Making this thread to track my journey. 07/15/2024
I've been a member of this forum since 2017 when I first read The Millionaire Fastlane . That book changed my life by transforming my mindset and making me value my time more than ever. I've been a professional mountain biker full-time since I was 27, and now at 36, I'm on a new journey to diversify my income and dive into the fast lane. Here's some context before I dive into the project's details:
Getting to where I am today hasn't been easy, and I'm ready for even bigger challenges. I'm posting here to make myself more accountable, document the process, and create a thread full of value and milestones.
Since I was 14, I've been obsessed with riding bikes and learning tricks and I've always had an entrepreneurial mindset, making a terrible employee and dreaming of working for myself. However, I struggled with confidence as a kid. Being physically smaller and very introverted did not help. For a long time, I put others' needs over my own, but in my late 20s, I got fed up. At 27, I finally made my dream a reality when I had enough paid sponsorships as a mountain biker to quit my other part-time jobs. The last nine years have been a journey of growth, learning, and diversifying my income streams.
I am confident in my ability to continue for many years, as I focus on content, storytelling, and adventures rather than competing. My loyal sponsors highly value me, and I feel very secure. I am very popular in my sport with over 2 million followers, but it's time for growth and to jump into the fast lane. My current income streams include:
- 1-2 year term brand endorsements
- YouTube ad revenue
- Partnering with tourism boards to showcase mountain bike destinations
- Random short-term collaborations via my agent (I am very selective about these to stay on brand)
- Partnering with tour operators to promote trips where fans can come ride with me
My monthly income averages between $12,000 - $20,000 USD, but my schedule is insanely full, and I am overworking myself. I currently do all my own video editing and a big portion of the filming myself. This is very consuming, and I need to free up my time. I also need to create a system that gives me full control. If all my partnerships cut their budgets tomorrow, I would be in a bad place.
Although the least lucrative, I love partnering with tour operators more than anything else. I love that in-person connection with my fans and exploring new places. A few years ago, I met a web developer on one of my tours in Tibet. We discussed creating a platform where people can find more of these experiences, not just for mountain biking but for all action and adventure sports.
Fast forward to 2024, and we have finally started this new endeavor at full speed! We have spent the last six months developing and testing a SaaS platform for tour operators. They will pay a monthly fee to create their own tours and manage communication with their customers. For an additional fee, we will promote and market them on all our social channels.
As of today, everything is ready to go public. We have rigorously tested the system and are ready to start reaching out to operators and building our customer base.
Over the last five years, I've seen many pain points operators experience, with the two biggest being:
1. They are incredible guides but poor digital marketers.
2. When planning trips and communicating with a group, communication often turns into a messy chain of emails.
To solve this, we will beautifully present all their experiences on our platform and offer promotional services. Version 1 is very simple and mobile-friendly. With our integrated group chat feature, users can join tour-specific chats, ensuring everyone is on the same page every step of the way. No more juggling emails; pinned posts allow users to download vital PDFs, sign documents, upload passport copies, etc.
Our dashboard provides insights into an operator's tour operations, enabling them to make data-driven decisions.
We haven't decided on pricing yet, but we plan to have different tiers to unlock features. Finding a travel insurance partner could also be a great source of revenue for our platform.
Now it's time to GO! I will be dedicating all my evenings to this project. If anyone here has experience building a similar business model, I would love to hear your story and receive any advice.
I'm excited to document my journey here with this community of inspiring entrepreneurs. Let's go!
I've been a member of this forum since 2017 when I first read The Millionaire Fastlane . That book changed my life by transforming my mindset and making me value my time more than ever. I've been a professional mountain biker full-time since I was 27, and now at 36, I'm on a new journey to diversify my income and dive into the fast lane. Here's some context before I dive into the project's details:
Getting to where I am today hasn't been easy, and I'm ready for even bigger challenges. I'm posting here to make myself more accountable, document the process, and create a thread full of value and milestones.
Since I was 14, I've been obsessed with riding bikes and learning tricks and I've always had an entrepreneurial mindset, making a terrible employee and dreaming of working for myself. However, I struggled with confidence as a kid. Being physically smaller and very introverted did not help. For a long time, I put others' needs over my own, but in my late 20s, I got fed up. At 27, I finally made my dream a reality when I had enough paid sponsorships as a mountain biker to quit my other part-time jobs. The last nine years have been a journey of growth, learning, and diversifying my income streams.
I am confident in my ability to continue for many years, as I focus on content, storytelling, and adventures rather than competing. My loyal sponsors highly value me, and I feel very secure. I am very popular in my sport with over 2 million followers, but it's time for growth and to jump into the fast lane. My current income streams include:
- 1-2 year term brand endorsements
- YouTube ad revenue
- Partnering with tourism boards to showcase mountain bike destinations
- Random short-term collaborations via my agent (I am very selective about these to stay on brand)
- Partnering with tour operators to promote trips where fans can come ride with me
My monthly income averages between $12,000 - $20,000 USD, but my schedule is insanely full, and I am overworking myself. I currently do all my own video editing and a big portion of the filming myself. This is very consuming, and I need to free up my time. I also need to create a system that gives me full control. If all my partnerships cut their budgets tomorrow, I would be in a bad place.
Although the least lucrative, I love partnering with tour operators more than anything else. I love that in-person connection with my fans and exploring new places. A few years ago, I met a web developer on one of my tours in Tibet. We discussed creating a platform where people can find more of these experiences, not just for mountain biking but for all action and adventure sports.
Fast forward to 2024, and we have finally started this new endeavor at full speed! We have spent the last six months developing and testing a SaaS platform for tour operators. They will pay a monthly fee to create their own tours and manage communication with their customers. For an additional fee, we will promote and market them on all our social channels.
As of today, everything is ready to go public. We have rigorously tested the system and are ready to start reaching out to operators and building our customer base.
Over the last five years, I've seen many pain points operators experience, with the two biggest being:
1. They are incredible guides but poor digital marketers.
2. When planning trips and communicating with a group, communication often turns into a messy chain of emails.
To solve this, we will beautifully present all their experiences on our platform and offer promotional services. Version 1 is very simple and mobile-friendly. With our integrated group chat feature, users can join tour-specific chats, ensuring everyone is on the same page every step of the way. No more juggling emails; pinned posts allow users to download vital PDFs, sign documents, upload passport copies, etc.
Our dashboard provides insights into an operator's tour operations, enabling them to make data-driven decisions.
We haven't decided on pricing yet, but we plan to have different tiers to unlock features. Finding a travel insurance partner could also be a great source of revenue for our platform.
Now it's time to GO! I will be dedicating all my evenings to this project. If anyone here has experience building a similar business model, I would love to hear your story and receive any advice.
I'm excited to document my journey here with this community of inspiring entrepreneurs. Let's go!
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