We all love marketing. It's an essential function within any business. But it's just one piece of the puzzle. To succeed with any startup, more business disciplines need to be developed.
We're talking about skillsets including business modeling, strategic planning, cash flow management, team building, culture development, and fundraising—just to name a few. Such business development disciplines aren't nearly as glamorous as social media or influencer marketing, though they possess an inward beauty all their own. More importantly, they prove time and again to be the real make-or-break dynamics in any business that aspires to find stability, operate sustainably, and scale responsibly.
We're excited to explore these subjects as a major new branch in our educational content. There's a lot of ground to cover. We'll traverse these topics across our in-depth guides, online courses, podcast shows, and more.
This page exists to serve as basecamp for all things business development here at SPI. Below, you'll find:
- Our inaugural business development guide, The SPI Guide to Business Fundamentals
- Popular podcast episodes that touch on various inner workings of business dynamics
- A beginners course on rooting your business model in a clearly defined market with a validated idea
- The one business platform we absolutely, positively could not exist without
Our free guides are up first. Check those out and let us know what you think. We look forward to hearing your feedback! And we can't wait to publish more content on business development disciplines soon.
Free Guides
Guides to showcase what it's really like to run a business
Courses and Workshops
Courses to develop your business sense and skills
Smart From Scratch®
Learn how to find a winning business idea and land your first customer.
$199
Email Marketing Magic
Grow your list, make more money, and automate like magic with this course on establishing an email marketing program.
$499
Pricing for Profit Workshop
A pro workshop to help you learn and apply smart pricing methods to optimize your profit and grow a healthy and sustainable business.
$99
Productivity with Purpose Workshop
This workshop helps you get the right things done and bring balance to your life and work.
$99
Articles
Good reads about dynamics at the core of business
Branding Resources for Beginners
Are you just getting started with your online business? Here are some helpful resources, plus a special opportunity to learn using our free Build Your Own Brand course—and get extra support from Pat, this week only!
learn more
A Quick Guide to the Best Zoom Alternatives
To Zoom or not to Zoom? It's become the default option for video conferencing, thanks to its powerful feature set, reliability, and user experience—but it's not the only option out there.
learn more
The Benefits and Disadvantages of an LLC
Setting up your business may seem simple—until it's time to pick a legal structure. Do you keep things simple as a sole proprietor, or go the corporation route? Guest author Arjun Mahadevan of StartPack covers the benefits and disadvantages of an LLC so you can figure out if it's right for you.
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The 5 Types of Online Community Members
Relationship development is crucial for online community managers. Here are the five main types of member you'll encounter in your online community, and how to best engage with each of them.
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4 Failure Lessons from the First 4 Episodes of Flops
Failure is rarely fun—but we can still learn from it. Here's what the first four episodes of Flops have taught us about avoiding, surviving, and growing from failure.
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The Most Important Metric for Your Membership Community
How do you know if your membership community is succeeding? Here's how to get started tracking the right metrics for your community.
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Recommended Tool
Gusto
Gusto makes running our SPI business a breeze. It starts with payroll, which is critical to get right for a growing business. We also use Gusto for benefits administration, paid time off (PTO) tracking, feedback surveys, important document retention, and more. Oh, and their concierge support team is dynamite.
Try Gusto
Podcasts
Podcast episodes all about business development
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Smart Passive Income Podcast with Pat Flynn
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AskPat 2.0
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Smart Passive Income Podcast with Pat Flynn
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AskPat 2.0
Smart Passive Income Podcast with Pat Flynn
Weekly interviews, strategy, and advice for building your online business the smart way.
Featured Episodes:
November 6, 2019SPI 396: Not So Fun Business Stuff (But in a Fun Way)
August 14, 2019SPI 384: An Essay to All Entrepreneurs, Business Owners, and Marketers
May 1, 2019SPI 369: Top 5 Major Business Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make
January 16, 2019SPI 354: The Next Big Steps in Business—with Matt Gartland from Team Flynn
December 14, 2016SPI 244: Bootstrapping a Startup with Nathan Barry from ConvertKit
AskPat 2.0
A weekly coaching call on online business, blogging, marketing, and lifestyle design.