He went from laid-off corporate guy to owner of a million-dollar, one-person business
Evan Fisher started his business, Unicorn Capital, on Upwork after losing his job in financial services, tapping his experience to become a freelance business plan writer in 2017. The Atlanta-based entrepreneur turned that effort into a million-dollar, one-man juggernaut. He eventually got so busy he added a team of contractors. Unicorn Capital now offers many other services, such as writing pitch decks, creating financial models and building virtual data rooms. Evan also runs freelanceMVP, a popular YouTube community for freelancers.
“Once upon a time, I lost my job and had a three-month-old baby and wife to take care of, and had to keep a roof over their heads and food in their tummies,” he recalled. “I wasn’t even in the U.S. at the time. So, I wasn’t able to just go out and get a job. I had to figure it out—and fast.”
Evan spoke at a webinar on how to start a business in two weeks that I moderated with Helena Escalante, entrepreneur-in-residence at the New York Public Library Thomas Yoseloff Business Center on April 12, joining Kathy Goughenhour, founder of Expert VA Training, which teaches virtual assistants how to build their businesses, and Jason Allan Scott, a serial entrepreneur in podcasting, paid speaking and currently pet supplments.
If you need that spark launch a business now, particularly under adverse circumstances, Evan will inspire you. Here are some of his tips.
Use freelance platforms to do your market research.
Evan used Upwork to look for searches that popped up repeatedly (signaling demand) and asked himself, “What are the common threads?”
He looked for work he could do, liked to and could learn to do reliably.
Just start.
Market yourself before you’re 100% ready. Once the work starts coming in, you can build on what you’re learning.
“Speed in getting out and just doing things is far more important than anything else,” he said.
Make money now. Formalize later.
Evan waited until he’d gotten proof-of-concept on Upwork before forming a business entity. “There was no LLC. There was no EIN. It was me working as a solo contractor, just doing stuff and exchanging money for it,” he said.
Sell first, then learn as you go.
Evan started getting requests for services out of his core expertise, such as design, once he was up and running. He said yes to them on the premise he could learn them or hire someone who knew how to do them.
“I agreed to do things that I didn’t have the skills for but was able to sell,” he said.
Price your services low to win your initial customers.
Don’t be afraid to use low starter rates so you can attract some initial business, overdeliver and garner great reviews, he advised. For his first project, he charged about $200 for $2,500 worth of work.
“I wanted the five stars, because that is the currency that really matters,” he said.
Also consider how you make customers feel, he advised. “Make sure they walk away feeling five stars,” he said. “Even if something changes, they’ll be happy because you already exceeded expectations.”
That, in turn, can lead to word-of-mouth. “Do such an outstanding job that people are over the moon and referrals will come,” he said.
Stay on top of details.
That can help you make a positive impression. “If it takes me more than 24 minutes after a call to send a scope of work, that’s a long time,” he said.
Ultimately, it’s about putting yourself in the shoes of your customers. “It’s like getting an Amazon delivery one day early,” he said.
Take that ability to empathize with the people you serve beyond the processes to every element of your interactions, and you’ll be off to a great start in whatever business you launch.