Celebrating 5 years of online entrepreneurship

5 years ago, on the cold and grey day of December 15th, 2003, I concluded the lengthy registration process of my company “apivision.com”.

Half a year after my graduation, when most of my friends from the Management Studies went seeking great jobs with great companies to hunt for great salaries… I decided to start a great company myself. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had some clients in my portfolio already (the ones I was already doing some gigs during the studies) and some ideas for products and services online (actually I had one online service in the preparation already).

Why did I start my own company? (without any prior experience of working for someone else)

I had my reasons:

• I did have some work experience, I took a series of internships during the studies, so I had a vague idea of how working in a big company can look like
• My both parents are entrepreneurs - my father is running an advertising agency and my mum had several businesses in her career and currently owns a cafe with gallery. I had great role models… and I was aware of the risks.
• “No risk no fun” - I wanted to give it a try. I knew that if I failed, I’d go and seek a job and will find one fairly quickly, I wasn’t afraid of trying and failing (I was young and bold :-)
• Freedom - I loved the idea of working from anywhere in the world with a laptop - I wrote my thesis about virtual enterprises and teleworking and I just wanted to try it in practice. I knew the theory and wanted to see if the “real thing” matches the hype.
• I wasn’t risking all that much. Although my parents didn’t help me financially in any way with my company, they did support me with their advice and experience… and at the time I was living with them, so they wouldn’t let me starve to death if I failed.

Fast forward five years…

… and I’ve helped many businesses sell their goods and services online. I’ve created several web applications and I’ve given employment to several people… and I’m running a very successful (in my terms) web application called Nozbe. I’m not all by myself in this endeavor. I have an assistant, developer and a handful of freelancers that work with me on a regular basis… which makes my company a true “virtual enterprise”… just as I’ve described it in my thesis.

And loving it!

I’m enjoying every moment of working for my own company. I have some really great people working with me and we’re working on really great stuff. I could easily quote Guy Kawasaki saying: “My company not only makes money, we make meaning”. Thousands of people are using Nozbe to help them get things done… and it really works! I know, because they write to me and tell me. What started as a project to help me be more productive, ends up being a productivity solution for everyone!

I’m pursuing my dreams!

With the birth of the Productive Magazine I became a chief editor of it and it’s a lot of fun and great work. With everything my company currently does, I feel I’m developing my own personality even more. I’m learning to work with people, to motivate them, to educate customers… and I’m spending my time doing what I love.

I’m glad I made this decision 5 years ago…

…and started my company. I believe I chose a great path and I’m looking forward to what’s ahead of me. I’m eager to learn more and to accelerate my business even more… and to make more meaning.