Sink or Swim Entrepreneurship

[ernesto50]

Man, that's some inspiring stuff right here! Just read a post on going all in, now seeing your thread here motivates me to do the same...

 

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[limitless_c]

Glad you are doing great! I started reading this thread in 2015 and your progress is awesome.
Keep going man.

Edit: In what south american country are you?

 

[Fox]

Glad you are doing great! I started reading this thread in 2015 and your progress is awesome.
Keep going man.

Edit: In what south american country are you?

I am in Bogota, Colombia. I love it here.

 

[limitless_c]

I am in Bogota, Colombia. I love it here.

If you visit Chile and want to have a little chat, here I am

 

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[Fox]

Launched a product yesterday with is having some good success...



Need to just scale this up so I have a full marketing campaign planned for the week. Should be able to get around 5-10k highly targeted views so see if it keeps on a similar ratio. product cost less than 3k to produce so happy with these results so far. Ill update in full after this week with some more details.

 

[mtn_baldy]

Launched a product yesterday with is having some good success...

View attachment 12464

Need to just scale this up so I have a full marketing campaign planned for the week. Should be able to get around 5-10k highly targeted views so see if it keeps on a similar ratio. product cost less than 3k to produce so happy with these results so far. Ill update in full after this week with some more details.

Very nice man. A few questions.
1. What service are you using to sell? Shopify? Amazon?
2. What did you do to get your product noticed? Facebook ads?
3. How's sudamerica and your Spanish coming along?

Keep it up fox, you're doing amazing.

 

[Fox]

Very nice man. A few questions.
1. What service are you using to sell? Shopify? Amazon?
2. What did you do to get your product noticed? Facebook ads?
3. How's sudamerica and your Spanish coming along?

Keep it up fox, you're doing amazing.

1) Its a platform in of itself that's sells niche products
2) Nothing except the listing on the platform. My sales copy and USP are top notch though. Tomorrow I start a social media campaign that should see great results for only $100 spent. If it works Ill scale up and continue. The product does have an estimate shelf life of 6-12 months though.
3) Great. Start full time Spanish in a few weeks and I love it here. Lots of local connections forming with great business minded people and enjoying everyday. Today's sales is the equivalent of three months rent so that's not bad either (got a great deal).

 

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[Fox]

Not rolling in millions just yet but I am learning a LOT about adding value and solving problems. My whole mindset has changed thanks to this forum and MJs book. This post only just went up a few minutes ago and its great to see this reaction from people I have never met. Success is an internal change first and then afterwards comes external results. I don't have the material wealth to show at the moment but I sleep better at night and feel good about what I do and the value I add to peoples lives and businesses. Anyway enough of the feelz! But it is good motivation sometimes to get solid feedback when you are struggling on the early stages of the path.

Thanks to @MJ DeMarco @SinisterLex @Andy Black @IceCreamKid @biophase @Ubermensch @Vigilante and many other who post such life changing content daily.

Also got this great bit of advice from the same client... They are one of the best professionals in their niche with a lot of connections and they are also an active mentor of a large amount of young professionals. I only starting coding at Christmas so very happy with all this!

 

[Fox]

I am switching up my game and now aiming for clients with a 2-5 times bigger budget than anything I have currently done. Around the 6k - 15k Euro range. Using the advice from @SinisterLex thread on finding copywriting gigs I spend about 30 - 40 minutes on a highly detailed email with lots of great content, stats, pictures of proven results and links to past jobs. I am trying to x10 everything and know I will be more comfortable completing jobs on this level. Big companies have bigger problems, more potential and the results are more satisfying. I find the bigger jobs I have done so far were a lot easier than small time clients, I am more in line with bigger companies ways of thinking and the results they want (picture picture perspective). I don't want to scrape by with small gigs anymore, time for the big leagues.

 

[Greg R]

- Found someone to look after my plant that I have grown quite fond of!

View attachment 11123

Burning question.

What kind of plant are you talking about here?

Just kidding .Keep on trucking dude.

 

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[Fox]

Burning question.

What kind of plant are you talking about here?

Just kidding .Keep on trucking dude.

Ha just an Aloe Vera plant. I might buy another one soon actually, I kind of miss it.

 

[Nacho]

Launched a product yesterday with is having some good success...

View attachment 12464

Need to just scale this up so I have a full marketing campaign planned for the week. Should be able to get around 5-10k highly targeted views so see if it keeps on a similar ratio. product cost less than 3k to produce so happy with these results so far. Ill update in full after this week with some more details.

Which source of traffic are you using? Paid ads?

 

[Fox]

Which source of traffic are you using? Paid ads?

Used some Reddit, results were zero. I am selling this business today actually. Just going over the contract at the moment.

 

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[JokerCrazyBeatz]

Used some Reddit, results were zero. I am selling this business today actually. Just going over the contract at the moment.

Which skills would u say are most important to learn to launch your product successfully ?

 

[Fox]

Which skills would u say are most important to learn to launch your product successfully ?

On the web side my products are usually a huge improvement and what my clients already had so its easy to use the channels they already have to launch a new design.

On the app side I have not done so well. Both of my launches had mixed results. They were good for first attempts but not something to emulate. There would be better guys to learn on from here when it comes to launching from zero.

The one piece of advice I would have is to test any sales method first with a very small amount of capital. I have been caught out "knowing" something will work and dropping a nice portion of my budget and then getting no results. Amateur mistake and skip-the-process style thinking. I have since learned but that was a needed lesson.

 

[JokerCrazyBeatz]

The one piece of advice I would have is to test any sales method first with a very small amount of capital. I have been caught out "knowing" something will work and dropping a nice portion of my budget and then getting no results. Amateur mistake and skip-the-process style thinking. I have since learned but that was a needed lesson.

I think that's my biggest problem , taking advice from people in my circle I've seen be successful and try to emulate that and not get the same result , And loose ALOT of money doing so . Needing to try shit my way first on a small scale is where I'm failing I believe . This is great advice

 

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[Tomekmeister]

So you're the guy that never returned the pens in school huh...

Great example of taking a leap. That's something I need in my life. Thanks for inspirational post!

PS: What would you do if you had a girlfriend?

 

[Fox]

So you're the guy that never returned the pens in school huh...

Great example of taking a leap. That's something I need in my life. Thanks for inspirational post!

PS: What would you do if you had a girlfriend?

I have a girlfriend. If I didn't though there are plenty of opportunities to have fun here. I am just back from training and the gym I go to has a few dozen models who train there along with lots of really nice regular girls. I have been single for years but I am enjoying switching it up and having a great connection with one girl. Her parents are self made and very successful and she is a great girl who backs me 100% so I am happy out.

One thing I have learned in the last few years is the right girl (or guy for those female entrepreneurs) can make or break you. A bad girlfriend is like a magnet beside a compass that is slowly leading you off your path. "just party tonight", "do it later", "lets go on holidays" etc. My girl gives me the time and space to work hard and stay focused. Shes a keeper.

 

[Fox]

Started using FreshBooks in the last 48 hours to do professional quotes, payments and some accountancy. I am already very impressed. Really good customer service, I didn't even get a dial tone or hold music when I called- straight to a real person. I am stepping up all the small things to become a more professional service.

 

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[Longinus]

I find this amazing, you're on your way to become a FL-legend.

How long can you legally stay in Colombia? Or do you just have to visit the Irish embassy after a while?

 

[Fox]

I find this amazing, you're on your way to become a FL-legend.

How long can you legally stay in Colombia? Or do you just have to visit the Irish embassy after a while?

You get 180 days as a tourist every year. I start studying Spanish soon in a University so I have a student visit till end of Jan next year. I will go back on the tourist visa then for a little bit and get a business visa afterwards. That is the plan anyway.

 

[Fox]

I did eight hours at Colombian visa office yesterday and coming up on my seventh hour today. Trying to get my student visa fully approved. I just got the sticker in my passport with my picture taken - it looks like I will murder someone. Frustrating when I have a business to run and 95% of the day is waiting for your number to be called to talk for twenty seconds and then join another line of waiting for 2-3 hours.

 

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[Kingmaker]

I did eight hours at Colombian visa office yesterday and coming up on my seventh hour today. Trying to get my student visa fully approved. I just got the sticker in my passport with my picture taken - it looks like I will murder someone. Frustrating when I have a business to run and 95% of the day is waiting for your number to be called to talk for twenty seconds and then join another line of waiting for 2-3 hours.

Start a expedited Colombian visas business on the side

 

[ejames]

I have a girlfriend. If I didn't though there are plenty of opportunities to have fun here. I am just back from training and the gym I go to has a few dozen models who train there along with lots of really nice regular girls. I have been single for years but I am enjoying switching it up and having a great connection with one girl. Her parents are self made and very successful and she is a great girl who backs me 100% so I am happy out.

One thing I have learned in the last few years is the right girl (or guy for those female entrepreneurs) can make or break you. A bad girlfriend is like a magnet beside a compass that is slowly leading you off your path. "just party tonight", "do it later", "lets go on holidays" etc. My girl gives me the time and space to work hard and stay focused. Shes a keeper.

Im staying single and focus until i make it. Definitely don't want any distractions

 

[Fox]

So quick update.

I have been working steady on scaling up. I think I can get a steady flow of jobs between 3-8k so the challenge is going to be doing these websites faster without dropping off on quality or service. At the moment I have one guy in sales and a content writer.

I am working towards...
3 sales people
Content writer
Designer (logos, pictures, graphics etc)
Hosting & Wordpress - uploads, wordpress, maintance etc. I kind of already have someone for this.

I am happy with the progress over the last two months. Income was very small for the first few months. Last month was nearly 10k between some sales and web design. This month is not as much (traveling) but I think 10k or more will be possible again for July.

I have been using FB ads with great success. LinkedIn is going to be my next focus for sale leads for web design.

As well as cash jobs I have been getting involved with certain companies with profit sharing off web site sales. I do the design for "free" and then take a certain percentage off any sales that go through the website. Not a huge earner yet but I think by year end it will pay off.
One is already active and in the next month I will have have two more such arrangements with an established event business and also a huge annual conference event that is starting up. These types of jobs are also great for making personal business connections. On going partnerships are great and I love the experience of doing more than just web design.


On the "Fastlane" side my web business is coming along okay. I need more time to just get a basic version up and gauge interest and potential. Its lead generation and on the seller side the interest and need has been huge - they want the site yesterday. I still have to see if it will work on the seller side - which means actually putting something up and start selling. I have an end goal in mind for the end goal but I need to start small and see what the market is really saying. @Andy Black has given me some excellent advice on this and I hope to have a simple version up soon and start testing the Adwords advice he has given.

That's it for now. y daily habits post I have made has really been helping with some huge progress and the second half of this year will be very exciting. Thanks to everyone who has been PMing me advice and feedback also and glad to help people too when I can.

 

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[goodguude]

Just found your thread - it's really motivating. Thanks for sharing the experience and your progress with us!

You are kind of an inspiring example for me!

 

[redthumb]

What the amount you set aside to cover you for the first year? i know it depends on the rent just wanted to get your number on it.

 

[Fox]

Think I am about to close my first $10,00+ deal. High end engineering firm. I am moving towards targeting the construction/engineering/oil&gas sector. Huge money and huge inefficiencies. Most have websites that are years outdated and there is massive room for improvement.
@Ubermensch construction all the way!

So I have increased my web design from $100 to $10,000 per job within only a few months. So 100 times increase with maybe a double in skill set.
Hows this possible?

- "fired" all small time clients (those who think and act small, scarcity)
- targeted the biggest baddest companies with problems I can fix who have big pockets
- value based pricing. I don't even mention time or hourly rates. I can solve million dollar problems and it only costs a fraction of that profit
- Slowly increasing my professional image. Still not there yet but looking and acting the part of what I sell.
- Hiring a top notch sales guy who I am happy to help out. For the recent thread on here about is it possible to be an honest successful sales person - this guy walks away with several thousand a month for less than a days work. He knows the network and he just puts people in touch. its funny actually cause it all goes down on the golf course or at a football game. I am happy to fund the cliche sales lifestyle!
- Outsourcing. Still not there yet but I am moving towards only doing 30-40% of the work.
- Pure absorption with great books, people and resources. So much on this forum. If people never posted again its still all here.

I think the ceiling on this could be 30-50k a month if I keep on track for the next 12 months. Just need a solid portfolio to move up a few more levels to the bigger fish.

The biggest hurdles are consistent and higher sales (second sales guy?) and my personal limit on time. I am studying Spanish every day now in University so that takes up a massive chunk of time.

I still have to launch my own web business but its getting very close. Plan is to do a basic MVP (simple landing page in this case), test Adwords results, and then proceed with a full site based on the feedback. I am nearly finished Lean Start Up and I am following that method very closely. First time doing this so its taking longer than expected but I am working on it consistently so it will get there.

 

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[Lanefaster]

Hey, nice thread! Really love your devotion to being a Fastlaner and bringing value to other people's lives. Entrepreneurial mindset FTW!

I still have to launch my own web business but its getting very close. Plan is to do a basic MVP (simple landing page in this case), test Adwords results, and then proceed with a full site based on the feedback. I am nearly finished Lean Start Up and I am following that method very closely. First time doing this so its taking longer than expected but I am working on it consistently so it will get there.

So I searched about using landing page as an MVP and found a little controversial article about your plan. What do you think?
On the other side there still seems to be ton of info about successful utilization of landing pages (e.g. see this Quora article).

Regards

 

[goodguude]

Hey Fox,
glad to hear that your business is constantly improving!

May I ask which resources you used to get into web development / coding?