READY, SET, AUDIT: Part 1 of the “Audit + Protect = Leverage” Equation for turning Expertise Into Recurring Revenue

Here is a fundamental truth that you will hear me repeating, ad nauseum: Owning Intellectual Property is required to scale your expertise-based business. Period. Mic drop.

There are three essential variables to get to the promised land—Audit, Protect, and Leverage.

This week, we talk about the first step, Audit,

We start with an Audit to make sure you understand what you own right now. I guarantee you will be surprised: In other words, you might not own what you think you own and you probably own a lot more than you think you do.

Audit consists of two measurements:

• Quantity– this is a straight forward inventory of the assets in your business. I.e., a list of assets.

• Quality– this is an analysis of the value of the assets. Those that you own and control exclusively are more valuable than those that you have non-exclusive permission to use. For instance, training materials that you created and own are more valuable than a tool that you license from a third party.

Perhaps you are wondering ”what assets do I have? I provide services.”

The assets in your business are whatever you use to provide value to your clients.

You have assets in your business whether you provide high touch custom services, have developed a proprietary methodology, offer a standard training program or, ugh, are selling your time.

These are all assets:

• The assessment tool you use to orient your proposals

• That 50-page Strategic Plan you deliver to your client

• The original DEI training program you developed

• The worksheets you acquired during your CAPM certification

• The templates your business coach supplies

• Even the work product you complete at a client’s request based on their specifications.

All are assets because they provide value to your clients.

After we create our inventory of assets, it is time to evaluate them to see if we own and control the rights required to turn them into a recurring revenue asset.

At the quality stage, we ask "Do I own it? And if I don’t own it, what rights do I have to use it?"

When we start building recurring revenue assets, it is a whole new ball game.

Here’s the thing. Increased visibility means increased scrutiny. Growing your business by leveraging IP is like adding another floor to your house. The foundation that was good enough for your first floor may not be strong enough to hold your second floor.

The legal foundation for your using IP internally or with your one-on-one clients may not hold up when your use becomes more widely distributed through one-to-several offers or public facing via one-to-many offers.

We audit because you don’t want to be on the receiving end of a cease and desist letter from the owner of materials you don’t have the right to use. At best, you’ve wasted money and momentum. At worst, you’ll incur legal fees and permanently damage your reputation.

We audit because it lays the foundation for the next step: Protection. You don’t want to find out too late that you failed to put the protections in place to prevent clients, subcontractors or facilitators from using your materials without you.

Next week, we will talk how to Protect your expertise.

IP is Fuel!🚀