MicahIverson

@MicahIverson

Micah Iverson

Indie Maker talking about startups, founder of Open Makers. Also run an interior house painting company.

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Focus on the Future

Published by: MicahIverson on Jan 03, 2022


Last year was a very stressful but successful year for me...

  • My painting business doubled but struggled with finding a good team to help and had to deal with a lot more quality and business issues than I had hoped. Clients were far more difficult to work with than previous years.
  • My online projects struggled to find the traction I was aiming for; but they continue to grow.
  • My stress and anxiety went through the roof, especially the last three months of the year. I am continuing to struggle with it, which is unusual.
  • My general health was mixed, I started sleeping better and feeling more physically fit. By the end of the year though I'm often having headaches, my lower back has been killing me, I'm exhausted, and is sleep getting worse again.
  • I have been struggling with motivation despite taking a lot more time away from the computer.
  • The list goes on and on, easily the most stressful year I have had to date.

Despite all of that, I'm excited for the future and have many things in motion that I think will pay off in the long run.

I have spent the past few years focused on building as many software projects as possible and hoping one would generate enough revenue to live on. This year, I'm taking a step back from building and will be focusing far more effort on content and marketing. Here is roughly where my "online" time will be spent...

  • 50% Content / Marketing
  • 20% Building New Relationships
  • 15% Refining / Building New Features for Existing Projects
  • 10% Building New Tools
  • 5% Reducing Overhead

As many of you know, I also run an Interior House Painting Company and have been working on multiple tasks to help improve the company and grow in 2022.

  • Refreshed my logo / brand
  • New company values
  • Updated all marketing materials
  • Been building new referral partnerships
  • New painting procedures for crew
  • Scheduling social media posts
  • Renewed focus on quality and cleanliness
  • Lots of other refinements

In 2022 I hope to reduce my stress around my painting company, we weren't structured well enough for the type of growth we had, and it burned me out. Painting is a critical revenue source for me, it needs to be something I enjoy more than I did last year.

With so many moving parts in my life, it's time to double down and focus on the things that are important to me and push me to be financially and physically stable.

I'll be focusing on these areas of my life more as well...

  • Family
  • Friends
  • Household Tasks
  • Physical Health (Working Out, Climbing, etc.)
  • Mental Health

This will be a busy, but hopefully a successful year. Time to leave the past in the past and move forward and focus on the future!

My name is Micah and this is my first Open Makers Article

Published by: MicahIverson on Oct 01, 2021


I am pleased to announce the launch of "Articles / Posts / Stories" whatever you want to call them for Open Makers. Articles are a way for you to share content to your maker profile that you create but is not necessarily related to a specific product.

Here is a more in-depth post about articles... for now I'd like to introduce myself...

Hello! My name is Micah Iverson, I am the founder of Open Makers and excited for you to be here. A quick overview about myself is that my background is in UI design, HTML/CSS and some backend programing. I live in Castle Rock CO with my wife and two boys. I'm originally from Iowa, I have a degree in design and one in 3D Animation, I have studied computer science and photography as well.

Three years ago I (mostly) gave up client design work and started an interior house painting company called Wild Fox Painting here in Castle Rock CO. This business allows me to fund all my side projects and also forces me to get active and not sit at a computer all day.

It's very possible you have heard my name before, I am known for building numerous products such as Retrospect.team, Home Pro Partners, Sunshine Social and more. Open Makers is my latest and likely my last major online project, I want to focus on growing all my current projects going forward and focusing my energy to become more successful.

I hope you'll join me and many other Open Makers as we share our journeys of success and failures as we #buildinpublic.

Thank you! Micah