The Weekly Startup #14

The Weekly Startup #14

PRESENTED BY: 

Welcome to The Weekly Startup. The weekly newsletter intended to spark your inner fire and build a life you don't need to escape from. 

In today's email:

• The Best Marketing Newsletter (And I'm not saying it because it's my first sponsor)

• How To Build A Product Or Service Your Clients Love (Leveraging Only 1 tactic)

• A New Approach To This Newsletter (And why you didn't receive it the past 2 weeks)

• How to 2x or even 10x your net worth with 1 single move (A mindset play)

• Deciding whether or not to jump on an opportunity (Know Thyself)

• How to get opportunities (What I did that got me everything I have today)

• Why I decided to give away partial ownership of my business for free (WIP)

A new approach to this newsletter

First of all, hello again. Even though I promised a weekly newsletter you didn't receive any for the past 2 weeks. The reason is simple, I didn't feel like I had anything to share. I've listened to some of your past feedback and 1 comment stated: I get so many different emails that I often skip them, please only send one if you actually got something to share.

The good news is, today I feel like I've got something to tell. But that wasn't the case until 2 days ago. What happened? I got my first sponsor request. Before you exit, please bare with me for a bit longer.

You might say: Damn, so you only send it out because it gets you paid today? 

If I tell you that I earn somewhat around $56 from today's newsletter you'll hopefully believe that the promotion is not my main motivation. How I got the promotion is the main reason. It's the first topic I want to discuss. And it's completely focused on the topic of engaging your clients in order to build a great service (or product).

So what's the new approach?

Until now I've been sharing resources I found valuable and use on a daily base. But I can't go on forever. And I don't want to repeat myself. So going forward this newsletter will be more of a diary. I'll be sharing my past week in terms of building my businesses and the choices I make, why I make them, and what thought process got me there. I hope that this approach makes the whole concept of side hustling more tangible. If you know why I do what I do and what I'm trying to build in the long run, it's (hopefully) easier to learn from it and apply it yourself. 

But first, we move to the commercials. (jk) - It's actually a great newsletter and I'm following The Marketing Millenials on LinkedIn for a while now. So it came as a surprise that they would want to promote via my newsletter. I'm humbled so to say. So I highly recommend you join in.

A MESSAGE FROM THE MARKETING MILLENNIALS

A marketing newsletter you absolutely need

Working as a marketer is kind of weird. Your job is literally to master the art of getting people’s attention – easier said than done.

So, is it possible to capture the attention of someone whose job it is to capture attention?

We’re about to find out. 

My name is Daniel. I’m a marketing operator, a brand consultant, and the creator of The Marketing Millennials newsletter.

Each week, I send you a fun, unfiltered email with the strategies and insights behind some of the coolest brands from around the world.

Join thousands of marketers and subscribe to The Marketing Millennials today.

How to build a product your customers love

I'm tapping in on the previous sponsored post. It's how I got it that sparked my interest and translates into a tactic I'm trying to leverage myself. It's basically "listening" to your customers.

If you are following along you've noticed that I tend to ask a lot of questions in my newsletters. Via polls and directly prompting you to send me a direct email.

This is basically what I mean by "listening". I try to use your feedback to improve on my "product" aka this newsletter.

For this newsletter, I'm using Beehiiv. There are many platforms offering newsletter/mailing services but Beehiiv stands out from the crowd IMO.

It first sparked my attention because they offer a built-in referral program. I'm not using it yet because I don't have any rewards yet. But I plan to do so in the near future. It basically enables me to reward you if you share this newsletter and help me grow it. 

Their latest feature was their Ad Network. They are basically helping people like me to monetize their newsletters. 

So, what's the magic here? 

I've watched a lot on the topic of growing and monetizing newsletters and one of the biggest struggles is finding sponsors. A tactic I learned was subscribing to similar newsletters and actively reaching out to the sponsors they have. Such a hassle. 

I love the topic I write about but everything else feels like work. I know that I need to earn money in the end, but I really only want to focus on writing great stuff, not on begging for money.

This is where Beehiiv hit a home run for me. They listened to the struggles people with newsletters have and they are building features to make their lives easier. Yes, they still have flaws but I'm a firm believer that they will build the greatest platform for creators in the next 2 years. And this latest feature proves that.

So basically, this is the trick. Listen to your clients. Even if you only have 10. Try to get them to engage. Jump on a call with them, and ask them straight ahead. What could I do better? What are your struggles? What are you missing? Then move on and build what they ask. Build what they love to pay for. 

There is a big difference between assumptions and actual feedback. If you walk into a random bar with your million-dollar idea and everyone says: I love it. Then drop it and move on. You need them to say: Where can I buy it? 

How to 2x or even 10x your net worth with 1 single move

For the past 5 weeks, I was working from Tenerife. A Spanish island located next to the North of Africa. It's famous for its eternal spring. Meaning it's always warm but never too warm. I hate cold temperatures so this time of year I love to travel there and enjoy spring just a little longer.

The amazing part. It is not even that expensive. Conventional thinking leads us to think holidays are expensive. But in the last 5 weeks, I spend less than usual. And all while eating out every single day. 

Compared to the Netherlands (where I am from) basic costs of living are approx twice as cheap. I'm writing this newsletter on a Sunday in a coffee place in my hometown. The price for my espresso is 2,70. Last week I paid 1,00 for the same (even better) espresso with an ocean view. (That's almost 3x cheaper).

Do you get where I'm going? It's a location play. I saved money while on holiday. My freedom (no constraints to a boss) enabled me to book a flight when I wanted. So I could just book a last-minute empty seat. But that's slightly off-topic.

What I'm trying to explain is that you could easily double your net worth by moving abroad. And even 10x if you decide to live in Bali for example.  

Easy here is relative. If you build a life, bought a house, got a dog and 3 kids, it's no longer easy. I've talked about this in an older article called "How you're setting the stage for unhappiness". Please don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that buying a house, or a dog, or having children makes you unhappy. The concept is about thinking about the long-term consequences of your choices. I only urge you you think about the choices you're about to make, as everything demands some form of sacrifice. You can't have it all. 

You need to be aware of this. And then decide what you truly want, in the long run.

To proceed on this topic, let's move on to my recent dilemma:

Deciding whether or not to jump on an opportunity.

Building on the previous topic, I trouble myself with decisions every day of the week. My personal struggle is that I see opportunities everywhere I look. I have many interests and this is my pitfall. Just 2 weeks ago (while enjoying the Tenerife Sea) the owner of my favorite coffee place told me he was looking to sell his place. (opportunity!!!)

As a long-time visitor and coffee lover, this got my attention. So I mentioned my interest and sat down with him to talk it over. We looked at his numbers and my conclusion was easy. This was a steal. The investment I needed to make would be paid back fully within 6 months. 

Yet I opted out....

It wasn't an easy choice. But I had to make it. I see myself retiring with my own small coffee place. But I'm not ready to retire yet. 

To get there I took an honest look at myself and my shortcomings. 

• I don't speak the language. (Spanish)

• I'm not ready to live abroad fulltime (yet)

• I can't commit to the same energy as the current owner

• I need to focus

The main issue was the gap in language and culture. I've seen many examples of people following their dreams abroad only to fail. Because they are too arrogant to recognize cultural and language differences. As a visitor, I only see the fun part of the place. When shit hits the fan and I need help I lack the skills to communicate with local "professionals". 

I put professionals between " " because my western idea of professionalism differs from the local culture. Or, put differently. I am used to a high level of service while the locals from Tenerife take it easy. That's great if you're enjoying your holiday. But it's terrible if you want to build a business. I know that I can't handle that. And I can't express myself in their language to be able to explain it. 

This is also why I don't want to live there "yet". It's great for retirement but I'm too involved in my professional career to move there yet. I need the energy western culture has. 

I also need to focus on what I'm currently doing. I want to grow my e-commerce business and build this newsletter and attached content business. I've missed 2 weeks already. So I'm lacking focus. That can't happen.

And last but least. The success of the current owner has mainly to do with his presence. I can't commit to that same level of energy. So even tho the theoretical part sounds very attractive. In reality, it would probably become a big flop or a mediocre version of the current business. And it would simultaneously hurt my existing businesses.

So long story short. Before you jump on any opportunity, take a good look at yourself and at the shortcomings you have. Are you skilled or engaged enough to keep going when times get tough? If not, opt-out. New opportunities will arise sooner or later.

About that. Where do I find these opportunities?

What I did to get the opportunities that lead to my current businesses.

Adding value!

People in general are eager to help others out. You can dwell in self-sorrow and blame the world for your misfortune or, you can help people out. 

Everyone has something they need help with or that annoys them. It's up to you to identify those issues and then jump on the opportunity to help out.

The big difference that helped me was the way you structure those "partnerships".

Instead of asking for money, just jump in and add value. 

But, I need to pay my bills too!

Yes. But for that there are jobs. I differentiate work to earn money in the short term and building trust and partnerships in the long run. This sometimes means working for free. Especially if your skills are not developed yet.

I made a great deal buying my main Instagram page without paying a single dollar out of my own pocket because I put in the work without asking for anything in return. I worked for 12 months without asking for anything. Then, when my 'Boss' wanted out, I jumped in and asked for the opportunity to take over. 

2,5 years later I got a new opportunity when the same 'boss' wanted to sell his eCommerce business due to lack of focus. I asked for the opportunity. And since I already did the work he trusted me to grow it further. We made a deal based on future revenue. So if I smash it he profits. No strings attached. 

These deals made it even easier to proceed this way. Because I'm growing my revenue it enables me to focus more and more on adding value to the people in my circle. I'm not in need of quick money. So I offer my services on a risk reversal base. If I don't deliver I don't get paid. I take the risk of losing time but it opens a lot of doors. In the end, you'll get rewarded big time. 

I can list 5 more opportunities but I don't want to make this an endless read.

The concept is easy. Look at it as some sort of apprenticeship. But be picky about the tasks. Only take on challenges if they fit your long-term plan. Worst case scenario you learn a lot of new skills.

I went deeper on this topic in my article "How Aspiring Entrepreneurs Should Invest" if you want to read more.

Why I decided to give away a big piece of my business.

To close this mailing I want to keep you in the loop of my recent developments regarding my print-on-demand webshop.

It's the eCommerce business I recently acquired (the opportunity I mentioned in the previous chapter).

I found a partner who takes care of fulfillment and I'm in the process of developing software that fully automates the whole business. This is a costly process so I am building it in small steps.

The first part went live a few months ago, it broke down 4 weeks later, and only since last week has it been up and running again. Not because the work was complicated, but because the software company took its time. It wasn't until I freaked out that they started working on it again. And when they did it only took them 2 weeks to repair the software.

This is a lesson you'll learn as soon as you start working with external partners. Sadly you have to stay on top of things 24-7. But that's part of running your own business.

The next step in my software journey requires me to make an investment somewhere in the region of 30k. You can imagine that this is not a light decision.

My biggest worry is not if it's needed to grow my business, but whether or not my current software partner is the right pick. I know that they are capable of building it, but my recent experience makes me doubt how fast they can build it and whether or not it keeps up and running. 

I was playing with the thought of offering them partial ownership to increase leverage and skin in the game. But they are too big to establish this. What I mean by this is that even if they take a cut out of my revenue, their clients pay such large sums that it's not worth their time in the next 3 years. So the skin I could offer them won't change a thing if I want them to proactively stay on top of things.

My aha moment came when I spend some time getting to know the project leader of the project. He had always been the single person that made me feel like he was invested. When I found out that he also took on freelance gigs I asked him to meet me outside of work.

We discussed his future plans and my concerns. The only obstacle was a potential conflict between him, his part-time employer, and me (the client). So I offered him the following deal.

The software project still goes to the company and keeps going to them because I trust that they can do the job. My only requirement in doing so is that I am allowed to give away partial ownership of my company to their project leader. Giving him skin in the game takes away my responsibility for the technical features. Furthermore, I believe that he will stay on top of things actively because downtime now means that he feels it too. 

I'm a firm believer in splitting the pie with the right people. My technical shortcomings will break me up sooner or later. Or put differently:

I rather have 10% of something than 100% of nothing.

Call me crazy. I don't know. If it turns out to be the biggest mistake of my life I'll let you know. Similarly, if it does work.

The end

It's a long one this week. And I didn't check it for editing. Thank you for staying tuned. I hope that this "diary" approach gives you some new insights. As I mentioned, I want to think out loud so you can take a direct look at my thought process. Not by looking back at my past but by looking at topics that are currently top of mind. 

If you got any comments or questions just reply to this email. It's connected to my private email.

Have a nice week and see you again next Tuesday (if I have something to tell you).

Erwin

How You Can Help Me. (If you like this mailing)

First of all, thanks a lot for reading. It motivates me to create and find more content going forward.

I want this information to be free for everyone. The world will only be a better place if chances are distributed more evenly. Inequality is already growing too fast. It's up to us to tighten the gap. 

You can help me grow this educational platform I'm building in 2 easy ways (that cost you nothing).

1. Share this newsletter with friends who could benefit.

2. Follow me on Medium (I need 100 followers to get paid by Medium for my writing)