It was 2010, and I was at the tail end of my career as an academic administrator.
At the ripe old age of 31 it felt a little strange to be ending one career and starting a new one. But my heart was set on entrepreneurship, and even though I only had $200 to invest in my new venture, I was going to do it come hell or high water.
But I got a pretty rocky start.
If you’ve read my story, you know that I advertised on Craigslist to get my first few clients and start figuring out exactly who I wanted to work with. My very first client was a pretty successful manufacturing company, and I was awestruck at getting such a great opportunity so soon after starting my business. After inviting me to a rather awkward initial meeting at his house, the CEO offered me a price I thought was astronomical at the time, and I took the job like a puppy takes a treat from its owner.
The scope creep started almost immediately. I was asked to tour the facility, which made sense, as it would help me get to know the company and understand its operations, but the scheduling was difficult and inconvenient. I moved things around and went anyway, and the tour lasted well beyond the extent of my interest or patience. After completing the consulting and writing work, I was then required to become the project assistant, running around dealing with printing and binding and photocopying and trying to complete the project on an absurdly tight deadline.
The printer made one mistake on one page, and I didn’t see it. When the CEO found it, I was shamed in front of several other people, embarrassed, and subsequently fired.
Whoops.
Oh, I got paid, though. So that was nice.
It took me quite a few troublesome projects in that first year to eventually get the hang of stating my boundaries and keeping projects within the agreed-upon scope. But it was tough. If you’re just starting your service business, it’ll probably be tough for you, too.
But after some time, and a lot of mistakes, you’ll develop the confidence you need to set your own limits, and help people understand that you do your best work within those limits.
There’s really no “get rich quick” story that’s completely true. Even though I love to tell you how you can build a successful small business from scratch just like I did, it simply can’t be sunshine and roses the whole way. Sometimes, you just collapse in a figurative pile of dog crap, and the best thing you can do is get in the shower as quickly as possible and pretend it never happened.
If you’re interested in starting a profitable online business without all that crap, check out this free resource from my friend and business partner Danny Iny. He’ll show you a much different way to get to six figures and beyond. And I know you’ll like it.