Hello to everybody.
I've been a member for a while now, just soaking up the gold threads and learning as much as possible. The time has come for me where I finally have some clarity of where I want to go in life. Here is a little about me...
When I first left school I didn't have any qualifications, mainly because school just didn't fit my idea of learning and progressing. So with that I applied for an electricians apprenticeship. I hadn't got the right grades so I was rejected and faced with getting work immediately. This was 2007 so it was easy to find one.
I started work in a large retail store, moving stock and merchandising. Two months into it I realised I hated it. Three months later I left. I took action and called all the trade/building companies in my area and one agreed to let me work with them but on a self employed basis. I worked alongside one guy day and night for a whole year, he taught me everything and I had enough money saved up to purchase the first of many franchises they were to sell.
I thought I had made it, driving a brand new van, had my own place and I made about £70,000 that year and I was only 18. Little did I know that I had fully violated the CENTS commandments. Just one year later, the marketing had all changed, the contracts for the work had changed and it was all out of my control. In the end I cut my losses and sold for a heavy discount. I was back to square one.
I then, with my new found skills took a job as fabricator in an aluminium window factory. £20,000 per year. Great! I thought, monday to friday and my weekends are all mine... wow! Months later I left. Terrible pay and treated like a slave.
So with what little money I had left, I started my own company this time. Well it was a partnership but I called the shots. It was selling eggs, bacon, milk bread and much more to cafe's, shops and residential. In one year I had built it into what I thought was a business... Now i realise I made myself a decent paid job. Eventually I realised that what I had become was a salesman who delivered bread and made less than salesman on commission.
So then, I knew I had to learn how to sell. I knew I could sell to people who were already buying what I was selling because all I had to do was sell myself but when It comes to selling to people who aren't fully qualified then oh my god it is an entirely different game.
I went to work for the biggest double glazing company in the country as a door to door canvasser. Persuading people to have a free quote. This is where I met a guy who came from a wealthy family that were all surgeons etc. But he realised he could make more money in sales, and he was an absolute monster. The first week he put £200 pound in my hand of which £30 was actually owed to me in commissions. This made me loyal to him and I never questioned why he said what he said to me, well only for learning purposes. I worked with him for another year and I was making £1000+ per week utilizing all the skills he had taught me, whether it was late nights, 2am outside my house going over stuff or 6am the next morning buying me breakfast. I owe that man so much.
As time came to pass I got bored, I wanted more. I knew when I stopped, so did my income which wasn't anything glorious, but I didn't struggle. So i left.
I took some time off from doing 90 hour weeks and chilled spending some savings and looking for a quiet job somewhere just to steady my income. Things didn't go as planned and I ended up working part time in a retail store(The Irony) My plan was to use the free time to start a business, a real one this time.
I found TMF and the forum and just gleened as much info as possible. I took action and started a business with the guy from the sales company. But as I come to find, he didn't share the same value giving passion and bigger picture ideas as I do. So just as our wheels gained some traction and the money started to come in. We fell out and I realised that I think differently to most and I have to go it alone.
So now he is running it on his own, Its sad to say but i am sure it will fail soon.
I am now in the position I have no savings but I have time, In that time I am planning on getting a higher paid job for a few months just to boost some income and get the ball rolling on a business again.
This time though I have so much knowledge from this forum. I feel now If I don't succeed there is no reason why!
If you read this far thank you. I look forward to talking more with everyone here.
I've been a member for a while now, just soaking up the gold threads and learning as much as possible. The time has come for me where I finally have some clarity of where I want to go in life. Here is a little about me...
When I first left school I didn't have any qualifications, mainly because school just didn't fit my idea of learning and progressing. So with that I applied for an electricians apprenticeship. I hadn't got the right grades so I was rejected and faced with getting work immediately. This was 2007 so it was easy to find one.
I started work in a large retail store, moving stock and merchandising. Two months into it I realised I hated it. Three months later I left. I took action and called all the trade/building companies in my area and one agreed to let me work with them but on a self employed basis. I worked alongside one guy day and night for a whole year, he taught me everything and I had enough money saved up to purchase the first of many franchises they were to sell.
I thought I had made it, driving a brand new van, had my own place and I made about £70,000 that year and I was only 18. Little did I know that I had fully violated the CENTS commandments. Just one year later, the marketing had all changed, the contracts for the work had changed and it was all out of my control. In the end I cut my losses and sold for a heavy discount. I was back to square one.
I then, with my new found skills took a job as fabricator in an aluminium window factory. £20,000 per year. Great! I thought, monday to friday and my weekends are all mine... wow! Months later I left. Terrible pay and treated like a slave.
So with what little money I had left, I started my own company this time. Well it was a partnership but I called the shots. It was selling eggs, bacon, milk bread and much more to cafe's, shops and residential. In one year I had built it into what I thought was a business... Now i realise I made myself a decent paid job. Eventually I realised that what I had become was a salesman who delivered bread and made less than salesman on commission.
So then, I knew I had to learn how to sell. I knew I could sell to people who were already buying what I was selling because all I had to do was sell myself but when It comes to selling to people who aren't fully qualified then oh my god it is an entirely different game.
I went to work for the biggest double glazing company in the country as a door to door canvasser. Persuading people to have a free quote. This is where I met a guy who came from a wealthy family that were all surgeons etc. But he realised he could make more money in sales, and he was an absolute monster. The first week he put £200 pound in my hand of which £30 was actually owed to me in commissions. This made me loyal to him and I never questioned why he said what he said to me, well only for learning purposes. I worked with him for another year and I was making £1000+ per week utilizing all the skills he had taught me, whether it was late nights, 2am outside my house going over stuff or 6am the next morning buying me breakfast. I owe that man so much.
As time came to pass I got bored, I wanted more. I knew when I stopped, so did my income which wasn't anything glorious, but I didn't struggle. So i left.
I took some time off from doing 90 hour weeks and chilled spending some savings and looking for a quiet job somewhere just to steady my income. Things didn't go as planned and I ended up working part time in a retail store(The Irony) My plan was to use the free time to start a business, a real one this time.
I found TMF and the forum and just gleened as much info as possible. I took action and started a business with the guy from the sales company. But as I come to find, he didn't share the same value giving passion and bigger picture ideas as I do. So just as our wheels gained some traction and the money started to come in. We fell out and I realised that I think differently to most and I have to go it alone.
So now he is running it on his own, Its sad to say but i am sure it will fail soon.
I am now in the position I have no savings but I have time, In that time I am planning on getting a higher paid job for a few months just to boost some income and get the ball rolling on a business again.
This time though I have so much knowledge from this forum. I feel now If I don't succeed there is no reason why!
If you read this far thank you. I look forward to talking more with everyone here.
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