It seems like everyone is trying to make money online right now. I’ve been trying to start a successful business on my own for years. Some made some money, but most didn’t make the cut. My story is common.

Where I’m hoping to be different is persistence. I know of sure things that make money (like gutter cleaning), but it doesn’t fit my long-term goal. I do realize that I could start a blue-collar business and grow it and, when things are right, move myself into a passive role. I know that works. I also know people who ended up downsizing to a one-man crew as quickly as they grew. Growth and managing people is no walk in the park.

So, where to go from here.

I’m currently an electrician, but starting my own company in Oregon requires a little more time and some connections that I don’t have. It’s not like a handyman company in this state. That being said, Electrical companies can make good money after you have some established clients. My main problem is… I don’t like it. I have a good company I work for now. The pay is good and the headaches are low.

So, what’s the goal?

I’ve always hated making hourly wages and commuting my life away. That does leave the door open for a telecommute-style job, but I would be taking a very serious pay cut for anything I’m qualified for. So, building my own business seems like the best option to achieve all my goals.

The options I see ahead…

In the short-term, I can make good money starting a handyman business out here in Oregon. It simply requires a general contractors license. That combined with my electrical license puts me at a competitive advantage. This does put me back into the initial problem I have with starting my own manual labor business. The upside is that I would be in control of my work schedule to an extent. I would likely just sell or close down the business once I’ve achieved a source of passive income.

In the long-term, I’d like to sell a course online. If there is one thing that I’ve come to learn, it’s everyone has a different learning style and so there is almost an unlimited amount of teachers for a given subject. That being said, I’m not very sure what subject I could become an expert in. Obviously, I know electrical somewhat.

I’ve been told by friends and family that I should teach about creating a home server to stream kids shows at home. What I mean by that is, I have created a my own personal Netflix-style streaming service for my kids. I personally put each show and movie on this service. I didn’t like any of the options for streaming services that actually had great kids movies and shows (like from Disney), but didn’t show a bunch of movies or shows I didn’t like. Streaming boxes like the Amazon Fire Stick shows ads that I really don’t like sometimes.

I’m not going into all the details here, but I spent hours trying to curate my kids content, just to have surprise shows or ads show up or I’d have kids filters that blocked some shows I liked, but allowed stuff that I didn’t like. The solution for me was just creating my own service.

Here is where “spinning my wheels” comes in.

I’ve tried plenty of online programs. I’ve bought courses. I haven’t really stuck with one thing long enough to make it work. In order to stop spinning my wheels, I need to find the sweet spot of what I a good at, somewhat passionate about, and somehow find a market gap that my abilities can fill.

This blog has no real ending…

I’m currently in the trenches here. I’m working through this bit-by-bit. I’ve actually started this website to help me explore my strengths and interests. If someone actually reads it… Hopefully you can find help or entertainment or it at least was a form of avoidance therapy that you enjoyed.