which he posts once a day. Ordered 3 tubs of ice cream which cost $128 lol. You can see the 3 tubs here: This email is not about ice cream though. So there's this ongoing debate with my friends about employee VS entrepreneurship. I used to envy employees a lot, especially the well paid ones in tech/banking... But these days my views has changed. Whatever it is - each has its own challenges. You gotta choose your hard. So over ice cream with my friends... We somehow had a heated debate about business models. This guy is a very highly paid employee. He also trades stocks and options on the side. And he makes good money from his investments. Which is good. But the issue I have is - he classifies that as a business model. Took me a while to debate with him on that... Why? Because my own definition of a business is you have create and sell a product or service to customers. But trading?? How is that a business? I asked him: Who's your customer? What's your product? I was pretty hostile (and I can, cos he's a good friend lol) The thing is, because I started my business from scratch... I have the utmost respect for anyone who also start something from scratch. That's also a reason why I respect hawkers a lot... Because they work damn hard, and they literally start from scratch. So to call his trading a business model, it didn't sit right with me. But after that night, I had a discussion with ChatGPT. Technically, trading stocks and options IS a type of business, if you run it like a business. Meaning you have clear systems in place. Let me show you what ChatGPT says: So yea, I guess it is a business model. Another friend was quick to answer my question. The "product" is the stock itself. The "customer" would be the stock market (where there are willing buyers) So technically, his trading is a business model. I have to admit, it is a good business model. If I can put it very simply - you use money to make more money without having to start something up. Furthermore, my friend added... From a financial standpoint, he prefers this business model because in the long term, he stands a higher chance of winning. He's right. Another mutual friend questioned me. Since I agree it's good - why not go into this "business model"? My answer to him was immediate: It doesn't benefit anyone. You see... Trading in the stock market is zero sum game. If you win, someone loses. How does that add any value to anyone? Which really put things into perspective on why I feel so passionate working with my clients. Because through my work... Through my "business model" I can positively benefit people. When I see them hit their record high revenue... When I see them expand to a bigger location... When they tell me "I can finally breathe better". It has so much impact and meaning. So why do I not choose the "better" business model? Simply because I wanna impact and help more people. I wanna add value to humans and not just play a zero sum game. I wanna play a win-win game. Clients invest in my expertise and skills, and through that, their business grows even more. And it's something I'm gonna keep doing for a long time... 2 days back, a client sent me a voice message to thank me after she converted a lead. She too, felt very heartened that she can spread her mission (she runs a phonics school) through ads. So yes... While we debated about business models. At the end of the day, there is no right or wrong as long, as it's what you truly want to do. Okie, time to sleep. Goodnight 😴
|
Edmund Chew
I help business owners scale past $1m/year by installing a predictable client acquisition system. Join my newsletter as I share my journey and lessons learned from entrepreneurship.