My Company Isn’t A Unicorn & I’m Perfectly Fine With It
It’s more like an ant. You’ll see what I mean…
I Googled “Unicorn” recently.
They described it as “a mythical animal typically represented as a horse with a single straight horn projecting from its forehead”
OR
“A start-up company valued at more than a billion dollars, typically in the software or technology sector.”
Both sound pretty awesome and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want anything to do with either.
But my company, Doorbell, is neither.
In fact, we’re more like an ant. Why? Ants are small compared to most other animals. They aren’t particularly exciting or frequently discussed. Nor do they wow you with their physical features.
However, do you know what ants are really amazing at?
Working ridiculously hard and getting things done.
Ants are smart, driven, community oriented, and disproportionately strong. They do what they have to for their colony, fellow ants, and never stop building and collecting resources.
Doorbell is a lot like that.
My company is still small
Doorbell is tiny and insignificant by most business analysts standards.
It’s been up and running for a mere 6 months, has generated a little under $20,000, and currently only has 4 clients.
Small potatoes.
Or so I thought. My mentality was always that the company needed to scale quickly, grow, and catapult itself into instant stardom. I judged my lack of progress pretty harshly.
All of the start up buzz and information around the Ubers, Bitcoins, and Snapchat’s of the world will do that to you.
Start up culture has become all the rage and aspiring (and wannabe) entrepreneurs are looking to figure out what their billion dollar idea will be and how they’ll be able to get acquired by Facebook or Google in the next 5 years.
Which is super cool. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not even going to pretend like I wouldn't want to be making that kind of money right now.
But lately i’ve had a huge shift in mentality. I’m not ashamed of Doorbell anymore. I went from quitting my marketing agency job with absolutely no plan, no resources, and no clients, to operating a profitable business that has replaced my income.
Doing this required no shareholders, no loans, no crowdfunding. It was all sweat equity baby.
That’s something i’m super proud of. My clients are happy with my work and excited for the future. I do right by them and offer real solutions to help their businesses grow each month.
So yeah, Doorbell is still small, but steadily growing in a way i’m pretty happy with.
Small Doesn’t Equal Wrong Or Bad
Yes, it’s true that I might never sell my company for a billion dollars. In fact, it’s statistically likely that you never will either . But there are a few things that i’m doing that i’m extremely proud of.
1. We’re profitable
Since day 1, Doorbell has been profitable.
That being said, the first few month involved a ton of cutting back on my spending and downsizing my living situation. But the business has been making money and able to support my life since the beginning.
It doesn’t make any sense to me to operate a business that isn’t profitable, or that at least doesn't have a iron clad mid to long term strategy of how they are going to monetize their offering or eventually become profitable.
That trap of neglecting profits for too long and consequently running out of cash, is one I have read about startups falling into before and it just doesn’t jive with me.
If you’re trying to start a business, you should be focused on making money. Period. If you’re not, it’s a hobby.
2. Having complete ownership is dope
I own 100% of my business.
That’s a cool feeling.
Having said that, I am in no way implying that having business partners, or investors isn’t a good route to embark on. In fact, it’s probably a fantastic avenue for a good chunk of business models.
But I know for a fact that I’d hate to have to answer to so many different people, with wildly different interests and visions than my own. I enjoy making decisions about how to grow the company and how we operate.
To be completely honest, sometimes I do wish that I had someone else that was as invested in the company’s outcome as I am, but that’s what mentors and good employees are for.
It is definitely more of a burden at times but I enjoy the responsibility of growing something steadily and steering the ship in the right direction.
3. We’re not going to save the world
And that’s okay.
You shouldn’t predicate your worth on how many rain forests you save, or if you can donate millions of dollars to a foundation in your own name.
Your business can impact your immediate surroundings and change the lives of those around you in a similar way.
Doorbell deals primarily with small to mid sized local business owners. These are folks who are either soloprenuers or have a small sized team with them. They have worked hard to get where they are and their money means a lot to them.
I can say with pride that my focus on generating qualified leads and converting those leads into customers is a catalyst to to the growth of their businesses that otherwise wouldn’t be there.
They typically don’t have sales teams, and aren’t salesmen, so traditional methods of outbound prospecting and in person lead generation is a challenge for amidst their busy lives.
I help them get back their time and help grow their companies. That’s an awesome feeling for both of us.
If you truly want to change the world, focus on improving the life of one person at a time. Keep doing that forever and you can’t not make a difference.
It’s okay to take the long road
Again, if you have a mind blowingly cool and earth shattering idea, go do whatever it takes to spread it to the world and make a ton of money doing it if you can.
There is nothing wrong with being a unicorn. They’re adorable.
But if you have skills as a mechanic or a writer, and you’re not sure that your “good enough” to be a business owner or worried that you don’t have what it takes to make money, you're tricking yourself.
Stop comparing yourself to exceptions to the rule. Small business owners make up a large sector of the business world and they enhance communities all over the world.
It’s alright to become profitable securely, grow slowly but steadily, and scale when your company is ready.
Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
Your product or service is still worth it even if it’s not the next Amazon or Uber. Those companies are cool but they aren’t the only way to be an entrepreneur. Ya feel me?
Good.
Now go be an ant. Ants ants are great.
Hi. Thanks for reading. I really appreciate it!
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