This guy took out a $40,000 business loan to start a YouTube channel
Published on Jul 03, 2023 at 7:26 PM (UTC+4)
by Adam Gray
Last updated on Jul 04, 2023 at 2:08 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
In the words of Pierre Corneille, “Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.”
And that’s exactly what one guy did to pursue his dream of making it big on YouTube.
But before he could achieve that, Michael Downie from Vancouver in Canada applied for a job at a junk removal company.
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He figured that if he had a job that he hated, it would motivate him to make YouTube work faster for him.
It wasn’t easy, though.
In an interview with the Feed Off Each Other podcast, Downie said that in the first month he made a miserly $0.41 from YouTube.
He managed to up his earnings from $0.41 to $4.10 in month four.
Clearly, this still wasn’t enough to live off, but he realized that if he could multiply that figure by 10 in four months, he could scale it up even further.
So, in all his wisdom, Downie decided to quit his junk removal job in order to focus more time on YouTube.
That’s when the budding YouTuber took out a $40,000 business loan, which he dug into over the next year.
In his third year on YouTube, he was able to break even but, in his own words, he was still “40 grand in the hole”.
In the fourth year, Downie explains that he started to come out of the hole and in the fifth year, he broke out and was profitable after paying off the loan.
Downie attributes his success to never giving up and the fact that he loved what he was doing.
The risk and hard work clearly paid off, as the DownieLive channel on YouTube has amassed 690,000 subscribers since he joined in late 2016.
He’s clearly built a strong following, as his 485 videos have generated more than 70 million views.
If you’re a fan of unique and interesting transportation methods, make sure you go check out his channel!
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Adam Gray is an experienced freelance motoring journalist and content creator based in the United Kingdom. Using his media accreditation with manufacturers’ press offices, Adam test drives the latest cars and attends new vehicle press launches, producing written reviews and news pieces for a variety of lifestyle and business publications. Here at Supercar Blondie, Adam applies his journalistic skills penning social-first content around current news and trends. When he’s not behind the wheel of the latest car or writing up another viral story, Adam can be found at his local rink playing ice hockey or at the Riverside Stadium supporting his beloved Middlesbrough FC.
