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3 days to start an online business? Surely impossible?

A detailed account of a Fastlane process...

Dylan Curran

Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
185%
Aug 10, 2016
20
37
29
Ireland
Well, I guess it's not impossible.

It takes more than 3 days to create a successful business, but to just start one, to just put something on the Internet that has even a slim possibility of making money, that is not impossible.

One of my friends works in the fitness industry, and a few months ago, he identified a particularly open niche that nobody had filled yet. I sensed an opportunity at the time, but it seemed too daunting of a system for me to develop alone while working freelance.

After reading 'The 7 Day Start-up' (Fantastic book for any of you who are guilty of obsessing over small details in projects, credit to Andy Black for recommending this to me), I decided, to hell with it. I've done nothing but pour hours upon hours upon hours of my valuable time and money into pathetic ventures that I eventually would get sick of, before I even released them and tried to get customers!

I decided that Sunday to pour my heart and soul into this project, and by the following Sunday, I would have launched it.

Well here I am, 3 days later, trying to sign up some early users, the day before I launch it. It's thin in features, it doesn't look that great, it's not fully automated, but more importantly, it's a minimum viable product I got on the Internet as quickly as I could to start gauging interest. It works, it solves a problem, it's relatively easy to use, and it can make money.

smallLogo-1.png

The website is FitFast.ie, in Ireland there is no real way to find personal trainers online, nor is there a way to narrow down your search for a specific type of personal trainer to suit whatever goals you have in mind.

I've aimed to solve a double-edged problem with my start-up, to help personal trainers get more business (which is a big problem here from talking to my friends in the industry) and to allow people to narrow down their search for high-quality, certified trainers (a big problem for people, you never really know what you're going to get when you just message some dude on Facebook).

How much did it cost me to make? About 100 euro. Built on WordPress, hosted on a personal VPS. I've done all the technical stuff myself, getting Stripe/PayPal set up, all the writing, all the graphics, analytics...the only thing missing is a mailing list, which I'm working on as I type.

If I sound like I'm trying to sell the website, I'm not, but I also am at the same time. The Millionaire Fastlane has taught me the importance of seeking to solve a problem, not seek money. And that's exactly what I've aimed to do here. Will it work? Probably not, but I'm going to do my best to help people out and get these trainers more business, which will in turn encourage them to keep paying me and spread the word.

I guess the point is, there really is no excuse no one can't start their own business in a couple of days. Can you guarantee a successful business? No, but that's the fun I guess. If anyone has any advice/criticism, I gladly welcome it!
 
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Dylan Curran

Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
185%
Aug 10, 2016
20
37
29
Ireland
Pretty cool. The site looks good and loads fast.

Sounds like you've identified a problem to solve, I hope it takes off!

Thank you! Worst case scenario, it crashes and burns but at least then I'll know for certain no one wants it.

The idea is great! Cant wait to see your success

Cheers, I only think one day a time though, I feel like if I just focus on what a success it will be I'll never get any work done!

Good luck. I thought about the same idea in my country few months ago. Started but not finished :).

Just start it and get it done, it honestly was a hectic few days but hey the website's functioning and I can make money off it now, the quicker I get customers on it the better, and the same goes for you!
 

devine

Gold Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Apr 16, 2015
761
1,446
Russia
1. "Search" > "Find"
"Find exactly what you need" > "Find YOUR personal trainer"

"Every personal trainer on FitFast is certified and qualified to help you with your fitness needs."
>
"We make sure You will get results, with our own high-standard extended validation for Your personal trainer."

"How FitFast works" > "Start Anytime"

"At FitFast, connecting the right personal trainer to you is our top priority."
>
"Find Your personal trainer today and make a change right now."

"Start Searching Now" > "Find NOW" (set a color to fit your design)

2. Read a thread in my signature and find a paragraph about fitness industry. Keep it in mind for all further copywriting.
As with anything related to personal training, people don't care about anything but their own results.
It means they don't care about your services, don't even try to focus on it.
 

Ronr3914

Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
100%
May 4, 2014
26
26
32
I am part owner of a non-profit powerlifting gym. Seems to me that all of our members who are personal trainers are going back to their day jobs for lack of clientele. Looks like your idea can definitely satisfy that need. Good luck.
 

Dylan Curran

Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
185%
Aug 10, 2016
20
37
29
Ireland
1. "Search" > "Find"
"Find exactly what you need" > "Find YOUR personal trainer"

"Every personal trainer on FitFast is certified and qualified to help you with your fitness needs."
>
"We make sure You will get results, with our own high-standard extended validation for Your personal trainer."

"How FitFast works" > "Start Anytime"

"At FitFast, connecting the right personal trainer to you is our top priority."
>
"Find Your personal trainer today and make a change right now."

"Start Searching Now" > "Find NOW" (set a color to fit your design)

2. Read a thread in my signature and find a paragraph about fitness industry. Keep it in mind for all further copywriting.
As with anything related to personal training, people don't care about anything but their own results.
It means they don't care about your services, don't even try to focus on it.

Thank you very much, you're right, they sound a lot more urgent and really prompt people to action. I've made the changes! I do need to try and steer the focus away from how professional our trainers are and more so on the results people can get from using them.

I am part owner of a non-profit powerlifting gym. Seems to me that all of our members who are personal trainers are going back to their day jobs for lack of clientele. Looks like your idea can definitely satisfy that need. Good luck.

Indeed, I find in the industry there's a lot of big fish in a small pond, people who started early and amassed large social media followings, leaving only scraps really for the smaller personal trainers, who have no real way of competing for attention online. Thank you!
 
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Ika

Busy Idiot
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
344%
Aug 9, 2016
271
933
Germany
I like your idea and your execution! Good looking website as well - I'm following your journey along!
One question though: How do you want to prevent people to pay the trainers outside of your website? Once they meet they could agree to ditch your page and so the customer has a smaller price..
I read about an entrepeneur having the same problem, he solved it by turning his site into a franchise..

And I just bought the book, thanks for the recommendation!

Gesendet von meinem XT1032 mit Tapatalk
 

Dylan Curran

Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
185%
Aug 10, 2016
20
37
29
Ireland
I like your idea and your execution! Good looking website as well - I'm following your journey along!
One question though: How do you want to prevent people to pay the trainers outside of your website? Once they meet they could agree to ditch your page and so the customer has a smaller price..
I read about an entrepeneur having the same problem, he solved it by turning his site into a franchise..

And I just bought the book, thanks for the recommendation!

Gesendet von meinem XT1032 mit Tapatalk

Thanks, I've released the website and it's getting a fairly good reception!

Well the point of the website isn't that you pay the personal trainers through the website, the personal trainers pay us to be advertised on the website so that clients can find them and then they can organise sessions between them. The website is a glorified directory at the moment being honest, although it solves two problems, mainly that we list and quality assure personal trainers for people and we give the non-tech savvy personal trainers a way of finding more clientelle and making more money.

The book is great for shooting a rocket up your a$$ in terms of developing or releasing a website, you'll really enjoy it!
 

Dylan Curran

Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
185%
Aug 10, 2016
20
37
29
Ireland
Day 2: Launch Completed

Launch day was a little disappointing, which I expected, but had still hoped it would take off or gain a little more momentum.

Facebook
I set myself a 200 euro budget for social media advertising for 2 days, invited all my friends to like the page and posted a giveaway to get the ball rolling. I sponsored my giveaway post, which doubles as a link to the website, and pushed 100 euro into it, targeting the local area of about 200,000 people, and more specifically, gym and fitness interested people between the ages of 18-35. The results are okay, at best, although most of the budget isn't spent yet.

pic2.png



pic1.png


The Return on Investment here isn't that high, but I'm more interested in having a specifically targeted audience on my page rather than just raw likes. Whether my targeting is off or my giveaway is structured incorrectly I don't know, but it isn't gaining traction as I had hoped.

--------------------------------------------

Twitter

Twitter was a real kick in the balls, not going to lie, I converted an old page with 650 decent followers on it into FitFastIreland, and also posted the giveaway, sponsored with 100 euro by Twitter ads.

I should have put more time into learning how Twitter campaigns worked as before I knew it, the entire budget was gone...despite me setting it to spend 100 euro over 3 days, it just blew it all in one day...and didn't even generate tangible results.

pic-3.png



pic-4.png


Again, a disappointing return on investment...I guess the lesson here is that unless I have money to burn, organic growth through good content is the only way forward, with smart sponsoring in between for special circumstances. I really just wanted to start building momentum ASAP, so I'm a bit unhappy with the waste of money, but I learned a lesson, I can always get more money. (perhaps a bad attitude...).


FitFast Website

The website has performed pretty well, I've fine-tuned the SEO and have a blog in the works, among submitting it to search console and starting to list it up on various business directories. In terms of blogs around here that I could feature on...practically zero, unfortunately...Ireland is quite behind the times. I'm trying to get featured on the local radio stations (by doing an interview, not paying for an advertisement) so we'll see how that goes.

I'm considering physical advertising, printing out posters/leaflets and leaving them in various locations such as gyms, supplements stores, etc...an idea to consider. I don't have much more money to burn, so I have to be careful with my remaining funds.

pic-5.png


Lessons Learned

  1. Launch Day is never as glamorous as you make it out in your head, people don't care unless they have something to gain out of it.
  2. You need to be very careful with Facebook + Twitter advertising, otherwise you risk pouring money down the drain. Nothing can replace good content.
  3. Launch Day is the same as any other day, try not to obsess over stats, likes, and followers, and just keep working to improve the business.
 
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Natoya Williams

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
125%
Aug 19, 2016
4
5
Atlanta
Well, I guess it's not impossible.

It takes more than 3 days to create a successful business, but to just start one, to just put something on the Internet that has even a slim possibility of making money, that is not impossible.

One of my friends works in the fitness industry, and a few months ago, he identified a particularly open niche that nobody had filled yet. I sensed an opportunity at the time, but it seemed too daunting of a system for me to develop alone while working freelance.

After reading 'The 7 Day Start-up' (Fantastic book for any of you who are guilty of obsessing over small details in projects, credit to Andy Black for recommending this to me), I decided, to hell with it. I've done nothing but pour hours upon hours upon hours of my valuable time and money into pathetic ventures that I eventually would get sick of, before I even released them and tried to get customers!

I decided that Sunday to pour my heart and soul into this project, and by the following Sunday, I would have launched it.

Well here I am, 3 days later, trying to sign up some early users, the day before I launch it. It's thin in features, it doesn't look that great, it's not fully automated, but more importantly, it's a minimum viable product I got on the Internet as quickly as I could to start gauging interest. It works, it solves a problem, it's relatively easy to use, and it can make money.

smallLogo-1.png

The website is FitFast.ie, in Ireland there is no real way to find personal trainers online, nor is there a way to narrow down your search for a specific type of personal trainer to suit whatever goals you have in mind.

I've aimed to solve a double-edged problem with my start-up, to help personal trainers get more business (which is a big problem here from talking to my friends in the industry) and to allow people to narrow down their search for high-quality, certified trainers (a big problem for people, you never really know what you're going to get when you just message some dude on Facebook).

How much did it cost me to make? About 100 euro. Built on WordPress, hosted on a personal VPS. I've done all the technical stuff myself, getting Stripe/PayPal set up, all the writing, all the graphics, analytics...the only thing missing is a mailing list, which I'm working on as I type.

If I sound like I'm trying to sell the website, I'm not, but I also am at the same time. The Millionaire Fastlane has taught me the importance of seeking to solve a problem, not seek money. And that's exactly what I've aimed to do here. Will it work? Probably not, but I'm going to do my best to help people out and get these trainers more business, which will in turn encourage them to keep paying me and spread the word.

I guess the point is, there really is no excuse no one can't start their own business in a couple of days. Can you guarantee a successful business? No, but that's the fun I guess. If anyone has any advice/criticism, I gladly welcome it!
You obviously have the passion and drive for what you do , that the first step to success..... It will not fail with you behind the wheels , easy is overrated so don't let negative mindset deter you . You have a vision now live that reality .
When I started my first business all I knew was I did not want to be a stay at home wife , been working since I was 15 years old and even though I may not have a college degree or fancy documentations I cared zero . I loved the industry I found myself in and I absorbed as much knowledge from others around gaining tons of practical experience. there was times I didn't even get a paycheck to be honest but when it took off I was over the top with joy . It was my baby and I loved it and it loved me back figuratively speaking .

Anyway , do your thing and make it happen my friend.... Giving up is not an option.

Congrats with wishes of many success !
 

devine

Gold Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Apr 16, 2015
761
1,446
Russia
What you're going to do if project won't perform as good as you want within Month 1?
Month 2?

Well done. You'll go far.
 

Dylan Curran

Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
185%
Aug 10, 2016
20
37
29
Ireland
You obviously have the passion and drive for what you do , that the first step to success..... It will not fail with you behind the wheels , easy is overrated so don't let negative mindset deter you . You have a vision now live that reality .
When I started my first business all I knew was I did not want to be a stay at home wife , been working since I was 15 years old and even though I may not have a college degree or fancy documentations I cared zero . I loved the industry I found myself in and I absorbed as much knowledge from others around gaining tons of practical experience. there was times I didn't even get a paycheck to be honest but when it took off I was over the top with joy . It was my baby and I loved it and it loved me back figuratively speaking .

Anyway , do your thing and make it happen my friend.... Giving up is not an option.

Congrats with wishes of many success !

Thank you! Life isn't easy at the moment, but I don't think I'd relish or enjoy the success if I didn't have to fight for it. I've never enjoyed having things handed to me.

You sound like a very interesting person, and I'm glad you found your calling in life because everyone deserves a passion and purpose to their existence.

Best of luck to you too, feel free to message me if you ever need help with anything!
 
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Dylan Curran

Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
185%
Aug 10, 2016
20
37
29
Ireland
What you're going to do if project won't perform as good as you want within Month 1?
Month 2?

Well done. You'll go far.

I have set targets for this month..high, but realistic if everything goes to plan.

If everything does NOT go to plan this month, then I'm just going to persevere, perhaps try out some new tactics or some unorthodox marketing methods...but more importantly, I'm going to persevere. I'm currently reading Internet Prophets by Steve Olsher, which is an extremely interesting marketing book. If I keep educating myself, I should be able to apply this knowledge to this business and experience the growth I envision.

Thanks very much, and I appreciate the rep transfer!
 

Natoya Williams

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
125%
Aug 19, 2016
4
5
Atlanta
I have set targets for this month..high, but realistic if everything goes to plan.

If everything does NOT go to plan this month, then I'm just going to persevere, perhaps try out some new tactics or some unorthodox marketing methods...but more importantly, I'm going to persevere. I'm currently reading Internet Prophets by Steve Olsher, which is an extremely interesting marketing book. If I keep educating myself, I should be able to apply this knowledge to this business and experience the growth I envision.

Thanks very much, and I appreciate the rep transfer!
Me like that✨
 

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