What type of business do you want?
There is nothing worse than having a business you hate.
Hours you can't stand.
Customers you want to punch in the face.
Co-workers who make you wish you brought a gun to work.
Suppliers who annoy you and constantly rake you over the coals.
Not to mention the toll it takes on you - physically, financially, emotionally, and more.
Trust me - you thinking working for the "man" sucks, try working for yourself and discovering that the "dream" is really a nightmare.
So how do you prevent that once and for all?
By spending a little time today (and this weekend if necessary) thinking about the business you really want and how it looks for you.
Here's some critical things to consider:
1. Solo, Partnership, or a large company? When I first got started I worked by myself and it was awesome. I did what I wanted, when I wanted, and how I wanted and no one could tell me any different.
Over time, after I got a better understanding of my limitations and challenges I made the decision to partner up with Tanner Larsson.
Why? Because he had strengths in place of my weaknesses.
For instance, when he isn't changing diapers (he's a new dad), he handles a lot of the technical side of the business. Not to mention, a ton of customer service and support issues (more on that in a minute).
It's a good thing he does that because those are challenges for me.
The other great thing about a partnership is that when one person is sick or out, you're business is still able to function. That really helps when a family emergency or a birth of a new baby happens.
One person can tend to the issue at hand, while the other can still focus on the day to day operations.
As far as a large company - thanks, but no thanks. At the Ryan Deiss event I was blown away by the fact they had 46 people working for them.
46 FRIGGIN PEOPLE! Thanks, but no thanks.
Truthfully I'm as big as I want to be right now. In fact I think with a few outsourcers (that you pay per job), and a solid assistant is all the staff I want to ever have to manage in my lifetime.
2. Location. When I started I worked out of a cigar lounge. Talk about cool and unusual. It was also highly unproductive. I bet I worked less than 20 solid hours a week and that was in large part to my environment.
I mean it's hard to be "serious" when you're sipping on scotch and smoking a cigar at 1:30 in the afternoon. And don't even get me started with what happens when a customer or buddy dropped by during the day. Hello social hour, goodbye income*.
*With that said I still made 6 figures doing this so I guess it wasn't all that bad.
These days I split my time between the home office, a small closet office at a buddies place, and several locations around town. I love working from home but some days the walls seem to close in and I need to get out.
When that happens I take my headphones, laptop, and backpack and head to a coffee shop or public location to work. The other day, when it was 75 degrees out, I was in a t-shirt and shorts outside a local bookstore. Not a bad way to spend a Wednesday.
3. Money. How do you want to earn your monthly income? Affiliate marketing, product creation, offering services, webinars, paid traffic, CPA ads .... the list is endless. Know what's not endless - your time and energy level. Start thinking seriously about what you are and AREN'T interested in.
For instance, although there is a lot of money to be made via webinars Tanner and I have backed off of them (for various reasons too long to list here). The long and short of it is that we want a business that isn't 100% dependent on us being there at an exact location, for an set amount of time.
I'd rather have the ability to create a product, send out an affiliate offer, or do something else that allows me to make money over and over again instead of one by one. It's called leverage and it's the smartest thing you can aim for in your business.
I've got a pal who makes me sick with all the travel they do. Australia one month, Singapore the next - all while making a solid 5 figure monthly income.
How is that possible you ask?
Because they spent the time in the beginning to setup the business exactly how they wanted to.
Here's my suggestion - take some time and really think about the 3 areas I've listed above.
Talk soon.
Tim
Hours you can't stand.
Customers you want to punch in the face.
Co-workers who make you wish you brought a gun to work.
Suppliers who annoy you and constantly rake you over the coals.
Not to mention the toll it takes on you - physically, financially, emotionally, and more.
Trust me - you thinking working for the "man" sucks, try working for yourself and discovering that the "dream" is really a nightmare.
So how do you prevent that once and for all?
By spending a little time today (and this weekend if necessary) thinking about the business you really want and how it looks for you.
Here's some critical things to consider:
1. Solo, Partnership, or a large company? When I first got started I worked by myself and it was awesome. I did what I wanted, when I wanted, and how I wanted and no one could tell me any different.
Over time, after I got a better understanding of my limitations and challenges I made the decision to partner up with Tanner Larsson.
Why? Because he had strengths in place of my weaknesses.
For instance, when he isn't changing diapers (he's a new dad), he handles a lot of the technical side of the business. Not to mention, a ton of customer service and support issues (more on that in a minute).
It's a good thing he does that because those are challenges for me.
The other great thing about a partnership is that when one person is sick or out, you're business is still able to function. That really helps when a family emergency or a birth of a new baby happens.
One person can tend to the issue at hand, while the other can still focus on the day to day operations.
As far as a large company - thanks, but no thanks. At the Ryan Deiss event I was blown away by the fact they had 46 people working for them.
46 FRIGGIN PEOPLE! Thanks, but no thanks.
Truthfully I'm as big as I want to be right now. In fact I think with a few outsourcers (that you pay per job), and a solid assistant is all the staff I want to ever have to manage in my lifetime.
2. Location. When I started I worked out of a cigar lounge. Talk about cool and unusual. It was also highly unproductive. I bet I worked less than 20 solid hours a week and that was in large part to my environment.
I mean it's hard to be "serious" when you're sipping on scotch and smoking a cigar at 1:30 in the afternoon. And don't even get me started with what happens when a customer or buddy dropped by during the day. Hello social hour, goodbye income*.
*With that said I still made 6 figures doing this so I guess it wasn't all that bad.
These days I split my time between the home office, a small closet office at a buddies place, and several locations around town. I love working from home but some days the walls seem to close in and I need to get out.
When that happens I take my headphones, laptop, and backpack and head to a coffee shop or public location to work. The other day, when it was 75 degrees out, I was in a t-shirt and shorts outside a local bookstore. Not a bad way to spend a Wednesday.
3. Money. How do you want to earn your monthly income? Affiliate marketing, product creation, offering services, webinars, paid traffic, CPA ads .... the list is endless. Know what's not endless - your time and energy level. Start thinking seriously about what you are and AREN'T interested in.
For instance, although there is a lot of money to be made via webinars Tanner and I have backed off of them (for various reasons too long to list here). The long and short of it is that we want a business that isn't 100% dependent on us being there at an exact location, for an set amount of time.
I'd rather have the ability to create a product, send out an affiliate offer, or do something else that allows me to make money over and over again instead of one by one. It's called leverage and it's the smartest thing you can aim for in your business.
I've got a pal who makes me sick with all the travel they do. Australia one month, Singapore the next - all while making a solid 5 figure monthly income.
How is that possible you ask?
Because they spent the time in the beginning to setup the business exactly how they wanted to.
Here's my suggestion - take some time and really think about the 3 areas I've listed above.
Talk soon.
Tim
-- Absorbing & implementing. Need hip hop beats for your business needs? Hit me up!
-- Posting my experiences and so forth with my own blog.