Local Business MBA/Local Business MBA

The Local Business MBA

Learn the mindset, process and tools to rapidly build and grow your own local business without needing prior business experience.

  • $2,497 or 6 monthly payments of $499

Local Business MBA

Learn the mindset, process and tools to rapidly build and grow your own local business without needing prior business experience.

The realistic and cost-effective way to build and launch your own local business from scratch.

Whether you are an aspiring entrepreneur, tradesman already working in the field, or looking to escape the 9-5 by starting your own side business the path we have laid out here for you is truly step-by-step. 

Back when I started my cleaning company there wasn't much out there (that wasn't 30 years old, anways) on building your own local business from scratch...and there still isn't. At best, there were simple guides on reddit and old blogs. It took me many hours of trial and error and $10,000s in mistakes to get to where I am today. So to help you get there faster and by spending a fraction of what I spent I have designed the Local Business MBA programme for you. 

I'll not only guide you through starting and launching your business, but show you how to hire great teams, manage your daily operations, and grow using the same strategies I am using right now in my own business. This is all up-to-date and being used around the world in 12 countries right  now. 

After taking this course, you'll have launched and be running your very own local business. 

-Chris.
"I love Chris' emphasis on rebuilding your foundation. The momentum you gain with small, consistent bites is REAL. It is all truly spelled out in the course, I'm so HAPPY!!!! My family has started to dream about moving to London once my business can be run remotely." - Candice Hamilton
"If you do nothing else Chris teaches, do the google strategies he has laid out for you. I just booked out my last spot available! To put the cherry on the cake all clients are at higher rates and they didn't even blink at paying it. Now to hire more staff before more people want to book in!" - Danielle Chaney
"Just wanted to share that since we started our business we've been stuck at the $10k/mo mark. Fast forward after joining and we already broke the $15k/mark in record speed." - Ian Njogu

What will I learn?

The MBA programme is divided into 10 digestible modules to make sure you get the best learning experience possible. Starting from the fundamentals all the way to hiring your own teams and learning how to manage the day-to-day operations.

1. The Fundamentals
To get started I will share my personal story and journey, introduce you to key mindset concepts, and cover the fundamentals you need in place to start your local business. This will act as your guide through the MBA programme.

2. Building Your Business Foundation
This section is all about getting you ready to launch. We cover and walk you through the systems and structure you need to be ready for customers, including creating your website and pricing your services.

3. The "Scaling" Sections
As your business grows you will find different problems need to be solved at different stages, so we have designed 3 scaling sections to help walk you through each stage. Whether you are scaling to $5,000, $10,000, or $30,000mo (this one is coming soon) we have got you covered.

4. Hiring Your Teams
More than any other type of business, a local business thrives based on the quality of its people. With this in mind, we share our detailed hiring system that you can take and implement to ensure you hire the best people for the job from day 1.

5. Effective Marketing
One of the biggest fears any new business owner has is getting customers...consistently. That's what our marketing section is all about. You'll learn the exact same free and paid marketing strategies I am using in my own local business right now.

6. Becoming A Sales Machine
Likewise, perhaps the second biggest fear is closing the sale. Fortunately, we are an in-demand industry so customers most often come to us ready to book so sales isn't too complicated. I give you access to my own sales system on closing the sale, an automated follow-up sequence and automated review system to build your reputation.

7. Customer Service & Operations
Learning how to run your business and deal with customers is one of the most important, but least talked about topics in other courses. This is an area we really shine for you and show you exactly how to manage your day-to-day so there is no guesswork.

8. Personal Productivity System
Many of us will already be busy with our 9-5 job or other commitments, so learning how to be productive as a business owner is absolutely critical. Over the years I have developed a rather unique productivity system that is incredibly simple yet will allow you to always get the most important tasks done. This system is what you will learn in the productivity section of the course.

9. Advanced Tips & The Template Stash

Lastly, you will be given immediate access to our template stash. This is a massive section on advanced tips and templates you can copy/paste for marketing, sales, your website and more. You are already learning enough new stuff as it is, so we include as many helpful templates as we can to help speed things up for you. This section is easily worth $1,000s by itself. For example, you'll get access to my personal thumbtack templates which have led to us getting hired over 300 times on the platform. Many of those 300 turned into recurring customers, which has gone on to bring us $100,000s over the past few years. 

Who's it for

The Local Business MBA gives you hands-on and practical knowledge to building and launching your own local business It's for anyone who wants to know how to minimize the risk associated with starting a new side hustle or business, and figure out how to scale it sensibly:

✔ (Aspiring) Entrepreneurs
✔ 9-5ers looking to start a side business
✔ Stay-at-home moms and dads 
✔ Tradesmen looking to setup their own shop
✔ Small Business Owners
✔ Students (I started my cleaning business as a student back in the day)

This course includes

🔑 Immediate access to all the content
📖 Digital and printable worksheets
📝 Scaling Milestone to work towards
🙌 Detailed templates with every module
✅ Actionable and personal feedback on your business from our student chat
♥️ A private student community
💰$1000+ worth of services and deals to start your journey

Who is teaching this course?

Hi! Chris Schwab here. I'm a cleaning business owner who's helped hundreds of aspiring entrepreneurs and 9-5ers all over the world launch their own local business through our flagship Local Business MBA programme. 

If you already run your own business and need a helping hand I also run the first ever virtual assistant agency for local business owners. We provide trained virtual office managers who can help manage your office admin work. Check us out at inovalocal.com

Contents

Start Here

Welcome to the Course
About Your Instructor
What To Expect The First 3 Months
Join The Community
Suggested Course Progression
Suggested Course Progression 2
NOT New To Business? Watch This Instead

The Fundamentals

Building Your Momentum
Take Responsibility
Commitment (Time/Financial)
Choosing Your Niche
Residential vs Commercial

Building Your Business' Foundation

Creating Your Website
Choosing A CRM/Booking Software
Choosing Your Virtual Phone System
Crafting Your Online Presence
Seriously DO GMB/Next Door Verification
Bare Minimum Systems
Pricing Your Services
Business Launch Checklist
Soft Launch

Scaling To $5,000/mo

Phase 1 Overview
The Math Behind $5,000/mo
Setting Goals
Do Not Rush Through This Stage
What To Implement & When
Getting Your FIRST Job
Growing Smart (laser focus)
Hiring Your First Teams
Why Reviews Are So Important For Visibility
Jobs To AVOID
Benchmark Goals
Things To NOT Spend Your Money On Yet
Sample Scale-To-$5K Routine
Choosing Your Top 2 PAID Channels
Choosing Your Top 2 Free Marketing Channels
What Your Business Should Look Like At The End Of This Stage

Starting 101

Asking For Referrals

Scaling To $10,000/Month

Phase 2 Overview
Benchmark Goals
Your Biggest Roadblocks To $10-$30k/mo
The Math Behind $10,000/mo
Spend 1 Month On Each Marketing Channel
Reinvest Profits Back Into Marketing The First 6-9 Months
Offer EVERY Customer A Personalized Discount Code
The Fastest Way To Add $1-$3000/mo In Revenue

Systems & Processes

Rapid Fire Testing
Systems 101

Business Health Check

How To Do A "Health Check"
5x5 Growth Plan
Biz_health_check_5x5_ (1).pdf
Honest Conversation- What Am I Worst At? (Fixing The Weak Link)

Scaling To $30,000/Month

Getting UNSTUCK

Hiring Your Teams

Subcontractors vs Employees
Hiring A Subcontractor
Sample Job Post
Phone Interview Call Script
Face-to-Face Interview Process
Interview Process
First 3 Job With A New Subcontractor
What To Pay Your Subcontractor
Doing Background Checks
Using Thumbtack To Find Contractors
Job Application Form
Unconventional Hiring Tactics
IMPORTANT FORMS
Full Hiring Strategy Document
Example Interview Questions

Effective Marketing - Organic Marketing

Door To Door Pitch
Organic-Only First 30-60 days
Search Engine Optimization 101
Googly My Business Visibility Posts
Dominate Small Local Platforms
Turn Next Door Into A Referral Machine
Why Getting jobs From Amazon Is Insanely Profitable
How To Get A TON Of Jobs From Facebook Groups
Getting Started with Alignable

Effective Marketing - Paid Marketing

Screw Around Budget
Thumbtack Strategy
Craigslist Marketing Strategy
The Ultimate Guide to Running Successful Groupon Campaigns
LinkedIn Lead Generation

Becoming A Sales Machine

It's NOT Complicated
Call Script on Closing the Sale
Sales KPIs
Tips On Lead Services
Lead Follow-up Script

Client Attraction System

Client Attraction System Overview
Two-Way Follow-up Automation Part 1
Two Way Follow-up Automation Part 2
Asking For Reviews (Automated System)
Track Follow-up Daily

Customer Service

Professional Responses To Common Complaints
Client Retention 101
What Do I Do If A Team No-Shows?
Be Quick To Offer Discounts To Fix Issues
How to get reviews (and why texting has a MUCH higher success rate
Negative Review Page Automation

Operations

Daily Workflow
Build Your Maid Service from Anywhere
How To Hire & Train Your OWN Virtual Assistant
Priority Outline & Daily Tasks for Virtual Assistants

Personal Productivity

Time Management Principles (80/20, Essentialism)
ABCDE Method Of Prioritization
Batching
3 List To-Do Method (Do, Batch, Watch)
Sunday Night Review
80/20 System Real Life Example
MBA Recommended Reading List

Advanced Tips

Fuck-up Fund
Starting This With A Full-Time Job
Workshop on Delegating and Productivity for Local Businesses
Late Night Thoughts On Effective Customer Retention
PAINTERS Troubleshooting Guide
How To Escape The Cleaning Valley of Despair
Approaching Property Managers
A VERY Clever Marketing Strategy
Keeping Yelp Reviews Visible
How I outmanoeuvre major $500m cleaning brands in my city
Well-Converting Websites (Different Niches)

Template Stash

Sample Daily Marketing Plan
Thumbtack Templates
If I Had To Start From Scratch Again 30-Day Plan
Seasonal Email Templates
Care.com Outreach Message
AirBnB Cleaning Landing Page
4 Strategies To Get AirBnB/Vacation Rental Clients
Window Cleaning Pricing
Text Marketing Templates
Craigslist Marketing Posts
Property Management Door Template
On-site Interview Invitation Template
Door Hanger Examples.

Course Wrap Up

Going Beyond This Course

The ONE email you'll want to read every month to grow your local business.

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FAQs

Who is this for?

The Local Business MBA gives you hands-on and practical knowledge to building and launching your own local business It's for anyone who wants to know how to minimize the risk associated with starting a new side hustle or business, and figure out how to scale it sensibly:

✔ (Aspiring) Entrepreneurs
✔ 9-5ers looking to start a side business
✔ Stay-at-home moms and dads 
✔ Tradesmen looking to setup their own shop
✔ Small Business Owners
✔ Students (I started my cleaning business as a student back in the day)

Are there any prerequisites?

Yes, you do need the following:

1. Stable internet
2. 5-10 hours per week to devote to this
3. $1000-$1500 for startup costs

What if I have a million questions?

Don't worry, I assure you that you will have at least that many questions. When you join the MBA programme you are invited to our private student chat group where you can ask me and the other experienced students exactly how to tackle a problem you are facing. It's proving just as valuable as the programme itself. 

What if someone else in my city is already doing this?

Local businesses have been around and stable forever, even with high competition. That is exactly what makes them so appealing. You can have literally 500 different cleaning companies in your city and still be able to build and scale yours comfortably. Having competition locally is different than online, it just isn't much of a concern or something that should ever hold you back. Think of it like this...the more competition your local industry in your city has the more demand it means there is for it. It's a good sign!

What is your refund policy?

Students asking to withdraw from the programme may be eligible for a 50% refund within the first 90-days if they meet the following:

-They have started working through the course content in the student portal.

-Completed the first 3 modules of the programme and done the corresponding assigned homework.

-Jumped on 1-on-1 call with Chris to discuss their withdrawal request.