Topic

For SolopreneursProfiles

Published On

April 7, 2022

You dream of being a Solopreneur But you have questions Lucky for you Dagobert Renouf has answers He shared it all on a Quda AMA I combined his replies into 3 primary questions: → How long does it take to succeed ? → What if I hate marketing ? → What’s the hardest part ?

1️⃣ HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO SUCCEED ?

If you are an aspiring Solopreneur, this might be your 1st question. Dagobert’s answer won’t please you but will certainly help you. His Start → Quits job → Has 2 year runway → Wife is co-founder

———

His timeline…

Year 0 - Y1.5 → Only build product → External events threaten runway Y1.5 - Y3 → Release product → Few sales as little marketing → Try many things → Twitter is promising Y3 - Y3.5 - Double down on Twitter - Reach $3K monthly revenue - Currently able to cover 1 person’s expenses

———

So how long does it take to succeed? Longer than you think His advice: (A) Plan for Longer → Think how long you will take → 2X it → If it feels too long, them it’s right (B) Reduce risk → Keep your job & build on the side → If you can’t, do part-time freelancing/consulting

2️⃣ WHAT IF I HATE MARKETING ?

Most creators think this Dagobert also did He shared a story It’s 2021 March (2.5 years in) ✅: their customers ❤️ them ❌: they have very few customers He feels: “I am the wrong person for this as I can’t sell a good product in a growing market”

Fast forward to 2022 April: → His twitter has gone from 150 followers to ~25,000 → Revenue is growing monthly → They have cracked 1 marketing channel (Twitter) → Now exploring more

———

How did this transformation happen ? 3 things: Participation, Doubling down, Memes Lets dig in…

(A) Participating instead of Marketing

His early marketing efforts didn’t work. So he decided to do ⏬ marketing & ⏫ participating: → Picked a few relevant communities → Engaged actively: Answer questions, tell his story, help people out → Plugged his product only if it fit

(B) Double down

Regular participation → people started knowing him & logogly → Sales start increasing After a few months he doubled down on Twitter. Reason: It had best traction & conversion for him The way it works…

His Twitter Funnel: He posts something on twitter ⬇️ His followers like & share it ⬇️ New people see it ⬇️ They visit his profile ⬇️ They visit his website ⬇️ They make a purchase Data for this: Pre-twitter: a few 100 website visitors/month Post-twitter: 7000 visitors/month

Twitter Benefits: → 99% of sales → ~10 Interviews → Partnerships: People reach out. Earlier no one even replied back → SEO: people discover him on twitter, link on their site, builds 1-2 backlinks/day → Supporters: Recently someone asked for a logo app. ~33% replies tagged him

But this takes work. What he did: First 6 months → 10 hours/day on Twitter → Posted 2 times/day → Engaged a ton Now: → He works on a 2 week cycle → Marketing week: Creates content for next 2 week → Coding week: Works on his product → Daily: Engages on Twitter for 3 hours

(C) Memes

Why he posts them: → He wanted to post every day → Initially he didn’t always have content but always had a joke → So he started posting memes The first 30 didn’t get much traction. But he enjoyed them so he continued. Then 1 went viral & engagement picked up.

But on every metric: His text posts > His memes So why does he still do memes ? → He enjoys them & can create them easily → This allows him to post daily (300 days now) → Gives him a unique identity: Startup & Marketing meme guy

———

So what should a ‘builder who hates marketing’ do ? (A) Go where your people are & add value (B) Double down on the platform that works best (C) Pick a format that you enjoy, can do regularly, adds value & is unique to you PS: that’s what I am trying with my One Glance Cards

3️⃣ WHAT’S THE HARDEST PART ?

It’s not → building product → deciding pricing → getting sales → doing marketing It’s staying hopeful through the low parts What most people don’t realise: The lows in entrepreneurship are some of the lowest you will ever experience He shared…

The only time in life he lost motivation: His startup Some of the lowest moments → No pay check when unexpected events impeded work → Ugly end with 3rd cofounder: He didn’t work out, then tried to take their domain, finally they had to buy him out → No traction for 1st 3 years

2 things that gave him hope: (A) Love from their few customers (B) He didn’t want to go back to a job My 2 takeaways: → If you love something, let the creators know → Leverage Feelings: Positive (happy customers) & Negative (avoid job) Some other things that help: 5 things that helped me in my worst periods as CEO

———

This was a great AMA & Quda’s audio format made it feel intimate Dagobert’s answer were not ‘fortune cookie’ 1-liners nor were they ‘latest hacks’ He just shared: What worked, what didn’t, why & what he would do differently This transparent specificity is what created value

———