Do you have a small business you want to take to the next level? Or are you full of business ideas but lack the knowledge or motivation to execute them? Either way, if you’re ready to create your own small business empire, then the Empire Building Kit may be the tool to help you do it — and all in a year or less.
I’ve long been a fan of Chris Guillebeau, whose blog motivates thousands of people to take their lives into their own hands, and whose mission to visit every country in the world before turning 35 is of special interest to me.
He’s also written a number of useful e-books, including The Unconventional Guide to Working for Yourself, and Frequent Flyer Master, which I’ve reviewed here on Wise Bread.
Now, he’s taken his empire-building business tactics to a new level with the Empire Building Kit. It is a one-year program designed to give you a boost to turn your business idea into a highly profitable machine that allows you to live the life you want, doing something you love to do.
Who Should Apply
You don’t need any specific skills or expertise, but you must be motivated to make a positive change in your life and business. I think the purchase price alone will weed out the serious from the not-so-serious, if you ask me.
In Chris’s words, you “must be prepared to work hard, make wise decisions, and make today slightly better than yesterday”. To that end, the Empire Building Kit is built on the idea that you can’t build an empire overnight, which is why it is a one-year program. Doing a little bit every day is an incredibly successful way of getting to where you need to go, especially if your goal initially seems overwhelming (and starting a business that makes six figures from scratch is nothing if not overwhelming).
Chris wants customers who are “ready to build a sustainable lifestyle business doing what they love — for customers who love them right back”.
What’s Included
(As you’ll see below there are three levels of membership; your membership choice dictates how much of the information below you have access to).
One Year of Daily Emails with Tangible Steps to Take — Your daily dose of empire-wisdom will arrive in your inbox, with a small but tangible step to get your empire under way. I’ve been receiving the daily emails for a short time now, and find that some days are simply food for thought (albeit pretty serious goal-setting food, mind you), and other days direct you to certain case studies or videos (see below). Each day has a bite-sized action you can take to build your empire — one step at a time.
Case Studies — Available to you in PDF, audio, video, or transcript formats. These case studies are of people who have their own sustainable lifestyle businesses, earning $50,000 to $150,000 in net annual income (net!) with no more than three employees. They include dog walkers, murder mystery party hosts, fitness trainers, artists, and freelancers. They bare all, including information on their marketing, operations, and finances, and include actionable advice for how you can emulate their tactics.
The Unconventional Guides Journey — Chris also shares his own unconventional journey, including all the sales figures and stats for his business, mistakes made along the way, and techniques he used to boost business by 25%. I found some of these videos particularly interesting, including his description of what tools he uses and how.
Recording of a Webinar — During the pre-launch of the Empire Building Kit, Chris conducted a live webinar with the attendees, in which he answered any and all questions. This is available for new “Emperors” to view.
43-Step Product Launch Checklist — This 4 page PDF document is a step-by-step checklist of what to do to make a product launch successful with minimal hiccups.
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My Take
I’ve been receiving the daily emails for a while, and some are more useful than others. I appreciate the progression that the emails guide you through, and although you can view/read any component when you wish, the course material is chronologically laid out and makes the most sense if reviewed in order. I really like how the course is designed to take one year to go through; and I can already see that if you actually do your “homework”, you can go places.
Some of the highlights that I’ve enjoyed learning so far include the following:
- Learning some of Chris’s tactics to reduce refund requests.
- An illustration of cross-selling in a way that doesn’t seem underhanded.
- Tips for service providers to increase sales.
- Watching the video interviews with other successful business people; some have taken fairly unconventional ideas and made them work. Watching them talk informally also helps me to realize they’re just “normal people”, which makes doing what they do seem all the more achievable.
Although you don’t need to have a business in place already, it helps to have direction or at least some ideas before getting the course. I think this course can best help somebody develop their idea into a business and/or increase profitability of an existing business. If all you have is a vague notion of wanting to be in business for yourself, you may not get as much from the course. (Then again, if what you lack in ideas or structure you make up for in motivation, then you can be an exception to this rule).
Knowing Chris and the admirable empire he’s built for himself, I believe that he can help other people do the same thing by sharing everything he knows (and he’s very transparent and honest about his business), as well as the success stories (and learning experiences) of 15 other successful businesses.
Cost
Like I said, I think the hefty price will weed out the business-building-window-shoppers from those truly serious about building on their business ideas. It’s easy to buy an inexpensive e-book and not really take its contents seriously; reading it quickly and not truly applying the advice therein. But if you pay a larger sum of money, you’ll be more dedicated to getting value from it. I’m not saying this to justify a higher price than is reasonable; rather I think there’s value here, but it’s up to you to decide if you’re ready to make that leap. There must be a commitment to taking your business (or business idea) to the next level if you’re going to see its worth.
There are three levels of participation in the Empire Building Kit:
Emperor-in-Training: $149 (includes 10 PDF case studies, 5 video interviews, and daily emails for 1 year)
Hail Caesar: $249 (includes 12 PDF case studies, 7 video interviews, daily emails, and 43-step Product Launch checklist)
Alexander the Great: $449 (this is the whole enchilada, including 15 case studies, 7 video interviews, daily emails, 43step Product Launch checklist, Behind-the-Scenes at Unconventional Guides module, and bonus videos)
Hopefully we’ll see a whole new breed of small business “Emperors” in a year’s time!
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary review package of the Empire Building Kit, and there are affiliate links in this post.
