From Broke to 1K Monthly: I have no idea what I’m doing to build a business
Sometimes you make mistakes so big that they completely throw you life into a whirlwind. I have been in said whirlwind for 2016 and I need to escape; however, since I’m broke, why not try to build a business.
That’s right, I have no money or job, I’m going through a separation, and I continue to deal with debilitating depression and anxiety.
I am at rock bottom.
In 2016, I’ve been looking for work while trying to find ways to support myself through photography and other ideas. This job search includes applying at companies I have no interest in working for and part-time minimum wage positions. It’s as if I’ve been cursed and I’ve got almost no one to lean on.
I don’t know if my conditions could be worse. It really doesn’t matter because it’s up to me to change things. There really is only one company that I truly desire to work under.
Yet, here I am trying to build a business with no money. And to be honest, I feel like I’ve been trying to build this business since 2010 when I quit my corporate job at a Canadian bank.
My desire is to be a travelling photographer in the Winter and wedding photographer & Architectural photographer during the summers. I’d also love to eventually help people like me struggling to build a business of their own. As someone that’s considered giving up in more ways than one, it’s my mission to spread good vibes, lift spirits, and encourage creative entrepreneurs to stand tall and keep moving forward. Yes, even if I have no idea what I am doing still and I’m broke.
Inspired by the “From Zero to a Million” column by Julien Brault, I figured it was time to get seriously accountable in growing the business: Pineapple Supply Co. If you’re interested, subscribe to our email newsletter to stay connected and get one of our most popular premium photo collections as a gift.
I named this weekly Medium series “From Broke to 1k Monthly,” as I intend to share the weekly progress — just like Julien is doing with his column; however, I am going to go in stages. The first stage is to simply grow business revenue to 1k monthly. The specific reason for 1k monthly revenue is because this is approximately the income I might earn at a minimum wage part-time job. I also envision a business that stays small compared to a big organization.
Now, it’s important to know that this isn’t the first week of starting Pineapple Supply Co. I actually grabbed the domain back in May and started sharing it with the anniversary of July 1 — when I started uploading pineapples photos originally. This is why the initial growth metrics don’t start from zero. For some history, you can look at:
As well, I will continue to share Quarterly growth metrics. Here are a few past reports:
As of right now, I’m definitely not earning revenue of 1k monthly and I have no idea what I’ve been doing in this crazy whirlwind.
I’d love to see the first 1K earned within the next 8 weeks (60 days) and then earn 1K for 3 consecutive months. Then, we’ll up scale up the series! I know it is possible to go from broke to 1K monthly with better planning, hard work, creativity, consistency, and research.
Major Accomplishments:
- Released new product that is an epic zip download of our first 250 pineapple photos for convenience
- Added a Colophon page to Pineapple Supply Co.
- Added a new page for Content Requests
- Switched Instagram profile to a Business profile
- Queued 2 new articles for the blog
- Improved multiple spreadsheets for tracking growth metrics
Growth Metrics:
- Revenue: $149 (total: $2369, weekly growth: 7%)
- New Newsletter subscribers: 19 (total: 354, weekly growth: 6%)
- New Instagram followers: 123 (total: 3486, weekly growth: 4%)
- New Facebook Likes: 2 (total: 259, weekly growth: 1%)
Stay Golden!
