Aug 28, 2018
We’re doing something new with this episode. If it works… we may turn it into a series called, “Ask Mitch.” Here’s the backstory: I was recently on the phone with a fellow DREAM THINK DO-er, and we were on a topic that I get a lot of questions about. So I asked for his permission to record the call. This is a person with an idea for a business, and he's passionate about it. He's excited about it but he's also a little scared. We’re going to talk about what to do when you have a business idea but you don’t feel like you have the money to pursue it. Money is one of the biggest perceived problems that stop people in their tracks. As you'll hear in our conversation we blast past that problem, and talk about no or low-cost opportunities to build his business idea. The strategies that we're going to talk about are things anybody could apply. As you listen to the interview though, know that we'll take a little time getting his background, tell a little bit of a story but then we'll really dive into his situation as a case study. I hope you enjoy it, I hope you benefit from it. Listen To The Podcast: INTERVIEW: That's awesome. So tell me a little bit more about the business. I started it last summer doing aerial photography. I went to a demolition. I live in Pennsylvania and went to a demolition across the Susquehanna River, and I saw all these drones flying around. I got a card from the owner who is based out of North Carolina. He was doing drone video and I thought that was pretty cool. So I figured I would just go ahead and give it a shot and see what I could make of it. That's awesome. So you went out and got a drone. I know there are all sorts of certifications that you can get for flying a drone. So you're all good to go on that? Yes. I actually taught myself. Went through, watched a couple classes on YouTube. You can actually pay to have classes but as a college student, I don't have money for that. Well, most of the answers are on YouTube anyway, so why not? I went out there, passed it the first time. I got all my certifications, and I’m set to go. I know you're just getting started, but where have you been finding business at this point? I've done a couple promotional things just try to get the business going. I've had one client so far through a co-worker my dad used to work with. I filmed her grandparents’ farm. They were moving out of the farm and wanted just keeps out there as a memory, so I did a video for them. They were also using it to list the farm for sale but it doubled so they could just have it as a memory. I know the key to being an entrepreneur a lot of times is the pivot. It's like learning, growing, learning, growing but when you think about this, who would you love to have as clients? Who would be your ideal client knowing what you know right now? People in real estate. They know they want something, but they really want someone to put everything together. That's what I did when I did the farm. I walked around the landscape and told them about this one shot with a creek. It was right alongside the house, and I thought it would be a cool approach. That was their favorite part of the film. Just when they give you the opportunity to just take the lead. Yeah, so you like to have that little bit ownership to be able to say, "I'd recommend this," and you love it when a client says, "All right, I trust you. Let’s try it." Yeah because I do all the editing, too. It’s great when you know what is going to look good on a video and they can just let you run with it. That's awesome, I love it. I have a number of questions but I know when you reached out, you had some questions as well. So what are some of your questions right now when it comes to your business? Primarily I would say capital. Capital is the hardest thing especially being a college student. I bought a computer with a small loan,