Thread: How to become a fastlaner while living in large/expensive Cities

I am torn right now.

I currently live in Minneapolis Mn with a few roommates so my expenses are relatively low ~650/month for rent cable, etc.

I currently work in real estate full time and have a BS from a top local business school (csom). I've been wanting to move to a big city -- NYC more specifically. With such a high cost of living in these cities, how is anyone able to get a business started?? everything from rent, labor, food, everything is more expensive! Obviously, I would move there to work in the real estate industry, but there are still quite a few side projects that I am interested in starting up.

My questions are:

If you live in an expensive city, how are you getting started?
Does it make sense for an entrepreneur to live in a city like NYC?


I've been tossing around the idea of moving and just cant seem to decide if it is in my best interest from an entrepreneurship standpoint. It seems like NYC has sooooo many start ups and entrepreurers but how are they starting with out venture backed capital??

Originally Posted by MNentre

It seems like NYC has sooooo many start ups and entrepreurers but how are they starting with out venture backed capital??

The same way as others are but possibly working two jobs too. I have recently made the move back to a large city and I am becoming frustrated with the high price of doing business. To get an LLC costs 1k vs. $100 were I was from. So I am a sole proprietor until the profits justify the cost. Getting a dealers license is 1k vs. $50 were I was from so I put that on the back burner. However, I can physically sell my product to a much larger number of businesses then I previously had access to.

I would do the cost benefit analysis. If your product is going to be sold locally and the benefit of have such a large customer base outweighs the living expense increase then the move would make sense from a business perspective. But if you business can be run from anywhere (internet etc.) then the additional costs may not be justified unless there is something intangible (mentor, close friend, family). At the end of the day that is a decision you will have to make.

Originally Posted by Pete799p

I would do the cost benefit analysis. If your product is going to be sold locally and the benefit of have such a large customer base outweighs the living expense increase then the move would make sense from a business perspective. But if you business can be run from anywhere (internet etc.) then the additional costs may not be justified unless there is something intangible (mentor, close friend, family). At the end of the day that is a decision you will have to make.

How can a locally sold product be fastlane?

If you keep your expenses down (live in a smaller city) you can invest more money in your fastlane business. The big plus of a large city is the networking factor. But you can network also via Internet (LinkedIn, Xing ...) and go to some conferences now and then.

Sorry having technical difficulties

Every Franchise. A family friend of mine just sold his car dealership for around 13mil after years of building it up. I played golf with another guy who started with 1 Dunkin Donuts finished with over 20+. I was out to dinner the other day with a guy who started a real estate service business and now employs over 100 people. Another friend has built up a portfolio of small businesses, 3 grocery, 4 restaurants, a commercial bakery, a few bars, and a stone quarry. I played golf with another guy who has purchased over 200+ SFH's over the last 3 years. Another guy started with 1 pizza place and now own 6. I could keep going as well but I think you get the idea.

When I think about it outside of this forum I only know 2 fastlane successful internet entreps, one owns a niche ecommerce store doing around 500k profit/year and the other recently unveiled an online payment app for small businesses and is already doing over 1million in sales.

I think too many people believe that the internet is the only way to get rich and forget about all of the other opportunities out there. B&M+Big City= Bank