Here is every tool I use to run my solopreneur consulting firm

Hint: it's not many

Hint 2: Less software = more profitable

Here's what I'm actually using today in my business Quickbooks tracks my income, expenses, and invoices clients directly

$30 for Quickbooks per month

Running total: $30/month

New consultants should start on the platforms (UpWork, Catalant, Talmix, etc.)

BUT, a lot of people push back on that

Let's talk about the biggest pushback and why it actually doesn't make sense The biggest pushback is the cost

UpWork, for example, charges 10% of the contract value

So if you make $1,000 on a project, UpWork takes $100 and you are left with $900

That sounds like quite a lot

But, is it?

44% of Americans say they want to start a business

Most don't end up doing so

Here's an approach called "risk-adverse entrepreneurship" We'll do this by looking at three different "types" of entrepreneurship

Type 1 is starting a business from scratch

Independent consulting can be extremely profitable.

$200K-$500K a year is normal in your first year

...if you can find clients

Here are the five best ways to find clients

(hint: the "best" way is different for everyone) Strategy #1: UpWork

UpWork is a freelance platform that matches consultants and clients together

This is best for beginners. You can find a client TODAY on UpWork

There are more clients on UpWork than everything else on this list combined

How I started an independent consulting firm and went from $0 to $500K profit in about 12 months

I attribute this to a few skills

Here they are: Context time: this was 2019 and I had an amazing girlfriend I wanted to propose to

She's now my wife and her name is Pear, like the fruit.

Pear is also a particular cut of diamond

Tiffany's sells an engagement ring that is one central diamond flanked by two Pear diamonds

Fortune 500 companies pay me $50K+ a month for consulting

It's great, but what's even better is...

I sell these projects in ONE 30 minute phone call

This is the framework I use By the time we get on the phone, the client has already decided they need to hire a consultant. It's now a matter of WHO

My role is solely to convince them it's ME

Amazing platforms like Catalant do the job of matching consultants and clients together for these calls

Most real estate investors assume 8% vacancy. That's one vacant month per year

Single Family Homes in elite school districts are closer to 1% vacancy

Here's how the math works Remember, the families move to these districts solely for the school.

If a family moves in before their child's freshman year, they will not leave until graduation.

That's 48 months of occupancy for one child.

I'll make >$500K this year as a solopreneur consultant in my 20's

But that's because I've got clients and my niche figured out

If I was just starting and at $0, these niches are what I would try First, data cleaning and integration

Every major company in the world says data is important to them

However, they're running their entire business on software from 1994

This leads to a data mess that is incomplete and inaccurate

The two types of niche tenants you've never heard of...

But we see all the time with Class A single families in elite school district Tenant #1: The Builders

The median home price in one of our target rental zip codes is $1.7M

I know of at least two billionaires who live in this specific zip

Houses are $$$$$$$$

There are also no lots left. Every lot that could have a house already has one.

Do you need a niche when you get started consulting?

NO

In fact, it's almost better if you don't have one

Here's why Think of your first 3-6 months in consulting as a paid test

Literally, you get paid to test different industries and project types

Ever wanted to do Excel work for a cannabis company?

You could try it

Interested in trying operations work? Maybe in healthcare?

Try that too!

TikTok is (likely) to be banned

That will cause a lot of people to lose a TON of money

If you could save them from losing money, you'll make money yourself

There's an opportunity for a business here Check out this TikTok account: Cars_is_king

This account posts cool videos of cars.

It probably started as someone's passion project for fun

But, notice the followers! 220,000!!!

Here's a really simple way to grow your net worth

Create a situation where every dollar you make is worth $300

Here's how I'm doing that: The underlying premise here is something called multiples

A multiple is how a business is valued

A business that makes $100K a year and is valued at a 5X multiple is worth $500K

A business that makes $100K a year and is valued at a 3X multiple is worth $300K

You can make KILLER money on Youtube without being a Youtuber

No Videos, no "showing your face"

But, you can hang out with cool Youtubers in the process

Here's how it works and how much money you can make I've noticed this while making my own Youtube videos:

A lot of Youtubers have a course in their bio

For example, Biaheza is one of my favorite Youtubers and he has a course in the bio of his videos

Here is every tool I use to run my $500K/profit/year consulting firm

Hint: it's not many

Hint 2: Less software = more profitable

Here's what I'm actually using today in my business Quickbooks tracks my income, expenses, and invoices clients directly

$30 for Quickbooks per month

Running total: $30/month

If things continue, Youtube could pay me >$300K in 2023

Why?

One of my closest competitors released a video showing what he made in 2022 and he made $600K.

I'm building a Youtube channel and sharing details along the way. Here's this week's update! First, the competitor

My editor and I have been tracking him for a long time.

Our videos topics are similar, so we believe viewers watch both of us

He started posting videos about ~15 months before me, so he's certainly "ahead" of me.

He's got a TON of subscribers now

Please steal this business idea!!!!!

I'd consider investing in you if you do

Here's what it is and why I'm giving it away First, why I'm "giving away" the idea.

I've got two kids under 3 year who take up a ton of time

I've also got a consulting client through the first half of 2023. I don't have the time to do it

That being said, if I invest, I'm happy to help as much as possible

I've made most of my money in consulting, but I've also sold two websites for a crazy solid ROI

Here's how you could sell a website for $1M.....and do minimal work, thanks to ChatGPT If you haven't seen ChatGPT yet, it's a crazy story AI Chatbot

I asked it what muscles I need for hiking a mountain and it told me quads, hammys, and glutes

It then recommended squats and told me how to do a good squat

This week's (transparent) update at my journey to grow a Youtube Channel

Last week was a "down" week, but I'm still encouraged by the numbers and future

Here's the key things to call out First, the stats:

3 videos posted
1.2K views
+37 subscribers
4.4% CTR
3:42 average view duration

Not terrible here, but net down compared to the prior week where both of these videos did pretty well

Graham Stephan is the undisputed king of finance Youtube and he SHOULD become a billionaire by 45

He's been profiled by CNBC and brings in $6.1M a year at 31 years old

Even if you don't know his name, you might have seen his picture (this is him) Even though he SHOULD become a billionaire, he's not on pace to do so. Especially not by 45

He's got $21M in assets now and can add $3M/year to the markets

That'll get him to ~$120M by the time he's 40

Want an inside look at growing a Youtube channel?

Sharing my weekly update on growing mine here!

Last week's stats:
Video’s posted: 3
Views: 1.8K
CTR: 4.9%
APV: 41% CTR means about 5% of people who are suggested my video end up clicking on it

APV means people watch about 41% of my videos on avearge

Based on my understanding, these numbers are decent. Not amazing, not terrible

How to find $ 2,000-a-day consulting opportunities on Linkedin

I've been a full-time independent consultant for most of the past few years

Here's one strategy that guarantees you'll always have high paying work like this First, I've talked a LOT about how I'm a huge fan of platforms like Catalant that connect you with clients

Those are your "gold standard" and what you should always prioritize

However, they aren't perfect for everyone

This technique is better