Week 34: My Business Was About To Collapse

The Comeback - Week 34

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Imagine standing at the foot of Everest.

You’re looking up at the peak poking out through stormy clouds miles and miles above. Knowing you have to climb. 

That’s exactly what it felt like.

The pressure was immense.

It was literally now, or never.

And there was only one route to the top.

But you’re probably wondering how on earth did I end up here, right?

Great question. 

We’ll get to that in a second.

Firstly I want to address something extremely important.

I’ve worked closely with 16 business owners 1-1 this year. 

Taught them all the same things. The results they got were anything but.

The difference wasn’t the knowledge, the tactics or the processes.

It was the individual. Their character. Their mindset.

And that’s what today's Newsletter is all about.

Not for me to tell you how great I am but to shine a light on the harsh realities of building a business from the ground up.

To give you a reason to keep pushing.

So in a few years time you can turn today's dark moments into stories that you use to inspire others and yourself.

Now let’s jump in a time machine.

The summer of 2021. Everything was perfect. Until it wasn’t.

Little did I know a storm was brewing.

One that would present the biggest challenge I’d ever faced.

Today on David to Goliath:

1. Race Against The Clock

2. Webinar Announcement

Race Against The Clock

I’d joined a little marketing agency called Alpha Inbound. 

My role was simple: More sales. More growth.

The Ecommerce industry was ruthlessly competitive. A few months in I’d generated next to no new business. 

The agency’s profit was zilch. Actually worse. We were losing money.

One day the founder called to say he was gonna pull the plug. On everything. The entire agency and all its staff.

But I told him to give me one last shot and by Dec 31st if I hadn’t brought in more clients I’d concede defeat.

So I set myself a monumental challenge.

Record 1000 personalized videos to specific founders I’d hand pick and send them via email - one by one.

This was the start of December. I had 3 weeks - enough time for them to respond, book a call and for me to close the deal.

I underestimated the sheer amount of work this would take. It was utterly exhausting.

The clock ticked down and there were now 3 days left. 

700 videos to go. Still no sales.

I calculated if I stayed up day and night for 72 hours straight I could mathematically complete all 1000.

But mentally and physically. Well, that was a different story…

With no other option, I began the climb. Loading up websites. Hitting record. Re-recording. Checking. Loading up the email. Sending.

Again and again. Back to back. It was relentless.

Then, I lost my voice. At this point I questioned the sanity of life, feeling more drained than a dead battery and yet 400 videos still left to record.

But something told me to keep pushing.

3 hours left.

Chugging honey whilst croaking out the last whisper from my throat I loaded up the final website and sent the email. All 1000. Complete.

Now I had to sit back, wait and hope I’d done enough.

1 reply. 

2 replies. 

3. 4. 5.

No word of a lie. It was New Year's Eve when I jumped on the first sales call with a brand and closed him whilst listening to fireworks outside. 

You literally couldn’t write it!

I closed 5 more in Jan and the rest was history. Our agency never looked back.

Although, there is one crucial detail I’ve missed.

The defining moment.

When I lost my voice, our business was on the verge of complete collapse and I was drifting in and out of consciousness I said to myself: 

“Remember Nigel, if you pull this off one day you’ll have this story to share with the world.”

That’s my story.

Now, it’s time to write yours.

Just remember: It’s always constraint that drives true innovation.

So slay those dragons with a smile on your face, knowing you’re in the process of building something biblical.

Webinar Announcement

Every agency I speak to needs more leads.

But 90% of the time they're wrong.

There's a much easier solution.

Increase your prices.

(in line with the value you deliver)

Look, there are 2 ways to make more profit:

1) Decrease costs

2) Increase prices

And the latter has way more upside.

• It will give you more profit

• So you scale faster

• Hire better people

• Get your clients better results

• And stop having to constantly chase leads

To share exactly how I increased the prices at my last agency (to scale it to 7 figures), I'm hosting an exclusive training.

Wed 4th September 3PM UK time.

No fluff - just a process that works.

And before you ask, it's free.

If that sounds tasty please register for the event here on LinkedIn and I'll see you there.

Apart from that have a wonderful day!

Yours truly,

-Nigel Thomas

P.S. Whenever you are ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

#1: Work with me 1-1 to Scale Your Marketing Agency

#2:Prefer listening instead of reading? Listen to the Exclusive David to Goliath Podcast Here

#3:Follow me on LinkedIn. Everyday I post stories, frameworks and mindset tips on our charge to 100,000 subscribers