selfmadebm
Contributor
- Joined
- May 18, 2014
- Messages
- 39
Hello Fastlaners
I was hoping to get some advice for my current situation as well as learn a bit more about members in the community by engaging with them.
My question is - how do you go about starting a business? And perhaps you could share how you went about starting your own business?
I realize that question is incredibly general and will likely incur the wrath of most of the members of this forum, but I am ready to take that and will gladly accept whatever real advice anyone is able to offer.
Here is my situation (and why I am asking that question).
I am 26 years old, an entrepreneur at heart, and 100% dedicated to the fastlane. I quit my corporate job when I was 24 to travel the world and start a business. I started a travel blog and after a few months started receiving offers from companies who were interested in buying links. A few months later I was making a few grand a month. I acquired more blogs, started building more blogs, as well as working with other bloggers as a broker for a commission. In total, this "business" profited about $120k for me last year.
But in the last 2-3 months it has pretty much come to an end as a result of exogenous factors, and what was once a $15-$20k a month business is now barely $1k a month.
So I'm pretty much back to square one except:
1) I have a lot more money saved up
2) I have a lot more skills, albeit it nothing particularly tangible that I think I can clearly start a business around
3) I know a lot more people
I am somewhat at a crossroads where I am ready to pursue that next big thing, but not really sure where I want to put my efforts, except that I am ready to be risky and go for the gold.
The problem is that I feel I am much better at growing a business than starting one, and the last one sort of fell into my lap (people came to me and offered to pay me for something, I didn't even have to sell them on the proposition), so I am not sure how to begin again now that it's over.
I have decided to spend some time implementing the methods of the foundation, which is to connect with industry professionals, learn about their business and problems, and see if there is a solution I can provide. I have read some of the threads in here about the foundation and they have not been overly positive, but I think the worst case scenario is I improve my communication skills so it won't be a waste.
I also spent some time brainstorming problems that I feel I have in my own day to day and then seeing if there were viable solutions for them that I could create, and make a business around that. For the most part, however, I did not find anything particularly exciting.
Lastly, I also feel that a lot of businesses come from people getting experience in an industry and then going off on their own or creating something for that industry, but as I left traditional work at 24 my experience is quite limited.
Appreciate your feedback, however harsh it may be!
I was hoping to get some advice for my current situation as well as learn a bit more about members in the community by engaging with them.
My question is - how do you go about starting a business? And perhaps you could share how you went about starting your own business?
I realize that question is incredibly general and will likely incur the wrath of most of the members of this forum, but I am ready to take that and will gladly accept whatever real advice anyone is able to offer.
Here is my situation (and why I am asking that question).
I am 26 years old, an entrepreneur at heart, and 100% dedicated to the fastlane. I quit my corporate job when I was 24 to travel the world and start a business. I started a travel blog and after a few months started receiving offers from companies who were interested in buying links. A few months later I was making a few grand a month. I acquired more blogs, started building more blogs, as well as working with other bloggers as a broker for a commission. In total, this "business" profited about $120k for me last year.
But in the last 2-3 months it has pretty much come to an end as a result of exogenous factors, and what was once a $15-$20k a month business is now barely $1k a month.
So I'm pretty much back to square one except:
1) I have a lot more money saved up
2) I have a lot more skills, albeit it nothing particularly tangible that I think I can clearly start a business around
3) I know a lot more people
I am somewhat at a crossroads where I am ready to pursue that next big thing, but not really sure where I want to put my efforts, except that I am ready to be risky and go for the gold.
The problem is that I feel I am much better at growing a business than starting one, and the last one sort of fell into my lap (people came to me and offered to pay me for something, I didn't even have to sell them on the proposition), so I am not sure how to begin again now that it's over.
I have decided to spend some time implementing the methods of the foundation, which is to connect with industry professionals, learn about their business and problems, and see if there is a solution I can provide. I have read some of the threads in here about the foundation and they have not been overly positive, but I think the worst case scenario is I improve my communication skills so it won't be a waste.
I also spent some time brainstorming problems that I feel I have in my own day to day and then seeing if there were viable solutions for them that I could create, and make a business around that. For the most part, however, I did not find anything particularly exciting.
Lastly, I also feel that a lot of businesses come from people getting experience in an industry and then going off on their own or creating something for that industry, but as I left traditional work at 24 my experience is quite limited.
Appreciate your feedback, however harsh it may be!
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