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The goal of Hardly Hustle is to provide inspiration, drive and motivation in a 10 minute read or less. What you see is what you get. This is hot off the press without an editing team.
Connor Boyce is up.
Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Connor Boyce and I graduated in May of 2020 with a degree in Electrical Engineering. When the search for a job in the ‘real world’ began I quickly realized I wanted to take the non-traditional route and go into business for myself. So in January of 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic really took hold of the world, Collab was born with the help of two of my fellow colleagues, Nick Kane and JohnAnge Kernodle. When trying to decide what direction we should focus our skillset we found the growing need for a full-circle partner that could see digital projects through from idea to launch and beyond. We found our home in the custom mobile and web app space. In the world of ever changing technology, we chose to hone our focus even further to cross-platform mobile and web development in Flutter. Flutter is a software development kit created by Google that allows us to create stunning applications in a fraction of the time and for a fraction of the price of native (iOS and Android) projects. We are spending our time expanding our technological prowess as well as our network within the Triangle and beyond.
What did it take / how did you get started?
Since the three of us come from a technical background we had to spend a lot of time early on learning the ins and outs of what it meant to own and operate a business. We got started slowly to say the least and learned from mistakes as we went along. We are continuing to move forward with our successes and our failures, with our shortcomings as a guide to subsequent success.
What does the future look like for you and your hustle?
Collab has quickly evolved from a software consultancy to a long term technical partner. We strive to establish ongoing relationships to see companies to their success. These relationships represent continuous investments to our team as the projects adapt to an ever changing market. We plan on continuing this direction of long term partnerships as well as pursuing our own internal projects which stem from needs that become apparent in the market.
What drives / motivates you?
The biggest motivating force behind myself and the Collab Team is our ability to write our own story. Our ambition and drive stems from the chemistry and accountability within our team as well as our continuous desire to learn and expand our network. With the freedom of entrepreneurship and ‘being your own boss’ comes a higher level of responsibility.
What advice would you give someone interested in doing what you do?
Learn to roll with the punches and embrace your shortcomings. Behind every failure is a choice, either learn and grow or have it beat you down. In the wise words of Kieth Cunningham, ‘The single most powerful force I have in my life is the words that I use to describe my situation. The reason? The label becomes the experience. Said another way, the dog becomes yours when you name it”. Change your negative experiences by labeling them in a way that will inspire growth.
What has been the hardest part of the hustle?
The hardest part of the hustle up to this point has been learning to deal with rejection. Being a company run by young entrepreneurs it can be hard to get prospective partners to see past our age. A problem that can only be solved with time! we are constantly exploring ways to let our experience and portfolio shine beyond our youth.
What are a few resources that you'd recommend?
Call me mainstream but my go to podcast for years has been the Joe Rogan Experience, I find so much value in the variety of perspectives brought on to his show. If I am not listening to the JRE you can catch me listening to the TED Radio Hour with Guy Raz. Books I have found to be extremely useful are The Road Less Stupid by Keith J. Cunningham and How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams.
The STATS
Side or full-time hustle?
Collab is my full-time hustle while working on other projects such as DigiHome
List the founders
Connor Boyce, JohnAnge Kernodle, Nick Kane
How many hours a week do you work on this hustle?
50-60 hrs/wk
# of Employees?
Team is 9 strong: 3 developers, 4 multimedia graphic designers and an eCommerce specialist as well as a marketing specialist.
When did you start?
January 2020
How much did it cost to launch?
Minimal start-up costs, building a network is free!
What were your funding methods and ballpark amount raised?
Not disclosed.
Annual Revenue?
Not disclosed.
Projected Revenue?
Not disclosed.
Any call to action?
If you want to learn more about my journey, the evolution of Collab, what it looks like starting a tech firm or if you just wanna chat you can email me at connor@collab.software. We love meeting like minded, motivated entrepreneurs!
Social:
Personal Insta: connor_boyce
Collab Insta: collab.software
Personal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/connor-boyce-48449a162/
Collab LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/collabsoftware/?