A Funnel Is Not A Business
Read This BEFORE You Build A Funnel and fully understand that a funnel is not a business. A funnel is a REVENUE STREAM. A business is a collection of systems that support a revenue stream(s).
You will hear some that call a “Landing Page” a funnel. A landing page is not a funnel. While a landing page IS “a” web page; a funnel is sales process made up of a connected string of web pages.
A landing page is also called a “lead capture page” a “squeeze page” or a “destination page”. It is a single web page that appears in response to clicking on something like a link or a button in response to an advertisement or invitation.
Business Systems
I created a visual to think about the different “systems” of a business. I call it the Core Core; which is a collection of fundamental business systems.
Since my focus is on visionaries, the perspective of this visual is from that of an entrepreneur or a business owner. Most entrepreneurs start a business to make money. I became an entrepreneur to create a style of living that I enjoyed. More money can be a very good thing, but the main motivating factor for me is having a seat at the table when what I will do with my time is being decided.
Think of innovation as a business system. “How” will you make money? What are the steps? Who will buy your stuff? How will you reach them? How will you persuade them? How will you serve them.
Business Functions
Peter Drucker’s teachings put the two functions of business as “innovation” and “marketing”. Myron Golden adds “money management” as a function of business. In Golden’s book, “From The Trash Man To The Cash Man, How Anyone Can Get Rich Starting From Anywhere” the idea that managing the money you have now is more important than making a lot of money later.
The Trash Man To Cash Man book lays out the Money Management Principles of Millionaires. The principle is called, “I CAN if my CANs say I CAN.”
One Funnel Away Challenge
The One Funnel Away Challenge hosted by Russell Brunson at ClickFunnels is the “system” of funnel building. It is NOT the “system” of building a business. During the challenge you are creating a revenue stream and you are left to build a business to support that revenue stream.
Supporting a revenue stream means that you deliver what is promised. Since people only buy “results”… you are delivering a result from an offer you created for the marketplace. Delivering means that you may need to think about things like fulfillment systems, support systems, accounting systems, transportation systems, etc.
Cash flow is a major concern for business owners; especially bootstrap entrepreneurs. If you don’t have a pile of cash waiting to work for your business, building a funnel can solve that issue.
Starting with building a funnel (a funnel plan) is smart because you will quickly be able to tell if the marketplace responds (with their money) to your offer. It is not smart to build a “business,” launch, and then realize that the marketplace isn’t buying what you’re selling. This is the backwards way we were taught in MBA school… first, write a business plan, then figure out if anybody besides you gets excited about the idea.
Building a funnel first, at a minimum ensures that you have the money to hire people and create business systems. Almost every business system can be outsourced. All you need is the money. If you have no money, you can’t buy help.
If your goal is to write a business plan to get a business loan or attract venture capital funding, the “build a funnel concept” may not be the best route to take; however, if you are a bootstrapping entrepreneur, using a funnel to get feedback directly from the marketplace first is a grand idea. If it helps, think of a funnel as market research or a serious focus group where the “focus” is determining whether you can sell your stuff.
While you are building a funnel take note of everything that is required to build it and document those steps. This documentation will become your first business systems. Use those written processes to delegate different things so that you are free to do more innovating (offer creation), marketing and money managing.
You may even get to the point that you allow someone else to do the 80% of the work required to create offers, do marketing or manage money, but highly encourage you to a portion of these things that only you can do or approve so that your business does not become a runaway train that you are trying to catch. Decide before the money comes in where it will go.
In short, before you build a funnel understand that a funnel is not a business. If you already have a business, a funnel will just be a new source of income. If you do not already have a business, a funnel is a perfect way to test, tweak and understand the market so that you can build business systems to support that revenue stream.
I am doing the One Funnel Away Challenge (again!) and we just hit the end of the pre-training week which consists of creating the right mindset to have a winning funnel and now that you’ve seen this, you can think about your winning funnel in the right light.