When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, or so the saying goes. That’s exactly what Amir Harris did when he turned a roadblock into a $12 million enterprise. Harris is the man behind Shofur, the bus chartering service now used by the likes of Facebook and the NFL. But the business did not start out with those clients. It was a humble family endeavor founded by his uncle. Then, the Democratic National Convention came to town, and the small business had nowhere near enough buses to meet the transportation needs of the influx of visitors. However, Harris recognized a silver lining to the problem. Instead of turning down what he knew would be a huge money-making opportunity, he called neighboring towns and even states and asked to borrow their buses. Thanks to Harris’ determination, his family’s company was able to make thousands of dollars off the event.
the company to the next level and create a web-based service, they didn’t hop on board. Like most successful businesspeople, Harris knew he had a good idea and stuck with it. With $800 in his bank account, Harris struck out on his own, going full weeks without leaving his apartment while he developed the business. Teaching himself web design and learning on the go, he was able to turn his idea into a multimillion-dollar company — all without taking out any loans. What can other entrepreneurs and even successful businesses learn from Amir Harris’ story? First of all, when obstacles appear, look at them as opportunities in disguise. You’ve discovered a consumer need that other businesses are not fulfilling, so fulfill it. Secondly, believe in your ideas. People will try to tell you they aren’t going to work, but if you know you have something worthwhile, follow through with it. Lastly, don’t reinvent the wheel. Instead of buying buses, Harris partnered with existing bus companies and put their underutilized buses to work. He took an existing service and made it better.
Like many entrepreneurs, Harris faced a lot of early pushback from friends and family. When he told them he wanted to take
The lifetime value of a customer is an easily overlooked and often underutilized concept. Don’t risk doing yourself and your business a huge disservice. Why track customer lifetime value, or CLV? When you know the CLV, you have data you can use to your advantage. This data can be applied to customer retention initiatives, marketing campaigns, referral programs, and, most importantly, keeping repeat customers happy. Plus, when you know the current CLV, you can work to improve that number. There are different ways to calculate CLV, and some methods are more complicated than others. At a minimum, you need to be tracking the following data points: • The money spent by each customer (the revenue your business gains per customer, factoring in the margins of the products or services you provide)
With this data, you can then calculate CLV:
A x B – C = CLV
Just keep in mind this number is based on averages and will not give you precise information (for a more comprehensive method of calculating CLV, check the Wikipedia entry for customer lifetime value). The more data you have to pull from, the more accurate the number will be. For instance, if you’ve been tracking A, B, and C for the past six years, you will have a more accurate picture of CLV versus a business that started tracking last year. Think of it as an efficiency formula. With this data, you can determine which are your best customers and which are not. From there, you can tailor your marketing endeavors and get far more out of your marketing dollar.
• The time frame for each customer purchase (the average amount of time you keep a customer)
• The initial cost to acquire a customer
2
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker