#101 - At the end of every year I do an annual review and usually publish them too (like I did in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2018).And yes, I'm finally publishing this review in March because I took time off during Christmas break and played Playstation. That's the honest truth.The year before last, 2019, ended up being one of the biggest years of change or growth I’ve had since I started working for myself full-time because of SwitchPod’s Kickstarter launch and having our first child, but I didn’t make the time to create a public annual review. I could blame it having a two month old baby with colic, but really I was just taking any extra downtime then to catch up on sleep or urgent work after starting to ship SwitchPod worldwide just two months earlier.But 2020 was a YEAR. Actually it felt two to three years long.What started off as a normal year with plans to continue traveling for my video client work turned into basically staying home for 10 months straight. My wife and I took the pandemic and our potential exposure very seriously (because of her past cancer surgeries and her parents living nearby) and thankfully we haven't lost anyone we know to COVID-19, but it has majorly disrupted the lives of many, us included.“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo. "So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”I’ll try not to mention any of the major world events from 2019 like the pandemic, the U.S. election, racial injustice, and more but it was definitely a harder year to stay focused on work and different events did impact my year financially, socially, mentally, and more.It makes me think back to 2008 and how in a way I took that economic downturn as a sign that I needed to choose myself to take care of myself, not rely on a company or economy to make sure I have a job or be in control of my income. I worked hard in college to get a job when I graduated with my two bachelor's degrees in May 2008 right before the recession.A few months into being a full-time employee I saw friends, coworkers, and family lose jobs, never land jobs, and be financially stunted. I also saw the company I worked for (Boeing) announce they were laying off up to 10,000 people. This made me start learning about entrepreneurship, how to make money online, and personal finance. It pushed to get my MBA right away. And overall, it made me not just trust that a large company would take care of me for 40 years and pay me a pension at the end.Because I took the risk and left my day job with solid pay and cushy benefits in 2011, I was able to build up the skills, connections, and multiple income streams that let me survive and even thrive financially in 2020 when the world was completely upended by coronavirus.If last year was rough for you and you felt out of control, try to use that as a wake up call for taking control back in your own life from whoever you've given it up to.Okay, I think that's enough preamble. Let's dive in.What I "Do" for WorkRight now I am running three different businesses day to day.A physical product business (SwitchPod)A client service business (Caleb Wojcik Films)A digital teaching business (online courses, YouTube, podcast, etc.).1. SwitchPodLet's start with SwitchPod since that has been the biggest change to my work lately. Since launching the Kickstarter campaign in January 2019, I'd estimate SwitchPod has taken up 50% or more of my time spent working. Some weeks more like 80%.2020 had some major projects for SwitchPod:Launched our 2nd & 3rd products, ball head and phone adapterCreated new stylized product photographyCompletely redesigned the Shopify website to be faster & more mobile friendly.Other than those larger projects, I spent my time reaching out to land more retailers to stock SwitchPod, fulfilling orders to Amazon and other existing retailers, marketing through social media, partnering with creators and companies on promotion, working on the less exciting admin bits (finances, taxes, legal, etc.), and handling customer support.It really isn't the type of business that I can let go more than a day or two without working on because systems will start to fall apart, customers and retailers will get upset by response time, etc.I think of it more like a garden I have to check in on every day. Some days I'm just pulling weeds or watering some things quickly. Other days I have to completely till the soil or plant a bunch of seeds which takes all day.I'm really proud of where the business is at. Could we be selling more units? Always. But the business is lean, very profitable, and has a lot of potential to grow. More numbers later.2. Client Services BusinessIn 2018 and 2019, my main client Smart Passive Income (run by Pat Flynn who is also my business partner on SwitchPod) accounted for about 50% of my service based business. The other half ...
