NOTABLE! $3,000 to $1,000,000 in 15 months: HOW TO DO IT

[Mr.B]

Profit. It would have to be profit.

Always the wiser choice!

 

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[hestati]

Guys, new challenge for you.

You have until the end of the year (so 2.5 month) to go from 10k to 100k. Your expenses are paid so you can play with all 10k.

You can't do anything illegal, but can do "grey" things (for example gambling at the illegal casino).

Again, no borrowing, no OPM.

I thought about it for a few days, herr's what I would do.

You need either insane scale or high magnitude. Scale is harder to do in a short time, so I will start with magnitude. Real estate? Probably not in 2.5 months. Same with cars, even if you're good at flipping, with just 10k and 2.5 months not gonna happen. What else is expensive AND liquid? Precious stones. So here's what I would do:

1. Read everything I can on emeralds. Pay a jeweller to learn even more. Become an expert in a few weeks or so of intense research.

Buy a plane ticket to Bogota, Colombia and buy a high quality emerald there for 5-7k.

Bring it to a country where emerald prices are highest, say it's Japan or Switzerland. Sell it there for a profir of 3-4K. Repeat until you reach 100k.

Is it guaranteed success? Probably not. But given extremely limited time it's probably your best shot.

How would you approach this?

 

[biophase]

Guys, new challenge for you.

You have until the end of the year (so 2.5 month) to go from 10k to 100k. Your expenses are paid so you can play with all 10k.

You can't do anything illegal, but can do "grey" things (for example gambling at the illegal casino).

Again, no borrowing, no OPM.

I thought about it for a few days, herr's what I would do.

You need either insane scale or high magnitude. Scale is harder to do in a short time, so I will start with magnitude. Real estate? Probably not in 2.5 months. Same with cars, even if you're good at flipping, with just 10k and 2.5 months not gonna happen. What else is expensive AND liquid? Precious stones. So here's what I would do:

1. Read everything I can on emeralds. Pay a jeweller to learn even more. Become an expert in a few weeks or so of intense research.

Buy a plane ticket to Bogota, Colombia and buy a high quality emerald there for 5-7k.

Bring it to a country where emerald prices are highest, say it's Japan or Switzerland. Sell it there for a profir of 3-4K. Repeat until you reach 100k.

Is it guaranteed success? Probably not. But given extremely limited time it's probably your best shot.

How would you approach this?

Have you been watching too much Gen Hunt? I think you have a much better shot flipping cars.

Seriously, you think that buying a stone for $7k and selling it for $11k in two different countries will be easier than flipping a $7k car for $11k in the USA? Plus you have all the airfare, hotels, etc...

In Gem Hunt they buy for $1k and sell for $30k. That's more worth the risk.

 

[hestati]

I actually never watched gem hunt.

Problem with flipping cars, how muxh can you make with 10k initial? Say you're VERY lucky, you buy a car and it sells the next 2 days, netting you 1k. Not enough time.

Plus, cars are not liquid enough. There may be no deals today, or if there are, the guy is too busy to show it to you today. Supply is limited.

With emeralds or other stones you first purchase is 7k, your next purchase is 10k next one is 15 k, 22, 30, 40....



Again, I'm not saying it will work for sure, but I think you have more chances than with cars to actually hit 100k at some before new years.

Other crazy idea is go door to door in upscale neighborhoos offering christmas tree service. "Give us the height you need, we buy the tree for you, we install it for you, we come pick it up, all for just $200". If you can net $100 from each transaction, you need to sell 1000, which is extremely hard, but probably doable.

 

[Andy Black]

I dunno @hestati

I've just watched the video linked to in this thread. It's freaking hardcore, and makes all the "how do I make X dollars in Y months?" weak by comparison.

What do you think? Would you be better served to pick a direction and start, today?

 

[biophase]

I actually never watched gem hunt.

Problem with flipping cars, how muxh can you make with 10k initial? Say you're VERY lucky, you buy a car and it sells the next 2 days, netting you 1k. Not enough time.

Plus, cars are not liquid enough. There may be no deals today, or if there are, the guy is too busy to show it to you today. Supply is limited.

With emeralds or other stones you first purchase is 7k, your next purchase is 10k next one is 15 k, 22, 30, 40....

Again, I'm not saying it will work for sure, but I think you have more chances than with cars to actually hit 100k at some before new years.

So you think that emeralds are more liquid than cars? I have a tough time believing that. You can't exactly buy and sell them on craigslist. You put a 2.5 month constraint and you have yourself flying back and forth from Columbia to Japan. Each deal is going to take you at least 2 weeks. This means you can only do 5 deals.

Why don't your emerald numbers work with cars? Why can't the next one be $10k then $15k, 22, etc...

BTW, you should watch Gem Hunt. Here's the episode with Emeralds.

 

[hestati]

@Andy Black

Don't get me wrong, this question was to just get my mind working hard. I did pick a direction and working on my fastlane project right now. I'm not looking for "get rich in month" scheme.

@biophase

Emeralds is what I would do because I've been to Bogota and saw it myself. Supply is unlimited. You can't sell them on craigs, but most jewellers will gladly buy it from you if the price is right. Gems are extremely liquid when the price is right, so each transaction will take maybe 1 week.

Cars are liquid if the price is right too. But the problem is the other side. You need to find exceptional deals constantly. With emeralds you can just call your buddy Jose who sold you the first one and tell him you need 2 more like that tomorrow, he will get them for you. With cars, most people never even return your calls.

What would you do though? Cars or something else?

I will watch the episode, thanks!

 

[biophase]

[USER=23]@biophase

Emeralds is what I would do because I've been to Bogota and saw it myself. Supply is unlimited. You can't sell them on craigs, but most jewellers will gladly buy it from you if the price is right. Gems are extremely liquid when the price is right, so each transaction will take maybe 1 week.

Cars are liquid if the price is right too. But the problem is the other side. You need to find exceptional deals constantly. With emeralds you can just call your buddy Jose who sold you the first one and tell him you need 2 more like that tomorrow, he will get them for you. With cars, most people never even return your calls.

What would you do though? Cars or something else?

I will watch the episode, thanks![/USER]

Your big "if" is if the price is right. That can be said for anything. When it comes down to it, your main business plan is to buy low somewhere and sell high somewhere else, just like every other business.

 

[daivey]

Your big "if" is if the price is right. That can be said for anything. When it comes down to it, your main business plan is to buy low somewhere and sell high somewhere else, just like every other business.

lol but but but... emeralds...

 

[daivey]

@Andy Black

Don't get me wrong, this question was to just get my mind working hard. I did pick a direction and working on my fastlane project right now. I'm not looking for "get rich in month" scheme.

@biophase

Emeralds is what I would do because I've been to Bogota and saw it myself. Supply is unlimited. You can't sell them on craigs, but most jewellers will gladly buy it from you if the price is right. Gems are extremely liquid when the price is right, so each transaction will take maybe 1 week.

Cars are liquid if the price is right too. But the problem is the other side. You need to find exceptional deals constantly. With emeralds you can just call your buddy Jose who sold you the first one and tell him you need 2 more like that tomorrow, he will get them for you. With cars, most people never even return your calls.

What would you do though? Cars or something else?

I will watch the episode, thanks!

lol guy looking for secret sauce.

 

[hestati]

lol guy looking for secret sauce.

Oh yes, let's listen to the expert here, sure you must have an idea right? Oh wait, uou have no idea. Nevermind.

 

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[daivey]

Oh yes, let's listen to the expert here, sure you must have an idea right? Oh wait, uou have no idea. Nevermind.

Yeah, I don't have an idea because the whole premise is stupid... you're going to become a gem master in 5 weeks and go to Bogota and buy gems...and the one guy that said you could probably do it flipping cars, you say that's stupid............

yeah man, it's definitely so easy to become a gem master, get contacts buying and selling gems, and then profit. never mind the jewlers that do this their whole lives, no, no, 5 weeks of intense research and you will be a masterbator for sure.

so many dreamers in here.

you know what's actually going to happen to you? you're going to go to bogota, buy a gem that will 99% be fake.. you're going to fly it to korea, japan, wherever, and the gem dealers there are going to laugh in your face. That's what's most likely going to happen. or you will probably just get robbed for being a dumb gringo.

i never claimed to be an expert, but the one guy a few posts up giving you real logical responses, you just ignore it and keep going.

 

[hestati]

Yeah, I don't have an idea because the whole premise is stupid... you're going to become a gem master in 5 weeks and go to Bogota and buy gems...and the one guy that said you could probably do it flipping cars, you say that's stupid............

yeah man, it's definitely so easy to become a gem master, get contacts buying and selling gems, and then profit. never mind the jewlers that do this their whole lives, no, no, 5 weeks of intense research and you will be a masterbator for sure.

so many dreamers in here.

you know what's actually going to happen to you? you're going to go to bogota, buy a gem that will 99% be fake.. you're going to fly it to korea, japan, wherever, and the gem dealers there are going to laugh in your face. That's what's most likely going to happen. or you will probably just get robbed for being a dumb gringo.

i never claimed to be an expert, but the one guy a few posts up giving you real logical responses, you just ignore it and keep going.

Not only you have no idea, you also have no tact.

I lived in Latin America for 7 months, I bought emeralds in Bogota with no much knowledge on the subject (few reads and few leads) and sold them in the US later because it turned out that it's too expensive to make custom jewelery for my wife. Sold it for profit btw, so the concept is tested.

I never said that flipping cars is stupid. I just gave a reason why I think it wil be impossble to make 100k in2.5 months by flipping cars.

Besides, this is not even the point. The point is to make you think, make your brain work, that's it. Have your way to share? Please do. Don't have anything to add? Well, then at least try not to demonstrate your lack of tact "dumb gringo"

 

[Leo Hendrix]

@hestati regarding Gem Flipping are you intentionally disregarding, customs costs, import duties or whatever taxes that might be applicable? Or this is just a fast cash scenario? ie disregard formalities

 

[hestati]

@hestati regarding Gem Flipping are you intentionally disregarding, customs costs, import duties or whatever taxes that might be applicable? Or this is just a fast cash scenario? ie disregard formalities

Well, this is not a business plan so yes, I do ignore duties for the sake of simplicity. Let me put it this way, you most probably will not be paying duties most of the time, uneless you go to some anal countries like Canada.

If you're talking about income tax, then it will apply any way, regardless of what you do, so yes, it's ignored too.

 

[daivey]

Not only you have no idea, you also have no tact.

I lived in Latin America for 7 months, I bought emeralds in Bogota with no much knowledge on the subject (few reads and few leads) and sold them in the US later because it turned out that it's too expensive to make custom jewelery for my wife. Sold it for profit btw, so the concept is tested.

I never said that flipping cars is stupid. I just gave a reason why I think it wil be impossble to make 100k in2.5 months by flipping cars.

Besides, this is not even the point. The point is to make you think, make your brain work, that's it. Have your way to share? Please do. Don't have anything to add? Well, then at least try not to demonstrate your lack of tact "dumb gringo"

hestati; level 9 gem master.

there is nothing to think about because your challenge is not based on reality, it's based on your idea of buying and selling gems and transporting them and selling them illegally. the only reason why you came up with the challenge is because you wanted to show off your brilliant idea of gem buying/selling and have us vet it for you.... beacuse lets face it, you're STRONGLY considering doing this, but probably won't act on it, and want other peoples opinions on it,..... BUT you're hiding your idea behind the "well, think about this 2 month challenge".

what's even more hilarious in your own post, your original challenge you said "nothing illegal". IF you don't have import papers and are moving gems around/high value stones, that is illegal. No countries customs agents are ok with you bringing in gems valued at $10,000, without documentation, or without declaring it.

On top of that, probably unethical as well - blood diamonds/blood gems... How do you know where those gems were taken from? what market place are you buying them? NO PAPER WORK ATTACHED? Most likely illegal.

So, your idea, and your challenge is not set in reality. It's unfortunate that it needs to be spelled out to you in some much vivid detail that you can't see what's staring you right in the face - don't worry that often happens on the internet forumz.

I have no idea to turn 10,000 into $100,000.. not in 2.5 months. And the thing is, UNLESS you were bringing a company to launch tomorrow, it would be impossible for 99.99% of the people here and around the world, to just be handed $10,000 and turn it to $100,000 in 2.5 months. IF it was so easy to do, I wouldn't need a challenge, I would go and do it tomorrow.

One last thing... I love how you think because you bought some crappy gem for $50 and sold it for $100 ONE TIME, you think the idea is "vetted". LOL.

 

[100k]

How to intellectually masturbate your way to $1 million.

Go!

Step 1) start business

Step 2) Promote business

Step 3) ????

Step 4) Profit ($1,000,000.00)

=

 

[Ecom man]

Ok I'll take a whack at the 10k to 100k in 2 months. Buy a 10k truckload of toys. Resell on eBay/Amazon/web or Craigslist for 50-75k buy one more truckload for 10k sell for 50k boom 100 grand. Simple, clean, and certainly far more likely than traveling all across the globe trying to flip gems for a profit.

 

[hestati]

Ok I'll take a whack at the 10k to 100k in 2 months. Buy a 10k truckload of toys. Resell on eBay/Amazon/web or Craigslist for 50-75k buy one more truckload for 10k sell for 50k boom 100 grand. Simple, clean, and certainly far more likely than traveling all across the globe trying to flip gems for a profit.

Buy toys from where? China? Ship by air? Sell on Amazon in 2 months for 7x profit? There is no such a profit margin in wholesale business, uneless you sell drugs and even then I'm not sure.

@daivey
I'm not even gonna bother to read your message. Good luck with your real estate business in Canada lol

 

[biophase]

Buy toys from where? China? Ship by air? Sell on Amazon in 2 months for 7x profit? There is no such a profit margin in wholesale business, uneless you sell drugs and even then I'm not sure.l

Um.. well actually there is

You push the timeframe to 6 months and I'd say you can do it. It's not easy, but I bet at least a 50/50 chance.

7x is buy for $2 sell for $14.

 

[hestati]

Um.. well actually there is

You push the timeframe to 6 months and I'd say you can do it. It's not easy, but I bet at least a 50/50 chance.

7x is buy for $2 sell for $14.

@biophase yes, you can buy for 2 and sell for 14 this is what I'm doing now with private labelling. I buy for $3.5 and sell for $22. But after I add air shipping, duties, inspection, shipping to Amazon, Amazon fees, wire transfer fees, other fees I'm forgetting now each piece becomes $13, so there is less than 2x profit.

Now yes, you could ship by boat, but then you're looking for 30 days delay.

Am I doing something wrong? I know you've been in ecommerce for a while, so I'm not arguing, just asking.

 

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[Ecom man]

Buy toys from where? China? Ship by air? Sell on Amazon in 2 months for 7x profit? There is no such a profit margin in wholesale business, uneless you sell drugs and even then I'm not sure.

@daivey
I'm not even gonna bother to read your message. Good luck with your real estate business in Canada lol

Totally doable and I'm not even talking about from china you can buy truckloads of merchandise for pennies on the dollar. Sell them for nickels or dimes on the dollar and you are in business. If there is ever a two month period of time where that would be possible it would be November/December.

 

[biophase]

@biophase yes, you can buy for 2 and sell for 14 this is what I'm doing now with private labelling. I buy for $3.5 and sell for $22. But after I add air shipping, duties, inspection, shipping to Amazon, Amazon fees, wire transfer fees, other fees I'm forgetting now each piece becomes $13, so there is less than 2x profit.

Now yes, you could ship by boat, but then you're looking for 30 days delay.

Am I doing something wrong? I know you've been in ecommerce for a while, so I'm not arguing, just asking.

Why aren't you shipping by boat? You just place an order earlier to mitigate the shipping time.

And when I say $2, I mean $2 all in at the Amazon warehouse. So profit is $8 per unit or 4x.

Your margins are pretty good though. You just need to scale or get more companion products.

 

[daivey]

Buy toys from where? China? Ship by air? Sell on Amazon in 2 months for 7x profit? There is no such a profit margin in wholesale business, uneless you sell drugs and even then I'm not sure.

@daivey
I'm not even gonna bother to read your message. Good luck with your real estate business in Canada lol

Good luck with your gem flipping business from Bogota LOL

 

[totallybroke]

Hi all, I hereby will take on the “1mil in 15 months” challenge and below is the plan. I am 25 years old, about 3 years working experience. I have a mortgage and (more than) half my salary is pumped into it each month.

Phase 0 : Month 1. Preparing the vehicle
I will take on Gary Halbert 30 days challenge. This is to train my self-discipline first, time-management, and copywriting/sales skill.
Challenges: Time. I work a normal full time job, but I calculated that I have 5 hours free time every weekday. I will just put as much time in as I possibly can. I must cut down on my games and other time wasting habits.

Phase 1 : Month 2-5. Putting in the oil and food supplies.
This phase is about having side income to free myself from my job. I will create a course on Udemy and start an ecommerce business. (It is more chasing money than giving value so it can’t be done forever) This will keep generating money passively.

Challenges: Due to having a little less structure, it will be self-discipline and direction.

Phase 2 : Month 6-15. Jumpstarting the vehicle. Start dammit.
Frankly I do not yet have a firm idea here to go full speed. Anything could happen in this phase. It's just validate validate validate until I get the right one.
Tools:
Leanstartup book by Eric Ries
MJ’s idea generation method by MJ (Listen to complaints!)

Milestone 1: First sale.

Challenges:
Jumping from one idea to the next
Family pressure – of taking the road less taken. I will move out of my family’s home when this happens.

Reasons
No plan is complete without taking in account of obstacles/challenges and failures. (especially failures)

My biggest challenge will be my wavering willpower and self-discipline.
Thus I will be packing myself with emergency supplies of ‘reasons’ to keep on going. MJ calls them passion, I call them reasons. Some of these reasons are very personal but they are the strongest ones.

Reasons:
For Axxxxx.
For my parents, I want them to live an easy life
For me to be myself, and have freedom.
Because I promised you guys and I don’t want to let you guys down.
To prove that this challenge is workable.

Failure plan
There is no failure, just learning moments. It will happen, question is when?
I will tell myself that don’t worry about being late or failing, you are on the right track and keep on going.

Phase 3 : After reaching goal.
Whelp, 1 million. This is a time to continue growing. I hope I don’t let money go over my head and start sidewalking. Be humble. I will take out 600k, put into an interest generating investment to have 3000 a month. This is my ‘retirement’ and I will never touch this. Next goal is the actual USD 1 million using the balance money.

Will open a progress thread once I complete Phase 0.

 

[mayana]

Bump. I had never seen this thread before, and it's ANCIENT. But tons of good stuff in here, especially for new members.

 

[Runum]

yeah, the forum started summer 2007. It's always cool to see these old threads pop up.

I believe Russ has done well since those days, currently touring Europe with his fam.

I do miss those ancient days. Good times.

 

[The-J]

Update on my plan:

It didn't work. I'm not a millionaire yet. Lol.

However, I'm much further now than I was four years ago when I wrote that post.

Some things I've learned since then:

• $3,000 to $1m in 15 months is possible but highly unlikely if you've never started a business before. However, if you're a serial entrepreneur who has been in the game for a while, $3k to $1m is absolutely within the realm of possibility and, for some, it's expected.
• The process is long but it can be made shorter with the right contacts. Leave the house and meet people, in real life, and listen to what they have to say.
• A failed business isn't a failure in the grand scheme of things. The business I was working on at the time was a complete failure because I didn't know how to make it work. However, I learned enough to start the business I'm currently working on, and I would have never been able to do it if it weren't for that experience.
• Some people move slower than others. There are people who started learning the game of business later than I, who are now much further along. I think that's okay, and I try not to judge myself too harshly for it. (Doesn't always work though)
• These kinds of mental masturbation thought experiments are only very slightly useful. They're good for opening your mind to what's possible but they don't help you move forward.

Hope this helps anyone just stumbling on this old thread and wondering if it's possible for them. It is possible: but it might take you longer than you hoped.

 

[Simon Angel]

Update on my plan:

It didn't work. I'm not a millionaire yet. Lol.

However, I'm much further now than I was four years ago when I wrote that post.

Some things I've learned since then:

• $3,000 to $1m in 15 months is possible but highly unlikely if you've never started a business before. However, if you're a serial entrepreneur who has been in the game for a while, $3k to $1m is absolutely within the realm of possibility and, for some, it's expected.
• The process is long but it can be made shorter with the right contacts. Leave the house and meet people, in real life, and listen to what they have to say.
• A failed business isn't a failure in the grand scheme of things. The business I was working on at the time was a complete failure because I didn't know how to make it work. However, I learned enough to start the business I'm currently working on, and I would have never been able to do it if it weren't for that experience.
• Some people move slower than others. There are people who started learning the game of business later than I, who are now much further along. I think that's okay, and I try not to judge myself too harshly for it. (Doesn't always work though)
• These kinds of mental masturbation thought experiments are only very slightly useful. They're good for opening your mind to what's possible but they don't help you move forward.

Hope this helps anyone just stumbling on this old thread and wondering if it's possible for them. It is possible: but it might take you longer than you hoped.

What are you, then? What is your net worth?

 

[TeflonDon]

What are you, then? What is your net worth?

Why would his net worth matter? Do you think Richard Branson's advice was worthless until he hit X net worth?