There's something I've been working toward with Black Heart Tees Clothing for a long time.

$1,000 a month in consistent sales.

To some people, $1,000 might not sound like a huge business goal.

You see people online talking about $10K months, six-figure businesses, quitting their jobs, passive income, and businesses that supposedly blew up overnight.

That's cool.

But I'm not there.

I'm talking about my first consistent $1K month.

And right now, I haven't reached it.

I'm writing this while I'm still trying to figure out how to get there. While I'm putting in the work. While I'm frustrated. While some days I'm questioning whether anything I'm doing is actually working.

Because I think people need to see this part too.

Not just the success story after everything finally works.

They need to see the part before it pays off.

Why $1,000 a Month Means So Much to Me

Being my own boss has always been one of my goals.

I was taught to work for myself and build something of my own. The desire has always been there.

What I haven't always had are the tools to fully implement it.

Money. Time. Support.

Those things matter when you're trying to build a business.

For me, reaching $1,000 a month consistently isn't about being able to post some revenue screenshot on social media.

It's about proving that what I'm building can actually support me.

It's the beginning of gradually transitioning away from having to work for a paycheck and toward being able to work for myself, pay myself, and know I'm building something good.

That's why the number matters.

It isn't the finish line.

It's proof of concept.

If I can figure out what produces $1,000 consistently, then I have something I can study.

Something I can improve.

Something I can scale.

And eventually, I can start looking at $5K and $10K.

But first?

I need to figure out the first $1K.

I'm Doing the Work. So Where Are the Sales?

This is probably one of the most frustrating parts of building a small business.

You can be working your ass off and still look at the numbers and wonder:

Where are the results?

I've been putting time into Black Heart Tees in ways people probably never see.

I've been improving my websites.

I've been working on how the brands look.

I've been improving the products and presentation until they finally start looking more like the vision I've had in my head.

I've been working on SEO.

I've been writing blogs.

I've been creating social media content.

I've been working on Pinterest.

I've been working on email marketing.

I've been looking at traffic and trying to understand what's actually bringing people to the website.

I've been testing products, offers, bundles, messaging, content, and different ways of getting Black Heart Tees in front of people.

And here's the part that sucks:

Doing the work doesn't guarantee you're going to immediately get the sale.

That's hard to accept when you're the one putting in the hours.

Losing My Job Changed Everything

There was a point where I felt more secure building Black Heart Tees because I had my job.

My paycheck was funding a lot of what I wanted to do with the business.

There were things I could finally afford to work on that I couldn't before.

Then I lost my job.

That crushed my spirits.

Not only did I lose that security, but I also knew I didn't have a big support system behind me to pick up what I had already started.

That's a scary place to be as a business owner.

At the same time, not working gave me something I didn't have before:

Time.

I've been able to work on parts of my businesses that were difficult to focus on while working a regular job.

And I can see some things improving.

My social media is growing.

The websites are getting better.

The products are getting closer to my vision.

I'm learning more.

I'm building more.

But when that work isn't translating into sales yet, it's easy for all that time to start feeling wasted.

That's where I am right now.

I can see progress.

I just can't see enough of it in the bank account yet.

And those are two very different things.

Building a Small Business Without Money or Support Is Hard

I wish more people understood this.

Building a small business is hard.

Building one without a lot of money is harder.

Building one without much support can feel even harder.

Some entrepreneurs have people around them sharing everything they post.

They have friends telling other people about their business.

They have family buying from them.

They have somebody encouraging them when shit isn't going right.

Some people have access to money.

Some have connections.

Some have resources.

And some of us are trying to figure the shit out with whatever we've got.

That means you end up wearing a lot of hats.

Owner.

Designer.

Marketer.

Website builder.

Content creator.

Customer service.

SEO student.

Email marketer.

Analyst.

Photographer.

Whatever else needs to be done that day.

But there are two hats people don't talk about enough:

Your own supporter and your own encourager.

Sometimes nobody is going to clap for you.

Sometimes the people you hoped would tell others about what you're building won't.

Sometimes the encouragement you thought would come from the people around you doesn't come.

And yes, that hurts.

Especially when you're already wondering whether the work you're doing is worth it.

But the business doesn't stop because you're disappointed.

You still have to figure out what comes next.

Social Media Is Only Showing You Part of This Story

Here's something else people might not know about me:

I don't even like social media like that.

I use it because I understand that it's part of running a business today.

If I want people to discover Black Heart Tees, I have to put myself and the brand in places where people are spending their time.

But posting content isn't the business.

Likes aren't the business.

Views aren't the business.

Followers aren't the business.

At some point, the work has to lead somewhere.

That's why I've been trying to understand SEO, Pinterest, email, content, website traffic, and everything else that can potentially bring the right people into Black Heart Tees.

SEO alone can make you want to pull your damn hair out.

Things change.

Keywords matter.

Search intent matters.

And you can spend hours creating something only to find out nobody is searching for it the way you thought they were.

Social media isn't much different.

You can create something you think is great and watch it go nowhere.

Then something you barely thought about gets attention.

That's business.

Test. Learn. Adjust. Keep going.

I Don't Want My Email List to Feel Like I'm Just Trying to Sell Them Something

This has been another challenge for me.

Of course I want Black Heart Tees to make sales.

It's a business.

I'm not going to pretend otherwise.

But I don't want somebody to open an email from me and immediately think:

Here he goes trying to sell me another shirt.

That's not why Black Heart Tees exists.

The clothing matters, but the message behind the clothing matters too.

Resilience.

Rebirth.

Revival.

Family.

Purpose.

Getting through the shit life puts in front of you and finding a way to keep moving.

I want people to understand there's an actual person behind those emails.

There's a person behind the social posts.

There's a person behind the website.

There's a reason I care so much about messages like "Keep Going. You Got This."

I'm not saying that because some marketing book told me motivational messages sell shirts.

I'm saying it because I need to hear that shit too.

Especially right now.

That human connection is part of what I want Black Heart Tees to become. If you want to understand more about what that means, I wrote about it here: The Difference Between Wearing a Brand and Wearing a Message.

Why I Haven't Walked Away

My kids.

Period.

That's probably the simplest answer I can give.

I don't want my kids watching me quit every time something gets hard.

I don't want them learning that when the results don't come quickly enough, you just give up.

That hits me personally because I've quit something important before.

I was one year away from getting my Bachelor's degree when work caused me to give up school.

I told myself I was going to go back.

I never did.

And that has always made me feel like I quit.

I don't want that feeling with Black Heart Tees.

And I damn sure don't want my kids looking at me and thinking their dad gives up when shit gets difficult.

That doesn't mean I won't change something that's not working.

That's different.

I'll change the strategy.

I'll change the product.

I'll change the website.

I'll change how I market.

I'll learn something new.

I'll admit when I got something wrong.

But that's different from walking away because it got hard.

I want my kids to see me finish something.

Black Heart Tees Started During One of the Hardest Times in My Life

There's another reason walking away isn't that simple.

Black Heart Tees came from losing my mom.

It came from grief.

It came from going through a dark period and wanting to turn something painful into something that might eventually help somebody else.

That's why motivation has always been deeper to me than throwing some positive words on a shirt.

I've needed motivation.

I've needed somebody to remind me to keep going.

I've had days where I've questioned myself.

I've had days where I've been discouraged.

I've had days where I've wanted to say:

Man, fuck this.

And I'm having some of those feelings again right now.

That's why the message still matters. If you want to know where all of this started, I wrote about it here: Why I Started Black Heart Tees Clothing.

What Do You Do When Nothing Seems to Be Working?

I wish I had some beautiful answer for this section.

I don't.

Remember, I'm not writing this from the finish line.

I'm still trying to reach the damn goal.

But I do know this:

Nothing happens overnight.

You have to keep putting the work in.

You have to pay attention.

You have to figure out what's actually working instead of convincing yourself something is working because you spent a lot of time on it.

You have to be willing to stop doing things that aren't helping.

You have to double down when you finally find something that is.

And sometimes you have to encourage yourself when nobody else is doing it.

That's the part I'm living through right now.

I'm overwhelmed.

I'm discouraged.

I'm pissed off sometimes.

I'm confused sometimes.

I'm still optimistic sometimes.

Some days I'm all of those things before lunch.

But I keep telling myself:

Every day is a new day.

So I get up and try again.

If you need a reminder of what that actually looks like in practice, I wrote about it here: Keep Showing Up: What Strength Looks Like When Life Gets Heavy.

I'm Not Writing This From the Finish Line

This might be the most important part of this entire article.

I haven't hit the goal yet.

There's no screenshot at the bottom showing you how I turned $100 into $10,000.

There's no course I'm about to sell you.

There's no secret formula.

I can't tell you that Pinterest is going to be the answer.

I can't tell you SEO is going to be the answer.

I can't tell you social media, email, one particular product, or one marketing strategy is going to suddenly make everything click.

I don't know yet.

And I think there's value in saying that.

Because there are probably other people building something right now who don't know either.

Maybe you're putting in the work and wondering where the results are.

Maybe people aren't supporting you the way you thought they would.

Maybe money is tight.

Maybe you're trying to build after work.

Maybe you're building while looking for work.

Maybe you're questioning whether you're wasting your time.

I get it.

I'm there too.

Most business stories get told backward.

Someone succeeds and then tells you all the things they did to become successful.

I'm telling you mine while I still don't know how this chapter ends.

What Happens When I Hit $1K?

I'm going to study what worked.

Then I'm going to double down.

Whatever that looks like.

If a certain type of content is bringing the right traffic, I want more of it.

If SEO is bringing customers, I'll build on it.

If Pinterest starts producing traffic that converts, I'll scale it.

If email starts working, I'll improve it.

If certain products are what people actually want, I'll put more resources behind them.

The goal isn't to finally reach $1,000 and celebrate like the work is over.

The goal is to understand how I got there.

Then I'll start working toward $5K.

Then $10K.

One step at a time.

Keep Going. You Got This.

I'm writing this on a day when I don't particularly feel like some motivational success story.

I'm overwhelmed.

I'm discouraged.

And I'm still trying to figure shit out.

Maybe that's exactly why I needed to write it today.

Black Heart Tees has always represented getting through pressure, not pretending pressure doesn't exist.

Built From Pressure. Worn With Purpose.

And maybe that's what this chapter of the business is.

Pressure.

If you're building something too, I can't promise you when it's going to work.

I can't promise that every hour you put in will immediately pay you back.

I can't promise the people around you will understand what you're trying to build.

I can't even promise that the strategy you're trying right now is the one that's eventually going to get you there.

But I can tell you what I'm telling myself:

Keep going. You got this.

Not blindly.

Learn.

Test.

Adjust.

Pay attention to what the numbers are telling you.

And when something finally starts working?

Double down.

I'll let you know when I hit that first consistent $1K month.

Until then, I'm still building.

— If the message behind Black Heart Tees speaks to you, the Built From Pressure Tee is exactly what it sounds like. Built from pressure. Worn with purpose.