Here's my story on why I've decided to launch 12 businesses in 12 months in 2023.
It's a concept I first heard about during an interview between Neil Patel and Tai Lopez around 2015. Neil suggested starting one business per month. However, he advised that doing this quickly would require a bit of preparation beforehand. He recommended systematising the process into a fast workflow template which could be used again and again. It was a brand-new concept which had a big impact on my thinking. However, I simply kept that idea in the back of my mind.
Then just before Christmas 2022, I read this article which mentioned "12 Startups in 12 Months", undertaken by Dutch programmer Pieter Levels. This resulted in him running a portfolio of projects that generate $3 million per year.
I finally decided that with all my experience in the technology world, I could finally use that knowledge to start multiple businesses, a few of which could eventually provide me with healthy income no matter what happened in the economy.
To explain how I got here, let's rewind to 2019…
Leaving the Best Company in the World
I left my job at Amazon Web Services in Australia in March 2019. I spent just under 6 years there working as a Sales Representative. It was without question, the most enjoyable job I’ve ever had.
I have worked at companies including Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, and Intel in the UK. And I’ve worked at Dell and Oracle in Australia. All had their strengths and weaknesses. I joined AWS in Australia at what I would argue was the perfect time: when it was a scrappy startup in a new sales territory. There must only have been around 50-60 people at AWS Australia when I started working there in 2013.
At AWS, I loved working with many of the smartest people in the IT industry including my colleagues, my customers, and AWS Partners. I was surrounded by people who were pushing the limits of what technology could do. This in turn was ultimately re-shaping every single product or service that we use on a day-to-day basis, both online and in the physical world.
What Changed?
One of the biggest things that impacted me during my time at AWS was working with so many startups. I was exposed to so many startup customers (hundreds of them) both in Australia and New Zealand, that eventually their energy and enthusiasm rubbed off on me in a very big way. After meeting Startup founders from all walks of life, and in every age group (including students and folks in their 50s and 60s), I eventually decided in 2019 to quit and try something myself in an area that I was passionate about.
A New Megatrend
I had been following the progress of Bitcoin and Blockchain technology since 2015 (a little bit late to the party, but still early when compared to the average person in the street). In parallel, I understood how the existing banking and payments infrastructure was being re-shaped by companies like Stripe, Square, and PayPal, to mention a few. I realised that the developments in payments and open banking were a new Megatrend, just like Cloud Computing was a few years earlier, and I wanted to start a business in this area.
I decided to combine my love of teaching people about technology (which I was already doing at AWS) and create a company to advise businesses on the best payment technologies and platforms to help them increase their sales conversions.
The reason I picked this as my first side hustle was due to what I had seen time and time again when meeting and speaking to customers at AWS. Anecdotally, I found that 80% or more of my customers made it too difficult for their customers to pay for their products or services quickly and easily. Whether these customers were selling B2B or B2C, it didn’t matter. Repeatedly, I saw poor UX, poor UI, outdated invoicing or backend processes, and outdated websites to mention a few.
The Idea
I started a Payments Podcast and complementary YouTube channel to create valuable content which would hopefully generate leads for my payment technology consulting business.
In addition, I decided to start a side hustle within a side hustle, kind of like in the movie Inception. I started to deliver hands-on workshops to educate individuals who wanted to learn about Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. My thinking was that this would bring in some cash while I was building my online content library.
Build as a Nomad
As my new venture would mainly only require a laptop and internet connection in the first year, I decided to become a Digital Nomad for 12 months while I was creating content. The internet in Australia was terrible at the time because of the NBN disaster, which was not good for a new content creator at all.
So, I moved out of my apartment, put everything in storage, and planned to spend around 90 days in 4 countries. I wanted to go to Taiwan, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. After the year was over, I was planning to move back to Sydney and grow my business.
Then in March 2020, the world changed.
March 2020
I had just finished 3 months in Zagreb, Croatia when I decided to visit family in the UK for a quick 1- or 2-week trip at the end of February 2020. (I swapped Switzerland for Croatia for a few reasons). After a few weeks in the UK, I was planning to fly to my final destination in Italy for 90 days, before heading back to Australia.
Just as things were starting to gain a little traction on the podcast and YouTube channel, the lockdowns happened in March 2020. From that point on, my life took a direction that I could never have imagined.
Two Years to Flatten the Curve
After it became apparent on the news that most Governments around the world would be locking everybody up for 2 weeks, I decided to stay in the UK as it wouldn't be long before things would open up again. Well, we all know how that went.
After a while, Australia closed the borders (even to citizens like me), with the occasional emergency flight entering Australia every week or two (from memory). My gut told me that the information we were being fed in the news, and by politicians, was not the truth, so I decided to stay in the UK to see how things worked out.
That was one of the best decisions I ever made. Always trust your gut instincts.
Impact on the Business
With lockdowns making it impossible to do face to face workshops, I simply continued to focus on my Podcast and YouTube channel while in the UK. Prospects were staring to contact me via my YouTube channel, and I kept going with enthusiasm until Jan 2022, when my motivation and drive completely vanished.
What Happened?
I found that whereas a lot of people we down and/or depressed in 2020 - 2021, I was fine. But when everything in the UK opened back up fully in 2022, I just went through what many people were going through in the past 2 years. I lost my sense of purpose. There were other personal factors at play too which certainly contributed to this situation.
Starting Fresh in 2023
Being around family and friends in the UK helped me get through a very tough 2022, and the prior 2 years during the lockdowns.
Thankfully, I felt extremely positive when the new year kicked in on 1st Jan 2023. Passing that barrier was like flicking on a light switch in my head, and I was almost 100% back to my old self. I can't explain it, but that psychological move into 2023 was a huge relief to me.
I am really excited about 2023, and I look forward to sharing the 12 upcoming stories over the next 12 months.
Please feel free to comment below, I'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback.