15 months later. You might want to read this.

[GuestUser140]

Hi all,

You might want to read this.

15 months ago I wrote this post:
https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...e-fastlane-by-michael-grey.46884/#post-286345

In short, rather than viewing flipping on Craigslist as a temporary cash generator, I wanted to show that it can be turned into a retail fastlane business.

At the time I was buying in bulk, sold in different cities, was contemplating opening a retail store. Wanted 500k in 15 months.

That was 15 months ago. Time flies. Feels like 5 months.

What happened during the past fifteen months?

• I've sold over $1.2M worth of product.
• I filled a need for nearly 4000 customers.
• I made hundreds of thousands in profit. Saved 99% of it.
• I built a website. I've learned that I love the internet.
  • I never opened a store. A physical store is no prerequisite for retail success. My current overhead is $5 for the website and $300 for an office each month. A B&M store, where I live, starts at $3000/month with a 36mo. lease. This means committing over $100,000 + 8 hours daily of your time to be physically present. Those are serious numbers.
• Spent time building a brand. Pack my products in custom packaging. Give my customers a 1 year warranty. They love it. Provide excellent after-sales service. Encourage word of mouth.
• I'm still a one-man show. I work 35 hours/week solving problems, answering e-mail, telephone, packing and shipping. I outsource repairs.

This is what I'm doing now:

• Advertise more. I never spent more than $200/month on advertising. For starters: Google Adwords. Want to learn it and see results. Perhaps some time in the future offline ads (posters, radio, bill board, bus stop, direct mail).
• Lower my margins to sell more volume. Or at least try. My business identifies itself as "good value", even though I charge $20 more than competitors on a $350 product. My net after tax profit is $50/sale. What if I lower this to $30? Will that result in xx% more orders? Currently testing this with one product.

Later down the line: hire people to pack & ship, limit customer service to e-mail only.

I don't focus mainly on making 500k and selling my business anymore. I focus on helping 10,000 customers asap. I treat it like a game.

Enough "I" for now...to all you guys flipping small stuff on CL out there for "fun and profit": scale up. If you can sell one, you can sell 10. If you can sell 10, you can sell a hundred. Help people. Build a business, a brand. Stop making excuses that this is "just for now, to pay the bills" and stop thinking your "real", proper fastlane business is a future thing when you'll have read all the books, have a $MM mentor, and the sun will shine 365 days a year.

Make a dent.

 

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[Tiago]

I'm happy for you, keep grinding!

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Congrats man, amazing how things can change in just one year. I love seeing one of these progress threads actually continue for months to actually produce, well, progress! Kaizen baby!

 

[Tyler K]

This is amazing, I may start hustling on craigslist but my niche would be BMX bikes and stuff that I'm familiar with.

Thanks for the inspiration!

 

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[GuestUser140]

Congrats man, amazing how things can change in just one year. I love seeing one of these progress threads actually continue for months to actually produce, well, progress! Kaizen baby!

Coming to this forum and reading the book all that time ago, with no money but plenty of drive, I never would have thought I'd read this as a reply to a thread of mine. Thank you.

 

[daivey]

im curious how you do this just using ebay and craigslist. is there that much volume from those two sites to drive so many buyers?

 

[Harestock09]

Hi all,

You might want to read this.

15 months ago I wrote this post:
https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...e-fastlane-by-michael-grey.46884/#post-286345

In short, rather than viewing flipping on Craigslist as a temporary cash generator, I wanted to show that it can be turned into a retail fastlane business.

At the time I was buying in bulk, sold in different cities, was contemplating opening a retail store. Wanted 500k in 15 months.

That was 15 months ago. Time flies. Feels like 5 months.

What happened during the past fifteen months?

• I've sold over $1.2M worth of product.
• I filled a need for nearly 4000 customers.
• I made hundreds of thousands in profit. Saved 99% of it.
• I built a website. I've learned that I love the internet.
  • I never opened a store. A physical store is no prerequisite for retail success. My current overhead is $5 for the website and $300 for an office each month. A B&M store, where I live, starts at $3000/month with a 36mo. lease. This means committing over $100,000 + 8 hours daily of your time to be physically present. Those are serious numbers.
• Spent time building a brand. Pack my products in custom packaging. Give my customers a 1 year warranty. They love it. Provide excellent after-sales service. Encourage word of mouth.
• I'm still a one-man show. I work 35 hours/week solving problems, answering e-mail, telephone, packing and shipping. I outsource repairs.

This is what I'm doing now:

• Advertise more. I never spent more than $200/month on advertising. For starters: Google Adwords. Want to learn it and see results. Perhaps some time in the future offline ads (posters, radio, bill board, bus stop, direct mail).
• Lower my margins to sell more volume. Or at least try. My business identifies itself as "good value", even though I charge $20 more than competitors on a $350 product. My net after tax profit is $50/sale. What if I lower this to $30? Will that result in xx% more orders? Currently testing this with one product.

Later down the line: hire people to pack & ship, limit customer service to e-mail only.

I don't focus mainly on making 500k and selling my business anymore. I focus on helping 10,000 customers asap. I treat it like a game.

Enough "I" for now...to all you guys flipping small stuff on CL out there for "fun and profit": scale up. If you can sell one, you can sell 10. If you can sell 10, you can sell a hundred. Help people. Build a business, a brand. Stop making excuses that this is "just for now, to pay the bills" and stop thinking your "real", proper fastlane business is a future thing when you'll have read all the books, have a $MM mentor, and the sun will shine 365 days a year.

Make a dent.

Great post - thank you. It's inspirational!

 

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[GraffiZy]

Awesome mate. Really motivating story, in which country do you operate?

 

[GuestUser140]

im curious how you do this just using ebay and craigslist. is there that much volume from those two sites to drive so many buyers?

I don't (anymore). After +-100 sales (usually earlier) you either know you have got something worthwile or not. At this point you should start to build a system that can support 100 sales per day if need be. That's where all your knowledge of need/scale/entry/... comes in.

As mentioned above, I built a website and sell my products through that. At the start, I offered customers the ability to just call, pick up their item and pay cash if they felt uncomfortable buying online. Even if 80% of people came to pick up their item, I still gave the impression that 9 out of 10 customers ordered online. I mentioned the upside "you've got it in your hands the next day" and addressed concerns "you can pay cash-on-delivery, so you know you'll get your item".

I encouraged them to spread the word if they liked their purchase. I guess with many people hearing from colleagues that went to pick up their item and were satisfied, just skimmed through the website and ordered that way.
It also helps that I sell consumer electronics, these people are likely to be somewhat tech savvy in a country where e-commerce is behind its neighbours.

Mind you, when I was doing primarily pick-ups the first half year, those pick-ups where at my home. Since I'm 23, most people thought I was just helping out in my parents' business. 10 cars parked up front was not an exception on a weekday :'). Over the past six months though, more and more people have started buying online. Only since two months I've started to rent an office for <$300/mo., and noticed customers are way easier to talk to/open their wallets in an office-setting. They see us more as a business than a "guy who sells...". I don't regret waiting this long to rent an office though. I plan to go office-free / postbox only when my lease is over in 10 mo.. Even at this point in time there are days where I make two times as much packing up online orders in less time than it takes to go to my office for pickups.

On a final note, I've been an eBay seller before and hate the fact that you don't have control. Your business can be shut down instantly because of a few lousy customers. In real life, aka on your own website, you can still resolve the matter and help your customer out. I've read the same thing somewhere on this forum before (by Vigilante or Biophase), back when I still sold on eBay, and never believed making a website out of nothing would be profitable. I'd say do it and don't look back. Jeff Bezos didn't sell his books on eBay either, did he?

 

[smithsta]

@MichaelGrey congratulations! What you have done is really impressive! You did that in 15 months, imagine what you can do in 24 or 36. Hard work definitely pays off!

I've set myself a goal of 100k in 12 months but reading this I am perhaps aiming too low. I should probably look at it like you and help x amount of customers instead of looking at it as gaining money.

You have inspired me!

 

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[smithsta]

Another thing I find crazy is you the fact you only ever spent $200 on advertising. You could probably scale your biz like crazy if you mastered Adwords and even Facebook ads.

 

[RazorCut]

On a final note, I've been an eBay seller before and hate the fact that you don't have control. Your business can be shut down instantly because of a few lousy customers.

We used eBay as a sales channel for several years and amassed 250,000 feedback. Within a year of being on eBay I developed a dedicated website and within 2 months was taking more on the Web Site than on eBay (and ebay sales were great back then).

Sold the business including the eBay account a few months back and heard this week that the person that bought it (for quite a lot of money) has had their account frozen and will probably lose it as the member of staff responsible for customer service ignored each and every complaint and so the account was flagged. The boss should have been keeping an eye on it but obviously wasn’t. They have told me not only is the account under imminent threat of closure but their other eBay stores will be closed as well effectively closing the company as eBay is too big a part of their turnover to easily recover from.

A lesson leant very much the hard way.

 

[GuestUser140]

We used eBay as a sales channel for several years and amassed 250,000 feedback. Within a year of being on eBay I developed a dedicated website and within 2 months was taking more on the Web Site than on eBay (and ebay sales were great back then).

Sold the business including the eBay account a few months back and heard this week that the person that bought it (for quite a lot of money) has had their account frozen and will probably lose it as the member of staff responsible for customer service ignored each and every complaint and so the account was flagged. The boss should have been keeping an eye on it but obviously wasn’t. They have told me not only is the account under imminent threat of closure but their other eBay stores will be closed as well effectively closing the company as eBay is too big a part of their turnover to easily recover from.

A lesson leant very much the hard way.

All that time jumping through hoops with eBay accounts can be used more effectively. I'd say do it right from the start.

Is there an opportunity to repurchase (part of) your business for pennies on the dollar, bootstrap and grow again?

 

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[GuestUser140]

I've set myself a goal of 100k in 12 months but reading this I am perhaps aiming too low. I should probably look at it like you and help x amount of customers instead of looking at it as gaining money.
You have inspired me!

No you're not.

The first $100k changes everything. Making that amount on your own, in less then two years, without a job, puts you in good company.

The way you look at life, people commuting to their 9-to-5 in a POS car, complaining about day-to-day struggles, it all changes. $100k brings with it a sort of calm confidence you never knew you could have. There is light at the end of the tunnel, if you commit yourself to make this $100k a few times over (you've now done it once, so you can do it again), you could be the guy that wakes up at 10.30 AM, gets in the lambo to pick up his model girlfriend from the airport, while the rest of the world is doing data entry in Excel.

Realize that you need to fill a need, offer value, treat people well to earn this, but there's no shame in focussing on that $100k.

I'd be lying if I said that's not what I did. It was only after making six figures, that I started to think about strategy. In other words, I could:

a) continue like this for 10 years: 100,000 x 10 = $1M
b) strategize: advertise to sell more, run promotions, cut costs, ... and aim to be done in less than 10 years. Rather than focussing on $xxx,xxx left to make, I focus on xx,xxx customers. Looks easier and reminds you that you don't make that money, your customers make you your money.

Remember that the first $100,000 is a B*tch as Charlie Munger once said. It gets easier the second time round.

All the best.

 

[Vigilante]

Another thing I find crazy is you the fact you only ever spent $200 on advertising. You could probably scale your biz like crazy if you mastered Adwords and even Facebook ads.

An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Mexican replied, “only a little while. The American then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs. The American then asked, “but what do you do with the rest of your time?”

The "Mexican Fisherman" said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine, and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life.” The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise.”

The "Mexican Fisherman" asked, “But, how long will this all take?”

To which the American replied, “15 – 20 years.”

“But what then?” Asked the Mexican.

The American laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions!”

“Millions – then what?”

The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”

- Author Unknown

 

[smithsta]

An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Mexican replied, “only a little while. The American then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs. The American then asked, “but what do you do with the rest of your time?”

The "Mexican Fisherman" said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine, and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life.” The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise.”

The "Mexican Fisherman" asked, “But, how long will this all take?”

To which the American replied, “15 – 20 years.”

“But what then?” Asked the Mexican.

The American laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions!”

“Millions – then what?”

The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”

- Author Unknown

Fair Point @Vigilante

 

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[GuestUser140]

An American investment banker was...

How do I PM you?

 

[Esquire]

That is beyond awesome. Congrats!

Threads like this make me (seriously) second guess my decision to go "all in" on my niche dating site.

Makes me think ... maybe I ought to "diversify" my approach ... and market online products (at the same time).

Seems like that's the way most folks (here) are hitting it out of the park.

Note to self.

Kick a$$!

 

[GuestUser140]

That is beyond awesome. Congrats!

Threads like this make me (seriously) second guess my decision to go "all in" on my niche dating site.

Makes me think ... maybe I ought to "diversify" my approach ... and market online products (at the same time).

Seems like that's the way most folks (here) are hitting it out of the park.

Note to self.

Kick a$$!

I'd say don't cheat on your spouse, but at the same time I like physical products because they make for a very tangible business. It's also mentally simpler: buy low, sell high x sell more.

It can be done with $10 widgets or half a million dollar homes. Rinse & repeat.

 

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[Esquire]

I'd say don't cheat on your spouse, but at the same time I like physical products because they make for a very tangible business. It's also mentally simpler: buy low, sell high x sell more.

It can be done with $10 widgets or half a million dollar homes. Rinse & repeat.

I hear you on that ... I strongly suspect my main focus will continue to be on developing community-based sites ... membership sites ... blogs ... forums ... etc. ... but with so much expertise (here) on the product side ... I just can't help but wonder if I shouldn't have a metaphorical "affair" on the side ...?

I suspect I should.

Why limit myself ...?

 

[GuestUser140]

I hear you on that ... I strongly suspect my main focus will continue to be on developing community-based sites ... membership sites ... blogs ... forums ... etc. ... but with so much expertise (here) on the product side ... I just can't help but wonder if I shouldn't have a metaphorical "affair" on the side ...?

I suspect I should.

Why limit myself ...?

Go do it already. Try out a variety of things, there may be a new opportunity just around the corner.

 

[Esquire]

Go do it already. Try out a variety of things, there may be a new opportunity just around the corner.

I will.

There is something admittedly tempting about the concept of ... Acquire Product / Market Product / Flip Product / Profit.

Community building ... while it may have its long term benefits ... is a bitch and a half.

It's no quick flip ... I can tell ya that much.

It would be nice to have a second project to work on with a (faster) potential reward.

You've inspired me.

 

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[Peakdesire]

You don't even know how much threads like yours inspire young (20yo) aspiring entrepreneurs like me!

Thanks and congratulations on your success!

Few words of advice for a youngster?

 

[GuestUser140]

You don't even know how much threads like yours inspire young (20yo) aspiring entrepreneurs like me!

Thanks and congratulations on your success!

Few words of advice for a youngster?

I'm still climbing my mountain, but thanks.

Your age is a great starting point. If I could go back to the 20 year old version of me, this is what I'd tell him to do:

Learn about life, success and money. It's imperative that you understand why only a small minority of people are living a life worth living and the rest is paying bills till the day they die. The following media, read in this order, should help you understand.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki (listen to the audiobook)
The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale (download audio from youtube)
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill (listen to the audiobook)
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie (listen to the audiobook)
The Four Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss (listen to the audiobook)
Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Speech (watch on Youtube, then download audio and put it on your MP3)
The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ De Marco (read paper/pdf version)
How to get Rich by Felix Dennis (paper/PDF version)

There's no manual for this type of life. Go by instinct, gut feeling. Sure, these books will help a ton. It's you and only you, however, who has to decide what to do today, tomorrow, or next hour. Don't doubt yourself so much. Just try things out. You've got nothing to lose and the whole world to gain. Action beats mental masturbation.

Spend your waking hours improving yourself. Dress well, eat healthy, think before you speak, brush your teeth a couple of times daily. Whatever you can think of that makes you better, do it. Doing things right means doing them right when no one else is watching. Give this short life your best shot.

Sleep 8-10 hours a night. Wake up early. Again, you decide if that's 5:00 or 7:30 AM.

Stop spending money.

Observe other people. Learn non-verbal language. Learn to negotiate.

Don't do things because people around you are doing them and you just happen to be there. I mean this in a sense of, don't feel obliged to go out and drink this Saturday if you know in your heart it's not really you and you'd rather have a Lambo in your twenties. It's ok to avoid the noise.

Work out 3-5 times a week.

Make a powerpoint presentation with all your goals in it. Collect pictures, snippets, be as detailed as possible. So not just "a" lamborghini but the black Gallardo Spider priced $xxx,xxx. Do this for everything: physical fitness, athletic accomplishments, dream girl, car, house, vacations, hobbies. Open the powerpoint often. Visualize you having accomplished all of that. What does it feel like? Use your emotions to give you relentless drive.

Look for angles. There has to be some way you can make money. Don't look for get rich quick things, how many millionaires do you know that used them? Right. Try to make $100 without a job. Your first $100. Go from there.

Don't be afraid of embarrassment while pursuing your goal. It's all part of being committed.

Money is not just for other people. It can be for you too. Expect a great, happy life.

And lastly, where do you want to be 5, 10, 20 years from now? Chances are big you're not going to be anywhere worthwile, just like most citizens in adultville. Unless you really want it. Do you want it? Then go get it. It's up to you now. You against the world, but you'll make it.

 

[Peakdesire]

I'm still climbing my mountain, but thanks.

Your age is a great starting point. If I could go back to the 20 year old version of me, this is what I'd tell him to do:

Learn about life, success and money. It's imperative that you understand why only a small minority of people are living a life worth living and the rest is paying bills till the day they die. The following media, read in this order, should help you understand.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki (listen to the audiobook)
The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale (download audio from youtube)
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill (listen to the audiobook)
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie (listen to the audiobook)
The Four Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss (listen to the audiobook)
Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Speech (watch on Youtube, then download audio and put it on your MP3)
The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ De Marco (read paper/pdf version)
How to get Rich by Felix Dennis (paper/PDF version)

There's no manual for this type of life. Go by instinct, gut feeling. Sure, these books will help a ton. It's you and only you, however, who has to decide what to do today, tomorrow, or next hour. Don't doubt yourself so much. Just try things out. You've got nothing to lose and the whole world to gain. Action beats mental masturbation.

Spend your waking hours improving yourself. Dress well, eat healthy, think before you speak, brush your teeth a couple of times daily. Whatever you can think of that makes you better, do it. Doing things right means doing them right when no one else is watching. Give this short life your best shot.

Sleep 8-10 hours a night. Wake up early. Again, you decide if that's 5:00 or 7:30 AM.

Stop spending money.

Observe other people. Learn non-verbal language. Learn to negotiate.

Don't do things because people around you are doing them and you just happen to be there. I mean this in a sense of, don't feel obliged to go out and drink this Saturday if you know in your heart it's not really you and you'd rather have a Lambo in your twenties. It's ok to avoid the noise.

Work out 3-5 times a week.

Make a powerpoint presentation with all your goals in it. Collect pictures, snippets, be as detailed as possible. So not just "a" lamborghini but the black Gallardo Spider priced $xxx,xxx. Do this for everything: physical fitness, athletic accomplishments, dream girl, car, house, vacations, hobbies. Open the powerpoint often. Visualize you having accomplished all of that. What does it feel like? Use your emotions to give you relentless drive.

Look for angles. There has to be some way you can make money. Don't look for get rich quick things, how many millionaires do you know that used them? Right. Try to make $100 without a job. Your first $100. Go from there.

Don't be afraid of embarrassment while pursuing your goal. It's all part of being committed.

Money is not just for other people. It can be for you too. Expect a great, happy life.

And lastly, where do you want to be 5, 10, 20 years from now? Chances are big you're not going to be anywhere worthwile, just like most citizens in adultville. Unless you really want it. Do you want it? Then go get it. It's up to you now. You against the world, but you'll make it.

I love you

Thanks so much

 

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[RazorCut]

All that time jumping through hoops with eBay accounts can be used more effectively. I'd say do it right from the start.

Is there an opportunity to repurchase (part of) your business for pennies on the dollar, bootstrap and grow again?

I wouldn't go down that road again. The main reason for selling what that the trend has been in gradual decline. It is cyclical and will come back but barrier to entry is not high and the marketplace overcrowded 6 years on.

As most seasoned platform sellers know it is hard to compete on service and quality alone on eBay and Amazon as the game is fixed very much in favour of cheapest sells best. Also with the proliferation of Chinese sellers on these markets margins have been squeezed to death in most categories. If you have a unique product(s) then you can do well otherwise you have to gear up for volume and low margins most of the time or continually change your product lines as competition steal your high margin items.

That is a game I no longer want to be sitting in on.

 

[RazorCut]

buy low, sell high x sell more.

It can be done with $10 widgets or half a million dollar homes. Rinse & repeat.

Great advice.

The golden rule that often gets overlooked as a business grows is:

"Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity, cash is reality"

So many companies loose track of this simply statement and end up with huge turnovers, enormous overheads and massive borrowing and overdrafts. Stay lean and mean unless there is a very good reason not to.

 

[bboyu]

What an acheivement Michael congrats and thanks for the thread.

I have a few questions, when you started out were you focused on a particular market or were you just buying and selling anything? If you were buying and selling anything how did you build a brand around it? Did you brand yourself as a buy and sell anything type of a store?

In terms of tax how did you structure your business at the beginning? did you do more offline transactions to beat the taxman? If it was online were you paying any tax? If not then how when everything is tracked online?

What you have done is scaled immensley and turned into a fastlane business what say Richkids hustling thread is about which was not supposed to be fastlane.

 

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[SJVC]

Love it. Rep++

 

[GuestUser140]

Great advice.

The golden rule that often gets overlooked as a business grows is:

"Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity, cash is reality"

So many companies loose track of this simply statement and end up with huge turnovers, enormous overheads and massive borrowing and overdrafts. Stay lean and mean unless there is a very good reason not to.

Couldn't agree more.

Especially the overhead part. I just don't get people who think a "proper" business needs a fancy color laser printer, ergonomic desk chair etc. Unless you love your business and want to do it till the day you die, it's like hanging curtains in a jail cell to me..

Even if you made a million from a simple table and chair..would you change a thing?

That stuff doesn't add anything to the bottom line.. People end up using their dollars buying things they never imagined to buy when they started out.

I love Richard Branson's idea of never having a desk. Compare this to Merrill Lynch CEO Thain Spent $1.22 Million On Office