Ugeddit Origins #05: Realizing My Value

I had realized one of my Ikigai (explained in Ugeddit Origins #04), but it wasn’t Ugeddit. It was SabFino Technologies, my automation consulting company and development agency, and I thought this was my Ikigai, because it fulfilled all four quadrants:

1. I can do it well, and any parts I haven’t yet mastered, I can easily and quickly learn
2. I love doing it, and I’ve actually been fascinated in automating things all my life, from my everyday actions, to games, to general computer tasks, and more
3. Businesses pay for this, because scaling automation means scaling profit margins, and one of the consultants I met while networking told me $10,000/month is a conservative figure for what I’ve already been doing on my own
4. I believe the world needs it, because people shouldn’t need to perform manual tasks they don’t need to spend time on, so they can spend that time on things that are more meaningful and valuable to them

And so I started building up my first business. I began researching and teaching myself about

• sole-proprietorships and corporations, both their tax implications and documentation obligations
• business models and payment structures (monthly retainer, time-and-materials, etc)
• CRMs and ERPs to manage networking contacts, funnels, and my definitions for company processes and other useful-to-have information
• informal and formal agreements and contracts, and what terms are crucial to know about and include in them for various circumstances (MOUs, NDAs, proposals, etc)
• and more

I began reading books like

• How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie
• The Greatest Salesman in the World – Og Mandino
• The Personal MBA – Josh Kaufman
• and others

And I began networking with skilled people, consultants, and entrepreneurs in spaces of

• business consulting
• technology consulting
• web design and development
• marketing and advertising
• networking and deal-making
• and more

I learned many things from many people, but I’ll leave it there because most of it is not directly relevant to what inspired me to start Ugeddit, and I’d likely have to spend the entire day to write it all.

So to connect it all together, after researching, learning, and implementing all of these things for my business, I realized one of the most important things and it split my attention almost in half. This was the beginning of what would eventually morph into Ugeddit. But, it looked almost nothing like Ugeddit does now. In fact, it was for a different type of audience, and even had a completely different purpose…

…The story continues in Ugeddit Origins #06…

For previous and next episodes, explore my Ugeddit Origins Series