A Viral Reddit Post from 2023: From 0 to 6 Figures as an Entreprenuer (What few people will tell you)

This post went viral on Reddit. (294,000 views and 359 shares)

The entrepreneurship space can be completely mental, in terms of people's expectations and timelines vs reality.

This morning I answered a question from someone who asked how to make 200K or maybe even 2M from 4K and I was like .... "Maybe just worry about getting your 1st sale?"

Who the f%^& is this guy to tell me anything...

• 3rd business (1 and 2 were closed down, as I realised it wasn't what I wanted to do. Ecommerce and Consulting)
• Grown from 0 to 100K in 3 years mainly through digital products, with some copywriting and coaching. Yes you read that right. 3 years. Not 3 months.
• Grew a previous business (I didn't have equity) to just under £1M a year from £7-80K ish in 5 years
• Professional writer background with 10+ years paid experience
• Grown a reasonably sized Youtube channel from scratch and get 1M+ impressions per month through content

That may not impress you but it impressed the s%$£ out of me.

Considering 10 years ago I was a hopeless and helpless drug addict who couldn't do squat.

Oh, and I'm 36 now.

I'm not:

• A millionaire
• A business genius
• An MBA alumni

I have really just worked hard to be consistently better at writing and also public speaking.

Plus it's worth saying that I have close friends and mentors who have 6-9 figure businesses who I consistently run my thinking past on a regular basis.

So..........

I wanted to share a few things that I haven't seen shared much about entrepreneurship (not a dig just an observation, but perhaps sharing this will help to right size people's expectations:

1. Don't obsess about millions, just get the 1st sale done. The 1 st time I ever sold something in each business I cried. Because I had worked so hard, for free. And I've tried to sell HUNDREDS of things. I've tested loads of offers in my niche. I have worked months on things that I thought was going to make me a millionaire and then I couldn't even get the first sale.
2. You'll never work so hard for so little. There are months when I JUST had enough to pay the bills. And I'd worked 60,80, or 100 hours that week. It can be soul destroying at times. I can hand on heart say, starting and running a business has been the most difficult thing I have ever done. Apart from getting sober. If it works, the pay off will come 3,5, 10, 20+ years down the line. But VERY FEW people are going to get rich in a few months. That expectation on yourself could literally give you a nervous breakdown.
3. Be prepared to sacrifice a lot. I've missed parties, going out with friends, hell I even had a relationship or two break down because I was trying to get the business going, or had a cash flow problem that month, and while the sweet embrace of a loved one or a night out with your mates seems sooooooooo appealing. I knew I had to say no.
4. I can't work 100 hour weeks. Though the hustle culture is becoming a bit more wholesome, the first 6 months of the business I spent 10-12 hours a day 6 or 7 days a week, driving myself mad trying to get money through the door. And you know what happened? I would then spend 2-3 days like a potato curled in a ball in bed watching Netflix, because my brain died. I can only speak for myself. But today, when I'm tired... I go home. I don't pound another black coffee and "go hard" because I'll just feel like shit the next day.
5. 99% of of people don't understand what you're doing. A couple of my friends own businesses (I spend more and more time with them to be fair, because they get it) but my regular mates who have normal jobs, don't really understand how stressful it can be. Relax they say, just chill out. But they're not the ones staring at negative numbers the start of each month, worrying about how you're going to pay for the office, the staff and God knows what else pops up each month.
6. Boredom and changing direction will kill your business. I've pivoted a few times in the business and it HURT. Just because I got bored. What a luxury boredom is. If you sell something and you get bored, just make it better, automate it, improve the S%^& out of it. Only once it's running like clock work should you do something new. Plus I've seen a fair few businesses come and go who just couldn't stick at one product or service.
7. People on Youtube do not represent the vast majority of business owners. I love Alex Hormozi and Noah Kagan, I love consuming content. BUT, they got there through a lot of lessons hard learnt. And if you're doing things properly, no one will know your market better than you (if they do, then perhaps start there) It's easy to get caught up in 10-15 minute videos about the "7 lessons to..." and the "Quick way to..." but it's about the execution. I consistently try to do LESS but BETTER
8. Success comes at a price. Get help ASAP. When the money starts to roll in, you'll be tempted to keep the cash for yourself. But the quicker you can get admin and ops in place the better. I HATE admin with a passion, and I recognise that. When I got my first reasonable pay day 6 months into the business I hired a VA.
9. Don't try to be anyone else but yourself. The way I do business is unique and has brought a measure of success, but I spent ages trying to "copy" other people, and it didn't work. You know why? I'm not them and their not me. I learnt how I work, what I have to do to get the best out of me, and what my weaknesses are.
10. Knowledge means nothing without execution. I've spent thousands on books and courses. Because I felt insecure. I wanted to be better but not do the work. These days I just try and consume stuff sllllooooowwwwlllllyyy and actually put it into practise.
11. Don't let it go to your head. When I started getting a bit more successful, I raised my rates, took more clients, made more products, and half f&^%ed myself, because I got to big for my boots, and ended up not delivering the same quality of work I did when I was hungry and poor. Currently we are resizing the business so we do less but better. I'm slowing down not speeding up. I watched wayyyyyyyyy too many real life stories about "How this guys made a KAJILLION dollars in 1 year." I'm not saying it's not real, it just doesn't have to be me. Plus that guy probably never set out to do that. It just happened.
12. If you can pay the bills this month right now, you're laughing. If you can pay the bills next month as well you've made it. One thing no one ever told me, is that sometimes things are great, and sometimes you're chasing down ever spare penny down the back of the proverbial business couch to pay the bills. if you've got 30 days to get a win, you're ok. If you've got 60 days or more, you're absolutely smashing it.

I guess my final reflection in this randomn (and hopefully helpful) monologue is where I find myself today as I pack at 2:46PM, something I never would have done before, but I am dog tired

If you start a business, you are part of a rarefied bunch of amazing lunatics who chose to chase their dream and not live it through other people.

Never forget you're an amazing human being, and whatever you achieve, you can tell a story in years in the future about how you fucking tried.

I am consistently my own worst critic and hardest task master, and when you're the boss it can be hard to get a straight answer from other people, surround yourself with love and people who will tell you the truth.