Inspired by the 30 day challenge (to make $10 online in 30 days) I would like to challenge the younger members of this forum (like myself) that are still on the road to creating a successful fastlane business:
The Goal: To make $100 in one week via entrepreneurial means.
A few months ago, sick of waiting tables as my college casual job I decided one afternoon to letter-drop about 200 flyers to my local neighbourhood offering inexpensive computer support. At the time, I had no idea that this would be able to match my previous casual job.
This is not your be all and end all business (likely not to be fastlane scalable) but the relatively instant gratification reminds you why you put the time into escaping the rat race. I also believe there are some very valuable lessons learnt from undertaking this exercise:
1. Motivation: You can daydream about your future success all you want, but there is nothing quite like being paid from your own creation to keep morale high.
To those plagued by procrastination: Procrastinating almost always comes about because you don't believe the reward from your labour justifies the effort required to complete the task. The problem for many starting entrepreneurs, is not that becoming a millionaire isn't an enticing enough reward, its that when you're starting out, there's so much self doubt that you don't truly believe the reward is attainable. When you realise that you can go from 0 to $100/week in a few days – you start to doubt yourself less, trust me.
2. Learning to sell: While I was doing my first letter drop, I had a man outside his house genuinely interested in what I had seconds ago dropped in his box. Having been put on the spot I found myself poorly explaining what I was offering – a terrible pitch: I had no idea how to sell.
On the bus a few weeks ago, after overhearing a pair of older ladies grumbling about their computer I introduced myself, pulled out a flyer and pitched to them on the spot – a few months ago that would've been unheard of from me. Start getting some practice on the most valuable skill any entrepreneur can have.
3. Low consequence mistakes: There are plenty of lessons to learn applicable to all businesses. I liken my service to a stockbroker who paper-trades while learning the ropes. The stakes are small and thus sales faux pas and customer service mistakes can be learned without serious reprisal.
4. Business “Street Smartsâ€: Most have probably heard the equation success = idea x execution, and that no matter how great an idea is – if it's executed poorly, its bound to fail. Felix Dennis goes as far as saying that “if the execution is flawless, it sometimes barely matters what the idea is.†See this exercise as a way to improve your execution so that when that potential million dollar idea strikes, you know what to do with it.
A few tips on getting started:
With little time (only 1 week!) and limited resources a service can be the fastest way to get started.
MYTH: I don't have a service to offer. Washing cars, mowing laws, tutoring primary/high-school students – all could command a higher price than a casual wage job. If you can: add a wireless password to a network, install itunes or teach someone to burn a CD – you have enough knowledge to handle more than 80% of the call-outs I receive – why not clone it in your suburb. If you're worried about credibility have a “If I can't fix your problem, my service is free!†guarantee – and honour it.
On pricing: A typical computer technician call-out in my city is ~$120+. After a bit of experimenting I found that around ~$40/hr seemed to be the price most people would be willing to gamble on someone “technically†unqualified. I would recommend pricing low (relative to the normal rate for someone qualified) and adjusting up if the supply is more than you can handle. $40/hr is still a 100% increase on $18/hr waitering!
Are you game?
Having the advantage of flyers on bus-stops/shop windows/etc for a few months now, I will be joining anyone up to the challenge with a $400 personal target from Tuesday 30th June to Monday 6th July. Please let us know if you're bold enough to make your own $100 week and post your start date and keep us in the loop over the duration!
The Goal: To make $100 in one week via entrepreneurial means.
A few months ago, sick of waiting tables as my college casual job I decided one afternoon to letter-drop about 200 flyers to my local neighbourhood offering inexpensive computer support. At the time, I had no idea that this would be able to match my previous casual job.
This is not your be all and end all business (likely not to be fastlane scalable) but the relatively instant gratification reminds you why you put the time into escaping the rat race. I also believe there are some very valuable lessons learnt from undertaking this exercise:
1. Motivation: You can daydream about your future success all you want, but there is nothing quite like being paid from your own creation to keep morale high.
To those plagued by procrastination: Procrastinating almost always comes about because you don't believe the reward from your labour justifies the effort required to complete the task. The problem for many starting entrepreneurs, is not that becoming a millionaire isn't an enticing enough reward, its that when you're starting out, there's so much self doubt that you don't truly believe the reward is attainable. When you realise that you can go from 0 to $100/week in a few days – you start to doubt yourself less, trust me.
2. Learning to sell: While I was doing my first letter drop, I had a man outside his house genuinely interested in what I had seconds ago dropped in his box. Having been put on the spot I found myself poorly explaining what I was offering – a terrible pitch: I had no idea how to sell.
On the bus a few weeks ago, after overhearing a pair of older ladies grumbling about their computer I introduced myself, pulled out a flyer and pitched to them on the spot – a few months ago that would've been unheard of from me. Start getting some practice on the most valuable skill any entrepreneur can have.
3. Low consequence mistakes: There are plenty of lessons to learn applicable to all businesses. I liken my service to a stockbroker who paper-trades while learning the ropes. The stakes are small and thus sales faux pas and customer service mistakes can be learned without serious reprisal.
4. Business “Street Smartsâ€: Most have probably heard the equation success = idea x execution, and that no matter how great an idea is – if it's executed poorly, its bound to fail. Felix Dennis goes as far as saying that “if the execution is flawless, it sometimes barely matters what the idea is.†See this exercise as a way to improve your execution so that when that potential million dollar idea strikes, you know what to do with it.
A few tips on getting started:
With little time (only 1 week!) and limited resources a service can be the fastest way to get started.
MYTH: I don't have a service to offer. Washing cars, mowing laws, tutoring primary/high-school students – all could command a higher price than a casual wage job. If you can: add a wireless password to a network, install itunes or teach someone to burn a CD – you have enough knowledge to handle more than 80% of the call-outs I receive – why not clone it in your suburb. If you're worried about credibility have a “If I can't fix your problem, my service is free!†guarantee – and honour it.
On pricing: A typical computer technician call-out in my city is ~$120+. After a bit of experimenting I found that around ~$40/hr seemed to be the price most people would be willing to gamble on someone “technically†unqualified. I would recommend pricing low (relative to the normal rate for someone qualified) and adjusting up if the supply is more than you can handle. $40/hr is still a 100% increase on $18/hr waitering!
Are you game?
Having the advantage of flyers on bus-stops/shop windows/etc for a few months now, I will be joining anyone up to the challenge with a $400 personal target from Tuesday 30th June to Monday 6th July. Please let us know if you're bold enough to make your own $100 week and post your start date and keep us in the loop over the duration!
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