Page 13 - The 7 Day Startup: You Don’t Learn Until You Launch - PDFDrive.com
P. 13
My First Business
The term “business” can mean different things to different people. If you buy a
lawn mowing franchise, you are technically in business. But you are really just
working for yourself.
The entrepreneur is the person who sold you the franchise. They created
something from scratch, in extreme uncertainty with a high potential reward.
In 2006 I had just earned a promotion at my cushy corporate role, was 26, and
finally ready to start a business. I told my co-workers that I would be a
millionaire before I was 30.
My newest business idea was building websites for people. The fact that I didn’t
know how to build a website and had no IT qualifications didn’t bother me.
Instead, I threw myself in the deep end, learning rapidly from reading books and
doing the work. My new clients would ask me questions like, “Can you build a
website using ASP?”
I would say yes, then frantically search Google to find out what ASP was and get
to work.
Everything looked great early on. I landed a project in my first week and earned
$40,000 in my first year. Sure, it wasn’t exactly $1,000,000—but I was happy to
have even lasted a whole year!
In year two, I generated around $80,000 in revenue and by year three I had
eclipsed the hallowed six-figure mark.
Before I knew it I had an office, local employees, a server, a phone system,
hundreds of clients, and an influx of new leads. I had built a real business. I was
on the path to becoming a millionaire. Or so I thought.
I had one major problem:
