5 Business lessons I learned in 2022

OK - so it's the end of 2022 and it feels different this time.

We delivered everything we set out to as a business, but at the same time, I feel like we could have done better. Mainly as I know myself, what I am capable of doing, and how much more I can give to this game of entrepreneurship.?

But first, let me start by talking about the goals I had set for myself which I covered in this video:

https://youtu.be/VveW-MHwbKY ?

1 - Expand the business by acquiring new creators

2 - Grow our creator's audiences and how many they convert into customers??

3 - Build our Web3 proposition and advance our monetization software

4 - Raise more investment to scale the business faster

I am going to break down each of these and be completely open and transparent with you.

1 - Expand the business by acquiring new creators

We had a clear plan this year. We only wanted to work with the best creators, so we hired a new acquisition team and worked on completely revamping our approach to signing creators, the information, presentations, website, and contracts to go after it.?

We signed some amazing creators this year such as Ali Abdaal , Steph Hui , KSI , Chris Williamson , and so many others.?

Overall we achieved this goal but it took longer than we thought which is a learning for 2023.?

2 - Build our Web3 proposition and advance our monetization software

For me personally, this was our biggest opportunity and success this year.?

We reach 100M+ people through our creators so getting them to promote better and convert their audiences was the focus. We did this by creating a new team within Genflow where we combined the best people who understand social content and got them to work very closely with creators in planning their content in full. I am talking about researching, writing scripts, filming, editing and even posting on behalf of our creators. This worked well and led to more traffic, higher conversion rates, and more revenue than before for all our creators.?

Secondly, we worked on helping creators grow their audiences. One example would be Leana Deeb who blew up on TikTok, now with over 10M+ followers. We helped her scale her YouTube channel to 500K+ in just a few months. https://www.youtube.com/@leanadeeb

This was one of those things that I always wanted to do and I am glad we did it.?

3 - Build our Web3 proposition and advance our monetization software

OK, so we did this well. We launched Genv3rse > https://www.genv3rse.com/ - You can get access by buying an alpha pass here > https://opensea.io/collection/genv3rse-alpha-pass

The whole idea here was to truly understand the capabilities of using blockchain technology (i.e Web3) and how we can innovate traditional business models through it.?

This was a major achievement for us but ultimately as the crypto market crashed there wasn't an immediate way to monetize this besides launching NFT collections, which didn't seem like a smart thing for us to do as a business or for our creators.?

I am excited about what we can use the technology for in 2023 and how we do this in a way where you are not buying crypto, making wallets, etc., but truly harnessing the benefits and helping creators own their audiences.

4 - Raise more investment to scale the business faster

This was a major goal and ultimately didn’t get achieved as the economy crashed. I worked hard on building a business plan till 2027 for Genflow and how I can make this business a Billion Dollar Business. But then it became obvious that when the stock market crashed, hyperinflation, interest rates rose, and more, it was not the best time to raise.?

Instead, I started to focus on driving more revenue and profit for the business. In my opinion, Q2 2024 is when the economy will recover so till then it's all about cash flow and profitability.?

Overall it has been an amazing year as we hit our forecast for the year and helped creators globally live their dreams. I learned how to operate a large business well which is a massive personal achievement for me.?

BUT there is still so much more I could have done, the ideas in my head, the half-done projects we are sitting on, the deals that are in play and need to be completed…

In the next newsletter, I will be sharing my 2023 strategy and what new things you will see me doing. Till then just think about what more you can do to change your life forever.

Thanks! - Shan