Hello ladies.
Welcome to the Hourly
to Exit podcast.
I am excited for this week's
conversation because I
think you know this about
me, that I'm always trying
to figure out a way to make
the intellectual property
concepts more accessible and
applicable to your businesses.
So I've been thinking
about, instead of.
Attacking it from the
intellectual property side,
which is a bad habit of mine.
I'm gonna attack it
from the business side.
And so what is happening in
your business that suggests
that you need an intellectual
property solution?
When we are growing our
businesses, of course this
podcast is called Hourly to
Exit, where we're starting
out and we are providing
one-on-one services.
Maybe we're still
providing them hourly.
Maybe we have developed
packages, but we're still
doing it on a one-on-one
basis, and so we will hit a
few kind of road bumps that'll
be very hard to get over if
we aren't thinking about.
Creating intellectual
property that we can
use in our businesses.
So typically this happens
when we are selling
ourselves as the expert.
I'm selling me Aaron Austin.
Not that I'm selling
my expertise, I.
In harnessing the power
of intellectual property.
And so when you're selling
yourself instead of selling
your expertise, it will
show up in a number of
places because the fact is
that the prerequisite for
scaling your business is to
turn your expertise, into
something that you can create
complimentary products.
Complimentary services,
typically productized
ones that compliment
your existing services.
I will never recommend,
assuming you wanna continue
to provide one-on-one
services that you stop
doing that there's a lot
of value to providing
those one-on-one services.
First of all, you learn
so much, when you hear
that feedback from your
clients and it helps,
increase your expertise.
those one-on-one services
are a huge part of continuing
to develop our expertise.
but is it the only
way, that you are.
Providing value
to your clients.
And so while I entitled
this, eight Business Problems
that have Intellectual
Property Solutions.
the honest answer is there
is only one problem, but what
we have are eight symptoms.
And so, the big problem is
that you haven't developed
assets, whether that are
products or processes.
That allow you to decouple
your income from your time.
we talk about
that all the time.
you need to be able to
decouple your income
from your time in order
to scale your business.
And by scaling, we mean not
just increasing revenue.
'cause we could double our
revenue by billing twice as
many hours, but that's not how
we wanna grow our business.
We want to scale by increasing
our revenue, while also
increasing profit, which means
we're decreasing the cost
of generating So whether
that's, increased, decreased.
Time, or, other resources if
you have other things that
you use from third parties.
so that is what intellectual
property is about.
It is about creating assets
that allow you to decouple
your income from your time.
it's not any more
complicated than that.
It's not, patents and
software and all those
things, the things that
we do in our business that
allow to decouple our income
from our time are generally
intellectual property.
Some registerable,
that is not.
but we'll talk
about that as well.
So let's get started.
the first business problem,
client concentration.
So there are only so many
clients you can serve at a
time if you are the expert
providing one-on-one services.
And, high client
concentration, the danger is
that, you lose one client.
That could be the
end of your business.
Maybe you have, you can only
serve one client at a time.
Maybe you can only serve
two clients at a time.
And because they
are so, uh, time.
consuming.
You don't have time to
do business development
while you're on doing this.
And so even if you have
very happy clients, when
the engagement comes to
an end, you don't have any
more clients coming along.
So client
concentration problem.
what is your intellectual
property solution?
you can continue to do
those one-on-one services,
but how can we get you to
be more effective so that
you can serve more clients?
On a high level, on a
one-on-one level, if
that's what you desire.
So that would mean making sure
we're creating efficiencies
in our business and these
things we'll see these,
as we go forward as well.
We're creating
standard procedures.
We have templates, we have
models, so that allows us
to become more efficient
in how we deliver our.
One-on-one services
to our clients.
And those systems and
processes could be also by
the way, your sales funnel.
So that's not just about
delivery, it's also about the
operations in your business,
about how you, bring people
in, how you move them through
your pipeline, how you
onboard them and offboard.
Then those are all things
that can be, systematized
so that you become more
efficient and therefore
you can serve more clients.
Within the same kind of box of
time that you have available.
so that you don't have, the
same client concentration
problem, business problem
too, revenue concentration.
So if you have a client
concentration problem, you
certainly have a revenue
concentration problem, and
that means that all your
revenue is coming from a
single type of revenue,
such as from one-on-one
services, so you don't have
a one to several model.
For a one to many model
or something else,
that is a different.
Revenue model.
So could it be hourly?
It could be by retainer,
it could be, project
based, value based.
and so when you.
Create different
revenue models.
typically that goes
with different type
of products as well.
then you can have new
revenue streams that
are less dependent
on you and your time.
And so that could
look like things like.
online workshops that you can
deliver more efficiently or
you can deliver at a lower
price point, and therefore
you can bring in a different
kind of client that you can
fit in inside of the time
that you have available.
It reminds me, I wasn't even
thinking about this, but it
reminds me of the how do you
get the most rocks in a jar?
And you put the biggest
ones in first, and then
you put the little ones in
to go around, and then you
put the sand at the end.
But if you did the other way,
then you wouldn't be able
to get nearly as much in.
And maybe we think about, our
revenue models in that way.
Like we think about the
biggest ones, the one-on-one,
and then we think about
what's the medium rocks
that we can get in there.
And then maybe down the
line, digital products as
a whole separate animal.
but.
That's something to
think about is the way of
filling your jar is big,
medium, and then small.
So revenue concentration,
earner concentration.
If you are the expert, they
only want you providing
one-on-one services for them.
You're available to them,
you're the one, creating.
All the revenue, you're the
sole earner in the business.
Then when you aren't out
there delivering services,
you aren't making any money.
Very hard to take a vacation,
very hard to work on product,
business development, very
hard to, get a manicure even.
Right.
so.
That means you need
to create systems,
templates, and models.
So that allows you
to create leverage
through other earners.
and it was just your genius
out there being genius, a.
And that's what people are
paying for, then you gotta be
out there being GenY all the
time in order to make revenue.
But if you can create systems,
have some templates, have some
models, and you can use either
employees or contractors to
help deliver some, or maybe
even all of the output, on
the legal side, inside of,
in-house legal departments,
you'll often have the business
person who, does a term sheet
with the client and then
they send that term sheet
to the legal department and
it is a contract manager to
the non-lawyer who does the
first draft of that agreement.
The lawyers don't do those.
And then, you know, once they
have that first draft, then
the lawyer looks at it, of
course, before it goes out.
But that's a way to create
leverage in your business.
Anytime you are using
a resource that is less
expensive than you, that
allows you to do higher level
things, then you're creating
leverage in your business.
And so that is one way
to help you not being the
only person that is driving
revenue in the business.
The fourth business
problem, revenue, ceiling.
there's only so much you
can charge for facilitating
a workshop or for
providing coaching session.
Is it Tim Robbins, who
came up today and, I know
that he charges like a
million bucks a year or
something for his coaching.
so if you're not, you
know, him, how can I
not remember his name?
then, there's gonna be
a ceiling on how much
you can charge, right?
And so you need to, again,
Figure out a way to decouple
your income from your time.
Once you hit what the
market will bear in terms
of pricing and you have hit,
time, limits on how much you
can work, then in order to
keep growing, then you need
to decouple those things.
And so that means.
Creating some sort of
asset that can create
revenue without you.
We talked about employees
and contractors, but
another way to do that
is through licensing.
So if you have a workshop, for
instance, that right now you
are going out and delivering,
you're facilitating your
workshops personally with
your clients and if you are
able to create a license
where, Other facilitators who
you know, like and trust can
use your workshop to either
service your clients, 'cause
you can only service so many.
You know, the demand is
there that you can't meet.
Or maybe they have their
own clients, but they have
a need for this type of
workshop and they don't
have their own, they can
license yours and deliver
it to their end clients.
And that means that.
You are getting revenue from
the delivery of your workshop,
but you aren't delivering
it, so that's another way to
bust that revenue ceiling.
The fifth is
inconsistent cashflow.
When you're doing
custom services, we all.
Are familiar with the
feast and famine cycle of
selling custom services.
especially if you
don't have the capacity
for multiple clients.
And you know, this all feeds
together with that client
concentration problem as well.
so you.
Have that whale client,
who doesn't love a whale
client, that will keep
you busy for, a year.
then what happens
when they're gone?
because a client that will
keep you busy for a year
is not gonna be signing,
you off of your website.
There's gonna be a long
sales cycle that goes
along with that, and that
can be pretty unnerving.
to even out your cash flow.
having an intellectual
property solution of
creating an asset that you
can sell access to on a
recurring basis, also known
as recurring revenue, helps
even out your cashflow.
So maybe you have a library
of digital resources that you
can sell subscriptions to.
Maybe you have a community
that you can sell access
to, and these are ways to
create recurring revenue
streams so you can.
stabilize your cash flow.
Your sixth, business
problem, is weak positioning.
know, if you're not developing
some sort of signature
solution that you are known
for, or you aren't attacking a
problem that you are known for
in the industry, Probably you
are just selling your time.
You're just, responding
to RFPs and you're letting
the client tell you
what you want from them.
And then, okay, I can do that.
And you, and you do it.
You do, they're happy and
they do it, but you're not
creating the thing that
you become known for, who
you go to person, for.
And so to be that
go-to person, that
means creating some.
Intellectual property around
that, you're creating some
original thought leadership
that is speaking to the
specific problem or the
specific niche that you
want to serve, and around
that you are creating some
branded services or some
branded solutions around that.
That of course, is
intellectual property.
The seventh stagnant
profitability.
So if you are out there
juing with with every new
engagement, then you're
probably, not getting the
benefit of the increased.
Efficiencies of having
systems, templates and models.
know, if you're starting
from scratch with every
engagement, then you meet
with your client, you find
out what, their issue is and
you go to the drawing board,
like an artist starting with
something completely unique
and original for your client.
And there may be a place
for that, in your business.
But that does mean that
you will not be able to.
Increase your profit and
your business, because it'll
be very hard to get more
efficient, in that model.
So, systematization,
templates, models, if you're
not billing by the hour,
then you wanna become more
efficient, because that
means lowered costs and
therefore increased profit.
And back to using less
expensive resources.
And that, by the way,
could include technology.
Like when you really kind
of have a whole system in,
place for getting from A to
Z in delivering value to your
business, there may be a spot
for technology, and this is.
even more relevant obviously
today with ai, to figure
out like, what part of this
can I use technology to
help become more efficient?
it can't be just
about you being GenY.
It there has to be a system to
it for you to really be able
to take advantage of that.
And then our last, our
eighth business problem,
is the impact ceiling.
we all got into the business
because there was some
impact we wanted to make.
There's something we
believed in that we thought.
We could make that
happen, and create great
value for our clients.
We love our clients and
we wanted them to succeed,
but when we're doing it
on a one-on-one basis, is
there, again, there's only
so many people we can impact
on a one-on-one basis.
Now, personally, you
know, I'm a lawyer.
We do one-on-one a lot.
But I also want to help women
understand the value that's
hidden in their businesses,
to make sure they're capturing
all the value so that they
can use their businesses,
not just for income, but
also to create wealth.
Because, I believe wealth
in the hands of women
can change the world.
But how many women can I
impact if I'm only doing it
on with my one-on-one clients?
And that's why I have this
podcast, my newsletter, and
I do workshops and I, guest
expert and things like that
so I can reach more people
and have a bigger income.
of course, I am
creating intellectual
property around that.
in the form of.
courses to come,
folks to come.
but right now it's mostly
through my, frameworks and
that I work people through
and I have, systems for
helping them create licensing
programs, systems for
making sure that they are.
Tracking and, protecting
and monetizing their
intellectual property.
And so that's how you
increase your impact by
creating resources, whether
they're for sale or for free.
'cause most of my resources
are free, to make sure
that you are impacting as
many people as possible
with whatever the special
message is that you are
bringing to the world.
So, Again, it all boils down
to that same issue, is that
if you're doing something that
requires you in person with
your time, then you will hit.
All of these ceilings of
impact and revenue, these
concentration problems,
these cashflow problems,
positioning problems,
profitability problems,
all of them mean that you
haven't developed some assets
that allow you to generate
revenue to increase impact.
Without you working more.
So if you have any questions
about that, I'd love to
talk to you about it more.
you can find
me@thinkbeyondip.com and there
you can see how you could
work with me and I'd love to
hear your feedback on this.
If there's anything
that wasn't clear,
please contact me.
That's, makes my day I hope
this was helpful for you.
I really enjoyed
putting this together.
So in case you are a
visual learner, I did
create a graphic that goes
through the eight problems
that have intellectual
property solutions.
And so there should be
a link in the show notes
where you can sign up to
get a copy of that graphic.
And as always, I welcome your
questions and comments, and
thanks again for joining me.
See you again soon.