1 Year as a

Digital Nomad.
How to build a business by the beach.

by @yongfook
This is how
I spent the last
12 months.
Instagram @yongfook
60 second video montage at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8sZjki8LIk
Koh Samui,
Kuala Lumpur, Phuket,
Penang, Koh Tao, Melaka,
Cameron Highlands,
Singapore, Bangkok,
Hua Hin, Chiang Mai,
Ho Chi Minh, Bali, Krabi
(most places multiple trips)
52 hotels! (Im an Agoda Elite member now)
In between the
fun & games
Ive been building
a software company.
beatrixapp.com
About 5 months in,
my business was earning
enough monthly prot
for me to travel indenitely.
No investors.
No boss.
Real work / life balance.
100% Freedom.
My old ofce My new ofce
This is a
pretty fun lifestyle.
More folks should try it.
Heres how.
Part 1
No, you dont need to be rich
How much money
do you think you
need to live like this:
Going on adventures
whenever you feel like it
Living in a hotel
every day of every month
Flying to a new country
whenever you want
Answer:
About $2000 USD
per month
Achieve this, and you dont need to worry about
money any more.
*$2500 SGD
You can easily live here
for about $50 a day
Aosane / Naiharn, Phuket
or here
Ubud, Bali
or here
(the list goes on)
Georgetown, Penang
I y budget
Its basically ~$100 one-way anywhere
I have zero distractions
$3 to get my laundry cleaned and folded in Thailand
I eat local 70% of the time
and 30% spent on booze / splashing out
I work from cafes
or coworking spaces, or the beach, or the pool, or a
rooftop bar, or my hotel room
$2k
Fresh Grad Executive
how the hell am I
supposed to earn $2k a
month by myself?
why the hell would I ever
work for just $2k a
month??
Yongfook says:
Its about freedom and enabling a
certain lifestyle, not about earning
tons of money (but see next slide).
Yongfook says:
Actually, theres a lot you can do
and well talk about that in a little
while.
$2k
Year 1 Year 3
Treat it as a milestone. Ive already passed $2k a
month, now almost at $5k a month.
$5k
$10k
per month
per month
per month
Want to
get started?
Youll need
some savings.
4 months is plenty.
but dont let this be a limiting factor.
You just need enough money to cover yourself
until you start earning revenue. Less savings = more
motivation to earn revenue faster!
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Its a big
lifestyle change.
Create a deadline.
e.g. cancel your lease, book a plane ticket, book the rst
month of hotel somewhere, set a date for the goodbye party
Part 2
Revenue model brainstorming
Aim for
High Margin
Prot enables you to buy nice things like food,
drink and a place to sleep.
(High revenue but low prot does not enable this lifestyle)
Aim for
Low Touch
Low maintenance businesses enable you to
enjoy your nomadic lifestyle properly.
Buy Now
Aim for
B2B
Aim to sell to entities who will in turn prot
from what youre selling*. Its an easier sell.
*e.g. tools / resources
Have a
Well-Dened Target
It makes marketing much easier.
Stupid Ideas

Consumer
Physical
Transactional

You want customers,
not users
Too much work!
Many moving parts
Needs high volume
and hustle, too much
work
Good Ideas

Digital Goods
Software
eBooks
Wordpress themes,
plugins etc. Make once
and sell many times
SaaS or paid mobile apps.
Monthly subscription =
predictable revenues
Make once and sell
many times
$2k USD / month
looks like
This guy made $15,944 in sales
FROM ONE TEMPLATE!
Sell a $10 website template

200 times a month
Sell two $10 website templates

100 times a month
Sell ve $10 website templates

40 times a month
(you get the idea)
Pricing page at beatrixapp.com
How many customers did I need before I hit $2k per month?
Get 200 subscribers

at $10 per month
Get 50 subscribers

at $40 per month
Get 20 subscribers

at $100 per month
(you get the idea)
Part 3
From launch to $2000 USD prot per month
Start Lean
a month before
you hit the road
Validate your idea and make sure there is demand
July 2013
Originally, Beatrix was going to be a competitive
analysis tool. It would tell you how good your social
media marketing was, compared to your competitors.
First ever mockup - no code written
July 2013
The response was all the same:

gee that sounds interesting but we never even have time to
create social media content in the rst place
July 2013
Of Course!
One big problem that businesses have is actually
keeping their Facebook and Twitter accounts up to date
July 2013
New idea = social media content suggestions based on keywords
July 2013
550 subscribers into launch mailing list
August 2013
Built V1 of Beatrix in Koh Samui
in one month
Have a story
to launch with.
August 2013
funny/controversial blog post
August 2013
journalist sneak preview (app was still closed to public)
August 2013
2000+ subscribers into launch mailing list
From this point,
I started letting people
into the app, about
200 new users at a time
August 2013
Fix bugs, gather feedback, add features,
make the experience better for each new batch
6 months to $2k monthly
M
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P
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20
40
60
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August September October November December January February
$2k
Koh Samui, Phuket, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Melaka, Bangkok
NOW: August 2014
200+ paying subscribers
and the app is way, way cooler too
100,000+ keywords, multimedia content suggestions
Always be
marketing.
Blog posts, newsletter blasts, special offers,
campaigns, partnerships, funnel optimization
Part 4
Always Be Creating
February 2014
hey yongfook,
why dont you
write a book?
ok lol
Guy Vincent, founder of publishizer.com
I had been mentoring with two institutions,
SMU in Singapore and True Incube in Bangkok.
I basically put all of the advice I had been giving
into a book.
Stuff like this
Part 4
Always Be Creating
yongfook book preorders
How I marketed the campaign,
google this:
Even now,
I sell 1+ book
a day at $30
Thats an extra $1k a month, all passive
Write about:
Things you know well
Topics that are trending
Topics that help others prot
August 2014
Monthly: $4k via Beatrix + $1k via book sales
(USD)
But most
importantly
Complete
Freedom
Part 5
Top 10 Things I ate
REAL krapow, Thailand
10
Best wantan mee ever, Kuala Lumpur
9
Best neapolitan style pizza in Asia, Singapore
8
Best strawberries in Asia, Cameron Highlands
7
Sambal Prawn Spaghetti, Kuala Lumpur
6
Pork soup with bitter gourd, Penang
5
the Lunch Lady, Ho Chi Minh
4
Khao Soi, Chiang Mai
3
Banh Mi, Ho Chi Minh
2
Babi Guling Tacos, Bali
1
The End!
@yongfook