"If I only knew then, what I know now."
You've probably said this to yourself.
Maybe dozens of times throughout your life.
And if you're like me
You've got 67 business ideas.
The tricky part?
Actually sticking to one.
Because pivoting every 3 months is death.
I've gone from working full-time to coaching.
Then from agency to full-time work again.
I've noticed when I work full-time,
But build a newsletter on the side...
I'm happiest.
So I'm completely rethinking my "business."
If you're building your side hustle.
Or ready to take the leap.
You'll want to read this.
The truth is:
The value of hard-learned lessons decreases as time goes on.
When you're burning through cash and making mistakes, you have time to course-correct. But if you wait too long to learn from others' failures, you might repeat them when you can't afford to.
Here's what I learned the hard way:
One reason I ran myself out of business...
I spent too much, too fast.
I invested in coaches, courses, editors, and subscriptions. I was burning over $1,000 in monthly expenses to make my "1-person" agency work.
Not sustainable.
And definitely not simple.
Now I'm staying as lean as possible. If it's not built on a simple idea and a simple tech stack, I don't want it.
Here's my new plan:
It starts with a simplified tech stack...
- SendFox: Bare-bones newsletter service
- MIRO: For YouTube screen sharing
- Google apps (docs, sheets, etc.)
- Adobe Creative Cloud
- Claude
Total monthly cost: Around $55/mo
I've canceled everything else.
Gamma, X verification, LinkedIn Premium...
Just YouTube + LinkedIn to get leads
It's simple.
Create YouTube videos targeting problem-aware viewers, make them solution-aware, and funnel them to my newsletter to make them product-aware.
Then I'll turn the videos into LinkedIn posts.
For offers...
I'm done with $2,500-$5,000 group coaching.
Instead, I'll offer two things:
- A cheap monthly Skool group w/resources + access to me
- Premium 1-on-1 coaching at a high price point
The reason?
The middle ground is tricky for 80% of my audience.
They can't swing thousands
But could use my resources for cheap.
The 1% who can afford it will pay a premium for personalized knowledge.
Bottom line: I don't know how this will turn out. I just want to build my list of high-intent individuals on the side while learning director-level marketing skills.
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Here's what I wish someone told me 2 years ago:
"Start lean. Stay focused. And never let expenses outpace revenue by more than you can handle losing."
The longer you wait to simplify your business, the more expensive it becomes.
The best time to simplify your business was when you started. The second-best time is today.
I think my lean approach will transform how I work and give me the freedom I actually want. If you're serious about building something sustainable, I want you to experience this clarity too.
You'll never get this learning opportunity back.
Talk soon,
Ryan
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P.S. You got this email because you were on my email list. I've since switched to SendFox because they do everything I need when it comes to email, but for $50 one-time vs. $390/yr which KIT charges.
(I'm not affiliated with SendFox, it's just a much better value-prop for me.)
Two months ago, I said I was done with email. Truth is, I enjoy writing emails more than Skool posts. If you joined the Videos to leads Skool group, you'll have received a notification and a special offer.
Please, if you don't want to be here, unsubscribe now. No hard feelings.
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