<ul><li>Use opportunity cost to make hard decisions. Try to answer if the time spent is generating a worthwhile return.</li><li>Analyze the opportunity cost. Can you invest your time with a greater ROI doing something else?</li><li>Be prepared to pivot or shut down. If nothing is organically growing or succeeding, and you don't have a clear vision, you might be grinding yourself to death.</li></ul>

How to know if the grind is worth it

<figure><img alt="" src="https://miro.medium.com/max/500/1*E1OsUS-MyBrlKCl2cFpslA" width="785" height="523"></figure>I spent more than 7 months designing and preparing to release it. On launch day, I was as giddy as a bird discovering its wings for the first time.Then, after 60 days of thriving and throttling in mid-flight, I had to make a hard decision.I ended it.This is the story of how I created, launched, hustled, tasted mild success, and ultimately decided to kill my paid-membership business.The big question we’re going to talk about is, for whatever you’re working on:How do you know if the grind is worth it?Background: Before the <a href="https://blog.medium.com/expanding-the-medium-partner-program-3be09dd146e4" rel="noopener" dir="ltr">new partner program</a> and <a href="https://blog.medium.com/show-authors-more-%EF%B8%8F-with-s-c1652279ba01" rel="noopener" dir="ltr">“claps”</a> system, Medium tried making money by giving publications the ability to offer a paid, private membership program to their followers.Most publications charged $2-$5 a month.In return, members received premium content from the publication.I couldn’t wait to launch membership for my 32k-readers publication, <a href="http://entrepreneurshandbook.co/" rel="noopener" dir="ltr">Entrepreneur’s Handbook</a>, but I wanted to offer something different.<a href="https://entrepreneurshandbook.co/join-brew-projects-87e9f14c5b7e" rel="noopener" dir="ltr">Brew Projects</a> was the paid, private membership of my publication.It’s purpose: to help creators monetize their passion projects.I wrote an <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2KtkZGpsuPIRWVuTEt5OTg3Mkk/view" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" dir="ltr">ebook</a> describing exactly what it is. In short, Brew Projects was a community of entrepreneurs helping each other find clarity, accountability, and feedback on their projects.Brew Projects was more than premium content. It was a community with periodic phone calls, mentors, and a Slack group.I charged $8 a month. The price was higher because I wanted to position it above the other “memberships” since the purpose of the group was to help people develop side income streams. Ideally, within a couple of months of membership, it would pay for itself — and much more!<h1 data-selectable-paragraph="">This is the story of how I struggled with the gray decision of when to call it quits.</h1>Decisions are not always black and white. I hope that by reading about my failure, you’ll learn a framework for processing through hard choices in your own life.As much as it hurts to write this, the lessons made it worth it and I would do it all over again.<h1 data-selectable-paragraph="">Why I Created Brew Projects</h1>The process of idea-to-income is the foundation of Entrepreneur’s Handbook. It’s one of the most fascinating processes in life to me. It takes creativity, hustle, and risk — the barebones components of entrepreneurship — and mashes them into action.Brew Projects manifested this mission perfectly.<h1 data-selectable-paragraph="">Pre-launch and Launch</h1>After 7 months of prep, gathering mentors, and creating content, I finally launched Brew Projects in May of this year.My metrics for early success were:<UL><LI>If 10 members signed up in the first week, we’re good.</LI><LI>If 30 members signed up in the first month, we’re fine.</LI></UL>I documented the growth of Entrepreneur’s Handbook’s followers and Brew Projects members in a sticky note on my desktop:<figure><img alt="" src="https://miro.medium.com/max/500/1*Ob-u13LEMpGS1SM1ka6T3A.png" width="350" height="244"></figure>While the first metric was just missed, it was good enough to press on. But the second metric fell significantly short. New members leveled off at 17.But it was awesome to see what members were working on and it was a dream come true to help hustlers pursue their entrepreneurial visions and work through problems. I loved the Business Brewers mastermind phone calls with everyone.Ignoring the metrics and raring with confidence, I published the <a href="https://entrepreneurshandbook.co/revenue-challenge/home" rel="noopener" dir="ltr">90-Day Revenue Challenge</a> (free) announcement to the EH community to kickstart growth.The 90 Day Revenue Challenge is a challenge for anyone to turn an idea into at least $100 in less than three months. The only rule was participants had to write a weekly check-in postThe initial response was certainly not viral, but not ignored either.<h2 data-selectable-paragraph="">To my clever little mind, I saw a triple win on the horizon.</h2><OL><LI>Revenue Challengers pushed themselves to create a profitable side project.</LI><LI>Entrepreneur’s Handbook got a weekly flow of content.</LI><LI>The Revenue Challenge was a logical, free introduction to Brew Projects. It would lead to new member sign ups.</LI></OL>Eighteen driven and ambitious people signed up. Writers, marketers, and entrepreneurs joined the community to turn their ideas into monetized side projects.Some of the Revenue Challengers even joined Business Brewers calls and saw the value of the community.I was excited. It was going well.<h1 data-selectable-paragraph="">But I underestimated several things that led to serious unsustainability and big personal lessons.</h1>As the weeks went by, I started noticing a problem with the Revenue Challenge. And it was my fault.Not all entrepreneurs are writers.Seeing that Entrepreneur’s Handbook is first, a publication, and publications should publish high-quality writing, and second, a community, the content in EH began to shift.The 1–2 weekly posts of great founder interviews and in-depth how-to articles began to be overtaken by the weekly influx of RC check-in posts.The weekly check-in posts, even the well-written ones, were inevitably formulaic (again, my fault). And any writing that is formulaic gets old fast. The editing time these posts required quickly became overbearing.The mission of Entrepreneur’s Handbook is to help entrepreneurs succeed. And while the Revenue Challenge helped a select number of entrepreneurs succeed, it wasn’t providing the rest of EH’s 31,000 readers with the same level of value.At the same time, I saw that Brew Projects was much more time-intensive than I had expected. Don’t get me wrong, it was thrilling and I loved it. But the hours it consumed and mental effort it demanded (to do it right), proved unsustainable.<h1 data-selectable-paragraph="">Then the hard question hit me:</h1>Entrepreneurship is supposed to be a grind, right? There are plenty of stories of starving founders going into debt to make their dream come to life. But how do you know if the grind is worth it? At what point should you call it quits?I wrestled with this question for weeks. I had poured months and months of time into Brew Projects and its branding, the ebook, and thinking through how it would work. In fact, my wife got sick of me bringing it up.Finally, it became clear. I needed to shut down Brew Projects.<h2 data-selectable-paragraph="">First lesson: Use opportunity cost to make hard decisions.</h2><UL><LI>I view my time on an ROI basis. Whatever I’m doing (for work), I try to ask myself this question: is the time invested creating a worthwhile return? While this isn’t limited to only finances, money is an objective measurement. I may feel an effort is successful in the morning and then feel the same effort is futile as I fall asleep. When I assessed my “plate” through this lens, Brew Projects’ ROI evaporated in comparison to everything else. As much as I truly enjoyed it at times, it simply didn’t generate the return for it to make sense to continue.</LI></UL>But this thought always haunted me:<BLOCKQUOTE>If you just give it time and market it, it could really take off and grow and become a huge independent income stream! Just give it time!</BLOCKQUOTE><h2 data-selectable-paragraph="">Second lesson: You can’t half-ass community management.</h2><UL><LI>There’s a reason “community manager” is a full-time job at some companies. A digital community never turns off. Therefore, you, as the founder/manager, never turn off, especially in the beginning. You want everyone to feel engaged. Listened to. Valued. Respond to everything! Ask questions. Post resources. There was a bottomless list of things I felt I should be doing to help the community thrive.</LI><LI>Brew Projects struggled to maintain a healthy level of activity in Slack. This always bothered me. As much as I did “questions of the day” and “happy hours” on Fridays, it never became independent. Plus, everyone was spread across 6 different timezones.</LI></UL>The straw that broke the camel’s back was when the most active member, who felt like a cofounder to me, sent me this direct message:<BLOCKQUOTE>“Hey Dave I think I’m going to duck out of the group.”</BLOCKQUOTE>I knew it was coming. It was hard to hear but I knew it was merited. When I asked him why, he said:<BLOCKQUOTE>“I think one of the factors for me is like you said I’m one of the biggest contributors. Which has it’s rewards, but it also has it’s drawbacks. I’ve been wondering if there are other groups where I’m just a little fish where I can learn from some sharks. How do we get some sharks in BP?”</BLOCKQUOTE>The “sharks” were supposed to be the mentors. But, aside from a handful of the them, they were absent. Again, my fault. I had failed to find a way to incentivize them. They were doing it as a “favor,” more than a commitment with an ROI for them.A few more weeks went by and I dropped the ball — waiting for an idea or opportunity to hit me that would resurrect and re-energize the group.But nothing came.In fact, I had more amazing opportunities stack up that took even more time and mental energy away from Brew Projects.So that brings me to today, with a hammer in my hand, and the final nail poking out of the coffin.If I could go back and tell myself one thing before launching Brew Projects, I’d say this:<UL><LI>If you’re going to launch a community-based business, charge more and make it worth your time (and thereby your members’ time) and view it as a full-time job. Or, if it needs to be a side gig, don’t charge anything at all so it doesn’t constantly weigh on your mind as a “should”.</LI></UL><h1 data-selectable-paragraph="">3 criteria to make hard decisions:</h1><OL><LI>Set pre-launch metrics to determine early success. This will help you objectively measure whether it’s worth continuing when you’re in the hot thick of things post-launch.</LI><LI>Analyze the opportunity cost. After the excitement of launching dies down, ask yourself this question: Are you able to invest your time with a greater ROI doing something else? If the answer is an easy “yes,” consider a change. It’s tricky, though, because the grind is a necessary part of the entrepreneurial process. Supplement this point with the next one.</LI><LI>If there’s no growth plan that’s “clicking”, be prepared to pivot or shut down. If nothing is organically growing or naturally succeeding, and the future doesn’t have a clear vision, you might be “grinding” yourself to death. Yes, it’s supposed to be hard. But there’s a difference between persistent and stubborn.</LI></OL>So that’s the story of Brew Projects and what I learned about making tough decisions.To the members who participated and made it awesome, I want to say thank you for being willing to share your time, dreams, and experiences with me. I loved it and enjoyed the virtual “cheers” to the successes we shared.Going forward, I’m excited to announce the 90-day Revenue Challenge is far from over. Yes, the model was broken. But the concept is still gold and I’m working with some partners to make it better. Soon, I’ll announce a relaunch of the revamped Revenue Challenge — and no, it won’t be writing-based, and yes — it will be free.Lastly, I think the branding for Brew Projects is still kick-ass so maybe I’ll open a coffee and craft beer shop with it at some point in the future…<figure><img alt="" src="https://miro.medium.com/max/500/1*ULiKmBKaQdHnv-6EtOl7gw.png" width="320" height="60"></figure>One of my favorite quotes is:<BLOCKQUOTE>Teachers teach. Coaches coach. Entrepreneurs fail.</BLOCKQUOTE>It’s what we do.Keep hustling. Remember that failure and success are both imposters. They’re only meant to teach us.Just keep going, keep your head held high, and don’t give up. Except when you should.

I spent more than 7 months designing and preparing to release it. On launch day, I was as giddy as a bird discovering its wings for the first time. This is the story of how I created, launched…

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entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship

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I spent more than 7 months designing and preparing to release it. On launch day, I was as giddy as a bird discovering its wings for the first time.

Then, after 60 days of thriving and throttling in mid-flight, I had to make a hard decision.

This is the story of how I created, launched, hustled, tasted mild success, and ultimately decided to kill my paid-membership business.

The big question we’re going to talk about is, for whatever you’re working on:

How do you know if the grind is worth it?

Backgro und: Before the <a href="https://blog.medium.com/expanding-the-medium-partner-program-3be09dd146e4">new partner program </a>and <a href="https://blog.medium.com/show-authors-more-%EF%B8%8F-with-s-c1652279ba01">“claps” </a>system, Medium tried making money by giving publications the ability to offer a paid, private membership program to their followers.

Most publications charged $2-$5 a month.

In return, members received premium content from the publication.

I couldn’t wait to launch membership for my 32k-readers publication, <a href="http://entrepreneurshandbook.co/">Entrepreneur’s Handbook </a>, but I wanted to offer something different.

<a href="https://entrepreneurshandbook.co/join-brew-projects-87e9f14c5b7e">Brew Projects </a>was the paid, private membership of my publication.

It’s purpose: to help creators monetize their passion projects.

I wrote an <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2KtkZGpsuPIRWVuTEt5OTg3Mkk/view">ebook </a>describing exactly what it is. In short, Brew Projects was a community of entrepreneurs helping each other find clarity, accountability, and feedback on their projects.

Brew Projects was more than premium content. It was a community with periodic phone calls, mentors, and a Slack group.

I charged $8 a month. The price was higher because I wanted to position it above the other “memberships” since the purpose of the group was to help people develop side income streams. Ideally, within a couple of months of membership, it would pay for itself — and much more!

This is the story of how I struggled with the gray decision of when to call it quits.

Decisions are not always black and white. I hope that by reading about my failure, you’ll learn a framework for processing through hard choices in your own life.

As much as it hurts to write this, the lessons made it worth it and I would do it all over again.

The process of idea-to-income is the foundation of Entrepreneur’s Handbook. It’s one of the most fascinating processes in life to me. It takes creativity, hustle, and risk — the barebones components of entrepreneurship — and mashes them into action.

Brew Projects manifested this mission perfectly.

After 7 months of prep, gathering mentors, and creating content, I finally launched Brew Projects in May of this year.

My metrics for early success were:

<ul><li>If 10 members signed up in the first week, we’re good. </li><li>If 30 members signed up in the first month, we’re fine. </li> </ul>

I documented the growth of Entrepreneur’s Handbook’s followers and Brew Projects members in a sticky note on my desktop:

While the first metric was just missed, it was good enough to press on. But the second metric fell significantly short. New members leveled off at 17.

But it was awesome to see what members were working on and it was a dream come true to help hustlers pursue their entrepreneurial visions and work through problems. I loved the Business Brewers mastermind phone calls with everyone.

Ignoring the metrics and raring with confidence, I published the <a href="https://entrepreneurshandbook.co/revenue-challenge/home">90-Day Revenue Challenge </a>(free) announcement to the EH community to kickstart growth.

The 90 Day Revenue Challenge is a challenge for anyone to turn an idea into at least $100 in less than three months. The only rule was participants had to write a weekly check-in post

The initial response was certainly not viral, but not ignored either.

To my clever little mind, I saw a triple win on the horizon.

<ol><li>Revenue Challengers pushed themselves to create a profitable side project. </li><li>Entrepreneur’s Handbook got a weekly flow of content. </li><li>The Revenue Challenge was a logical, free introduction to Brew Projects. It would lead to new member sign ups. </li> </ol>

Eighteen driven and ambitious people signed up. Writers, marketers, and entrepreneurs joined the community to turn their ideas into monetized side projects.

Some of the Revenue Challengers even joined Business Brewers calls and saw the value of the community.

I was excited. It was going well.

But I underestimated several things that led to serious unsustainability and big personal lessons.

As the weeks went by, I started noticing a problem with the Revenue Challenge. And it was my fault.

Not all entrepreneurs are writers.

Seeing that Entrepreneur’s Handbook is first, a publication, and publications should publish high-quality writing, and second, a community, the content in EH began to shift.

The 1–2 weekly posts of great founder interviews and in-depth how-to articles began to be overtaken by the weekly influx of RC check-in posts.

The weekly check-in posts, even the well-written ones, were inevitably formulaic (again, my fault). And any writing that is formulaic gets old fast. The editing time these posts required quickly became overbearing.

The mission of Entrepreneur’s Handbook is to help entrepreneurs succeed. And while the Revenue Challenge helped a select number of entrepreneurs succeed, it wasn’t providing the rest of EH’s 31,000 readers with the same level of value.

At the same time, I saw that Brew Projects was much more time-intensive than I had expected. Don’t get me wrong, it was thrilling and I loved it. But the hours it consumed and mental effort it demanded (to do it right), proved unsustainable.

Entrepreneurship is supposed to be a grind, right? There are plenty of stories of starving founders going into debt to make their dream come to life. But how do you know if the grind is worth it? At what point should you call it quits?

I wrestled with this question for weeks. I had poured months and months of time into Brew Projects and its branding, the ebook, and thinking through how it would work. In fact, my wife got sick of me bringing it up.

Finally, it became clear. I needed to shut down Brew Projects.

First lesson: Use opportunity cost to make hard decisions.

<ul><li>I view my time on an ROI basis. Whatever I’m doing (for work), I try to ask myself this question: is the time invested creating a worthwhile return? While this isn’t limited to only finances, money is an objective measurement. I may feel an effort is successful in the morning and then feel the same effort is futile as I fall asleep. When I assessed my “plate” through this lens, Brew Projects’ ROI evaporated in comparison to everything else. As much as I truly enjoyed it at times, it simply didn’t generate the return for it to make sense to continue. </li> </ul>

But this thought always haunted me:

If you just give it time and market it, it could really take off and grow and become a huge independent income stream! Just give it time!

Second lesson: You can’t half-ass community management.

<ul><li>There’s a reason “community manager” is a full-time job at some companies. A digital community never turns off. Therefore, you, as the founder/manager, never turn off, especially in the beginning. You want everyone to feel engaged. Listened to. Valued. Respond to everything! Ask questions. Post resources. There was a bottomless list of things I felt I should be doing to help the community thrive. </li><li>Brew Projects struggled to maintain a healthy level of activity in Slack. This always bothered me. As much as I did “questions of the day” and “happy hours” on Fridays, it never became independent. Plus, everyone was spread across 6 different timezones. </li> </ul>

The straw that broke the camel’s back was when the most active member, who felt like a cofounder to me, sent me this direct message:

“Hey Dave I think I’m going to duck out of the group.”

I knew it was coming. It was hard to hear but I knew it was merited. When I asked him why, he said:

“I think one of the factors for me is like you said I’m one of the biggest contributors. Which has it’s rewards, but it also has it’s drawbacks. I’ve been wondering if there are other groups where I’m just a little fish where I can learn from some sharks. How do we get some sharks in BP?”

The “sharks” were supposed to be the mentors. But, aside from a handful of the them, they were absent. Again, my fault. I had failed to find a way to incentivize them. They were doing it as a “favor,” more than a commitment with an ROI for them .

A few more weeks went by and I dropped the ball — waiting for an idea or opportunity to hit me that would resurrect and re-energize the group.

In fact, I had more amazing opportunities stack up that took even more time and mental energy away from Brew Projects.

So that brings me to today, with a hammer in my hand, and the final nail poking out of the coffin.

If I could go back and tell myself one thing before launching Brew Projects, I’d say this:

<ul><li>If you’re going to launch a community-based business, charge more and make it worth your time (and thereby your members’ time) and view it as a full-time job. Or, if it needs to be a side gig, don’t charge anything at all so it doesn’t constantly weigh on your mind as a “should”. </li> </ul>

<ol><li>Set pre-launch metrics to determine early success. This will help you objectively measure whether it’s worth continuing when you’re in the hot thick of things post-launch. </li><li>Analyze the opportunity cost. After the excitement of launching dies down, ask yourself this question: Are you able to invest your time with a greater ROI doing something else? If the answer is an easy “yes,” consider a change. It’s tricky, though, because the grind is a necessary part of the entrepreneurial process. Supplement this point with the next one. </li><li>If there’s no growth plan that’s “clicking”, be prepared to pivot or shut down. If nothing is organically growing or naturally succeeding, and the future doesn’t have a clear vision, you might be “grinding” yourself to death. Yes, it’s supposed to be hard. But there’s a difference between persistent and stubborn. </li> </ol>

So that’s the story of Brew Projects and what I learned about making tough decisions.

To the members who participated and made it awesome, I want to say thank you for being willing to share your time, dreams, and experiences with me. I loved it and enjoyed the virtual “cheers” to the successes we shared.

Going forward, I’m excited to announce the 90-day Revenue Challenge is far from over. Yes, the model was broken. But the concept is still gold and I’m working with some partners to make it better. Soon, I’ll announce a relaunch of the revamped Revenue Challenge — and no, it won’t be writing-based, and yes — it will be free.

Lastly, I think the branding for Brew Projects is still kick-ass so maybe I’ll open a coffee and craft beer shop with it at some point in the future…

Teachers teach. Coaches coach. Entrepreneurs fail.

Keep hustling. Remember that failure and success are both imposters. They’re only meant to teach us.

Just keep going, keep your head held high, and don’t give up. Except when you should.

How to Know When to Quit

How to know if the grind is worth it

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