I spoke with a handyman recently who was in a tough situation. He had a full-time job. He was offering handyman services on the side. He was commuting to a different city for his job and wanted to build his handyman business full-time in the city where he lived. But he felt there was too much competition and wasn’t sure he could make it work. He also knew that to make it work, he needed an online presence to generate enough customers to keep his schedule full. So, he started building his website. He got through the first couple of steps but quickly ran into a snag. It was harder than he expected, and he wasn’t sure how to move forward. Riddled with uncertainty and frustration, he gave up and looked for an easier way. As a result, he was no closer to escaping that situation and having that full-time business in the city where he lives. There’s no judgment here. I’ve done the same thing many times. I also admire him for continuing to seek a solution, which is why we were speaking in the first place. Here’s what happens when you try to grow ANY business. A task you face is harder than you expected. Maybe that’s naming your business, filing for an LLC, building your website, or attracting your first customers. It takes longer than you expected. It’s more confusing. It costs more money than you thought it would. So you start to doubt yourself. You start to lose motivation. You wonder if it’s worth it. You wonder if you’re cut out for this. You wonder if there’s some easier way out there. And you want to give up. Then you start to think, “maybe there’s some secret others know I don’t.” And so, often, that leads you to give up. Over the years, I’ve consulted with many who run into this roadblock. They want a more profitable business. I tell them a solution, and immediately, I see it on their faces. Their reaction says, “Well, that sounds hard. I don’t want to do that. I don’t know how to do that. I can’t do that. Isn’t there an easier way?” Again, this often leads to giving up or waiting for things to be easy (which rarely happens). So they consume more information, do more research, and try to gain certainty, even though certainty doesn’t exist. You will never be 100% certain. And yes, there may be an easier way to move forward, and you should look for it. But most of the time, there isn’t an easier way, and waiting for one keeps you stuck. If you keep waiting for things to be easy, nothing will change (other than your age). Business growth happens when you face challenges head-on Almost every time I’ve created significant growth within my business, it’s because I faced a challenging situation head-on. It’s not because I found an easy way or had some advantage. For example, when deciding which business to start, I read several books on career options and how to find my purpose. I desperately wanted somebody to tell me, “Here’s what you should do, man. This is what you’re good at. You should do that.” But nobody could. I had no choice but to stick with the problem until it was solved, which took months. It was uncomfortable, but I had no choice but to push through until I felt good about a decision. Eventually, I decided to start a handyman business. When I started my business, nobody wanted to hire me because I looked like a teenager. People would disregard me because I looked so young. They assumed I didn’t have enough skills or experience. To be fair, they were probably right. But I still wanted to start my business, and I’d already quit my engineering job. So, instead of giving up, I dove into digital marketing. I studied it. It was hard. I wasn’t sure it would work, but it was my best chance. So, I focused on it. I did things that other handymen wouldn’t do, and I thrived as a result. Another time, I didn’t know how to price my services, and I felt like I was wasting my time making way less money than I could be with my handyman services. At the time, I was podcasting, blogging, and running my handyman business. I didn’t have kids then, so I had more time to do these things. But while doing my handyman services, I knew I wasn’t making as much money as I could be. I knew I was underpricing jobs. I spent way too much time figuring out how to quote a job. I had too many gaps in my schedule between jobs. I was leaving a ton of money on the table, but I didn’t know how to fix it. I searched for advice and couldn’t find a good solution. Eventually, I got to the point where I was like, “Man, I’m not getting anywhere. I’m just spinning my wheels.” So, I had to do something challenging. I stopped podcasting. I cut back on my handyman services and made less money while focusing on figuring out how to price my services more profitably. It took me about nine months, but I ended up writing the first book on handyman pricing. That book sold well over a thousand copies, and I eventually learned even better pricing strategies, which I ...
Mostra di più
Mostra meno
16 min