I spent a year applying for jobs, then decided to create the opportunity myself

Ryan sat down with Jeremiah Graziano, who runs Invision Marketing, a marketing and web design company working with service based businesses around the Greater Seattle area.

Starting the business

What made you decide to start this particular business, and what were you doing before?

Before starting my business, I had been applying for developer roles at big tech companies and other businesses for about a year while also taking on freelance work.

Eventually, I realized I could not keep waiting for the right opportunity to come along. Instead of continuing to wait for someone else to give me an opportunity, I decided to create one for myself and start my own business.

What nobody tells you

What has been the biggest challenge of owning a business that you did not anticipate?

For me, one of the biggest challenges was realizing how much time it actually takes to build a business to the level you envision for yourself.

I think a lot of new business owners assume that once they open their doors, customers will immediately start coming in. The reality is that when you first start, nobody knows your business exists.

Unless you are fortunate enough to already have a customer base, create anticipation before launching, or have a large budget for advertising, it takes time to build awareness, trust, and a reputation.

That was one of the biggest lessons I had to learn early on. You have to be patient, consistent, and willing to keep building even when the results are not immediate.

If you could go back to your first year and change one thing, what would it be?

I would have started networking much sooner.

Building a strong local network can accelerate the growth of a business without requiring a large financial investment. The biggest cost is really the time and effort you put into building those relationships.

When you first start a business, nobody knows who you are. I think it is important to establish yourself within a smaller circle first, whether that is your city, your local community, or a specific industry, and then expand outward from there.

Because my business can operate remotely, I originally thought I could immediately take on clients from all over the country. While that was technically possible, I learned that building that kind of reach takes much longer unless you have a significant advertising budget.

If I could do it again, I would focus more heavily on becoming known locally first, building strong relationships, and then using that foundation to expand into larger markets.

Advice for new owners

What would you tell someone thinking about becoming a small business owner today?

I think understanding your product or service and the market you are selling to is absolutely crucial.

I also believe presentation and sales are incredibly important. You can be extremely talented at what you do or have years of experience in your field, but if you cannot present your business professionally or clearly communicate the value you provide, you are going to struggle, especially in the beginning.

People need to understand not only what you do, but why they should choose you and how your service is going to help them.

Once you understand your market, your offer, how you are going to present it, and how you are going to sell it, I would absolutely encourage someone to take the chance and start the business.

Strategy and growth

When you started, what was your strategy for your services and long term growth?

One of the biggest questions I had to answer early on was this. How do you sell a service to people who may not fully understand why they need it?

There are customers in my target market who already understand that they need a website, SEO, advertising, or other marketing services. However, there is also a much larger group of business owners who do not fully understand what those services actually do for their business, much less why they cost what they do.

My strategy became figuring out how to simplify those services in a way that anyone could understand. I wanted to be able to explain the value of a website or a marketing service so clearly that even someone with no technical knowledge could immediately understand the benefit.

From a sales perspective, that means helping customers visualize the result rather than overwhelming them with technical information.

In many cases, customers hesitate because of either a lack of information or the price. If they do not understand the value behind what you are offering, the price will always feel expensive.

The next challenge was figuring out how to take something that is mostly digital and still build strong, personal relationships with clients. I wanted customers to know that we were actually invested in their business and their success, rather than simply selling them a website or a marketing package.

From the beginning, my goal has been to scale the company into a leading marketing and technology solutions business for service based companies throughout the Greater Seattle area, while also building relationships with businesses across the country.

Did you want the business to be relationship focused or more transactional?

I have always wanted the business to be relationship focused.

Because most of the services we provide are digital, one of the biggest challenges is making sure clients still feel that there is a real person and a real team behind the work.

I never wanted the experience to feel like a customer simply purchases a website or marketing service and then gets passed along.

I want clients to know that we are invested in what happens after the sale. Their success directly reflects the quality of the work we provide.

The goal is to build long term relationships where clients view us as a partner in growing their business rather than just another service provider.

Finding the first clients

Did you have a plan for how you were going to get clients when you started?

When I first started, one of my priorities was making sure my own website and SEO were properly set up so I could begin generating organic leads.

I also joined networking groups and started cold calling contractors.

One of the more unconventional strategies I used was visiting Sherwin-Williams locations throughout the Seattle area and even farther east toward Idaho.

Many of those stores have contractor boards where painters, contractors, and other service providers leave their business cards for potential customers. I would collect those business cards and start calling the contractors.

My thinking was that these businesses were already actively trying to market themselves. Many of them believed they did not need a website or additional marketing until I explained what those things could actually do for their business.

That became one of my earliest strategies for finding potential customers and starting conversations with business owners who were already looking for ways to grow.

The money question

What do you do if the business is not making money yet, but you depend on income to live?

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to live with a family member while I worked on getting the business to a point where I could begin paying myself.

For a while, I did not want to take money out of the business because I wanted to reinvest as much as possible. At the same time, everyone still has bills and basic living expenses. When projects were slow, I would occasionally work for a friend's business to help make ends meet.

Eventually, though, I reached a point where I decided I had to bet on myself and put 100% of my time and effort into my own business. Once I made that decision, I stopped relying on side jobs and focused entirely on growing the company. Since then, I have not had to go back to working side jobs to cover my personal expenses.

That decision is much easier said than done, and everyone's financial situation is different. Starting a business is a major risk.

For me, I realized that I did not want to spend 60% of my time working another job just to survive and only have 40% of my time and energy left to build my own business. My goal was to get to a point where the business could receive 100% of my focus.

At some point, I had to decide whether I was willing to take that risk and see what could happen if I gave the business everything I had.

Picking a market

Is it better to target a broad range of customers or a specific type?

I have found that it is better to start with a narrower customer base rather than trying to target everyone.

It obviously depends on the type of business, but having a specific target market makes it much easier to develop your messaging, marketing, sales process, and services. When you understand exactly who you are trying to reach, you can speak directly to their problems and create solutions that make sense for them.

Once you establish yourself within that market, you can always expand into other industries, services, or customer types.

Trying to appeal to everyone from the beginning can make it difficult for people to understand exactly what your business specializes in and why they should choose you.

Thinking about the exit

When you eventually step away from the business, what does a successful exit look like?

When the time comes for me to step away from the company, I think having the proper systems and procedures in place will be one of the most important parts of a successful exit.

A lot of business owners struggle to step away because they never build systems that allow the company to operate without them.

In my opinion, if the entire business depends on the owner being there every day and making every decision, then the owner has essentially created another job for themselves rather than a business that can operate independently.

The goal is to build a machine that can continue running with or without you. That means creating repeatable processes, documenting how things are done, identifying what makes someone an ideal key player within the company, hiring people who can perform at the level you need, and learning how to delegate responsibilities effectively.

For me, a successful exit would mean reaching the point where the company can continue operating, growing, and serving its clients at a high level without requiring my constant involvement.

At that point, I would feel like I had truly built a business rather than simply created a job for myself.