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$6M in Revenue / $1M in Profit - My Fastlane Path to Freedom

TryHardTriad

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Welcome to my execution thread. I have been a wantrepreneur for 4 years and had 4 'businesses' in the past. My latest business is 6 months in the making and is currently on track to make worthwhile profit this year with a lot more to come if my plans come to fruition.

I've wanted to write on this forum a bit more to give back and help show others that it's possible. I believe that I now have something worth sharing as I take a 6-month journey to quit my job and live the rest of my life working on scalable projects divorced from time.

I can't give away too many details yet, but I am in the wholesale food business. It is a really tough business depending on the product you pick and I have thought the business would fail a number of times in the past for a multitude of reasons. Thankfully through COVID/the lowest sales months of the year in my industry, I am finally confident the product works and it's just a matter of getting it into every place I'm targeting across the country.

I'll update this thread with big updates, quitting my job and major lessons learnt along the way in my path. I hope you find this thread useful in your journey to becoming 'Unscripted '.

Failure is still possible, but whatever happens, its Win or Learn for me as an entrepreneur.

Cut the Fat

I had a friend who also wanted to be an entrepreneur for about 4 years. He worked and quit his job, 'failed' his first venture and learnt coding to try things in that sector. He had not many interests outside of work, which I thought was a bit weird at the time so worked everyday. Meanwhile, I had many 'addictions' (Netflix, Xbox, Poker, Sports betting etc.) that my scripted life had me dosed up on for years to keep heavily distracted that I couldn't give up. I had some really good ideas but these never came to fruition because even though my why was there, I never really gave them enough time.

My friend recently raised $21 million for a $250 million dollar valuation for his latest idea (true story!)

I have cut pretty much all the fat out and things are finally starting to work.

This is my no.1 tip and first step for you young people aspring to be free out there.

Sales, Sales, Sales

Another reason my other businesses failed, was simply because I got too cute with marketing, logos and spending 'investing' money on BS things (aka action faking).

Literally make a minimum viable product in the quickest time, don't get a LLC, make a temporary logo in 5 mins, just get damn sales asap. Once you have about 10k, then you can get a little fancy imo.

This is an age old piece of advice from MJ DeMarco, Mark Cuban and any good entrepreneur. But boy, did I have to experience this myself to actually grasp what it really means.

Sales/the market will tell you if your idea is shit, what its worth, what people actually think and it will give you experience in your sector (I actually found out the idea for my current product by listening to the market that my first genius vegan product was infact a waste of time and my new one is what they actually want).

You have to listen very hard, but the direction and pivots are there if you listen to your sales.

Do the Hard Thing

Again, another quite repeated piece of advice, doing the hard thing has many benefits. For my business, the hard thing means creating a barrier to entry, which will reduce competition, increase your marketshare and enable you to leverage a higher price for your product.

A large chain once asked for a range of products, I chose the easy thing and gave them what we always make, we didn't up making the cut because there were 5 other companies involved squeezing the price down as it came down to price (aka became commodity). What I missed were the 3 other more abstract products, which nobody else did, because it was the hard thing, a 250k contract was probably missed.
 
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TryHardTriad

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Moving to Contract Manufacturing

So the past couple of weeks have been excellent. Peaks of 4000 units a week with the highest month of revenue yet!

My small commercial factory capacity has been reached. I realised I probably use about 80% of my time managing the damn factory and making sure things are being produced smoothly.

To ensure I spend more time growing the sales, it’s a no brainier for me to begin contract manufacturing.

It took me this experience to realise I was both weak as a manager of people and as a manufacturer. But highlighted I am good at sales. So this is what I shall do.

The manufacturer has run early trials, fingers crossed they will give me the price I want...

Quitting the Job

Simply put, I chose to become a dentist when I was 14, because I thought a 4 day work week lifestyle looked neat and google told me that orthodontists make £100k. I even fell asleep twice during my work experience but decided I had no other alternatives to make such money, so it did it anyway!

I grinded out 4 years of study to get in and 6 years of training to become one.

I have been balancing work and the business, dreaming of the day I could say goodbye to all the negatives that the job entails when the signs are right.

And in the last week:
- My boss called me last week and wants to know what my long term goals are
- My business needs me full time in sales to become the market leader in my niche (before other competitors catch up and fill the shelves)
- I have enough saved up for 2 years
- I am in my 20s with no dependants

Nobody can decide your big life decisions for you. This week will be a big one for me.

I sometimes get a little scared, its uncomfortable to never do something I spent 10 years to become again and will probably miss the comfortable income in the short term.

The friends and family I’ve told have actually been critical of my move away from the norm. Like they secretly don’t want me to succeed?

But I know I will absolutely regret not taking this opportunity when I’m 90 if I don’t give it my all now.

Nationwide expansion and 10,000 units a week to follow in the next 3 months...
 
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TryHardTriad

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Oct 2022 Update

It has been a while since I last wrote. I hope my journey encourages others...The Fastlane dream is alive and real!

May 2021
$39k revenue - $19k profit

September 2022
$156k revenue - $52k profit

This time last year I almost quit this business to try something else 'better with more promise'.

But thankfully after doing 3 tradeshows and selling to the right people, we are starting to see some momentum.

Quitting Dentistry

Proud to announce, 4 years after reading TMFL - I no longer have to trade time for money and live a life I can't stand living.

"The truth is, the UNSCRIPTED dream begins NOT the day you retire or have millions in the bank, but the day you hit the entrepreneurial G-spot—the day when the SCRIPT retreats and you no longer exist but live." - Unscripted , MJ DeMarco

^ This is the BEST feeling

Next Few Months

I am still self-manufacturing with my 12 employees making my gourmet food product for wholesale.

Got a few meetings with large retail groups to turn my product into one for their supermarkets. This new product will be contract manufactured.

A nationwide rollout with a 300-store customer too starting January too!

Wish me luck!
 
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A

Anon05554

Guest
Oct 2022 Update

It has been a while since I last wrote. I hope my journey encourages others...The Fastlane dream is alive and real!

May 2021
$39k revenue - $19k profit

September 2022
$156k revenue - $52k profit

This time last year I almost quit this business to try something else 'better with more promise'.

But thankfully after doing 3 tradeshows and selling to the right people, we are starting to see some momentum.

Quitting Dentistry

Proud to announce, 4 years after reading TMFL - I no longer have to trade time for money and live a life I can't stand living.



^ This is the BEST feeling

Next Few Months

I am still self-manufacturing with my 12 employees making my gourmet food product for wholesale.

Got a few meetings with large retail groups to turn my product into one for their supermarkets. This new product will be contract manufactured.

A nationwide rollout with a 300-store customer too starting January too!

Wish me luck!

Oct 2022 Update

It has been a while since I last wrote. I hope my journey encourages others...The Fastlane dream is alive and real!

May 2021
$39k revenue - $19k profit

September 2022
$156k revenue - $52k profit

This time last year I almost quit this business to try something else 'better with more promise'.

But thankfully after doing 3 tradeshows and selling to the right people, we are starting to see some momentum.

Quitting Dentistry

Proud to announce, 4 years after reading TMFL - I no longer have to trade time for money and live a life I can't stand living.



^ This is the BEST feeling

Next Few Months

I am still self-manufacturing with my 12 employees making my gourmet food product for wholesale.

Got a few meetings with large retail groups to turn my product into one for their supermarkets. This new product will be contract manufactured.

A nationwide rollout with a 300-store customer too starting January too!

Wish me luck!
Wish you luck indeed! You are the people that make visiting this forum worth the effort. I am convinced you have answers to questions that have been haunting me.
Can I DM you?
 
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TryHardTriad

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@Aura Of course, more than happy to help in anyway I can. Yes! This forum has some seriously good success stories that helped immensely.
 

TryHardTriad

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I AM OFFICIALLY IN THE MILLIONAIRE FASTLANE ! (kind of) - June 2023 Update

The Australian financial year is coming to a close, meaning the score for the year is almost in...

Revenue 2023 - Approx 2,600,000
Net Profit 2023 - Approx 1,000,000!
May 2023 we did $349k in revenue too

From a milestone perspective, this is a huge moment for me! Thinking back to how many years I longed for a business that could give a better life for me, my family and others through giving.

Approaches and Pivots

I am in the wholesale food product business, my main strategy involves selling to small and big companies in Australia and simply word of mouth because they like my products (so customers come to me).

I have tried a number of methods to get more sales: door-to-door to small customers, turning up at head offices, cold calls, marketing, online platforms, small distributors, national distributors and tradeshows. Once you try these out for yourself, you'll know which combination creates the greatest traction - this is all part of the fun!

I've had countless letdowns from larger companies pulling the plug despite my products being their best sellers. But now, I just expect it and have 100 fishing lines out at all times as insurance for this.

I have had to listen to customers and create new recipes for products to fit what they needed. This has birthed new products which are arguably better than my core products. So yes it pays to listen and be flexible

Stick or Roll Again?

At the moment, I am aiming to hit $6 million for 2024 and will consider keeping it rather than selling for 5x profit.

As I am fairly ADHD, I have the urge to start a new business and want to try something with even more scale. But we'll see what happens...


Let me know if anyone has any questions about selling food products
 
D

Deleted025167

Guest
I AM OFFICIALLY IN THE MILLIONAIRE FASTLANE ! (kind of) - June 2023 Update

The Australian financial year is coming to a close, meaning the score for the year is almost in...

Revenue 2023 - Approx 2,600,000
Net Profit 2023 - Approx 1,000,000!
May 2023 we did $349k in revenue too

From a milestone perspective, this is a huge moment for me! Thinking back to how many years I longed for a business that could give a better life for me, my family and others through giving.

Approaches and Pivots

I am in the wholesale food product business, my main strategy involves selling to small and big companies in Australia and simply word of mouth because they like my products (so customers come to me).

I have tried a number of methods to get more sales: door-to-door to small customers, turning up at head offices, cold calls, marketing, online platforms, small distributors, national distributors and tradeshows. Once you try these out for yourself, you'll know which combination creates the greatest traction - this is all part of the fun!

I've had countless letdowns from larger companies pulling the plug despite my products being their best sellers. But now, I just expect it and have 100 fishing lines out at all times as insurance for this.

I have had to listen to customers and create new recipes for products to fit what they needed. This has birthed new products which are arguably better than my core products. So yes it pays to listen and be flexible

Stick or Roll Again?

At the moment, I am aiming to hit $6 million for 2024 and will consider keeping it rather than selling for 5x profit.

As I am fairly ADHD, I have the urge to start a new business and want to try something with even more scale. But we'll see what happens...


Let me know if anyone has any questions about selling food products
Congratulations .
This is huge.
 
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TryHardTriad

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Thank you @Parks and @Lerenardroux for caring about my thread. I stopped writing because I wasn't sure if it was even helping anyone. But due to these guys, here are the updates from the past 8 months:

June 2023 - Feb 2024 - Season of Stability

Highlights/Major Events
- Month revenues have been a consistent $400 - 500k a month with steady growth
- Attempted to hire a General Manager (but decided out of the 100+ people that applied, none were quite worth the high 180k+ salaries they wanted)
- Decided to put the money towards marketing and web presence - I've just been too busy trying to make sales happen and fix manufacturing issues. But I am excited to finally start playing chess and not checkers! Updates to follow.
- 3 major national stockist deals came through - pushing my stockist count to 1700+ now...Something I can't believe I am saying after so many years of being that 'wantrepreneur'.

I know I keep on saying, should I start something new + sell or keep on growing this business?

I think I've decided to get marketing under the belt of this business (to keep it growing without my input and increase the value). I'll consider selling then, unless things take off beyond expectation.

Feel free to ask questions about food business in general, always love to help the FLF community where I can.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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Wow, how did I miss this thread?
 

TryHardTriad

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Wow, how did I miss this thread?
Hi @MJ DeMarco !

I wish I could redo it sometimes, I need to work on my writing style + skills!

Thank you once again for your books and writing your story. You literally taught me everything I needed to leave Dentistry and become an entrepreneur. I really hope I get to meet you in person one day!

Look forward to your next book (or fiction movie!)
 

MJ DeMarco

I followed the science; all I found was money.
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Hi @MJ DeMarco !

I wish I could redo it sometimes, I need to work on my writing style + skills!

Thank you once again for your books and writing your story. You literally taught me everything I needed to leave Dentistry and become an entrepreneur. I really hope I get to meet you in person one day!

Look forward to your next book (or fiction movie!)

Even more impressive is you left a high-paying job with big sunk costs.

I will rename your thread and mark it GOLD for more exposure.

Keep the updates coming!
 
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MJ DeMarco

I followed the science; all I found was money.
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Thread retitled and upgraded to GOLD.
 

TryHardTriad

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Thanks @MJ DeMarco - I am so honored to have a Gold post, honestly means a lot.

For the record, I’m not quite there yet (projected to do about $4.5 million revenue and $1.5 million in profit this year) but $6 million in revenue and $2 million in profit is still the aim!
 
Last edited:

pulidopw

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Thank you @Parks and @Lerenardroux for caring about my thread. I stopped writing because I wasn't sure if it was even helping anyone. But due to these guys, here are the updates from the past 8 months:

June 2023 - Feb 2024 - Season of Stability

Highlights/Major Events
- Month revenues have been a consistent $400 - 500k a month with steady growth
- Attempted to hire a General Manager (but decided out of the 100+ people that applied, none were quite worth the high 180k+ salaries they wanted)
- Decided to put the money towards marketing and web presence - I've just been too busy trying to make sales happen and fix manufacturing issues. But I am excited to finally start playing chess and not checkers! Updates to follow.
- 3 major national stockist deals came through - pushing my stockist count to 1700+ now...Something I can't believe I am saying after so many years of being that 'wantrepreneur'.

I know I keep on saying, should I start something new + sell or keep on growing this business?

I think I've decided to get marketing under the belt of this business (to keep it growing without my input and increase the value). I'll consider selling then, unless things take off beyond expectation.

Feel free to ask questions about food business in general, always love to help the FLF community where I can.
Wow! as a budding entrepreneur let me just start off by saying that you are truly an inspiration. I am in my early 20's and hope to make something of myself in this crazy world. It would be an honor if I could get some advice from you, I was wondering if I could share my business idea with you and hear your critiques?

Would you be willing to correspond through email or Designated message?

Cheers! My email if you would like to reach out: pablopulido2018@gmail.com
 

DonyaSze

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Wow! Incredible!!! I just love reading peoples journeys to riches!!! Yours is amazing.
 

TryHardTriad

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Wow! as a budding entrepreneur let me just start off by saying that you are truly an inspiration. I am in my early 20's and hope to make something of myself in this crazy world. It would be an honor if I could get some advice from you, I was wondering if I could share my business idea with you and hear your critiques?

Would you be willing to correspond through email or Designated message?

Cheers! My email if you would like to reach out: pablopulido2018@gmail.com
Hey mate, sent you an email. Would love to assist where I can!
 
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TryHardTriad

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Oct 2, 2018
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Wow! Incredible!!! I just love reading peoples journeys to riches!!! Yours is amazing.
Thank you, it’s been such a journey but the best decision I’ve made. Wasn’t easy but if you never quit working on FL journey it’s hard not to succeed
 

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