1 00:00:00,050 --> 00:00:01,130 Erin Austin: Hello, ladies. 2 00:00:01,220 --> 00:00:04,190 Welcome to the Hourly to Exit podcast. 3 00:00:04,513 --> 00:00:06,913 if you're wondering about the title to this episode. 4 00:00:07,189 --> 00:00:11,821 When I was looking for the title, I googled the term journaling for dollars. 5 00:00:12,136 --> 00:00:16,003 What I was looking for was actually there's this old saying, It's doing 6 00:00:16,008 --> 00:00:19,946 something for dollars, which at the time alluded me, and by the way, still does. 7 00:00:19,946 --> 00:00:24,573 I think it's digging for dollars, but I never did find out what I was looking for. 8 00:00:24,884 --> 00:00:31,122 Instead, a lot of Etsy shop money journals popped up with titles like 9 00:00:31,218 --> 00:00:36,284 Money Mindset Journal and Money Affirmation Journal, money Abundance. 10 00:00:36,999 --> 00:00:40,029 Money manifestation journal and many more. 11 00:00:40,029 --> 00:00:44,263 There were pages of them, but they all had similar promises. 12 00:00:44,263 --> 00:00:49,133 Something like, are you ready to manifest abundance and attract 13 00:00:49,133 --> 00:00:51,263 financial prosperity into your life? 14 00:00:51,780 --> 00:00:55,975 Our digital journal is designed to help you do just that through powerful 15 00:00:55,980 --> 00:00:58,295 affirmations and visual techniques. 16 00:00:58,655 --> 00:01:01,835 Now, that was not what I was looking for, but sometimes you get what you 17 00:01:01,835 --> 00:01:06,888 need, which was confirmation that journaling as a way to achieve not 18 00:01:06,893 --> 00:01:12,082 just your personal goals, but goals for your business, is the way to. 19 00:01:12,948 --> 00:01:16,000 So today we're gonna talk about IP journals. 20 00:01:16,309 --> 00:01:20,470 So this episode is inspired by an amazing conversation I have with 21 00:01:20,475 --> 00:01:22,634 a woman who keeps an IP journal. 22 00:01:22,786 --> 00:01:25,268 Now, I wish I remembered exactly what she called it. 23 00:01:25,268 --> 00:01:27,188 She might have called it an IP journal, but that's what we're 24 00:01:27,188 --> 00:01:28,631 gonna call it cuz I like that. 25 00:01:28,631 --> 00:01:32,261 Anyway, so she is extremely prolific. 26 00:01:32,261 --> 00:01:34,021 She writes every day. 27 00:01:34,021 --> 00:01:38,551 for her business, for publication, for creating new ideas. 28 00:01:38,849 --> 00:01:42,618 And so she realized that she needed a process for cataloging 29 00:01:42,678 --> 00:01:44,898 all of her creations and her ideas. 30 00:01:45,184 --> 00:01:50,104 So what she does is that at the end of each workday, her shutdown 31 00:01:50,109 --> 00:01:54,044 habit is to make a record of all the work she created that day. 32 00:01:54,374 --> 00:01:57,220 And she puts it in her database, you tool of choice. 33 00:01:57,220 --> 00:02:00,290 I don't remember which one she uses, but this is so. 34 00:02:00,410 --> 00:02:01,040 Brilliant. 35 00:02:01,500 --> 00:02:06,759 by using an IP journal, you keep a running inventory and she's keeping a 36 00:02:06,759 --> 00:02:11,589 running inventory of her work, which is consistent with her business goal. 37 00:02:11,807 --> 00:02:15,493 And her goal is to make sure that her business is ready to sell. 38 00:02:15,754 --> 00:02:17,399 When she's ready to exit. 39 00:02:17,715 --> 00:02:17,932 Yes. 40 00:02:17,932 --> 00:02:19,462 That's why we have the conversation. 41 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:23,925 So she is setting up her business for success in all 42 00:02:23,925 --> 00:02:26,598 stages of the hourly to exit. 43 00:02:27,540 --> 00:02:33,307 Now I hope you have a copy of the Hourly to Exit Journey Self-Assessment. 44 00:02:33,702 --> 00:02:36,262 If you don't have it, you can get one. 45 00:02:36,262 --> 00:02:39,057 We'll link to that in the show notes, or you can find it, on 46 00:02:39,065 --> 00:02:44,933 the website, think Beyond So the hourly to exit self-assessment 47 00:02:45,193 --> 00:02:47,023 tracks the characteristics. 48 00:02:47,675 --> 00:02:53,740 Your business at each of the four stages of building a business that is saleable. 49 00:02:53,991 --> 00:02:56,542 And if you don't know that, it's between saleable and sellable. 50 00:02:56,809 --> 00:02:58,413 Also, check out my website. 51 00:02:58,413 --> 00:03:00,603 I have lots of conversations about that there as well. 52 00:03:00,955 --> 00:03:05,970 So to create a saleable business, there are four steps on the way to, building 53 00:03:05,970 --> 00:03:07,563 a business that you can sell someday. 54 00:03:07,916 --> 00:03:10,196 The first step is unsustainable. 55 00:03:10,411 --> 00:03:15,267 Then sustainable, then scalable, and then finally saleable. 56 00:03:15,657 --> 00:03:21,196 So let's look at how IP journaling can help you move along this journey. 57 00:03:21,649 --> 00:03:27,532 First, unsustainable A business is unsustainable if it is not supported with 58 00:03:27,532 --> 00:03:31,012 basic assets and is insufficiently funded. 59 00:03:31,370 --> 00:03:37,040 The telltale sign that your business is unsustainable, if the only way you can 60 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:40,100 make more money is to work more hours. 61 00:03:40,382 --> 00:03:44,192 The freelance model is almost always in this category. 62 00:03:44,609 --> 00:03:49,325 When you're freelancer, a hundred percent of the output is owned by the client. 63 00:03:49,795 --> 00:03:53,395 There are no assets in the business except hopefully a bank account, 64 00:03:53,425 --> 00:03:55,975 which sadly, some people don't even have separate bank accounts. 65 00:03:55,975 --> 00:04:00,379 When are freelancers with no assets, there is nothing to journal about. 66 00:04:00,949 --> 00:04:05,749 When you're at the sustainable stage, a sustainable business means the 67 00:04:06,199 --> 00:04:10,837 business can maintain its viability by using tools and techniques that 68 00:04:10,837 --> 00:04:13,957 allow for continual reuse or resources. 69 00:04:14,738 --> 00:04:17,958 Progressing to a sustainable level requires a development 70 00:04:17,958 --> 00:04:20,092 of one basic assets. 71 00:04:20,361 --> 00:04:23,483 This means things like templates and checklists. 72 00:04:23,887 --> 00:04:26,198 Two exclusivity here. 73 00:04:26,198 --> 00:04:29,228 You're starting to articulate your expertise and your niche. 74 00:04:29,228 --> 00:04:32,018 You're not just a generalist who does everything for everybody. 75 00:04:32,620 --> 00:04:33,550 Stability. 76 00:04:33,728 --> 00:04:36,263 That means you're taking your business seriously. 77 00:04:36,263 --> 00:04:38,933 You're using contracts and you have insurance. 78 00:04:39,338 --> 00:04:44,487 So an IP journal is the perfect starting point for building sustainability. 79 00:04:44,917 --> 00:04:48,927 When you're using your IP journal, you're documenting your processes 80 00:04:49,076 --> 00:04:51,616 for efficient, predictable delivery. 81 00:04:52,012 --> 00:04:55,912 You're recognizing patterns that lead to deeper expertise. 82 00:04:56,416 --> 00:05:00,572 You're identifying when a contract is needed for assets that you 83 00:05:00,572 --> 00:05:01,772 haven't created personally. 84 00:05:01,772 --> 00:05:04,767 And that is, by the way, anything that you haven't created personally, 85 00:05:04,772 --> 00:05:08,615 there should be a contract attached to that making note of anything 86 00:05:08,615 --> 00:05:10,565 that is owned by third parties. 87 00:05:10,914 --> 00:05:15,336 And another absolute is anything you get off the internet is pretty much. 88 00:05:15,576 --> 00:05:16,501 owned by somebody else. 89 00:05:16,561 --> 00:05:18,829 And so you wanna make note of those things as well. 90 00:05:18,949 --> 00:05:20,839 All these things go into your IP journal. 91 00:05:21,389 --> 00:05:25,169 So I love this excerpt from Blair Ends. 92 00:05:25,568 --> 00:05:29,425 Wonderful book, the Winning Without Pitching Manifesto, which 93 00:05:29,455 --> 00:05:32,561 I encourage all of you to read. 94 00:05:32,743 --> 00:05:38,107 So it really illustrates the power of an IP journal in this 95 00:05:38,107 --> 00:05:42,103 chapter called Formalizing How We Work, and it goes like this. 96 00:05:42,483 --> 00:05:47,446 One can reasonably assume that over time through trial and error, we will 97 00:05:47,446 --> 00:05:52,396 happen upon an efficient approach that allows us to deliver at quality 98 00:05:52,426 --> 00:05:57,906 and speed with consistency in almost any of our repeated endeavors. 99 00:05:58,198 --> 00:06:03,859 It is the strength of our processes that drives the consistency of our outcomes. 100 00:06:04,210 --> 00:06:09,216 If we want to build deep expertise, we must take pains to document how 101 00:06:09,216 --> 00:06:14,537 we work, to define how we will work in the future, and to continuously 102 00:06:14,567 --> 00:06:16,877 refine and improve our approach. 103 00:06:17,380 --> 00:06:22,289 Working from a defined process leads to the very consistency of quality 104 00:06:22,537 --> 00:06:27,140 that a potential client tries to discern late in the buying cycle. 105 00:06:27,406 --> 00:06:32,654 When our role is to reassure nothing, reassures a client more than him 106 00:06:32,654 --> 00:06:38,806 drawing the powerful inference, that little variability in process equals 107 00:06:39,076 --> 00:06:41,331 little variability in outcomes. 108 00:06:41,894 --> 00:06:46,975 Every one of the firms he's considering can demonstrate an ability great work. 109 00:06:47,280 --> 00:06:51,085 But the question he once answered before he buys is, how do I know 110 00:06:51,085 --> 00:06:53,065 I'm going to get their best work? 111 00:06:53,564 --> 00:06:58,218 When we are able to demonstrate strong processes, the client can decide for 112 00:06:58,223 --> 00:07:03,668 himself the implication of our processes and the consistency of our quality. 113 00:07:12,053 --> 00:07:19,957 So in some, when we are using IP journals to help us create our systems and our 114 00:07:19,957 --> 00:07:26,231 processes to create a more consistent outcome, to build deeper expertise. 115 00:07:26,460 --> 00:07:31,384 These are the things that help reduce the risk in the eye of the buyer. 116 00:07:31,768 --> 00:07:36,768 And we are small business solopreneurs or small entrepreneurs. 117 00:07:36,988 --> 00:07:40,791 reducing risk is an essential part of making that sale. 118 00:07:41,148 --> 00:07:46,564 And so that helps us create that sustainable business, by using our IP 119 00:07:46,569 --> 00:07:49,681 journals to help us document how we work. 120 00:07:50,089 --> 00:07:52,099 The next level is scalable. 121 00:07:52,471 --> 00:07:56,911 A scalable business means the business is a stable, profitable 122 00:07:56,911 --> 00:08:00,655 business that is providing predictable results for its clients. 123 00:08:01,043 --> 00:08:06,438 The key to scale is figuring out how to decouple your income from your time. 124 00:08:06,714 --> 00:08:11,698 In other words, we find leverage opportunities where the output is 125 00:08:11,698 --> 00:08:14,248 greater than your input, and we know. 126 00:08:14,758 --> 00:08:15,838 That's what a lever is. 127 00:08:15,838 --> 00:08:18,388 A lever magnifies our effort. 128 00:08:18,608 --> 00:08:26,577 So we give effort of X and we get a force of, two times x, And so we add leverage to 129 00:08:26,577 --> 00:08:29,314 our businesses through a number of ways. 130 00:08:29,614 --> 00:08:34,259 One, Through building a team that does not have to mean employees, that can 131 00:08:34,259 --> 00:08:36,539 also mean independent contractors. 132 00:08:36,853 --> 00:08:41,311 A lot of us start building a team by using virtual assistance, 133 00:08:41,556 --> 00:08:43,528 and so we can focus on. 134 00:08:43,694 --> 00:08:47,024 product development and client relations and delivery. 135 00:08:47,297 --> 00:08:50,047 Another key place for a lot of people will, add to their 136 00:08:50,047 --> 00:08:51,787 team is a bookkeeper as well. 137 00:08:52,287 --> 00:08:54,397 number two, exclusivity. 138 00:08:54,704 --> 00:09:01,267 We aren't just articulating our expertise, we are becoming the recognized expert. 139 00:09:01,514 --> 00:09:06,344 We are consistently publishing, and so it's not just our clients. 140 00:09:07,034 --> 00:09:10,707 Appreciate our expertise, but we are getting, recognized 141 00:09:10,712 --> 00:09:12,677 within our niche as an expert. 142 00:09:13,216 --> 00:09:15,404 And number three, stability. 143 00:09:15,409 --> 00:09:21,171 And we do that by using repeatable, trainable processes for our services 144 00:09:21,171 --> 00:09:23,241 delivery and our operations. 145 00:09:23,689 --> 00:09:27,934 So I have a handout called, is there a Rembrandt in Your Attic? 146 00:09:28,234 --> 00:09:32,845 You can get that on my website where I talk about a few leverage Strateg. 147 00:09:33,205 --> 00:09:36,715 That really make sense in our expertise based business. 148 00:09:37,449 --> 00:09:39,669 And there are, I see seven of 'em here. 149 00:09:40,148 --> 00:09:41,549 First delegation. 150 00:09:41,940 --> 00:09:46,275 So here you use employees who are less expensive than you because 151 00:09:46,275 --> 00:09:51,061 you are the most expensive asset in your business to deliver services. 152 00:09:51,327 --> 00:09:57,061 So there may be some part of, maybe onboarding or, maybe you're creating, 153 00:09:57,111 --> 00:10:00,541 some sort of graphic deliverables or things like that that you can 154 00:10:00,541 --> 00:10:04,722 use a less expensive employee to help you deliver the service. 155 00:10:05,071 --> 00:10:08,995 automation here using technology to aid delivery. 156 00:10:09,377 --> 00:10:14,387 a lot of people use automation as part of the onboarding process to make sure, 157 00:10:14,447 --> 00:10:18,467 clients get their agreements and they have a way to pay and that they do whatever, 158 00:10:18,612 --> 00:10:20,652 questionnaires that need to be filled out. 159 00:10:20,652 --> 00:10:21,782 So automation. 160 00:10:22,375 --> 00:10:27,895 Productization, customized services, very valuable, but there is a place for 161 00:10:27,895 --> 00:10:33,481 that productized service that can be sold and delivered very efficiently. 162 00:10:33,998 --> 00:10:36,688 Licensing, you know, I love to talk about licensing. 163 00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:42,056 Here you create an IP asset that can then be licensed to multiple parties. 164 00:10:42,263 --> 00:10:46,133 So you put in that effort at the front end to create the asset, and 165 00:10:46,133 --> 00:10:50,838 then the lever of licensing is that it can then be exploited by multiple 166 00:10:50,843 --> 00:10:54,331 parties teaching and or certification. 167 00:10:54,461 --> 00:10:58,828 Here, you're teaching other professionals to use your methodology 168 00:10:59,086 --> 00:11:01,849 to create, outcomes for their clients. 169 00:11:02,223 --> 00:11:05,667 outsourcing and, I distinguish this from delegation. 170 00:11:05,667 --> 00:11:10,308 I look at delegation as using employees, so that's internal versus outsourcing, 171 00:11:10,428 --> 00:11:15,161 which is using outside sources, such as subcontractors to deliver part 172 00:11:15,166 --> 00:11:18,117 of your service and subscriptions. 173 00:11:18,294 --> 00:11:20,844 Oh, there's actually eight subscriptions, which. 174 00:11:21,974 --> 00:11:23,724 know, selling subscriptions to your asset. 175 00:11:23,754 --> 00:11:27,384 Maybe you have a database, maybe you have some research that you've 176 00:11:27,384 --> 00:11:30,800 developed and that it would be of value to other people, and that you 177 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:32,930 can sell subscriptions to that asset. 178 00:11:33,182 --> 00:11:37,783 And then the last one I have is selling access to your community. 179 00:11:38,020 --> 00:11:41,950 So if you have a very robust community, especially one that would. 180 00:11:43,199 --> 00:11:45,299 Valuable for a third party to have access to. 181 00:11:45,528 --> 00:11:47,039 You can sell access to it. 182 00:11:47,113 --> 00:11:50,266 I mean, the most, popular way people do that is through ad ads, but you 183 00:11:50,266 --> 00:11:51,916 don't wanna sell ads to your community. 184 00:11:52,087 --> 00:11:55,515 But things like, providing access to market researchers, 185 00:11:55,670 --> 00:11:57,680 could be of value as well. 186 00:11:58,114 --> 00:12:02,614 So that brings us to the final leg of the hourly to exit journey. 187 00:12:03,029 --> 00:12:04,556 Becoming saleable. 188 00:12:04,883 --> 00:12:09,803 So to be saleable, your business needs one revenue visibility. 189 00:12:10,231 --> 00:12:13,353 And so here, before we're talking about your clients, now 190 00:12:13,358 --> 00:12:14,643 we're talking about your buyer. 191 00:12:14,643 --> 00:12:17,073 When we're talking about sales, we're talking about sellers and buyers. 192 00:12:17,347 --> 00:12:22,367 So for your buyer to be interested in your business, they need revenue visibility. 193 00:12:22,367 --> 00:12:26,417 They need to be able to see that your financial projections make sense. 194 00:12:26,695 --> 00:12:29,404 you can say like, I think it's going to earn 1 million, 2 195 00:12:29,404 --> 00:12:32,126 million, 3 million, dollars in the future, or it's going to grow. 196 00:12:32,126 --> 00:12:33,576 This is the curve it's going to grow in. 197 00:12:33,894 --> 00:12:38,505 But revenue visibility means that there's something that supports that projection 198 00:12:39,023 --> 00:12:40,455 and, that they can feel comfortable. 199 00:12:40,455 --> 00:12:45,197 with it Exclusivity is the second one, which, intellectual property development, 200 00:12:45,620 --> 00:12:48,794 intellectual property is a legal monopoly. 201 00:12:48,824 --> 00:12:52,994 Doesn't get any more exclusive than a monopoly, so the only way anyone 202 00:12:52,994 --> 00:12:55,614 else can use your intellectual property is with your permission. 203 00:12:56,282 --> 00:13:02,077 And the other way you can get exclusivity is having an authority level positioning. 204 00:13:02,342 --> 00:13:07,620 That means you are at the top of the hill regarding whatever your niche or, 205 00:13:07,780 --> 00:13:12,910 your specialization is, that you are at the top of that heap and therefore, 206 00:13:13,040 --> 00:13:15,120 you have that exclusive positioning. 207 00:13:15,464 --> 00:13:19,917 And then third, the ability to withstand due diligence. 208 00:13:21,197 --> 00:13:26,089 can you support your revenue visibility or I should say, your projections? 209 00:13:26,416 --> 00:13:31,457 Can you support your positioning and your intellectual property status and 210 00:13:31,462 --> 00:13:37,363 so, while the IP journal is important through of the stages, of your development 211 00:13:37,363 --> 00:13:42,322 from sustainability to scalability, to scalability, it is particularly 212 00:13:42,322 --> 00:13:45,622 important in this due diligence stage. 213 00:13:46,067 --> 00:13:51,203 So for our purposes, due diligence means an investigation or audit 214 00:13:51,233 --> 00:13:55,433 of an acquisition target, which is undertaken by the prospective buyer. 215 00:13:55,848 --> 00:13:59,110 And the objective is to confirm the accuracy of the seller's 216 00:13:59,110 --> 00:14:01,630 information and appraise its value. 217 00:14:02,171 --> 00:14:08,296 So remember that a buyer is purchasing the future of your business, so it needs to be 218 00:14:08,301 --> 00:14:12,709 confident that your business will continue to flourish in its hands, so it doesn't 219 00:14:12,709 --> 00:14:17,121 wanna buy you and suddenly, employees jump ship and all the customers jump ship. 220 00:14:17,325 --> 00:14:21,302 It needs to know that it's the future of your business is solid, 221 00:14:21,502 --> 00:14:24,682 and that's what they're looking for in that due diligence process. 222 00:14:24,882 --> 00:14:29,997 So they're confirming that the financial projections are supported by the assets 223 00:14:29,997 --> 00:14:31,737 and the other structures and the business. 224 00:14:32,157 --> 00:14:35,427 gonna talk about seven areas that are typically audited 225 00:14:35,427 --> 00:14:37,287 during the due diligence process. 226 00:14:37,775 --> 00:14:41,128 Financial due diligence, which of course investigates the 227 00:14:41,128 --> 00:14:43,618 accuracy of the financial records. 228 00:14:44,043 --> 00:14:45,843 Human resources due diligence. 229 00:14:46,083 --> 00:14:51,558 This focuses on understanding the organizational structure, the compensation 230 00:14:51,558 --> 00:14:54,498 and benefits, and any possible violations. 231 00:14:54,833 --> 00:14:59,214 You know, of particular importance these days is making sure that, you're not 232 00:14:59,214 --> 00:15:01,384 treating employees like contractors. 233 00:15:01,567 --> 00:15:04,834 So if, they really should be appropriately categorized as 234 00:15:04,834 --> 00:15:07,077 employees, then we have a problem. 235 00:15:07,337 --> 00:15:09,057 If you're, you're paying them like contractors. 236 00:15:09,327 --> 00:15:13,524 Or treating 'em like contractors, operational due diligence, which, 237 00:15:13,611 --> 00:15:18,059 evaluates, technology, assets, facilities, assuming those things 238 00:15:18,059 --> 00:15:19,029 are important in your business. 239 00:15:20,297 --> 00:15:23,791 business due diligence, which seems broad, but it's really about the 240 00:15:24,251 --> 00:15:28,571 industry that you're in and your customers, so they can look at any 241 00:15:28,571 --> 00:15:31,008 risks associated with, the industry. 242 00:15:31,013 --> 00:15:32,033 What's happening in the industry. 243 00:15:32,033 --> 00:15:33,263 Is it a dying industry? 244 00:15:33,517 --> 00:15:37,228 And looking at your customers Also, are you serving a customer 245 00:15:37,233 --> 00:15:38,961 base that's a dying customer base. 246 00:15:39,192 --> 00:15:41,668 So they're gonna look at any of those risks there. 247 00:15:42,828 --> 00:15:42,948 Strategy. 248 00:15:43,639 --> 00:15:44,509 Due diligence. 249 00:15:44,728 --> 00:15:47,780 So will it fit in what they hope to achieve? 250 00:15:47,780 --> 00:15:49,790 What are their goals and objectives, and how does your 251 00:15:49,790 --> 00:15:51,560 business fit into achieving them? 252 00:15:51,886 --> 00:15:53,669 What are the potential synergies? 253 00:15:54,086 --> 00:15:55,916 How will they merge together? 254 00:15:55,976 --> 00:15:56,906 What does that look like? 255 00:15:57,596 --> 00:15:58,316 And. 256 00:15:58,572 --> 00:16:02,762 Legal due diligence, which is what most people think of, I think. 257 00:16:02,985 --> 00:16:07,370 And so that is to make sure that you are legally compliant and they wanna 258 00:16:07,375 --> 00:16:09,440 discover any potential legal issues. 259 00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:11,967 Nobody wants to buy a lawsuit. 260 00:16:12,417 --> 00:16:17,914 So in a world where IP is currency and the most valuable asset in your 261 00:16:17,914 --> 00:16:22,017 business is an intellectual property, it should be of no surprise that IP 262 00:16:22,017 --> 00:16:25,057 will be a factor in every one of. 263 00:16:25,089 --> 00:16:27,062 those six due diligence areas. 264 00:16:27,592 --> 00:16:33,755 So, your IP audit identifies what IP you own and what you use 265 00:16:33,895 --> 00:16:37,655 determines your usefulness or, it's important to your business. 266 00:16:38,019 --> 00:16:39,819 Is your IP enforceable? 267 00:16:40,132 --> 00:16:42,789 Does it conflict with any third party rights? 268 00:16:43,189 --> 00:16:46,772 And then these things will all funnel down into an IP valu. 269 00:16:47,759 --> 00:16:53,319 Now I wanna clarify that an IP audit is not just a legal due diligence issue. 270 00:16:53,585 --> 00:16:57,665 It's not just about contracts and whether or not your copyrights are registered 271 00:16:57,842 --> 00:16:59,610 or even your trademarks are registered. 272 00:16:59,819 --> 00:17:03,208 It is a holistic evaluation of your company. 273 00:17:03,487 --> 00:17:08,225 Is there a culture of protecting and maximizing the value of 274 00:17:08,225 --> 00:17:09,395 an intellectual property? 275 00:17:09,783 --> 00:17:15,235 So another benefit of your IP journal, it gives you a greater understanding 276 00:17:15,675 --> 00:17:21,571 of the assets in your business and it, even the relative value of those 277 00:17:21,571 --> 00:17:26,285 assets, assuming they're all IP assets, they're be relative value of them. 278 00:17:26,285 --> 00:17:27,485 So you can make sure that you. 279 00:17:27,963 --> 00:17:30,843 Are appropriately allocating resources to them. 280 00:17:31,178 --> 00:17:36,857 you wanna, allocate more resources to protecting, maybe a database 281 00:17:36,857 --> 00:17:41,391 or a client list than you do to protecting your trademark, which at 282 00:17:41,396 --> 00:17:46,188 the end of the day, you know, unless you're FedEx or Coca-Cola, there's 283 00:17:46,188 --> 00:17:47,328 always gonna be another trademark. 284 00:17:47,328 --> 00:17:48,358 I hate to say that, but. 285 00:17:49,025 --> 00:17:53,727 but the things that you've developed specifically that are providing value 286 00:17:53,727 --> 00:17:57,207 to your clients, those are the most valuable assets in your business. 287 00:17:57,697 --> 00:18:03,043 So buyers are looking at your business from a top-down approach, how you're 288 00:18:03,043 --> 00:18:07,907 protecting those assets, what kind of corporate policies you have, how are you 289 00:18:07,912 --> 00:18:13,917 training your, employees about, using technology not using unlicensed software. 290 00:18:14,217 --> 00:18:16,567 How are you handling copyrighted materials? 291 00:18:16,572 --> 00:18:17,887 Are you using contracts? 292 00:18:18,001 --> 00:18:19,801 What is your social media usage? 293 00:18:20,081 --> 00:18:25,084 things like reputation is a very valuable intangible asset. 294 00:18:25,376 --> 00:18:29,212 And of course you don't want to do things that can lead to data breaches. 295 00:18:29,212 --> 00:18:31,102 That's why all these things are so important. 296 00:18:31,572 --> 00:18:35,859 So it may sound a little bit complicated, but it can start 297 00:18:35,936 --> 00:18:38,119 simply with an IP journal. 298 00:18:38,667 --> 00:18:44,856 , and like a balanced checkbook, IP due diligence is easiest to do if 299 00:18:44,856 --> 00:18:46,356 you do it while it's happening. 300 00:18:46,616 --> 00:18:51,548 So it's, like, putting in your $25 into your investment account and the, interest 301 00:18:51,548 --> 00:18:53,288 grows and it grows over the years. 302 00:18:53,515 --> 00:19:00,155 So, doing your IP due diligence, creating your IP journal every day, you are. 303 00:19:00,195 --> 00:19:04,935 Developing that asset that will grow with your business and will 304 00:19:04,935 --> 00:19:07,078 help you grow your business. 305 00:19:07,420 --> 00:19:12,740 Since you are going to increasingly rely on intellectual property, all 306 00:19:12,740 --> 00:19:16,557 those leverage strategies we talked about earlier, including delegation and 307 00:19:16,557 --> 00:19:22,246 outsourcing, licensing, certification, all of those, those require ip, It's very hard 308 00:19:22,246 --> 00:19:24,436 to delegate when you have no processes. 309 00:19:24,625 --> 00:19:29,157 It's very hard to outsource if you're not appropriately using contracts, 310 00:19:29,298 --> 00:19:32,237 which will control the ownership of your intellectual property. 311 00:19:32,547 --> 00:19:33,674 All these things. 312 00:19:33,855 --> 00:19:39,225 when you're growing your business, you need to have that solid IP foundation. 313 00:19:39,418 --> 00:19:44,547 In order to have a growth strategy that is based on IP and where 314 00:19:44,577 --> 00:19:48,367 you're an expert, your growth will be based on intellectual property. 315 00:19:48,820 --> 00:19:52,907 And so I like to use the analogy of a house. 316 00:19:53,111 --> 00:19:57,107 And so growing your business is like adding another floor to your house. 317 00:19:57,291 --> 00:20:01,256 So the foundation that was good enough for your first floor may not be strong 318 00:20:01,256 --> 00:20:02,966 enough to hold your second floor. 319 00:20:03,257 --> 00:20:07,106 So even if you haven't been using it in an IP journal to date, 320 00:20:07,136 --> 00:20:09,106 perhaps this is the first thing I've ever heard of an IP journal. 321 00:20:09,319 --> 00:20:09,919 you haven't. 322 00:20:09,919 --> 00:20:15,623 It's okay because we start today, to make sure that as we're building 323 00:20:15,628 --> 00:20:18,713 our businesses, that we're growing our foundation along with it. 324 00:20:19,049 --> 00:20:24,273 So if you are, teaching others to do what you do, or you're creating some sort 325 00:20:24,273 --> 00:20:29,386 of, d i y product for your clients, what happens when you find out that someone 326 00:20:29,391 --> 00:20:32,596 took your class and now they're selling your materials for their own profit? 327 00:20:32,966 --> 00:20:38,529 Or worse, someone has a lawyer and they send you a seasoned assist claiming that 328 00:20:38,529 --> 00:20:43,773 your IP is actually theirs demanding an accounting and a share in your income. 329 00:20:44,641 --> 00:20:48,511 Preventing you from doing any other work with it until the matter is sorted out. 330 00:20:48,848 --> 00:20:50,888 These things happen all the time. 331 00:20:51,214 --> 00:20:56,068 unfortunately there are very few original ideas and everyone thinks 332 00:20:56,068 --> 00:20:59,028 their idea is original and then they see somebody else doing it. 333 00:20:59,028 --> 00:21:01,344 I don't, I can't even account the number of times people 334 00:21:01,344 --> 00:21:02,844 think, oh, that was my idea. 335 00:21:03,381 --> 00:21:07,084 so you wanna make sure you can protect yourself by whipping out your IP 336 00:21:07,084 --> 00:21:09,794 journal to demonstrate its origin. 337 00:21:10,389 --> 00:21:13,121 Now do not discount the value of registration. 338 00:21:13,401 --> 00:21:17,567 Registration is important, but most of us are not registering. 339 00:21:17,572 --> 00:21:21,778 All the IP we create, we're creating IP all day every day. 340 00:21:21,778 --> 00:21:23,368 You've heard me say it a million times. 341 00:21:23,514 --> 00:21:25,181 IP is everywhere. 342 00:21:25,392 --> 00:21:30,467 So that IP Journal provides the backup for the material that we don't register. 343 00:21:30,943 --> 00:21:33,733 The goal of your IP journaling practice. 344 00:21:34,788 --> 00:21:35,358 Actually pretty simple. 345 00:21:35,549 --> 00:21:39,028 It's to document all asset creation . Who 346 00:21:39,078 --> 00:21:45,183 when what and how Every day catalog the new content you create tracking. 347 00:21:45,236 --> 00:21:50,603 When it was created, who created it, what source materials, if any, were used. 348 00:21:50,930 --> 00:21:55,260 If you didn't create it, review the applicable contracts to make sure that 349 00:21:55,260 --> 00:22:00,149 you own or control the rights that you need to use the deliverables in all of 350 00:22:00,149 --> 00:22:03,985 the manners you can foresee, you know, and even some manners that you can foresee. 351 00:22:04,155 --> 00:22:08,355 You don't wanna incorporate some third party materials in your book 352 00:22:08,534 --> 00:22:12,661 that then limits you from, you know, it's going to expire someday. 353 00:22:12,981 --> 00:22:16,525 Or you wanna use it in some sort of training materials 354 00:22:16,525 --> 00:22:17,725 and you can't use it in that. 355 00:22:17,931 --> 00:22:21,951 So you wanna make sure that if you're using third party materials, that your 356 00:22:21,951 --> 00:22:24,291 rights to use them are sufficiently broad. 357 00:22:24,677 --> 00:22:28,934 There are terms in contracts and in licenses, know, non-exclusive 358 00:22:28,939 --> 00:22:30,734 license work made for hire. 359 00:22:30,950 --> 00:22:34,823 they're kind of scary, but they're not rocket science. 360 00:22:34,823 --> 00:22:37,103 I like to say the law is not rocket science. 361 00:22:37,108 --> 00:22:38,267 Let's be happy for that. 362 00:22:38,727 --> 00:22:43,723 and it's key to understanding these rights to make sure you understand that you 363 00:22:43,723 --> 00:22:46,636 have what you need to grow your business. 364 00:22:46,989 --> 00:22:51,339 And so whenever you're incorporating source materials that are owned by 365 00:22:51,339 --> 00:22:53,291 a third party, read the fine print. 366 00:22:53,534 --> 00:22:57,164 Cuz I will tell you that virtually every license agreement will 367 00:22:57,164 --> 00:23:00,224 have some restrictions in it that you need to comply with. 368 00:23:00,784 --> 00:23:05,448 So The challenge here is to maintain records of your ownership and other 369 00:23:05,448 --> 00:23:10,733 rights to use IP that flows through your company so that you can protect 370 00:23:10,733 --> 00:23:15,389 yourself as you scale your business and prepare it for an eventual sale. 371 00:23:15,879 --> 00:23:18,399 So I hope this episode has you thinking about. 372 00:23:18,519 --> 00:23:22,148 Something that you can do today to help prepare your business to scale. 373 00:23:22,488 --> 00:23:23,508 hint, IP Journal. 374 00:23:23,722 --> 00:23:27,852 And as we move through 2023, I will be raising additional 375 00:23:27,852 --> 00:23:29,322 topics for your consideration. 376 00:23:29,578 --> 00:23:34,528 But don't forget, always consult with an attorney about your specific situation. 377 00:23:34,936 --> 00:23:38,334 So if you think you have reached a point in your hour lead to exit 378 00:23:38,334 --> 00:23:42,305 journey where you wanna grow your business with ip, you can contact me. 379 00:23:42,305 --> 00:23:43,085 Let's find out more. 380 00:23:43,432 --> 00:23:43,882 Cheers.