January 2022 | New beginnings 📅 ($8.6K MRR)
I am moving my base and business to Cyprus. I won't be living full time in Cyprus. Just for two months per year. And spend the rest traveling the world. I loved Italy. I stayed there for two years. But for business it's terrible. High taxes. High bureaucracy. No one speaks English in public offices. I could speak basic Italian. But not at a business or legal level. And, honestly, that made me feel utterly useless and helpless. Like an immigrant. Plus, taxes were high. Let me paint a picture for you: - If you make $100k in Italy, you get to keep $50k of it. - If you make $100k in Cyprus, you get to keep $85k of it. Why not pick a country that treats you well? Cyprus ticks all the boxes. It's in the EU, so no visa runs. It is pro business, so low bureaucracy. People speak Greek and English, which are my two mother tongues. It has low taxes. It is close to my families in Greece and England. Also, they only ask you to stay in the country for 2 months per year. Not 6 like most others. This is to be considered a tax resident. That aligns perfectly with my plans of traveling this year. ------- The first day I arrived in Cyprus, I had the same thought I have every single time I move. "What the fuck am I doing here?" People seemed strange. I didn't understand their Greek dialect. I sensed a bit of racism against people from the UK (they were an british colony after all) and even against Greeks. It reminded me that everywhere I go, I realize that people are racist. It's probably inherent. In Italy it's mostly against Romanians. In Greece it's Albanians. In England I think the Polish. In Cyprus, I think it's Turks. Luckily, it not all people. People that have traveled and lived abroad are not racist. Regardless of GDP, background, race, etc. Living abroad for a year should be mandatory. Other than that, Cypriots were very, very, very warm, hospitable and welcoming. I felt like home in no time. Met some cool people and people that I already consider close friends. Plus, the island is so pro business. Most people I met are running businesses. Traders. Entrepreneurs. Consultants. Agency owners. SaaS founders. The island is buzzing with money and trade. And stuff get done in no time. This is what I got done in three weeks. Opening bank accounts. Finding and renting a house. Registering at the municipality. Incorporating a business. Finding an accountant. Finding a lawyer. Took more than 4 months to do these in Italy. Love it. This is my kind of place. ------ When it comes to CyberLeads, I embraced the minimalistic approach. The one I wrote about in my previous monthly blog post. I tweeted and continued to close enterprise clients. That's it. At the time of this writing, CyberLeads crossed $100,000 per year. Don't ask me how and why. This growth is not normal. I think increasing prices played a huge role. And tweeting, instead of focusing on SEO. Also, December and January have always treated me well. I think people are excited to try out a new distribution channel, direct outreach. Last but not least, I have another $100,000 in enterprise deals, waiting to start in February. If that happens and I can pull it off, that will be insane.
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