My 60-Day Challenge: Building an Online Business with Zero Experience
Hi. I'm Al, and I've set myself a challenge.
I'm 54, have a full time job running a charity (Beautiful Noise) that I founded just over a year ago and have enough technical skill to open a spreadsheet and be reasonably confident that my emails will reach their intended recipients. Over the last 25 years I've had lots of commercial business ideas. The problem? I've never actually done anything with them. I've lacked the know-how, the confidence, and (so I told myself) the time to dedicate to a new venture.
But something shifted recently. I read two incredible books that have given me the kick in the pants I needed to get going. The first was "Scary Smart" by Mo Gawdat, a former Chief Business Officer at Google X. He lays out a compelling argument about the future of Artificial Intelligence. I don’t scare easily, and this book really rattled me. He argues that AI will inevitably surpass human intelligence, but that we have a crucial role to play in shaping its development to be benevolent. It's a call to action, urging us to understand and engage with AI responsibly. It made me think hard about how I interact with technology, and whether I'm using it to its full potential. I’d rarely say this, but everyone should read this book.
The second was "What's Your Dream?" by Simon Squibb, a successful entrepreneur. The book focuses on the power of starting. He believes that too many people are paralysed by fear of failure or a lack of resources. His book is a practical, no-nonsense guide to overcoming those hurdles, providing actionable steps to turn dreams into reality, regardless of your background or experience. He emphasises the importance of just beginning, even if you don't have all the answers. If you’ve ever thought about starting a business, but think you can’t, I’d highly recommend it.
These two books, in their very different ways, converged on a single point for me: it's time to stop thinking and start doing. And that's where this 60-day challenge comes in.
I've decided to see if I can build a viable online business from scratch in just 60 days, starting on February 20th, with a budget of £500. Wildly optimistic? Maybe. But there are a huge number of free AI tools out there to help me.
I'm no tech wizard. Coding is a foreign language to me, and the worlds of e-commerce and content creation are completely new territory. I’ve never sold a product to a customer and the idea of putting myself out there on social media is pretty daunting. I’m hoping that AI will act as a mentor. I'm going to use AI tools to guide me through every step of the process, from brainstorming ideas to building a website to marketing my product or service.
Why am I documenting this journey? Two reasons:
Accountability: This blog is my commitment to myself. By sharing my progress (and, inevitably, my stumbles), I'm forcing myself to stay on track. No hiding!
Inspiration: If I, with zero prior experience in this arena, can make even a little progress, maybe it will encourage others to take the leap and pursue their own dreams. We are all capable of more than we realise, and it's never too late to start.
This isn't going to be a polished, perfect presentation. It's going to be raw, real, and probably a bit messy. I'll be sharing my wins, my frustrations, the AI tools I'm using, and the lessons I'm learning along the way. I'll be totally transparent about my successes and failures.
Finally, for full disclosure, I started this challenge on 20 February and have made enough progress that I built a website. I will write (or potentially even vlog!) about how I did this shortly. My goal is to catch up quickly with the story so far and then share updates in near real-time.
So, join me on this adventure! Let's see if we can turn a vague idea into a real, functioning business in just two month. And who knows, maybe you'll be inspired to start your own 60-day challenge. Until I get any other way of interacting up and running, please do reach out using this link.
