In this session of The Smart Passive Income Podcast, I invited Dane Maxwell from The Foundation to come onto the show and chat with us about his approach to building an online business, one that doesn’t include the need to become an expert in any particular niche (what?!), any money or start up funds (double what!?), or even any ideas!
In fact, in the interview, Dane talks about how he never starts a business based on ideas and how that can actually hold you back.
Sounds crazy, right? It doesn’t make sense right now, but when you start listening, you’ll quickly understand what he’s talking about when I ask him what exactly he does. To sum it up for you:
He doesn’t start with an idea, and he’s not interested in becoming an expert at anything other than understanding the pains and problems that people are having in a particular market, and that’s exactly what he does. He asks people what their pains are, what they wish was available to help make their jobs easier, what are the repetitive tasks that they perform every day, and he builds software solutions that specifically solve those problems.
You don’t need to worry about ideas. You only need to worry about understanding the true pains and problems that people are having. If you can do that, the right solution will come.
The amount of information in this podcast is incredible, and it’s obvious that Dane is operating on an entirely different level when it comes to teaching online business. It’s unique, and almost a breath of fresh air because he shares that you don’t have to become an expert at something and then build a platform to share that knowledge. You just need to find out exactly what people want and then deliver it to them. Dane just prefers software as the delivery mechanism, and he tells you why in the session.
As some of you know, I’ve had my run at software before, but it was a failure. I had paid to get 2 WordPress plugins developed. One didn’t come out right (totally my fault), and the other is still being worked on after a year of development. Dane and I talk about this in the episode as well, and he tells us what kind of software works best—and it’s not WordPress plugins. And if you follow Dane’s advice, you don’t even need to know how to code or have money in order to get this software developed. It might sound too good to be true, but it’s definitely not some get rich quick scheme. It definitely takes a lot of work and due diligence, too. Dane provides a framework of 6 months, actually.
Dane also gives us so many memorable quotes during the session, it’s not even funny. I had about 4 or 5 pages of notes after our interview. Here are some of the highlights:
- “If you can define the problem better than your target customer, then they will assume you have the solution.”
- “Looking for a passion CRIPPLES potential entrepreneurs.”
- “We (The Foundation) do not believe in being an expert. We believe in being an expert at defining problems, and then putting experts in place to solve them.”
- “There are more opportunities and more problems than you could ever solve.”
The Foundation
Dane references The Foundation in the session, which is his program for teaching a limited group of students how to build a successful software businesses over the course of six months. He’s already gone through a successful round with students and shared some of the successful companies that came out of that with us on the podcast. I’m happy to share the link to The Foundation here on the blog, but please know that I never went through this program myself, which is why I am not an affiliate for this program. I do not directly benefit in any way from sharing this link, but I share it because I can see it being extremely helpful for some. If you do end up getting accepted into his program (there’s an application process, I believe), please let me know I’d love to keep track of your progress.
Thank you for your support! Cheers!
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Today’s Guest
Dane Maxwell
Dane Maxwell chats about his approach to building an online business, one that doesn’t include the need to become an expert in any particular niche, any money or start up funds, or even any ideas!
Website
You’ll Learn
- Why software is the most lucrative vehicle to finance your freedom.
- Dane’s thoughts on the human desire to become an expert, and how that cripples potential entrepreneurs.
- Why people have reservations about getting into software.
- The most important questions to ask in order to understand people’s pains and problems.
- How to find companies and who (and how to) contact them to get information for potential software solutions.
- Why stripping away features is important to get your software launched, and how to use that to your advantage.
- An example of how Dane decided to create his first software business just by asking questions.
- Why questions to ask to understand how much to price your software.
- How to get guaranteed paying customers and have no chance of failing.
- The most common mistake that people who attempt to create software make.
- The secret language of millionaires that can’t be learned overnight, but must be experiences.
- Criteria for great markets to get into to build software for.
- How to automatically find the solution to people’s problems.
- Success stories from his own students, and the idea extraction process that went along with their businesses.
- The #1 reason why people aren’t paying for your product.
- How to break down businesses to help break down their problems and pains.
- The problem with All-in-One Software Solutions, and more!
Resources
Note: Some of the resources below may be affiliate links, meaning I receive a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you use that link to make a purchase.
- The Foundation
- Paperless Pipeline
- SnapInspect.com
- SherlockDocs.com
- Spin Selling [Amazon affiliate link]
- VWorker
- Elance (Now called Upwork)
- Odesk (Now called Upwork)
