If you were looking for more doom and gloom about the Notary & Loan Signing Agent industries, you really opened the wrong article. This article is filled with all sorts of good business advice for those of you who are still with us or just getting started as a Notary Loan Signing Agent.
Did you notice I didn't say... Notary Business Advice or Loan Signing Agent advice in that last sentence? That's because you are so much more than a Notary or Notary Loan Signing Agent. You are a business owner and it's about darn time you started thinking like one because we are really through the worst of the fall out of the interest rate hike and it's either get prepared now or leave what money is to be made on the table for those who will get prepared.
Now if you haven't been to our General Mentorship on Mondays then you've missed three really great sessions this past month including: The Most Common Mistakes to Avoid, Where to Look for Business Right Now, & How to Handle the Long Haul as a Signing Agent. You should really catch up if you haven't watched them and join us each Monday at 5 pm PST / 8 EST. Just
Here are 10 Business Tips That You Should Be Thinking About:
Market Research Unlocks the Very First Door to Success
If You Fail to Plan, Then You Plan to Fail
Good Ole Benjamin Franklin said this one. And we all want to see lots of his face still to this day! It's all about the Benjamin's, isn't it? Seriously though, Goal Setting is the key to success in any business. And the good news is you can start anytime! Here's a great goal setting video for you to get ya started.
Focusing On the Value of the Product or Service You Offer Will Bring You Revenue
Barbara Corcoran says whatever you do be the best at it, and we agree! No Matter what you are doing in business you need to be an expert in it. And never take for granted that you will always have new things to learn.
Customer Service Will Always Be Your Greatest Asset
This one is personal because I often get made fun of for what seems like the overuse of Mrs., Ms., Misses., Mr., Yes Mam, and No Sir. And all I have to say is I'm not currently looking for work and I'm the one writing the article to help others. I don't say that to be cocky at all. What I mean is that I constantly live in fear of losing clients because I didn't provide excellent customer service. And I believe good customer service starts with how you make people feel. And I like to make people feel respected! Maya Angelou says it best, "people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." If you want to brush up on your customer service skills, you can start with our free Customer Service Champions sessions.
Small Business Owners Must Learn to Analyze and Be Comfortable in Making Big Decisions
No one can teach you to make decisions, but you make them every day. For some reason though newer business owners get that "deer in the headlights" mentality when faced with making a decision. Some of this might stem from current culture where people are used to finding the answers quickly on YouTube for many of life's problems. But unless you are a plumber, the kitchen sink isn't your business. Yes, you can learn a lot online, but you have to be able to analyze and make decisions after you research!
Your Window of Success is Too Short to Learn Everything Through Experience
I use this example a lot but it's so fitting for this one. If you were accidentally run over by a car, crushed a few vertebrae, and were facing back surgery. Would you choose the surgeon who just graduated but decided he was just going to learn as he went along or the one who graduated, took additional courses, and worked on a team of surgeons with more experience first before practicing by themselves?
Business Owners Must Be Adaptable and Know When to Grow or Pivot
I wish I was able to get this out to you prior to the downturn of the market. It's a really good one! Growth and Pivoting is a part of business. It shouldn't take a downturned market for you to start expanding your services. You should consistently be grooming your business to learn what you can do to expand.
No Business Will Survive Withoutt Marketing 2-5%
The general rule of thumb is that you should spend 2-5% of your revenue to market for future business. If you don't market your business, it will not grow.
The People You Work with Are Not Your Friends or Family
This one has a lot of meanings for me really. I like to make my colleagues feel like family, but the truth is they aren't. They don't owe me anything. We all come to work so we can go home to our own families. Learning this early on a business owner is extremely important. Business is business. You can make it feel good, but you will need that support system of real friends and family if it fails.
Business Owners Can't Be Fearful
This year at the 2023 Level Up conference we learned the phrase, "Do it Scared." And then we learned that fear and excitement live on the same level within us. It really just depends on which one we choose to see it as. Business owners have to be confident and unafraid in every aspect of their business. It doesn't mean that you can't delegate, that is not what I'm saying. But if you are going to delegate then you should be able to analyze, make a decision, and be confident about whom or what you are delegating it to.
I bring these points up to you without trying to mention the Notary and Loan Signing Agent Industries at all because all we seem to talk about these days is being a Notary or Loan Signing Agent. That's great and all but we need to also be thinking about the bigger picture which is being successful business owners in it for the long haul. Look for more articles soon to come just geared toward owning a business in general!
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