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- Jan 18, 2022
- 426
- 1,270
What's good everyone.
I'm a web developer out of Chicago, IL furthering my dig into the entrepreneurial world. While I've yet officially introduce myself, I'm creating this with the dual-purpose of both an avenue to hold myself accountable, as well as a way to share my experience(s) with those interested.
Current Situation: I started a part-time, full stack web development bootcamp September of 2021 and graduated with my certification March of 2022. During my bootcamp, I lost my then job, and fell behind on some bills before landing my first developer gig (while still in my bootcamp, nonetheless). Unfortunately, I got the gig with a small business and it turns out, my boss is a psycho narcissist that consistently commits felonies. But that's another story.
Anyway, my car was repossessed a few days ago, and without adequate transportation, I'm more or less being fired (boss refuses to allow me to work remotely). My girlfriend and I need to find our own place ASAP. So, I'm currently jobless with about 30k in debt (6k being school debt). I refuse to declare bankruptcy, so near immediate success (to some degree) is my only feasible solution. So, having said that, let's make a checklist. A solid foundation is key and time is of the essence.
Resources I'll Have Day 1
* My final check (approximately $900 US; -$417 for a school payment; -$140 for a loan payment).
* A few pre-purchased domains (1 for my company, a few others as investments/project sites).
* Full stack web developer experience (specifically utilizing the MERN stack).
* A few developer friends I can lean on for developer help, job searches, recommendations, etc. Most of them have 10+ years experience and freelance.
* Access to a professional graphic designer (cash payments only, doesn't seem interested in partnerships/etc. but their work is phenomenal for what they charge).
Experience/Skills/Etc.
* Have a current life coach certification.
* Full stack developer certification (node.js, MySQL, React, express, HTML, CSS, jQuery, MongoDB, webpack, minor PHP).
* Former co-owner of a gaming shop.
* Content Writing.
* Small business consulting.
* Small business coaching.
* Beyond sharpened communication and people skills (comfortable with all people, often told I'd be a great sales person/motivational speaker/etc; improvement is always needed, however).
* Excellent critical thinking and problem solving skills.
Ideas/Starting Points
While I need to figure out my personal financial situation ASAP, I have to actually add value and/or provide an excellent service. Making money to me is irrelevant if I have to screw people over to get it, lie to get it, etc. Long story short, it simply isn't in me to be a shitty person.
Gaming Industry
I have something monstrous for a specific sector of the gaming industry. Unfortunately, I currently lack the capital and developer experience to handle it myself. Furthermore, due to the nature of the industry, I doubt it would produce income quick enough to avoid my entire operation sinking. So for now, it is being temporarily shelved.
Domain Flipping:
I had originally considered purchasing a domain and running a private domain sales website. Domain flipping is insanely lucrative, usually comes with low startup costs, and it isn't overly time-consuming (your biggest time sink being research, however this can eventually be outsourced). I have a tremendous amount to add to this, that I genuinely believe could blowup quickly, however once again it comes down to the simple fact: I don't have enough startup capital to make a dedicated domain worth it. Having said that, I have a few domains listed on Flippa, as any income right now will help. Moving forward, as I continue to generate new domain ideas, I will purchase domains here and there to flip. However, since I'm not doing it to the degree I'm aiming for, I only commit a few hours per week to this.
Business/Life Coaching/Consulting
As stated above, I have experience running a business, and have semi-recent experience having 2 business coaching clients. It went well, I overperformed and overdelivered, however there was definitely potential there and I had received nothing but positive feedback. While I loved being a business/life coach, the fact is it takes up entirely too much time, and small business owners can often times be insanely difficult to deal with. I'm ultimately aiming for something with a little less human interaction.
Course Selling and/or Community Forming
This is an area I constantly bounce back and forth on, as I love the idea of this. I can grow a community for gaming, developers, freelancers, entrepreneurs, etc. Unfortunately it all goes back to the same problems as before: I want to limit human interaction, and content creation is an area I'm unfamiliar with, thus the startup time would be significantly increased, I have no current presence, etc.
When I am more financially stable and have the free time, however, I will be aiming to grow 3 different communities.
At the end of the day, had I decided to go with consulting/coaching, I would've inevitably began creating some form of audience/content.
Travel Industry: This leads me to the idea I've decided to run with. While I cannot give you the idea itself, I have no problem giving you, at least, the industry. Having said that, this project is wonderful for me, for the following reasons:
* Has the potential to immediately generate value to clients while simultaneously generating income.
* Market is seemingly open. The competition is fierce and plentiful, however 99% of what they're doing is outdated and/or poorly executed.
* Has the potential to generate passive income, regardless of season.
* Can utilize both Google Ads and Affiliate links.
* Has near unlimited different ways to both provide value and generate income.
* Business itself is 100% expandable/scalable.
* Operation costs are rather low, so having a small team (1-3 people, max) operate the business within ~6 months is entirely feasible (at which point, I'll be expanding on the business via replicating the process in other markets). Global release is, once again, entirely feasible, though that's a future goal.
* From the developer standpoint, there's enough intricate pieces that I need to relearn/practice/research, however it isn't overly complicated to the point of requiring months of development time. I'll also be putting my business on my developer portfolio (2 birds, 1 stone; cause landing an 80k/yr job would definitely give me capital to start other business things) so there's that.
Current State/Immediate To Do List
* Since I'll potentially be hiring people within the first month or so, I have to have an LLC. So, once I've closed out on 1-3 sales, I'll be immediately turning my company into an LLC. I've found who I'll be doing this through (for those interested: Zenbusiness). They offer nearly everything I need, and they seem to be the most adequately priced.
* Additional Node/Express practice: While I've worked with back-ends before, Node and Express seem to be my biggest weaknesses in regards to my developer skills.
* Begin researching sales scripts, lead generation, etc.
* Begin putting together employee resources (dropbox, pay system, etc.).
That's where I'm at. Once I have my schedule corrected, I will be finding time to consistently post updates here, approximately 1-3 times/week, depending on progress. Always open to answers questions as I move along.
Thank you!
I'm a web developer out of Chicago, IL furthering my dig into the entrepreneurial world. While I've yet officially introduce myself, I'm creating this with the dual-purpose of both an avenue to hold myself accountable, as well as a way to share my experience(s) with those interested.
Current Situation: I started a part-time, full stack web development bootcamp September of 2021 and graduated with my certification March of 2022. During my bootcamp, I lost my then job, and fell behind on some bills before landing my first developer gig (while still in my bootcamp, nonetheless). Unfortunately, I got the gig with a small business and it turns out, my boss is a psycho narcissist that consistently commits felonies. But that's another story.
Anyway, my car was repossessed a few days ago, and without adequate transportation, I'm more or less being fired (boss refuses to allow me to work remotely). My girlfriend and I need to find our own place ASAP. So, I'm currently jobless with about 30k in debt (6k being school debt). I refuse to declare bankruptcy, so near immediate success (to some degree) is my only feasible solution. So, having said that, let's make a checklist. A solid foundation is key and time is of the essence.
Resources I'll Have Day 1
* My final check (approximately $900 US; -$417 for a school payment; -$140 for a loan payment).
* A few pre-purchased domains (1 for my company, a few others as investments/project sites).
* Full stack web developer experience (specifically utilizing the MERN stack).
* A few developer friends I can lean on for developer help, job searches, recommendations, etc. Most of them have 10+ years experience and freelance.
* Access to a professional graphic designer (cash payments only, doesn't seem interested in partnerships/etc. but their work is phenomenal for what they charge).
Experience/Skills/Etc.
* Have a current life coach certification.
* Full stack developer certification (node.js, MySQL, React, express, HTML, CSS, jQuery, MongoDB, webpack, minor PHP).
* Former co-owner of a gaming shop.
* Content Writing.
* Small business consulting.
* Small business coaching.
* Beyond sharpened communication and people skills (comfortable with all people, often told I'd be a great sales person/motivational speaker/etc; improvement is always needed, however).
* Excellent critical thinking and problem solving skills.
Ideas/Starting Points
While I need to figure out my personal financial situation ASAP, I have to actually add value and/or provide an excellent service. Making money to me is irrelevant if I have to screw people over to get it, lie to get it, etc. Long story short, it simply isn't in me to be a shitty person.
Gaming Industry
I have something monstrous for a specific sector of the gaming industry. Unfortunately, I currently lack the capital and developer experience to handle it myself. Furthermore, due to the nature of the industry, I doubt it would produce income quick enough to avoid my entire operation sinking. So for now, it is being temporarily shelved.
Domain Flipping:
I had originally considered purchasing a domain and running a private domain sales website. Domain flipping is insanely lucrative, usually comes with low startup costs, and it isn't overly time-consuming (your biggest time sink being research, however this can eventually be outsourced). I have a tremendous amount to add to this, that I genuinely believe could blowup quickly, however once again it comes down to the simple fact: I don't have enough startup capital to make a dedicated domain worth it. Having said that, I have a few domains listed on Flippa, as any income right now will help. Moving forward, as I continue to generate new domain ideas, I will purchase domains here and there to flip. However, since I'm not doing it to the degree I'm aiming for, I only commit a few hours per week to this.
Business/Life Coaching/Consulting
As stated above, I have experience running a business, and have semi-recent experience having 2 business coaching clients. It went well, I overperformed and overdelivered, however there was definitely potential there and I had received nothing but positive feedback. While I loved being a business/life coach, the fact is it takes up entirely too much time, and small business owners can often times be insanely difficult to deal with. I'm ultimately aiming for something with a little less human interaction.
Course Selling and/or Community Forming
This is an area I constantly bounce back and forth on, as I love the idea of this. I can grow a community for gaming, developers, freelancers, entrepreneurs, etc. Unfortunately it all goes back to the same problems as before: I want to limit human interaction, and content creation is an area I'm unfamiliar with, thus the startup time would be significantly increased, I have no current presence, etc.
When I am more financially stable and have the free time, however, I will be aiming to grow 3 different communities.
At the end of the day, had I decided to go with consulting/coaching, I would've inevitably began creating some form of audience/content.
Travel Industry: This leads me to the idea I've decided to run with. While I cannot give you the idea itself, I have no problem giving you, at least, the industry. Having said that, this project is wonderful for me, for the following reasons:
* Has the potential to immediately generate value to clients while simultaneously generating income.
* Market is seemingly open. The competition is fierce and plentiful, however 99% of what they're doing is outdated and/or poorly executed.
* Has the potential to generate passive income, regardless of season.
* Can utilize both Google Ads and Affiliate links.
* Has near unlimited different ways to both provide value and generate income.
* Business itself is 100% expandable/scalable.
* Operation costs are rather low, so having a small team (1-3 people, max) operate the business within ~6 months is entirely feasible (at which point, I'll be expanding on the business via replicating the process in other markets). Global release is, once again, entirely feasible, though that's a future goal.
* From the developer standpoint, there's enough intricate pieces that I need to relearn/practice/research, however it isn't overly complicated to the point of requiring months of development time. I'll also be putting my business on my developer portfolio (2 birds, 1 stone; cause landing an 80k/yr job would definitely give me capital to start other business things) so there's that.
Current State/Immediate To Do List
* Since I'll potentially be hiring people within the first month or so, I have to have an LLC. So, once I've closed out on 1-3 sales, I'll be immediately turning my company into an LLC. I've found who I'll be doing this through (for those interested: Zenbusiness). They offer nearly everything I need, and they seem to be the most adequately priced.
* Additional Node/Express practice: While I've worked with back-ends before, Node and Express seem to be my biggest weaknesses in regards to my developer skills.
* Begin researching sales scripts, lead generation, etc.
* Begin putting together employee resources (dropbox, pay system, etc.).
That's where I'm at. Once I have my schedule corrected, I will be finding time to consistently post updates here, approximately 1-3 times/week, depending on progress. Always open to answers questions as I move along.
Thank you!
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