SuccessStory #EntrepreneurJourney #BusinessLearnings
My First Successful Business: What I Learned Along the Way 🚀
The Beginning: Cerum Solutions
Starting Cerum Solutions just over a year ago, our goal was straightforward: help businesses enhance their workflows through custom technical automations. We initially dove into AI chatbots and MVPs, but quickly realized the operational demands were immense. Instead, we found value in simpler yet impactful projects like Salesforce dashboards. This approach proved to be a game-changer 💡.
Lessons from Early Challenges
- Initial Struggles: The hustle was real. Limited cash flow and inconsistent months made me hesitant to hire. I wore many hats, doing everything from technical projects to sales.
- First Hire: The key turning point was delegating tasks. Hiring talented team members allowed me to focus on growth. This meant pivoting towards sales and marketing, exploring content creation, and webinars.
🛠️ Key Insight: Efficient delegation can significantly boost a business’s growth potential.
Outsourcing the Right Way 🌍
- Outsourcing Missteps: My first attempts at outsourcing weren’t smooth. High costs and low-quality hires were common pitfalls.
- Finding Gems: A successful strategy emerged with direct hires from job boards, specifically in regions like the Philippines. This approach not only reduced costs but also brought in motivated and skilled individuals.
💰 Pro Tip: Look beyond traditional outsourcing firms. Direct hiring can save money and boost quality.
Simplifying Solutions for Success
- Focus on Core Value: Instead of complex product builds, we shifted to addressing specific inefficiencies within organizations. This pivot brought clear, measurable value to clients, making it easier for them to justify their investment.
- Client Satisfaction: Providing straightforward, effective solutions garnered happier clients willing to spend more due to a clear cost-benefit ratio.
🔍 Business Insight: Simplify offerings to ensure clear value and client satisfaction.
Building a Sustainable Business Model
- Transparency in Pricing: Cutting out middlemen by direct hiring transformed our cost structure, making us more competitive without compromising on talent quality.
- Long-Term Team Building: Sustainable hiring practices built a robust team. Great talent at fair prices created a win-win situation.
🌐 Strategic Move: Transparent, fair hiring practices lead to long-term stability and growth.
Embracing a Sales-Led Approach
- Content Marketing: Shifting focus towards content and webinars helped attract leads organically.
- Sales and Marketing: Prioritizing these areas proved crucial for sustained growth and lead generation.
🎯 Growth Strategy: Invest time in content marketing and a sales-led strategy to build a strong brand presence and pipeline.
Final Thoughts: Service-Based is a Great Start 🚀
For those venturing into their first business, service-based models offer a fulfilling and practical pathway. You get to solve real-world problems, gaining insights and potentially birthing new business ideas organically.
Wrapping Up: Stick to the Simple Path
Simplicity often paves the way for success. Focus on clear value, delegate effectively, and maintain transparent and fair practices. These strategies turned Cerum Solutions into a ~$40k/month revenue-generating business, and they can help you too on your entrepreneurial journey.
🌟 Inspiration: Simplicity and clarity can lead your business to success. Stay focused, delegate, and streamline.
Questions? Let’s Discuss! 🎉
I’d love to hear from you! If you have any questions or need further insights, drop them in the comments below. Let’s learn together and thrive on our entrepreneurial paths! 📈
Awesome. Congrats on your success! Spent the last 2 years in revops, primarily within the Hubspot ecosystem, and considering branching out to do something similar on my own. Great to run across this.
Hey there!
I found your journey of building Cerum Solutions incredibly inspiring. I’m curious about how you handle multiple requests from clients. It seems like expectations in this domain can be pretty high. When you mentioned building a Salesforce dashboard, does that mean the client already has some existing dashboards? Are you involved in managing KPIs and all those aspects as well?
Thanks in advance for sharing your insights!
Thanks for sharing! I would like to think I’m in a similar path, I started out building custom AI tools with RAG, MVPs, recently got an intern.
How do you constantly get your flow of clients? From your network?
Any tips for hiring from UpWork?
Thanks for sharing.
Curious how you found your first clients?
You mentioned a few ideas you had going in and eventually pivoting to the lower hanging fruit. I like this, as I have experienced companies needing that low having fruit taken care of first. Just getting the foot in the door seems to be the hardest part.
Amazing!
Great sharing, thank you! (and congrats 🙂 )
Love how you pivoted from AI hype to finding low-hanging fruit in ops!