Black Belt Startup with Feras

How ready are you to start your business if your job disappears tomorrow?
Too many professionals wait until the layoff, resignation, or breaking point to start figuring out their business. That can cost valuable months.
This Tuesday, we'll work through what you can start building while you're still employed: your initial offer, conversations with the market, your professional network, a simple outreach process, and the basic systems you'll need.
We'll also talk about preparing your personal situation before you make the leap: your financial runway, household expenses, benefits, and getting your spouse or life partner on board. When I made the leap, having that support made a big difference.
We'll also identify what can wait until real clients give you better answers.

What’s one skill you know you need to get better at, but keep avoiding?
Sales? Networking? Public speaking? Negotiation? AI? Financial management?
Last Tuesday, we talked about the beliefs that can hold aspiring entrepreneurs back and how to tell the difference between a real limitation and a skill you simply haven’t developed yet.
This Tuesday, September 29, we’re going to work on what comes next.
I’ll walk you through five practical habits you can use to turn discomfort into deliberate practice, and we’ll apply them to real situations from the audience.

Have you ever wondered whether you're simply not cut out for entrepreneurship?
Maybe you're good at your profession, but sales makes you uncomfortable. You don't consider yourself a networker. Or taking the leap feels riskier for you than it seems to feel for other entrepreneurs.
We'll work through the beliefs that keep experienced professionals stuck, how avoidance can reinforce them, and how to distinguish between a real limitation and a skill you simply haven't developed yet.
And next Tuesday, we'll build on this by working through how to respond differently when business gets difficult.

What would you do if your paycheck disappeared tomorrow?
More than 20 years ago, mine did. I was laid off from a Silicon Valley startup with a young family, a dry job market, and eventually our savings and 401(k) started disappearing.
Entrepreneurship wasn’t the dream. It became the path forward.
Seven businesses later, including an 8-figure consulting firm, I’ve learned some lessons I wish I understood back then, from building financial runway and learning to sell to developing the confidence to create opportunities from nothing.
I’ll break down 7 lessons from 20+ years as an entrepreneur, share some of the mistakes behind them, and discuss how you can apply them if you’re starting or growing a business.

Fake deadlines. Pressure tactics. Artificial discounts. “Let me check with my manager.”
These tactics may show up in negotiations, but they’re not how I believe consultants should sell. 
I’ve had a lot of opportunities to learn this, including making plenty of mistakes myself.
In the final session of my three-part series on professional, win-win negotiation, we’ll cover the sales negotiation gimmicks consultants should avoid, how to recognize when a client is actually negotiating, and how to respond professionally without automatically giving something away.
We’ll also work through real client scenarios and apply my Golden Rule of Negotiation.
What do you do when a client asks:
"Can you knock 10% off?""Can you add one more deliverable?"Can we have Net 60 terms?"
We’ll apply the Golden Rule to price, scope, timelines, and payment terms.

“Can you lower the price?”“Can we add one more deliverable?”“Can you finish two weeks earlier?”“Can we pay you Net 90?”
If these questions make you uncomfortable because you don’t want to become pushy or “salesy,” you’re not alone.
A consulting negotiation can move in several directions, and price is only one of them.
In the second of my three-part series on professional, win-win negotiation, I’ll walk through 7 practical ways to negotiate without feeling like a salesperson, covering price, scope, timelines, payment terms, capacity, and client promises.
We’ll work through real consulting scenarios, including an expensive mistake I made with a global brand, and I’ll show you how to respond when a client pushes back without automatically giving something away.

“What if I lose the deal?”“What do I say if they push back?”“Am I charging too much?”“Should I just give them the discount?”
If you’ve had these thoughts before a client negotiation, you’re not alone. Most consultants spent years developing their expertise, not learning how to sell and negotiate it.
In the first of my three-part series on professional, win-win negotiation, I’ll walk through 5 Negotiation Prep Steps to Win More Consulting Deals, including how to prepare your boundaries, listen before reacting, build trust, and set expectations before they become negotiation points.
I’ll also work through real consulting scenarios and share my Negotiation Preparation Checklist to help you prepare for your next client negotiation.
 

Most professionals spend years learning how to do the work.
Far fewer learn how to sell it.
I recently read The Almanack of Naval Ravikant, and several ideas stayed with me, especially his emphasis on learning to build and sell, taking rational optimistic risks, and choosing hard actions that create an easier life over time.
Those ideas apply directly to anyone building a consulting business.
In this podcast, I’ll show you how to turn your expertise into an offer, test the market without taking reckless risks, and develop the sales skills needed to win clients consistently.
We’ll also discuss the uncomfortable decisions many new consultants avoid, and why those decisions often determine whether the business moves forward.