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"I Quit" 1 Year anniversary

emadibrahim.com

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Re: "I Quit" 1 Year anniversary

#31

Post by shaunxcode »

PonyGumbo wrote: post #21

I've just passed my five year anniversary. I would do it again, but the financial instability is still extremely stressful, particularly as I enter my mid-thirties. It's always feast or famine. My observations: 1. Pay off debt as quickly as you can. When you're broke again, you'll be grateful you did. 2. Never put all of your eggs in one basket. When you only have one or two major sources of revenue (or clients), you…

do you (or anyone) have recommendations regarding health insurance for "private contractors"/small (2-3 employee) businesses?

Re: "I Quit" 1 Year anniversary

#32

Post by eibrahim »

shaunxcode wrote: post #31
PonyGumbo wrote: post #21

I've just passed my five year anniversary. I would do it again, but the financial instability is still extremely stressful, particularly as I enter my mid-thirties. It's always feast or famine. My observations: 1. Pay off debt as quickly as you can. When you're broke again, you'll be grateful you did. 2. Never put all of your eggs in one basket. When you only have one or two major sources of revenue (or clients), you…

do you (or anyone) have recommendations regarding health insurance for "private contractors"/small (2-3 employee) businesses?

I used www.ehealthinsurance.com to get a CareFirst health insurance for about 170/month

Re: "I Quit" 1 Year anniversary

#33

Post by dandelany »

eibrahim wrote: post #28
bprater wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much time are you spending on the marketing aspect of Yonkly? If you aren't and started spending an hour or two a day -- seriously attacking it, you might be able to get ramen profitable quickly. For instance, the site doesn't quickly drive home why I need your service. It kind of muddles around. If you tightened things up, starting an affiliate program, did some AdWords, etc. you might be able to focus on the pr…

There is just not enough hours in the day. I do need to focus more on marketing but I am not an expert. Can you recommend anyone that will work for equity? :) I googled Yonly and everything looks. What exactly are you referring to that needs to be fixed?

The google description of the site is:

Yonkly - Create your own network stephp elmagnifico domnanou wmshaxpere yonkly eibrahim venturedig troygoode eonian ... domain yonkly chinese sbepstein allenwang allenwang1981 rmarley ...

I'm guessing that these are usernames of your users, but I'm not sure why they're being used as your Google description. See if you can fix this and replace it with a description of what Yonkly is, and I'd bet your search engine traffic will increase dramatically

Re: "I Quit" 1 Year anniversary

#34

Post by eibrahim »

dandelany wrote: post #33
eibrahim wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is just not enough hours in the day. I do need to focus more on marketing but I am not an expert. Can you recommend anyone that will work for equity? :) I googled Yonly and everything looks. What exactly are you referring to that needs to be fixed?

The google description of the site is: Yonkly - Create your own network stephp elmagnifico domnanou wmshaxpere yonkly eibrahim venturedig troygoode eonian ... domain yonkly chinese sbepstein allenwang allenwang1981 rmarley ... I'm guessing that these are usernames of your users, but I'm not sure why they're being used as your Google description. See if you can fix this and replace it with a description of what Yonkly…

thanks for the heads up.

Re: "I Quit" 1 Year anniversary

#35

Post by 9oliYQjP »

eibrahim wrote: post #11
floozyspeak wrote: post #9

Living on the cheap is one thing, going into huge credit card debt will follow you forever. :( Sounds like a gleeful story of doing it "your way" but a massive cost. I think the blog post is a bit in denial because you haven't really said anything about any future out comes you see happening next. What is the credit card debt? How much do you think you'll make on the book after publisher fees/whatever other costs. Th…

Will I do it all over again? Absolutely :) I am not sure I can discuss the book fees but it is not substantial. Probably enough for 2 or 3 months of living expenses. Credit card debt is huge. Think of a number. Then double it :) Yonkly is already profitable. It covers its operating cost and more. Thanks.

Let's say you're carrying $50K of credit card debt. Do you realize how much it costs just to service that debt? If your revenue is not greater than the minimum payments (just over the cost of interest) on that debt plus your living expenses, then you're a dead man walking. Borrowing from Peter to pay Paul works until you've max'd out your credit lines, and right now from the sounds of it you're accelerating toward that limit faster than you realize.

Focus on your cash flow. You need to be able to service that debt and pay for your cost of living. If you don't want to take a salaried job, start focussing on your consulting gigs. Preferably, find gigs that pay more. If that's not enough, take more of them (but be sure you can do the work).

I wish you luck. But it sounds to me like you're starting to realize you're in over your head and you're a bit shell shocked. I've been in your shoes, and I had to make some tough choices that involved temporarily moving back in with my parents until I got my finances under control, and working my ass off to the point where I barely got enough sleep. Thank goodness I didn't have mortgages to carry though.

Re: "I Quit" 1 Year anniversary

#37

Post by PonyGumbo »

shaunxcode wrote: post #31
PonyGumbo wrote: post #21

I've just passed my five year anniversary. I would do it again, but the financial instability is still extremely stressful, particularly as I enter my mid-thirties. It's always feast or famine. My observations: 1. Pay off debt as quickly as you can. When you're broke again, you'll be grateful you did. 2. Never put all of your eggs in one basket. When you only have one or two major sources of revenue (or clients), you…

do you (or anyone) have recommendations regarding health insurance for "private contractors"/small (2-3 employee) businesses?

I'm currently on a small business HMO plan through Blue Cross/Blue Shield. I'm in Massachusetts, though, so I can't necessarily recommend it if you live elsewhere (insurance here is compulsory, rates are partially regulated, etc). The one advantage of being on a small business plan here is that you're covered the day your first check clears. In contrast, individual plans generally have a 6 to 8 month waiting period during which you pay premiums but receive no coverage.

Re: "I Quit" 1 Year anniversary

#38

Post by blurry »

shaunxcode wrote: post #31
PonyGumbo wrote: post #21

I've just passed my five year anniversary. I would do it again, but the financial instability is still extremely stressful, particularly as I enter my mid-thirties. It's always feast or famine. My observations: 1. Pay off debt as quickly as you can. When you're broke again, you'll be grateful you did. 2. Never put all of your eggs in one basket. When you only have one or two major sources of revenue (or clients), you…

do you (or anyone) have recommendations regarding health insurance for "private contractors"/small (2-3 employee) businesses?

Check out freelancers union.

Re: "I Quit" 1 Year anniversary

#40

Post by sofal »

jacoblyles wrote: post #36

The more I read these stories, the more I appreciate the patio11 approach.

I just keep thinking to myself, "here I am working so hard at improving my programming abilities so that I can create more ambitious applications, and this guy is making a small fortune selling a freakin' Bingo card maker."
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