Knocking on Stranger's Doors? 3.4

 

Imagine this, you decide to start a house painting business with no experience, equipment, and its the beginning of February. This is the scenario I found myself in at the beginning of the craziness in 2020.

Trading my Normal Life to Chase my Business Vision

 I signed up for an internship where they gave me a real-life business experience of owning my own painting business. Before I ventured out on this new journey, I needed to establish my why. 

"Why am I dedicating six months of my life and missing out on summer fun for this business vision?" 

I frequently would ask myself questions like the one above weeks leading up to the start. It eventually clicked, and I wrote this in my journal,

I was tired of not following through with what I said and to prove to myself and others that I can do spectacular things. 

The day that I won't ever forget is the first day on the job, knocking on doors from 9am until dark. Leads are the lifeblood of any business. Without leads, a small business will die. For a business like house painting, the best marketing tactic is going straight the source, OG style; door to door marketing. 

I thought I was prepared, I practiced my sales pitch, got up early, and dressed like a typical college student. But when I knocked on my first door and someone actually answered, I froze (figuratively and actually it was cold out there). I forgot half my pitch, and the person who answered probably thought I was a weirdo. But, I was way too determined to let that interaction get to me. I mean the day just started right? 

After a few more interactions at the door, I started to gain confidence in talking with homeowners. Soon after that, I started getting them interested in the free interior/exterior estimate I was offering. I was seeing some success, but there were so many times throughout the day that I doubted my capability. 

There was one point where I was just driving around, dreading to keep going. 

Despite all of that, I carried on as I set a strong intention of earning 35 leads that opening weekend. 

As the sun went down that day and for the first time in a while, I saw myself achieving my goal. I saw myself becoming a leader and actually making things happen. This was a pinnacle point of my overall mentality and only the start of my business. At the end of the weekend, I hit 35 leads right on the dot. 

The moral of this story is that through goal setting, ambition, and determination, you can overcome any obstacle and actually make your dreams a reality.