Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in marketing but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Danny Milea, Owner of Milea Marketing, located in Irvine, CA, USA.

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

We do Local SEO and website development for small/mid-sized companies. We work with local everyday business owners, from auto repair shops to professional services such as lawyers and doctors. Just has to be a local business that provides a service to local customers.

Tell us about yourself

I started my business back in 2010. I was working in advertising from 07-09 when I got to LA, selling yellow pages to local businesses. Google was starting to dominate search but the company was blind to it. They wanted us to keep pushing the books even though results were beginning to suffer a lot and clients were not getting a positive return or not as much of a return as in the past.

I was working six days a week because I had just gotten to LA and I didn't know anyone and I wanted to make money to "go solo." I had a HUGE intense desire to save money and go on my own. Corporate life was not a way of life for me. I was never into being a corporate America person. I'm too independent and have too many interests and too much ambition for one job, one career, 9-5 til 65. That has NEVER motivated me. So I quit in Feb 2009, right when the world was falling apart. Very risky move but I was burnt out and frustrated with their lack of vision. At this point, I was looking into helping people stay in their homes. Foreclosures in California were rampant. So I got into loan modifications with a buddy of mine. That worked for a while. But I still wanted to do my own thing. This was my burning desire. I wanted to create a business that offered me residual income, that was fun to do, gave me passion, excitement and was something I really wanted to do! I thought of this obsessively!

One day, I was leaving to go to my girlfriend's house at the time. I went outside and noticed that my window was broken and they had stolen my $100 navigation system that we used to have back in the day. At this point, I didn't have much money to my name and I knew I did NOT want to get a job because that would only delay things. So when this happened, you'd expect me to be upset and play the victim like, "why me?!" right? Well, I didn't! For some crazy reason, I felt EXCITED! I had never had that feeling before. I was excited because I was asking for something and asking for something and asking for something, and NOTHING was happening!

FINALLY. Something happened! It wasn't the way I drew it up but who cares. I was elated honestly because I said, "Something AMAZING is gonna happen out of this situation; I DO NOT KNOW WHAT IT IS! BUT I CAN FEEL IT!!" My girlfriend was very supportive. So the weekend happened and Monday I was looking for auto glass shops. I was getting different quotes when someone in South Central quoted me $150. So I went to the place with directions from Mapquest printed out and I got off at the WRONG exit! And when I did, I saw a bunch of auto glass shops, basically one next to the other. Pulled into the first one. Asked the guy how much he said $50! SOLD! I got to talking to him and asked him about this other company I was gonna go see. He said they're one exit away. I told him I had found them on Google and was he on Google. He said no. Then I just said, "Oh really? That's what I do. I put companies like you on Google." He asked how much I said, "$50 a month... no contract". He was interested. Then I pitched his next-door auto repair shop guy. The same kind of convo, I told him the same price and he was interested. And then I realized this is what I should do! Go in the hood, sign every one of these businesses up for $50 a month, get my rent paid residually, THEN I can figure out what business to start! I only needed 10 of them to get my rent paid at $500/month living with my roommate. Long story short but I hit my goal in about three weeks and I just stayed with it!

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Staying in business. A lot of people can start a biz, but dealing with ALL the headaches that arise, is the challenge. I remember a few years in when it wasn't going well and I was getting burnt out because I was working 80 hours a week; NO exaggeration, I thought I was done. I started looking for jobs to take the tension off. I was offered a job at about $50k plus commission doing real estate sales but I really thought that if I give up NOW, I will always wonder! Then I got my thinking straight. I put down ALL my issues and that's when I drained my 401k of 5k or whatever I had in there and bet it all on hiring an employee to get me business to create some leverage. It was a great investment, luckily.

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

Constantly thinking of ways to grow the biz and hiring talent. I mainly deal with overseas contractors so that's usually a challenge.

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

  1. Know what you want and adjust your goals constantly.
  2. You're gonna fail a ton. You must keep going.
  3. Surround yourself with people who root for you.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.mileamarketing.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danny_milea/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dannymilea/

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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