From Wantrepreneur To Entrepreneur: A Journey To Defeat Shiny Object Syndrome

[TurboBox]

After spending 2.5 years jumping from one idea to another...

The Fast Lane inspired me to get my shit together and resist shiny object syndrome for once in my life.

My experience is in digital marketing and copywriting more specifically. Here's a long-a$$ thread where I tell my life story (almost):

INTRO - Fake Entrepreneur Trying To Make Things Real

Hey guys! Never imagined I'd be introducing myself in a forum. But I want a place to document my journey and a way to keep myself accountable... So here I am. My entrepreneurship journey to date: For as long as I could remember, I was fascinated with business. The idea of buying low, selling...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

This thread is to document my startup journey. I am building a platform/marketplace and this is my first 'real business'.

From what I can see, my startup fulfils the CENTS criteria. But as we all know, things never go to plan and I will likely have to make massive adjustments along the way to keep it CENTS approved.

Here is where I'm at now:

- Validated the idea from one side of the marketplace (supplier)
- Improperly validated from the customer's side (I know I'm neglecting my research, but I have decided to build the platform and iterate through real customer feedback)
- Platform MVP development commenced (hacking things together using WordPress, not ideal, but good enough for now)

I will be posting daily updates to this thread to document my journey and keep myself accountable. I give permission to anyone to slap me if I skip any days.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[TurboBox]

Day 1 (21/06/2020):

Started the day later than I should have. It’s 7pm and I’m only just getting started. I woke up late, prioritised going to the gym, and just napped for 40-minutes before dinner. I could give an excuse saying I’m exhausted after a stressful week of work – but I still did not perform well enough today (so far).

What I plan to do with my remaining time:

• Solve this listing problem I’m having on my platform.

Problem: How do I adjust this listing plugin that was designed for job listings, to work for service provider listings?

------
Day End:

Problems I solved today:

• Getting rid of payment page before adding listing (not required for MVP)
• Fixed recaptcha error

New problems encountered:

• Map feature of the current theme does not work properly. Reloads endlessly. Sent support ticket to try and fix. Looking at purchasing other themes in the meantime.
• Logistics concerns. How do I connect service providers and customers without them deciding to cut me out? What about safety concerns? Considering switching to online-only services, rather than offering local services. Will be an easier revenue model as well (I think)

Currently making a Reddit post to see what consumers think about using the service online, rather than offline (typical usage case).

Summary:

Uncovered more problems than actual progress made. Should have thought out how I wanted my platform to look before going ahead and purchasing a theme. Plus, should have tested the demo theme for carefully. Tomorrow I’ll spend more time laying everything out so I have a clearer vision of what I want the product to look like.

 

[TurboBox]

Currently making a Reddit post to see what consumers think about using the service online, rather than offline (typical usage case).

Results were rather positive. Some valid points in regards to the drawbacks of going online only. But overall, I'm satisfied with the positive responses and I will move forward with the online only option.

---

Day 2 (22/06/2020):

Although I wanted to stop offering marketing services and focus solely on my startup, a prospect recently converted and I’ve decided to build up my marketing offering to a point where I can quit my full-time job and open up extra time to focus on my startup.

Still continuing the support thread with the theme provider for the faulty functionality. Will focus on launching new client ASAP.

------

Day End:

Problems I solved today:

• Nothing much really. Just building out the new website for the client. I should be outsourcing this, but I want to nail the process before I create SOPs to scale delivery.

New problems encountered:

• Minor problems like implementing Google reviews into a website. Haven’t done this before, but it should only take a bit more Googling to figure out.

Summary:

Today was a very ‘technician’ focused day and not very entrepreneurial. However, the plan is to document the results for this client and use it to aid in customer acquisition and use the site as a template for future work.

 

[TurboBox]

Day 3 (23/06/2020):

It was really difficult, but today I spoke with my boss and made the shift from full-time work to part-time work. At first, the idea was to burn all ships and all-in on the business. But this is a step in the right direction.

------

Day End Summary:

Very unproductive day. After having 'the talk' at work, I let myself relax and do only minor work on the website I'm building for the client that closed yesterday. On a positive note, I realised that this new client is my first real one. Previously, all services rendered by my business had been outsourced work other marketing agencies had us fulfil. So, this is our first 'real' client that went from lead to paying customer. Gotta celebrate every win no matter how minor, am I right?

------

Adding this section to every daily update to give direction for each day ahead and allow for tangible progress checks.

Tomorrow's Goals:

• Complete the skeleton of the new client website
  • Homepage
  • About Us page
  • 3x Service Pages
  • Contact page
  • Products page

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[TurboBox]

Day 4 (24/06/2020):

What I plan to do:

• Complete the tasks I set out for myself yesterday (complete skeleton of new client website)

Problem: Spending too much time focusing on the small things. Need to get it over and done with ASAP.
------
Day End Summary:

Completed the homepage, about us, and the basics of the service pages (will be duplicated for each individual service and only the content will be edited). Overall, satisfied with the progress considering I couldn't get started 'til 9pm.

Tomorrow's Goals (day off):

• Focus ONLY on my platform and complete first iteration of MVP
  • Find a replacement solution to build it on
  • Write website copy
  • Finish design

 

[TurboBox]

Day 5 - 19 (25/06/2020 - 09/07/2020)

Summary:

I haven’t posted an update in 2 weeks and that’s unacceptable.

After working some more on that web design client I closed, I’ve realised that delivering services is NOT what I want to do. This has increased my motivation to build my platform.

However, I’ll finish off this project because this lovely lady put her trust (and money) in me.

In terms of the development of my platform, progress has been painfully slow.

Every day I’m learning something new and solving problems. Well, every day that I spend working on it.

I have moved to part time work and joined a co-working office to spend my days off in to work on my new venture.

Anyways, back to the problems...

Some problems I solved recently:

- Learning how to edit child themes
- Learning how to edit PHP files
- Figuring out how to put the actual platform together so users can actually use it

Basically, every time I face a problem I spend a day solving it. By the time the day is over and I’m working on the next step, I face a new problem that renders part of a solution I previously reached useless.

It has been a painful cycle, but I do feel things coming together albeit slowly.

 

[juresesko]

Day 5 - 19 (25/06/2020 - 09/07/2020)

Summary:

I haven’t posted an update in 2 weeks and that’s unacceptable.

After working some more on that web design client I closed, I’ve realised that delivering services is NOT what I want to do. This has increased my motivation to build my platform.

However, I’ll finish off this project because this lovely lady put her trust (and money) in me.

In terms of the development of my platform, progress has been painfully slow.

Every day I’m learning something new and solving problems. Well, every day that I spend working on it.

I have moved to part time work and joined a co-working office to spend my days off in to work on my new venture.

Anyways, back to the problems...

Some problems I solved recently:

- Learning how to edit child themes
- Learning how to edit PHP files
- Figuring out how to put the actual platform together so users can actually use it

Basically, every time I face a problem I spend a day solving it. By the time the day is over and I’m working on the next step, I face a new problem that renders part of a solution I previously reached useless.

It has been a painful cycle, but I do feel things coming together albeit slowly.

Hey.
The goal is not to make an update thread every day or week or month. Even though you said so.
No one cares so why should you?
I did the same, I though that by making a progress thread I will get more stuff done. The only thing that happened to me was that I filled my head with useless stuff that I could do to then brag about in my thread.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Odysseus M Jones]

Day 1 (21/06/2020):

After spending 2.5 years jumping from one idea to another...

The Fast Lane inspired me to get my shit together and resist shiny object syndrome for once in my life.

Day 2 (22/06/2020):

Although I wanted to stop offering marketing services

I’ve decided to build up my marketing offering

Day 5 - 19 (25/06/2020 - 09/07/2020)

I’ve realised that delivering services is NOT what I want to do

jumping from one idea to another.

No one cares

 

[TurboBox]

Day 47 - (06/08/2020)

Launched the platform Sunday night and began acquiring users. Currently have 48 and growing around 20 per day. The current investments I've made are estimated to generate an additional ~200 users (but will continue to spend and increase acquisition speed). Now I'm working on acquiring users for the other side of the market. Optimal selling strategy for this side of the market is to be determined.

 

[LHXS]

Day 47 - (06/08/2020)

Launched the platform Sunday night and began acquiring users. Currently have 48 and growing around 20 per day. The current investments I've made are estimated to generate an additional ~200 users (but will continue to spend and increase acquisition speed). Now I'm working on acquiring users for the other side of the market. Optimal selling strategy for this side of the market is to be determined.

How are you acquiring users at 48/day??? Is the from an agressive ad sepend in Adwords or FB ads or something?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[juresesko]

Isn't better this way.
Give an update when you think an update is needed.

I don't really understand what are you doing. Could you give a better explanation?
And congrats of course!

 

[TurboBox]

Day 64 - (23/08/2020)

Have only worked ~10 hours per week (possibly even less). Haven't put in the time that I should have...

But I'm happy with the progress and that's fine.

Currently have ~300 users for one side of the marketplace. However, it's now time to take on the challenging part...

Getting users for the other side of the market.

Seeding the seller side of the marketplace has been very successful. The strategies I had hypothesised would work, all succeeded.

99% of my effort will now be dedicated to seeding the buyer side.

Previous efforts will lead to roughly 400-500 users for the seller side. I believe this to be plenty for now.

The goal is to now seed buyer side and create a buyer-seller feedback loop to improve the product and decide next steps.

Current challenges to overcome:

- Personal motivation to put in more hours
- Technological difficulties
- Questioning whether to search for a co-founder

 

[LHXS]

Currently have ~300 users for one side of the marketplace. However, it's now time to take on the challenging part...

Seeding the seller side of the marketplace has been very successful. The strategies I had hypothesised would work, all succeeded.
ther to search for a co-founder

Fancy letting us know what these strategies were?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[juresesko]

Fancy letting us know what these strategies were?

I don't know what this guy is talking about.
Do you?

 

[LHXS]

I don't know what this guy is talking about.
Do you?

I was referring to the part where he said he executed "some strategies". I was interested to know what they were