First $600 Profit - now what?

[pascal1234]

Dear all,

I am frequent reader to this forum and it is always interesting to see how many people are basically in the same boat and what to proceed in their lifes.

So basically I do have a marketing job, primarily online, and have a decent salary as well as many option to travel. So basically I like my job, but I always wanted to become independent. Independent in terms of money and (especially) time.

So I did some trial - I posted on a job board an listing about doing a task (basically change some technical info into another language and do some formatting etc.). I almost forgot about it and then some one contacted me, I provided an offer and it has been accepted. Long story short: I outsourced most of the worked as I am busy with my day job and could generate a profit of $600.

Now I know there is a demand for it. Not only from my test but also from my experience in my current job. It is competitive but has potential.

Now I am not sure if I should build it up and build a proper website etc. and do some marketing. Probably no one can tell me the answer.

The problem is I always jumped from one idea to another... Now I did some initial test (got active somehow) and got results. Nevertheless, I have my day job and I am sometimes very very tired and busy - so I am not sure if it is a good idea to get deeper into that business.

So my questions would be:
- How do you handle your day jobs that are demanding (time and intellectual wise)
- Do you have any examples/"solutions" for stopping or at least a more focused approach to "ideas hopping"

Looking forward to your inputs

 

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[ptiz]

As a frequent "idea hopper" myself, I understand exactly what you are talking about. I think my girlfriend gets annoyed because I pitch everything to her, usually one every day or two. Like MJ said, ideas are a dime a dozen, execution is what is really important. I realized that coming up with ideas every day doesn't help me at all, and so I recently pulled the trigger on an eBook related to my current position. Hopefully I will see some decent results from that. Now that the work is done, all I have to do is market it, which is the easy part.

If you have a good idea, and you have people willing to pay for it, you should go for it. If you are able to outsource all the work on top of that, it should be a no-brainer.

Idea hopping is fun, but ultimately useless. Idea men don't go places. People who can execute ideas go places. Follow through with your idea and see where it takes you. That is my advice to you, and also to myself. Hopefully one day we will both have made a few bucks from this strategy.

 

[100k]

Ha! Marketing is the easy bit.

Let me know how that works out for ya.

OP, make a simple WP website and sell your service, then go posting on CL and where ever you got that customer (and where ever your company gets its client) and promote - promote - promote.

Buy a theme from themeforest and buy a sales copy from moneysitecontent.

And then you are good to go.

I suggest hostgator for hosting, they even have $0.01 one month trails.

Total investment $100.

 

[ptiz]

Ha! Marketing is the easy bit.

Lol I guess that wasn't the most accurate statement, but what I meant was he has the system in place already. That work has been done and now he just has to focus on promotion.

 

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[pascal1234]

ok thanks for your inputs. I have some time over the weekend and will put together a website. How to name the business - that is another questions. Anyway I will give you an update soon how it goes...

 

[Rawr]

I had a job, and then got an opportunity like you where I knew clients were there. I just went for it, and good too because later I didn't have a job. At first it was a bunch of work, but then I would literally check one email, send one email, and then send another email a day later and would pocket what I would get for 30-40hrs at my job, which SUCKED.

Just think of it in those terms - if you can make it work, and it's less turmoil than your job, how can it be a bad idea?

 

[pascal1234]

yes right. the issue is that I have problems with this idea hopping and structure the whole approach. Mainly plan my scare resources - mostly time.

It is always a bit the same. Good idea - maybe even tested - but then started to take action and somehow something comes along and I cannot focus.

 

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[Rawr]

yes right. the issue is that I have problems with this idea hopping and structure the whole approach. Mainly plan my scare resources - mostly time.

It is always a bit the same. Good idea - maybe even tested - but then started to take action and somehow something comes along and I cannot focus.

can't find the video right now of Elliott Hulse it's a good one, his point was "people hop because when something comes up that requires more effort... people just want to quit go somewhere else.. the point is to go THROUGH that because there is that same enjoyment you felt at first.. on the OTHER side, it is a circle.. you HAVE to go further to complete it"

 

[pascal1234]

saw some Elliott Hulse's video - pretty nice stuff...

Somehow I messed it up over the weekend and didn't finished (well even started to website) :-(

Nevertheless, on Sunday I got another request - another $80 profit. Should really get focused!!

 

[edpaiz]

My friend trust me when you like your idea enough you will pursue it. I am also a idea hoper, but in my case i do act on them and loose money in the process (my wife is sick of that) but in my latest project i find myself totally focused and going forward, and how i did it i recognized my problem and committed myself to this one project. so decide which will be your project and set a time frame in which you have to commit yourself even if the 50 million idea comes along (remember how many million ideas have you had)

you are on the right track nd onto something, also remember to make sure that your business can scale and does not depend entirely on your time or you will be constrained by time and effort to grow and that is why violin teachers dont have yachts...

 

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[pascal1234]

Ok made another 20k but it was really just luck

Now I made a website and try to get orders from there.

Well I am in a good position that I do have a nice day job, but on the other hand I do not have a lot of time. I think I could scale the profit to 100-300k/year with the right approach. ( of course...)

Now I have to chose how to increase sales. I have the following options:

1. Adwords - problem high cpc costs
2. Outsource sales team - I already have someone preparing leads but I have never done this before
3. Do it myself - problem = time

Does anyone of you have experience in salesforce outsourcing?

 

[Lexauton]

Haha, 20k is just lucky? I have a feeling you're creating a good deal of that luck, Pascal.

Anyway I'll be watching this thread as it's going places fast-- keep up the great work and soon you can predominantly divorce your income from your time.

Also, you're only giving yourself 3 options for scaling sales? what other avenues have you studied? maybe the 4th or 5th ones will prove more attractive.

 

[pascal1234]

Well maybe luck is the wrong term. Maybe I should have called it "unstable profit". What does this profit mean if it is only once...

Probably some would be very happy, but I am not satisfied at all as a business cannot sustain if main income is based on random opportunities ;-)

Yes I have to look into other sales channels

 

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[Michael Raphael]

I think if you made another 20k, perhaps if you follow the same tactics you used to get that you can "rinse and repeat" so to speak. Perhaps there is potential in this. You now have 20,000 perhaps invest that in your new business. Find out more, do R&D, see how you can focus more on your respective market and find a better niche. Increase your brand and do what you do best market. Expand your portfolio and get more work.

I think you are off to a good start. Would love to talk to you in a PM about web development if you are interested in that.