Sophia Amoruso “Anyone Can Start a Business” Review

I didn’t know anything about Sophia before this session. I had never heard of Nasty Gal, never heard of her book #Girlboss, and maybe heard in passing about the tv series of the same name. She referred to herself as a self-deprecating introvert, and said she hopes that she is able to gift us with her knowledge on her birthday. For those that could not attend live, there is a replay, which I have checked to make sure is functional at the time of writing.

I appreciated the footnote at the bottom of the screen that says “Consumer Testimonials. As with any business-related program, your results using Business Class may vary from these consumer testimonials. Your results will be based on many variables, such as your level of effort, business acumen, personal qualities, knowledge, skills, and a host of other factors. Since these factors differ for each individual, we cannot guarantee your success, results, or income level, nor are we responsible for your success or failure. Business Class is not a “get rich quick scheme.”“

They must’ve had complaints. I also laughed.

Once the meeting began, one thing that she said that struck me was “creating value is awesome”. I wholeheartedly agree. Although it can be fun to do things to make money, offering something that is actually valuable to people is a whole different level of fulfilling. The fulfillment I got from co-writing, directing, and producing a musical compared to just acting in one is in a different universe. I love(d) acting, but creating something is so much harder and accomplishing hard things gives a more emphatic sense of accomplishment.

Sophia admitted many times that she’s been through a lot, and wants other entrepreneurs to avoid the pitfalls that she fell into. Some seemingly obvious nuggets of wisdom like “Don’t spend more than you bring in” is surprisingly uncommon in many businesses. I’ve since learned that her company, Nasty Gal, filed for bankruptcy, so the fact that she kept repeating it might mean that she’s still got some wounds from not following that piece of wisdom. The other piece of gold she touted was “No plan = mess”. I felt this deeply.

The plan for the meeting was as follows:

• What you actually need to get started
• The different ways you can fund your business
• How to know when you’re actually ready to start your business
• How to get the right help for your business

I felt the actual meeting was a bit of a mess despite the plan.

We went over a kind of personality profile: are you creative, curious, inspired, frustrated, a masochist, or all of the above? I am the first four.

First step: You need an idea. Your first idea is your worst idea, and you can become an expert if you’re not already. This is like my blog. I started off knowing absolutely nothing about the subscription box industry. Now I know a little more.

Second step: You need a minimum viable product. Seems obvious enough. She put a lot of emphasis on just doing it. Start fast, don’t wait until your idea has been perfected. Start small and start ugly. Put it out there, get feedback, and revise. It’s better to embarrass yourself than do nothing. That statement is my life.

More or less on that topic, you need a product that customers want. It’s almost impossible to get customers building what you want. You build it better when you focus on what they want. Find their needs and offer a way to fill them.

Third step: Find who wants your product then figure them out. Do competitive research and see where you stand. How does your product differ from the competition? Who actually is your target audience? “You may be on TikTok, but are your customers?”

Then there was a little spiel where I learned about Baton Market, which I think is a great idea. She also referenced a lot of traffic coming from Bing, which surprised me.

Fourth step: Humanize your brand and create value. Educate, inspire, entertain.

She then went over the importance of newsletters, which I hate. I completed half of the Google Digital Marketing & E-Commerce Professional Certificate, and I found it hard to believe that newsletters are that good. I automatically unsubscribe or delete the ones I get, but apparently they work well for a lot of people and businesses and are a vital component.

Fifth step: She went over some tools, which are available in her Tech Stack. This was supposed to be a bonus item for joining the live workshop, but I’m not sure if those participants actually got access or not. She suggested Shopify for online selling, and Kajabi for selling classes.

Sixth step: Funding. She suggested Hello Alice for grants. She also suggested starting as a side hustle. She emphasized avoiding investors in most circumstances. Keep it as a side hustle until your income replaces your salary, and/or you have 6 months of expenses saved.

Seventh step: Get help. Start with contractors instead of employees, use virtual assistants, mentors, coaches, advisors etc. Also hire a lawyer.

Then she spent a long time talking about Business Class, which is $1999USD! It’s an insane amount of money for what’s offered. I thought maybe $500. The seminar should have ended at this point, but it kept dragging on for another 20-30 minutes. I could tell they were nowhere near the amount of registrants that they wanted. 40,000+ people signed up for the webinar but there’s always “a few spots left” for the first 500 registrant perks. I’m sure there were many more than “a few” spots left. I was itching to leave, but didn’t want to miss something. I had zero interest in spending that amount of money on the program.

Then I thought good for her. It’s her birthday, I hope she gets a lot of interest. And then a cloud came over me and I thought “Darn. This is literally what I’ve been moaning to the universe about for the past few weeks.” Do I have the excuse to continue to moan about it if I don’t take this *expensive* opportunity? At worst, it’s a business write-off, and maybe, just maybe it will help me towards my goals.

Also, the first 500 people get a fancy binder.

I am a sucker.