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P789

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I have a problem of one of the commandments, which is CONTROL. Any business violates this commandment not because of being controlled by one Huge Business but the government controls ALL of the businesses, including large-scale ones.

The government can shut down any business within its territory which is already demonstrated when ABS-CBN (Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcating Network) got off-air last May 4, 2020 after they refused to give their franchise.

So, to have control of your business, simply follow government regulations.

Correct me if I’m wrong.

EDIT: Added something
 
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Time and Scale seem to be the most elusive commandments.

Of the two I’m not sure which is more rare, but if you include magnitude with scale, time seems to be the rarest of all...
 

MJ DeMarco

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I have a problem of one of the commandments, which is CONTROL. Any business violates this commandment not because of being controlled by one Huge Business but the government controls ALL of the businesses, including large-scale ones.

The government can shut down any business within its territory which is already demonstrated when ABS-CBN (Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcating Network) got off-air last May 4, 2020 after they refused to give their franchise.

So, to have control of your business, simply follow government regulations.

Correct me if I’m wrong.

EDIT: Added something

Kinda like saying, Well if an asteroid hits the earth, do you really have control?

If aliens invaded earth, do you really have control?


If my country voted for NAZIS to run the government, do you really have control?

Stop being ridiculous for the sake of being argumentative.
 
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P789

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Kinda like saying, Well if an asteroid hits the earth, do you really have control?

If aliens invaded earth, do you really have control?


If my country voted for NAZIS to run the government, do you really have control?

Stop being ridiculous for the sake of being argumentative.
Ok thank you for clarification and I’m sorry because I was so pragmatic lately in the recent situation here.

P.S. I need to calm down
 

MJ DeMarco

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Ok thank you for clarification and I’m sorry because I was so pragmatic lately in the recent situation here.

P.S. I need to calm down

No worries. If we dig deep enough, you realize we control nothing. Control is just relative to the system we find ourselves in.
 

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It's never been about full control over all possible variables.

In my book, C in CENTS stands for risk control. Through diversification, abundance, multiple channels, safety margins, redundancy measures, reduction/prevention of a single point of failure etc.

Trying to reduce all possible risks to zero is analysis paralysis. Going all in without any risk control and hoping for the best is learning the lesson the hard way.
 
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I have a question when you say "need(value)" does it have to be a need with in the market or can it be a need you create for example, say company 1 sells shirts and they are making good money, but then company 2 decides to sell shirts but makes the experience and the quality way better.
 

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say company 1 sells shirts and they are making good money, but then company 2 decides to sell shirts but makes the experience and the quality way better.

Value skew:
1) Quality
2) Experience
3) Marketing

You have 3 reasons why someone should buy your t-shirts over the "company making good money".

Need isn't always about "need" per se, but about WANT, DESIRE, and EMOTIONAL connections.
 

Vasili27

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Value skew:
1) Quality
2) Experience
3) Marketing

You have 3 reasons why someone should buy your t-shirts over the "company making good money".

Need isn't always about "need" per se, but about WANT, DESIRE, and EMOTIONAL connections.
thanks MJ appreciate the feed back
 
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Thought I'd start a thread based upon the CENTS Business Commandments found in The Millionaire Fastlane and UNSCRIPTED , just in case someone searches for it by search engine.

Since this concept is covered in both books, I don't think I ever posted an "official" thread on the topic. It would be nice to have a thread for it, especially for people who have never read my books and come across the concept in some other venue or dialogue.

Also, I'd like to document its existence beyond the 2 books, just in case another 21-year old wannabe coaching guru steals it and claims it as his own.

So here we go...

The CENTS Business Commandments
(As found in The Millionaire Fastlane (CENTS) and Unscripted by MJ DeMarco)

The CENTS Business Commandments is a methodology used for testing the veracity of your business idea or opportunity from an Fastlane entrepreneurial perspective. The CENTS Commandments is the foundation for a Fastlane Business found in the Unscripted Entrepreneurial Framework (TUNEF).

The purpose of the commandments is to improve your probabilities for creating a business that can change your life forever through RAPID WEALTH ACCELERATION, both income (business profit) and net worth (business valuation.)

The centerpiece of the CENTS Commandments is NEED, or relative value -- value relative to other offerings available in the marketplace. Relative value considers the entire marketplace -- a blog full of fitness tips might be valuable, but it isn't RELATIVELY valuable because there are thousands of similar blogs.

View attachment 18212

Each Commandment is as follows...
Thank you for creating this post. Much appreciated
 

Issi007

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The Commandment of Scale (centS)

A productocracy’s fifth and final CENTS Commandment within the Fastlane structure is the Commandment of Scale.

Scale instructs that legacy value systems must be replicated through mass or magnitude while making a profitable impact.

The four definitive components are:

1. Legacy value system
2. Replication
3. Mass or magnitude
4. Profitable impact

First, your offering must eventually evolve into a legacy system in accordance with the four prior commandments. A legacy system carries the components of the TIME component, both physicality and detachment.

Second, your LVS must be replicable, or easily copied into multiple units, locations or chains.

Optimally, this replication should extend among hundreds or thousands, if not millions, of units. For instance, software is easily replicated. The same goes for a website service where increased users and traffic extend replication. My forum receives over 100,000 visitor sessions per month. In the ten years I owned my Internet company, I served a multitude of millions. Physical products like this book also offer replicative elements; my printer can print one million books as easily as 10,000. Replication turns one store into twenty, one duplex into a dozen, and hundreds sold to millions.

Third, replication must have either mass or magnitude. Most people think scale automatically equates to mass-market millions or operating in multi-billion market size. However, scale can also be graced through magnitude, or the gravity of your impact. For instance, if you provide housing for twenty families (not mass market), you’ve scaled by magnitude and probably are doing well—housing is a magnitudinal endeavor. Sell ten restaurant franchises for your organic, GMO-free restaurant, and again, brute-force magnitude occurs.

The fourth element in the definition is a profitable impact. The UNSCRIPTED business is about profits, not ten years from now but within your first year. Nowadays, too many businesses are labeled a success by virtue of growth or run rates. Many never make a profit for years and bleed cash like an Instagram playboy. Most start-ups birthed on the tech coast create value and make an impact. The problem is, they don’t make a profitable impact for years.

Amazon is a great example of a company that makes a phenomenal impact but largely hasn’t been profitable. Remember: Selling hundred-dollar bills for fifty bucks isn’t what we want. “Bleeding value” might grow a company fabulously and have VC’s drowning us in term sheets, but that’s not our objective. Let the deep-pocketed sultans of Silicon Valley make those gambles.

Your goal is UNSCRIPTED , which demands profitability now, not later. And if you want to create the next hot start-up reveled on TechCrunch, the better bet is doing it UNSCRIPTED where “F*ck you” opens up more possibilities.

As producers, we are in the business of serving consumers—not few, but many. However, before impacting the masses, we must first impact one—and do so profitably. If you can impact one profitably and your legacy system is replicable, congratulations, you’ve laid a scaling track.

The act of profitably impacting many is where your income (and life) makes quantum leaps. Optimally, your business solution should impact an industry large enough to impact your life. If you have a software solution appealing to hospitals, the appeal of magnitude scale exists. If any business owner could use your product, the appeal of mass scale exists.

The market size constructs the ceiling under which we limit ourselves. If your solution sells for twenty bucks and your target customer is an Internet-savvy octogenarian who owns a Corvette, the market ceiling is at your ankles. How big is that market? You can’t fill a pool with an eyedropper. Olympic swimmers don’t train in bathtubs. Swim in bodies of water large enough to take you somewhere.

Excerpt From: MJ DeMarco. “UNSCRIPTED : Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Entrepreneurship.”
It is much clearer now after reading your post.
Really efficient framework, i already started to use it.

Thanks for sharing MJ !
 

Kevin88660

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Time and Scale seem to be the most elusive commandments.

Of the two I’m not sure which is more rare, but if you include magnitude with scale, time seems to be the rarest of all...
They belong in the same broad group of concept. Time is a form of scalability also.

Time is more specifically about automation or having things that sell themselves without the heavy lifting in logistics, ebooks, music from artist for example.

If you own a brick and mortar business you need to hire to create scalability and partial divorce from your own time into doing everything.

Not necessarily so if you write books, blogs or create videos.
 

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The Commandment of Entry (cEnts)
The Commandment of Entry identifies poor opportunities and crowded markets that should be avoided. The Entry Commandment also gives insight into where real opportunities hide. By definition, the Commandment of Entry states: As entry barriers to any business or start-up process weaken or become “easified,” so does the strength or the potential of the opportunity.

:bulb:Simply put, the easier the opportunity, the worse it is.

:bulb:Conversely, the harder something is to solve, the greater the opportunity.

If you’re an entrepreneur scoping for ideas, the best are the hard ones because the difficulty represents the opportunity. When difficulty doesn’t exist and the Commandment of Entry looms, another red flag is hoisted: you aren’t solving any problems.

Think about that.

If you do something that takes minutes to accomplish or solve, was there really a problem? Or are you merely stacking yourself atop a mountain of already existing solutions? If you’re starting a Mexican restaurant in a city full of Mexican restaurants, you aren’t satisfying dire cravings.

The unfortunate reality of “it’s too hard” as a roadblock is great ideas are overlooked.

If your idea requires advanced programming and you don’t know how to do it, you move on to the next idea. If your invention requires electrical engineering and plastic mold injection and you don’t know where to find these people, darn, next idea.

And then the circle jerk of idea-hopping ensues, a never-ending scavenger hunt for the next great idea, the one simplistically executed or invented, the one that exactly fits your skillset and knowledge base, and the one that, unfortunately, solves nothing.

Again, the difficulty is the opportunity.

The magnitude of the problem solved is the magnitude of the money you can make.

The Commandment of Entry is underwritten by the process-principle: Starting a business, or entry, isn’t an event, but a process reflecting the execution time needed to solve the problem. Much of this time is composed of a learning curve. Entrification is building a moat erected from difficulty, keeping easified entrepreneurs out of your castle.

EXAMPLE:

Imagine you live in a bizzaro city with a bizzaro government. In this city, the government loves restaurants. To incentivize their creation, the city government will fully subsidize any restaurant proposal. To take advantage of their generous offer, you stroll into city hall, fill out a form, and bam, here’s your blank check for your eatery. With the blank check comes an entire “start-up manual” on how to get your restaurant up and running.

Unfortunately, this government policy has not come without consequence. As you can guess, the city is jam-packed with restaurants. You can’t walk ten feet without seeing a restaurant. Every commercial building has one. Every corner. Heck, even some residential homes are running restaurants out of backyard garages.

So let me ask you…

Is starting a restaurant in this city a good choice? A gold mine of opportunity?

Of course the answer is a big fat NO.

Hopefully you see the obvious mistake (and foolishness) of starting a restaurant in a city smothered by restaurants. And yet, how is this foolishness any different from starting, say, the forty-millionth blog? How about joining a network marketing company that has saturated a particular geographic region?

The difference is simply visibility.

In our restaurant example, “easification” occurred when the government made it super easy and super cheap to open a restaurant. Suddenly, restaurants are everywhere because entry barriers—namely money, risk, and even experience—were removed from the creation effort. Anytime getting in business is as simple as filling out an online form or doing something so simple that a bum on a street corner can do it, the red flag of “easification” is flown. When that flutters in the wind, so flutters the potency of the opportunity signaling an entry violation.

THE OPPORTUNITY OF DIFFICULTY: THERE IS NO F*ckING LIST

Failed entrepreneurs fail for many reasons.

One is they don’t understand entrepreneurship—what it is and what it is not.

Entrepreneurship isn’t about nomadding in Thailand on a beach with an open laptop while drinking an umbrella drink. It's not about flashy cars and fistfuls of cash posted on Instagram, passive income, or a Forbes cover story.

Entrepreneurship is about problem-solving, creating convenience, satisfying desires, and becoming valuable.

When you create something that takes a big effort to solve, you ensure you're solving problems and becoming valuable.

Easy solves nothing.

Excerpt From: MJ DeMarco. “UNSCRIPTED : Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Entrepreneurship.”
Thank you for this, really helpful reminder.

Would a perfume brand be a Cents Commandment business?

Control: It would be my own and sold in several retailers, website, marketplaces, wholesalers etc…though that would of course take time.

Entry: Fairly difficult entry point as you either do it yourself if you are good enough or you need to hire a perfumer which can mean that each perfume can take 3-6 months to be created.

Need: With this one I’m struggling, I mean yes it’s a want as people want perfumes but of course designers all have perfumes so choice is huge and would fighting against the big designers. However as each fragrance is unique what makes it difficult to sell (people liking the fragrance or not) it’s also one of the advances as if people do like then they can become repeat buyers for a long time.

Time: it’s definitely a business that can provide sales while sleeping and systems can be put in place.

Scale: It can definitely be scalable but as like stated above fragrances are unique so there’s a fairly big difficulty in scaling at pace unless the fragrances are quite general and appealing to all.

For that a body care, home, skincare product base could be easier to scale as fragrances would be easier to sell.

Any input on this would be appreciated as I’m struggling in deciding between perfume brand or body care, home brand.

Thank you
 
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Thank you for this, really helpful reminder.

Would a perfume brand be a Cents Commandment business?

Control: It would be my own and sold in several retailers, website, marketplaces, wholesalers etc…though that would of course take time.

Entry: Fairly difficult entry point as you either do it yourself if you are good enough or you need to hire a perfumer which can mean that each perfume can take 3-6 months to be created.

Need: With this one I’m struggling, I mean yes it’s a want as people want perfumes but of course designers all have perfumes so choice is huge and would fighting against the big designers. However as each fragrance is unique what makes it difficult to sell (people liking the fragrance or not) it’s also one of the advances as if people do like then they can become repeat buyers for a long time.

Time: it’s definitely a business that can provide sales while sleeping and systems can be put in place.

Scale: It can definitely be scalable but as like stated above fragrances are unique so there’s a fairly big difficulty in scaling at pace unless the fragrances are quite general and appealing to all.

For that a body care, home, skincare product base could be easier to scale as fragrances would be easier to sell.

Any input on this would be appreciated as I’m struggling in deciding between perfume brand or body care, home brand.

Thank you
People do blind buy fragrances. Eg in fb groups they'll ask for recs because they live in small towns etc and want to order online. Some people (like me) just don't have the time to go around sniffing. Reviews etc are good. Ads could lead to "free sample" which is part of your marketing cost plus send a bottle out a week later unless they cancel subscription - would need to check the legalities of this subscription model.

I'm looking into home products including scented candles/diffusers etc in Australia, would you mind sharing your experience of how you got into the fragrance biz and anything to look out for?
 

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People do blind buy fragrances. Eg in fb groups they'll ask for recs because they live in small towns etc and want to order online. Some people (like me) just don't have the time to go around sniffing. Reviews etc are good. Ads could lead to "free sample" which is part of your marketing cost plus send a bottle out a week later unless they cancel subscription - would need to check the legalities of this subscription model.

I'm looking into home products including scented candles/diffusers etc in Australia, would you mind sharing your experience of how you got into the fragrance biz and anything to look out for?
Thank you for the reply and yes I think I am over thinking in a way.

Fragrances was always one of my loves and not in a way that would actually make me do perfumes as I am not a perfumer but mainly on a smelling sense.

I thought previously in starting a beauty brand but the competition just like in perfume is fierce so I had to come up with a strong brand story before starting to think on doing this. As is it well documented you should never start a business just because you love it but because you can bring something different, story to the world and make your mark that way and that is what I came up with story wise. The idea is at some point to bring not only perfumes but also shower gels, creams, candles, red diffusers etc also based on our story.

One thing to bear in mind is costs, to have a private label fragrance made by a perfumer (which I am doing) costs quite a bit of money. You dont necessarily need to do that, a lot of private label candles diffusers as you mentioned will already have something done previously so they will be able to sell it to you as white label so basically their product with your logo, that however means that you have is not unique.

That is not necessarily a bad thing as you can bring things to the market faster and cheaply but then it is not unique. However I would say that most people do not know and will never know. I hired a perfumer just because I wanted to create something more unique so less problematic when it comes to being my own brand and my own entity.

I also wanted something that would be of high quality.

You will need to contact a lot of retailers at some point and I have created my own list so work on that and you will need money for influencers, social media which for me might be more cost effective to start with.

Good luck and ask any other questions.
 

Vasudev Soni

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Thought I'd start a thread based upon the CENTS Business Commandments found in The Millionaire Fastlane and UNSCRIPTED , just in case someone searches for it by search engine.

Since this concept is covered in both books, I don't think I ever posted an "official" thread on the topic. It would be nice to have a thread for it, especially for people who have never read my books and come across the concept in some other venue or dialogue.

Also, I'd like to document its existence beyond the 2 books, just in case another 21-year old wannabe coaching guru steals it and claims it as his own.

So here we go...

The CENTS Business Commandments
(As found in The Millionaire Fastlane (CENTS) and Unscripted by MJ DeMarco)

The CENTS Business Commandments is a methodology used for testing the veracity of your business idea or opportunity from an Fastlane entrepreneurial perspective. The CENTS Commandments is the foundation for a Fastlane Business found in the Unscripted Entrepreneurial Framework (TUNEF).

The purpose of the commandments is to improve your probabilities for creating a business that can change your life forever through RAPID WEALTH ACCELERATION, both income (business profit) and net worth (business valuation.)

The centerpiece of the CENTS Commandments is NEED, or relative value -- value relative to other offerings available in the marketplace. Relative value considers the entire marketplace -- a blog full of fitness tips might be valuable, but it isn't RELATIVELY valuable because there are thousands of similar blogs.

View attachment 18212

Each Commandment is as follows...
I have read TMF two times, and it has completely changed the way I think about money & business. Thank you @MJ DeMarco for writing such an eye-opening book.
 
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You will need to contact a lot of retailers at some point and I have created my own list so work on that and you will need money for influencers, social media which for me might be more cost effective to start with.

Good luck and ask any other questions.
Thanks so much, yes I've been reading up a bit and certain niches like home fragrances need retail exposure especially when people do impulse buying (candles especially). I run two biz's already (not ecom) and am still in the ideas stage for ecom.

I'm contrarian in that following my heart while meeting mkt expectations has worked well for me, so I'd say if you love fragrances and already have contacts etc then you should go for it.

Personally I will blind buy any fragrance including home fragrances if I can buy a sample first.

edit to add: have you checked out fragrantica forums? the true perfume addicts might have some more relevant advice.
 
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Nuno da Silva

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Thanks so much, yes I've been reading up a bit and certain niches like home fragrances need retail exposure especially when people do impulse buying (candles especially). I run two biz's already (not ecom) and am still in the ideas stage for ecom.

I'm contrarian in that following my heart while meeting mkt expectations has worked well for me, so I'd say if you love fragrances and already have contacts etc then you should go for it.

Personally I will blind buy any fragrance including home fragrances if I can buy a sample first.

edit to add: have you checked out fragrantica forums? the true perfume addicts might have some more relevant advice.
Yes Fragrantica and Basenotes is another one to look at. Well I haven’t decided yet as I’m still pondering if body care like the brand Rituals might work better as it’s less personal.
I’ve seen them growing and investing a lot so maybe that area is fairly well covered but if I come with a slightly different angle might work and then add perfumes at a later stage but yeah still pondering as well.

The only thing that makes me wonder on the perfume brand is the name of the products themselves.

They are based on locations which is fine but for example naming something like Relaxing or a energising or Ayurveda seems to be easier to sell so to speak for a cream or shower gel then call it Mayfair for example.

Also and of course one of the things that might make a difference until you have a distribution agreement is the fact that you cannot really send perfumes outside the UK or at least not via air so that though not impossible to tackle later, initially will make that growth a little bit harder though the uk is big enough to start with.
 
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Dangerous Donna

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Done!

Thread is OPEN and I marked it GOLD because every aspiring entrepreneur who hasn't read my books needs to read it!
BRAVO. Outstanding coaching talk! Why do I always feel like you are yelling?
 
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Thought I'd start a thread based upon the CENTS Business Commandments found in The Millionaire Fastlane and UNSCRIPTED , just in case someone searches for it by search engine.

Since this concept is covered in both books, I don't think I ever posted an "official" thread on the topic. It would be nice to have a thread for it, especially for people who have never read my books and come across the concept in some other venue or dialogue.

Also, I'd like to document its existence beyond the 2 books, just in case another 21-year old wannabe coaching guru steals it and claims it as his own.

So here we go...

The CENTS Business Commandments
(As found in The Millionaire Fastlane (CENTS) and Unscripted by MJ DeMarco)

The CENTS Business Commandments is a methodology used for testing the veracity of your business idea or opportunity from an Fastlane entrepreneurial perspective. The CENTS Commandments is the foundation for a Fastlane Business found in the Unscripted Entrepreneurial Framework (TUNEF).

The purpose of the commandments is to improve your probabilities for creating a business that can change your life forever through RAPID WEALTH ACCELERATION, both income (business profit) and net worth (business valuation.)

The centerpiece of the CENTS Commandments is NEED, or relative value -- value relative to other offerings available in the marketplace. Relative value considers the entire marketplace -- a blog full of fitness tips might be valuable, but it isn't RELATIVELY valuable because there are thousands of similar blogs.

View attachment 18212

Each Commandment is as follows...

The amount of value given away on this forum is incredable. I registered here a few days after reading the millionnaire fast lane and it's the gift that keeps on giving. Love this forum, glad I stumbled across it....(via the book)
 

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@MJ DeMarco - Where does being a Realtor land in all this?

After reading all CENTS I’m starting to feel I’m investing time into the wrong thing ( plus I hate it). I believe there’s a charlie munger or Warren buffet quote that says no matter how hard you row if you are in the wrong boat it won’t take you to where you want. That saying seems true.

Can’t detach from time, hard to scale, super saturated, lack control as your really just the middle man and other peoples choices impact your income even after investing months of time, and the business starts at zero each month as you have to find new clients who may not repurchase again for 5-7 years. On top of that yes there’s a need but it’s well filled. There are almost more active agents than sales right now.

I have made money in this business despite the 87% industry failure rate but it truly feels like a hampster wheel and I’m ready to get off and find something new. Am I spot on here?

I would love to hear your opinion. I’ve been reading through the forum for days looking for direction.
 

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@MJ DeMarco - Where does being a Realtor land in all this?

After reading all CENTS I’m starting to feel I’m investing time into the wrong thing ( plus I hate it). I believe there’s a charlie munger or Warren buffet quote that says no matter how hard you row if you are in the wrong boat it won’t take you to where you want. That saying seems true.

Can’t detach from time, hard to scale, super saturated, lack control as your really just the middle man and other peoples choices impact your income even after investing months of time, and the business starts at zero each month as you have to find new clients who may not repurchase again for 5-7 years. On top of that yes there’s a need but it’s well filled. There are almost more active agents than sales right now.

I have made money in this business despite the 87% industry failure rate but it truly feels like a hampster wheel and I’m ready to get off and find something new. Am I spot on here?

I would love to hear your opinion. I’ve been reading through the forum for days looking for direction.
In my place unless you are a top star you have to rely on managing rental income for owners and take a 10 percent cut.

In some way if you are running a recurring revenue business it could be scalable in theory.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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Where does being a Realtor land in all this?

The hot shot agents who make millions tend to be brokers with large organizations and foot soldiers doing the showing, selling, etc.

On the CENTS scale, a standalone RE agent doesn't score very well, but is better than most jobs since it offers a better system for wealth creation since income caps are removed (scale), if you sell $50M in homes in one year, safe to say, you probably had a good year.

TIME, it scores poorly unless you go the broker route. ENTRY is poor. NEED is average since the market is full of agents, yet, the agent system of selling real estate is still used and enforced here in the states, but is ripe for disruption.
 

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@MJ DeMarco did you facepalm at all when you realized N-E-C-S-T could be CENTS. On my first read through of TMF some 11 years ago I never put it together that it could be CENTS either, or was it purposeful? :p
 

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