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Have you ever created something useful in your own life and wondered if you could turn it into a business? Our guest for episode 32 did just that and he’s made a financial success of his original idea.
Jesse Mecham started with a spreadsheet and turned into an educational software company that helps people create budgets, and stay on track financially. Join us as we talk about all of that and more on the 32nd episode of How’d You Get Into That?.
MORE ABOUT THIS SHOW
Jesse wasn’t always a financial guru; when he was a young boy, he wanted to be a Navy SEAL. But that dream gave way to a more practical aspiration: finding a safe and secure job that would provide for him and his family.
Following the traditional path, he opted for college and an undergraduate and graduate degree in accounting and finance. He knew accounting paid well and there were plenty of jobs available so his plan was to earn his degrees, find a good company, work hard and make his way up the corporate ladder until he was a partner. It sounded like a solid road map that would lead to success.
As a student at Brigham Young, he loved his fellow accounting students, his teachers and enjoyed his classes.
When he took a class on spreadsheets, he had the idea to create a budget for he and his wife. He was a recent newlywed with a baby on the way, and they were dirt poor. The budget he created for them helped them in their tight financial position, so he started sharing it with his classmates who also benefitted from it.
His next idea was to sell it to others. He found someone else online selling a spreadsheet for $10 so he did the same. All he wanted was to sell his spreadsheet to help him pay rent and stay out of debt while he was in school.
THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOW:
- Why it isn’t your product or service’s features and benefits that set you apart.
- What does MVP stand for?
- Jesse explains how to minimize risk.
- How long did it take him to recoup his $20k investment?
- What are his four rules to managing money?
- And so much more!
He managed to eek out a bit of money for awhile, but it wasn’t until he realized he was providing people with fundamental principles and guidelines to managing their money that things really shifted for his business’ finances.
When he focused on his methods and principles and spelling that out to his customers in his sales copy, his conversion rates and profits increased. By investing in a new design and application for his spreadsheets to become software and then focusing on educating his client base, he saw a massive spike in his sales. He was now earning several times more than what his accounting job paid him.
Despite his software success and the long hours demanded of him by his job, he held on to it. Until one day a partner in the firm was aggravated that Jesse was buying dessert on the company dime. Jesse knew he didn’t want to be like that partner, and after consulting with a trusted business contact from his church, he left the firm.
And he hasn’t looked back since! Today he employees 30 people at his own company and together they educate people about how to manage their finances, and they provide the software to implement the principles they educate on.
Please join me in thanking Jesse for sharing his knowledge biscuits on the show; he’s an awesome guest and it was great to chat with him. Leave him a comment below or send him a Tweet.
Tweetable: “You have to look and say: what’s the worst that can happen?” Jesse Mecham
EPISODE RESOURCES
- 99 Designs – Complementary Power Pak
- Jesse’s web site
- Jesse’s blog for business owners
- Jesse on Twitter
- Send your questions to us for our listener Q&A show
- Want me to speak to your group? Go here
- Email me with any questions or comments at Grant@GrantBaldwin.com
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