Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Patrick Mazurek, Founder of happily discontent, located in Kingston, ON, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
happily discontent is the Netflix of personal development content. I distill information from top-rated books and podcasts into short (20min) episodes for people to watch while cooking food. This service is designed for motivated young adults that don't have time to read. By making the secrets of success more accessible, I help young adults improve their lives without wasting time. My first episodes are currently in production, so I currently deliver this value through 1on1 meetings and custom implementation plans.
Tell us about yourself
I'm Pat, a 24-year-old student entrepreneur that's passionate about impact entrepreneurship, personal development, and living without boundaries. My motto is "work hard, have fun and do both whenever possible." In terms of how I started my business, I believe anyone can find a competitive advantage at the intersection of a) the things they like and b) the things they're good at. When you love what you sell, you will sell it better than anyone else. For me, I found this advantage at the intersection of learning and sharing. I love learning, and I have a natural gift for public speaking. By bridging these two worlds, I've built a business that helps 100s of people and lights up my soul every day.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
As a recovering perfectionist, I'm proud of the fact that I took my latest product from idea → revenue in just 10 days. In the past, I've overemphasized the importance of having a website, social media, and overall "strategy." This time I skipped all the fluff and went right to the essential goal of any business: acquiring customers. In 3 days, I talked to 500 people in my target market and got 500 points of feedback on my product. In the following 5 days, I built an MVP, showed the MVP to the same 500 people, and collected 200 emails from interested people.
Now, with 200 emails and 500 insights on the features they value the most, I sent a sequence of emails offering my MVP to my target customers. By A/B testing, I achieved a conversion rate of 18%, going from idea → revenue in just 10 days. Speed > perfection!
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
For me, the hardest part about running a business is that YOU have to select the priorities. In my past jobs, someone would tell me what to do, and I would do it. As a business owner, I'm the one setting the direction: Do I optimize my website or start building a new ad campaign? Do I create a job application or streamline my operations? At any given moment, there are 139053249832 things that need to be done. Selecting which one is the most important can be challenging.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Study the people that have gone where you're trying to go. In other words, get a mentor. But keep in mind that a mentor doesn't need to be someone you meet with - I have mentors that don't know I exist. Simply find people that are experts in your industry and follow them on social, read their books, and absorb their knowledge in any way you can.
- Talk to your customers (you don't have a business without them). Figure out who they are, why they use your product, what they would change about it, and what they have for dinner. Talking to customers is market research, product development, marketing, retention, and recruiting. There is no single effort that is more valuable.
- Block off time for yourself. as a business owner, you are your own biggest asset. When you make good decisions, the business does well
when you don't, the opposite happens. I recommend taking 1-2hours in the morning and/or the evening to rest your brain and do things you enjoy.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.happilydiscontent.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/happily.discontent/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/happilydiscontent/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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