Good Afternoon Johnny Nomega,


Here's my list of questions. I look forward to getting your response.

1. At this point, I feel like I have pretty good branding that could use some fine tuning. How do you go about developing a consistent brand? Should the brand be based on the owner? Should the brand be tested? Is it necessary to hire a consultant?

Maybe,  Yes and Yes. The brand should be based on the owner if the owner is the only one supplying the service i.e. business consultation where the owner is the only employee and will be the only employee, so the customer needs to believe in the owner completely, however, if the owner plans on hiring other consultants the brand and confidence need to be on the business. Also, the brand should be tested and a consultant can save you years and even decades of trial and error. Let some one else's experience save you time and money.

2. Legal issues are common in any business entity. Where can I find affordable legal counsel? Is legal counsel really necessary?
 

Yes it is necessary. Good legal council could have saved many business owners tons of time and lots of money and affordable and legal normally don't go together, but check out score and your local SBA and I'm sure they'd be able to help with many of your questions for free.

3. I'm reading this book right now called "Attracting Perfect Customers". What are the steps to determining your perfect customer and target audience?

Do they have money, can they afford your product, can they use your product.

Your service or product determine your market. You wouldn't want to try to sell donuts outside of a health spa or produce at a bakery festival. A good marketing firm can pull the demographics in your area and tell you where the people who would want or need your services are.

4. I get advice often from so many entrepreneurs/business owners. A lot of times, I push their advice to the side because they don't line up with my goals. How do you deal with advice because everybody normally means well.

You use what you can and toss what you don't, but you ALWAYS listen. You don't know what you don't know and you don't know who knows what or who knows whom.

5. Right now I am working full time at a hotel and plan to go part time on August 23rd. How should I prepare for this transition? What three things should I have in place when I am ready to go 100% with my massage business? I am really struggling with this but I'm to the point now where I need to go out on faith.

Can you afford it is the #1 and only question. Most business fail because of lack of planning. It serves no purpose to open a business just to have to close it 6 months later and try to find a job again. Save enough money to where you can be out of work for 6 months to a year and it not hurt you.  I normally recommend longer depending on a persons personal finances and if they have the support of spouse or family.

6. I am not meeting my current sales goals of 20 massages per month. Right now I am doing about 7 per month (which is better than last year). What measures can I put in place to meet these goals?

Advertise!!!!Advertise!!!!Advertise!!!!Advertise!!!!
I'm sorry did i mention Advertise!!!! Tell friends, email blasts, business cards, etc. One hundred NEW people should now about your services every day. Meet that goal and you'll have no problem meeting your others.

7. Can you take a look at the attached financial projects spreadsheet and highlight some areas of concern or tweaking? (Note: These are not actual numbers. This is the "perfect world" projection for the business)

No worries.


8. When it comes to marketing, what is the number one rule?

Do it!


9. How long does it typically take to build up a good base of clients? How long did it take you? What's important to remember while you're building these relationships?

Years, years and don't stop advertising, also back end is crucial. How you organize clients and perspective clients. Don't under or over do it. I use my blackberry to organize my life and it's awesome.

10. Do you have any advice on handling self employment tax? When's the best time to pay? What's the best way to manage tax payments on a whole?

Get an accountant or bookkeeper. Never guess, it costs too much to guess. A good bookkeeper may only charge a couple hundred bucks, but is a life and business saver.

11. What is it that ultimately makes people buy? Give me some insight.

Impulse. People buy out of need, i.e. toilet paper, food, or impulse TV, vacations. Impulse your client. Show them that your product is going to change their life right now. Not later, but now and tell them to get it now, not later, now!


12. I have started to develop some systems/procedures for the business. The process is cumbersome. What's the best way to figure if you have covered all areas with a system or procedure?

Find someone else that is in business, preferable one similar to yours, and see what they do; people often want to give advice and are very willing to talk about their experiences. Learn from their headaches, so you can avoid headaches of your own.


13. The vision of my company is "To heal the entire world with hearts and hands". What do you think of when you hear this? What comes to mind?

Nothing. I'd change it. Your slogan should entice people to come to you and not be a personal mantra. i.e. my mantra is "Teamwork makes the dream work," but my slogan for my record label is "The beginning of your future, with no end to your success." Make people want to be around. As a massage business think of something that when people hear they say, "many I wish I had that!"


14. My voicemail currently states: "Thank you for calling Another Touch Massage. To schedule your next individual Stress-Buster or your group Stress-Buster event, please leave your preferred date and time and one of our sales professional will call you prior to the close of business today. Also, make sure to check out our extensive list of services at www.anothertouchmassage.com. Make it a stress-free and relaxing day." Please provide your feedback. What should I change? What should I keep? What would you like to hear on a voicemail for a massage service?

Perfect! Long, but enticing.

15. How do you achieve an appropriate work/life balance? Right now, I feel like work consumes me because there's so much to take care of.

Pick a night, any night and every week take that night, regardless of work and go party or to the movies or something you love to do. Trust me, taking those few hours every week consistently will make you feel like you're a priority again. It helps.

16. There are so many networking groups and professional organizations. How do you decide which of them are worth your time and investment? I understand that ROI is something to consider. I've heard the rule of thumb is to belong to three (2-monthly networking groups, 1-professional group). Tell me more. What's your take?

Start one. A business networking group where all the members of your group pay $10 a month and come together once a week to network, while getting massages. BTW, I want 10%, it was my idea.


17. In your opinion, how closely does personal development relate to business development and growth?

Totally. If your personal life is in the toilet your professional life want be too far behind.


18. Right now, I am looking ahead to the Christmas season. I want to sell 20 gift certificates. This would be far more than I sold last year. What can I do now to start working toward that goal?

Start asking people to buy them. Everyone at your current job, random people in wal-mart. Always sell!!! Everywhere, all the time!

19. Sometimes my mind runs a mile a minute with new business ideas, etc. Essentially, there's some other ventures I want to start but now isn't the right time because I need to focus on Another Touch Massage solely. What's your advice for not being distracted by a new entrepreneurial opportunity?

Write it down and set a date and time do it and at that time do it. Once your mind knows that it'll get down and when, it should stop bugging you.


20.  Send your questions to editor@xandermagazine.com