Welcome back! I am so glad to have you here! This is episode 3 of 4 of my series “What Are You Good At?” We are 75% of the way complete with the series! But today will possibly be the deepest episode of all. Today I am going to discuss is your “passion” your sole purpose, or is it fueled by money? I know! I know! Why would you start a business without the financial aspect being in mind? I get it. Things are expensive, the cost of living rises every day. Especially right now with the COVID-19 shitshow still in effect.
If you have been following this series, I have mentioned many times that if you are passionate about doing something, you will do it regardless of what you get paid. Or even get paid at all! In following successful people, you find a lot of crazy stories about their beginnings. Many famous entrepreneurs who found their passion lived in their offices because they couldn’t afford rent on an office and apartment. Steve Jobs, Dan Pena, Elon Musk have all slept on the floor in their office at one point and time. Jeff Bezos started Amazon in a garage. They had their passion, they didn’t get paid to do so (at first), but they made it work! So let’s find out if your “it” is what will make you the next top entrepreneur.
Part 1: How Bad Do You Want It?
The reason that Jobs and Bezos, Musk and Pena, were able to keep going is because they were truly passionate about their “it” and it didn’t matter if they were getting paid or not. I will use myself as an example here. When I wanted to start my reptile business, not only did I not get paid to do the first few parties I did, but it actually cost me money! I have living creatures that I had to feed, house, and care for. For those that do not know, reptiles are not simple to keep at times. You have to have perfect balance of heat and humidity which requires a heat source, usually ceramic heat emitters (running usually between $15-$40), and substrate (I use ReptiChip which is about $25 per large bag).
Besides basic husbandry, of course my animals have to eat. With 10 snakes and 4 lizards, 2 of those lizards being larger breeds (Savannah Monitor and Gold Tegu), it costs me about $80 per week to feed all of my animals. Then before I had to care for the animals, I had to purchase them! My first snake was $29, but the enclosure and set up for him costs $200. My most expensive snake was my Reticulated Pythons, which I paid $600 for my female Titanium Tiger. I know, I’m rambling again. But my point is, I was a few thousand dollars in the hole and still to this day haven’t made a penny. But I continue to do so because I am so passionate about it.
In the last episode, I mentioned that I came to the conclusion that my reptile keeping and reptile show took the backseat as a hobby for myself as it led me down the road to my sole purpose as a life coach for people like me. Which gave birth to this blog, my podcast, and my life coaching business. I have had 2 clients so far, that I did for free. I did this for a few reasons.
- I am passionate about helping people and I didn’t care about the money.
- Referrals and word-of-mouth are the best forms of advertisement.
- To prove to myself I could do it!
Even as I write this blog, I don’t get paid to do so. But I love it! I don’t know what I would do without it. I genuinely want to help people.
So think about your “passion.” It is what you love to do. Could you do so for free? Every Entrepreneur and business does it. My favorite show is The Office and a quote from Oscar Martinez comes to mind. Season 5, Episode 21: Two Weeks
“Most companies don’t turn a profit for at least two years. And even then the profit margins are razor thin! Best case scenario, you don’t cut yourself a salary for at least five years. Can you go five years without a salary?”
I know, it seems dumb to use a quote from a fictional television show. But it’s true. You could go an extended period of time where you don’t make any money. You may have to work a job on top of building your business, only get between three and five hours of sleep a night, sleep on someone’s couch, get a roommate, or even worse, live in your car. It sounds crazy, but if you research, a lot of big named executives and Entrepreneurs lived in their car!
So the question you have to ask yourself is: Are you passionate enough about your “it” to sacrifice everything? How bad do you want it? Are you “passionate” simply because someone else has made money doing it? Take some time and think about this! This is your life!
Part 2: How To Make Money From Your Passion!
Don’t freak out! Don’t give up on your dreams! I don’t want you to think “Well I can’t do that!” Because you can. Ask anyone who started their own business if the sacrifice was worth it, and they’ll tell you yes. Even if their business failed. Because what is failure? Failure is a life lesson! A mistake to build from and create something new. Something better. Something stronger.
So let’s look at this. You’ve found your passion. Your “it.” How can you monetize this? Well, here’s something crazy! And this is what I am doing at this particular moment. Hit the internet and share your knowledge! Now, from experience, I will tell you. Don’t try to “Gary Vee” it unless you have optimal time. I tried and stumbled hard. I did it wrong. You can read more about this in my article “Failure: Now What?” I have found so much joy in this blog and my podcast. I have found this to be a great start!
For this blog, of course, I use WordPress. It is so easy to use and completely customizable. I continue to add to the blog site and customize as I grow. For my podcast, I use the Anchor app. Anchor is so easy to use. You do everything directly from your cell phone. Record, edit, distribute, and share! I found this to be great compared to spending hundreds to thousands of dollars on studio equipment and a better laptop. To start out, it works, and it works great! Again, I do not get paid to do this at the moment. Thanks to you, the person reading this, I am one step closer to achieving my goal in my business.
So as much as I have researched, attempting, and succeeded, here is my list, in order, of how you can begin your journey to starting a business:
Step 1: Start a Blog. Write articles about your business topic. It doesn’t matter what it is! Write about what you know, what you learn, and share articles or references you have learned from.
Step 2: Start a podcast. I know it seems scary. I am not a fan of my own voice, and I was blessed with a face meant for radio. But recording a podcast is basically you sitting in a quiet room, talking to yourself, and recording it. I love it! I find it fun and I feel I have already grown since I started.
Step 3: (Get ready for it! Because this is a big one!) Start a YouTube channel! I will admit I was nervous as hell and I am still nervous when I do YouTube videos. But everyone has to start somewhere. YouTube continues to be a massive plus for anyone. It doesn’t matter if you have no followers. Every great musician and band starts out playing empty rooms.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXMjqlTk_9BBLVYD6ysCVEg
(This is the link to view my YouTube channel. Nothing fancy, simply shooting videos about what I know with my cell phone and sharing it with the world!)
Step 4: Hit social media! You can use your personal page, or create an all new page for your business. I created a Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and LinkedIn page. (Follow me! All of them are @rythereptileguy)
This will give you a great start in your business! Put yourself out there. The more content, the easier it is to get followers! More followers=higher chance of monetization.
Part 3: Entrepreneurship vs. College
I have said it a million times, and I’ll probably say it a million more. I have spent my life from age 18 to age 29 trying to make college work. Our entire lives, college and higher education is pressed into our minds that we will not be successful if we don’t have a college degree. This is not the case for Entrepreneurs. In fact, it is the opposite for us! That’s right, us. We are the exception.
For Entrepreneurs, we can find our own education. Bear with me, I’m going to use a dirty word here! We have to READ! Ugh! I know! Reading. I have learned more from $7.00 books I got from ads on Facebook than I learned in any college course. As a matter of fact, one of my idols and role models once told me “If I had to choose between telling you to spend $10,000 on a piece of paper and telling you to read 40 books, I’d tell you to read 40 books.” I won’t name drop who told me this, but I will tell you he is a successful entrepreneur with a multi-million dollar business and very successful podcast.
So, let’s look at the math.
An associates degree (which in most professions is almost obsolete now) costs around $20,000+
A Bachelors Degree (In some professions, going down the path to obsolete) costs $40,000+ depending on your college/university.
So you go in debt with student loans, get your degree, and IF you use it, get past up by someone for the job of your dreams because they went to a “better school”. Notice, I said IF you use your degree. I couldn’t count on both hands and feet the number of people I personally know who have a degree and don’t work in that field. Years, money, and memories; wasted for nothing.
Now, let’s flip the tables here! Again, bear with me! Let’s say you take this road. You are going to be your own boss. Own it. Say it with me, I AM a successful business owner. Come on, say it like you mean it!
You purchase 40 books a year for 4 years. The average price of books I have seen are $5-$20. So worst case scenario, you spend $20 per book.
40 books X $20 each= $800
On top of your books, you enroll in a course, taught and created by someone you know has what you want. These courses can be quite pricey. Let’s just average these courses at $3,000 each. You enroll in 2 courses a year.
2 courses X $3,000 each= $6,000
From those 40 books and 2 courses, you feel confident enough to launch your business and start getting clients. You read continuously, produce content, and get clients. After a $6,800 investment and working your ass off, your business brings in $1,000,000. A million in your first year! It can be done. It happens all the time. How many people do you know with college degrees that make $1,000,000 annually? Not many, if any! I sure as hell don’t know anyone.
See how that works? I firmly believe that if we would stop pushing something like college education, and start implementing more programs to teach Entrepreneurship, in twenty years college would become almost solely obsolete. Of course with the exception of doctors, nurses, lawyers, etc.
“But Ryan! Without a college degree, I won’t be able to get a job!” Is what most people have told me. Which is correct. But do you want to get a job, or create your own legacy? That is what we are talking about here.
In conclusion, I will leave you with a few questions to think about. Journal through them! Journaling has become a big part of my life. So here are your questions of the day:
- How bad do I want to own my own business?
- What sacrifices will I have to make to make my dreams a reality?
- How will these sacrifices pay off for me/my family?
- Who has created the life that I want that I can use as a mentor?
As always, thank you so very much for taking time out of your day to read my blog. You are appreciated more than you know! Leave me a comment if this helped you in anyway! And thank you so much for all of the love and to all of those who followed my blog! Share me with your friends, family, etc. Until next time, It’s gRYnd time so go get it!
Ryan Glenn 