by Nick FooterLaunching A Small Business Isn’t Easy
I’m not saying that I thought the first year was going to be easy, cause I didn’t. Even with a family of entrepreneurs behind me, MBA and multiple years of experience in agency life my first year of business wasn’t as smooth as I expected. I’ve had many highs, a few lows and a lot of fun in the middle. I’ve had to transition a family member out of the business, met many lifelong business partners and developed some amazing friends along the way. The long hours, low pay and oh did I mention long hours are definitely worth it.
Operating a Small Business Isn’t Easy
What I’ve realized after my first year, is that being a solopreneur can be easier than an entrepreneur. Being a one-person shop was much simpler, as I didn’t have to write any process, have any staff meetings, or handle internal trainings. There are many things that all the experience, education, and training thrown my way couldn’t have me ready for until I was doing them.
Shoe Makers Son Has No Shoes
Funny thing about owning a search engine marketing agency is working on your business marketing seems to be one of your last priorities. Doesn’t make sense right? Well, luckily for the two fantastic In2itive employees, and me we had a really good first year and didn’t need to do any marketing because of some great partners and strong relationships we built. Now, this doesn’t mean we’re not doing any marketing and over the past three months we’ve launched our own local search engine optimization campaign, content marketing, and have some YouTube videos in editing.
If I Could Do It Over
In reviewing the past year, there are not many things that I would change. As I mentioned, transitioning out a family member out of the business was difficult, but I was able to deploy a concept I stole from Zappos, who pays their new hires $3000 NOT to take the job offered. One of my personal passions is personal growth and living a happy life, which gets passed along to my friends and now employees. The concept is simple, if you don’t fit or just aren’t In2itive, we’ll help you start your own business or get your dream job. Family or not, I’ve done my best to help In2itive employee #1 start her own business, which is beginning to take off, but more importantly, she’s happy.
What’s Next?
That really depends on you. My vision of In2itive Search is grand and believe that by hiring the right people, putting our partners first and try to have fun in the process we can help a lot of businesses. I know there are a lot of marketing agencies out there, but my vision is to build a business that stands long after I leave to teach, play golf or whatever retired people do. No matter what happens to In2itive Search, my deepest hope is in the process we make long lasting relationships, provide fantastic results, and make the world a little bit brighter along the way.
