Hi everyone. Although I have popped in on occasion I have not posted for quite some time.
I am back and will be using this Progress Thread in the coming weeks after I tie up a few loose ends with my existing business.
So, for the few of you that remember me and have maybe wondered what happened here’s an update:
After I sold my last business I quickly got to the point where I needed to start bringing in some revenue again. During this time I flew to Ireland to see @Andy Black in Dublin where he kindly taught me some of his amazing Adwords strategies (thanks again mate). I used those new skills to find customers locally who had a need that I could fulfil.
Using that as a stepping stone I started up a business in the construction industry. I have been working on that for the last couple of years now, which was way longer than intended and pretty much solely responsible for my absence. It was really meant as a stopgap to pay the bills while I decided what new online business I wanted to build. Truth be told however I found working with my hands to create something physical was so much more rewarding than pushing pixels, which I had been doing in my other businesses for over 8 years. Anyway, the days flew by, as did the weeks and in no time at all something like 2 ½ years had elapsed.
During this period, I built the business to around $7500 - $8000 a net month profit. It could have been far higher, but I have resisted with every bone in my body the temptation to take on employee’s. I have been down that track before and as this was supposed to be a transitional business I didn’t want to complicate matters.
The ability to subcontract to other companies and let them worry about getting leads, getting paid, fixing problems, finding staff and conforming to all the regulations etc. has been great. I just turn up, do my bit then go home and switch off. It has been chicken soup for the soul and I have enjoyed every day.
That was until a couple of months ago when I woke up one morning in a Cotswold mansion that costs $1300 dollars a day to rent and thought “I don’t want to go to work today”. I was staying as the guest of a client for whom I was builting a handmade kitchen and cabinetry on site. All should have been candy and roses but the main contractor and the client had fallen out and I felt trapped in the middle.
I have long come to understand that as soon as I stop enjoying something it is time to get out. I had been planning for this day since I started in this field. This is why I have no employee’s, no major ongoing monthly business expenditure and a company name that is so non-descriptive that people often ask why my company is called what it is. I tell them it’s because the business name could represent anything from an Accountancy to a Zoo and everything in between. It allows me to transition the business to whatever I desire without the hassle, cost, time and effort required to set up another company entity and mothball or officially wind down an existing one.
The thing is, although I knew this day would come, it took far longer than expected. I needed first to feel that restlessness. That want for a new challenge. For, without that want I know I would be doomed to failure. In that time, while I waited like a phoenix in the ashes I have build up a modest war chest to allow me to take 6 months or so off so I can build that new business. One where I will not be trading time for money. In fact, that is part of the prerequisite of this new enterprise.
I have roughly 4 weeks of loose ends to tie up and jobs to complete then the real work begins.
I’d love you to stay tuned and share your valuable insights. Let the phoenix arise (and hopefully not be consumed in flames).
I am back and will be using this Progress Thread in the coming weeks after I tie up a few loose ends with my existing business.
So, for the few of you that remember me and have maybe wondered what happened here’s an update:
After I sold my last business I quickly got to the point where I needed to start bringing in some revenue again. During this time I flew to Ireland to see @Andy Black in Dublin where he kindly taught me some of his amazing Adwords strategies (thanks again mate). I used those new skills to find customers locally who had a need that I could fulfil.
Using that as a stepping stone I started up a business in the construction industry. I have been working on that for the last couple of years now, which was way longer than intended and pretty much solely responsible for my absence. It was really meant as a stopgap to pay the bills while I decided what new online business I wanted to build. Truth be told however I found working with my hands to create something physical was so much more rewarding than pushing pixels, which I had been doing in my other businesses for over 8 years. Anyway, the days flew by, as did the weeks and in no time at all something like 2 ½ years had elapsed.
During this period, I built the business to around $7500 - $8000 a net month profit. It could have been far higher, but I have resisted with every bone in my body the temptation to take on employee’s. I have been down that track before and as this was supposed to be a transitional business I didn’t want to complicate matters.
The ability to subcontract to other companies and let them worry about getting leads, getting paid, fixing problems, finding staff and conforming to all the regulations etc. has been great. I just turn up, do my bit then go home and switch off. It has been chicken soup for the soul and I have enjoyed every day.
That was until a couple of months ago when I woke up one morning in a Cotswold mansion that costs $1300 dollars a day to rent and thought “I don’t want to go to work today”. I was staying as the guest of a client for whom I was builting a handmade kitchen and cabinetry on site. All should have been candy and roses but the main contractor and the client had fallen out and I felt trapped in the middle.
I have long come to understand that as soon as I stop enjoying something it is time to get out. I had been planning for this day since I started in this field. This is why I have no employee’s, no major ongoing monthly business expenditure and a company name that is so non-descriptive that people often ask why my company is called what it is. I tell them it’s because the business name could represent anything from an Accountancy to a Zoo and everything in between. It allows me to transition the business to whatever I desire without the hassle, cost, time and effort required to set up another company entity and mothball or officially wind down an existing one.
The thing is, although I knew this day would come, it took far longer than expected. I needed first to feel that restlessness. That want for a new challenge. For, without that want I know I would be doomed to failure. In that time, while I waited like a phoenix in the ashes I have build up a modest war chest to allow me to take 6 months or so off so I can build that new business. One where I will not be trading time for money. In fact, that is part of the prerequisite of this new enterprise.
- To build a rewarding income stream that is derived solely from helping others.
- To not trade time for money
- To be able to run the business from a nomadic standpoint so as not to be tied to a geographic location.
I have roughly 4 weeks of loose ends to tie up and jobs to complete then the real work begins.
I’d love you to stay tuned and share your valuable insights. Let the phoenix arise (and hopefully not be consumed in flames).
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