I spent a career working in advertising and in late 2010 was called to join Summit Series as Executive Creative Director, working to put on the first ever Summit at Sea—1,000 entrepreneurs from around the world on a chartered cruise sip. After the successful launch of the event, Summit made the decision to downsize the team in pursuit of a nomadic break from business-building.

Suddenly, without a job, I had a choice to make: sulk and navelgaze—or get to work. I decided to get to work.

The next moring, I started making phone calls to people who were in my corner. I gleaned advice from the entrepreneurs I'd just met and they all said the same thing: start your own thing.

That afternoon, in a coffee shop with no clients and no money, I started working on my own freelance business that would seen become a brand agency.

Within a few weeks, my brother joined—and we started Manifesto. Almost exactly 60 days to the day, we snagged our first client for a $10,000 project—a music production company that wanted to engage Gen Y. Leveraging speed, agility and a mantra of 'friendship first, business second' we grew the agency and by 2017 landed #124 on the Inc. 500. Since then we've continued to work with some of world's biggest brands including Nike, Amazon, Intel, Bacardi and many more.

It was that day in 2011 when I first started the methodology for the 60-Day Runway. It was forged out of necessity—and a belief that speed and focus can deliver amazing results. I used some of the principles in this playbook to launch Manifesto in 2011. Now, I want my story to be yours. To take everything I've learned and turn it into a powerful tool for you to launch the business you know you've got in you.

Fear is often the thing that keeps us solopreneurs from charting our own path; whether it's uncertainty about healthcare, cash flow or the trepidation of what to do next, it can cripple the aspiring solopreneur. So let's free ourselves of that and simply put one foot in front of the other.

We all want to get ahead. And many of us find that through being an entrepreneur. The business you're soon to build will never be perfect, but it can be good. Really good. And as Mark Twain so aptly said, "the secret of getting ahead—is getting started."

Here's to the journey.

Tim Dyer

Founder, 60-Day Runway