I'm slowly building my new venture, and hit a milestone, so it's time for Round 1 of a Progress Thread. I have all the usual excuses: I'm old, have variable health issues, live in a small place, mostly unemployable, and practically skill-less.
Here's what I did after Covid ate my baby:
1. I stopped. I just freaking stopped freaking out. My consulting business was gone, because my pipeline clients would rather make payroll than hire me, and I couldn't blame them. The state and county was in lockdown, I didn't know where to turn next, and I was about to get married. So I quit. I quit everything, including thinking about it. Fortunately, my savings saw me through.
2. I got a stupid part time day job. I am now a *cashier* at Home Depot. I can think of fewer things I am so extraordinarily unqualified for, but they hired me anyway. Yes, I hate it, thanks. When it's slow, I ponder all the decisions that led me to that moment. It's very motivational.
3. As Vizzini said, go back to the beginning: I started with what I knew. I wanted to use my organizational skills and science background to create a Productocracy, based on my own Path of Least Resistance, and Deep Work and Work the System principles. I reread all 4 books, and others.
4. I started ASKING QUESTIONS. What do people want, where is there a hole in the system, where can I insert my skills in such a way as to obviously build up a business that I can later franchise and sell? Bonus to working at Home Depot: I had a willing and captive clientele in front of my face, already paying me money. I talked to a whole lotta contractors.
5. I bought the WTS training. I bought the full package of a scheduling software training. I ran my idea of a scheduling service past all those contractors.
6. I started doing cleanups on my own to make sure I was quoting the right prices. Out of one lousy job (where I didn't get paid for 3 months, and lost a friend), I got a customer.
7. I used the premature systems to get independent contractors in to do the work. I babysat them a bit because I was nervous.
8. I got paid!
Which leads us up to this week: that client was selling a house, and the new owner asked for a quote. In talking with potential subcontractors, it became clear that I need to get my General Contractors license in order to grow the business the way I need to. So I took that $430 and bought more training, so I can take the state licensing exam in 2 weeks. In the meantime, I bought all the attendant software and a Zapier account, and I'm trying to make everyone play nice together.
Yesterday, I saw my lawyer in the store, and told him all about it. He wants to be my beta tester for the full rollout. He ASKED. I'm floored. Not a single person has told me it's a bad idea. Some people have had really great suggestions. I had to change the business name with the state. Things are moving, but it's slow.
A few years ago, I took up running, and I looked ridiculous. But I decided that if it *looked* like running, then it counted as running. This is the same thing: it doesn't matter how slow I go, as long as I'm moving.
Here's what I did after Covid ate my baby:
1. I stopped. I just freaking stopped freaking out. My consulting business was gone, because my pipeline clients would rather make payroll than hire me, and I couldn't blame them. The state and county was in lockdown, I didn't know where to turn next, and I was about to get married. So I quit. I quit everything, including thinking about it. Fortunately, my savings saw me through.
2. I got a stupid part time day job. I am now a *cashier* at Home Depot. I can think of fewer things I am so extraordinarily unqualified for, but they hired me anyway. Yes, I hate it, thanks. When it's slow, I ponder all the decisions that led me to that moment. It's very motivational.
3. As Vizzini said, go back to the beginning: I started with what I knew. I wanted to use my organizational skills and science background to create a Productocracy, based on my own Path of Least Resistance, and Deep Work and Work the System principles. I reread all 4 books, and others.
4. I started ASKING QUESTIONS. What do people want, where is there a hole in the system, where can I insert my skills in such a way as to obviously build up a business that I can later franchise and sell? Bonus to working at Home Depot: I had a willing and captive clientele in front of my face, already paying me money. I talked to a whole lotta contractors.
5. I bought the WTS training. I bought the full package of a scheduling software training. I ran my idea of a scheduling service past all those contractors.
6. I started doing cleanups on my own to make sure I was quoting the right prices. Out of one lousy job (where I didn't get paid for 3 months, and lost a friend), I got a customer.
7. I used the premature systems to get independent contractors in to do the work. I babysat them a bit because I was nervous.
8. I got paid!
Which leads us up to this week: that client was selling a house, and the new owner asked for a quote. In talking with potential subcontractors, it became clear that I need to get my General Contractors license in order to grow the business the way I need to. So I took that $430 and bought more training, so I can take the state licensing exam in 2 weeks. In the meantime, I bought all the attendant software and a Zapier account, and I'm trying to make everyone play nice together.
Yesterday, I saw my lawyer in the store, and told him all about it. He wants to be my beta tester for the full rollout. He ASKED. I'm floored. Not a single person has told me it's a bad idea. Some people have had really great suggestions. I had to change the business name with the state. Things are moving, but it's slow.
A few years ago, I took up running, and I looked ridiculous. But I decided that if it *looked* like running, then it counted as running. This is the same thing: it doesn't matter how slow I go, as long as I'm moving.
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