Does your product have a hook? I mean, a value hook.  The hook is when someone can see exactly who your product is for and why it’s valuable. These product hooks get stuck in your customer’s minds like a jingle to a catchy song.  It’s what makes them say “Oh, I get it”.  But the way you make (or sharpen) your hook is called positioning.

Today, I’m going to give you the 5 most profitable business ideas that you can start in 2020. Yes, THIS YEAR. Profitable meaning:  Low risk High reward Great return on investment Quick to take to market Capable of growing and scaling Not all business ideas are equal. An idea is only valuable if it’s actionable and profitable.  These ideas I’m about to show you? They’re the good ones.

When I built my company Clarity.fm, I remember staying up until 3AM designing how this software would work. But I’m not a designer. So I used an awesome wireframing tool called Balsamiq. It was a dream to use. In no time at all, I had a working prototype for my SaaS, the same one that was later successfully acquired by Fundable. I love Balsamiq. And I recommend it to all “graphically challenged” software founders.

“How do I find a problem that would be perfect to solve with a SaaS?” YES! Now that’s a good question. I come in contact with a lot of SaaS founders and business owners (or the wannabes) that ask the wrong questions. You can tell when their mindset isn’t in the right place. Fixating on bad questions means pouring your mental energy down the drain and wondering why your business is flushing itself out to sea. So when I hear

Bzzzt. Bzzzt. “Hello?” “Hi Dan, I’m calling from Google. We’re interested in potentially buying your company…” Ok, it didn’t go quite like that, but it’s true - my first call with a potential acquirer was with Google. I was super excited! I mean… Google?! They’ve got money to burn, and I was ready to take it! ...then I proceeded to make some big mistakes. 

Software companies love new customers... BUT few pay special attention to them. The most important part of getting customer success stories is making sure you have excited customers to tell that story. It’s crazy simple. It all starts with… The customer relationship. Let me define it:  It's the relationship between a customer and a business. Just like any relationship, it can be good, okay, or completely terrible. And the best way to knock it out of the park with new

Are you competing on business models? You could be. Check out this quote: “Technology or not, every organization has a business model. Some are conscious of it. Some are not. Some try to change it. Some don't.” “Some just compete on products... whereas they could compete on superior business models.”

It kept me up at night…  The entrepreneurial sweats. I used to dream about it, about how to fix it.  I read every book on it. Every blog post, every case study. I spoke to other SaaS founders  that fought the same battle. I needed to win. What battle?

In the next 10 minutes, I’m going to give you everything you need to start your own business in 90 days. I guarantee it. Free of charge, this is my advice to you. Yes, you CAN start a business with no resources, no upfront capital, and no infrastructure. It’s a bold claim... but I’m 100% serious about this.

Reality Check: Success isn’t about driving Ferraris and sipping champagne from a private jet... It’s about how you handle problems. No matter how many customers you get, how much profit you make… you will always have problems. Money might buy you a bigger team and more talented employees, but then you’ve got the problem of actually knowing your team!  How do you keep your finger on the pulse in your own company?