8 Dec 2007 @ 12:56
Wow, it's been a while since I paid attention to my own blog here.
That is of course somewhat on topic, seeing that the subject here is how to reach escape velocity, how to be successful and financially independent in one's own businesses. Meaning, I haven't quite exactly reached escape velocity, but the point here is in part to tell the story of how one might get there, and which things work or don't work along the way. And sometimes one gets a little lost along the way, gets busy with other things, and forgets where one was going.
Anyway, I'm not doing badly. Ironically, the first thing that got me a little away from the topic was that I sold my Opentopia website. It was otherwise making me around $1000 per month from Google Ads, and kept me looking for ways of increasing it. Unexpectedly, at a time when I was particularly low on funds, somebody offered to buy it. I hadn't considered that at all, and I didn't have in mind to sell it. At first I said no, but then he gave me a better offer, and I felt I couldn't really say no. The offer represented more than 3 years of income, and at the time the ad income was on its way down and the site had been blocked from Google's index. So I'd say it was a fine deal. The site has done fine for the new owner, so nothing to be ashamed of either.
I have also started a company with a couple of partners. I mean, a "real" company that is a corporation, that has offices, financing, etc. It delivers business statistics for French companies, consultants and accountants. It wasn't my idea, but I'm the guy who develops the software and the website. It hasn't really taken off yet, but it is a new company so that's perfectly normal, and we have many good contacts and good press, etc. It pays me a minimal wage, and I can't quite survive from that, but it provides a certain stability. I go to work there in the afternoon. And, well, if and when it takes off, I have not just a salary, but a 25% stake in the company.
At the same time I do contract work for a couple of US companies. For one I set up a system that does "domain tasting". That is, essentially, that one registers large numbers of domains and looks for the ones that have traffic and make money. Which clearly is a business that works. Say 1% return of the investment per day. I might of course have done that myself if I had had the capital to play with, which I didn't. And I might well have hesitated, pondering whether that's an acceptable thing to do. Anyway, technically speaking it is an interesting project.
But it doesn't escape me that I'm still working for a living, which is what I'd like to go beyond. Meaning, I make money roughly based on the number of hours I work, and I don't make money when I don't work. I spend my money every month. I don't have any debt, but I don't save up anything either, and I don't invest anything. I'm working harder, not smarter.
OK, selling a website and being part owner of a promising startup, that ain't too bad. But I think it is time I get myself into a more proactive entrepreneurial mindset.
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