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Hi everyone. Some of you might know me from my previous threads, but I'm starting this one because it's going to be about executing my path to financial freedom.
A few words of introduction. I still work in a corporation that I hate, but recently I noticed a certain opportunity and a tangible benefit of working there - shocker! For the past few months, I also managed to get an "internship" at a marketing agency doing Google Ads and Meta Ads. After a few months (I still consider myself an amateur), I decided to try using my acquired knowledge to resurrect my project concerning an oil product for people... and just like that, I burned through some money with no major response. The product apparently doesn't meet people's expectations, it's not what they're looking for, and they aren't willing to pay the price I'd need for private lab production to pay off. Oh well. I shelved the project, but I didn't give up...
I've been reading a lot lately about service businesses, including here, and I noticed that you guys are able to make really nice money from them, which lets you break out of the script at least a little bit. So I was wondering what tools I have, what I could try to advertise online, and what kind of service... and it turned out that I have daily access to a small van. I figured that in my big city, people might generally be looking for transport for small items, like a desk, a dresser, etc. I built a simple website in a few hours and once again used my new marketing knowledge... and... shock. The effectiveness of my ads reached a 15-19% CTR! Which is crazy! With a really small campaign budget, I'm able to generate 1-2 calls a day for this service. Unfortunately! I had to turn everything down, or people backed out, because it's hard to balance it time-wise with a corporate job. Most people are really looking for something right now or in a few hours. And whenever I suggested a later time or a different day, we still couldn't close the deal.
In the meantime, I also developed my Google Business profile, turned off the ads, and thought maybe something would come in from organic traffic, since the profile ranks quite high on Google. And so, one day near the end of my work shift, I got a call from a client who needed a bed transported that same day. That's how I closed my first transaction and earned a pretty reasonable income for an hour's work. What hit me a moment later was the fact that this is a poorly scalable business and will require every minute of my time. In my city, there is really only maybe one network with a few cars, but from what I know, all the drivers drive their own vehicles and just have the company logo slapped on their vans. And their website looks like it's from 2009.
Conclusions? It looks like I found a certain niche, because from the start I didn't want to get into moving entire apartments, etc. I've helped out with that a few times in my life and it is really hard work. Ultimately, it seems to me that at the end of the month there might not be much left in your wallet after deducting employees, car maintenance costs, etc.
I'm wondering what's next. Should I pursue this service since the ads work and I'm getting calls (even though, as I mentioned above, it's very hard to combine with corporate work), or should I look for a niche in other services that are more repeatable and scalable - like cleaning, for example?
I'm still tied to the corporate job because, in the back of my mind, I keep thinking about buying an apartment on a mortgage and renting it out. I won't make a profit on it because rental prices in my country have dropped significantly, but I would have the peace of mind knowing that I have my own little corner and a roof over my head somewhere. In my country, banks look closely at standard employment contracts; the moment you run your own business and want to take out a mortgage (even if you might be earning more than at a regular job), you aren't credible to the bank and it's much harder to get that loan. Going into details, I was thinking about a new build to minimize the risk of potential repairs in the coming years.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this, looking at the matter from a different perspective always helps.
Have a great day!
A few words of introduction. I still work in a corporation that I hate, but recently I noticed a certain opportunity and a tangible benefit of working there - shocker! For the past few months, I also managed to get an "internship" at a marketing agency doing Google Ads and Meta Ads. After a few months (I still consider myself an amateur), I decided to try using my acquired knowledge to resurrect my project concerning an oil product for people... and just like that, I burned through some money with no major response. The product apparently doesn't meet people's expectations, it's not what they're looking for, and they aren't willing to pay the price I'd need for private lab production to pay off. Oh well. I shelved the project, but I didn't give up...
I've been reading a lot lately about service businesses, including here, and I noticed that you guys are able to make really nice money from them, which lets you break out of the script at least a little bit. So I was wondering what tools I have, what I could try to advertise online, and what kind of service... and it turned out that I have daily access to a small van. I figured that in my big city, people might generally be looking for transport for small items, like a desk, a dresser, etc. I built a simple website in a few hours and once again used my new marketing knowledge... and... shock. The effectiveness of my ads reached a 15-19% CTR! Which is crazy! With a really small campaign budget, I'm able to generate 1-2 calls a day for this service. Unfortunately! I had to turn everything down, or people backed out, because it's hard to balance it time-wise with a corporate job. Most people are really looking for something right now or in a few hours. And whenever I suggested a later time or a different day, we still couldn't close the deal.
In the meantime, I also developed my Google Business profile, turned off the ads, and thought maybe something would come in from organic traffic, since the profile ranks quite high on Google. And so, one day near the end of my work shift, I got a call from a client who needed a bed transported that same day. That's how I closed my first transaction and earned a pretty reasonable income for an hour's work. What hit me a moment later was the fact that this is a poorly scalable business and will require every minute of my time. In my city, there is really only maybe one network with a few cars, but from what I know, all the drivers drive their own vehicles and just have the company logo slapped on their vans. And their website looks like it's from 2009.
Conclusions? It looks like I found a certain niche, because from the start I didn't want to get into moving entire apartments, etc. I've helped out with that a few times in my life and it is really hard work. Ultimately, it seems to me that at the end of the month there might not be much left in your wallet after deducting employees, car maintenance costs, etc.
I'm wondering what's next. Should I pursue this service since the ads work and I'm getting calls (even though, as I mentioned above, it's very hard to combine with corporate work), or should I look for a niche in other services that are more repeatable and scalable - like cleaning, for example?
I'm still tied to the corporate job because, in the back of my mind, I keep thinking about buying an apartment on a mortgage and renting it out. I won't make a profit on it because rental prices in my country have dropped significantly, but I would have the peace of mind knowing that I have my own little corner and a roof over my head somewhere. In my country, banks look closely at standard employment contracts; the moment you run your own business and want to take out a mortgage (even if you might be earning more than at a regular job), you aren't credible to the bank and it's much harder to get that loan. Going into details, I was thinking about a new build to minimize the risk of potential repairs in the coming years.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this, looking at the matter from a different perspective always helps.
Have a great day!
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