Hitting 7 figures on a one person services business isn't impossible just difficult. I feel like the article nailed most of the key elements, primarily he has a limit to the number of clients period, which means there is a capped revenue based on his fee structure. That really isn't a big deal though, let's say he stays at the $50k/MRR and lives a modest but comfortable life. He's making ~600k a year on expenses that are minimal. He can easily work that for 10 years and build up a few million dollars in the bank.
This is the reason I think the swing big or don't try mentality is wrong. Sure, swing big, but winding up with (or intentionally building) a "life style" business that is profitable is a great way to go.
My only disagreement with this persons methodology is he is screwed if he gets hurt, sick etc. So he's not really building so much a business as he is a personal limited income stream. If he wants to take 2 months off for vacation to recharge he can't do that easily, if he wants to do something else his income is dead. Even in most life style businesses you would build the business to survive you not being there since that is how you can keep growing and expanding yourself.
Agreed; 7-figures is part vanity metric and part value realization exercise. There is a path to it that preserves his lifestyle. Getting to a few million in the bank would allow him to live off the interest for the remainder of his life, provided he invests it well.
Regarding his risks on going it solo, you're spot on! In his AMA he called out attempting to hire but pulled back afterwards. I'm assuming it was a poor hire so I'd focus on learning what went wrong and trying it again. Even at just a couple employees, he could grow while preserving his massive profit margin and gain the ability to take time away or weather an illness or family mishaps.
He even mentioned he maintains a full-time job to hedge his bets. If he's keeping it because he wants benefits, I'd think it would make more sense to invest in those himself. If he's keeping it because the work is minimal and the reward (pay) is high enough to offset the revenue from what X number of additional clients would generate, I'd say that could make sense as well. Very specific circumstances.
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[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 13.9 ms ] threadThis is the reason I think the swing big or don't try mentality is wrong. Sure, swing big, but winding up with (or intentionally building) a "life style" business that is profitable is a great way to go.
My only disagreement with this persons methodology is he is screwed if he gets hurt, sick etc. So he's not really building so much a business as he is a personal limited income stream. If he wants to take 2 months off for vacation to recharge he can't do that easily, if he wants to do something else his income is dead. Even in most life style businesses you would build the business to survive you not being there since that is how you can keep growing and expanding yourself.
Regarding his risks on going it solo, you're spot on! In his AMA he called out attempting to hire but pulled back afterwards. I'm assuming it was a poor hire so I'd focus on learning what went wrong and trying it again. Even at just a couple employees, he could grow while preserving his massive profit margin and gain the ability to take time away or weather an illness or family mishaps.
He even mentioned he maintains a full-time job to hedge his bets. If he's keeping it because he wants benefits, I'd think it would make more sense to invest in those himself. If he's keeping it because the work is minimal and the reward (pay) is high enough to offset the revenue from what X number of additional clients would generate, I'd say that could make sense as well. Very specific circumstances.