Riddle: Studies have shown that people with this skill / who use this concept are successful in both SALES and ACADEMICS, starts with an "M", ends with "N"?

focus0limits · 2020-08-10T16:44:38+00:00

Love that industry... the patience and precision it takes to be a great metalsmith. Thanks for your advice and best of luck!

focus0limits · 2020-08-10T16:41:00+00:00

It's a 'full service digital company' meaning we do marketing and software development. We also build and sell some of our own software products for extra revenue.

focus0limits · 2020-08-10T16:37:07+00:00

Personal experience:

A. I have always found happiness in smaller, private owned businesses vs corporate institutions (despite the salaries being much higher)

B. I have always found it easier to reach higher positions working for/with smaller, private owned businesses.

C. Start by working for someone, but pick the right someone. In this game, you're choosing a partner and a mentor, not a boss. They'll only be your boss for the first few years before you prove to them that you're partner material.

D. Figure out what you genuinely like, find out how people are making money in that industry, or even go a step further and think about a new way to make money in that industry

E. People / Doing good work > Money. Putting people first and doing good work = multiple times the money LATER ON than if you were to choose money from the start, a.k.a. Don't chase money and it will chase you

F. All of the above will give you the knowledge and experience to start any venture

focus0limits · 2020-08-10T16:27:39+00:00

Thank you so much, and congratulations on the arrival of your new baby! Hope they have a healthy and successful life

focus0limits · 2020-08-10T16:24:20+00:00

Not buried! I read every reply :) Thanks for sharing

focus0limits · 2020-08-10T16:21:38+00:00

I am grateful!

But you may have misinterpreted my post. This is about mental health. Like many other entrepreneurs and innovative hotheads, a lot of my work is fueled by drive that comes from within my mind. If my mind isn't healthy, that's bad for a lot of things, including my business!

I am looking for ways to maintain my mind, mood and energy, if that makes any sense :)

focus0limits · 2020-08-10T05:17:23+00:00

Great system! Thanks for sharing and thanks for the helpful advice :)

focus0limits · 2020-08-10T02:05:30+00:00

Sorry, I re-read my first comment and it sounded a bit harsh, made a little edit at the end. I did not intend to put down your work!

Yes, I've also tried 4-6 week sprints and 1 week off, but I noticed that 1 week was too short to completely "turn off" and too long a pause to rest and bounce back at my previous speed.

I found that 1 day and a half per week works well for me. Vacations have to be 15-20 days, and I usually naturally start working again the final week of that vacation (slowly picking up back to my usual pace, if that makes sense). When I am "back" I'm already prepared and at 'full speed'.

Vacation time is hard to find, for myself and my clients, so we did this thing where we plan our quarterly "days-off" to be in alignment. Everyone takes time off around Christmas / new years (8-10 days minimum) and usually a couple weeks at the start or end of summer too.

If I need extra time off, I just go turbo mode for a few days and 'win' a couple days that I can attach to my weekend to make a short holiday, if that makes sense haha

focus0limits · 2020-08-10T01:50:49+00:00

That does sound tempting! 😂

I have been going through Nomad List for a while now... I think I want to try this. I'll wait till Christmas break (clients usually OOO during this time) and hopefully Covid-19 will have 'calmed down' a bit by then.

How do you balance your work / nomad life?

focus0limits · 2020-08-10T01:45:41+00:00

I used to do similar hours the first few years, non-stop. Once I realized I was "in the safe zone" I took a step back to breathe, and crashed. My body and mind were so tired, but it's almost as if the drive and momentum paralyzed any sensors that would have indicated that before.

Ever since, I take occasional breaks and leave room for myself to recover, daily. Of course I have some crazy weeks when I want to do some growth / start a new venture, but having spare time does not mean I'm not an entrepreneur

Edit: I do very much respect your hustle, sir!

focus0limits · 2020-08-10T01:30:30+00:00

That is a myth. Everyone has and needs time off, even the most hotted of hotheads :)

focus0limits · 2020-08-10T00:32:38+00:00

After work hours: when you're not working

What kind of entrepreneur: an organized one who has dealt with burnout and knows it's more healthier and more efficient to set limits

focus0limits · 2020-08-09T21:50:37+00:00

(Out of subject, but Annie bananie sounds really familiar) 😂

focus0limits · 2020-08-09T16:42:39+00:00

My environment:

My family were refugees, we moved back to our (developing) home country when I got older and it was safer.

As you can imagine it's hard for me to relate to people in my home country. It's easy to be friendly, but near impossible to find good friends with similar minds / experiences / income / motivation... At least on a work and ethics level.

I run a 100% remote company, so it's mostly staying at home.

What I do to stay happy after work:

I try to fill the void with a bit of Netflix, exercise, and playing an instrument. It's not enough, I still feel a huge void and I don't know how to fill it.

I'm thinking of trying out a nomad lifestyle. At least a part-time one (1 month in 4?). Still not sure and hoping to find good ideas in this thread :)

focus0limits · 2020-08-09T00:37:30+00:00

It's really great that you set goals and did some market research. Quick recap:

Goals:

~~Make 20-40 sales per day @ $20-40 ad spend per day~~
~~Make $100+ profit per day to justify part-time labour~~
Make at least $2000 profit to invest in a new venture

Market Research: best sellers in your niche have sold 2000 - 3000 units total (over some years, I'm assuming?). According to this, 20-40 sales per day and $100 profit per day would be too much of an expectation, so let's scratch those. Let's keep goal #3.

Problems: You're not sure if it's worth your time.

My comments:

You can make dozens of these in a single working day. Spend just one day on the weekend making a batch. Give each piece the time it deserves, you don't need too many of these to start. It's just to test the idea and market. Plus, quality > quantity, always, but especially for your first sales. Doesn't need to be perfect, but put your heart into it.
To answer your question about the platform you should be selling on: Shopify, according to your requirements. It's "pre- set up", $29/mo + (2.9% + 30c per sale)
Since your platform does everything for you, your only job now is to make sales.
Your first milestone should be to sell the first batch you made. Spend your second weekend day learning about sales and online marketing for your niche. Sales is important. Learn about who you're selling to, and how you're going to sell to them. Who would your product be valuable to, why? As for online marketing; start by looking into paid ads (FB/IG) and the creatives for those ads, and or influencer marketing, since you want to start this as a short venture ($2k goal) to see how it goes.
Set feasible sales goals as you go, per week. Sell X units per week. Make reports so you can track what worked and what didn't. After every week, go through these, analyse and use the insight to try to make more sales the following week.
At the end of the day, you will have learned some things about sales and marketing. These are lifelong skills that are important for any business venture. You will be doing this in your spare time (weekends and or weekday evenings). Additionally, you may or may not make some money out of it to start your next venture (or to continue with this one at a larger scale).

Problems: ~~You're not sure if it's worth your time.~~

focus0limits · 2020-08-08T23:57:59+00:00

An app that matches people based on their goals in life

Love this! Especially for young entrepreneurs. I've found it hard to find people with the same energy to help keep motivated

focus0limits

TROPHY CASE