Journey To One Hundred Thousand in 12 Months.

[Lagron]

I read the post by Jack Edwards in regards to how he opened a new business with just 15k$ and turned it into 10 million in 24 months. Located here.

That is my motivation, the automation that he has created that runs hundreds of thousands of dollars to his bank account monthly.

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My goal, is to start a new business with only $ 210.00. My prior businesses start with $0.00 and am proud of my ability to generate income from nothing but an idea, but due to the nature of this business I have to invest that sum of money. Call me cheap, or whatever, this is just how it is.

What the business is, I will not disclose for many reasons.
I will report on my results and processes at least once a week. I will answer any questions that I am presented with if I don't deem them repetitive or infringing on my right to keep my new business product/service a secret.

I will note that I am not reinventing the wheel. There are many people doing this type of business but I do not think they are utilizing it as much as they should. I believe I don't have a "direct niche" instead just something I know I can make money off of. I do believe I can undercut current competitors EXPONENTIALLY.

Expenses:
$10.00 for a domain name.
No hosting costs (I have prepaid for hosting 6 years in advance for all my needs).

I will start designing the company today, and should be done within 7 days. The business is online based, I think every business I have been in was online based, or at least...I turned it from physical to an online basis. There are no recurring sales for this business but I have come up with something that is surely going to change this aspect and act as a great income boost.

Also understand I am going to scale up on my other business that I was under utilizing that I have mentioned/talked about in this forum. I am also doing all of this while being a student at College Part Time, I find college as something to occupy my mind, and my time, as an Accounting Major, if this picks up, I will STILL finish college and get a degree, just because I am the first person in my family to ever have this opportunity...and yes I understand that it will not benefit me in the short run, but I have bigger plans that require what I shall learn.

I have set up the company, name, images/logo, policies, and so on and so forth.
I have chosen the product, will look for suppliers and will test to see if my targets bite.
I have opened a new personal bank account, that I will close and turn into a business bank account after the income from this deems it necessary to have customers write a check to a business name as opposed to my own name.
I am using a laptop with a broken screen that is hooked up to a flat screen computer and soon to be hooked up to a projector that faces a nice open wall in an empty room. I do not have any other furniture, yes I do lay down on the carpet or hardwood floor as I'm doing what I have to do to make this.

Employees:
No one else but myself. I will hire as the business deems it necessary.

--
Goals for this week.

Wait for the product to arrive at my warehouse (at the moment lets call my warehouse my basement that is being underutilized, with 8 foot ceilings, lighting and office space that I am to furnish before I leave the empty room in my home.
Test the markets waters.
Make a single sale to prove the viability of the product.

Notes about me: I am 22 years old, in College with my own 4000 sq. foot home 2 car garage and Mitsubishi eclipse (which I hope to replace in a few months), always had a hand in online businesses or businesses in general, am not making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, am only earning residual income, I have had experience in sales. Had a "boss" 2 years ago, so I can learn the ropes of running a development firm, and went in as a quality assurance tester, was offered a management position 1 day before the day I joined the company, and quit that same day. I never really learned to scale companies up as Jack Edwards did in the link I gave above and so, I am going to see if I can scale a new business up from scratch.

My residual income business, if scaled correctly would be soo profitable, but I just "didn't" WHY?? GOD. I am working on this now as well.

Thanks for reading... hope it is informational if at anything at least interesting.

I hope this thread keeps me motivated, because... that is all a person really needs to succeed after he or she already has an idea to prosper from.

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Yes I know 100k is chump change for many of you, but I see this $ 100,000 as just enough money for another business I have in mind.

 

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[Lagron]

This is my first update to what I have been up to.

First, I am changing the goal of $ 100,000 in a year to $1,500,000. This change in the goal is a result of a few recent sales and a change in the product I am selling.

What I have done so far,
1. Completed the site.
2. Payment processor.
3. Was interviewing for a mismanagement position, found an exceptional candidate, he is keen on the business and how it will be run. He will be getting paid $3k more a month from his current job. And he starts Dec 1.
4. Interviewed 7 salesmen and 5 saleswomen, 6 of them are ready to start Dec. 1.
5. I am changing my entire basement from being all warehouse space, to being 90% warehouse and instead 10% office space, has room for 15 cubicles, and a larger desk in the back for the sales manager.
6. I added furniture to the room I had empty in my house as well, I am not on the ground with my computer for this business anymore.
7. I have made 5 sales since my last post for the product/service.

Total income, from my own time worth of trying the sale script :/ $989.95 - $150.00 (product/service expenses total for 5 sales) = $839.95

Spent it on grasshopper.com (telephony service, I like it)
Spent 700$ on 5 cheap computers that allow basic excel/word/internet access/skype, nothing fancy

Until the 11st of December, I have the salesmen/women and sales manager that is going to see a new angle we could offer with the service and the sales manager is going to revise the sales process... (I KNOW NOTHING) about selling products/how the sales process is... all I know is... this is my service, using it will increase your profit by x AT LEAST a month...that is 30 TIMES what it costs you to buy the product/service.... and I made 5 sales in 6 days.

Forgot to mention, my PayPal debit card arrived! YAY ME. Yes, I am using PayPal to run transactions...but hope to change to authorize.net when I can figure out how to implement it into my site.

This is all for now.
Month 1's goal is to get 25 sales, per salesperson throughout December, ie, 15 salespeople needed total for the first 6 months= 10 more salespeople to hire and 370 sales or $18,700 left for me to earn after the salespeople take their 50% commission. This 18,700$ is also residual, and I would money from every sale made with an average profit of $44.50 (would have been 89$ but I should mention my salesstaff is all commission based and thus taking a rate of 50%, with a cap on commission at 250k$ a year.

------
I also found a salesperson but he seems to be out of my league? (I mean.... seems he is interviewing ME instead me him, asking me about SWOT analysis and what the companies strengths and weaknesses are...

I want to say f off buddy, get out! But he seems like a very intelligent guy.... He makes less than 100k a year (hes only in college working for sprint)...I have bare minimum sales experience, hes supposedly the top salesperson in his office....

What to do? Hey I want top performers but he seems off to just do as he is told.

Thanks for reading.
From Lagron

Will update next week.

 

[1step]

my salesstaff is all commission based and thus taking a rate of 50%, with a cap on commission at 250k$ a year.

Why did you decide to cap sales commissions?

 

[rogen]

--
Goals for this week.

Wait for the product to arrive at my warehouse

nvm. Im too quick to post questions without proper reading of the whole post

 

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[Lagron]

Why did you decide to cap sales commissions?

I am not entirely sure how I want to compensate people for their hard work. 50% sales commissions are quite steep in my opinion.

For now, its a cap at 250k, which I think they won't reach until a year from starting to work for me & they realize that. I have said that this cap is just in effect until we get better situated in the market.

I am trying to figure out what is 'just enough' to retain staff but also offer incentive to work hard, while yet recieving/trying to maximize the return I get.

I think its all numbers, more salestaff= more calls= more sales= more residual income.

----
I am not just writing this because I want to, I have never tried hiring staff before and this is my documentation to what I am doing, in hope that someone with more experience in the matter comes around and sees my flaws so that I can change my ways.

Am I doing something wrong? Then please tell me. Now that I'm thinking about it, it seems a cap on sales comissions at 250k is degrading to employees.

I am not sure if I mentioned it, but for now the sales staff recieve that 50% comission every month for every sale they make... (Also something I am hoping I can figure out how to decrease so theres more $ for me while not hindering the efficiency and motivation of the staff.)

Thanks for reading.

 

[1step]

So you're punishing your best sales people more doing their job (in essence)?

Lets say after 9 months your best sales person reaches 250k, what motivation do they have to continue to work for the next 3 months? Now you lose 25k a month in sales.

If anything these people should get 60% of sales after 250k a year.

No rational person would continue to put as much effort into making sales when they are making 0$ for their efforts. This only costs you money.

What if you tiered their pay, 40% under 100k in sales, 50% 100k+, 60% 250k plus. In the end this would end up averaging 50% across all sales people. Just my thoughts.

 

[MakeItHappen]

What if you tiered their pay, 40% under 100k in sales, 50% 100k+, 60% 250k plus. In the end this would end up averaging 50% across all sales people. Just my thoughts.

I couldn't agree more!
It's awesome that you get salepeople without paying them a fix hourly rate. This means that they are achievement-oriented. Use this to your advantage! The more they sell the more they should be rewarded for their results!

I would also do something like a montly bonus for the best sales people so that there is competition among your sales team.

What you are doing right now is you punish them for success/making you a ton of money. That's bullshit!

I like what 1step is saying + monthly or quarterly bonuses.

 

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[Lagron]

Wow I definitely did wrong with my payment system for the sales staff.

Tiered from 40% 50% and 60% seems much more logical, the better they do the more they are supposed to make. And bonuses monthly between the staff themselves to the top performer/s was something I was thinking beforehand as well.

Will definitely change payout structures, I wasn't thinking clearly when i came up with it. Will see to implementing this start of December.

---
If sales are as 'easy' to make as it seems it is for me, I am going to end up with people making a few hundred thousand a year in commissions alone...

I didn't want to create a residual income system system for others but for myself, but now it seems, which makes sense, that the more they get paid per sale, the more sales they are going ti strive to make= The more pure monthly profits I get.

Also, I just made a sale today as well, even got an up sell for 399$. 399 + 89$ = $488.00 profit! 3 hours!

Im excited. I am being honest when I say, a job in no way, shape or form would have given me the ability to do this.

My sales manager is just ecstatic. 'God I wish I met you earlier.'

I am allowing sales to be done by the staff Starting Dec 1. Yes, on a Sunday.

If you know the boss (client) is working m-f, Saturday and Sunday are times to call for business.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[kablumas]

You are going to be great. I do hate you and Jack though...always with the secrecy

 

[Lagron]

The business I can assure you is nothing new or fancy. It is really simple to be honest. A simple product, attached with a service that we charge monthly for.

-
Updates:
1. We found that it would be just as profitable for us to change our core business functions.
2. We will not be selling the product anymore, and see that merely offering the service is best.
3. The products we have in stock we are offering as a "gift" to clients to show our appreciation for them signing up with our services. This will result in a few thousand lost but I see this nominal, since we are phrasing it as "spread the word about our services and because you know we will, here is this product"

4. I had 6 salesmen that were starting this week on Sunday... 5 of them showed up on Sunday, the other said he couldn't find the location to my house. I never heard from him again.
5. Just yesterday I lost 2 more salesmen because they said it was unprofessional to be working in a "house" and they don't see this going anywhere.
6. 3 employees left. Have made 7 sales in these 5 days, and 3 more look like they are ready to pay after we perform our service for them as a "free-test-run" to prove its viability.
7. Today I lost another salesmen when I said we should change the commission structure from 50% to 40%, with no cap and an increase of 10% every new benchmark that is set. He said he will work tomorrow as well, and hopes we do well, also says he thinks being told what to do by a "kid" seems pathetic and its horrible how we are doing this from my house.

So in total 2 employees left.

----

1. Figure out how in the world I can retain commission only salesmen. Fancy graphs of earnings monthly after a few months of dedicated work doesn't help as much as I was hoping it would.
2. One of the salesmen is a relative who would otherwise be working at some other sales company for close to minimum. wage. (Fortunately he made 2 sales, which I think is why he's still hanging out).
3. The other salesman is a sales/marketing student 26 or so years old. He made the other 4 sales (which is why I bet he is hanging around haha) and plus this is the guy I said after being established a bit more, I would give him a base pay on top of commissions).
4. I made a sale YAY! : / still sucks being rejected on the phone.

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Goals:
Get more interviews for salesmen/saleswomen, figure out how to retain commission only employees.
Get a total of 15 salesmen/saleswomen by January, (Yes I know I'm behind on my goals but this stuff is a pain in my a$$, people say they'll come for interviews and they don't even show up, so far salesmen are all from craiglist posting. I am thinking of offering some sort of program at the college I attend, to offer "internships" or something to that extent to students in the marketing/sales degree seekers. Also since they are students...it is too late this semester, will have this going on by end of January)
Get the sales team actually making at least a sale every 2-3 days. It still doesn't meet our 25 sales a month goal but I do not think that will be possible with salesmen that do not get the hang of selling the service that quickly.
Make 30 sales personally, so I can rent out office space.
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I don't have head in my basement...
Another issue of mine. I hope we can get this rolling soon, so I can rent out a office of good size.
So I have given free reign of the first floor of my house to my employees. 2nd floor is off limits.
When I get office space I will take pictures and as that occurs/we grow I'll keep updated pics on this thread.

For now: $ 1.7k a month of income, profit: $750, and $750 paid to the 2 sales employees of the respective sales they made.
All clients are signed up at a 6 month contract, ie: $ 4,500 net income from sales just for myself total in 6 months.

I am not putting any money into my own bank account for leisurely use until I get us moved into office space with decent furniture.
Currently only paying for telephony services.

I was wondering if it were possible to have the title of this thread changed.
Journey To One Hundred Thousand in 12 Months = BENIGN = NOT WORTHY OF A JOURNEY

I would like to have it changed to: "Journey to 1.5 Million in 12 months" ( I am still wary whether I can meet my goals, I am always catching myself doubting my ability to do so but the numbers and sales, simple math says it can be done.

When I started this thread as I think I mentioned before it was for a different product/service... I have change it and made it into the service only and are just giving away the product as a gift until inventory is all depleted.

I have done some number crunching of the profit I generally receive from a single sale without up sells on other products or "amended" services. I think my goals are incredibly feasible if I do what I'm supposed to, and hustle to get more salesmen and the likes of such; actually making them be able to sell this service.



Earnings are based on 25 new sales a month per salesmen, and each sale carrying forward. 1st column Month 1 is what I hope we get near in profit to use in the business by the end of January. Month 2 is February and so on. The 6 Month balance is total profit goal for 6 months of operations and the 1 year balance in yellow the total profit from 1 year worth of profits at a steady 25 sales average per month per number of salespeople. As you can see I hope to hire more than 15 or 30 salespeople. Once again, all commission based pay rate for now.

This is all for now.
I do apologize for not having had updated earlier.
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Instead of updating every week like I said I would, I find it useless to do so, since not much developments are taking place.
Will update every soo often. I am using this thread/and this forum as my motivator....and a BMW M6 Convertible, alongside a Audi R8. (GOD, PLEASE keep me motivated and dedicated to reach my goals.)

If you have any questions as to what I am doing, I will not tell you what I am selling. I will say you have all seen it before and it is an interesting business concept.

Thanks again.
From Lagron

 

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[Lagron]

I really wish some people with more knowledge in sales and marketing/business busted my buttons a bit, I'm looking for more of a "what if this happens, how are you going to handle it type of comments" ...because I really think I am not prepared for all of this. Especially running 15 or 30 salespeople... : /

Thanks again.

 

[100k]

All the best ... please keep updating the thread.

 

[Vespasian]

I really wish some people with more knowledge in sales and marketing/business busted my buttons a bit, I'm looking for more of a "what if this happens, how are you going to handle it type of comments" ...because I really think I am not prepared for all of this. Especially running 15 or 30 salespeople... : /

Thanks again.

What's your customer lifetime revenue? I see that you're charging monthly, but do you have any idea how long those recurring sales will last or are you calculating with a customer staying 12 full months? Can customers cancel any time? Can they drop your service and go to competitor B which is offering the service for 10 bucks less per month?

How long have you been running the business? 3 weeks? With only 2 sales guys left it's hard to determine the average (or better minimum) sales per month for a salesperson. I think this is the major issue in your calculation. You just need to collect more data.

I hope to hire more than 15 or 30 salespeople

I hope you understand how much time you have to invest to sign new people. This was a major roadblock for my last business as finding, interviewing and signing people was incredibly time consuming.

I really think I am not prepared for all of this. Especially running 15 or 30 salespeople... : /

Managing people is a pain in the a$$, at least for me. Don't make the mistake to see your employees as friends. I know it's very tempting, especially when you're young and you've had jobs with shitty bosses, but there is a reason why you became an entrepreneur. Most people need rules and guidance, they want to live in the comfort zones their bosses created for them, they don't want freedom and responsibilities. You need to have systems in place. How do they report sales, when do you have sales team meetings, which leads should they call etc. Everything needs to be planned out. Don't let them think to much on their own if you still want to be the boss with 15 employees.

 

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[Lagron]

What's your customer lifetime revenue? I see that you're charging monthly, but do you have any idea how long those recurring sales will last or are you calculating with a customer staying 12 full months? Can customers cancel any time? Can they drop your service and go to competitor B which is offering the service for 10 bucks less per month?
How long have you been running the business? 3 weeks? With only 2 sales guys left it's hard to determine the average (or better minimum) sales per month for a salesperson. I think this is the major issue in your calculation. You just need to collect more data.

Customers are signed up for 1 months worth of services, where the contract would be extended for 12 months if they do not cancel. We compete with the competition by adding in something that no one else has currently added, and use it as our selling point. After the extra work we perform by the end of the month and how we meticulously "generate" enough profits for them in that single month to pay us for an entire year of services in advance, this extra work basically guarantees that they will not cancel our services offered. The companies services are actually double, if not triple what the competition charges monthly, but I am confident in the value we project and the generated profits from our service that they will not leave.

I have offered this service ever since I was in high-school. junior year, (5 years ago) and charged customers monthly, and have been using my experience from that to "legitimize" this new company, with the same service being offered, under a company name, with proper filings and proceedings. I make $5010 a month, residual, (from 32 small business owners), had my first 2 prospectives on a Saturday, and 1 on a Sunday. Closed all 3 sales by Friday, right after I failed a Algebra 2 test last class before I left school... and it was basically the same deal with all the 32 sales I have made, took days of being on the phone, and some I even went to their physical location, and then it took 1 or 2 phone calls/meeting in person to close it a few days later. I have found people don't remember everything I can offer them if I don't get back to them within the same week or week and a half.

This company name and twist in the service I am offering though has only been existent since the beginning of November. I read MJ's book, found that residual income is great towards wealth, and thought "HECK!! I have something and am not even using it."

Yes there are issues in my calculation, the profit calculations are valid only if 25 sales average a month are made, for the lowest level of services we offer, and if such results are intune with a total of 15 or 30 salesmen/saleswomen.

I hope you understand how much time you have to invest to sign new people. This was a major roadblock for my last business as finding, interviewing and signing people was incredibly time consuming.

I have been seeing 2-3 people every week since I started this thread, I can't seem to get people to that are okay with cold-calling and...cold-calling...and should I say it again? Cold calling.

Managing people is a pain in the a$$, at least for me. Don't make the mistake to see your employees as friends. I know it's very tempting, especially when you're young and you've had jobs with shitty bosses, but there is a reason why you became an entrepreneur. Most people need rules and guidance, they want to live in the comfort zones their bosses created for them, they don't want freedom and responsibilities. You need to have systems in place. How do they report sales, when do you have sales team meetings, which leads should they call etc. Everything needs to be planned out. Don't let them think to much on their own if you still want to be the boss with 15 employees.

I'm a shy/quiet guy, until I get comfortable or know I'm in charge. Is what people tell me, and don't party/do all those things a lot of others people my age do. But I have wanted to run a business since I last had a job, with a shitty boss.

I try to keep things professional with the employees. But you are right, I am kind of also seeing employees as "friends" which is not what I initially wanted to sign up for. I have been quite lenient, note, it has only been 6-7 days I have had people as employees.

I was just giving them a run down of how to make a sale, (to the best of my knowledge) and even let them listen in on a sale, from inception to the 3rd phone call (sealing the deal). I have a sales script written down, that I said they should try to follow at LEAST what I have highlighted in yellow. And the rest they can play with it so they can see how to increase results on their own. Only have had 2 sales meetings so far... One was on Sunday, (the first day we started) and one was yesterday.

To find all of the businesses that could use our services is quite easy, but to make sure everyone is being "tried" to be sold to, that was the issue I was presented with yesterday. I came up with, narrowing sales efforts on 2 particular business types, and on 7-8 towns. After all businesses have been contacted/put into our crm system I would choose the next towns on the list, and continue this way.

Sales made are currently just written on a document I created, with the customers name/other details, name of the salesperson on it, date and then handed to me as they come along. I would like to have it all be paperless but for now, I somewhat like having tangible paper to look at and put into a filing cabinet. Plus I am having some issues making it all paperless. I would then set the customer up in the system, send them their details within 24 hours and they are set.

I had tried to hire commission only salesmen in highschool, but that failed and I think it was due to the lack of knowledge I had/proper ground placement of procedures, which were almost non-existent.

This time, I actually hide a "Step by step" guide on my computer, for things to do daily and to check up on and edit this every so often as I see fit. I have not developed something like this for employees, so maybe I will create a "daily-to-do" list for them. Now it is just, come in, take a seat where comfortable and start making phone calls. It's really unconventional and not how I envisioned it at all : / I'm using the first floor of my house as a "office" for them. They mostly sit in the dining room table but still not what I would have liked to have.

The other day someone came in with coffee and spilled it all over the carpet :/ !! I would have loved to have an environment like google does, but I don't see that happening anytime soon, nor do I see it as conducive to enabling the salespeople to "make more sales."

I do appreciate the questions you posed.

As a result:
1. Will make sure what we do for the client is "going to retain" them for more than a month as per contracts, especially since it would be REALLY horrible if more customers don't continue using the service as you said.
2. I am generating a to-do list for employees.
3. Outlining in detail their job functions.

Thank you for the help. Your questions were insightful.
Will be back with more info/updates.

From Lagron.

 

[XOthermic]

Hmmm $210 dollars to start... I started a few business like that. They stayed small and could never get them to grow and reach a steady profit. Best of Luck

 

[Vespasian]

Now it is just, come in, take a seat where comfortable and start making phone calls. It's really unconventional and not how I envisioned it at all : / I'm using the first floor of my house as a "office" for them. They mostly sit in the dining room table but still not what I would have liked to have.

I think this is your main problem right now.

So you're making 160k USD rev a year (17k net if I'm right) with the clients you signed when you were studying right? Why don't you simply rent out an office space? Keep the lease period short so you only risk like 3 months rent if things don't work out.

You're hiring slow-laners. Most people lack vision. Sitting in the living room cold-calling businesses for a 20-something year old boss who promises up to 250k salary a year will kill the productivity and motivation of most people working for you. They are working for somebody else because they want security and they want to act in their own comfort zone. Do you think you can offer that in your home?

I'd put down 3k for a small office space for the next 3 months and see if the productivity increases.

 

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[Lagron]

Vespasian, I am sorry somehow in my post above I gave off the impression that I am making 160k USD rev. a year from the clients I have already signed up.

I am reading back to see where I wrote that but I can't find it. Let me clarify, I make $5,010.00 a month, only $60,000 plus a hundred or so dollars a year.

I also do not have other earnings, ie. no job, or other profitable ventures. I know 60 thousand a year would be great for single guys out there, but I do have expenses. Mortgage on a 4k sq. foot home excluding basement and attic (lots of space), have utilities, sewer/water/electrical/gas, cell phone, internet, fax, car, car insurance, food/clothing/entertainment. I also give money to my parents who default on their home every year, can't make payments on items/they even save $ on food : / ( I know these may all seem like excuses, for "not having what I want right this moment," but this is my story, wish I did strike rich already). Should also mention I have maxed out credit cards. Arguments that would exist with my parents/brother and sister all consist and derive from lack of $. My father owns a construction company and during the winter, it is just horrendous for business for him. He hasn't even filed taxes last 3 years, or paid the already 10k+ he owes.

Currently, from my expenses... I haven't been on vacation ONCE for 5-6 years now. There are people out there who make around what I make a year, or less a year that are on vacations and breaks, and shopping and so on... I really wish that were possible with me, I really do hope I can have that plus MUCH MUCH more by the time I turn 25 years old. (Only 22 now, May 2nd will be 23). This year, From January to the end of this Month of December... I would have spent exactly $ 1,200.00 on clothes/shoes. And around $ 1,400-$1,500.00 total on dining/entertainment this year. Six flags once, few movies, dine in theaters, dinners, the end, this doesn't get me what I want in life. Want to know something else? And what really ticks me off somewhat? I haven't gotten a haircut in months because I don't have $ for it. Heck just today I had 5$. I spend $1.50 on a drink in school and will spend $1.50 for a drink Thursday. Been called stingy, or cheap by brothers/sisters if I'm ever at their house, because I don't spend $. If I had it, there is no way I wouldn't mind spending it. Currently, I don't have more than 26$ to my name. Heck I'm in debt, a few grand, hah, a few...

Enough of what I dislike about my life...

----
I am hiring slow-laners... I mean, isn't this what I want? Or am I doing something wrong here... Yes you are right, it must kill the productivity and motivation of my employees.

You are right, I can't offer security or comfort in my home. And understand I need to DEFINITELY get an office. First post I made I think says after I generate some money to rent office space and buy furniture/minimal equipment for it I will. Currently, I can't afford squat.

Who makes $60k a year and can't afford squat? The same guy that just posted his bank account screenshot on this thread/post.

Who wants access to the fastlane INSIDERS section of this forum? (Lagron does..) is he going to get it without spending $$... nope... can he spend $$ on it? Nope...oh well, I'm screwed with everything else anyways. Anyone know if there is even a possibility of gaining access without having to pay for it?

Vespasian, your post was helpful. Yes I am working towards making more $ so that I can rent office space. It's my priority right next to retaining employees.
Commission only salesmen...it would have been great if I had the $ to pay for them, but I don't.

In regards to the luck about starting this $210.00 ...yes, I would have loved to put more $ into this, but not possible. It's all I was able to spend.

Thanks for reading.
From Lagron

 

[hughjasle]

Jack Edwards thread is absolutely amazing and I have never even attempted anything like what he is doing there. Likewise I have never been in your shoes, but I have run businesses and have dealt with employees. I say stop focusing on employees and start selling the crap out of your service yourself. This will solve most of your immediate problems and set up a solid foundation for your company going forward.

In selling the service yourself you will be able to make and save yourself some money. You seem to be able to sell better than anyone else, so free yourself from the hassles of management and just sell. Use this short time selling to create a process for your future employees on how to sell your service. From what you have already said, you should be able to get enough sales withing a month to off-set the cost of an office. Do that.

Take a breather man. You can do this. You have already proven that it can work. You will make it $1.5M no problem. Just focus on setting up the foundation first. Do that correctly and everything will be much easier. You employees will thank you as they will feel more confident and thus make more sales.

Just reread the story in TMF of the two pyramids. One guy set out full steam building his pyramid while the other worked on the system that would build the system for him. In the end the guy carefully constructed the machine blew past the other.

Take all this with a grain of salt as I have not been in your shoes so I can only offer outside advice. I do see the merit in bringing in employees from day one and using them as a leverage of scale to produce more sales. If it can work, do it. I just see stepping back and working it yourself (along side your current 2 employees, don't fire them unless they suck) as I described above as a solid way to make this printing press function as it should.

Go get 'em! I want to see your avatar changed to a pic of you sitting in your R8 next Christmas

 

[Vespasian]

I am reading back to see where I wrote that but I can't find it. Let me clarify, I make $5,010.00 a month, only $60,000 plus a hundred or so dollars a year.

Oops, you're right. Misread your sales number. So 60k is your rev or net? And you got the sales all by yourself?
You closed 32 deals, what holds you back closing another 30? Drop the college for a month if necessary.

I say stop focusing on employees and start selling the crap out of your service yourself.

This.

I also give money to my parents who default on their home every year

+1

Mortgage on a 4k sq. foot home excluding basement and attic (lots of space)

How much mortgage are you paying per month? 22-year old college student living in a 4k sqft home... sounds like you had a bad idea a few months ago.

I am hiring slow-laners... I mean, isn't this what I want? Or am I doing something wrong here...

No, this is exactly how to do it. Hire fast-laners and they'll quit after a few weeks / months.
My point is that slow-laners are slow-laners... the people who usually spend all their money on entertainment and buy status symbols they can't afford. Most of them have no vision. Put them into a garage and they'll see it as what it is: a garage. Put a fast-laner into the same place and he'll see endless opportunities, the next Apple, the next Microsoft. There's a reason why most people think that the guy who drives an expensive car is successful in live. They'll apply the same thinking to their all every parts of life.

Commission only salesmen...it would have been great if I had the $ to pay for them, but I don't.

Commission only? This might be one of the reasons why your hiring process isn't that successful so far. The sales people I know would never work on 100% commission base, so I guess you weed a lot of good guys out upfront. I know that you have no other choice with your limited funds, just some food for thought.

From what you have already said, you should be able to get enough sales withing a month to off-set the cost of an office. Do that.

I agree that your first priority should shift to getting some sort of office space to appear more professional.
I don't see your hiring process getting any easier while staying in your living-room.

 

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[Lagron]

You closed 32 deals, what holds you back closing another 30? Drop the college for a month if necessary.

Yes I got the sales alone, though I did have a friend trying to get sales with me but he didn't close anything, he acted like a motivator and pushed me into not quitting. I didn't get all those sales in a month though, over a span of a few months (I was in school, didn't think I needed more money, which I know was completely wrong).

Semester is over on the 23rd. And then I have break until the 22nd of January, ( I am going to use this period to strictly make sales, and hope I can get 25 min. in this period. It will be enough to rent office space, buy more furniture and if those sales carry forth to the next month, I can even hire a full time salesperson, with base pay/hourly + commission. (So perhaps it will help obtain a new salesperson.)

How much mortgage are you paying per month? 22-year old college student living in a 4k sqft home... sounds like you had a bad idea a few months ago.

The mortgage is a bit over 2k a month. The house was custom built, DEFINATELY A BIG MISTAKE and money eater. I could have taken the money spent to build it, and funded this fastlane plan, bought a mufti-residential unit or something to that extent. I was definitely not thinking clearly and regret this decision. NOT a single person I knew said "bad idea" instead it was "good work for you" "nice home" and so on. If anyone is thinking of buying a home or building one from scratch take it from me and DO NOT DO IT. Money is best spent elsewhere.

Commission only? This might be one of the reasons why your hiring process isn't that successful so far. The sales people I know would never work on 100% commission base, so I guess you weed a lot of good guys out upfront. I know that you have no other choice with your limited funds, just some food for thought.

Agreed, I think I need to be able to offer an average hourly rate + commissions. Am hoping when I can leave school from my mind, that I can get enough sales to fund an office and paid salesmen. It is 100% possible with 25-30 sales.

----
A little update before I head to bed, its 11:52 PM :/ and need to get up at 6 tomorrow.

Today I had one of the last 2 salesmen give me a notice that Friday will be his last day here. This blows.
After he told me this, this morning I decieded to create a little survey for people to take before they leave, to get feedback from the employees.
1 sales guy left and he said he wasn't coming in today because he had something to take care of.... I see him leaving soon as well.

I can't believe I went from having 6 people to 2 people and now soon 0 people in less than 3 weeks.
This doesn't feel so great.It's like...as if they just know I'll fail. It doesn't make me feel soo good. God I wish this was easier.

Current Goals/edited goals to keep in mind and still working towards:
1.

Make 30 sales personally, so I can rent out office space.

+ hire 1 hourly paid salesmen with prior sales experience.
2. Create a better sales foundation for my salesmen, that is more structured in accordance with my experiences/readings from suggestions at another thread here on TMF https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/need-sales-help.49255/#post-317772
3. Look into having a hosted contest at the college I attend, where I would be allowed to take signups from Marketing/Sales students, give them that commission only basis, and offer them credits to count towards an elective and their graduation fullfillments. (Still not entirely sure on this, but feel it is a great way for students to get some hands on sales experience, some money if they are good at it, and perhaps some people who do make money and commission, they choose to stay as employees).

This is all for now.

BMW M6, and Audi R8, just 355 days and I expect to have both of you! Gulp!

 

[Oitio]

BMW M6, and Audi R8, just 355 days and I expect to have both of you! Gulp!

Heya hold your horses there, you remember your house, story from MF where MJ buys the vette? Keep on hustling.

 

[Lagron]

Heya hold your horses there, you remember your house, story from MF where MJ buys the vette? Keep on hustling.

Yes I understand I am not even at the $2740 a day mark yet, let alone 4,110$ for the 1.5 million a year. But I do not understand your post...I don't remember; can you possibly link the post where MJ buys a vette instead?

 

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[Oitio]

''At the time, I thought $1.2 million dollars was a lot of money. It wasn’t. Taxes. Worthless stock options. I made mistakes and invested poorly. I bought a Corvette hoping it would make me look rich. I thought I was “rich” but I really wasn’t.'' From his story.

 

[Lagron]

Ah yes I remember that. And MJ's right... $1.2 Million or $1.5 Million isn't a lot of money after all the expenses involved.

And I do see what you mean posting that after I said I want a M6 and Audi R8... I was thinking the same thing actually, I don't really need to spend 250k total on 2 cars. If I had that 250k right now, I would have salesmen and already be on my way to a few million a year.

I just know I need a new car, am in school right this moment as I'm typing this, waiting for class. My car, a rusty 2003 Mitsubishi eclipse I have had since high school had no heat, the car is in Drive and Neutral at the same time somewhat, trans has issues and jerks back when passing the 20-25 mph mark, you know the gear changer in the middle of the car, from N, to D, R, and so on?... that isn't even there, ie. it is basically a plastic pencil piece I have to use a pencil to push a white piece inside it (250$ to fix), ex thinks I'm lazy for not getting a new car, or fixing it, and everything else in regards to it. Shes got a normal job, nice car and so on, and here I am with nothing.

M6, Audi R8... any car that has wheels and is comfortable to drive I'll take. You are right, I shouldn't squander the money on a car when one that is half price at around 50-60k can work just as fine. But...if that is the case I'm still going to buy 2 cars. What else could I need? A house? ..my house is the biggest one on my block, 12 foot ceilings, garage, pavers, walls around it and so on... what else is there...A house, a car. Then vacation/traveling and off to starting/growing more businesses.

I just do not want to have to go anywhere with a car people laugh at. I do not want to have to cringe when I'm out on a date and the dinner bill comes out to +200$ . I love fine dining, food is a passion, especially desserts. I'm a lean guy (Thank god for this), I can eat anything I want and not gain a pound.

---
Yes $1.5 Million is my goal by December next year.

But "$1.5 Million" is just a stepping stone.

I want to help my parents, make my father retire already, construction is a cumbersome field.

I want to be able to not have to look at a price tag. I want to go to the mall and buy what I see through the window. I want to be able to feel the fine fabric against my skin and smell how new clothes smell. Perhaps buy some cologne and dash through the mall with a smile on my face because of how good it makes people feel to walk by someone that smells soo fine and clean.

I want to feel the warmth of a beautiful lady, next to me on fresh bed sheets. I want to slowly get up, without waking her up, and walk up to the sliding door and out on the balcony of a hotel room, looking out at the Eiffel tower. I want to feel the cool breeze and sunshine against my face as I smile and think over how grateful I am for finding this forum and having read MJ's book.

I want her to come up behind me, kiss me in the sunshine on the balcony and go out to the peak for pictures. I want to then take a plane with the worlds best company by my side and fly to Venice. Have wine at my favorite restaurant. I want to have dinner on a boat, serviced with delights beyond my imagination and our favorite desserts.

I want to look into her eyes, and look at her flaring eyes of lust and happiness. I want us to smile and be free from time and worries. I want a life, a real life!

Most of all...I want to sleep. To sleep like a baby. I want to close my eyes and not have a single thought of money in mind or a single thought at all.

Give me that! Give me that just as I had it when I was younger!
Let me be absolved of my mistakes and let me learn from them! Let me take action towards a goal! A goal free from the necessity and instead a goal towards bliss.


This $1.5 Million, will lead to 5 Million next year! That 5 Million will lead to 10, then 20. And 50 Million. So help me, - to the body I am in, and the mindset to encumber it. Help me get what I want, or I would not have lived life at all.

Forget what I said about not buying a R8 or M6... I will get one of them. It will take time, but I want it! One day, I will post bank records and will show you, my earnings, and I will show you the exact withdrawal for the car, and then I will show you the car. I want to. If I do not get what I want, it is my fault, no one elses. I want to succeed.

--
Oh my, soo many I wants :/

 

[100k]

Vespasian, I am sorry somehow in my post above I gave off the impression that I am making 160k USD rev. a year from the clients I have already signed up.

I am reading back to see where I wrote that but I can't find it. Let me clarify, I make $5,010.00 a month, only $60,000 plus a hundred or so dollars a year.

I also do not have other earnings, ie. no job, or other profitable ventures. I know 60 thousand a year would be great for single guys out there, but I do have expenses. Mortgage on a 4k sq. foot home excluding basement and attic (lots of space), have utilities, sewer/water/electrical/gas, cell phone, internet, fax, car, car insurance, food/clothing/entertainment. I also give money to my parents who default on their home every year, can't make payments on items/they even save $ on food : / ( I know these may all seem like excuses, for "not having what I want right this moment," but this is my story, wish I did strike rich already). Should also mention I have maxed out credit cards. Arguments that would exist with my parents/brother and sister all consist and derive from lack of $. My father owns a construction company and during the winter, it is just horrendous for business for him. He hasn't even filed taxes last 3 years, or paid the already 10k+ he owes.

Currently, from my expenses... I haven't been on vacation ONCE for 5-6 years now. There are people out there who make around what I make a year, or less a year that are on vacations and breaks, and shopping and so on... I really wish that were possible with me, I really do hope I can have that plus MUCH MUCH more by the time I turn 25 years old. (Only 22 now, May 2nd will be 23). This year, From January to the end of this Month of December... I would have spent exactly $ 1,200.00 on clothes/shoes. And around $ 1,400-$1,500.00 total on dining/entertainment this year. Six flags once, few movies, dine in theaters, dinners, the end, this doesn't get me what I want in life. Want to know something else? And what really ticks me off somewhat? I haven't gotten a haircut in months because I don't have $ for it. Heck just today I had 5$. I spend $1.50 on a drink in school and will spend $1.50 for a drink Thursday. Been called stingy, or cheap by brothers/sisters if I'm ever at their house, because I don't spend $. If I had it, there is no way I wouldn't mind spending it. Currently, I don't have more than 26$ to my name. Heck I'm in debt, a few grand, hah, a few...

Enough of what I dislike about my life...

----
I am hiring slow-laners... I mean, isn't this what I want? Or am I doing something wrong here... Yes you are right, it must kill the productivity and motivation of my employees.

You are right, I can't offer security or comfort in my home. And understand I need to DEFINITELY get an office. First post I made I think says after I generate some money to rent office space and buy furniture/minimal equipment for it I will. Currently, I can't afford squat.

Who makes $60k a year and can't afford squat? The same guy that just posted his bank account screenshot on this thread/post.

Who wants access to the fastlane INSIDERS section of this forum? (Lagron does..) is he going to get it without spending $$... nope... can he spend $$ on it? Nope...oh well, I'm screwed with everything else anyways. Anyone know if there is even a possibility of gaining access without having to pay for it?

Vespasian, your post was helpful. Yes I am working towards making more $ so that I can rent office space. It's my priority right next to retaining employees.
Commission only salesmen...it would have been great if I had the $ to pay for them, but I don't.

In regards to the luck about starting this $210.00 ...yes, I would have loved to put more $ into this, but not possible. It's all I was able to spend.

Thanks for reading.
From Lagron

You are living above your means. You can't budget. Get rid of the 4k sq. foot place, move with your parents (and help with the rent/save on outgoings)... pay off the credit cards. You need to be more disciplined man! F*ck going to movies, clothes...impressing people etc. just get the job done... all that other stuff will come.

 

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[Lexauton]

Haha, I've just read through this whole thread and It resonated deeply with me on a few levels.

It's impressive that at this point you've been able to actually SELL your services. I've had a hell of a time even finding a way to market myself for what I went to college for (top of the class), much less generating income from any of my endeavors (I WILL change this soon, however.)

I digress, the bottom line I'm getting from all of this is that our biggest obstacles are ourselves and the choices we make.

I suggest eliminating as many expenses as you can, subduing 'wants' in favor of needs, and consuming/applying every possible sales technique you can find in order to emblazon a path to solid income. (Mike Filsaime and Dan Kennedy will start you off right)

You'll have an arduous path trying to climb higher with all of the overhead you've got right now. Get rid of the ceiling and start pivoting your approach. You're starting at step 10, when you should probably be around 2-3.

Just conjecture from where I'm at, so take it with a grain of salt

Regardless, I'll be watching your progress. Best of luck!

 

[mimedia]

Just some random thoughts/impressions I get reading this thread:

1. You're definitely an action taker - you thought you needed salespeople and you went out and recruited them right away. You started a business with 0.00 and took it to 60k a year in residual income at 22 - that's pretty awesome.

2. You seem really open to learning/getting feedback despite your early success, which is also awesome.

3. You're still focused a lot on the event over process, on your own wants vs serving needs. Examples:

• In the OP where you talk about starting a business with $210, you're already talking about replacing your car in a few months!
• You mention multiple times that you wish it was easier/"Give me that"/wish that you could "strike it rich".

4. You're not great at budgeting/managing money at the moment, to say the least.

• You make 60k a year, have a 2k/month mortgage, but you have $60 in your bank account and can't afford a haircut.
• One post you're talking about how you made a big mistake building a custom home and taking on a 2k mortgage, and how its crippling you, the next post you're talking about buying two 100k+ cars within 1 year. Then when its pointed out to you what a horrible idea that is on 1.5 Mil in sales, you mention buying 2 50-60k cars instead...
• You talk about having the biggest house on the block, even while you talk about not being able to afford $XX for an INSIDERS subscription (sidewalk mentality?) .
• You talk about being called cheap/stingy by your brothers/sisters, and responding to that by saying if you had the money, you would definitely spend it.
• Spending $1,200 a year on clothes/shoes and $1,500 on dining/entertainment isn't exactly making a sacrifice. In your current position (.i.e. consumer debt, no cash, starting a business), you should probably be spending a fraction of that.

If you don't nip this in the bud imho, it'll cripple you even if you manage to reach your goals. TMF has a great section on this.

Other random thoughts:
These are just things I would consider if I were in your position. I'm definitely not in your shoes, so take it however you will:

• Is it really the best idea to spend your very first bit of revenue/energy on an office + salesperson? If money is as tight as you say, then spending your first bit of revenue on rent/salary means that if your sales dip the next month, you're in big trouble. It also sounds like your biggest difficulties in retaining sales people are due to: 1) No office 2) No system 3) No proven track record 4) No base pay. All of these problems can be solved with sales - as Marc Cuban says "Sales cure all".
• Is there any reason not to pound the phones hard yourself for the first couple months, free yourself from management distractions, build up some cashflow, and refine your system? That way when you tackle hiring again in a few months, you'll be able to address all the concerns that were keeping you from keeping salespeople in the first place.
  
• Rent out your house and live with your parents. That $2000 a month mortgage is bleeding you dry, but it sounds like you might be too proud to let it go. You can use that extra money to help your parents out too, and re-invest the rest in your business. Do not buy a new car in the next few months. If you do take money out of your business, use it to pay down your consumer debt. Read mrmoneymustache.com - that's the mentality you need right now.

 

[Lagron]

You seem really open to learning/getting feedback despite your early success, which is also awesome.

Yea, you know the saying "expecting different results from doing the same thing over and over again is insane?" ..or something like that... I know I am screwing up, and I know I need to change, so trying to learn as much as I can and taking feedback and writing it down and following it when possible is the best thing I can do to change where I am right now.

You're still focused a lot on the event over process, on your own wants vs serving needs. Examples:
In the OP where you talk about starting a business with $210, you're already talking about replacing your car in a few months!
You mention multiple times that you wish it was easier/"Give me that"/wish that you could "strike it rich".

Hmm, not sure what you mean on the "even over process"... I'm concentrating on what I want as opposed on how to get what I want? When I was saying "give me that" I was saying that is what I was thinking to myself as I wrote it but you are correct, I still am focused on the event as opposed to how to get what I want... : / not sure if I'm making sense, apologies.

Then when its pointed out to you what a horrible idea that is on 1.5 Mil in sales, you mention buying 2 50-60k cars instead...

I feel like when I do something there is no reward from it. I can elaborate but it just seems like what I have, or what I have done is "nothing" or "pointless," I can make money but it just disappears. I can look at my bank account and it all goes kaput. With the cars I was just saying, it would be nice if I can feel like what I do is rewarding.

Okay, I won't be buying a car, heck I can't afford shit. Did I mention how I was driving on route 80 east towards NYC, and the front left wheel just plopped out?? flew next me, "I said SHIT" and basically rolled on the other side of the road with oncoming traffic? ... I feel like the car I have is just "garbage," I should be getting a new one. But no $ to do so, and as such I will be taking your advice. No car for me, (had a dodge durango which caught fire but thats been in the shop for weeks before I joined the forums here. I see it as inevitable to having to get another car, but I have been fine until now, I see no reason as to why it can't wait.

Spending $1,200 a year on clothes/shoes and $1,500 on dining/entertainment isn't exactly making a sacrifice.

I feel like now I am just making excuses for things in my life : / in a sense all of this is all my fault, I am where I am because of my own decisions but hope more income could help me.

Correct its not a sacrifice, but want to know what was?... I hadn't gone shopping for clothes since I used to live with my parents... that is 5 years ago... and I met a great lady that that said "you need some new outfits" or however she put it, and so we went shopping twice. Few months ago, and then before that was in January... the $1,500.00 was for dates/going out for lunch/dinner/amusement park/birthday present, but nothing else...none of it was just for my own gain. Is it bad for me to want to take a lady out? (Now I see the money spent on the dates as a wast, since that parade ended a few months ago.) My other issue...relationships, are non-existent.

If you don't nip this in the bud imho, it'll cripple you even if you manage to reach your goals. TMF has a great section on this.

What forum section is it in? (I am also unsure entirely what you mean by TMG has a great section on this.

All of these problems can be solved with sales - as Marc Cuban says "Sales cure all".

Yes, school is over Thursday this week, exams/studying taking place... I will work every moment I can on improving the service for customers and making sales calls, my goal as I posted before is 25 sales until Jan. 21 or 22nd (whichever day is the day before school starts again). These 25 sales, are going to have a different pricing method to hopefully turn in more revenue. This money will mount to 4k, I am also thinking of offering some sort of a program to get college sales/marketing students to take part as part of the "unofficial" team for learning purposes, but while also paying for their results/as they learn and earn credit for school...(this is still a big ? mark). But of course, more sales= more income to scale up...which is a step to that 1.5 million.

Is there any reason not to pound the phones hard yourself for the first couple months, free yourself from management distractions, build up some cashflow, and refine your system? That way when you tackle hiring again in a few months, you'll be able to address all the concerns that were keeping you from keeping salespeople in the first place.

There isn't "any reason not to pound the phones hard" for the first couple of months, it is just that I dislike making sales, I wish I was a sales/marketing student :/ I feel like I have a lot to learn in how sales works (I am still reading the suggested books/and taking notes on them as per the other thread I made to becoming a better salesperson).

So I guess what I should ask is... I should wait until hiring employees and renting office space? That is going to require more $ : / which I don't really have at the moment.

How much money is enough to start with then? So I can figure out how many sales I need that carry forth for a 1 year term so I can sustain it?
Office space $2.5k?...(not even sure how much sq. footage is good, I would have liked to start with 15 sales ppl but that was a failure.) How much square footage is recommended per employee?
How much does a salesmen/saleswomen want to be paid? 2.5k$ a month, + commission of 40% and then being scaled up as per one of the suggestions that were given above?

That alone is... $ 5k I would need a month to pay for office space and a single employee...having all commission based employees wasn't/is definitely not working.

2 Salesmen, paid = 5k + 2.5k office space = 7.5k a month... :/ at a rate of 25 sales a month, it would take me 2 months to make 8k. That is if I can sustain 25 sales a month (Guess this break of 1 month should help me see what is around "possible" for making sales). CRAP.

Do not buy a new car in the next few months. If you do take money out of your business, use it to pay down your consumer debt. Read mrmoneymustache.com - that's the mentality you need right now.

I will not be buying a new car. I will stay with what I have. As it was said... sacrifice and live like no one will live NOW, so that you can live like no one CAN live later... (Or something like this, I really love MJ's book!!) As for my credit cards ... God this is a big mess I have gotten myself into. I bookmarked mrmoneymustache.com, will take a look after school.

I do appreciate your post, it is insightful and helpful. I thank you for your time and help.

---
I will also say I am not a guy of few words online, not sure why but its the total opposite of me in real life. As such my posts seem to be really long... sorry about this.

Thanks again.
From Lagron

 

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[Oven]

Just wanted to say I've been watching this thread for a little while now and am enjoying it. I'm looking forward to see what comes of this, good luck!

 

[PeeVee]

I like the balkiness. Many wanteprenuers get paralyzed in starting. At least you took action and went for it and have proven that you have the ability to generate sales. Now you need to focus, hunker down and ensure you have a plan. You have proven the concept (I think) so now its 300 MPH