Hello Forum, Sidewalk Architect here.

[Desolation Row]

Hello fellow Fastlaners, after silent reading for a few weeks, it’s finally time to introduce myself.

My Name is Marcel and I'm from Austria. I'm 32 years old, am married, and have two children (a 3-year-old boy and a one-month-old girl.) I have recently finished my master's degree in architecture after many years of study and working 40 hours.

Over the last few years, I accumulated about 15k $ in debt, because of many stupid decisions I took living on the Sidewalk.

Last year I parted from the architecture office I worked for the last 10 years. I decided to try it on my own and started an agency for architectural visualization/photography. I made enough money to pay for our monthly costs (Combined with my wife's 20-hour job). I had trouble finding customers (Cold calling and sending out letters). The customers I had were very demanding and I had to work through weekends and nights to finish the projects on time. I decided it is time to finish my master's degree because it was always a bit of an excuse for me (I’ll start when I’ve finished my degree, … )

So I stopped working for four months and finished my thesis. Since then I started a 9 to 5 job again to sustain my family of four. I really had to readjust myself during the last months. I'm still unsure what to do with my agency because I think I overestimated the news for my services (It’s solving a problem many Architects decided themselves obviously). I have read about entrepreneurship passive income for some years, so I knew that my goal will be to build a business where I don’t have to trade (all) my time for money.

In the last month I both red TMF and UNSCRIPTED (Currently reading The Great Rat Race Escape ) because I saw the TMF Recommended on Reddit and it really rekindled my commitment to pursue my dreams. I started a journal with ideas and spent a few hours every day reading the threads in this goldmine Forum.

I really hope that I can commit and stay committed (One of my biggest problems… )
I'm so glad I found this great community. Thanks to all of you and of course especially to MJ

I feel like I forgot to mention some things, so please feel free to ask me anything!

 

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[Desolation Row]

I wanted to elaborate a bit more about my failed projects and why I think they failed.

Photozine Reviews (about 6 years ago): I built a review site for self-made/self-published art & photobooks. I contacted artists and photographers who sent me their work to review it on the page. My plan was to build content and then start a shop where the artists could sell their books. I made about 10 reviews and stopped because of a lack of interest.

Why I think I failed:

• I think I gave up WAY too early
• I'm not sure if I solved a problem
• Not enough promotion ( At this time I thought if I just launched the page people would find it. )

The Leica Guide (About 5 years ago): I started to get into Leica Cameras (An expensive german boutique camera brand) and discovered that a big group of Leica users are doctors, lawyers dentists that bought the cameras for their unrivaled quality and craftsmanship but had little experience in photography. I started a google ad campaign linked to a landing page with a mockup of a guide, especially for these cameras. I don't know the exact metrics anymore but I had about 5 people signing up for the newsletter within a week or so. Back then I didn't think that this is enough interest, so I never made the guide.

Why I think I failed:

• Again, gave up WAY too early
• This time I solved a problem for a very small niche, still not sure if there was enough interest.
• Marketing efforts and Copy are not sufficient.
• Made it for the wrong reasons (quick buck vs. sustainable business)

I would love to hear your opinions and critique.

To be continued -