6 Figures At 18! 1 Year of The Fastlane Forum

[PTP]

My 1 year anniversary of joining FLF is coming up in a few days. This past year has set the precedent for how I am going to live for the rest of my life.

I am an 18 year old senior in High School who runs an online eCommerce business . My company was started at the beginning of 2016 when I was 17. My first sale on ebay was on February 7 and my first sale on my own website was on April 24. Revenue since then is getting close to reaching (my Grant Cardone 10x goal from earlier this year) of 6-figures.

When I first started the company, my goal was only to learn. While I obviously wanted to make money, I didnt actually plan on making anything at all.

Startup bros was where I learned that eComerce was actually a thing. I spent well over a month and probably a few hundred hours looking for something to sell. I became known as "the troll" by my family and friends because I would lock myself in my room for hours on end doing product research everyday of the week. However, it was not until I came here and read the mega threads by @Ecom man and @biophase that I found a product worth selling.

The were 3 separate times where I told myself that I was going to shut down my store because no one was buying anything. I worked 3 months on a side project only to realize the product and niche was trash.

For the majority of this year, I was hesitant to grow this business just due to potential outside factors that I had no control over that could shut it down. However, after looking at the direction my company was headed, I decided to shift course and pursue a different path than what I had initially intended. This helps to hedge against some of the risks involved, and creates something I see myself working on 10-15 years from now.

• I have decided to begin to build a brand rather than just another eCommerce store. All doubts about the longevity of the niche have been erased and I am now ready to grow this over the next decade+.

• Company instagram account over 18k followers, Facebook nearing 1k.

• Began the process of getting my products made domestically in the USA. Getting designs made with changes that I was not able to get my manufacture to make in China. This will allow me to regain control over the supply chain.

• Found a mentor in the manufacturing sector who used to run his own company. His advice has been extremely beneficial as I try to bring a new line of my unique proprietary products to market. I have also been meeting with other people in the eCommerce/manufacturing sectors as well and I am learning exponentially more than anything I have ever been taught in school.

• I joined toastmasters after reading @Envision 1 year FLF thread. Public speaking has allowed me to be more bold and less nervous when going out and talking manufactures/business owners and adults in general. It has allowed me to be bold enough to approach people I would have been to nervous to approach in the past. Public speaking has been the number one most life changing thing for me.

Takeaways

• Just start something already! My first order from China was for 15 units. Seriously, 15 units and it cost me less than $200. It grew from there to an order of 30 then 60 then 100. This isnt rocket science. I didnt need a degree or a business plan or $10,000 in funding. All you need is the work ethic to put in the hours to find something worth while and the belief that you will find it.

• Dont listen to the noise. You do you. Other people dont know what they are talking about. I remember during the research phase where I was called "the troll", no one thought I was going to find anything. People made fun of me for being "antisocial." Even when I had a product, I made the mistake of telling kids at school what I was doing. They made fun of me and laughed saying it was never going to get anywhere. I dont talk about my business at school, especially not my sales, but now a year later, people see my social media accounts and are starting to take an interest in what I am doing. Go figure....

• Have a clear purpose in life and spend every waking second trying to achieve that. On my mirror I have my definite chief aim. Next to that I have a note card with the phrase "I am completely independent of the good and bad opinions of others." Next to that I have my goals. I read these every morning and night. On my wall in my room directly in front of my bed I have my vision board with a Mclaren 570s, Mother Terasa, and Pope JPII. All around the walls are quotes from books written onto note cards. Sometimes when I am driving, I will spontaneously begin reciting my definite chief aim in a loud voice. This is all meant to keep my goals in mind at all times. I believe it was @Fox who spoke about "brainwashing yourself for success." There is definitely something to it.

My Goals

• Get my proprietary products made in the USA.
• HEAVILY get the name out on my brand when I get USA products.
• Diversify what my brand sells. Build a strong brand name.
• Begin selling to retailers. Get into at least 1 big box retailer in 2017.
• Take my company to 100+ million/year revenue 10-15 yrs.
• Millionaire by 25. Have the option to retire at 30 (even though I know I wont).
• Find more mentors where we can both mutually benefit each others businesses.
• Graduate high school.

If you get 1 take away from this post, let it be that you are capable of doing anything you set your mind to. I know this advice is constantly repeated. However, it is repeated because it is true. If you have internet (which you do because you are reading this) and $200, you can start a business and grow it. If a teenager can start a business at 17 years old, working on it after school and on weekends, what is stopping you?

I want to say that this is not a success story. A success story would suggest that I have accomplished my definite chief aim, which I have not. Rather, I hope my story can provide motivation to you and serve as an example of what can happen when you start.

A special thank you to first of all @MJ DeMarco without first the forum, then book, I would not be here today.

Also thank you to @biophase @Ecom man @AllenCrawley @Vigilante @Envision and all the others who post on a constant basis. I can confidently say that 1 year of reading your posts has been more valuable than 12 years in public school.


*Can a mod please change the Prefix from "rant" to a plain tag. It wouldnt let me post unless it was a rant.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MJ DeMarco]

Man, I'm so jealous of some of you young guys that have figured it out so quickly. I didn't figure out much of this type of stuff until nearly a decade later. I guess that's why I wrote TMF ...

Congrats on what you've done this far.

And you haven't even graduated high school yet?

*Can a mod please change the Prefix from "rant" to a plain tag. It wouldnt let me post unless it was a rant.

I changed it to success -- but it will go GOLD eventually.

Everyone needs to read this, especially the whiners who like to complain they can't find an opportunity.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[PTP]

Year 2 Update:

It's time for a long overdue update.

2017 was a crazy year. Looking back at my last post in December '16 to where things are now, it's almost hard to comprehend how much has changed in such a short time. If there is one thing I want to stress in this post, it's the need to get moving, now. For those of you who are still waiting on the sideline until the right time to get started, you're losing. Period. As the quote goes, "the best time to start was yesterday. The next best time is now." With that, let's get into it.

Made in USA

In May I launched the first of my 3 new proprietary designed USA made products. The process took over 6 months entirely due to my own mistakes and lack of knowledge. After months of back and forth work, the first designer I hired and paid ended up delivering a terrible drawing that couldn't be manufactured. Then the talks with the manufacturer we were going to use fell apart leaving us with no manufacturer and no designs.

My brother ended up helping me design 3 rough models of what I wanted each to look like. I also ended up finding another manufacture by sheer luck who was able to adjust the designs my brother made to be machinable.

Tight cash flow wouldn't allow for the purchase of all 3 designs at once so I had to order one at a time until I could afford the other models. Once the first design was ready and shipped, I made a clean break in the brand and switched the brand name and URL. At the same time I removed all the Chinese made products from my website despite the fact that some of them had 80+ reviews and were selling well.

This re-start of the business caused sales to drop 40% in May. It was a tough month mentally but was 100% necessary for my long term vision of the business.

Once cash flow allowed for the launch of the 2 other models, sales shot up 136% in June and have been steadily increasing since then.

Growth

Sales this year were 75% higher than the stretch goal I had set in January last year. Most of it can be attributed to the new products, as well as reaching out to a lot of YouTube influencers and having them do reviews of the products. About 90%-95% of sales are organic/referrals and 80% of sales are from my own store.

A result of this growth is that my parents are becoming much more involved in the business. My dad handles the accounting and my mom packages and ships out all orders. I'm also in the process of re-locating to an office space and will be hiring an employee in about 1 month. By the end of the year if all goes to plan, i'll have 3-4 full time employees and possibly be looking to re-locate again to a larger space.

My goal is to have my dad become my full time business partner and work on scaling the business and growing a team together.

School

I did graduate high school, albeit barely The more time I spent on the business, the worse my grades got. Most days were spent answering customer service emails or doing anything other than school.

Also, I decided to take a year off from college. This allowed me to continue to grow the business and see where it would take me in a year. Instead of deciding not to go and "burning the bridges" so to to speak, I first made sure I could get back in if things didn't go well.

Also screenshotted this gem when I rejected the admission. Not sure how often this window is shown, but it's nice to do the rejecting for once!

Needless to say I probably won't be headed back and it sure feels good to be free!

2018

A couple things that are in the pipes:

• Creating a 2nd website that will be an extension of my current brand. I have a few reasons for doing this but got the idea from Tempur-pedic (They have a separate shop for only their pillows vs their main store with everything)
• Develop new products and expand horizontally into a new niche. Currently have one new prototype finishing up in 2 weeks.
• Grow the team to take myself out of the day to day operations so I can focus on new products and growth.
• B2G and B2B sales.

If 2018 is going to be anything like 2017, it's going to be an exciting year. However, none of it would have happened had I not made the leap and put in that $188 order back in 2016. You don't need another book, you don't need another course, you don't need to drop out of school or leave your job to start. You don't need any of it.

What you need is to start selling something - almost anything. It doesn't have to be a home run, but it can't be a garlic press. Just by selling something and interacting with the marketplace everyday, you'll begin to see what works and what doesn't.

Another crazy thing happens when you start selling. Your customers will tell you what they want! I can't tell you how many times a customer has come to us and suggested we make a product they want to buy. It's crazy. You just need to decide on the first one and they will come up with the rest.

A lot can change in a year, where will you be in 2019?


Thank you to everyone that has taken the time to read this far. I really appreciate your time and hope you have a great 2018

PS: My dad and I will be heading out to the Summit this week. I'm looking forward to meeting everyone that's going and seeing the faces behind the profiles!

 

[Envision]

This is awesome man! Good work with all of the progress and action. It's eerie how similar your experience is to mine when you describe it. Reading you're instagress strategy is exactly what I did to grow my brands following on IG. Let alone the progress and journey you've gone through.

I dropped out of college when I was 19ish and said F*ck it, I wasnt doing what you were doing at 18 I was going through my mental masturbation stage. I knew that college was flawed and the path that you "should follow" is skewed. Societies perception of success and what is possible for you is completely falsified and the only thing perpetuating the cycle is the masses beliefs that are repeated to them from generation to generation and when it comes to older adults (parents) they dont understand reality has shifted and that there are other options because of the internet.

You are a prime example of what is possible with discipline, action, and study. The floodgates are open when it comes to finding information and creating a business or multiple streams of income and thats because of forums and websites like this one (thanks @MJ DeMarco ).

All you need to do is allocate the time and sacrifice to make it happen. Work the 9-5 and come home and work the 6-2 and then get up at 6 to study and repeat. There is no secret. It's just work and its awesome that you're making it happen so young.

Keep going.

Some things I've noticed that might help you:

Study wealth preservation - Put your money into multi family real estate (starting small) buy a duplex and live in one side rent out the other side. See if you like it and if you do, get more. Having a fastlane business that is fueling a real estate business is the BEST way to ensure long term wealth creation and financial freedom. Hit me up if you need some guidance and read @G_Alexander thread.

or you could spend it on strippers and blow, but thats short lived.

Watch for those who don't clap - You'll notice alot of people you thought were your friends dont like the fact that you're seeing success. Distance yourself from them and put yourself in situations where you can find like minded people.

Good luck with it man!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[biophase]

My head is literally spinning! Real estate wasnt even on my radar until yesterday. Now I find out that it could be even bigger than eCommerce. I had no idea there was THAT much potential!

I cannot tell you how thankful I am for you showing me this. Rep$ transferred!

I'd recommend taking 1-2 years of reading about REI and concentrating on your business. You are 18 and don't want to squander any of that hard earned money in REI just yet. Use your business to make money and REI to preserve and grow it.

 

[Waspy]

If some 18 year old kid can do it, I know I can do it

Don't make the mistake of thinking that because someone young can do it, it's easy. It's not.

PTP got where he is by putting the hours in. Pure work ethic. Age has nothing to do with it.

You CAN do it, But not because "some 18 year old kid" can. You CAN do it if you hustle like PTP.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Envision]

I absolutely know what you mean about school! This year, especially with the increased emphasis on picking a college, has been extremely conflicting. Theres the path society wants me to take vs the path I see for myself. Im still weighing the pros and cons of going but the only reason to go would be to have a "safety net". However, Im not sure if a safety net is worth 4 years of my life + $100k. Thats something I need to figure out for myself.

The funny thing is though, it seems my grades and business are inversely related. Meaning that the worse my grades are, the better by business does. I just cant figure out why...

Real estate honestly has never crossed my mind. However, since your post ive looked into it more and checked out @G_Alexander thread. I just reserved a spot in a local meetup of real estate investors for later this month. Once I get a better grasp of what investing is, and a better idea of what to ask, I will definitely take you up on your offer! Id hate to waste your time with basic questions

Thank you very much for all the advice! I look forward to when we meet

Thats what Im talking about! Taking Action.

Dude F*ck school, if its not being paid for by your parents or you dont have FULL scholarships I wouldnt go in your spot (you really have an opportunity here to set yourself up for the rest of your life). Id grow your brand to 1M over the next 1-2 years and pump your profits into real estate. You get 10 duplexs that cash flow $500/mo you're going to passively make more than all the grads + you'll have the income off your business to live on as well.

The Real Wealth Formula

The idea is that you use fastlane business 1 (e-commerce) to build and scale a real estate company that will eventually grow itself. Once you can get your real estate to a point where it can sustain and grow itself you're free to pay yourself profits for the rest of your life. Because you have control, time, need, entry, and scale locked down and in your possession.

Say it costs 30k to buy a duplex. and you're making $500/mo off 10 properties you can buy a new property every 6 months with the cash flow that your properties are producing. These numbers are not actual, but the principles are. As you gain more properties in your system the timeline shortens and the number of properties/units scales creating a snowball effect

People may say this doesnt work, its flawed, not realistic, etc... But i've seen it. My mentor and his dad sold their company for 8 figures. Pumped a large majority of their money into storage. They now have 100M in storage all privately owned with their own management company. They can literally buy a facility every year for the rest of their life without using any of their own money while paying themselves money that people dream of PASSIVELY (while the majority of the profits are being reinvested). The system is the same but the scale is different for people like you and me.

Use the success and financial growth your seeing now to literally retire at 27/28/29 while everyone is settling into their 50k/year career.

Just food for thought for you. It'll be cool to see what you do over the next couple years.

 

[PTP]

Very good read!

Are you growing your IG with Massplanner/Followliker?

I have those tools and using it for a long time, but didn't figure out how to achieve a good growth.

Seems to me that IG "blocks" certain actions, because the Traffic on my Profile got very low in comparison to the last year.

Hows this going for you Mate?

I actually use instagress, however, I honestly dont lean to heavily on it. I mostly just use it to automate the unfollow process.

To grow my instagram I do the following:

1. Make a list of the top 5-10 big players in your niche + players that sell similar products to you. You can usually find these people by clicking on the "suggested" tab in the top right of a persons profile. It will pull up a list of people who are similiar to the profile you are looking at.
2. Then I go and follow the most recent 30-50 followers of that specific account. This way you can know that that specific person is a) Interested in your products and b) active (because they just followed that other account.)
3. Repeat for those 5-10 accounts until you hit the limit. Repeat once the limit is reached.
4. Every couple weeks I will use instagress to bring the overall following number down. Other than that I dont automate much. I do most of the liking and commenting myself. The more time you put in, the better results you will get.

Some people dont like the follow/unfollow method. I have a different philosophy than some when it comes to growing instagram. My belief is that when a brand is starting out, it is important to get the word out and grow social proof. The more followers you have, the more people will trust your brand and the more likely they will buy.

People see followers as a direct indication of a brands worth or popularity. It is also seen as less of a risk if you have a lot of followers. Even if the followers you are getting are not going to be extremely engaged at first, having their numbers when starting out is important. Also, the larger your account is, the better chance you have of people finding you by accident, and the better chance you have of growing organic follows.

I have had people buy from me and after say they never heard of my company until after I followed their account. If you follow the right people, who are already following big brands, youre advertising to a market who has already declared an interest in your products.

Than after your account level gets to a certain point, people will start to follow you organically. These are the people who WANT to follow you. They will be the most engaged, and the most probable customers. At this point you have your social proof and need to start focusing on engagement.

This is just my $.02. Im definitely interested in hearing what other people think on this subject.

 

[JAJT]

There are many 18 year olds who haven't even considered getting a job yet and you've already brought in more revenue than most adults make in two years.

Seriously, way to go!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MJ DeMarco]

Can I move this OUTSIDE? I just realize this was posted on the INSIDE.

If not, I understand.

I didn't see any personal or business details, so I thought it would be OK. IMO, more people need to read great stories like this.

 

[PTP]

Hey man, my name is Jake and I am currently a 16-year-old trying to get that kind of story working. I have had a few ideas recently but they all ended up busting. Is there any chance you could hit me up and help me out?

Honestly, the best advice I can give you would be to stick around the forum and read the threads that pertain to your interests. If its eCommerce read @biophase thread here and @Ecom man thread here. Almost everything I learned about eCommerce was either through those above threads, the rest of the forum, or google.

Im not going to go around and give advice like I know what im doing. Because, in all honesty, I barely have any clue what it is that I am doing. Everything you need to succeed is here + google. Its just a matter of finding it and applying it.

 

[RHL]

Lol, 18 years old. This is legendary.

Dude, just think, you could have signed up for the hell-on-earth "seasonal retail" gig all your friends are going to be into this time of year. Someone with a GED who doesn't know how capital letters work could be screaming at you 10 hours a day for $7.25/hr.

Instead, you're making as much as a college graduate without the $100,000+ cost of admission.

I dunno, though. Maybe missing all those episodes of West World isn't worth it.

 

[SteveO]

I'd recommend taking 1-2 years of reading about REI and concentrating on your business. You are 18 and don't want to squander any of that hard earned money in REI just yet. Use your business to make money and REI to preserve and grow it.

Agree. Not everyone makes money with real estate. There are learning curves to everything.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[TKDTyler]

You are making 2x what most college graduates will 4 years before they even earn a dime.

You have assets that equal to what most college graduates will have in student loans when they get out of school.

By the time they pay them off and are ready to "start their life," I wonder where you will be and what you will be doing...

You have 2 things many people dream of: freedom and youth. It's not by luck. Enjoy the fruits of your labor!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[vitality11]

@PTP
To write a post like that takes a lot of time. I enjoyed every line and happy for your success! It's clear that your success is something that will benefit a ton of people. You'll be a good influence on the people around you. And you already are!
Thanks for the share. Absolutely beautiful.

Also your writing style is very nice!
I envision you becoming a great man who will create the jobs and move the world forward.

I'd wish you luck but you don't need it that much ))

 

[Lex DeVille]

WHY didn't I do it earlier.

Because you couldn't. You can't now either. As long as you need someone to hold your hand, it won't happen.

Did you get the book yet?

Until you stop asking WHY and start asking WHAT, WHEN, WHO, and HOW, and come up with your own answers, you'll stay right where you are. A jealous dreamer waiting for tomorrow, wishing it were Friday.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Walter Hay]

Hi @PTP,
Just a brief comment on two things you mentioned in your Februuary update:

"In May I launched the first of my 3 new proprietary designed USA made products."

This was a great move. Although I teach how to source overseas and import, I unashamedly promote the idea of buying local. There are so many advantages, despite some naysayers reminding forum members that Chinese labor costs are still way below US costs. Ex factory cost is only a small part of the story. There is also:

• The huge marketing advantage of the Made In USA label.
• Lower freight costs.
• No duty to pay.
• IP safety, at least until your product makes waves, at which time copycats might appear.
• Greater control over the whole process.
• Generally less time from concept to selling. (I know you had a hiccup, but that is not usual)

"Creating a 2nd website that will be an extension of my current brand. I have a few reasons for doing this but got the idea from Tempur-pedic (They have a separate shop for only their pillows vs their main store with everything)"

Another excellent move. The presence of unrelated or only vaguely related products on the one eCommerce site makes it look like a cheap bazaar.

Keep up the progress posts. Many others will be able to learn from them.

Walter

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[PTP]

Great to hear of your progress! Are you working on the same brand as your website store?

Thank you very much! Yes, ive decided to take that store and slightly change the direction to have revenue streams outside of the initial niche, while still remaining in and targeting the same market. If that makes sense.

When we last spoke, I was concerned about the longevity of the niche just due to the uncertainty of the time. However, the way I see it, I now have a few years to capitalize on what I have going, and then also use the brand name to branch out into different markets.

In addition to what I am doing at the moment, there are 2 different spin offs that I want to add to the brand. Each one will take a few years to build and I want to first use what im selling now to gain market share and build a name. Im going to tackle one thing at a time over the next years+.

At the end of it there will be 3+ different sub-niches I will be in. Each will be independent of each other and if one ceases to exist, the others will still be around.

Edit: Also, thank you so much for the advice of getting the logo engraved on the products. Its a little expensive but people definitely trust the brand a lot more than they used to and sales have increased as a result.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Envision]

My head is literally spinning! Real estate wasnt even on my radar until yesterday. Now I find out that it could be even bigger than eCommerce. I had no idea there was THAT much potential!

I cannot tell you how thankful I am for you showing me this. Rep$ transferred!

For sure man, it's just important to realize that the majority of all e-commerce businesses are high cash flow and high risk. There is no security or hard asset backing it unless you have a massive brand that becomes an asset over time. Otherwise your brand can get crushed, become invalid, etc... You need to offset that risk with something that provides more security through hard assets, moderate cash flow, with the principles of Mj's commandments. I think real estate is the best method for that because over time the size of the real estate you can buy becomes high cash flow (like e-commerce) so you get the best of all worlds.

High cash flow, Security in hard assets, high barrier to entry = Security + Wealth

And these are my beliefs - most people wont agree because you're literally going to sacrifice all the money your making from business 1 (which is everyone's goal) to create another company thats going to take alot of time, money, and energy. But me and you are very similar in age and we have time and energy and I think it would benefit you to consider it.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Scot]

Great work! I wish I had your drive when I was your age! The best thing you learned was the process, that combined with your work ethic, you'll go places. Good luck continuing on. Makes me wonder what I'll be posting on my 1 year TFLF anniversary...

 

[Walter Hay]

http://makersrow.com/ is similar to thomas.net. What are your thoughts @Walter Hay?

Thomasnet is not entirely a lost cause, but it is limited in its search capability. Search for Made in USA in the Supplier Discovery section and you will find quite a few US manufacturers in some product categories. You can also do a simple search for the product category that interest you and then sift through the advertisers to see who make their products in the US. You will most likely have to ask them.

Makersrow is very limited with very little other than clothing, home decorating products and jewelry.

http://www.themadeinamericamovement.com/mam-members/ Has a quite impressive list, a few of whom state that not all of their products are made in the US, but the links provided in those cases go direct to their made in the USA pages.

Walter

 

[NuclearPuma]

I'm so far behind stuck in the rat race and stuck in bad habits. If some 18 year old kid can do it, I know I can do it, I just need push my comfort zone into some new territory. Thank for sharing your story. Bad habits and contentment are my flat tires in the fast lane.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[PTP]

Thats what Im talking about! Taking Action.

Dude F*ck school, if its not being paid for by your parents or you dont have FULL scholarships I wouldnt go in your spot (you really have an opportunity here to set yourself up for the rest of your life). Id grow your brand to 1M over the next 1-2 years and pump your profits into real estate. You get 10 duplexs that cash flow $500/mo you're going to passively make more than all the grads + you'll have the income off your business to live on as well.

The Real Wealth Formula

The idea is that you use fastlane business 1 (e-commerce) to build and scale a real estate company that will eventually grow itself. Once you can get your real estate to a point where it can sustain and grow itself you're free to pay yourself profits for the rest of your life. Because you have control, time, need, entry, and scale locked down and in your possession.

Say it costs 30k to buy a duplex. and you're making $500/mo off 10 properties you can buy a new property every 6 months with the cash flow that your properties are producing. These numbers are not actual, but the principles are. As you gain more properties in your system the timeline shortens and the number of properties/units scales creating a snowball effect

People may say this doesnt work, its flawed, not realistic, etc... But i've seen it. My mentor and his dad sold their company for 8 figures. Pumped a large majority of their money into storage. They now have 100M in storage all privately owned with their own management company. They can literally buy a facility every year for the rest of their life without using any of their own money while paying themselves money that people dream of PASSIVELY (while the majority of the profits are being reinvested). The system is the same but the scale is different for people like you and me.

Use the success and financial growth your seeing now to literally retire at 27/28/29 while everyone is settling into their 50k/year career.

Just food for thought for you. It'll be cool to see what you do over the next couple years.

My head is literally spinning! Real estate wasnt even on my radar until yesterday. Now I find out that it could be even bigger than eCommerce. I had no idea there was THAT much potential!

I cannot tell you how thankful I am for you showing me this. Rep$ transferred!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[amp0193]

The funny thing is though, it seems my grades and business are inversely related. Meaning that the worse my grades are, the better by business does. I just cant figure out why...

The better my business did, the more checked out I became at my full-time job. By the end, my business was doing so well, and I was doing so poorly at work, that my boss asked me to put in my resignation.

I happily did so


More than anything, it was a mental thing. The less I needed to rely on the job's income, the less I cared about it, and the poorer my performance was as a result. By the end, the job was this annoying distraction that was just getting in the way of what I really needed to be working on.

 

[Walter Hay]

Check out http://www.thomasnet.com/. It's a directory of U.S. based manufacturers.

I'm sorry to say that thomasnet.com are now carrying a huge number of advertisements by Amazon, and many of these are offering products imported from China.

It now requires a lot more work to sort out which listings are by genuine US manufacturers. I have also found that some US listings are made by well established US companies claiming to be US manufacturers, but they have at least some of their products made in China.

Walter

 

[Ubermensch]

Man, I'm so jealous of some of you young guys that have figured it out so quickly. I didn't figure out much of this type of stuff until nearly a decade later. I guess that's why I wrote TMF ...

Congrats on what you've done this far.

And you haven't even graduated high school yet?



I changed it to success -- but it will go GOLD eventually.

Everyone needs to read this, especially the whiners who like to complain they can't find an opportunity.

Precocious hustlers are expected in a world post TMF , after the moment you exposed the naked truth of hustling in the eyes of teenagers and seniors alike.

This is the type of post that I would want my children to post, at a young and impressive age. Nothing would make me more proud than one of my children turning out like the OP.

 

[OldFaithful]

Great story, thanks.

Also, thank you so much for the advice of getting the logo engraved on the products. Its a little expensive but people definitely trust the brand a lot more than they used to and sales have increased as a result.

I'll just add this suggestion. I believe you're trying to have your own product manufactured...if it's a plastic part, you can have the logo/name put into the mold so that it's molded into the plastic. Then you don't have the additional cost/time in engraving each unit. There is probably an upfront cost associated with the tooling change, so do the math and see if it's cost justified. It can be a considerable cost savings!

 

[Ecom man]

Excellent job! Doing 100k a year is stellar for anyone's first year but to do it at 18 is absolutely remarkable! Way to go!

 

[PTP]

This is awesome man! Good work with all of the progress and action. It's eerie how similar your experience is to mine when you describe it. Reading you're instagress strategy is exactly what I did to grow my brands following on IG. Let alone the progress and journey you've gone through.

I dropped out of college when I was 19ish and said F*ck it, I wasnt doing what you were doing at 18 I was going through my mental masturbation stage. I knew that college was flawed and the path that you "should follow" is skewed. Societies perception of success and what is possible for you is completely falsified and the only thing perpetuating the cycle is the masses beliefs that are repeated to them from generation to generation and when it comes to older adults (parents) they dont understand reality has shifted and that there are other options because of the internet.

You are a prime example of what is possible with discipline, action, and study. The floodgates are open when it comes to finding information and creating a business or multiple streams of income and thats because of forums and websites like this one (thanks @MJ DeMarco ).

All you need to do is allocate the time and sacrifice to make it happen. Work the 9-5 and come home and work the 6-2 and then get up at 6 to study and repeat. There is no secret. It's just work and its awesome that you're making it happen so young.

Keep going.

Some things I've noticed that might help you:

Study wealth preservation - Put your money into multi family real estate (starting small) buy a duplex and live in one side rent out the other side. See if you like it and if you do, get more. Having a fastlane business that is fueling a real estate business is the BEST way to ensure long term wealth creation and financial freedom. Hit me up if you need some guidance and read @G_Alexander thread.

or you could spend it on strippers and blow, but thats short lived.

Watch for those who don't clap - You'll notice alot of people you thought were your friends dont like the fact that you're seeing success. Distance yourself from them and put yourself in situations where you can find like minded people.

Good luck with it man!

I absolutely know what you mean about school! This year, especially with the increased emphasis on picking a college, has been extremely conflicting. Theres the path society wants me to take vs the path I see for myself. Im still weighing the pros and cons of going but the only reason to go would be to have a "safety net". However, Im not sure if a safety net is worth 4 years of my life + $100k. Thats something I need to figure out for myself.

The funny thing is though, it seems my grades and business are inversely related. Meaning that the worse my grades are, the better by business does. I just cant figure out why...

Real estate honestly has never crossed my mind. However, since your post ive looked into it more and checked out @G_Alexander thread. I just reserved a spot in a local meetup of real estate investors for later this month. Once I get a better grasp of what investing is, and a better idea of what to ask, I will definitely take you up on your offer! Id hate to waste your time with basic questions

Thank you very much for all the advice! I look forward to when we meet

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[PTP]

Your other thread says you are looking at someone who lives close to where you currently live? Any luck with that?

Right now im just googling people that are near my location (<hour). There is one manufacture that is literally 5 mins down the street. Basically I stopped by and asked if they could manufacture what I wanted.

They wernt able to so I just asked if there was another person that he knew that could help out. He recommend me to another facility about 45 mins away that I really want to work with. They do exactly what I need.

What im doing now is meeting other similar manufactures in my area to get quotes and maybe gain some leverage. Basically you just google "_______ manufactures near me" and see what you find. I prefer meeting people face to face because its just easier that way.

My suggestion to you would be to find one manufacture near you and go and meet them. If they cant do what you want, ask if they know anyone that can. Manufactures know who their competitors are. They will likely be able to help you with finding what you need.

Also are you selling internationally or only domestic?

Only domestically right now but I have plans of expanding my brand internationally.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.