dabidoe

Congrats on taking the leap!

My advice is to view this as a marathon. Don't let the gnawing pain of uncertainty, fear, anxiety, doubt and loneliness discourage you, just stick to your mission. Focus on your goal and don't stress too much about the bank balance!

Given you've diagnosed her as negative the challenge is going to be taking her criticism with a grain of salt. I get it too, my GF is very negative and risk sensitive. I try to just accept that and see it for what it is instead of getting bummed out by it.

You never wanna be so high on your own supply that you ignore the rammifications. You do however want to be rationally optimistic and have the growth mindset of putting in the work. The most successful entrepeneurs seek out harsh criticism as an important counter-balance to their beliefs so they know the cons as well as the pros.

If you can find a way to learn to accept criticism as the "con" POV then it will be valuable. If you're too early in the process and the negativity will hurt you then you should probably just not discuss it with her.

Congrats on your success, thanks for the detailed response.

What's the process for getting started, where did you buy, did you buy with savings or credit. How did you get hooked up with the weddings/events circuit, what market are you in?

Details MF!

I think you have to look at things for a more global aspect:
Who is going to pay you, and why should they?
What existing contacts can I mine for customers?
What can I do to make more money, should I get hired by a bigger company?
What can I do to be a better freelancer, get more customers for higher $?

It's hard dude. The freelance grind is very competitive and filled with lots of bullshit. Don't beat yourself up. Developing the bullshit side of business (getting customers, charging $) is not fun for creative types (I'm in video) but it's what actually pays the bills.

Underestimating how difficult things can be.

Every sale you close is lucky, but you increase your odds of finding luck by increasing your number of pitches.

Belief in myself. I have been through some real shit months/years and when the worries start to overwhelm me I default to:
"I don't know how but it's going to work out in the end.."
Lo and behold, it does! The more you believe in yourself and your success the better you feel and the better results you get.

From what I can tell it's impossible to avoid copyright theft in China.

Do your best to out perform, discredit, diminish and outrank your competition. Let it be known that they are thieves, sell inferior products (hopefully at least lol) and if you're really petty bomb them with bad reviews/blast whatever social media. There's an ethical line but they drew first blood and are taking food off your plate...

" It seems like nowadays the only wealth that lasts is being born into generational wealth, which I wasn't born into and so now I've gotta think outside the box."

Comparison is the thief of joy. There will always be people richer, better advantaged than you. If you look at other people you lose sight of your own track. At 21 a lot of people have 0 income, hell even at 40+ some people do. Anything worth having takes time and effort. I like your positivity though, your "disadvantage" can be your fuel source if you harness it correctly. Adversity builds determination. Daddy's money is a crutch for a lot of people, and trust me anyone who really wants to build a business has to put in the hours and tears regardless of how much $ is in the bank.

My suggestion is to focus on your unique individual worth. Just diving into drop shipping, selling courses or whatever is cool but what's your unique edge in that? The best way to make money is to start with building your own personal value. Learn skills, languages, soft skills like persuasion and empathy. Study like a sponge, learn to learn, get comfortable with adversity.
As far as "What to do" keep in mind that everything takes time so choose wisely. Picking something you're not suited for and gonna end up hating is a waste of time Your best bet is to do stuff you love. So if you love software/web design lean into a business model with that, but keep your options open and see what clicks.

Here. It sucks. I like to hire people for real estate flips because it's the norm and but fucking having a bitch of a time doing it with my video hustle... So much fucking douchebaggery in the video world just like the art scene people wanna fucking peacock how great they are not just make videos/art

21 Years old and feel like a loser? Seriously? You realize how many 21 year olds are barely scraping by and you've got a successful business?

Go to therapy. Stop worrying about your business for a while. Take a vacation. I think you need to unplug and recharge.