3 Truths I had to learn as a Professorpreneur: A story of isolation, decision fatigue, and delayed results

Becoming an entrepreneur has absolutely changed my life...for the better! It has allowed me to buy a house, pay off over $16,000 in credit card debt, and double my annual income!

Plus so many more intangibles like learning more about myself, strengthening my boundaries, and independence from promotion/tenure anxiety.

However, there were some major truth bombs that I needed to learn and accept in order to experience true, consistent growth in my business.

And I'm sharing them with you today.

#1 Professorpreneurship is isolating

There is no shortage of digital entrepreneurs online as well as communities to connect with them. However, in every group that I've been involved in, there are zero (sometimes only one) other professors in that community.

None of my colleagues in my department run businesses. So it can seem like you are the only one doing this.

Which can cause you to question the time that you spend on your business.

Everyone else is focused on tenure and promotion and when you tell them about your business, they can't fathom having time for "something else".

#2 Professorpreneurship causes decision fatigue

In my Procrastination-Burnout masterclass that I share with grad students, I give a stat that the average human makes over 40,000 decisions every day.

And as academics, we make even more! We are making decisions about teaching, grading, research, grants, publishing papers, going to department meetings, serving on committees, and so much more!

Well, entrepreneurship adds another set of decisions that you have to make:

• What should I work on today?
• What should my goals be?
• What should this graphic for social media look like?
• What platform should I use for my website? For my email? To host my course?

Making all of these decisions can be exhausting!

There were days where all I could do after teaching my classes was sit on the couch and watch YouTube.

#3 Professorpreneurship results can be delayed

It can be super easy to believe some of the rhetoric online that tells us that we can make six figures in 30 days.

Sure, it's possible.

But not usually immediately.

Like, after years of building your business foundation, sure, the sky is the limit.

For me, building that business foundation took over two years!

I consistently worked on my business for two years before I made any money!

In 2019, I made $1400 in business! And I was over the moon!

Then in 2020, I made $60,000 in my business. (I had literally 2X'd my academic salary in one summer.)

And in 2021, I made over $100,000 in my business and I haven't looked back!

Here's what I learned about entrepreneurship:

Success takes time. We should know this! It likely took you 3-6 years to get your degree.

However, it doesn't have to take you as long as it took me to achieve my six figure summer...or even to double my salary.

An invitation for community, a roadmap, and faster results.

You do not have to go at professorpreneurship alone.

You can reduce the number of decisions that you make by following a proven roadmap that works specifically for professors and academics with online businesses.

You can significantly reduce the time that it takes you to achieve the results you want in your business.

I've created a container to help you do all of the above!

Introducing Six Figure Professor

It's a six-month mentorship program, hosted by me, just for professors with online businesses who want to 2X their academic salary.

During the six months of the mentorship program, I will walk you through my three-pillar roadmap for building a six figure business as a full time academic.

Inside the mentorship we will create a simple content strategy and email funnel to build your authority in your industry so that you can 2X your teaching salary through paid speaking gigs and workshops.

I’m enrolling for the first six-month cohort that begins in July. The cohort will be intimate with 5 professors or less.

Join the waitlist to learn when the program opens and enroll a full week before anyone else.

JOIN THE WAITLIST

(Click the link above to learn more details about Six Figure Professor and sign up for the waitlist at the very bottom of the page.)

You can absolutely build a business that supports your life and academic career!

I'm rooting for you,

Toyin