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A detailed account of a Fastlane process...

Gunther Herzog

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Apr 22, 2018
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This is my Progress thread.
In this Thread I write about my Dream becoming reality.

In June 2017 I founded a Mastermind group with a friend of mine, who I knew of, thought similar about the subject of money and business.
So from then on we met each week, exchanged Ideas, concepts and were accountability partner for each another.
We went through a lot of ideas and concepts. Every week both of us came up with a variety of new ideas. We always evaluated them critically.
On the 17th meeting we had idea that got us both fired up that much, that we instantly began with execution.
We worked hard on it. We set up a web page, organized suppliers, got a prototype and so on.
The product itself is a earphone that looks like a hearing aid, so you can carry it whenever you want, without anyone noticing anything.

However, we made a product where there was no need for. As i haven't read the book from MJ back then, i didn't check the N of the C-E-N-T-S. In our micro-test-phase we realized: There is zero existing market for our product. We ended the project. Still we had learned a lot.

We didn't let this drag us down. We continued our weekly meetings.

On one meeting my partner took some kind of pen out of his pencil case.
I was absolutely amazed by this pen. I have never seen something like that before, but I absolutely adored it.
As I found out, he got this pen in Taiwan during his exchange year. There everyone there uses those pens, he told me. For him this has become a normal pen. Anyway, I also wanted to have one, so I looked in stores and online. And I couldn't find it anywhere. Nothing.

Online in Forums I found out that people search something like this pen, but couldn't find anywhere. N of C-E-N-T-S already met. Good!

----------------------------------------------------------------------
To be continued...
 
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Gunther Herzog

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Apr 22, 2018
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So then I contacted all people I knew who were into art, painting and sketching. As i graduated at a school with a lot of art students, I know plenty. I asked them if they were interested in trying this pen. They all were thrilled.
I ordered samples and let them try the pen. After letting them try, I offered them the opportunity to buy. Approximately 50% of those pre-ordered one. Yeah, my first sales!

Then I negotiated with several suppliers. The Chinese quality standards are different from the swiss one! As we are in the high price range, and high quality, we need to be able to deliver goods of finest quality. After a long search I found a good, trustworthy supplier. We also had a Skype-Video-Call and it all looks good.
The organizing was exhausting, because the product is 4 things bundled together, and I didn't find a supplier who could provide all of those goods. So I had to organize a lot.

Simultaneously to that I founded a company, a <UG (haftungsbeschränkt)>. It's pretty much like a ltd. Main point: limited liability. I created a name and I had a Icon, Logo and Banner made, by and old School friend, who's a crack when it comes to graphics.

On top of that, some administrative things changed. Basically, my Partner wasn't working as much as I did. Actually he didn't do anything! We planed earlier on to found the company together, get a 50% and 50% split. But as I stated that 70-100 hours a week are normal for me, he backed off pretty fast. He just has not the work ethic one needs to be a fastlaner. On the other hand, despite his non-existing output, he still was worth gold as an accountability partner. He kind of has a staff function now.

As we also have a postcard in our bundle, we needed to have photos. In two photographer sessions, I made with a friend who is into photography, we made all necessary pictures.

Next thing is the organizing of the shipping.


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To be continued...
 

Nmm540

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This earphone you speak of having a non-existant market. I have actually been looking for one like that. Where you can tell someone is wearing it. I work in the construction industry and we're not allowed to have earphones for safety reasons/totalitarian contractors. Everyone at my job ended up buying ear phones that look like safety ear plugs. The thing is that theyre not bluetooth and can be controlled other than with on ones phone. Id rather have one thats bluetooth and discreet. Anyways that just my two cents.
 

Gunther Herzog

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Apr 22, 2018
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Dear @Nmm540
Thank you for your feedback!
So with the solution you ended up, is it something like this?
got-ears-plugfones-workers-isolation-earphones-kit-131.gif

Are you content with it?
I personally really thought that it was a great Idea, because I myself was searching for something like that, but couldn't find anything like I searched for. But the market never lies. It is also possible, that I made a poor Market test.

Do you think I should retry?

I also quited this because, I think it is somehow semi-legal, as you help the employee to avoid the rules of the employer. I was not sure how that is for legal structures. I asked a lawyer and he was very critical about my idea. However maybe I asked a very strict lawyer?
 
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Gunther Herzog

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Apr 22, 2018
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Update:

I have now called 10 businesses that are in the bureau niche and asked them if I could come to present them my Product. Four out of them agreed. So I showed up, showed them the product, let them test it and told them our story. Two instantly ordered a sample order of 10 pieces, one wanted time to evaluate it and one canceled.
20 pre-sales. Yeah!

There have been some delays with the creating of the company, so I have been working on that. Basically it is not possible to found a company with limited liability in Switzerland under a capital of 20'000 CHF (Around $20'000). As this starting Capital is too big for this project, I searched for an other solution. I am now founding in Germany. There it is possible to start a company with limited liability for 1€. But coming with the struggle that if one wants to found a company in Germany, one needs a business address in Germany.

Then for taking the product pictures. I informed myself on the web, and found out that while perfect catalog-photgraphy can not be made by yourself, nearly perfect catalog-photgraphy can be done. I built a light tent, bought some LED flood lights and borrowed a reflex camera from a friend.
I am thought about uploading the of the shots that were taken, but somehow am afraid, that my idea could be stolen. I am sorry for that. The photos really look like out of a catalog!

I have invested in improving my online appearance, I bought a fitting Domain name and switched from wordpress to joomla. It is complexer and with that comes more options and flexibility. With this I will be able to deliver a better experience to costumer visiting our website.

I could organize good freight conditions and am soon able to start the manufacturing process.


I know that I am not advancing very fast, bust still progress is steadily.



----------------------------------------------------------------------
To be continued...
 

Late Bloomer

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After letting them try, I offered them the opportunity to buy. Approximately 50% of those pre-ordered one.

Very cool way to test the market demand!

I asked them if they were interested in trying this pen. They all were thrilled.
I ordered samples and let them try the pen. After letting them try, I offered them the opportunity to buy. Approximately 50% of those pre-ordered one. Yeah, my first sales!

I don't have the link for it right now, but a while back I read some remarks by a guy who had a specialty pen company. He ordered the parts by the thousands, and paid some people in his local area to mindlessly slide and snap them together, taking a few seconds each, whenever they happened to have some free time. He paid them an amount of money they were happy with. Is something like that an option, or do you have to get the completed product as an already assembled whole?

. On the other hand, despite his non-existing output, he still was worth gold as an accountability partner. He kind of has a staff function now.

You got off easy on that one, rather than having to carry him!

But coming with the struggle that if one wants to found a company in Germany, one needs a business address in Germany.

There is a type of service in the US called "registered agent service." If you want to create a company in a different state, there is a law or accounting office with virtual box or suite numbers. They take care of all the official mail that comes for the company. They can ship it to you, or even better, open, scan and email you any documents for your company. I wonder if there is something like that in Germany?
 
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Gunther Herzog

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Apr 22, 2018
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@Late Bloomer, thank you for your detailed replie!

This line is inspirational gold. Love it! Thank you for sharing the story! I'm continuing to read on down...
Thank you very much. The feedback loop kicking in. I'm doing something right!

He ordered the parts by the thousands, and paid some people in his local area to mindlessly slide and snap them together, taking a few seconds each, whenever they happened to have some free time. He paid them an amount of money they were happy with. Is something like that an option, or do you have to get the completed product as an already assembled whole?
Interesting approach - never thought of that. But in the case of my pen, this is not possible. Thanks for the inspiration anyway.

"registered agent service."
Yes, that also exists, and I am using exactly that. Maybe I just was very naive, thinking that founding a company would be so easy.
 

Late Bloomer

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I also quited this because, I think it is somehow semi-legal, as you help the employee to avoid the rules of the employer. I was not sure how that is for legal structures. I asked a lawyer and he was very critical about my idea. However maybe I asked a very strict lawyer?

I think that would be the responsibility of the buyer. If you do not advertise the product in a way that suggests or implies people could use it to violate the law, I have a hard time seeing how you could be held responsible. Sometimes a lawyer will try to think of the worst case catastrophe that would bring more work for a lawyer. For example, "If you're in a construction zone, combine your mandatory hearing protection with your choice of your own tunes or podcasts.*
* Please confirm that the 21 db SPL protection level of these earphones are suitable for your own workplace."
If you say something like that, how could anyone win a lawsuit against you if their boss finds out and complains?

* I am not a lawyer
 

Gunther Herzog

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Apr 22, 2018
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I think that would be the responsibility of the buyer. If you do not advertise the product in a way that suggests or implies people could use it to violate the law, I have a hard time seeing how you could be held responsible. Sometimes a lawyer will try to think of the worst case catastrophe that would bring more work for a lawyer. For example, "If you're in a construction zone, combine your mandatory hearing protection with your choice of your own tunes or podcasts.*

Thats a really good point. I for sure will re-investigate that.

Yeah and if I write in the AGB's that the buyer is
self-responsible for all actions, that should be fine.

I will contact a lawyer next week. I really got hope, that maybe this idea wasn't so bad after all. Thank you!
 
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Nmm540

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I ended up just buying a bluetooth earphone thats visible from aliexpress for like $10. I just watch my surroundings for when a boss comes. My friends use that one you have a picture of except its in orange and safety colors. Should you retry it? Idk thats up to you. I dont think youre gonna be making $100,000 a year with them. Its definitely a solution to us construction workers problem.
 

Gunther Herzog

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Apr 22, 2018
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The game is over. At least for this time.
My partner quit, the supplier screwed up and the expenses are too high. The pre-orders where all cancelled. The C-E-N-T-S where never met, and I just couldn`t admit that to myself untill recently.

Well thats how it looks right now.

I will close the company.

This venture is now closed. My "Journey to absolute freedom" comes to an end. Well no, not an end, I justs reached a low point. The adventure continues.

I don`t want to get any pitty, nor do I want to justify my failure, nor do I want to blame anyone. I just want to tell you the story of a fastlane student who didn`t (temporary) succeed.

Since the last post, it`s a long time. 19th May till today, this is more than a 100 days or 3½ Month. I wasted a lot of time in trying to save the sinking ship. I spend a lot of time being depressed and realizing that it is not going to work. I spent soo much time on finding excuses about every thing: Why it didn`t work, why I felt very bad, the others are screwing me over, and on and on.

Before two weeks I did the math again, and finally realized: Even with the most optimistic prediction, it wouldn`t pay enough.
And realistically speaking, I was going to lose money with every sale.
So I took a deep breath and spoke it out loud: I`m going to end this.

I did. Now please do not think I quit the fastlane, because of one (or two) failures! It wasn`t the method it was my way of implementation.


What are my next steps:
1.) Go to college a, get MBA in Mechanical Ingeneering
2.) Go work, to find a great C-E-N-T-S Problem
3.) Build fastlane business in the sector of automatisation.
4.) Huge EXIT and life of freeedom!!




 

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