3 TechTaylor.Tv : [How did I start my business?]

FOUR SCORE AND SEVEN YEARS AGO…..jk lol. Waddup Village! The hardest part about a business was definitely establishing the name. There were so many indecisive questions I kept asking myself: Did I want it to be simple or unique? Do I want to include my name or is that cliché? Does my name tell my audience what industry I’m in or what profession I’m pursuing? Is my name common?

So many questions that only I can answer since it’s my decision and my responsibility at the end of the day.

Here’s how it started:

While I was in Washington, D.C. working at Enterprise Rent-A-Car, I wanted to create something to house my creativity. At the same time my sister started her business “Handberry Creative, LLC” and pathed a lane for herself. She often times outsourced to me some photography, graphic design, and website creation work because let’s be real, I was cheap labor. If it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t have stepped out of my comfort zone and been exposed to some awesome opportunities in The District. She really is a powerhouse girl boss and I am super proud of her. (*whispers* But this blog isn’t about her lol)

I decided to create an LLC in 2018 just for the sake of saying I had an LLC. Since I didn’t know what I wanted to call it, I named it “TaylorScottRatliff, LLC.” I literally had no idea what service or product I wanted to offer. Just vibes.

Still riding the title of “Recent College Grad”, I kept telling myself I wanted to go into Public Relations because that was my passion in college. It took four years to get comfortable with that pipe dream why not pursue that in D.C.? I networked like CRAZY. Seriously— For four years, every customer that walked through my doors at Enterprise I shifted the conversation to job opportunities and exchanged business cards looking for warm leads to get me closer to a Public Relations position somewhere in The District.

[insert business cards I’ve accumulated]

I leveraged my position with Enterprise like DJ Khaled putting his mixtapes in shoe boxes while he was working at Champs. My efforts fell short and the right position never presented itself.

Do not get me wrong, I do not regret my tenure with Enterprise. It molded me into the man I am today. I am the sum of the philosophies my many managers instilled in me and I wish nothing but success and promotions for all of them. I wouldn’t know work ethic and stellar customer service without Enterprise. I just had to be real with myself.

It was my time to leave and I was sticking around for my colleagues. Other than Enterprise, I had no other ties to D.C.

Fast forward to February 2020, I quit my big boy job and sat in my apartment for a month in a half until my lease expired. During that month I went back to the drawing boards and developed my web design skills. I started learning and evolving with Wix. I had the time and patience. Once my lease ended I moved back home because I was home sick. (It was premeditated— I started plotting my move November of 2019). Anyway, COVID then hit the streets hard mid March 2020 and forced us all to sit still. To be honest, my timing was IMPECCABLE. My life would have spiraled out of control had I stayed in D.C. and renewed my 12-month lease. Ironically, Enterprise started letting people go nation wide so my life would have been VASTLY different.

All I had to my name was an LLC I did nothing with in D.C. This was my chance for a rebrand but I still didn’t know how to expand from just website design. Not much you could do during a panoramic (I meant pandemic for the people who missed the joke.) I hit the job search hard on LinkedIn but nothing was a solid lead.

BUT GOD!!!!

I landed a job in the tech field and it finally clicked. I CAN GO INTO TECH!!!! Possibilities were presenting themselves. God opened that door and I sprinted through.

The day I accepted my current job. I realized this was God talking to me and telling me that my next venture lies in the vast world of tech. So, I chose the LLC name “TechTaylor.Tv” to incorporate a YouTube series documenting my lifestyle mid pandemic, bought the domain name, created my logo, refined my website editing skills, created a website, watched HELLA YouTube videos on how to create a backdrop, built a higher performing computer thanks to my cousin Kalin, invested in gadgets I wanted to talk about — luckily everything was in arms reach, and I just started.

To be honest this is my creative freedom and it makes me happy. I’m open to suggestions of what to include in the future but please do not think I am doing this for money or that I’m aiming to be a professional blogger with millions of subscribers. If this blog/vlog gets to that point I’m definitely going to show out and flex but that’s not my purpose of starting. I just want to contribute my black boy joy to the world and do it for the love of creating something of my own.

For clarity, what I mean by “Tech” include but not limited to: Product Reviews, Apps, Games, Digital programs, Website design principles, Gadgets I use in my everyday life, household appliances, etc. I’ve noticed that I’ve always gravitated towards creatives in the media/ photography/ videography field and I thought that’s where my life was “suppose” to go. However that was not the case. Those avenues aren’t my passion though I have an appreciation for the art.

My passion is being me and radiating individuality and authenticity to promote excellence.

That’s the message I want my client’s website to convey. So check out my website service tab and schedule your free consultation.