Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and supplements but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Doug Collins, Authorized Distributor of Unicity Feel Great System, located in Halifax, NS, Canada.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

I am a home-based direct marketer offering a brand of products called the “Feel Great System.” This is a cutting-edge, science-based metabolic health system consisting of two food products used as part of an intermittent eating schedule. Our clients find this program easily adopted into their lifestyle and is designed to offset the modern diet of highly processed foods.

My customers span every continent globally and are looking to change their health. Many are tired of struggling to manage their blood sugars with medicine and are tired of diet programs trying to lose weight. This system helps people feel great, in addition to all the other health benefits. If they are unhappy with the products, we have a full 90-day money-back guarantee.

The Feel Great System suppresses hunger, facilitates weight loss, reduces insulin resistance, and supports healthy blood sugars, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels. Many of my clients come to me looking to lose weight or for help to get control of their blood sugars, as they have type 2 diabetes.

Tell us about yourself

I started my first home-based business in the late 1990s as a young man in my 20s. I think I caught the entrepreneurial bug from my dad, growing up he was a home-based insurance salesman. He was always home for us as kids and I wanted that lifestyle. I started this business in late 2008 after taking these products myself for a few months. I had my own personal need, being over 300 pounds compounded with joint issues in both my knees, sciatic back pain, high blood sugar, and cholesterol issues. But that all changed with this system. I lost that weight, and as a result, all the other health issues went away, including the aches and pains. This system changed my life. That in itself motivates me to help others who are like I used to be.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

This is a tough one. Two events come to mind. First, in late 2010 I found out that my 22-year job in corporate was going to be terminated due to a merger and downsizing. At that time, I had a part-time home-based business and was a single dad with three young kids. I always wanted to be working from home full-time in my own business. That was when I decided to leave my corporate career behind and follow my dream. I figured at the time if I was not successful on my own, I could always go back to my corporate career. I have only ever looked back to see how far I have come as a home-based entrepreneur.

The other accomplishment that comes to mind is the brand I created a few years ago. I have always had a keen interest in home-based tax write-offs. I was constantly studying tax law to find creative ways to lower my self-employed income taxes. Being in the home-based business area, I regularly communicated with others in home-based businesses and discovered most were missing out on so many tax write-offs.

In 2018, I created an online course and coaching platform called Home Business Tax Secrets. Then in March 2020, as the widespread lockdowns began with the pandemic, I decided to utilize my time to write a book. In August 2020, I published my first book titled “The Home-Based Business Guide to Write-Off Almost Anything,” which has been a #1 Best Seller on Amazon. You can find the book on Amazon or visit this link.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

One of the biggest challenges of being a home-based business owner is that you are responsible for and do everything in the business. Creating an impact on your business takes focus, motivation, and time. Most often, time is not our friend, as 24 hours a day is not enough. Finding that life balance is a challenge.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Find a business that will pay passive or residual reoccurring income versus compensation income. For example, if you are self-employed and being paid for an hour of effort to earn an hour of income, what will be your contingency plan if something happens if you are unable to work due to an unplanned life event or tragedy? If you stop working, you stop earning. However, the residual income stream can continue, month after month, and conceivably for a lifetime.
  2. Whatever your business goals are, plan for them to take longer and will need more focus and consistency than you expect. It’s a noisy world out there, and it takes work to rise above the noise to get your message to reach your ideal clients.
  3. Work on yourself, and become a better you as a business owner. Read books, attend events and learn skills that will keep you ahead of the marketplace. But most of all, do not get overly consumed in learning that you do not follow through on 1 and 2 above.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.dougcollinsonline.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dougrcollins/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dougrcollins1/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dougrcollins
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dougrcollins/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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