Episode Overview

Episode Title: MVP: How To Stay Consistent in Your Local Business with a Minimum Baseline
Host: Leslie Presnall
Podcast: Grow Your Local Business
Date: August 19, 2025

In this episode, Leslie Presnall dives deep into the struggles local business owners face with consistency, especially in their marketing and daily operations. She introduces and thoroughly explains the “Minimum Baseline” approach—a practical tool for building consistency without overwhelm. With personal stories, relatable analogies, and actionable advice, Leslie lays out how local entrepreneurs can become the kind of business owners who reliably “do what they say they will do.”

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Challenge: Staying Consistent (00:30–02:40)

• Many entrepreneurs struggle to remain consistent in areas such as social media posting, sending emails, completing courses/programs, or even managing backend business tasks.
• Leslie highlights that “consistency” is the most common struggle she hears from her audience—be it in consults, Facebook group requests, or academy members.
• Common scenario: “This is the week I’m going to get consistent!”—a cycle repeated by many, often with little lasting change.

Introducing the Minimum Baseline (02:41–05:39)

• The concept comes from Leslie’s life coaching training and is central to her coaching within the LocalPreneur Academy.
• Definition: The minimum baseline is “the least amount of anything that you’re willing to do”—a very low, totally doable threshold you set for yourself.
• Original Example: Committing to a five-minute walk every day, rather than aiming for an hour-long workout or a marathon.

"It’s not even really about doing the thing, but it’s about who you’re becoming. Like, you’re becoming the person who follows through and who does what they say they’re going to do." — Leslie (05:12)

Why Minimum Baseline Works (05:40–08:40)

• It’s about identity: Regularly doing a small action builds the habit of honoring your word, even if the immediate result is negligible.
• Fights the human tendency to only take action when we see an instant reward. Many stop showing up (esp. on social media) because results aren’t immediate.
• “If you knew every single post would result in a client, you would be out there posting every single day. Like, no question, consistency would not be a problem for you at all.” (07:27)
• The real value: Motivating yourself through your own integrity, not just external results.

Building from the Baseline (08:41–13:22)

• Progression: Master your minimum, then incrementally increase it.
• Exercise analogy: “Five minutes becomes ten, becomes twenty… that’s your new normal.”
• Business application:
  • If you work full time and can only spare 10 minutes a day (or even a week), that’s enough to start:
    • Brainstorm ideas, draft a social post, work on your website, connect with another business.
  • Even tiny efforts “change the trajectory” over months and years (09:58).

"Little changes or little time in your business might feel really small or like it’s not working, but it is changing the total trajectory of where you end up and it’s changing who you’re being." — Leslie (10:47)

Real-Life Examples (13:23–19:10)

• Academy member examples:
  • Watching a training or old call replay for just 10 minutes before bed (“That’s my minimum baseline right now as a busy mom—10 minutes, even if I’m exhausted.”)
  • For social media consistency: Posting once a week, always on the same day and time.
  • For website projects: Commit to 15 minutes a week.
• If you’re not meeting your baseline, lower it—make it so easy you cannot fail.
  • E.g., “If five minutes of walking is too much, do one minute. It doesn’t even require a change of clothes.” (17:47)
• Over time, you build trust with yourself and consistency becomes effortless.

Troubleshooting Your Baseline (19:11–21:33)

• Struggling to meet even your minimum? Lower it further, until you can consistently succeed (e.g., from one social post per week to just one story).
• The process isn’t about the size of your actions, but about proving to yourself you can—and do—keep your word.

"It’s not about the results that you’re creating here. It’s about you becoming the person who honors their word, who follows through and commits and shows up when they say they will." — Leslie (18:56)

Consistency and Identity (21:34–23:50)

• Example scenario: If you commit to posting weekly at the same time all year, you may not reach all your business goals instantly, "but you will be a different person.”
• The transformation is a matter of identity: you no longer say “I struggle to be consistent.”

Coaching & Solving for Root Causes (23:51–end)

• One-on-one coaching and environments like The LocalPreneur Academy can help you:
  • Diagnose whether your struggle is skillset or mindset related.
  • Unpack specific blockers like perfectionism, fear of judgment, imposter syndrome, or comparison.
  • Solve at the root cause so the consistency becomes natural.
• Leslie’s offer: “You don’t have to learn how to create this consistency on your own. This is where it’s valuable to work with a coach…”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On minimum baseline identity:

  “You become the person who does what they said they would do.” (05:12)

• On instant gratification and business:

  "It’d be so easy for us to show up every single day on social media if we knew we’d get a result from every post. ... But when we don’t get that initial reward, we struggle with the consistency piece." (07:10)

• On how small changes add up:

  “I like to think about how a pilot can change the coordinates in an airplane by like one degree or something and then end up in a totally different country. ... Little changes or little time in your business ... totally change where you end up.” (09:51)

• On troubleshooting your baseline:

  “If you create your minimum baseline and it’s on your calendar and you notice that you’re still not doing it, then it’s still too much. You’ve got to change it. ... Build that up, honor our word with that first.” (17:41)

• On becoming someone who’s consistent:

  “You won’t have the identity of, ‘I’m not consistent.’ ... You build your trust in yourself to follow through.” (21:13)

• On skillset vs. mindset:

  “I always say it’s either a skillset problem or a mindset problem and we solve for both inside so you never have to stay stuck.” (24:36)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:30–02:40 | The consistency problem faced by local business owners
• 02:41–05:39 | Introduction to the Minimum Baseline concept
• 05:40–08:40 | Why we stop being consistent (identity, habit, instant results)
• 08:41–13:22 | Applying the baseline concept to business and marketing
• 13:23–19:10 | Real-life examples and adjusting your minimum baseline
• 19:11–21:33 | Troubleshooting and re-setting your baseline for success
• 21:34–23:50 | Building a new identity as a consistent individual
• 23:51–end | How coaching can address deeper consistency struggles

Practical Takeaways

• Set a minimum baseline: Choose the absolute smallest action you can take consistently in the area you’re struggling with.
• Lower it if needed: If you can’t keep to your baseline, reduce it even further.
• Track identity change: Recognize consistency isn’t about results but about who you become.
• Seek help if stuck: Mindset or skillset blocks may be the real issue—outside perspective can help you solve them faster.
• Build up over time: Once you’ve nailed your minimum, slowly add more as consistency becomes second nature.

In the Host’s Words

"It’s about you becoming the person who honors their word, who follows through and commits and shows up when they say they will." (18:56)

This episode is essential listening for any local business owner who’s tired of the “stop and start” cycle and ready to build steady, reliable habits—one tiny but powerful step at a time.