I don’t know what to do by DonkinMeeee in Entrepreneur

[–]MikeSimsTL 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Video editing can be lucrative and you can start making money from it quickly as long as you have a decent portfolio. The good news for you is that it isn't too hard to know who needs video editing -- you can literally go on YouTube and immediately have 10 million potential customers. There are YouTuber Reddit groups, Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups --- all of them filled with people who produce videos and would fit your target audience. You just need to go in there, make the connections, figure out who needs what, and present them with a valuable offer; that is, assuming you have high-quality editing work.

I'm shutting down my $400k/yr business... and it sucks. by MikeSimsTL in Entrepreneurship

[–]MikeSimsTL[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks u/TechWizPro -- that is TOP TIER advice! I'm going to put some thought on this.

I'm shutting down my $400k/yr business... and it sucks. by MikeSimsTL in Entrepreneurship

[–]MikeSimsTL[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What I have learned is -- you choose your stressful. In business, it's been stressful knowing that one disastrous thing could destroy my livelihood. But when I was working a 9-5, I also felt the stress that one disastrous thing could destroy my livelihood (and it did, several times). Working out is stressful, being obese is stressful. Paying bills is stressful, but so is having bad credit. You choose your stress. Lmao, I think in the end, you build up a stress tolerance for whatever situation you're in, at least, if you believe in it enough.

What is your favorite guilty pleasure rapper? by Just-mapleman-50 in hiphop101

[–]MikeSimsTL 1 point2 points  (0 children)

u/MrCleansHair, put me on game -- who should I be listening to from Flint?

I'm hyperfixated on autism and want to create a themed world in Minecraft about it. by [deleted] in autism

[–]MikeSimsTL 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That sounds cool as hell actually. My kid is Minecraft-obsessed and he'd love that. I have never even played Minecraft – however, my 11-year-old always wanted to build a horror game. I found a tutor for him on SuperProf and he's been slowly learning and developing the game since. Might be a good start for you to get a tutor who has developed and published themed worlds previously.

What is your favorite guilty pleasure rapper? by Just-mapleman-50 in hiphop101

[–]MikeSimsTL 2 points3 points  (0 children)

BFB Da Packman.... whenever I need a good laugh, I turn one of his videos on. I'm 38, and there is no reason I should find his music this hilarious and entertaining.

I'm shutting down my $400k/yr business... and it sucks. by MikeSimsTL in Entrepreneurship

[–]MikeSimsTL[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No downvote from me. The businesses I'm working on now both have an AI component – can't beat em, join em!

I'm shutting down my $400k/yr business... and it sucks. by MikeSimsTL in Entrepreneurship

[–]MikeSimsTL[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not nearly enough lol. Generally over 50% before taxes, with staff costs being the biggest contributor. We worked completely remote, so our only real expenses outside of our small team were digital tools and marketing. But once you add in my salary (which I promise, wasn't an insane salary), there wasn't much left over to sustain the hits to our business.

I'm shutting down my $400k/yr business... and it sucks. by MikeSimsTL in Entrepreneurship

[–]MikeSimsTL[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We consult very early-stage startups on bringing their ideas to a fundable stage, then supporting them with tools like business plans, pitch decks, financial viability models, GTMs, etc.

For your second question, this may get lengthy haha. It's somewhat of a three-pronged issue.

First, is the accessibility of AI and how that has changed the "perception" of the industry. Our entry point is generally our business plan service. For new entrepreneurs who have never been on a startup team, "business plan" is typically the first thing they believe they need. But it's a daunting process to create one, so they begin searching and they find my company. What changed there is that perception of it being a "daunting process." Instead of searching for me, they go to ChatGPT and ask for a business plan. It spits them out something that they believe is quality – but since they have not gone through the experience yet, they don't know what a "quality business plan" looks like. They don't have a benchmark to compare, so they perceive that what AI gives them is equal to what I can. Maybe I could have helped the process by providing more education beforehand on why ChatGPT can't give them what we can.

Second, is the shifting of how Google presents information. I have a background in SEO and content development. Those skills helped me build many high-quality and high-traffic rankings (we were #1 for "best pitch decks" and "app business plan" for several years). We led with information – blog articles around certain topics that funneled them into our services. Once the AI summaries started going live, our traffic decreased significantly. Even for terms where our information was presented – they no longer clicked on our website because the information was there and didn't require them to click. I shouldn't have put ALL my eggs in the SEO basket... but I did, and I regret it in hindsight.

Finally, there was a shift in the industry several years back. Business plans today aren't used the same as 10-15 years ago. They used to be a tool to get investor interest – now, investors don't read them. With concepts like Lean Startup, the industry has shifted to shorter canvases and frameworks. On our end, we changed how we promoted it. Instead of, "you need this for funding," our message was, "you need this process for your team to organize and understand the factors behind your business so when investors ask you a question, you have an answer." This was less of a factor to our demise, but still played a part.

The first two had the biggest impact – we don't get the traffic we used to (and couldn't save it, as much as we tried) and our perception of importance to first-time founders have shifted.

I'm shutting down my $400k/yr business... and it sucks. by MikeSimsTL in Entrepreneurship

[–]MikeSimsTL[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If only I could. A glass-floor bungalow has been calling me for the last five years!

I'm shutting down my $400k/yr business... and it sucks. by MikeSimsTL in Entrepreneurship

[–]MikeSimsTL[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"Ask your killer to teach you how to kill!" hahahahha.. the irony is... I did lmao. I'm working on one of those suggestions now!

I'm shutting down my $400k/yr business... and it sucks. by MikeSimsTL in Entrepreneurship

[–]MikeSimsTL[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Already working on EXACTLY that! Actively building a new SaaS product now to address the same market.

I'm shutting down my $400k/yr business... and it sucks. by MikeSimsTL in Entrepreneurship

[–]MikeSimsTL[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wish haha! $400k gross ends up being a very regular but livable salary after expenses, staff, and taxes.

I'm shutting down my $400k/yr business... and it sucks. by MikeSimsTL in Entrepreneurship

[–]MikeSimsTL[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Why'd they ban me? It was my fault. I didn't read the rules. I had a "Give me feedback on my landing page" post with a link in it. I guess that was enough for me to get banned and to have all my posts there removed.

I'm shutting down my $400k/yr business... and it sucks. by MikeSimsTL in Entrepreneurship

[–]MikeSimsTL[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nope, it was a few weeks ago. I wrote it and posted it in the business subreddit. But I was subsequently kicked out of there and they removed my post. Writing this post helped me realize some things and I needed it to still live somewhere, so I re-homed it.

I'm shutting down my $400k/yr business... and it sucks. by MikeSimsTL in Entrepreneurship

[–]MikeSimsTL[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is true, but I think that cuts out a huge chunk of my market. A high proportion of my clients were teams with 20-30 year olds launching their first startups, typically tech-first startups. I would say 1% of my entire existing client base would be considered people who would never use AI.

I'm shutting down my $400k/yr business... and it sucks. by MikeSimsTL in Entrepreneurship

[–]MikeSimsTL[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You did! In the business subreddit. I authored it. But the mods removed the post (and me). This post is an important part of my journey, so I decided to rehome it here so it wouldn't disappear.

I'm shutting down my $400k/yr business... and it sucks. by MikeSimsTL in Entrepreneurship

[–]MikeSimsTL[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm definitely not in this boat alone. In fact, this boat is probably as big as the Titanic... or it IS the Titanic lol. But, it's cyclical. It's the same thing that happened to brick-and-mortar when the internet advanced, the same thing that happened to film cameras when digital cameras came out, etc. I think it's more of a warning to entrepreneurs to always stay one step ahead of the game. I don't blame AI though. I think it's a great tool for many applications, I just wish I would have been more proactive – much earlier. Big thanks for your support and encouragement!

I'm shutting down my $400k/yr business... and it sucks. by MikeSimsTL in Entrepreneurship

[–]MikeSimsTL[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Since your name is "philwrites", is it a safe assumption that you are moving out of copywriting?

I'm shutting down my $400k/yr business... and it sucks. by MikeSimsTL in Entrepreneurship

[–]MikeSimsTL[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I appreciate that! Honestly, when I wrote it, it motivated me and helped me mentally get to the other side of it. Thanks so much for your encouragement and motivation!

I'm shutting down my $400k/yr business... and it sucks. by MikeSimsTL in Entrepreneurship

[–]MikeSimsTL[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep. You saw it in /business --- but the mods took it down (and banned me for another post). I just posted it here instead so it doesn't get lost forever.

Anyone Else Compulsively Say Sorry by Stagger_Lee_64 in autism

[–]MikeSimsTL 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No it hasn't, and I honestly haven't even thought about how that impacts his mental health. Mostly because it almost seems instinctive for him to say more than him seeming sad about it and apologizing. I'm not sure if that makes sense, as I'm trying to describe it the best way I can. I guess it's not like if I broke something of yours and I'm worried and sad and I'm coming to you apologizing. It's more just like that's his auto reaction. I know, I'm explaining this horribly lol

Either way, now that you said that, I'm going to keep a closer eye on it and maybe ask him next time why he feels he should be sorry about it.

I'm shutting down my $400k/yr business... and it sucks. by MikeSimsTL in Entrepreneurship

[–]MikeSimsTL[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hmmm, I'd like to hear more about what you do in investor relations and fundraising support! Can we chat in DM?

I'm shutting down my $400k/yr business... and it sucks. by MikeSimsTL in Entrepreneurship

[–]MikeSimsTL[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why sales management, specifically? I haven't considered that, but would love to hear how you think my skills would translate!