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Great resource. It's not lazy, it's time constrained
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Free registration at the forum removes this block.Man, to be honest before this post I did think you were at least partially full of sh*t.
But I get it now... You are just super motivated and confident that I mistook that as ill-informed arrogance.
Also the 50th law video, that is some powerful stuff, going to listen to that on a daily basis.
And don't get a Bugatti, they are very ugly! How about a nice matt black 458?
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First, pretty great thread. Second, sorry if this is a stupid question, but you basically are like a real estate agent? You convince people (i assume the property owners while building is happening/before) to buy from a supplier, who gives you comission?
Another great response. What are the typical costs/fees and any requirements?
Great thread. As someone who seems to have always been fueled by the negative around him, reading how you spin that into success definitely inspires me to keep going in all aspects of life.
You mentioned being the broker has come and gone in terms of maximizing success with minimal competition (like when you started back in 2010.
Most of the people are still asking how to get started in the thread, but I'm wondering what things do you have your eyes on next or seem to spark your interest like energy did 5-6 years ago.
but I'm wondering what things do you have your eyes on next or seem
So you're out the business?
Were entry barriers so low that you no longer feel it's a worthy endeavor?
With such a great written copy title I clicked on this thread.
And then I read every post Ubermensch ever blessed us with on this site.
This stuff is gold. I don't understand why people knock on you for being driven by hate and other negative emotions.
If I learnt one thing about emotions is that all negative states stem from FEAR and all positive states stem from LOVE
It strikes me that Ubermensch FEARED being unsuccessful. He hated being regular. He used that energy to become a total F*cking badass in my book. This is inspiring stuff. It's not always pretty. It's not always clean. It's not always FEEL GOOD.
Ubermensch you're a F*cking warrior man and you drove motivation deep into my soul with your contributions on this website. Thank you man.
You need to post more. Keep all these chumps in check. Lol.Jeez.
If you've read MJ's book, you know the kind of money I was making around a year before I started the biz. I was technically self-employed, contracted as an investment banker by a middle-market real estate developer seeking $1M - $10M equity investments from top-tier private equity funds. They were my largest client (but not my only one), paying me $5,000 per month. Then the recession hit.
I wasn't rolling in the dough, certainly not by Fastlane terms, but I had enough bread (crumbs) to live off of while I got started. Off the top of my head, let me think about the costs:
I had to set up the legal entity that would actually sign contracts with the electricity/natural gas suppliers. I did that through LegalZoom, and it cost me a few hundred bucks. I had a website built by a friend of a friend for $600. In retrospect, though, I didn't really need the site. To keep costs low, I did my own legal work. Without consulting an attorney, I personally reviewed the agreements between my legal entity and the suppliers.
Then there was the licensing. Every state has its own commission that oversees brokers, and you (technically) have to be licensed to do business in these states. Some have more stringent rules than others. Getting licensed was easy. Compared to old industries like commercial real estate and commercial insurance, there are almost no federal rules and surprisingly little red tape (the kind of business I prefer). That said, there is a lot of legal language required in the filing process, and most brokerages pay an attorney $2,000 - $5,000 to draft and file said papers. Again, I did my own legal work, drafting and filing the documents myself.
Aside from my mobile phone, which cost me around $100 per month for unlimited minutes, I can't think of any other costs I incurred (other than travel). So, I'd say my total costs to start the biz were under $1,000.
In the energy biz, suppliers pay you in different ways. All payments are based on the annual usage of the client.
Example: Suppose you have a nursing home client with 20 locations, and the aggregate usage is 20,000,000 kWh. Your job as a broker would be to get the client to sign a contract with supplier ABC. Once the agreement is signed, and the client begins using electricity from the new supply source, the supplier either pays you one lump sum, or recurring payments over the life of the contract. I received payments both ways.
Honestly, the only knowledge I began with was that the recession happened, companies were low on revenue, electricity prices were at a ten-year low and - perhaps most importantly - signing an electricity contract requires no upfront costs on the part of the client. No upfront retainer or hourly stipends from the broker. The client only paid once they started saving money.
When I started the electricity biz, I could barely spell kWh. I knew nothing about generation, and who the major players were. It was a process of trial-and-error to figure out which supplier was the best. This took me a year. Once I found the right supplier, everything clicked. Knowing what I know now, that process could have been cut down by a lot.
As far as contacts, every single client I got - except for my first one, which made me around $500 - I got through cold-calling. No connections whatsoever. Just dialing for dollars Wolf of Wall Street style.
What I should emphasize the most is that the quality of your call list means a lot. Actually, that's a cost I forgot to mention, but these costs do not have to be significant. I used a manufacturing and industrial list that came on a CD, and it only cost me a few hundred bucks.
Regardless of your business, I would check out LinkedIn's business development tools. Some of Linkedin's stuff is the best kept secret. At one point, they had a service that literally allowed you to view full profiles for every single person on LinkedIn... all 100 million. At one point, you could even view all of the persons's connections, and you had the ability to send private messages to these people. Pretty crazy prospecting tool if used correctly. But it's expensive, and they've since scaled back the comprehensiveness of the tool, making it much less cool in my opinion.
That said, the holy grail of call lists is one that gives you direct access to the decision makers. The best case scenario is having a corporate decision maker's cell phone number and well-researched, comprehensive information on said contact's professional and even personal life. Over the years, I've somewhat perfected the way to compile such lists using online databases.
I no longer run my own brokerage, because I think there are WAY too many brokers and suppliers in the game now. Margins have shrunk and there are so many amateurs that it gives the real professionals a bad name. However, if something about the energy business sincerely sparks your interest, I can point you in the right direction if you like. Just PM me if you're interested.
ubermenschforever.blogspot.com
Uber has been banned so don't expect a response to your inquiry."I have a deal right now where I'm getting accelerated commissions.
So, instead of getting paid $600 a month for 12 months for a $5,000 contract, I get $5,000 upfront."
Is there a derived benefit taking all up front vs. residuals to you? I would assume tax purposes could make that not attractive.
Are you now working for a smaller brokerage offering more aggressive commissions?
Uber has been banned so don't expect a response to your inquiry.
Appreciate it and I thought so when I tried to PM him.Am not surprised.
I thought it had been quiet around here lately.
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