Davel
New Contributor
Hey Fastlaners, want to get a fun/informative thread going. Obviously many of you are very successful entrepreneurs, but you didn't start out that way. Whatever your business is, there was probably a learning curve in the business world for you. I'm hoping to start a discussion on some of your trials and tribulations you experienced when you first started your business, as well as how long it took you to really start making enough money to support your lifestyle.
For example, some of the mistakes you made when you first started (could be humorous or terrifying), some of the things you thought you were an expert in, but realized you were actually more of an amateur, etc...
I'll start it off. For me, my biggest obstacle was marketing. When I first started, I thought that all I had to do was set up a website and people would "magically" find out about my business (service industry, not a product). We were on the FOURTH page of google when you typed in my EXACT COMPANY NAME! And I still thought people would find us. I was so afraid to "pester" people by marketing, that I would go out at midnight when there weren't people around and try to find places to put flyers. I would friend random people on Facebook and message them a quick "ad" about my company (got banned from Facebook for over a month for too much spamming, haha).
Definitely got things straightened out now, but still got a long way to go.
*I tried to search for a thread like this, so if this already exists I apologize for repeating it.
For example, some of the mistakes you made when you first started (could be humorous or terrifying), some of the things you thought you were an expert in, but realized you were actually more of an amateur, etc...
I'll start it off. For me, my biggest obstacle was marketing. When I first started, I thought that all I had to do was set up a website and people would "magically" find out about my business (service industry, not a product). We were on the FOURTH page of google when you typed in my EXACT COMPANY NAME! And I still thought people would find us. I was so afraid to "pester" people by marketing, that I would go out at midnight when there weren't people around and try to find places to put flyers. I would friend random people on Facebook and message them a quick "ad" about my company (got banned from Facebook for over a month for too much spamming, haha).
Definitely got things straightened out now, but still got a long way to go.
*I tried to search for a thread like this, so if this already exists I apologize for repeating it.
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