The Simple Advice that Changed My Life

Growing up we have all heard some sort of inspirational and motivational expressions or quotes. I have heard many through the years such as “Dreams don’t work unless you do” or “If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door” and even simple advice and words of wisdom such as “The early bird gets the worm”. Being in business or being an entrepreneur you will read and hear many.

Since the birth of the internet and social media it seems like an infinite amount. Embrace them and let them soak in! Megan and I having both been entrepreneurs pretty much our whole life have heard and read our fair share when we started New2UDesign.

New2UDesign was born out of necessity. I had just finished up a year long project managing a very large insurance claim which I was contracted to do. At the end of the contract I declined an offer to stay on with the company because I was needed at home. Megan had been battling anxiety for some time and was starting to have panic attacks. We decided I would not work outside the house, instead we would work together from home. Family first! We thought about our respective backgrounds, both vast and diverse considering our ages. I had a love for carpentry and building. Megan really enjoyed marketing and being creative. We had both had business ventures of our own and were no stranger to being self employed.

We decided to start making wood signs from pallet stock and selling them on Etsy. We had virtually no startup money and almost none of what we needed. We a few power tools, paint brushes, a strong work ethic and our dreams. The odds were 100% in our favor because I knew “the secret”, so we used my last paycheck to restock a few of my tools, buy some supplies and we began.

The Simple Advice

So to back up to the inspirational cliches and such…… “the secret”. When I was younger starting my first business I was talking to a successful seasoned entrepreneur whom I respected and admired very much. We were discussing business models, startup strategies, etc. We talked about entrepreneurs that had succeeded wildly, failed miserably and everything in-between. He then looked at me and gave me some simple advice, “Out of all the entrepreneurs who have failed, EVERY SINGLE ONE, they all have one and only one very key thing in common.

“All the ones that succeeded also have one very key thing in common” I thought, if I can find out what this one key thing is, I WILL SUCCEED…. I was on the edge of my seat, literally. After a long pause (in retrospect I think it was for effect), he looked at me and said “The ones that failed, THEY GAVE UP!”

I sat back in my chair, took a deep breath and realized it was true. He was absolutely right. The very successful owner of a technology/marketing business who has ran campaigns for huge well known companies, who had started out of his garage, had just given me some simple advice for success. I now knew the secret of being a successful entrepreneur and I had every intention on using it. Kind of cliche, but I knew right then and there it was the most important thing I had ever heard, for business and for life!

New2UDesign, as a young company, has already had its shares of setbacks, ups and downs, trials and tribulations. As I am writing this we are currently working like crazy to keep up with orders that seem to just keep coming in. Orders are on the rise in our Etsy shop, local sales are higher than expected, we have started doing bi-weekly Facebook sales which have produced way more revenue than either of us expected and we are working on starting to shift our focus on developing and growing our website. We have changed and tweaked our processes to become more efficient, purchased better tools and equipment, we are poised perfectly for growth and expansion.

In the beginning, there were times we couldn’t afford screws, paint, brushes, just basic supplies. Weeks when we had only one sale and could barely afford the shipping cost to send it to the customer. But we didn’t give up! Times when we stressed, argued, were exhausted trying to figure out social media, SEO, writing good copy, taking quality photos, etc… all stuff we were learning on the fly. We were operating on a shoestring budget, experiencing growing pains, raising 4 kids, running on no sleep, could barely keep up but we never gave up! Moving forward we will experience more growing pains, more bumps in the road, more setbacks. We will NOT GIVE UP! WE WILL SUCCEED!

If you haven’t already, you too can take this simple advice and use it! Go out and succeed and DON’T GIVE UP!