You CAN Develop Resourcefulness in Business (Here’s How!)

Have you ever heard of the “Million Dollar Tool”?

It only costs about $2.25, but it saves chain restaurants over a million dollars in product a year. Can you guess what it is?

It’s a rubber spatula.

Just scraping out that little bit of dressing, sauce, or whatever from one pan to transfer it into the new pan (instead of the trash) saves them SO MUCH MONEY every single year.

So, why am I telling you this?

This is a testament that being more resourceful in business (almost always) leads to being more profitable in business. The more you can do with less, the more resilient you will become and the bigger your bottom line will be. (yes and amen)

This is exactly why in this episode, you’ll learn techniques and strategies to become more resourceful in business and even how to gamify to make it something that you (and your team) enjoy.

Click play to hear all of this and…

(00:00:01) How being resourceful helped me TREMENDOUSLY with a college exam.

(00:04:26) How YOU can adopt a resourceful mindset.

(00:09:11) The technique of mind mapping and how you can use it to spark and connect ideas.

(00:16:16) One of my favorite resourceful strategies that I still use today.)

(00:22:46) A way to gamify resourcefulness and save money in your team.

(00:29:37) One of my favorite repurposing stories that’ll blow your mind (about Henry Ford and wood scraps.)

(00:31:59) Three daily exercises to level up your resourcefulness skills.

For full show notes, visit

https://jasminestar.com/podcast/episode425

Transcript

Jasmine Star (00:00:01) - It's a. Welcome back to The Jasmine Star Show, where we discuss business mindset and today, becoming as resourceful as you possibly can. And let me tell you, resourcefulness is underrated. I mean, think about it this way resourcefulness is the ability to get things done even when the odds are stacked against you. Back in college, I had a marketing professor who was notoriously known for never giving an A in his class, so he was verbose and he was ostentatious, and he would love to give soliloquies on marketing. Okay, so our 90 minute class would be him talking straight for 90 minutes while all the students furiously, man, we were writing notes. After an entire semester, all of the students would have about an encyclopedia size notebook filled with notes from his class. Now, there wasn't just a lot of information. There was so much you had to memorize for his final. The final that comprised 70% of your class grade. Okay. But there was one small aspect that was unique to his final exam that I had never seen before or since.

Jasmine Star (00:01:25) - Okay. He told his students that he would build his final exam in front of people who wanted to sit in and discuss it with him. Okay, so he opened his office beginning around 12 p.m. for this process. Some people guessed he would be there for an hour. Some people guess, you know he's going to be there three hours. I was one of the first students in the office, and a small group of us sat on the floor while he reviewed a semester's worth of his notes. Okay. And so then, you know, slowly, students began to leave after the second hour, and then it dwindled down to just two students, myself and another student. At around the three hour mark, Doctor Sibley said that he wasn't even close to halfway done. So then I'm like, okay, based on my quick calculations, I was like, he's gonna take 6 to 7 hours to create this final exam. But but I also knew that if I stayed the entire time, I know exactly what I would need to study for.

Jasmine Star (00:02:27) - That is when I decided that I wasn't going to leave Doctor Sibley's office until he did. Seven hours later, I walked to the campus cafeteria for dinner and I was so exhausted. But I had Doctor Sibley's entire final. I was the only student who knew every question and answer on that test. Now, as long as I memorized it, I was guaranteed an A on that exam and I was guaranteed an A in the class. But here's the crazy part getting an A wasn't safe for the smartest person in the room. It was simply available for the students who had the ability to get it done. I was the only student willing to spend seven hours sitting on the floor working through my final exam with my professor. I was literally nothing more than resourceful. I was determined, but I was mostly resourceful. And I've carried this skill. Yes, it is a skill. It is something that can be built. You're not born being resourceful. You go out and get it, honey. You learn it.

Jasmine Star (00:03:32) - And I have carried this with me, this aspect of what I've built my entire career. And the hard truth is just this. In business, it's rarely the case that you have access to all the resources that you would like. But I don't believe that this is necessarily a bad thing. This is where you're forced to learn how to think creatively and find solutions with what you have available. It's about making the most of your time, your skills, and your budget to achieve your goals. Like no matter what. So you don't have a lot of time. You ain't got a lot of skills, you don't have a big budget. You're going to get it done no matter what. Why? That's the cost of entry. That is the price we all must pay to get on to bigger and better things. In fact, having a lack of resources is how most entrepreneurs learn to be resourceful. But at the end of the day, it's a skill you and anyone else can develop. So let's talk about how we can do that.

Jasmine Star (00:04:26) - Now, in this episode, we're going to go over the four strategies that will help you develop resourcefulness daily practices to improve and strengthen your resource muscle. Y'all, this is like going to the gym for your resource brain. Okay, let's get cracking. Strategy number one adopt the MacGyver mindset. Okay? Do y'all remember MacGyver? It was a show that was really popular in the 80s. Now, I never watched that show personally, but I have to tell you, I have this weird fascination with the 80s. I mean, the opulence, the big everything, the over the top fashion. It's just like dripping in sequence and diamonds and big hair. I don't know why. I think it's really, really interesting. Oh, and we can't forget big. Everything big. Mustaches, and this was made really popular by MacGyver. It was a very popular show in the 80s. Now, like I mentioned, I had never seen an episode of like That show or Miami Vice or The A-Team. I have to tell you, my parents were super conservative.

Jasmine Star (00:05:28) - I did not watch a lot of television. I was not part of that cultural conversation, even if they were watching it. But I love reading historical accounts of the impact those shows had on creating American culture. Okay, well, enough about my love, about American culture. I want to get to my main point. My main point is that MacGyver is the name of a very resourceful secret agent on the show, but this is not your average show. Unlike typical action heroes. MacGyver, he didn't use guns, and he didn't use any weapons. Instead, he relied solely on his knowledge and ingenuity. Ingenuity. In JUnit, he depended on his knowledge and chutzpah. I'm gonna say that. And he would use this to get out of, like, bad situations. So MacGyver was famous for using everyday objects like normal things like a paperclip, some chewing gum. And then he would create these amazing inventions that solve problems. Okay, I'm saying this. And as I'm saying out loud, the show sounds dumb.

Jasmine Star (00:06:23) - But according to historical data, MacGyver was like the show. Okay, so, anyway, how do you apply the MacGyver mindset in your business? Well, just like MacGyver, you have to focus on what you do have. Don't have a computer, go to a library, don't have a gym membership, go for a run or do bodyweight exercise at home. Can't afford a business mentor? Listen to free resources like podcasts or YouTube. So whenever I get into these sticky situations, it's very common for Jade, my business partner. My husband would be like, we gotta MacGyver this. Like, we gotta just we gotta get as ghetto and scrappy as possible. Do we have chewing gum or we're gonna hit our profitability margins? Do we have a paperclip or are we gonna solve, like, how we're gonna do this hiring process through air? Like, it's just the thing is, is that scrappy doesn't have to equal crappy. Like, I take a lot of pride in understanding that what we're able to do.

Jasmine Star (00:07:16) - So scrappy is the same caliber, the same quality, the same value that our customers and clients really find across the board. So I think that our minds try to talk us out of resourceful action because it's unfamiliar. We would rather just say, like, I wish I had the money, I wish I had the team, I wish I had the resources, okay, we wish all of that. But just remember that there are people out there doing more with less. I always think that now you might be thinking, okay, Jasmine, but MacGyver is a fictional character. Okay, no problem. I totally agree that is true. MacGyver is fictional, but so is Rocky Balboa. Are you gonna tell me right now? Are you gonna tell me right now that we can't learn hard work, determination, resilience, and humility from Rocky Balboa? I don't think so. Yeah, I will use these fictional characters, and I like, think about, like, the impact, the way they show up.

Jasmine Star (00:08:10) - Oh, you want to know what Russell Crowe? Gladiator. I mean, come on, guys, if you're ever having a bad day and you're like, I can't do this. And then you see Joaquin Phoenix put his thumb down to Russell Crowe and Russell Crowe. Like, I got this. I always think to myself, I need to Russell Crowe with this ish right now. I think, though, that one of the reasons why, like, MacGyver, Rocky, you know, Russell Crowe and the Gladiator, the reason why we find it so inspiring is because they didn't have anything. They didn't have the tools or the resources, the name, the pedigree, the money to work their way out of a situation. And yet they did. So let's start thinking, what would MacGyver do in this situation? And I know that's a stupid you might say this is a really stupid strategy. Well, it's easy to remember. Simple. It doesn't mean that is stupid. It is literally asking yourself, can I find a way with what I have? Strategy number two is mind mapping.

Jasmine Star (00:09:11) - Okay, this is a visual brainstorming technique. It's a way to spark new ideas and connect them to each other. Now to do this, see y'all for all your creative lovers. Like your girls. Creative. Like I'm very visual. This is going to help a lot. Teaching your brain how to be resourceful. Okay, so what we're going to do is we're going to grab a pen and a piece of paper, and you're going to plop your central problem or your goal smack dab in the center of the piece of paper. Right. And then we're going to let ideas flow out by branching every thought, every possibility, no matter how crazy or weird it might seem. You never know when two seemingly unrelated ideas might collide and create a perfect solution. So what happens is we have to give our brain the creative freedom to think of every dumb idea. I love dumb ideas. It is the dumb ideas that lead us to really great ideas. Or sometimes that dumb idea is actually not so dumb, but we won't give ourselves the time or the liberty to do that.

Jasmine Star (00:10:09) - And so mind mapping is just a great way to be like, hey brain, you're free to think. However you want. Your brain, y'all, is a powerful computer. Your brain wants to figure it out, but are we giving it the time and the ability to do that? So think of it like this. Your brain already knows the potential solutions, but sometimes you got to do a little digging to find them and connect them. And that's where mind mapping comes in. Okay, so I think it might help if I give a tiny example. So this is this is audible right. So I'm going to try to be as descriptive as possible. Let's say you're a local bakery. And then right smack in the center of your page. Your central problem is to increase foot traffic. You want to get people into your bakery. So you start branching out with every single thought or possibility, no matter how off the wall it seems. Okay. And then things start to flow, like offer a cupcake and t happy hour, or partner with local businesses, or host events, or create a loyalty program.

Jasmine Star (00:11:05) - These are all ideas to increase foot traffic. Now. Now it's time we're going to add a little bit of magic. You explore further possibilities. Now I want you to aim for at least three under each branch. Okay. So imagine you have your center problem. Increase foot traffic and then you have these branches coming out like offer cupcake tea, happy hour, another branch partner with local businesses. And then underneath each of those aim for at least three crazy big ideas without limitations. So for example, under partner with local businesses, you might brainstorm ideas for collaborations with boutiques, churches, schools, or even local restaurants or coffee shops that don't currently offer dessert options. Okay, now we're getting somewhere. So some great collaboration ideas pop up with restaurants, but we can make this even better. Now let's revisit that loyalty program branch. Okay? Remember those like branches that we started off there was like a loyalty brand program. And then there was partner with local businesses. What if you create a joint loyalty loyalty program with these restaurants? Like so here's how it could work.

Jasmine Star (00:12:13) - People who eat at the restaurant and then visit your bakery with a receipt from the restaurant earn bonus points to one or both programs. I mean, y'all, y'all. When we mind map, we can come up with really creative solutions on how to make this work. Okay, so moving on to the next strategy and becoming more resourceful. Strategy number three is okay, I'm you know what I told myself? Don't go there, Jasmine. Don't go there. Jasmine don't go there. Jasmine. Stick to the point. But I'm going to go there. Jasmine okay. When we talk about mind mapping, I want to give now a a personal example of my business. And sometimes I like to give examples of other businesses because I don't want to talk so much about myself. But you want to know what I'm going to talk about myself in the hope and the light that it speaks to another entrepreneur with where they're at. So we talk about being resourceful and we talk about mind mapping. So recently we launched a live course experience called Your Biggest Launch Ever.

Jasmine Star (00:13:07) - And when we were getting into creating the content, we had so much content to create. This is not like a course telling you what to do. This is a an entire SOP. It is an entire standard operating procedure on how to launch. This is the what, but it's also the how. So there was so much detail that went into it, so that by the time it was I, it was by the time I needed to create bonuses, incentives for people to invest. I was so far behind the eight ball and I was like, okay, you have to be resourceful. You can either drive yourself into the ground trying to create this extra content, or you can take a good hard look at what are the objections that people would have to buy? What is a bonus or a resource that you can create to overcome their objection? And then I ask myself, do you have to be the one to create it? So we did a little mind mapping. How could I get bonuses where I wasn't the person who was creating it? And so then I just started thinking, okay, what might we do here? What would we do there? And so then what I did was I listed every objection why somebody wouldn't buy.

Jasmine Star (00:14:19) - And then I was like, I think that if we had this bonus or an extra resource, they would buy. And I think that this person is so good at it. So we reached out to collaborators to create bonuses for this program, and in exchange for that, they got to drop a mention of a low ticket offer or a lead magnet. So for example, when it came to buying, I thought that somebodys resistance, their objection or their fear why they wouldn't buy is like, well, you know, if I'm going to make an offer, I really do need, like a newsletter list. I need to have people to sell it to. And the person who I am, like, so blown away with how she grows. Her newsletter list is Amy Porterfield. So I asked her to create a training and I'm like, listen, I know you've done trainings, but this isn't training for like, I need to start a newsletter. This is for business owners with a newsletter who are looking to uplevel their strategies, to grow their business, to then make their offer.

Jasmine Star (00:15:18) - And so she created that. And then, you know, I was talking to Ashlyn Carter and I said, people have a very hard time writing and coming up with copy. We have templates that we give people, but we really want to teach them how to personalize it. So she created a whole resource on using AI with our templates and her prompts to create copy for your launch, sales emails and sales page. And so what I was doing was mind mapping to come up with a solution. But here is how being resourceful actually connects to strategy number three. Now the next strategy to becoming more resourceful is strategy number three barter. So same same but different. I'm going to come back to this in a second and come back to the bonus conversation. Okay. I worked at a restaurant through college, and there's something restaurant managers often say, and it's that they're, quote, food rich, money poor. Okay, so what does this mean? Well, it means that they have a ton of product but not a very big budget.

Jasmine Star (00:16:16) - So anytime they can use food instead of cash, they do like, you know, it's like we would get rewarded. So if they had like a special and they're the person's like the first person to sell, you know, seven specials will get dinner on us tonight. Or if they needed me to work a double, they're like, hey, you have you can order any entree, in between your shifts or I was how many times, y'all. I don't even know what it's like. One of my career highlights. Being like, employee of the month now. Employee of the month for the entire organization, not just the restaurant. So I worked at a barbecue restaurant. It's a it's kind of like a chain here in Southern California. It's called Lucille's. But Lucille's is under an entire company. And they also did like Coffees Hut and Lucille's and a couple other restaurants. So I was named employee of the month. I don't even know why. I think it's still so freaking cool. I got a jacket that I've never worn, but Lucille's employee of the month jacket.

Jasmine Star (00:17:12) - I mean, come on, y'all. Anyway, part of being employee of the month is you got at least one meal every week for that month. Okay, so this is, you know, they're just using food as a way to say thank you, like rewarding staff. You know, if you work a double shift and like, hey, here's some food. Okay. So when we think about this concept, food rich, money poor, I have to tell you, they were in the business of trading their food for getting what it is they want. That was essentially them bartering with their employees. But I feel like I learned such a big lesson because I still am not above trading when the value is equal and like documentation is in place. Here's why. You're able to get somebody to try your product or service who otherwise might not have, and then vice versa. So I think that when I think about how bartering takes place now let's go back to this idea of courses. When I had asked Amy to create a bonus for my course, your Biggest Lunch ever, she had also asked me to create a bonus for her course Digital Course Academy.

Jasmine Star (00:18:15) - And so in a way, this bartering was that like, she didn't have to pay me for creating the bonus. I didn't have to create her the bonus. We're creating a win win. Our audience is similar and yet a little different, and that is like a barter. But let's break this down even more. I work with a videographer and I wanted to get an at home studio setup, so I just wanted to be able to sit down, turn a camera on, have lights and be able to record a video. But I needed that setup and I needed it synced up with my laptop, and I wanted to use my podcast recording mic, and there was all these little pieces that I just didn't have time, energy, or even knowledge on how to do. And so I reached out to him and I said, hey, could I get a quote for how much it might be for you? To buy the equipment that you need and set it up. And he's like, sure, absolutely.

Jasmine Star (00:18:59) - But would you be open to doing one of your consulting sessions with me in exchange? And I was like, okay, I freaking love this idea. And so what he did is he said, it's going to take me about this many hours to do the setup, to do the ordering and do the install. And I said, great. Well, we can exchange that however many hours that you're using to set up my studio for however many consulting hours. And I felt like it was such a win because I got to do what I love. And he found that very valuable. And then I got my office set up. So here are three tips I have for you. If you're considering trading your products or services for somebody. Tip number one make sure it's mutually beneficial. The core principle of bartering is that it's mutually beneficial. Both businesses should gain something of value that they wouldn't have otherwise. And then you need to clearly define what each party needs to ensure that trade is fair. Now, when I was working with Max to do this trade, I literally set up in an email, hey, I am treating you like a consulting client.

Jasmine Star (00:20:01) - I'm going to be putting you in my funnel for consulting. I'm going to be requiring that before a consulting session. You go through the preliminary questions and give me the data that I need, or else I can't treat this like a regular consulting session. So I had to make sure that he was on the same page about doing that work. And I was on the same page about being facilitating to his schedule. When it came time to setting up tip number two, give and ask for clear expectations before finalizing the barter agreement. Yes, I yeah, I dropped out of law school, but I will absolutely get an agreement now. I didn't need Max to sign a contract. I didn't send a contract for Amy to sign, but I did absolutely send emails. And I'm like, just recapping what we talked. Here's X, Y, and Z. And then that person responds like, yep, got it. And then that acts as enough clarification that if we ever needed to revisit the terms of the agreement, it was there in that email.

Jasmine Star (00:20:54) - And it is totally okay for you to have a clear discussion about expectations. Outline the scope of work, the timelines, how are you going to deliver it, anything that you think is going to make sure that you guys are on the same page? I know you might say like this seems a little excessive. It seems a little unnecessary. I have to tell you, just having a document in place can save you a world of headaches down the road. And when I was in law school, I can't tell you how many cases we read where if there was just a simple agreement in place, so much would have been saved. Even if it was just like, not even like a contract, but like a text message outlining what you were agreeing to so that the judge would be able to say, hey, I have enough information here to say like you did not uphold your end of the contract. Okay. Tip number three treat it as you would a cash payment for product based businesses. This shouldn't be a concern.

Jasmine Star (00:21:44) - You know, it's like my product is X dollars now. And if you have to include packaging and shipping okay go ahead. But itemize that. But for service based businesses, deliver work that meets your normal standards and it reflects your best effort. And like it really compliments your brand. Because I firmly believe a happy barter partner can lead to a long term collaboration. Word of mouth referrals, testimonials. You have to avoid the mindset. Well, this is only a trade. Or well, they're not really paying for it. No way, no way. Expect and deliver the same level of quality in return. Because quite honestly, I would love to barter again with Max, or I would love to find other collaborators for a future resources so that it's mutually beneficial. I never look at it as like a one time thing. Okay, those are the three tips when it comes to bartering. I'm going to move on to strategy four for being resourceful. Play the leftover game. Okay, I should probably start by saying I say play the game, but I'm gonna be very clear.

Jasmine Star (00:22:46) - I don't eat leftovers. I don't know why y'all. I do not know why I find leftovers the most disgusting thing ever. I don't know why I've been like this as a kid. My parents, it drove them crazy. Now, the only caveat was that my dad would always know. Okay, here's another thing. My dad. My dad's from Mexico, has a very thick accent, and one time he was watching a cooking show on PBS and it was French food. And still to this day, he calls it refugee, which I, honest to God, have no idea what that word is, but I'm 99% sure he's saying it wrong. Okay, whatever the French word is that they said in that show back in like 1997 refugee, I'm sure it's not pronounce that way. But my dad still to this day will be like, oh, I can make dinner a little refugee, which I think is closely an approximate French word for like remaking leftovers, but turning leftovers into something else. Refugee.

Jasmine Star (00:23:41) - I hate that word because I know it's wrong, but my dad insists on using it. I will eat his refugee. I will not eat leftovers. But if my dad can turn a previous night's dinner into a new dinner that looks nothing. Alike. Then I eat it. But leftovers. You'll you will never see your girl walking back with a doggy bag. Not because I'm not above it. Not because I'm not like, frugal or appreciate it. It's just I know I'm not going to eat it. I will not eat leftovers. I know it's so weird. Like people at Thanksgiving who, like, take Thanksgiving like leftovers. I'm fascinated. I'm. My mind is boggled. My husband and his sisters, when they go to their mom's house, they all bring their own containers for like Thanksgiving leftovers or, like, this is gonna be so amazing. And I just look at the container and it has all of the food, like next to each other, like touching, like cranberry is touching stuffing.

Jasmine Star (00:24:28) - But cranberry isn't hot, but stuffing normally is. So the next day I'm just like, confused. How do y'all cook this anyway? I'm off track. I'm just saying I don't eat leftovers, but I play the leftover game when it comes to being resourceful. Okay, so every business accumulates leftovers in some sense, like unused materials, deadstock inventory, UN repurposed content, or even underutilized software. I want you to challenge yourself. Or if you have a team, challenge your team to brainstorm creative ways to repurpose or utilize these leftovers. The goal is to have a little leftover waste at the end of the month. Very, very, very little. If you have a lot of leftover man, that's such a waste of time, money, and energy. Now, this does not only lead to cost savings, but it creates a culture of resourcefulness. You're always thinking, how might we use this, reuse this, save this, repurpose this. Okay, now I'm going to go back to restaurant days, y'all.

Jasmine Star (00:25:27) - I'm talking so much about food, I think I'm hungry. I am actually certain I am hungry right now as I'm recording. This is why it's like food refuge. Lucille's employee of the month. Okay, but anyway, let me get back in point. There is one tool that chain restaurants call the Million Dollar Tool. Can you guess what it is? I didn't know it until I started working in chain restaurants. The million dollar tool is a rubber spatula. Why? Okay, rubber spatulas save each of these bigger restaurants. Let's say, like one single Texas Roadhouse. Do y'all know I used to work at Texas Roadhouse? Y'all. Those Texas eggrolls at Shell and Peanuts. Those honey bread rolls I a I restaurant was my life okay anyways. Okay. I worked at Texas Roadhouse. The spatula was $1 million tool because they saved millions of dollars a year by scraping out all of the mashed potatoes, the ranch, whatever it is to put in the next pan, that spatula gets all of it. They call that $1 million tool, because when you get all of the stuff that would have been left behind not having the spatula, it's millions of savings.

Jasmine Star (00:26:39) - So now how can you apply this same principle in your business? You already know that I have some ideas for you. However, I want to talk a little bit about how I talked about Texas Roadhouse. But we were like, we think about resourcefulness and repurposing, so it's very common. I might do a video on zoom that I can repurpose into a podcast. Maybe what I am doing is I'm having a like an Instagram Live, and then I'm having like a group coaching on the inside of social curator. Or maybe I did a mindset moment for your biggest lunch ever. And so what I'm going to be doing is grouping on similar themes. So I have like maybe five minutes over here and five minutes over there and ten minutes over here. And what I can do is I can grab all the audio and combine it so that it is a long form piece of audio content. What am I doing? I'm using the spatula for my content. Okay, okay. So that's just an example of how I use it.

Jasmine Star (00:27:38) - But what are some ideas that you might be able to use. let's go back to product based businesses. Can deadstock inventory be bundled, discounted or offered as a bonus with your other products? Can leftover materials, products, or scraps become product samples? Can your product photos that you feel? Maybe. Yeah, maybe they're a little overused. Can they be uploaded to Canva to remove the background, throw a transparent overlay, and then convert it into a fun GIF? okay, maybe you're a service based business. Do you have testimonials or case studies that are just, you know, you haven't got to them. They're just gathering dust? Well, find ways to reuse some of them, like on your reels or your website or in sales conversations. Do you have past projects, presentations or copy that you can just like judge, maybe you can clean up and then you can use them as templates. Do you have like a a digital education resource? Maybe you have multiple resources that you can use as bonuses or incentives for people to buy.

Jasmine Star (00:28:31) - Do you have a CRM or softwares that you are already paying for that have a ton of untapped features that you're not utilizing that you can start utilizing in one software and cut back on another? Perhaps the best example of playing the leftover game is Henry Ford, when he invented charcoal out of wood scraps. Okay, I don't know if you know the story. I heard it in a mastermind meeting, and I actually had to go and do a little bit of research with my podcast producer because I was like, this is not true, is it? Okay, so if you don't already know, Henry Ford made the affordable model T and prided himself on being resourceful. He was all about using things up completely. He even took this idea on a camping trip with his buddies Thomas Edison and Harvey Firestone. Okay, like, let's just talk about that camping trip. Like, oh, hey, Tommy boy, I mean, some of the greatest minds in history. Camping. Anyway, while he was talking about wood for his cars, Ford realized his lumber mills created tons of leftover scraps.

Jasmine Star (00:29:37) - So enter a clever scientist who invented a way to turn those scraps into convenient, what they called charcoal briquettes. And then they started using them for cooking. So Ford, ever resourceful, saw an opportunity. He started selling these briquettes with portable grills, like a car kit for cookouts. But at first not many people bought them. Then came World War Two and the suburbs began to boom. People had backyards for grilling and a new fancy Weber grill hit the market. A different company saw the potential in Ford's Briquettes, bought the business, and then put them on supermarket shelves. Now everyone could easily enjoy backyard barbecues. Grilling obviously became a beloved American tradition, all things to Henry Ford's resourcefulness and a scientist bright idea, proving that even literal scraps can become something useful and profitable like. I mean, maybe my dad's right. Maybe he can do his little refugee on a grill over some charcoal. Okay, we're bringing this all back, y'all bringing it all back. So just imagine Ford made money on things they used to throw away.

Jasmine Star (00:30:57) - I mean, we gotta take a good, hard, good, cold, hard look at our businesses as we ask ourselves the same question. Okay, y'all, we covered a lot. Let's recap the four strategies before we dive into the next segment of this episode, which is your daily drills to be more resourceful? Yes, daily drills, because you got to practice a little bit every day so that it becomes a regular habit. But before we get there, strategy number one was to adopt the mindset of our homie MacGyver. Strategy number two was mind mapping. Strategy number three was to barter. Strategy number four was to play the leftover game. Okay. Moving on your daily drills, here are three small daily actions you can do every single day to really sharpen your resourcefulness skills. Number one, the MacGyver minute. I know you guys are so tired of this, I listen, listen, I just committed I started the episode with MacGyver. I'm gonna end the episode with MacGyver. I might even pass out mustaches at the end of this because it'll be the MacGyver minute mustache.

Jasmine Star (00:31:59) - Okay, dedicate one minute, just one minute 60s each day to intentionally solve a minor problem using only the resources you have on hand. Can't find a Tupperware lid? Look around. What can you use instead? Like legitimately start training your mind to find things that help you be resourceful so that you immediately apply it in your business. Number two, create what if scenarios throughout the day. Ask yourself what if questions related to common tasks. What if you couldn't use your phone for a day? How would you market your business? It is literally asking these what if questions that open your mind to endless possibilities. Number three use it or lose it. Look at resources you haven't used in a while. It could be a skill, a software program, or even a physical object. Think of five ways you could integrate it back into your life, or find a new use for it. On the business front, we go through all of our subscriptions every 4 to 6 months just to make sure that we aren't paying for things we're not using.

Jasmine Star (00:33:09) - There are some software products, like for example, we use Figma and they charge per seat. And so when we were looking at our team, we started asking, wait, does everybody on the UI and UX team need a seat, or does really the people who are the most active? And so, for instance, if we want to review Figma files, myself and anybody else on the team, we could log in through one seat, offer insights. But the people who are in it like designers, they have seats. So we're looking at this thing. Well, not everybody needs to pay for a seat because we're not using it enough to justify the cost of the seat. A small wins, y'all. Small wins. Okay, speaking of small wins, small wins make big episodes. That's a wrap. Thank you for listening to The Jasmine. Da show. It is an honour and it is a privilege to have these conversations specifically about things. I kind of sort of used to be embarrassed of.

Jasmine Star (00:34:01) - I'd kind of hide behind because I would use the word resourcefulness, but I would just say, oh, I'm just ghetto fabulous. See my ghetto fabulous approach, you see, like I just make a dollar out of $0.15. you. True. But there's a better way to look at this. I want to talk to my mind. I want my brain to hear that it's not a casual joke. It's a skill that I worked on honing. And so if you just got one thing from this episode, I would love if you left a rating. If you left a review, I know I ask for it every episode. If you've heard this more than three times, consider this me at your come out your come out bro. Let's go, let's go. Let's have a conversation in those ratings and reviews. And when you tag me on stories as you're listening to the episode, I love connecting with you. I personally answer every single one of DMs. I say thank you because I appreciate you sharing this show.

Jasmine Star (00:34:54) - So until next time, much love. Blessings. Take care and stay resourceful.