You don't need money to start, you just need to start. You've got to at least try!If you ask virtually any supporter of the underdog, the general consensus is that one doesn't need to use money as a jumping off point for their products or services. All they need is a good idea, motivation, passion, and a plan. We disagree. Read along to find out why.
Still, there are many a failed entertainer or small act who absolutely can't thrive using the free model. They use free tools and provide free content but aren't able to earn a reliable enough income to sustain themselves. We most notably saw this with very many of the YouTube content creators of yesteryear. The content stopped, their channels closed down, and they moved on to do other things. Take Olga Kay, for example. She's one such content creator who tried all she could to provide free content to her following while earning a reliable income. It didn't work. She ended up deeper in debt for each upload and published a vlog detailing the costs for producing high quality content versus her revenue from those uploads. She earned less than she invested almost every time. Note: This also took place during the Golden Age of YouTube. Olga had millions of subscribers and invested countless hours in her craft. This woman really wanted to be an entertainer and put everything she had into it. However, the model was unsustainable. Instead, she cut her losses, divested a great deal, saved her earnings from her following uploads, landed a merchandising deal, and then went on to focus almost exclusively on that business. She's now a successful business woman [former entertainer] who designs and sells her own brand of accessories. How do we know she had to fund her merchandise business? We actually tried to do it using the free option. Guess what. We couldn't even release a single product, as it was a requirement for us to mass purchase the product and then resell it. The services that once allowed for creatives to sell made to order merchandise they designed have mostly gone years ago, as the made to order model was considered unsustainable. Of the few that remain, design options are highly limited and custom designs require up front payment. These companies are unwilling to eat the cost if a client fails.
Neither is it free, nor is it as simple as very many think it is. Even when weighing costs differently than we do, like in the case of what was already owned prior to the launch of the business, start up costs can't be completely erased. It's surprisingly common for people to forget to calculate and budget for operating costs. Furthermore, without the money for those items that were repurposed for business, the business owner wouldn't have them to use. It doesn't matter when the investment was made, only that the investment was made and product of it remains available. Here's a good way of understanding what we're saying with this. An unemployed homeless person has a great business idea and wants to get a start. Your grandmother has a great business idea and wants to get a start. The unemployed homeless person has no money and has no equity. Your grandmother does have at least some money and some equity. Because of this lack of resources, the unemployed homeless person can't start their business. Because of the resources available to her, your grandmother can. In order to launch, the unemployed homeless person needs to secure outside funding.
This is pretty confusing coming from the people who also believe one can do anything they set their mind to, isn't it? We dare say it's contradictory. That's the flaw in the logic and there's a reason for that. They don't want to be viewed under a microscope for telling you that truth up front. If they tell you that from the very beginning, they fear you won't like them anymore. But the truth is in the statement itself. They want to support you but won't because you don't already have the money. The flaw in their consideration is that their support is just as valuable as money. Support attracts money. Investors and lenders are looking for safe investments to make so they'll get their money back. When they see an upstart has a following, they see potential to make back what they invested and profit off of the interest. It's a revenue stream for them.
When someone with a good idea comes along, you should support them. You're integral to their success just by placing your faith in them. That can be statistically measured. But tuning them out will surely cause them to fail. No, they won't be okay if everyone thinks, "They're smart. If it's meant to be, they'll make it without me. I'll get onboard and support them then." There are many more people thinking just like that than there are who will stand in support of them right away. Again, now is the time to make a move. Follow us on InstaGram and let's make something happen. Thanks for reading. |