I’ve started several businesses so far.
Many have played a part in our income streams.
I’ve learned countless lessons that I share on this site and YouTube.
I’ve had thousands of ideas, and I live with a pen and pad by my side at all times.
I get a new idea pretty much every time I’m in the shower (it’s not just me, right?!?)
I will only be sharing the projects that fit the following categories:
- I’m involved in the business/project currently.
- It’s on hold, but serious steps have been taken to progress it.
- The idea was scrapped for one reason or another – and hopefully, a lesson learned.
I will list the projects below. I have lots of articles scattered across the blog showing what I am learning.
And if you’re interested in checking out all of the tools that I’ve come across, sampled, and the ones I’ve fallen in love with that we use, see our top ones here.
Ok, let’s start with…
Current Projects
The Mobile Rundown
With our reach of 70k+ across our channels, we connect our community through local events.
We’ve passed 10,000 email subscribers, and we have reached 150,000+ monthly visitors on our website.
One of our next big expansions with this brand is our YouTube channel.
MobTown Events
This is an entity that we started to produce a large-scale event called the King Cake-Off! We’re now in year five, and well over 1,000 people attending the event. I’ve booted myself out of this entity but continue as an advisor.
YouTube
I started creating tutorial videos in 2018 and have created a library of 400+ videos. It took me more than 200 videos to cross the 1,000 subscriber mark and gain 4,000 hours of watch time to become a YouTube ad partner.
I feel like I’m just starting to get comfortable with my process.
I can’t wait to see where the next 400 videos take me!
Udemy
My understanding of YouTube has led me to teach on Udemy, and I now have over 9,000 students in 141 countries. I am now in the process of setting up my own platform using Podia to create and sell digital products directly to my own community.
Airbnb Rental Properties
We created this website to market/promote our rentals and may possibly expand our listings over time.
ForeFront Real Estate LLC
In 2011, I obtained my real estate license in order to save money on real estate listing costs for houses that we were renovating. (this entity now purchases our AirBnb and long-term rental properties).
Mobile House Buyers
This is a child company of ForeFront Real Estate LLC and is our house-buying lead capture website.
We currently wholesale properties to other investors and look for a few renovation deals each year.
Mobile Investment Property
This is also a child company of ForeFront Real Estate and is our website for investors. They can view our current deals as well as subscribe to get deals sent to them via email.
On Hold / Closed Projects
Gulf Coast BizCon
We saw the need for a conference for entrepreneurs and business leaders, so Gulf Coast BizCon was launched, with our first conference being held on April 26, 2019.
COVID-19 forced us to pivot as we had to cancel our 2020 event.
We shifted to virtual interviews and launched a podcast.
This business will be on hold indefinitely.
The next business event produced may possibly be under my brand (Destroy the Box Conference, maybe??)
Cartridge World
We purchased the existing Mobile, AL franchise from the owner in 2016. The franchise sells re-manufactured ink and toner to customers.
The business was run well, but we saw an opportunity to grow the business. The market is shifting and we aimed to target more local businesses rather than at-home consumers.
We sold the business to a neighboring franchisee in 2022.
Toys For Big Boys
A large-scale expo where grown men can be boys again. Cars, boats, hunting, drones, kayaks, golf, loud cars, food. You get the idea.
We were prepping for its inaugural event when COVID struck.
We think this event is closed for good (it’s all yours!)
Bottega Collection Boutique
This was an online women’s clothing boutique that my wife took over. We expanded into a fashion truck (a boutique on wheels) that we even launched a Kickstarter campaign for.
It was a fun adventure, but we quickly learned that the best times for sales were nights and weekends (not good for our goals).
We sold the fashion truck and business in 2018.
MobCityMetals
Furniture-Art-Design-Fabrication. Our art isn’t just art – it’s functional art. Each piece has a story – its own sentiment. Nurtured back to life by hand with re-purposed material. Modern Industrial pieces where we promise “no two are exactly alike.”
[we dissolved this LLC in 2016. It was a fun and unique experience].
Port City Properties LLC
This company was my introduction to real estate.
I partnered with a top local investor with whom I became great friends with (what’s up, Law!), and we created Port City Properties.
We renovated 12-15 properties and sold many more wholesale deals to investors.
[We dissolved this company due to us going in separate directions with our business goals.]
The Southern Investor
This is a blog that I started in 2011 based strictly on real estate investing.
I posted real estate investing articles on this site.
I got zero traffic, and I merged a few of the articles from The Southern Investor with this blog in 2015.
Honorable Mentions
In no particular order, here are some ideas that never really grew legs to run on their own…
Digital Memories
When I returned from New Zealand I bought a high-quality scanner in order to digitize all of our family photo albums. I decided that others would want this service so I created a site, cards, and fliers.
I put them out over 100 in my neighborhood and received 0 calls.
That’s right, zero.
Maybe I should have made my sample 500 houses. Maybe I should have just knocked on doors and asked if they needed my service.
Either way, I know that people need it, but I can’t make a horse drink and I didn’t have time to wait.
So I sold the scanner close for what I purchased it for and basically had all of my family photos scanned at no cost. Works for me.
Mass Nexus LLC
This was my introduction into business, although we never did any real business. It’s included on this list because my business partner and I had tons of meetings where we brainstormed, masterminded, and came up with fresh ideas.
We also paid an attorney approximately $700 to set up our LLC. So we were legit, right?
One of our main ideas was to create a website called TestBook which would be a site where college students could basically post and sell their class notes online.
We scrapped it, but my friend Ryan is doing incredible work today, and I think we both grew and learned from it.
And hundreds of other ideas that never even made it much past the idea/excitement phase — Virtual Gong Website, The Baby Class for New Dads, DJ Online School, A Pool Exercise DVD (when DVDs were a thing), A hip hop dance studio, Watchology (it would be the Netflix for dress watches), an eBook for Section 8 Real Estate Investors.
And hundreds more that never made it beyond a notepad.
May they rest in peace…