You Have To Start Somewhere
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and starting on the first one.” - Mark Twain
I was scared to start. Scared to fail. Scared of being labeled as a failure.
I have always been a dreamer: play in the NHL, work at the United Nations, become a billionaire, be President of the United States. Those dreams have evolved as some reality set in, but the ambition never fades. As my career took many twists and turns in my 20s and early 30s—8 different roles in 8 years—I finally realized it was time to bet on myself, push myself, and start my own business.
What held me back to this point? Self-doubt. Not enough expertise. Not the right time. Honestly, all of the excuses in the book. While friends, family, and strangers took a leap of faith, it was easier to watch from the sidelines, collect a check, and dream of "one day." Not to say that I was not the first to give advice on how others should run their own businesses...it is easiest to poke holes and brainstorm when someone else's pocketbook, business, and life's work are on the line.
The hardest thing to do is listen to your own advice. So I started. I may fail, but at least I tried.
My Tuesday Take this month on Continuous Process Improvement embodies the classic label of the overnight success that was 20 years in the making. The ability for entrepreneurs, teams, and every individual to try, iterate, and improve is what it is all about. I am fortunate to be able to bet on myself, dig into some savings before having revenue, and give it a go. While I hope zero revenue is short-lived, I have enjoyed meeting with successful business owners to ask about their early days to better understand the sacrifices they made and continue to make —the overnight success that was 20 years in the making.
As an exercise to close out the year, it was fun for me to look back on the first few months of starting a business and see all of the progress that I made. This is not meant as a pat on the back. On the contrary, it is a reminder of how much is left to be done to build a self-sufficient and profitable business.
Crafted a rough draft business plan
Created a logo and branding
Filed as an LLC with the State of Minnesota
Set up a project management tool with integrations
Established a Google Workspace, email, and integrations
Created an intake form and workflow for clients
Created a 2-day Continuous Process Improvement workshop for advisor teams
Created an Introduction Slidedeck
Built a website: https://www.reframeria.com/
Changed the website more times than I care to admit
Produced 6 how-to guides for RIAs: https://www.reframeria.com/guides
Recorded videos for YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1cQUg08CU_Yq37PvNP8hkg
Started a Tuesday Takes series for takes on the advising space: https://www.reframeria.com/tuesday-takes
Started a newsletter
Created top questions to ask advisors
Met with 10 advisors for how they achieved success, pain points in the business, and their hot takes
Created a list of 18 local RIAs to stop by for an introduction
Stopped in at one RIA for an introduction (working up courage for the rest)
Signed up for a coworking space
Set up 11 product demos with technology vendors in the financial advising space
Created 2 scenarios for real-world examples of reframeRIA solutions
Met with 2 potential partnerships for fractional CMO and fractional CTO services
Pushed off numerous To-Do tasks
Refined most of my value proposition, target market, and offering
Learned a lot about business, relationships, and myself
I challenge anyone struggling to see the progress that they are making to do this exercise. It is both reinvigorating and an opportunity to examine where you are focusing your efforts.
This first newsletter was more personal than future iterations will be, but I wanted to start this series out with introspection and to hopefully empathize with all of the other dreamers out there. Leaning into the Continuous Process Improvement approach, I will evolve this newsletter based on what proves most useful to you as the reader.
Through my conversations with those ten advisors, several themes emerged that kept coming up—the challenges that keep them up at night and the opportunities they see on the horizon. Those insights shaped this month's Tuesday Takes series, where I dug into each of these topics:
Tuesday Takes Series: December
I would love to hear your thoughts on these topics or suggestions for future newsletters. What operational challenges are you wrestling with right now? What would be most valuable for you to read about?
Thanks for reading!
Ryan
