Thread: on the bumpy path to the fastlane...

hello fellow fastlaners,

not sure if this is the proper forum to post this, if not I apologize



So it's a crazy bumpy ride thus far, I recently got laid off from my 9 to 5, which isn't a big deal, but put a small burn on my business and side projects and I recently emptied out my bank account to support my main business which is my clothing line.

Also, I was living with my mother, my sister and her husband and my brother until I had got into a very heated confrontation with my sister's husband, causing me to leave the household and temporarily stay with my girlfriend. The only things I have to my name at the moment is a few shirts, my favorite camo shorts and my 2 laptops on which I run my business.

now, don't get me wrong, this isn't a sob story, I am making some sales here and there with my clothing line but at the moment I'm just wondering where do I go next? I am currently trying to work on building an ecommerce store, but after receiving my last paycheck, I have no money to my name LOL, and unemployment of course is taking forever.

Just need my fellow fastlaners to give me some tips on how to go about things and some advice, besides my girlfriend and my Mother, you guys are all I got when it comes to positivity and advice! Thanks in advance guys!

Seek out a successful entrepreneur on your community. Mentors are invaluable. Write them a hand written note or call them. Go to a toastmasters meeting or whatever groups they would hang out in. They love to talk about themselves and share their knowledge. If you ask, they'll love to help as they see themselves as you when they were younger. Don't be a lone renegade with just internet forum support.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by CommonCents

Seek out a successful entrepreneur on your community. Mentors are invaluable. Write them a hand written note or call them. Go to a toastmasters meeting or whatever groups they would hang out in. They love to talk about themselves and share their knowledge. If you ask, they'll love to help as they see themselves as you when they were younger. Don't be a lone renegade with just internet forum support.

Good luck!

That's a good idea, they do have a mentorship type program here in my city, for start-ups. Yeah I try not to be the lone renegade guy, but you know how it is when trying to merge onto the fastlanes, all the other folks and "friends" seem to only be found in my rearview mirror LOL.

Thank You for that! your reply is sincerely appreciated.

for the price of a domain, I believe you can still set up a store on Weebly that can get you by for now. I think there's a way to do it in Wordpress to.

Originally Posted by CEBenz

for the price of a domain, I believe you can still set up a store on Weebly that can get you by for now. I think there's a way to do it in Wordpress to.

you know what? you're right! I will check out Weebly, never heard of it, thanks for that suggestion It's funny, think I was falling under one of those "I'll just wait until.." spells again, I'm sitting here thinking "hey, I could have BEEN had a storefront for next to nothing!"

I will play around with wordpress some more, still trying to 'master' the art of wordpress.

Originally Posted by Knowledge Kick

First off, great name.

You probably know this already, but the clothing industry is brutal. If you ever watch Shark Tank you will see Damon John (founder of Coogi and Fubu) usually warn against anyone going into that particular industry.

However, if it is your passion and you believe you can make it work then go for it with everything you have! The key is not to do anything half ass. Either ditch it totally or do it like your life depends on it.

I know you said money is an issue but you can get an e-commerce store set up for next to nothing. Just get a cheap domain and place some free online store software on your site.

Hopefully more orders will come rolling in then you have in inventory. And that will be what we call a "good problem" haha

Good luck!

Thanks for the compliment on my name never heard of Shark Tank, is that like a reality show or something of the sort? I'm going to check that out, it'd be cool to see what Damon John is saying. I kind of learned after I started how brutal the clothing industry, and to be honest, it scares the crap out of me everyday! But you are right about the ditch it or do it like my life depends on it, it's the only way. It's cool you said that because that's what my clothing company's motto and logo is about really, a type of "all in or nothing" mantra.

I have been eating, sleeping and *blanking* this company, and it is an adventure I tell ya . I will go ahead and take one of my domains and try out of one those free online storefront apps and see how it goes, lol hopefully I do have that "good problem" haha.

Thanks for the awesome advice so far guys! This is why I love the fastlane! coming to this thread this morning is really adding that fuel to my burning entrepreneurial fire!

Start you're e-commerce store, don't let money hold you back! You can get it started for $1.19 here is how...

1. Go to Domain Names, Web Hosting and SSL Certificates - Go Daddy register your domain and use the coupon code aces1 you'll get your domain for $1.18 total
2. Get Web Hosting Services, Reseller Hosting, and Dedicated Servers by HostGator hosting first month is a penny with a widely available link. Just google "host gator 1 cent" or something like that an d you should find it.
3. Use a the free e-commerce site of your choice

The above links are not affiliate links.

And thats it enjoy your dirt cheap e-commerce site!

Hey there! Sounds like you're keeping up a great attitude, which is very important!

Just thought I'd add my $.02...I agree with earlier comments that you can set up an e-commerce site pretty easily. Probably the easiest way is with wordpress, then you can get a free ecommerce plugin. Check out this site:

Passionate about T-Shirts - Inspired by Music | DJ T-Shirts | Worm Sign T-Shirts

It's a tshirt site with basic ecommerce. They use a plugin called eshop eShop: quirm.net

I'm not affiliated in any way, I was just researching for a basic ecommerce site I'm building.

You'll have to do your research on various plugins, etc to find the right one, but if it's a smaller ecomm store, you'll be ok with wordpress. I believe the one above only accepts paypal (which allows credit card payments also on paypal's site), but maybe that's enough to get started.

If you want something more advanced, many hosts offer free carts like zen cart or cube cart (I've never used those personally but a lot of shops do).

Also, if you want to take credit cards directly on your site without leaving, you'll need a dedicated SSL Certificate. They can be found for cheap, but you'll probably have to pay a couple extra bucks a month for a dedicated IP to use it - check with your host.

Most merchant accounts will check your credit, so if that's a problem you'll have to get someone to help you, or use another alternative. You can still take credit card payments offsite through Paypal, Google Checkout or Amazon, in which case you won't need an SSL.

So it can be done for very little money, and a lot of hard work. Good luck!

Originally Posted by ManWithABeard

I will play around with wordpress some more, still trying to 'master' the art of wordpress.

Just get it out there. Learn as you go, don't try to know everything before you start; otherwise you'll never be ready. Execute, plan, execute.

Originally Posted by MCD

Start you're e-commerce store, don't let money hold you back! You can get it started for $1.19 here is how...

1. Go to Domain Names, Web Hosting and SSL Certificates - Go Daddy register your domain and use the coupon code aces1 you'll get your domain for $1.18 total
2. Get Web Hosting Services, Reseller Hosting, and Dedicated Servers by HostGator hosting first month is a penny with a widely available link. Just google "host gator 1 cent" or something like that an d you should find it.
3. Use a the free e-commerce site of your choice

The above links are not affiliate links.

And thats it enjoy your dirt cheap e-commerce site!

man that is awesome, I appreciate you sharing this. I really do man! REP SPEED for you my friend!

Originally Posted by tonye

Hey there! Sounds like you're keeping up a great attitude, which is very important!

Just thought I'd add my $.02...I agree with earlier comments that you can set up an e-commerce site pretty easily. Probably the easiest way is with wordpress, then you can get a free ecommerce plugin. Check out this site:

Passionate about T-Shirts - Inspired by Music | DJ T-Shirts | Worm Sign T-Shirts

It's a tshirt site with basic ecommerce. They use a plugin called eshop eShop: quirm.net

I'm not affiliated in any way, I was just researching for a basic ecommerce site I'm building.

You'll have to do your research on various plugins, etc to find the right one, but if it's a smaller ecomm store, you'll be ok with wordpress. I believe the one above only accepts paypal (which allows credit card payments also on paypal's site), but maybe that's enough to get started.

If you want something more advanced, many hosts offer free carts like zen cart or cube cart (I've never used those personally but a lot of shops do).

Also, if you want to take credit cards directly on your site without leaving, you'll need a dedicated SSL Certificate. They can be found for cheap, but you'll probably have to pay a couple extra bucks a month for a dedicated IP to use it - check with your host.

Most merchant accounts will check your credit, so if that's a problem you'll have to get someone to help you, or use another alternative. You can still take credit card payments offsite through Paypal, Google Checkout or Amazon, in which case you won't need an SSL.

So it can be done for very little money, and a lot of hard work. Good luck!

thank you, yeah I always try to stay positive even in these dark times . eshop sounds like it's right up my alley, since at the moment I am only using paypal, which so far has been working very well for me.

the thing with wordpress is, and it maybe only me overthinking it, it seems like I can stumped by it. For example, the shop you showed me (the wormsightshirts one) and it looks awesome and professional. I try to make my site look as clean and I just get stumped. I do love wordpress though. I'll give wordpress another crack and see what I can come up with. Thank you so much for sharing that info with me. you guys rock!

Originally Posted by petethepeddler

Just get it out there. Learn as you go, don't try to know everything before you start; otherwise you'll never be ready. Execute, plan, execute.

very very true there. I'm definitely implementing this formula now. I was the exact opposite about a week ago, didn't get anything done nor sold and only have myself to blame. (that and that cursed PS3!)

Thank you for the wise and true words my friend!

a quick update - for the time being I'm using bigcartel.com for the time being, so I can continue to make sales as I set up a storefront most likely using wordpress.


since everyone was so helpful so far, I went ahead and Rep Sped (or speeded) everyone. Thank you to everyone who has been giving me awesome advice and tips so far, this is why I love this forum, I know I don't post often, but trust me, I'm here atleast 4 times a week just gathering all of the info.

Originally Posted by ManWithABeard

(that and that cursed PS3!

Stay away from XBox's and PS3's ... I won't play them unless I accomplish something. It's my personal reward for doing something. These are time sucks and will bleed your dreams dry.

Originally Posted by petethepeddler

Learn as you go, don't try to know everything before you start; otherwise you'll never be ready. Execute, plan, execute.

Legendary advice. Take learning one step at a time.

[QUOTE=MJDeMarco;158829]Stay away from XBox's and PS3's ... I won't play them unless I accomplish something. It's my personal reward for doing something. These are time sucks and will bleed your dreams dry.



You're right about that. Not going to lie, I caved in about a week ago, and my productivity that day was embarassingly low. Since then, I've hidden the controllers away from me, only my girlfriend knows. Before I left my previous residence, I had always kept it at my girlfriend's house. Now, since I stay with her, I try my best to stay away, I even set up my laptops in the other room, that way it's out of my sight as I work.

Thanks for the advice MJ

Still not as productive as doing actual work, but if you've got an itch to play a video game, I'd recommend a mobile game. They're more casual and it's easy to pick one up and play for 5-10 minutes. I do this as a small reward sometimes and it doesn't suck me in like a console game.

Originally Posted by mrhahn

Still not as productive as doing actual work, but if you've got an itch to play a video game, I'd recommend a mobile game. They're more casual and it's easy to pick one up and play for 5-10 minutes. I do this as a small reward sometimes and it doesn't suck me in like a console game.

Yeah I hear ya on that one, I've been playing Words With Friends mainly. it's a mobile game. It's a word game and it really gets my brain jogging, and even better it's a social game, so in a weird way you're stimulating your brain AND you're doing it with a friend, which is healthy for the mind and sould

Just a quick update: So since the last time I posted (excluding my reply to MrHahn, who offered a great tidbit ) I have a little bit of progress.

I have made some sales, mainly to friends who support me and friends of my friends, which feels awesome. I'm getting inquiries of prices and sizes left and right, with a sale or two coming from those. Nothing to pay the bills, beer money perhaps LOL!

Also a sidenote, I don't know how she did this, but my girlfriend convinced an NFL player to wear my shirt and take a picture with it, BUT he asked for a 2XL and I don't have one , but he's still down to wear when I put the next order of tees In.

And I have to add, that some of my friends, as well as a few that I barely know, have been doing a very good job of spreading the word around of my clothing company and for that I am Thankful.

I am not a salesman whatsoever, so I am a bit shy as far as trying to market my clothing . However, I am not scared whatsoever of public speaking (I excel at that believe it or not), so I'm kinda confused on how I should go about things.


anyway more updates to come soon! I thank you all for the helpful words, it really did help me out of the darkest of times, I still am in dark times, but I'm slowly pulling out of it, thanks to my fellow Fastlaners!

a bit of an update to my fellow fastlaners.

so, my inventory of my first line of tees is getting lower, which is an AWESOME thing.

I started handing out t-shirts whenever I'm not selling them, just to get the brand out there, the reception is amazing and people constantly tell me how they love the shirts and the concept of my clothing brand.

a cool little situation happened recently: my girlfriend and I had started a fake twitter account of a hot chick and a pictured of her rear-end in some sexy little shorts was used at the display picture. the sole purpose of the account was to promote my clothing brand. Well, while I was on the way home from visiting my mother, my girlfriend called me and said that a rap artist from a famous rap group had contacted her through the fake twitter account. He gave her his phone number, e-mail and everything. I was at a loss for words!

so, since the girl in the twitter picture didn't exist, I had to spend half the night making phone calls and finally managed to find a girl who looked just like the girl in the picture. Now, if all goes to plan, I am going to have her appear in that artist's music video wearing one of my tees and if they want to book her for more videos, I will ask her to represent my clothing company.

I feel a step closer to my dreams, it's such an awesome feeling. Financially, I am still struggling, but man, it's such a rush that I don't even care, I'm just riding this bumpy road on my suped up ATV!!


feedback and advice is greatly appreciated, I am learning much more on this forum than I am in a college campus and this is free! more updates to come!

Thank you all.