The national festival was three days away, and I had a problem.
I had a stack of beautiful, freshly printed books from my new publishing house. I also had zero customers, zero marketing budget, and zero online presence. This was thirteen years ago, in 2012—a time before Instagram influencers were a big deal and when most small businesses still didn’t know how to use Facebook ads.
My entire business depended on what I did in the next 72 hours. I felt a familiar knot of panic tighten in my stomach. Was this whole venture a massive mistake?
That festival became my first real test as an entrepreneur. It was the moment I stopped planning and started hustling. The lessons I learned in that chaotic, pre-Internet scramble became the unshakable foundations of my entire career.
The Problem: A Great Product with No Audience
For years, I had worked in a bookstore, watching people, listening to their conversations, and taking mental notes. I knew what my community wanted: affordable books that celebrated our culture. That knowledge was the seed that led to Wardoh Books.
But knowledge without action is just a dream. A product without customers is simply expensive inventory.
I had a great product, but I was shouting into an empty room. How do you find your first customers when you can’t just “run an ad”? I had to go where the people were. The upcoming national festival was my one big shot—a massive gathering of the very people I wanted to reach. But I had no idea how to pull it off.
The Hustle: Building a Business in 72 Hours
That challenge forced me to learn the real foundations of entrepreneurship, not from a book, but from sheer necessity.
1. The Foundation of Real Information (Not Guesses) I didn’t have market research software; I had my feet. I spent the first day walking the festival grounds before it opened, talking to organizers and other vendors. I figured out where the main stage was, where families gathered, and where the most foot traffic would be. I didn’t guess where to set up my booth; I found the exact right spot based on real, on-the-ground observation.
2. The Foundation of a Lean Team (My Co-Founder) I wasn’t alone in this. My business partner—the same friend I had co-founded the business with—was right there with me. We knew the two of us couldn’t just hire staff; we were the staff. We agreed to split whatever we made, right down the middle. He didn’t just see it as a job; he saw it as our adventure. That taught me that the best teams aren’t built on money; they’re built on shared passion and trust.
3. The Foundation of Old-School Marketing (Creativity Over Cash) My “marketing plan” was a piece of paper with a few desperate scribbles on it. I couldn’t afford a fancy banner. So, we made our own. We hand-painted a sign. We created an eye-catching display by stacking our books in creative pyramids. We decided our “gimmick” would be simple: I would stand out front and not just sell, but share the stories behind the books. It was a marketing strategy born from an empty wallet, and it worked. People were drawn to the passion, not the polish.
4. The Foundation of Wise Money Management (Every Dollar Counted) Our entire budget for the three-day festival was what I had in my pocket. Every decision was filtered through a simple question: “Do we absolutely need this?” We brought our own water and packed our own lunches. We borrowed a table from my uncle. That forced frugality wasn’t a weakness; it was a discipline. It taught me to treat every single dollar with respect, a lesson that has saved my business more times than I can count.
The Result: More Than Just Sales
Over those three days, we stood on our feet for 12 hours a day. We talked to hundreds of people. We sold a decent number of books—enough to cover our costs and prove that my idea had legs.
But the real win wasn’t the money. It was the connections. It was the conversations with readers who were excited to see their culture reflected on the page. It was the validation that came from taking a risk and seeing it pay off, even in a small way.
That messy, exhausting, and exhilarating festival was the true birth of my entrepreneurial journey.
The Timeless Foundations of Success
Today, we have social media, e-commerce, and a million digital tools. But the foundations of building a business haven’t changed. The lessons I learned in that pre-Internet hustle are the same ones that matter now:
- Know your customer—not from data, but from real conversations.
- Build a team you trust, even if it’s just one other person.
- Be creative and resourceful, especially when you have no money.
- Respect every dollar you have.
Entrepreneurship isn’t about having the perfect plan or the latest technology. It’s about having strong roots and the courage to keep building, even when all you have is a stack of books and a whole lot of hope.
What’s one resource you have right now—a skill, a contact, a small bit of savings—that you can use to take your first step? Share it in the comments below!
