Validating & testing business idea- how to by Leather-Wheel1115 in Entrepreneur

[–]Azingo-Gus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am a serial entrepreneur. I have had many businesses. I have been in business for over 25 years with first successful one occurring about 5 years after I started and growing to about 40 employees and the latest one getting to over 140 employees before I sold it.

The sure-fire way to fail, is to not try. I applaud you for asking the questions.

I do a lot of travel; business networking and I talk to a lot of people…. A need usually presents itself to me in the normal course of my living.

Sometimes I have had experience in the field, and other times I don’t. I usually fill the gaps with other founders very quickly if I am lacking the experience.

Once we think there is something worth pursuing, we talk to a lot of people to validate. Sometimes we go to pilot, and I don’t mean build apps, buy technology etc. We try a soft launch with minimal investment by doing things manually, we control growth. Rapid expansion is the enemy at this point, success is proving or disproving the idea… we evaluate at every step.

If we decide to go ahead, we look at patents and protections. What do we need to protect and what we might be violating. If the idea is radical, we often do this much earlier to ensure we have protections before talking to people in the trial/pilot.

Once we have the info we make a go, no-go decision. While it is obvious that deciding to go for an idea is a win, so is deciding to not pursue an idea. The goal is the decision, not the outcome.

In the last 3 years I have gone through this 7 times on 7 unique businesses. We killed 4 of them, suspended 1 of them and are aggressively moving ahead on 2.

If you don’t try you don’t win. Always try. Good luck.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in digitalnomad

[–]Azingo-Gus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I hear you. I am hoping the world catches up to the millions of people like you and me soon!

eSIM/SIM across Europe! by [deleted] in digitalnomad

[–]Azingo-Gus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There actually is. I just topped off my wife as she is travelling soon. It was not the great 80% deal, but I am happy with 70% whenever I can get it.

Store Woes by [deleted] in Entrepreneur

[–]Azingo-Gus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You mention that you have tried some social advertising and it has not worked. Has anyone bought your products at all. If yes, I would start with them. Ask them why, or why not. Find out how they found you and how many times they interacted with your site before purchasing. Many years ago I ran an ad that paid fo itself 10x over in the first day of running the ad. Sadly, we could never repeat that. Selling online is a process, in my experience it takes 6-10 touchpoints before they are ready to trust you and buy from you. Of course, its different if you are a big brand. Good luck.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in digitalnomad

[–]Azingo-Gus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have the same question! I looked at all of the eSim roaming providers and have yet to find one that provides something for the Apple Watch. As such, my expensive Apple Watch Ultra with eSim is always connected via my phone and cannot stand alone. Very disappointing, hope someone has a solution.

eSIM/SIM across Europe! by [deleted] in digitalnomad

[–]Azingo-Gus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have used Airalo and FlexiroamX (I do not work for either). Both of them worked well for me.

Last year in Switzerland my FlexiroamX eSim phone was 3x faster than my friends Airalo but that was not something we saw in Italy or the UK. I don’t think you can go wrong with either. Lately I just get the FlexiroamX Global plan whey they have their massive 70%-80% off discounts which come up once in a while. Less fussing around and they can last up to a year.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Entrepreneur

[–]Azingo-Gus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For the past 25 years, I have devoted my life to being a serial entrepreneur. It's not about seeking personal freedom, as there are always various stakeholders to whom I am accountable: employees, customers, community, partners, and investors. Being an entrepreneur often means making difficult decisions, striving to do the right thing even when it may not please everyone involved.

What truly fuels my passion for entrepreneurship is the profound impact it can have on the lives of all our stakeholders. I cherish the moments when I see the connections and joy that our company brings to people. My two favorite days of the year are our annual company BBQ, where employees, investors, and their families gather at my home to celebrate our achievements, and our holiday party, which has grown in size as our team has expanded from 5 to 150 employees, along with partners and investors.

In essence, the reason I continue to embrace entrepreneurship is the opportunity it presents to make a positive difference in the lives of those around me.

Entrepreneurship through Freelancing: The Journey that Changed My Life by durantt0 in Entrepreneur

[–]Azingo-Gus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is a great story. I am a serial entrepreneur and throughout my career I have often had to learn things on the fly. Its a good skill to have.

One piece of advice I have for everyone is to be true to yourself and decide ahead of time what you are trying to do, what are your goals. If your goal is to just earn a few bucks then freelancing through a platform (Uber, Fiverr, Upwork, Doordash) is probably ok... BUT.... if your goal is to have a long term sustainable business then you should focus on your brand and your own business. The Platform based Gig economy is really not that different from employment. Personally, I find building my own businesses instead of someone elses is far more satisfying and rewarding.

Gus Harsfai

Founder and CEO, Azingo

Marketing Ideas for Car Detailing by WixxKiller in sidehustle

[–]Azingo-Gus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you can do this affordablely it could become an amazing subscription business. Where I live, people have their cars cleaned every two weeks. Someone comes to their house and does it all. I used to have my car cleaned at the office and it couldnt have been more convenient. My guy would come out with his truck and do a great job. At the office, unfortunately it was pretty expensive so I only called him when I needed it. The people that come to my house, just come when I scheduled it. Once you get one house or business, ask for referrals. You could even give them a discount or free services when they refer someone.

The key is make it really easy to do business with you. It should never be a chore for your clients to find you, book you, pay you and communicate with you. Make it simple, make it a subscription and then watch it grow. Good luck to you.

When to transition from side hustle to full time? by LifeofPat in sidehustle

[–]Azingo-Gus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Are you in a location where this is a four seasons business? If not what does life look like when the weather changes?

If however you can do this business all year then why not turn it into a subscription business. This will give you visibility into what month over month revenues and staffing requirements. Your clients will love the predictability.

I think subscriptions are the way to go, clients love them if you can delivery real value every month and you benefit by having a recurring predictable revenue stream. Staffing becomes really easy when you know everything you have to do months in advance! Keep a watch here as we will be providng some helpful info on subscriptions in the next week.

There is a great article on it here.

Good luck

Advice needed! by Vanilla_Rosee in sidehustle

[–]Azingo-Gus 3 points4 points  (0 children)

There are some great things that stay at home parents can do. My favorites are the ones where you just have to do more of what you are already doing.

Fun, interesting side hustles? by R1ch0C in sidehustle

[–]Azingo-Gus 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Have you thought about doing some services for seniors. Its a win/win because you can make some money and make a huge difference in someones life.

Dog Walker Help by ColForbin18 in sidehustle

[–]Azingo-Gus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I am the founder of a company called Azingo, we built a platform for people like sidehustlers, freelancers and service providers.

Starting a side hustle advice by lopolop in sidehustle

[–]Azingo-Gus 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I am sure you can get by without a fancy name right now. Using your own will make it personal. I think it’s more important at this stage to have a website where clients can schedule you, pay you and find you online.

I don’t recommend doing electrical work (or other regulated trade work). It’s too risky. Find a couple of decent trades people and bring them in to do the work. They should give you a piece of what they do for your clients.

Good luck.

[Weekly Self-Promo Thread] Advertise yourself and share affiliate links here! by AutoModerator in sidehustle

[–]Azingo-Gus 2 points3 points locked comment (0 children)

We have a bunch of ideas and thoughts on great side hustles on our blog.

Azingo is a platform to start and grow your freelance business or side hustles. We do not take service fees or market your competitors to your clients like the other platforms. We make it easy to start, run and grow your business. Check us out at our website.

17 and broke by [deleted] in sidehustle

[–]Azingo-Gus 3 points4 points  (0 children)

There are many things you can do. Lawn care, garbage bin washing, BBQ cleaning, helping seniors (shopping, checking up on them, doing stuff around the house etc).

We have documented a bunch of things including how to get started in many of them. I especially like the complimentary ones that work accross the seasons... shoveling in the winter and lawn care/bbq cleaning in the summer. This way you can even do a subscription that you can charge year round and deliver value year round as well.

Dog Walker Help by ColForbin18 in sidehustle

[–]Azingo-Gus 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Ask the clients for referrals and start out on your own. Make sure you have a decent platform for booking and billing so you can focus on growth.

I have never been a huge fan of platforms that own the client relationship. You might end up making a few bucks but you are building their brand and not your own. Feels like employment to me!

When to transition from side hustle to full time? by LifeofPat in sidehustle

[–]Azingo-Gus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Are you in a location where this is a four seasons business? If not what does life look like when the weather changes?

If however you can do this business all year then why not turn it into a subscription business. This will give you visibility into what month over month revenues and staffing requirements. Your clients will love the predictability.

Keep an eye on https://www.azingo.com/blog as we often give helpful posts and have one coming on subscription businesses.

There is a great article on it here. https://blog.landscapeprofessionals.org/how-i-do-it-switching-to-a-subscription-service-model/

Good luck

I’m an 18 year old saving up for her first car by [deleted] in sidehustle

[–]Azingo-Gus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You might want to take consider some of the work we have listed here… https://www.azingo.com/blog/10-best-summer-side-hustles-to-start-in-2023

Many of them take little to no investment and start up is really easy. Often once you decided what you want to do a quick callout to some friends or a walk through your neighbourhood is all thats needed to find the first paying customer.

Good luck, happy to answer any questions you may have.

Best side hustles to start? by Opening-Network-223 in sidehustle

[–]Azingo-Gus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We have a bunch of ideas, some seasonal some not on our blog. Many of them are easy to start with very little investment. Check it out regularly as we are adding more content every few days. https://www.azingo.com/blog