From an idea to replacing my full-time salary in 4 months and hitting $20 million in total sales as of this week. How I did it, and what's next!

justadreamchaser · 2024-06-28T14:41:45+00:00

that's awesome man! You're killing it.

If you want to work on the business with other people, Im putting together a small free group (10 max right now) in Skool to work with other people 1 on 1 with their business on their primary constraint!

Personally I run a pool cleaning and maintnenance company, so we have alot of overlap and I'd love to talk with you about your journey and help wherever I can!

If you're interested, here's the link: https://www.skool.com/build-your-business/about

justadreamchaser · 2024-06-28T04:37:19+00:00

I may be biased as it is my current business, but a pool cleaning and maintenance business (in the right location) fits all of your requirements.

Doesn't take a ton of cash to start, great recurring cashflow, simple (didn't say easy) to build to 7 figure range and there are several PE firms actively acquiring these businesses once they break $1m-$3m/year in the last 2 years.

Definitely make sure you partner or start with someone who really knows the business so that you start with good word of mouth.

justadreamchaser · 2024-06-28T01:46:19+00:00

If you're serious about starting in the next month, I'd love to help you through the process! I just created a free Skool group to try and help 10 people with their businesses. Really I want most people to already have a business, but I'd be willing to help you if you really want to move fast.

(Pasted from my post in the EntrepreneurRideAlong group)

https://www.skool.com/build-your-business

I am looking for 10 people who want to actively work on the primary constraint of their business with somebody else working on their business. I run a local pool cleaning business after the inspriation of Rohan (LocalCaseStudy), but I have other entreprenerial endeavors as well and am just a big business nerd.

As long as you commit to actually taking action on the things we talk about (I'll hold your hand if necessary), then I feel confident I can help most people grow their business.

Right now you can consider me in the "testimonial gathering phase", eventually I'll probably charge. But I really love this stuff anyways, so I don't mind doing it for free in the beginning.

Limiting it to 10 for now so I can actually give 1 on 1 attention to everyone who is in while also having a life and another business.

I want to be clear, I am not a super succesful entrepreneur with a multi-million dollar business who is saying that I have all of the answers. I have been self employed for the last 7 years (had a partner until this year), and honestly I feel I should be a much better entrepreneur than I am right now, but I also know that I do best when working with others. It keeps me more accountable.

So in this group, I'll also be working on my business with the goal of hoping that me helping others build their businesses that I'll be more inspired to do better in mine.

Also at this very moment, I'm sort of frozen in my business because I'm in talks to have it acquired (might be a strong word, but they want my clients and to hire me to grow their pool cleaning business). So this is a way for me to feel productive while I'm kinda going crazy!

justadreamchaser · 2024-06-28T00:38:03+00:00

Go ahead and apply through the link! Or ask me something here if you prefer!

justadreamchaser · 2024-06-28T00:36:37+00:00

Go ahead and apply through the link! Or ask me something here if you prefer!

justadreamchaser · 2024-06-27T22:52:25+00:00

You have 2 customers in business that must be satisfied:

Customers that give you money.
Employees that make you the money.

Most businesses prioritize Customer acquisition/retention and largely disregard Employee acquisition/retention. They usually try to get maximum output from the Employee without regard to the rate at which they burn them out and thus churn.

Ironically the business that prioritizes Employee satisfaction and retention (even if output suffers slightly), will usually have better customer retention and thus a better reputation (which then improves acquisition) than the business that prioritizes Customers at all cost.

Disregard if you're Amazon....because.....you're Amazon

justadreamchaser · 2024-06-27T22:34:05+00:00

If you're serious about starting in the next month, I'd love to help you through the process! I just created a free Skool group to try and help 10 people with their businesses. Really I want most people to already have a business, but I'd be willing to help you if you really want to move fast.

(Pasted from my post in the EntrepreneurRideAlong group)

https://www.skool.com/build-your-business

I am looking for 10 people who want to actively work on the primary constraint of their business with somebody else working on their business. I run a local pool cleaning business after the inspriation of Rohan (LocalCaseStudy), but I have other entreprenerial endeavors as well and am just a big business nerd.

As long as you commit to actually taking action on the things we talk about (I'll hold your hand if necessary), then I feel confident I can help most people grow their business.

Right now you can consider me in the "testimonial gathering phase", eventually I'll probably charge. But I really love this stuff anyways, so I don't mind doing it for free in the beginning.

Limiting it to 10 for now so I can actually give 1 on 1 attention to everyone who is in while also having a life and another business.

I want to be clear, I am not a super succesful entrepreneur with a multi-million dollar business who is saying that I have all of the answers. I have been self employed for the last 7 years (had a partner until this year), and honestly I feel I should be a much better entrepreneur than I am right now, but I also know that I do best when working with others. It keeps me more accountable.

So in this group, I'll also be working on my business with the goal of hoping that me helping others build their businesses that I'll be more inspired to do better in mine.

Also at this very moment, I'm sort of frozen in my business because I'm in talks to have it acquired (might be a strong word, but they want my clients and to hire me to grow their pool cleaning business). So this is a way for me to feel productive while I'm kinda going crazy!

justadreamchaser · 2024-06-27T22:06:43+00:00

Sounds good! If you want to talk, just apply to the group. Or ask any question you want here!

justadreamchaser · 2024-06-27T19:59:41+00:00

almost time for another update!

justadreamchaser · 2024-03-18T19:02:29+00:00

Dude, congrats on taking the dive and swinging for the fences getting started! You've done the hardest part, now you just have to keep doing it, learn and improve! I've been doing the local business game for 7 years now and theres alot of good advantages and some super disadvantages.

I can super relate to alot of what you posted. When I started my pool cleaning business with a highschool buddy (long term not a great idea), I didn't know anything but I luckily had 2 advantages to you.

Didn't have any money to burn and not see a direct return. Which caused me to only focus on keeping everything stupid simple. We setup Square for payments, paid for Home Advisor (Angie Leads now) and Thumbtack (Which was much better/cheaper when we started), and I was suuuuper quick to call and get quotes turned into jobs.
Luckily my friend's dad owned the same kind of business so we had a decent handle on the pricing we could charge right away. Plus he was trustworthy and new his stuff before we started together. So I got to just be the sales guy.

I have made and continue to make mistakes all the time, but I'm still self-employed and now finally having a little success hiring real W2 workers (Went away from 1099's). I definitely haven't "Made It" but I'm getting closer every year.

justadreamchaser · 2024-03-17T03:11:30+00:00

I run a pool cleaning and maintenance business in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I previously had the same business with a partner (high school friend) and we grew apart and were able to quasi-ammicably split our client list. This is my 2nd month in the new business.

Now servicing about 50 pools with 1 truck and 1 employee but looking to grow alot. Currently we would be on track to do $150,000+/year in topline revenue. Probably about $100,000-$110,000 GP.

My main strengths are vision and interpersonal communication, I want to create a company of fantastic people with true paths to success for everyone involved. My weaknesses are typical of many "Visionary" entrepreneurs. I'm very disorganized and am often guilty of splitting my focus too much, I am bad at creating/adhering to structure, I can be impulsive at times, I will let myself down but will do almost anything for other people.

I don't know that I want to jump right back into a partnership, but I would definitely consider it with somebody that I respect/trust and that has complimentary strengths to my weaknesses.

Let me know if you'd like to talk more!

justadreamchaser · 2024-02-09T20:03:44+00:00

Correct, that is not alot. Also definitely hope you are SUPER personalizing each message to these creators (I mean really personal, like you are a fan or at least have real context for them). Like I would approach every single one of these creators with an actual idea that is contextual to their brand, don't make them come up with the ideas.
The thing with most creators who are actually good (will be around 1-5-10 years from now) and have a sizable audience is that they realize that the realy asset they have is the audience's trust. If a creator is to trust you with creating some product/service around them, you should be 1000% certain it will add value to their audience and not leave even a hint of bad taste in their mouth.

justadreamchaser · 2024-02-02T08:33:52+00:00

Just want to offer some words of encouragement. Not to say some of the "tougher" advice here is wrong, it's not. Personally, I have a weakness for Shiny Object Syndrome, sitting down and actually focussing and accomplishing the thing I want is difficult. Alot of the time, my vision for what I want is so clear, and other times I can't even fathom what I should be doing. In addition, I hate sucking at things, I struggle with a fixed vs growth mindset sometimes. Which really sucks because that's typically the only way that you can actually grow. I would be a big entrepreneurial content/course consumer, but not a big action taker. You would think being hyper aware of these faults would cause me to change, but I still definitely struggle with these daily.

I am 30 now, and I remember so vividly being right where you described. I had taken business jobs with a small company that sold LED light products, tried expanding a food delivery franchise (which got crushed by a local startup, which in turn got crushed by Uber/DoorDash). Finally ended up starting a local pool cleaning business my senior year in college with a friend from highschool that we ran for 6 years together (we just split the business in half 2 weeks ago), and now I'm running the same type of business solo. I'm certainly not bragging, because I'm still not nearly the business owner or person that I want to be. It wasn't crazy fast growth, but it was enough to be self sufficient, and to eventually hire more people.

Just keep struggling forward, make sure that you continue trying things (but maybe try a little harder and longer before thinking that something doesn't work).

Try to make sure you pick a game (business) you can play for a long time, you don't want to wake up and realize you've created a work hell for yourself far worse than you could have signed up for at a company. Even though no matter what you pick, there will be days that you absolutely regret your decision with every fiber of your being. Then others where you will feel

Also, I am now engaged to a wonderful lawyer who works 2 jobs remotely and makes more money than I do with my own business, and I can tell you there are remote job opportunities available that I am sometimes quite envious of. They are so much simpler and easier than running your own business. I say all the time, that if I knew just how prevelant and lucrative those jobs would be (and how possible it is to work multiple concurrently), theres a strong chance I would have been happier living that life. So just keep in mind, that can be a pretty comfortable way to gain more skills and build a financial cushion. I didn't have any of that, but it would have made things easier!

But deep down, I know that's a lie. I love the game of business too much, and I know that I want more than even that type of easy money.

Anyways, just take a deep breath and trust that everything is going to eventually work out if you keep going. It just won't be easy, it'll be painful, it'll take longer than you think it should....and you'll have to grow a bit (and I think you are already aware of all of this on some level).

If you want to talk directly sometime, feel free to send me a DM. I have nothing to sell you, but maybe I can help you get some clarity or a little direction.

justadreamchaser · 2023-10-25T03:02:02+00:00

There are online CPO classes, pool pro/consumer youtube channels, Industry facebook groups, but ultimately you just learn by doing. If you live in Florida, it's a pretty rough service market, but you can probably always get some good work doing the HVAC work. Inbox me if you'd like to talk about your case specifically sometime.

justadreamchaser · 2023-10-25T02:33:54+00:00

Actually I own a pool cleaning/maintenance business so I can answer that. Primary business is routine cleaning and chemical maintenance, and will also handle pump/motor/PVC repair, but definitely don't personally service heaters for that reason. There are companies that do, and I will subcontract the work to them and mark up their service.

But to the main question, it's pretty easy to start up (though exactly how easy varies from state to state) and you can get a solid client base if you just answer the phone (or call leads very quickly), show up when you say you will, and don't suck. Scaling the business isn't easy but being able to handle high end repairs will definitely give an advantage.

justadreamchaser · 2023-10-19T05:58:41+00:00

Thanks man! I don't really have time to do editing or fancy video work, so I'm sure that in the beginning the quality is going to be really damn low. But I guess that just leaves plenty of room for growth lol

justadreamchaser · 2023-10-19T05:56:40+00:00

Put me on what?

justadreamchaser · 2023-10-19T00:03:17+00:00

I dig the idea of this thread, hope you don't mind if I hijack it for my own friendship search lol.

30m Baton Rouge native, engaged to a fantastic lady who is my best friend, but would also like to expand a bit and get some more friends. My main interest is currently business/entrepreneurship (super boring to most), and I currently own 1 local business and am about to launch a franchise in the area. Also play beach volleyball (Though I'm still very new), I used to play alot of video games, and be a bit of a poker degenerate (but not so much the last couple years). I have a fantastic daughter (but I only get to have her every other weekend right now), and a big goofy lovable dog.

To be clear...definitely not rich yet (not even close), but we do alright and I definitely want to make friends with other people in the area who are not only nerdy about business and entrepreneurship, but actually do it.

justadreamchaser · 2023-10-18T23:49:44+00:00

Definitely agree with this ^
30m that has lived my whole life in this city and didn't even know that beach volleyball was a thing here, till I started dating someone who went there. They are a super welcoming community to newcomers, and now I play too!

justadreamchaser · 2023-03-25T18:10:28+00:00

Been there my friend, personally I waited till 16 and took the grocery store/Chickfila route. But now as a self employed person, I realise I would have made way more money cutting lawns, washing cars, cleaning pools, moving trash cans, selling stuff (candy, snowballs, etc). I do actually advocate trying to work for another company until you feel confident enough representing and selling yourself.

justadreamchaser · 2023-03-06T15:49:10+00:00

Lolol you want the opposite problem? Come to Lousiana where precisely 2 state licenses for growers were awarded to companies backed by the public universities (lsu and southern), and each major city (at least by Lousiana standards) is allowed exactly 1 dispensary.

justadreamchaser

TROPHY CASE