What It Takes To Change Your Business

"Oh, my God! We made 90K from this launch!!!"

My client jubilantly exclaimed on our call. She had just launched a new program that was geared towards helping her customers brand themselves. Between her cheerful, urban cool vibe and her on-point salespage copy - her launch was destined to be a success. 

It was also 2013. 

The year before 6-figure launches became a "thing" and an unrealistic benchmark for all online business owners to follow. 

I was a part of that trend, not in the front lines schilling my own wares, but behind the scenes supporting these businesses. 

Recently, I transformed my business model. I literally looked at everything I created over the past few years and then threw it out the window. 

Some people call that crazy. Others who understand the mad desire of a clean slate call it brave.

Regardless, of what you think, I wanted to share with you how long it took for me to put this whole new world order together. 

Why? Because if you knew how long it really takes to do something well or up to your standards, you'll stop beating yourself up to meet unrealistic expectations of being an online business owner.

We forget that when we see someone's "brand new, shiny thing" it is a FINISHED PRODUCT. It's meant to look polished, perfect and put together.

I don't want any member of my community or fellow Daring Doer to feel like they're not enough (good enough, smart enough, working hard enough) when they're creating what they want to see in the world.

Behold! So here it is...

What it took for me to put new world order together.

What was created:

+ Newly designed website

+ A free resource library

+ A premium content and mentoring membership, The Daring Action Club (DAC)

+ A new Facebook group, Fortune Favors The Bold (FFTB)

[TIMELINE breakdown]

So, here's a breakdown of how long it took to pull this off and how much:

From idea to launch - 9 months (Nov 2015 - Aug 2016)

Doing the work aka: putting it all together - 2 months (June 2016 - Aug 2016)

Researching (figuring out how to do the membership space, payment processors, timelines, what would be included, what content, etc) approx - 1.5 months (End of April - May 2016)

Contractors used: graphic designer (to put together my guides in Adobe InDesign) and a professional copy editor / proofreader

Main Software used: Canva, PicMonkey, Squarespace, Simplero, Camtasia

Hours of doing the work: *300+ hours of **straight time

* Does NOT include:

Brainstorming, figuring things out, testing software or processes, crying, questioning life choices, sh*tty first drafts of anything or redoing things because I was obsessing over the end user experience.

** Does INCLUDE:

Coding, designing graphics / branding, writing final copy then typing it in, uploading, recording / editing videos, putting together websites, checking things off a never-ending list.

Many, many, many nights of going to bed at 2am and then getting up at 7:10am to adult

Hours of contractor work: 25 hours

[COSTS BREAKDOWN]

$150 per month for membership space (among other features) - Simplero

$9 per month for email - Mailchimp

$180ish for two websites (main website and salespage website) - Squarespace

$550ish for contractor fees

$300ish for stock photos, footage, and music

$120ish for custom domain names + domain privacy

And a lot of obsessing over details, folks. A LOT. And of course hard work.

Tell me what you think in the comments below. Did this make you feel better about where you are in your journey? Or did make you feel worse? Any questions? Let me know, I'm happy to answer them.