hustle launchpad

The Hustle Triad

Hi Reader,

Starting a side business on top of your existing business or day job is no simple feat. Between finding the time to build your initial offering (the Minimum Viable Product or MVP), attracting your first customers, and ultimately turning it into a cash flow positive operation, there are countless challenges along the way.

Rather than winging it, you can set yourself up for success by intentionally building your own Hustle Triad: strong Incentives, an effective System, and aligned Accountability.

Incentives - Your True North & Compass

Incentives are the reasons you want to start a business in the first place. Do you want more income and financial freedom? Are you hoping to turn this into your full-time job eventually? Is it about following your passion or having an impact on others?

Getting clear on your incentives helps ensure you choose the right business model and keep pushing forward on days when you feel like throwing in the towel.

For example, if making money is your top priority, you’d design your MVP and marketing funnel around quickly generating revenue rather than following your creative whims. If it’s passion you’re after, you’d pick something you genuinely love working on rather than chasing the latest fads, while taking a discovery-oriented approach to monetization.

Incentives are also the parents of goals. If you're not clear on why you're doing something, you can't set effective goals.

Systems - The Ship That Gets You There

Systems are the step-by-step processes that take you from idea to launch and beyond. This includes the business model, target market, product specs, marketing channels, and everything else that makes your hustle work.

An effective system efficiently moves you from the four major stages in creating any new venture: Idea, Design, Build, and Launch.

Along the way, you'll uncover and refine key ingredients of your new business including:

• A list of target customers that's aligned with your own incentives
• The initial offering that addresses their biggest needs
• The best messaging to grab their attention
• A viable business model that delivers value to them and money to you
• A roadmap to building your offering
• Clear metrics and a way to track progress

Say you want to sell online courses. Your system would help you home in on your target audience, uncover their greatest pains, a sales funnel that speaks to those pains, a plan for creating high-quality content, email sequences for converting visitors into buyers, and automation tools for delivering your products.

Most importantly, your system needs to ensure that you're making steady progress every day towards bringing your first offering to market.

The right system focuses your energy into the highest leverage activities that directly support your incentives and goals.

Accountability - The Wind Behind Your Back

Accountability comes from people and mechanisms that keep you motivated and on track. This is your business mastermind group, coach, or a cofounder who's committed to your mutual success. Let's call your source of Accountability your "Buddy".

For accountability to be effective, your Buddy needs to:

1. Understand your system and metrics. Otherwise how would your Buddy differentiate between good and bad performance?
2. Be aligned with your incentives. Why else would they care enough to keep tabs on you?
3. Be able to push you. Not everyone’s cut out to be a coach or can give constructive criticism that points out your weaknesses without crushing your spirit.

For example, you could join a mastermind group of fellow solopreneurs, where you hold each other accountable for hitting weekly milestones or monthly revenue targets. A group aligned on the same passion wavelength or wanting financial freedom will understand your incentives and keep everyone focused.

Or if you're in a business partnership, choose someone who complements your skills but also knows how to challenge you to bring your A game.

Applying The Triad

Just like a stool needs three solid legs to stand, you need all three elements - Incentives, Systems, and Accountability - for your new venture to first launch then thrive long-term.

It doesn’t matter where you start, as long as you end up balancing the triad.

Stumble upon the perfect business partner first? Great, now get clear on your goals and build processes.

Have a clear vision already? Wonderful, now find the right system to make sure you see it through before your passion wanes.

Remember that emotions have a finite half-life. The longer you sit on the idea without action, the faster it fades. That's why moving fast in the launch and gaining momentum is so critical.

Once you get over the launch hump and have something out there, it's a matter of learning and iterating from your customers.

The entrepreneurial road is still going to be bumpy, but with a solid Hustle Triad setup, you'll give yourself the best shot of bringing your dream business to life.

If you're already certain in your Incentives, but want a proven launch System and heavy dose of Accountability, then I invite you to book a breakthrough call with me in the next few days.

It'll be the best 45 minutes you'll spend mapping out your next big (ad)venture - as anyone who's ever worked with me can attest to.

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