tl;dr - I am 24 years old. Recently moved to Scottsdale, AZ. Huge passion for business. Previously very healthy. Sick since November 2021 with suspected chronic inflammatory response syndrome (CIRS) caused by mold exposure and kicked into gear when sick with a virus. I have debilitating cognitive impairment, vision issues, fatigue, etc. Can only work a couple of hours per day. Have a website management business and a digital business acquisition company. Getting the work done anyway!
Background:
I'm 24 years old. Recently moved to Scottsdale, AZ. I love business and have been pursuing that since college after reading TMF and realizing I did not want to work in Finance. I hit rat-race escape velocity before graduating in 2021 and have been an entrepreneur since.
I was previously physically healthy and mentally sharp. I would eat clean foods and spend my free time rock climbing, weightlifting, and hiking at high elevations for 10+ miles in a day.
More than all of that, I love business. That is my true hobby and passion. I would work 10-hour days out of joy, not necessity.
I have two businesses:
- Website management/maintenance service
- Originally decided not to scale this, but now it is my primary focus
- Online business acquisition company
My Health Situation and Constraints:
In November 2021 I developed post-viral syndrome which I am still dealing with to this day. We suspect it is chronic inflammatory response syndrome (CIRS) caused by mold exposure while living in several water-damaged buildings throughout my life. About 20% of the population can't naturally detox mold from their system due to genetics. When I got sick with a rough virus, it sent my body over the edge into chronic inflammation. I now deal with constant fatigue, vision issues, trouble breathing, and, most significantly,
cognitive impairment.
My creativity and critical thinking skills are gone. I have short-term memory loss. I have difficulty communicating (worse via phone or in-person, but also struggle to write). During my worst period (late 2022), I couldn't read. I would forget the first half of a sentence before reaching the end of the sentence. I am also living in a constant dream-like state. The cognitive impairment is similar to being badly concussed.
I've only been able to work 2-3 hours per day, despite my desire to work much more than that. My body and mind will shut down for hours, days, or weeks if I push myself.
When I am able to work, the work is very challenging as my creativity and critical thinking skills are not there. I have trouble seeing the big picture of my businesses. I can only work in 10-20 minute bursts, followed by extended breaks. Of course, I have days where I am knocked down and can work very little (if at all).
The Plan:
Many entrepreneurs are told that they need to hustle and put in crazy hours to make their businesses succeed. This is
not a possibility for me. I must leverage people and systems to scale. I must hire experts to fill in my mental gaps and lack of creativity/critical thinking skills. All this must be done on a limited budget because I have plenty of health-related expenses right now (medications, doctor visits, special diet, etc.).
Website management business:
- $7,500 average monthly revenue.
- 50% net profit margin.
- Focused on maintaining, not scaling.
Currently running Google Search ads. Recently rebranded and lowered pricing significantly. I optimized our internal processes and the structure of our pricing plans to deliver nearly the same service for much lower labor.
The website management business is a solid base on income while the other business can be much more volatile.
Online business acquisition company:
- Monthly revenue:
- Jan-2023: $800
- Feb-2023: $761
- Mar-2023: $1,505
- Apr-2023: $3,820
- May-2023: $6,400
- Jun-2023: $6,650
- Sep-2023: $10,200
- Oct-2023: $12,500
- Nov-2023: $15,000
- Started in Summer 2022, although technically I've been buying/selling websites since 2017. Just finally taking it seriously.
- I have three web assets under this company right now. One is 1.5 years old and generating revenue; the second is new and not generating revenue, the third is one that I started in 2019, sold in 2021, and bought back in 2023 for 15% of what I sold it for
- The traffic on my revenue-generating website was hit by a Google update in April 2023 and I lost half of the revenue overnight. I've recovered and greatly surpassed the revenue about 2-3 months later.
- Current portfolio:
- Website #1
- Automotive
- Generating 98% of income for this business
- Started in May 2022.
- Planning to sell for $80-150k (formerly expected to sell for $400k+)
- Website #2
- Automotive
- Started in April 2023
- Looking to continue growth so it can start generating revenue
- Will be expanding more into YouTube
- Website #3
- Agriculture
- I started in 2019, sold in 2021, and bought back in 2023 for 15% of what I sold it for. Sold it again because I don't have time for it.
I bought a brand-new car a couple of weeks before I got sick. I wouldn't call it a mistake, but I realized wasn't looking forward to the monthly payments and depreciation that would affect my net worth. I started a website about the car in hopes of paying for my car payment. I've started a few small side-project websites in the past which have generated $100-500 per month. Nothing crazy.
Eventually, this website covered my monthly car payment.... Then my insurance... Then repairs... Then eventually got to $5,000+ per month in revenue in about 6 months. Now it's doing nearly $15k per month.
Unfortunately, with Google algorithm changes that are punishing small sites, traffic (and revenue has dropped 80-90% and still trending down. Trying to sell this site and focus on my website management business.
The Goal of This Thread:
There are a few things that I want to accomplish by starting this thread:
- Personal growth tracker
- I'm sure I've accomplished a lot while being sick... but I can't remember anything! I must track this to have gratitude.
- Inspiration for others
- If I can get the work done, so can you. With my severe constraints, there is no time for busy work. All my activities MUST be moving the businesses forward.
- Seeking business advice from others
- I really struggle to see the big picture with my business. My brain just can't zoom out and strategize. My creativity and idea-generation machine is gone. Getting business input from others would be greatly beneficial so I can generate new ideas and stay on track.
Business Goals:
These business goals need more work, but we'll start with this.
- Website #1: Selling for at least $75k as soon as possible. Missed out on hundreds of thousands of $ because of the traffic downturn, but the site grew more than I ever would've expected. Trying to see the positive side.
- Website #2: Grow to at least $5k month profit with a $50-60k investment.
- Website #3: SOLD for $3k
Notes:
- I am not directly seeking health advice. I have plenty of resources on that and spend most of my time on my health. However, if you've dealt with something similar and might have something that could be helpful, please feel free to PM me.
- Frequency of updates:
- I will update this progress thread weekly.
- I will be focusing on business updates but may add occasional health updates.
- I may occasionally add some quick updates during the week.
Let's do the work!
