I’ll be quick to get to the point: When COVID-19 hit, I got a great idea to start a beauty influencer network with AI beauty services. After careful planning and research, I decided on my approach, aiming to make $5,000-$20,000 monthly effortlessly. I hired freelancers to build an app, website, and design elements, which cost a lot, wiping out my savings and forcing me to borrow money. We even got a domain name – zuryx//com.

The business name was Zury, meaning “Princess,” “white,” “pretty,” “beautiful,” “beauty,” and “red rose” in Mexican/Swahili origin. (By the way, I’ve put the name up for sale at brandable market, not caring much about it. I have to erase it totally. I can flip it for few hundred bucks on Dan//afternic//godaddy. I don’t care).

Unfortunately, the freelancers turned out to be scammers, and I lost tens of thousands of dollars. I’m not tech-savvy, so it hit me hard.

Later, unwillingly, I asked my childhood friend, who knew about tech and apps, to help me out. He lived in Spain. He did most of the work, and I paid for it. But when it was almost done, he died from cancer, which I didn’t know he had. We met once in early 2021 after covid-19 subsided, to finish things. After about a year, I think, he stopped answering my messages and calls, and I thought I got scammed or feeling that my business has been hijacked.

Later, I found out from his cousion that he was in a coma for long and later died of cancer. Ever since then, I lost interest and gave up.

I will go back to making YT contents. It felt really bad ever since then because my friend’s death was a big hit to the project.

I learnt a big lesson personally about starting a business from it. It’s not easy without a good structure and workable and accessible agreements.

Anyone interested in taking over or exploring the idea can do so at their own risk.

Here’s the model:

Name: Zuryx (Beauty Influencer Network)

Business Model: Create a network of beauty influencers and content creators. Connect them with brands seeking product endorsements, sponsored content, and beauty collaborations.

* Charge brands for connecting them with influencers. Take a percentage of payments made to influencers for sponsored content and collaborations.

Additionally, introduce:

Zuryx AI-Powered Beauty Advisor:

Business Model: Develop an AI-powered virtual beauty advisor. It will analyze users’ facial features and suggests personalized makeup and skincare routines. Include augmented reality for virtual try-ons.

* Offer the AI advisor as a premium subscription service. Collaborate with beauty brands for sponsored product recommendations within the AI platform.

Virtual Beauty Academy for Gold Members: Provide exclusive content and resources for gold members.

That is why am quitting.