Are you contemplating starting a new business? Not sure if you are up for the entrepreneurship lifestyle? Or maybe you know exactly what you want to do, but have no idea how to get started or what to do? My guest today is a self taught entrepreneur who is more than happy to share tips on how he found his way to success.
We are back with the second half of Connor McCreesh’s interview this week. We are diving into his path to becoming a successful entrepreneur. Connor is passionate about creating a life that you love and using a business strategy to help you achieve those goals.
Pssttt…. go back and watch last week’s interview on fitness and health 🙂
Connor’s Entrepreneur Journey
Connor’s accomplishments as a small business owner is the result of his personal drive to do well and create the lifestyle of his dreams. He recently sold his online fitness business only a year and a half after his launch, for over six figures. He credits his success to his drive to learn and his commitment to hard work.
In fact, Connor did not even receive formal training for small business. He attended the University of Birmingham, majoring in Physics in hopes of getting closer to his dreams of exploring space in the future. However, he did not study business or marketing at all.
Connor began exploring the world of entrepreneurship at the age of fifteen after reading Richard Branson’s autobiography, Losing My Virginity (he was inspired by the idea that someone could own an island). By sixteen, he was building his first online business selling resource guides. Eventually, Connor began also began freelancing by building resource guides for others, as well as digging deeper into marketing skills.
It wasn’t always smooth sailing. During University, Connor got “caught up” in the allure of the startup world. He built a product with a partner and was working hard with investors to get the business funded. On a trip to India, he had a sudden realization that he no longer cared about the startup or the hopes of future profits. He realized that he didn’t want the stress of investors or to dedicate his life to building a startup he didn’t care for.
He left the start up with his partner and began working the a new bootstrap startup company, Hopper, running their marketing department. Connor says the bootstrap strategy helps you to learn the most about marketing and sales because you need to be very strategic with everything you do. In contrast, companies with investment money to blow can make unwise decisions.
He eventually left the company and began testing out Instagram for a niche to start his next business in. Fitness seemed to do well and he was already well researched in that field. He built his online fitness business quickly, sold it, and is now on his way to the next best thing.
Connor’s Tips for Entrepreneurs
Automate as much as possible to avoid the cost of being distracted. For example, schedule all social media posts at one time per week or month. This will help you avoid the time wasted when stopping to post to social media throughout each day.
Always ask, “how can I make my hours worth the most?” For Connor, Pinterest was the best resource for his small business, so he poured a ton of focus into strengthening his profile. Once he focused in, he went from broke to a flourishing business owner. Find what tasks are the most beneficial to your business’s success, i.e. traffic and sales. We cannot do everything.
Know what your desired outcome is. Are you really interested in being rich or living a life in line with your values? Are you hoping to make a big difference in the world or own a big house? Start to understand what really drives your desire to succeed. According to Connor, “People don’t know what they want, they know what they think they want.”
Perhaps, explore your core values.
Core Values
As mentioned last week, self reflection is a key to a successful, happy life.
Connor journals every day, which gives him a good guide for what is going on in his life, what he is happy for, and things he needs to accomplish each day. Over the past year, he began to explore what he enjoys, but more importantly, why. In exploring the “why’s” behind all of his enjoyment, he began noticing words repeating throughout his journal that felt like core values.
Once he established his five core values, he realized it linked to all of his passions and how he likes to shape his lifestyle.
What are Connor’s core values? Problem Solving, Competition, Growth, Adventure, and Learning.
Once this was established, he can now move forward to find businesses and opportunities that align with his values. The money is great, but a business that he is passionate about will give him the most fulfilling lifestyle.
I, also, urge you to take the time to establish your core values. It will help you to make the best decisions for your life because you can check back and see what aligns with your values.
Biggest Lesson as an Entrepreneur
Honestly, you have to actually put in the work!
“You have to smash open your own expectations… You have to go out and do this stuff yourself to be able to figure it out, to some degree. You can take some guidance and some advice, but the actual biggest lesson is that it just takes a lot of work. You’ve got to do it, but you’ve got to want to do it.”
If you want it enough, you will work hard and enjoy the work.
Interview with Connor McCreesh, part 2
I have to give a big thank you to Connor and his help as I have been working to grow the Remote Yogi. Honestly, I had no clue what I was doing when I started this blog and his guidance has been absolutely incredible! For example, Connor helped me grow my website traffic by nearly 700% in just one month! He’s definitely the guy you want to talk to if you are struggling to get your social media moving in the right direction or get traffic to your website.
How to find Connor
Head over to ConnorMcCreesh.com to grab even more tips on starting your own business and read his hilarious, insightful blogs. He can be found on Instagram (@Connor.McCreesh) and pretty much all social media platforms, just search for ‘Connor McCreesh’.
Questions? We would love to hear from you! Reach out in the comments below and let us know what your biggest take away from today was. Is there anything you can be doing to simplify the way you run your business? We want to hear about it!
Keep working hard towards your goals! You all inspire me!
