This post is about how everything changed for me in 2009, and changed my life 180 degrees once again. Starting 2009 I just wanted to travel for half a year, and then go back to the army – never in my wildest dreams did I plan to stay in South America, let alone Peru.

 

From Soldier to Backpacker to Business Entrepreneur
My original plan was going back to the army, after finishing my 4 months of duty in DANILOG (Danish International Logistical Center). First I had planned to travel through South- and Central America for 6-9 months, before returning to Denmark and hoping to get a contract and go on a mission to Afghanistan with the Danish Army.

Not even 3 months into my big journey in South America, I reach Lima and stay for about a week in Miraflores, Peru. I end up meeting a lot of amazing and awesome people, revive an old business idea I got the first time I was in South America, and within 2 weeks in Lima I decided that I would give it a shot – Living in Lima for a year.

 

Getting Used to Combies and Contrasts
I must admit that I love Lima by all my heart. It feels like the right place for me right now, and I love the contrasts of old and new, rich and poor, expensive and cheap, that you see everywhere in Lima. I might live in one of the expensive and rich areas of the town at the moment, but the fact for me is, this is what the future of Peru should look like. I don’t believe in solving 3rd world problems by donating money so the poor can get some food; I believe the only way to help the 3rd world is creating a future for them. Something that doesn’t solve the problem right now, but over a period of time and I only see this possible in creating a stable economic, creating jobs and run the old mill of capitalism.

Lima has its flaws but with more than 8 million people (in 2007 that is) this city is more populated than Denmark with our 5,5 million people. When I was back home in August, even our biggest city Copenhagen felt like a small place. Living in a city bigger than my country honestly leaves some marks.

 

Running a Small Business – Keep Your Focus!
The most important lesson I have learned in 2009, is to keep focus on what you are dealing with right now. I have been moving away from my startup several times, ending up in a huge delay. My Google Sniper Sites project ended up taking way too much time and making me lose focus, even though I learned a lot from the project. Right now I am focusing 100% of my time on my current business goals, getting evisitcard translated to Spanish, finish the system and hopefully start entering the Peruvian market.

So my best advice from 2009 can only be to keep focus. I have delayed my adventure for way too long, because I didn’t keep focus on what I was actually here to do, and instead was acting like a dreamer, spreading my timer over too many different projects. If you want success with your Small Business, remember to keep your focus.

 

Blog Statistics from 2009
As the blog started out as a travelers blog, telling a bit about my experiences (and playing around with SEO, posting about places I visited) I never expected much for the blog. I still managed to get around 200 monthly unique visitors, with December 2009 peaking with over 500 unique visitors. In total more than 3000 unique visitors stopped by my blog, with a bounce rate on just around 60%. It hasn’t been the most active blog, with only 31 posts and 65 comments during the year, but I am quite satisfied so far as I have changed the direction of the blog. The visitors started picking up after I wrote about my Affiliate Marketing adventure with Google Sniper in October, so in the coming time I will focus more on useful posts for Small Business owners, Internet Marketers and in general tips for people working with Online Marketing like myself.

 

If you have any special request about what you would like to read more about, please feel free to post some comments on the blog. I hope 2010 will be a more active year, and wish you all the best of luck in 2010.