Source
r/Entrepreneur•
justnfree

Dear successful r/entrepreneur-s who didn't know what to start, what'd you pick and how'd it go?

I would like to start my second company soon, but I'm having a lot of trouble choosing a field to work within. I feel confident that I could do a number of different businesses successfully but I'm having a lot of trouble focusing on one. There are a few companies in my head jumping up and down and I'm not wild about any of them. I am curious how other people dealt with this problem?

Posted Mar 26, 2015, 12:47 AM UTC

1019
nhass•

See what you can leverage with your network and build on that. If all your friends are bankers make a financial app . If all of them are making startups making a startup convention . Make what you can sell

5
getitinyaaaaa•

I can relate to what you're saying 100%. I finally just sat down and said I'm picking something right now and and starting right now! I ended up picking website design (even though I've never done it before). It's going well. About $4,100 in sales my first month! It's not what I want to do forever or even very long but it's something for now. It makes money and I'm gaining experience. I don't feel locked down by it at all and if a better idea comes along I will change.

3
juliantheguy•

I'm curious what you mean by $4,100 in sales and what qualifies as your first month. That's a decent rate for not having any experience as a web designer.

I'm a project manager that offers sites as one of my services but I'm not hitting 4K in my first month, I wouldn't know how without a portfolio and referrals etc

3
getitinyaaaaa•

By $4,100 in sales in my first month I mean I sold $4,100 worth of websites in my first 30 days after launching my business. Before that I spent about 2 weeks building my own site and doing business planning.

I didn't have a portfolio but I just found people on classified sites who didn't have websites and emailed them telling them what I could do or them. I target my marketing towards small mom and pop shop businesses and skilled trades people.

If you look in my post history I've posted two long blurbs about how I did it.

1
juliantheguy•

Cool. Just read your post from a few days ago. Cranking out a site in 4-6 hours is outside of my interest zone. It's one of those things where I'm like, cool you're hustling, but at the same time I'm curious how sustainable or satisfying this work will be.

I'm trying to stick more to the Bill Burr approach. Keep your head down, do good work, don't be a dick. I mean, I'm a little surprised you've found success in this first month, but I'm just skeptical that this is a template for long term success is all. And that's just me rationalizing, I would love $4K a month in sales... But surely I can get it if I take a different route.

As a side note, I do do project management etc and if you get to a point where you need to start scaling or handing off work, I have a network of creatives that I can hand things off to pretty easily. Feel free to touch base of you get bogged down juggling anything

2
getitinyaaaaa•

Helping small businesses build a web presence is very satisfying... So is making money and building a profitable business so quickly.

I don't see how what I'm doing is any different than the "Bill Buhr" approach... Are you implying I'm not working hard or that I'm being a dick? I'm not sure what you're getting at here?

All of my customers are very happy with their websites and are now asking me to help them with other stuff (logo design, flyer design, SEO etc. ) I'm also sure in a few months that referrals will start to roll in as well. I've inveated $0 in marketing but I'm sure if I do I can grow even faster. So I'm not too concerned with the sustainability of the business.

I appreciate the offe and will keep that in mind but as it stands I'm already building my network to do exactly this.

Thanks for your comments :)

1
justnfreeOP•

It sounds like from a side observer standpoint that he's got a cleaner simpler product offering for a much more targeted market than you're giving, so he can lower his cost and more directly find his market.

1
nuexxx•

Can you post or PM a link to one of the websites you designed. I'm curiously dying to see the type of designs that was able to generate that much income in the first 30 days of business. Especially by someone that practiced only for 2 weeks prior to launching as you stated in a previous post.

2
swagstickers•

Yeah what u/juliantheguy said. More deets please.

3
eugenos•

Here's his post from a few days ago: http://www.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur/comments/2zllj2/im_back_with_2100_more_in_sales_4100_total_to/

2
getitinyaaaaa•

Check my post history. I've posted twice about how I got started.

2
binaryOne•

This was asked yesterday, look here for some answers: https://www.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur/comments/30505n/why_did_you_choose_your_businessproductside/

1
Show_me_your_GOOCH•

wow your on your second?... how did it go? and what was the hardest part of it? sorry just trying to learn and start my first company!

1
justnfreeOP•

First one went okay, we ran a visual effects studio.

We started right as the market went south in 08 with business cards that "the printer hadn't finished yet" LOL. Clients were hard to come by and they didn't know anything about video when they walked in the door there are a few markets where that isn't the case but not ours. The work was exhausting and the growth was too slow going after a few years. I was basically running two full time jobs simultaneously and couldn't cut from the one that paid because the cash flow was never quit built up enough to support a move.

We closed the doors after 2 years of operations and it's been a few years now but I'm still sad about closing. There weren't any reasonable options but if we had slogged it out one more year we might have made it who knows.

The biggest error we made was not following a line of business that was right in front of our eyes and immensely profitable but "not in our field." Dumb decision, I like to think I wouldn't make it again, but I can't promise I wouldn't. Hardest part was letting everyone go, we had built a sturdy team capable of executing on big things in lots of directions, (another possible error specialization is important). I would say an important thing for someone just starting out that I didn't know is to decide when will you quit? If you run at this thing perpetually you can break down and burn out but only after you've endured a lot of suffering.

1
Faramirsen•

I think you should thinking about what you really believe in and what problem you are actually solving. Do not think only about monetary aspects but think about which one fits best with your values and lifestyle.

1
Show_me_your_GOOCH•

This is good advice

1
MaxUMG•

This is pretty much what you lean in management in university. Really good point!

1
abstractinfluence•

It depends on what you mean. Starting something yourself from scratch isn't just something you decide to come up with. If you identify a problem, and start working on a solution, that's how it starts. On the other hand, getting involved in an early-stage company can open a lot of doors. Network with people in your area, go to meetups, conferences, etc. and find the people who have ideas and can use your skill-set to bring them to life.

1