Nuts & Bolts Speed Training - Taylor Croonquist
Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in training and development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Taylor Croonquist, Founder of Nuts & Bolts Speed Training, located in Ventura, CA, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
We create and sell advanced PowerPoint courses targeted at consultants, investment bankers, and other hardcore users (i.e., who build presentations all day long). Our goal is to triple people’s productivity in PowerPoint.
Tell us about yourself
My wife and I were both hardcore (every day) PowerPoint users, and we always felt like, “hm, there’s got to be a better way to do this….” We spent years developing our own unique methodologies and strategies for speeding up the way we used the program. We then teamed up and created an online course called PowerPoint 3X to teach other professionals how to be more efficient and productive in PPT, and we started growing from there.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Travel and flexibility are our biggest accomplishments as business owners. The original goal for our business was to create something that we could run as we traveled around the world. After creating our course, my wife and I set off on a two-year adventure around the world that turned into a six-year trek. It wasn’t always easy to do, but we just loved it.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
The hardest part of being a business owner is that you are responsible for everything. If your website crashes, you have to fix it. If you are not bringing in enough sales, you have to figure out why and how to increase revenue. It is a never-ending list of things to work on.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
Three things that I think are important when starting a business are:
- Get started today. There is no time like the present to get started. You can invest years of your life daydreaming about your business and never actually start it. Instead of trying to learn everything you need to know before you get started, you are better off figuring out what you need to know along the way when you need to know it.
- Flexibility. The thing you first create might not be exactly what people want to buy, or the way you set something up, in the beginning, might not be the best way to do it. Be open to change, as flexibility helps you pivot and find the right thing faster.
- Commitment. The first few years of running a business can be tough as you are usually spending more than you are making. It is easy to give up when things are not working the way you wanted them to or feel bad when others seem to be doing better than you are. So I think a good dose of commitment to your goal on the front end can help carry you through the lean years.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
I have fallen in and out of love with my business multiple times since we started it, and I have met other business owners who have felt the same way. I don’t mean that as a negative comment about running a business; it’s just a realistic one. Be prepared to have ups and downs - it can be tough, but it is rewarding.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://nutsandboltsspeedtraining.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nutsandboltsppt
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Nuts_BoltsPPT
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nuts-bolts-speed-training/
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.
Turn your craft into recurring revenue with Subkit. Start your subscription offering in minutes and supercharge it with growth levers. Get early access here.