The Untold Story of My Business, the Calgary Language Nerds
I almost shut it down after the first 3 years
Let’s go back to 2010 when I was 17 years old. I went to an event called the Millionaire Mind Intensive.
I didn’t want to go, but my mom made me. Lol. It was a seminar with useful information about business, but it also had an unusual “rah-rah” vibe. For example, they’d play loud music and tell us to dance in order to hype us up. We were instructed to high-five each other regularly and say enthusiastically you have a millionaire mind! I remember this one guy I met, who I’m still in touch with today, telling me you have a BILLIONAIRE mind!
I feel a little embarrassed and awkward telling people that I went to this event…especially since I’m secretly glad I attended it.
I would recommend anyone to go, as long as you are prepared to separate the wheat from the chaff, look past the hokey/goofy vibe, and avoid impulsively buying any courses they sell using “act-now-or-lose-this-deal” sales tactics. I personally learned a money management system at the seminar I use to this day and was taught about the impact beliefs about money have on financial habits. These lessons are invaluable in my estimation.
Most importantly, however, the Millionaire Mind Intensive started me on my entrepreneurial journey.
When I was 18, I ran a window cleaning franchise.
I applied to work at a residential window cleaning franchise because they taught their franchise owners foundational skills required to run a business. No experience was required to own a franchise and there was no buy-in fee. It actually sounds too good to be true in hindsight. The company took on a lot of risk with each hire.
My plan was simple:
Learn to run a business by being a franchise owner.
Start my own business later using the skills I acquire.
I was a franchise owner for 4 years, a General Manager for 1.5 years, and then…I was laid off.
This was in 2016. The company’s leadership had changed and the new president, who I didn’t know, said he was flying in to Calgary. He invited me to breakfast. I naïvely thought it was to get acquainted and discuss the operational plan for my division.
What actually happened was that he laid me off.
I’m embarrassed about being laid off.
I feel like it was my fault. Maybe if my performance as a General Manager was better, I would have been kept on the team. I might be wrong of course. Maybe I would have been laid off no matter what. There’s no way to know for sure. I’m only writing this as a way to release the shame.
Oddly enough, I ended up negotiating to stay at the company, only to quit of my own accord a few months later. It’s a long story that I’m usually eager tell as a way to protect my ego.
2016 is the year I started the Calgary Language Nerds.
This was it: the moment to prove myself. I had spent 5.5 years working 60-80 hours a week running a window cleaning franchise all so that I could learn the skills needed to launch my very own business.
Talk about a lot of pressure. What if I failed?
My goal was to make a living wage running a business in a field I was passionate about: language learning. A living wage in my mind was $40,000 a year. That was less than what I earned at the window cleaning franchise, but I still felt like it was a lot of money.
I only made about $23,000 a year for the first 3 years of running my new business. This is something I have been uncomfortable telling people in the past.
Funnily enough, I think I could live off of $20,000 to $30,000 a year and be 100% happy. I have a minimalist nature and enjoy saving money more than spending it. However, I don’t want to live off $20,000-$30,000 a year for the rest of my life. There are a few reasons for this:
I am responsible for looking after my disabled sister, not just myself.
I want a financial buffer in the case of unforeseen circumstances.
Trying to earn money is a fun game for me.
Therefore, I told myself that I needed to see a significant increase in revenue and profit in year 4 of the business, otherwise I would seriously consider shutting it down and getting a job.
My business doubled in year 4.
It has continued to grow steadily since then. I think it’s fair to say I’ve accomplished my original goal of earning a living wage running a business in a field I’m passionate about. Hooray!
What’s next?
Earlier this year I was considering either getting a job or starting a new business while continuing to run the Calgary Language Nerds on the side. Upon further reflection, I think I have a new, more exciting, yet very intimidating vision…
I’ll talk more about it soon :)
Thanks for reading this! If you have any comments/questions or if you want to take lessons at my business, visit https://azrenthelanguagenerd.com