It was 2002. I wanted to start a business like my younger brother. He was already making millions in direct marketing. I decided that I could too. There had to be more to life than just wasting my ivy league education on a mindless 9 to 5.
I asked him about his work week - what he did, how he spent his days. I couldn't believe his response. He spent the first two weeks of the month working really hard and the last two weeks doing whatever he wanted. I needed to hear nothing more.
My resignation email took about five minutes to draft. I hit the send button after doing some research and then selecting the perfect cleaning franchise. The low startup costs made my decision less stressful. The risk would far outweigh this small leap...so I told myself.
I returned home nervous and excited after finishing the two weeks of training, in Florida. The promise, by vetted franchise owners, of making hundreds of thousands in revenue, made it easy to forget about my lack of savings and served as a daily motivator.
Within two weeks, the cold calling efforts landed my first client. Once I secured three more contracts, I hired someone to take over the day-to-day so that I could focus on getting more sales.
I wrote my goal of $10K/month everyday in my journal. I traveled to neighboring counties. Spoke to strangers. Made appointments with CEO's. And each sales appointment got me more business. When I hit $30K, I decided to take a break because the sudden explosive growth had become an extreme overwhelm and quite unmanageable. My team had grown to twenty-five workers by then.
I'd worked non-stop for a year. Opening those checks filling the mailbox was out of the world amazing! I had no boss. I called the shots. And having the freedom to do whatever whenever was indescribable!
I figured that the business had generated more than enough money. It was time to relax and take it easy. So, I took an extended break.
My sons and I went on a funcation. We swam in the pool daily. We took impromptu excursions. We traveled to the West Indies. I was finally living life to the fullest.
Then what seemed like a never ending slaughter of client complaints about a decline in the services started.
Everything took a left turn - a nosedive into depths I had never experienced before. The losses came swift and hard. The recovery would take a few years.
Want to know why and what happened next?
Stay tuned...
Simone
