Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Jeff Sipe, Founder of Practice Interviews, located in San Diego, CA, USA.

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

My business is called Practice Interviews. We conduct 1:1 practice interviews and negotiation coaching for individuals looking to land jobs in Big Tech. Specifically Google, Amazon, Meta, etc. We also offer a self-study interview mastery course. Starting in October, Practice Interviews will start offering hiring process and interview training for small to medium sized businesses.

Tell us about yourself

I spent almost ten years as a recruiter before starting my own business. And one consistent theme I saw throughout my career was strong candidates failing to land their dream job and negotiate proper compensation because of a lack of preparation and practice. It all started with a bad YouTube video, actually, two bad YouTube videos. I came across a video on YouTube with 10 million views giving bad career and interview advice. I thought I could provide people with better advice. So, I filmed an even worse video on YouTube, but I got better over time. And the more people watched my YouTube channel, the more committed I felt to giving people better advice. I am fortunate enough to have learned so much in the four years since I started this journey. And staying consistent is now a promise I have made to my YouTube community.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Consistency. For anyone looking to have success as a business owner, you need to show up every single day and keep going. The compound effect of showing up every day will pay enormous benefits in the long run.

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

Same thing! Consistency is hard. We don't feel 100% every single day. We don't feel 100% motivated every day. We have significant others, families, friends, and lives outside of work. But showing up every day will change everything.

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

  1. Most successful business owners start with a side hustle. So, get started today, just do a little every day, and that will get you closer to the goal of going full-time sooner.
  2. Niche down, trying to sell to everyone doesn't work; find a niche. It's hard to get too specific in a global economy.
  3. Clear communications regarding exactly what you offer. This is a big subject on its own. But make sure you are over-communicating any and all information, and make it easy for your intended audience to understand your offerings.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

Last big tip, give as much away for free as you can. 99.9% of people that watch my videos join our Slack group and utilize the free resources on our website, never paying anything. But that small percent that does want to pay for the services pays well. If you have good free advice, share it, and you will get more business, not less.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.practiceinterviews.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/jeffhsipe
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeffhsipe
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhsipe/

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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