How to Make $40K Per Month in Your 20's: Building a Side-Business

Ex-Google Tech Lead talks about building a side-hustle and making $40K/month in your 20's.

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Video Transcript

(Note: This transcript is auto-generated by YouTube and may not be 100% correct.)

00:00alright hey tech elite here and welcome00:02back to another episode today we're00:04going to be talking about how to start00:06and grow a small business and we're00:08going to be talking to somebody somebody00:10in their 20s who has founded a00:12multi-million dollar business a company00:14and that person is going to help us get00:17all started and/or gentleman what are00:20you doing here I'm not talking about you00:22Gemma what do you mean well maybe you00:26should go to sleep then gather here go00:28to bed it's past your curfew time not00:30talking about you either and start a00:32multi-million dollar business yeah here00:36let me get over here climate climate hey00:41Clement now Clement here has started and00:44grown a very successful business in his00:4720s Clement is going to tell us all00:49about how he got this started what were00:50the logistics and how to practically get00:53a business going and why it is so useful00:55for young people to be starting small00:57businesses he's going to take us all00:59through the steps what was this business01:00that you started and tell us all about01:02it01:02our business is called Aldo expert algo01:04expert gallo it's basically targeted at01:07software engineers who like you and I01:09who want to prepare for their coding01:11interviews especially a big tech01:13companies big startups and we provide01:15curated questions like the ones you find01:18these coding interviews and we give01:20video explanations for those questions01:22of coding work space etc etc so you can01:24go to algo exper do a slash tech we'd if01:27you want to check it out that's right01:29you want to make sure you use code01:30technically get discount check them out01:32now start your business sounds cool and01:34we are here all the time well just our01:36business list our business I'm gonna01:38start business but how exactly do you01:40start a business what are the steps that01:42you have to go through what are the01:44challenges and how do you concretely get01:46this off the ground yeah so the first01:49step I think is coming up with the idea01:50and to be honest I think a lot of ideas01:53can work it's just about finding a01:55problem and then coming up with a01:56solution to that problem and building it01:59and executing it and so in my case I was02:02prepping for coding interviews and I was02:05using a bunch of resources textbooks02:07websites online YouTube Wikipedia and I02:10thought there's got to be a better way02:11that's how I came up with the idea02:13sounds simple enough do you do it by02:15yourself do you have a co-founder do you02:17set up like a LLC do you incorporate02:20start partnership you can do it alone02:22I think alone is a bit tougher I ended02:25up having a co-founders so I contacted02:27one of my best friends who happens to be02:29a software engineer as well I pitched02:31him the idea and he was on board and we02:34got it up and running so we ended up02:35going with an LLC the reason being is it02:38fit our needs the best we wanted from a02:41tax point of view to have things be02:43simple we want to only be taxed once02:45right so now we'll see was good for us02:47from that point of view as opposed to02:49corporation for instance but we also02:52wanted that limited liability that a02:55partnership a general partnership may02:57give you yeah that's right because as I03:00understand that you have a sole03:01proprietorship and that is where anyone03:03can actually start a business you just03:05start making money and that's a business03:07already you're a sole proprietorship now03:09is that beyond that you can actually03:10form a partnership say with multiple03:13people but that's still pretty much ax03:15very similar to like a sole03:16proprietorship the level above that is03:18you for my OLC which acts more like a03:21corporation where you can pay yourself a03:23salary you get limited liability such03:25that if anyone sees you they don't have03:28access to your personal assets is simply03:31the company standing alone on its own03:33and then the company has its own bank03:34account its own social security number03:37for tax purposes03:38everything is very separate and then03:40it's easier in a way to separate your03:42business and personal expenses now how03:44do you go about forming an LLC isn't it03:47very complicated aren't there all sorts03:49of paperwork that you have to go through03:51so it's a little bit complicated there03:53are a few services like stripe Atlas03:55Legal Zoom Rocket Lawyer that'll give03:58you like services to make the LLC for04:00you or help you along the way we ended04:03up is doing it ourselves it's sort of04:05like old-fashioned rent04:06oh wow so you just filed the audit04:08paperwork on your own yeah we went to04:09the State Department and did all that by04:11ourselves how complicated was that to do04:13on your own it's intimidating but not04:16actually that complicated okay04:18interesting now I have formed a few04:20LLC's myself as well and generally I04:23just use a service like lemon mint04:25and that's an arrow it's very simple and04:27easy to get this all set up you just04:29fill out an online web application press04:31submit button and don't get a LLC all04:33set up for you what are the fees04:34involved in it I'll see here so you have04:37an incorporation fee it's escaping me04:39right now but it's roughly two hundred04:42to a thousand dollars something like04:44that might vary from state to its eight04:45hundred dollars in California and as I04:48understand that you choose a state to04:50incorporate in and then you can actually04:52operate in any other state yep04:55which state did you choose we ended up04:56giving New York we just fit well for us04:58okay cool05:00generally I will actually register in05:02Delaware which is very well known for05:05its business friendly laws and then you05:07can operate as a foreign business in05:09other states yep not working now once05:11you have to say I'll see you all set up05:13how did you fund the company so we05:15didn't need too much money at the05:16beginning so we just put $2,500 each up05:19front me and my co-founder and that was05:21it the company has been self-sustaining05:23ever since did you ever have issues05:24choose iam co-founder I find that they05:27say co-founders are often almost like05:29having a marriage because you get to05:31work with the co-founder so closely and05:33you have to work out so many different05:34issues how did you know that you could05:36trust your co-founder what would happen05:38if your co-founders decided to just stop05:40working at some point this is where I05:42totally agree I think choosing the right05:44co-founder is probably the most05:45important thing you can do me and my05:48co-founder are lucky in that we're very05:51good friends and we just have that trust05:53on top of that we have very05:56complementary skill sets and we also05:58have different sort of like goals so we06:00don't overstep on each other and it just06:02works out really beautifully we're able06:04to work remotely pretty seamlessly with06:06no personal issues no work issues06:09fighting someone who has a complementary06:13skill set it's probably gonna be one of06:15the most important things because so06:16that you it's actually useful to have06:18multiple people and then probably just06:21making sure that you have open06:22communication if you have open06:24communication and trust you will be able06:26to work together and you can maybe even06:28be creative instead of things where you06:30have to work a certain amount of time or06:32produce a certain amount until you get06:35your equity in the business so is your06:37business purely online06:38do you have office space yeah so we're06:41purely online that means that we don't06:43have an office space we can work06:45remotely from wherever we are in a06:47coffee shop on a beach if we want that's06:49one thing that's really cool about the06:52era that we live in where we can build06:53fully online businesses and not have to06:58deal with the difficulties of having a07:01physical product having to have an07:03office space or a warehouse or hold07:05inventory of course not everyone has07:07luxury to do this not everyone has a07:08purely online business but you can't07:11have that these days yeah I think that's07:13one interesting thing when that was07:15running the online businesses it07:17actually allowed me to take time off07:18work between jobs there wouldn't be like07:21a huge resume gap because I could say07:23well I'm working on this business during07:25that time I can do some traveling during07:27that time as well and I just get more07:29flexibility and freedom in what I'm07:31doing well at the same time still being07:33productive and living how I might choose07:36to live I remember I would work from07:38Hawaii sometimes or work on cruise boats07:40now you're painting a really good07:41picture of running your own business07:43what are the cons of this what are the07:45challenges of running the business yeah07:48I think that there there are three big07:50challenges but in some sense they are07:53also positives if you like this if you07:55have that sort of entrepreneurial itch07:57the first one is there's a lot of work a08:00lot of the work is gonna be stuff that08:01you don't like08:02like for instance forming the LLC08:04marketing I'm not the biggest fan of08:06running ad campaigns and all that but I08:09have to do it challenge number two is08:10that sometimes you're putting in all08:12this work and you're not getting much in08:14return especially like in the earlier08:16months or earlier years of your business08:18you might not be making that much money08:20you you might be losing money right08:22that's a challenge to stay motivated and08:24number three this one is really critical08:27it is that everything that goes along in08:30the business is your fault everything08:33that goes wrong is your fault and even08:36beyond that if you do something wrong08:39and you break something in the business08:41there's no one on the other side that's08:43gonna be able to fix things when you're08:45at a normal job and something goes wrong08:48for instance in software engineers some08:50system breaks even if you don't know how08:52to fix it you have this sort of mental08:54piece that oh some other expert here is08:57gonna be able to fix it here that's not09:00the case it's only me and my co-founder09:02and maybe you know one other person no09:04one's gonna fix it for you you got to do09:06it that's right you have to really be09:08accountable and have a good work ethic09:10and understand that it doesn't matter09:12how much time you put in in the normal09:14job it's just about putting in the hours09:15and many times people would just go in09:18and work and they're not going to worry09:19about being terribly productive all the09:21time but when you're running your own09:23business09:23you really need to make sure that the09:25effort that you put in translates into09:27real impact into the bottom line and09:29oftentimes it's not going to be that's09:31something that you really enjoy doing09:32sometimes you're going to find out that09:34all you want to do is maybe code but it09:36turns out that you know that marketing09:39is going to be what your company really09:40needs at this point and then you have to09:42spend all your time studying about how09:43to do Facebook advertising or Instagram09:46advertising or something like that09:47that's a key thing like it especially as09:50software engineers we have this tendency09:52to want to code code code want to build09:54sometimes you got to stop building and09:56you got to start maintaining and don't10:01sneak up on me like that now I hope10:02you've enjoyed part one of two of this10:05interview for the stunning and epic10:07conclusion to this interview head on10:09over to Clements channel is going to be10:11great link in the description below and10:13I'll see you over thereEnglish (auto-generated)