Happy to share that I’m £48.61 richer, took the all courage to ask at least 10 people for instant money and already launched and wrapped up one business idea after one week of diving into the book. Disclaimer I haven’t even finished it. There are tons of challenges in it that asked me to stop reading, get my ass moving, and kick my business ideas off the ground. That’s right, writing this article is a part of the adventure — challenge accepted, Noah!
Results
Money:
- Book cost: £9.99
- Earned: £58.60
- Total return on investment: £48.61
Learnt:
- The process to start any business.
- The permission to dream of a Million Dollar business.
Loss:
- A daydream wantrepreneur in myself.
- Ability to be a regular consumer. Everywhere I go and everything I’m using right now sparks ideas for my next business venture.
Lessons Learned
#1 The power of ‘No’: Respecting boundaries and building confidence in your asks
From the dollar challenge to pre-selling my service, it might sound awkward when you think about it, but it’s absolutely normal once done. One key aspect of building the “ask muscle” is leaving room for others to say no. No matter how much you believe in the product or service, or how badly you need that favour, “no” should always be a possible answer when asking.
This works both ways: would you be happy if your friend borrowed money from you and be upset with you when you said no? Nope. We should all be able to say no, as it is a super healthy boundary. Rejection indicates a healthy boundary and should not be taken too personally. It simply means they don’t need it or can’t help you right now, and that’s alright. Just keep moving forward. However, if the answer is yes, that’s wonderful! Keep moving forward as well.
When you’re aware that you can comfortably and unapologetically exercise your right to say no, you can confidently knock on others’ doors and ask for what you need, trusting that they, too, know how to protect their boundaries of time and money.
#2 Lean on to your community
If they are your people, they will champion you and want you to be happy and successful.
Asking for a pound from someone I know and receiving it seems easy enough. It’s just a bit unconventional, but guess what? Nobody laughed at me. I suppose I picked the right people, or I am fortunate to have such a wonderful group of people around me. I even received blessings from two of them. Additionally, asking for a pound won’t hurt my friend’s finances, but it gives me so much courage and joy! Yes, I think this is what Noah is talking about — the fun of the journey.
#3 Just ask, or how else am I gonna get what I want!!!
Embrace the discomfort and just put it out there! Don’t waste time trying to craft the “perfect” product to avoid the awkward money ask.
#4 Do it Now, or how else am I gonna have a million dollar business THIS weekend
(I have nothing to share here, basically, just do it)
#5 Get the money first
It’s all about moving fast and spending smart. Think about it: you save a ton of time and money, plus you get to see if the customers are actually interested in what you’re offering.
And let’s not forget the best part — having that cash in your pocket right from the start? It’s like a shot of adrenaline, pushing you to get moving and make things happen. Plus, it forces you to get creative, finding new ways to make things work with what you’ve got.
#6 Show up before getting perfect
I don’t want to wait, nor can I wait until my product or myself is perfect because:
- Perfection never happen. What seems perfect to you could be perceived as garbage by others, and vice versa — what appears to be garbage to you might be gold to someone else.
- Pursuing perfection is unkind to myself. Aren’t you accepting of where you are, who you are, what you know, and what you have?
- It’s unkind to others, too. Your astonishing, polished product, service, or performance can create illusions about you and the world. It might lead them to believe that everyone is genius and knows everything except them.
By showing up imperfectly, you give the world a gift — a genuine, heartfelt story and the permission for others to start their own journey.
That’s why, I have to show up now, with whatever I have and know.
My Personal Journey
Day 0, 22:33 – Bought the book
Got super excited!!! Swiftly went through the first chapter, knowing this guy is onto something, and he certainly speaks my language. Thanks to Kindle, I don’t have to wait until the next morning, take a train, go to a bookstore, search around just to realise they might not have the book here.
Day 1, 8:40 – Dollar Challenge
First thing in the morning, asked 4 people:
- 8:52: Received the first pound from my boyfriend.
- 9:10: Received the second pound from my sweetheart friend.
- 9:27: Received a yes, a promised pound from my very lovely but slightly passive contact friend.
- 16:27: Received a dollar from Noah Kagan.
Having so much fun, nothing to lose, and the sky’s the limit. Just need to keep going on.
Day 1, 10:32 – Asking business ideas from friend
I have a couple of things to learn, plans to do for the day… I already asked for the money, did a few challenges… I thought to myself, well, maybe that was it for the day, I’d do the next challenge tomorrow, but guess what’s the #3 challenge: NOW!!!! If I’m not taking action now, how am I gonna get anything starting for this weekend???
Sent!
I thought, “Okay, maybe I’ll extend the challenge of asking for business advice, reach out to one or more people. Perhaps ask the cool guys, Noah, Derek Sivers, Mark Manson…” Then I thought, don’t get off the track. Noah suggested doing it “as quickly as possible,” even sending a text instead of an email… So I guess the point is to keep the momentum going, get off the ground. This challenge is not the main purpose of the game. As soon as I finish, I’d better move on to the next one. Or else, how am I gonna start the business this weekend???
Day 1, 10:50 – Challenge Free Number
My Free Number is: £1200. Yours?
I already had the free number years ago. I knew from the beginning Noah is speaking my language. My rent now is £700/month, living expenses with £500/month here in London is very doable but leave no room for extra activities, traveling, no room for mistakes, accidents, or future plans of house and retirement. No investment nor emergency fund out of that £500. So, ideally, my Free Number should be £2000. But, hey, Free Number is the first safe-based, not where we’d settle.
Day 2, 15:30 – Coffee Challenge
✅ I did it. Success. I got my rejection of the day 😽
Deep down, I know that was such a trivial task. I’ve been here so many times, I asked/bargained for a deal a lot. But the 10 minutes walking to the shop seems awkward. I did not want to bail, for sure, but it still felt weird and itchy to do so. I could see how this awkward feeling can prevent someone from taking action. If not that I trust the guy and really really want to pursue my million-dollar business, I would not.
The end result of creating a million-dollar business is just too big. As Tim Ferris said, the goal/plan/dream has to be big and unrealistic enough to be effective. Otherwise, why would I want to throw myself out there and did such an idiot thing like that? Pointless, pointless, nonsense, nonsense… but I know the upside of this game is just unlimited. I can’t help but keep my promise, go all the way it.
So, long story short, I chose my favourite bubble tea (er hmmmm I’m a full-blown Asian girl), made the order, after the staff said how much was it, I asked for the discount, she shyly said sorry, no, we don’t have any discount. No biggy, I said, it’s alright, we carried on. I felt slightly uncomfortable, worried this person might think I was cheap, might talk behind my back. That 5 minutes also was a discomfort. But hey, it wasn’t easy at all as I thought.
Just ask, or how else am I gonna get what I want!!!!
Day 3, 9:01 – Focus on your Zone of Influence
After listing 3 groups of accessible communities that I’m excited to help, I head on to generate ideas. This challenge is considered easy, cause I have so many ideas already.
Day 3, 10:59 – Using One Minute Business Model
I have to say, this model takes more than 1 minute. I could not get into Facebook ads, took sometime and some video tutorials to navigate around google planner; it’s a bit difficult for a beginner like me. I think it’s great that Noah introduced the structure; the idea is there but the implementation takes more time than it sounds.
Day 4 & 5 – Validate the idea
After 24 hours, hustling, working, posting, creating things: I reach out personally to 7 people, got 2 ignores, 1 yes, 4 nos. in 4 noes, they are all rooting for me, for good and different reasons, they don’t need it. They are giving me feedback. Those are my people.
I created 1 post and posted in 2 Instagram accounts, 1 is mine (60+ followers) and 1 is my lovely sweet friend (3000+ followers).
I posted passively on Reddit (because they don’t allow advertising) that’s why I just dropped the hints about what I was doing.
I drafted 1 semi-formal contract and invoice to my one and only customer.
In the evening, I started to realize:
a) I was not super interested in this business model, to be very honest.
b) I don’t have a zone of influence in this field. I can’t even find dream 10; I have no community (really? I don’t think so). But anyway, as Noah said, “if you can’t find 10 people…. mayyyyyyyyyyybe you should think about another business.” ⇒ Yeah, maybe.
c) What I need is an engaging community. I’m gonna start to grow one. NOW.
It’s okay to give up. It’s a lesson learned. as Noah said, this 48hr gives you the permission to start things aggressively, try your hardest, and if not, you’re not wasting time on planning a business, dreaming, building, buying domain, products, going around telling people what you’re up to and just no doing anything at all. Yeah, maybe the market exists but if it’s not accessible, NOW, to YOU, no point to try harder. Why make your life harder than it’s necessary.
I gave up! Thanks for the experience.
And hey, I didn’t fail, I earned a total of £18.6 in my bank, from the $1 challenge and from my one and only customer. Real money is in my bank! Isn’t that awesome????? I deserved an applause 👏.
I just opened a pot, called Fund me Fun. I’m going to use those precious seeding money to fund my fun life (buy a domain later perhaps!). The life I’m absolutely deserved! And I commit to live it!
Side story: Rollercoaster of feeling
I received feedback from a friend, explained why she didn’t need the service and feedback to me about the way I delivered my message.
I’m grateful for the feedback and but took it so personally (my insecurity issue around money). I felt extremely shameful, wondering what have I done; I was sorry that she had to go extra to explain to me. Maybe it seems like pressure that I’m putting on her. It was all a misunderstanding. But still, hurt.
I cried for hours, feeling so insecure, not proud of myself to go out and knock on the door. Now sitting here, writing it down, it feels like I just went through a storm.
I actually reached out to other friends to cry. Why? That’s community for! Those messages bellowed are from my friends:
i want you to know that im so proud that youre testing ideas! Im proud that you’re doing something with your ideas. All businesses go through a market research phase and that is the smart thing to do. […] i would hate for you to stop trying. But really hanny, i hope that once you calm down that you try again.
It’s scared yet, but I would hate for myself to stop trying too.
😁 Perfect. Love how you’ve set yourself targets to hit. Well done for exploring the idea. So many people don’t go for things and wonder ‘what if’!
Day 6 – Last Update from Business No.1:
I got 3 customers after all. (a little more than 48 hours) I’m sending them a questionnaire, collecting the data and deliver a service as promised!
What I learned
This is not my expertise. Not what I’m known for. No influence in this field.
But — I learned.
Keep learning.
Keep mastering the process.
That’s the whole point.