I’ve often wondered to myself if it would be possible to start a business that just sells business ideas.

I am in love with the thought process of our current market (whenever the market changes) and what types of businesses could succeed within it. I like to push the envelope with outrageous business ideas just to see if they would work, as well as solving solutions to common everyday problems.

I’ve started an idea list of possible businesses and possible products that could and help and/or entertain people. I don’t have enough minutes (or energy) in one day to accomplish all of these ideas at one time…so, they remain on the list.

Now here comes the questions:

• What if I could sell these ideas?
• What if I could provide a single person (that has time and money) with the ins and the outs of my business idea and the ways that they could attempt to make it successful?
• Could I sell these business ideas?
• How much could someone make on a business idea?
• Could I give the idea away and get royalties on any success that was made because of it?
• How would I build my reputation to the point where people who don’t even know me, know I have a money making idea that they would be willing to buy and run by themselves?
• Would it be more advantageous for me to hire my own team of people that would essentially facilitate and operate all of my ideas for me?
• If I sell an idea to someone with money, would they be capable of making it successful? After all, they couldn’t think of this idea…
• Is there a business model out there like this already that I don’t know about?
• If so, how did they get things started?
• Is it worth selling ideas? I mean if they benefit society they shouldn’t just be sitting on my notepad, should they?
• Could I give the ideas away (open source) and have them benefit others without myself getting any $$ or recognition?
• What should I do?

As you can see, I have a bunch of questions and would love to have answers for them, What are your thoughts?

Just a bit to think about…Let’s make something happen with unused ideas!

Keep pushing your mind to the limit, nothing is unattainable!
Have a Great Day!
~Chais Meyer

A tomato is a fruit!
But what I’m really talking about is what we’ve worked so hard for, and how things happen because we make them happen (we don’t just sit back and expect life to fall together around us).

Shawna and I have been working very hard over the past 4-5 months and sacrificing certain luxuries (like living in our own house) to obtain a certain milestone in our life,  ‘Moving to Key West Florida for an entire month’.
This may not sound like that big of a deal to some of you out their, but for the others, please let this stepping stone for us help with motivating you to get what you want out of life.
To us, this is a feat that we knew we would accomplish…Oh, Did I mention that we are staying in a two story house with a private fenced in yard and a 25′ heated pool in the back yard? Ya, it’s pretty sweet.

Okay, let’s ask some questions to put this whole thing in perspective (to gain some understanding of why it’s so important to us):
Q: Why Key West Florida?
A: We went to Key West last year on vacation for the first time and it was so beautiful, relaxing, and the lifestyle there was very chill, it kind of seemed like the rest of the world didn’t matter (and I’m talking about the actual Islanders, the locals that live there year round). It is also very expensive to live there for an extended period of time and that was one thing that we wanted to prove to ourselves, that we could make it happen (get the resources and make the plans to live their for one month) in a 4-5 month time period. Oh ya, and it has one of the top 10 beaches in the U.S., that helped with our thinking too.

Q: What did we have to sacrifice to make it happen?
A: We own a home that we don’t live in (which we could be doing right now, but it just makes more financial sense to live cheap and have someone else pay our mortgage for us). We live with our parents, which isn’t a horrible situation by any means, it’s just the lack of privacy and not having ‘our own space’ that is hard to deal with (Note: As a thank you to them for opening their home, we’ve invited them to join us for the first week in Key West). Also, we have crappy, dented, used and abused cars that get us from place to place (trying to avoid the monthly expense of a new car and countless other toys that Americans can’t seem to go without). It’s been really hard keeping our expenses low and to putting more into our business growth than our personal lives, but it is well worth the rewards we are starting to receive.

Q: Why do we consider this trip a milestone?
A: I think the simple answer is…We could have claimed bankruptcy nearly a year ago, but instead we’ve turned our life around! So much so, that we are able to enjoy one whole month working on an island that is the most southern point of the U.S. (meaning it’s really warm). It also shows us that if we can get to this point in 4-5 months time, who knows where we can be 12 months from now. It is a much needed stepping stone that motivates us and reminds us that anything is possible.

Work hard & trust God, it’s okay to sacrifice things to have a greater reward in the end. Remember…There is no pride in Survival!

Have an Awesome Day!
~Chais & Shawna Meyer

P.S. We would love to hear from anyone else that has hit a milestone in his/her life that has helped them to push forward.

Sometimes in business we realize that we are heading in the wrong direction and we either need to (A) jump ship. OR (B) Change the way we’re doing things.

This realization came to David Lano & myself while we were working on our Control Yours business last month. We realized that our current pricing structure was not designed for long term growth or future employee involvement (even though we were providing a hell of a deal to small businesses). Something needed to change.

Changing price is a tricky thing because of what it does to your brand (it can help it by making it look more exclusive, or it can hurt it by making you look like you are a money whore), and because of what it does with your current customers (if something isn’t added to your products/services and your price increases dramatically, it can really hurt your business because of how greedy it makes you look). $$ is a very emotional topic with individuals, and unfortunately for us, individuals run businesses, and businesses are our clients.

David and I took an approach that you may have seen many times over and we believe that it was the best thing for our business. We raised our rates from 75% (on our smallest package) to almost 300% (on our largest package). We have created different subscription packages that people can choose from (4 main packages), as well as offer different services within the different packages (to help differentiate between them). Before we were just including everything to everyone at one really cheap price, on our way to business suicide.

Did we gouge the current customers that were with us from the beginning and hit them with the 300% price increase right away? No, not even close…we “Grandfathered” them into our new pricing structure while keeping their current monthly pricing (and they will pay that same price until they either quit our services or upgrade to a new package). It’s a good deal for them since they were with us since the beginning, and because we didn’t burn them, they can and will remain fans of Control Yours.

If you’d like to take a look at our current site with changes in place, please copy and paste the following link into your browser [ https://www.controlyours.com ], click on the ‘details’ tab and choose ‘price’. If you have any constructive criticism for us (or just bitching & moaning), we are open and willing to receive it!

Thanks again & have an Awesome Day!
~Chais Meyer

I think that it is so important now days for businesses to listen to their customers. If they don’t, they will eventually die.
If one employee is intentionally blocking the customers voice from making its way to the man or woman in charge (Which happens daily) that can be detrimental to a business!

Let’s (as leaders of a department or a business, owners of a company, or managers of what ever we manage) allow our customers to have a direct connection with us. It’s the only way to truly become a better organization! I truly believe this and that is why I am working with all of the different businesses that I own or am involved with to use “User Voice“.

User Voice gives that direct customer connection to someone that is actually paying attention. It is free and it is easily put in place on your company or personal website. How about you try ACTUALLY listening to your customers and ACT on their recommendations. Majority rules in the business world, and that’s how User Voice works, on the majority votes of your customers ideas or suggestions. Check it out and give your business an advantage, even though it’s scary to talk to the customer.

Have an awesome Day!
~Chais Meyer

Hello All!

We have recently redesigned our website for our business Control Yours. And as we went through and created new images, we also changed our pricing structure. We went a couple of different routes before we decided on the final one (if you want to see it, click on the details tab after you click on the link above).

So…Here are some vector boxes that were trial and error. Have them, use them, enjoy them…Just don’t sell them! Click on the sticker below for your download to start.

Until next time…Have an Awesome Day!
~Chais Meyer

I started this blog with the mindset that I would tell everyone about the good, the bad, & the dirty of business (starting a business specifically). This blog slowly developed to much more than that. It started containing stories about our life and our connections with businesses and people. The tough part about sharing situations from OUR life is what people in our life think of when they read a story that may have to do with them (or at least a situation that involved them). And let’s face it…There is irony in honesty! Most people can’t handle the truth.

If I choose to be completely honest about any situation or real life example, some part of me chooses not to care about how others (the people that are in the stories) are affected or what they’re feeling. If I’m not completely honest with myself or you, why even have a blog in the first place? I’m not the national media that filters what they do or don’t say (sugarcoating or distorting the truth). In fact, I despise national media just for that reason. I am sharing my true situations with you, no matter what the comfort level.

So…for any or all of you out there that would prefer not to read a story that references you or a situation that involves you, it may be best if you stop reading from here on out. This blog is about my wife and I, and how we go through OUR lives, personally and professionally.

For Everyone Else…
…Have an Awesome Day & we’ll talk soon!
~Chais Meyer

When we go through life, every positive situation that happens with individuals or groups of people (AKA Businesses) helps build bridges that connect us together. Social Networkers (among other types of people) know that this connection is extremely powerful and sometimes even leads us to places or people we would never imagine.  We hear about people that burn bridges (sometimes on a weekly or daily basis) and these people are eventually left alone (in every aspect of the word). This brings a question to my mind, What does it take to keep our bridges strong?

Some relationships, business and professional, can be very poisonous to our life and they can actually harm us more than they can help us. In these cases, I completely agree with nuking the bridges and burning all connections to the poisonous people. The majority of the time however, I have noticed that it really pays to invest in people and see how we can help benefit them to help create a solid connection. Maybe that’s the answer for keeping the bridge strong (helping others, without bad intent).

I’ve been working with the company Computer Hardware for the past year as a contract employee. Whenever they needed assistance on random projects, I would help them out and bill them at a rate of $15 an hour. For them, this was a blessing, having extra help when needed but not requiring me to be on the payroll and to be looked at as an employee. Also, I ONLY billed them for the time I actually worked. Probably one of the most efficient business relationships that a business owner can build.

I’ve recently been asked to help Computer Hardware in a way that could dramatically impact their future and my wife’s and my short term life. They’ve asked me to assist them as the Head of the education sales for the state of Nebraska. Why is this such a good opportunity? Several Reasons:

• Because of the money they will be paying me - It is not a huge amount in its own right but it does include 20% commission (of all profits) from  every sale I make.
• Because of what I’ve learned in the last year - I’ve learned to batch my tasks and get a lot more things done in less time.
• Because I make the rules within the education sales - I decide what I focus on, I decide on the hours I work, I decide on the best solutions for the Educators problems.
• Because of the potential for long term reward - I will get rewarded with a part ownership or a percentage of my final results. (an investment of my time and creativity)

What this equals for me is an opportunity that will pay me well (subsidizing the hours I would’ve been working to pay the bills), while putting very little time in (comparatively, it will be between 10-20 hours a week), and giving me the freedom to focus my remaining daily energies on our other businesses that need to have time spent on them in order to grow. Because I’ve kept this business relationship strong, I’ve been given an opportunity that will put me months ahead of schedule of where my businesses would have been (since I can now invest the extra time needed). [Side note: I also have to the responsibility to avoid abusing or damaging any/all of the connections that will come along with this. I will be meeting with hundreds and possibly thousands of educators during this 1 year time period and these connections could very well benefit my own businesses.]

By helping to benefit others, I in turn will be rewarded. It has paid to keep this bridge strong, just think about that the next time you want to avoid helping someone in your life.

Work Hard, Work Smart, Work for Your Future.
Oh ya…Have an Awesome Day!
~Chais Meyer

As I was running today, I was thinking about the glorified 6 Pack (or 8 for the select few).
Am I talking about beer or soda? (No, that’s why I am running in the first place!)

I am talking about societies definition of what amazing health is, the six abdominal muscles that show because of a low total body fat. WHAT!?! I HAVE TO HAVE LOW ‘TOTAL’ BODY FAT!?!
I thought I could just do sit ups to lose the fat right on my stomach area, That sucks.

I’m assuming this is a lot of people’s reactions when they find out the cold hard truth about our bodies. We get rewarded everywhere on our body (this includes our stomachs, and our asses), when we treat our whole body right (eating healthy, working out, etc.).

A sad thing is (or Great thing, depending on your outlook), this philosophy is everywhere in our world, even in business. We can’t just ‘trim the fat’ in one area of business, we can try, but other areas will suffer. In order to have total business health, we need to look at the business in whole and make sure that nothing is being left out.

Let’s create a small example to make my point (this is a real life example, minus the fitness analogies):
We decide to ramp up sales with Control Yours (our website development business), so we put all of our energy and focus on reaching and closing on new clients. We collect their money, start developing websites for them, and the sales side of our business seems to be ‘firming and toning up’ (at least the sales muscles under our total business fat). We put our other areas of our business on the back burner and focus on just making sales as strong and fit as it can be. The next thing we notice is that a few of our clients want to modify their current plans they have with us, no problem right? WRONG! We’ve been so focused on building our sales muscle that we forgot to work on our customer management muscle, in fact it’s almost deteriorated.

What do we have to do? Just like every other fat person out there that realizes doing sit ups isn’t changing their overall look, START FROM THE BEGINNING. Get the whole system in shape at the same time. And that is where we are right now, building, stretching, toning, and increasing our overall business heart rate. It is a very great feeling, gaining control again (even though we didn’t realize we lost control until we looked in the mirror and saw our business fat folding over our business jeans…that is some funny stuff!).

Don’t forget to take care of even the small aspects of your business. EVERYTHING leads to total health.

Get your cardio on & Have an Awesome Day!
~Chais Meyer

I was watching a video on TED.com today where Tim Farris talks about smashing fear and ‘how to feel like the incredible hulk’.

See this video below:

His talk started to get me thinking about how, so many times in my life I end up over-complicating things (as many of us do). And It is really interesting to me that we believe ‘what we have always done, has to be the right way’, just because we don’t know another way. Like…Who says having a cell phone with the ability to check/respond to my emails actually makes me more productive? Maybe I’m just wasting more time than anything. If I set up a one hour segment to read and respond my email a day (and that’s it), maybe I would get a lot more done because I would be focused to accomplish the task at hand.

I just love that Tim’s thoughts and ideas have helped me see that not everyone is supposed to follow the status quo, and not everyone has to fit into a mold. Identify your loves to live them, identify your fears and conquer them. I think we all could get a little inspiration from Tim.

Have an Awesome Day!
~Chais Meyer

…we started doing things with our day (small things) that could really change the way we live our life?

Like:

• Stop watching standard TV programs during the day and replace that same time with informational videos from TED.com.
• Stop eating on the go, and replace that with making meals together and investing in relationships while we eat.
• Start to writing letters again instead of only communicating through our standard form of electronic communication (email, facebook, twitter, etc.).
• Deciding to actually listen to people for one day & not be so concerned with having our own voice be heard.
• Befriending an individual that people seem to avoid, just to get their side of life.
• Dedicate an entire week to donating our free time to help others and/or organizations out.
• Take a summer job in another state (or country) just because it’s something you want to do.

We only have one life, so why don’t we do what we want to with it? We have to decide what type of person we want to be (and hopefully we won’t look back on our life and say “What did I do with my life?”). Live with inspiration!

I love to talk to my Friend Zach Liibbe about what he is doing in his life. He inspires me by never letting fear get the best of him and actually doing the things he wants to do. When someone like Zach talks about spending his summer taking a tracking course just for fun, and spending a month assisting at a wilderness treatment camp , he is showing us the types of things that we can & should do with our own lives to make the most of it.

Another person that inspires me to live with excitement is Mike Nyffeler. By surrounding ourselves with these types of people in our life, we can see how goals can become reality. Because of this, my wife & I have decided to move to Key West, Florida for a month and work remotely, because we can! Our businesses our being built to be operated anywhere, so why not ‘operate them from anywhere’ (especially a place as gorgeous as Key West)?

If we don’t spend our lives enjoying our talents, living for our dreams, or working for more, where does that leave us? I always challenge myself to be the best that I can be, and I want to challenge you! Make your own list of things you might be able to do or change for this summer and make it a reality. Who says you can’t work in Hawaii for the summer, at a job you might love? Just because you live in Kearney, NE (or whatever that place is that seems boring to you right now), doesn’t mean you have to work their for the next 4 months. Call around and make your own life happen, don’t expect something to just ‘fall in your lap’.

We’ll be pushing ourselves, we hope you do the same!
Have an Awesome Day!
~Chais & Shawna Meyer