Thread: Hello from the slowlane ...

Just picked up MJ's book and can't put it down. Truly excited about the future.

Introducing myself seems a little weird, but here goes. I am 40, but I feel like I'm 30. Wife and two kids. Live in a small, Michigan town. Attended four years at a state university but didn't graduate. I'm a business book/program/system/ etc junkie.

I've held only 3 'joe' jobs, and they are all long behind me. I consider myself an entrepreneur at heart. I've created or help create 4 businesses to date. None of them have been very successful ... yet. I'm ten years into working on my 4th which has sort of split into two businesses, so maybe it's 4 and 5. 4 is an IT services business which has been 'slowlane' so far and needs a defibrillator. 5 has seemingly HUGE potential and almost lines up with a fastlane business as defined in the book.

I spend a LOT of time on my businesses, I have a strong desire to buy my freedom. It's one of my top drivers. I would GLADLY sign up to work hellish hours for the next 5 years if I could buy my freedom at the end.

Two years ago I founded a master mind group of sorts to collectively work on becoming successful. I loved the idea (and still do) but I found that, though the local people I selected were quality, like-minded folks, nobody really had the passion to make anything happen. We went on for about a year and then I pulled the plug on it. The reaction in the other contributors was 'meh' so I guess I made the right decision there.

My hope for this book, and this forum is to give me the foresight to make sure I'm on the right road, and to meet people more intense and more intelligent than myself, and hopefully interested in mutual success.

Cheers

Aaron Garn

You said you have had 4 businesses that were not very successful. Do you know why they weren't? Do you feel you have learned from the experience and feel like you are on the right track now?

No, I definitely learned a lot from all of them. I can spot different problems with each experience, but if I had to be blindingly honest with myself, lack of passion, lack of maturity, lack of discipline were my root problems.

My so called 4th business has been a little bit more successful (very little). But even there, I've been on a hamster wheel for about 9 out of the 10 years I've been in business. The last year I've started to get increasingly 'dis-satisfied' (for lack of a better word).

My partners and I have started to put some more points on the boards with some marginal successes, but the bottom line is, it's still very much a self-employed 'job'. And even though we all voice the desire to get our business to a more passive income type business, there's no clear plan.

Another thing that's tough is I have a 3-way partnership which makes it very hard to move the needle. We're in considerable debt, so we're somewhat stuck together. We do have some potential locked up in ourselves, and my partners are honest, good guys, so it's not like I'm in a personal hell. It's just that I've turned the corner on what I'm willing to accept in terms of output and progress, and I'm finding I need to drag my partners along.

Further, we've invested 6 of the 10 years in another venture with another 3-way partnership. So in that venture, we have 6 people that all have equal say. Even crazier as you might imagine. This business is a marketing promotion that seemingly has HUGE potential for fastlane success. The hard part here is that we have 6 personalities at the top. Very difficult to be stable.

To sum all of this up, and in answer to your question, I wouldn't say I'm on the right track yet, but do I feel like I'm possibly starting to see the right track.

Life is a learning experience and as MJ says, it's only if you fail at business and do not take heed to the hidden lessons then and only then have you really failed miserably, but awesome enough, in your "process" of seeking freedom (and I know u didn't recognize it - 4 not successful businesses, an AWESOME eye-opening book by MJ Demarco AND a newfound attitude to revise your "process" from a different perspective - states CLEARLY that you have already succeeded your way into your solution of freedom) I commend you all the way and wish you all the best and likewise, I am DEFINITELY with you all along the way. To you: Great Success the Fastlane way. Congratulations!