How I Built A $40k/Month Business From My Phone

Hey! Shamus here, and welcome to another edition of MBIT, a newsletter (and podcast) sharing the stories of world-class entrepreneurs to inspire the next generation. Now, onto Aquasition.io!

NEW: We Are Launching On Video 🚀

We're beyond thrilled to announce the launch of MBIT Podcast — now in video! 📹 Dive into the insights of founders, entrepreneurs, and operators, where each episode is a visual journey for a more immersive experience.

Grab your seat below where every frame is a step forward in your entrepreneurial journey. 💻

Stay curious, and, as always — keep grinding!

Founder Matthew Chan shares the story:

“I was working part-time at AirUp for almost two years and it was coming time for me to either move into a full-time role there or get a new job.

By the end of November, I had to make a decision. Would I pursue a full-time role in AirUp or leave and go full-time on my lead-generation business? At the time, there wasn’t really any role at AirUp that fit my skill set. They had a couple of HR positions and an accounting role, which I wasn’t interested in.

So, I quit, and my parents wanted me to start interviewing for full-time roles.

At first, they were like, ‘Dude, just take the job. Are you are you stupid? You can do both at the same time.’

And I was like, ‘I can't do both at the same time. This is why.’ 

But ultimately, as always, I'm really stubborn, and they know they can't change my mind. So I wagered. I said, ‘If I can't get my agency to be self sustaining within six months, I would sell my car.’ 

My dad was like, ‘Give it a year. You're going to come back and end up getting a job. But have fun, and go experiment with this, and we'll see what you can make out of it.’

Not long after, I signed my first client over Zoom.

It was October 21st last year. I remember it as clear as day.

I literally cold-called this guy from a list of names on Google. I said, ‘Hey, I'm gonna be completely honest with you here: this is a cold call; if you want, you can hang up now, or you can give me 30 seconds, and you can decide.’ 

And he heard me out. At the end of the call, I booked a Zoom meeting. Then, I had to scramble to create a pitch deck.

For this agency, I worked with automotive detailers who were restyling shops and window tint shops, and I would bring them people who wanted their cars detailed.

So, I pitched him the deck on the Zoom call. I would sell them on $1,500 monthly retainers plus $1,000 ad spend per month and hope and pray that they would get enough cars into their shops to cover that and profit with a 3-4x return on ad spend.

After my pitch, he was like, ‘Yeah, let's do it.’ 

He paid on call. I sent him the invoice and the contract, which I got off ChatGPT, and the Stripe payment cleared. It was the best feeling ever. That was the ‘Oh sh*t, this is a real model. This isn't just some internet scam.’

Over time, the sales appointments weren’t hard to get because I wasn't afraid to dial people. So I just had to create a script that took people's guards down and allowed them to hear me out for 60 seconds.

We have since pivoted to generating leads for pool builders. In our first month we did $40k in revenue. And then this month, we have been focused on hiring, so we did take a bit of a revenue hit. I think this month we’re going to do like $30k. But since we have these processes in place, I have enough appointment flow for my team to be closing 20-25 clients per month.

So, hopefully, by January, we can ramp up to the six-figure run rate mark, which I think is very feasible.”

You can listen to my full interview with Matthew Chan on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube below.

Have a productive week!

Shamus

Founder & Host of MBIT