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XxThelionxX

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I missed the point to this! Even as simple as it seems...

I took it as to completely let go of self-help! But self-help is good. In the afterhours, or spare time. It's to put your focus on getting client's results. Weather that's ppc, IG, or else.

It doesn't matter to look in a book every now and again. But we want to be masters at what we are doing. When all it takes is some basic interpretations.

I'm glad I had the change to re-read this!

WE have been sold a lie,
-to do something you can't fail!

When in reality it's holding us back. I was spending all my time in the wrong direction. And then again I was going to spend hours, maybe even day's trying to master PPC. When all I need to do is get down the basic stuff. To tell you the truth. I've done it before. I might just post one up and be done with it!
 
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Andy Black

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I missed the point to this! Even as simple as it seems...

I took it as to completely let go of self-help! But self-help is good. In the afterhours, or spare time. It's to put your focus on getting client's results. Weather that's ppc, IG, or else.

It doesn't matter to look in a book every now and again. But we want to be masters at what we are doing. When all it takes is some basic interpretations.

I'm glad I had the change to re-read this!

WE have been sold a lie,
-to do something you can't fail!

When in reality it's holding us back. I was spending all my time in the wrong direction. And then again I was going to spend hours, maybe even day's trying to master PPC. When all I need to do is get down the basic stuff. To tell you the truth. I've done it before. I might just post one up and be done with it!
This can be summed up in a few one liners that Andy has used a few times around here.

"Start"
"Engage the market in hand to hand combat"


No secret to this stuff really you just have to dive right in and get after it.
Agreed guys.

I think it boils down to this:
 

Ing

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Reminds me to my youth. A short episode, no one must read, my life is not so important.
Well. When i was about 15 or 16 years, I read much. Accidently I got into my fingers How ToGet Friends.... . I loved psychology and so, when we had boring family meeting s , I started to ask people about their interests. Everybody likes to talk about what he loves. So in quite short time, i knew for a 16 yr old much about clothes, real estate, dogs, cats, cars, bikes, boats... and all what people can be interested.

Because on every other meeting, party, crowd, i did the same.

And by the time, i often was told by my parents, that many people held me for an expert just in their own field.

Wow. That was an impressive experience for my.

Well sorry to say, i didn’t use that to develop a direct business, but that made me joy and made my life much easier.

Now, 40 years later, as i was remembered to that by this thread, i ll try that technique again. Ill get a e-commerce pro! ;);)
By know, i know already, how to start the laptop!

When you read all till now: thanks for your interest!
 

AbhiRaj

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I find people typically underestimate the value they can add. The way we've been taught in schools and universities makes us think we have to be an expert.

Back in 2009 I was an IT consultant. I was trying to get out of being an IT consultant. I looked after databases, which is kind of back end boring stuff, but mission critical. But I always knew I was seen as a cost. I wanted to get into something a bit more sexy, like front end web development or something like that. Part of it was that when I was at a wedding or something, if anybody asked me what I did for a living, it was pretty damned boring to tell them I was a database administrator. How does it sound -- Oh, I can write some backup scripts for you. That's not very appealing, is it?

Anyway, because I know how I learn, I decided not to pick up a book and try and learn how to build websites. Instead I looked around at people I knew to see if there was anybody who needed help. I had a friend who was an electrician. This was 2009 so the economy was tanking and basically, all his work had dried up. Things were so bad, he had to hand his van back. This is a man with a wife and two kids and a baby on the way. A man who does electrical work for a living and he's having to hand his van back. That's the beginning of the end for him. Where does he go from there?

I remember talking to him and asking him how things were going. He just kind of looked me in the eye and he didn't say "bad" or anything like that, but I could tell he was staring into the abyss. So I wanted to help him. I thought he'd be a great project for me. "Project"... That's a bad word for it, isn't it?

My mission became -- help this guy get more work. Not build a website. I remember talking to him and saying that I was learning how to build a website. He bit my hand off down to my ankle. Snap decision.

Created the first site in Joomla! I found that pretty complicated. Then found WordPress; threw up a template; got his site up. He loved it, but it didn't get him any phone calls. I then got a book on SEO, search engine optimization, and got him ranked top for Kildare electrician, Kildare being the county we live in. He still had no phone calls though.

An AdWords voucher fell out of another book I was looking at. I created an account and threw the fifty Euros into it. Bid on things like -- electrician Kildare; Kildare electrician; Dublin electrician; wiring and rewiring and things like that. I remember being on a client site in their IT team and my phone rang and he'd rung to tell me, "Andy, Andy, I've had a phone call!". I was in a bit of a daze, to be honest. I stood up; I didn't even know I'd stood up. So I walked around with a phone to my ear, "What? You had a call?" I was delighted. Wow, it works! This is amazing. So you can imagine how he felt. "Andy, it works! It's working!" That month, he had a steady stream of leads and phone calls, enough to keep him afloat. Enough to give him hope. It was a happy ending to a story for my friend.

I'll go through a few of my AdWords learnings from that campaign another time. What's more important to realize is that my goal was not to learn how to build websites. It wasn't even to build a website. My goal wasn't to build a website. My goal was to help somebody I knew get more work. Didn't matter whether it was a Joomla! website, a WordPress website. Didn't matter what the theme was. It didn't matter whether I knew SEO. I'd never heard of AdWords until that voucher fell out of a book. I loaded it up; it started working; I concentrated on that.

If you want to start a business, don't think about starting a business. Don't think about growing a business. Just find somebody who needs help and then go and help them. You don't have to be an expert. He's an electrician. He assumed because I was in IT that I would be able to help him.

If I hadn't got beyond the "programming" in school, I might have said, "Well I better go on a course and learn how to create websites, a five day course. I probably should create a business card for my own business -- whatever that is. Probably should learn logo design and all that kind of stuff."

No. It's a lot simpler than that. Just help people. Help people. Everything else falls into place.

Thanks Andy
TRANSCRIPTION

I find people typically underestimate the value they can add. The way we've been taught in schools and universities makes us think we have to be an expert.

Back in 2009 I was an IT consultant. I was trying to get out of being an IT consultant. I looked after databases, which is kind of back end boring stuff, but mission critical. But I always knew I was seen as a cost. I wanted to get into something a bit more sexy, like front end web development or something like that. Part of it was that when I was at a wedding or something, if anybody asked me what I did for a living, it was pretty damned boring to tell them I was a database administrator. How does it sound -- Oh, I can write some backup scripts for you. That's not very appealing, is it?

Anyway, because I know how I learn, I decided not to pick up a book and try and learn how to build websites. Instead I looked around at people I knew to see if there was anybody who needed help. I had a friend who was an electrician. This was 2009 so the economy was tanking and basically, all his work had dried up. Things were so bad, he had to hand his van back. This is a man with a wife and two kids and a baby on the way. A man who does electrical work for a living and he's having to hand his van back. That's the beginning of the end for him. Where does he go from there?

I remember talking to him and asking him how things were going. He just kind of looked me in the eye and he didn't say "bad" or anything like that, but I could tell he was staring into the abyss. So I wanted to help him. I thought he'd be a great project for me. "Project"... That's a bad word for it, isn't it?

My mission became -- help this guy get more work. Not build a website. I remember talking to him and saying that I was learning how to build a website. He bit my hand off down to my ankle. Snap decision.

Created the first site in Joomla! I found that pretty complicated. Then found WordPress; threw up a template; got his site up. He loved it, but it didn't get him any phone calls. I then got a book on SEO, search engine optimization, and got him ranked top for Kildare electrician, Kildare being the county we live in. He still had no phone calls though.

An AdWords voucher fell out of another book I was looking at. I created an account and threw the fifty Euros into it. Bid on things like -- electrician Kildare; Kildare electrician; Dublin electrician; wiring and rewiring and things like that. I remember being on a client site in their IT team and my phone rang and he'd rung to tell me, "Andy, Andy, I've had a phone call!". I was in a bit of a daze, to be honest. I stood up; I didn't even know I'd stood up. So I walked around with a phone to my ear, "What? You had a call?" I was delighted. Wow, it works! This is amazing. So you can imagine how he felt. "Andy, it works! It's working!" That month, he had a steady stream of leads and phone calls, enough to keep him afloat. Enough to give him hope. It was a happy ending to a story for my friend.

I'll go through a few of my AdWords learnings from that campaign another time. What's more important to realize is that my goal was not to learn how to build websites. It wasn't even to build a website. My goal wasn't to build a website. My goal was to help somebody I knew get more work. Didn't matter whether it was a Joomla! website, a WordPress website. Didn't matter what the theme was. It didn't matter whether I knew SEO. I'd never heard of AdWords until that voucher fell out of a book. I loaded it up; it started working; I concentrated on that.

If you want to start a business, don't think about starting a business. Don't think about growing a business. Just find somebody who needs help and then go and help them. You don't have to be an expert. He's an electrician. He assumed because I was in IT that I would be able to help him.

If I hadn't got beyond the "programming" in school, I might have said, "Well I better go on a course and learn how to create websites, a five day course. I probably should create a business card for my own business -- whatever that is. Probably should learn logo design and all that kind of stuff."

No. It's a lot simpler than that. Just help people. Help people. Everything else falls into place.

Thanks Andy for your simple and effective advice!
Many people wait or stuck to start for being an expert.
Also It is good to know that 'database administrator' word is common between us.
 

Odysseus M Jones

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TLDR all the comments
when I was at a wedding or something, if anybody asked me what I did for a living, it was pretty damned boring to tell them I was a database administrator. How does it sound -- Oh, I can write some backup scripts for you. That's not very appealing, is it?

What do you tell people now?

My mission became -- help this guy get more work.
Have you found your 'why?'
 
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Andy Black

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Ronak

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The thread reminds of a few quotes:

"In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king."

and

"Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use. " -Steve Jobs

I am experiencing this as we speak.
 

H0bG0blin

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You don't need to be an expert

People typically underestimate the value they can add.

Often they feel they need to be an expert to help someone.

That's not the case.

In this video I talk about how I got started in my current business, before I'd even heard of AdWords.


(Transcription below.)

I have fairly recently joined the FLF and read TMFL as well as binged on a number of excellent threads in this forum. Appreciate the content and message you put out @Andy Black, I see you in many of the threads I have read so far and there is always great value in your posts for me. I am interested in web design and related fields and want to pursue that as a means of becoming self employed. @Fox has great threads on the forum and there has always been some post and mentions to the work that you do as well as @Lex DeVille.

I am just about to start your interview titled “How to quickly get started in business”. Not sure if you will address this in that audio clip, however I would appreciate if you could shed some light or give some input based on your experiences on starting a business in the UK, particularly on the aspect of going down the route as a sole trader or starting up a limited company.

I read online somewhere that any earnings under £1000 do not require any changes to your status with hmrc, however once it exceeds that amount you will have to start up a limited company, or change your status to self employed. I am employed at the moment, but not entirely sure of all the options available to me. I know the best option for me down the line would be to become a sole trader, however I would not have to do anything about that as long as my first one/two/three jobs don't exceed the £1000 threshold.

As this is the first step for me, it doesn’t make sense for me to quit my day job as I dont know how quickly I will be able to sustain myself. Based on your video, I assume you didn’t have to change your status with hmrc following you helping your friend, however what were your thoughts down the line when you did have to make a decision. Did you have to inform your employer of that decision? Was there any conflict of interest (although I doubt that was the case for you as Databases and Adwords are very different right)?
 
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Andy Black

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I have fairly recently joined the FLF and read TMFL as well as binged on a number of excellent threads in this forum. Appreciate the content and message you put out @Andy Black, I see you in many of the threads I have read so far and there is always great value in your posts for me. I am interested in web design and related fields and want to pursue that as a means of becoming self employed. @Fox has great threads on the forum and there has always been some post and mentions to the work that you do as well as @Lex DeVille.

I am just about to start your interview titled “How to quickly get started in business”. Not sure if you will address this in that audio clip, however I would appreciate if you could shed some light or give some input based on your experiences on starting a business in the UK, particularly on the aspect of going down the route as a sole trader or starting up a limited company.

I read online somewhere that any earnings under £1000 do not require any changes to your status with hmrc, however once it exceeds that amount you will have to start up a limited company, or change your status to self employed. I am employed at the moment, but not entirely sure of all the options available to me. I know the best option for me down the line would be to become a sole trader, however I would not have to do anything about that as long as my first one/two/three jobs don't exceed the £1000 threshold.

As this is the first step for me, it doesn’t make sense for me to quit my day job as I dont know how quickly I will be able to sustain myself. Based on your video, I assume you didn’t have to change your status with hmrc following you helping your friend, however what were your thoughts down the line when you did have to make a decision. Did you have to inform your employer of that decision? Was there any conflict of interest (although I doubt that was the case for you as Databases and Adwords are very different right)?
I’d already been self-employed for 9 years when I started helping my friend in 2009, and that was in Ireland.

Maybe @RazorCut can help with the UK specific queries?
 

Andy Black

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I will go through some of the threads/posts of @RazorCut on the chance that it has already been discussed there.
I don’t remember it being discussed but I know he’s based in the UK and has a similar amount of grey hair as me.
 
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RazorCut

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I will go through some of the threads/posts of @RazorCut on the chance that it has already been discussed there.

Thanks for the link Andy. As much grey hair as you? In your dreams my friend. :rofl:

@H0bG0blin you need to go self employed if you are offering a product or a service for payment. Most eBayers for example don't understand this concept. They don't get the fact that selling some of your unwanted possessions is fine but as soon as you start to buy or acquire stuff in order to sell on (like buying designer labels from charity shops or on-sale items in CostCo) you are running a business.

Currently "The very latest you can register with HMRC is 5 October after the end of the tax year during which you became self-employed."

So there is bags of time so don't sweat it. Just open a separate bank account (personal is fine to start with otherwise you will end up paying fee's) and make sure to use it only for business purposes. Mixing personal and business transactions in the same account is a nightmare. Much simpler to keep them separate from the onset. Always keep all your receipts and log them into a spreadsheet weekly or monthly so you will remember what the expense was for. I ran 2 businesses for many years just using excel. Paying for accounting software in the early days is a waste of money unless there is a real need for it.

I would suggest you get an accountant or book-keeper once business picks up and you are making money, and get them to help with your tax return. They will pay for themselves in TAX savings as they know what extras you can legitimately claim for. Registering with HMRC is simple and painless though you need to think about it a good few months in advance so you can get the security details through the post for your online account (unless they have digitised that side of the process these days).

The £1000 you made mention of is turnover by the way NOT profit. Technically you could turn over £1001 and make a £500 loss but you would still officially need to inform HMRC. Not that it would make much sense to do so. But, if you are following the letter of the law.....

I've been a sole trader and also have had several Limited Companies though I'm down to just one at the moment. Being a sole trader was much easier regarding documentation and bureaucracy and cheaper as well.

I wouldn't go down the Limited Company route unless it makes total financial sense. Also bear in mind the current VAT threshold is £85k. So you don't need to register for VAT until you hit that number within 12 months. However that is the mandatory limit. You can register with zero turnover at all. Sometimes it is worth the hassle to be VAT registered way before you need to be. You will have to do the sums and figure it out. If you are dealing only with large businesses who are all VAT registered then it may make sense depending on circumstances. If you are dealing with Joe public then trying to avoid it as long as possible is normally the way to go as you are basically making 20% more profit if you are charging the same rate as VAT registered businesses or it gives you a competitive advantage as you can undercut them by up to 20% and still make roughly the same amount of profit.

The danger here though is that businesses often stifle their growth to stay below the limit.

Happy to answer any questions either openly or via PM if you want to shoot me a line.
 
Last edited:

H0bG0blin

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Thanks for the link Andy. As much grey hair as you? In your dreams my friend. :rofl:

@H0bG0blin you need to go self employed if you are offering a product or a service for payment. Most eBayers for example don't understand this concept. They don't get the fact that selling some of your unwanted possessions is fine but as soon as you start to buy or acquire stuff in order to sell on (like buying designer labels from charity shops or on-sale items in CostCo) you are running a business.

Currently "The very latest you can register with HMRC is 5 October after the end of the tax year during which you became self-employed."

So there is bags of time so don't sweat it. Just open a separate bank account (personal is fine to start with otherwise you will end up paying fee's) and make sure to use it only for business purposes. Mixing personal and business transactions in the same account is a nightmare. Much simpler to keep them separate from the onset. Always keep all your receipts and log them into a spreadsheet weekly or monthly so you will remember what the expense was for. I read 2 businesses for many years just using excel. Paying for accounting software in the early days is a waste of money unless there is a real need for it.

I would suggest you get an accountant or book-keeper once business picks up and you are making money, and get them to help with your tax return. They will pay for themselves in TAX savings as they know what extras you can legitimately claim for. Registering with HMRC is simple and painless though you need to think about it a good few months in advance so you can get the security details through the post for your online account (unless they have digitised that side of the process these days).

The £1000 you made mention of is turnover by the way NOT profit. Technically you could turn over £1001 and make a £500 loss but you would still officially need to inform HMRC. Not that it would make much sense to do so. But, if you are following the letter of the law.....

I've been a sole trader and also have had several Limited Companies though I'm down to just one at the moment. Being a sole trader was much easier regarding documentation and bureaucracy and cheaper as well.

I wouldn't go down the Limited Company route unless it makes total financial sense. Also bear in mind the current VAT threshold is £85k. So you don't need to register for VAT until you hit that number within 12 months. However that is the mandatory limit. You can register with zero turnover at all. Sometimes it is worth the hassle to be VAT registered way before you need to be. You will have to do the sums and figure it out. If you are dealing only with large businesses who are all VAT registered then it may make sense depending on circumstances. If you are dealing with Joe public then trying to avoid it as long as possible is normally the way to go as you are basically making 20% more profit if you are charging the same rate as VAT registered businesses or it gives you a competitive advantage as you can undercut them by up to 20% and still make roughly the same amount of profit.

The danger here though is that businesses often stifle their growth to stay below the limit.

Happy to answer any questions either openly or via PM if you want to shoot me a line.

Thanks @RazorCut, lots of useful information! I agree with you about going down the sole trader route over the limited company, at least for my circumstance. Great idea opening a separate account to manage the business financials, it hadn't crossed my mind at this stage. Also I don't know enough about VAT and would have looked at it much later, but what you said makes perfect sense.

I know usually when starting something on the side, you do not have to inform your employer, however this personal side project is along the same vein as my current job. I am leaning towards speaking with my employer as I believe my side project will not detract any efforts from my current role at work and we will not be directly competing. Would you have any insights or advice to give on this aspect? For example would the timing of this discussion make a difference?
 

RazorCut

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I know usually when starting something on the side, you do not have to inform your employer, however this personal side project is along the same vein as my current job. I am leaning towards speaking with my employer as I believe my side project will not detract any efforts from my current role at work and we will not be directly competing. Would you have any insights or advice to give on this aspect? For example would the timing of this discussion make a difference?

Well only you know how your boss is liable to react. Personally, unless there was a direct conflict of interest, I wouldn't tell your employer anything. After all it can be described as a side hustle at the moment until it gets to a point where it is taking up most of your free time and earning you enough to maybe consider giving your job up for.

If there was a direct conflict of interest then that is a dilemma that is down to your conscience and also the terms of your contract of employment, as it may well contain clauses precluding such operations and may also state you cannot have another job and possibly run a separate business. All could lead to litigation if your boss was that way inclined. So best check the small print.

Bear in mind that many people have side hustles and hobbies and still more make money on the side as a direct consequence of their hobby. After all that's often how people end up starting businesses in the first place.

Either way I'd give it serious thought (and double check your terms of employment) before making that decision. After all now is probably not the best time to find yourself unemployed without an income coming in if telling your employer somehow blew up in your face.
 
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Private Witt

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TRANSCRIPTION

I find people typically underestimate the value they can add. The way we've been taught in schools and universities makes us think we have to be an expert.

Back in 2009 I was an IT consultant. I was trying to get out of being an IT consultant. I looked after databases, which is kind of back end boring stuff, but mission critical. But I always knew I was seen as a cost. I wanted to get into something a bit more sexy, like front end web development or something like that. Part of it was that when I was at a wedding or something, if anybody asked me what I did for a living, it was pretty damned boring to tell them I was a database administrator. How does it sound -- Oh, I can write some backup scripts for you. That's not very appealing, is it?

Anyway, because I know how I learn, I decided not to pick up a book and try and learn how to build websites. Instead I looked around at people I knew to see if there was anybody who needed help. I had a friend who was an electrician. This was 2009 so the economy was tanking and basically, all his work had dried up. Things were so bad, he had to hand his van back. This is a man with a wife and two kids and a baby on the way. A man who does electrical work for a living and he's having to hand his van back. That's the beginning of the end for him. Where does he go from there?

I remember talking to him and asking him how things were going. He just kind of looked me in the eye and he didn't say "bad" or anything like that, but I could tell he was staring into the abyss. So I wanted to help him. I thought he'd be a great project for me. "Project"... That's a bad word for it, isn't it?

My mission became -- help this guy get more work. Not build a website. I remember talking to him and saying that I was learning how to build a website. He bit my hand off down to my ankle. Snap decision.

Created the first site in Joomla! I found that pretty complicated. Then found WordPress; threw up a template; got his site up. He loved it, but it didn't get him any phone calls. I then got a book on SEO, search engine optimization, and got him ranked top for Kildare electrician, Kildare being the county we live in. He still had no phone calls though.

An AdWords voucher fell out of another book I was looking at. I created an account and threw the fifty Euros into it. Bid on things like -- electrician Kildare; Kildare electrician; Dublin electrician; wiring and rewiring and things like that. I remember being on a client site in their IT team and my phone rang and he'd rung to tell me, "Andy, Andy, I've had a phone call!". I was in a bit of a daze, to be honest. I stood up; I didn't even know I'd stood up. So I walked around with a phone to my ear, "What? You had a call?" I was delighted. Wow, it works! This is amazing. So you can imagine how he felt. "Andy, it works! It's working!" That month, he had a steady stream of leads and phone calls, enough to keep him afloat. Enough to give him hope. It was a happy ending to a story for my friend.

I'll go through a few of my AdWords learnings from that campaign another time. What's more important to realize is that my goal was not to learn how to build websites. It wasn't even to build a website. My goal wasn't to build a website. My goal was to help somebody I knew get more work. Didn't matter whether it was a Joomla! website, a WordPress website. Didn't matter what the theme was. It didn't matter whether I knew SEO. I'd never heard of AdWords until that voucher fell out of a book. I loaded it up; it started working; I concentrated on that.

If you want to start a business, don't think about starting a business. Don't think about growing a business. Just find somebody who needs help and then go and help them. You don't have to be an expert. He's an electrician. He assumed because I was in IT that I would be able to help him.

If I hadn't got beyond the "programming" in school, I might have said, "Well I better go on a course and learn how to create websites, a five day course. I probably should create a business card for my own business -- whatever that is. Probably should learn logo design and all that kind of stuff."

No. It's a lot simpler than that. Just help people. Help people. Everything else falls into place.

Great old post. I got a laugh out of the Joomla comment as I made my first site in 2010 in Joomla and decided never again would go down that road.
 
D

DeletedUser0287

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Don't like this mentality at all...

Sure you can start without being an expert, but your product or result will be mediocre due to not being an "expert."

Plus, because you are starting, just for the sake of starting you make many more mistakes, costing more money.

It is much better to do your due diligence and make your way to become an "expert"

Which is why most people who post stuff on here don't do big things because they have no knowledge to do so.

If you want to build a legacy, you need to be an expert.
 

RazorCut

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Don't like this mentality at all...

Sure you can start without being an expert, but your product or result will be mediocre due to not being an "expert."

Plus, because you are starting, just for the sake of starting you make many more mistakes, costing more money.

It is much better to do your due diligence and make your way to become an "expert"

Which is why most people who post stuff on here don't do big things because they have no knowledge to do so.

If you want to build a legacy, you need to be an expert.

But how do you become an expert? Surely it's not in due diligence, it's in the doing. Learning, failing forward. Honing your skills. Repetition produces consistent improvements much in the way of Andy's pottery analogy.

I totally get that you need to do your research and due diligence. Learn what you can, but if you are not careful then that's as far as it will get as people con themselves into thinking that researching a subject is taking action. It might make you an armchair expert but it won't make you an entrepreneur.

As a child I learnt to drive a car well before I sat behind the wheel, as I always watched my Dad diligently whenever I was in the front passenger seat. But, although I knew the mechanics of driving, boy was it a different experience being behind that wheel.
 
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D

DeletedUser0287

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But how do you become an expert? Surely it's not in due diligence, it's in the doing. Learning, failing forward. Honing your skills. Repetition produces consistent improvements much in the way of Andy's pottery analogy.

I totally get that you need to do your research and due diligence. Learn what you can, but if you are not careful then that's as far as it will get as people con themselves into thinking that researching a subject is taking action. It might make you an armchair expert but it won't make you an entrepreneur.

As a child I learnt to drive a car well before I sat behind the wheel, as I always watched my Dad diligently whenever I was in the front passenger seat. But, although I knew the mechanics of driving, boy was it a different experience being behind that wheel.

Depends on what it is. For example, a thing I am learning to do is developing a new material. Something like this is heavily based on knowledge and due diligence. If you go in with little knowledge, you will waste a lot of money on materials that could have been avoided by more knowledge. Just throw some random chemicals together and risk dying? There is no direction without knowledge.

I don't like the "just start" method because it is essentially going in blind. I have done this before and it was the worst mistake and most expensive mistake I ever made. You don't know what you don't know.

I would much rather execute with a head full of knowledge and learning from mistakes of others. It gives you direction as well and to know what is and isn't possible with current technology.

Edit: Just had this thought, "just start" works if you got deep pockets and can afford as many failures as possible.
 
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RazorCut

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Depends on what it is. For example, a thing I am learning to do is developing a new material.

Agreed, but that is rather more specialist that the vast majority of startups. Also it's very unlikely to be your first gig is it not? I mean I can't see many average Joe's saying oh I'll just create a brand new material unknown to science and build a business out of that. Or wouldn't it be neat not to have to keep replacing tyres on my car. I'll invent a zero energy levitation system that requires no tracks or road systems and build a business from there.

Elon Musk didn't start out with Space X after all.

Isn't this thread about encouraging those new to entrepreneurship off the bleachers and onto the field? Much in the way of my little steps thread I started some years ago.
 

Andy Black

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My point is: Focus on helping people/adding value instead of “becoming an expert”.

Sure, if you want to operate on people’s brains then you’d better study like heck and become an expert.

Too many people make becoming an expert their goal instead of helping people. If they focus on helping people they’ll often realise they can do so already.

You don’t *need* to be an expert. You *need* to help people or otherwise add value. If the only way to help people in your field is to become an expert then sure, you then need to become an expert (unless hiring an expert does the trick).

Have you watched the video or read the transcription @MoreValue? Maybe read the title in the voice I intended which is “You don’t NEED to be an expert”.
 
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Intax

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Through MJs Instagram Status I came again along this thread and reminded myself of the basis of entrepreneurship. Thanks for sharing this Andy :)
 

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Through MJs Instagram Status I came again along this thread and reminded myself of the basis of entrepreneurship. Thanks for sharing this Andy :)
Blimey. What do you mean by MJ's Instagram Status? Can you post a screenshot as I'm curious and don't understand Instagram.

Glad the post reminded you that it's not about us and our skill level, but about whether we're able to help someone.
 

Intax

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Blimey. What do you mean by MJ's Instagram Status? Can you post a screenshot as I'm curious and don't understand Instagram.

33413

When you swipe up it opens your thread :)

You are able to see that when you open MJs profile and click on his profile picture. It has a red circle around it. And it's only visible for 24 hours
 
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View attachment 33413

When you swipe up it opens your thread :)

You are able to see that when you open MJs profile and click on his profile picture. It has a red circle around it. And it's only visible for 24 hours
Nice. I didn’t know MJ had Instagram stuff running. Thanks for the screenshot @Intax.
 

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I just want to add that “trying to be an expert” is a form of procrastination too. I read this when I was procrastinating a lot and Was findways to stop it. I realised I had this problem of trying to be perfect (sending emails, writing a report, starting a personal project etc).

Quit trying to be perfect.
What counts is quality of effort, not perfect results. Don’t let yourself get bogged down with a preoccupation for perfectionism.

You can read more about this by clicking above or clicking here (I’m not sure if I can post links to another site, if I did break a rule please just delete this link) -
5 Ways Perfectionism Is Getting in Your Way | SUCCESS. Additional reading - https://link.medium.com/GWqqsrS3c7

anyway, all in all, it reminds me of Nike’s slogan “Just do it”.
 
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Andy Black

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thank you sir for reminding. this is very true... where can I hopefully find this people in need?..
“Never worry about numbers. Help people one at a time, and always start with the people closest to you.” (Mother Theresa)

Check out the first radio interview, and the inbound/sales braindump in my signature.
 
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mguttman

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You don't need to be an expert

People typically underestimate the value they can add.

Often they feel they need to be an expert to help someone.

That's not the case.

In this video I talk about how I got started in my current business, before I'd even heard of AdWords.


(Transcription below.)
The point made in your video is excellent!
 

themarkboogie

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WE have been sold a lie,
-to do something you can't fail!

When in reality it's holding us back.
You don't need to be an expert to teach. You just need to know a bit more than your student.

Some excellent stuff here, this place really is a gold mine. Continues to amaze me how simple a lot of this stuff is once you take a step back. Many of our "problems" are just mindset issues based on incorrect or invalidated beliefs.
 

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