Hey Fastlaners,
(Apologies in advance - this is going to be a beast of a thread.)
It's time to be brutally honest with myself so I've decided to make this thread to have accountability regarding my business. This thread will also serve as a rough timeline of my journey.
Often, I will spend too much time going down the rabbit hole of the Internet, watching videos, and overall working on tasks that don't move the needle. I want to focus more on the 20% of things that bring 80% of the results. I need to make progress, desperation is starting to kick in.
I also think this will be an awesome way to look back on how far I've come in the days, months, and years to come. More importantly, I hope this can help somebody else along the way and prove to them that if you remain focused and consistent, you can succeed. That's my Why.
Entrepreneurial Journey So Far
Like many other entrepreneurs on this forum, my journey didn't start after joining The Fastlane Forum. Also, like many others, I had small gigs here and there since I was a kid: mowing people's lawns, raking leaves, doing chores for people, etc. But up to this point, I've had 3x "serious" businesses (2x e-commerce/dropshipping, and 1x local services business) to date. They all failed because of one reason or another: a personal lack of focus, being all about the money, and not bringing credible solutions to market. Truth be told, I didn't want it bad enough. I only thought I did.
The first time I ever seriously considered becoming an entrepreneur, it was late May of 2018. I had just turned 26 years old (I know, I'm late to the party ha). A couple years prior and up until that point, I was being worked to the bone by a boss that could care less about my well-being. I would look at how he would take vacations whenever he wanted while the rest of us just had to keep working, likely to pay for those vacations. I always thought to myself that I could be my own boss and would rather delegate tasks than to have them delegated to me. Often, I would look at the decision-makers in my previous companies and think "I could do that." Ultimately, I knew there had to be a better way for me.
I spent the next 7 months learning about investment vehicles that could foster my "get rich" mentality while also working a full-time job. I stumbled upon Forex trading and dove right in. I took online courses, throwing roughly $300 of my hard-earned cash towards so-called "gurus". I would wake up at 5AM to study a few hours before work, come home, and then study until 7-8PM each night. I started trading with a Demo account ($50,000 fake money) and struggled. It was crushing to my ego to barely ever win a trade, but I persevered. I eventually opened a Live account and funded it with $1,000. I ended up with a net -$36, FAIL. Again, I felt as though I didn't want it bad enough.
During those 7 months, I would also listen to, read and take in any material I can find on entrepreneurship, success, wealth, you name it. I would listen to podcasts from CEO's, business owners, motivational speakers, etc. I read more books since May of last year than I have in my entire life combined. I was never a reader when I was young. Quite frankly, I still read slowly.
Skip to Now
All my previous experiences have led to now - I started my most recent entrepreneurial journey in late January of 2019. After quitting Forex trading, I decided to go back to what I know best: technology. I purchased my current domain (atechnextdoor.com) on January 26th. The gears started turning in my head, I was trying to determine a need in the current market. I decided to revisit an old idea that I never executed on: residential IT services.
Thus far, my business has 0 clients (yep, you read that correctly) and my website has been live less than a month. I spent a good portion of a month reading into digital marketing strategies, I took a Udemy course and have been trying to learn as much as I can to ensure I'm successful.
I've learned a lot about what it takes to run a business in the process. Now, I'm just trying to build a customer base and brand awareness.
Current Statistics
newsletter signups: 0
Customers: 0
Website sessions: 510
Users: 461
Page views: 1,436
Net income: $0
Business Goals
Short-term
My goals will change as progress is made. When growth accelerates, I will change the goals according. Aim high, shoot high.
To make these goals happen, I will have to do the hard stuff: cold calls, attend meetings, give presentations, and ask for help. I'm painfully introverted, so this is an ultimate test for me. If you're enduring something similar, Godspeed.
TL;DR - This thread is for me to hold myself accountable in terms of making weekly progress towards my business goals. I will report back weekly or sooner with updates.
(Apologies in advance - this is going to be a beast of a thread.)
It's time to be brutally honest with myself so I've decided to make this thread to have accountability regarding my business. This thread will also serve as a rough timeline of my journey.
Often, I will spend too much time going down the rabbit hole of the Internet, watching videos, and overall working on tasks that don't move the needle. I want to focus more on the 20% of things that bring 80% of the results. I need to make progress, desperation is starting to kick in.
I also think this will be an awesome way to look back on how far I've come in the days, months, and years to come. More importantly, I hope this can help somebody else along the way and prove to them that if you remain focused and consistent, you can succeed. That's my Why.
Entrepreneurial Journey So Far
Like many other entrepreneurs on this forum, my journey didn't start after joining The Fastlane Forum. Also, like many others, I had small gigs here and there since I was a kid: mowing people's lawns, raking leaves, doing chores for people, etc. But up to this point, I've had 3x "serious" businesses (2x e-commerce/dropshipping, and 1x local services business) to date. They all failed because of one reason or another: a personal lack of focus, being all about the money, and not bringing credible solutions to market. Truth be told, I didn't want it bad enough. I only thought I did.
The first time I ever seriously considered becoming an entrepreneur, it was late May of 2018. I had just turned 26 years old (I know, I'm late to the party ha). A couple years prior and up until that point, I was being worked to the bone by a boss that could care less about my well-being. I would look at how he would take vacations whenever he wanted while the rest of us just had to keep working, likely to pay for those vacations. I always thought to myself that I could be my own boss and would rather delegate tasks than to have them delegated to me. Often, I would look at the decision-makers in my previous companies and think "I could do that." Ultimately, I knew there had to be a better way for me.
I spent the next 7 months learning about investment vehicles that could foster my "get rich" mentality while also working a full-time job. I stumbled upon Forex trading and dove right in. I took online courses, throwing roughly $300 of my hard-earned cash towards so-called "gurus". I would wake up at 5AM to study a few hours before work, come home, and then study until 7-8PM each night. I started trading with a Demo account ($50,000 fake money) and struggled. It was crushing to my ego to barely ever win a trade, but I persevered. I eventually opened a Live account and funded it with $1,000. I ended up with a net -$36, FAIL. Again, I felt as though I didn't want it bad enough.
During those 7 months, I would also listen to, read and take in any material I can find on entrepreneurship, success, wealth, you name it. I would listen to podcasts from CEO's, business owners, motivational speakers, etc. I read more books since May of last year than I have in my entire life combined. I was never a reader when I was young. Quite frankly, I still read slowly.
Skip to Now
All my previous experiences have led to now - I started my most recent entrepreneurial journey in late January of 2019. After quitting Forex trading, I decided to go back to what I know best: technology. I purchased my current domain (atechnextdoor.com) on January 26th. The gears started turning in my head, I was trying to determine a need in the current market. I decided to revisit an old idea that I never executed on: residential IT services.
Thus far, my business has 0 clients (yep, you read that correctly) and my website has been live less than a month. I spent a good portion of a month reading into digital marketing strategies, I took a Udemy course and have been trying to learn as much as I can to ensure I'm successful.
I've learned a lot about what it takes to run a business in the process. Now, I'm just trying to build a customer base and brand awareness.
Current Statistics
newsletter signups: 0
Customers: 0
Website sessions: 510
Users: 461
Page views: 1,436
Net income: $0
Business Goals
Short-term
- Customers: 25
- Recurring revenue: $2,500/mo
- Help at least one person/day
- Customers: 2,000
- Recurring revenue: $100,000/mo
- Employees: 50+
- Help 10+ people/day
My goals will change as progress is made. When growth accelerates, I will change the goals according. Aim high, shoot high.
To make these goals happen, I will have to do the hard stuff: cold calls, attend meetings, give presentations, and ask for help. I'm painfully introverted, so this is an ultimate test for me. If you're enduring something similar, Godspeed.
TL;DR - This thread is for me to hold myself accountable in terms of making weekly progress towards my business goals. I will report back weekly or sooner with updates.
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