What I've Learned in 7 Months as an Entrepreneur

WellNest Home Services is 7 months old, we have over 100 subscribed customers, 100+ additional customers, and are pretty close to having a scalable operating model. It’s been challenging, rewarding, frustrating, infuriating, amazing, awesome, miserable, all the feelings. I was recently asked by a former colleague, “so what have you learned so far since you left corporate America and became an entrepreneur?” It got me thinking. It’s been awhile since I put up a blog post, I hope this post helps explains why! So here goes…

PS — Notice the “Home Services” instead of Home Cleaning? That’s a sneak peek into our 2017 goals…

**1 – Don’t force the idea. Adapt and iterate. **

This is the standard entrepreneur learning curve. You’re married to an idea during the pre-revenue phase and then you quickly realize after launch you were pretty far-off. Some founders fold right there, the best ones adapt and iterate.

Our story — Our target market at launch was young professionals (millennials) that live in dense high-rises. We would be super lean and use ride-sharing platforms like Uber and Lyft to get around. We’d be lean, nimble, and designed for millennials looking for a new-age alternative.

We quickly realized we fit best with young, health-conscious families. We didn’t realize it at the time but our decisions were quite skewed by our own personal needs as a health-conscious young family. Families loved our natural products, trustworthy crews, and the ability to work around their family routines. Even the mere thought of a child’s missed nap or meal gives us anxiety. We understand this market because we are this market. WellNest’s underlying foundation was built accordingly. We adapted our pricing structure and now know exactly where we fit.

That said, we haven’t abandoned reaching the millennial market. We’re testing this program right now. Once we’ve identified our fit, we’ll deploy proprietary technology and capture an underserved market.

Don’t force the idea. Adapt and iterate.

2 – Focus on users, not revenue. But not all customers are good customers.

The pricing models within the airline and traditional house cleaning industries are rather similar. You think the flight is $500 but then you’re paying extra to check a bag, seat selection, and legroom. In house cleaning, it’s first-time cleaning fees, pet fees, anything to maximize the value out of each individual job. We are focused on the lifetime value of each customer even though our per-job margins are lower than our competitors. Why? Because turnover and acquisition is more expensive than retention.

Our employee bonus structure is actually based on this. As our company grows in number of recurring customers, our teams get paid out nice bonuses. Check it out here.

All that said, not all customers are good customers. Location matters. Customer attitude matters. If a customer is rude or condescending to my team, you bet we will not be going back to that home ever again.

Focus on users, not revenue. But not all customers are good customers.

3 – However long you think it’ll take, double it. You need patience, lots of it.

This has been my personal ultimate frustration. I come from a consulting environment everything is done with speed and efficiency. If something needed to be done, boom, it’s done. It’s way different resources are limited. Talk about a wake-up call!

Our launch was delayed for various reasons. It took us months to find the right fit for the Manager position. Hiring one staff takes weeks because of how particular we are. Everything just takes longer – if you aren’t ready for it, it’ll drive you crazy.

There you have it! Nothing earth-shattering but we love to talk about this stuff. WellNest is growing