How I built a 6-figure business in less than 6 months

Today, I will discuss how I started my own business and generated 6-figure revenue in less than 6 months.

I did it while managing a family, mortgages, and monthly expenses.

Although I had plenty of emotional support, I also had people depending on me. Financially.

Making a mistake would not only affect me but also the people around me.

As many of you know, I have been employed full-time for my entire career.

At the beginning of this year, I made the leap to entrepreneurship after almost 15 years in the corporate world.

My previous job was at the VP/Head level, which came with high salaries, commissions, and benefits.

However, I felt that something was missing.

My calendar was filled with meetings that drained my energy, and very few things inspired me.

For several weeks, I woke up tired, and some nights I couldn't sleep because of work.

Perhaps you have experienced similar feelings in the past, or maybe you are experiencing it right now.

That is why I want to share with you how to unlock the possibility of building something for yourself.

Unfortunately starting a new career as a solopreneur is not a walk in the park.

Most people fail for multiple reasons.

Some pursue the wrong passion (poor product-market fit), others don’t go all in (missing courage or financial backup) or just don’t stick around for the compound effect to kick in.

However, in just 6 months, I not only doubled my income but also built something that energises me every day.

This process does not involve any hack or secrete sauce. Instead, it relies on proven tactics that I have personally used and tested.

However, it is crucial to be realistic and understand that a large dose of luck is needed.

Most importantly you’d need a great product/solution/service that has a strong market fit.

Let’s dive in.

Step 1: Find your Niche.

I know it’s easier said than done but without a niche it’s tough.

I saw a gap in the market: most early-stage startups I knew were struggling to hire full-time VP of Sales for multiple reasons. So they kept asking me for help.

One, two, three, four, five…times. After the 6th time, I thought: this is my niche.

CEOs and Founders of Italian, Irish, and Spanish early-stage B2B funded startups (Seed and up to Series A) that are looking to build or scale their sales team.

This worked for me.

I have seen creators building businesses selling Notion Templates or building Excel.

Others just built businesses with writing or painting or personalised shoes.

Find your niche and start serving them.

Step 2: Serve Them

For free, at the beginning.

Yes, for free. You heard it right.

Without even knowing it, I started my Fractional VP of Sales career during nights and weekends in 2021.

I helped 5-6 companies for free outside office hours. I have done it because I liked it and it was easy for me. It came naturally with very little effort.

In this way, I built (without even knowing it) frameworks, processes, and templates that served me later on.

Step 3: Share, Post and Create.

80% of my revenue is coming from my posts on Linkedin.

I posted every day since January 2023 and I was an avid Linkedin user before.

I also launched this newsletter early on, from 0 to +500 subscribers in 3 months.

To be completely honest: I think this is the best part of my job.

Posting, commenting, and writing is what give me energy, I love the fact that people find this content useful.

However, I don’t think I could have done it without the inspiration of some folks.

​Justin Welsh​, ​Sahil Bloom​, and ​Kieran Drew​ are the top creators I have followed and keep following and they are teaching me how to post and write effectively.

They are my daily sort of inspiration.

Step 4: Always Be Selling (Yourself)

Since day 1 I built my outbound sales process.

Even though most of the deals were coming through referral, network and Linkedin I kept reaching out to prospects.

I created an ​Apollo.io​ account, built a list of decision-makers (CEOs/Founders below 50 employees in B2B space), crafted my emails and started reaching out.

I bought a Hubspot Starter account and started tracking my sales cycle, my prospects, clients, and the ones who closed won.

My sequences are always running in the back, some months I slow down if I can’t take more clients, and some others I double down on prospecting.

But I never stop.

Apollo.io’ stats from Matteo’s outbound campaigns.

Step 5: Evaluate, Refine, Revamp.

It’s very common for solopreneurs to revamp and shake things off now and then.

Not sure if it’s the obsession or the fact we are alone with our minds wondering all the time but it’s crucial to revamp, refine and make things better.

I revamped my website 3 times, changed pricing structure 4 times (always increasing my prices…) and twisted contents, and formats.

I changed my newsletter structure 3-4 times alone.

However, I never change things that work well but I change the rest.

For example: I build my pricing with 3 packages, each package has a certain amount of hours allotment and a price.

Well, while I changed both the hours and the pricing, I have never changed the structure.

People like the 3 programmes, they understand them quickly. So I never touch them.

In Summary

Thank you for reading this far, if you want to make the leap to solopreneurship here are my 5 simple steps to build your own business:

1. Find your Niche

2. Serve it (for free)

3. Share, Post & Create

4. Always Be Selling (yourself)

5. Evaluate, Refine Revamp

This Week’s Action Step

Take some time somewhere quiet, a piece of paper and ask yourself 3 questions:

• Are you happy with your job?

• Do you feel energised?

• Is your job your passion?

If your answer is “no” to any of these questions, then you should consider building something for yourself. You won’t regret it.

Hope this helps. See you next week, Ciao!