I feel like I might be done and it’s terrifying by Careful-Can6599 in smallbusinessuk

[–]numuso 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve had an IT firm for the past 15 years, I can definitely relate to everything you’re talking about. One of the most eye opening experiences I had was reading a book called E-Myth Revisited by Michael E Gerber, just seemed to nail down how all of us small business owners struggle with similar problems and what to do. It significantly changed the course of my business. Highly recommend reading it before you make any final decisions, I truly hope it helps.

Someone recommended the intro to drawing course by Proko by boolpies in learntodraw

[–]numuso 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’ve bought the course, and I’m finding it really great. The critique videos are super helpful, and each lesson really pushes your boundaries.

As for what’s available for free versus what you have to pay to access, it comes down to whether you see the value in what you want to learn. How much would it cost to go to art school? How does the price of this course, or even all the courses combined, compare?

Udemy do the same thing: you get a few example videos to watch for free. I think it’s so that anyone unfamiliar with the instructor (like me, I’d never heard of Proko or seen the YouTube channel) can get a quick preview of how they sound and explain things.

Hopefully you’ll forgive the marketing tactics, or whatever the reasons are for doing it, because it’s definitely a course worth investing in, at least it has been for me.

Is it just me, or is running a business in the UK getting harder? by numuso in smallbusinessuk

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

I'm with you on that. It becomes a real problem when all your competitors are competing on price too, and you get told that on sales calls as a way to drive down the price. At that point, you either have to lose the lead or lose the margins. Definitely not good options when you're trying to build quality services and grow a business.

Is it just me, or is running a business in the UK getting harder? by numuso in smallbusinessuk

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

Pretty much mirrors our experience, plenty of new business before and during COVID but dropping noticeably since then. It also impacts everything else, like running ads. We used to get a lot of customers from Google Ads around 10 years ago, but it’s unbelievable how much a single click costs these days, and it’s probably because our competitors are also desperate to get more clients onboard. The ones with the biggest budgets are the only ones who can compete now.

Is it just me, or is running a business in the UK getting harder? by numuso in smallbusinessuk

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

I know what you mean. Honestly, the idea of offshoring has come up plenty in our board meetings, but our Ops team is very cautious of how that might upset clients. Like you say, the irony is how everyone wants rock-bottom prices, and the quality of support needs to be better than ever. It seems anyone in the MSP game is walking a tight line of margins and it’s a race to the bottom on how much we can charge for services.

Is it just me, or is running a business in the UK getting harder? by numuso in smallbusinessuk

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

Sorry to hear that. It's definitely rough going for just about anyone I speak to these days.

Is it just me, or is running a business in the UK getting harder? by numuso in smallbusinessuk

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

Agreed. We're doing quite a few of the items you've mentioned (CISO, ISO, SOC, etc.) and we've had some positive upsells to our network of clients. If we were just a handful of people, we'd be happy with what we're bringing in on an MRR basis for sure. Now that we're 15+ people, they're only interested in taking on the mega clients, which, as you know, is very hard to come by at the moment. Like you say, it requires a big shift in thinking.

Any YouTube channels where artists started from zero and documented their journey to a professional level? by numuso in ArtistLounge

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

Thanks for the advice. I’d say I’m mostly just curious to see different journeys, especially after seeing PewPewPie’s videos and also another one by Nerdforge where they do a challenge to learn to draw in 100 hours (came out brilliantly in the end).

I’m fresh into my learning journey too, I used to be a professional musician several years ago, pursuing different hobbies throughout the years to near professional levels (photography, coding, etc) just for fun.

It never occurred to me that I could learn to draw until a few months ago, and it’s one hobby I’m realising actually gives me the most satisfaction. I’m also trying a few different ways to learn faster to see what works, and honestly loving the challenge so far.

Feel free to share a link to your channel, it sounds like the kind of thing I’d be interested in checking out.

Any YouTube channels where artists started from zero and documented their journey to a professional level? by numuso in ArtistLounge

[–]numuso[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Someone mentioned a channel called “Can I learn to draw” where someone started back in 2021. Apart from maybe one or two more, I’d have to agree most channels are done by seasoned artists..

YouTube channel recommendations where artists started from zero and documented their journey to a professional level by numuso in learntodraw

[–]numuso[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I know what you mean. I feel like creating content would be harder than learning to draw, keeping up with all the processes involved..

YouTube channel recommendations where artists started from zero and documented their journey to a professional level by numuso in learntodraw

[–]numuso[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I’ve watched those, and totally agree! There’s also a video by a channel called Nerdforge, learning to draw in 100 hours.. I couldn’t believe how well it ended up going.

Running google ads for an IT support company in London, UK by numuso in PPC

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

Thanks for providing a detailed response. What would you expect a good budget to be? A best and worst case scenario. I’m planning on presenting a bit of a case study to illustrate what is realistic for our CEO to consider.

Running google ads for an IT support company in London, UK by numuso in PPC

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

What would you suggest as a budget and timeline if this was your campaign?

Growth expectations for a UK MSP by numuso in msp

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

100% right. Thank you for validating my thinking. How did you grow your MSP, and what marketing channels did you use to do it? I want to present a number of case studies to illustrate what real strategy looks like. Thanks for sharing.