#040 - Out of the comfort zone

Daniel L

Sep 9, 2024 — 1 min read

It's a new month (I know we're 9 days in), so it's time to set a new audacious, yet achievable goal. Instead of building an application this month, I am going to explore creating a real business that makes money. Maybe trying to make money on the internet isn't the best use of my time at the moment. So, for the rest of this month, I'm narrowing my focus to finding a "boring" business.

This month's theme is vending machines—a $56 billion industry that everyone knows and (maybe) loves. They are everywhere. I like that it has a relatively low barrier to entry (less than $10,000 in startup costs) and can be run entirely by one person. While it's unlikely to break the bank, it's another exercise in cementing my new "just ship it" attitude.

I've always been a shy person, so this venture will push me far outside of my comfort zone. Additionally, I've never been a salesman by any stretch of the imagination. This will require me to talk to people most of the day, which isn't something a software developer dreams happily about.

Here we go!

#045 - Committing (and sticking to it)

An update on this blog. Initially I wanted to keep this as a pseudo diary to keep track of my journey through entrepreneurship. So far, I have written 44 entries. That is pretty good. It hasn't been everyday but it's been about 5 times a week.

#044 - Following up

In the past I have fallen into bad habits where I don't follow up or respond in (what I think) is a timely manner. Sometimes it's hard to stay on top of things due to life's responsibilities that seem to pile on. Creating systems

#043 - Go farther together

As my entrepreneurial career begins in earnest I am starting to gain clarity on what it means to me. I like the idea of being a solopreneur, but am starting to realize the importance of having like-minded people to work with. In the past 48 hours I have had two

#042 - Pick up the phone

I've always had trouble asking for help. For most of my life—both in school and at work—I spent too much time not asking for help when I could have really used it. Recently, I've been working on changing my mindset around this. Instead of

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#045 - Committing (and sticking to it)

#044 - Following up

#043 - Go farther together

#042 - Pick up the phone