I Don't Want To Make $100k Through Passive Income

Yes it's true.

In this age of Make Six Figures While You Sleep and Learn How I Make $10k p/w through Passive Income, I want to make very unpassive income.

I want to be so unpassive that my time is bursting with action.  I want to exchange my time for dollars. I want to be inefficient with my time. I want one-on-one.

I absolutely love the idea of making money in my sleep or raking in the moolah while I luxuriate elsewhere, don't get me wrong, but deep in my soul I love the thrill and satisfaction from working at one project at a time, with one client at a time.

Technology has liberated the world, enabled massive human-to-human connection to share ideas and knowledge on a level not previously enjoyed. It has unshackled many from the 9-5 grind of the Industrial Revolution work model. The barrier to entry for starting your own business is lower than ever before; you can take your expertise, start a business, build a website, learn how to DIY your marketing both on and offline, and run your business for very little financial outlay. For free if you're dedicated to frugality.

I am a big fan of the DIY, learn-as-you-go model of building your own business, as you all know! I've spent the best part of 5 years persistently learning, challenging my limits (sanity!) and creating products and services from my skill set.

Without the e-course and online training that I have paid for over the years, I would not be where I am today. I have learnt from the most incredible people who have spent years honing their craft and shaping their expertise into online courses and ebooks. They have packaged their knowledge into electronically delivered modules that they create once and sell to many.

On the tech side, I know people who write software or create apps to sell on a massive scale.

That is Passive Income.

And the temptation is to follow suit.

In my world, where I connect daily online with six figure passive income entrepreneurs, it is so enticing to try the same. You end up thinking that creating passive income is the only way to live the life you love. The over-riding message is to move away from one-on-one model and towards the one-to-many model.

It's so damn attractive, I tell you! I hear the siren song....

I have been toying with the idea of passive income for a while and brainstorming what I could e-package and sell. There surely must be something I know that will help others grow and enhance their businesses and lives. I played with the idea of an online art course or a How-To-Start-a-Product-Business-Online course. Or a motivation mindset course for newbie start-ups.

But nothing really lit me up.

Because what lights me up IS the one-on-one business model. I love speaking with a client, hearing about their business, understanding their individual needs and coming up with something truly unique.

And don't get me started on the HIGH I get when I gain the job and after I deliver the job. Now bottling and selling that feeling would be a great passive income product!

I don't mind what I do; chairs, fabrics, video backdrops or art and illustration.

The whole labour-intensivity of my work is so delightful. I can only go as fast as my brain ticks over and as fast as my hands move across the page or screen.

Each job is started from scratch. I repeat the steps for every client. Hours are spent thinking, mulling, designing, creating and producing.

It is the anti-thesis of Passive Income!

So "yeah but no but"...

I don't want to earn $100k through passive income. But I DO want to earn $100k through active income!

It might take me longer, in fact it will take me a year if my reverse-engineering is correct, but it'll be a year filled with joy, satisfaction and my own personal idea of luxury.

So take a good look at your business and marry it with what really, honestly lights you up. Is it passive income? Maybe it isn't....and that's Ok too. Do more of what makes you truly happy.

Emma
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What happens next in my studio ?

Why Putting On Weight Helped Grow My Business

I am 4 kg heavier than I was 6 months ago, and I am genuinely fine about it.

Last year I turned 40 and I was fit, lean and rocked my lycra. I was 67 kilos. Now I am 71 kilos. My mid section is more one pack than 6, my bottom wobbles alot when I jig around and my upper arms are floppy once more.

But I feel amazing and happy and fulfilled. Not because I am learning to accept my body or free from society's ideals - more that I have directed my focus and drive away from the gym and towards my bottom line. Excuse the pun.

I am naturally a happy person. Easily pleased and generally optomistic. I like people, people on the whole like me and I like me.

But I am competitive, especially with myself and especially at the gym. I like spin classes and I like weights. And I like doing them at 100%. It makes me feel great.

How does this relate to me growing my business?

You see, the gym not only helps me keep a healthy weight but also gives me the quick fix dopamine hit I love. The reward for doing so well on the spin bike or rowing machine is a large, satisfying dose of feel good hormones and chemicals. Endorphins rush through my veins as I drive home and get back to work.

I feel so darn satisfied that I don't feel like I need to succeed any more that day. My satisfaction quota has been met. There is nothing else that makes me feel as satisfied as a gym session.

Nothing...except the high I get from creating beautiful art and design work for my clients.

When I'm in the zone, in full flow with my pencil, paint and Photoshop I feel invincible. You name it; serotonin, dopamine, endorphins yada-yada I am a human hormone fest of joy.

But my keenness to be fit and healthy meant that my personal quota for satisfaction was being met by the gym and not by my success at work.

I have always worked hard. I love what I do with a passion and have achieved lots from absolute zero, all by myself. No corporation behind me or official job description. No previous career to kick-start my business. My 17 year career and life as a professional artist and designer has all been off my own back. So, yes I am an achiever in many ways, but in other ways I am easily satisfied.

And my brain doesn't care where that feeling of satisfaction comes from. Any trigger will do.

This is terrible if you need to earn money and make a living to help support your family. It's a hobbyist's mentality. I was determined not to continue this mentality in 2015.

At the end of 2014, after I returned from Silicon Valley I realised that I wasn't enjoying my original business model. But I still didn't make the link between the gym and my unsatisfying business progress.

Then in January 2015 I began changing how I think. I listened to my gut feelings more. I investigated the woo-woo notions of Manifestation, Gratitude and the Law of Attraction. I wanted to run my business more intuitively and femininely; not the metric hustling and number crunching that I had previously been exposed to.

Paradoxically, the less I worried about my business metrics and the less I cared about how much wattage I was pushing on the spin bike or kgs on the kettlebell, the more money I began making.

The more I journalled about the way I want my life and business to 'feel', the more clients I attracted. The less time I spent at the gym, the more I pushed myself to increase my work satisfaction.

I am now enjoying huge rushes and highs from gaining new clients, creating beautiful video backdrops, stunning illustrations and delivering chairs that delight my clients.

Today, my No1 source of endorphins, dopamine and serotonin comes from my work, my art and my daily competition with my creative-self to reach higher, go further and be better.

Don't be mistaken into thinking I have abandonned exercise and my health! I still go to double spin - and I'm still 100% focused when I'm sweating away in that noisy, dark room. But it now only takes up one morning a week.

And I don't want my muscles to atrophy so I do incidental weights at home; 30 bicep curls while waiting for the kettle to boil, or a plank while scanning drawings or 30 squats in the shower while my conditioner works in.

And I take brisk walks in nature while listening to inspiring podcasts and audio books.

But all this means my weight gain has snuck up on me. One day I'm sure I will be 67 kilos and rocking the lycra again, but for now this is where I am, exactly where I need to be and I am happy.

Where do you get your dopamine hits from? Is it from quick fixes like checking for Facebook likes, or social media interaction? Or maybe like me, the gym. Or do you limit these and find your highs in more meaningful places that will propel your business forward?


Want to see how we can work together and create something beautiful for your business or home? 
Check out:
I Love My Chair - upholstery & design services
Bespoke Backdrops - custom backdrops for videos, webinars and events.
or email me here. 
xx Emma

When The Honeymoon Is Over - Motivation & Mindset.

Keeping your eyes on the prize is relatively easy when starting out in business – you have fire in your belly, firm goals and dreams of success. Motivation is your middle name and your mindset could win prizes.

Everyone around you is excited and interested in your new business. You’re pumped and you inspire those around you.

If you’re jumping from the corporate ladder, you may be the envy of some. Parents may question your plans - but they love you and only want what’s best, even if you are 40 years old! Friends take an active, curious interest. You’re a bit of a celebrity. You’re taking on the world, baby.

This is the Honeymoon period. It’s an exciting period in an entrepreneur’s life.

And then it’s over. And you’re on your own. The excitement has settled, the newness isn’t quite so new, the conversations have moved on. Life goes on as usual. But you still need to make your business work. And you are still working on your business 24/7.

No clocking off at 5pm, or passing the buck to a colleague. No company systems to safely follow. No pay cheque unless you hustle it.  No well trodden path to follow. It’s just you and your ambitions.

At best, the highs are so intoxicating you can barely breathe for the thrill and the I-did-this-all-myself pride. At worst it can be disheartening and confusing. To say entrepreneurship is a rollercoaster is a cliché, but clichés are born from truth.

Which is why fostering a robust mindset and finding motivation are so vital.

I’m an artist and designer, and in 2010 I moved from my home studio in Geneva to a shop and online in Sydney; I was seriously stepping out of my comfort zone.

After the launch parties, after the shop had been filled with my fabulous wares, after my design-your-own chair website had gone live, after I gained some pretty cool press coverage, it hit me. I had no idea how to keep the momentum going.

My honeymoon was over.

Handling the stress of bootstrapping a business and trying to keep positive when feeling lost is a predictable recipe for mental and business disaster.

It becomes increasingly harder to stay focused and motivated. Shiny new objects attract your attention, a narrow mindset can creep in and you can easily get bogged down.

So, here are 3 things I do to foster a focused mindset and keep myself motivated:

1 )  Surround myself with people more knowledgeable than yourself but who are travelling the same journey. We must never stop learning – join a business group, either locally or online.

In 2013 I joined an online business course; an 8 week, live online business program that teaches business from the ground up. And through a closed Facebook page it gives me lifetime access to the greatest group of women (and a few men) I have ever met.  An army of thousands, all taking the same journey.

Magic happens here. We connect online everyday, discuss business, celebrate our wins and share our failures. These women make me laugh, wipe my tears, answer my dunderhead questions and generally keep me sane. Priceless.

2)   Vision-boarding is a powerful way to keep your eye on the prize.

What do you want to achieve in your business? Think about where you’d sell, what experiences you want, your ideal clients, events you’d like to attend, the things you’d spend your earnings on etc.

Then trawl magazines and the internet for images and quotes that reflect them. Only use pictures and words that genuinely feel good to you. Really listen to what your intuition says and not society’s dictated ideals of success.

You can create an e-board but I’m low-tech, so I reach for the scissors and glue. Keep your vision-board visible as a screen saver, or pinned above your desk; use it for inspiration and motivation. I create mine on the hardback covers of my business notebooks. No escaping it there!

3)   If I feel my mindset and motivation slipping, my instant fix is listening to a podcast, webinar or interview.

Seeing the world from another’s perspective is the ideal pep-talk.

Listening, as opposed to reading, is hugely impactful and convenient. I live on a waterfront nature reserve in Sydney and nothing lifts my spirits more than an hour’s walk listening to a podcast.

My current favourites are:

·       Andrew Warner is a master interviewer and brings out the best stories from top start-up founders. Listen to Mixergy here.

·      The Law of Attraction by Abraham Hicks www.abraham-hicks.com     – I believe that our minds are the most powerful tool we possess. And that the Universe has more to offer than meets the eye. Listen and be uplifted!

·      My absolute favourite TED Talks are Elizabeth Gilbert’s, author of Eat, Pray, Love.   https://www.ted.com/speakers/elizabeth_gilbert As a creative I really resonate with how she describes the creative process and overcoming her creative blocks. 

Mindset and motivation are topics we all need to address on a daily basis. And by talking, sharing and opening up to each other, we can enjoy our businesses well after the honeymoon is over.

First printed in Violet Magazine 

Why I don't want to be a dot com Millionaire

My trip to Silicon Valley was epic and inspiring. It was also quiet and easy - no kids, no house. All me and My Bespoke Chair. It was amazing in every way. 4 weeks later, having written up my notes and had a good ruminate, I've come up with a plan; my "I Don't Want To Be A .com Millionaire' plan.

Briefly, I flew into LA and drove up the stunning west Pacific coast to San Francisco. I took 2 days, and enjoying some market research along the way. Lucky me, market research involves great interior design shops!

Visiting a Jonathan Adler showroom in LA 

My first meeting was in Palo Alto at WSGR law firm. WSGR represent some of Silicon Valley's top companies, many of which began as small start-ups like myself.

Instantly, as I sat in this monolith of a building, I understood the genius of Silicon Valley and why it dominates the global entrepreneurial scene - the Big Guys are happy to support the small guys. Meritocracy rules. If you hustle, show initiative, be bold and pitch well, you will be valued. It doesn't seem to matter that you are a nobody - because one day you may be a somebody. They're literally banking on it!

Of course, I met up with the wonderful Victor from Skillsapien, the expert-for-hire company who ran the pitch contest, sponsored my winner's trip and who have been advising me throughout this process. Victor showed me around his cool co-working space, Nest GSV in Redwood City. As expected, it was bursting with Silicon Valley necessities: 'slide not stairs', interactive robots and a communal cafe full of free food. Plus lots of entrepreneurs working in the massive open-spaces. You could feel the buzz of dedication and smell the scent of ambition. Disruption and corporate anarchy never looked so good!

Victor and I at NestGSV in Silicon Valley

The next 18 days were a whirlwind of meetings, informal catch ups, forums, conferences and lots of walking. I mixed business with pleasure and extracted the best from everything I did, everywhere I went and everyone I met. It was truly incredible. If I could, I would love to write a book on the whole experience; Silicon Valley through the eyes of a Mumpreneur!

But I don't have time (school pick up in an hour) and besides which, you're not here to read the minutiae of my adventures. You want to know why I have decided not to become a dot.com millionaire.

To put it bluntly, I just can't be bothered. Becoming a dot.com millionaire takes a lot more than I am willing to give. Don't misunderstand this - it's not because I am lazy. I abhor laziness in myself and others. Simply put, my desires and ambitions in life do not align with the efforts required to grow a multi-million dollar business online.

"But Emma," I hear you cry, "you've put so much effort and time and enthusiasm into this whole Silicon Valley business. You've spent months working towards it; learning, understanding and expanding. Why waste all of it? You've come too far to quit now. Frankly, you're an idiot."

But there is method in my madness. A method that I learnt directly from Silicon Valley. I have made this decision by using the techniques and lessons I have learnt over the past 9 months.

My Top 3 Lessons from Silicon Valley:

1) Product - you don't have to have the perfect product from the get-go. But you must have a compelling reason to build this product. A proper customer desire or problem. But be warned....what you first 'think' is the customers problem, may in fact not be true. But only through building and selling your imperfect product, a Minimum Viable Product, can you test your theories.

2) Data - which is where data comes in. Measure everything. And not just vanity metrics like site visits and time on site. Measure the stuff that makes you money; the conversions and stickiness of your site, the sales funnel path. Measure even if the numbers are small and a bit embarassing. Everyone starts somewhere and what you measure you can improve. What you ignore, stays crap!

3) Money - gawd, this was the one I heard and thought the most about. Everyone in Silicon Valley is chasing other people's $$. It's cut throat and exciting. But a few lone voices stood out in the crowd or on stage, and spoke directly to me, it seemed. "Just build as much as you can on your own. Do you really, truly need other peoples' money to build and grow a successful business?"

Hence, I've realised that I have to improve my product by looking at my data. I realise that investment is not the silver bullet for success either; money in itself is useless. Besides, without a decent product built on solid data and metrics, no-one's going to invest anyway.

So, what's next? In classic Silicon Valley speak, I am pivoting. A tweaking of my original offering to reflect the reality of my business in order for it to flourish and fully solve my clients' problems.

I am keeping my beloved My Bespoke Chair but repackaging my key services on a new website with a new name. (sneak peek here)

I am thinking small and niched - not everyone will be my customer.

I will constantly be talking to my customers and potential customers.

I am focusing on one city - not trying to sell to the whole country (yet).

I will test, iterate, discard, test, iterate, discard in a feedback loop.

I will collect my metrics and data and not be afraid of numbers, no matter how small.

I will set goals and not be afraid of them, no matter how high.

I will keep self funding. Debt, however you package investment funding, scares the life out of me!

And most importantly, I am going back to my zone of genius as a creator of beautiful things.

Some of the beautiful things I create - art, fabrics and chairs

Everything will revolve around creating beauty. This is what makes my soul sing and my heart flutter. If I am in total alignment with my desires and ambitions, I will grow a wonderful lifestyle business built from my authentic self.

And who knows where that will lead, and what wonderful adventures I'll enjoy and fascinating people I'll meet. And the $$ I'll earn by doing what my customers love me doing.



UPDATE June 2016

Since writing this I have launched and successfully grown a very niche design business; Bespoke Backdrops. And mostly I am sticking to the guidelines I set in this blog post.

Finding my Tribe (to put a valuation on my business)

You hear it all the time when starting any kind of business. Find your tribe. Who will want what you have to sell? Who believes in your vision? Surround yourself with like-minded people. You mustn't try to be all things to all people.

The same must apply when seeking out potential advisors and investors.

I am feeling this incredible wave of inspiration, creativity and hopefulness at the moment. The past few hours have seen me glimpse behind that heavy curtain of uncertainty. I am feeling clearer about my preparations for my Silicon Valley trip.

Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat Pray Love, describes in her TED talk how Ruth Stone, a 90 year old poet experiences creativity - something you feel coming towards you. You are not the source. You are the conduit. And you have to be receptive to it. It will pass through you and leave the creative result 'in you'; a book, a poem, a painting, a fully-formed idea or business strategy. You have to seize it or it disappears.

Writing this blog post before it vanishes is really important, so I have something to reflect on later.

Until today, I was feeling very confused and inadequate about my trip to Silicon Valley. But today was a great day.

Today I took matters into my own hands.

I feel as though I know the answers already, that they are about to barrel through me and I must seize the moment; who I need to speak to, the people in SV who see my vision, who think in the same commercial space as I do. The potential investors and advisors who have already invested in creative, disruptive start-ups. These people will be my tribe.

And action brings clarity.

All day I have been trawling Crunch Base to identify the home and interiors companies who have had $$$millions invested in recent years. Companies like One Kings Lane, Houzz and Custom Made. I will use these 3 as my bench marks. Their founders, investors and the people who orbit around these companies are the people I really ache to meet when I'm in SV. I have hand written every name, every investor, the size of their rounds (paying particular attention to the seed rounds because that is where I am at), HQ locations and snippets of info that may be of use.

From tracking the curve of their initial seed funds to the more recent C or D Rounds, I can begin to glimpse at the value and potential of My Bespoke Chair and my mass-customisation, co-designing dreams.

It is my conundrum of HAVING to put a valuation on my business before I get to SV that has seen me do this research. In the absence of any solid historical financial data for My Bespoke Chair, I need to see how comparable companies have grown. And where they started. How they were valued at the beginning, and their initial seed round investment. I am trying to find the balance between where I am, the potential size of my market and the precedence set by similar companies who have gone before me.

It is through this research that I can paint my valuation story and back it up with solid evidence.

So, my next step is finding ways to meet the founders, investors and advisors to these success stories. And warm introductions are the only way to do this. You cannot call them up and ask for a meeting. We all respond better when a trusted and valued colleague or friend recommend we meet someone. And these high-flyers simply do not have the time or inclination to meet everyone, so their inner circles become reliable filters.

So I am trawling my contacts, the people I know from coffee-meetings, online masterminds, friends of friends and people who I know would happily recommend me. LinkedIn is a platform I've been slow to grasp. About 3 months ago I employed a VA to help me set up my profile. It's not hard but it was one of those jobs I kept putting off. Paying $60 was good use of my time and money. The '6 degrees of separation' are openly highlighted in LinkedIn, so that is my focus.

I will hustle and call and make the best case I can in order to meet with my tribe for breakfast, lunch, coffee, a cocktail or even a bus ride. And I need to have something, even one little 5 minute meeting, arranged before I leave in October.


P.S If anyone knows Alison Gelb Pincus, I'd love an intro!

Resistance Training

The dust has settled. The excitement of winning the pitch contest is over. Time to get to work.

And I am facing new feelings of resistance; resistance to the whole idea of going to Silicon Valley to pitch my business to the US market.

From afar, the hurdle of preparing myself and My Bespoke Chair for the visit appeared totally manageable. Enticing even. But now that it is closer, it towers above me, and I have no idea how to jump it without falling flat on my face.

I feel totally inadequate. I have no team. I have no technical skills to develop my website and user experience. I have no budget for marketing strategies, Google Adwords or any kind of growth hack. I have no financial knowledge. I can't even 'speak' business. I have no-one to grow this business with. No-one else who wakes up every day excited about My Bespoke Chair like I do. I feel utterly alone and weak.

And I'm terrified that in Silicon Valley, my weakness will be magnified and I'll be torn up and spat out.

But I also know that action brings clarity. Feeling sorry for myself is useless and idleness just breeds more self-pity.

I believe in my business. I honestly feel it in my heart and soul that mass customisation will be mainstream for ever product and service online. And I love my beautiful chairs. But I mustn't let fear and resistance paralyse me. I simply need to make a start with one thing, a tiny step. Just one action that will lead to another and another and another.

I need to set achievable goals. And I need to work out the small actions that will incrementally get me there.

So what are my ultimate goals to reach before I step on that plane?

Goals to reach before 11th October:

1. To have a grasp on my financials; revenue, expenses, break-even point, 5 year projections and understanding of pricing both my product to the customer and the business to the investor. Including the language of finance.
2. A go-to-market strategy for the US; who are my customers? how will I find them? how will I get my product to them? what exactly is my proposition? how will I present it?  where will I sell it? 
3. Framework for acquiring a team and board of advisors. In lieu of actually having a firm team in place by October, which may be tricky and probably unadvisable to rush, I want to demonstrate the calibre of people I associate with, who my mentors are and how I will attract the right people to join My Bespoke Chair.

Clearly there are many more issues that need addressing in my business, but these are the most urgent.

Accountability is an awesome tool. Tell someone what you intend to do. Put it out there.

So this blog post is my way of 'putting it out there.'

Tomorrow my first small step is calling a particular financial advisor, a start-up business expert who comes highly recommended by a fellow Sydney-Silicon Valley entrepreneur I admire and respect.

This tiny step, light-footed but sure, will lead to a bigger step that will lead to a confident stride, then to a jog, to a run and then ultimately a mighty leap over that damn hurdle.