I'm Ben Coyour, a web designer and online marketing specialist with 20+ years of experience. Beyond that, I'm a fellow small business owner.
Many people have asked me how to start a business, build a website, or market online. Those conversations inspired me to create this site.
As you read my story, I hope you find relatable moments that help you realize you're not alone on this journey.
Entrepreneurship runs in my family – my grandpa owned and sold several successful businesses, my dad managed one, and my brother and I had our first jobs there.
While this firsthand exposure showed me that it was possible to own a business, it was the good character displayed by my grandpa and Dad that taught me how to run one successfully.
My parents taught me to value faith, family and also modeled a great work ethic. My Dad was not a complainer – not about work, life, or really anything. I also learned that the pursuit of riches will never satisfy your soul, rather put effort into serving others well and you will sleep well at night. These were all valuable lessons that continue to play a key role in being self-employed.
I earned my degree in web design and development, married the love of my life, had a growing freelance web design career, and our first son was just born. Things were going great!
Then, I got a call from a local internet marketing agency that had seen my work and was interested in hiring me. While my freelance business was gaining traction, I left it for a job with a steady paycheck. Don't get me wrong – I was excited and very appreciative of this new opportunity.
I worked with big companies like Target, 3M, and the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport. I gained great experience doing web work for businesses of all sizes and learned from some very talented and awesome people.
I was climbing the corporate ladder and managing a team of designers. The company I worked for had weathered the great recession but faced challenging growing pains. To make matters worse, we had a massive server failure that impacted nearly 100 of our clients, leading to countless late nights and early mornings at the office.
With stress reaching its peak and expecting our second child, I did what any rational person would do – I had a massive panic attack one night and ended up in the ER.
I spent the next year and a half trying to get through each day in the office with extreme daily anxiety. We're talking about constant physical pain, numbness throughout my body, depression, and more. It wasn't good.
The tough part is that life doesn't stop when you're hurting. It seems to keep rushing by you. Healing came slowly through my faith, family, and friends, but it changed my perspective on what matters most.
I continued working for the company I was at, but my heart wasn't in it anymore. Work was really busy, I was salaried, and I was wired to always complete the job well, so I often came in early and stayed late to get projects finished.
I still remember the day clearly. I was working in the office late, around 9 pm; everyone else had gone home, and it was just me there.
Life was passing by quickly and I was spending the majority of these 24 hours in an office away from my family. The value of time was finally becoming clear to me. I had some hard hitting realizations that propelled me to start my own business:
I knew it was time to leave my 9-5 job, my steady source of income.
Don't get me wrong, I was grateful for my time at my previous company. I enjoyed the people I worked with and gained a wealth of knowledge, but I was ready to move on.
My stepping stone was a small web design agency that allowed me to work from home. I took a big pay cut to work remotely, but I was headed in the right direction. Things were great for a few months until the company I worked for ran out of money to pay its employees. 
My wife and I immediately faced a big decision: I could get another corporate job or start my web design business again. At the time, I had some active freelance work that would pay our bills for roughly the next two months. We talked through all the pros and cons, prayed about it, and made our decision – I was going all in on my business.
There are countless articles, videos, and programs that say you can start a successful online business in 1 day, earn your first $1,000 in an hour, build a website in 30 mins, etc. The truth is, those are mostly clickbait headlines that leave so many people disillusioned when they try and fail to start a business.
I realize I haven't painted an attractive picture of starting a business. However, I openly share my low points so you know you are not alone if reaching your business goals takes longer than you hoped.
Sometimes, reading too many success stories can have the opposite effect; it demotivates us if we are hitting roadblocks in our own lives.
My first few years trying to grow a business were very challenging, and sometimes the grass looked greener to just go back to being employed.
During this grind, I learned that every road to success is littered with many failed attempts. A new business takes great effort upfront before momentum builds and the reward is realized.
Favorite Summer Activities:
The kids and I making memories in our Buick Skylark convertible that belonged to my Grandpa.
Favorite Travel Memories:
Our family working on getting to all of the lower 48 states – this was from Maine.
If you stayed with me this far you're probably wondering when the business took off. Here it is, the key to realigning my values with my time and the secret sauce of my small business – get ready.
That's it? I understand that's anti-climactic, but it's the reality of the majority of small businesses that make it.
Steel being formed in a blast furnace is a great example of why certain businesses thrive and others fail: Steel can only be hardened and tempered with a very specific sequence and set of conditions, or it will be brittle and fail prematurely.
As I have studied other successful small business owners, their stories all share similar conditions that gave them the motivation required to reach their goals.
When I say motivation, I don't mean some inspirational quotes. I'm referring to a gritty, laser-focused, deeply committed motivation that can outlast the difficult early stages of starting a business.
Here's why it was worth the work and what I want to help you achieve through the resources offered on this site.
To offset money coming in waves, we implemented a simple monthly budget where we could pay ourselves exactly what we needed each month from a savings account.
I learned my peak energy and focus times of the day and built a time-blocking system around that. Yet, I still have flexibility to modify my schedule at anytime to be there for my family and friends.
Joy has been restored to my work - by being able to build a business of my own, work face-to-face with my clients and have a balanced work and personal life.
Having a business + learning to manage our finances wisely has allowed us to give more, put money away for retirement, travel as a family, and have an emergency fund.
Working from home has allowed me to establish healthier habits. For instance, setting optimal times for waking, my morning routine, exercising, and the ability to eat healthier meals at home.
As my pool of clients grew over time, I was able to be more selective of who I worked with. This meant better-paying jobs and more fulfillment in the projects I was a part of.
This site is not your typical – here are my monthly income reports; now that you know how much I make, you should listen to me. I have found that chasing money is a poor long-term motivator that contributes to failed businesses. Success isn't measured by your bank balance but rather by the investments you make in other people's lives.
There are many ways to earn money, but our time is finite. If our core values (we're talking spiritual and our deeper purpose in life) aren't aligned with how we spend our time then no amount of money earned on that path will be sustainable and burnout is inevitable.
While this site is focused on offering the best advice, tools, and strategies to help you reach your business goals, I want to take it one step further and encourage you to examine what motivates you. My goal is to help you build a profitable, fulfilling business that serves others well and aligns with your values.
Funny Family Memory:
Bentleyville, an outdoor Christmas light display in Duluth, MN. This photo was taken in what felt like sub-zero, gale force winds!
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