2024 will be a very good year in terms of wacky projects shared on TikTok. Just see one of the first of the year, launched by videographer Dali Dutilleul : “From homeless to millionaire”. Seductive title, a little disturbing and bordering on acceptable… we really want to understand what is going to happen here. In a first video published on January 1, the personal development enthusiast – followed by 435,000 subscribers on YouTube and 1 million on Tiktok – describes it as “the most ambitious project of [sa] life “. The objective? Start from nothing and make a million in just three months. For this, Dali Dutilleul took on the challenge of crisscrossing France with only a travel companion, an empty backpack and credit card, a sleeping bag, a telephone and his filming equipment. “Just one warm outfit to start with,” insists Dali Dutilleul.
Departure on January 6 from La Roche-sur-Yon, in Vendée, where the two adventurers are trying to raise money by panhandling or offering their help to businesses. But there are rules here, the two men will neither be able to ask for help nor spend more money than they earn throughout the day.
As we watch, the first questions torment us, especially during the first episode which shows the night spent outside in the cold. Is it really human to choose this way of life which most of the time is not voluntary? Isn’t it a little indecent to create buzz about situations that are more than precarious? “We don’t claim to be homeless and the message is not to say ‘a homeless person can do like us’. The goal is, in three months, to try to set up a business and win a million euros. » In reality, the project is not “just” about lining one’s pockets, but has a humanitarian aim. All money raised should be donated to Restos du coeur.
Quickly regained comfort
If we expected an epic viewing experience, over the episodes the project evolves and must lower its ambitions. From a man who panhandles and asks for leftovers from bakeries, Dali Dutileul and his partner end up buying an expensive computer to launch into entrepreneurship. To the question “why not favor more accessible tools better suited to their budget”, the YouTuber justifies “a question of habit”. “We moved towards something that was familiar to us. » Finally, the comfort and materialism of everyday life quickly take over. After six episodes, the two men no longer panhandle, but approach customers, whom they even reach in Estonia.
In the comments, we even wonder about what is really being sold to these customers. And why not say it clearly? “It can have a negative connotation and above all it doesn’t particularly interest them,” explains the content creator to our microphone. In fact, Dali Dutilleul launched an online marketing agency where he helps his clients sell their products. Here, a sports coach and his training. But, on the phone, the person said he was torn between the desire “to make money as easily as possible” versus “the most fun and entertaining way to make videos”. “It’s not very interesting and there are fewer things to announce, because we spend more of our days on the computer. Then it’s difficult to show on video everything we do, we don’t realize it but filming everything is a lot of work. »
“It’s a headache”
A month after the start – because the adventurers are a week ahead of publication – it is time for the first assessment. “I am extremely satisfied with the project, but I have difficulty planning over three months, I have the impression that it is a lot,” confides Dali Dutilleul. Initially thinking he was suffering physically, the YouTuber actually has more mental difficulties. “It’s a headache and it leads to a lot of doubts, a lot of questions and above all the fear of failing. » He himself has also come back a little. To the point of saying that it is no longer so serious if the million is not reached, that the challenge is more symbolic than anything else. “The goal is to make money. We can afford to try new things even if it means abandoning this business a little, which can certainly bring us a lot of money, but also risks boring us. » On the contrary, his partner is aiming for a million.
This is also the big difficulty that adventurers encounter, supporting themselves day and night in a project that is too ambitious in such a short time. “There are two of us so obviously there are arguments that we don’t really see. It’s definitely hard to live with someone 24/7. » If the project is less catastrophic than on paper, we will not be excited to reveal our predictions on the expected objective either.